A new approach to the optimization of the extraction of astrometric and photometric information from multi-wavelength images in cosmological fields

This paper describes a new approach to the optimization of information extraction in multi-wavelength image cubes of cosmological fields. The objective is to create a framework for the automatic identification and tagging of sources according to various criteria (isolated source, partially overlapped, fully overlapped, cross-matched, etc) and to set the basis for the automatic production of the SEDs (spectral energy distributions) for all objects detected in the many multi-wavelength images in cosmological fields.In order to do so, a processing pipeline is designed that combines Voronoi tessellation, Bayesian cross-matching, and active contours to create a graph-based representation of the cross-match probabilities. This pipeline produces a set of SEDs with quality tags suitable for the application of already-proven data mining methods. The pipeline briefly described here is also applicable to other astrophysical scenarios such as star forming regions.Comment: GREAT Workshop. This paper will be published in Springer as part of the proceedings for the GREAT Worksho

GDP growth differences and financial contagion: evidence from the 2008-2009 subprime crisis

Trend and panel data analyses are used to determine the role of financial variables in GDP growth differences during the last global recession. Real variables are implemented in order to absorb real shocks and give a better (less biased) estimation of the effects of those nominal (financial) shocks. Results indicate an important role of Stock Market correlations

Ανάπτυξη Γραφενίου και Συνδυασμός με Διηλεκτρικά Υλικά για Νέες Ηλεκτρονικές Διατάξεις

Graphene is a two-dimensional material with very promising prospects for applications on electronic devices of new generation. In this work we have optimized the process to grow single layer graphene on copper substrates by chemical vapor deposition. Large areas of single layer graphene with low defect densities were certified by Raman spectroscopy. Although Raman spectroscopy is widely used to study the number of graphene layers when the layers are AB stacked, the method has limitations when it deals with other stacking orders. We demonstrated that ARPES measurements can be used to determine the number of layers of non-AΒ stacked graphene grown on single crystal Cu(111). Thus, we found that we had three rotated graphene layers with a relative angle of ~4° between them. Another approximation to the single layer graphene was tried. From a sample with AB stacked multi-layer graphene, the number of layers were reduced by etching the sample at hydrogen atmosphere while using mild temperatures during the annealing. However, we did not achieve our principal goal to reduce the sample to single layer graphene. Instead we managed to reduce the sample to AB-stacked few-layers graphene, which is also interesting since it is not easy to grow large areas of AB stacked few-layers graphene by chemical vapor deposition. It is worth mentioning that the process did not introduce noticeable defects on the lattice. The whole process was certified by Raman spectroscopy and XPS. We achieved to encapsulate graphene in MIS device gates. The transfer method was optimized, as well as the Al2O3 deposition, to avoid graphene defects. C-V curves were measured on capacitors with and without graphene embed in order to analyze the effect of graphene in the structure. The results show a large enhancement of the total capacitance of up to 35% in the accumulation, above the geometrical capacitance. This was related to the negative quantum capacitance contribution of graphene by a theoretical model of the device. Finally, the stability of graphene on different two-dimensional substrates such as hAlN/Ag111, h-BN/Ni111, HfSe2/Ni111 and MoSe2/TaSe2 was studied by density functional theory. Also, the study of the electronic properties of the structures mentioned before shows that dielectrics with a larger band gap (h-AlN, h-BN and MoSe2) do not affect the electronic properties of graphene while the dielectric with smaller band gap (HfSe2) clearly affect the graphene LDOS. From the point of view of metals, it is shown that Ag(111) alters more significantly the LDOS of graphene than Ni(111) or TaSe2. Additionally, DFT method was used to analyze ARPES measurements of different twodimensional transition metal dichalcogenides such as TaSe2, ZrSe2 and HfSe2.Το γραφένιο είναι ένα δισδιάστατο υλικό με πολλά υποσχόμενες προοπτικές για εφαρμογές σε ηλεκτρονικές διατάξεις νέας γενιάς. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της διδακτορικής διατριβής, βελτιστοποιήθηκε η διαδικασία ανάπτυξης μονοατομικού στρώματος γραφενίου σε υποστρώματα χαλκού, μέσω της μεθόδου Χημικής Εναπόθεσης από Φάση Ατμών (Chemical Vapor Deposition, CVD). Για τον έλεγχο των αποτελεσμάτων, μεγάλες επιφάνειες μονοατομικού γραφενίου με μικρή πυκνότητα ατελειών χαρακτηρίστηκαν μέσω της φασματοσκοπίας Raman. Παρά το γεγονός ότι η φασματοσκοπία Raman χρησιμοποιείται ευρέως για την ανίχνευση του αριθμού των στρωμάτων AB stacked γραφενίου, η μέθεοδος δεν είναι επαρκής όταν χρησιμοποιείται σε άλλες στρωματικές δομές. Ως απάντηση σε αυτό το πρόβλημα, αποδείχτηκε ότι η μέθοδος ARPES μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί για να προσδιοριστεί ο αριθμός των στρωμάτων του Νon-AΒ stacked γραφενίου επί μονοκρυσταλλικου Cu(111). Το συμπέρασμα είναι ότι αυτές οι δομές αποτελούνται από τρία στρώματα γραφενίου, περιστραμμένα μεταξύ τους, ανά δύο, κατά ~4°. Επιχειρήθηκε επιπλέον μία ακόμα προσέγγιση για την ανάπτυξη μονοατομικού στρώματος γραφενίου. Από ένα δείγμα AB stacked πολυστρωματικού γραφενίου, ο αριθμός των στρωμάτων μειώθηκε με διάβρωση του δείγματος σε ατμόσφαιρα υδρογόνου και με χρήση ήπιας θερμοκρασίας. Ωστόσο δεν καταφέραμε να επιτύχουμε τον αρχικό μας στόχο και να παράξουμε μονοατομικό στρώμα γραφενίου. Αντί αυτού καταφέραμε όμως να μειώσουμε το δείγμα σε AB-stacked ολιγοστρωματικό γραφένιο, κάτι το οποίο έχει επίσης ενδιαφέρον, δεδομένου ότι μέχρι τώρα ήταν δύσκολο να επιτευχθεί η ανάπτυξη μεγάλων επιφανειών AB-stacked γραφενίου μέσω της CVD. Αξίζει επίσης να σημειωθεί ότι η παραπάνω διαδικασία δεν προκάλεσε εμφανή ελαττώματα στο πλέγμα. Τα πειραματικά αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώθηκαν μέσω της φασματοσκοπίας Raman και της XPS. Σε συνέχεια των προηγούμενων, καταφέραμε να ενσωματώσουμε γραφένιο σε πύλες MIS. Τόσο η διαδικασία μεταφοράς του γραφενίου στις πύλες όσο και η εναπόθεση του Al2O3 βελτιστοποιήθηκαν προκειμένου να αποφευχθούν τα ελαττώματα στο γραφένιο. Στη συνέχεια μετρήθηκαν οι καμπύλες C-V των πυκνωτών, μέ και χωρίς γραφένιο, για να προσδιοριστεί η επίδραση του γραφενίου στη λειτουργία της συνολικής δομής. Τα αποτελέσματα έδειξαν μία μεγάλη αύξηση έως και 35% της συνολικής πυκνότητας στη συσσώρευση, πάνω από τη γεωμετρική πυκνότητα. Αυτή αποδόθηκε στην συμμετοχή της αρνητικής κβαντικής πυκνότητας του γραφενίου, μετά από θεωρητική αναπαράσταση του μοντέλου της εν λόγω διάταξης. Τέλος, εξετάστηκε η σταθερότητα του γραφενίου επάνω σε διαφορετικά δισδιάστατα υποστρώματα όπως τα h-AlN/Ag111, h-BN/Ni111, HfSe2/Ni111 και MoSe2/TaSe2, μέσω της θεωρίας συναρτησιακού της πυκνότητας (DFT). Επιπλέον, από τη μελέτη των xii ηλεκτρονιακών ιδιοτήτων των δομών που αναφέρθηκαν παραπάνω, προέκυψε ότι τα διελεκτρικά υλικά με μεγαλύτερο ενεργειακό χάσμα (h-AlN, h-BN and MoSe2) δεν επηρεάζουν τις ηλεκτρονιακές ιδιότητες του γραφενίου, ενώ αυτά με μικρότερο ενεργειακό χάσμα (HfSe2) σαφώς επηρεάζουν περισσότερο σημαντικά την τοπική πυκνότητα καταστάσεων (LDOS) του γραφενίου. Ως προς τα μέταλλα, αποδείχθηκε ότι ο Ag(111) διαφοροποιεί πιο έντονα τα LDOS του γραφενίου σε σχέση με το Ni(111) ή το TaSe2. Τέλος επισημαίνεται ότι η μέθοδος DFT χρησιμοποιήθηκε για να αναλυθούν οι μετρήσεις ARPES των διαφορετικών δισδιάστατων μεταβατικών μετάλλικών διχαλκογενίδων όπως τα TaSe2, ZrSe2 και HfSe2

Demographic Transition Environmental Concern and the Kuznets Curve

In an endogenous growth model with pollution and abatement we characterize the socially optimal solution. We find that the rate of growth depends negatively on the weight of environmental care in utility and positively on the population growth rate. We also find a trade-off between growth and environmental quality beyond which an environmental Kuznets curve is derived in the long term. This one emerges from the implications of the demographic transition for the rate of population growth, and the accompanying variation in the willingness to pay for environmental quality as the economy develops.Optimal Growth; Environment; Population Growth; Preferences

A Cultural-historical Activity Theory Analysis of Factors Affecting Technology Adoption by Higher Education Program Faculty

Background: Researchers have revealed that among the reasons provided as barriers to the adoption of technology are: lack of technology resources, time, professional development and support (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, 1997; Parker, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; Sheldon & Jones, 1996; NCATE, 1997; Shelly, Gunter & Gunter, 2010, U.S. Congress, 1995). Several models used to explain the usage of technology within education such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) have been somewhat ineffective in explaining or providing a holistic view of the factors that come into play when examining technology infusion and diffusion as they account for a limited percentage of variance (Legris, Ingham & Collerete, 2003; Pan, Gunter, Sivo & Cornell, 2005). Purpose: To better understand the choices that faculty members make in their use of educational technologies and media and to determine why some technologies such as blackboard have been widely adopted, but others have not. The following research question was formulated to guide the study: Why do faculty members in higher education make the instructional choices they do with respect to educational technologies and media? Also, how can the use of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), as a more robust framework, offer an increase in explanatory power to better enable the understanding of a multitude of factors that impact the adoption and use of certain media technologies? Setting: A technology rich department at a college of a large urban university in the Southeastern United States. Participants: Three faculty members who taught in the department. Research Design: Qualitative multi-site case study informed by Engeström\u27s Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 1987). Data Collection and Analysis: Document analysis, individual interviews, and laboratory and classroom observations provided data. Qualitative data analysis that employed qualitative inquiry research was informed by Creswell\u27s data analysis spiral and Engeström\u27s CHAT. Findings: Visits at the institution presented several of the key ideas in the CHAT framework including contradictions within the media selection activity and tensions at the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels. Additional themes included group work, autonomy, media as a tool to achieve learning goals, caring for students, early adopters, and relevance with current trends

Breaking Bad, entre lo doméstico y lo salvaje. Black Mirror and The enemies of freedom

Relación entre el documento audiovisual televisivo y la arquitectura y el paisaje, desde dos series de televisión. Breaking Bad: entre lo salvaje y lo doméstico. La serie se convierte, tanto desde el propio argumento que reúne a dos personales al margen de la legalidad, como por los paisajes en los que se desarrolla, en una revisión del western clásico, especialmente el desarrollado a partir de la 2ª mitad de los años 50, en las que los personajes son más unos antihéroes, que destilan tristeza, amargor y soledad. Hipótesis: el protagonista se despoja de todas sus ataduras y convencionalismos para convertirse en artista en el desierto, como otros creadores como G. O’Keffe, J. Turrel o A. Zittel. El científico trasciende más allá de la química para convertir la síntesis de metanfetamina en una obra maestra, con toda la acción liberalizadora que ello supone. Se muestra un viaje de escalas, desde la territorial, describiendo paisaje e historia, hasta la doméstica en la que se muestran las distintas tipologías y estilos de viviendas elegidas en relación inseparable con sus moradores. Black Mirror: the enemies of freedom, en referencia a la obra de A. Huxley, una revisita a Brand new world -Un mundo feliz- recopilando una serie de ensayos sobre las sociedades del futuro. Es una obra coral; aunque se sintetiza todo su contenido en cuatro bloques temáticos para su análisis: medios de comunicación, redes sociales, cerebro e identidad desde el big data y, por último, injertos en el humano para el control y monitorización de datos. Se realiza una hipótesis de cronología, en la que es imposible determinar con exactitud el momento en el que ocurren, por lo que se dividen en tres grandes bloques, lo que ya ha sucedido, lo que está sucediendo y lo que está a punto de suceder. Se recorren todos los episodios, describiendo la ciudad en la que se desarrollan desde la perspectiva del espacio público fundamentalmente, la movilidad, el espacio doméstico y los paisajes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Numerical Analysis of Water Coning for the Recovery of Petroleum: an Enriched BEM Approach

The scope of this thesis focuses on enrichment techniques applied to the water coning problem, a numerical simulation solved with the enriched Boundary Element Method (BEM) for potential problems. The problem consists on a time dependent two-zone model with a pumping sink causing the extraction of hydrocarbons. A time dependent two-zone model implicates a moving interface between the zones and since a numerical simulation is performed, a refined discretization of the interface is necessary thus a high amount of Degrees of Freedom (DoF) are needed for its solution. Enrichment schemes reduce the numbers of DoF on the interface, in theory optimising computer effort. The Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) solved for this problem. In this work, the physical aspects of the model and the enrichment scheme are described in order to perform tests that would result in the best enrichment function possible that captures reliable results regardless of the conditions of the model. The enrichment scheme is compared to the classical (unenriched) BEM that is used as a reference solution. The change of scheme results in achieving the same accuracy with 8% of the original number of equations. The results allow us to predict the computational improvements that might be achieved when this technique is applied to 3D or the conditions of the model change. These results suggest that simulations would be over 20,000 times faster without loss in accuracy. This presents industry with a strategy to prevent water to be drawn into an oil well, eliminating an expensive oil-water separation process

Diplomado de profundización CISCO (Diseño e implementación de soluciones integradas LAN WAN).

El diseño e implementación de soluciones integradas LAN – WAN, basadas en el uso de tecnología cisco fue un diplomado en el cual se miró todo lo relacionado de las redes en implementación, hablamos de cómo se ejecutó el diplomado de DISEÑO E IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE SOLUCIONES INTEGRADAS LAN – WAN, en el cual se obtuvo un apoyo en CISCO aparte del trabajo en la plataforma de la Universidad se manejaron todas las herramientas de CISCO en su plataforma y sus estudios de la misma, manejamos dos módulos en la plataforma FUNDAMENTOS DE NETWORKING y PRINCIPIOS DE ENRUTAMIENTO para conocimiento de estos dos módulos se trabajaron los casos estudio los cuales vamos hablar en esta monografía para demostrar el conocimiento adquirido en este diplomado en el caso de estudio uno el Caso de estudio propuesto es para aplicar los conocimientos dentro del curso y exploración de CISCO CCNA allí simularemos las diferentes formas de administrar una red. En el caso de estudio propuesto del módulo 2 de CCNA para este diplomado es para aplicar los conocimientos dentro del curso y exploración allí usaremos las capacidades que se han desarrollado para preparar utilizar y conectar el cableado apropiado y los dispositivos correspondientes pondremos en práctica los tema enseñados en este diplomado para aplicarlo en las empresas que a futuro trabajaremos y para aplicarlo en nuestra vida profesional.The design and implementation of integrated LAN - WAN solutions, based on the use of Cisco technology, was a diploma in which everything related to the networks in implementation was looked at, we talked about how the diploma of DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION of LAN INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS was executed - WAN, in which support was obtained in CISCO apart from the work on the University platform, all CISCO tools were handled on its platform and its studies, we managed two modules in the NETWORKING FOUNDATIONS and PRINCIPLES OF ROUTING for knowledge of these two modules, we studied the case studies which we will talk about in this monograph to demonstrate the knowledge acquired in this diploma in case study one the proposed Case Study is to apply the knowledge within the course and exploration of CISCO CCNA there we will simulate the different ways of managing a network. In the case of the proposed study of CCNA module 2 for this diploma it is to apply the knowledge within the course and exploration there we will use the capacities that have been developed to prepare to use and connect the appropriate wiring and the corresponding devices we will put into practice the subjects taught in this diploma to apply it in the companies that we will work in the future and to apply it in our professional lif