On the Efficiency of Data Representation on the Modeling and Characterization of Complex Networks

Specific choices about how to represent complex networks can have a substantial effect on the execution time required for the respective construction and analysis of those structures. In this work we report a comparison of the effects of representing complex networks statically as matrices or dynamically as spase structures. Three theoretical models of complex networks are considered: two types of Erdos-Renyi as well as the Barabasi-Albert model. We investigated the effect of the different representations with respect to the construction and measurement of several topological properties (i.e. degree, clustering coefficient, shortest path length, and betweenness centrality). We found that different forms of representation generally have a substantial effect on the execution time, with the sparse representation frequently resulting in remarkably superior performance

Linux "versus" windows

This article aims to show the advantages of the Linux operating system compared with Windows. Among these, the most important but by no means the only advantages of Linux are its stability and price - Linux is free of charge.El presente artículo pretende mostrar las ventajas que tiene este sistema operativo con respecto a Windows, siendo las más importantes la estabilidad y el precio: es gratis, pero no son las única

Random-energy model in random fields

The random-energy model is studied in the presence of random fields. The problem is solved exactly both in the microcanonical ensemble, without recourse to the replica method, and in the canonical ensemble using the replica formalism. The phase diagrams for bimodal and Gaussian random fields are investigated in detail. In contrast to the Gaussian case, the bimodal random field may lead to a tricritical point and a first-order transition. An interesting feature of the phase diagram is the possibility of a first-order transition from paramagnetic to mixed phase.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures (included

Tameness of the pseudovariety LS1

The notion of k-tameness of a pseudovariety was introduced by Almeida and Steinberg and is a strong property which implies decidability of pseudovarieties. In this paper we prove that the pseudovariety LSl, of local semilattices, is k-tame.This work was supported, in part, by FCT through the Centro de Matemática da Universidade do Minho, and by the FCT and POCTI approved project POCTI/32817/MAT/2000 which is comparticipated by the European Community Fund FEDER

Experimental Demonstration of a Structured Material with Extreme Effective Parameters at Microwaves

Following our recent theoretical studies [M. G. Silveirinha, C. A. Fernandes, Phys. Rev. B, 78, 033108, 2008], it is experimentally verified that an array of crossed metallic wires may behave as a nonresonant material with extremely large index of refraction at microwaves, and may enable the realization of ultra-subwavelength waveguides.Comment: accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letters (in press). Applied Physics Letters (in press) (2008

Environmental risk assessment in a contaminated estuary: an integrated weight of evidence approach as a decision support tool

Environmental risk assessment of complex ecosystems such as estuaries is a challenge, where innovative and integrated approaches are needed. The present work aimed at developing an innovative integrative methodology to evaluate in an impacted estuary (the Sado, in Portugal, was taken as case study), the adverse effects onto both ecosystem and human health. For the purpose, new standardized lines of evidence based on multiple quantitative data were integrated into a weight of evidence according to a best expert judgment approach. The best professional judgment for a weight of evidence approach in the present study was based on the following lines of evidence: i) human contamination pathways; ii) human health effects: chronic disease; iii) human health effects: reproductive health; iv) human health effects: health care; v) human exposure through consumption of local agriculture produce; vi) exposure to contaminated of water wells and agriculture soils; vii) contamination of the estuarine sedimentary environment (metal and organic contaminants); viii) effects on benthic organisms with commercial value; and ix) genotoxic potential of sediments. Each line of evidence was then ordinally ranked by levels of ecological or human health risk, according to a tabular decision matrix and expert judgment. Fifteen experts scored two fishing areas of the Sado estuary and a control estuarine area, in a scale of increasing environmental risk and management actions to be taken. The integrated assessment allowed concluding that the estuary should not be regarded as impacted by a specific toxicant, such as metals and organic compounds hitherto measured, but by the cumulative risk of a complex mixture of contaminants. The proven adverse effects on species with commercial value may be used to witness the environmental quality of the estuarine ecosystem. This method argues in favor of expert judgment and qualitative assessment as a decision support tool to the integrative management of estuaries. Namely it allows communicating environmental risk and proposing mitigation measures to local authorities and population under a holistic perspective as an alternative to narrow single line of evidence approaches, which is mandatory to understand cause and effect relationships in complex areas like estuaries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Semigroup presentations for test local groups

In this paper we exhibit a type of semigroup presentations which determines a class of local groups. We show that the finite elements of this class generate the pseudovariety LG of all finite local groups and use them as test-semigroups to prove that LG and S, the pseudovariety of all finite semigroups, verify the same kappa-identities involving kappa-terms of rank at most 1, where kappa denotes the implicit signature consisting of the multiplication and the (omega-1)-power.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), under the project PEst-C/MAT/UI0013/2011European Regional Development Fund, through the programme COMPET

Impact assessment of interregional government transfers in Brazil: an input-output approach

Redistributive policies carried out by the central government through interregional government transfers is a relevant feature of the Brazilian federal fiscal system. Regional shares of the central government revenues in the poorer regions have been recurrently smaller than the shares of central government expenditures in those regions. Appeal to core-periphery outcomes could be made, as São Paulo, the wealthiest state in the country, concentrated, in 2005, over 40% of total Federal tax revenue, receiving less than 35% of Federal expenditures. These figures suggest a redistribution of public funds from the spatial economic core of the economy to the peripheral areas. This paper investigates the role interregional transfers play in the redistribution of activities in the country, using an interregional input-output approach. Counterfactual simulations allow us to estimate some costs and benefits, for the core and periphery respectively, from such fiscal mechanisms.Interregional government transfers, input-output analysis, impact analysis, Brazilian economy

Modeling Rheology In The Hot-Pressing Of MDF: Comparison Of Mechanical Models

The hot-pressing operation is the final stage in the MDF manufacture where the mattress of fibers is compressed and heated to promote the cure of the resin. The press cycle has a major effect on the balance of properties of the resulting panel, so rigorous control of all processing variables is necessary to improve product quality and to reduce pressing time. The rheological behavior of the mattress during pressing involves complex phenomena that are dependent on temperature, moisture content, gas pressure, and density distributions. Following a three-dimensional model of heat and mass transfer already built, mechanical models were developed to describe the viscoelastic behavior of the material. The elastic and viscous properties for the wood-resin composite were estimated based upon several kinds of "rules of mixtures," taking into account the relationship with the simulations already undertaken for temperature, moisture content, and gas pressure profiles, as well as the adhesive polymerization. These dynamic models were used to predict the evolution of compression stress, strain, modulus of elasticity, and density with time at a given position in the mattress, as well as the density profiles. The models were compared in relation to the influential factors affecting the composite compressibility. The simulation results are useful to identify the controlling factors of a hot-pressing operation and to understand better the complex mechanisms involved in panel formation