New software with preset measurements according to ISO, NFC Forum, and EMVCo norms requires only minimal training effort COMPRION has launched a new postprocessing software for easily visualizing, measuring, analyzing, and sharing analog signals. As the only software of its kind, COMPRION has integrated so-called quick measurements. Instead of configuring measurements manually, the user can analyze the analog signals with preset configurations compliant to EMVCo, NFC Forum, and ISO. Quick measurements are usually only available as part of complex test tools with an integrated oscilloscope. Now the feature comes as a stand-alone software solution. “Thus, there is no need for spending a lot of time learning. Pretty much everyone can do the analysis with minimal training effort,” points out Swantje Missfeldt, Product Manager at COMPRION. Deviating analog signals often evoke communication failures. “Especially contactless transactions are error-prone to metallic parts disturbing the magnetic field or to suboptimal positions of antennas,” ...

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With the support of the FWF, a team from the University of Innsbruck investigated the influx of „new highlanders“ to the Alps. Although receiving little attention, migration from towns to mountainous areas is an observable trend worldwide, extending even to peripheral mountain villages. – In contrast to expectations, the new arrivals there are seen as creating fresh momentum. By now, a hefty share of the world’s population – more than 50 percent – lives in cities. Rural areas and mountain villages suffer from ageing populations, and formerly well-tended countryside becomes overgrown. A team headed by Ernst Steinicke from the Department of Geography at the University of Innsbruck has, however, registered a small but distinct reverse trend that started a few years ago. „Amenity migration“ is a notion the principal investigator first noticed in the Californian Sierra Nevada (USA). Amenity migrants are people who buy an out-of-town second home because they ...

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Adhesives are growing more important in industrial products, in the construction industry, in sports and leisure articles, and in many other segments. For the third time already, Ceresana analyzed the global market: Almost 14 million tonnes of adhesives are consumed worldwide. According to the latest study, adhesive revenues will rise worldwide by 3.6% per year until 2024. Vinyls beat Acrylics The most important type of product in 2016 were vinyl adhesives with a demand volume of over 4 million tonnes, followed at a great distance by acrylic adhesives in second place. There is a wide variety of vinyl adhesives. Products based on polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) are among the most important ones. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), manufactured from polyvinyl acetate, is used as an adhesive for porous materials, such as paper, cardboard, wood, cork, and leather. Main consumers of vinyl adhesives are the paper, packaging, wood processing and construction industries that use ...
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Approximately 40% of total energy demand in Europe are consumed in buildings, a majority thereof for heating and warm water. To improve energy efficiency, insulation of house walls or roofs is discussed frequently. However, even the best insulation is useless when thermal bridges are not taken into consideration. Already today, windows and doors are able to contribute considerably to energy saving, for example, by integrating special insulation cores directly into the window profile. Ceresana analyzed the European market for windows and doors that are utilized in the construction industry already for the second time: The analysts expect a sales volume of a total of 222 million units for 2024. Funds for Smart Buildings The market for windows and doors is not only influenced by funding of energy efficient new constructions, but also, to a large extent, by support programs for energetic renovation of existing buildings. There is a Europe-wide framework ...
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In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group from Graz is investigating the behaviour of young honeybees immediately after hatching and successfully transfers this to robots. The bees‘ brood-care strategies turn out to be surprisingly efficient. It is well-known that bees live in highly organised systems. In contrast to wasps or bumble bees, their special form of organisation helps the entire colony survive in the hive. What has been little known until now was the behaviour of very young bees on the day of hatching. A research group headed by the zoologist Thomas Schmickl from the University of Graz has taken a closer look at their behaviour and found it to be more complex than expected. In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the researchers designed a behavioural model of the young bees and transferred it to robots, where the bee strategy ...

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High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is the type of polyethylene offering the highest rigidity and least flexibility. The rigid and slightly hard plastic is highly suitable for a broad range of applications such as rigid containers and tubes as well as a variety of everyday household goods such as flasks, clothes pins, or handles of dishwashing brushes. Further, HDPE is processed into films. Ceresana already publishes the fourth study on the world market for HDPE. The current study expects a growth of the HDPE demand of, on average, 2.7% p.a. Until 2024. Western Europe Growing Again The Asia-Pacific region is by far the largest consumer of HDPE with a global market share of about 45%. This region will experience the most dynamic growth in the upcoming eight years, however, not in the same extent as in the past. The development in Western Europe is reverse: While the HDPE market only registered marginal ...
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The catastrophic major fire at Grenfell Tower in London led to a public discussion about the safety of insulation material. This is a great challenge for the producers. Energy efficiency and insulation material will continue to be a trending topic in many countries with various state regulations and funding programs. Ceresana analyzed the complete European market for insulation material already for the second time. The new study offers a complete overview on insulation materials used in the construction industry. Mineral wool (glass and stone wool), polystyrene-based insulation material (EPS and XPS) as well as polyurethane (PUR) are used for thermal and sound insulation in particular. Save Energy, Save the Climate Insulation material has a high potential on the European market: Analysts at Ceresana expect a total demand of more than 205 million cubic meters in 2024. Heating and cooling of buildings account for the majority of total energy consumption. This ...
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Large amounts of plasticizers are processed to make brittle plastics, elastomers, paints and varnishes, as well as adhesives smooth, flexible or even useful in the first place. The latest, already fourth, plasticizer report by the market research company Ceresana forecasts the demand for this controversial but so far indispensable material to increase to about 9.75 billion tonnes worldwide until 2024. Persistent Phthalates Since phthalates are considered as harmful to health and environment and were already banned from many applications, processors of plasticizers are increasingly looking for phthalate-free alternatives. However, DEHP (bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) was still the most frequently used plasticizer type in 2016 with 3.07 million tonnes. About one third of the plasticizer market was accounted for by the phthalates DINP (diisononyl phthalate) and DIDP (diisodecyl phthalate). DEHP, however, will register below-average growth rates and will presumably continue to lose market shares. In contrast to that, the analysts of Ceresana expect an ...
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RET implements all-round solution for in-vehicle real-time passenger information from IVU Berlin/Rotterdam, 5. September 2017 – As of late, passengers on 81 vehicles of the Rotterdam metro are provided with up-to-date information on the arrival time and connections available at the next stop. An all-round solution from IVU Traffic Technologies handles the overall management and processing of the real-time data right up to the display on the information screens. The Rotterdam metro is the oldest underground railway system in the Netherlands. Every day, more than 300,000 people use the five lines that connect the city with the surrounding area. The RET (Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram) transport company operates over 165 underground trains to ensure regular transport. Roughly half of these –81 type MG2/1 and SG2/1 trains built between 1998 and 2002 – have now been equipped with a modern passenger information system. IVU is providing an all-round solution consisting of data ...
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For the appearance of the world’s leading home appliance manufacturer Electrolux and its premium brand AEG at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Fair (IFA) in Berlin, the D’art Design Gruppe continues to further develop the spatial aesthetics. In front of a theatrically appealing backdrop, the Neuss’ creatives take the brand experience in hall 4.1/101 to a new level. The trade fair guests immerse into the AEG product worlds “Taste” and “Care” and are taken on an experiential tour to selected highlights of the parent company Electrolux. The new visual identity of the traditional brand AEG, which was presented last year, is being intensively expanded. Dark, warm colours and dramatic lighting draw the attention to the hero products, realistic presentations with a deliberately reduced number of exhibits encourage the visitors to interact. Synchronously animated LED panels with brand and ambient content lead with their funnel-shaped arrangement from the entrance area further ...
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Music discovery is a primary task of any music service: Based on genre or mood, or by providing or generating playlists of similar music, services like Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer try to make sure that music enthusiasts are able to keep listening to music that they enjoy. With the Windows App “Audials Music Zoom”, Audials AG is now offering an innovative fun way to find and enjoy new music: Every artist in the world is displayed on one global music map, based on similarity and popularity.   New one-of-a-kind Audials technology creates a map of the musical universe The app makes use of Audials One’s well-known artist database with discographies of 300,000 artists, millions of tracks, all versions on portals like YouTube, Soundcloud etc, and more than 1,000 different music genres. Audials scans 50,000 of the world’s most important radio stations every day and recognizes what is being played ...

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Numerous reforms have brought fundamental change to working conditions in the science field. Equality objectives were implemented in very diverse ways, as investigations in the context of a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF have shown. Conclusion: there is still a long way to go to equality of opportunity. „Career perspectives for researchers at Austrian universities are marked by conditions that impede a continuous career, open up only narrow career perspectives rather late in working life, and turn chosen career paths into one-way streets“, concludes the Austrian Science Ministry’s ‚Research Action Plan‘ from 2015. University staff policy has long been suffering from imbalances. This seems to be the consensus among all high-level representatives in Austria’s university system. Precarious employment, consecutive short-term contracts (‚chain contracts‘) and a dire lack of tenure-track positions make it difficult for young academics to become established in a competition-driven system. Women are particularly affected ...

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At the start of the new shoe trade show “Gallery SHOES” from 27 to 29 August 2017 in Dusseldorf, the D’art Design Gruppe creates the Gabor appearance. On the entire area of a former industrial hall at the Areal Böhler, the designers unconventionally stage the traditional brand for women’s shoes. In the harsh charm of the “Halle am Wasserturm” – part of the “Contemporary & Urban” zone on the site – the Neuss creatives deliberately integrate a reduced spatial presentation with clean lines and smooth surfaces. White, symmetrically arranged presentation benches allow the shoes to fully unfold their effect, while at the same time giving a clear view of the spectacular hall with its room-high cassette windows and curved ceiling steel beams. This creates an exciting contrast between the distinctively simplified brand space and the historical industrial architecture. An area for Gabor bags and two rows with order tables round ...
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Berlin/Helsinki, August 29, 2017 – Infotecs, the international cyber security and threat intelligence provider, is an exhibitor at FinnSec, the most important safety and security event in the Nordic Countries. The security experts of Infotecs are showing here their encryption solutions at the stand 6e50 of the partner company FSM Group, the leading distributor of safety engineering solutions in Finland. Infotecs will be presenting its security solutions from September 26 to September 27, 2017, at the international event FinnSec in Helsinki, Finland. FinnSec is the biggest security and safety exhibition in the Nordic Countries. Its exhibitors represent all safety and security market segments: from fire protection and safety engineering through video surveillance systems and anti-theft protection to cyber security and data security. Infotecs will be presenting its solutions and products again at the shared stand with its partner, FSM Group. FSM Group, the value added distributor, is considered the leading ...

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Recording laboratory situations via artistic means is part of the art project ‚Choreo-graphic Figures: Deviations from the Line‘ funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF in the context of its PEEK programme. After three years of lab work and symposia, Nikolaus Gansterer’s, Mariella Greil’s and Emma Cocker’s project is now completed and documented in a comprehensive publication. „How does language feel when you roll it around your tongue?“ is projected onto a white wall by a beamer while a rod repeatedly and swiftly crosses the light beam, reflecting and blocking – but not slowing down – the letters on their way from the light source to the wall. Welcome to the „method lab“ of Nikolaus Gansterer and his team, an artistic test rig for gaining practical knowledge. Gauging the world in order to know it. That is a deeply scientific approach. It is also a need felt by artists. „Science ...

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