Moisture origin, transport pathways, and driving processes of intense wintertime moisture transport into the Arctic

A substantial portion of the moisture transport into the Arctic occurs in episodic, high-amplitude events with strong impacts on the Arctic's climate system components such as sea ice. This study focuses on the origin of such moist-air intrusions during winter and examines the moisture sources, moisture transport pathways, and their linkage to the driving large-scale circulation patterns. For that purpose, 597 moist-air intrusions, defined as daily events of intense (exceeding the 90th anomaly percentile) zonal mean moisture transport into the polar cap (≥70∘ N), are identified. Kinematic backward trajectories combined with a Lagrangian moisture source diagnostic are then used to pinpoint the moisture sources and characterize the airstreams accomplishing the transport. The moisture source analyses show that the bulk of the moisture transported into the polar cap during these moist-air intrusions originates in the eastern North Atlantic with an uptake maximum poleward of 50∘ N. Trajectories further reveal an inverse relationship between moisture uptake latitude and the level at which moisture is injected into the polar cap, consistent with ascent of poleward-flowing air in a baroclinic atmosphere. Focusing on intrusions in the North Atlantic (424 intrusions), we find that lower tropospheric moisture transport is predominantly accomplished by two types of airstreams: (i) cold, polar air warmed and moistened by surface fluxes and (ii) air subsiding from the mid-troposphere into the boundary layer. Both airstreams contribute about 36 % each to the total transport. The former accounts for most of the moisture transport during intrusions associated with an anomalously high frequency of cyclones east of Greenland (218 intrusions), whereas the latter is more important in the presence of atmospheric blocking over Scandinavia and the Ural Mountains (145 events). Long-range moisture transport, accounting for 17 % of the total transport, dominates during intrusions with weak forcing by baroclinic weather systems (64 intrusions). Finally, mid-tropospheric moisture transport is invariably associated with (diabatically) ascending air and moisture origin in the central and western North Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream front, accounting for roughly 10 % of the total transport. In summary, our study shows that moist-air intrusions into the polar atmosphere result from a combination of airstreams with predominantly high-latitude or high-altitude origin, whose relative importance is determined by the underlying driving weather systems (i.e., cyclones and blocks).

Physical inactivity, and its association with hypertension among employees in the district of Colombo

Background Physical inactivity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and is a major public health problem. Insufficient activity is responsible for a large proportion of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension. Objectives The purpose of this study was to assess socioeconomic variations in physical activity and to measure the association between physical inactivity and hypertension among government officials in Sri Lanka. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out among 275 senior-officers(SOs) and 760 managerial-assistants(MAs) aged 30–60 years and attached to Public Administration institutions in Colombo District in Sri Lanka. Physical-activity(PA) was gathered using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire(IPAQ) adopted and validated to the Sri Lankan context. Blood pressure(measured and classified using JNC-7 guidelines) and anthropometric indices were recorded. Energy utilization of all vigorous and moderated PA and walking was expressed as metabolic-equivalent-of-task(MET) min per week. A total-MET-score was calculated and categorized based on IPAQ guidelines. Results Socioeconomic variations in PA levels were observed as 58.1%(n = 158) SOs and 30.6%(n = 226) MAs were involved in inadequate PA. Among the SOs diagnosed with hypertension, more half(59.1%; n = 52) were physically inactive, while among MAs, 65.9%(n = 143) with hypertension were physically inactive. After adjusting for potential confounding factors being physically inactive was associated with a higher risk of hypertension among SOs[OR 2.08 [95% CI 1.07, 4.6] and MAs[OR 2.8 [95% CI 1.8, 4.6]. The main modality of commuting to work for SOs(59%) was private transport, and MAs(64%) public transport Commuting distance was positively correlated(p < 0.05) with total transport MET among SOs and MAs. After adjusting for confounders, commuting distance of > 20 km was found to lower the odds of hypertension among SOs and MAs(OR = 0.713; 95% CI 0.4 to1.3; and OR = 0.63; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.87). Conclusion Despite the current knowledge that being physically active promotes health, the practice was different. Physical inactivity was associated with hypertension and prevalent among both SOs and MAs. Higher commuting distance is positively correlated with total transport MET and associated with lower odds of hypertension among SOs and MAs. Longitudinal studies are required to provide a causative association between physical inactivity and hypertension among these employees.

STUDYING ACTIVITIES OF COMPETITORS OF MOTOR TRANSPORT ENTERPRISE

This article discusses the study of competitors’ activity and presents some of the results of our research in this area. The main purpose of the study is to determine the positions, establish the strengths and weaknesses of their activities, assess their own ability to develop on this basis, the strategy and tactics of competitive behavior of the enterprise in the market. Based on the study of literature sources, the shortcomings of the existing model of analyzing competitors are identified, the proposals for its improvement are given. It is proposed to study the activities of competitors in the following sequence: identifying priority competitors, collecting data on their activities, identifying strengths and weaknesses, determining the position of the company among competitors. To determine the priority competitors, the analysis of the correlation field – the cell in the coordinate system – competitor and market segment is offered, in which we obtain the data: the volume of transport services, the market segment share, the share of traffic in total transport work. These indicators are determined for each competitor and show the priority of each competitor. At the first stage of the methodology of analysis of competitors’ activity, an approach to the definition of priority competitors is proposed, which means those of them who have the largest market share, both in the market as a whole and in a particular market segment. Much attention in the study is paid to determining the list of signs of competitors’ priority and establishing sources of information. On the basis of certain values of the enterprise and competitors there is an opportunity to establish the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. On the basis of the signs of enterprises’ activity that characterize their size, it is possible to obtain a generalized assessment of the market position of the trucking company and competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. At the same time, ratings are made without and with taking into account the importance of each criterion of the market position of MTE and competitors. The results of the research can be used in the process of determining the optimal strategy for motor transport enterprises.

Characteristics associated with delays in decision to transfer injured patients

Introduction The regionalized nature of trauma care necessitates interfacility transfer which is vulnerable to delays given its complexity. Little is known about the interval of time a patient spends at the sending hospital prior to when the transfer is initiated—the “decision to transfer” time. This primary objective of the study was to explore the impact of patient, environmental, and institutional characteristics on decision to transfer time. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of injured adult patients who underwent emergent interfacility transfer by a provincial critical care transport organization over a 31-month period. Quantile regression was used to evaluate the impact of patient, environmental, and institutional characteristics on the time to decision to transfer. Results A total of 1128 patients were included. The median decision to transfer time was 2.42 h and the median total transport time was 3.12 h. The following variables were associated with an increase in time to decision to transfer at the 90th percentile of time: age >75 (+2.47 h), age 66–75 (+3.70 h), age 56–65 (+1.20 h), transfer between 00:00 and 07:59 (+2.08 h), and transfer in the summer (+2.25 h). The following variables were associated with a decrease in time to decision to transfer at the 90th percentile of time: Glasgow Coma Scale 3–8 (−2.21 h), respiratory rate >30 (−2.01 h), sending site being a community hospital with <100 beds (−4.11 h), or the sending site being a nursing station (−5.66 h). Conclusion Time to decision to transfer was a sizable proportion of the patients interfacility transfer. Older patients were associated with a delay in decision to transfer as were patients transferred overnight and in the summer. These findings may be used to support the implementation of geriatric trauma triage guidelines and promote ongoing education and quality improvement initiatives to decrease delay.

Analysis of Retrofit and Scrappage Policies for the Indian Road Transport Sector in 2030

In India, the road transport sector contributed around 90% of total transport CO2 emissions in 2018. Air pollution from the road transport sector has detrimental effects on both air quality and human health. The policies implemented have a long-term impact on the amount of vehicle emissions and characteristics of fleet vehicles. The present study analyzes emissions from India’s road transport sector using the bottom-up activity approach model. Future vehicle stocks in India are projected up to 2030 using a hybrid growth model approach. Vehicle emissions of CO2, CO, particulate matter (PM), and NOx are analyzed for India's reference (2020) and projected years fleet (2030). The emissions from the projected fleet are subjected to different mitigation scenarios such as retrofit and scrappage policies to estimate the emission reduction potentials of these scenarios from the future fleet of India. The analysis of the study indicates that the retrofit policies are more effective in reducing vehicle emissions than the scrappage policies. Retrofit policies such as the advancement in emission norms (shift to Bharat Stage (BS)-VI from BS-IV), the increased share of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, and fuel efficiency (FE) improvements have reduced vehicle emissions significantly compared to the scrappage of old vehicles from the fleet. The low impact of scrappage policies is attributed to the projected fleet’s lower share of old vehicles (10–15%). While retrofit policies have a significant impact as they largely affect 85% to 90% of young vehicles (less than ten years of age) in 2030. A combination of both policies is suggested to control future fleet emissions. The study also conducts sensitivity analysis, which indicates a significant influence of the emission factors in the vehicle emission analysis and GDP growth rates in the vehicle fleet projection.

Vertical Structure of Air Pollutant Transport Flux as Determined by Ground-Based Remote Sensing Observations in Fen-Wei Plain, China

Air pollutant transport plays an important role in local air quality, but field observations of transport fluxes, especially their vertical distributions, are very limited. We characterized the vertical structures of transport fluxes in central Luoyang, Fen-Wei Plain, China, in winter based on observations of vertical air pollutant and wind profiles using multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) and Doppler wind lidar, respectively. The northwest and the northeast are the two privileged wind directions. The wind direction and total transport scenarios were dominantly the northwest during clear days, turning to the northeast during the polluted days. Increased transport flux intensities of aerosol were found at altitudes below 400 m on heavily polluted days from the northeast to the southwest over the city. Considering pollution dependence on wind directions and speeds, surface-dominated northeast transport may contribute to local haze events. Northwest winds transporting clean air masses were dominant during clean periods and flux profiles characterized by high altitudes between 200 and 600 m in Luoyang. During the COVID-19 lockdown period in late January and February, clear reductions in transport flux were found for NO2 from the northeast and for HCHO from the northwest, while the corresponding main transport altitude remained unchanged. Our findings provide better understandings of regional transport characteristics, especially at different altitudes.

Moisture origin, transport pathways, and driving processes of intense wintertime moisture transport into the Arctic

Poleward moisture transport occurs in episodic, high-amplitude events with strong impacts on the Arctic and its climate system components such as sea ice. This study focuses on the origin of such events and examines the moisture sources, moisture transport pathways, and their linkage to the large-scale circulation. For that purpose, 597 events of intense zonal mean poleward moisture transport at 70° N (exceeding the 90th anomaly percentile) are identified and kinematic backward trajectories from 70° N are computed to pinpoint the moisture sources and characterize the air-streams accomplishing the transport. The bulk of the moisture transported into the polar cap during these events originates in the eastern North Atlantic with an uptake maximum poleward of 50° N. This asymmetry between ocean basins is a direct consequence of the fact that most of the moisture transport into the polar cap occurs in this sector. As a result of the fairly high-latitude origin of the moisture, the median time moisture spends in the atmosphere prior to reaching 70° N amounts to about 2.5 days. Trajectories further reveal an inverse relationship between moisture uptake latitude and the level at which moisture is injected into the polar cap, consistent with ascent of poleward flowing air in a baroclinic atmosphere. Focusing on events for which 75 % of the zonal mean moisture transport takes place in the North Atlantic east of Greenland (424 events) reveals that lower tropospheric moisture transport results predominantly from two types of air-streams: (i) cold, polar air advected from the Canadian Arctic over the North Atlantic and around Greenland, whereby the air is warmed and moistened by surface fluxes, and (ii) air subsiding from the mid-troposphere into the boundary layer. Both air-streams contribute about 36 % each to the total transport. The former dominates the moisture transport during events associated with an anomalously high frequency of cyclones east of Greenland (218 events), whereas the latter is more important in the presence of atmospheric blocking over Scandinavia and the Ural (145 events). A substantial portion of the moisture sources associated with both types of air-streams are located between Iceland, the British Isles, and Norway. Long-range moisture transport, accounting for 17 % of the total transport, is the dominant type of air-stream during events with weak forcing by baroclinic weather systems (64 events). Finally, mid-tropospheric moisture transport is invariably associated with (diabatically) ascending air and moisture origin in the central and western North Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream front, accounting for roughly 10 % of the total transport. In summary, our study reveals that moisture injections into the polar atmosphere are not primarily caused by the poleward transport of warm and humid air from low latitudes – a conclusion that applies in particular to cases where the transport is driven by baroclinic weather systems such as extratropical cyclones. Instead, it results from a combination of air-streams with pre-dominantly high-latitude or high-altitude origin and their interplay with large-scale weather systems (e.g., cyclones, blocks).

Characteristics and robustness of Agulhas leakage estimates: an inter-comparison study of Lagrangian methods

The inflow of relatively warm and salty water from the Indian Ocean into the South Atlantic via Agulhas leakage is important for the global overturning circulation and the global climate. In this study, we analyse the robustness of Agulhas leakage estimates as well as the thermohaline property modifications of Agulhas leakage south of Africa. Lagrangian experiments with both the newly developed tool Parcels and the well established tool Ariane were performed to simulate Agulhas leakage in the eddy-rich ocean–sea-ice model INALT20 (1/20∘ horizontal resolution) forced by the JRA55-do atmospheric boundary conditions. The average transport, its variability, trend and the transit time from the Agulhas Current to the Cape Basin of Agulhas leakage is simulated comparably with both Lagrangian tools, emphasizing the robustness of our method. Different designs of the Lagrangian experiment alter in particular the total transport of Agulhas leakage by up to 2 Sv, but the variability and trend of the transport are similar across these estimates. During the transit from the Agulhas Current at 32∘ S to the Cape Basin, a cooling and freshening of Agulhas leakage waters occurs especially at the location of the Agulhas Retroflection, resulting in a density increase as the thermal effect dominates. Beyond the strong air–sea exchange around South Africa, Agulhas leakage warms and salinifies the water masses below the thermocline in the South Atlantic.

Influence of Business-Operational Performances and Company Size on CO2 Emissions Decrease-Case of Serbian Road Transport Companies

This research includes the analysis and comparison of long-term values of key business parameters of profit-oriented companies in Serbia, which are engaged in road transport of cargo or passengers. This paper takes into account the decreasing emissions of CO2 and its relation to the size of business (in terms of transported cargo or number of passengers), and thus by the company’s business success (income, profit). In the empirical part of this research—ecological, operational, and business factors were analyzed on a sample of road carriers from Serbia, i.e., the most common type of organized transport of people or physical goods. Key difference was made between large and small companies engaged in transport activities, followed by difference between those companies which have business activities only in Serbia, or engage also in international activities in the Balkan region (or in the rest of world). The main goal of this paper is to determine statistically significant differences between transport companies in terms of key performance indicators, depending on whether they operate only domestically or abroad. In relation to company size, this paper examined the sustainability of operations in the case of the largest transport companies, which represent half of the total transport activity in the country (by number of people transported or the amount of transported cargo), compared to all small carriers with less than 50 employees. Future research involves extending this sample of road transport companies to all Balkan countries, which have not yet become a part of the European Union and including additional operational as well as environmental indicators that are not conventionally measured during vehicle inspections.

BASIC TERMS OF DELIVERY AS A DECISIVE FACTOR AFFECTING THE VALIDITY OF A FOREIGN TRADE CONTRACT AND THE CORRECTNESS OF THE CALCULATION OF THE CUSTOMS VALUE OF GOODS

The article deals with some aspects of the legal regulation of relations between the counterparties of a foreign trade transaction. Based on the results of the analysis of the practice of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, conclusions are drawn on the application of the provisions of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 1980 in resolving disputes between the parties to a foreign trade contract. The features of using the delivery bases under INCOTERMS 2020 in order to form the transport conditions of a foreign trade contract are revealed, and also, using the example of several delivery bases, it is indicated what transport costs should be charged to the contract value of goods in order to form the correct customs value. Based on the consideration of some court decisions, the role and significance of the delivery basis were determined both for resolving disputes between counterparties in case of accidental damage or loss of cargo during transportation, and for correctly determining the amount of the customs value of goods. A specific example is used to calculate the amounts of transport costs, insurance and customs value for each product when they are delivered together, when the total transport costs and insurance are initially determined for them.