Mesomeric control of the optoelectronic properties of polymerized small molecule acceptors

Organic photovoltaics based on polymer blends have the potential for flexible solar cells with superior mechanical and thermal resiliency. Recently, regioregular polymerized small molecule acceptors (PSMAs) were synthesized and utilized as active acceptor materials to achieve record-breaking all-polymer solar cells with power conversion efficiency approaching 20%. The reported experimental studies show a systematic correlation between polymerization sites and the properties of the PSMA, where one of the regioisomers (γ-PSMA) displays more favorable optoelectronic and photovoltaic properties compared to the other (δ-PSMA). However, these experimental observations have not yet been rationalized. Here, we used first-principles calculations to reveal that the substituents on the cross-conjugated terminal unit of the SMA core are responsible for improving the optoelectronic properties of γ-PSMAs, by extending the conjugation length and enhancing favorable mesomeric effects. Importantly, we demonstrate that these effects can be exploited as a universal molecular design principle, and we predict that functionalizing PSMAs in selected positions with electron-withdrawing groups can further improve their optoelectronic properties. Our study provides a quantitative framework for understanding and rationalizing the relationship between polymerization sites and optoelectronic properties in regioregular PSMAs; in addition, our results pave the way for a rational design principle to further improve the properties of these conjugated polymers and, in turn, the efficiency of all-polymer solar cells

Dynamics and relaxation in new florinated side-chain polymers: an ESR investigation

Fluorinated azobenzene liquid crystalline polymers appear promising materials as optical data storage substrates, especially in holographic recording, for their ability of suppressing surface relief (1). Their applicative importance also arises from the excellent water repellency (2) and the possibility of modulating wettability by the change in the dipole moment of the cis-trans photochromic species (3). The comprehension of the mechanism by which the internal structure and molecular architecture of these materials affect their microscopic relaxation phenomena will address an ever improved design for technological applications and a fundamental understanding, enlightening the presence of cooperative mechanisms or/and dynamic heterogeneity. A new series of fluorinated homopolymers and random copolymers were investigated. They share the same main chain, and differentiate from a previous series (4, 5) for the substitution of the −(2)43 group with the −3 one in the terminal part of the azobenzene-containing side chain. The study was carried out by electron spin resonance to investigate the dynamics and matrix heterogeneity of the new series of copolymers, also in comparison with the previous non-fluorinated series. The structural relaxation of the polymers was also investigated by rheological measurements. Different molecular architectures result in modulation of the relaxation properties at nanoscale level. Dynamics and matrix heterogeneity is discussed, highlighting how the different molecular architecture affects different dynamic responses and matrix heterogeneity over different length and time scales. Information on cooperativity of the dynamics is also provided. References 1. F. You, M.Y.Paik, M. Häckel, L. Kador, D. Kropp, H.W. Schmidt, and C.K.Ober. Adv. Funct. Mater., 16: 1577, 2006. 2. S.D. Xiong, X.L. Guo, L. Li, S.l. Wu, P.K. Chu, and Z.S. Xu. J. Fluorine Chem., 131: 417, 2010. 3. K.Ichimura, S.K.Oh, and M.Nakagawa. Science, 288 (5471): 1624, 2000. ; S.Abbott, J.Ralston, G.Reynold, and R.Hayes. Langmuir, 15: 8923, 1999; L. M. Siewierski, W. J.Brittain, S.Petrash, and M.D.Foster. Langmuir, 12: 5838, 1996. 4. L. Andreozzi, M. Faetti, M. Giordano, D. Palazzuoli, and G. Galli. Macromolecules, 34: 7325, 2001. 5. L. Andreozzi, G. Galli, M. Giordano, E. Martinelli, and F. Zulli Macromolecules, 48: 6541, 201

Estimación del consumo en rumiantes en pastoreo utilizando redes neuronales artificiales

edir con precisión y rapidez el consumo de forrajeenrumiantes es importante para la gestión eficiente del rodeo y los recursos alimenticios, así como para la salud y bienestar animal en los sistemas de producción. Eluso de algoritmos de procesamiento inteligente de señales que extraiganinformación relevante de los sonidos que emiten losrumiantes es una opción prometedorapara predecir el consumo de rumiantes en condicionesde pastoreo. En este trabajo se aplican perceptrones multicapa y máquinas de aprendizaje extremo como modelos de regresión no lineales multivariadapara la estimación del consumo. Los resultados muestran que éstastécnicasde regresión no lineal para pueden reducir significativamente el error de estimación delacantidad demateria seca consumida porrumiantes.Accurate and rapid measurement of forage intake in ruminants is important for efficient management livestock and forage resources, as well as for animal health and welfare in production systems. The use of intelligent signal processing algorithms to extract relevant information from the sound emitted by ruminants is a promising method to predict the intake of ruminants in grazing conditions. In this work, multilayer perceptrons and extreme learning machines, are used as non-linear multivariate regression models to predict intake. The results show that these non-linear regression techniques can significantly reduce the error in the estimation of forage intake in ruminants.Fil: Uhrig, Mariela Noelia. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Galli, Julio Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Rufiner, Hugo Leonardo. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Departamento de Informática. Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Señales e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos; ArgentinaFil: Milone, Diego Humberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentin

Pautas informativas y procedimentales en cyberdelitos : Experiencia de la Ciudad de Córdoba

A 3 años de la sanción de la ley de delitos informáticos, empiezan a pasar a un segundo plano las cuestiones teóricas y cobran relevancia las experiencias prácticas en cuestiones procedimentales y de investigación en esta materia. La inter-disciplina, como en toda la ciencia Penal, cobra importancia a la hora del descubrimiento de la verdad real. Esto sumado a las nuevas características de la sociedad de la información y en especial el manejo de la información que circula por Internet; las dificultades de los trabajos de campo e investigación por las características de los elementos o información a recolectar o buscar y la corta experiencia de nuestros tribunales hacen necesarias las investigaciones y la difusión de las diversas experiencias de los órganos técnicos avocados a la investigación de los de delitos con la intervención de las TICs.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Audio recordings dataset of grazing jaw movements in dairy cattle.

This dataset is composed of correlated audio recordings and labels of ingestive jaw movements performed during grazing by dairy cattle. Using a wireless microphone, we recorded sounds of three Holstein dairy cows grazing short and tall alfalfa and short and tall fescue. Two experts in grazing behavior identified and labeled the start, end, and type of each jaw movement: bite, chew, and chew-bite (compound movement). For each segment of raw audio corresponding to a jaw movement we computed four well-known features: amplitude, duration, zero crossings, and envelope symmetry. These features are in the dataset and can be used as inputs to build automated methods for classification of ingestive jaw movements. Cow's grazing behavior can be monitored and characterized by identifying and analyzing these masticatory events

An online method for estimating grazing and rumination bouts using acoustic signals in grazing cattle

The growth of the world population expected for the next decade will increase the demand for products derived from cattle (i.e., milk and meat). In this sense, precision livestock farming proposes to optimize livestock production using information and communication technologies for monitoring animals. Although there are several methodologies for monitoring foraging behavior, the acoustic method has shown to be successful in previous studies. However, there is no online acoustic method for the recognition of rumination and grazing bouts that can be implemented in a low-cost device. In this study, an online algorithm called bottom-up foraging activity recognizer (BUFAR) is proposed. The method is based on the recognition of jaw movements from sound, which are then analyzed by groups to recognize rumination and grazing bouts. Two variants of the activity recognizer were explored, which were based on a multilayer perceptron (BUFAR-MLP) and a decision tree (BUFAR-DT). These variants were evaluated and compared under the same conditions with a known method for offline analysis. Compared to the former method, the proposed method showed superior results in the estimation of grazing and rumination bouts. The MLP-variant showed the best results, reaching F1-scores higher than 0.75 for both activities. In addition, the MLP-variant outperformed a commercial rumination time estimation system. A great advantage of BUFAR is the low computational cost, which is about 50 times lower than that corresponding to the former method. The good performance and low computational cost makes BUFAR a highly feasible method for real-time execution in a low-cost embedded monitoring system. The advantages provided by this system will allow the development of a portable device for online monitoring of the foraging behavior of ruminants.Fil: Chelotti, Jose Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Vanrell, Sebastián Rodrigo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Martínez Rau, Luciano Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Galli, Julio Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Agrarias de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Planisich, Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Utsumi, Santiago A.. Michigan State University; Estados UnidosFil: Milone, Diego Humberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Giovanini, Leonardo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; ArgentinaFil: Rufiner, Hugo Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas. Instituto de Investigación en Señales, Sistemas e Inteligencia Computacional; Argentin

3d acceleration for heat detection in dairy cows

Accurate and reliable detection of heat in dairy cows is essential for a controlled reproduction and therefore, for maintaining milk production. Classical approaches like visual identification are no longer viable on large dairy herds. Several automated techniques of detection have been proposed, but expected results are only achieved by expensive or invasive methods, because practical methods are not reliable. We present a method that aims to be both practical and accurate. It is based on simple attributes extracted from 3D acceleration data and well known classifiers: multilayer perceptrons, support vector machines and decision trees. Results show promising detection ratios, above 90% in several configurations of the detection system. Best results are achieved with multilayer perceptrons. This information could be readily incorporated to the automated system in a dairy farm and help to improve its efficiency.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

Hepatitis B surface antibodies seroprevalence among people born before and after implementation of universal HBV vaccination

Universal vaccination is the most effective strategy to control hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In Argentina, vaccination against HBV was incorporated in year 2000 for newborns and in 2003 for 11 years old children. However, there is a paucity of data about protection levels against HBV infection. The aim of this work was to determine the prevalence of seroprotective anti-HBs antibodies (aHBs) in Argentina. Serum samples negative for HBsAg and anti-HBc from 132 children born after year 2000 and 762 blood donors, older than 18 years, from five centers across the country, were analyzed for aHBs. Titers ¡Ý10 mIU/mL were observed in 74/132 children (56.1%) and 336/762 (44.1%) in blood donors. The median age for blood donors was 33.9 (23¨C43); from them, 210 (27.6%) were born after 1992 and, therefore, were catch-up by vaccine implementation at 11 years old age. Donors born in 1992 or before showed a significantly lower frequency of protection (32.2%) compared to donors born after 1992 (75.2%), p < 0.0001. In addition, significant differences were observed in the status of seroprotection between different participating centers (p = 0.024). Implementation of HBV vaccine in 2000 and 2003 implied an overall increase of the aHBs seroprotective rates, with a particularly adequate response in children vaccinated at 11 years old age. The observed results suggest that population born in 1992 or before is currently the most susceptible. Consequently, it would be advisable to become aware of the risk of transmission in this age group and to stress this population vaccination campaigns.Fil: Di Lello, Federico Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Blejer, Jorgelina L.. Fundación Hemocentro; ArgentinaFil: Alter, Adriana. Fundación Hemocentro; ArgentinaFil: Bartoli, Sonia. Centro Regional de Hemoterapia Jujuy; ArgentinaFil: Vargas, Fabiana Alejandra. Centro Regional de Hemoterapia de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz, Rosángela. Hospital Regional Rio Grande; ArgentinaFil: Galli, Claudio. Hospital Regional Rio Grande; ArgentinaFil: Blanco, Sebastian. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina; Argentina. Fundación Banco Central de Sangre; ArgentinaFil: Gallego, Sandra Veronica. Fundación Banco Central de Sangre; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Roberto. Fundación Hemocentro; ArgentinaFil: Martínez, Alfredo P.. Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno"; ArgentinaFil: Flichman, Diego Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin