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PrefaceThe 16th International Conference on the Modelling of Casting, Welding, and Advanced Solidification Processes (MCWASP XVI) was held from June 18 to 23, 2023, in Banff, Canada, at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Founded in 1933, the Centre in Treaty 7 Territory within Banff National Park—Canada's first National Park—is a learning organization built upon an extraordinary legacy of excellence in artistic and creative development. The "all-inclusive” nature of the conference and the remote setting meant that participants dined, attended oral and poster presentations, and participated in social activities as a group, fostering outstanding opportunities for networking.Given that the MCWASP community had not met in person since 2015 in Japan (the 2020 edition of MCWASP was virtual owing to COVID-19), the 2023 conference provided the opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones as well as discuss the science of solidification and related processes—all within the backdrop of the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains.The technical program comprised more than 70 oral and poster presentations. In addition to content related to modelling of casting, welding, and advanced solidification processes, keynotes were invited to talk about related subjects (artificial intelligence/machine learning, and permeability modelling in shale rock) as well as the rich diversity of fossils, especially dinosaurs, found in Alberta.The oral technical program was organized with as a single session (i.e., no concurrent presentations). It featured all aspects of solidification modelling, including solidification process technologies (continuous and semi-continuous casting, shape casting, additive manufacturing, and welding), coupled multi-physics simulations, defect formation, fluid flow, micro- and macro-structure formation, numerical methods, and related experimentation, especially in-situ observation of solidification.The four-day technical program was spread over five days to give participants the opportunity to explore the stunning Canadian Rocky Mountains.In these proceedings, the papers are organized by major theme. The dominant topics are Additive Manufacturing and Welding and Microstructure Formation, followed by Continuous Casting – Shape Casting, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow, Alloy Segregation, Defects, Imaging of Solidification, Thermomechanics, and Materials Properties. In these themes, the authors report advances in numerical modelling techniques, new scientific and process developments in solidification, and related in-situ experimentation.Although significant progress has been made over these past 16 MCWASP conferences covering 43 years, it is clear that the complexity of advanced solidification phenomena as related to conventional and emerging manufacturing technologies still attracts a great deal of scientific and industrial interest to support technological innovation.André PhillionBanff, Canada, June 2023MCWASP XVI 2023List of Peer Reviewers, Sponsors, MCWASP XVI Organizers, International Scientific Committee are available in this Pdf.
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ASTHMA MEDICINE COULD SHAVE DAYS OFF COVID ILLNESS A clinical trial in more than 4,600 people at risk of serious COVID-19 found that an inhalable asthma medication shortened the duration of disease symptoms by about 3 days. Palaeontologists led by Charles Marshall at the University of California, Berkeley, used a method employed by ecologists studying living creatures to estimate the population density of T. rex during the late Cretaceous period (100 million to 66 million years ago). To answer that question, he and his co-authors turned to a method used to estimate the population density of living animals from their body mass and the geographic ranges that they occupy.
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Tales (gushi in Chinese, including all narrative genres) are like living fossils-preserving not only historical events in general, but also behaviors and beliefs in specific places and in specific cultural groups. Therefore, Chinese tales of epidemics reveal fundamental beliefs in and life-views toward not only epidemics, but also the meaning of living a life. The three parts in this paper are intended to tell a long story: first providing some basic terms and concepts related to epidemics;second presenting, for the first time in English, seven tales spanning a two-millennia history up to the present day which show the struggles between the human and the god/ghost/wu-shaman of epidemics;and, finally, offering some reflections upon the realities we are facing in the current COVID-19 pandemic.1
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Based on extensive new material, 2088 valves resulting from search sampling of ~500 kg of sediment, the Pliocene chiton biodiversity of the Mondego Basin (Portugal) is reassessed. Twelve species were identified, assigned to seven genera. Eight species are new for the Pliocene of Portugal, as well as two of the genera: Hanleya, Acanthochitona. Two taxa are described as new: Ischnochiton loureiroi n. sp. and Lepidochitona rochae n. sp. Until now, the polyplacophoran European Neogene record was too poorly known to be of help in generating a clear picture of the Miocene to present-day biogeography of the group. This new wealth of data from western Iberia, in conjunction with recent data from the Loire Basin Upper Miocene assemblages (France), allows clarification the Late Miocene to Recent eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeography of the Polyplacophora. The northern range of warm-water northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Polyplacophora experienced a sharp contraction since, at least, Late Miocene to Early Pliocene times. Warm-water chiton species represented in the Upper Miocene of the Loire Basin of NE France (European-West African Province) and the Pliocene of the Mondego Basin of central-west Portugal (Pliocene French-Iberian Province) are today confined to the southern Mediterranean-Moroccan Molluscan Province.UUID: http://zoobank.org/a2a550c0-caed-449a-aa45-9492c45f882e
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The European Union (EU) has positioned itself as a frontrunner in the worldwide battle against climate change and has set increasingly ambitious pollution mitigation targets for its members. The burden is heavier for the more vulnerable economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), who must juggle meeting strict greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction goals, significant fossil-fuel reliance, and pressure to respond to current pandemic concerns that require an increasing share of limited public resources, while facing severe repercussions for non-compliance. Thus, the main goals of this research are: (i) to generate reliable aggregate GHG projections for CEE countries;(ii) to assess whether these economies are on track to meet their binding pollution reduction targets;(iii) to pin-point countries where more in-depth analysis using spatial inventories of GHGs at a finer resolution is further needed to uncover specific areas that should be targeted by additional measures;and (iv) to perform geo-spatial analysis for the most at-risk country, Poland. Seven statistical and machine-learning models are fitted through automated forecasting algorithms to predict the aggregate GHGs in nine CEE countries for the 2019–2050 horizon. Estimations show that CEE countries (except Romania and Bulgaria) will not meet the set pollution reduction targets for 2030 and will unanimously miss the 2050 carbon neutrality target without resorting to carbon credits or offsets. Austria and Slovenia are the least likely to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets, whereas Poland (in absolute terms) and Slovenia (in relative terms) are the farthest from meeting the EU’s 2050 net-zero policy targets. The findings thus stress the need for additional measures that go beyond the status quo, particularly in Poland, Austria, and Slovenia. Geospatial analysis for Poland uncovers that Krakow is the city where pollution is the most concentrated with several air pollutants surpassing EU standards. Short-term projections of PM2.5 levels indicate that the air quality in Krakow will remain below EU and WHO standards, highlighting the urgency of policy interventions. Further geospatial data analysis can provide valuable insights into other geo-locations that require the most additional efforts, thereby, assisting in the achievement of EU climate goals with targeted measures and minimum socio-economic costs. The study concludes that statistical and geo-spatial data, and consequently research based on these data, complement and enhance each other. An integrated framework would consequently support sustainable development through bettering policy and decision-making processes.
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Ports offer an effective way to facilitate the global economy. However, massive carbon emission during port operating aggravates the atmospheric pollution in port cities. Capturing characteristics of port carbon emission is vital to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) in the maritime realm as well as to achieve China’s carbon neutral objective. In this work, an integrated framework is proposed for exploring the driving factors of China ports’ emissions combined with stochastic effects on population, affluence and technology regression (STIRPAT), Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) and multiple linear regression (MLR). The port efficiency is estimated for each port and the potential driving factors of carbon emission are explored. The results indicate that port carbon emissions have a strong connection with port throughput, productivity, containerization and intermodal transshipment. It is worth noting that the containerization ratio and port physical facility with fossil-free energy improvement have positively correlated with carbon emissions. However, the specific value of waterborne transshipment shows a complex impact on carbon dioxide emission as the ratio increases. The findings reveal that China port authorities need to improve containerization ratio and develop intermodal transportation;meanwhile, it is responsible for port authorities to update energy use and improve energy efficiency in ways to minimize the proportion of non-green energy consumption in accordance with optimizing port operation management including peak shaving and intelligent management systems under a new horizon of clean energy and automatic equipment.
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V3Geo is a cloud-based repository for publishing virtual 3D models in geoscience. The system allows storage, search and visualisation of mesh models typically acquired using techniques such as photogrammetry and laser scanning. The platform has been developed to handle models at the range of scales typically used by geoscientists from microscopic, hand samples and fossils through to outcrop sections or terrain covering metres to tens of kilometres. The cloud storage system serves the models to a purpose-built 3D web viewer. Models are tiled to ensure efficient streaming over the Internet. The web viewer allows 3D models to be interactively explored without the need for specialist software to be installed. A measurement tool enables users to gauge simple dimensions, such as widths, thicknesses, and fault throws. V3Geo allows very large models comprising multiple sections and is designed to include additional interpretation layers. The specific focus on geoscience data is supported by defined metadata and a classification schema. Public and private storage is available, and public models are assigned Creative Commons licenses to govern content usage. This paper presents V3Geo as a sustainable resource for the geoscience community, including the motivation and main characteristics and features. Example usage scenarios are highlighted: from undergraduate geology teaching, supporting virtual geoscience education and preparing virtual field trips based on V3Geo models. Finally, best practice guidelines for preparing 3D model contributions for publication on V3Geo are included as the Appendix.
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This exhibition showcases the results of archaeological research at three coastal sites in the southern Cape of South Africa: Blombos Cave, Klipdrift Shelter and Klasies River main sites. Part of a long-term programme aiming to make palaeosciences accessible to the public, the exhibition befittingly started more locally, first at Stellenbosch and then at the Iziko South African Museums in Cape Town, before moving to Johannesburg. The exhibition opened at the Origins Centre of the University of the Witwatersrand on 25 November 2021. To those of us who attended the opening, it provided an opportunity to hear from the archaeologists, curators and designers behind the exhibition. The exhibition opened to the public on 27 November.
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The restrictions implemented to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021 have forced university-level educators from around the world to seek alternatives to the residential physical field trips that constitute a fundamental pillar of Geoscience programmes. The field-mapping course for second-year Geology BSc students from Cardiff University was replaced with a virtual mapping course set in the same area as previous years, the Esla Nappe (Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain). The course was designed with the aim of providing the students with the same methodology employed in physical mapping, including such skills as gathering discrete data at stops located along five daily itineraries. Data included bedding attitude, outcrop descriptions with a certain degree of ambiguity, photographs and/or sketches, panoramic photos, and fossil images. Data were provided to the students through georeferenced KMZ files in Google Earth. Students were asked to keep a field notebook, define lithological units of mappable scale, identify large structures such as thrust faults and folds with the aid of age estimations from fossils, construct a geological map on a hard-copy topographic map, draw a stratigraphic column and cross sections, and plot the data in a stereonet to perform structural analysis. The exercise allowed for successful training of diverse geological field skills. In light of the assessment of reports and student surveys, a series of improvements for the future is considered. Though incapable of replacing a physical field course, the virtual exercise could be used in preparation for the residential field trip.