The effect of injectable vitamin C and road transit duration on inflammation, muscle fatigue, and performance in pre-conditioned beef steer calves

This study examined the effects of injectable vitamin C (VC) before transport and duration of transit on feedlot performance, inflammation, and muscle fatigue in cattle. One hundred thirty-two Angus-cross steers (393 ± 4 kg) were stratified by body weight (BW) to a 2 × 2 factorial of intramuscular injection (INJ; 20 mL/steer): VC (250 mg sodium ascorbate/mL) or saline (SAL) and road transit duration (DUR): 18 h (18-h; 1,770 km) or 8 h (8-h; 727 km). On d 0, steers were weighed and given INJ of VC or SAL immediately before transport. Upon return (d 1), BW and blood were collected before steers returned to pens equipped with GrowSafe bunks. Steers were weighed on d 0, 1, 7, 15, 30, 31, 54, and 55. Data were analyzed via ProcMixed of SAS (experimental unit = steer; 32 to 34 steers/treatment) with fixed effects of INJ, DUR, and the interaction. Blood was collected on d -5, 1, 2, 3, and 7 (n = 9 steers/treatment); blood parameters were analyzed as repeated measures with the repeated effect of day. Area under the curve (AUC) for plasma ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was calculated using R. Final BW was greater for 8-h compared to 18-h (P = 0.05) with no effect of INJ or interaction (P ≥ 0.51). Dry matter intake (DMI) from d 1 to 7 was greater for VC-8, intermediate for VC-18 and SAL-18, and least for SAL-8 (P = 0.02). Overall DMI tended to be greatest for SAL-18, intermediate for VC-18 and VC-8, and lowest by least for SAL-8 (P = 0.08). Day 7 to 31 gain:feed (G:F) was greatest for VC-18 compared to other treatments (INJ × DUR, P = 0.05), and there was no effect of treatment on overall G:F (P ≥ 0. 19). There was no INJ or INJ × DAY (P ≥ 0.17) effect on serum lactate, haptoglobin, or non-esterified fatty acid. However, these blood parameters were greater on d 1 for 18-h compared to 8-h, and both treatments returned to near baseline by d 3 (DUR × DAY, P < 0.01). Plasma ascorbate concentrations on d 1 were greater for VC compared to SAL and returned to baseline by d 2 (INJ × DAY, P < 0.01). Plasma FRAP AUC from d -5 to 3 was greatest for VC-18, intermediate for VC-8 and SAL-8, and lowest by least for SAL-18 (INJ × DAY, P = 0.02). This suggests an antioxidant prior to long-haul transit positively influenced antioxidant capacity; however, VC did not improve overall post-transit performance. While longer transit duration increased indicators of muscle fatigue and inflammation, post-transit performance was not appreciably different between transit durations.

Yeast fermentation product improves pre-transit antioxidant defense and post-transit performance of beef steers

Steers supplemented Diamond V NaturSafe, a yeast fermentation product, at the manufacturer’s current recommended dose for receiving cattle (12 g/steer/d) during a 19-d preconditioning period exhibited greater antioxidant (glutathione) capacity prior to a 19-h transit event. Regardless of treatment, activity of the antioxidant enzyme Mn-superoxide dismutase was increased post-transit, suggesting more antioxidants may be needed to combat transit-induced stress. Supplementing NaturSafe at 12 g/steer/d during both preconditioning and receiving also improved feedlot performance early in the receiving period (d 0 to 30). These data suggest increasing antioxidant status may be an effective strategy to help cattle prepare for and recover from a stressful event, such as long-distance transit.

People-focused and Near-term Public Transit Performance Analysis

Public transit ridership forecasts have long played a role in understanding the potential success of a policy or investment, but their limitations have led researchers and practitioners to identify other performance analysis approaches. Accessibility, or the ease of reaching opportunities, has become very popular and widely used for this purpose. But commonly used accessibility measures also embody weaknesses that are seldom acknowledged; these limit their utility for truly understanding the benefits of transit investments. In this paper, we identify the pros and cons of these competing approaches and offer a third strategy. Specifically, we describe how revealed travel behavior data, potentially combined with near-term forecasts, can provide information about how current public transit users will be affected by a new project. While acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we demonstrate how accessibility can be misleading when applied without an understanding of ridership patterns.

People-focused and Near-term Public Transit Performance Analysis

Public transit ridership forecasts have long played a role in understanding the potential success of a policy or investment, but their limitations have led researchers and practitioners to identify other performance analysis approaches. Accessibility, or the ease of reaching opportunities, has become very popular and widely used for this purpose. But commonly used accessibility measures also embody weaknesses that are seldom acknowledged; these limit their utility for truly understanding the benefits of transit investments. In this paper, we identify the pros and cons of these competing approaches and offer a third strategy. Specifically, we describe how revealed travel behavior data, potentially combined with near-term forecasts, can provide information about how current public transit users will be affected by a new project. While acknowledging the limitations of this approach, we demonstrate how accessibility can be misleading when applied without an understanding of ridership patterns.

Exploring Transit Performance And Traffic Congestion in Downtown Toronto Using Big Data

This exploratory research evaluates the linkages between roadway operations and mixed-traffic transit performance on three arterial corridors in Toronto- King Street, Queen Street, and Dundas Street. Using Inrix traffic speed probe data as well as GPS location data from the Toronto Transit Commission’s vehicles between January 2014 and June 2016, this research visualizes spatial and temporal trends in traffic congestion and transit headway regularity. Three regression models were estimated that indicate both traffic congestion and terminus departure times are statistically significant, but weak predictors of mixed-traffic transit reliability. These models leave most of the variability unexplained. The findings highlight opportunities and limitations for congestion management and transit scheduling as tools for improving headway reliability. They also illustrate the complexity of the relationships between transportation modes in downtown Toronto.

Exploring Transit Performance And Traffic Congestion in Downtown Toronto Using Big Data

This exploratory research evaluates the linkages between roadway operations and mixed-traffic transit performance on three arterial corridors in Toronto- King Street, Queen Street, and Dundas Street. Using Inrix traffic speed probe data as well as GPS location data from the Toronto Transit Commission’s vehicles between January 2014 and June 2016, this research visualizes spatial and temporal trends in traffic congestion and transit headway regularity. Three regression models were estimated that indicate both traffic congestion and terminus departure times are statistically significant, but weak predictors of mixed-traffic transit reliability. These models leave most of the variability unexplained. The findings highlight opportunities and limitations for congestion management and transit scheduling as tools for improving headway reliability. They also illustrate the complexity of the relationships between transportation modes in downtown Toronto.

Performance Measures and Level of Transit Service Assessment of Public Transport Bus Network in Baghdad City during 2002-2003

Buses of General Company for Passenger Transport was the primary mode for public transportation in Baghdad City. This system suffers from many problems, part of which were related to bus routes, while the other part was related to the bus and its operators. These problems have a direct effect on the users of public transport buses. The objective of this study was to assess the performance of eight public transport bus routes which they represented by the Al-Tahrir bus network and adopting the level of the transit service method. Seven transit performance measures were selected in this study, such as bus travel time, hours of service during the day, service frequency (headway), total delay on the route, running speed of the bus, bus occupancy, and capacity of the route. The results of this study showed that bus routes No. (72, 36, 13, 114, 11, 30, 37, and 9) were operating at overall Level of Transit Service LOTS (D, E, E, E, E, D, E, and E) respectively, whereas the bus network (Al-Tahrir bus network) was operating at overall LOTS (E); therefore, the performance of Al-Tahrir bus network was not acceptable, and improvements were needed to increase the level of transit service of this network.

Performance Evaluation of Electric Trolley Bus Routes. A Series Two-Stage DEA Approach

A common concern for bus operators is efficiency measurement in order to monitor transit performance. The purpose of this paper is to propose a series two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach integrated with bootstrapping in order to evaluate the performance of electric trolley bus routes of Athens and Piraeus, Greece. Production and sales efficiency were measured in the first and second stages, respectively. In the light of the results, the routes assessed have a comparable higher DEA-based efficiency in both stages when compared to the perfect possible performance, but production and sales efficiency are not associated. Nevertheless, arterial bus routes have a marginally better performance in the production process on average, whereas the feeder–local bus routes produce a slightly better sales performance. The proposed modeling approach is an addition to the current literature, and can be employed by managers and operators.