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Maintaining a full workforce is critical to the operational efficiency of ports, which are key to the functioning of global maritime transportation systems, as well as to the larger logistics systems and the industries they support. A shortage of skilled workers, or extended, large-scale, absenteeism at one or more ports can affect cargohandling operations, competitiveness, and even the efficiency of international trade. Through numerical experiments, we study (i) whether the effects of low-level workforce shortages can be ‘absorbed’ without loss of efficiency; (ii) the level at which shortages in a region can impact another region, or the performance of the wider maritime system. To test this, we investigate the ports used by the M2 shipping alliance of Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company. The analysis is supported by advanced mathematical modeling and algorithmic procedures. Findings include that low- and even mid-level network-wide worker shortages can be absorbed, but at a greater cost to shippers. Moreover, when a worker shortage arises in some regions of the world, the impacts in other regions can be very significant. 

To fulfill the demands of more bandwidth in 5G and 6G communication technology, new dielectric substrates that can be co‐fired into packages and devices that have low dielectric loss and improved thermal conductivity are desired. The motivation for this study is to design composites with low dielectric loss (tan δ) and high thermal conductivity (κ), while still limiting the electrical conductivity, for microwave applications involving high power and high frequency. This work describes the fabrication of high‐density electroceramic composites with a model dielectric material for cold sintering, namely sodium molybdate (Na₂Mo₂O₇), and fillers with higher thermal conductivity such as hexagonal boron nitride. The physical properties of the composites were characterized as a function of filler vol.%, temperature, and frequency. Understanding the variation in measured properties is achieved through analyzing the respective transport mechanisms.

 

Halide perovskites show ubiquitous presences in growing fields at both fundamental and applied levels. Discovery, investigation, and application of innovative perovskites are heavily dependent on the synthetic methodology in terms of time-/yield-/effort-/energy- efficiency. Conventional wet chemistry method provides the easiness for growing thin film samples, but represents as an inefficient way for bulk crystal synthesis. To overcome these, here we report a universal solid state-based route for synthesizing high-quality perovskites, by means of simultaneously applying both electric and mechanical stress fields during the synthesis, i.e., the electrical and mechanical field-assisted sintering technique. We employ various perovskite compositions and arbitrary geometric designs for demonstration in this report, and establish such synthetic route with uniqueness of ultrahigh yield, fast processing and solvent-free nature, along with bulk products of exceptional quality approaching to single crystals. We exemplify the applications of the as-synthesized perovskites in photodetection and thermoelectric as well as other potentials to open extra chapters for future technical development.