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Abstract This work presents ToBLoOM – Triple Bottom Line Optimization Modelling, a decision support tool for the design and planning of sustainable supply chains. It consists of a multi-objective mixed integer linear programming model which integrates several interconnected decisions: facility location and capacity determination; supplier selection and purchase levels definition; technology selection and allocation; transportation network definition including both unimodal and intermodal options; supply planning; product recovery and remanufacturing. The three pillars of sustainability are addressed as objective functions: economic, through Net Present Value; environmental through the Life Cycle Analysis methodology ReCiPe; and social through a developed GDP-based metric. Uncertainty is considered using a stochastic ToBloOM. This applied to a case of a European based company with markets in Europe and South America. This work contributes to the literature by building on several identified research gaps such as the need for an integrated approach that allows simultaneous assessment of different interacting supply chain decisions, the need to explicitly assess the environmental impact in closed-loop supply chains, the need to assess the impact of supply chains on society, and the need for a multi-objective tool that includes all the three pillars of sustainability. Strategies towards a more sustainable supply chain are also derived from this work.

A new and never yet reported hetero arylidene-9(10H)-anthrone structure (4) was unexpectedly isolated on reaction of 1,2-dimethyl-3-ethylimidazolium iodide (2) and 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde (3) under basic conditions. Its structure was unequivocally attributed by X-ray crystallography. No cytotoxicity in human healthy fibroblasts and in two different cancer cell lines was observed indicating its applicability in biological systems. Compound 4 interacts with CT-DNA by intercalation between the adjacent base pairs of DNA with a high binding affinity (Kb = 2.0(± 0.20) x 105 M-1) which is 10x higher than that described for doxorubicin (Kb = 3.2 (±0.23) × 104 M-1). Furthermore, compound 4 quenches the fluorescence emission of GelRed-CT-DNA system with a quenching constant (KSV) of 3.3(±0.3) x 103 M-1 calculated by the Stern-Volmer equation.

Based on a few experimental results available in the literature, this work presents a simple analytical approach that allows the study of the long-term behaviour of CFRP-to-concrete interfaces under an initial sustaining load. Only the elastic regime is studied, which means that the interfacial maximum bond stress and maximum slip are never exceeded. Therefore, the maximum initial load to be sustained by the joints is limited by its corresponding elastic value. The analytical results provided by the proposed model are compared with some experimental results found in the literature. The results showed strain redistribution throughout the bonded length over the time.

The durability performance of stainless steel makes it an interesting alternative for the structural strengthening of reinforced concrete. Like external steel plates or fibre reinforced polymers, stainless steel can be applied using externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) or the near surface mounted (NSM) bonding techniques. In the present work, a set of single-lap shear tests were carried out using the EBR and NSM bonding techniques. The evaluation of the performance of the bonding interfaces was done with the help of the digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The tests showed that the measurements gathered with DIC should be used with caution, since there is noise in the distribution of the slips and only the slips greater than one-tenth of a millimetre were fairly well predicted. For this reason, the slips had to be smoothed out to make it easier to determine the strains in the stainless steel and the bond stress transfer between materials, which helps to determine the bond–slip relationship of the interface. Moreover, the DIC technique allowed to identify all the states developed within the interface through the load–slip responses which were also closely predicted with other monitoring devices. Considering the NSM and the EBR samples with the same bonded lengths, it can be stated that the NSM system has the best performance due to their higher strength, being observed the rupture of the stainless steel in the samples with bond lengths of 200 and 300 mm. Associated with this higher strength, the NSM specimens had an effective bond length of 168 mm which is 71.5% of that obtained for the EBR specimens (235 mm). A trapezoidal and a power functions are the proposed shapes to describe the interfacial bond–slip relationships of the NSM and EBR systems, respectively, where the maximum bond stress in the former system is 1.8 times the maximum bond stress of the latter one. © 2018, The Author(s).

The enhanced mechanical performance of thin-ply laminates results from their ability to delay the onset of damage typically observed in composite materials. However, in notched structures, subcritical damage growth causes beneficial stress redistributions in the vicinity of the notch, blunting the stress concentration. Precluding these damage mechanisms, as in thin-ply laminates, may potentially lead to inferior notched responses. To obviate this limitation of thin-ply laminates, a strategy based on the combination of standard grade 0� plies and thin transverse and off-axis plies is analysed in this paper. A detailed study of the effect of 0� ply blocking is carried out, with particular emphasis on the blunting mechanisms and notched response. Tests on scaled notched panels loaded in tension, with notch sizes between 6?mm and 30?mm, show that the combination of standard grade 0� ply blocks with thin transverse and off-axis plies promotes localised fibre-matrix splitting, which acts as an important notch blunting mechanism, while preventing matrix cracking and delamination. This results in an improved notched response and superior large damage capability. It is also shown that thicker 0� ply blocks provide higher stability in composite bolted joints, while the thin transverse and off-axis plies contribute for matrix-dominated damage suppression, resulting in an improved bolt-bearing response. The improvements of the large damage capability and bolt-bearing performance are obtained without compromising the superior unnotched tensile and compressive strengths intrinsic to thin-ply laminates.

Deconstruction of cellulose, the most abundant plant cell wall polysaccharide, requires the cooperative activity of a large repertoire of microbial enzymes. Modular cellulases contain non-catalytic type A Carbohydrate-Binding Modules (CBMs) that specifically bind to the crystalline regions of cellulose, thus promoting enzyme efficacy through proximity and targeting effects. Although type A CBMs play a critical role in cellulose recycling, their mechanism of action remains poorly understood. Here we produced a library of recombinant CBMs representative of the known diversity of type A modules. The binding properties of 40 CBMs, in fusion with an N-terminal green fluorescence protein (GFP) domain, revealed that type A CBMs possess the ability to recognize different crystalline forms of cellulose and chitin over a wide range of temperatures, pHs and ionic strengths. A Spirochaeta thermophila CBM64, in particular, displayed plasticity in its capacity to bind both crystalline and soluble carbohydrates under a wide range of extreme conditions. The structure of S. thermophila StCBM64C revealed an untwisted, flat, carbohydrate-binding interface comprising the side chains of four tryptophan residues in a coplanar linear arrangement. Significantly, two highly conserved asparagine side chains, each one located between two tryptophan residues, are critical to insoluble and soluble glucan recognition but not to bind xyloglucan. Thus, CBM64 compact structure and its extended and versatile ligand interacting platform illustrates how type A CBMs target their appended plant cell wall degrading enzymes to a diversity of recalcitrant carbohydrates under a wide range of environmental conditions.

In this paper, an innovative approach for monitoring home electric power quality indicators is presented. Using an electric power analysis device (for this work purpose it will be a smart-meter) and a personal computer it is proved that it is possible to monitor and register electric power quality anomalies, such as long interruptions, voltage dips/swells and frequency oscillations. Through an application developed in Java, a user can view real-time electric parameters, check for electric power quality anomalies and assess load diagram of previous days. Experimental results regarding the application performance are also presented with the respective conclusions.

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With the objective of having a solar thermoelectric system, running for 24 h a day along the different seasons of the year it is necessary to dimension the adequate storage and back-up systems. The choice of the back-up source of energy depends on how sustainable the power plant should be. In this study, the choice was the use of biomass in order to have a 100{%} renewable power plant. The selected site was the Alentejo region (Portugal). The local Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI) data was used to simulate with the System Advisor Model program (SAM) considering a solar system with north field and molten salt storage. The system needs no back-up during three months in a year. The use of biomass pellets is a viable alternative because it makes the power plant 100{%} renewable and dispatchable without loss of energy due to over-dimension of the expensive solar field and molten storage system.

The Late Triassic (Norian–early Rhaetian) Fleming Fjord Formation of central East Greenland preserves a diverse fossil fauna, including both body and trace fossils. Trackways of large quadrupedal archosaurs, although already reported in 1994 and mentioned in subsequent publications, are here described and figured in detail for the first time, based on photogrammetric data collected during fieldwork in 2012. Two trackways can be referred to Eosauropus, while a third, bipedal trackway may be referred to Evazoum, both of which have been considered to represent sauropodomorph dinosaur tracks. Both the Evazoum and the Eosauropus trackways are distinctly larger than other trackways referred to the respective ichnogenera. The trackmaker of the best preserved Eosauropus trackway is constrained using a synapomorphy-based approach. The quadrupedal posture, the entaxonic pes structure, and five weight-bearing digits indicate a derived sauropodiform trackmaker. Other features exhibited by the tracks, including the semi-digitigrade pes and the laterally deflected unguals, are commonly considered synapomorphies of more exclusive clades within Sauropoda. The present trackway documents an early acquisition of a eusauropod-like pes anatomy while retaining a well-developed claw on pedal digit IV, which is reduced in eusauropods. Although unequivocal evidence for sauropod dinosaurs is no older than the Early Jurassic, the present trackway provides evidence for a possible Triassic origin of the group.