This study was carried out on the background of Sutong Bridge project based on fracture mechanics, aiming at analyzing the growth mechanism of fatigue cracks of a bridge under the load of vehicles. Stress intensity factor (SIF) can be calculated by various methods. Three steel plates with different kinds of cracks were taken as the samples in this study. With the combination of finite element analysis software ABAQUS and the J integral method, SIF values of the samples were calculated. After that, the extended finite element method in the simulation of fatigue crack growth was introduced, and the simulation of crack growth paths under different external loads was analyzed. At last, we took a partial model from the Sutong Bridge and supposed its two dangerous parts already had fine cracks; then simulative vehicle load was added onto the U-rib to predict crack growth paths using the extended finite element method.

A mathematical model of a plane, steady state biofilm, with the use of a single substrate kinetics, was proposed. A set of differential equations was solved. In order to analyse the biofilm’s behaviour, a number of simulations were performed. The simulations included varying process parameters such as detachment coefficient and substrate loading. Two detachment models were taken into consideration: one describing the detachment ratio as proportional to the thickness of the biofilm, and the other one proportional to the thickness of the biofilm squared. The results provided information about substrate and live cell distribution in biofilm and the influence of certain parameters on biofilm behaviour.

232 specimens of Notothenia coriiceps neglecta and 578 specimens of Notothenia rossi marmorata were collected in the region of Admiralty Bay during the period from March to December 1977. The age of the fish was determined from scales. Length — weight relationship was calculated for both species. The parameters of the von Bertalanffy equation were calculated for Notothenia coriiceps neglecta, whereas mean lengths for Notothenia rossi marmorata were given according to the particular age groups.

The approach of a unilateral impact of the financial sector on economic growth was invalidated by the last financial crisis which very quickly changed into a global economic crisis.

The aim of the study is the analysis of the impact of the financial sector on economic growth in the context of the growing phenomenon of financialization, which was one of the significant reasons of the financial crisis. The study was focused on presenting the growing scale of this phenomenon and analysing the impact of money supply in USD and EUR on world GDP and the GDP of the USA and the Eurozone. The following hypothesis was postulated: the growing process of financialization causes the growth of the USD and EUR supply, influencing changes in the world GDP, the GDP of the USA and the Eurozone. The study confirmed the hypothesis of the relation of the money supply with changes in economic growth. However, influencing economic growth with the money supply causes the purchasing power of business entities to decrease and causes growing debt. Furthermore, it does not contribute to the strength of the real economy. A repair of the current “system“ should not be sought for in constantly increasing macroprudential regulations, but in a return to a country’s interventionism, leading to a change in the priorities of the actions of financial institutions; mainly banks, and the supply of money based on fixed parities (gold, energy).

This study examines the impact of monetary policy on economic growth in Ukraine between 2006 and 2019. After the stationarity and co-integration tests, a vector- autoregressive model (VAM) was used to estimate the impact of monetary factors on economic growth in Ukraine. The research results show that GDP changes are largely explained by its own earlier dynamics, but in the long-run real GDP quite strongly depends on the money supply, exchange rate against euro, and basic interest rate. At the same time GDP is weakly dependent on the exchange rate against US dollar, CPI and PPI, the volume of loans to business and external debt. The authors explain their findings and compare them with several other empirical studies on the subject concerning some other countries.

This study examines the causal links between improvements in economic freedom and changes in GDP per capita of new EU members in transition in the period 2000‒2009. The empirical results suggest significant causality running from changes in monetary and fiscal freedom, trade openness, regulation of credit, labour, and business, legal structure and security of property rights, and access to sound money to movements in GDP per capita, especially in less and moderately developed CEE transition countries. Moreover, we find evidence that improvements in economic freedom are one of the main factors stimulating the convergence of these economies towards rich EU members. The evidence of causality in the opposite direction is much weaker.

Laboratory studies were carried out on the effects of an emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulation of Azadirachtin (AZ) (6 g a.s./l EC) on four major cotton pests in Senegal: Spodoptera littoralis Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Helicoverpa armigera Hϋbner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae) and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae). In both S. littoralis (SL) and H. armigera (HA), larval weight loss was observed 48 h after treatment. Appreciable weight gain was only observed in SL larvae at dosages of 0.05 and 0.1 g a.s. /l AZ, 72 h after treatment. In both SL and HA, there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the control larvae and those treated with 0.1 to 1.5 g a.s. /l AZ. At a dosage of 1.5 g a.s./l, AZ caused 60% mortality in SL and 0% mortality in HA, 72 h after treatment. The treatment with AZ at dosages of 0.05 and 1.5 g a.s./l resulted in 50 and 30% malformation in SL and HA pupae respectively. The duration of development from the IV instar larva to pupa in both lepidopterans increased progressively with AZ dosage. SL was more susceptible to AZ than HA. No growth disrupting effects were observed in A. gossypii (AG) and T. urticae (TU) where EC₅₀ values of 1.49 and 1.36 g a.s./l AZ respectively were obtained. The implications of the effects of AZ on further field trials against cotton pests are discussed.

In this paper, the deviation from eutectic composition in boundary layer for eutectic growth is studied by phase-field method. According to a series of artificial phase diagram, the lamellar eutectic growth of these alloy is simulated during directional solidification. At steady state, average growth velocity of eutectic lamella is equal to the pulling velocity. With the increasing of the liquidus slope of β phase, the average composition in boundary layer would deviate from eutectic composition and the deviation increases. The constitutional undercooling difference between both solid phases caused by the deviation increases with the increasing of the deviation. The β phase would develop a depression under the influence of the deviation.

The aim of the article is to analyse the spread and diffusion of socio-economic development in Poland in 2004-2016, while considering spatial aspects. Using the linear ordering method in the non-pattern version, a synthetic development measure for all municipalities in Poland was built based on a set of 77 features illustrating various socio-economic aspects, reduced to 25 features. For the measure constructed in this way, the convergence of the beta and sigma type has been examined, divided into 3 groups of municipalities (rural, urban and urban-rural), as well as in regional division. Using the methods of spatial econometrics, the occurrence of spatial effects was examined, in particular the attention was paid to the relationship between the processes of spreading development and spatial forms of diffusion of development. The analysis also allowed to determine the strength of local impacts of spatial connections between individual municipalities.

In the summer of 1977/78, materials for determining the age and growth rate of Pseudochaenichthys georgianus Norman, 1937 were obtained in the South Georgia region. The 11—51 cm long fishes were of the age 1+ to 13+. The curvilinear relationship between the body length and the otolith radius took an S shape. In the first four years annual increments are almost identical and start to decrease in the following years. Spawning may occur in the 5th or 6th year of life, and hatching of larvae from eggs laid in autumn (IV—VI) takes place at the end of winter (IX of X). Larvae and juvenile fish lead an exclusively pelagic life, while older fish feed in near-bottom layers: when resources are scare there they seek food in the pelagial.

Recent works of the authors, concerning the future of urban regions, are synthesised in the paper. Three methodological paths – focused on exploring and creating the future of urban regions – are the backbone of the presented work. Within the fi rst path, creation of regional future by applying the concept of intellectual and strategic challenges is recommended. Second path introduces a new perspective for the future, based upon vehicles. A new philosophy of urban and regional growth emerges here. Third path is a new approach towards creation of regional specialisations in a contemporary notion of technological and creative economy.

We provide a detailed analysis of a unifying theoretical framework forinnovation and corporate dynamics that encompasses the Gibrat’s Law of Proportionate Effect and the Simon growth process as particular instances. The predictions of the model are derived in terms of (i) firm size distribution, (ii) the distribution of firm growth rates, and (iii-iv) the relationships between firm size and the mean and variance of firm growth rates. We test the model against data from the worldwide pharmaceutical industry and find its predictions tobe in good agreement with empirical evidence on all four dimensions. Our unifying stochastic framework can also be used to describe corporate dynamics in different industries and as a benchmark for discriminating among alternative data generating processes.