Seismic hazard assessment in the Northern Andes (PILOTO Project)

Five Andean countries (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela) and four European countries (Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany) cooperated in the PILOTO program ("Test area for earthquake monitoring and seismic hazard assessment"), launched under GSHAP and sponsored by the European Union (Ct.94-0103) to produce a unified SHA for the Andean region. Activities included the integration of national earthquake catalogues and source zonings in common regional databases and joint technical workshops for the assessment of the regional hazard, expressed in terms of expected peak ground acceleration with 10% exceedance probability in 50 years

Seismic hazard assessment in the Northern Andes (PILOTO Project)

Five Andean countries (Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela) and four European countries (Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany) cooperated in the PILOTO program ("Test area for earthquake monitoring and seismic hazard assessment"), launched under GSHAP and sponsored by the European Union (Ct.94-0103) to produce a unified SHA for the Andean region. Activities included the integration of national earthquake catalogues and source zonings in common regional databases and joint technical workshops for the assessment of the regional hazard, expressed in terms of expected peak ground acceleration with 10% exceedance probability in 50 years

A 6-year field monitoring of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in transgenic Bt maize in Brazil.

A 6-year field monitoring study was designed to compare the presence of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), leaf injury, its parasitoids, 100 seed weight, and seed yield of Bt maize hybrids approved for commercialization in the Brazilian market. Field trials were planted in two municipalities, divided into two periods, from 2011 to 2014 (period I), and due to the approval of different Bt hybrids, from 2015 to 2016 (period II). Treatments were Bt, non-Bt maize and all non-Bt maize sprayed with insecticide methomyl. Six Bt-maize hybrids were planted, expressing the following proteins: Cry1Ab, Cry1F, Cry1A.105 (Cry1Ab +Cry1Ac +Cry1F), Cry2Ab2a and Vip3. In 2015 and 2016 Bt Powercore was planted due to its commercial approval. The number of S. frugiperda larvae for most Bt hybrids was lower than on non-Bt hybrids, except for Fórmula TL and Herculex in period II, in both municipalities. In period I, Bt hybrids VT, VT 2 and Viptera showed almost no injury on their leaves, despite the high number of fall armyworm larvae found in plants. Different parasitoids emerged from larvae from Bt and non Bt hybrids: Archytas sp., Campoletis sp., Chelonus sp., Eiphosoma sp. and Ophion luteus. The average 100 seed weight was higher in municipality from Sete Lagoas for all Bt hybrids, non-Bt hybrids and non-Bt hybrids sprayed with methomyl, when compared to Nova Porteirinha during period I. Fórmula TL, non-Bt Fórmula TL sprayed with methomyl, and non-Bt Fórmula TL showed the lowest seed yield in both municipalities and periods

Fabrication of Copper-Rich Cu-Al Alloy Using the Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing Process

An innovative wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process is used to fabricate Cu-9 at. pct Al on pure copper plates in situ, through separate feeding of pure Cu and Al wires into a molten pool, which is generated by the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process. After overcoming several processing problems, such as opening the deposition molten pool on the extremely high-thermal conductive copper plate and conducting the Al wire into the molten pool with low feed speed, the copper-rich Cu-Al alloy was successfully produced with constant predesigned Al content above the dilution-affected area. Also, in order to homogenize the as-fabricated material and improve the mechanical properties, two further homogenization heat treatments at 1073 K (800 °C) and 1173 K (900 °C) were applied. The material and mechanical properties of as-fabricated and heat-treated samples were compared and analyzed in detail. With increased annealing temperatures, the content of precipitate phases decreased and the samples showed gradual improvements in both strength and ductility with little variation in microstructures. The present research opened a gate for in-situ fabrication of Cu-Al alloy with target chemical composition and full density using the additive manufacturing process