Transport Chain Research Articles

DNA-linked composite probe for the sensitive detection of Salmonella typhimurium in milk

Milk was favored for its nutrient richness which resulted in foodborne bacteria contamination along the production and transportation chain. Hence, there is an urgent necessary to develop high-sensitivity detection assays for early warning of bacteria-contaminated milk. Herein, a fluorescence composite probe that can bind with Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhi) was designed and prepared through a DNA bridge linking several fluorescence single probes. With the assistance of immuno-magnetic beads (IMBs) which can recognize S. typhi, IMBs/S. typhi/composite probe formed and separated from undiluted pure milk with high efficiency. As a result, the S. typhi ranging from 50-1 × 106 CFU/mL can be converted to a detectable fluorescence signal. The detection limit was calculated to be 11 CFU/mL. Meanwhile, the average recovery of S. typhi spiked in pure milk samples and milk powder samples were 95.9 % and 92.9 %, respectively. The strong anti-interference ability also made the assay an effective and promising alternative strategy for rapidly and accurately screening S. typhi in milk and milk powder.

Application of SAP to Improve the Handling Properties of Iron Ore Tailings of High Cohesiveness: Could a Reagent Help the Decommissioning Process of a Dam?

This work aims to evaluate the use of a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) to provide improvements in the handling properties of iron ore tailings (IOT). The material studied came from the magnetic separation reprocessing of the material discarded at the Gelado Dam, located in Serra dos Carajás in the state of Pará, Brazil. While the concentrate presents reasonable handling conditions, the tailings, with 61.5% iron, 15% moisture, and 39% of the mass, have high cohesiveness and adhesiveness due to their fine nature and the climatic conditions of the Amazon rainforest. However, the tailings can still be considered a product as long as the handling and transportation logistics are feasible. Thus, studies with an SAP and IOT were carried out in a bench rotating drum to promote mixing between them, and the main variables studied were the SAP dosage and the required contact time. The improvement in the physical properties of the IOT were evaluated considering the Hausner ratio, Carr index, Jenike’s flow function index, Atterberg limits, and chute angle. The superabsorbent polymer promoted a significant improvement in the state of consistency of the material, and the best performance was obtained with a dosage of 1000 g t−1. As long as a suitable contact condition was promoted, a contact time of 1 min was enough to achieve the expected benefits. After dosing with the superabsorbent polymer, the material’s handling classification changed from ‘cohesive’ to ‘easy flow’, and the chute angle was reduced from 90° to levels below 60°. It was concluded that the application of the superabsorbent polymer has the potential to improve the fluidity of the material discarded in the magnetic concentration operation, allowing it to be handled throughout the production and transportation chain. The SAP appears to be an important additive for the full use of the material present in the dam (100% recovery), with both economic and socio-environmental benefits.

Protective Effect of Coenzyme Q10 in Children with Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure is considered a health problem caused by its high mortality, morbidity and high costs of care. The causes of Heart Failure in children differ from that of adults, with the most frequent causes in children being congenital heart disease and cardiomyopathy. Coenzyme Q10 acts as an energy transfer molecule, occurring in organs with high metabolic levels, such as the heart, kidneys and liver. Methodology: A narrative review was carried out through various databases from January 2005 to January 2021; the search and selection of articles was carried out in journals indexed in English. The following keywords were used: Coenzyme Q10, children, Heart Failure, Pediatrics. Results: Supplementation with Coenzyme Q10 has beneficial effects on different etiological variants of heart failure in children, thanks to the prevention of oxidative damage to the defective myocardium, as well as the increase in bioenergetics and its strong antioxidant properties, provided by its important role as an electron carrier in the transport chain. Conclusion: This review offers recommendations to use Coenzyme Q10 as a complementary treatment in Heart Failure in different etiological variants.

Differential regulation of STARD1, STARD4 and STARD6 in the human ovary.

Cells actively engaged in de novo steroidogenesis rely on an expansive intracellular network to efficiently transport cholesterol. The final link in the transport chain is STARD1, which transfers cholesterol to the enzyme complex that initiates steroidogenesis. However, the regulation of ovarian STARD1 is not fully characterized, and even less is known about the upstream cytosolic cholesterol transporters STARD4 and STARD6. Here, we identified both STARD4 and STARD6 mRNAs in the human ovary but only detected STARD4 protein since the primary STARD6 transcript turned out to be a splice variant. Corpora lutea contained the highest levels of STARD4 and STARD1 mRNA and STARD1 protein, while STARD4 protein was uniformly distributed across ovarian tissues. Cyclic AMP analog (8Br-cAMP) and phorbol ester (PMA) individually increased STARD1 and STARD4 mRNA along with STARD1 protein and its phosphoform in cultured primary human luteinized granulosa cells (hGCs). STARD6 transcripts and STARD4 protein were unresponsive to these stimuli. Combining lower doses of PMA and 8Br-cAMP blunted the 8Br-cAMP stimulation of STARD1 protein. Increasing cholesterol levels by blocking its conversion to steroid with aminoglutethimide or by adding LDL reduced the STARD4 mRNA response to stimuli. Sterol depletion reduced the STARD1 mRNA and protein response to PMA. These data support a possible role for STARD4, but not STARD6, in supplying cholesterol for steroidogenesis in the ovary. We demonstrate for the first time how cAMP, PMA and sterol pathways separately and in combination differentially regulate STARD4, STARD6 and STARD1 mRNA levels, as well as STARD1 and STARD4 protein in human primary ovarian cells.

Determining the mechanism for calculating the tension of a working conveyor belt during a change in the transportation length

This paper examines the working process of a belt conveyor with a working drive that can change the length of transportation. The conveyor can be used for tunneling, development of minerals in mines and quarries, transportation of materials in warehouses. The use of such a conveyor makes it possible to reduce the time for operations to increase or decrease the length of transportation, to exclude reloaders between the working equipment and conveyor itself from the transport chain. It was established that when changing the length of transportation of a working conveyor, the static and dynamic load on the belt increases. The change in the static load of the belt on the drum of the mobile station depends on the speed of the mobile station and the speed of the beltgenerated by the conveyor drive. The dynamic loading on the belt depends on the acceleration of the belt, which is related to the acceleration of the mobile station during the change in the length of the conveyor. For a working conveyor that changes the length of transportation, the static tension of the belt on the drum of the mobile station can increase by 1.1–1.4 times from the initial one. The dynamic loading of the belt can have a significant increase if the acceleration of the mobile station is not stretched over time and acquires large values. Based on the dependencesderived in the current work, a calculation procedure is proposed for the design of a belt conveyor with a working drive that can change the length of transportation. The Mathcad software was applied to verify the designcalculation procedure. The results make it possible to employ new design methods in the construction of competitive machines equipped with a belt conveyor with a variable length of transportation

Implementasi Fungsi Manajemen dalam Proses Bongkar Muat PT. PBM Adipurusa

Maritime transportation is the backbone of the transportation system of all archipelagic countries such as Indonesia, therefore ports play a very important and strategic role. One of the functions of the port is as a transportation chain or meeting point for transportation modes which are actually played by the terminal. Daily activities in a loading and unloading company certainly require a chart or framework that contains the flow of activities including planning, organizing, mobilizing and evaluating. Seeing the urgency of the importance of managing management functions in organizations, it is necessary to study more deeply how management functions are managed in loading and unloading companies. Qualitative research method with descriptive analysis. Therefore, planning begins before the ship arrives, preparing loading and unloading equipment, operational planning meetings, permit applications, equipment preparation and field preparation. Organizing is done by managing the human resources available in the company. The implementation includes activities for handling container unloading and handling container cargo. Control is carried out by making reports which include operations per shift and reports on the realization of demolition. In conclusion, the management function carried out by PT. PBM Adipurusa has been running well.

Dynamic comprehensive quality assessment of post-harvest grape in different transportation chains using SAHP–CatBoost machine learning

Abstract Objectives Food quality assessment is critical for indicating the shelf-life and ensuring food safety or value. Due to high environmental sensitivity, the post-harvest quality of fresh fruit will undergo complex changes in the supply chain, with various dynamic quality-related features. It is difficult to efficiently and accurately extract comprehensive quality feature of post-harvest fruits from high-dimensional monitoring data with heterogeneous characteristics (numerical and categorical). Therefore, we proposed a dynamic comprehensive quality assessment method based on self-adaptive analytic hierarchy process (SAHP) integrated with the CatBoost model. Materials and Methods By adaptive weight optimization, the SAHP was utilized to analyze the multi-source quality information and obtain the quantized fusion value, as an output sample of CatBoost machine learning. Then, using heterogeneous monitoring data as input, the CatBoost model was directly trained through unbiased boosting with categorical features for dynamic assessment of overall quality status. Results Three quality index monitoring data sets for ‘Jufeng’ grape in different transportation chains (normal temperature, cold insulation, and cold chain) were individually constructed as the research samples. Furthermore, compared to other machine learning methods, the SAHP–CatBoost had more accurate results in comprehensive quality feature extraction. In actual transportation chains, the mean absolute error, mean absolute percentage error, and root mean squared error of dynamic comprehensive assessment were limited to 0.0044, 1.012%, and 0.0078, respectively. Conclusions The proposed method is efficient in handling heterogeneous monitoring data and extracting comprehensive quality information of post-harvest grape as a robust shelf-life indicator. It can reasonably guide post-harvest quality management to reduce food loss and improve economic benefits.

Responses of wild Piper species to drought and rehydration cycles considering stomatal closure as a marker of the alarm phase.

Studies that simulate recurrent drought events with subsequent episodes of rehydration better reflect natural conditions and allow visualization of differential acclimatization responses resulting from memory and tolerance mechanisms. Piper aduncum and Piper tuberculatum were grown in a greenhouse and were subjected to three successive cycles of drought and subsequent rehydration. After suspending irrigation, gas exchanges were measured daily with IRGA. When stomatal conductances close to zero were obtained, the plants were rehydrated and kept irrigated. In P. tuberculatum, stomatal conductance was always higher after periods of rehydration compared to the period before the drought, while the transpiration rate was lower only during the drought. The damage to the photosynthetic apparatus was caused by the influence of the interception of the flow of electrons in the transport chain. We came to the conclusion that the dehydrated plants showed an alert signal, which triggered response mechanisms to prevent or deal with the water stress situation.

Thermally-triggered multi-shape-memory behavior of binary blends of cross-linked EPDM with various thermoplastic polyethylenes and their potential applications as temperature indicators

Shape-memory polymers (SMPs) are smart materials that can alter their configuration in response to external stimuli. They have shown promise in a number of application areas, including soft robotics or biomedical devices. Frequently, however, the materials needed are expensive, or labor-intensive synthetic processes are involved. In this contribution, we report a versatile and cost-effective manufacturing method for SMPs based on binary elastomer-thermoplastic-blends. These were produced from ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber (EPDM) combined with ultra-low-density polyethylene (ULDPE), propylene-ethylene copolymer (PP-c-PE), or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as thermoplastic components. Atomic force microscopy revealed an immiscible two-phase morphology. Results of dynamic-mechanical thermal analysis showed that all polymer blends with a high thermoplastic load had efficient thermo-responsive dual-shape-memory, also demonstrated on macroscopic specimens. Furthermore, multi-shape-memory of elastomer/thermoplastic (40/60)-blends was investigated. Especially ULDPE-containing blends exhibited particularly promising multi-shape-memory features and stepless, controllable temperature response. Mechanistically, this is based upon the synergistic interaction of the cross-linked elastomer and the thermoplastic switching phase, consisting of different crystalline segments melting over a wide range from 60 to 125 °C. The continuous shape recovery over a broad temperature range could be used to create reusable test strips, e.g., for indicating exposure temperature in transportation chains or overheating protection.

OPTIMIZATION OF LOGISTICS PROVIDERS’ ACTIVITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF BUILDING NEW SUPPLY CHAINS

Background. Currently, there is a process of redistribution of existing cargo flows, an active search for new alternative options for cargo delivery is underway, new logistics chains are being formed. In the rapidly changing conditions of the functioning of the country’s economy, the importance of road and rail transport is increasing. Road transport is the fastest–changing channel in the development of new transport chains. The importance of rail transport also remains very high, especially when transporting goods over long distances. Improving the efficiency of logistics companies in the construction of new transport corridors directly depends on the choice of the company’s business strategy and the development of the company as a whole. The purpose of the current study was to optimize the activities of logistics companies by determining the feasibility of developing its own fleet of rolling stock, warehouses and terminals of a logistics company.
 Materials and methods. Methods of system analysis, comparison, systems theory, logistics, outsourcing, as well as the architecture of logistics systems with the participation of providers were used. The tools for evaluating the efficiency of logistics companies are presented, which allow us to draw conclusions about the required number of transport infrastructure facilities, about the choice of the type of transport necessary for the full development of a given cargo flow in new supply chains.
 Results. The analysis of the method of minimizing the costs of logistics companies, using the method of comparative analysis, which takes into account the costs of maintaining transport infrastructure facilities, the costs of maintaining and servicing vehicles, the costs of organizing transportation, by searching for the break-even point of a logistics company.
 Conclusion. A methodology has been developed for assessing the feasibility of involving a logistics provider in the implementation of transportation and transferring part of the work to it on outsourcing terms.

The use of the CTU Code to increase freight transport safety and business competitiveness: An empirical analysis of a sample of Italian companies

The CTU Code (Code of practice for packing of cargo transport units) is the reference manual for all aspects of loading and securing cargo in intermodal transportation units. The purpose of the Code is to increase the safety of cargo loading throughout the transport chain and provide a benchmark for process standardization, with the final aim of increasing the safety and security of workers, goods, cargo units, means of transport and environment. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate, through an empirical survey of a sample of 26 Italian companies, how the application of the CTU Code to cargo loading and transportation processes can increase the safety level of transport activities, and also improve business processes and competitiveness. The results show that the use of the CTU Code provides an increase in safety with a drastic reduction of loading accidents and damage to goods, as well as important benefits in terms of costs, improved efficiency, corporate image and reduced environmental impact.

Port environmental efficiency assessment using the one-stage and two-stage model DEA: comparison of Koper and Dublin ports

Ports are important and central hubs for logistical activities in transportation chains that contribute to economic growth. Nevertheless, port activities are associated with undesirable impacts such as energy consumption and air pollutant emissions. Various policy instruments and measures have been developed and adopted to reduce energy consumption and emissions from ports. In an effort to manage all undesirable impacts of port operations, the search for best practices has proven to be an effective approach. This study examines one- and two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models for measuring port environmental efficiency. The adequacy of the models was analyzed using two case studies, i.e., the port of Koper and port of Dublin. The results of the study provided the best practices and the main differences between one-stage and two-stage models. Distance metrics were used to identify the necessary improvements of inefficient decision-making units (DMUs) to achieve the best practices.

Improving the efficiency of logistics providers

Currently, there is a process of redistribution of existing cargo flows, an active search is underway for alternative options for the delivery of goods, and actual logistics chains are being formed. Logistics companies in the context of existing prohibitions and restrictions are forced to find new markets. The long-term vector of cooperation from the western side is moving to the east. In these rapidly changing conditions for the functioning of the country’s economy, the importance of domestic road and rail transport is growing. Road transport is the most rapidly rebuilding in the development of new transport chains. The importance of rail transport also remains high, especially when transporting goods over long distances. Improving the efficiency of logistics providers directly depends on the choice of business strategy and the development of the company as a whole.Tools are presented to assess the effectiveness of logistics providers. Methods are proposed for performing such an analysis, allowing to draw conclusions about the required number of transport infrastructure facilities, the choice of transport mode for the full development of a given cargo flow. The result of the study was the analysis of a way to minimize the costs of logistics providers using the method of comparative analysis. This method takes into account the costs of maintaining transport infrastructure facilities, maintaining and servicing vehicles, organizing transportation, by searching for the break-even point of a logistics company.

Sonocatalytic hydrogen/hole-combined therapy for anti-biofilm and infected diabetic wound healing.

It is a great challenge to effectively eradicate biofilm and cure biofilm-infected diseases because dense extracellular polymeric substance matrix prevents routine antibacterial agents from penetrating into biofilm. H2 is an emerging energy-regulating molecule possessing both high biosafety and high tissue permeability. In this work, we propose a concept of sonocatalytic hydrogen/hole-combined 'inside/outside-cooperation' anti-biofilm for promoting bacteria-infected diabetic wound healing based on two-dimensional piezoelectric nanomaterials. Proof-of-concept experiments using C3N4 nanosheets as a representative piezoelectric catalyst with wide band gap and high biosafety have verified that sonocatalytically generated H2 and holes rapidly penetrate into biofilm to inhibit bacterial energy metabolism and oxidatively deprive polysaccharides/NADH in biofilm to destroy the bacterial membrane/electron transport chain, respectively, inside/outside-cooperatively eradicating biofilm. A bacteria-infected diabetic wound model is used to confirm the excellent in vivo antibacterial performance of sonocatalytic hydrogen/hole-combined therapy, remarkably improving bacteria-infected diabetic wound healing. The proposed strategy of sonocatalytic hole/hydrogen-combined 'inside/outside-cooperation' will make a highway for treatment of deep-seated biofilm infection.

Rethinking Ports as Multienergy Hubs: Managing cold ironing and hydrogen supply/bunkering

Modern ports are expected to play a key role in the transportation chain, being transformed into smart grids and smart energy hubs where electric energy needs predominate. Cold ironing (CI), also known as onshore power supply (OPS) or alternate marine power, is indeed one the most energy-demanding applications. The power demand of a berthed ship depends on its characteristics and may vary from hundreds of kW, for container ships, to tens of MW, in the case of cruise ships.

Electron transfer routes in nitrate-pentavalent vanadium co-contaminated system of oligotrophic microbiology niche

Microbial techniques have been extensively used for the remediation of nitrate and V(V) co-contaminations, but the mechanisms of electron and substances transport and metabolism of co-contaminations under oligotrophic niche have been largely overlooked. This study quantified the electron transfer and consumption, substance transfer, and metabolic pathways in the nitrate and V(V) co-contamination system under oligotrophic condition to explore the underlying mechanisms by characterizing the products and elucidating conventional cognitive pathways. This study compared the composition of the precipitates under the conditions of sufficient and insufficient carbon sources using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and discovered the re-oxidation process of the already reduced V(IV). Electronic evidence for the re-oxidation process of V(IV) was also provided by electron transfer and quantitative analysis. Besides, this study found that the electron contribution ratio of NO3−-N → NO2−-N and V(V) → V(IV) reduction was 40.2:1. In addition, based on the functional prediction of PICRUSt 2, it was found that the utilization of intracellular reserve carbon source and enzymes in the transport chain were enhanced in oligotrophic microbiology niche. These results provide new insights into the stability of co-contamination reduction in oligotrophic microbiology niche and demonstrate a new mobilization pathway for V(V) in oligotrophic systems.

Optimization of Market Behavior of a Transportation Company

The relevance of optimizing the interaction of participants in manufacture and transport systems is due to the growth of the scale of social production, the development of transnational companies and international trade at the present stage of market transformations, economic integration and development of transport corridors. In this paper we will optimize the market behavior of a transport enterprise in the manufacture and transportation chain. Objectives: To determine the best option for coordinating the actions of participants in the manufacture and transport chain and to optimize the mechanism for granting discounts on the tariff of the transport company. Research methods: economic and mathematical modeling, construction and mathematical analysis of models of manufacture and transport systems, optimization computer calculations, economic interpretation of the results. In this paper it will also be analyzed how full or partial integration of the participants of manufacture and transportation chains, such as coordination of actions, unification of interests can ensure not only a significant increase in the profits of each participant, but also an increase in production volumes and delivery of products to consumers with a corresponding decrease in prices. The paper also portrays how every participant in the manufacture and transportation chain can paradoxically benefit from the established mechanism that would provide discounts on the tariff of a transport company depending on the volume of cargo flow followed by principle the more cargo, the greater the discount. It will be shown how manufacturer benefits by reducing transportation costs, while the transport company earns less per container, but the outstripping growth in the number of these containers provides it with a higher profit. Consequently, the conditions for the feasibility of applying such a mechanism of tariff discounts will also be established.

Livestock hauler and dairy farmer perspectives about cull dairy cattle transport and cattle transport regulations in British Columbia, Canada.

Dairy cows are usually culled and transported from the farm when they no longer meet the farm's standards for production or are not needed for milk production. Some cows are transported while in poor condition and may deteriorate further during transport. In February 2020, Canadian federal animal transport regulations were revised with the aim to minimise risks to livestock during transport; changes that may impact cull dairy cows included defining compromised cattle and limiting their maximum transport time. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with dairy farmers (n = 6) and cattle haulers (n = 4) in British Columbia, Canada, to gain an in-depth understanding of the effect of the regulations on their practices when shipping and transporting dairy cows to slaughter. Interviews were transcribed in Otter.ai and thematically coded in NVivo 12. While farmer and hauler participants recognised the importance of animal welfare during transport and described practices such as shipping mobile animals to reduce the risk that cows would become non-ambulatory during transport, they also described little change in shipping and transport practices due to the new regulations. Among interviewed participants, barriers to compliance with the regulations appear to be low knowledge of, and mixed or negative attitudes towards the regulations. Participants also described how they felt a lack of communication along the transport chain and limited transport and slaughter infrastructure made compliance difficult. Possible suggestions to remedy these barriers include providing educational resources about the regulations and encouraging communication about cow fitness for transport between responsible parties in the transport chain.

Логістика доставки фармацевтичних препаратів

The article examines the logistics of the transportation of pharmaceuticals, as well as the study of current data and a comparison of the volume of transportation of drugs in Ukraine with other countries. The volume of transportation, warehouse logistics and the cost structure of logistics services is considered. The volume of transportation of drugs for 2022 is analyzed, modern methods and innovative technologies are described transportation in logistics. The use of such technologies makes it possible to reduce logistics costs and increase the efficiency of logistics processes. Thus, the logistical justification of decisions in the field of road transport of medicines is an important element of the logistics system. When solving this problem, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of logistics in the field of pharmaceuticals, as well as apply innovative technologies and methods that ensure the efficient functioning of the supply and transportation chain. In addition, compared to Ukraine, European countries have a more developed logistics infrastructure that ensures fast and efficient delivery of medicines. For example, in 2022, the total length of highways in Germany was 231,000 km, in France - 1.057 million km, and in Poland - 422,000 km. Compared to these countries, the length of Ukrainian roads is only 169.6 thousand km, of which 28% are public roads. This leads to difficulties in transporting goods, including medicines, which can deteriorate during long-term delivery.

Improving the efficiency of logistic companies in new supply chains

At present, the world is changing very dynamically, which radically changes the geography of existing freight traffic. There is a process of redistribution of existing cargo flows, there is an active search for new alternative options for cargo delivery, and new logistics chains are being formed. In the rapidly changing conditions of the country's economy, the importance of road and rail transport is increasing. Road transport is the fastest reconstructing channel in the development of new transport chains. The importance of rail transport also remains very high, especially for longdistance cargo transportation. Improving the efficiency of logistics companies in the construction of new transport corridors directly depends on the choice of the company's business strategy and the development of the company as a whole. This article presents tools to assess the effectiveness of logistics companies. It offers methods for performing such analysis, allowing to conclude the required number of transport infrastructure facilities, about the choice of the type of transport necessary for the full development of a given cargo flow in the new supply chains.