228 research outputs found

    Composite components under impact load and effects of defects on the loading capacity

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    Investigations were carried out on a horizontal tail assembly made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic for the Alpha Jet. The possibility of obtaining a leading edge nose design lighter but not more expensive than a metal version was studied. An important consideration was sufficient resistance of the leading edge against impact of stones and hailstones combined with high degree of stiffness. The improvement of energy reception characteristics of the materials through suitable laminate design was considered. Since certain defects occur in structural components, the effects of such defects on the characteristics of the parts were also studied

    Still the century of ‘new’ environmental policy instruments? Exploring patterns of innovation and continuity

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    This article re-examines the political interest in and use of ‘new' environmental policy instruments (NEPIs) and other non-regulatory modes of governance. It starts by taking stock of the dynamic debate that has emerged around this topic since the turn of the century. It then contextualizes that debate by examining subsequent challenges to, and transformations in state-led governing and the widely acknowledged rise of 'new governance' more generally. It highlights the mismatch between: (a) the animated discussion of new instruments amongst policy makers and academics; and (b), the less active adoption and performance of them in practice. It makes an overall assessment of the role of instruments - both ‘old' and ‘new' - in the wider debate about governance, and suggests some steps that could be taken by both practitioners and scholars better to understand and possibly even utilise more NEPIs in the future

    Has governance eclipsed government? Patterns if environmental instrument selection and use in eight states and the EU

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    Abstract Governance is a concept in good currency, but it is often used very imprecisely. In particular, there are precious few detailed empirical analyses of the precise extent to which environmental governance has eclipsed environmental government. This paper explores the governance transition by charting the deployment of so-called 'new' environmental policy instruments (NEPIs) such as voluntary agreements, eco-taxes, eco-labels and environmental management systems in eight industrialised states and the European Union (EU). The adoption of NEPIs offers a good touchstone because governance theory treats traditional ('command and control') regulation as the quintessence of government. This paper reveals that although there are many NEPIs, the overall pattern of change is highly differentiated across sectors and political jurisdictions. Crucially, most NEPI require some state involvement (i.e. 'government') and very few are entirely free of state involvement (i.e. pure 'governance'). This strongly suggests that environmental governance is at best supplementing, without actually comprehensively supplanting, government by regulatory means. Future research will need to explore the many different and complex ways in which environmental government and governance co-exist in public policy making

    British press attitudes towards the EU's global presence:from the Russian-Georgian War to the 2009 Copenhagen Summit

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    This article surveys the way in which British print media have presented the European Union (EU)'s global presence in the international arena by analysing two case studies which reflect two very distinctive areas of EU foreign policy: global climate change policy and the policy towards Russia. It employs frame analysis, allowing for the identification of the way in which the discourse of the press was categorized around a series of central opinions and ideas. Frames underscore the connections made by journalists between different events, policies or phenomena and their possible interpretations. The analysis highlights that acting through the common framework of the EU rather than unilaterally was a strategy preferred by the British press. These findings are in stark contrast with the deep Euroscepticism which characterizes press attitudes towards most policy areas, and is often considered to be rooted in the British political culture, media system, public opinion or the longstanding tradition of viewing the European continent as the other

    Environmental NGOs at a crossroads?

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    Article published as introduction to the Special Issue 'Environmental Politics at a crossroads', edited by Nathalie Berny & Christopher Rootes, Environmental Politics vol.27.no.6, November 201

    The Dynamics of Global Crude Oil Production

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    We analyze the dynamic effect of prices and price volatility on current oil production, both on the level of country groups and the major individual producer countries. A comprehensive dataset at monthly frequency allows us to include a rich lag structure while controlling for key global and local determinants as well as seasonality. Our set of explanatory variables also includes real economic activity, investment, the strength of the U.S. dollar and institutional quality. We provide a naïve regression analysis using a broad model to show that lagged explanatory variables are important determinants of current oil production. We find that the reaction of oil production is heterogeneous across both country groups and the major individual producer countries

    Geographic variation in the aetiology, epidemiology and microbiology of bronchiectasis

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    Bronchiectasis is a disease associated with chronic progressive and irreversible dilatation of the bronchi and is characterised by chronic infection and associated inflammation. The prevalence of bronchiectasis is age-related and there is some geographical variation in incidence, prevalence and clinical features. Most bronchiectasis is reported to be idiopathic however post-infectious aetiologies dominate across Asia especially secondary to tuberculosis. Most focus to date has been on the study of airway bacteria, both as colonisers and causes of exacerbations. Modern molecular technologies including next generation sequencing (NGS) have become invaluable tools to identify microorganisms directly from sputum and which are difficult to culture using traditional agar based methods. These have provided important insight into our understanding of emerging pathogens in the airways of people with bronchiectasis and the geographical differences that occur. The contribution of the lung microbiome, its ethnic variation, and subsequent roles in disease progression and response to therapy across geographic regions warrant further investigation. This review summarises the known geographical differences in the aetiology, epidemiology and microbiology of bronchiectasis. Further, we highlight the opportunities offered by emerging molecular technologies such as -omics to further dissect out important ethnic differences in the prognosis and management of bronchiectasis.NMRC (Natl Medical Research Council, S’pore)MOH (Min. of Health, S’pore)Published versio
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