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Sustainable supply chain design is nowadays an important topic where not only economic and environmental aspects should be accounted for, but also social aspects are to be considered. A mathematical programming model was developed and a case-study was performed considering two different social indicators: one that prefers facility location in regions of lower GDP and the other in regions of higher unemployment rate. Results show that the outcome depends on the indicator used. However, for the case presented, minimum cost solution also corresponds to a good social solution regarding GDP, which could translate into economic incentives for the company.

The use of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) has recently become widespread in the construction industry. However, some drawbacks related to premature debonding of the FRP composites from the bonded substrates have been identified. One of the solutions proposed is the implementation of mechanical anchorage systems. Although some design guidelines have been developed, the actual knowledge continues to be rather limited. Thus, designers and researchers have not yet achieved any consensus on the efficiency of any particular anchor device in delaying or preventing the premature debonding failure mode that can occur in Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) systems. This paper studies the debonding phenomenon of FRP anchoring systems with a linear variable width, with a numerical analysis based on the Distinct Element Method (DEM). Combined systems with constant and variable width are also discussed. The FRP-to-parent material interfaces are modelled with a rigid-linear softening bond–slip law. The numerical results showed that it is possible to attain the FRP rupture force with a variable width solution. This solution is particularly attractive when the bonded length is shorter than the effective bonded length because the strength of the interface can be highly incremented.

Apresentam-se neste artigo os resultados dos ensaios realizados à escala real de um conjunto de vigas de betão armado com secção em T, levados a cabo para avaliar o desempenho das armaduras de aço inoxidável no reforço à flexão de vigas de betão armado com armaduras pós-instaladas aplicadas com as técnicas de reforço EBR (Externally Bonded Reinforcement), NSM (Near Surface Mounted) e EBR com ancoragens metálicas nas extremidades. Os ensaios realizados demonstraram que as técnicas de reforço utilizadas permitem aumentar a rigidez à flexão em regime elástico. Porém, a viga reforçada através da técnica EBR teve uma rotura prematura antes de atingir o valor da carga de cedência da viga não reforçada. Já as vigas reforçadas com as técnicas NSM e EBR com ancoragens mecânicas superaram o valor da carga de cedência da viga de referência, e as ancoragens mecânicas proporcionaram bastante ductilidade à viga reforçada com esta técnica.

Packaging waste collection systems are responsible to collect, within a geographic area, three types of packaging materials (paper, glass and plastic/metal) that are disposed by the final consumer into special bins. Those systems are often characterized by having a network with multiple depots that act as transfer and sorting stations, and where the vehicle fleet is based. However, each depot is often managed independently and not as a part of a unique system. In this work, four current tactical/operational practices that contribute to the independent management of each depot are analysed. The change of such practices is investigated and their impact assessed on the total collection cost. A solution methodology based on mathematical formulations is developed to plan service areas, vehicle routes and vehicle schedules taking into account new alternative solutions in managing the system as a whole. Such methodology is applied to a real case study of a company responsible for the collection of the packaging waste in 7 municipalities in mainland Portugal. New service areas, collection routes and vehicle schedules are defined and significant savings are obtained in terms of the total distance travelled as well as in terms of the number of required vehicles, resulting in a decreasing of the total system cost.

Pulsed field gradient spin echo high resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is a powerful technique to characterize confined biosystems. We used this approach to assess the diffusion of solvent and reaction species within sol–gel matrices differing in enzyme loading.

We show that if the Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator is bounded on a separable Banach function space \(X(\mathbb{R}^n)\) and on its associate space \(X'(\mathbb{R}^n)\), then a pseudodifferential operator \(\operatorname{Op}(a)\) is bounded on \(X(\mathbb{R}^n)\) whenever the symbol \(a\) belongs to the Hörmander class \(S_{\rho,\delta}^{n(\rho-1)}\) with \(0<\rho\le 1\), \(0\le\delta<1\) or to the the Miyachi class \(S_{\rho,\delta}^{n(\rho-1)}(\varkappa,n)\) with \(0\le\delta\le\rho\le 1\), \(0\le\delta<1\), and \(\varkappa>0\). This result is applied to the case of variable Lebesgue spaces \(L^{p(\cdot)}(\mathbb{R}^n)\).

Let \(p:\mathbb{R}\to(1,\infty)\) be a globally log-Hölder continuous variable exponent and \(w:\mathbb{R}\to[0,\infty]\) be a weight. We prove that the Cauchy singular integral operator \(S\) is bounded on the weighted variable Lebesgue space \(L^{p(\cdot)}(\mathbb{R},w)=\{f:fw\in L^{p(\cdot)}(\mathbb{R})\}\) if and only if the weight \(w\) satisfies $$ \sup_{-\infty < a < b < \infty} \frac{1}{b-a} \|w\chi_{(a,b)}\|_{p(\cdot)} \|w^{-1}\chi_{(a,b)}\|_{p'(\cdot)}<\infty \quad (1/p(x)+1/p'(x)=1). $$

We here present fossil Crocodylomorpha eggshells from the Upper Jurassic Lourinhã Formation of Portugal, recovered from five sites: one nest from Cambelas with 13 eggs, and three partial eggs and various fragments from, Paimogo N (I), Paimogo S (II), Casal da Rola, and Peralta. All specimens but the nest were found in association with dinosaur egg material. Our research reveals that on a micro- and ultrastructural analysis, all samples present the typical characters consistent with crocodiloid eggshell morphotype, such as the shell unit shape, the organization of the eggshell layers, and the triangular blocky extinction observed with crossed nicols. We assign the material from the Lourinhã Formation to the oofamily Krokolithidae, making it the oldest crocodylomorph eggs known so far, as well as the best record for eggs of non- crocodylian crocodylomorphs. Furthermore, our study indicates that the basic structure of crocodiloid eggshells has remained stable since at least the Upper Jurassic.

This paper proposes a systematic methodology for supply chain planning optimization and assessment of different scenarios. This methodology will help companies throughout the difficult process of strategic decision-making in what concerns the design of an efficient supply chain structure. The proposed methodology allows the analysis of complex systems as it integrates a decision support tool developed to agile the process of scenario comparison, when designing network structures. This tool allows practitioners to take advantage of the optimization models without the need of learning modelling languages. An example based on a real case study is presented, showing the methodology/tool applicability.

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This study looks at the analysis of the interface between Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP)-to-parent material bonded interfaces. The performance of FRP-to-parent material bonded joints for the Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique is numerically modelled with the PFC2D software which is based on the Distinct Element Method (DEM). It is believed that this represents the first time the DEM has been used to simulate the delamination process of FRP-to-parent material bonded joints. In order to validate the analysis performed with the DEM, a Pull-out test with no slip constrains was modelled and different linear bond-slip laws were assumed. The numerical results revealed that the DEM is capable of estimating with good accuracy the exact solutions of bond stresses, strains or slippages along the bonded length for linear bond-slip laws. The bi-linear law available in PFC2D was then compared to the numerical results obtained from other another code developed by the author. The delamination process of Pull-out tests with slip constrain at one of the free ends of the FRP plate is also described and analyzed. The results obtained from the DEM revealed that the delamination process ends with stiffness equal to the axial stiffness of the FRP plate. This evidence highlights the need to design mechanical anchor devices capable of preventing premature debonding which is known to occur on EBR systems.

This paper addresses the planning of recyclable waste collection systems while accounting for economic and environmental concerns. Service areas and vehicle routes are defined for multiple-depot logistics networks where different products have to be collected. The problem is modeled as a multi-product, multi-depot vehicle routing problem with two objective functions: distance and CO2 emissions minimization. A decomposition solution method is developed and applied to a real case-study. Six scenarios are studied regarding different service areas configuration and different objective functions. Savings up to 22% in distance and 27% in CO2 emissions are achieved, excelling economical and environmental goals.

Iron oxide nanoparticles are having been extensively investigated for several biomedical applications such as hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging. However, one of the biggest problems of these nanoparticles is their aggregation.

Taking this into account, in this study the influence of three different surfactants (oleic acid, sodium citrate and Triton X-100) each one with various concentrations in the colloidal solutions stability was analyzed by using a rapid and facile method, the variation in the optical absorbance along time.

The synthesized nanoparticles through chemical precipitation showed an average size of 9 nm and a narrow size distribution. X-ray diffraction pattern and Fourier Transform Infrared analysis confirmed the presence of pure magnetite. SQUID measurements showed superparamagnetic properties with a blocking temperature around 155 K. In addition it was observed that neither sodium citrate nor Triton X-100 influences the magnetic properties of the nanoparticles. On the other hand, oleic acid in a concentration of 64 mM decreases the saturation magnetization from 67 to 45 emu/g. Oleic acid exhibits a good performance as stabilizer of the iron oxide nanoparticles in an aqueous solution for 24 h, for concentrations that lead to the formation of the double layer.