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Fluid-Structure Interaction with 3D beam and bar elements in EUROPLEXUS
Get PDFThis report presents the generalization of some existing Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) models of EUROPLEXUS and the development of a new drag-based FSI model for use in combination with 3D beam or bar elements.JRC.E.2 - Space, Connectivity and Economic Securit
Status and trend of Amazon forest fragmentation from 2001 to 2022
Get PDFThis document describes the design process, definitions, and algorithmic implementation for an assessment of forest fragmentation across the Amazon. This study follows a request raised by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to conduct an assessment on the state of the forests in the Amazon Region within the context of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization and the EU-funded Amazonia+ Programme. The FAO-provided forest cover maps were analysed for forest fragmentation using a local neighbourhood of 100 km2. Spatially explicit fragmentation maps and statistical summaries are derived for the years 2001, 2014, and 2022. The status maps are complemented by a fragmentation change map and statistics covering the time frame 2001 to 2022.JRC.D.1 - Forests and Bio-Econom
Characterisation of Nanocellulose Types Using Complementary Techniques and Its Application to Detecting Bacterial Nanocellulose in Food Products
No full textNanocellulose has attracted significant attention in recent years due to its distinctive properties and vast potential applications across various fields. This study encompasses two distinct yet interconnected activities: the characterisation of eight different types of nanocellulose test materials, including crystalline, fibrillated, and bacterial nanocellulose, using a range of analytical techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled to multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and DLS, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a focused case study employing a tiered analytical approach to identify bacterial nanocellulose in commercially available food products like pudding and drinks with nata de coco, SCOBY, and kombucha. The results demonstrate that different types of nanocellulose can be distinguished by their unique physicochemical properties using a combination of analytical techniques. This finding was used for the identification of bacterial nanocellulose in food products by combining pyGC-MS for cellulose identification, TEM for nanosize range determination, and XRD for crystallinity analysis to distinguish between bacterial and fibrillated nanocellulose. The study advances fundamental understanding of nanocellulose and provides tools to facilitate potential future regulatory compliance.JRC.F.2 - Technologies for Healt
European banks face significant vulnerability to ecosystem degradation and climate change
No full textThe economy and the financial system, through its exposures to companies, have a dual relationship with nature. They do not only depend on it, but they can also affect it and be affected. This can give rise to nature-related risks, driven by the nature degradation, encompassing the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We demonstrate how the economy and banks in the euro area are critically dependent on ecosystem services and how they simultaneously contribute to biodiversity loss through their biodiversity footprint. In our sample, 72% of the analysed companies in the euro area exhibit a high dependency on at least one ecosystem service. Out of the 2500 banks analyzed, 100 are responsible, through their loans to companies, for 87% of the total biodiversity footprint of the euro area banking system. Degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss can pose risks to the financial system by affecting companies’ production processes and, consequently, impairing their ability to repay debt. Such nature-related risks can be exacerbated by climate change. Our analysis reveals that nearly 60% of loans in the euro area are exposed to companies facing unmet flood protection needs, highlighting the compound financial risks from multiple, interacting ecosystem and climate hazards.JRC.E.1 - Disaster Risk Managemen
BLADE v.4.0 – Implementation of fragmentation effects on fatality probability
Get PDFBLADE (Blast Load Assessment and Damage Evaluation) is a software tool that provides an assessment of potential human casualties and damage level of structures and components under blast loading conditions. The tool can analyse both structural elements (e.g., slabs, beams, columns) and building envelope elements (e.g., walls, windows, side panels). It considers a wide range of materials, including various types of concrete, masonry, steel, glass and timber. Moreover, it examines the potential impact of blast waves on human bodies, predicting the likelihood of casualties resulting from exposure to the blast wave, such as eardrum rupture, lung damage, skull fracture and whole-body impact, as well as from exposure to blast fragments generated by the explosion. This report describes the principles behind extending the functionalities of the tool’s previous version. BLADE 4.0 allows to calculate the fatality probability resulting from blast fragmentation and, more specifically, from casing fragments, shrapnel (e.g., nails) included in Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and other objects that can be propelled by the blast wave. The results of these calculations are presented to the user through intuitive, map-like graphical representations providing a visual overview of the potential casualty patterns. The overlay of the graphical representation of the results onto a map enables the user to associate them with a specific location .JRC.E.2 - Space, Connectivity and Economic Securit
Biomass supply and demand in the EU 2012-2022
Get PDFThis science for policy brief summarises the most recent JRC assessment of biomass supply and demand in the EU, covering the years 2012-2022. The brief combines two workstreams: the analysis of biomass supply data, and the analysis of biomass demand data. The analysis consolidated a variety of data sources into a comprehensive and coherent overall assessment.JRC.D.3 - Land Resources and Supply Chain Assessment
Simulation of Li-ion battery electrolyte vapour dispersion in an enclosed and quiescent environment: an experimental and computational fluid dynamics approach
No full textThe leakage of electrolyte from a Li-ion battery cell can generate a dangerous atmosphere in enclosed environments due to the high volatility, flammability and toxicity of common electrolyte solvents like dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC). The use of early warning and detection systems is essential to detect the leakage, even after the solvents have fully evaporated, to limit human exposure. To aid in their design, this work introduces a novel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) dispersion-evaporation coupled model, which was validated by measuring the dispersion of electrolyte vapours in an enclosed 1 m3 box with no induced flow.
The Large Eddy Simulation (LES-CFD) dispersion-evaporation model produced good results, as it demonstrated good agreement with experimental measurements at 15 and 30 cm above the source for both DMC and DEC. Experimental and simulated results also show a two-fold dispersion mechanism, a convection-based effect dependent on the density of the heavy vapour cloud gasses and surrounding environment, and a diffusion-based effect, which becomes dominant once the ambient density has homogenised across the domain.JRC.C.1 - Battery and Hydrogen Technologie
From fundamentals to applications: magnetic nanoparticles for MRI imaging and NIR-induced thermal activation in tissue-mimicking environments
No full textMagnetic nanoparticles are widely explored in biomedical applications, particularly as MRI contrast agents and for magnetic hyperthermia. However, their photothermal capabilities under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation remain underexplored in realistic, tissue-like environments. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of ultrasmall Fe3O4 nanoparticles (9.23 +- 2.97 nm) in 3D agarose-based tissue-mimicking phantoms, integrating their imaging and photothermal properties under clinically relevant conditions. Photothermal performance was tested under 850, 970, and 1100 nm NIR light, with 970 nm showing optimal efficiency (71.59%) and a penetration depth of 2.1 cm. With a high saturation magnetization of approximately 52.4 emu g-1, the nanoparticles were evaluated as MRI contrast nanoagents, showing notable T1–T2 contrast enhancement across various concentrations. Their performance was systematically compared with the commercial agent Gadovist through magnetic resonance relaxometry, high-field preclinical MRI at 11.7 T, and clinical MRI at 1.5 T, providing a comprehensive assessment across multiple imaging platforms and concentration ranges. While this study does not include biological in vitro or in vivo models, the use of phantoms replicating tissue optical and thermal properties, combined with clinical imaging systems and safety-compliant irradiation, creates a high-fidelity platform for translational evaluation. These results support the development of dual-mode theranostic platforms
and lay the groundwork for future in vivo studies of MRI-guided photothermal cancer therapy.JRC.F.2 - Technologies for Healt
On the Potential of the Galileo High-Accuracy Service (HAS) for Area Measurement in the Context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
No full textIn the context of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), accurate area measurements and parcel delineations are of paramount importance. Area measurements enable the correct quantification of CAP subsidies, whereas parcel delineation is a fundamental prerequisite for the development of effective area monitoring system (AMS) processes, which use remote sensing (RS) techniques and products to verify the occurrence of specific agricultural practices and conditions. This paper investigates the effectiveness of different global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based methodologies for area measurement and parcel delineation. Specific focus is devoted to the Galileo high accuracy service (HAS), which is adopted for area measurement. Following the validation procedure adopted by the CAP, test parcels of different shapes and areas were defined using pegs and surveyed using professional-grade GNSS receivers. The experiments took place in the campus of the Astro-Geodetic Observatory of the Warsaw University of Technology (WUT), Poland and involved the collection of raw GNSS observables and the computation of real-time kinematic (RTK) solutions, which were adopted as reference for the evaluation of the area errors. HAS corrections were also recorded using an E6-capable professional receiver and employed to compute the final precise point positioning (PPP) solution. The different solutions were computed including network RTK (NRTK), differential GNSS (DGNSS), HAS-PPP and single point positioning (SPP). For each solution, area errors were characterised from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view. Experiments show the potential of HAS for precise area measurement.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
20 years of Social Multi-Criteria Evaluation in policy assessment
Get PDFSocial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) is a methodological framework designed to support decision-making in public policy. This report presents findings from a systematic literature review and a study of applications within the European Commission, offering an overview of how SMCE has been applied in different contexts and key lessons to guide future use.
Case studies worldwide demonstrate SMCE practical relevance and adaptability, including in conflictual situations with diverging stakeholder objectives. It fosters mutual learning among social actors and analysts, enhances the transparency of framings, assumptions and data, and allows for meaningful assessment even in contexts where data availability is limited, by accommodating different types and levels of information. Furthermore, the findings from the literature review also confirm that SMCE is to be intended as a guiding framework rather than a rigid set of steps, making it highly adaptable to address diverse range of policy problems and aid decision-making.
Interviews with European Commission’s policy officers reveal that the SMCE process aligns well with impact assessment requirements and supports this process in multiple ways. It provides a structured and transparent framework that enhances analytical robustness, helps clarify objectives, guide data collection and structure stakeholder consultation, ensuring alignment and consistency throughout the process and enabling more effective coordination with external contractors.JRC.S.3 - Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluatio