Drastic Freight Increase for Containerized Cargo in the Pandemic Era: Lack of Mutual Commitment

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has seriously damaged the operational harmony of container shipping. Initially, it led to a decrease in the overall throughput of containerized cargo. The industry has faced blank sailings and a lack of container equipment after rising container demand. Operational harmony has not been established for more than a year. Extremely increased freight rates have unprecedently put the shippers in a difficult situation. This study examines the circumstances in terms of the shipper and shipping line relationship and underscores the loose commitment between them. Accordingly, this study questions the mutual commitment of this relationship. This institutionally problematic relationship has become prominent in terms of its consequences in the COVID-19 pandemic era. The problematic part of this relationship is discussed through discourse samples representing different branches of the container shipping industry, using the discourse analysis methodology supported by the literature review. The findings indicate that both shippers and shipping lines recognize that a commitment-based relationship requires decisiveness; however, their priorities in the pandemic era overshadow it. Their mutual commitment may help to alleviate the consequences of any chaos in the future of container shipping, which requires critical projection.

A research on the calculation method of car proportion based on image processing

The proportion of the car is one of the important parts of car styling design. The study of the car proportion is of great significance. The proportion of the car is determined by the technical conditions, functions and aesthetics. At present, there're not many studies on the area proportion of the car .There're studies on the line relationship and length, width, height proportion of the car. This paper uses computer image processing method to calculate the projected area proportion of the hatchback car. And it provides a new thinking and method for the car proportion study. The result shows that the projected area proportion values of the hatchback cars of European, American, Japanese, Korean and Chinese series on the market have a difference, but are close. And the total average projected area proportion values of car window and car body of the hatchbacks have been calculated.

ANALYZING THE BINARY PULSARS ABOVE THE SPIN-UP LINE

With accretion of mass from an evolving companion star, a neutron star can be spun up to an equilibrium period, which is set by the Kepler orbital period at the magnetosphere radius, expressed as a proportional relation between the spin period and magnetic field strength. The spin-up line relationship can be also expressed as a relation between period (P) and period derivative (Ṗ) for the pulsars with dipole radiation. All binary pulsars should lie below the spin-up line, if they accrete the sufficient masses from companions. So, we investigate the distribution of isolated and binary pulsars in the period (P) and magnetic field (B) diagram to see their positions relative to the spin-up line. It is found that the eight binary pulsars (of total 172) are above the spin-up line, thus we analyze their properties and present the possible process of their formations.

New Approach for Noncircular Following Grinding of Crankshaft Pin

A new approach for the precise grinding of crankshaft pin is presented. In which, noncircular following strategy is investigated based on the motion model consists of horizontal feeding axis, additional lifting axis for wheel frame, and the active rotary axis for workpiece. The straight line relationship of wheel center, pin center and grinding point is ensured by the synchronism between standard arc interpolation motion of wheel frame and eccentric circular motion of pin section. Comparing with traditional tangential point tracing scheme, both constant grinding line-speed and simple control algorithm are fulfilled simultaneously. The negative effect of perpendicular deviation introduced by lifting axis is kinematically analyzed as well as the dynamic response error of servo system, and solving methods are carried out accordingly. By computer simulation and experimental test, the reported noncircular following strategy emerges good characteristics in the manufacturing of crankshaft, such as a strong adaptability for wheel wearing, simple motion control and high roundness precision.

Explorations in statistics: correlation

Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This sixth installment of Explorations in Statistics explores correlation, a familiar technique that estimates the magnitude of a straight-line relationship between two variables. Correlation is meaningful only when the two variables are true random variables: for example, if we restrict in some way the variability of one variable, then the magnitude of the correlation will decrease. Correlation cannot help us decide if changes in one variable result in changes in the second variable, if changes in the second variable result in changes in the first variable, or if changes in a third variable result in concurrent changes in the first two variables. Correlation can help provide us with evidence that study of the nature of the relationship between x and y may be warranted in an actual experiment in which one of them is controlled.

Parabolic Log-Log Fatigue Life Model

A rapid method for determining service fatigue strength data is to test the product or device at an elevated load. Load-life relationships for engineering materials normally show a large reduction in life for a small increase in load. Unfortunately, there is little agreement on the exact nature of this load-life relationship. Some sources show a linear semi-log relationship. Some show a single linear log-log relationship. And some show a two-line log-log relationship with the shallower slope line active after ten-million load cycles or more. The two-line relationship agrees more closely with expected behavior. It predicts a difference between the load-life characteristics in the field at moderate service loads and the load-life characteristics in the laboratory with high test loads. However, the determination of the location and slope of the second, shallow, high-life line is an expensive proposition. In this paper, a parabolic log-log load-life model which predicts a gradual transition from the short-life testing environment to the long-life use environment is presented and compared to the two linear models. Fitting the model to test data is described as is the use of the model in planning tests for failure prevention prediction.