CALCULATION OF THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF CONTAINERS AND VEHICLES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF A BATCH OF ACETONE

This article discusses the issues of determining the types of packaging and calculating its required quantity, taking into account the maximum use of the carrying capacity and cargo capacity of vehicles when transporting a batch of acetone from St. Petersburg to Kaliningrad.

DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMAL BATCH, SIZE AND QUANTITY OF TRANSPORT PACKAGES FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF KARELIAN BIRCH

This article presents the calculation of the optimal batch, dimensional and mass characteristics and the required number of transport packages for the transportation of Karelian birch in "knife" bars and boards. The number and weight of bars on EURO or FIN pallets, the number of boards of the same cubic capacity are determined and transport packages and stacks of boards are calculated taking into account the realization of the maximum possible carrying capacity and cargo capacity of vehicles and containers. The choice and justification of the rolling stock and its necessary quantity for transportation of the calculated batch of wood is made.

TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEMS TO REDUCE EXHAUST EMISSIONS OF BULK CARRIERS

The combination of a prime mover and an energy storage device for reduction of fuel consumption has successfully been used in the automotive industry. In the shipping industry, the potential use of a hybrid battery-diesel-electric propulsion system is investigated. The scope of this study is to suggest that in existing newly built vessels and in modern designs, such a combination can be achieved without significantly affecting the principal dimensions of the ship and the cargo capacity. This work considers structural arrangements of a bulk carrier fleet of all vessel types. Complete calculation of free, void and machinery spaces is performed. The energy requirements of each vessel size and the derived energy storage system are used to inform the installation and construction scenarios. Meanwhile, trim constraints are investigated and discussed. Installation and retrofitting issues affecting the housing compartments of the proposed system are investigated for the current ship designs. Results indicate that such an installation will fit in modern bulk carriers and that proper allocation of the weight may be used to improve the trim. Cargo capacity is affected by less than 1.0% and is dependent on the battery weight, the type of diesel generators and electric motor technology deployed.

Optimization of the stages of a ship's cargo plan development for shippining of general cargoes

One of the main tasks in stability calculations is to provide the ship with the necessary (optimal) trim whose final value is influenced by the arrangement of cargo on the ship. Today, however, there are rules and requirements but there is no unified approach to developing a cargo plan for a vessel that simultaneously transports various types of general cargo. In order to improve the efficiency of the above calculations, a procedure has been proposed to optimize developing a cargo plan for a vessel carrying heterogeneous general cargoes at the same time, the main idea of which is to distribute consignments on the ship in two stages, taking into consideration the compensating trimming moment. The scheme to develop a cargo plan has been improved by introducing the developed procedure. The results of verification confirmed its effectiveness in practice. Possible deviations of the values for the trim required (optimal) for the voyage from the actual one calculated after the allocation of stocks and consignments of goods have been investigated using an example of the series of developed cargo plans. It should be noted that the value for the trim, required (optimal) and actual, for each individual cargo plan does not differ by more than 8 %. The results reported in this paper give grounds to assert the expediency of their application when developing cargo plans for tramp shipping vessels. The introduction of the procedure could make it possible to effectively load a vessel with the full utilization of both its carrying capacity and cargo capacity. The use of the proposed scheme for developing a cargo plan to transport heterogeneous cargoes would reduce the total time for calculating the stability and strength of the vessel in general

Mobile Harbor, Alabama navigation study : ship simulation report

Mobile Bay is a large estuary located in the southwest corner of Alabama, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. Mobile Harbor contains the only port in the state that supports ocean-going vessels. Some of the larger vessels calling on the port experience transit delays and limited cargo capacity, so a study was conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District (CESAM), and the Alabama State Port Authority to investigate channel improvements. In 2017, the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) assisted CESAM in screening proposed deepening and widening alternatives in Mobile Bay by completing a Feasibility Level Ship Simulation (FLSS) study using the ERDC Ship/Tow Simulator. These lower-resolution databases from the FLSS study were used as a foundation to complete a more robust navigation study in 2020 to test the proposed modifications to Mobile Harbor. During this study, three main areas were focused on: a bend easing, a passing lane, and a turning basin. Testing of the proposed design was evaluated over the course of 2 weeks with eight pilots. Assessment of the proposed modifications was accomplished through analysis of ship simulations completed by experienced local pilots, discussions, track plots, run sheets, and final pilot surveys.

Bacterial Nanocompartments: Structures, Functions and Applications

Increasing efficiency is an important driving force behind cellular organization and often achieved through compartmentalization. Long recognized as a core principle of eukaryotic cell organization, its widespread occurrence in prokaryotes has only recently come to light. Despite the early discovery of a few microcompartments such as gas vesicles and carboxysomes, the vast majority of these structures in prokaryotes are less than 100 nm in diameter - too small for conventional light microscopy and electron microscopic thin sectioning. Consequently, these smaller-sized nanocompartments have therefore been discovered serendipitously and then through bioinformatics shown to be broadly distributed. Their small uniform size, robust self-assembly, high stability, excellent biocompatibility, and large cargo capacity make them excellent candidates for biotechnology applications. This review will highlight our current knowledge of nanocompartments, the prospects for applications as well as open question and challenges that need to be addressed to fully understand these important structures.

Development, features and prospects of application of AMP / cold ironing marine power systems

The evolution and current state of the technology for supplying ships from the shore under high voltage - alternative power from the shore (APS), known as “Alternative Maritime Power® (AMP®), cold ironing (CI) and high voltage shore connection (HVSC) are described. The structure of the system and existing methods of implementation, mandatory components, depending on the system version are considered. The need for national adaptations of the international versons, the unification of existing technical solutions and their development trends, taking into account high-voltage technologies is emphasized. Advantages and challenges of environmental impacts, expected phased tightening of environmental regulations, including the maritime legislation (the MARPOL convention), as well as promising initiatives in the context of global decarbonization trends are described. The need to take into account purposes and cargo capacity and regions of operation of ships, to develop the port infrastructure, and make clean electricity available is emphasized.

Graphical criteria of inherent stability of river vessels for the case of shallow waters navigation

Форма корпуса речного водоизмещающего судна во многом определяет его динамические свойства. Удачно подобранные геометрические параметры обеспечивают судну не только требуемую грузоподъемность и грузовместимость, но и предсказуемую управляемость при различных внешних условиях. Задача проектирования корпусов судов с заданными характеристиками управляемости связана с исследованием связи между геометрией корпуса и его динамикой. Динамику судна оценивают по виду характеристики управляемости и по критериям переходных процессов при выполнении специальных маневров головными судами серии или масштабными моделями [1, 2]. Использование таких методов затруднительно на этапе проектирования, так как необходимо изготовить масштабную модель и провести ее испытания при различных внешних условиях. Кроме того, этот способ достаточно затратный по времени, особенно если требуется изготавливать большое количество моделей. С целью сокращения числа моделей предлагается на этапе проектирования качественно оценивать динамические свойства будущего корпуса, а на этапе натурных экспериментов производить только небольшие корректировки. The hull geometry of a displacement riverboat largely determines its dynamic properties. Successfully selected geometric parameters provide a vessel not only with required cargo capacity and carrying capacity, but also with predictable steerability under various external conditions. The task of ship hull design with preset steerability properties is connected with investigation of relation between geometry of the hull and its dynamics. Vessel dynamics is estimated by type of controllability characteristic and by criteria of transients during special maneuvers by head vessels of series or scale models [1, 2]. The use of such methods is difficult at the design stage, since it is necessary to make a scale model and test it under various external conditions. In addition, this method is quite time-consuming, especially if a large number of models is required. In order to reduce the number of models, it is proposed to assess qualitatively the dynamic properties of the future hull at the design stage, and to make only small adjustments at the stage of full-scale experiments.

The Many Applications of Engineered Bacteriophages—An Overview

Since their independent discovery by Frederick Twort in 1915 and Felix d’Herelle in 1917, bacteriophages have captured the attention of scientists for more than a century. They are the most abundant organisms on the planet, often outnumbering their bacterial hosts by tenfold in a given environment, and they constitute a vast reservoir of unexplored genetic information. The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistant pathogens has renewed interest in the use of naturally obtained phages to combat bacterial infections, aka phage therapy. The development of tools to modify phages, genetically or chemically, combined with their structural flexibility, cargo capacity, ease of propagation, and overall safety in humans has opened the door to a myriad of applications. This review article will introduce readers to many of the varied and ingenious ways in which researchers are modifying phages to move them well beyond their innate ability to target and kill bacteria.

Novel tool to quantify with single-cell resolution the number of incoming AAV genomes co-expressed in the mouse nervous system

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are an established and safe gene delivery tool to target the nervous system. However, the payload capacity of <4.9 kb limits the transfer of large or multiple genes. Oversized payloads could be delivered by fragmenting the transgenes into separate AAV capsids that are then mixed. This strategy could increase the AAV cargo capacity to treat monogenic, polygenic diseases and comorbidities only if controlled co-expression of multiple AAV capsids is achieved on each transduced cell. We developed a tool to quantify the number of incoming AAV genomes that are co-expressed in the nervous system with single-cell resolution. By using an isogenic mix of three AAVs each expressing single fluorescent reporters, we determined that expression of much greater than 31 AAV genomes per neuron in vitro and 20 genomes per neuron in vivo is obtained across different brain regions including anterior cingulate, prefrontal, somatomotor and somatosensory cortex areas, and cerebellar lobule VI. Our results demonstrate that multiple AAV vectors containing different transgenes or transgene fragments, can efficiently co-express in the same neuron. This tool can be used to design and improve AAV-based interrogation of neuronal circuits, map brain connectivity, and treat genetic diseases affecting the nervous system.