Methods of improving the fire and explosion safety of operation of liquefied hydrocarbon gas transportation tanks

Introduction. The problem of fire and explosion safety of liquefied hydrocarbon gas transportation arose in the 1970s. The task was set to design new generation tanks having improved technical and economic parameters and indicators to ensure fire and explosion safety. The co-authors have conducted the analysis of regulatory documentation covering the fire and explosion safety of hydrocarbon gas transportation tanks, which shows the absence of any unified policy in the design of cars designated for hazardous cargoes. Hence, a number of models, having no or insufficiently effective protective devices, are produced. Therefore, the issues of fire and explosion safety were understudied in the earlier research works on design of railroad cars, and the problem has not been resolved. Principal actions aimed at the fire and explosion safety of hydrocarbon gas transportation tanks were implemented by the Russian University of Transport (MIIT). Statistical information on fire hazardous failures and fleet tank accidents, as well as their detailed investigation has been collected. Tank barrel vulnerabilities have been identified; reliability and durability assessment methods have been developed. Priorities for improving the pressurized tank design are outlined. The following items of work have been performed: ● analysis of statistical data on hazardous cargo transportation accidents, ● development of fire hazard emergency scenarios; ● improvement of “Railroad car analysis and design regulations”, ● development of mathematical models designated for the analysis of tanks, ● identification of an unstable temperature field inside a tank barrel, if in the seat of fire, using non-linear heat conduction equations and the finite element method (FEM), ● identification of the stress-strain state of a tank barrel during a fire. Conclusions. Following the completion of the work performed by the Russian University of Transport (MIIT), hydrocarbon gas tanks have obtained a better barrel emergency impact protection. A unified policy in the design of cars for hazardous cargoes is needed and regulatory documentation requirements must be harmonized.

Motivations and Actions to Prevent Food Waste among Young Italian Consumers

Food waste is a relevant global problem due to its consequences on food security, economy, and environmental sustainability. This study focuses, in detail, on finding the main motivation for food waste among the young and the principal actions to prevent it. The paper focuses on Italian reality, since Western countries are partly accountable for wasting large amounts of food. What is more, the focus has been shifted specifically on to the youths and young adults, as they are the portion of the population that are most inclined to waste food. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey performed on a sample of n = 904 Italian consumers. In line with previous research, the results of this study confirm that avoidable food waste comes from three main behavioural antecedents: over preparation, excessive purchase, and inappropriate conservation. The research shows that food waste cannot be reduced by just one-way from the consumers; rather, it goes both ways, between consumers and retailers. Therefore, only holding the consumers accountable and expecting them to solve it will not solve the problem of food waste; marketing and retailers should also consider ethics when it comes to food distribution.

Principal Actions of Stacky Lie Groupoids

Stacky Lie groupoids are generalizations of Lie groupoids in which the “space of arrows” of the groupoid is a differentiable stack. In this paper, we consider actions of stacky Lie groupoids on differentiable stacks and their associated quotients. We provide a characterization of principal actions of stacky Lie groupoids, that is, actions whose quotients are again differentiable stacks in such a way that the projection onto the quotient is a principal bundle. As an application, we extend the notion of Morita equivalence of Lie groupoids to the realm of stacky Lie groupoids, providing examples that naturally arise from non-integrable Lie algebroids.

The Policy for Maintenance of National and Rural Roads Network in Albania

This paper examines the effects of Territorial Reform on the maintenance of national and rural roads and makes recommendations regarding the implementation of maintenance under the new organisational structure. The background and logic behind those recommendations is elaborated in the body of the paper through summarising the principal actions and policies required to be adopted in order to achieve a proper standards of road maintenance under the new territorial strategy system of local government. It is important to recognise that the roads which will fall under the responsibility of the new bodies are just a part of the overall road system. They should not be considered in isolation and in some respects it is desirable that national policies and standards be adopted which will cover the whole of the road system. In these areas it is important that policy development take place in the context of cooperation between the various responsible institutions, primarily Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Local Issues, Albanian Roads Authority( ARA), Albanian Development Fund (ADF) and the new local government authorities, the LGA s.

La igualdad entre géneros y la necesidad de un nuevo principio de acción: aprendizaje y profesionalización en la educación superior

Se muestra la marginación en que se halla la mujer en el campo profesional de la educación superior a partir de las principales acciones realizadas sobre esta situación y su análisis cuantitativo en la actualidad. Saber de qué depende la marginación y cómo puede contrarrestarse requiere: 1. Entender la noción de lucha contra el tiempo. 2. Conocer el alcance que tiene el principio ilustrado de igualdad educativa.3. Saber de qué principios depende la marginación de la mujer. 4. Establecer la forma de variar estos principios en conformidad con los valores propios de la mujer.<br /><br />This paper shows the marginalization of women in the professional field of university education, on the basis of the principal actions undertaken on this situation and the quantitative analysis thereof at present. In order to know on what marginalization depends and how it can be counteracted, it is required: 1.To understand the notion of fight against time. 2. To know the scope of the illustrated principle of equal education. 3. To know from what principles the marginalization of women depends. 4. To establish the way of changing these principles in conformity with women’s own values.<br />Keywords: .

Integrating GHS into the Ghrelin System

Oligopeptide derivatives of metenkephalin were found to stimulate growth-hormone (GH) release directly by pituitary somatotrope cells in vitro in 1977. Members of this class of peptides and nonpeptidyl mimetics are referred to as GH secretagogues (GHSs). A specific guanosine triphosphatate-binding protein-associated heptahelical transmembrane receptor for GHS was cloned in 1996. An endogenous ligand for the GHS receptor, acylghrelin, was identified in 1999. Expression of ghrelin and homonymous receptor occurs in the brain, pituitary gland, stomach, endothelium/vascular smooth muscle, pancreas, placenta, intestine, heart, bone, and other tissues. Principal actions of this peptidergic system include stimulation of GH release via combined hypothalamopituitary mechanisms, orexigenesis (appetitive enhancement), insulinostasis (inhibition of insulin secretion), cardiovascular effects (decreased mean arterial pressure and vasodilation), stimulation of gastric motility and acid secretion, adipogenesis with repression of fat oxidation, and antiapoptosis (antagonism of endothelial, neuronal, and cardiomyocyte death). The array of known and proposed interactions of ghrelin with key metabolic signals makes ghrelin and its receptor prime targets for drug development.

The Fraud Tree and its Investigation in Audit

The purpose of the present research paper is to introduce a new structure of the Fraud Tree and to suggest certain audit procedures possibly employed in examining its branches. For the purpose of the present paper the authors thereof have referred to the analysis of related research literature, also applied the information comparison and generalization methods. Fraud is being committed in every part of the world, and in every sphere of human activities. Often fraud leads to financial nightmare and collapse of major international corporations which cause spill-off after-effects not only upon corporations and their employees, but also upon other related businesses and organizations, governments and societies. In view of globalization of economy, increasingly dynamic and competitive business fraud has changed in character though has not downscaled in its scope. Today fraudsters elaborate their attempts making use of the most state-of-the-art science achievements and innovative technologies. This largely facilitates the growth of the “Fraud Tree” with its new branches ever springing up. The present article represents an attempt to investigate individual fraud cases and the groups of persons committing this kind of crime. A new concept of “Fraud Tree” has been introduced with the following basic branches: i) material misstatements in financial statements; ii) asset misappropriation; iii) corruption; iv) tax evasion; and v) others. Every branch on the Fraud Tree has several sub-branches, and significant efforts should be devoted in the course of audit to examine the scope, formation conditions of each such sub-branch. The present paper includes guidelines for the principal actions and procedures to be followed by an auditor in view of the risks related to misstatements in financial statements, asset misappropriation, corruption and tax evasion.

How many bird extinctions have we prevented?

Considerable resources and efforts have been directed at biodiversity conservation in recent years, but measures of the success of conservation programmes have been limited. Based on information on population sizes, trends, threatening processes and the nature and intensity of conservation actions implemented during 1994–2004, we assessed that 16 bird species would have probably become extinct during this period if conservation programmes for them had not been undertaken. The mean minimum population size of these 16 species increased from 34 to 147 breeding individuals during 1994–2004. In 1994, 63% of them had declining populations but by 2004, 81% were increasing. Most of these species (63%) are found on islands. The principal threats that led to their decline were habitat loss and degradation (88%), invasive species (50%) and exploitation (38%), a pattern similar to that for other threatened species, but with exploitation and invasive species being relatively more important. The principal actions carried out were habitat protection and management (75% of species), control of invasive species (50%), and captive breeding and release (33%). The 16 species represent only 8.9% of those currently classified as Critically Endangered, and 1.3% of those threatened with extinction. Many of these additional species slipped closer to extinction during 1994–2004, including 164 that deteriorated in status sufficiently to be uplisted to higher categories of extinction risk on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2006). Efforts need to be considerably scaled up to prevent many more extinctions in the coming decades. The knowledge and tools to achieve this are available, but we need to mobilize the resources and political will to apply them.