Alternative Port Research Articles

From multi-porting to a hub port configuration: the South African container port system in transition

This paper addresses the tension that exists between multi-porting and a hub configuration in the South African container port system. We apply a generalised cost model to two alternative network configurations: the actual situation of multi-porting and an alternative hub port configuration. The results demonstrate that South African import and export flows are likely to face small cost increases when the port system moves to a hub port configuration. However, from a ship operator's perspective, the hub configuration is more attractive given considerable cost reductions in marine charges, port dues and ship costs. The paper concludes by underlining Transnet's pivotal role in the attractiveness of the hub option and the need for a wider Sub-Saharan strategy in view of making the hub port concept work.

Avoidance of tattoo disruption: a further benefit of laparoscopic surgery

Tattoos are increasingly common in both male and female patients. Abdominal skin tattoos may be present at the site of proposed incisions for conventional surgery whereas laparoscopic port site placement can be adjusted to accommodate tattoo constraints. Patients with tattoos were questioned by face-to-face interview to determine how long ago they had their tattoo, financial cost of the tattoo, and potential degree of distress caused by disruption of their tattoo (on a scale of 1-10). Consultant and higher surgical trainee general surgeons were asked by e-mail survey whether they had encountered a patient with a tattoo at the site of a proposed incision, did they avoid incising the tattoo during surgical intervention, and had they received a complaint from a patient about tattoo distortion. Ninety six patients (50 male, median age 29 years) were questioned. Median cost of the tattoos was pound35 ($70). Female patients were more likely to be distressed and complain than men about tattoo disruption (p = 0.0003) and there was a significant inverse correlation between time from tattooing and distress (p = 0.02). Most (79%) of the general surgeons questioned (n = 107, response rate 82%) had encountered tattoos at proposed incision sites; 61% had avoided making an incision through it and 4% had received a complaint about tattoo disruption by a patient. Tattoo disruption by surgical incision may cause distress especially in female patients who had their tattoo recently. Tattoos should be avoided where possible by alternative port site placement.

Port location for inshore fleets affects the sustainability of coastal source–sink resources: Implications for spatial management of metapopulations

This paper focuses on the consequences of a geographical differentiation in reproductive potential through a species range not being recognized in the management of a coastal fishery resource. A dynamic spatial model with age-structure and bioeconomic components was built to explore the potential effects of fishing port location on metapopulations with a source–sink structure. Management of this type of fishery using marine protected areas (MPA) with or without considering the location of source and sink components is also addressed. An array of unit areas for a multi-age semi-sedentary resource was fed with recruits generated by a Beverton–Holt spawner–recruit relationship driven by the adult biomass in a source area. This contributes recruits both to source areas, and adjacent sink areas which do not produce recruits. Recruits are allocated to unit areas in the array according to a negative binomial distribution, allowing age structures to build up in each. Exploitation is from one of two ports, either situated close to the source area or distant from it; it being assumed (as for inshore fleets) that distance traveled is a key variable. Effort exerted per unit area is therefore determined by dynamic site-specific profits. Because fishing costs increase with distance, the alternative port locations are predicted to have substantially different impacts on biological and economic performance variables when there are no spatial management measures in place. Closing half the source area to fishing mitigates substantially the effect of port location, and improves all performance variables regardless of port location. The greatest positive impacts of a closure occur where the main port harvesting the resource is the one nearest the source area being protected. When a spatial closure is applied, the average distance harvesters travel from a port close to the source is predicted to increase for all levels of fishing intensity, while distances traveled by fishermen from a port near the sink areas are predicted to decrease. If an MPA is established outside the source area, it is predicted to result in deteriorating production and net revenues because fishing intensity will tend to increase in the unrestricted source area.

Port and modal allocation of waterborne containerized imports from Asia to the United States

An economic optimization model of waterborne containerized imports from Asia to the USA is described. Imports are allocated to alternative ports and logistics channels so as to minimize total transportation and inventory costs for each importer. Logistics channels include direct shipment of marine containers via truck or rail, and trans-loading in the hinterlands of the ports of entry from marine containers into domestic trailers or containers. The model was exercised with 2004 actual transportation costs, import volumes and declared values, plus a range of hypothetical container fees assessed on imports routed via the San Pedro Bay Ports. The results show that, without reductions in container movement lead times, container fees would result in significant diversion of cargoes to other ports. In contrast, if infrastructure is improved such that lead times for container movement are significantly reduced, the model predicts little or no decrease in overall imports via San Pedro Bay but a substantial increase in trans-loaded imports for fees ranging up to $200 per 40-foot container.

ANALYSIS OF INDUCTIVE WAVEGUIDE MICROWAVE COMPONENTS USING AN ALTERNATIVE PORT TREATMENT AND EFFICIENT FAST MULTIPOLE

This paper presents a simple and alternative approach for the analysis of inductive waveguide microwave components. The technique uses a surface integral equation formulation, in which the contours of the waveguide walls and of the inner obstacles are all discretized using triangular basis functions. In order to avoid the relative convergence problem of other techniques based on mode matching, an alternative port treatment is used. The technique is based on the application of the extinction theorem using the spatial representation of the Green's functions in the terminal waveguides. In addition, the Fast Multipole Method is proposed in order to reduce the computational cost for large problems. Different complex structures are analyzed, including microwave bandpass filters with elliptic transfer functions, waveguide bends and T-junctions. Results show the high accuracy and versatility of the technique derived.

Per-Oral and Gastrostomy Assisted Full Thickness Gastric Resection Using SurgASSIST® Via a Modified Oro-Esophageal Overtube in a Porcine Model

Per-Oral and Gastrostomy Assisted Full Thickness Gastric Resection Using SurgASSIST Via a Modified Oro-Esophageal Overtube in a Porcine Model John a. Evans, Francis E. Rosato, Gregory G. Ginsberg Introduction: Intraluminal full-thickness gastric resection (FTGR) could be applicable for management of early gastric cancer and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. SurgASSIST (Power Medical Interventions, Langhorne, PA) is a computer mediated, electromechanically powered, cutting/stapling device delivered on a flexible and steerable shaft to which interchangeable loading units of varying configuration, length, and application are affixed. Steering of the flex-shaft and operation of loading units are remote controlled. Aim: This feasibility study assessed applicability to intraluminal FTGR in a swine model. Methods: Four nonsurvival swine under general anesthesia were used. An oro-esophageal overtube (ID 27.2 mm/OD 32.2 mm) was placed followed by dual T-tag placement to abut the gastric wall to the abdominal wall. A balloon trochar(10 mm, US Surgical Autosuture) was inserted into the stomach under endoscopic guidance and served as an alternate port for instruments and endoscope (Olympus GIF-160 and XP-160). Under direct visualization the SurgASSISTwith a 55 mm straight-linear-cutter-stapler (SLCS55) loading unit was advanced via the overtube, into the esophagus and then to the stomach. We evaluated safety and efficacy of overtube placement, SLCS55 insertion, maneuverability in the stomach, parallel vs perpendicular optics, and various tissue grasping devices to achieve tenting of the gastric wall within the arms of the SLCS55 and performance of FTGR. Results: Overtube insertion was successful in all subjects and produced no mucosal tears in one, limited in two, and severe in one. The SLCS55 easily traversed the overtube, but required considerable manipulation under retrograde endoscopic visualization to traverse the esophagus and EG-junction. Maneuverability of the SLCS55 in the stomach was limited. Endoscopic guidance for attempted FTGR via both per-oral (parallel) and per gastrotomy port (perpendicular) orientations was satisfactory. Laparoscopic grasping forceps compared favorably to endoscopic grasping forceps. However, the depth of resected tissue could not be reliably predicted until post-resection specimen inspection. A FTGR was successful in two of four subjects. The resected tissues measured 6.0 cm by 1.8 cm and 6.0 cm by 2.1 cm. There was no pneumoperitoneum, intraor extraluminal bleeding, or gastrotomy leak/failure. In the other two, depth of resection was submucosa. One subject arrested intraoperatively. Conclusion: Per-oral intraluminal FTGR is feasible. A large diameter overtube permits per-oral access. A gastrostomy port facilitates device positioning and tissue manipulation. Further refinements are needed to yield reliable results.

Optimising the container transhipment hub location in northern Europe

This paper applies a specific research methodology designed to evaluate and compare competing seaport locations within a given region as the optimal site for international container transhipment activity. The main focus is on container transhipment hub locations in northern Europe. Transhipment is the fastest growing segment of the containerport market, resulting in significant scope to develop new transhipment terminal capacity to cater for future expected traffic flows. Transport distances and associated shipping costs are calculated for existing hub locations and these are then compared with a new proposed transhipment location in the region, in this instance the vast natural deep-water harbour at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Findings from the research demonstrate that current container hub ports are not necessarily optimal (for serving transhipment markets), and that alternative port sites such as Scapa Flow could provide a superior and more competitive location from which to support the fast expanding transhipment markets of northern Europe.

Entry Port Selection for Detecting Particle Size Differences in Metered Dose Inhaler Formulations Using Cascade Impaction

Different sized glass entry ports were evaluated for their drug collection efficiency during aerodynamic particle sizing of metered dose inhalers (MDIs) using cascade impaction. A comparison was made between collection efficiency in the entry port, impactor plates, and filter using the 1 L, 2 L, and 20 L glass entry ports and the USP and twin impinger entry ports. Entry port losses were dependent on the size of entry port selected, with 1–2 L ports showing optimal recovery on impactor plates, compared to the USP entry port. The 1 L entry port was further compared with the USP entry port in its ability to discriminate between subtle changes in particle size distribution (PSD) in an investigational hydrofluoroalkane (HFA)‐based MDI formulation. Deliberately induced differences during product manufacture were easily detected using the 1 L entry port with the Andersen cascade impactor. The USP port was unable to distinguish among products with small particle size differences. An alternative entry port such as the 1 L glass entry port used in this study may provide better means of characterizing the PSD during formulation development and stability testing of MDIs.

A Port in the Storm

Computer simulation of the inlet port is helping to provide improved fuel economy and emissions in up-coming Jaguar models. Jaguar engineers have long wanted to improve the inlet port design process by simulating flow in alternative inlet port designs. The engineers, however, experienced problems in modeling the complex internal contours of the inlet port and chamber. The dramatic improvement in modeling speed combined with the high accuracy of sin1.ulation has made it practical to integrate computational fluid dynamics into the inlet port and chamber design process. Jaguar engineers are now able to evaluate concept designs within one week compared to the month or more that was required in the past. Engineers have been able to make significant improvements in the performance of their most recent inlet port designs, increasing flow efficiency by an average of 10 percent, while maintaining turbulence at acceptable levels. These improvements will provide significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions in future Jaguar engines.

Trends in Local Politics and Private Capital in Regional Development during the Modern Age

Ports have played an important role in trade as part of the modernization process following the Meiji restoration. However, little research has been conducted on how local politics and private capital interact in port construction. This paper therefore focuses on Wakayama Port in order to study this interaction process.In Wakayama Port (Aogishi Port), the deposition of sands was a major problem, and users have been requesting improvements since the Meiji era. Furthermore, speculation from political parties and sources of private capital actively promoted alternative port construction plans for Aogishi Port. In such developments, there was much to gain in terms of influence and profit. The Nankai Railway was affiliated with the non-Seiyuukai group of the Wakayama City Council and promoted the Oura Port construction in the Taisho era. On the other hand, the Keihan Electric Railway supported the Seiyuukai political party, who proposed the Kemi Port construction. In 1922, the Wakayama Chikkou Kiseikai was formed to solve the port construction problems. However, because of political and capital conflict within the organization, neither the Oura nor the Kemi projects were completed.The Aogishi Port construction, which accompanied the Kinokawa repair work, was decided in the latter half of the 1920s. However, the problem of subsidizing the construction was prolonged, and Wakayama Prefecture, which had a shortage of funds due to the recession, planned to inject private capital. The governor of the Minseitou political party demanded the participation of the Nankai Railway, which had supported Minseitou. On the other hand, to protect the Hanwa Electric Railway, which the Keihan Electric Railway had helped capitalize, the Seiyuukai opposed Minseitou's plans. In the end, the participation of the Nankai Railway was approved, and the Wakayama Port construction work was started in March 1932.However, after the work had begun, it soon faced financial difficulties. The lack of funds for restoration work after the Muroto typhoon struck in September 1934 was a major problem. Moreover, after the 1930s, regional development was promoted by city planning and the readjustment of town lots which had an impact on port construction work. In addition, the Sumitomo Metal Industries factory, which manufactured munitions, was attracted by Wakayama Prefecture in 1940. The capital dependence on the Nankai Railway became strong due to economic rather than political reasons because these plans were not negatively affected, and the Nankai Railway again donated additional contributions.As mentioned above, Wakayama Port construction was always controlled by the logic of the region. Furthermore, it was achieved by the initiative of the Minseitou, which afterwards largely relied on capital help for port construction work from the Nankai Railway. That is, the Nankai Railway played not only the role of main user of Wakayama Port but also that of its main investor.

Obama: The Rise and Decline of a Seaport

O BAMA 'H\A today is a sleepy small port, located on the southern fringe of an inlet in Wakasa Bay on the Sea of Japan, with a population of about 35,000.1 As it is one of the coastal cities in Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region, its residents still partly rely on marine resources for their livelihood. But in recent years, they have diversified their employment by seeking other economic activities to improve their standard of living. Thus Obama now serves as a regional base for a variety of small-scale manufacturing and processing activities, including electronics, synthetic textiles, chemicals, machinery, and marine-food processing. These modern industries, together with a growing tourist trade, take advantage of the city's location. Obama is blessed with a fine natural harbor located within an inlet offering sheltered anchorage. Despite its current obscurity, the city was once a prosperous port for domestic and foreign ships, which, loaded with precious cargos, called in during the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. These visits played a significant role in the development of Japan's economy at that time. For one thing, this maritime trade facilitated the growth of a national market; Obama became a regional center for the collection and distribution of long-distance commerce, and linked the hinterland on the Sea of Japan and Hokkaido with the central market in the Kyoto region. Not unlike Sakai and Hakata, Obama also served as an alternative port of call for ships from Korea, China, and, occasionally, seaports located in southeast Asia. It was also a launching ground for its maritime traders and their fleets that sailed between Japanese and foreign ports. Obama thus played a key role in Japan's integration into a large zone of trade in coastal Asia. Western historians have hardly noticed Obama's existence or recognized its historical importance in the development of Japanese society. There are various reasons for this scholarly neglect. First, the port is located in the ura nihon

Endoscopic Approach

The increasing use of the laparascopic approach in colorectal surgery depends not only on the indications but also on technological development. Better visualization of the operative field is available using a three-chip camera or three-dimensional system. Alternative port positionings together with curved instruments increase the degree of freedom during operation. Complex laparoscopic procedures need highly specific instruments. We have developed atraumatic bowel graspers, different types of retractors, and innovative combination instruments. OREST II, a new multipurpose system that assists the organization of laparascopic surgery is described.

Endoscopic Approach.

The increasing use of the laparoscopic approach in colorectal surgery depends not only on the indications but also on technological development. Better visualization of the operative field is available using a three-chip camera or three-dimensional system. Alternative port positionings together with curved instruments increase the degree of freedom during operation. Complex laparoscopic procedures need highly specific instruments. We have developed atraumatic bowel graspers, different types of retractors, and innovative combination instruments. OREST II, a new multipurpose system that assists the organization of laparascopic surgery is described.

Mannan‐Binding Protein and Bovine Conglutinin Mediate Enhancement of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection in Mice

A broad range of plant lectins have recently been shown to inhibit the infectivity of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in vitro. We decided to investigate the role of mammalian lectins in infection with herpes simplex virus. Two lectins, conglutinin and mannan-binding protein (also called mannose-binding protein, MBP), belonging to the collectin family of lectins, were examined. Four week-old BALB/c mice were injected subcutaneously with 100 micrograms bovine conglutinin or 50 micrograms human MBP 1 day before intravenous infection with 5 x 10(4) PFU of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). A three-fold increase in virus titre of the liver was observed on day 3 of the infection in the mice pretreated with conglutinin or MBP, whereas no effect was seen on days 1 and 5. In a standard plaque assay using Vero cells we were not able to demonstrate reproducibly either infection inhibition or infection enhancement, when virus was pre-incubated with differing concentrations of the collectins. The concentrations used were similar to those used by us in vivo, and by others in in vitro experiments showing inhibition of the infectivity of HSV-1 with plant lectins. In an ELISA with HSV-2 antigens captured on anti-HSV-2 antibodies, calcium-dependent and carbohydrate inhibitable binding of the collectins was observed. Our results indicate that the effect of endogenous mammalian collectins in vivo may not be neutralization as suggested by the data using plant lectins. Instead, the previously described opsonizing activity of the mammalian collectins may provide the virions with an alternative port of entry into cells leading to infection enhancement.

Transvaginal ultrasound scanning of ovarian follicles

The transvaginal approach to ultrasound scanning is a practical method complementary to the transabdominal technique for the minority of cases where, regardless of technological refinements, anatomic constraints require an alternative port of access to the pelvic cavity.

Cost-benefit of improving port entrance channels

Examines costs and benefits, alternatives in port investments, strategy and timing of channel improvements, a methodology for calculating benefits and the analytical problem. Without this article producing actual figures, it is the author's experience that the quantitative gains from improving restrictive port entrance channels are large, both in terms of their own financial net present value and in comparison with alternative port investment schemes to reduce congestion, and frequently less gross capital outlay is required or risked. Therefore, in any master plan for port development, this proposed investment should be carefully evaluated. Finally, the most important lesson is that cost-benefit studies of improving port approaches must be pragmatic. A mathematical model is a poor guide to an individual port's situation and quite useless as a tool of analysis for other ports.

A Computer Simulation Model for Port Planning

Planning the development of ports and harbours involves many complex, technical tasks. Various facility designs must be outlined and analysed. Facility locations must be evaluated and sites selected. Environmental issues must be recognised and the impact of port facilities on the environment must be estimated. Traffic and trade levels must be forecast. Port operating procedures must be evaluated to insure proper facility design. Men, material and capital resources must be inventoried to support the budgeting and economic analysis required. Finally, an economic evaluation must be made of the costs and benefits of the development project. Port planners must often develop plans under economic, social and political pressures. These pressures may not allow the time necessary to evaluate fully all the possible facility designs which could be included in the development plan. The computer model and planning methodology outlined briefly in this paper are designed to facilitate the development process by providing an automated planning framework for the rapid, accurate and thorough analysis of alternative port development plans. This port planning model is centred around a dynamic, stochastic digital computer simulation program. It is dynamic in that port operations may be simulated for any desired length of time; thereby providing in minutes estimates of the results of port operations simulated for years. The model is stochastic in that processes which vary randomly in actual port operations are represented to vary in the same way during the simulation. This added realism in the model increases the accuracy of its results. By properly specifying input data planners may evaluate the effect of alternative development plans on the port's operation; however, its use is not limited to development planning only.

Research Items

HOLY WAYS AND HOLY PLACES.—Prof. H. J. Pleure has published in the Sociological Review—a communication to the Conference on Living Religions, recently held at Wembley, on the origin of sites which are or have been held in special veneration as centres of religious cults. Such centres have to a great extent grown up along routes of trade and intercourse such as can be traced so far back, at least, as the late neolithic and early metal ages. There is evidence for the spread of cultural influences between the Iberian Peninsula, France, western Britain and Ireland, southern Sweden, Denmark, and north-west Germany. The megalithic monuments which mark this spread of culture may well have been stations of men of superior culture to which natives would come to trade, their sanctity continuing down to historic times, as is shown by the records of the early Christian Church. The stations along the route followed by Abram from Haran through Palestine-Shechem, Bethel, Hebron, and Beersheba-gathered traditions of sanctity in course of time. Mecca, a station of sanctity far older than Islam, as is shown by the cult of the Black Stone, is a place of contact on the trade way from Arabia Felix northward. Santiago de Compostella is a focus behind alternative ports going back, directly and indirectly to the earlier stone monuments. Similarly St. Davids in South Wales, Canterbury, and possibly St. Andrews, each acted as a focus for sea routes; while Kief analogously is the culture entry for the land and rivers both from the south, by which Byzantine influence reached Muscovy, and from the west. Jerusalem originally was the fortress controlling the trade routes, whether from Hebron to Bethel and Shechem, to Jericho and across the Jordan, or along the western side of the Dead Sea.