Percolation study for the capillary ascent of a liquid through a granular soil

Capillary rise plays a crucial role in the construction of road embankments in flood zones, where hydrophobic compounds are added to the soil to suppress the rising of water and avoid possible damage of the pavement. Water rises through liquid bridges, menisci and trimers, whose width and connectivity depends on the maximal half-length {\lambda} of the capillary bridges among grains. Low {\lambda} generate a disconnect structure, with small clusters everywhere. On the contrary, for high {\lambda}, create a percolating cluster of trimers and enclosed volumes that form a natural path for capillary rise. Hereby, we study the percolation transition of this geometric structure as a function of {\lambda} on a granular media of monodisperse spheres in a random close packing. We determine both the percolating threshold {\lambda}_{c} = (0.049 \pm 0.004)R (with R the radius of the granular spheres), and the critical exponent of the correlation length {\nu} = (0.830 \pm 0.051), suggesting that the percolation transition falls into the universality class of ordinary percolation

Dinámica Económica de México: Un enfoque regional (Reseña)

Se presenta en siete capítulos un análisis del crecimiento económico, los ciclos económicos y los ciclos políticos de las entidades federativas de México en las recientes décadas considerando aspectos del contexto económico internacional y nacional que los enmarca. Por lo que aporta a la literatura de la economía regional, sobre estos temas, discutiendo las principales hipótesis interpretativas al respecto mediante el uso de varias técnicas de análisis cuantitativ

Renewable energy research progress in Mexico: a review

Mexico ranks 9th in the world in crude oil reserves, 4th in natural gas reserves in America and it is also highly rich in renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomasss, hydropower and geothermal). However, the potential of this type of energy has not been fully exploited. Hydropower is the renewable energy source with the highest installed capacity within the country (11,603 MW), while geothermal power capacity (958 MW) makes Mexico to be ranked 4th in the use of this energy worldwide. Wind energy potential is concentrated in five different zones, mainly in the state of Oaxaca, and solar energy has a high potential due to Mexico's ideal location in the so called Solar Belt. Biomass energy has the highest potential (2635 to 3771 PJ/year) and has been the subject of the highest number of research publications in the country during the last 30 years (1982-2012). Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico has led research publications in hydropower, wind, solar and biomass energy and Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas in geothermal energy during this period. According to the General Law for Climate Change the country has set the goal of generating 35% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2024. This paper presents an overview of the renewable energy options available in Mexico, current status, main positive results to date and future potential. It also analyses barriers hindering improvements and proposes pertinent solutions. © 2014 The Authors

Interplay of static and dynamic effects in 6He+ 238U Fusion

We investigate the influence of the neutron halo and the breakup channel in 6He + 238U fusion at near-barrier energies. To include static effects of the 2n-halo in 6He nuclei, we use a single-folding potential obtained from an appropriate nucleon-238U interaction and a realistic 6He density. Dynamical effects arising from the breakup process are then included through coupled-channel calculations. These calculations suggest that static effects dominate the cross section at energies above the Coulomb barrier, while the sub-barrier fusion cross section appears to be determined by coupling to the breakup channel. This last conclusion is uncertain due to the procedure employed to measure the fusion cross-section.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Astrophysical and theoretical physics implications from multimessenger neutron star observations

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) recently measured the mass and equatorial radius of the isolated neutron star PSR J0030+0451. We use these measurements to infer the moment of inertia, the quadrupole moment, and the surface eccentricity of an isolated neutron star for the first time, using relations between these quantities that are insensitive to the unknown equation of state of supranuclear matter. We also use these results to forecast the moment of inertia of neutron star A in the double pulsar binary J0737-3039, a quantity anticipated to be directly measured in the coming decade with radio observations. Combining this information with the measurement of the tidal Love number with LIGO/Virgo observations, we propose and implement the first theory-agnostic and equation-of-state-insensitive test of general relativity. Specializing these constraints to a particular modified theory, we find that consistency with general relativity places the most stringent constraint on gravitational parity violation to date, surpassing all other previously reported bounds by seven orders of magnitude and opens the path for future a test of general relativity with multimessenger neutron star observations

Comparison of measurements of peroxyacyl nitrates and primary carbonaceous aerosol concentrations in Mexico City determined in 1997 and 2003

International audiencePeroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) concentrations in ambient air can be a good indicator of air quality and the effectiveness of control strategies for reducing ozone levels in urban areas. As PAN is formed by the oxidation of reactive hydrocarbons in the presence of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), it is a direct measure of the peroxyacyl radical levels produced from reactive organic emissions in the urban air shed. Carbon soot, known as black carbon or elemental carbon, is a primary atmospheric aerosol species and is a good indicator of the levels of combustion emissions, particularly from diesel engines, in major cities. Mexico City is the second largest megacity in the world and has long suffered from poor air quality. Reported here are atmospheric measurements of PAN and black carbon obtained in Mexico City during the Mexico Megacity 2003 field study. These results are compared with measurements obtained earlier during the Investigación sobre Materia Particulada y Deterioro Atmosférico ? Aerosol and Visibility Research (IMADA-AVER) campaign in 1997 to obtain an estimate of the changes in emissions in Mexico City and the effectiveness of control strategies adopted during that time. Concentrations of PAN in 1997 reached a maximum of 34 ppb with an average daily maximum of 15 ppb. The PAN levels recorded in 2003 were quite different, with an average daily maximum of 3 ppb. This dramatic reduction in PAN levels observed in 2003 indicate that reactive hydrocarbon emissions have been reduced in the city due to controls on olefins in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and also due to the significant number of newer vehicles with catalytic converters that have replaced older higher emission vehicles. In contrast, black/elemental carbon levels were similar in 1997 and 2003 indicating little improvement likely due to the lack of controls on diesel vehicles in the city. Thus, while air quality and ozone production has improved, Mexico City and other megacities continue to be a major source of black carbon aerosols, which can be an important species in determining regional radiative balance and climate

Characterization of plant growth promoting bacteria isolated from red fruits. Studies on growth promotion and fruit quality in strawberry plants

Microorganisms associated to the rizosphere of plants cultivated plants for human consumption are scarcely analyzed. However,nowadays, organic farming  where the use of microbial inoculants is essential, has arisenas emergent alternative with a great commercial interest.In this study, the characterization of the bacterial microbiotic presents in the rhizosphere of strawberry and blueberry plants has been carried out. In particular, three relevant characteristics have been determined order  to classify he isolated strains as plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). These characteristics are: 1) the ability to produce auxins, 2) siderophores and 3)  the solubilization of phosphates presents in the medium.On the other hand, the behavior of bacterial strains previously identified as PGPB has been studied in strawberry plants  both in greenhouse and field trials. The plants located in the greenhouse, were inoculated with the endophytic strawberries isolated strains: LTE1, LTE2, LTE3, LTE4, LTE6, EF12a, EF35 and EF113, as well as with three blueberries insolated bacteria which possess a high leves of auxin production, named AC8, ACH2 and ACH7. The strawberries plants located in the field, were inoculated with the strains Hv16, Hvs8 and Rec3.At the greenhouse trials, production parameters (precocity in flowering, number and weight of fruits) as well as biometrical parameters at the end of the trial, the fresh and dry weigth of root and shoots will be analyzed. At the field trial, the following production parameters will be evaluated: number and weight of extra-early fruit (February), number and weight of early fruit (March) and number and weight of total fruit. Quality fruit parameters as color, shape, sugar content (ºBrix), acidity, pH, vitamin C and anthocyanin content will be determined twice, once in February and again at the end of the experiment. By the time, the micro and macro-nutrient will also be analyzaed

Tripartite entanglement in quantum memristors

We study the entanglement and memristive properties of three coupled quantum memristors. We consider quantum memristors based on superconducting asymmetric SQUID architectures which are coupled via inductors. The three quantum memristors are arranged in two different geometries: linear and triangular coupling configurations. We obtain a variety of correlation measures, including bipartite entanglement and tripartite negativity. We find that, for identical quantum memristors, entanglement and memristivity follow the same behavior for the triangular case and the opposite one in the linear case. Finally, we study the multipartite correlations with the tripartite negativity and entanglement monogamy relations, showing that our system has genuine tripartite entanglement. Our results show that quantum correlations in multipartite memristive systems have a non-trivial role and can be used to design quantum memristor arrays for quantum neural networks and neuromorphic quantum computing architectures.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Synergistic action of thermophilic pectinases for pectin bioconversion into D-galacturonic acid

Large amounts of pectin-rich biomass are generated worldwide yearly, which can be hydrolysed by pectinases to obtain bio-based chemical building blocks such as D-galacturonic acid (GalA). The aim of this work was to investigate thermophilic pectinases and explore their synergistic application in the bioconversion of pectic substrates into GalA. Two exo-polygalacturonases (exo-PGs) from Thermotoga maritima (TMA01) and Bacillus licheniformis (BLI04) and two pectin methylesterases (PMEs) from Bacillus licheniformis (BLI09) and Streptomyces ambofaciens (SAM10) were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), purified and fully characterised. These pectinases exhibited optimum activity at temperatures above 50 °C and good stability at high temperature (40-90 °C) for up to 24 h. Exo-PGs preferred non-methylated substrates, suggesting that previous pectin demethylation by PMEs was necessary to achieve an efficient pectin monomerisation into GalA. Synergistic activity between PMEs and exo-PGs was tested using pectin from apple, citrus and sugar beet. GalA was obtained from apple and citrus pectin in a concentration of up to 2.5 mM after 4 h reaction at 50 °C, through the combined action of BLI09 PME with either TMA01 or BLI04 exo-PGs. Overall, this work contributes to expand the knowledge of pectinases from thermophiles and provides further insights into their application in the initial valorisation of sustainable pectin-rich biomass feedstocks