Measuring the Impact of Additional Rail Traffic Using Highway and Railroad Metrics

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel L. Sogin ◽  
Christopher P. L. Barkan ◽  
Yung-Cheng Lai ◽  
Mohd Rapik Saat
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Simulation Modeling ◽  
Single Track ◽  
Economic Study ◽  
Utility Models ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rail Traffic

Long term demand for freight movements in North America is expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades. The railroads are poised to take on this additional traffic assuming the capacity is available. Measuring the capacity of these rail lines is complicated by the interrelationships between asset utilization, reliability, and throughput. There is not a single metric that captures these intricacies. Capacity can be determined by delay-volume relationships, utility models, or economic study. For many case studies, railroads use parametric and simulation modeling to determine the train delay per 100 train miles. This metric does not tell the full story; especially when comparing different train types. The highway industry uses a different portfolio of metrics that can be adopted by railroad capacity planners. These metrics can be more sensitive to the worse performing trains. Additionally, these metrics can control for increased delay simply due to additional traffic. These concepts are illustrated by simulating the impact of additional 110 mph passenger service to a single track freight line.

scholarly journals Imaginary Worlds: The Status of Simulation Modeling in Claims for Cost-Effectiveness In Diabetes Mellitus

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul C Langley ◽  
Taeho Greg Rhee
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Simulation Modeling ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact

Over the past 20 years a number of simulations or models have been developed as a basis for tracking and evaluating the impact of pharmacological and other interventions in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. These models have typically tracked the natural course of these diseases generating long-term composite claims for cost-effectiveness. These claims can extend over the lifetime of the modeled patient cohort. Set against the standards of normal science, however, these claims lack credibility. The claims presented are all too often either immune to failure or are presented in a form that is non-testable. As such they fail to meet the key experimental requirements of falsification and replication. Unfortunately, there is a continuing belief that long-term or lifetime models are essential to decision-making. This is misplaced. The purpose of this review is to argue that there is a pressing need to reconsider the needs of health system decision makers and focus on modeled or simulated claims that are meaningful, testable, reportable and replicable in evaluating interventions in diabetes mellitus.   Type: Commentary

Linking Scientific Research to Development Agenda

2018 ◽  
pp. 374-391
Author(s):  
P. K. Kenabatho ◽  
B. P. Parida ◽  
B. Matlhodi ◽  
D.B. Moalafhi
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
The Impact

In recent years, the scientific community has been urged to undertake research that can immediately have impact on development issues, including national policies, strategies, and people's livelihoods, among others. While this is a fair call from decision makers, it should also be realized that science by nature is about innovation, discovery and knowledge generation. In this context, there is need for a balance between long term scientific investigations and short term scientific applications. With regard to the former, researchers spend years investigating (or need data of sufficient record length) to provide sound and reliable solutions to a problem at hand while in the latter, it is possible to reach a solution with few selected analyses. In all cases, it is advisable that researchers, where possible should link their studies to topical development issues in their case studies. In this paper, we use a hydrometeorological project in the Notwane catchment, Botswana, to show the importance of linking research to development agenda for mutual benefit of researchers and policy makers. The results indicate that some key development issues are being addressed by the Project and the scope exists to improve the impact of the project.

scholarly journals The Impact of Cultural Aspects on Building the Smart City Approach: Managing Diversity in Europe (London), North America (New York) and Asia (Singapore)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9463
Author(s):  
Dominika Šulyová ◽  
Josef Vodák
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Impact

One of the main motives for creating this article was to explore the importance of cultural aspects in building smart city approaches. The aim of this article was to obtain answers to three research questions, the answers to which made it possible to identify the elements of multiculturalism that affect the development of smart cities, to find out how multiculturalism affects smart cities and how to manage diversity. The ambition was to create and organize the most important findings into a comprehensive framework. To achieve this goal, secondary analysis methods were used by examining the literature and case studies of best practices from Europe, North America, and Asia. The choice of case studies was conditioned by the placement of smart cities in four global indices (smart city index, Arcadis, IESE and global power index), the existence of a multicultural strategy and elements of successful diversity management, including positive effects and possible limitations. In addition, methods of analysis, comparison and summarization were used. Effective diversity management acts as an accelerator of the sustainable development of smart cities. The results of the analysis of the case studies serve as a basis for recommendations and the creation of a proposed general model, whose task is to simplify the adoption of intelligent concepts, which creates space for the specification of local or cultural conditions of the country. Testing the model in practice is the subject of the following research activities of the authors.

scholarly journals Assessment of impact of climate change on water resources: a long term analysis of the Great Lakes of North America

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. McBean ◽  
H. Motiee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the threshold of the appearance of global warming from theory to reality, extensive research has focused on predicting the impact of potential climate change on water resources using results from Global Circulation Models (GCMs). This research carries this further by statistical analyses of long term meteorological and hydrological data. Seventy years of historical trends in precipitation, temperature, and streamflows in the Great Lakes of North America are developed using long term regression analyses and Mann-Kendall statistics. The results generated by the two statistical procedures are in agreement and demonstrate that many of these variables are experiencing statistically significant increases over a seven-decade period. The trend lines of streamflows in the three rivers of St. Clair, Niagara and St. Lawrence, and precipitation levels over four of the five Great Lakes, show statistically significant increases in flows and precipitation. Further, precipitation rates as predicted using fitted regression lines are compared with scenarios from GCMs and demonstrate similar forecast predictions for Lake Superior. Trend projections from historical data are higher than GCM predictions for Lakes Michigan/Huron. Significant variability in predictions, as developed from alternative GCMs, is noted. Given the general agreement as derived from very different procedures, predictions extrapolated from historical trends and from GCMs, there is evidence that hydrologic changes particularly for the precipitation in the Great Lakes Basin may be demonstrating influences arising from global warming and climate change.

scholarly journals Gradients of column CO<sub>2</sub> across North America from the NOAA Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (24) ◽  
pp. 15151-15165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Lan ◽  
Pieter Tans ◽  
Colm Sweeney ◽  
Arlyn Andrews ◽  
Andrew Jacobson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Reference Network ◽  
Spatial Gradients ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Satellite Retrievals ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Total Column

Abstract. This study analyzes seasonal and spatial patterns of column carbon dioxide (CO2) over North America, calculated from aircraft and tall tower measurements from the NOAA Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network from 2004 to 2014. Consistent with expectations, gradients between the eight regions studied are larger below 2 km than above 5 km. The 11-year mean CO2 dry mole fraction (XCO2) in the column below  ∼  330 hPa ( ∼  8 km above sea level) from NOAA's CO2 data assimilation model, CarbonTracker (CT2015), demonstrates good agreement with those calculated from calibrated measurements on aircraft and towers. Total column XCO2 was attained by combining modeled CO2 above 330 hPa from CT2015 with the measurements. We find large spatial gradients of total column XCO2 from June to August, with north and northeast regions having  ∼  3 ppm stronger summer drawdown (peak-to-valley amplitude in seasonal cycle) than the south and southwest regions. The long-term averaged spatial gradients of total column XCO2 across North America show a smooth pattern that mainly reflects the large-scale circulation. We have conducted a CarbonTracker experiment to investigate the impact of Eurasian long-range transport. The result suggests that the large summertime Eurasian boreal flux contributes about half of the north–south column XCO2 gradient across North America. Our results confirm that continental-scale total column XCO2 gradients simulated by CarbonTracker are realistic and can be used to evaluate the credibility of some spatial patterns from satellite retrievals, such as the long-term average of growing-season spatial patterns from satellite retrievals reported for Europe which show a larger spatial difference ( ∼  6 ppm) and scattered hot spots.

The Impact of Culture and Social Justice on Christian Formation in Pentecostalism

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-216
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Vondey
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Latin America ◽  
North America ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Christian Formation ◽  
The Impact

The essay contrasts two distinct ways of Pentecostal formation: (1) social activism and (2) social passivism. The former identifies Christian formation as participation and leadership in the struggle against poverty, deprivation, and oppression; the latter withdraws into a sectarian mindset of individualism, self-improvement, and triumphalism. A focus on Asia, Africa, Latin America, and North America brings the two accounts into dialogue on the identity of contemporary Pentecostal formation. The results suggest that Christian formation among Pentecostals is confronted with significant diversity influenced by cultural and socioeconomic factors. Johns’ classic study of Pentecostal formation and its emphasis on conscientization leading to redemptive participation in the struggle among the oppressed demands further attention. This essay shows that conscientization among Pentecostals is not only a psychological and sociocritical form of assessment but a personal and communal coming to consciousness subject to long-term cultural influences and sociohistorical developments.

scholarly journals Log Truck Value Analysis from Increased Rail Usage

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 677
Author(s):  
Sangpil Ko ◽  
Pasi Lautala ◽  
Kuilin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Forest Products Industry ◽  
Upper Midwest ◽  
Time Efficiency ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Fuel Prices ◽  
The Impact

Over the past several decades, the transportation of raw materials (logs) has increasingly shifted from the railway to trucks. However, the long-term sustainability of this shift is being questioned due to the shortage of truck drivers, fluctuation of fuel prices, and changes in hours of service laws. The industry is interested in the possibility to shift more logs back to the railway but the impact of such a shift on truckers has not been investigated. This study attempted to quantify the impact of such a change on the operations of log truckers by calculating time efficiency (percentage of daily hours of service for revenue activities) and value efficiency (average loaded versus total ton-kilometers per day) between a truck only and multimodal (truck/rail) alternatives. We used actual data from the forest products industry companies and truck performance data from an earlier study to investigate the impact through case studies in four different locations of the upper Midwest, US. The results of our analysis revealed that in three out of our four case studies, re-routing log movements through rail yard/siding improved the time efficiency and value efficiency. Finally, our sensitivity analysis found that increases in average truck speed and maximum hours or service had higher impact on multimodal transportation than in truck-only system.

scholarly journals Ocean planning for species on the move provides substantial benefits and requires few trade-offs

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (50) ◽  
pp. eabb8428
Author(s):  
M. L. Pinsky ◽  
L. A. Rogers ◽  
J. W. Morley ◽  
T. L. Frölicher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North America ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Additional Area

Societies increasingly use multisector ocean planning as a tool to mitigate conflicts over space in the sea, but such plans can be highly sensitive to species redistribution driven by climate change or other factors. A key uncertainty is whether planning ahead for future species redistributions imposes high opportunity costs and sharp trade-offs against current ocean plans. Here, we use more than 10,000 projections for marine animals around North America to test the impact of climate-driven species redistributions on the ability of ocean plans to meet their goals. We show that planning for redistributions can substantially reduce exposure to risks from climate change with little additional area set aside and with few trade-offs against current ocean plan effectiveness. Networks of management areas are a key strategy. While climate change will severely disrupt many human activities, we find a strong benefit to proactively planning for long-term ocean change.

The MARINA-Plastic model: Global river export of macro- and microplastics from over 10,000 sub-basins to coastal seas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryna Strokal ◽  
Paul Vriend ◽  
Jikke van Wijnen ◽  
Carolien Kroeze ◽  
Tim van Emmerik
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Plastic Pollution ◽  
Plastic Model ◽  
River Export ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Plastics are found in different sizes in many rivers and coastal waters worldwide. Our understanding of the sources of this plastic is poor. Quantitative, and spatially explicit data on plastic loads is needed to design effective plastic pollution reduction strategies. One way to gather such data is through modeling studies. To this end, we develop the MARINA-Plastic model for macro- and microplastic. The MARINA-Plastic model quantifies annual river export of macro- and microplastic by source from sub-basins to coastal waters of the world. The model runs for over 10,000 sub-basins and considers point (e.g., sewage systems) and diffuse (e.g., mismanaged solid waste on land) sources of plastics in rivers. We evaluate and validate the model using a &amp;#8220;building trust&amp;#8221; approach. Evaluation results indicate the robustness of the model performance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Results of the MARINA-Plastic model show that approximately 10% of all sub-basins are, today, responsible for over 90% of macroplastic inputs to rivers globally. Asia and Africa are responsible for approximately 80% of the plastic export by rivers globally. Coastal waters of Asia and Africa are predominantly polluted with macroplastics from diffuse sources in terms of mass, whereas coastal waters of Europe and North America are predominantly polluted with microplastics from point sources. Middle- and downstream activities contribute largely to coastal water pollution with plastics for selected case studies. These case studies are six large rivers, of which the drainage areas are divided into up-, middle- and downstream sub-basins. These rivers are the Mississippi (North America), Amazon (South America), Danube (Europe), Niger (Africa), Nile (Africa), and the Yangtze (Asia) rivers. Our analysis shows that reducing plastic pollution in coastal waters requires improvement of the wastewater treatment in Europe and North America and solid waste management in Asia and Africa.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We show that the MARINA-Plastic model is applicable to get a better understanding of the sources and the spatial variability of the plastic pollution in rivers and coastal waters. The model allows to analyse the impact of upstream activities on downstream plastic pollution and to explore effects of environmental policies on plastics in waters. This information can help to develop effective solutions for reducing future plastic pollution.&lt;/p&gt;

Sweet Cherry Breeding in Canada: 1915 to 1995

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 904F-905
Author(s):  
G. Tehrani ◽  
W.D. Lane
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Sweet Cherry ◽  
Breeding Programs ◽  
Sweet Cherry Cultivars ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Breeding Selections

Sweet cherry breeding started at Vineland and Summerland in 1915 and 1924 and has resulted in the naming and introduction of 11 and 18 cultivars, respectively. `Victor' and `Van' were the first cultivars named from Vineland and Summerland, respectively, in 1925 and 1944. `Van' has become a popular cultivar in North America and Europe. The main objective in these breeding programs has been to develop cultivars that produce large quantities of firm-fleshed, crack-free, flavorful, large, black cherries with a range of maturity dates to extend the season of harvest. In the 1960's, the development of self-fertile cultivars was added to the objective of the programs. Already several self-fertile cultivars and advanced breeding selections have been named and introduced from Canada. The programs have also contributed to the assignment of cultivars to different pollen-incompatibility groups and verification of pedigree of sweet cherry cultivars. The impact of these long-term breeding programs in Canada and abroad will be discussed in detail.

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