Spatial interaction modeling of interregional commodity flows

Understanding the determinants of interregional commodity flows is critical for both transportation infrastructure planning (highways, railroad tracks, river/port facilities) and regional development policies (location of activities, reducing regional disparities). Unfortunately, limited data availability has, in the past, hindered empirical research in this area. Drawing from both the spatial price equilibrium theoretical framework and the empirical literature on spatial interaction modeling and international trade, this paper expands past spatial interaction models of commodity flows by incorporating new variables into the model, using a flexible Box-Cox functional form, and applying the analysis to all manufacturing commodities. The recently released 1993 U.S. Commodity Flows Survey provides the empirical basis for estimating state-to-state flow models for 16 commodity groups over the 48 continental U.S. states. Based on input-output considerations and in order to differentiate intermediate from final commodity demands, the new variables include more detailed descriptions of the economies of the origin and destination states, such as employment and value added for the commodity sector at the origin state, wholesale employment at both ends, manufacturing employment at the destination state, and population and per-capita income at both ends. In addition, the average establishment size for the commodity at the origin is intended to measure scale or diversification effects. The competitive or agglomerative effects of the economic spatial structure are captured with competing destination and intervening opportunities variables. In addition to the average hauling distance between states, the model includes dummy variables measuring whether (1) having a common physical border, and (2) the origin or destination states being custom districts, have an effect on flows. Overall, the results show that the selected variables and functional form are very successful in explaining flow variations. The optimized Box-Cox specification proves to be superior to the log-log one in all cases. The results include the following findings: (1) the distance effect is negative and highly significant, with bulkier products hauled over shorter distances; (2) the adjacency effect is significant, with neighboring states trading more with one another, even after accounting for distance; (3) the impact of the spatial structure is of the competitive type in most cases; (4) the effects of imports and exports are significant for specific commodities; (5) wholesale activities at both origins and destinations are important facilitators of commodity flows; (6) except in one case (furniture), flows increase with product diversification; and (7) the role of intermediate and final demands for the commodities are clearly reflected by the selected employment, population and per-capita income variables. Various areas for further research are outlined.

Effect of Thermal and Mechanical Deformation of Metamaterial FDM Components

At Lancaster University, research is currently investigating the use of rapid manufacturing (RM) to realise metamaterials, although key to the success of this project is the development of an understanding of how coated RM parts deform under thermal and mechanical stress. The research in this paper presents a comparison of the thermal and mechanical deformation behaviour of RM coated metamaterials components from a numerical context. The research uses the design of a simple metamaterial unit cell as a test model for both the experimental and finite element method (FEM). The investigation of deformation behaviour of sample Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) parts manufactured in different orientations and simulated using commercial FEM code means that the FEM analysis can be utilized for design verification of FDM parts. This research contributes to further research into the development of RM metamaterials, specifically design analysis and verification tools for RM materials

Reverse polarized inductive coupling to transmit and receive radiofrequency coil arrays

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this study, the reverse polarization method is implemented using transmit and receive arrays to improve the visibility of the interventional devices. Linearly polarized signal sourcesinductively and receptively coupled radiofrequency coilsare used in the experimental setups to demonstrate the ability of the method to separate these sources from a forward polarized anatomy signal. Two different applications of the reverse polarization method are presented here: (a) catheter tracking and (b) fiducial marker visualization, in both of which transmit and receive arrays are used. The performance of the reverse polarization method was further tested with phantom and volunteer studies, and the results proved the feasibility of this method with transmit and receive arrays. Magn Reson Med, 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, In

Fauna of Encyrtidae, parasitoids of coccids in Golcuk Natural Park

Είδη της οικογένειας Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), που παρασιτούν σε κοκκοειδή έντομα (Coccoidea), συλλέχθηκαν με παγίδα malaise στο φυσικό πάρκο Golcuk της Τουρκίας κατά την περίοδο Μάρτιος-Οκτώβριος 2009. Σαράντα τέσσερα είδη παρασιτοειδών της οικογένειας Encyrtidae που ανήκουν σε 24 γένη, καταγράφηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια της μελέτης. Δύο γένη και εννιά είδη είναι νέες καταγραφές για την εντομοπανίδα της Τουρκίας. Είκοσι οκτώ είδη αναγνωρίσθηκαν σε επίπεδο είδους και τα υπόλοιπα σε επίπεδο γένους ή μορφότυπου. Αυτή είναι η πρώτη προσπάθεια εκτίμησης της παρουσίας κοκκοειδών εντόμων σε μια περιοχή, χρησιμοποιώντας ως δείκτη τα παρασιτοειδή που συλλέγονται με τη βοήθεια παγίδας malaise.Species of Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), which are parasitoids of Coccoidea, were collected by malaise trap in Golcuk Natural Park during March-October, 2009. Forty-four species of encyrtids, belonging to 24 genera, were recorded during our survey. Two genera and nine species were found to represent new records for the Turkish fauna. Twenty-eight encyrtid species were identified to the species level and the remaining specimens to genus and morphospecies level. This was the first attempt at estimating the scale insect fauna using their parasitoids collected by malaise traps

Deep tillage tool optimization by means of finite element method: Case study for a subsoiler tine

Technologies and computer capacity currently available allow us to employ design software and numerical methods to solve complicated problems in very wide disciplines of engineering. It is also important for researches in agriculture. This study focused on obtaining optimum geometry parameters of a subsoiler tine by using computer aided engineering (CAE) applications. A field experiment was conducted to determine draft force of the subsoiler. The results from the experimental study were used in the finite element analysis (FEA) to simulate stress distributions on the subsoiler tine. The maximum equivalent stress of 432.49 MPa was obtained in the FEA. Visual investigations and FEA results showed that according to the tine’s material yield stress point of 355 MPa, plastic deformation was evident. Based on the FEA results, an optimization study was undertaken to obtain optimum geometry parameters without the occurrence of plastic deformation. According to the optimization study results, the optimum parameters of the tine geometry and maximum equivalent stress of 346.61 MPa were obtained. In addition to this, the total mass of the tine was reduced by about 0.367 kg

Türkiye'de ülke içinde yerinden edilme sorunu: tespitler ve çözüm önerileri = The problem of internal displacement in Turkey: assessment and policy proposals

Bu rapor, Doç. Dr. A. Tamer Aker (psikiyatr, Kocaeli Üniversitesi), Yrd. Doç. Dr. A. Betül Çelik (siyaset bilimci, Sabancı Üniversitesi), Dilek Kurban (hukuk doktoru, TESEV), Doç. Dr. Turgay Ünalan (nüfusbilimci, Hacettepe Üniversitesi) ve Yrd. Doç. Dr. H. Deniz Yükseker'den (sosyolog, Koç Üniversitesi) oluşan TESEV Ülke İçinde Yerinden Edilme Araştırma ve İzleme Grubu tarafından hazırlanmıştır. Grup, yerinden edilmeyi çatışma ortamının keskinleştirdiği devlet merkezli düşünüşün ve çeşitli ideolojik kamplaşmaların ötesinde, yurttaşlık haklarının yeniden tesisi ve toplumsal rehabilitasyon eksenlerinde ve insani boyutları bağlamında ele almaktadır