The non-avian saurischians that have associated eggshells and embryos are represented only by the sauropodomorph Massospondylus and Coelurosauria (derived theropods), thus missing the basal theropod representatives. We report a dinosaur clutch containing several crushed eggs and embryonic material ascribed to the megalosaurid theropod Torvosaurus. It represents the first associated eggshells and embryos of megalosauroids, thus filling an important phylogenetic gap between two distantly related groups of saurischians. These fossils represent the only unequivocal basal theropod embryos found to date. The assemblage was found in early Tithonian fluvial overbank deposits of the Lourinhã Formation in West Portugal. The morphological, microstructural and chemical characterization results of the eggshell fragments indicate very mild diagenesis. Furthermore, these fossils allow unambiguous association of basal theropod osteology with a specific and unique new eggshell morphology.

The present work focuses on a qualitative analysis of localised I-V characteristics based on the nanostructure morphology of highly dense arrays of p-type NiO nano-pillars (NiO-NPs). Vertically aligned NiO-NPs have been grown on different substrates by using a glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique. The preferred orientation of as grown NiO-NPs was controlled by the deposition pressure. The NiO-NPs displayed a polar surface with a microscopic dipole moment along the (111) plane (Tasker's type III). Consequently, the crystal plane dependent surface electron accumulation layer and the lattice disorder at the grain boundary interface showed a non-uniform current distribution throughout the sample surface, demonstrated by a conducting AFM technique (c-AFM). The variation in I-V for different points in a single current distribution grain (CD-grain) has been attributed to the variation of Schottky barrier height (SBH) at the metal-semiconductor (M-S) interface. Furthermore, we observed that the strain produced during the NiO-NPs growth can modulate the SBH. Inbound strain acts as an external field to influence the local electric field at the M-S interface causing a variation in SBH with the NPs orientation. This paper shows that vertical arrays of NiO-NPs are potential candidates for nanoscale devices because they have a great impact on the local current transport mechanism due to its nanostructure morphology.

The effect of post-deposition annealing temperature on the pH sensitivity of room temperature RF sputtered Ta₂O₅ was investigated. Structural and morphological features of these films were analyzed before and after annealing at various temperatures. The deposited films are amorphous up to 600 °C and crystallize at 700 °C in an orthorhombic phase. Electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) field effect based sensors with an amorphous Ta2O5 sensing layer showed pH sensitivity above 50 mV/pH. For sensors annealed above 200 °C pH sensitivity decreased with increasing temperature. Stabilized sensor response and maximum pH sensitivity was achieved after low temperature annealing at 200 °C, which is compatible with the use of polymeric substrates and application as sensitive layer in oxides TFT-based sensors.

Feature Models are commonly used to specify commonalities and variabilities in Software Product Lines (SPL). Our goal is to enhance feature modeling with traceability and improved support for crosscutting concerns. While traceability will show the features’ requirement-origins, providing means to reason about
their existence, crosscutting concerns will be handled through advanced modularity mechanisms (e.g. aspects), making the impact of changes to SPL models less difficult to understand and analyze. The result is Theme/SPL, a novel SPL requirements technique based on a concern-driven approach (Theme/Doc). Theme/SPL includes the proposal of a domain-specific language for specifying Theme/Doc models and uses model-driven development to generate automatically feature models from them. We show the applicability of the technique through a case study using a within-group design to evaluate the final results and tools developed.

The strengthening of reinforced concrete structures with laminates of fibre reinforced polymeric (FRP) matrix has received considerable attention, although there still is lack of information on the more adequate modelling of the interface between FRP composites and concrete. An experimental programme is described and was designed to: (i) characterise glass FRP-to-concrete interface by shear tests; (ii) analyse reinforced concrete T-beams with external GFRP plates. Double shear tests were carried out based on 15 cm cubes with GFRP bonded to two opposite faces. The concrete T-beams were 3.0 m long and 0.28 m high and were loaded till rupture in 4-point bending tests. The external reinforcement system showed great strength increment in relation to the non retrofitted T-beam, confirming to be an effective approach to the flexural strengthening of RC beams. The computational analysis was based on a three dimensional smeared crack model. In total, 22 computational analyses were made. Models with and without interface FE associated with Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion for the FRP-to-concrete interface were defined and different strength types of concrete were considered. The rigid interface does not predict the rupture of the T-beam with precision; however, the results obtained for low concrete strengths revealed that rigid interfaces can be assumed when conjugated with the fixed crack approach. Consequently, a slightly stiffer response of the beam is obtained. The maximum bond stresses obtained from Finite Element Analysis (FEA) revealed that the models with rigid interfaces developed lower bond stresses due to the lack of relative displacements between both materials. The effects of assuming either fixed or rotated crack approaches were also compared. The rotated crack conjugated to a fine mesh in the vicinity of the GFRP-to-concrete stress led to a very good estimation of the bond stresses along the interface. The prediction of the T-beam rupture was also estimated with better results when the rotated crack was used in the model. In general, the FEA predicted with very good results the de-bonding of the GFRP-to-concrete interface of T-beams externally bonded with GFRP composites.

The strengthening of reinforced concrete structures by means of externally bonded fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) is now routinely considered and applied in the retrofit or strengthening of structures. FRP composites have received a considerable attention from civil engineers in recent years due to the high strength-weight and stiffness/weight ratios when compared to other materials. However, when FRP composites are bonded to a concrete surface, there is a persistent potential problem that the FRP plates may debond prematurely from the concrete. This is a very important issue for the engineers who have to focus on the computational modelling of this phenomenon. Some studies can be found in literature on computational modelling. However, there is very little information about the best modelling of the interface between FRP composites and concrete and this work is intended to help bridge this gap. The computational analysis presented here is based on three-dimensional software which assumes the smeared crack model, and the interface finite elements (FEs) used have a rupture criteria based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion with tension cut-off. The definition of these FEs was based on double shear tests that were performed specifically for this purpose and they have shown that the debonding phenomenon can be predicted with some accuracy. In total, 10 double shear models were studied and the results were compared with the 21 experimental tests performed. The double shear tests consisted of applying loads to 2 layered GFRP laminates bonded to a 150 mm concrete cube with a bonded area of 150 × 80 mm (length × width). Double shear models with and without a gap interface were considered in order to emphasize the importance of modelling the GFRP-to-concrete interface with interface finite elements. The effect of the concrete strength on the interface performance was also considered. An externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) concrete T-beam strengthened with 2 GFRP layers is presented to illustrate the application of the method. The wet lay-up technique was used for the external reinforcement of a reinforced concrete T-beam and then tested under a four point bending test until rupture. The results are reported and differences between the numerical and the experimental results are discussed.

Forty partial fossil skulls belonging to beaked whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) were collected by trawling and long-line fishing on Neogene (probably Late Early to Middle Miocene) layers of the Atlantic floor off the coasts of Portugal and Spain (Asturias and Galicia). e systematic study of the most diagnostic Iberian specimens, those preserving the rostrum and the dorsal part of the cranium, led to the recognition of two new genera (Globicetus n. gen. and Imocetus n. gen.) and four new species (Choneziphius leidyi n. sp., G. hiberus n. gen., n. sp., I. piscatus n. gen., n. sp., and Tusciziphius atlanticus n. sp.).
Based on the matrix of a previous work, the phylogenetic analysis places all the new taxa in the subfamily Ziphiinae Gray, 1850. More fragmentary specimens are tentatively referred to the genera Caviziphius Bianucci & Post, 2005 and Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868. Among these new ziphiids, extremely bizarre skull morphologies are observed. In G. hiberus n. gen., n. sp. the proximal portion of the rostrum bears a voluminous premaxillary spheroid. In T. atlanticus n. sp. a medial premaxillary bulge is present on the rostrum; together with asymmetric
rostral maxillary eminences at the rostrum base, this bulge displays various degrees of elevation in different specimens, which may be interpreted as sexual dimorphism. Specimens of I. piscatus n. gen., n. sp. bear two sets of even crests: spur-like rostral maxillary crests and longitudinal maxillary crests laterally bordering a wide and long facial basin. A preliminary macroscopic observation of these elements indicates very dense bones, with a compactness comparable with that of cetacean ear bones. Questioning their function, the high medial rostral elements (the premaxillary spheroid of G. hiberus n. gen., n. sp. and the medial bulge of T. atlanticus n. sp.) remind the huge rostral maxillary crests of adult males of the extant Hyperoodon ampullatus (Forster, 1770). In the latter, the crests are very likely related to head-butting. However, they are made of much more spongy bone than in the fossil taxa studied here, and therefore possibly better mechanically suited for facing impacts. Other interpretations of these unusual bone specializations, related to deep-diving (ballast) and echolocation (sound reflection), fail to explain the diversity of shapes and the hypothetical sexual dimorphism observed in at least part of the taxa. e spur-like rostral maxillary crests and long maxillary crests limiting the large facial basin in I. piscatus n. gen., n. sp. and the excrescences on the maxilla at the rostrum base in Choneziphius spp. are instead interpreted as areas of origin for rostral and facial muscles, acting on the nasal passages, blowhole, and melon. From a palaeobiogeographic point of view, the newly described taxa further emphasize the differences in the North Atlantic (including Iberian Peninsula) and South African Neogene ziphiid faunal lists. Even if the stratigraphic context is poorly understood, leaving open the question of the geological age for most of the dredged specimens, these differences in the composition of cold to temperate northern and southern hemisphere fossil ziphiid faunas may be explained by a warm-water equatorial barrier.