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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the evolution of local port community systems (PCS) towards a vast network of interlinked locations in Europe.

The paper is conceptual. It builds on the findings of platform theory and the analogy between the market for cargo information and the payment system industry to discuss the potential outcomes and shapes of a European port community. A number of interviews were also conducted with PCS market participants.

As a result, insight is given into the stages of building a European maritime information network, the growing part played by PCS operators and the way competition and the market are organizing, as well as into some institutional difficulties.

The paper makes various inroads into the subject of PCS operation that call for further research. One particular field concerns the possible impact of PCS interoperation on port competition, which is not sufficiently clear at this stage of the research.

The paper enlightens a hot topic in an original way and provides a useful benchmark for all concerned parties, professionals and public authorities alike. It also opens many prospects into future research on how information systems may contribute to shaping the cargo industry.

The paper aims to present several methods that were developed, evaluated and finally used as part of a 3D electronic tailor especially adapted to the clothing industry.

An experimental top down approach taking care of building a system adapted to the constraints of the textile industry was used. The research was to the rapidity, the robustness and the comfort of the future system during the development cycle.

A robust and efficient method for digitizing a human body in 3D that is usable for the measurement process with duration and accuracy adapted to the domain of textile industry.

The research is bound to many constraints. Some are expressed by the customers of the electronic tailor, some depend on the manufacturing process of the clothes and of course, some depend on economic requirements. Of course, the system is not fixed because it must be adapted and improved to be able to follow the evolution of the manufacturing process.

This research permitted the creation of a marketed product improved for a few years by successfully measuring thousands of people.

The paper demonstrates the usefulness of choosing a digitizing process. It shows the importance of keeping in mind the whole digitizing process for making the mesh generation and the measurements taken. The resulting mannequin proves that the process works well.

The clothes industry in the developed countries must generate sufficient value added to justify a higher price than the articles produced in great quantity and at low prices in the countries with good wages. The offer of clothing made to measure, at a reasonable price compared with mass‐produced clothing, can constitute an interesting opportunity for the clothes trade. The use of data processing can help to achieve this goal. This assumes that the manufacturer has a virtual model of the customer. This model combined with the knowledge of the behaviour of the support/clothing couple allows the data‐processing creation of clothing specific to the customer. It is necessary to have a precise and instantaneous acquisition technique. Whatever the principle of measurement, several sensors are necessary to measure the totality of a human body. The results obtained are then like a scatter plot. Moreover, this scatter plot has a non‐uniform density according to the measured zone. The surface reconstruction finds these limits in such a situation. In addition, the voluminal reconstruction allows adaptation to this situation by linking spatially the elements describing the shape of the body. Moreover, the use of tetrahedrons allows a modeling of the deformation of the human body. To adapt to the diversity of the scatter plot a method has been developed called the sculptor method. Initially a triangulation gives the convex shape of the scatter plot. It is necessary to remove the superfluous tetrahedrons. To carry out this operation, this form is produced by spheres whose size is adapted. This makes possible a convex solid, which sticks to the scatter plot. This operation shows that this method allows one to reconstruct a body clothed or not with good fidelity.

The aim of this chapter is to assess the real exchange rate misalignments. A smooth transition autoregressive model (STAR) is used for Tunisian exchange market. This model allows us to see whether these differences are temporary or persistent over the period 1975–2012. We start by defining the exchange rate’s fundamental determinants to provide the equilibrium exchange rate value. Then, we study the observed exchange rate adjustment toward its equilibrium level. Vector autoregressive model and vector error correction model are applied to characterize the joint dynamics of variables in the long run. The results indicate a long-run relationship between variables. In order to consider the nonlinearity for better results, we will move to nonlinear smooth transition model. We found there is a high degree of exchange rate misalignment. We recognized that this difference decreases in the long run and disappears at the end.

Under this heading are published regularly abstracts of all Reports and Memoranda of the Aeronautical Research Council, Technical Reports and Translations of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration and publications of other similar Research Bodies as issued.