Methodology of Research on the Demand for Development of Transport Infrastructure and Rolling Stock for Perishable Goods Transportation

In the context of globalisation of economic relationships, intensification of transportation and technological solutions, the methodology of research and development of transport infrastructure requires improvement and adaptation to dynamically changing conditions of the transportation market.The objective of the work is to formalise and to develop a methodology for studying transport infrastructure, including specialised isothermal rolling stock. The initial data on cargo turnover were processed by the methods of mathematical statistics, and the technical parameters of innovative isothermal rolling stock were substantiated using the methods of T. Saaty analytic hierarchy process, expert assessment, and update engineering design process.The article provides an analysis of the cargo turnover of perishable goods transported by railway refrigerated transport in Russia in terms of volumes, types of rolling stock, and origin. The main origin-destination cargo flows are presented by types of transportation (domestic, transit, export, import transport operations). It has been determined that key factors in development of isothermal rolling stock for transportation of perishable goods in the transport system of the country refer to transportation of meat, fish, beer, soft drinks, juices in the segment of domestic transportation. The analysis shows that there are no structural and quantitative shifts in terms of types of transportation and types of cargo.The strategy for development of vehicles for transportation of perishable goods and the methodology are presented in a block diagram, in sections: «statement of the research problem», «decision-making stages», «decision implementation methods and algorithms». It is shown that the problem includes not only development of stationary railway infrastructure and of stages in development of isothermal rolling stock, but also the need to solve organisational, technical, technological, regulatory, and legal problems, as well as tariff regulation.The issues of methodology for designing an innovative isothermal rolling stock are considered referring to possible prospects for its development and areas of operation, as well as to a set of engineering and technological solutions. The study of linear dimensions and useful section of the loading space of various types of isothermal bodies shows the advantage of wagons and swap bodies in comparison with large-capacity refrigerated containers.It is proposed to design a prototype of innovative isothermal rolling stock on the basis of a universal isothermal swap body, configured with various types of refrigerating equipment with specified technical parameters that best meet the requirements of the modern transportation market. The areas of possible use of various types of isothermal rolling stock are analysed considering long-term forecasts for development of agricultural, fishing and processing industries.

Good manufacturing practice- and good distribution practice-compliant cold storage and refrigerated transport of allergen products: what is important?

Background All currently available products for diagnosis and therapy of type I allergies are protein extracts from allergenic source material. The extracted proteins have different properties and their structure is differently labile to temperature variations. Despite various pharmaceutical formulations to increase product stability, with few exceptions, allergen products must be refrigerated to ensure that their quality and native protein structure do not change during storage and transport. Maintaining quality is a challenge in complex distribution chains. Methods Regulatory requirements and guidelines that apply to cold storage and transport of allergen products are summarized and the responsibilities of the stakeholders are explained. Results The storage conditions determined in stability studies correspond to the transport conditions. These stability data can also be used to assess tolerable conditions during transport. According to a good distribution practice (GDP) contracts must be concluded between the responsible pharmaceutical entrepreneur and the qualified distribution service provider that regulate storage and transport in accordance with the product requirements. Conclusion Monitoring of storage and transport conditions is achieved by transport in qualified means of transport (e.g. truck). Alternatively, qualified transport packaging with active or passive cooling (e.g. cold packs) and qualified “data loggers” that record the transport temperatures can be used. Regardless of the system used, it must be demonstrated—by validating the transport conditions, routes and packaging at different times of the year and over the entire duration of transport—that regulatory requirements are met and that the quality of the products is maintained during shipment.

Quercetin-treated rat sperm enables refrigerated transport with motility and fertility for five days

Shipment of laboratory rats between animal facilities is frequently performed using special containers. However, the shipment of live animals is associated with potential risks of infectious diseases, escape and death during shipment and animal welfare issues. The transport of cold-stored sperm avoids such risks; however, there have been no reports on cold storage of rat sperm. We previously reported that dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and quercetin maintained the motility and fertilising abilities of cold-stored mouse sperm stored for 10 days. The present study investigated the efficacy of DMSO and quercetin in the cold storage of rat sperm. Quercetin maintained motility and fertility of cold-stored rat sperm stored for 5 days. After in vitro fertilisation using cold-stored sperm, pronuclear and two-cell embryos developed normally to pups following embryo transfer. Therefore, we demonstrated that live pups could be obtained from sperm transported using the cold-storage system. We conclude that cold storage of rat sperm may provide an efficient system for transporting rat resources as an alternative to shipping live animals.

Refrigerated Transport: State of the Art, Technical Issues, Innovations and Challenges for Sustainability

The cold chain is responsible for perishable products preservation and transportation, maintaining a proper temperature to slow biological decay processes. Often the efficiency of the cold chain is less than ideal, significantly increasing food waste and energy consumption. Refrigerated transport is a critical phase of the cold chain because of its negative impact on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that around 15% of global fossil fuel energy is used in the refrigerated transport sector, so there has been a growing interest in the last decades in the optimization of these systems in order to reduce their environmental impact. Vapor compression refrigeration units, usually powered by means of a diesel engine, are the most commonly used systems in road refrigerated transport. This paper provides a review of (a) currently used systems and alternative technologies that could reduce the environmental impacts of road refrigerated transport and (b) optimization models and methods used to minimize fuel/energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, focusing both on reducing the thermal loads and solving the refrigerated vehicle routing problem.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA stability in saliva and dry swabs for storage and transport at ambient temperature for at least 9 days: A cost efficient and practical alternative

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, different methods have been used to evaluate patients suspected with infection of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we evaluate the longevity of saliva and dry swab samples to retain SARS-CoV-2 for storage and transport at different environmental settings. Our results show that at ambient temperature of 20°C, SARS-CoV-2 RNA remains stable for up to 9 days giving a long span of time for transport and storage without compromising clinical results. Additionally, this study demonstrates that sali­­­va and dry swabs specimens can also be stored at -20°C and +4°C for up to 26 days without affecting RT-qPCR results. Our data is relevant for low-and middle-income countries, which have limited access to rapid refrigerated transport and storage of samples representing an economical alternative. Finally, our study demonstrates that dry swabs provide clear advantages over using transport medium.

Engineering Insulin Cold Chain Resilience to Improve Global Access

ABSTRACTThere are 150 million people with diabetes worldwide who require insulin replacement therapy and the prevalence of diabetes is rising fastest in middle and low-income countries. Current formulations require costly refrigerated transport and storage to prevent loss of insulin integrity. This study shows the development of simple “drop-in” amphiphilic copolymer excipients to maintain formulation integrity, bioactivity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics for over 6 months when subjected to severe stressed aging conditions that cause current commercial formulation to fail in under 2 weeks. Further, when these copolymers are added to Humulin R (Eli Lilly) in original commercial packaging they prevent insulin aggregation for up to 4 days at 50 °C compared to less than 1 day for Humulin R alone. These copolymers demonstrate promise as simple formulation additives to increase the cold chain resilience of commercial insulin formulations, thereby expanding global access to these critical drugs for treatment of diabetes.

Post-harvest losses in the mango supply channel in Tamil Nadu state, India

A study was conducted to identify mango value chains and analyse the post-harvest losses along them in the major mango-growing areas of Tamil Nadu state in India. The post-harvest losses were estimated using survey data collected during 2016-17 from 400 farmers; 60 households; and 100 traders consisting of wholesalers, commission agents, exporters, processors and retailers and 60 consumers in Tamil Nadu. Six major mango value chains were found in the production catchments through which the mango fruits reached consumers in different forms. Overall, the post-harvest losses at the farm level were estimated at 7.08 per cent. At the primary wholesaler level the losses were estimated at 7.30 per cent and at the processing level at 8.70 per cent. At the secondary wholesaler level the losses were estimated at 10 per cent. Maximum losses were observed at the retail level (14.97%), most likely as a result of improper post-harvest handling, lack of proper storage facilities, and rough handling of fruits by consumers who check fruit quality by squeezing. It is recommended that establishing procurement yards near farms, minimizing transaction points in the mango value chain, establishing value added and processing units near production catchments, initiating farmer cooperatives similar to Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) in India model, involving collection of fruits directly from the farmers by cooperatives, initiating Farmer Producer Company (FPC) and establishing a refrigerated transport system for well graded fruits right from farm to consumption centres would minimize post-production losses of mango.