Arc magmatism as a window to plate kinematics and subduction polarity: Example from the eastern Pontides belt, NE Turkey

AbstractThe Eastern Pontides orogenic belt in the Black Sea region of Turkey offers a critical window to plate kinematics and subduction polarity during the closure of the Paleotethys. Here we provide a brief synthesis on recent information from this belt. We infer a southward subduction for the origin of the Eastern Pontides orogenic belt and its associated late Mesozoic–Cenozoic magmatism based on clear spatial and temporal variations in Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic arc magmatism, together with the existence of a prominent south-dipping reverse fault system along the entire southern coast of the Black Sea. Our model is at variance with some recent proposals favoring a northward subduction polarity, and illustrates the importance of arc magmatism in evaluating the geodynamic milieu associated with convergent margin processes

The British technological crusade to post-Crimean Turkey: electric telegraphy, railways, naval shipbuilding and armament technologies

In this thesis I examine the introduction of technological systems -telegraphy, railways, naval shipbuilding and armaments- from Britain to post-Crimean Ottoman-Turkey, which had constituted a largely closed environment to European culture and technologies until the nineteenth century. I illustrate how the process was contingent upon the historical, cultural and geographical contexts of Britain and Turkey within the wider European power structure in the nineteenth century. Through its industrial enterprises, presented as a politically "peaceful solution" to the Eastern Question, Britain hoped to control the declining Ottoman Empire and to further its cultural and economic expansion. In Chapter One I characterise the flow of technologies to Turkey as the British technological crusade with reference to its range and cultural implications. I further examine how a traditional Islamic culture could develop an intellectual framework to accommodate and justify a technology which was originally thought to be of an "infidel" character. I argue that the military channel was the nucleus of Ottoman Europeanisation and its opening to the West. The military institutions, together with the Sultan's authority and sanction, formed the main agency for the legitimation of Western technology. Chapters Two, Three and Four examine the introduction by British engineers and enterprises of communication technologies, telegraphy and railways, to Asia Minor, which provided a junction and the shortest route to India and Central Asia. Chapters Five, Six and Seven present the efforts of the British government and entrepreneurs to introduce European naval shipbuilding and armament technologies to the Ottoman Empire. The British naval mission to Turkey began in the early nineteenth century originally as an important measure against Russian expansion to the Bosphorus and the Mediterranean to strengthen Ottoman naval defences by offering skilled officers and machinery. The mission, which continued until WW1, became an essential part of the wider British imperial policy in the East and industrial expansion overseas. British companies including Napiers, Armstrongs and Vickers, expanding their enterprises overseas as a part of British imperial expansions, introduced to the Ottoman navy both naval machinery and its complementary features, technical instruction and infrastructure for their operation and maintenance. Finally, Chapter Eight emphasizes the close connection between Western technological systems and their wider Western cultural environments, such as industrial, educational, financial and legislative institutions

Collaborative Parcels Logistics via the Carrier’s Carrier Operating Model

Parcel logistics in urban areas are characterized by many carriers undertaking similar activity patterns at the same times of day. Using substantial carrier manifest datasets, this paper demonstrates advantages from rival carriers collaborating using a “carrier’s carrier” operating model for their last-mile parcel logistics operations. Under these circumstances, a single carrier undertakes all the deliveries within a defined area on behalf of the carriers instead of them working independently. Modelling the daily delivery activity of five parcel carriers working over a 3.7 km2 area of central London, comprising around 3000 items being delivered to around 900 delivery locations, and consolidating their activity through a single carrier suggested that time, distance and associated vehicle emissions savings of around 60% could be achieved over the current business-as-usual operation. This equated to a reduction in the number of delivery vans and drivers needed from 33 to 13, with annual savings of 39,425 h, 176,324 km driven, 52,721 kg CO2 and 56.4 kg NOx. Reliance on vans and associated vehicle emissions could be reduced further by using cargo cycles alongside vans for the last-mile delivery, with estimated annual emissions savings increasing to 72,572 kg CO2 and 77.7 kg NOx. The results indicated that consolidation of items for delivery in this way would be especially beneficial to business-to-consumer (B2C) carriers whose parcel profiles comprise relatively small and light items. One of the key barriers to the wider take up of such services by individual carriers is the loss of individual brand identity that can result from operating through a carrier’s carrier

ICT for Sustainable Last-Mile Logistics: Data, People and Parcels

In this paper we present a vision of how ICT can be leveraged to help combat the impact on pollution, congestion and carbon emissions contributed by the parcel delivery sector. This is timely given annual growth in parcel deliveries, especially same-day deliveries, and the need to inform initiatives to clean up our cities such as the sales ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK by 2040. Our insights are informed by research on parcel logistics in Central London, leveraging a data set of parcel manifests spanning 6 months. To understand the impact of growing e-commerce trends on parcel deliveries we provide a mixed methods case study leveraging data-driven analysis and qualitative fieldwork to demonstrate how ICT can uncover the impact of parcel deliveries on delivery drivers and their delivery rounds during seasonal deliveries (or “the silly season”). We finish by discussing key opportunities for intervention and further research in ICT4S and co-created Smart Cities, connecting our findings with existing research and data as a call to the ICT4S community to help tackle the growth in carbon emissions, pollution and congestion linked to parcel deliveries

Optimising Parcel Deliveries in London Using Dual-Mode Routing

Last-mile delivery operations are complex, and the conventional way of using a single mode of delivery (e.g. driving) is not necessarily an efficient strategy. This paper describes a two-level parcel distribution model that combines walking and driving for a single driver. The model aims to minimise the total travelling time by scheduling a vehicle's routing and the driver's walking sequence when making deliveries, taking decisions on parking locations into consideration. The model is a variant of the Clustered Travelling Salesman Problem with Time Windows, in which the sequence of visits within each cluster is required to form a closed tour. When applied to a case study of an actual vehicle round from a parcel carrier operating in London, savings of over 20% in the total operation time were returned over the current situation where 104 transactions from 99 consignees were being delivered to 57 stopping points

Understanding the Impact of E-commerce on Last-Mile Light Goods Vehicle Activity in Urban Areas: The Case of London

Growth in e-commerce has led to increasing use of light goods vehicles for parcel deliveries in urban areas. This paper provides an insight into the reasons behind this growth and the resulting effort required to meet the exacting delivery services offered by e-retailers which often lead to poor vehicle utilisation in the last-mile operation, as well as the duplication of delivery services in urban centres as competitors vie for business. A case study investigating current parcel delivery operations in central London identified the scale of the challenge facing the last-mile parcel delivery driver, highlighting the importance of walking which can account for 62% of the total vehicle round time and 40% of the total round distance in the operations studied. The characteristics of these operations are in direct conflict with the urban infrastructure which is being increasingly redesigned in favour of walking, cycling and public transport, reducing the kerbside accessibility for last-mile operations. The paper highlights other pressures on last-mile operators associated with managing seasonal peaks in demand; reduced lead times between customers placing orders and deliveries being made; meeting delivery time windows; first-time delivery failure rates and the need to manage high levels of product returns. It concludes by describing a range of initiatives that retailers and parcel carriers, sometimes in conjunction with city authorities, can implement to reduce the costs associated with last-mile delivery, without negatively impacting on customer service levels

Atipamezole Reverses Cardiovascular Changes Induced by High-Dose Medetomidine in Cats Undergoing Sedation for Semen Collection

This study aimed at describing the change in echocardiographic variables after high-dose medetomidine and the reversal with atipamezole in six cats undergoing sedation for semen collection. Further cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) concentration and the effect of repeated sedation were assessed. Echocardiography was performed before and 20 min after sedation with 0.1 mg/kg medetomidine intramuscularly (IM) for urethral catheterisation. Prior to epididymectomy, S-ketamine was administered intravenously. Twenty minutes after reversal with 0.5 mg/kg atipamezole IM, the third echocardiography was performed. Sedation with medetomidine and reversal with atipamezole was repeated on day 7, 14, 21 and 28. Heart rate (HR) and rhythm were monitored throughout all sedations. On day 0 and 28 cTnI concentrations were measured before and after the procedure. After normality testing, the values were compared over time. The administration of medetomidine led to a marked reduction in HR, cardiac output and ventricular systolic function and a significant increase in left ventricular dimensions. Rhythm abnormalities, such as ventricular premature complexes and idioventricular rhythm, could be observed. The administration of atipamezole completely reversed sedation and the changes in haemodynamic variables. No significant increase in cTnI concentrations could be detected, although two out of six cats showed values above the reference range