Charged Annular Disks and Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m Type Black Holes from Extremal Dust

We present the first analytical superposition of a charged black hole with an annular disk of extremal dust. In order to obtain the solutions, we first solve the Einstein-Maxwell field equations for sources that represent disk-like configurations of matter in confomastatic spacetimes by assuming a functional dependence among the metric function, the electric potential and an auxiliary function,which is taken as a solution of the Laplace equation. We then employ the Lord Kelvin Inversion Method applied to models of finite extension in order to obtain annular disks. The structures obtained extend to infinity, but their total masses are finite and all the energy conditions are satisfied. Finally, we observe that the extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole can be embedded into the center of the disks by adding a boundary term in the inversion.Comment: 17 revtex pages, 8 eps figure

A probabilistic model to predict household occupancy profiles for home energy management applications

Due to the impact of human lifestyle on building energy consumption, the development of occupants' behavior models is crucial for energy-saving purposes. In this regard, occupancy modeling is an effective approach to intend such a purpose. However, the literature reveals that existing occupancy models have limitations related to the representation of occupancy state duration and the integration of occupancy variability among individuals. Accordingly, this paper proposes an explicit differentiated duration probabilistic model to generate realistic daily occupancy profiles in residential buildings. The discrete-time Markov chain theory and the semi-parametric Cox proportional hazards model (Cox regression) are used to predict household occupancy profiles. The proposed model is able to capture occupancy states duration and integrate human behavior variability according to individuals' characteristics. Moreover, a parametric analysis is employed to investigate these characteristics' impact on the model performance and consequently, select the most significant input variables. A validation process is conducted by comparing the model performance with that of previous methods, presented in the literature. For this purpose, the k crossvalidation technique is utilized. Validation results demonstrate that the proposed approach is highly efficient in generating realistic household occupancy profiles

Local invertibility in Sobolev spaces with applications to nematic elastomers and magnetoelasticity

We define a class of deformations in W^1,p(\u3a9,R^n), p>n 121, with positive Jacobian that do not exhibit cavitation. We characterize that class in terms of the non-negativity of the topological degree and the equality between the distributional determinant and the pointwise determinant of the gradient. Maps in this class are shown to satisfy a property of weak monotonicity, and, as a consequence, they enjoy an extra degree of regularity. We also prove that these deformations are locally invertible; moreover, the neighbourhood of invertibility is stable along a weak convergent sequence in W^1,p, and the sequence of local inverses converges to the local inverse. We use those features to show weak lower semicontinuity of functionals defined in the deformed configuration and functionals involving composition of maps. We apply those results to prove existence of minimizers in some models for nematic elastomers and magnetoelasticity

Orbitopatía tiroidea: protocolo de manejo basado en revisión de la evidencia

La orbitopatía tiroidea es una patología potencialmente grave que amenaza la visión. Es la manifestación extratiroidea más frecuente de la enfermedad de Graves y, aunque la prevalencia no está evaluada en Colombia, puede producir pérdida de la visión, con consecuencias catastróficas. Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, se realizó este trabajo con el objetivo de describir su enfoque diagnóstico y terapéutico basado en la mejor evidencia disponible. Se elaboró un protocolo de manejo aplicable a nuestro medio y se realizó una evaluación y adaptación de la guía European Group on Graves’ Orbitopathy (EUGOGO) del 2016 (1). Para la evaluación se usó la herramienta AGREE IIy se utilizó la metodología GRADE para la graduación de la calidad de la evidencia y formulación de las recomendaciones (2). Adicionalmente, se hizo una revisión sistemática de la literatura con el objetivo de evaluar la eficacia de la terapia biológica en el manejo de la orbitopatía de Graves. Se presentan las recomendaciones para el diagnóstico, tratamiento y seguimiento. Se recalca la importancia de contar con un equipo multidisciplinario con experiencia en el manejo de la orbitopatía tiroidea (endocrinología, oftalmología, cirugía de órbita, radioterapia y reumatología), idealmente en un centro de tercer nivel de atención. Es esencial la clasificación adecuada para determinar qué pacientes se benefician del tratamiento inmunosupresor. Si se maneja de forma oportuna, se puede lograr una disminución de la aparición de secuelas irreversible

Online unsupervised occupancy anticipation system applied to residential heat load management

Human preferences and lifestyles significantly impact buildings' energy consumption. Consequently, a better understanding of occupants' behavior is crucial to decrease energy consumption and maintain occupants' comfort. Occupant-centric control (OCC) strategies are effective approaches to fulfil such a purpose. As such, occupancy detection and prediction are of prime importance, particularly to manage Electric Space Heating (ESH) systems, due to the relatively slow dynamics of the temperature in dwellings. This paper proposes an Explicit Duration Hidden Markov Model (EDHMM) for unsupervised online presence detection and a hazard-based approach for occupancy prediction. Moreover, a control strategy using a cost function, weighted by occupancy predictions, and a load-shifting strategy based on time-varying electricity price are put forward. This work initially validates the consistency of the proposed approach by using synthetic data generated by a Monte Carlo simulation. Subsequently, the performance of our framework is compared with previous methods presented in the literature through experimental validation. Results demonstrate that the proposed EDHMM approach is efficient in detecting occupancy states. Besides, the results of the field implementation show the potential of the proposed control strategy to preserve occupants' thermal comfort while decreasing the heating energy consumption

Building a circular supply chain:Achieving resilient operations with the circular economy

This paper highlights the fundamental contribution that supply chain professionals can make to the transition to a circular economy. It aims to provide a general understanding of how the circular economy and supply chain management fields are related to one another. By exploring the concept of a circular supply chain, the paper illustrates the role of supply chain professionals in operationalising circular economy initiatives within their organisations, as well as the opportunities and challenges they may encounter along the way. The paper also provides initialrecommendations for and examples of companies overcoming some of these challenges, based on the experiences of supply chain professionals involved in the research

Altered thymic differentiation and modulation of arthritis by invariant NKT cells expressing mutant ZAP70

Various subsets of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells with different cytokine productions develop in the mouse thymus, but the factors driving their differentiation remain unclear. Here we show that hypomorphic alleles of Zap70 or chemical inhibition of Zap70 catalysis leads to an increase of IFN-gamma-producing iNKT cells (NKT1 cells), suggesting that NKT1 cells may require a lower TCR signal threshold. Zap70 mutant mice develop IL-17-dependent arthritis. In a mouse experimental arthritis model, NKT17 cells are increased as the disease progresses, while NKT1 numbers negatively correlates with disease severity, with this protective effect of NKT1 linked to their IFN-gamma expression. NKT1 cells are also present in the synovial fluid of arthritis patients. Our data therefore suggest that TCR signal strength during thymic differentiation may influence not only IFN-gamma production, but also the protective function of iNKT cells in arthritis