Search results for: maritime connectivity

Authors: Mohammad Y. Abualhoul, Edgar Talavera Munoz, Fawzi Nashashibi

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The new emerging Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology has been subjected to intensive investigation, evaluation, and lately, deployed in the context of convoy-based applications for Intelligent Transportations Systems (ITS). The technology limitations were defined and supported by different solutions proposals to enhance the crucial alignment and mobility limitations. In this paper, we propose the incorporation of VLC technology and Lane-Centering (LC) technique to assure the VLC-connectivity by keeping the autonomous vehicle aligned to the lane center using vision-based lane detection in a convoy-based formation. Such combination can ensure the optical communication connectivity with a lateral error less than 30 cm. As soon as the road lanes are detectable, the evaluated system showed stable behavior independently from the inter-vehicle distances and without the need for any exchanged information of the remote vehicles. The evaluation of the proposed system is verified using VLC prototype and an empirical result of LC running application over 60 km in Madrid M40 highway.

Keywords: visible light communication, lane-centerin, platooning, intelligent transportation systems, road safety applications

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Authors: Jessica Kate Simonds

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The last successful hijacking perpetrated by Somali pirates in 2012 represented a critical turning point for the identity and brand of Indian Ocean (IO) insecurity, coined in this paper as the era of the post-piratical. This paper explores the broadening of the PMSC business model to account and contribute to the design of a new IO security environment that prioritises foreign and insurgency drone activity and Houthi rebel operations as the main threat to merchant shipping in the post-2012 era. This study is situated within a longer history of analysing maritime insecurity and also contributes a bespoke conceptual framework that understands the sea as a space that is produced and reproduced relative to existing and emerging threats to merchant shipping based on bespoke models of information sharing and intelligence acquisition. This paper also makes a prominent empirical contribution by drawing on a post-positivist methodology, data drawn from original semi-structured interviews with senior maritime insurers and active merchant seafarers that is triangulated with industry-produced guidance such as the BMP series as primary data sources. Each set is analysed through qualitative discourse and content analysis and supported by the quantitative data sets provided by the IMB Piracy Reporting center and intelligence networks. This analysis reveals that mechanisms such as the IGP&I Maritime Security Committee and intelligence divisions of PMSC’s have driven the exchanges of knowledge between land and sea and thus the reproduction of the maritime security environment through new regulations and guidance to account dones, rebels and bombs as the key challenges in the IO, beyond piracy. A contribution of this paper is the argument that experts who may not be in the highest-profile jobs are the architects of maritime insecurity based on their detailed knowledge and connections to vessels in transit. This paper shares the original insights of those who have served in critical decision making spaces to demonstrate that the development and refinement of industry produced deterrence guidance that has been accredited to the mitigation of piracy, have shaped new editions such as BMP 5 that now serve to frame a new security environment that prioritises the mitigation of risks from drones and WBEID’s from both state and insurgency risk groups. By highlighting the experiences and perspectives of key players on both land and at sea, the key finding of this paper is outlining that as pirates experienced a financial boom by profiteering from their bespoke business model during the peak of successful hijackings, the private security market encountered a similar level of financial success and guaranteed risk environment in which to prospect business. Thus, the reproduction of the Indian Ocean as a maritime security environment reflects a new found purpose for PMSC’s as part of the broader conglomerate of maritime insurers, regulators, shipowners and managers who continue to redirect the security consciousness and IO brand of insecurity.

Keywords: maritime security, private security, risk intelligence, political geography, international relations, political economy, maritime law, security studies

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Authors: Jehad Al Dallal

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Class cohesion is a key object-oriented software quality attribute that is used to evaluate the degree of relatedness of class attributes and methods. Researchers have proposed several class cohesion measures. However, the effect of considering the special methods (i.e., constructors, destructors, and access and delegation methods) in cohesion calculation is not thoroughly theoretically studied for most of them. In this paper, we address this issue for three popular connectivity-based class cohesion measures. For each of the considered measures we theoretically study the impact of including or excluding special methods on the values that are obtained by applying the measure. This study is based on analyzing the definitions and formulas that are proposed for the measures. The results show that including/excluding special methods has a considerable effect on the obtained cohesion values and that this effect varies from one measure to another. For each of the three connectivity-based measures, the proposed theoretical study recommended excluding the special methods in cohesion measurement.

Keywords: object-oriented class, software quality, class cohesion measure, class cohesion, special methods

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou

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Airport’s serving a tourist destination are an essential counterpart of the tourist demand supply chain, and their productivity is related to the region’s attractiveness and is enhanced by the air transport business. In this paper, the evaluation framework of the scheduled flights between two tourist airports is taken into consideration. By adopting a systemic approach, the arrivals from an airport that its connectivity heavily depended on the departures of another major airport are reviewed. The methodology framework, based on inventory control theory and the numerical example, promotes the use of the modelling formulation. The results would be essential for comparison and exercising to other similar cases.

Keywords: airport connectivity, inventory control, optimization, optimum allocation

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Authors: Mohanad Hammad

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Port institutions serve as a link connecting the land areas that receive the goods and the areas from where ships sail. These areas hold great significance for the conversion of goods into commodities of economic value, capable of meeting the needs of the society. Development of ports constitutes a fundamental component of the comprehensive economic development process. Recognizing this fact, developing countries have always resorted to this infrastructural element to resolve the numerous problems they face, taking into account its contribution to the reformation of their economic conditions. Iraqi ports have played a major role in boosting the commercial movement in Iraq, as they are the starting point of its oil exports and a key constituent in fulfilling the consumer and production needs of the various economic sectors of Iraq. With the Gulf wars and the economic blockade, Iraqi ports have continued to deteriorate and become unable to perform their functions as first-generation ports, prompting Iraq to use the ports of neighboring countries such as Jordan's Aqaba commercial port. Meanwhile, Iraqi ports face strong competition from the ports of neighboring countries, which have achieved progress and advancement as opposed to the declining performance and efficiency of Iraqi ports. The great developments in the economic conditions of Iraq lay a too great burden on the Iraqi maritime transport and ports, which require development in order to be able to meet the challenges arising from the fierce international and regional competition in the markets. Therefore, it is necessary to find appropriate solutions in support of the role that can be played by Iraqi ports in serving Iraq's foreign trade transported by sea and in keeping up with the development of foreign trade. Thus, this research aims at tackling the current situation of the Iraqi ports and their commercial activity and studying the problems and obstacles they face. The research also studies the future prospects of these ports, the potentials of maritime openness to Iraq under the fierce competition of neighboring ports, and the possibility of enhancing Iraqi ports’ competitiveness. Among the results produced by this research is the future scenario it proposes for Iraqi ports, mainly represented in the establishment of Al-Faw Port, which will contribute to a greater openness of maritime transport in Iraq, and the rehabilitation and expansion of existing ports. This research seeks to develop solutions to Iraq ports so that they can be repositioned as a vital means of promoting economic development.

Keywords: maritime transport, port, future prospects, regional integration

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Authors: B. Cheknane, F. Zermane

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The main objective of the present study is the valorization of natural raw materials of plant origin for the treatment of textile industry wastewater. Selected bark was: maritime (MP), pinyon (PP) and Aleppo pine (AP) bark. The efficiency of these barks were tested for the removal of three dye; rhodamine B (RhB), Green Malachite (GM) and X Methyl Orange (MO). At the first time we focus to study the different parameters which can influence the adsorption processes such as: nature of the adsorbents, nature of the pollutants (dyes) and the effect of pH. Obtained results reveals that the speed adsorption is strongly influencing by the pH medium and the comparative study show that adsorption is favorable in the acidic medium with amount adsorbed of (Q=40mg/g) for rhodamine B and (Q=46mg/g) for orange methyl. Results of adsorption kinetics reveals that the molecules of GM are adsorbed better (Q=48mg/g) than the molecules of RhB (Q=46mg/g) and methyl orange (Q=18mg/g), with equilibrium time of 6 hours. The results of adsorption isotherms show clearly that the maritime pine bark is the most effective adsorbents with adsorbed amount of (QRhB=200mg/g) and (QMO=88mg/g) followed by pinyon pine (PP) with (QRhB=184mg/g) and (QMO=56mg/g) and finally Aleppo pine (AP) bark with (QRhB=131mg/g) and (QMO= 46mg/g). The different obtained isotherms were modeled using the Langmuir and Freundlich models and according to the adjustment coefficient values R2, the obtained isotherms are well represented by Freundlich model.

Keywords: maritime pine bark (MP), pinyon pine bark (PP), Aleppo pine (AP) bark, adsorption, dyes

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Authors: Zhen Li, Chang Liu, Ping Zhang

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These Glaciers are thought of as natural water reservoirs and are of vital importance to hydrological models and industrial production, and glacial changes act as significant indicators of climate change. The glacier snowline can be used as an indicator of the equilibrium line, which may be a key parameter to study the effect of climate change on glaciers. Using Google Earth Engine, we select optical satellite imageries and implement the Otsu thresholding method on a near-infrared band to detect snowline altitudes (SLAs) of 26 glaciers in three regions of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Three different study regions in the eastern Tibetan Plateau have different climate regimes, which are Sepu Kangri (SK, maritime glacier), Bu’Gyai Kangri (BK, continental glacier) and west of Qiajajima (WQ, continental glacier), along a latitudinal transect from south to north. We analyzed the effects of climatic factors on the SLA changes from 1995 to 2016. SLAs are fluctuating upward, and the rising values are 100 m, 60 m, and 34 m from south to north during the 22 years. We also observed that the climatic factor that affects the variability of SLA gradually changes from precipitation to temperature from south to north. The northern continental glaciers are mainly affected by temperature, and the southern maritime glaciers affected by precipitation. Owing to the influence of primary climatic factors, continental glaciers are found to have higher SLAs on the south slope, while maritime glaciers have higher SLAs on the north slope.

Keywords: climate change, glacier, snowline altitude, tibetan plateau

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Authors: Mahdi Jalili

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Functional connectivity in the human brain can be represented as a network using electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Network representation of EEG time series can be an efficient vehicle to understand the underlying mechanisms of brain function. Brain functional networks – whose nodes are brain regions and edges correspond to functional links between them – are characterized by neurobiologically meaningful graph theory metrics. This study investigates the degree to which graph theory metrics are sex dependent. To this end, EEGs from 24 healthy female subjects and 21 healthy male subjects were recorded in eyes-closed resting state conditions. The connectivity matrices were extracted using correlation analysis and were further binarized to obtain binary functional networks. Global and local efficiency measures – as graph theory metrics– were computed for the extracted networks. We found that male brains have a significantly greater global efficiency (i.e., global communicability of the network) across all frequency bands for a wide range of cost values in both hemispheres. Furthermore, for a range of cost values, female brains showed significantly greater right-hemispheric local efficiency (i.e., local connectivity) than male brains.

Keywords: EEG, brain, functional networks, network science, graph theory

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Authors: B. L. Ho, L. Shi, D. F. Wang, V. C. T. Mok

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The brain’s functional connectivity while temporally non-stationary does express consistency at a macro spatial level. The study of stable resting state connectivity patterns hence provides opportunities for identification of diseases if such stability is severely perturbed. A mathematical model replicating the brain’s spatial connections will be useful for understanding brain’s representative geometry and complements the empirical model where it falls short. Empirical computations tend to involve large matrices and become infeasible with fine parcellation. However, the proposed analytical model has no such computational problems. To improve replicability, 92 subject data are obtained from two open sources. The proposed methodology, inspired by financial theory, uses multivariate regression to find relationships of every cortical region of interest (ROI) with some pre-identified hubs. These hubs acted as representatives for the entire cortical surface. A variance-covariance framework of all ROIs is then built based on these relationships to link up all the ROIs. The result is a high level of match between model and empirical correlations in the range of 0.59 to 0.66 after adjusting for sample size; an increase of almost forty percent. More significantly, the model framework provides an intuitive way to delineate between systemic drivers and idiosyncratic noise while reducing dimensions by more than 30 folds, hence, providing a way to conduct attribution analysis. Due to its analytical nature and simple structure, the model is useful as a standalone toolkit for network dependency analysis or as a module for other mathematical models.

Keywords: functional magnetic resonance imaging, multivariate regression, network hubs, resting state functional connectivity

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Authors: Joeri N. Aulman

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In the remote Indian region of Gulbarga a case study of lean airport infrastructure development is getting ‘cast in stone’; In April the first turbo-props will land, and the optimized terminal building will process its first passengers, using minimal square meters in a facility that is based on a complete dress-down of the core operational processes. Yet the solution that resulted from this case study has such elegance in its simplicity that it has emboldened the local administration to invest in its construction and thus secure this remote region’s connectivity to India’s growth story. This paper aims to provide further background to the Gulbarga case study and its relevance to remote region connectivity, covering the demand that was identified, its practical application and its regulatory context and relevance for today’s airport manager and local administrators. This embodies the scope of the paper. In summary, the paper will give airport managers and regional authorities an overview and background to innovative case studies of lean airport infrastructure developments which combine both optimized CAPEX and running costs/OPEX without losing sight of the aspirational nature of up and coming remote regions; a truly sustainable model.

Keywords: airport, CAPEX, lean, sustainable, air connectivity, remote regions

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Authors: Kenji Tanaka, Kazumi Sugita, Yuto Mizushima

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This paper introduces a noteworthy form of English communication training for the officers and operators of the Osaka-Bay Marine Traffic Information Service (Osaka MARTIS) of the Japan Coast Guard working in the congested area at the Akashi Strait in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The authors of this paper, Marine Technical College’s (MTC) English language instructors, have been holding about forty lectures and exercises in basic and normal Maritime English (ME) for several groups of MARTIS personnel at Osaka MARTIS annually since they started the training in 2005. Trainees are expected to be qualified Maritime Third-Class Radio Operators who are responsible for providing safety information to a daily average of seven to eight hundred vessels that pass through the Akashi Strait, one of Japan’s narrowest channels. As of 2022, the instructors are conducting 55 remote lessons at MARTIS. One lesson is 90 minutes long. All 26 trainees are given oral and written assessments. The trainees need to pass the examination to become qualified operators every year, requiring them to train and maintain their linguistic levels even during the pandemic of Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19). The vessel traffic information provided by Osaka MARTIS in Maritime English language is essential to the work involving the use of very high frequency (VHF) communication between MARTIS and vessels in the area. ME is the common language mainly used on board merchant, fishing, and recreational vessels, normally at sea. ME was edited and recommended by the International Maritime Organization in the 1970s, was revised in 2002, and has undergone continual revision. The vessel’s circumstances are much more serious at the strait than those at the open sea, so these vessels need ME to receive guidance from the center when passing through the narrow strait. The imminent and challenging situations at the strait necessitate that textbooks’ contents include the basics of the phrase book for seafarers as well as specific and additional navigational information, pronunciation exercises, notes on keywords and phrases, explanations about collocations, sample sentences, and explanations about the differences between synonyms especially those focusing on terminologies necessary for passing through the strait. Additionally, short Japanese-English translation quizzes about these topics, as well as prescribed readings about the maritime sector, are include in the textbook. All of these exercises have been trained in the remote education system since the outbreak of COVID-19. According to the guidelines of ME edited in 2009, the lowest level necessary for seafarers is B1 (lower individual users) of The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR). Therefore, this vocational ME language training at Osaka MARTIS aims for its trainees to communicate at levels higher than B1. A noteworthy proof of improvement from this training is that most of the trainees have become qualified marine radio communication officers.

Keywords: akashi strait, B1 of CEFR, maritime english communication training, osaka martis

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Authors: B. Umaru Mohammed, Faris A. Al-Maziad, Mohammad Y. Numan

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One of the most important factors affecting the energy performance within a building is a carefully and efficiently designed facade. The primary aim of this research was to identify and present the potentiality of utilising Double-Skin Facade (DSF) construction and critically examine its effect on the energy consumption of an office building located within a maritime desert climate as to the conventional single-skin curtain wall system. A comparative analysis of the effect on the overall energy consumption within an office building was investigated in which a combination of various Double-Skin Facade configurations, systems, and cavity depths, glazing types and orientations were utilised. A computer dynamic modelling was utilised in order to ensure accurate calculations and efficient simulations of the various DSF systems due to the complex nature of the various functions within the Facade cavity. Through the use of the dynamic thermal modelling simulations, the best cavity size glazed type and orientation were determined to lead to a detailed analysis of the efficiency of each respective combination of Double-Skin Facade construction. As such the optimal facade combination for use within an office building located in a maritime desert climate was identified. Results demonstrated that a multi-story Facade, depending on its configuration, save up to 5% on annual cooling loads respect to a Corridor Facade and while vented can save unto 12% when compared to the single skin façade, on annual cooling load in the maritime desert climate. The selected configuration of the DSF from SSF saves an overall annual cooling load of 32%.A comparative analysis of the effect on the overall energy consumption within an office building was investigated in which a combination of various Double-Skin Facade configurations, systems, and cavity depths, glazing types and orientations were utilized. A computer dynamic modelling was utilized in order to ensure accurate calculations and efficient simulations of the various DSF systems due to the complex nature of the various functions within the Facade cavity. Through the use of the dynamic thermal modelling simulations, the best cavity size glazed type and orientation were determined to lead to a detailed analysis of the efficiency of each respective combination of Double-Skin Facade construction. As such the optimal facade combination for use within an office building located in a maritime desert climate was identified. Results demonstrated that a multi-story Facade, depending on its configuration, save up to 5% on annual cooling loads respect to a Corridor Facade and while vented can save unto 12% when compared to the single skin facade, on annual cooling load in the maritime desert climate. The selected configuration of the DSF from SSF saves an overall annual cooling load of 32%.

Keywords: computer dynamics modelling, comparative analysis, energy computation, double skin facade, single skin curtain wall, maritime desert climate

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Authors: Mahmoud Almasri, Xavier Marjou, Fanny Parzysz

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The demand for services provided by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is increasing pervasively across several sectors including potential public safety, economic, and delivery services. As the number of applications using UAVs grows rapidly, more and more powerful, quality of service, and power efficient computing units are necessary. Recently, cellular technology draws more attention to connectivity that can ensure reliable and flexible communications services for UAVs. In cellular technology, flying with a high speed and altitude is subject to several key challenges, such as frequent handovers (HOs), high interference levels, connectivity coverage holes, etc. Additional HOs may lead to “ping-pong” between the UAVs and the serving cells resulting in a decrease of the quality of service and energy consumption. In order to optimize the number of HOs, we develop in this paper a Q-learning-based algorithm. While existing works focus on adjusting the number of HOs in a static network topology, we take into account the impact of cells deployment for three different simulation scenarios (Rural, Semi-rural and Urban areas). We also consider the impact of the decision distance, where the drone has the choice to make a switching decision on the number of HOs. Our results show that a Q-learning-based algorithm allows to significantly reduce the average number of HOs compared to a baseline case where the drone always selects the cell with the highest received signal. Moreover, we also propose which hyper-parameters have the largest impact on the number of HOs in the three tested environments, i.e. Rural, Semi-rural, or Urban.

Keywords: drones connectivity, reinforcement learning, handovers optimization, decision distance

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Authors: Davide Fuscà, Kanan Rahimli, Roberto Leuzzi

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Preventing abuse and illegal activities in a given area of the sea is a very difficult and expensive task. Artificial intelligence offers the possibility to implement new methods to identify the vessel class type from the kinematic features of the vessel itself. The task strictly depends on the quality of the data. This paper explores the application of a deep, long short-term memory model by using AIS flow only with a relatively low quality. The proposed model reaches high accuracy on detecting nine vessel classes representing the most common vessel types in the Ionian-Adriatic Sea. The model has been applied during the Adriatic-Ionian trial period of the international EU ANDROMEDA H2020 project to identify vessels performing behaviors far from the expected one depending on the declared type.

Keywords: maritime surveillance, artificial intelligence, behavior analysis, LSTM

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Authors: Nahian Salsabeel, Faria Leera

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—“Whoever controls the Indian Ocean, dominates Asia. This ocean is the key to the seven seas. In the 21st century, the destiny of the world will be decided on its waters” -Alfred Mahan South Asia is increasingly becoming a hub for international politics. Numerous ventures are taking place in the strategic region. Of them, the most prominent is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Originating from the concept of ancient Silk Route, the Chinese Xi Jin Ping regime looks to reestablish the vast connectivity project to connect the world through infrastructure and trade. On the other hand, the US, teamed up with India, Australia and Japan, thereby forming the Quad, have launched their own foreign policy, the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The ambitious 21st century initiative for the development of maritime trade, security and governance focuses critical importance to the Indo-Pacific region, especially to South Asia. Against the backdrop of contemporary political scenario, both the Quad and China airs to establish their own footprint across the region through respective mega projects, the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the BRI. This research employs a comparative case study research method, using a secondary research design. The paper looks at the variety of opportunities and challenges posed by the BRI and the Indo Pacific, and gives the comparative study on both ends.

Keywords: BRI, Foreign Policy, Indo-Pacific, South Asia

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Authors: N. Perko, N. Kavran, M. Bukljas, I. Berbic

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This paper is a result of implemented research on proposed introduced methodology for nautical ports capacity planning by introducing a multi-criteria approach of defined criteria and impacts at the Adriatic Sea. The purpose was analysing the determinants -characteristics of infrastructure and services of nautical ports capacity allocated, especially nowadays due to COVID-19 pandemic, as crucial for the successful operation of nautical ports. Giving the importance of the defined priorities for short-term and long-term planning is essential not only in terms of the development of nautical tourism but also in terms of developing the maritime system, but unfortunately, this is not always carried out. Evaluation of the use of resources should follow from a detailed analysis of all aspects of resources bearing in mind that nautical tourism used resources in a sustainable manner and generate effects in the tourism and maritime sectors. Consequently, the identified multiplier effect of nautical tourism, which should be defined and quantified in detail, should be one of the major competitive products on the Croatian Adriatic and the Mediterranean. Research of nautical tourism is necessary to quantify the effects and required planning system development. In the future, the greatest threat to the long-term sustainable development of nautical tourism can be its further uncontrolled or unlimited and undirected development, especially under pressure markedly higher demand than supply for new moorings in the Mediterranean. Results of this implemented research are applicable to nautical ports management and decision-makers of maritime transport system development. This paper will present implemented research and obtained result-developed methodology for nautical port capacity planning -port capacity planning multi-criteria decision-making. A proposed methodological approach of multi-criteria capacity planning includes four criteria (spatial - transport, cost - infrastructure, ecological and organizational criteria, and additional services). The importance of the criteria and sub-criteria is evaluated and carried out as the basis for sensitivity analysis of the importance of the criteria and sub-criteria. Based on the analysis of the identified and quantified importance of certain criteria and sub-criteria, as well as sensitivity analysis and analysis of changes of the quantified importance, scientific and applicable results will be presented. These obtained results have practical applicability by management of nautical ports in the planning of increasing capacity and further development and for the adaptation of existing nautical ports. Obtained research is applicable and replicable in other seas, and results are especially important and useful in this COVID-19 pandemic challenging maritime development framework.

Keywords: Adriatic Sea, capacity, infrastructures, maritime system, methodology, nautical ports, nautical tourism, service

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Authors: Antti Lanki, Justiina Halonen, Juuso Punnonen, Emmi Rantavuo

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Marine oil spill response operation requires extensive vessel maneuvering and navigation skills. At-sea oil containment and recovery include both single vessel and multi-vessel operations. Towing long oil containment booms that are several hundreds of meters in length, is a challenge in itself. Boom deployment and towing in multi-vessel configurations is an added challenge that requires precise coordination and control of the vessels. Efficient communication, as a prerequisite for shared situational awareness, is needed in order to execute the response task effectively. To gain and maintain adequate maritime skills, practical training is needed. Field exercises are the most effective way of learning, but especially the related vessel operations are resource-intensive and costly. Field exercises may also be affected by environmental limitations such as high sea-state or other adverse weather conditions. In Finland, the seasonal ice-coverage also limits the training period to summer seasons only. In addition, environmental sensitiveness of the sea area restricts the use of real oil or other target substances. This paper examines, whether maritime simulator training can offer a complementary method to overcome the training challenges related to field exercises. The objective is to assess the efficiency and the learning impact of simulator training, and the specific skills that can be trained most effectively in simulators. This paper provides an overview of learning results from two oil spill response pilot courses, in which maritime navigational bridge simulators were used to train the oil spill response authorities. The simulators were equipped with an oil spill functionality module. The courses were targeted at coastal Fire and Rescue Services responsible for near shore oil spill response in Finland. The competence levels of the participants were surveyed before and after the course in order to measure potential shifts in competencies due to the simulator training. In addition to the quantitative analysis, the efficiency of the simulator training is evaluated qualitatively through feedback from the participants. The results indicate that simulator training is a valid and effective method for developing marine oil spill response competencies that complement traditional field exercises. Simulator training provides a safe environment for assessing various oil containment and recovery tactics. One of the main benefits of the simulator training was found to be the immediate feedback the spill modelling software provides on the oil spill behaviour as a reaction to response measures.

Keywords: maritime training, oil spill response, simulation, vessel manoeuvring

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Authors: Mohsen Negmeddin

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Throughout their history, ancient Egyptians had known several kinds and types of boats, which were made from two main kinds of materials, the local one, as the dried papyrus reeds and the local tree trunks, the imported one, as the boats which were made from Lebanon cedar tree trunks. A varied using of these boats, as the fish hunting small boats, the transportation and trade boats "Cargo Boats", as well as the ceremonial boats, and the warfare boats. The research is intending for the last one, the warfare boats and the river/maritime battles since the beginning of ancient Egyptian civilization at the pre-historic era up till the end of the second intermediate period, to reveal the kinds and types of those fighting ships before establishing the Egyptian navy at the beginning of the New Kingdome (1550-1770 B.C). Two methods will follow at this research, the mention of names and titles of these ships through the texts (ancient Egyptian language) resources, and the depiction of it at the scenes.

Keywords: the warfare boats, the maritime battles, the pre-historic era, the second intermediate period

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Authors: Ngo the Bach

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Vietnam is one of not many Asian countries that have a long-standing and famous tradition of pottery production. Vietnam is also one of three countries including China, Vietnam, and Japan developed strongly the export of ceramics to other countries. In recent decades, the studies of Vietnamese and foreign scholars on Vietnamese trade ceramics as well as Vietnamese foreign trade was initially recorded. The aim of this article is to introduce an overview of the findings situation and research results; the development of Vietnam ceramics and the Vietnamese history of maritime trade with Asian ceramics from the 14th century to the 17th century. Given that, the author systematized materials; carried out the synthetic and analysis for research results of Vietnamese and foreign researchers until now on Vietnamese export ceramics on the basis of the historical sources, archaeological findings discovered from relics in the tombs, relics of residence, relics of trading port inland, and the ancient shipwreck sank in the Asian countries.

Keywords: Vietnamese ceramics, trading, maritime, international

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Authors: Ruth Mandujano Lopez

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During the second half of the 19th century, in the transition from sail to steam navigation, the transpacific space underwent major transformation. This paper examines the role that the steamship companies between Mexico, the rest of North America and Asia played in that process. Based on primary sources found in Mexico, California, London and Hong Kong, it argues that these companies actively participated in the redefining of the Pacific space as they opened new routes, transported thousands of people and had an impact on regional geopolitics. In order to prove this, the text will present the cases of a handful of companies that emerged between 1867 and 1910 and of some of their passengers. By looking at the way the Mexican ports incorporated to the transpacific steam maritime network, this work contributes to have a better understanding of the role that Latin American ports have played in the formation of a global order. From a theoretical point of view, it proposes the conceptualization of space in the form of transnational networks as a point of departure to conceive a history that is truly global.

Keywords: mexico, steamships, transpacific, maritime companies

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Authors: Marcel Schulze, Behrem Aslan, Silke Lux, Alexandra Philipsen

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Objective: Patients with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often report that they are being flooded by sensory impressions. Studies investigating sensory processing show hypersensitivity for sensory inputs across the senses in children and adults with ADHD. Especially the auditory modality is affected by deficient acoustical inhibition and modulation of signals. While studying unimodal signal-processing is relevant and well-suited in a controlled laboratory environment, everyday life situations occur multimodal. A complex interplay of the senses is necessary to form a unified percept. In order to achieve this, the unimodal sensory modalities are bound together in a process called multisensory integration (MI). In the current study we investigate MI in an adult ADHD sample using the McGurk-effect – a well-known illusion where incongruent speech like phonemes lead in case of successful integration to a new perceived phoneme via late top-down attentional allocation . In ADHD neuronal dysregulation at rest e.g., aberrant within or between network functional connectivity may also account for difficulties in integrating across the senses. Therefore, the current study includes resting-state functional connectivity to investigate a possible relation of deficient network connectivity and the ability of stimulus integration. Method: Twenty-five ADHD patients (6 females, age: 30.08 (SD:9,3) years) and twenty-four healthy controls (9 females; age: 26.88 (SD: 6.3) years) were recruited. MI was examined using the McGurk effect, where - in case of successful MI - incongruent speech-like phonemes between visual and auditory modality are leading to a perception of a new phoneme. Mann-Whitney-U test was applied to assess statistical differences between groups. Echo-planar imaging-resting-state functional MRI was acquired on a 3.0 Tesla Siemens Magnetom MR scanner. A seed-to-voxel analysis was realized using the CONN toolbox. Results: Susceptibility to McGurk was significantly lowered for ADHD patients (ADHDMdn:5.83%, ControlsMdn:44.2%, U= 160.5, p=0.022, r=-0.34). When ADHD patients integrated phonemes, reaction times were significantly longer (ADHDMdn:1260ms, ControlsMdn:582ms, U=41.0, p<.000, r= -0.56). In functional connectivity medio temporal gyrus (seed) was negatively associated with primary auditory cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and fusiform gyrus. Conclusion: MI seems to be deficient for ADHD patients for stimuli that need top-down attentional allocation. This finding is supported by stronger functional connectivity from unimodal sensory areas to polymodal, MI convergence zones for complex stimuli in ADHD patients.

Keywords: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, audiovisual integration, McGurk-effect, resting-state functional connectivity

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Authors: Lidija R. Jevrić, Sanja O. Podunavac-Kuzmanović, Strahinja Z. Kovačević

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Quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) analysis was used to predict the chromatographic behavior of s-triazine derivatives by using theoretical descriptors computed from the chemical structure. Fundamental basis of the reported investigation is to relate molecular topological descriptors with chromatographic behavior of s-triazine derivatives obtained by reversed-phase (RP) thin layer chromatography (TLC) on silica gel impregnated with paraffin oil and applied ethanol-water (φ = 0.5-0.8; v/v). Retention parameter (RM0) of 14 investigated s-triazine derivatives was used as dependent variable while simple connectivity index different orders were used as independent variables. The best QSRR model for predicting RM0 value was obtained with simple third order connectivity index (3χ) in the second-degree polynomial equation. Numerical values of the correlation coefficient (r=0.915), Fisher's value (F=28.34) and root mean square error (RMSE = 0.36) indicate that model is statistically significant. In order to test the predictive power of the QSRR model leave-one-out cross-validation technique has been applied. The parameters of the internal cross-validation analysis (r2CV=0.79, r2adj=0.81, PRESS=1.89) reflect the high predictive ability of the generated model and it confirms that can be used to predict RM0 value. Multivariate classification technique, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), has been applied in order to group molecules according to their molecular connectivity indices. HCA is a descriptive statistical method and it is the most frequently used for important area of data processing such is classification. The HCA performed on simple molecular connectivity indices obtained from the 2D structure of investigated s-triazine compounds resulted in two main clusters in which compounds molecules were grouped according to the number of atoms in the molecule. This is in agreement with the fact that these descriptors were calculated on the basis of the number of atoms in the molecule of the investigated s-triazine derivatives.

Keywords: s-triazines, QSRR, chemometrics, chromatography, molecular descriptors

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Authors: K. N. Kipreou, E. Efthmiadou, G. Kordas

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Biofouling represents one of the most crucial problems in the present maritime industries when its control still challenges the researchers all over the world. The present work is referred to the synthesis and characterization CeMo and Cu2O nanocontainers by using a wide range of techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for marine applications. The above nanosystems will be loaded with active monomers and corrosion rendering healing ability to marine paints. The objective of this project is their ability for self-healing, self-polishing and finally for anti-corrosion activity. One of the driving forces for the exploration of CeMo, is the unique anticorrosive behavior, which will be confirmed by the electrochemistry methodology. It has be highlighted that the nanocontainers of Cu2O with the appropriate antibacterial inhibitor will improve the hydrophobicity and the morphology of the coating surfaces reducing the water friction. In summary, both novel nanoc will increase the lifetime of the paints releasing the antifouling agent in a control manner.

Keywords: marinepaints, nanocontainer, antifouling, anticorrosion, copper, electrochemistry, coating, biofouling, inhibitors, copper oxide, coating, SEM

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Authors: Eric Jacob Bacon, Chaoyang Jin, Dianning He, Shuaishuai Hu, Lanbo Wang, Han Li, Shouliang Qi

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Objective: Refractory epilepsy is a complicated type of epilepsy that can be difficult to diagnose. Recent technological advancements have made resting-state functional magnetic resonance (rsfMRI) a vital technique for studying brain activity. However, there is still much to learn about rsfMRI. Investigating rsfMRI connectivity may aid in the detection of abnormal activities. In this paper, we propose studying the functional connectivity of rsfMRI candidates to diagnose epilepsy. Methods: 45 rsfMRI candidates, comprising 26 with refractory epilepsy and 19 healthy controls, were enrolled in this study. A data-driven approach known as independent component analysis (ICA) was used to achieve our goal. First, rsfMRI data from both patients and healthy controls were analyzed using group ICA. The components that were obtained were then spatially sorted to find and select meaningful ones. A two-sample t-test was also used to identify abnormal networks in patients and healthy controls. Finally, based on the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), a chi-square statistic test was used to distinguish the network properties of the patient and healthy control groups. Results: The two-sample t-test analysis yielded abnormal in the default mode network, including the left superior temporal lobe and the left supramarginal. The right precuneus was found to be abnormal in the dorsal attention network. In addition, the frontal cortex showed an abnormal cluster in the medial temporal gyrus. In contrast, the temporal cortex showed an abnormal cluster in the right middle temporal gyrus and the right fronto-operculum gyrus. Finally, the chi-square statistic test was significant, producing a p-value of 0.001 for the analysis. Conclusion: This study offers evidence that investigating rsfMRI connectivity provides an excellent diagnosis option for refractory epilepsy.

Keywords: ICA, RSN, refractory epilepsy, rsfMRI

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Authors: Efstratios Karavasilis, Foteini Christidi, Georgios Velonakis, Agapi Plousi, Kalliopi Platoni, Nikolaos Kelekis, Ioannis Evdokimidis, Efstathios Efstathopoulos

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Introduction: Advanced structural and functional neuroimaging techniques contribute to the study of anatomical and functional brain connectivity and its role in the pathophysiology and symptoms’ heterogeneity in several neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Aim: In the present study, we applied multiparametric neuroimaging techniques to investigate the structural and functional cortico-cerebellar changes in MS patients. Material: We included 51 MS patients (28 with clinically isolated syndrome [CIS], 31 with relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS]) and 51 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) who underwent MRI in a 3.0T MRI scanner. Methodology: The acquisition protocol included high-resolution 3D T1 weighted, diffusion-weighted imaging and echo planar imaging sequences for the analysis of volumetric, tractography and functional resting state data, respectively. We performed between-group comparisons (CIS, RRMS, HC) using CAT12 and CONN16 MATLAB toolboxes for the analysis of volumetric (cerebellar gray matter density) and functional (cortico-cerebellar resting-state functional connectivity) data, respectively. Brainance suite was used for the analysis of tractography data (cortico-cerebellar white matter integrity; fractional anisotropy [FA]; axial and radial diffusivity [AD; RD]) to reconstruct the cerebellum tracts. Results: Patients with CIS did not show significant gray matter (GM) density differences compared with HC. However, they showed decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar tracts, and increased cortico-cerebellar functional connectivity. Patients with RRMS showed decreased GM density in cerebellar regions, decreased FA and increased diffusivity measures in cortico-cerebellar WM tracts, as well as a pattern of increased and mostly decreased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity compared to HC. The comparison between CIS and RRMS patients revealed significant GM density difference, reduced FA and increased diffusivity measures in WM cortico-cerebellar tracts and increased/decreased functional connectivity. The identification of decreased WM integrity and increased functional cortico-cerebellar connectivity without GM changes in CIS and the pattern of decreased GM density decreased WM integrity and mostly decreased functional connectivity in RRMS patients emphasizes the role of compensatory mechanisms in early disease stages and the disintegration of structural and functional networks with disease progression. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study highlights the added value of multimodal neuroimaging techniques for the in vivo investigation of cortico-cerebellar brain changes in neurodegenerative disorders. An extension and future opportunity to leverage multimodal neuroimaging data inevitably remain the integration of such data in the recently-applied mathematical approaches of machine learning algorithms to more accurately classify and predict patients’ disease course.

Keywords: advanced neuroimaging techniques, cerebellum, MRI, multiple sclerosis

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Authors: Brandon Foggo, Nanpeng Yu

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Power distribution circuits undergo frequent network topology changes that are often left undocumented. As a result, the documentation of a circuit’s connectivity becomes inaccurate with time. The lack of reliable circuit connectivity information is one of the biggest obstacles to model, monitor, and control modern distribution systems. To enhance the reliability and efficiency of electric power distribution systems, the circuit’s connectivity information must be updated periodically. This paper focuses on one critical component of a distribution circuit’s topology - the secondary transformer to phase association. This topology component describes the set of phase lines that feed power to a given secondary transformer (and therefore a given group of power consumers). Finding the documentation of this component is call Phase Identification, and is typically performed with physical measurements. These measurements can take time lengths on the order of several months, but with supervised learning, the time length can be reduced significantly. This paper compares several such methods applied to Phase Identification for a large range of real distribution circuits, describes a method of training data selection, describes preprocessing steps unique to the Phase Identification problem, and ultimately describes a method which obtains high accuracy (> 96% in most cases, > 92% in the worst case) using only 5% of the measurements typically used for Phase Identification.

Keywords: distribution network, machine learning, network topology, phase identification, smart grid

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Authors: Chien-Chung Yuan, Cunqiang Cai, Wu-Hsun Chung, Shu-Te Sung

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A tanker is a critical vessel used to transport or store liquids or gases in bulk in maritime shipping. However, it is more dangerous than other types of vessels. Port State Control (PSC) inspection is an important measure to ensure maritime safety when such vessels traveling between ports. However, the current inspection system lacks a useful tool to observe the inspections for tankers and to identify non-random instances in PSC inspections. This study collects the inspection records in Taiwan’s ports from 2015 to 2018 and utilizes run charts to map the PSC inspections for tankers in terms of deficiencies. Based on these time-series charts, several patterns of deficiencies are identified. The results demonstrate that run charts are a useful tool to observe how the PSC inspections for tankers are performed. Also, the charts can help port administrations to identify abnormal phenomena for further investigation. Furthermore, with valuable information from the analysis, port administrations can take proactive improvement measures to ensure the safety of tanker shipping.

Keywords: port state control, tanker, run chart, deficiency

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Authors: Khalid Soussi

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The study at hand has attempted to describe the acquisition of three EFL lexical knowledge aspects - meaning, synonymy and collocation – across three academic levels: Baccalaureate, second year and fourth year university levels in Morocco. The research also compares the development of the three lexical knowledge aspects between knowledge (reception) and use (production) and attempts to trace their order of acquisition. This has led to the use of three main data collection tasks: translation, acceptability judgment and multiple choices. The study has revealed the following findings. First, L1 and EFL mental lexicons are connected at the lexical knowledge depth. Second, such connection is active whether in language reception or use. Third, the connectivity between L1 and EFL mental lexicons tends to relatively decrease as the academic level of the learners increases. Finally, the research has revealed a significant 'order' of acquisition between the three lexical aspects, though not a very strong one.

Keywords: vocabulary acquisition, EFL lexical knowledge, mental lexicon, vocabulary knowledge depth

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Authors: Gizem Kodak, Birsen Koldemir

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The Turkish Straits are at the crossroads of Europe and Asia continents and are unique waterways connecting the Black Sea countries to the rest of the world. Because of the geostrategic value of the location, passage of trade and war ships through the Turkish Straits has become a vital attraction and importance for the great powers and the riparian states throughout the history. This study contains a temporal analysis of the legal measures implemented in the Turkish Straits System. In this context, the historical alternation of the Turkish Straits has been examined, taking into account the relevant national and international regulations. In other words, relevant national and international regulations have been examined in this study according to historical time schedules. Parallel to the main concept mentioned above, the first chapter focuses on international regulations. These arrangements are organized according to date order and in three subheadings: Sèvres Treaty (1920), Lausanne Treaty (1923) and Montreux Convention (1936). Another topic, the national regulations, has been examined under five subheadings. These; (1982), Port Regulations of Canakkale (1982), Marine Traffic Regulations of the Turkish Straits and Marmara Region (1994) and Maritime Traffic Regulations for the Turkish Straits (1998). In doing so, the aim was to identify the differences in legal arrangements throughout the time regarding the navigation through the Turkish Straits. The current situation of the Turkish Straits has been presented in detail in the last part of the work, taking Montreux Convention into consideration. In this context, the articles of the Convention which regulate the passage of trade vessels have been examined from two perspectives; Peace time and war time. As for the measures that can be implemented in time of war, three options put forward depending on Turkey's stance: ‘Turkey not being belligerent’, ‘Turkey being belligerent’ and ‘situation in which Turkey considers herself threatened with imminent danger of war’.

Keywords: temporal analysis, maritime law, Turkish straits, maritime accidents

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Authors: Richard Grant, Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, Shouraseni Sen Roy, Lucas Brittan, Change Li, Aiden Rowe

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Ports are critical for the US economy, connecting farmers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers and an array of transport and storage operators. Port facilities vary widely in terms of their productivity, footprint, specializations, and governance. In this context, Port Miami is considered as one of the busiest ports providing both cargo and cruise services in connecting the wider region of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica to the global networks. It is considered as the “Cruise Capital of the World and Global Gateway of the Americas” and “leading container port in Florida.” Furthermore, it has also been ranked as one of the top container ports in the world and the second most efficient port in North America. In this regard, Port Miami has made significant investments in the strategic and capital infrastructure of about US$1 billion, including increasing the channel depth and other onshore infrastructural enhancements. Therefore, this study involves a detailed analysis of Port Miami’s network, using publicly available multiple years of data about marine vessel traffic, cargo, and connectivity and performance indices from 2015-2021. Through the analysis of cargo and cruise vessels to and from Port Miami and its relative performance at the global scale from 2015 to 2021, this study examines the port’s long-term resilience and future growth potential. The main results of the analyses indicate that the top category for both inbound and outbound cargo is manufactured products and textiles. In addition, there are a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and produce for inbound and processed food for outbound cargo. Furthermore, the top ten port connections for Port Miami are all located in the Caribbean region, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Southeast USA. About half of the inbound cargo comes from Savannah, Saint Thomas, and Puerto Plata, while outbound cargo is from Puerto Corte, Freeport, and Kingston. Additionally, for cruise vessels, a significantly large number of vessels originate from Nassau, followed by Freeport. The number of passenger's vessels pre-COVID was almost 1,000 per year, which dropped substantially in 2020 and 2021 to around 300 vessels. Finally, the resilience and competitiveness of Port Miami were also assessed in terms of its network connectivity by examining the inbound and outbound maritime vessel traffic. It is noteworthy that the most frequent port connections for Port Miami were Freeport and Savannah, followed by Kingston, Nassau, and New Orleans. However, several of these ports, Puerto Corte, Veracruz, Puerto Plata, and Santo Thomas, have low resilience and are highly vulnerable, which needs to be taken into consideration for the long-term resilience of Port Miami in the future.

Keywords: port, Miami, network, cargo, cruise

Procedia PDF Downloads 79