The progressive scaling of CMOS technology towards nanometre sizes has made the implementation of highly integrated systems for the wireless communication systems possible. Additionally, higher speed, lower power consumption and area reduction has been reached. Due to the high-density integration needs, as well as to low cost fabrication, RF applications, such as the LC-voltage controlled oscillator (LC-VCO), are usually implemented in CMOS technology. The complexity of designing LC-VCOs has lead to the development of several design methodologies. This chapter introduces an optimization based methodology for the design of LC-VCOs, where its efficiency is granted by the use of analytical models to characterize the active and passive elements’ behaviour.

The paper analyses different analytical and numerical solutions for the debonding process of the FRP-to-concrete interface on shear tests with the FRP plate submitted to a tensile load in one of its ends. From the point of view of the state of the art, two different ways of finding the bond-slip curve from experiments are discussed and analysed. Essentially, three different linear bond-slip models, one exponential model and another power based function are employed in the numerical process. The results are analysed and compared. The differences found in the stress field along the interface, maximum load, maximum slip, ultimate slip, fracture energy and effective bond length are reported. The load-slip behaviour is also presented for the linear and non-linear models herein studied and the influence of the local bond-slip model on the debonding process is discussed. The numerical integration process used on the present study proved to be coherent with the analytical expressions determined for the linear bond-slip models and allowed to verify that maximum load transmittable to the FRP plate is influenced by the square root of the FRP stiffness and fracture energy even when nonlinear bond-slip models are assumed.

Lean and green have moved from a trend to a business imperative to improve the supply chain. This research aims to focus on providing the basic mechanisms for a lean-green business model implementation. Based on standardized management business models, several {"}near common{"} categories were defined as key criteria for lean-green supply chain implementation including leadership, people, strategic planning, stakeholders, processes and results. The fundamental research question is how lean-green supply chain can be integrated in and compatible, using initiatives that support both, a lean and a green approach, in all selected categories. To attain the paper objective, in a first stage, a conceptual framework was proposed to define the lean-green initiatives. In a second stage, multiple case studies in automotive supply chain were performed to test qualitatively the validity of the proposed conceptual framework, testing how these initiatives are being implemented in real world. From the case study, a model is suggested, which involves a roadmap to achieve a successful lean-green implementation. The proposed model can be the basis for further research in lean-green supply chain contributing to understand in which moment the lean and green initiatives should be relevant.

Going lean and green is a trend that identifies new business opportunities for organizational improvement and for competitiveness. Besides, there are quality awards to assist organizations to improve their performance among them the Shingo Prize, the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award, the European Foundation for Quality Management. The aim of this study is to develop a conceptual framework for lean and green business organizations. To attain the paper objective in a first stage a comparison between quality awards is developed to provide a comprehensive understanding of each framework and to explore how they assist to modeling a lean and green organization. After defining lean and green management approaches, it seeks to cross-reference between the awards frameworks and lean and green culture; a number of assessment guidelines and criteria were designed to connect and integrate lean and green principles and tools. It is proposed seven different criteria and respective criterion score to assess a lean-green business organization.

The concentration of lead in liver and kidneys of Wistar rats, fed with lead since fetal period in relation to their age and to a control group, was determined. A group of rats was exposed to lead acetate (n=30) in drinking water and the other group was exposed to normal water (n=20). Samples were collected from rats aging between 1 and 11 months and were analyzed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) without any chemical preparation. The EDXRF results were assessed by the PIXE (Proton Induced X-ray Emission) technique. The formaldehyde used to preserve the samples was also analyzed by ETAAS (Electro-Thermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry) in order to verify if there was any loss of lead from the samples to the formaldehyde. We found that the loss was not significant (<2%). Concerning the mean values of the lead concentration measured in the contaminated soft tissues, in liver they range from 6 to 22μgg(-1), and in kidneys from 44 to 79μgg(-1). The control rats show, in general, values below the EDXRF detection limit (2μgg(-1)). The ratio kidney/liver ranges from 2 to 10 and is strongly positively correlated with the age of the animals. A Spearman correlation matrix to investigate the correlation between elemental concentrations and the dependence of these concentrations with age showed that there is a strong positive correlation with age for lead in the liver but not in the kidney. The correlation matrix showed also that the concentration of lead in these two soft tissues is not correlated. The lead accumulation in liver is made by different plateaus that strongly decrease with age. It was verified the existence of two levels of accumulation in kidney, not very highlighted, which might be indicative of a maximum accumulation level for lead in kidney.

The concentration of lead in liver and kidneys of Wistar rats, fed with lead since fetal period in relation to their age and to a control group, was determined. A group of rats was exposed to lead acetate (n=30) in drinking water and the other group was exposed to normal water (n=20). Samples were collected from rats aging between 1 and 11 months and were analyzed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) without any chemical preparation. The EDXRF results were assessed by the PIXE (Proton Induced X-ray Emission) technique. The formaldehyde used to preserve the samples was also analyzed by ETAAS (Electro-Thermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry) in order to verify if there was any loss of lead from the samples to the formaldehyde. We found that the loss was not significant (<2%). Concerning the mean values of the lead concentration measured in the contaminated soft tissues, in liver they range from 6 to 22μgg(-1), and in kidneys from 44 to 79μgg(-1). The control rats show, in general, values below the EDXRF detection limit (2μgg(-1)). The ratio kidney/liver ranges from 2 to 10 and is strongly positively correlated with the age of the animals. A Spearman correlation matrix to investigate the correlation between elemental concentrations and the dependence of these concentrations with age showed that there is a strong positive correlation with age for lead in the liver but not in the kidney. The correlation matrix showed also that the concentration of lead in these two soft tissues is not correlated. The lead accumulation in liver is made by different plateaus that strongly decrease with age. It was verified the existence of two levels of accumulation in kidney, not very highlighted, which might be indicative of a maximum accumulation level for lead in kidney.

In his paper the design of LC-VCOs is addressed. Due to the high-density integration needs as well as to low cost fabrication, RF applications are usually implemented in CMOS technology. However, this technology development brought up several issues such as the degradation of on-chip LC tank quality factor, yielding VCO's phase noise limitation. To overcome phase-noise limitations, optimization design methodologies are usually used. Since electromagnetic simulations are timely expensive, model based approaches are needed. In this work the characterization of the oscillator behaviour is guaranteed by a set of analytical models describing each circuit element performance. A set of working examples for UMC130 technology, aiming the VCO phase noise and power consumption optimization, is addressed. The results presented, spotlight the potential of the proposed design methodology, combined with a GA optimization procedure, for an accurate and timely efficient oscillator design. The accuracy of the results is checked against HSPICE/RF simulator.