Modelling of aluminium sheet material at elevated temperatures

The formability of Al–Mg sheet can be improved considerably, by increasing the temperature.\ud At elevated temperatures, the mechanical response of the material becomes strain rate dependent. To accurately\ud simulate warm forming of aluminium sheet, a material model is required that incorporates the temperature\ud and strain-rate dependency. In this paper hardening is described succesfully with a physically based material\ud model for temperatures up to 200 ◦C. At higher temperatures and very low strain rates, the flow curve deviates\ud significantly from the model. Strain rate jumps still pose a serious problem to the model

<i>Sinelobus stanfordi</i> (Richardson, 1901): A new crustacean invader in Europe

This short note reports on the first European records of Sinelobus stanfordi (Crustacea: Tanaidacea: Tanaidae). The species has been recorded from five different water bodies in the Dutch coastal area and in the docks of the Belgian harbour of Antwerp. S. stanfordi was until now not known to inhabit (North-) European coasts and estuaries. It is thus very likely that its origin is non-indigenous

The Impacts of Tourism Stays on Residents' Self-Reported Health: A Pan-European Analysis on the Role of Age and Urbanization Level

Understanding the impacts of tourism on the quality of life of residents is a priority for the sustainable tourism agenda, and is especially relevant to the COVID-19 recovery period. However, the evidence is poor, and it is not clear whether the outcomes vary among sociodemographic groups. This study fills this gap by proposing a pan-European analysis of the effects of tourism stays per 1000 residents (as a measure of tourism pressure) on self-perceived health at a regional level, based on data from Eurostat, the EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey), and the LFS (Labor Force Survey). Multilevel models with random effects were used, including three levels: region, time, and region-time. Results show that tourism pressure may benefit self-reported health but only among residents aged over 50 years old living in rural contexts, or over 65 living in low density urban areas. As for younger groups (under 50) living in high density cities, tourism is longitudinally associated with worsened self-reported health. These results, which are supported by instrumental-variable estimations, suggest that urban residents and younger groups do not benefit from tourism. This might be due to a number of side effects related to increased living costs, precarious labour, and conflicts related to public space. Therefore, our findings challenge the narrative that urban tourism universally improves residents' quality of life. Considering the global urgency of creating healthier and more equitable post-COVID-19 cities and societies, tourism should be considered together with health and equity dimensions

Record RF performance of standard 90 nm CMOS technology

We have optimized 3 key RF devices realized in standard logic 90 nm CMOS technology and report a record performance in terms of n-MOS maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/ (280 GHz), varactor tuning range and varactor and inductor quality factor

Networks of inter-organisational coordination during disease outbreaks

Multi-organisational environment is demonstrating more complexities due the ever-increasing tasks’ complications in modern environments. Disease outbreak coordination is one of these complex tasks that require multi-skilled and multi-jurisdictional agencies to coordinate in dynamic environment. This research discusses theoretical foundations and practical approaches to suggest frameworks to study complex inter-organisational networks in dynamic environments, specifically during disease outbreak. We study coo¬¬rdination as being an interdisciplinary domain, and then uses social network theory to model it. I have surveyed 70 health professionals whom have participated in the swine influenza H1N1 2009 outbreak. I collected both qualitative and quantitative data in order to build a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the inter-organisational network that evolved during that outbreak. Then I constructed a performance model by use three main components of the network theory: degree centrality, connectedness and tie strength as the independent variables, and disease outbreak inter-organisational performance as the dependent one. In addition, we study both the formal networks and the informal ones. Formal networks are based on the standard operating structures, and the informal ones emerge based on trust, mutual benefits and relationships. Results suggest that the proposed social network measures have positive effect on coordination performance during the outbreak in both formal and informal networks, except centrality in the formal one. In addition, none of those measures influence performance before the outbreak. Practically, the results suggest that increasing the communication frequency and diversifying the tiers of the inter-organisational links enhance the overall network’s performance in formal coordination. In the informal one, links are created with the intention to improve performance; hence, all suggested network measures improve performance

A reduction method for semi-infinite programming by means of a global stochastic approach

We describe a reduction algorithm for solving semi-infinite programming problems. The proposed algorithm uses the simulated annealing method equipped with a function stretching as a multi-local procedure, and a penalty technique for the finite optimization process. An exponential penalty merit function is reduced along each search direction to ensure convergence from any starting point. Our preliminary numerical results seem to show that the algorithm is very promising in practice.Algoritmi Research CenterFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - bolsa POCI/MAT/58957/200

Characterization of the Ac/Ds behaviour in transgenic tomato plants using plasmid rescue

We describe the use of plasmid rescue to facilitate studies on the behaviour of Ds and Ac elements in transgenic tomato plants. The rescue of Ds elements relies on the presence of a plasmid origin of replication and a marker gene selective in Escherichia coli within the element. The position within the genome of modified Ds elements, rescued both before and after transposition, is assigned to the RFLP map of tomato. Alternatively to the rescue of Ds elements equipped with plasmid sequences, Ac elements are rescued by virtue of plasmid sequences flanking the element. In this way, the consequences of the presence of an (active) Ac element on the DNA structure at the original site can be studied in detail. Analysis of a library of Ac elements, rescued from the genome of a primary transformant, shows that Ac elements are, infrequently, involved in the formation of deletions. In one case the deletion refers to a 174 bp genomic DNA sequence immediately flanking Ac. In another case, a 1878 bp internal Ac sequence is deleted

Biodiversity modelling in practice - predicting bird and woody plant species richness on farmlands

In light of decreasing species richness on farmland and an increasing awareness of biodiversity issues among customers and food companies, concepts and models to evaluate and enhance farmland biodiversity are greatly needed. It is important that the models are easy to apply as they have to be utilized by practitioners such as farmers and their consultants. In this study, simple but valid predictors were identified to rapidly assess the species richness of birds and woody plants in hedgerows, an important farmland landscape element. Hedgerows were sampled in seven agricultural landscapes throughout Germany. By means of automatic model selection procedures, linear regression models were estimated to predict bird and woody plant species richness. Cross validation procedures were carried out in order to visualize model selection uncertainty and estimate the prediction error. Due to a rather high prediction error, the model for plants can only be recommended for use when field work is not feasible. The model for birds, however, explained 70.8% of the variance in species numbers. It may help farmers, food companies and nature conservation agencies to rapidly evaluate bird species richness in hedgerows on farmland and to identify potentials and appropriate measures for enhancing it