The Kovacs effect in the one-dimensional Ising model: a linear response analysis

We analyze the so-called Kovacs effect in the one-dimensional Ising model with Glauber dynamics. We consider small enough temperature jumps, for which a linear response theory has been recently derived. Within this theory, the Kovacs hump is directly related to the monotonic relaxation function of the energy. The analytical results are compared with extensive Monte Carlo simulations, and an excellent agreement is found. Remarkably, the position of the maximum in the Kovacs hump depends on the fact that the true asymptotic behavior of the relaxation function is different from the stretched exponential describing the relevant part of the relaxation at low temperatures.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

The cyclical trend of local public service governance: evidence from urban water management in Spain

The level of public and private involvement in economic activity in societies has changed over time. One may talk about the existence of a cyclical trend in which the most important periods of public governance are replaced by periods in which private management dominates the situation. This phenomenon may also be observed in local areas. Some authors have pointed out the existence of an alternation in the provision of municipal services, resulting in periods dominated by governance compared to other stages dominated by private management. In order to illustrate this cyclical trend at local level, this paper intends to analyze the evolution of the governance of the Spanish water supply since the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Recent evidence from the industry suggests the possibility that we may currently be witnessing a further change in the trend.: Local Government, urban water supply, privatization, municipalization

Assessment of the periodontal health status and gingival recession during orthodontic treatment with clear aligners and fixed appliances: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The aim was to assess periodontal health maintenance and gingival recessions development in pa-tients undergoing an orthodontic treatment with clear aligners (CA) and fixed appliances (FA).Material and Methods: An electronic search in MEDLINE, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, and Web of Science was performed up to September 2022 to identify all potential articles. Two investigators independently selected the studies according to the inclusion criteria. Prospective and retrospective studies assessing the periodontal health status and gingival recession development during the orthodontic treatment with buccal FA and CA were included. Case series, cross-sectional studies, and studies with less than two months of follow-up were excluded. Two investigators independently extracted the data from included articles and assessed risk of bias across studies using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data were performed. Pairwise meta-analysis using a random-effects model were used to compare periodontal indices between FA and CA treat-ment in different follow-up periods.Results: From the 129 potential studies, finally 12 studies were included. Only 8 could be included in the quantita-tive analysis. CA seems to slightly maintain better periodontal health indices. Only plaque index in a mid-term follow-up (mean difference (MD):-0.99; 95%; Confidence interval (CI) [-1.94 to-0.03]; P=.04; I2=99%), and pocket probing depth at a long-term follow-up (MD: -0.93mm; 95% CI [-1.16 to 0.7]; P<0.0001) reported statisti-cally significant results favoring CA.Conclusions: Up to the date there is not enough evidence to conclude that CA maintains better periodontal health during an orthodontic treatment than FA

Evaluation of a Bayesian Algorithm to Detect Burned Areas in the Canary Islands’ Dry Woodlands and Forests Ecoregion Using MODIS Data

Burned Area (BA) is deemed as a primary variable to understand the Earth’s climate system. Satellite remote sensing data have allowed for the development of various burned area detection algorithms that have been globally applied to and assessed in diverse ecosystems, ranging from tropical to boreal. In this paper, we present a Bayesian algorithm (BY-MODIS) that detects burned areas in a time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images from 2002 to 2012 of the Canary Islands’ dry woodlands and forests ecoregion (Spain). Based on daily image products MODIS, MOD09GQ (250 m), and MOD11A1 (1 km), the surface spectral reflectance and the land surface temperature, respectively, 10 day composites were built using the maximum temperature criterion. Variables used in BY-MODIS were the Global Environment Monitoring Index (GEMI) and Burn Boreal Forest Index (BBFI), alongside the NIR spectral band, all of which refer to the previous year and the year the fire took place in. Reference polygons for the 14 fires exceeding 100 hectares and identified within the period under analysis were developed using both post-fire LANDSAT images and official information from the forest fires national database by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment of Spain (MAPAMA). The results obtained by BY-MODIS can be compared to those by official burned area products, MCD45A1 and MCD64A1. Despite that the best overall results correspond to MCD64A1, BY-MODIS proved to be an alternative for burned area mapping in the Canary Islands, a region with a great topographic complexity and diverse types of ecosystems. The total burned area detected by the BY-MODIS classifier was 64.9% of the MAPAMA reference data, and 78.6% according to data obtained from the LANDSAT images, with the lowest average commission error (11%) out of the three products and a correlation (R2) of 0.82. The Bayesian algorithm—originally developed to detect burned areas in North American boreal forests using AVHRR archival data Long-Term Data Record—can be successfully applied to a lower latitude forest ecosystem totally different from the boreal ecosystem and using daily time series of satellite images from MODIS with a 250 m spatial resolution, as long as a set of training areas adequately characterising the dynamics of the forest canopy affected by the fire is defined

A non-perturbative approach to the scalar Casimir effect with Lorentz symmetry violation

We determine the effect of Lorentz invariance violation in the vacuum energy and stress between two parallel plates separated by a distance $L$, in the presence of a massive real scalar field. We parametrize the Lorentz-violation in terms of a symmetric tensor $h^{\,\mu\nu}$ that represents a constant background. Through the Green's function method, we obtain the global Casimir energy, the Casimir force between the plates and the energy density in a closed analytical form without resorting to perturbative methods. With regards to the pressure, we find that $\mathcal{F}_c(L)=\mathcal{F}_0(\tilde{L})/\sqrt{-{\rm det}\, h^{\,\mu\nu}}$, where $\mathcal{F}_0$ is the Lorentz-invariant expression, and $\tilde{L}$ is the plate separation rescaled by the component of $h^{\,\mu\nu}$ normal to the plates, $\tilde{L}=L/\sqrt{-h^{nn}}$. We also analyze the Casimir stress including finite-temperature corrections. The local behavior of the Casimir energy density is also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, No figure

Rapid determination of salbutamol in pharmaceutical preparations by chiral capillary electrophoresis

A fast and simple method of chiral capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been applied to the analysis of salbutamol in different pharmaceutical preparations. Using of a 25 mM acetate buffer (pH 5.0), containing 13.1 mg/mL carboxymethyl- -cyclodextrin (CM- -\ud CD), an applied voltage of 20 kV and a temperature of 25 C, the enantiomers of salbutamol could be separated in about 2 min. Three different pharmaceutical preparations (two syrups, one oral solution, and two kind of tablets) containing a racemate of salbutamol\ud were injected directly in the CE system, following dilution in dimethyl sulfoxide\ud (DMSO). Appreciable differences in the retention times were observed for salbutamol enantiomers in the different formulations studied, which were attributed to the effect of the matrix components on the electrophoretic mobility. The standard addition method\ud was used for the calibration due to the existence of matrix interferences. Finally, the stability of the enantiomers of salbutamol in the oral solution was studied calculating the enantiomeric ratio values when the solution was injected immediately after being opened in the first case and after being opened and stored in the fridge for two months in the second case