Simulation of Levelized Costs of Electricity Considering Externalities

This research presents long-term projects. Applies stochastic models using Monte Carlo simulation to identify the impact that changes have in the input parameters on the output variable (LCOEE). Uses tornado analysis to identify the impact of the input variables. The results show that; in thermoelectric coal plant, the LCOEE is more sensitive to changes in the price of CO2 emissions than discount rate. In the combined cycle, the LCOEE is most sensitive to the plant factor than CO2 emissions price, discount rate. In the nuclear power plant, the discount rate has greater impact on the LCOE than overnight cost.  In contrast to previous work, this research uses Mexico’s country-risk in the discount rate. This research’s limitation is that the costs related to transmission, distribution, and backup fee are not included. Concluding that stochastic models provide useful information for decision-making by incorporating historical data and projections of the main variables that could affect the output variable (LCOEE).Simulación de costos nivelados de electricidad considerando externalidadesEsta investigación presenta proyectos de largo plazo. Aplica modelos estocásticos mediante simulación de Monte Carlo para identificar el impacto que los cambios en los parámetros de entrada tienen en la variable de salida (LCOEE). Utiliza análisis de tornados para identificar el impacto de las variables de entrada. Los resultados muestran; en termoeléctrica de carbón, que el LCOEE es más sensible a los cambios en el precio de las emisiones de CO2 que a la tasa de descuento. En el ciclo combinado, el LCOEE es más sensible al factor de planta que al precio de las emisiones de CO2. En la central nuclear, la tasa de descuento tiene mayor impacto en el LCOE que el costo unitario de inversión. A diferencia de trabajos anteriores, se usa el riesgo país de México en la tasa de descuento. Limitaciones: los costos relacionados con la transmisión, distribución y tarifa de respaldo no están incluidos. Concluyendo que los modelos estocásticos brindan información útil para la toma de decisiones al incorporar datos históricos y proyecciones de las principales variables que podrían afectar al LCOEE

Los contratos de arrendamiento en la determinación del impuesto a la renta durante la transición de la norma internacional de contabilidad NIC 17 a la norma internacional de información financiero NIIF 16 en la Empresa Top Rank publicidad en el año 2018

La presente investigación tiene como finalidad mostrar que la aplicación de la NIIF 16 tiene una incidencia significativa en la determinación del impuesto a la renta en la empresa Top Rank Publicidad, debido a que al reconocer un arrendamiento financiero o aplicar la transición de arrendamiento operativo a financiero se adicionan gastos propios del activo arrendado generador de renta el cual puede ser utilizado como costo o gasto Es por ello que se realizó una investigación en la empresa Top Rank Publicidad en el cual se mostró las adiciones y deducciones que genera al aplicar la NIIF 16 así como también reclasificar y añadir cuentas en el estado de situación financiera las cuales son una información veraz en el que se puede demostrar las diferencias que se generan por la transición. Por otro lado es necesario mencionar que la empresa cuenta con la información financiera debidamente auditada y corroborada hasta el año 2018 es por ello que se realiza la aplicación en este periodo lo cual no impide su aplicación, para realizar la comprobación. Como resultado de la investigación se determinó que los gastos por depreciación y gastos financieros del activo arrendado fueron adicionados y mayores a comparación de los gastos por arrendamiento según NIC 17, por otro lado, se establece que se pagara más impuesto a renta

Evolutionary 3D Image Segmentation of Curve Epithelial Tissues of Drosophila melanogaster

Analysing biological images coming from the microscope is challenging; not only is it complex to acquire the images, but also the three-dimensional shapes found on them. Thus, using automatic approaches that could learn and embrace that variance would be highly interesting for the field. Here, we use an evolutionary algorithm to obtain the 3D cell shape of curve epithelial tissues. Our approach is based on the application of a 3D segmentation algorithm called LimeSeg, which is a segmentation software that uses a particle-based active contour method. This program needs the fine-tuning of some hyperparameters that could present a long number of combinations, with the selection of the best parametrisation being highly time-consuming. Our evolutionary algorithm automatically selects the best possible parametrisation with which it can perform an accurate and non-supervised segmentation of 3D curved epithelial tissues. This way, we combine the segmentation potential of LimeSeg and optimise the parameters selection by adding automatisation. This methodology has been applied to three datasets of confocal images from Drosophila melanogaster, where a good convergence has been observed in the evaluation of the solutions. Our experimental results confirm the proper performing of the algorithm, whose segmented images have been compared to those manually obtained for the same tissues

Regulation of Gene Expression in Protozoa Parasites

Infections with protozoa parasites are associated with high burdens of morbidity and mortality across the developing world. Despite extensive efforts to control the transmission of these parasites, the spread of populations resistant to drugs and the lack of effective vaccines against them contribute to their persistence as major public health problems. Parasites should perform a strict control on the expression of genes involved in their pathogenicity, differentiation, immune evasion, or drug resistance, and the comprehension of the mechanisms implicated in that control could help to develop novel therapeutic strategies. However, until now these mechanisms are poorly understood in protozoa. Recent investigations into gene expression in protozoa parasites suggest that they possess many of the canonical machineries employed by higher eukaryotes for the control of gene expression at transcriptional, posttranscriptional, and epigenetic levels, but they also contain exclusive mechanisms. Here, we review the current understanding about the regulation of gene expression in Plasmodium sp., Trypanosomatids, Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis

Predictive model of water stress in tenera oil palm by means of spectral signature methods

Agriculture as a competitive business, seeks to improve productivity within crops with a more sustainable environmental management. It is important that agriculture includes new technologies that allow it to generate differential, precise and real-time information. In Colombia, the current lack of knowledge about techniques that allow early identification of water stress in African palm could generate a loss in the investment made in the fertilization of the crop, cause an increase in diseases, pests, and susceptibility to compaction or abortions in female flowers that would lead to decreases in production. In this work, a predictive model is established to quantify water stress based on spectral, physiological and soil information in African palm plants. To this end, a study was carried out in an oil palm plantation where treatments were established with 3 ranges of humidity. It was found that the indices with the highest correlation with the biophysical variable soil moisture were: NDVI_1 and NDVI_16 for treatment 1, SR_4 for treatment 2 and NDVI_16 and NDVI_20 for treatment 3. Finally, the third order polynomial regression model that obtained higher correlation coefficients of Pearson R^2=0.73 was selected as the most suitable model to estimate soil moisture content for treatments 2 and 3

Experimental realization of smectic phase in vortex matter induced by symmetric potentials arranged in two-fold symmetry arrays

Smectic order has been generated in superconducting Nb films with two-fold symmetry arrays of symmetric pinning centers. Magnetic fields applied perpendicularly to the films develop a vortex matter smectic phase that is easily detected when the vortices commensurate with the pinning center array. The smectic phase can be turned on and off with external parameters.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Acción del 2,2-Dimetox¡propano sobre algunos nitratos de metales de transición

En la reacción del 2,2-dimetoxipropano con los nitratos de níquel (II) y cinc hexahidratados se forman los correspondientes nitratos hexametanólicos; en el caso del nitrato de hierro (III) se obtiene nitrato dimetóxido de hierro (III). Se estudian los productos obtenidos por espectrofotometría de absorción en el infrarrojo y por análisis térmico

Thermomechanical response of thickly tamped targets and diamond anvil cells under pulsed hard x-ray irradiation

In the laboratory study of extreme conditions of temperature and density, the exposure of matter to high intensity radiation sources has been of central importance. Here, we interrogate the performance of multi-layered targets in experiments involving high intensity, hard x-ray irradiation, motivated by the advent of extremely high brightness hard x-ray sources, such as free electron lasers and 4th-generation synchrotron facilities. Intense hard x-ray beams can deliver significant energy in targets having thick x-ray transparent layers (tampers) around samples of interest for the study of novel states of matter and materials’ dynamics. Heated-state lifetimes in such targets can approach the microsecond level, regardless of radiation pulse duration, enabling the exploration of conditions of local thermal and thermodynamic equilibrium at extreme temperature in solid density matter. The thermal and mechanical responses of such thick layered targets following x-ray heating, including hydrodynamic relaxation and heat flow on picosecond to millisecond timescales, are modeled using radiation hydrocode simulation, finite element analysis, and thermodynamic calculations. Assessing the potential for target survival over one or more exposures and resistance to damage arising from heating and resulting mechanical stresses, this study doubles as an investigation into the performance of diamond anvil high pressure cells under high x-ray fluences. Long used in conjunction with synchrotron x-ray radiation and high power optical lasers, the strong confinement afforded by such cells suggests novel applications at emerging high intensity x-ray facilities and new routes to studying thermodynamic equilibrium states of warm, very dense matter

Absence of Chordin-like 1 Aids Motor Recovery in a Mouse Model of Stroke

Chordin-like 1 (Chrdl1) is an astrocyte-secreted protein that regulates synaptic maturation, and limits plasticity via GluA2-containing AMPA receptors (AMPARs). It was demonstrated that Chrdl1 expression is very heterogeneous throughout the brain, and it is enriched in astrocytes in cortical layers 2/3, with peak expression in the visual cortex at postnatal day 14. In response to ischemic stroke, Chrdl1 is upregulated during the acute and sub-acute phases in the peri-infarct region, potentially hindering recovery after stroke. Here, we used photothrombosis to model ischemic stroke in the motor cortex of adult male and female mice. In this study, we demonstrate that elimination of Chrdl1 in a global knock-out mouse reduces apoptotic cell death at early post-stroke stages and prevents ischemia-driven synaptic loss of AMPA receptors at later time points, all contributing to faster motor recovery. This suggests that synapse-regulating astrocyte-secreted proteins such as Chrdl1 have therapeutic potential to aid functional recovery after an ischemic injury

Propuesta para intervenir la Diabetes Mellitus tipo 2

La diabetes es una de las enfermedades que más afecta la salud de los seres humanos y en este siglo XXI es considerada un desafío para la salud mundial. Según datos y cifras presentadas por la OMS, la diabetes es una importante causa de ceguera, insuficiencia renal, infarto de miocardio, accidente cerebrovascular y amputación de los miembros inferiores. Según estimaciones de la OMS, 422 millones de adultos en todo el mundo tenían diabetes en 2014, frente a los 108 millones de 1980. En Colombia la prevalencia de diabetes mellitus 2 oscila entre el 4 y el 8%, en función del rango de edad de la población estudiada. El mestizaje, el envejecimiento y los factores asociados a la urbanización son los principales determinantes de la epidemia de diabetes que se observa en la región. El Valle del Cauca es uno de los departamentos de Colombia donde hay mayor presencia de diabetes. Según registros preliminares del Dane, en el 2014, 890 personas murieron por causa de la diabetes. La directora del Instituto Nacional de Salud, INS, Martha Lucía Ospina, indica que el sobrepeso, la obesidad, la falta de hábitos saludables y el sedentarismo son algunos de los factores que hacen que la enfermedad sea más recurrente . Según explico Carlos Hernán Mejía, nefrólogo y asesor de la Secretaría de Salud Municipal, el Valle del Cauca es uno de los departamentos con mayor índice de sedentarismo, siendo este uno de los principales factores de riesgo. Por ello, se ve necesario renovar la atención a las políticas y las acciones e intervenciones eficaces en salud, basadas en el diagnostico comunitario para mitigar los factores de riesgo que conllevan las ECNT, ampliar el alcance de estas intervenciones, obtener resultados de impacto que contribuyan en la disminución de las complicaciones que generan este tipo de enfermedades crónicas.Diabetes is one of the diseases that most affects the health of human beings and in this 21st century it is a challenge for global health. According to the data and figures included by the WHO, diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, myocardial infarction, stroke and lower limb amputation. According to WHO reports, 422 million adults worldwide had diabetes in 2014, up from 108 million in 1980. In Colombia, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus 2 ranges between 4 and 8%, depending on the age range of the study population. Miscegenation, aging and the factors associated with urbanization are the main determinants of the diabetes epidemic observed in the region. Valle del Cauca is one of the departments of Colombia with the highest presence of diabetes. According to preliminary Dane records, in 2014, 890 people died from diabetes. The director of the National Institute of Health, INS, Martha Lucía Ospina, indicates that overweight, obesity, lack of healthy habits and sedentary lifestyle are some of the factors that make the disease more recurrent. According to Carlos Hernán Mejía, nephrologist and advisor to the Municipal Health Secretariat, Valle del Cauca is one of the departments with the highest rate of sedentary lifestyle, this being one of the main risk factors. Therefore, it is necessary to renew attention to policies and actions and the problems affected in health, based on the community diagnosis to mitigate the risk factors associated with CNCDs, expand the scope of these interventions, obtain impact results that contribute to the reduction of complications that occur in this type of chronic disease