Resilient Infrastructure and Elasticity of Cargo Movement Following a Natural Disaster

Resilient Infrastructure and Elasticity of Cargo Movement Following a Natural Disaster Keywords: Resiliency, Infrastructure, Cargo Movement, Natural Disaster, Hurricane, Puerto Rico Resilient infrastructure is imperative especially following natural or man-made disasters. The ability to move food, water, and relief supplies using multiple modes of transportation to areas recently affected by major disasters is oftentimes very difficult. Following Hurricane Maria’s landfall on Puerto Rico in 2018, 10,000 shipping containers were stranded in just one port of Puerto Rico unable to traverse the island to reach those in need. The lack of resilient infrastructure caused a delay in repair to normalcy for the entire island and delayed supplies that were already late to their destination even longer. The goal of this research is to model the elasticity of cargo arrival and departure under resilient infrastructure. The objective of this research is to determine the responsiveness of a mode of transportation to change under demand and restrictions. This model will be simulated in VISSIM by first modeling an individual port in Puerto Rico and then allowing this cargo to move along the major truck routes of the island and examining the dwell time and ultimate arrival time from the time it arrives in the port to when it reaches its destination. Its expected that a delay in final arrival time will still be seen; however, the delay time at the port and the delay time when the cargo reaches its final destination will not be linear. This research will help to bring improve well being to individuals of a society, increase public scientific literacy, improve national security, and enhance infrastructure for research and education

Mass Evacuation Effects on Transportation: A Comparative Analysis

Mass evacuations have changed greatly in the past two decades. Evacuations such as Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina, Florida during Hurricane Irma, and New York during the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, Hurricane Sandy, and Hurricane Irene have had significant impacts on future mass evacuations in terms of transportation. This paper takes these methods and analyzes the best approach in given situations based on volume capacity, impact, and cost to make recommendations that can be used by the three previously mention municipalities. With so many different techniques available, it is important to choose the one that moves the most people out of harm’s way as quickly and effectively as possible while still being economical. Data from various transportation engineering professionals is used to examine different techniques. Many of these papers have been published by Transportation Research Board. Additionally, a subject matter expert interview was conducted with Dr. Scott Parr, Ph.D. from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Based on the research conducted, Emergency Shoulder Usage (ESU) is a superior option to contraflow. Fee suspension also has a significant impact on areas with a low-income area. In areas where there was a switch from pretimed signal timing to semi-actuated or fully actuated signal timing a better LOS during mass evacuations was seen. For the implementation of these techniques to be beneficial, resiliency is important and why the last recommendation calls for professionals to petition for better infrastructure and resiliency. Based on the research conducted, Emergency Shoulder Usage (ESU) is a superior option to contraflow. Fee suspension also has a significant impact on areas with a low-income area. In areas where there was a switch from pretimed signal timing to semi-actuated or fully actuated signal timing a better LOS during mass evacuations was seen. For the implementation of these techniques to be beneficial, resiliency is important and why the last recommendation calls for professionals to petition for better infrastructure and resiliency

A BIOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION OF STABILITY, LIGAND BINDING, AND IRON STATE OF CYP102A1

Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) are cysteine ligated Fe-heme monooxygenases that are found in all domains of life. In mammals, they have a role in xenobiotic metabolism and steroid synthesis, making them a fundamental requirement for survival. In addition, their ability to perform a variety of chemical reactions on an array of substrates makes CYPs highly sought for biotechnical applications such as wastewater remediation, production of potential drug candidates, and creation of drug metabolites. By mutating specific amino acids, these enzymes can be engineered to change their substrate binding profiles and achieve stereo- and regio-specific chemistry. While these mutations are essential to change CYP activity, the major drawback to using them on an industrial scale is a decrease in stability of the enzyme. This work elaborated how CYP stability is effected by mutations, binding of native and non-native substrates, and changes in iron oxidation state. Cytochrome P450BM3 (BM3, or CYP102A1), a bacterial enzyme, was used as a model system. In contrast to membrane associated human CYPs, BM3 is soluble and has efficient turnover due to the fusion of the reductase partner the heme domain. BM3 is naturally selective, but mutations can be incorporated to make it promiscuous, similar to CYPs responsible for xenobiotic breakdown. This allowed for the comparison of a selective vs. a promiscuous CYP while conserving the greatest possible sequence identity. An approach was used combining experimental solution phase data, x-ray crystallography, and molecular dynamic simulations. The results showed that mutations resulted in an cumulative decrease in stability as promiscuity increased. This reduction in stability was due to a decrease in the number of salt bridges and disruption of hydrophobic contacts. Regions of P450BM3 were found that could be targeted through mutation to increase the stability of a highly promiscuous and active variant known as the pentuple mutant (PM). Further investigations demonstrated the impact of native and non-native substrate binding. The Gibbs free energy of binding (ΔGb°) was determined for a small library of molecules and was rationalized computationally, concluding that attractive dispersion forces negated the impact of electrostatic and repulsive forces. In addition, the impact of the iron-heme charge state on CYP stability was examined as a function of promiscuity. In general, there was an association between promiscuity and similarities in the stability of the Fe(III) and Fe(II) states. This is consistent with a model where the promiscuous variants of the enzyme are in a more “reduction-ready” state, and can undergo catalysis with greater ease than the wild type enzyme. These findings have implications for the role of CYPs in human health and for biotechnical applications

The Use of Hybrid Modeling to Examine the Elasticity of Cargo Movement Following a Natural Disaster

Resilient infrastructure is imperative especially following natural or manmade disasters. The ability to move food, water, and relief supplies using multiple modes of transportation to areas recently affected by major disasters is oftentimes very difficult. Following Hurricane Maria’s landfall on Puerto Rico in 2018, 10,000 shipping containers were stranded in just one port of Puerto Rico unable to traverse the island to reach those in need. The lack of resilient infrastructure caused a delay in repair to normalcy for the entire island and delayed supplies that were already late to their destination even longer. The goal of this research is to model the elasticity of cargo arrival and departure under resilient infrastructure. The objective of this research is to determine the responsiveness of a mode of transportation to change under demand and restrictions. This model will be simulated in a hybrid microscopic-mesoscopic model using VISSIM. The individual ports within Puerto Rico will first be modelled microscopically. The cargo from these ports will then move along the major truck routes of the island that will be modelled mesoscopic level. Dwell time and ultimate arrival time from the time it arrives in the port to when it reaches its destination will additionally be examined. Its expected that a delay in final arrival time will still be seen; however, the delay time at the port and the delay time when the cargo reaches its final destination will not be linear. This research will help to bring improve well being to individuals of a society, increase public scientific literacy, improve national security, and enhance infrastructure for research and education

Alien Registration- Jannace, Gertrude M. (Rumford, Oxford County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/12466/thumbnail.jp

Occupation and Risk of Traumatic Brain injury in the Millennium Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an occupational health hazard of military service. Few studies have examined differences in military occupational categories (MOC) which take into consideration the physical demands and job requirements across occupational groups. METHODS: This study was approved by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Institutional Review Board. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the Naval Health Research Center\u27s Millennium Cohort Study, an ongoing DoD study. Univariate analyses were employed to calculate frequencies and proportions for all variables. Bivariate analyses included unadjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI for the association between all variables and TBI. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted ORs and 95% CIs to assess the association between MOC and TBI, adjusted for potential confounders: sex, race/ethnicity, rank, military status, branch of service, before-service TBI, and panel. Logistic regression models estimated odds of TBI for each MOC, and stratified models estimated odds separately for enlisted and officer MOCs. RESULTS: Approximately 27% of all participants reported experiencing a service-related TBI. All MOCs were statistically significantly associated with increased odds of service-related TBI, with a range of 16 to 45%, except for Health Care MOCs (OR: 1.01, 95% CI 0.91-1.13). Service members in Infantry/Tactical Operations had the highest odds (OR: 1.45, 95% CI 1.31-1.61) of service-related TBI as compared to Administration & Executives. Among enlisted service members, approximately 28% reported experiencing a service-related TBI. Among enlisted-specific MOCs, the odds of TBI were elevated for those serving in Infantry, Gun Crews, Seamanship (OR: 1.79, 95% CI 1.58-2.02), followed by Electrical/Mechanical Equipment Repairers (OR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.09-1.38), Service & Supply Handlers (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.08-1.37), Other Technical & Allied Specialists (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.02-1.43), Health Care Specialists (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04-1.36), and Communications & Intelligence (OR: 1.16, 95% CI 1.02-1.31), compared to Functional Support & Administration. Among officer service members, approximately 24% reported experiencing a service-related TBI. After adjustment the odds of TBI were found to be significant for those serving as Health Care Officers (OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.52-0.80) and Intelligence Officers (OR: 1.27, 95% CI: 1.01-1.61). CONCLUSIONS: A strength of this analysis is the breakdown of MOC associations with TBI stratified by enlisted and officer ranks, which has been previously unreported. Given the significantly increased odds of service-related TBI reporting within enlisted ranks, further exploration into the location (deployed versus non-deployed) and mechanism (e.g., blast, training, sports, etc.) for these injuries is needed. Understanding injury patterns within these military occupations is necessary to increase TBI identification, treatment, and foremost, prevention.Results highlight the importance of examining specific occupational categories rather than relying on gross categorizations, which do not account for shared knowledge, skills, and abilities within occupations. The quantification of risk among enlisted MOCs suggests a need for further research into the causes of TBI

Lifetime Traumatic Brain injury and Risk of Post-Concussive Symptoms in the Millennium Cohort Study

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is prevalent among active duty military service members, with studies reporting up to 23% experiencing at least one TBI, with 10-60% of service members reporting at least one subsequent repeat TBI. A TBI has been associated with an increased risk of cumulative effects and long-term neurobehavioral symptoms, impacting operational readiness in the short-term and overall health in the long term. The association between multiple TBI and post-concussive symptoms (PCS), however, defined as symptoms that follow a concussion or TBI, in the military has not been adequately examined. Previous studies in military populations are limited by methodological issues including small sample sizes, the use of non-probability sampling, or failure to include the total number of TBI. to overcome these limitations, we examined the association between the total lifetime number of TBI and total number of PCS among U.S. active duty military service members who participated in the Millennium Cohort Study. A secondary data analysis was conducted using the Millennium Cohort Study\u27s 2014 survey