Exploitation and Dissemination Report

This Exploitation and Dissemination report is the final document that summarizes Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation carried out in the Project RESOLVE

No detection of methane on Mars from early ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observations

The detection of methane on Mars has been interpreted as indicating that geochemical or biotic activities could persist on Mars today. A number of different measurements of methane show evidence of transient, locally elevated methane concentrations and seasonal variations in background methane concentrations. These measurements, however, are difficult to reconcile with our current understanding of the chemistry and physics of the Martian atmosphere, which-given methane's lifetime of several centuries-predicts an even, well mixed distribution of methane. Here we report highly sensitive measurements of the atmosphere of Mars in an attempt to detect methane, using the ACS and NOMAD instruments onboard the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter from April to August 2018. We did not detect any methane over a range of latitudes in both hemispheres, obtaining an upper limit for methane of about 0.05 parts per billion by volume, which is 10 to 100 times lower than previously reported positive detections. We suggest that reconciliation between the present findings and the background methane concentrations found in the Gale crater would require an unknown process that can rapidly remove or sequester methane from the lower atmosphere before it spreads globally

Martian dust storm impact on atmospheric H₂O and D/H observed by ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter

Global dust storms on Mars are rare but can affect the Martian atmosphere for several months. They can cause changes in atmospheric dynamics and inflation of the atmosphere, primarily owing to solar heating of the dust. In turn, changes in atmospheric dynamics can affect the distribution of atmospheric water vapour, with potential implications for the atmospheric photochemistry and climate on Mars. Recent observations of the water vapour abundance in the Martian atmosphere during dust storm conditions revealed a high-altitude increase in atmospheric water vapour that was more pronounced at high northern latitudes, as well as a decrease in the water column at low latitudes. Here we present concurrent, high-resolution measurements of dust, water and semiheavy water (HDO) at the onset of a global dust storm, obtained by the NOMAD and ACS instruments onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. We report the vertical distribution of the HDO/H O ratio (D/H) from the planetary boundary layer up to an altitude of 80 kilometres. Our findings suggest that before the onset of the dust storm, HDO abundances were reduced to levels below detectability at altitudes above 40 kilometres. This decrease in HDO coincided with the presence of water-ice clouds. During the storm, an increase in the abundance of H2O and HDO was observed at altitudes between 40 and 80 kilometres. We propose that these increased abundances may be the result of warmer temperatures during the dust storm causing stronger atmospheric circulation and preventing ice cloud formation, which may confine water vapour to lower altitudes through gravitational fall and subsequent sublimation of ice crystals. The observed changes in H2O and HDO abundance occurred within a few days during the development of the dust storm, suggesting a fast impact of dust storms on the Martian atmosphere

Electric L-category vehicles for smart urban mobility

The demand of personal mobility in European Union (EU) cities is increasing the use of motor vehicles; consequentially, gas emissions, noise levels and traffic jams increase, affecting quality of life of city-dwellers. To tackle such problems, European-wide emission targets are becoming stricter and urban mobility plans are being drawn. Future scenarios for EU urban centres see a modal shift in personal mobility from cars to lighter, smaller, more specialised and environmentally friendly alternatives. ELVs (Electric L-category Vehicles) are part of such alternatives that can cater to the average commuter's needs because of their small size and light weight; that means low on board energy requirement and small batteries, which allows lower costs and faster recharge. However, this modal shift offers new challenges: many urban users do not consider LVs as a viable and comfortable option for their needs. Urban policies could encourage ELV adoption, but four limiting factors are slowing down the diffusion of ELVs: cost, energy efficiency, attractiveness of ELVs and drivers willingness to use. RESOLVE EU project, co-funded under European Green Vehicles Initiative, is aimed at making ELVs practical alternatives to cars, by encouraging a number of commuters to switch to narrow-track ELVs. Led by the 2 largest LV manufacturers in EU and complemented by top component suppliers, Research Institutes and Universities, RESOLVE will give a contribution to reduction of overall urban traffic congestion, cutting commuting time and easing parking. To achieve its ambitious objectives, RESOLVE uses a holistic approach to explore solutions, culminating in two demonstration vehicles that will show the advances to the State-of-the-Art and could form a basis for attractive commercial ELV propositions. The project will start with user needs definition and market analysis, in order to ensure that expected technical results will be properly aimed. User needs will be identified taking into account the actual usage of either ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) powered-two-wheelers (PTWs) or light-heavy quadricycles (L6-L7 category) and of supermini (M1 category) cars in cities and suburban areas, throughout European countries. The task will also allow seeing which is the market potential size and share (shift from car drivers) by analysing database on market data and trends for ICE and electric L vehicles. User needs will be both quantitative data (e.g. km ridden per days, travel path, time stop, required performance etc.) and qualitative ones (such as parking easiness, manoeuvrability, acceptability by women/men, elderly/young, experienced/inexperienced, riders/drivers, protection from rain, etc.). Outcomes are the basis to develop a number of technological advances that aim to maximise the energy efficiency of ELVs, such as regenerative braking and lightweight design, as well as to optimise ELV rider experience, such as active vehicle stability and handling, human machine interface (HMI) and measures to enhance comfort and weather protection

Experimental study on the drying power of a hot jet

Experiments on the drying power of a hot jet, issued from commercial hairdryers, are reported in the paper. A dedicated experimental apparatus was built and operated: measurements included the air flow rate, and the input electrical power, while the jet average outlet temperature was derived from the energy balance. The drying power was estimated by weighing a thin fabric patch before the test and after a prescribed amount of time. Results were compared with available models of jet drying, showing considerable discrepancy especially for high values of input power; the reasons for this discrepancy are at present not fully understood, but can likely be found in a distribution of the temperature of the surface to be dried different from the expected one, that is the adiabatic saturation. Finally, the energetic balance of the system was introduced, and an attempt was made to define an energetic efficiency of the appliance, on the basis of the energy actually spent for evaporation over the input electrical power. The measured efficiency resulted to be strongly dependent on outlet temperature and weakly dependent on flow rate, in agreement with the theoretical models

Benchmarking cancer centers: From care pathways to integrated practice units

Background: Structuring cancer care into pathways can reduce variability in clinical practice and improve patient outcomes. International benchmarking can help centers with regard to development, implementation, and evaluation. A further step in the development of multidisciplinary care is to organize care in integrated practice units (IPUs), encompassing the whole pathway and relevant organizational aspects. However, research on this topic is limited. This article describes the development and results of a benchmark tool for cancer care pathways and explores IPU development in cancer centers. Methods: The benchmark tool was developed according to a 13-step benchmarking method and piloted in 7 European cancer centers. Centers provided data and site visits were performed to understand the context in which the cancer center operates and to clarify additional questions. Benchmark data were structured into pathway development and evaluation and assessed against key IPU features. Results: Benchmark results showed that most centers have formalized multidisciplinary pathways and that care teams differed in composition, and found almost 2-fold differences in mammography use efficiency. Suggestions for improvement included positioning pathways formally and structurally evaluating outcomes at a sufficiently high frequency. Based on the benchmark, 3 centers indicating that they had a breast cancer IPU were scored differently on implementation. Overall, we found that centers in Europe are in various stages of development of pathways and IPUs, ranging from an informal pathway structure to a full IPU-type of organization. Conclusions: A benchmark tool for care pathways was successfully developed and tested, and is available in an open format. Our tool allows for the assessment of pathway organization and can be used to assess the status of IPU development. Opportunities for improvement were identified regarding the organization of care pathways and the development toward IPUs. Three centers are in varying degrees of implementation and can be characterized as breast cancer IPUs. Organizing cancer care in an IPU could yield multiple performance improvements

MAGNETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF FEL-2 UNDULATORS FOR THE FERMI@ELETTRA FREE-ELECTRON LASER

This paper presents the most relevant changes in design from FEL-1 to FEL-2 beam lines and the results of the magnetic measurements carried out on all the above undulators

Livrable D1.1 - Powered Two-Wheelers - Road Traffic Accident Scenarios and Common Injuries - Project PIONEERS - Protective Innovations of New Equipment for Enhanced Rider Safety

Comprehensive literature review has been performed related to analyses of road traffic accidents involving powered two-wheelers (PTW). It became obvious that many projects, in particular European research projects, studies from French and Italian research institutes and from Australia have been working on this topic; however, results can hardly be compared since the definitions of many variables vary, different injury coding are used and all analysed in-depth accident datasets are based on greatly differing inclusion criteria. The PIONEERS project took this burden and established definitions for relevant Accident Scenarios and body regions which may form a new common understanding and will accelerate harmonization processes in this research field. Furthermore, several datasets from Europe and Australia (Compilation of macrostatistical European accident data as well as data from national statistics and in-depth accident investigations) of latest years have been analysed to provide a current understanding of the accident occurrence of powered two-wheelers

Recent developments in the ABINIT software package

ABINIT is a package whose main program allows one to find the total energy, charge density, electronic structure and many other properties of systems made of electrons and nuclei, (molecules and periodic solids) within Density Functional Theory (DFT), Many-Body Perturbation Theory (GW approximation and Bethe–Salpeter equation) and Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT). ABINIT also allows to optimize the geometry according to the DFT forces and stresses, to perform molecular dynamics simulations using these forces, and to generate dynamical matrices, Born effective charges and dielectric tensors. The present paper aims to describe the new capabilities of ABINIT that have been developed since 2009. It covers both physical and technical developments inside the ABINIT code, as well as developments provided within the ABINIT package. The developments are described with relevant references, input variables, tests and tutorials