A three-node C deg element for analysis of laminated composite sandwich shells

A three-node flat shell element with C deg rotation fields has been developed for analysis of arbitrary composite shells. The element may consist of any number of orthotropic layers, each layer having different material properties and angular orientation. The formulation includes coupling between bending and extension, which is essential for analysis of unsymmetric laminates. Shearing deflections are included, since laminated and sandwich construction frequently results in shear stiffness much smaller than bending stiffness. Formulation of the element is straightforward, and calculation of its stiffness matrix is simple and fast. Convergence of solutions with mesh refinement is uniform for both thin and thick shells and is insensitive to element shape, although not as rapid as some other elements that lack one or more capabilities of the newly developed element. An experimental verification of the shall element is reported in the appendix

Catalogue of programmes and policies related to regional development and infrastructure ("Baseline assessment")

A baseline assessment, an impact and vulnerability assessment of EU investments in infrastructure and a mitigation potential analysis shall help to generate policy options, which will be appraised in the subsequent phase of the project. In this report we set the stage for the further tasks. The report identifies critical questions and resulting implications concerning the assessment of impacts and vulnerability of infrastructure and infrastructure investments in the EU; describes EU Cohesion Policy; o details the current design of the Structural Funds; describes the issue of environmental and climate change mainstreaming from an EU perspective; presents an exploratory analysis of evidence for climate policy integration based on Member States National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRFs); and finally addresses the main research and knowledge gaps that will be addressed in subsequent research within this work package

Laser Welding Control

In laser welding of metallic workpieces, the energetic beam is moved over the workpiece surface to form a pool of molten weld metal that quickly solidifies behind the advance of the laser into a weld nugget. The laser beam produces a keyhole of plasma-containing vapor within the molten pool. Weld nugget porosity, due to entrapment of the vapor, is minimized by continually sensing radiation from the molten metal pool to determine pool depth and width and then controlling laser power and speed to continually produce a weld metal pool wide enough for the liquid to fully expel the vapor and solidify into a pore free nugget

Mir-434-5p mediates skin whitening and lightening

Utilization of gene silencing effectors, such as microRNA (miRNA) and small hairpin RNA (shRNA), provides a powerful new strategy for human skin care in vivo, particularly for hyperpigmentation treatment and aging prevention. In this study, tyrosinase (Tyr), the rate-limiting enzyme of melanin (black pigment) biosynthesis, was served as a target for treatment of hyperpigmentation in mouse and human skins. There are over 54 native microRNA capable of silencing human tyrosinase for skin whitening and lightening. To this, we have designed a mir-434-5p homologue and used it to successfully demonstrate the feasibility of miRNA-mediated skin whitening and lightening in vitro and in vivo. Under the same experimental condition in the trials, Pol-II-directed intronic mir-434-5p expression did not cause any detectable sign of cytotoxicity, whereas siRNAs targeting the same sequence often induced certain nonspecific mRNA degradation as previously reported. Because the intronic miRNA-mediated gene silencing pathway is tightly regulated by multiple intracellular surveillance systems, including Pol-II transcription, RNA splicing, exosomal digestion and nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD), the current findings underscore the fact that intronic miRNA agents, such as manually re-designed mir-434-5p homologues, are effective, target-specific and safe to be used for skin whitening without any detectable cytotoxic effect. Given that the human skins also express a variety of other native miRNAs, we may re-design these miRNAs based on their individual functions for skin care, which may provide significant insights into areas of opportunity for new cosmetic and/or therapeutical applications

High wintertime particulate matter pollution over an offshore island (Kinmen) off southeastern China: an overview

Both the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD), the two most rapidly developing areas in eastern China, have suffered from serious air pollution, and thus, numerous investigations were devoted to studying these problems. Other areas in eastern China have received less attention despite similar rapid development in their industries and economy. In this study, we analyzed air‐quality data from Kinmen Island (24°27′26′′N, 118°19′36′′E) located off Fujian Province and between the two above‐mentioned deltas. Our results clearly show that the study area is experiencing serious air quality deterioration. Particularly, high levels of suspended particulate matter (PM) were observed during winter, when the northeasterly monsoon prevails. For example, concentrations of wintertime PM10 (particles ≤ 10 mm in diameter) frequently exceeded 100 mg/m3 in the last three years. In addition to the air‐quality data analysis, aerosol samples were collected between 22 November 2007 and 6 March 2008 and subjected to chemical analyses of various species. Our findings show that the three principal PM components include organic, mineral, and sulfate species with moderate to minor fractions of nitrate, sea salt, elemental carbon, and trace metal oxides. The high PM levels observed over the island may be partly attributed to the transport from a mixed‐type industrial area located ∼40 km northeast of Kinmen. Our study could partially fill the air quality data gap between the YRD and PRD regions, and highlight the alarming fact that air pollution has gradually expanded along eastern China’s coastal zone

XAX: a multi-ton, multi-target detection system for dark matter, double beta decay and pp solar neutrinos

A multi-target detection system XAX, comprising concentric 10 ton targets of 136Xe and 129/131Xe, together with a geometrically similar or larger target of liquid Ar, is described. Each is configured as a two-phase scintillation/ionization TPC detector, enhanced by a full 4pi array of ultra-low radioactivity Quartz Photon Intensifying Detectors (QUPIDs) replacing the conventional photomultipliers for detection of scintillation light. It is shown that background levels in XAX can be reduced to the level required for dark matter particle (WIMP) mass measurement at a 10^-10 pb WIMP-nucleon cross section, with single-event sensitivity below 10^-11 pb. The use of multiple target elements allows for confirmation of the A^2 dependence of a coherent cross section, and the different Xe isotopes provide information on the spin-dependence of the dark matter interaction. The event rates observed by Xe and Ar would modulate annually with opposite phases from each other for WIMP mass >~100 GeV/c^2. The large target mass of 136Xe and high degree of background reduction allow neutrinoless double beta decay to be observed with lifetimes of 10^27-10^28 years, corresponding to the Majorana neutrino mass range 0.01-0.1 eV, the most likely range from observed neutrino mass differences. The use of a 136Xe-depleted 129/131Xe target will also allow measurement of the pp solar neutrino spectrum to a precision of 1-2%.Comment: 16 pages with 17 figure

Climate change impacts across Europe and the role of EU regional policy in adaptation

In order to better prioritise adaptation decisions concerning impacts from a changing climate, there is a need for quantitative regional level assessments. In this policy update we provide insights from an impact assessment for three climate-related hazards (heat stress, river flood and forest fire) that is systematic and comparable across different countries in the European Union. The results show strongest increases in impacts for heat stress and forest fires. Hotspot regions are found in eastern and southern Europe due to their low adaptive capacity. The assessment of risk and capacities to adapt could be a basis to inform the allocation of financial resources in EU regional policy. Yet the reactions of policy makers are sceptic still

Correlated Strength in Nuclear Spectral Function

We have carried out an (e,e'p) experiment at high momentum transfer and in parallel kinematics to measure the strength of the nuclear spectral function S(k,E) at high nucleon momenta k and large removal energies E. This strength is related to the presence of short-range and tensor correlations, and was known hitherto only indirectly and with considerable uncertainty from the lack of strength in the independent-particle region. This experiment confirms by direct measurement the correlated strength predicted by theory.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let