Intercontinental Transportation Research Articles

Effects of ship wakes on ocean brightness and radiative forcing over ocean

[1] Changes in surface albedo represent one of the main forcing agents that can counteract, to some extent, the positive forcing from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Here, we report on enhanced ocean reflectance from ship wakes over the Pacific Ocean near the California coast, where we determined, based on airborne radiation measurements that ship wakes can increase reflected sunlight by more than 100%. We assessed the importance of this increase to climate forcing, where we estimated the global radiative forcing of ship wakes to be −(0.14 ± 50%) mWm−2 assuming a global distribution of 32331 ships of size ≥100000 gross tonnage. The forcing is smaller than the forcing of aircraft contrails (−0.007 to +0.02 Wm−2), but considering that the global shipping fleet has rapidly grown in the last five decades and this trend is likely to continue because of the need of more inter-continental transportation as a result of economic globalization, we argue that the radiative forcing of wakes is expected to be increasingly important especially in harbors and coastal regions.

The Rebirth of Airships

Until the outbreak of the Second World War, uncertainty existed whether airships and airplanes would dominate intercontinental passenger transportation. The massive investments in fixed-wing aircraft during these hostilities made airplanes the decisive winner, and relegated airships to a negligible role in transportation. As the 21st Century progresses, airships are making a comeback fueled by the 21st Century progresses, airships are making a comeback fueled by the growing demand for air cargo, the unique environmental and operational characteristics of buoyant flight, and advances in engineering science and materials.
 
 This paper examines the market niche for airships that exists between air and marine transport and the inherent advantages and disadvantages of this mode of transportation. The economics of airships are considered in light of their past achievements and current designs. The paper concludes with the discussion of two potential applications. A long haul mission for airships between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland is considered for perishable freight, and a short haul mission for airships in northern Canada is considered for the transport of freight and passengers to remote communities.

The standardised freight container: vector of vectors and vector-borne diseases

The standardised freight container was one of the most important innovations of the 20th Century. Containerised cargoes travel from their point of origin to their destination by ship, road and rail as part of a single journey, without unpacking. This simple concept is the key element in cheap, rapid transport by land and sea, and has led to a phenomenal growth in global trade. Likewise, containerised air cargo has led to a remarkable increase in the inter-continental transportation of goods, particularly perishable items such as flowers, fresh vegetables and live animals. In both cases, containerisation offers great advantages in speed and security, but reduces the opportunity to inspect cargoes in transit. An inevitable consequence is the globalisation of undesirable species of animals, plants and pathogens. Moreover, cheap passenger flights offer worldwide travel for viral and parasitic pathogens in infected humans. The continued emergence of exotic pests, vectors and pathogens throughout the world is an unavoidable consequence of these advances in transportation technology.

Adaptation and Change with Global Warming

Today, the governing spatial structure of Earth is that of a ribbon around the globe. Economic activity and habitation are mostly limited to this developed ribbon. As the polar ice retreats and better ships and remote sensing are being developed, the habitable edge of the world is moving ever farther into the Arctic, leading to the emergence of a new spatial structure of Earth: the semiglobe. In a semiglobe system, the Arctic is no longer the most remote area of Earth but is its center. The practical consequences of polar ice retreat are notably Arctic resource development and Arctic shipping routes. The largest impact on global marine transportation occurs as all-year shipping develops in the Arctic, eventually leading to–-because of shorter distances–-most marine transportation between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific going through the Arctic Ocean. This has important consequences for transportation, security, and natural resource use. The Arctic sea routes also hold geopolitical importance as alternative routes, for example, if conflicts at the Panama or Suez Canal interrupt intercontinental shipping. This gives added importance to the gates to the Arctic Ocean and surrounding nations.

Particle Size Distribution of Airborne Microorganisms and Pathogens during an Intense African Dust Event in the Eastern Mediterranean

BackgroundThe distribution of microorganisms, and especially pathogens, over airborne particles of different sizes has been ignored to a large extent, but it could have significant implications regarding the dispersion of these microorganisms across the planet, thus affecting human health.ObjectivesWe examined the microbial quality of the aerosols over the eastern Mediterranean region during an African storm to determine the size distribution of microorganisms in the air.MethodsWe used a five-stage cascade impactor for bioaerosol collection in a coastal city on the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a north African dust storm. Bacterial communities associated with aerosol particles of six different size ranges were characterized following molecular culture–independent methods, regardless of the cell culturability (analysis of 16S rRNA genes).ResultsAll 16S rDNA clone libraries were diverse, including sequences commonly found in soil and marine ecosystems. Spore-forming bacteria such as Firmicutes dominated large particle sizes (> 3.3 μm), whereas clones affiliated with Actinobacteria (found commonly in soil) and Bacteroidetes (widely distributed in the environment) gradually increased their abundance in aerosol particles of reduced size (< 3.3 μm). A large portion of the clones detected at respiratory particle sizes (< 3.3 μm) were phylogenetic neighbors to human pathogens that have been linked to several diseases.ConclusionsThe presence of aerosolized bacteria in small size particles may have significant implications to human health via intercontinental transportation of pathogens.

Climate impact of supersonic air traffic: an approach to optimize a potential future supersonic fleet – results from the EU-project SCENIC

Abstract. The demand for intercontinental transportation is increasing and people are requesting short travel times, which supersonic air transportation would enable. However, besides noise and sonic boom issues, which we are not referring to in this investigation, emissions from supersonic aircraft are known to alter the atmospheric composition, in particular the ozone layer, and hence affect climate significantly more than subsonic aircraft. Here, we suggest a metric to quantitatively assess different options for supersonic transport with regard to the potential destruction of the ozone layer and climate impacts. Options for fleet size, engine technology (nitrogen oxide emission level), cruising speed, range, and cruising altitude, are analyzed, based on SCENIC emission scenarios for 2050, which underlay the requirements to be as realistic as possible in terms of e.g., economic markets and profitable market penetration. This methodology is based on a number of atmosphere-chemistry and climate models to reduce model dependencies. The model results differ significantly in terms of the response to a replacement of subsonic aircraft by supersonic aircraft, e.g., concerning the ozone impact. However, model differences are smaller when comparing the different options for a supersonic fleet. Those uncertainties were taken into account to make sure that our findings are robust. The base case scenario, where supersonic aircraft get in service in 2015, a first fleet fully operational in 2025 and a second in 2050, leads in our simulations to a near surface temperature increase in 2050 of around 7 mK and with constant emissions afterwards to around 21 mK in 2100. The related total radiative forcing amounts to 22 mWm2 in 2050, with an uncertainty between 9 and 29 mWm2. A reduced supersonic cruise altitude or speed (from Mach 2 to Mach 1.6) reduces both, climate impact and ozone destruction, by around 40%. An increase in the range of the supersonic aircraft leads to more emissions at lower latitudes since more routes to SE Asia are taken into account, which increases ozone depletion, but reduces climate impact compared to the base case.

Aero-medical evacuation with interventional lung assist in lung failure patients

Acute respiratory failure can make long distance transport by air extremely difficult. Despite pressurised cabins, the pressure will fall to about three quarters of one atmosphere, and the oxygen partial pressure will fall proportionally. Interventional lung assist (iLA) is a well documented treatment in the critical care unit, but has not been evaluated scientifically in long range aero-medical evacuation. The present animal study was performed to test the feasibility of treating lung failure with iLA during intercontinental air evacuation in a military setting. Eight adult female pigs were cannulated in the right axillary artery and the right jugular vein. An arterio-venous iLA device (Novalung) was connected. The ventilator was adjusted to below half of the needed minute volume before the use of iLA. The animals went through different modalities of transportation in ambulances, helicopters and aircraft. Two of the pigs were tested in a hypobaric chamber, and the remaining two animals underwent a 7.5 h intercontinental transportation from Denmark to Greenland in a Hercules C130J transport airplane. It was possible to maintain physiological PaCO(2) and PaO(2) in normal flight altitudes with iLA. Compared to pump-driven ECMO systems iLA is safer and more efficient. The current study demonstrates the feasibility of iLA during military aero-medical evacuation.

Preliminary study on the presence of aflatoxin B1 in feeds for lactating cows sampled in the Parmigiano Reggiano production area

RiassuntoStudio preliminare sulla presenza di aflatossina B1 in alimenti per bovine da latte provenienti dal comprensorio del Parmigiano Reggiano. La presenza di aflatossine, in particolare di aflatossina B1 (AFB1), negli alimenti destinati alle bovine da latte rappresenta un punto di controllo critico sia per gli animali che li assumono, che per l’uomo consumatore di latte e derivati. E’ stato quindi condotto un monitoraggio sugli alimenti zootecnici prodotti in 180 aziende nel corso dell’anno 2003 all’interno del comprensorio del Parmigiano Reggiano, nelle provincie di Bologna, Mantova, Modena, Parma e Reggio Emilia, per un totale di 774 campioni (738 di fieno e 36 di granella). I risultati relativi al contenuto di AFB1 determinato con metodica ELISA (Veratox® HS), dimostrano una buona qualità degli alimenti considerati. Per quanto riguarda i fieni la percentuale di positività risulta pari al 35,9% considerando positivi quelli che superano il limite di rilevabilità della metodica (0,5 µg/kg), con solo 4 campioni caratterizzati da livelli di AFB1, di poco superiori al limite di legge, pari a 0,005 mg/kg. Relativamente alle granelle, solo i campioni di mais evidenziano una certa presenza di aflatossina (88,9% sul totale), il 31,25% dei quali risulta caratterizzato da livelli di AFB1 superiori ai limiti di legge (0,020 mg/kg).

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

The world was shocked in early 2003 when a pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was imminent. The outbreak of this novel disease, caused by a novel coronavirus (the SARS-coronavirus), hit hardest in the Asian Pacific region, though eventually it spread to five continents. The speed of the spread of the SARS epidemic was unprecedented due to the highly efficient intercontinental transportation. An international collaborative effort through the World Health Organization (WHO) has helped to identify the aetiological agent about 1 month after the onset of the epidemic. The power of molecular biology and bioinformatics has enabled the complete decoding of the viral genome within weeks. Over 1000 publications on the phylogeny, epidemiology, genomics, laboratory diagnostics, antiviral, immunization, pathogenesis, clinical disease, and management accumulated within just 1 year. Although the exact animal reservoir of virus and how it evolved into a human pathogen are still obscure, accurate diagnosis and epidemiological control of the disease are now possible. This article reviews what is currently known about the virus and the disease.

Intercontinental LVAS Patient Transport

Mechanical circulatory support is currently indicated for patients with cardiac insufficiency as a bridge to transplantation or as a bridge to recovery. These systems continue to evolve and improve, and many patients (after they are stabilized) are now able to be discharged from the hospital. This article reports our experience with the intercontinental transportation of a patient while being supported with a Novacor left ventricular assist system (WorldHeart Corp, Ottawa, Canada). While in Japan, the Canadian patient suffered a myocardial infarction and despite coronary artery bypass grafting, the patient remained in a low cardiac output state. After implantation of the left ventricular assist system in Japan, the patient was stabilized and transported by a commercial airline to Canada where he underwent successful heart transplantation.

Modeling and Identification of the Processes of Heat Exchange in Porous Materials of Thermal Protection of Reusable Aerospace Systems

The features of aerospace systems as transport facilities for exploration of near‐earth space and high‐velocity intercontinental transportation have been considered. Problems of complex investigations of the processes of heat exchange in porous materials of thermal protection of prospective reusable aerospace systems have been formulated.

259PRODUCTION OF TROPICAL DAIRY CALVES BY EMBRYO TRANSFER USING LOCAL LAISIND (BOS INDICUS) RECIPIENTS AND INTERCONTINENTAL FRESH IVF SHIPPED EMBRYOS

Increasing the diary population and milk production is a goal of many tropical developing countries. We report in this paper an attempt to develop a system of intercontinental shipping for transfer of fresh crossbred Bos taurus×Bos indicus IVF embryos into local Laisind (Bos indicus) recipients as a way to produce tropical dairy calves with highly improved milk productivity. The production of embryos was done at BOMED, Inc (Madison, WI, USA). Oocytes collected from ovaries of Holstein (Bos taurus) at slaughter and semen from milking Gir (Bos indicus) were used for IVP. Cleaved embryos were selected for air shipping in portable incubators at Day 4 (Group 1), Day 3 (Group 2) or Day 2 (Group 3) after IVF. The duration of shipping varied from 60 to 65h. Embryo transfer was done in Vietnam. Laisind cows (Yellow cattle×Red Sindhi) with body weight more then 280kg and normal reproductive activity were selected for treatment of estrous synchronization with double 11-day interval injection of PG2α (Intervet, Boxmeer, The Netherlands) and single injection of eCG (SABC Vietnam) two days before the second injection of PG2α. Timing of injections was calculated according to the IVF schedule. Embryos collected from portable incubators were transferred to a CO2 incubator for further culture at 39°C. Two experiments were carried out: (1) transfer of embryos without sexing;; (2) transfer of embryos after biopsy and sex determination by PCR. In experiment 2, compact morulae or morula-blastocysts were selected for sex determination. Four to five blastomeres were aspirated from each embryo using a cutting pipette and an aspiration pipette of 30-μm diameter. PCR was done as previously described (Uoc et al., 1999 J. Biology). After biopsy, embryos were kept in culture for one day to observe the development in vitro. Embryos developed to morula-blastocyst or hatching blastocyst at Day 7 or Day 8 after IVF were transferred nonsurgically to recipients with estrus detected in the period from 0 to 12h before or after the starting IVF. Pregnancy was confirmed by rectal palpation 3 months after embryo transfer. The average rate of embryos developed into morula-blastocyst was more then 50% (Table 1) and there were no significant differences among different shipping groups. For experiment 2, more then 87 % of embryos biopsied developed in vitro to expanding and hatching embryos. The average rate of female embryos was 56.3%. The pregnancy rate at 3 months was more then 44% (n=188). The first group of calves was born without unusual birthing problems. In conclusion, the system of embryo transfer using intercontinental shipping of fresh IVF embryos and local Bos indicus recipients can be applied for production of dairy calves. Supported by grant from the AIRE-Development agency. Table 1 Development in vitro of IVP embryos

Economic determinants of free trade agreements

The purpose of this study is to provide the first systematic empirical analysis of the economic determinants of the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs) and of the likelihood of FTAs between pairs of countries using a qualitative choice model. We develop this econometric model based upon a general equilibrium model of world trade with two factors of production, two monopolistically-competitive product markets, and explicit intercontinental and intracontinental transportation costs among multiple countries on multiple continents. The empirical model correctly predicts, based solely upon economic characteristics, 85% of the 286 FTAs existing in 1996 among 1431 pairs of countries and 97% of the remaining 1145 pairs with no FTAs.

Multiple maternal origins and weak phylogeographic structure in domestic goats.

Domestic animals have played a key role in human history. Despite their importance, however, the origins of most domestic species remain poorly understood. We assessed the phylogenetic history and population structure of domestic goats by sequencing a hypervariable segment (481 bp) of the mtDNA control region from 406 goats representing 88 breeds distributed across the Old World. Phylogeographic analysis revealed three highly divergent goat lineages (estimated divergence >200,000 years ago), with one lineage occurring only in eastern and southern Asia. A remarkably similar pattern exists in cattle, sheep, and pigs. These results, combined with recent archaeological findings, suggest that goats and other farm animals have multiple maternal origins with a possible center of origin in Asia, as well as in the Fertile Crescent. The pattern of goat mtDNA diversity suggests that all three lineages have undergone population expansions, but that the expansion was relatively recent for two of the lineages (including the Asian lineage). Goat populations are surprisingly less genetically structured than cattle populations. In goats only approximately 10% of the mtDNA variation is partitioned among continents. In cattle the amount is >/=50%. This weak structuring suggests extensive intercontinental transportation of goats and has intriguing implications about the importance of goats in historical human migrations and commerce.

Prospects for intercontinental seaborne transportation of hydrogen

Large quantities of hydropower are available in many parts of the world which are separated from Europe by the sea. The production of hydrogen by electrolysis using hydro-electricity is the cleanest way to obtain an energy supply to Europe, but hydrogen, after liquefaction, must be transported by ship. Various types of special ships for liquid hydrogen transportation are investigated and compared. The corresponding transportation costs are calculated and some possible solutions for the boil-off problem are proposed.

A transcendentalist discourse in the poetics of technology: Louis Sullivan's transportation building and Walt Whitman's ‘Passage to India’

Abstract In 1871 Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wrote ‘Passage to India’ to celebrate three recent feats in inter-continental communications and transportation. Both the Suez canal, connecting Europe and Asia, and the Union Pacific Railroad, spanning the North American continent, were completed in 1869. The third accomplishment, the laying of the trans-Atlantic telegraphic cable, had been finished in 1859. For Whitman, however, these contemporary technological events provided an occasion to celebrate a timeless cosmic event: in ‘Passage to India’ he praised the heroes of modern life who mechanically harnessed nature's processes and products for humanity's material and, more importantly, spiritual progress.1

British Intercontinental Shipping and Australia, 1813–1850

British Intercontinental Shipping and Australia, 1813–1850

The angle of repose of potash pellets

The angle of repose of a granular medium is shown not to be a unique property of the mateial, but rather to depend on the deposition and storage conditions of the medium. It may consequently be varied by varying these conditions. A knowledge of the angle of repose of potash pellets was required for purposes of intercontinental shipping of the material. It was found that the stable angle generally assumed for the material, established by pouring it into a pile on a horizontal surface and measuring the inclination of the slope of the resulting pile, represents a gross underestimate of the angle relevant to shipping conditions. Furthermore, by simply applying a light spray of moisture to the material surface, its angle of repose could be increased to a value more than 100% greater than that found in the above manner.