Search results for "Structuring"
showing 10 items of 219 documents
Symmetric boundary element method versus finite element method
2002
The paper examines the effectiveness of the symmetric boundary element formulation when the continuum body is subdivided into large elements called macro-elements. The approach proposed combines a strong reduction of variables with an elastic solution close to the real response. Indeed, if the displacement method is used, this approach permits one to determine for every macro-element a relationship connecting the weighted traction vector defined on the sides of the interface boundary with the node displacement vector of the same boundary and with the external action vector. Such a strategy is very similar to that followed through the finite element method, but with the advantages of having …
Economic transitions in finis terra
2009
A gradualist approach has been taken in describing the evolution of the last foragers in the Iberian Mediterranean Region (IMR) up to their rapid collapse, brought about by the appearance of the first prehistoric farmers. This point of view assumes that the post-Last Glaical Maximum (LGM) climatic change brought about a certain restructuring of the mammal fauna and exerted a direct influence by flooding the changing coastal plain and submerging coastal sites related to marine resource use. This paper proposes that small prey was a constant and structural resource in the IMR that did not signal intensification, since human consumption of rabbits goes back to the Middle Palaeolithic. At the s…
Evaluating European railway deregulation using different approaches
2012
Abstract There has recently been a great deal of interest in the impacts of the deregulating and restructuring measures in the European railway sector. A vast amount of literature is devoted to analyzing the effects of these deregulation and restructuring measures on efficiency and productivity and the results are not totally unambiguous. However, while most of the papers show that the introduction of competition within the sector (in both passenger and freight markets) has had a positive impact in terms of efficiency and productivity, the impact of vertical separation has produced different results in the literature. The contribution of this paper to the existing literature is twofold. Fir…
The Improvement of Moral Development Through an Increase in Reflection. A Training Programme
1998
Abstract In this study a training programme was implemented to increase reflectivity in 13‐and 14‐year‐old children in the 8th grade of a primary school in Spain. We hoped to confirm that an increase in reflectivity would promote moral development in these children. We did not use classical techniques for improving moral development (values clarification, moral dilemmas, etc.) but, rather, cognitive techniques to increase reflectivity‐‐ problem‐solving, self‐instruction, scanning strategies, and so on. We used Cairns and Cammock's Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFF20) (1978) and Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) (1986) as measuring instruments. As we had supposed prior to the intention, we…
Nanostructuring thin Au films on transparent conductive oxide substrates
2013
Fabrication processes of Au nanostructures on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) surface by simple, versatile, and low-cost bottom-up methodologies are investigated in this work. A first methodology exploits the patterning effects induced by nanosecond laser irradiations on thin Au films deposited on ITO surface. We show that after the laser irradiations, the Au film break-up into nanoclusters whose mean size and surface density are tunable by the laser fluence. A second methodology exploits, instead, the patterning effects of standard furnace thermal processes on the Au film deposited on the ITO. We observe, in this case, a peculiar shape evolution from pre-formed nanoclusters during the Au deposition…
Formation and Evolution of Nanoscale Metal Structures on ITO Surface by Nanosecond Laser Irradiations of Thin Au and Ag Films
2012
The effect of nanosecond laser irradiations on 5 nm thick sputter-deposited Au and Ag films on Indium-Tin-Oxide surface is investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). After 500, 750, and 1000 mJ/cm 2 fluence irradiations, the breakup of the Au and Ag films into nanoscale islands is observed as a consequence of fast melting and solidification processes. The mean nanoparticles size and surface density are quantified, as a function of the laser fluence, by the AFM and SEM analyses. In particular, the comparison between the Au and Ag islands reveals the formation of larger islands in the case of Ag for each fixed fluence. The mechanism of the nanoscale …
Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline LaNi5 hydrogen storage materials
2009
With the growing environmental concerns of greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, it is becoming increasingly important to switch to cleaner alternative fuels such as hydrogen [1]. Inter-metallic LaNi5 is one of the most widely used and studied solid-state hydrogen storage material – a pet material for the prototype systems using hydrogen fuel. However, nanostructuring effects on this systems are not yet fully explored. Recently we have carried out systematic studies regarding the effect of nanostructuring on the hydrogen sorption properties of this material [2]. Unlike some other potential hydrogen storage materials, which shows faster kinetics upon nanostructuring, the…
Vertical stratification patterns of methanotrophs and their genetic controllers in water columns of oxygen-stratified boreal lakes
2021
ABSTRACT The vertical structuring of methanotrophic communities and its genetic controllers remain understudied in the water columns of oxygen-stratified lakes. Therefore, we used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to study the vertical stratification patterns of methanotrophs in two boreal lakes, Lake Kuivajärvi and Lake Lovojärvi. Furthermore, metagenomic analyses were performed to assess the genomic characteristics of methanotrophs in Lovojärvi and the previously studied Lake Alinen Mustajärvi. The methanotroph communities were vertically structured along the oxygen gradient. Alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs preferred oxic water layers, while Methylococcales methanotrophs, consisting of putative…
Programmable opticaldigital processor for rank order and morphological filtering
1995
A flexible hybrid opto-electronic processor for rank-order and morphological filtering is presented. The system is based on the shadow-casting convolver architecture, and the threshold decomposition concept. It provides the possibility of programming the input image and structuring element at video rate. The possibilities of the processor are experimentally demonstrated.
When Dark Leadership Exacerbates the Effects of Restructuring
2018
Evidence regarding the effects of dark leadership is growing but still underrepresented in comparison to studies on positive leadership styles. Particularly, little is known about contextual condit...