Visualization of raw material supply chains using the EU criticality datasets

Europe relies on reliable and robust knowledge on materials stocks and flows to promote innovation along the entire value chain of raw materials. The EU criticality assessment examines, every three years, issues of supply risk and economic importance of a number of non-food and non-energy candidate materials from the perspective of the European Union. The most recent criticality assessment was published in 20171. The data collected during this assessment provide a good basis for further visualizations of material supply chains and structuring additional information in the form of material and country factsheets in the EU’s Raw Materials Information System (RMIS). This study uses the existing datasets from the 2017 EU criticality assessment to visualize 74 material supply chains and shows interconnections between them. Firstly, the data sets are rearranged into a simple graph with nodes representing the countries, materials, product applications, and sectors involved in materials supply and use. The weighted edges (links) represent relationships between them, i.e., the production of materials by countries and the flow of materials into product applications and subsequent economic sectors. Secondly, because mapping the critical raw materials data considers the links between countries, materials, product applications, and sectors, the resulting graphs can also be analysed using network statistics (based on their connectivity). For this, degree centrality (a count of the number of incoming or outgoing links of a node) is used to highlight more interconnected nodes (“key actors”) in the supply and use of materials. This allows, e.g., detection of countries providing a large number of different (raw) materials4, materials finding widespread downstream uses, or product applications relying on a large number of materials. Results show that arranging data according to the proposed data structure provides a simple, yet powerful, tool to map supply chains for 74 materials with only minor adjustments to the existing data sets necessary. The resulting graphs can be readily integrated into the RMIS to provide users with insights into the origin (countries) of materials and their downstream flows into product applications and economic sectors. Furthermore, overlaying multiple material supply chains with each other allows the visualization of interconnections between materials supply chains and to view the network from the perspective of individual nodes (e.g., a sector).JRC.D.3-Land Resource

European Union’s trade flows of non-food and non-energy raw material commodities: Basic facts and figures

The first objective of this report is to get a detailed picture of the most important EU-28’s aggregate trade flows of non-energy and non-food raw materials commodities (NFNERM) over the period 2011-2016, by identifying its most traded products and main supplying and destination countries. In addition to presenting EU-28 aggregated data, we also zoomed in on the EU-28 economy and analysed the trade flows in raw materials of the leading importing/exporting EU countries. Finally, for illustrating the diversity of products containing raw materials across a specific raw material value chain, in the last section of this study we selected one raw materials critical to the EU, i.e., borates, and analysed the EU-28’s trade flows of the commodities incorporating it, as identified in trade statistics.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

PERSONALITY INFLUENCES ON ONLINE STORES CUSTOMERS BEHAVIOR

Online customer behaviors include a wide range of processes and activities related to sensory reactions, perceptions, attitude formation, preferences, decisions, satisfaction evaluation, and loyalty formation. Online customer behaviors are influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors. Exogenous factors include attributes associated with the online retailer and the consumer’s environmental influences. Endogenous factors include characteristics attributed to consumers. Of these, personality has major influences on customer behavior in the online stores. In this paper we highlight the influences of personality on important decision making variables linked to the customer’s online visiting, buying and post purchase process. Thus, we intend to point out the influences of personality on the criteria used in evaluating stores, on expectations customers form towards stores, on the perception of store performance and the assessment of satisfaction. This will involve carrying out a survey, and its administration will be performed on the Internet. The sample under research will comprise respondents who own an account on the social network Facebook, assuming these respondents have time and are more likely to have purchased online at least once. The results of this study are useful both for academic researchers and practitioners engaged in online marketing, online communication and web design

Comparison between two cases study on water kiosks

Bottled water consumption in Europe began in the 70s. Environmental impact derived from water production chain is very significant: for example plastic bottles use, oil consumption for bottle production, air emission from vehicles transporting bottles, not recycled plastic packages, etc. In this research an environmental and economic impact evaluation was presented for two case studies, regarding water kiosk design with the aim of supplying controlled natural and sparkling water with better organoleptic quality compared to water directly supplied from aqueduct

Some aspects of Magnetic Force Microscopy of hard magnetic films

International audienceA number of aspects of magnetic force microscopy (MFM) specific to the imaging of hard magnetic films have been studied. Firstly, we show that topographic images made in tapping mode with probes characterized by the moderate cantilever stiffness usual for MFM (1−4 N/m), contain artifacts due to strong probe-sample interactions which lead to probe retraction. As a result, stiffer cantilevers (e.g. 40 N/m) are better adapted to characterizing such hard magnetic films. Secondly, imaging with probes coated by a hard magnetic film leads to phase maps which show a twofold symmetry, with paired dark/light contrast on opposite domain edges along the direction of the cantilever. This is due to the tilt of the direction of tip magnetizaiton and direction of oscillation, with respect to the sample normal. Thirdly, due to the long-range nature of the stray field produced by hard magnetic films containing micron-sized domains, MFM phase contrast reflects the stray field itself, as opposed to that of its spatial derivatives, as is generally the case in MFM

Cetatea dacică de la Căpâlna (com. Săsciori, jud. Alba). După 19 ani… UNESCO

The present paper deals with the problematic of the protection measurements for a UNESCO monument, the Dacian fortress from Căpâlna (Alba District), from a judiciary point of view. The cause of the approach is the recovery of a hoard of golden jewelleries, stolen in 2001 from the Dacian fortress of Căpâlna. After 7 years of illegal trafficking of the artefacts on the black market of antiquities, the Romanian law enforcements recovered the hoard from Germany, with the generous support of an expert from Frankfurt am Main. An important detail is the reconstruction of the ”discovery circumstances” inside the protected area of Căpâlna fortress by the archaeological poachers from Deva (Hunedoara District). The site of the Dacian fortress in Căpâlna was included into the UNESCO list of monuments in 1999, together with 5 other similar fortresses from Hunedoara District. The author describes how he personally saw the archaeological site during the past 12 years, since he has been involved in judicial investigations of the recovery of the gold jewellery stolen from there. Details of the access route, the monument marks, the history of the research, the presentation of the results of the archaeological research, the results of the illegal interventions carried out by the poachers of the archaeological sites are presented. The conclusions of the study are not encouraging, as the way in which the UNESCO monument is presented today is far from what it should be or what national and international laws in the field of protection of cultural heritage mention

THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFLUENCE ON THE DECISION TO BUY WINE. A RESEARCH FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL

In this article we intend to review the literature on the influence of the country of origin on the quality assessment and decision to buy wine. Based on literature review, we formulated the research model and the hypotheses we want to test. The research framework proposed in this paper is part of a wider research that addresses the influence of the image of the country brand on the image of Romanian wines. The model takes into account the influence of several moderator factors of the relationship intensity between the country of origin and the quality assessment, namely the choice of the purchased wines: the purpose of the purchase, the place of purchase / consumption, the personality of the consumer, the inclination towards ethnocentrism, the consumer's gender and wine consumption expertise. The scale proposed to measure the influence of the country of origin on the perception of quality and choice of wine is the "Best-Worst" scale. The results of these studies may be useful to managers of wine producing / distributing companies in identifying market segments sensitive to various intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of wines and in promoting wine appropriately

RMIS – Raw materials in the battery value chain

This final report provides the content for the batteries value chain and the related battery raw materials data browser for the JRC Raw Materials Information System. This content includes information and data both on primary and secondary raw materials. The main sections developed are highlighted presented in below table. The content is structured around general questions that both the general public and policy makers may have. Datasets that particularly contribute to improve the availability of data on secondary raw materials, as requested by the Circular Economy Action Plan (2015) are found in the Stocks and Flows, the Reuse sections and in each interactive chart when clicking on the representation of ‘stock’ and ‘waste’.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Une étude expérimentale de la coercivité des aimants NdFeB

Les processus d'aimantation dans des aimants de type NdFeB ont été étudiés dans le cadre de cette thèse, sur la base de mesures d'aimantation macroscopiques et de caractérisations locales (MFM). Deux types d'échantillons ont été analysés : des aimants massifs dont les propriétés excellentes résultent d'un processus d'infiltration de NdCu le long des joints de grain (échantillons fournis par Toyota Motor Corporation) et des échantillons sous forme de couches épaisses, dont les microstructures, et, de ce fait les propriétés magnétiques, diffèrent. La variation thermique du champ coercitif et celle du volume d'activation ont été analysées dans le cadre de deux modèles, respectivement dénommé micromagnétique et global. Les valeurs déduites des deux paramètres principaux caractérisant la coercitivité (N représentant les effets du champ démagnétisant et a reliant le champ coercitif aux propriétés magnétiques intrinsèques de la phase dure) indiquent que dans les aimants massifs les différences de coercitivité entre échantillons sont dues pour l'essentiel à la variation de N alors que dans les films, c'est la variation du paramètre a qui joue le rôle principal. Le volume d'activation à une température donnée, dérivé de mesures de trainage magnétique, a des valeurs proches pour tous les échantillons massifs. Au contraire, il varie d'un échantillon à l'autre dans le cas des films : plus le champ coercitif est fort, plus petit est le volume d'activation. Une conclusion générale de cette étude est que les propriétés magnétiques au sein du volume d'activation sont proches de celles de la phase dure Nd2Fe14B. Le lien entre microstructure et coercivité a été examiné dans les films épais par microscopie de force magnétique (MFM). Des observations de films dans différents états rémanents le long du cycle d'hystérésis ont été réalisées. Des domaines d'interactions ont été révélés dans les films de faible coercitivté. Dans de tels films, comme dans ceux de coercitivité moyenne, le renversement d'aimantation est dominé par la propagation de domaines, alors que dans les films de plus forte coercitivité, la nucléation suivie de la propagation de domaines d'orientation inverse à celle de l'aimantation principale dominent.Magnetization reversal in NdFeB-type permanent magnets was studied in this thesis, based on both global (magnetometry) and local (magnetic force microscopy) experimental techniques. Two types of samples were analyzed: bulk magnets of which magnetic properties are greatly improved as a result of NdCu infiltration along the grain boundaries (samples provided by Toyota Motor Corporation) and thick film magnets with different microstructures and thus different coercive fields. The temperature dependence of the coercive field and that of the activation volume were analyzed in the framework of two models: the micromagnetic and the global model. The derived values of the two main parameters characterizing coercivity (N representing demagnetizing field effects and a linking the coercive field to the intrinsic magnetic properties of the hard phase) indicate that, in bulk magnets, the difference in coercivity between different samples is related mainly to N whereas in films the parameter alfa plays the leading role. The activation volume derived from magnetic after effect measurements is similar for all bulk samples at a given temperature. On the opposite, it varies in the case of films : the higher the coercive field, the smaller the activation volume. Altogether, it is concluded that the magnetic properties within the activation volume are close to those of the main phase. The link between microstructure and coercivity was studied in thick films, using magnetic force microscopy. Imaging of films that present different microstructures was performed in different remanent states along the hysteresis cycle. Interaction domains were observed in the case of films with lower coercive field. In such low coercivity films, as well as in medium coercivity ones, magnetization reversal is dominated by domain wall propagation, instead of nucleation + propagation in high coercivity films.SAVOIE-SCD - Bib.électronique (730659901) / SudocGRENOBLE1/INP-Bib.électronique (384210012) / SudocGRENOBLE2/3-Bib.électronique (384219901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Urban and Rural MSW Stream Characterization for Separate Collection Improvement

In the new legislation framework enacted by new member countries of the European Union (EU), the characterization of municipal solid waste (MSW) represents an important instrument for local governments and sanitation operators in setting and achieving targets for waste recycling and recovery. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in accordance with the Romanian methodology for domestic wastes characterization ROMECOM, aiming to provide a proper basis for developing clear and realistic forecasts in current municipal waste management, based on MSW composition and generation rate. The analyzed MSW came both from areas where the waste is collected in mixed and separate ways, in urban and rural areas. The MSW composition by fraction is detailed for dense urban areas, urban areas, rural and touristic areas from Romania. Based on these results, the MSW composition was determined for the eight development regions in Romania, and a generation rate of 0.9·kgMSW inhabitant−1·day−1 for the urban region and 0.4·kgMSW inh−1·day−1 for the rural region was established. The calorific values of urban and rural areas were determined as 6801 kJ·kg−1 and 5613 kJ·kg−1, respectively. In the perspective of sustainable development in this technical area, based on the obtained results and on the prognosis made for the following years, two proposals for urban and rural areas were developed for MSW treating options improvement. The two systems are characterized by selective collection (different efficiencies for urban and rural areas) with subsequent recovery of the separated materials and energy recovery of the residual waste in a large-scale waste to energy (WTE) plant