A case study related to the improvement of working and rest hours of oil tanker deck officers

Navigation safety on coastal waters is an extremely important issue. Fatigue is an important factor threatening navigation safety. Considering that the vessel type is an oil tanker, such a threat is not posed only to the crew but also to the environment. Most of the tankers navigating coastal waters are in the small tanker category. Therefore, this study examined the working and resting hours of the deck officers in the oil tankers navigating coastal waters. The study utilized the ISF Watchkeeper 3 program for assessing and interpreting the working periods. The study reached the conclusion that the first and second officers in particular are working under unsuitable conditions. To improve the working conditions of the deck officers, effects of additional cargo officer on board was investigated. This study is in quality of recommendation. The study elucidated that the cargo officer practice determines the working and resting hours of deck officers, in the work on the oil tankers, and compliance with the related conventions.     

A multinomial logit car use model for a megacity of the developing world: Istanbul

The increase in motor vehicle use is one of the important factors that cause traffic congestion, especially in megacities. Thus, the reasons behind this increase require serious attention. This paper offers an analysis of this kind, for a megacity from the developing world, Istanbul. A stratified multinomial logit model accounting for the availability of a second vehicle in the household is estimated for a sample drawn from a questionnaire to gather information of actual car use in Istanbul. This estimation is only possible through a unique data generation process that converts actual preferences into a choice study setting. In addition, a simulation study, generally utilized in the analyses of discrimination between certain layers of society, and a scenario analysis related to changes in income are also included in the paper for a better understanding of the nature of the topic. The results show that the behavior of households with a second vehicle available and not available varies significantly due to household, individual and professional-related characteristics.     

Prediction of wave parameters by using fuzzy inference system and the parametric models along the south coasts of the Black Sea

Forecasting of sea-state characteristics has a great importance in coastal and ocean engineering studies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate performances of Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and several parametric methods in the Black Sea. For this purpose, different fuzzy models with different input combinations were developed for two different wind data sources (TSMS and ECMWF) at two offshore buoy stations. It also aimed to apply several approaches to event-based data sets for wave predictions. Generally, in literature the tendency is to use time series data for wave predictions. In this kind of prediction approach, lagged time series data are taken as inputs and current or future variables are taken as output. In this study, event-based data for each independent storm were extracted from time series data. Simultaneous or concurrent data of wind speed, blowing duration, fetch length and wave characteristics were detected for each single storm. These event data were then used to set up models. The hindcast results were validated with significant wave height and mean wave period data recorded in Hopa and Sinop buoy stations. The performance of developed fuzzy models were also compared with that of four different parametric methods (Wilson, SPM, Jonswap, and CEM methods) applied for two wind data sources at both buoy stations. Finally, it was determined that in the prediction of both wave parameters (H _s and T _z) the ANFIS models (R = 0.66, squared correlation coefficient, and MAE = 0.37 m, mean absolute error, for the best model in prediction of H _s) were more accurate than the parametric methods (R = 0.63 and MAE = 0.75 m for the best model in prediction of H _s).     

Surface reconstruction of scanned human body using radial basis functions and adaptive partition of unity

It is important to reconstruct a continuous surface representation of the point cloud scanned from a human body. In this paper a new implicit surface method is proposed to reconstruct the human body surface from the points based on the combination of radial basis functions (RBFs) and adaptive partition of unity (PoU). The whole 3D domain of the scanned human body is firstly subdivided into a set of overlapping subdomains based on the improved octrees. The smooth local surfaces are then computed in the subdomains based on RBFs. And finally the global human body surface is reconstructed by blending the local surfaces with the adaptive PoU functions. This method is robust for the surface reconstruction of the scanned human body even with large or non-uniform point cloud which has a sharp density variation. Foundation item: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 50575139) and the Shanghai Special Fund of Informatization (No. 088)     

Protective effect of glutamine pretreatment on ischemia-reperfusion injury of spinal cord in rabbits

Objective To investigate the effect of glutamine (Gln) on the content of reduced glutathione hormone (GSH) and aminoglutaminic acid (Glu) of spinal cord following ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods Totally 40 healthy adult male rabbits were randomly divided into five groups: sham-operation group (S group), ischemia-reperfusion injury group (I/R group), low-dose glutamine group (L Gln group), median-dose glutamine group (M Gln group) and high-dose glutamine group (H Gln group). After glutamine preconditioning, the model of spinal cord ischemia-reporfasion injury was established according to Zivin's method. The general status of animals was observed and the changes of Jacobs scoring were recorded in each group. Malondialdehydes (MDA), GSH, Glu and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in lumbar spinal cord tissues were determined using chemical colorimetry. The neuron number and deviation rate in spinal cord anterior horn were observed histopathologically. Results There was no significant difference between L Gin group and I/R group in behavior scoring, SOD activity, content of MDA and Glu, neuron number and deviation rate of spinal cord (P>0.05); however, there was a significant difference in GSH content of spinal cord (P<0.05). M Gln group and I/R group differed significantly (P<0.05) in behavior scoring, SOD activity, content of MDA, Glu, GSH, neuron number and deviation rate of spinal cord. Between H Gln group and M Gln group, there was no significant difference in behavior scoring, content of MDA and Glu, SOD activity, neuron number and aberration rate in spinal cord (P>0.05), whereas there was a significant difference in SOD activity and Giu content (P<0.05). Conclusion Pretreatment with medium-dose glutamine has a protective effect on spinal cord ischemia-reporfasion injury in rabbits, which may be related to the maintenance of GSH content, increase of SOD activity and reduction of MDA.     

The measure and decision of technical risk in the development of naval vessels

The risks in development of navy vessels were explored, The resources of technical risk in the design and development of vessels were mentioned, It was pointed that technical risk dominated the other risk components. Based on the writers＇ understanding and experience from risk analysis and risk ,nanagement to the development of a navy vessel, four measure indexes of technical risk were presented. The decision criteria and the rules corresponding to the indexes were estahlished by the statistic information,     

Calculation of strain amplification matrix for strain invariant failure theory based on representative volume element models with periodical boundary condition

Strain invariant failure theory (SIFT) is a micro-mechanics-based failure theory for multi-scale failure analysis of composite materials originally proposed by Gosse and Christensen. In this paper, the approach for obtaining strain amplification matrix which is a key step for the execution of SIFT is improved by adopting representative volume element (RVE) finite element models considering periodical boundary condition, based on which more actual deformation mode is reflected. The deformation modes and strain data at the characteristic points of the centroid cell of multi-cell RVE model are analyzed and taken as a reference. It can be concluded that more reasonable deformation mode and relationship between the micro-mechanical and macro-mechanical strain states are obtained by employing the new model. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the determination of strain amplification factors within the RVEs considering periodical boundary condition at the characteristic points.     

10kV自闭贯通线单相接地故障判断方法的研究

针对目前铁路10kV自闭、贯通电力线路发生单相接地故障在判断查找中存在的问题及危害进行了分析,提出了解决问题的办法,文章对新研制的故障判断系统进行了详细的介绍,并进行了大量的现场试验,取得了各种情况下的试验数据,确定了数值范围,取得了较好的效果。     

用于深埋圆形盾构隧道地震效应分析的2种拟静力解析解的对比研究

对比分析深埋圆形盾构隧道地震效应分析常用的2种拟静力解析解,给出2种拟静力解析解法的弯矩比值、轴力比值的计算公式,研究地层弹性模量和泊松比与弯矩比值、轴力比值的关系,以及界面滑移和不滑移条件下对弯矩比值、轴力比值的影响;建立等效刚度数值模型,通过数值模拟验证这2种拟静力解析解的可靠性。结果表明:界面不滑移时,由这2种拟静力解析解获得的地震附加弯矩较为接近,但附加轴力差异较大;地层弹性模量、泊松比和界面条件对地震附加弯矩影响较小,但对地震附加轴力影响较大;由这2种拟静力解析解法与等效刚度数值解法所得的弯矩、轴力分布规律和极值位置基本一致。推荐在常规深埋圆形盾构隧道抗震设计时优先采用基于薄壁圆柱壳理论的拟静力解析方法。     

THE HUMORAL AND CELLULAR IMMUNE RESPONSES INDUCED BY HPV18L1-E6/E7 DNA VACCINES IN MICE

Objective To construct eukaryutic expression vector of HPV18 L1- E6, E7 chimeric gene and examine the humorul and cellular immune responses induced by this DNA vaccines in mice. Methods The C-terminal of major rapsid protein L1 gene and mutant zinc finger domains of early E6/7 oncogenes in HPV18 were integrated and inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pVAX1 to generate vaccines pVAX1-L1E6Mxx, ETMxx. CHO cells were transiently transfected with the individual construct. Target protein expressions in the lysate of the transfected cells were measured by ELISA and immunocytochemistry After BALB/c mice were vaccinated with various recombinant plusmids（pVAX1- L1-E6M3 or pVAX1-L1-E7M3 ） and immunie adjuvants （pLXHDmB7-2 or LTB） through different administration routes （intramuscular or intranasal） , the great cellular immune responses were produced us revealed by delayed-type hypersensitivity （DTH） and lymphocyte proliferation, and the expression of IL-4 and IFN- 7 cells in CD4^＋ and CD8^＋ subpopulations. Results The highly efficient expression of pVAX1-L1E6Mxx, E7Mxx vector in host eukaryotic cells were demonstrated both by ELISA and immunocytochemistry. The level of specific serum IgG against HPV in experiment groups mice was much higher than that of control group, and intranuscular immunization group had the highest antibody level. Intramuscular immunization groups were superior to intranasal immunization groups in DTH response, splenocyte proliferation and CD8^＋ IFN-γ^＋ cells number, but CD4^＋ IL4^＋ cell number was higher in intranasul immunization groups. The immunization groups using pLXHDmB7.-2 as adjuvant were superior to other groups in immunorespouse. Conclusion These DNA vaccines produce remarkable cellular and humorul immune responses in the mouse and may provide us prophylatic and therapeutic candidates for HPV induced cancer treatment.