A recipe for an unpredictable random number generator

In this work we present a model for computation of random processes in digital computers which solves the problem of periodic sequences and hidden errors produced by correlations. We show that systems with non-invertible non-linearities can produce unpredictable sequences of independent random numbers. We illustrate our result with some numerical calculations related with random walks simulations.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings Mochima spring school in theoretial physic

How resource-efficient is the global steel industry?

Resource efficiency is an instrumental mitigation option in the steel industry but, existing studies have failed to provide a global analysis of the sector's energy and material use. Despite the interactions between energy and materials in steelmaking, recent studies investigate each of these resources in isolation, providing only partial insight into resource efficiency. This study analyses the latest, most comprehensive resource data on the global steel industry and quantifies the savings associated with reducing this through energy- and material- saving measures. Three production routes are investigated for 2010, namely the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (ore-based); direct reduction/electric arc furnace; scrap-based electric arc furnace routes (secondary). The sector's resource efficiency - accounting for energy and materials - is expressed in exergy and measured at two levels, that of production routes and plants. The results show that the sector is 32.9% resource-efficient and that secondary steelmaking is twice as efficient (65.7%) as ore-based production (29.1%). Energy-saving options, such as the recovery of off-gases, can save about 4 EJ/year (exergy). Material- saving options, such as yield improvements, can deliver just under 1 EJ/year extra. A global shift from average ore-based production to best available operation can save up to 6.4 EJ/year; a 26% reduction in global exergy input to steelmaking. Shifting to secondary steelmaking can save 8 EJ/year, limited only by the need to still produce half of steel from ore in 2050. Resource efficiency, measured in exergy, provides stakeholders with an instrument that treats energy and material efficiency measures on an equal footing

Recent Advances on Nanocomposite Resists With Design Functionality for Lithographic Microfabrication

Nanocomposites formed by a phase-dispersed nanomaterial and a polymeric host matrix are highly attractive for nano- and micro-fabrication. The combination of nanoscale and bulk materials aims at achieving an effective interplay between extensive and intensive physical properties. Nanofillers display size-dependent effects, paving the way for the design of tunable functional composites. The matrix, on the other hand, can facilitate or even enhance the applicability of nanomaterials by allowing their easy processing for device manufacturing. In this article, we review the field of polymer-based nanocomposites acting as resist materials, i.e. being patternable through radiation-based lithographic methods. A comprehensive explanation of the synthesis of nanofillers, their functionalization and the physicochemical concepts behind the formulation of nanocomposites resists will be given. We will consider nanocomposites containing different types of fillers, such as metallic, magnetic, ceramic, luminescent and carbon-based nanomaterials. We will outline the role of nanofillers in modifying various properties of the polymer matrix, such as the mechanical strength, the refractive index and their performance during lithography. Also, we will discuss the lithographic techniques employed for transferring 2D patterns and 3D shapes with high spatial resolution. The capabilities of nanocomposites to act as structural and functional materials in novel devices and selected applications in photonics, electronics, magnetism and bioscience will be presented. Finally, we will conclude with a discussion of the current trends in this field and perspectives for its development in the near future.Fil: Martínez, Eduardo David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Prado, A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, M.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Anguiano, S.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Tosi, Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Salazar Alarcón, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; ArgentinaFil: Pastoriza, Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Oficina de Coordinacion Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche | Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia. Unidad Ejecutora Instituto de Nanociencia y Nanotecnologia - Nodo Bariloche.; Argentin

Rural revival? The rise in internal migration to rural areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Who moved and where?

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, anecdotal evidence of a “rural revival” emerged mirroring the “urban exodus” hypothesis. Currently, we know that internal migration to rural areas increased in some countries during 2020, although not with the intensity speculated by the media. However, little is known about the attributes of rural areas attracting migrants and demographic composition of migration inflows. Drawing on administrative population register data, we analysed the main types of rural areas pulling internal migrants in Spain and their demographic characteristics, namely age, sex and place of birth. Our results show that in-migration increased in rural areas close to cities and with high prevalence of second homes. Inflows to rural areas comprised migrants across a wide age spectrum, from young adults and families to retired individuals. These flows also comprised foreign-born populations from high socio-economic background, particularly Latin Americans and individuals from high-income countries. Our findings suggest unequal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conterurbanisation process, triggering population movements among high-socioeconomic groups from cities to rural area

Characterizing Industrial and Artisanal Fishing Vessel Catch Composition Using Environmental DNA and Satellite-Based Tracking Data

The decline in wild-caught fisheries paired with increasing global seafood demand is pushing the need for seafood sustainability to the forefront of national and regional priorities. Validation of species identity is a crucial early step, yet conventional monitoring and surveillance tools are limited in their effectiveness because they are extremely time-consuming and require expertise in fish identification. DNA barcoding methods are a versatile tool for the genetic monitoring of wildlife products; however, they are also limited by requiring individual tissue samples from target specimens which may not always be possible given the speed and scale of seafood operations. To circumvent the need to individually sample organisms, we pilot an approach that uses forensic environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to profile fish species composition from the meltwater in fish holds on industrial and artisanal fishing vessels in Ecuador. Fish identified genetically as present were compared to target species reported by each vessel’s crew. Additionally, we contrasted the geographic range of identified species against the satellite-based fishing route data of industrial vessels to determine if identified species could be reasonably expected in the catch.publishedVersio

Impact of global warming at the range margins: Phenotypic plasticity and behavioral thermoregulation will buffer an endemic amphibian

© 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. When dispersal is not an option to evade warming temperatures, compensation through behavior, plasticity, or evolutionary adaptation is essential to prevent extinction. In this work, we evaluated whether there is physiological plasticity in the thermal performance curve (TPC) of maximum jumping speed in individuals acclimated to current and projected temperatures and whether there is an opportunity for behavioral thermoregulation in the desert landscape where inhabits the northernmost population of the endemic frog Pleurodema thaul. Our results indicate that individuals acclimated to 20°C and 25°C increased the breath of their TPCs by shifting their upper limits with respect to when they were acclimated at 10°C. In addition, even when dispersal is not possible for this population, the landscape is heterogeneous enough to offer opportunities for behavioral thermoregulation. In particular, under current climatic conditions, behavioral thermoregulation is not compulsory as available operative temperatures are encompassed within the population TPC limits. However, for severe projected temperatures under climate change, behavioral thermoregulation will be required in the sunny patches. In overall, our results suggest that this population of Pleurodema thaul will be able to endure the worst projected scenario of climate warming as it has not only the physiological capacities but also the environmental opportunities to regulate its body temperature behaviorally.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Ab-initio calculations and ellipsometry measurements of the optical properties of the layered semiconductor In4Se3

In this work, we present a thorough study of the optical properties of the layered orthorhombic compoundIn4Se3. The dielectric function—real and imaginary parts, the complex refraction index, the reflectivity, theabsorption coefficient, and the conductivity of In4Se3 were calculated with the inclusion of the spin-orbitinteraction, using an ab initio FP-LAPW method based on DFT. Also, generalized ellipsometry was employedfor more precise measurement of the anisotropic dielectric functions for polarization along crystal a, b, and caxes of orthorhombic absorbing In4Se3 single crystals cut approximately parallel to (100) at photon energiesfrom 0.76 to 3.1 eV. Our experimental results show a good agreement with our calculations. We discuss thelocation and nature of the main optical peaks appearing in the spectra. The obtained optical functions displaya rather anisotropic behavior, mainly in the infrared-visible region. Our results seem to be predictive to a highextension, given the scarce experimental information about its optical properties.Fil: Makinistian, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Albanesi, Eduardo Aldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Lemus, Nasly Vanessa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Petukhov, A. G.. South Dakota School of Mines; Estados UnidosFil: Schmidt, D.. University Of Nebraska; Estados UnidosFil: Schubert, E.. University Of Nebraska; Estados UnidosFil: Schubert, M.. University Of Nebraska; Estados UnidosFil: Losovyj, Ya. Louisiana State University; Estados UnidosFil: Galiy, P.. Ivan Franko National University of Lviv; UcraniaFil: Dowben, P.. University Of Nebraska; Estados Unido

Estimators for local non-Gaussianities

We study the Likelihood function of data given f_NL for the so-called local type of non-Gaussianity. In this case the curvature perturbation is a non-linear function, local in real space, of a Gaussian random field. We compute the Cramer-Rao bound for f_NL and show that for small values of f_NL the 3-point function estimator saturates the bound and is equivalent to calculating the full Likelihood of the data. However, for sufficiently large f_NL, the naive 3-point function estimator has a much larger variance than previously thought. In the limit in which the departure from Gaussianity is detected with high confidence, error bars on f_NL only decrease as 1/ln Npix rather than Npix^-1/2 as the size of the data set increases. We identify the physical origin of this behavior and explain why it only affects the local type of non-Gaussianity, where the contribution of the first multipoles is always relevant. We find a simple improvement to the 3-point function estimator that makes the square root of its variance decrease as Npix^-1/2 even for large f_NL, asymptotically approaching the Cramer-Rao bound. We show that using the modified estimator is practically equivalent to computing the full Likelihood of f_NL given the data. Thus other statistics of the data, such as the 4-point function and Minkowski functionals, contain no additional information on f_NL. In particular, we explicitly show that the recent claims about the relevance of the 4-point function are not correct. By direct inspection of the Likelihood, we show that the data do not contain enough information for any statistic to be able to constrain higher order terms in the relation between the Gaussian field and the curvature perturbation, unless these are orders of magnitude larger than the size suggested by the current limits on f_NL.Comment: 26 pages. v2: added comments about the approximations used, published JCAP versio

Estudio de costos e implementacion de un programa preventivo de lubricacion, para aserradero Constitucion

97 p.La lubricación desempeña un papel primordial e importante dentro de cualquier sistema de mantenimiento. Para estimar su importancia basta considerar tan solo que: “Todas las partes en movimiento de las máquinas están sujetas a roce y a desgaste”. Por esto, es que uno de los problemas más frecuentes con los que los mantenedores han tenido que enfrentarse, es la falta de lubricación, lubricación errónea o exceso de lubricación, como también las frecuencias de lubricación no son muy claras cuando de lubricar se trata, no llevando un orden en las lubricaciones como tampoco se sabe el gasto de lubricante ocupado en cada máquina ni el tiempo requerido en hacer dichas lubricaciones. Por estas razones las cuales dañan en gran medida las vidas útiles de las máquinas, se hará un estudio de costo para considerar las características de cada máquina, con sus partes a lubricar, además se confeccionara hojas de ruta de modo que la persona a cargo de lubricar sepa bien que hacer. También la persona responsable tendrá todas las herramientas necesarias para lubricar a través de un programa quien entrega la programación semanal de lubricación. En este programa él registrara la máquina la cual va a lubricar y su frecuencia apropiada. Este plan tiene como propósito o meta básica mejorar la administración de la lubricación en el departamento de mantenimiento, con el fin de asegurar la disponibilidad de las instalaciones y equipamientos para dar el mejor cumplimiento a los programas de producción de la planta, por medio de la formulación de hojas de ruta y programas de mantenimiento en lubricación