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Purpose: The objective of the paper is to discuss the role of a new guidance document for life cycle assessment (LCA) in the construction sector available as an online InfoHub. Methods: This InfoHub derives from the EeBGuide European project that aimed at developing a guidance document for energy-efficient building LCA studies. The InfoHub is built on reference documents such as the ISO 14040-44 standards, the EN 15804 and EN 15978 standards as well as the ILCD Handbook. The guidance document was filled with expertise and knowledge of several experts. The focus was put on providing scientifically sound, yet practical guidance. Results: The EeBGuide InfoHub is an online guidance document, setting rules for conducting LCA studies and giving instructions on how to do this. The document has a section on buildings-new and existing-and a section on construction products. It is structured according to the life cycle stages of the European standards EN 15804 and EN 15978, covering all aspects of LCA studies by applying provisions from these standards and the ILCD handbook, wherever applicable. The guidance is presented for different scopes of studies by means of three study types. For the same system boundaries, default values are proposed in early or quick assessment (screening and simplified LCA) while detailed calculation rules correspond to a complete LCA. Such approach is intended to better match the user needs in the building sector. Conclusions and recommendations: This paper can be viewed as a contribution to the ongoing efforts to improve the consistency and harmonisation in LCA studies for building products and buildings. Further contributions are now needed to improve building LCA guidance and to strengthen links between research, standardisation and implementation of LCA in the construction practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper first provides an update on the current state of play and the potential future role of nuclear energy in Europe. It then describes the EU energy policy tools in the area of nuclear technology. It explains the three-tier strategy of the European nuclear technology platform and its demonstration initiatives, here specifically for nuclear cogeneration and HTR. The paper closes with an outlook on the boundary conditions at which HTR can become attractive for nuclear cogeneration, not only from an energy policy viewpoint but also economically. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper we clearly demonstrate that changes in oceanic nutrients are a first order factor in determining changes in the primary production of the northwest European continental shelf on time scales of 5-10 yr. We present a series of coupled hydrodynamic ecosystem modelling simulations, using the POLCOMS-ERSEM system. These are forced by both reanalysis data and a single example of a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (OAGCM) representative of possible conditions in 2080-2100 under an SRES A1B emissions scenario, along with the corresponding present day control. The OA-GCM forced simulations show a substantial reduction in surface nutrients in the open-ocean regions of the model domain, comparing future and present day time-slices. This arises from a large increase in oceanic stratification. Tracer transport experiments identify a substantial fraction of on-shelf water originates from the open-ocean region to the south of the domain, where this increase is largest, and indeed the on-shelf nutrient and primary production are reduced as this water is transported on-shelf. This relationship is confirmed quantitatively by comparing changes in winter nitrate with total annual nitrate uptake. The reduction in primary production by the reduced nutrient transport is mitigated by on-shelf processes relating to temperature, stratification (length of growing season) and recycling. Regions less exposed to ocean-shelf exchange in this model (Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, and Southern North Sea) show a modest increase in primary production (of 5-10 %) compared with a decrease of 0-20% in the outer shelf, Central and Northern North Sea. These findings are backed up by a boundary condition perturbation experiment and a simple mixing model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Developers of High Temperature Reactors (HTR) worldwide acknowledge that the main asset for market breakthrough is its unique ability to address growing needs for industrial cogeneration of heat and power (CHP) owing to its high operating temperature and flexibility, adapted power level, modularity and robust safety features. A strong alliance between nuclear and process heat user industries is a necessity for developing such a nuclear system for the conventional process heat market, just as the electro-nuclear development required a close partnership with utilities. Initiating such an alliance is one of the objectives of the EUROPAIRS project (www.europairs.eu) presently on-going in the frame of the Euratom 7th Framework Programme (FP7). Although small and of short duration (21 months), EUROPAIRS is of strategic importance: it generates the boundary conditions for rapid demonstration of collocating HTR with industrial processes as proposed by the European High Temperature Reactor Technology Network (HTR-TN). This paper presents the main goals, the organization and the working approach of EUROPAIRS. It also presents the status of the viability assessment studies for coupling HTR with industrial end-user systems as one of the main pillars of the project. The main goal of the viability assessment is to identify developments required to remove the last technological and licensing barriers for a viable coupling scheme. The study is expected to result in guidelines for directing the choice of an industrial scale prototype. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The reliable estimation of buildings energy needs for cooling is a crucial issue in the implementation of the EPB Directive 2010/31/EU (formerly 2002/91/EC), especially in central and southern Europe climates. On this purpose one of the main topics is to predict the behavior of the opaque envelope subjected to variable boundary conditions. The EN ISO 13786:2007 technical standard assumes sinusoidal boundary conditions and introduces dynamic thermal characteristics. The aim of this paper is to assess the deviation arising by the use of different approaches for the calculation of the dynamic thermal characteristics of an opaque envelope element under periodic non sinusoidal boundary conditions. The EN ISO 13786 procedure has been firstly applied by decomposing the external forcing temperature by means of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis. A comparison with different approaches, such as Finite Difference Methods (FDM) and Transfer Function Methods (TFM), has been carried out. The predictions of the EN ISO 13786 with a sinusoidal forcing temperature (i.e., standard approach) have also been assessed, comparing the results to the ones obtained through the FFT analysis. Furthermore, corrections to the periodic thermal transmittance and to the time shift have been proposed, in order to improve the explicative worth of those parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research summary: This study replicates Dushnitsky and Shaver (2009) in an institutional setting different from the United States, that is, the European venture capital market. We highlight the role played by this switch of boundary condition in influencing how legal defenses protect new ventures' knowledge from misappropriation and encourage the formation of ties between these ventures and same-industry corporate venture capitalists. Furthermore, we consider timing and social defenses and their interactions with legal defenses in Europe. Our results indicate that the use of legal and other defenses by new ventures does vary, depending on the characteristics of the institutional context. Managerial summary: In this study, we focus attention on the formation of corporate venture capital (CVC) ties in Europe. We highlight that the institutional context of the European venture capital market differs from the one in the United States, and this difference influences how legal defenses protect new ventures' knowledge from misappropriation and encourage the formation of ties between these ventures and same-industry CVCs. We also consider the protection offered to new ventures by postponing CVC ties to later stages and by affiliation with prominent independent VCs. We show that, in Europe, these protections are less effective than in the United States. However, the protection provided by legal defenses is reinforced when new ventures are affiliated with prominent independent VCs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of oceanic loading Δ g in the vertical component of gravity is assessed in two different models of the Earth, namely, the PREM model and the European model IASP91. For this purpose, we considered the Molodensky boundary problem which describes the deformations of the gravitating elastic compressible sphere. We derived the equation that links the boundary conditions on the surface and at the bottom of the mantle, and calculated the load Love numbers for the studied models. By the example of the territory of Western Europe, it is shown that the value of the correction, Δ g, noticeably depends on the applied seismic models of the upper mantle and the lithosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical models that combine weather forecasting and atmospheric chemistry are here referred to as chemical weather forecasting models. Eighteen operational chemical weather forecasting models on regional and continental scales in Europe are described and compared in this article. Topics discussed in this article include how weather forecasting and atmospheric chemistry models are integrated into chemical weather forecasting systems, how physical processes are incorporated into the models through parameterization schemes, how the model architecture affects the predicted variables, and how air chemistry and aerosol processes are formulated. In addition, we discuss sensitivity analysis and evaluation of the models, user operational requirements, such as model availability and documentation, and output availability and dissemination. In this manner, this article allows for the evaluation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various modelling systems and modelling approaches. Finally, this article highlights the most prominent gaps of knowledge for chemical weather forecasting models and suggests potential priorities for future research directions, for the following selected focus areas: emission inventories, the integration of numerical weather prediction and atmospheric chemical transport models, boundary conditions and nesting of models, data assimilation of the various chemical species, improved understanding and parameterization of physical processes, better evaluation of models against data and the construction of model ensembles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal mean temperature, precipitation and wind speed over Europe are analysed in an ensemble of 16 regional climate model (RCM) simulations for 1961-2100. The RCM takes boundary conditions from seven global climate models (GCMs) under four emission scenarios. One GCM was run three times under one emission scenario differing only in initial conditions. The ensemble is used to; (i) evaluate the simulated climate for 1961-1990, (ii) assess future climate change and (iii) illustrate uncertainties in future climate change related to natural variability, boundary conditions and emissions. Biases in the 1961-1990 period are strongly related to errors in the large-scale circulation in the GCMs. Significant temperature increases are seen for all of Europe already in the next decades. Precipitation increases in northern and decreases in southern Europe with a zone in between where the sign of change is uncertain. Wind speed decreases in many areas with exceptions in the northern seas and in parts of the Mediterranean in summer. Uncertainty largely depends on choice of GCM and their representation of changes in the large-scale circulation. The uncertainty related to forcing is most important by the end of the century while natural variability sometimes dominates the uncertainty in the nearest few decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the pricing of American straddle options. We use partial Laplace transform techniques due to Evans et al. (1950) to derive a pair of integral equations giving the locations of the optimal exercise boundaries for an American straddle option with a constant dividend yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]