Commercial Transportation System Research Articles

NASA utilization of ISS -past, present and future

Construction of International Space Station (ISS) began in 1998, with permanent human occupancy commencing in late 2000. The first NASA research experiment reached ISS in September 2000. The February 2001 launch of the US Laboratory Destiny enabled the gradual outfitting of the module with research facilities and heralded the start of continuous research operations in March 2001. Initially, the NASA utilization program consisted of basic and applied peer-reviewed research in a variety of research disciplines. Between March 2001 and June 2002, as assembly of the station continued, Destiny was outfitted with seven research racks, launched on the Space Shuttle, to support the planned investigations, also transported to and from ISS on the Shuttle. The Columbia accident in February 2003 grounded the Shuttle fleet for more than two years, during which time NASA relied on Russian vehicles for transportation of research material. This along with the reduction of the ISS crew size from three to two, dramatically impacted the research conducted. The January 2004 announcement of the Vision for Space Exploration significantly altered the focus of NASA’s ISS utilization program toward developing medical countermeasures and using ISS as a technology testbed for exploration missions. The resumption of Shuttle flights in July 2005 also resumed the outfitting of Destiny with research racks, with the subsequent return of ISS crew size to three and resumption of ISS assembly. In late 2007-early 2008, we will see the addition of the European Columbus module, with its five research racks and two external payloads, followed by the Japanese Kibo pressurized modules, with two research racks, and the Canadian dexterous robotic arm. Subsequent Shuttle flights will deliver more NASA racks, the Japanese external pay-load platform and NASA external payloads while Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicles (HTV) will deliver racks and external pay-loads. Significant international collaboration is anticipated. Sometime in 2009, the infrastructure should be in place to enable the ISS crew size to increase to six, expanding the capability to conduct research. With the retirement of the Space Shuttle in late 2010, NASA will once again rely on partner vehicles for transportation until a commercial transportation system and the Crew Exploration Vehicle are in place early in the next decade.

Feasibility Study on Transportation Techniques Employing Air-Bearing System for Pre-Assembled Waste Package at Drift Tunnel of HLW Repository

Full-scale tests were performed to evaluate the technical feasibility of a transport system with air-bearings at the underground HLW disposal tunnel for pre-assembled heavy disposal packages, which consist of a waste package and buffer material. Transport conditions in the disposal tunnel, such as roughness and unevenness of the curved surface, make it difficult to achieve smooth movement using the commercial airbearing transport system. In order to evaluate the applicability of the air-bearing transport system to such conditions, tests using a full-scale test device (modified package) and simulated tunnel surface were conducted. Based on the tests, the applicability of this transport system to a disposal tunnel was confirmed.

Overview of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Project Four Enabling Operating Capabilities

It has become evident that our commercial air transportation system is reaching its peak in terms of capacity, with numerous delays in the system and the demand still steadily increasing. NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Consortium for Aviation Mobility have partnered together to aid in increasing the mobility throughout the United States through the Small Aircraft Transportation System project This project has been a five-year effort to provide the technical and economic basis for further national investment and policy decisions to support a small aircraft transportation system. The project vision has been to enable people and goods to have the convenience of on-demand point-to-point travel, anywhere, anytime for both personal and business travel. The project has focused its efforts on four key operating capabilities that have addressed new emerging technologies, procedures, and concepts to pave the way for small aircraft to operate in near all-weather conditions at virtually any runway in the United States. The focus of this paper is to provide an overview of the technical and operational feasibility of the four operating capabilities and explain how they can enable a small aircraft transportation system.

Microbiological evaluation of a commercial transport system for urine samples

The aim of this study was to evaluate a commercial tube prepared with boric acid, sodium formate and sorbitol (Hemogard Vacutainer tubes, BectonDickinson, HG tubes). Fourteen bacterial strains were incubated in urine in HG tubes and conventional tubes. During a 24-h period, most of the microorganisms grew readily in conventional tubes at room temperature, whereas the bacterial counts were comparatively unchanged when chilled or kept in HG tubes. The bacterial counts of Alcaligenes faecalis and lactobacilli decreased by two 10 logarithms in the HG tubes, at room temperature. Experiments were also performed with the addition of various antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin caused a decrease in E. coli counts regardless of type of tube used, while the HG tubes and the conventional tubes kept chilled conserved bacterial counts upon challenge with fosfomycin, trimethoprim or mecillinam. Bedside cultures from 154 outpatients were sampled and divided into three tubes. One conventional tube was sent to our laboratory by ordinary chilled transport. Another conventional tube and one HG tube were transported to the laboratory without chilling. Cultures were performed upon arrival at the laboratory and then 24, 48 and 72 h after primary sampling. Within 24 h of sampling, no significant differences in bacterial counts were observed between chilled conventional tubes and the HG tubes at room temperature. However, in the HG tubes a significant change in enterococcal counts was noted within 48 h.

Evaluation of four commercial transport media for the survival of Neisseria Gonorrhoeae

We evaluated four commercial transport systems with a standardized inoculum of clinical isolates of N. gonorrhoeae (NG), and assessed survival after holding for up to 48 hours at both ambient and refrigeration temperatures. Suspensions of clinical isolates of NG were standardized and adsorbed onto four transport swab types: Culturette EZ™ (Becton Dickinson [BD], Cockeysville, MD, USA); Cultureswab™ (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, MI, USA); Venturi Transystem™ (Copan Italia, Bovezzo, Italy); and a recently modified Starswab™ (Starplex Scientific, Etobicoke, ON). Swabs were plated to chocolate agar at 0, 6, 24, and 48 hours, and colonies counted. Each swab type was tested in quadruplicate with each NG strain for all time and temperature variables. There was a marked reduction in NG CFUs after only 6 hours incubation with each of the swabs tested. Survival was best using Venturi Transystem™ and Cultureswab™ transports (colony counts were reduced to 15.3% and 13.0%, respectively, at 6 hours) when compared with the Culturette EZ™ and Starswab™ (colony counts were reduced to 2.2% and 4.3%, respectively, at 6 hours). After the 24-hour holding period, 94% of the cultures from the Venturi Transystem™ were positive, 82% from the Cultureswab™, 24% from the Starswab™; and 17% from the Culturette EZ™. After 48 hours, recovery dropped to 72%, 43%, 14%, and 0.04%, respectively. All of the systems tested had at least an 80% decrease in recovered colonies after only 6 hours. Further studies are required to determine how poor transport conditions influence the number of positive cultures and what the public health implications are. Of the swabs tested, Cultureswab™ and Venturi Transystem™ were most acceptable.

A Study on Development for Visitors' Behavioral Simulation Considering Characteristics of Traffic, Visiting and Consuming Behaviors in CBD Area with Large Scale Commercial and Service Facilities

This study developed an effective and practical model analysis method utilizing simulation analysis for planning and designing commercial facility and transportation system and facility.For rational analysis of urban planning, visitors' behaviors in the central area of the city is concluded in the simulation model developed for representing urban activities. The simulation model is consisted by 2 types simulation model. The first model is visitors' behavior choice and probability model in the CBD based on visitors' behaviors analysis from surveys. The second model is dynamic discrete micro traffic simulation model which represent traffic condition of car and on foot.

Road Trains of Heavy Trucks as Highway Commercial Transportation Systems

Today more than ever efforts of governments and companies try to provide safe and efficient transportation through air, over water and on land. Current highway transportation systems, except of the intelligent and automated aspect, do not present any other significant development especially concerning the "truck vehicle". This paper proposes the idea of long truck-trains with multiple semi-trailers as highway vehicle systems for freight transportation. The basic mechanical characteristics of the truck-train are described and the corresponding steering problems are introduced. The paper states also the path following problem and includes a discussion of the various traffic and steering rules that must be applied when a truck-train travels on a multi-lane highway.

High-Speed Sealift/Agile Port Operational Concept

How might emerging High-Speed Sealift (HSS) operating in conjunction with Agile Ports (AP) enhance Department of Defense (DOD) power-projection capability? The goal is to develop a concept for how a combination of HSS ships and Agile Ports, operating in concert with complementary technologies, focused logistics, and advanced management information systems, may be applied by the DOD to accelerate the movement of high-priority cargo to crisis and conflict locations. The capability sought is rapid entry into a theater of operations in support of missions requiring the projection, employment, and sustainment of forces across the entire spectrum of military operations: deterrence, Operations Other Than War (OOTW), or war. HSS ships can perform critical delivery tasks that will allow U.S. forces to increase their operational and logistical flexibility. For example, an appropriately configured HSS ship has the potential to assist the halting and build-up phase by transporting cargo that is normally moved by air, but is prevented from doing so by aircraft shortages or in-theater airfield constraints; transporting equipment and materiel for an Airborne Battalion Task Force (BTF) to an Intermediate Staging Base (ISB), or transporting to the theater of operations the equipment and cargoes of a Light Infantry BTF or an Air Assault BTF; or transporting during surge critical resupply items with early Required Delivery Dates (RDDs), such as Class V (ammunition), Class VIII (medical), or Class IX (repair parts). The incorporation of AP technologies into the coordinated commercial and defense transportation systems provides a superb complement to the overall value of HSS. In addition, Agile Ports significantly enhance and supplement conventional sealift by providing a conduit for the incorporation of next-generation technologies supporting both DOD mobility and the general efficiency of commercial shipping.

Operation of Airport Security Checkpoints under Increased Threat Conditions

Many types of foreign and domestic crises can increase the concern over terrorist actions directed toward the U.S. commercial air transportation system. Government and airport officials respond to these threats by increasing security measures. However, even under increased levels of security, airport officials are still responsible for ensuring the effective movement of air passengers. To address this problem, a simulation analysis was conducted on the operation of an airport security checkpoint under increased threat conditions. The results provide guidance for airport officials in maintaining effective passenger movement under these conditions.

Transport system architecture services for high-performance communications systems

Transport system services that integrate operating system resources such as CPUs, virtual memory, and I/O devices with network protocols to support distributed multimedia applications running on local and wide area networks are described and classified. A taxonomy is presented, and four commercial and experimental transport systems are compared and evaluated in terms of their protocol processing support. The systems discussed are System V UNIX STREAMS, the BSD UNIX networking subsystem, the x-kernel, and the Choices Conduit system.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Surveillance for lesions of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in US cattle.

In October 1987, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was described in Great Britain as a novel disease of cattle with neurologic lesions comparable to those of scrapie in sheep and other spongiform encephalopathies of animals and humans. Cases in adult cattle occurred with increasing frequency primarily in southern England during the next several months, and there are approximately 600 new cases each week in Great Britain? Epidemiologic studies incriminated the feeding of rations containing ruminant-derived protein, especially to calves. The prolonged incubation period was similar to that observed in scrapie. The presence in the United States of scrapie and other animal spongiform encephalopathies (transmissible mink encephalopathy and chronic wasting disease of mule deer and elk) provided impetus to survey US cattle for lesions of BSE. A cooperative project between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Science and Technology, National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL), and the Iowa State University, Department of Veterinary Pathology, was initiated in May 1990 with the goal of examining brain specimens from 250 suspect cattle. Beginning in May 1990, formalin-fixed brain specimens or microscope slides from BSE-suspect cattle were requested, and in April 1991, the project was expanded to include referred cases submitted for rabies examination and found not to be rabies. The criteria used to classify cases as BSE suspects are cattle that (1) are ≥2 years old, (2) have documented signs of neurologic disease, and (3) have received protein supplement as a substantial part of the ration. Specimens are shipped to the NVSL, Ames, Iowa, in standard cartons via US Postal Service or commercial transport systems. Fixed brain specimens are referred to the Iowa State University, Department of Veterinary Pathology, for further processing. Blocks of tissue from 12 areas, if available, are selected as follows: frontal cortex, corpus striatum, temporal cortex, optic chiasm, occipital cortex with hippocampus, thalamus, mesencephalon, pons, cerebellum, rostra1 medulla, obex, and caudal medulla. Tissue blocks are processed by routine methods, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 8 μm, mounted on glass microscope slides, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Special stains, such as Brown-Hopps Gram stain, luxol fast blue-cresyl echt violet, and glial fibrillary acidic protein, are used as needed. Evaluation of the morphology is based on light microscopy.

An Evaluation of Three Commercial Fecal Transport Systems for the Recovery of Enteric Pathogens

Twenty-five isolates, including six strains of Shigella species, six strains of Salmonella species, five strains of Yersinia enterocolitica, six strains of Campylobacter jejuni, and two strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, were inoculated at a concentration of 1.5 x 10(4) colony-forming units/mL into the following transport systems: Fekal Enteric Plus (Trend Scientific, Inc., St. Paul, MN), Cary Blair Transport Medium (Remel, Inc., Lenexa, KS), and Para-Pak C & S (Meridian Diagnostics, Inc., Cincinnati, OH). The Fekal Enteric Plus system showed a greater than or equal to 50% recovery of the original bacterial inoculum after 96 hours for all Salmonella, Shigella, and Yersinia strains tested and after as long as 72 hours for Vibrio strains. The Cary Blair Transport System showed greater than or equal to 50% recovery of the initial inoculum at 96 hours for five of six Salmonella strains, four of six Shigella strains, all Yersinia strains, and one of two Vibrio strains. With the use of the Para-Pak C & S, greater than or equal to 50% recovery of the original inoculum after 96 h was demonstrated for five of six Salmonella strains, four of six Shigella strains, all Yersinia strains, and one of two Vibrio strains. All three systems did not demonstrate even 10% recovery of the initial C. jejuni inoculum at 24 hours when held at room temperature.

Enhancing the Performance of the Deregulated Air Transportation System

IN A DRAMATIC BREAK with past policy, the U.S. commercial air transportation system was deregulated in 1978. Although deregulation was initially popular, primarily because it led to lowerfares, public uneasiness has recently set in.1 Airport congestion and flight delays, increased concerns with safety, and rising fares in less competitive markets have all been attributed to the change in the regulatory environment. But, as illustrated in figure 1, deregulation is only one among many influences on the air transportation system. Equally influential are technological change, macroeconomic performance, and public policies besides those having to do with economic regulation. Because all these influences are interdependent, each must operate in accord with the others or the system can become disrupted. This paper focuses on improving the air system by aligning public policy regarding mergers, airport pricing and investment, and safety with the traffic volumes and patterns that exist under deregulation. We

Cooled storage of equine embryos in a commercial semen transport system

Cooled storage of equine embryos in a commercial semen transport system

Transportation of LNG from the Arctic by Commercial Submarine

The paper examines the feasibility of shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Arctic by submarine tanker. Among the advantages of an under-ice commercial transport system, the authors include the safe, reliable movement of LNG on a regular schedule unimpeded by surface weather conditions; the minimum environmental impact on the fragile Arctic ecology; and the economic superiority over alternative systems by the adaptation of a well-proven technology. Conceptual designs of two such mammoth submarines, both nuclear and nonnuclear powered, are illustrated.

Digital Flight Control: An Approach to Efficient Design

Previous digital design experiences provide guidance and offer solutions for one of the newest digital technology applications: The commercial transport AFCS. In addition to facing well-documented problems of software control and maintainability, operational safety adds a new dimension to the requirements for software reliability. After a general discussion of the problems encountered in past digital system programs, this paper addresses the specific requirements of the commercial transport system and their implications in terms of system architecture and software development. An immproved solution to the problem of software design is offered, and its impact on traditional and future problem areas is outlined. A description of a prototype digital AFCS under development is presented. The experiences to date with this system reinforce the correctness of techniques and approaches used in its development.

TRANSPORTATION OF THE TRAUMATIZED PATIENT

Although some progress has been made in the last decade as evidenced by a recent survey of patient transport techniques, it is embarrassingly evident that at least half of our traumatized patients are still being transported in a crude manner. The 24 assorted devices which are now commercially available do reduce the number of hand moves by one, but we still need a better transport system. By not having an effective transport system, the management of the patient is jeopardized; and certainly the roentgen examinations suffer as well. If a good commercial patient transport system could be developed similar to the one described, embodying a removable stretcher top, adaptable to any radiographic and/or other hospital tables, and if this system could be made at such a price as to be within the capabilities of the average American hospital, the overall management of our acutely injured patients would be significantly improved. Our present technique of manual transport is not only uncomfortable for the patient but is a potential source of additional trauma. In addition, the problem of finding suitable personnel to make these transfers is sometimes difficult in small hospitals at night and certainly it must be admitted that roentgen studies are often compromised because of the difficulties of moving and positioning an acutely injured patient. Patient transport can be looked upon as a "disease," the treatment of which lies in the development of a better transport system.

Technological forecast of marine transportation systems 1970 to 2000

The subject of this investigation and technological forecast is the commercial marine transportation system of the United States. The U.S. Marine Transportation Industry is portrayed within a time frame extending from 1970 to the year 2000. The authors have utilized a spectrum of technological forecasting methods and techniques that appear to be most appropriate for ocean transport systems. A general overview of the environment and major evolutionary elements of the marine transportation system over the next 30 years is presented in Section 1. In Section 2, industry needs are developed utilizing a combination of trend extrapolation, envelope curve, and figure of merit techniques. Section 3 represents an investigation of the limits of existing technologies and possible new developments. Figure of merit and envelope curve forecast methods were utilized. Also, the Delphi forecast method was used with a group of limited size and varied marine technology experience. The technique of relevance and project weighting was used in Section 4 to integrate the needs forecast and the technological forecast. A preliminary development schedule of the major projects that could contribute toward the United States again becoming a leading maritime nation is also presented in Section 4. An integrated planning and development management system is suggested to ensure cost-effective and coordinated progress in the sociopolitical as well as the technical programs.

Design and operating considerations of commercial stol transports

The use of STOL aircraft for a commercial short-haul transportation system is studied. Design, operating characteristics, and costs of these aircraft are examined and compared to conventional aircraft. The study shows that there are many reasons for providing short-haul commercial transports with STOL capability. Among these are an increase in the number of airfields from which the aircraft can be operated and an increase in safety and/or a reduction in instrument flight rules (IFR) minimums. The study also shows that a STOL aircraft capable of 60-knot approach speeds and 1500-ft civil air regulations (CAR) field lengths can be operated at about the same cost as an airplane requiring a field length of 3000 ft. Finally, a review of available flight experience with existing STOL aircraft indicates that the conclusions are conservative and well within the state of the art.