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To ensure the precise dimensioning and effective testing of drivetrain components, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of customer requirements, with a particular emphasis on customer stress on these components. An accurate interpretation of customer data is essential for determining representative customer requirements, such as load collectives. The automobile industry has faced challenges in analyzing large amounts of customer driving data to obtain representative load collectives as target values in durability design. However, due to technical limitations and cost constraints, collecting data from a large sample size is not feasible. The ongoing digitalization of the automotive industry, driven by an increasing number of connected vehicles, enhances data-based and customer-oriented development. This paper investigates representative customer load collectives using cloud data from over 40,000 customer vehicles to lay the groundwork for realizing robust requirement engineering. A systematic method for analyzing big data on the cloud was introduced. The derived component-specific damage distribution from these collectives adopts a unique approach, utilizing the 1% vehicle term instead of the common 1% customer term to represent typical customer stress. This study shows that the driven mileage and the number of vehicles are crucial factors in 1% vehicle analysis. An analysis of the characteristics of the 1% vehicle is conducted, followed by an exploration to determine the required vehicle quantity for obtaining stable results. The shape parameter of the damage distribution determines the necessary number of vehicles for a reliable conclusion. Additionally, a comparative analysis of market-specific customer requirements between the US and Europe is presented, and real usage differences in customer operations are explained using an operating point frequency heatmap. The information presented in this paper provides valuable input for optimizing durability design and conducting efficient, customer-oriented tests, resulting in significant reductions in development time and costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2024 European Quality of Government Index (EQI) collects the opinions of 135,227 respondents in a total of 210 NUTS 1 and NUTS 2 regions in all EU 27 member state countries. This paper, first, presents the 2024 data and highlights some of the main results of this effort to understand citizens' perceptions, and personal experiences, of regional quality of government. Second, it compares the findings with the previous four rounds of the survey (starting in 2010), highlighting both the regions that are improving and those that show a declining trend in their quality of government. Third, the paper discusses the changes made to round 5 and other trends in the data over time, paying special attention to the comparison of EU citizens' perceptions and experiences of government before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Compared to the improvements in corruption levels recorded in the 2021 study, we find that corruption levels have bounced back to more normal levels in post pandemic Europe [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the distinct effects of linguistics distance and language literacy on the labor market integration of migrant men and women. Using data from the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2018 in 16 countries of destination mainly from Europe and more than 110 languages of origin, we assess migrant labor force participation, employment, working hours, and occupational prestige. The study finds that linguistics distance of the first language studied has a significant negative association with labor force participation, employment, and working hours of migrant women, even after controlling for their abilities in their destination language, education, and cultural distance between the country of origin and destination. In contrast, linguistics distance is only negatively associated with migrant men's working hours. This suggests that linguistic distance serves as a proxy for cultural aspects, which are not captured by cultural distance and hence shape the labor market integration of migrant women due to cultural factors rather than human capital. We suggest that the gender aspect of the effect of language proximity is essential in understanding the intersectional position of migrant women in the labor force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considered among the fastest-growing industries in the world, tourism brings immense benefits but also creates certain challenges. Conservation of natural resources is a stringent necessity, without which the extraordinary ecosystems' attributes that create the premises for nature-based tourism would reduce, alter, and subsequently disappear. The aim of the present review is twofold: gaining a general understanding of what nature-based tourism is and providing a systematic literature review of articles on nature-based tourism in European national and natural parks, with emphasis on their applicability. The articles included in the present review were selected based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The review accounts for research conducted between 2000 and 2021 and is divided into two sections: articles aimed at understanding tourists' behaviour and articles that are focused on other stakeholders or have the local communities in the foreground. While many studies are aimed at understanding tourists' behaviour as a means of improving parks' management, participatory strategies including local communities are often indicated as beneficial. The results of this paper can facilitate future research in the field and provide valuable knowledge to policymakers and any interested parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, environmental problems have gradually become the focus of world attention. In recent years, heat waves in many parts of Europe have increased ozone concentrations, fuelling ozone pollution. Therefore, this paper investigates the spatial and temporal distribution of tropospheric column ozone concentrations in South-western Europe, future trend changes, influencing factors, and potential source regions based on remotely sensed monitoring data from the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) from 2011 to 2021. The results show that the areas of high tropospheric column ozone concentrations are mainly concentrated in the northwest, Poland, and southeast coastal areas. At the same time, the monthly variation curve of column ozone concentration is bimodal. Trend change analyses indicate an upward trend in future column ozone concentrations in the southeastern part of the study area. The potential for increases also exists in parts of Germany, France, and Poland, which will need to be monitored. Random forest model projections found a slight decrease in column ozone concentrations in 2022 and 2023 of about 1–4 DU compared to tropospheric column ozone concentrations in 2021. The health risk assessment found that the number of all-cause premature deaths due to exposure to ozone was the highest in Germany. During the summer, when ozone pollution is high, the potential source area in the southeastern part of the study area is located at the border of the three countries, and synergistic management is recommended. In exploring the correlation between the influencing factors and ozone, it was found that there is a significant difference between the long-time and short-time series. In addition, the pathway analysis shows that the population size, distribution density, and forested area in southwestern Europe may be more sensitive to the production of tropospheric ozone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic asset seeking foreign direct investment has undergone tremendous growth over the past decade. This paper first attempts to evaluate the location choice of such investments in Europe. We find that Chinese companies target strategic assets in Europe. The paper then moves to understand the efficacy of these investments in terms of the creation of strategic assets in the Chinese parent company. Our results show the intangible assets of Chinese domestic parent firms significantly increase in the wake of their investments. For greenfield investments, there is a longer time-lag in creation of intangible strategic assets than for acquisitions. However, greenfield investments result in a larger increase in intangible asset creation than acquisition investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in global average temperature, mainly due to the high rate of greenhouse gas emissions, has triggered severe global warming and climate change. In Europe, the building sector accounts for a significant portion of emissions and energy consumption, prompting attention on nearly-zero-energy buildings (nZEBs) and zero-carbon buildings, as they play a pivotal role in reaching the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Passive systems offer a promising solution, optimizing energy usage by better adapting buildings to their local climates. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of passive heating and cooling techniques, exploring their contributions to contemporary architecture and showcasing their features and adaptability across different climates. Furthermore, the link between traditional and bioclimatic architecture is assessed. Recent years have witnessed a surge in publications on bioclimatic solar passive strategies, reflecting an intensified debate on climate change. Europe leads research in this area, aligned with initiatives like the Green Deal and Fit for 55. While dynamic simulation software is widely utilized for energy efficiency analysis, there remains limited integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and life cycle analysis (LCA) tools, which could enhance holistic assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current building envelope greening systems are not just areas covered with vegetation. Today's systems can maximise the functional contribution of vegetation to a building's performance and become part of a sustainable urban renewal strategy. The impact of the vegetation layer directly affects the building in its immediate vicinity, from the outside, while also having a significant impact on the indoor environment. Green roofs are the most widespread vegetated structures worldwide. This paper aims to demonstrate the behaviour of the temperature regime of an extensive green roof over a production hall and an administrative area in comparison to that of a roof without vegetation cover. In evaluating the results, a period with weather representative of winter and summer was selected to show the importance of seasonality. The fact that this is a new building, and that the extensive roof is not fully covered with vegetation, is very well reflected in the results, as the absence of a vegetated area significantly affects the temperature of as well as the heat flux through the roof structure. The dark colour of the substrate absorbs significantly more solar radiation than the light surface of the waterproofing, resulting in an increase in temperature and heat flux into the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to present an innovative approach to addressing the challenges of smart mobility exploiting digital twins within the METACITIES initiative. We have worked on this issue due to the increasing complexity of urban transportation systems, coupled with the urgent need to improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability in cities. The work presented in this paper is part of the project METACITIES, an Excellence Hub that spans a large geographical area, that of Southeastern Europe. The approach of the Greek innovation ecosystem of METACITIES involves leveraging digital twin technology to create intelligent replicas of urban mobility environments, enabling real-time monitoring, analysis, and decision making. Through use cases such as "Smart Parking", "Environmental Behavior Analysis on Traffic Incidents", and "Emergency Management", we demonstrate how digital twins can optimize traffic flow, mitigate environmental impact, and enhance emergency response; these use cases will be tested on a small scale, before deciding on implementation at a larger and more expensive scale. The final outcome is the METACITIES Architecture for smart mobility, which will be part of an Open Digital Twin Framework capable of evolving a smart city into a metacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of Europe's building stock consists of facilities built before 2001, presenting a substantial opportunity for energy efficiency improvements during their operation and maintenance phase. Digitalizing these buildings with digital twin technology can significantly enhance their energy efficiency. Reviewing the applications and trends of digital twins in this context is beneficial to understand the current state of the art and the specific challenges encountered when applying this technology to older buildings. This study focuses on the application of digital twins in building operations and maintenance (O & M), emphasizing energy efficiency throughout the building lifetime. A systematic process to select 21 pertinent use-case studies was performed, complemented by an analysis of six enterprise-level digital twin solutions. This was followed by an overview of general characteristics, thematic classification, detailed individual study analyses, and a comparison of digital twin solutions with commercial tools. Five main applications of digital twins were identified and examined: component monitoring, anomaly detection, operational optimization, predictive maintenance and simulation of alternative scenarios. The paper highlights challenges like the reliance on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the need for robust data acquisition systems. These limitations hinder the implementation of digital twins, in particular in existing buildings with no digital information available. It concludes with future research directions emphasizing the development of methods not solely reliant on BIM data, integration challenges, and potential enhancements through AI and machine learning applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]