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This paper presents a new discretization technique of the hydrodynamic energy balance model based on a finite‐element formulation. The concept of heat source lumping is introduced, and the thermal conductivity model includes the effect of varying both carrier concentrations and temperatures. The energy balance equation is formulated to account for kinetic energy as a convective flow. The new discretization method has the advantage that it allows for assembling the functions out of elementary variables available over elements instead of along element links. Therefore, theoretically, calculation of the Jacobian should be three times faster than by the classic method. Results are given for three examples. The method suffers from mathematical instabilities, but provides a good basis for future work to solve these problems.

Since the 1973–74 oil embargo, many comparisons have been made relative to the fuel efficiency of various modes for different trip characteristics. The most commonly cited comparison is between truck and rail. No doubt this is due to the natural competition between these modes and the availability of data for making head to head comparisons. While no clear consensus has emerged from these studies, there is at least the conventional wisdom that intercity rail is more energy efficient than truck. We intend to show that making intermodal comparisons between truck and rail is more complex than the conventional wisdom suggests. In so doing, we examine these procedures which rely exclusively on the use of one‐dimensional measures of energy efficiency, e.g., Btu/ton‐mile. We suggest alternative measures, which are multi‐dimensional and include a variable for various aspects of service.

Health risks associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have severely affected the financial stability of airline companies globally. Recapturing financial stability following this crisis depends heavily on these companies’ ability to attain efficient and productive operations. This study uses several empirical approaches to examine key factors contributing to carriers sustaining high productivity prior to, during and after a major recession. Findings suggest, regardless of economic conditions, that social distancing which requires airline companies in the Asia Pacific region to fly with a significant percentage of unfilled seats weakens the performance of those companies. Furthermore, efficient operations do not guarantee the avoidance of productivity declines, especially during a recession.

In years past, when life seemed simpler and the Law much less complicated, jurists were fond of quoting the age‐old saying: “All men are equal before the Law.” It was never completely true; there were important exemptions when strict legal enforcement would have been against the public interests. A classic example was Crown immunity, evolved from the historical principle that “The King can do no wrong”. With the growth of government, the multiplicity of government agencies and the enormous amount of secondary legislation, the statutes being merely enabling Acts, this immunity revealed itself as being used largely against public interests. Statutory instruments were being drafted within Ministerial departments largely by as many as 300 officers of those departments authorized to sign such measures, affecting the rights of the people without any real Parliamentary control. Those who suffered and lost in their enforcement had no remedy; Crown immunity protected all those acting as servants of the Crown and the principle came to be an officials' charter with no connection whatever with the Crown. Parliament, custodian of the national conscience, removed much of this socially unacceptable privilege in the Crown Proceedings Act, 1947, which enabled injured parties within limit to sue central departments and their officers. The more recent system of Commissioners—Parliamentary, Local Authority, Health Service—with power to enquire into allegations of injustice, maladministration, malpractice to individuals extra‐legally, has extended the rights of the suffering citizen.

Numerical device simulation is developed to study the steady‐state and transient current‐voltage characteristics of double heterostructure AlGaAs/GaAs PNPN electro‐photonic device when its performance is influenced by the presence of interface and bulk recombination mechanism. The simulation results show that the holding current and voltage and the breakover point are strongly affected by varying the minority carrier lifetime at outer heterojunctions. Numerical results also indicate that shortening the minority carrier lifetime in the inner PN homojunction region only increases the OFF‐state current. These results are in agreement with experimental data on AlGaAs/GaAs PNPN devices. The numerical modelling approach taken in this study is shown to be essential in the design and optimization of PNPN switch.

Britain's merchant navy dominated the international maritime trade in the 19th century. The strong ship owners' lobby imposed on the shippers the only choice to contract either under bills of lading drafted almost totally on the ship owners' terms or not to contract. The conflict between Britain and its rival the American merchant navy precipitated a movement for the use of model contracts of shipment (carriage) and towards standardisation of the liability of International liner carriers by legislative intervention. The bill of lading through its use in international trade gained the characteristic of being the document which incorporates the contractual terms. So, the orally agreed contract of carriage gave way to the contract of carriage in the form of a bill of lading.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

Few industries may be better suited to study the effects of financial distress on managerial decision making than the airline industry. Economic recessions, natural catastrophes, and terrorist attacks are just some of the factors that frequently take a particularly heavy toll on the airline industry. Thus, coping with and overcoming financial distress is a critical aspect of airline management.

In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was established to regulate the fare and route structures of the domestic airline industry. At that time, policy‐makers were fearful that free market conditions in the airline industry would not foster the growth which was deemed to be optimal in the public interest. After forty years of industry development, however, the market structure of the airline industry does not provide justification for regulation. Furthermore, the regulation itself has created problems which are undesirable to both the industry and the public. On October 25, 1978, President Carter signed into law a bill that will gradually remove the regulatory restrictions under which interstate domestic airlines have operated since 1938. All regulatory control over the airlines will end by 1982, and the CAB will be abolished in 1985.

In 1899 the medical practitioners of Dublin were confronted with an outbreak of a peculiar and obscure illness, characterised by symptoms which were very unusual. For want of a better explanation, the disorder, which seemed to be epidemic, was explained by the simple expedient of finding a name for it. It was labelled as “beri‐beri,” a tropical disease with very much the same clinical and pathological features as those observed at Dublin. Papers were read before certain societies, and then as the cases gradually diminished in number, the subject lost interest and was dropped.