q-State Potts model metastability study using optimized GPU-based Monte Carlo algorithms

We implemented a GPU based parallel code to perform Monte Carlo simulations of the two dimensional q-state Potts model. The algorithm is based on a checkerboard update scheme and assigns independent random numbers generators to each thread. The implementation allows to simulate systems up to ~10^9 spins with an average time per spin flip of 0.147ns on the fastest GPU card tested, representing a speedup up to 155x, compared with an optimized serial code running on a high-end CPU. The possibility of performing high speed simulations at large enough system sizes allowed us to provide a positive numerical evidence about the existence of metastability on very large systems based on Binder's criterion, namely, on the existence or not of specific heat singularities at spinodal temperatures different of the transition one.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figures. Accepted in Computer Physics Communications. code available at: http://www.famaf.unc.edu.ar/grupos/GPGPU/Potts/CUDAPotts.htm

Rethinking the New Socio–Political Dynamic in Argentina and Brazil, 2011–2016

Este artículo analiza la dinámica sociopolítica durante la crisis del giro a la izquierda en Argentina y Brasil. ¿Por qué esa dinámica sociopolítica adoptó la forma de una alternancia institucional de poder en Argentina y un carácter antiinstitucional en Brasil? En el artículo se sigue una estrategia metodológica mixta: genealógica para comprender la disputa política, reconstrucción de las narrativas emergentes durante el ciclo de movilización y descriptiva para identificar las organizaciones movilizadas, sus demandas y repertorios de acción. El argumento que se sigue es que la estrategia movimentista del kirchnerismo contrastaba con la de desmovilización del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT). Mientras que la primera contribuía a canalizar los altos niveles de movilización al sistema político, la segunda fue decisiva en la crisis de un largo ciclo de representación política.This article analyzes the socio–political dynamics during the left turn crisis in Argentina and Brazil. Why did this socio–political dynamic take the form of an institutional alternation of power in Argentina and an anti–institutional character in Brazil? We follow a mixed methodological strategy: genealogical, to understand the political dispute and reconstruct the emerging narratives during the mobilization cycle; and descriptive, to identify the mobilized organizations, their demands, and repertoires of action. The argument is that the Kirchnerism movement's strategy in Argentina contrasts with the demobilization strategy of the Workers' Party (PT) in Brazil. While the former contributed to channeling high levels of mobilization to the political system, the latter was decisive in the crisis of a long cycle of political representation.Fil: Natalucci, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro de Innovación de los Trabajadores. Universidad Metropolitana para la Educación y el Trabajo. Centro de Innovación de los Trabajadores; ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, Juan Pablo. University of Bath; Reino Unido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Entrenamiento Basado en Simulación (EBS) en la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas (UNLP): estrategias didácticas

La puesta en marcha de la utilización sistemática y continua del Laboratorio de Habilidades y Destrezas a lo largo del ciclo clínico de la Carrera de Medicina y durante la Práctica Final Obligatoria (PFO), conlleva a la necesidad de capacitar al personal docente de las cátedras del ciclo clínico en estrategias de enseñanza con modelos de simulación.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Are preserved coastal water bodies in Spanish Mediterranean basin impacted by human activity? Water quality evaluation using chemical and biological analyses

The Spanish Mediterranean basin is particularly susceptible to climate change and human activities, making it vulnerable to the influence of anthropogenic contaminants. Therefore, conducting comprehensive and exhaustive water quality assessment in relevant water bodies of this basin is pivotal. In this work, surface water samples from coastal lagoons or estuaries were collected across the Spanish Mediterranean coastline and subjected to target and suspect screening of 1,585 organic micropollutants by liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility separation and high resolution mass spectrometry. In total, 91 organic micropollutants could be confirmed and 5 were tentatively identified, with pharmaceuticals and pesticides being the most prevalent groups of chemicals. Chemical analysis data was compared with data on bioanalysis of those samples (recurrent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation, and estrogenic receptor (ER) inhibition in wetland samples affected by wastewater streams). The number of identified organic contaminants containing aromatic rings could explain the AhR activation observed. For the ER antagonistic effects, predictions on estrogenic inhibition potency for the detected compounds were used to explain the activities observed. The integration of chemical analysis with bioanalytical observations allowed a comprehensive overview of the quality of the water bodies under study