“Aerospace is Politics with Wings on it”. Exploring the Role and Political Function of Trade Associations in the UK Aerospace Industry

The purpose of this research is to explore the political role of a specific form of meta-organisation in a highly politicised context such as the UK aerospace industry. Specifically, this study focuses on developing knowledge on the determinants of national and regional sectorial trade associations’ political role and political strategy, and how they exert influence to shape the political and regulatory environment.1 An exploratory case study approach is chosen given the scarcity of qualitative empirical research, the sensitivity, as well as the lack of information on the formulation of political activities within trade associations. The original, primary data is mainly collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior firm and trade association representatives. Industry experts are also interviewed to corroborate and triangulate the information gained. The selection of the aerospace industry is based on the strong and intertwined relations between the industry and government, as well as the political, military and economic strategic prominence that is bestowed on this industry. The findings suggest that to comprehensively understand what determines trade associations’ political role and political strategy it is necessary to acknowledge broad institutional characteristics as well as specific organisational attributes. Moreover, the findings indicate two main overarching conceptual dimensions: firstly, an embeddedness in the institutional environment which mainly emerges through strong interactions with other organisations and the necessity to tap into the policy agenda of decision-makers; secondly, associations’ activities build on those of other organisations and political actors to exert greater influence on the policymaking process. This study contributes to on-going debates in nonmarket strategy and corporate political activity literature, specifically on how sector specific trade bodies may have a crucial role in mediating the business-government relationship. This is particularly relevant for policymakers who have yet to fully acknowledge the advantages of collaborating with such organisations

Graphite/epoxy composite for building Bipolar Plates

Bipolar plates (BPs) are important components of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). Graphite-epoxy composites, having a better corrosion resistance than metal-based BPs and better mechanical properties than graphite BPs, are a promising alternative. In this study, we tried to develop graphite-epoxy composites meeting the technical US DOE targets for 2020, with a proper choice of manufacturing conditions that ensure a good compromise between conductivity, flexural strength, and gas permeability. In particular, we studied the influence of the filler to binder ratio, changed the molding temperature and time, and investigated the effects of increasing pressure both on in-plane conductivity and on helium permeability. We found that both formulation and molding pressure are crucial in determining the permeability of the graphite-epoxy composites, whereas molding temperature and time seem to play a minor role

Transparent conductive oxide-based architectures for the electrical modulation of the optical response: A spectroscopic ellipsometry study

Transparent conductive oxides are a class of materials that combine high optical transparency with high electrical conductivity. This property makes them uniquely appealing as transparent conductive electrodes in solar cells and interesting for optoelectronic and infrared-plasmonic applications. One of the new challenges that researchers and engineers are facing is merging optical and electrical control in a single device for developing next-generation photovoltaic, optoelectronic devices and energy-efficient solid-state lighting. In this work, the authors investigated the possible variations in the dielectric properties of aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) upon gating by means of spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The authors investigated the electrical-bias-dependent optical response of thin AZO films fabricated by magnetron sputtering within a parallel-plane capacitor configuration. The authors address the possibility to control their optical and electric performances by applying bias, monitoring the effect of charge injection/depletion in the AZO layer by means of in operando SE versus applied gate voltage

Unveiling the Thermoelectric Performances of Zn1−xFexSe Nanoparticles Prepared by the Hydrothermal Method

Fe2+-doped ZnSe nanoparticles, with varying concentrations of Fe2+ dopants, were prepared by the hydrothermal method and investigated using a multi-technique approach exploiting scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy, as well as measurement of the electrical transport properties and Seebeck coefficient (S). The doped nanoparticles appeared as variable-sized agglomerates on nanocrystallites upon SEM investigation for any doping level. Combined XRD and Raman analyses revealed the occurrence of a cubic structure in the investigated samples. Electric and thermoelectric (TE) transport investigations showed an increase in TE performance with an increase in Fe atom concentrations, which resulted in an enhancement of the power factors from 13 µWm−1K−2 to 120 µWm−1K−2 at room temperature. The results were also dependent on the operating temperature. The maximum power factor of 9 × 10−3 Wm−1K−2 was achieved at 150 °C for the highest explored doping value. The possible applications of these findings were discussed

Arterial stiffness, endothelial and cognitive function in subjects with type 2 diabetes in accordance with absence or presence of diabetic foot syndrome

Abstract Background Endothelial dysfunction is an early marker of cardiovascular disease so endothelial and arterial stiffness indexes are good indicators of vascular health. We aimed to assess whether the presence of diabetic foot is associated with arterial stiffness and endothelial function impairment. Methods We studied 50 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) compared to 50 diabetic subjects without diabetic foot, and 53 patients without diabetes mellitus, by means of the mini mental state examination (MMSE) administered to evaluate cognitive performance. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Aix) were also evaluated by Applanation tonometry (SphygmoCor version 7.1), and the RH-PAT data were digitally analyzed online by Endo-PAT2000 using reactive hyperemia index (RHI) values. Results In comparison to diabetic subjects without diabetic foot the subjects with diabetic foot had higher mean values of PWV, lower mean values of RHI, and lower mean MMSE. At multinomial logistic regression PWV and RHI were significantly associated with diabetic foot presence, whereas ROC curve analysis had good sensitivity and specificity in arterial PWV and RHI for diabetic foot presence. Conclusions Pulse wave velocity and augmentation index, mean RHI values, and mean MMSE were effective indicators of diabetic foot. Future research could address these issues by means of longitudinal studies to evaluate cardiovascular event incidence in relation to arterial stiffness, endothelial and cognitive markers

Passive seismology and deep structure in central Italy

n the last decade temporary teleseismic transects have become a powerful tool for investigating the crustal and upper mantle structure. In order to gain a clearer picture of the lithosphere-asthenosphere structure in peninsular Italy, between 1994 and 1996, we have deployed three teleseismic transects in northern, central, and southern Apennines, in the framework of the project GeoModAp (European Community contract EV5V-CT94–0464). Some hundreds of teleseisms were recorded at each deployment which lasted between 3 and 4 months. Although many analyses are still in progress, the availability of this high quality data allowed us to refine tomographic images of the lithosphere-asthenosphere structure with an improved resolution in the northern and central Apennines, and to study the deformation of the upper mantle looking at seismic anisotropy through shear-wave splitting analysis. Also, a study of the depth and geometry of the Moho through the receiver function technique is in progress. Tomographic results from the northernmost 1994 and the central 1995 teleseismic experiments confirm that a high-velocity anomaly (HVA) does exist in the upper 200–250 km and is confined to the northern Apenninic arc. This HVA, already interpreted as a fragment of subducted lithosphere is better defined by the new temporary data, compared to previous works, based only on data from permanent stations. No clear high-velocity anomalies are detected in the upper 250 km below the central Apennines, suggesting either a slab window due to a detachment below southern peninsular Italy, or a thinner, perhaps continental slab of Adriatic lithosphere not detectable by standard tomography. We found clear evidence of seismic anisotropy in the uppermost mantle, related to the main tectonic processes which affected the studied regions, either NE–SW compressional deformation of the lithosphere beneath the mountain belt, or arc-parallel asthenospheric flow (both giving NW–SE fast polarization direction), and successive extensional deformation ( E–W trending) in the back-arc basin of northern Tyrrhenian and Tuscany. Preliminary results of receiver function studies in the northern Apennines show that the Moho depth is well defined in the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic regions while its geometry underneath the mountain belt is not yet well constrained, due to the observed high complexity.Published479-4934T. Sismicità dell'ItaliaJCR Journa

Sex and Gender in Ageing and Longevity: Highlights from an International Course

Gender medicine is a multidisciplinary science and represents an important perspective for pathophysiological and clinical studies in the third millennium. Here, it is provided an overview of the topics discussed in a recent course on the Role of Sex and Gender in Ageing and Longevity. The paper highlights three themes discussed in the course, i.e., the interaction of gender/sex with, i) the pathophysiology of age-related diseases; ii), the role of genetics and epigenetics in ageing and longevity and, iii) the immune responses of older people to pathogens, vaccines, autoantigens, and allergens. Although largely unexplored, it is clear that sex and gender are modulators of disease biology and treatment outcomes. It is becoming evident that men and women should no longer be considered as subgroups, but as biologically distinct groups of patients deserving consideration for specific therapeutic approaches

The Italian Earthquakes and Tsunami Monitoring and Surveillance Systems

The Osservatorio Nazionale Terremoti (ONT) is the Italian seismic operational centre for monitoring earthquake, it is part of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) the largest Italian research institution, with focus in Earth Sciences. INGV runs the Italian National Seismic Network (network code IV) and other networks at national scale for monitoring earthquakes and tsunami. INGV is a primary node of European Integrated Data Archive (EIDA) for archiving and distributing, continuous, quality checked seismic waveforms (strong motion and weak motion recordings). ONT designed the data acquisition system to accomplish, in near-real-time, automatic earthquake detection, hypocentre and magnitude determination and evaluation of moment tensors, shake maps and other products. Database archiving of all parametric results are closely linked to the existing procedures of the INGV seismic monitoring environment and surveillance procedures. ONT organize the Italian earthquake surveillance service and the tsunami alert service (INGV is Tsunami Service Provider of the ICG/NEAM for the entire Mediterranean basin). We provide information to the Dipartimento di Protezione Civile (DPC) and to several Mediterranean countries. Earthquakes information are revised routinely by the analysts of the Italian Seismic Bulletin. The results are published on the web and are available to the scientific community and the general public.PublishedMontreal1SR TERREMOTI - Sorveglianza Sismica e Allerta Tsunam