Report and preliminary results of METEOR-Cruise M 41/1, Málaga - Libreville, 13.2.-15.3.1998 with partial results of METEOR CRUISE 41/2 Libreville-Vitória, 18.03.1998-15.04.1998

The witness seminar ”The rise and expansion of IT consulting, 1964–1985” took place at The National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm on 1 April 2008 and was led by Gunnar Hesse. The panel consisted of representatives of many of the pioneers in Swedish IT consulting, including Lars Irstad, who founded the industry leader Programator in 1964; Lars Spångberg who founded RIAB as an offshoot of the Federation of Swedish Industry in 1968; Thord Wilkne, one of two founders of WM-data in 1969; Göran Garvner who founded Modulföretagen in 1972; Per Olof Persson, a leading figure in Statskonsult, the state-owned firm that was the biggest IT consultancy in Sweden in the 1970s; Kaj Green, the first CEO of Cap Gemini Sweden; Leif Nobel, CEO of Data Logic from 1979, and Hans G. Wahlberg, one of the founders of Enator in 1977. The seminar was divided in three parts. The first dealt with the period of early entrepreneurship up to c. 1975. It was agreed that there was no shortage of demand for consulting services and that the main challenge consisted in recruiting skilled personnel and managing them. The second part dealt with the expansion that set in from the mid-1970s. Here it was agreed that the management of knowledge workers still constituted the single biggest challenge, followed by the need to establish consistency in method. At this point a divergence in business strategy can be seen. WM-data became a provider of American standard applications in order to tie the customer base more tightly. Programator were successful in the minicomputing market and established joint ventures with several large companies, in effect taking over their IT departments. Enator moved up the value chain and aimed at integrating management consulting and IT consulting. By 1985 all the major companies were listed at the stock exchange and the industry may be described as well-established

Strategies for PS processing of large sentinel-1 datasets

Several advanced DInSAR techniques have been used to map surface deformations due to volcanism, active tectonics, landslides, subsidence, and uplift as well as to monitor the deformation of critical infrastructure such as bridges and dams. Recently, studies have explored the potential of these techniques to be integrated into a permanently operating monitoring system. ESA’s Sentinel-1 satellites have been providing SAR images for such a purpose since 2014. Nowadays, it is easy to access more than 230 SAR images of any area of interest, and update this dataset every six days with a new image. Due to the high frequency of the data acquisition, the question arises on how to best handle such a dataset. Is it suitable to always consider the whole available dataset or would a partial processing of the dataset and combining the results at a later point be more appropriate? To answer these questions, three different processing strategies are investigated in this paper. The first is a continuously growing dataset and for the second and third strategy, the dataset was divided into sub-stacks with and without overlap. In this study, the key parameters of each strategy are analyzed. In addition, the size of the sub-stacks is varied and the results are compared

Desalinization of running waters III. Changes in the structure of diatom assemblages caused by a decreasing salt load and changing ion spectra in the river Wipper (Thuringia, Germany)

AbstractSalt-loaded effluents were introduced into the river Wipper during the mining period for almost a century. Beginning with the year 1990, the waste water load was strongly reduced due to the termination of the potash industry. Prior to 1990, monthly means of the chloride concentrations at times exceeded 6,000 mg l−1 in the strongly polluted sections. Maximum concentrations reached twice these values. Up to 1998, mean annual chloride concentrations decreased to values below 2,000 mg l−1. This led to more balanced fluctuations in salinity which had been pronounced before, depending on discharge and short-term changes in production. Similarly, the physiologically adverse ion conditions improved due to decrasing potassium and increasing calcium proportions.In 1963/64, 1986 and 1998, samples of epilithic, epiphytic and epipsammic diatoms were taken at locations of different salinities along the river and examined for the effects of the salinization on the structure of the diatom assemblages. These structures changed in dependence on salinity. Increasing salt concentrations coincided with decreasing oligohalophilic and increasing mesohalophilic and polyhalophilic species numbers. Above a chloride concentration of about 3,000 mg l−1, the proportion of the latter exceed that of the former (halobion index > 50). Corresponding to different conditions of salinization along the river, characteristic diatom assemblages occur differring from each other and which are specific for the river section. Spring and autumn aspects of the diatom assemblages show also salt-dependent differences. The assemblages found in 1998 after decrease of salinization have changed markedly in comparison to those from 1963/64 and 1986. Halobiontic species predominating formerly occurred only occasionally or not at all. They were replaced by oligohalobic-indifferent forms.An ecological assessment of the changes was performed based on the halobion index calculated from all the samples. For the strongly salinized section of the river Wipper, a shift from α-mesohalobic/polyhalobic conditions in 1963/64 and 1986 to α-oligohalobic/β-mesohalobic conditions in 1998 was found. However, constant α-oligohalobic conditions are still not given. With regard to the transition from α-oligohalobic (limnetic) to β-mesohalobic (brackish) conditions, a maximum chloride concentration of 600 mg l−1 was found. To guarantee α-oligohalobic conditions, a maximum chloride concentration of 400 mg l−1 should not be exceeded

Innovation in the European chemical industry

Firms in the European chemical industry have been among the most successful firms world wide. However, they have had to undertake severe restucturing in order to maintain their market position. These efforts focused in particular on strengthening their innovative capability as product and process innovation have become the most decisive factors in global competition. In order to improve the innovative conditions, the European Commission has supported the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). 1992/1993 was the first time that large-scale harmonised innovation surveys were carried out in all Member States of the European Union. This study uses the CIS micro data from nearly 2000 European chemical firms. This study focuses on the identification of innovative trends within the chemical industry between 1984 and 1993. Using data from annual reports of nine selected European stock companies, the study identifies those areas of the chemical industry currently having the highest innovative potential. Three speciality categories are identified as having the highest number of innovations during this ten year period: chemicals, paints/varnishes, and plastics. -- Obwohl viele europäische Unternehmen der chemischen Industrie in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten zu den erfolgreichsten in der Welt zählten, mußten sie sich Anfang der neunziger Jahre einem gravierenden Strukturwandel unterziehen, um ihre Position behaupten zu können. Die Fähigkeit der Unternehmen, Innovationen hervorzubringen, stand und steht dabei im Mittelpunkt. Mit dem Ziel, die Rahmenbedingungen für Innovationen zu verbessern, führte die EU-Kommission 1993 eine europaweite Innovationserhebung, den Community Innovation Survey (CIS) durch. In dieser Studie wurden die anonymisierten Antworten von nahezu 2000 Unternehmen der chemischen Industrie analysiert. Um Innovationstrends aufzuzeigen zu können, wurden darüber hinaus Geschäftsberichte von neun großen europäischen Chemieunternehmen ausgewertet. So wurden die Sparten Spezialitäten, Farben/Lacke und Kunststoffe als diejenigen Sparten identifiziert, die im Untersuchungszeitraum (1984-1993) die meisten Innovationen aufwiesen.

Quantificação de fibras microplásticas provenientes da lavagem de tecidos

Fiber fragments from synthetic textile materials are a subgroup of microplastics, and the presence of this debris in the environment may have its origin from some different sources. In order to investigate the formation of these residues during domestic washing, washings were simulated on samples of textile articles consisting of three different synthetic materials (polyamide, acrylic, and polyester). The effluent generated was collected and filtered, retaining the microplastic fibers shed. Through a gravimetric process, the mass of particles adhered to the filters was determined, and with the use of a fluorescent dye (Nile Red), these particles were quantified under a fluorescence microscope. This study concluded that the different textile compositions shed microplastic fibers during five washing cycles. Acrylic samples shed the highest mass value (40.9 mg) and polyamide samples shed the lowest value (7.5 mg). It has been estimated that an acrylic blouse can shed 726 mg of microplastic fibers in a single washing. Regarding the size of these particles, dimensions ranging from 11µm to 3mm were observed. Visualization in a 1.2μm filter also suggests the existence of particles in nano-dimensions. In general, it was possible to establish that the domestic washing of textile articles highly contributes to the insertion of these pollutants into the water environment. From a national perspective, approximately 13,800 tons of synthetic fibers can be released into water resources annually from washing clothes.Fragmentos de fibras provenientes de materiais têxteis sintéticos são um subgrupo dos microplásticos, e a presença destes detritos no ambiente pode ser dar de algumas fontes. Com o propósito de investigar a formação destes resíduos durante a lavagem doméstica, foram simuladas lavagens em amostras de artigos têxteis com três composições sintéticas distintas (poliamida, acrílico e poliéster). O efluente gerado foi coletado e filtrado, retendo as fibras microplásticas desprendidas. Por um processo de gravimetria, foi determinado a massa de partículas aderidas aos filtros, e com o uso de um corante fluorescente (Nile Red), estas partículas foram quantificadas em microscópio de fluorescência. Este estudo concluiu que as diferentes composições têxteis liberaram fibras microplásticas durante cinco ciclos de lavagem. Amostras de acrílico liberaram o maior valor de massa (40,9 mg), e poliamida o menor valor (7,5 mg). Estimou-se que uma blusa de acrílico possa desprender 726 mg de fibras microplásticas em uma única lavagem. Em relação ao tamanho destas partículas, foram observadas dimensões variando de 11 µm a 3 mm. A visualização em filtro de 1,2 μm sugere ainda a existência de partículas em dimensões nano. De maneira geral, foi possível estabelecer que a lavagem doméstica de artigos têxteis possui elevada contribuição na inserção destes poluentes em meio hídrico. Em uma perspectiva nacional, cerca de 13,8 mil toneladas de fibras sintéticas podem ser liberadas nos recursos hídricos anualmente, a partir da lavagem de roupas

X-Ray Emission from Slow Highly Charged Ar Ions Interacting with a Ge Surface

We have measured K x-ray spectra and yields from Ar17+ ions slowly approaching a single-crystal Ge surface. The yields were measured as a function of the projectile velocity component perpendicular to the surface. From the data a characteristic time of approximately 1 psec was extracted for the in-flight filling above the surface of the Ar K vacancy

Differential Transfer Ionization Cross Sections for 50175-keV Proton-Helium Collisions

We have measured coincidences between neutralized projectiles and He recoil ions for 50175-keV proton-helium collisions. From the data we obtained transfer ionization (TI) cross sections differential in the projectile scattering angle. Laboratory scattering angles range from 0 to 2.0 mrad. The experimental method allowed separation of the postcollision charge states of the target atoms. The ratio of the cross sections for TI to the sum of TI and single capture, F, is presented as a function of projectile scattering angle. Comparison is made to previous measurements of this ratio where data is available. The differential cross sections are compared to dynamical classical trajectory Monte Carlo (dCTMC) calculations. Agreement in the shape of the differential cross sections is good between the theory and measurement over the entire energy range

Uso de Implante Visual Fluorescente de Elastômero (VIFE) na marcação de pequenos peixes de água doce tropicais

Algumas técnicas de marcação de peixes são utilizadas para diagnosticar aspectos da dinâmica populacional das espécies, não podendo interferir no comportamento, crescimento e reprodução da população envolvida. O presente estudo visa reportar a utilização do VIFE (Visible Implant Fluorescent Elastomer) na marcação de duas espécies de peixes de pequeno porte em ambiente controlado. O objetivo foi investigar se a mortalidade, a fragmentação e retenção da marca são indicadores da eficiência do implante. Foram marcados 60 peixes, 30 indivíduos do caracídeo Bryconamericus iheringii e 30 indivíduos do loricarídeo Rineloricaria malabarbai. Após 70 dias de experimento, os indivíduos de ambas as espécies não apresentaram crescimento e a taxa de retenção e mortalidade foi baixa. Existiu um grande numero de fragmentações devido à posição onde as marcas foram inseridas no corpo dos peixes. Após 90 dias de experimento todos os peixes morreram devido à contaminação da água. Os resultados de baixa mortalidade e retenção determinam que o uso de VIFE é recomendado