Winnerless competition in coupled Lotka-Volterra maps

Winnerless competition is analyzed in coupled maps with discrete temporal evolution of the Lotka-Volterra type of arbitrary dimension. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the appearance of structurally stable heteroclinic cycles as a function of the model parameters are deduced. It is shown that under such conditions winnerless competition dynamics is fully exhibited. Based on these conditions different cases characterizing low, intermediate, and high dimensions are therefore computationally recreated. An analytical expression for the residence times valid in the N-dimensional case is deduced and successfully compared with the simulations.J.L.C. and E.D.G. acknowledge support from IVIC-141, L.A.G.-D. acknowledges support from IVIC-1089 and P.V. acknowledges support from MINECO TIN2012-30883

El papel morfogenético dominante de la escorrentía superficial en Licus Vallis, Marte: Resultados del análisis geomorfológico y morfométrico

Se ha analizado la cuenca de Licus Vallis, un antiguo cauce situado en la región ecuatorial de Marte, con la finalidad de evaluar el papel morfogenético que tuvo el agua superficial en su desarrollo. El análisis geomorfológico llevado a cabo en un entorno SIG ha permitido identificar numerosas morfologías fluviales relictas como canales, terrazas simétricas y un delta. Licus Vallis presenta una cuenca con rasgos propios de un relieve joven, con un perfil en desequilibrio, canales de cuarto orden, valles en V, una densidad de drenaje muy baja, y un patrón dendrítico. La erosión generada por la escorrentía superficial parece ser el proceso dominante en la formación de Licus Vallis. Sin embargo, la presencia de valles con cabecera semicircular parece indicar que la erosión asociada a surgencias pudo contribuir a la expansión por erosión remontante de los valles. Además, el hallazgo, por primera vez en este trabajo, de un posible delta de tipo Gilberten la desembocadura del sistema fluvial permitió definir el nivel de base de la cuenca y plantear la posible existencia de un antiguo mar en la región. A watershed analysis was performed to assess the morphogenetic role of surface water on the development of Licus Vallis, an ancient river valley located in the equatorial region of Mars. Terrain analysis in a GIS environment allowed the identification of numerous relict fluvial features such as channels, paired terraces and a delta. Licus Vallis has the characteristics of a young watershed with a non-equilibrium profile, fourth-order streams, V-shaped valleys, very low drainage density, and a dendritic drainage pattern. Erosion related to surface runoff appears to be the dominant process involved in the formation of Licus Vallis. Nevertheless, the presence of theatre-like valley heads seems to indicate that sapping erosion associated with springs may have played some role in the headward expansion of valleys. Moreover, the finding, for the first time in this work, of a possible Gilbert-type delta at the mouth of the fluvial system permitted to define the paleobase level of the drainage basin and suggests the existence of an ancient sea in the region

Wind intermittency and CO2 reductions: the case of the spanish power system

Renewable energy sources are believed to reduce drastically greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise be generated from fossil fuels used to generate electricity. This implies that a unit of renewable energy will replace a unit of fossil-fuel, with its CO2 emissions, on an equivalent basis (with no other effects on the grid). But, the fuel economy and emissions in the existing power systems are not proportional with the electricity production of intermittent sources due to cycling of the fossil fuel plants that make up the balance of the grid (i.e. changing the power output makes thermal units to operate less efficiently). This study focuses in the interactions between wind generation and thermal plants cycling, by establishing the levels of extra fuel use caused by decreased efficiencies of fossil back-up for wind electricity in Spain. We analyze the production of all thermal plants in 2011, studying different scenarios where wind penetration causes major deviations in programming, while we define a procedure for quantifying the carbon reductions by using emission factors and efficiency curves from the existing installations. The objectives are to discuss the real contributions of renewable energies to the environmental targets as well as suggest alternatives that would improve the reliability of future power systems

Modelling of growth curves and estimation of genetic parameters for growth curve parameters in Peruvian young llamas (Lama glama)

The objectives of this study were to describe the growth of young llamas by the application of four non-linear functions (Gompertz, Logistic, Von Bertalanffy and Brody), evaluate the importance of fixed (environmental) effects (sex, type of llama, month and year of birth) on growth curve parameters and finally estimate the genetic parameters for growth curve parameters (A: asymptotic body weight and k: specific growth rate). A total of 35,691 monthly body weight records from birth up to 16 months of age from 2675 young llamas, collected from 1998 to 2008 in the Quimsachata Experimental Station of the Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria (INIA) in Peru were used. Growth curve parameters were estimated by non-linear procedures while genetic parameters were estimated by application of a bivariate animal model and the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. All non-linear functions closely fitted actual body weight measurements, while the Gompertz function provided the best fit in describing the growth data of young llamas. All environmental effects significantly influenced the asymptotic weight (A), while the specific growth rate (k) was only affected by the month and year of birth. Heritability estimates for parameters A and k were 0.10 and 0.01, respectively. Genetic correlation between A and k was high and negative (−0.82), indicating that a rapid decrease in growth rate after inflection point is associated with higher mature weight. Despite the low heritability estimates obtained herein, slight genetic gain(s) were observed in the current study suggesting that a selection program to change the slope of the growth curve of llamas may be feasible

Effect of corn supplementation on the expression of intramuscular fat genes

Objective. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of supplementing pasture-finished Braford steers with corn silage on the expression level of genes associated with intramuscular fat in longissimus dorsi muscle. Materials and methods. Thirty Braford steers grazing on summer pasture were used for the study. For 120 days fifteen animals were supplemented with corn silage at 1% of body weight per head per day (Supl) whereas the remaining 15 steers only received pasture (Cont). Animals were slaughtered at 26 month of age with 464±17 Kg. Gene expression of glucose transporter type 4 (glut4), insulin-like growth factor 1 (igf1) and myostatin were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results. Supplementation produced increased expression of glut4 and igf1 genes. The expression of the genes studied was correlated with hot carcass weight, fat score of carcass and intramuscular fat content. Conclusions. Results suggest a gene expression-diet interaction in glut4 and igf1 genes, which impact on carcass fattening and intramuscular fat content in longissimus dorsi muscle of Braford steers, suggesting that these meat variables could be modulated through differential gene expression.Fil: Coria, Maria Sumampa. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa; ArgentinaFil: Álvarez Gutiérrez, Milagros A.. Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca; PerúFil: Reineri, Pablo Sebastian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Gustavo Adolfo. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Bionanotecnología del Noa; Argentin

Localized thinning for strain concentration in suspended germanium membranes and optical method for precise thickness measurement

We deposited Ge layers on (001) Si substrates by molecular beam epitaxy and used them to fabricate suspended membranes with high uniaxial tensile strain. We demonstrate a CMOS-compatible fabrication strategy to increase strain concentration and to eliminate the Ge buffer layer near the Ge/Si hetero-interface deposited at low temperature. This is achieved by a two-steps patterning and selective etching process. First, a bridge and neck shape is patterned in the Ge membrane, then the neck is thinned from both top and bottom sides. Uniaxial tensile strain values higher than 3% were measured by Raman scattering in a Ge membrane of 76 nm thickness. For the challenging thickness measurement on micrometer-size membranes suspended far away from the substrate a characterization method based on pump-and-probe reflectivity measurements was applied, using an asynchronous optical sampling technique.EC/FP7/628197/EU/Heat Propagation and Thermal Conductivity in Nanomaterials for Nanoscale Energy Management/HEATPRONAN

Audiovisual Tool for understanding Audio concepts for being used in bachelor’s degree programmes

[EN] In the Audio Signal Processing field, there exists difficulties in order to explain different concepts such as, compression, masking, quantization, sampling, among others. Further, most of these concepts require the use of audio laboratories and multiple practical session that must carry out students. Another issue is that there are students that are not able to internalize these concepts straightforwardly and require more practical sessions. In order to address these problems, we have developed an audiovisual tool, designed with Matlab, that can be used for professors and students. This tool allows to analyze, test and apply the audio concepts to real audio signals. The developed tool has been successfully experienced by professors of the audio signal processing field that recommend its use in upcoming academic courses.This research has been partly funded by TIN2014-53495-R, BES-2013-063783, BES-2013- 065034, TEC2013-47141-C4-4-R and FPU AP-2012/71274.Antoñanzas Manuel, C.; Gutiérrez Parera, P.; Simarro Haro, MDLA.; Belloch, JA. (2016). Audiovisual Tool for understanding Audio concepts for being used in bachelor’s degree programmes. En 2nd. International conference on higher education advances (HEAD'16). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 495-502. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD16.2016.2923OCS49550

Detección de latidos cardiacos patológicos y normales utilizando transformada por paquetes wavelet, máquinas de soporte vectorial y perceptrón multicapa

This paper presents the results obtained by developing a methodology to detect 5 types of heartbeats (Normal (N), Right bundle branch block (RBBB), Left bundle branch block (LBBB), Premature atrial contraction (APC) and Premature ventricular contraction (PVC)), using Wavelet transform packets with non-adaptative mode applied on features extraction from heartbeats. It was used the Shannon function to calculate the entropy and It was added an identification nodes stage per every type of cardiac signal in the Wavelet tree. The using of Wavelet packets transform allows the access to information which results of decomposition of low and high frecuency, giving providing a more integral analysis than achieved by the discrete Wavelet transform. Three families of mother Wavelet were evaluated on transformation: Daubechies, Symlet and Reverse Biorthogonal, which were results from a previous research in that were identified the mother Wavelet that had higher entropy with the cardiac signals. With non-adaptive mode, the computational cost is reduced when Wavelet packets are used; this cost represents the most marked disadvantage from the transform. To classify the heartbeats were used Support Vector Machines and Multilayer Perceptron. The best classification error was achieved employing Support Vector Machine and a radial basis function; it was 2.57 %. Este artículo presenta los resultados obtenidos al desarrollar una metodología para la detección de 5 tipos de latidos cardiacos (Normal (N), Bloqueo de Rama Derecha (RBBB), Bloqueo de Rama Izquierda (LBBB), Contracción Auricular Prematura (APC) y Contracción Ventricular Prematura (PVC)) utilizando la transformada por paquetes Wavelet de manera no adaptativa en la extracción de características de las señales cardiacas, empleando la función Shanon para cálculo de la entropía y adicionando una fase de identificación de nodos por cada tipo de señal cardiaca en el árbol Wavelet. La utilización de la transformada por paquetes Wavelet permite acceder a información obtenida de la descomposición tanto de baja como de alta frecuencia proporcionando un análisis más integral que el logrado con la transformada Wavelet discreta. Se evaluaron Wavelets madre de las familias Daubechies, Symlet 5 y Biortogonal inversa; que fueron resultado de una investigación previa en que se identificaron las Wavelet madre que mayor entropía presentaban con las señales cardiacas. Con la modalidad no adaptativa se reduce el costo computacional al utilizar los paquetes Wavelet, coste que representa la mayor desventaja de esta transformada, dando validez a la investigación realizada. Para la clasificación de los patrones cardiacos se emplearon las máquinas de soporte vectorial y el perceptrón multicapa. Con las máquinas de soporte vectorial empleando kernel de función de base radial, se logró un error de clasificación del 2,57 %.

Genome sequencing of two iBell pepper endornavirus/i (BPEV) variants infecting iCapsicum annuum/i in Colombia

Transcriptome analysis of chili and bell pepper samples from commercial plots in the municipalities of Santa Fe de Antioquia and El Penol in the province of Antioquia revealed the presence of viral sequences with significant similarity to genomes of members of the genus Endornavirus. Assembly of the chili and bell pepper transcriptomes resulted in consensus sequences of 14,727 nt and 14,714 nt that were identified as Bell pepper endornavirus (BPEV). Both sequences were nearly identical by 99.9 % at both nucleotide and amino acid levels. The presence of BPEV was confirmed by RT-qPCR, RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing using RdRp-specific primers designed from the assembled sequences in ten independent random samples taken from the investigated bell pepper stands. The phylogenetic analysis of both BPEV variants and their affiliation within the genus Endornavirus is discussed. For our knowledge, this is the first study on this group of viruses in Colombia

Enhanced Power Factor of PANI/GNP nanocomposites

Comunicación presentada en la 11th European Conference on Thermoelectrics (ECT2013), celebrada en Noordwijk (Holanda) del 18 al 20 de noviembre de 2013.Nowadays, the inorganic compounds (like Bi2Te3) are the best thermoelectric materials due to their suitable thermoelectric properties for room temperature applications. Nevertheless, organic materials, like conjugated polymers, are becoming more important recently due to their increasing Figure of Merit (0.25‐0.42). Polymers generally have low thermal conductivity (©§≈0.1‐0.5W/m∙K), flexibility, environmental stability, easily doping and de‐doping, non‐toxicity, potential processing advantages (e.g. printing) and straightforward preparation in comparison with inorganic semiconductors. The increase in the Power Factor of this materials, which is given by S2¥ò, is being achieved by two mechanisms: doping the polymers or blending them with different kinds of filling materials, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene nanosheets (GN) or graphene nanoplatelets.Peer Reviewe