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Silver birch is a common European hardwood species possessing stiff and strong material properties. The mechanical properties of birch timber under compression loads are, however, not well defined as the influence of growth characteristics have largely been disregarded in experimental investigations. To address this, the present study investigated the effect of growth characteristics on the mechanical behaviour of birch sawn timber under compression loading, parallel and perpendicular to the grain direction. The results indicate knot size as the dominant parameter for both loading directions, whereas in specimen without knots, density, distance to pith and growth-ring width are dominant for parallel to grain loading and density and growth-ring orientation are dominant under perpendicular to grain loading. On selected specimens, local deformation and failure behaviour is further investigated by means of digital image correlation technique using a novel contrast pattern. Strain fields on specimens loaded parallel to grain reveal localized strain peaks at the cracks within knots and around the topside of knots where abrupt deviations in the grain orientation occur. Specimens loaded perpendicular to the grain display localized strain peaks near the pith and at growth-ring tangential angles around 45 ∘ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2007.06.010 Byline: Gerhard Fink (a), Peter Haiss (a)(b), Magdalena Oeberseder (a), Wolfgang Rainer (a) Keywords: Country risk; Currency crisis; Sustainable growth Abstract: According to U.S. economists the American economy needs a further depreciation of the dollar by 25%. Can the euro accommodate the needs of the U.S. economy? We apply the scoring model and analyze the country risk of the Euro zone, Bulgaria and Hungary. We find that a further appreciation of the euro is hardly sustainable for the Euro zone. For countries like Bulgaria, which tied their currency to the euro, the risk of a currency crisis is prevalent. We argue that more detailed ECB debt statistics are necessary to gauge the risk inherent in the Euro zone. Author Affiliation: (a) Research Institute for European Affairs at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Althanstrasse 39-45, A-1090 Vienna, Austria (b) Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Vienna, Austria Article Note: (footnote) [star] The opinions expressed are the authors' personal views and not necessarily those of the institutions with which the authors are affiliated.

The ten new member countries of the European Union have aligned their economic policies, and their economic indicators converge to the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) average. These factors favor the new members' early membership of the EMU rather than later when viewed in a purely economic perspective. Early accession to the EMU carries more benefits like reduction of administrative costs and serious commitment. Early EMU enlargement, however, has a significant risk for Poland and Malta in the form of high level of bad debts, which could be resolved within a year by taking serious action.

With increasing environmental concerns, the building sector must rethink the selection of building materials not only for structural members but also for connections. Densified wooden nails might become an alternative to metallic fasteners, at least in applications with lower structural requirements. However, their structural behaviour in timber-to-timber connections is not yet systematically studied. This paper presents a series of 90 shear tests to explore the shear capacity and slip modulus of timber-to-timber connections with wooden nails. Specimens with different nail dimensions, different nail orientations, and different nail arrangements were investigated. A typical three-member push-out test setup was adopted where the wooden nails were oriented perpendicular or inclined to the shear plane. Specimens with inclined nails exposed to shear and tensile forces showed a higher shear resistance due to the activated tensile capacity of the wooden nails. Failure of the wooden nails was predominantly observed when the nails were loaded in tension. This means that the interface between the wooden nails and the timber did not fail. Based on the results from the shear tests, an analytical model was developed to predict the load bearing capacity of timber-to-timber connections exposed to bending stresses. The analytical model was validated with experimental investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions to implement laws, policies and programmes justified or legitimized by 'humane values' seem good or desirable. However, when implemented, they may have disastrous consequences causing harm even for those who were supposed to have been helped. We present and reflect on several examples of the legitimization of decisions through narrow values. We find that the dominance of single narrow values, even for the purest of motives, is likely to lead to disaster. Social and political implications are manifold. For well‐functioning (sustainable) social systems, it is of importance that one‐sided legitimization of action according to 'good values' should be avoided so that it does not lead to a sort of 'hierarchical suppression' of discussion or reflection about the potential benefits and consequences. Instead, many different concepts/perspectives/views should be considered and integrated into the decision‐making process for a more systemic understanding before the implementation of laws, policies and programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]