Terminal Location Research Articles

Modelling Inland Terminal Locations Based on Transport Cost Optimization

The position of inland terminal in transportation network depends on several elements. Selection of these elements has significant influence on its final location. This paper presents the quantitative method to define the optimal location of inland terminal in a node of railway network, primarily based on transportation cost savings. The key condition of the model is that all containers that are currently transported by road are to be transported primarily by rail from the seaport to the proposed location of the inland terminal. Onward transport to the destination can occur by road, rail or inland waterway where possible. The model was validated on a real network, where the first point of entry is the Port of Rijeka (seaport) in Croatia, and the possible location of inland terminal is in the Port of Rijeka hinterland (inside the Croatian borders). The application of the model on a real network has proven its usefulness, especially in the case when there is need for additional criteria in the decision process of determining the inland terminal location.

Modelling inland terminal locations based on transport cost optimisation

Modelling inland terminal locations based on transport cost optimisation

Natural Gaz profitability study for future importing terminal project in Morocco

In recent years, energy debates are increasingly focused on the energy transition, the Kingdom of Morocco has shown a growing preference for Liquid Natural Gaz (LNG) to ensure energy efficiency. Therefore, Morocco is projecting to invest in its first natural gas for importing and storage capacity by 2030. In tune with developing a terminal site location and an optimum routing alternative for pipeline [1], this article comes as a follow up to establish a profitability study for the same importation terminal. It aims to investigate the financial viability of such a project. The profitability of an investment is generally the most important criterion for the decision-making. Even if the combined ecological and industrial benefits of natural Gaz can sometimes provide enough motivation to invest in importation terminal, a long-term profitability study is a compulsory in such expensive projects, it is systematically pursued to evaluate the economic impact of such an investment decision. After highlighting the multiple benefits of Natural Gaz, the first step is setting up the financial model to be adopted, which is in this case the net present value (NPV) and payback profitability criteria. Therefore, operating and financial assumptions are made based on the benchmark with other similar projects, and finally, the profitability study will allow us to measure the LNG terminal capacity to generate revenue.

Multicriteria analysis of planned intercity bus terminals in the metropolitan city of Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract This paper proposes a methodology of decision making and policy guidance based on a multi-criteria decision aiding (MCDA) method for a comprehensive evaluation of intercity bus terminals in Istanbul, Turkey. Since decisions on the location of bus terminals in large agglomerations determine transportation costs and the quality of service of public transport passengers, the use of multicriteria analysis becomes necessary. In that respect, the intercity bus terminals proposed by 2023 Long-Range Landuse Plan (LRLUP) and 2023 Transportation Master Plan (TMP) of Istanbul are examined based on decision criteria of accessibility and suitability within the environment they are located. The multi-criteria analysis was performed using the additive value (AV) model to evaluate the locations of existing and planned intercity bus terminals in Istanbul based on their specific location characteristics defined. Criteria used in the analysis are the location within the region, population coverage and density, land value, accessibility by highway and public transit modes, availability of land for capacity expansion, and the surrounding land-use and geological characteristics. Based on the design criteria assessed, a general score for the location of each intercity bus-terminal (two existing and nine planned) was calculated using normalized importance weights obtained from an expert survey, and then the terminals were ranked based on their scores calculated for the base (2010 and before) and plan years (2023), respectively. Based on their total score, they were ranked and grouped into three categories as follows: (1) scores higher than 0.75, (2) between 0.51 and 0.75, and (3) equal to or smaller than 0.50. All planned terminals scored equal or higher than 0.50 (two out of nine are in the first category, six are in the second category, and one is in the third category), and this proved that all of them were planned where they were needed. Then, an availability analysis was carried out to identify the configurations of the bus terminals depending on each other, which is deemed to yield their best configuration. The results of this paper will be of relevance to urban and transportation planners facing a decision to make and prioritize transport planning decisions concerning the spatial planning of a metropolitan city based on chosen decision criteria.

Investigation of tail pipe breakdown incident for 110 kV cable termination and proposal of fault prevention

For cable termination, which is regarded as a key segment of power grid connecting cable lines with other electrical equipments, its insulation parts withstand much higher electric field strength than the average electric field strength of overall cable line. The excessive local electric field strength may result in the appearance of cable termination breakdown fault which can cause serious harm to the power supply reliability of whole transmission line. Historical statistics show that the breakdown location of cable termination is not confined to the vicinity of stress cone. However, the existing researches have not attached enough importance to the breakdown faults at the tail pipe of cable termination. Thus, it is of considerable significance to study the mechanism of breakdown fault at the tail pipe of cable termination. In this paper, a breakdown fault case of cable termination tail pipe on a 110 kV transmission line is investigated. Firstly, the disassembly inspection is applied to cable terminations of this fault line, and the possible breakdown reasons are preliminarily inferred. Then, a three-dimensional electric field simulation model of intact cable termination is established, and the mechanism of creeping discharge and air discharge inside the tail pipe occurred at the initial stage of breakdown fault is explained by this model. Subsequently, by setting defects on cable insulation surface in the simulation model of intact cable termination and varying the size of defects, the process of cable insulation damage inside the tail pipe formed in the initial stage developing into a penetrating cable insulation damage is simulated. Finally, the mechanism of breakdown fault case of cable termination tail pipe is concluded, and some improvement measures for the installation of cable terminations are proposed to reduce the incidence probability of such breakdown fault at the tail pipe of cable termination. The method for analyzing the breakdown fault case of cable termination tail pipe presented in this paper, which combines the disassembly inspection and simulation analysis, can provide reference and suggestions for the investigation and solution in similar cases.

Elucidation of a sialic acid metabolism pathway in mucus-foraging Ruminococcus gnavus unravels mechanisms of bacterial adaptation to the gut.

Sialic acid (Neu5Ac) is commonly found in terminal location of colonic mucins glycans where it is a much-coveted nutrient for gut bacteria including Ruminococcus gnavus. R. gnavus is part of the healthy gut microbiota in humans but shows a disproportionate representation in diseases. There is therefore a need in understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning its adaptation to the gut. Previous in vitro work demonstrated that R. gnavus mucin glycan-foraging strategy is strain-dependent and associated with the expression of an intramolecular trans-sialidase releasing 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac instead of Neu5Ac from mucins. Here, we have unravelled the metabolism pathway of 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac in R. gnavus which is underpinned by the exquisite specificity of the sialic transporter for 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac, and by the action of an oxidoreductase converting 2,7-anhydro-Neu5Ac into Neu5Ac which then becomes substrate of a Neu5Ac-specific aldolase. Having generated a R. gnavus nan cluster deletion mutant that lost the ability to grow on sialylated substrates, we showed that in gnotobiotic mice colonised with R. gnavus wild-type and mutant strains, the fitness of the nan mutant was significantly impaired with a reduced ability to colonise the mucus layer. Overall, our study revealed a unique sialic acid pathway in bacteria, with significant implications for the spatial adaptation of mucin-foraging gut symbionts in health and disease.

Selecting a location for establishing a rail-road intermodal terminal by using a hybrid SWOT/MCDM model

The study proposes a methodology based on the combination of Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods for selecting the most appropriate location for establishing an intermodal terminal. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) are the MCDM methods used in the paper. The methodology contains four steps. In the first step we determine the alternatives variants of the location of intermodal terminal. In the second step the SWOT analysis have been applied to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to the surveyed system. The sub-criteria for each SWOT group have been defined. A total of 33 criteria are included in the study. Third step includes determination of weights of main criteria and sub-criteria by applying AHP method. The results of weights given in this step are used in the four step to ranking the alternative variants of the intermodal terminal location by using PROMETHEE method. The methodology has been approved for choosing the location of intermodal terminal in the city of Ruse. Five alternative locations of intermodal terminal have been studied. The results show that main importance of SWOT group has the strengths group criteria (0.471). It was found that the internal factors including the strengths and weaknesses have more important compared to the external factors including the opportunities and threats when studying the location of intermodal terminal. It was found that the main importance of all sub-criteria have the quantity of manipulated containers (9%), connectivity to road infrastructure (6%), rail connection with a port (5%) and average useful length of railway tracks used for loading/unloading activities (5%). The study shows that location that is situated in the place of the suspended Ruse-East railway yard is the best alternative for intermodal terminal location.

Evaluation of Risk Factors for the Birth of Children with Chromosomal Imbalance in Carriers of Autosomal Reciprocal Translocations

An important problem of genetic counseling is to determine the personalized risk of the birth of a child with an unbalanced karyotype in families with reciprocal translocation carriers. The risks of the formation of zygotes with chromosomal imbalance among carriers of balanced autosomal translocations vary significantly. These risks will depend on the most probable type of malsegregation for each specific translocation, leading to the formation of unbalanced gametes, and the probable viability of zygotes, embryos, fetuses, or newborns with unbalanced karyotype. In turn, these probabilities depend on many factors, including cytogenetic and quantitative characteristics of the translocation. During regression analysis of several independent factors and characteristics affecting the segregation behavior of the quadrivalent in meiosis I from 49 autosomal reciprocal translocations, it was found that the terminal location of breakpoints on the chromosomes involved in the translocation is statistically significant, i.e., independently associated with the risk of the birth of a viable child with chromosomal imbalance.

Smart Bicycle-Sharing System Design for the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul

The paper presents a smart bike sharing system proposal with intent to promote cycling for tourists as a sightseeing trip in the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, where high population, inadequate road infrastructure and traffic congestion make the mobility difficult. Cycling offers an alternative sustainable transportation mode to overcome these mobility challenges; it presents low cots and active mobility to the individuals, and also improves the spatial experience with urban environment. The aim of the study is to promote the use of bikes for improving visitors' (tourists) perception of the urban environment by considering bicycle demand. The research concentrates on (1) how to perform more effective bike sharing system, which is able to respond to traffic condition, and (2) adjust the bike capacity according to in user demand. The smart bike sharing system, presented in this study, consists of; 1) bike route, 2) bike use mobile application and 3) bike sharing model stages. In bike-sharing modeling process, we employ agent based modeling as decision support system. In the scope of the study, the model is evaluated through a test case that is designed by randomly selected bike park spots and terminal locations. The results showed that there is an association between bicycle demand and the number and location of biycyle facilities (bike park spots and terminals). The presented bike sharing system offers a navigation map for the visitors unfamiliar with the area and a dynamic model proposal that responds flexibly to user needs. The developed dynamic bicycle system is expected to increase the user satisfaction and thus the use of bicycles by reducing the bicycle waiting time of the users.

Karyotype structure and NOR activity in Brazilian Smilax Linnaeus, 1753 species (Smilacaceae).

The genus Smilax Linnaeus, 1753 (Smilacaceae) is a large genus of dioecious plants distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions. Some Smilax species have medicinal importance and their identification is important for the control of raw material used in the manufacture of phytotherapeutical products. The karyotypes of seven Brazilian Smilax species were investigated. Mitotic metaphases of roots from young plants were analysed in Feulgen-stained preparations. The karyotypes were asymmetric and modal with 2n = 2x = 32 chromosomes gradually decreasing in size. In S. goyazana A De Candolle & C De Candolle, 1878, a polyploid species, 2n = 4x = 64. In all the species, the large and medium-sized chromosomes were subtelocentric and submetacentric and the small chromosomes were submetacentric or metacentric. Their karyotypes were quite similar, with differences in the arm ratio of some chromosomes. S. fluminensis Steudel, 1841 differed from the other species by having a large metacentric chromosome 1. These findings suggest that evolution occurred without drastic changes in the chromosomal structure in the species analyzed. Terminal secondary constrictions were visualized on the short arm of some chromosomes, but they were detected only in one homologue of each pair. Due to the terminal location and the degree of chromosome condensation, secondary constrictions were not visualized in some species. The nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) were mapped by silver-staining and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in S. rufescens Grisebach, 1842 and S. fluminensis. Silver-staining and FISH signals were colocalized on the short arms of six chromosomes in S. rufescens and four chromosomes in S. fluminensis. In FISH preparations, one of the largest chromosomes had the secondary constrictions highly decondensed in some cells. This finding and the heteromorphism observed in Feulgen-stained chromosomes suggest that differential rRNA gene expression between homologous rDNA loci can occur in some cells, resulting in different degrees of ribosomal chromatin decondensation. The presence of a heteromorphic chromosome pair in S. rufescens, S. polyantha Grisebach, 1842 and S. goyazana suggests a chromosomal sex determination in these dioecious species.

Proposal of Relevant Information Visualization for a Universal Viewer in Oncology.

Medical information, such as physicians' descriptions, nursing records, and various examination reports, is stored separately in the subsystems of an electronic medical record (EMR). To provide efficient treatment, health professionals require a universal viewer that collectively organizes and visualizes this distributed information at each clinical phase (i.e., first outpatient visit, treatment, follow-up observation, etc.). This research investigates a method to enable physicians to easily browse relevant information at each clinical phase, and to reflect and verify information in a universal viewer. We analyzed the patterns of picture archiving and communication system (PACS) reference logs and EMR performed orders to identify relevant information. We found that by considering the locations of display terminals in addition to disease types (clinical departments) and clinical phases, more relevant information could be identified, and the contents displayed on a universal viewer were improved accordingly.

Tracking Position and Orientation Through Millimeter Wave Lens MIMO in 5G Systems

Millimeter wave signals and large antenna arrays are considered enabling technologies for future 5G networks. Despite their benefits for achieving high data rate communications, their potential advantages for tracking of the location and rotation angle of the user terminals are not well investigated. A joint heuristic beam selection and user position and orientation tracking approach is proposed. First, the user location is tracked in the uplink by joint beam selection together with time-of-arrival (TOA) and angle-of-arrival (AOA) tracking at the base station (BS). Then, the user rotation angle is obtained using the location information by joint beam selection and tracking at the mobile station (MS). The beam selection, TOA and AOA tracking, at the BS and MS are performed during the data transmission phase. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method performs close to the estimated position and rotation angle in the training phase with reduced complexity and reduced number of required pilots for the estimation.

Rationalizing Public Transport System of Dhaka City: Proposal of Creating a Multimodal Hierarchical Transport Network to Reduce Traffic Congestion

The concept of rationalization can be defined as a structured process to increase effectiveness through a maximize use of existing resources. Rationalization in terms of road infrastructure or systems can be achieved in various ways; establishing hierarchy of routes, optimize bus-stop points with density distribution changes, proper integration of motorized and non-motorized transport and providing policy framework. In the highly densely populated city of Dhaka, rationalizing public transport is one way to minimize the mismatch between demand and supply.
 This paper is concerned with the following issues: providing a general description of the city transport system, identifying problems and demands analysis in the area of study area; studying the rationalization of public transport, particularly public transport system design (routes and their categorization) and proposing the creation of a multimodal hierarchical transport network for Dhaka. The findings suggest establishing a major component, a hierarchal-network. Beside establishing network hierarchy, rationalizing is also interdependent upon system planning, institutional framework, organization and financing, terminal locations, public-private relationships, government roles, policies, service integration, and the management of public transport. This is can be accomplished by all stakeholders sharing the relative success and failure, depending different levels of each components’ performances. The findings of this paper will help planners and decision makers to optimize the investment in the transport infrastructure.

A Model and an Algorithm of Logistics Terminal Node Location Problem Considering Customer Satisfaction

A Model and an Algorithm of Logistics Terminal Node Location Problem Considering Customer Satisfaction

Anatomic Variation of the Cystic Artery: New Findings and Potential Implications

Purpose: To determine the anatomy of the cystic artery by dual-source CT, and correlate imaging findings with those patients who had laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Materials and Methods: Following institutional review board approval, a total of 289 consecutive patients (204 men and 85 women) were evaluated with CT for abdominal pain, including 55 patients subsequently underwent LC. Location of the cystic artery termination, distance between the cystic artery origin and the gallbladder, and angle between the cystic artery and its parent artery were evaluated by two radiologists. The laparoscopic surgical video record (gold standard) was similarly evaluated by a surgeon. Results: A total of 256 cystic arteries in the 247 patients were included. Cystic artery terminations are predominately found in ventral Calot triangle plane (50.8%, type II). Cystic artery origin immediately adjacent to the gallbladder surface was seen in 11/256 (4.3%). Zero angle between the cystic artery and its parent artery was found in 17 of 256 cystic arteries (6.6%). The cystic arteries and the Calot triangle were depicted in 49 patients (95% confidence interval: 85%, 97%). For all 49 patients, CT imaging findings were consistent with surgical video records. No case involved vascular and biliary injury occurred. Conclusions: Given the large number of LC performed each year, better knowledge of anatomic variation of the cystic artery could potentially prevent arterial injury and bile duct injury, particularly for patients with unusual anatomy.

Uma experiência sobre o sistema de transporte publico da grande vitória com estudantes do curso técnico em logística integrado ao ensino médio

Neste artigo, analisamos atividades do Clube de Matemática e evidenciamos aprendizagens de estudantes da Educação Profissional participantes deste projeto de ensino, desenvolvido no Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, campus Viana, em 2017. O Sistema Transcol, contexto da pesquisa, interliga sete municípios da Grande Vitória através de terminais urbanos e diversas linhas de ônibus. Assim, na primeira etapa do projeto, construímos uma maquete contendo a localização dos terminais rodoviários e exibindo todas as rotas de ônibus do Sistema Transcol. Em seguida, os estudantes investigaram a história dos terminais e entrevistaram passageiros sobre suas memórias e a qualidade dos serviços prestados à população. Ao final do artigo, concluímos que os estudantes desenvolveram em si e incentivaram nos entrevistados um maior senso crítico a respeito da mobilidade urbana, ressignificando conteúdos de disciplinas de formação geral e do núcleo profissional do curso.

Influence of thermal behavior along deposition direction on microstructure and microhardness of laser melting deposited metallic parts

To have a comprehensive understanding of thermal development of a laser melting deposition (LMD) additive manufacturing process, a three-dimensional finite element model was proposed to investigate the thermal behaviors of the initial, central and terminal locations along the deposition direction of the laser-deposited tracks of Inconel 625 Ni-based alloy. The underlying influence of thermal behavior on microstructure evolution and microhardness performance in multi-track LMD-processed parts was disclosed. The simulation results showed that the heat accumulation at the initial or terminal location was more significant. The maximum cooling rate was lower and the liquid lifetime was longer at the initial or terminal location of the deposition tracks, as compared with the results produced at the central location of the track. As the dimension of the molten pool increased with the increase of the molten pool temperature, the dimension of the molten pool at the initial or terminal location was larger than that at the central location. The LMD experiments were conducted to validate the simulation. Typical dendritic columnar growth with the average primary dendrite arm spacing of 3.42 μm and 3.77 μm was observed at the initial and terminal location, respectively. In comparison, the finer columnar dendrites with the average primary dendrite arm spacing of 2.55 μm were found at the central location, due to the highest cooling rate and the shortest liquid lifetime. As a result, an enhanced microhardness (263 HV0.3) was obtained at the central location, which was apparently higher than that at the initial (241 HV0.3) or terminal (243 HV0.3) location.

Artificial Intelligence for Information-Centric Networks

The current Internet is an end-to-end communication architecture based on packet switching between terminals. However, with the development of computer networks and increasing proliferation of communication services, the ability of this architecture-based Internet to transmit and process data has encountered challenges, and it has been unable to adapt to the rapid development of today's application requirements. Thus, information-centric networking (ICN) is emerging as a feasible solution and has become a new hot topic for future research in network architecture. The ICN strips content from terminal locations and provides services such as storage and multi-party communication through the publish/ subscribe paradigm. Although the ICN brings new opportunities for network development, there are plenty of problems existing in the ICN that have not been settled. For example, the conflict between polymerizability and mobility in the naming scheme, scalability problems of the name routing, as well as the inefficiency of transmission control algorithms under the circumstance of rich interest are all worth discussing. However, utilizing the computational and analytical features of artificial intelligence (AI) can help the ICN break through the bottleneck of existing technology development. With regard to the issues above, this article introduces and investigates some related technologies of AI in the ICN, that is, naming mechanism, transmission control, and content distribution, and introduces and surveys problems in ICN research. Furthermore, the next development direction of ICN and issues that need to be studied are discussed in this work.

Technology selection of LNG receiving terminals in Gresik, East Java

Java, the centre of industry in Indonesia, needs fuel gas supplies to maintain production continuity. The addition of gas infrastructures in the form of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) receiving terminals can be an alternative to secure gas supplies. Such a terminal is planned to be built in Gresik, East Java. This paper aims to examine the most appropriate technology for LNG receiving terminals to be built in East Java by considering both technical and economic aspects. In this research, LNG receiving technology was selected based on the terminal location and selection of the regasification technology using the method Analytic Hierarchy Process. Moreover, economic and sensitivity analyses were also performed. Research findings suggest the land-based LNG receiving terminal with regasification technology in the form of shell and tube vaporizers as the most suitable LNG receiving terminal in Gresik, East Java. Land-based LNG receiving terminal establishment in Gresik, East Java is feasible as regasification costs 0.468 USD/MMBTU, the Net Present Value (NPV) amounts to 31943500 USD, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) reaches 19.25%, the Benefit-Cost (BC) Ratio equals 1.23, and the Payback Period (PBP) is 3.4 years. The throughput required by the power plant generates the greatest sensitivity to IRR.

Opportunity cost of several methods for determining forest biomass terminal locations in Northern Sweden

ABSTRACTLong distance transportation of forest biomass is often unavoidable because the biomass is dispersed over large land areas. This is a problem that limits the development of biorefineries all over the world. The use of biomass terminals where forest biomass is transported to, stored, processed (mostly by mobile machinery), and reloaded can facilitate more environmentally friendly and efficient transportation to a biorefinery. The challenge is to identify the locations that should be selected for terminal establishment in order to minimize the cost of biomass procurement. In this study, locations for terminal establishment are proposed based on an optimization method (Combopt) that simultaneously minimizes the harvesting, transportation, and terminal costs for round wood and logging residues. The outcome of this method was compared with several other methods imitating situations with limited knowledge to estimate potential opportunity costs of potential knowledge deficiency when selecting terminal locations. The results of the Combopt method suggest that six terminals are required in order to minimize the overall cost of satisfying the estimated demand from the biorefineries. The opportunity cost of alternative terminal selection methods ranged from 3.1 to 35.4 million SEK (0.5–6.1% of total procurement cost). Methods that considered biomass relatively close to terminals had lower opportunity costs, together with methods minimizing transportation and terminal cost for the most common wood assortment. The methods and results could be applicable in other parts of the world were similar problems exists in forestry and other industries.