The Regional Seas Programme of UNEP

Regional marine programmes are by no means a new phenomenon, the first such activity (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES) having been in operation since 1902. While in most cases early regional activities began as research programmes, they frequently provided a foundation for the management of marine living resources and, approaching the 1970s, for the control of marine pollution. The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm) outlined a ‘master-plan' for protecting the world's environment which linked environmental assessment, environmental management, and supporting measures, as basic and inseparable elements—also recognizing the advantages of a regional approach in contributing to the solution of global problems. The development of UNEP's Regional Seas Programme, since the Action Plan for the Mediterranean was adopted in 1975, demonstrates that the basic concepts formulated at Stockholm can effectively foster regional cooperation among interested States, and that such cooperation can and does benefit greatly from the support of the United Nations system as a whole. The viability of any long-term regional programme lies with the political and financial commitment of the Governments concerned. Within the UNEP Regional Seas Programme this commitment is usually formalized through binding regional legal agreements, and is manifested concretely through an agreed set of activities that are revised periodically by the Governments involved. It is expected that these activities will be adequately supported by financial resources put at the disposal of each of the regional programmes primarily by the Governments concerned. Although the degree of coordination and cooperation achieved generally within the regional programmes reviewed in this paper appears to be satisfactory, it would be surprising if some difficulties did not arise. This is especially true because of the complexity of the venture and the fact that, in many cases, an entirely new type of cooperation is called for and new activities are required in geographical areas with often little experience, limited facilities, and weak infrastructures. For the most part the Governments, their national institutions, and the international, intergovernmental, and regional, organizations involved, are doing their best to work together effectively. Their resources are, however, often very limited, and so it is essential that they be utilized to the best possible advantage. UNEP, as the major financial contributor to the initial phases of the action plans developed in the framework of the Regional Seas Programme, and as their overall coordinator, has a difficult task to perform if it is to see its early successes in the Mediterranean Region matched elsewhere with real action and positive result

Elastic constants of fibre-textured thin films determined by X-ray diffraction

Supposing the Hill grain-interaction model, it is demonstrated that X-ray elastic constants can be used to determine mechanical elastic constants of cubic fibre-textured thin films. The new approach is demonstrated by the experimental characterization of out-of-plane moduli of fibre-textured Cu and CrN thin films

How residual stresses affect the fracture properties of layered thin films

The continued miniaturization effort has revealed exciting new material behavior at small length scales, where pronounced size effects come into play and material properties are subject to change. This has led to the development of miniaturized testing techniques to determine local plastic properties. So far, however, only few efforts regarding the determination of residual stresses and fracture properties in miniaturized systems were made. In this presentation, we will focus on recent developments regarding the measurement of residual stresses and miniaturized fracture properties using FIB based sample preparation and in situ SEM experiments. The depth resolved residual film stresses are determined by an improved stepwise beam layer removal method [1]. From the same film systems, beams are FIB fabricated for miniaturized fracture testing in the SEM [2]. We will discuss the general possibilities, challenges, and benefits of these approaches by examining the internal stresses and fracture properties of single layer and multilayer thin films in the immiscible system Cu-W. Particular emphasis is placed on the effect of residual stresses on the fracture properties. Moreover, possible limitations of commonly used data analysis approaches are addressed, and related improvements using finite element modelling to determine crack-driving forces in the presence of interfaces and residual stresses are presented [3]. Notably, the required material input data in terms of flow behavior for this modeling approach was determined using spherical nanoindentation experiments on single and multilayer films. Finally, the possibility of further miniaturization of such experiments by using in situ TEM is demonstrated [4]

Supplementary data for article: Keckes, S.; Gašić, U. M.; Ćirković-Veličković, T.; Milojković-Opsenica, D.; Natić, M.; Tešić, Ž. L. The Determination of Phenolic Profiles of Serbian Unifloral Honeys Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/High Resolution Accurate Mass Spectrometry. Food Chemistry 2013, 138 (1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.10.025

Supplementary material for: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.10.025]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1582

Spatially resolved depth profiling of residual stress by micro-ring-core method

Analysis and control of residual stresses in advanced engineering materials are important issues for reliability assessment at small scales, e.g. for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and nano-crystalline and amorphous bulk and thin film materials. This presentation gives an overview of the recent advances in the field of sub-micron scale residual stress assessment by the use of focused ion beam (FIB)-controlled material removal techniques. Materials and The two step method consists of incremental FIB ring-core milling combined with high-resolution in-situ SEMFEG imaging of the relaxing surface and a full field strain analysis by digital image correlation (DIC). The through-thickness profile of the residual stress can be also obtained by comparison of the experimentally measured surface strain with finite element modelling using Schajer’s integral method. In this presentation, we will review the most recent advances in the field of FIB-DIC methods for residual stress assessment at the micro and nano scales, with focus on recent efforts for development of automated procedures for local residual stress analysis of (i) thin films, (ii) microelectronics devices and (iii) polycrystalline and amorphous bulk materials. Practical applications of the method on several systems will be described and discussed. In particular, the issues of residual stress assessment on very thin films and micro-devices, stress depth profiling, stress measurement on amorphous materials and the effects of ion induced damage and elastic anisotropy on the relaxation strains will be reviewed

Methodology for studying strain inhomogeneities in polycrystalline thin films during in situ thermal loading using coherent x-ray diffraction

International audienceCoherent x-ray diffraction is used to investigate the mechanical properties of a single grain within a polycrystalline thin film in situ during a thermal cycle. Both the experimental approach and finite element simulation are described. Coherent diffraction from a single grain has been monitored in situ at different temperatures. This experiment offers unique perspectives for the study of the mechanical properties of nano-objects

Effect of pulse-current-based protocols on the lithium dendrite formation and evolution in all-solid-state batteries

Understanding the cause of lithium dendrites formation and propagation is essential for developing practical all-solid-state batteries. Li dendrites are associated with mechanical stress accumulation and can cause cell failure at current densities below the threshold suggested by industry research (i.e., >5 mA/cm2). Here, we apply a MHz-pulse-current protocol to circumvent low-current cell failure for developing all-solid-state Li metal cells operating up to a current density of 6.5 mA/cm2. Additionally, we propose a mechanistic analysis of the experimental results to prove that lithium activity near solid-state electrolyte defect tips is critical for reliable cell cycling. It is demonstrated that when lithium is geometrically constrained and local current plating rates exceed the exchange current density, the electrolyte region close to the defect releases the accumulated elastic energy favouring fracturing. As the build-up of this critical activity requires a certain period, applying current pulses of shorter duration can thus improve the cycling performance of all-solid-solid-state lithium batteries.publishedVersio

Supplementary data for article: Keckes, S.; Gašić, U. M.; Ćirković-Veličković, T.; Milojković-Opsenica, D.; Natić, M.; Tešić, Ž. L. The Determination of Phenolic Profiles of Serbian Unifloral Honeys Using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/High Resolution Accurate Mass Spectrometry. Food Chemistry 2013, 138 (1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.10.025

Supplementary material for: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.10.025]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1582