CREATe public lectures on the proposed EU right for press publishers

Presents the edited text of lectures by Hoppner and Xalabarder arguing in favour and against the proposal to extend Directive 2001/29 arts 2 and 3 to press publishers, providing them with the exclusive right to publish journalistic material online for a period of 20 years. Discusses the controversies surrounding two similar initiatives in Germany and Spain

CERTIFICATION REPORT The Certification of the Mass Fractions of As, Br, Cd, Cl, Cr, Hg, S, Sb, Sn and Zn in Low-Density Polyethylene: ERM-EC681m

This report describes the production of ERM-EC681m, a low-density polyethylene material certified for the mass fraction of elements. The material was produced following ISO Guide 34:2009. An LDPE material containing certain elements was prepared from commercially sourced low-density polyethylene and organic and inorganic pigments. The material was extruded, mixed and filled into bottles. Between-bottle homogeneity was quantified and stability during dispatch and storage were assessed in accordance with ISO Guide 35:2006. The within-unit homogeneity was quantified to determine the minimum sample intake. The material was characterised by an intercomparison among laboratories of demonstrated competence and adhering to ISO/IEC 17025. Technically invalid results were removed but no outlier was eliminated on statistical grounds only. Uncertainties of the certified values were calculated in compliance with the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) and include uncertainties related to possible inhomogeneity, and instability and to characterisation. The material is intended for the quality control and/or assessment of method performance. As any reference material, it can also be used for control charts, validation studies or calibration of methods. The CRM is available in glass bottles containing 100 g of polyethylene granulate. The minimum amount of sample to be used is 150 mg for the determination of Cl and 60 mg for the determination of all other elements. The CRM was accepted as European Reference Material (ERM®) after peer evaluation by the partners of the European Reference Materials consortium.JRC.D.2-Standards for Innovation and sustainable Developmen

Hard Metal Production by ERS: Processing Parameter Roles in Final Properties

Cemented carbide is a hard composite material, used widely in a variety of industries. The value of the global tungsten carbide market is expected to grow by 4.4% (compound annual growth rate) from 2017 to 2022. One of the main markets is in metal cutting and wear parts, where small pieces (or inserts), a few grams in weight, are used. Field-assisted sintering technique (FAST) technologies allow for the production of small blanks in a single step from powder, which are near final dimensions. Production cycles are very short. In this paper, one of the FAST processes, the ERS technology, is applied to obtain WC10Co parts. A review of the process variable effects on the final properties of the parts is accomplished. Final properties of a range of conventionally produced inserts are obtained, using 100 MPa compacting pressure, 80 MA/m2 of current density, and processing times of around 800 ms.This research was funded by EU, grant number FoF.NMP.2013-10 608729 (7th Framework Programme) EFFIPRO

The T3 receptor β1 isoform regulates UCP1 and D2 deiodinase in rat brown adipocytes

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis increases when uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) is activated adrenergically and requires T3. In humans, UCP1 activation in BAT seems involved in body weight maintenance. BAT type 2 deiodinase (D2) increases in response to adrenergic agents, producing the T3 required for UCP1 expression. T3 actions are mediated by thyroid hormone nuclear T3 receptors (TR), TRα and TRβ. Studies in mice suggest that TRβ is required for UCP1 induction, whereas TRα regulates body temperature and adrenergic sensitivity. In the present study, we compare the effects of T3 vs. specific TRβ1 and TRα1 agonists [GC-1 and CO23] on the adrenergic induction of UCP1 and D2 in cultured rat brown adipocytes. T3 and GC-1 produced similar increases on UCP1, whereas CO23 increased UCP1 only at high doses (50 nM). GC-1 at low doses (0.2-10 nM) was less potent than T3, increasing the adrenergic stimulation of D2 activity and mRNA. At higher doses, GC-1 further stimulated whereas T3 inhibited D2 activity but not D2 mRNA, suggesting posttranscriptional effects. CO23 had no effect on D2 activity but increased D2 mRNA. T3, GC-1, or CO23 by themselves did not increase UCP1 or D2 mRNA. High T3 doses shortened D2 half-life and increased D2 turnover via proteasome, whereas GC-1 did not change D2 stability. The α1- and α2-adrenergic D2 responses increased using high T 3 doses. In summary, T3 increases the adrenergic stimulation of UCP1 and D2 expression mostly via the TRβ1 isoform, and in brown adipocytes, D2 is protected from degradation by the action of T 3 on TRβ1. Copyright © 2010 by The Endocrine Society.This work was supported by Research Grants SAF2006/01319 and SAF2009-09364 from Plan Nacional (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) and FMM2006 from Fundación Médica Madrileña (Spain) (toM.-J.O.). Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn) is an initiative of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain.Peer Reviewe

Hydrogen Fluoride in High-Mass Star-forming Regions

Hydrogen fluoride has been established to be an excellent tracer of molecular hydrogen in diffuse clouds. In denser environments, however, the HF abundance has been shown to be approximately two orders of magnitude lower. We present Herschel/HIFI observations of HF J=1-0 toward two high-mass star formation sites, NGC6334 I and AFGL 2591. In NGC6334 I the HF line is seen in absorption in foreground clouds and the source itself, while in AFGL 2591 HF is partially in emission. We find an HF abundance with respect to H2 of 1.5e-8 in the diffuse foreground clouds, whereas in the denser parts of NGC6334 I, we derive a lower limit on the HF abundance of 5e-10. Lower HF abundances in dense clouds are most likely caused by freeze out of HF molecules onto dust grains in high-density gas. In AFGL 2591, the view of the hot core is obstructed by absorption in the massive outflow, in which HF is also very abundant 3.6e-8) due to the desorption by sputtering. These observations provide further evidence that the chemistry of interstellar fluorine is controlled by freeze out onto gas grains.Comment: accepted in Ap

GALEX J201337.6+092801: The lowest gravity subdwarf B pulsator

We present the recent discovery of a new subdwarf B variable (sdBV), with an exceptionally low surface gravity. Our spectroscopy of J20136+0928 places it at Teff = 32100 +/- 500, log(g) = 5.15 +/- 0.10, and log(He/H) = -2.8 +/- 0.1. With a magnitude of B = 12.0, it is the second brightest V361 Hya star ever found. Photometry from three different observatories reveals a temporal spectrum with eleven clearly detected periods in the range 376 to 566 s, and at least five more close to our detection limit. These periods are unusually long for the V361 Hya class of short-period sdBV pulsators, but not unreasonable for p- and g-modes close to the radial fundamental, given its low surface gravity. Of the ~50 short period sdB pulsators known to date, only a single one has been found to have comparable spectroscopic parameters to J20136+0928. This is the enigmatic high-amplitude pulsator V338 Ser, and we conclude that J20136+0928 is the second example of this rare subclass of sdB pulsators located well above the canonical extreme horizontal branch in the HR diagram.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Generation-dependent charge carrier transport in Cu(In,Ga)Se 2/CdS/ZnO thin-film solar-cells

The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 113.4 (2013): 044515 and may be found at http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/113/4/10.1063/1.4788827Cross section electron-beam induced current (EBIC) and illumination- dependent current voltage (IV) measurements show that charge carrier transport in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe)/CdS/ZnO solar-cells is generation-dependent. We perform a detailed analysis of CIGSe solar cells with different CdS layer thicknesses and varying Ga-content in the absorber layer. In conjunction with numerical simulations, EBIC and IV data are used to develop a consistent model for charge and defect distributions with a focus on the heterojunction region. The best model to explain our experimental data is based on a p+ layer at the CIGSe/CdS interface leading to generation-dependent transport in EBIC at room temperature. Acceptor-type defect states at the CdS/ZnO interface cause a significant reduction of the photocurrent in the red-light illuminated IV characteristics at low temperatures (red kink effect). Shallow donor-type defect states at the p+ layer/CdS interface of some grains of the absorber layer are responsible for grain specific, i.e., spatially inhomogeneous, charge carrier transport observed in EBIC