Optimal Cutting of Lumber and Particleboards into Dimension Parts: Some Algorithms and Solution Procedures

This paper describes some algorithms and procedures that can be used for determining the optimal cutting of lumber or composite boards into dimension or furniture parts. Methodologies are described for various production scenarios: 1) cutting when the direction of the grain matters (e.g., lumber), 2) cutting composite boards where grain direction does not matter, 3) rip-first cutting, 4) crosscut-first cutting, and 5) a combination of rip-first and crosscut-first. An algorithm for optimizing the cutting of all lumber types while at the same time satisfying a given order of dimension parts is also described. The models can be used interactively for comprehensive optimization of cutting a mix of lumber as shown by the two-stage decision model, or the double knapsack algorithms could be used as stand alone models for optimizing the cutting of individual lumber

Genotipos determinados de gandules (Cajanus cajan) en las costas norte y sur de Puerto Rico

Seven experiments were established at the Juana Díaz and Isabela agricultural experiment substations to evaluate the performance of determinate pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp] genotypes. Significant differences were found for yield, height, flowering date, seed weight and number of seeds per pod in almost all the experiments. Many genotypes performed better than the commercial cultivar 2B-Bushy used as check.En las Subestaciones de Juana Díaz e Isabela se establicieron siete experimentos, en los cuales se evaluaron varios genotipos de gandules de porte determinado. Se encontraron diferencias significativas para rendimiento, altura, fecha de floración, peso de la semilla y número de semillas por vaina. Se encontraron varios genotipos superiores a la variedad comercial 2B-Bushy. Algunos de estos genotipos se podrían recomendar para siembras comerciales en Puerto Rico

Molecular features similarities between SARS-CoV-2, SARS, MERS and key human genes could favour the viral infections and trigger collateral effects

In December 2019, rising pneumonia cases caused by a novel β-coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) occurred in Wuhan, China, which has rapidly spread worldwide, causing thousands of deaths. The WHO declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern, since then several scientists are dedicated to its study. It has been observed that many human viruses have codon usage biases that match highly expressed proteins in the tissues they infect and depend on the host cell machinery for the replication and co-evolution. In this work, we analysed 91 molecular features and codon usage patterns for 339 viral genes and 463 human genes that consisted of 677,873 codon positions. Hereby, we selected the highly expressed genes from human lung tissue to perform computational studies that permit to compare their molecular features with those of SARS, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS genes. The integrated analysis of all the features revealed that certain viral genes and overexpressed human genes have similar codon usage patterns. The main pattern was the A/T bias that together with other features could propitiate the viral infection, enhanced by a host dependant specialization of the translation machinery of only some of the overexpressed genes. The envelope protein E, the membrane glycoprotein M and ORF7 could be further benefited. This could be the key for a facilitated translation and viral replication conducting to different comorbidities depending on the genetic variability of population due to the host translation machinery. This is the first codon usage approach that reveals which human genes could be potentially deregulated due to the codon usage similarities between the host and the viral genes when the virus is already inside the human cells of the lung tissues. Our work leaded to the identification of additional highly expressed human genes which are not the usual suspects but might play a role in the viral infection and settle the basis for further research in the field of human genetics associated with new viral infections. To identify the genes that could be deregulated under a viral infection is important to predict the collateral effects and determine which individuals would be more susceptible based on their genetic features and comorbidities associated.Fil: Maldonado, Lucas Luciano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Mendoza Bertelli, Andrea Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Kamenetzky, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional; Argentin

Distanciometría Laser a Satélite (SLR)

En el marco de las actividades programadas para la Escuela Regional “Nuevas técnicas geodésicas para América Latina y el Caribe” , realizada entre el 5 y el 10 de abril de 2021, se dictó un módulo teórico-práctico acerca de la técnica Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). El programa incluyó la puesta en contexto de la técnica SLR junto a las demás técnicas fundamentales de la Geodesia Espacial (es decir, GNSS, VLBI y DORIS) así como la descripción detallada de los parámetros que permite observar (incluyendo la longitud del día, las órbitas satelitales, las coordenadas de las estaciones, las coordenadas del geocentro, el campo de gravedad, etc.). Así mismo, se desarrolló en profundidad la aplicación del método de cuadrados mínimos a la estimación de parámetros de interés a partir de observaciones multianuales SLR, incluyendo la técnica de apilado de ecuaciones normales, la introducción de condicionamientos absolutos y relativos a los valores a priori y la preeliminación de parámetros al nivel de las ecuaciones normales a fin de optimizar los tiempos de cómputo. Se realizó una detallada descripción de la técnica SLR, incluyendo su ecuación de observación, el segmento espacial específico (LAGEOS, Etalon, Starlette & Stella, GNSS, etc.) y el segmento terrestre (las estaciones de rastreo).Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Near-real-time VTEC maps: new contribution for Latin America Space Weather

The development of regional services able to provide ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) maps and ionospheric indexes with a high spatial resolution, and in near-real-time, are of great importance for both civilian applications and the research community. We provide here the methodologies, and an assessment, of such a system. It relies on the public Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) infrastructure in South America, incorporates data from multiple constellations (currently GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou), employs multiple frequencies, and produces continental wide VTEC maps with a latency of just a few minutes. To assess the ability of our system to model the ionospheric behavior we performed a yearround intercomparison between our near-real-time regional VTEC maps, and VTEC maps of veri ed quality produced by several referent analysis centers, resulting in mean biases lower than 1 TEC units (TECU). Also, the evaluation of our products against direct and independent GNSS-based slant TEC measurements shows RMS values better than 1 TECU. In turn, ionospheric weather W-index maps were generated, for calm and disturbed geomagnetic scenarios, solely employing our quality veri ed VTEC maps. The spatial representation of these W-index maps re ects the state of the ionosphere, with a resolution of 0:5 0:5 degrees. Finally, we conclude that our products, computed every 15 minutes, do provide an excellent spatial representation of the regional TEC, and are able to provide the bases for the possible computation of ionospheric W-index maps, also in near-real-time.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Near-real-time VTEC maps: New contribution for Latin America Space Weather

The development of regional services able to provide ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) maps and ionospheric indexes with a high spatial resolution, and in near-real-time, are of great importance for both civilian applications and the research community. We provide here the methodologies, and an assessment, of such a system. It relies on the public Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) infrastructure in South America, incorporates data from multiple constellations (currently GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou), employs multiple frequencies, and produces continental wide VTEC maps with a latency of just a few minutes. To assess the ability of our system to model the ionospheric behavior we performed a year-round intercomparison between our near-real-time regional VTEC maps, and VTEC maps of verified quality produced by several referent analysis centers, resulting in mean biases lower than 1 TEC units (TECU). Also, the evaluation of our products against direct and independent GNSS-based slant TEC measurements shows RMS values better than 1 TECU. In turn, ionospheric weather W-index maps were generated, for calm and disturbed geomagnetic scenarios, solely employing our quality verified VTEC maps. The spatial representation of these W-index maps reflects the state of the ionosphere, with a resolution of 0.5×0.5 degrees. Finally, we conclude that our products, computed every 15 min, do provide an excellent spatial representation of the regional TEC, and are able to provide the bases for the possible computation of ionospheric W-index maps, also in near-real-time.Fil: Mendoza, Luciano Pedro Oscar. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Meza, Amalia Margarita. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Aragón Paz, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Feuerland: Symptome einer aktiven Plattengrenze

Beitrag anläßlich einer Festschrift zum 65. Geburtstag von Prof. Reinhard Dietrich

Implementation of a GNSS meteorological model to the estimation of the Haines Index

Background: The objective of this study was to look for a replacement to the radiosonde measurements that are necessary for the construction of an index of potential wildfire severity (i.e., Haines Index, HI) in areas of South America that have had few to no radiosonde launches. To this end, we tested the application of GPT2w, an empirical model originally developed for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) meteorology. By using the GPT2w model, and starting from measured surface meteorological data (air pressure, temperature, and relative humidity), estimators of air temperature and dew-point air temperature at different pressure levels were generated. The selected testing area was a region of South America that included most of the Río de la Plata drainage basin, along with two hazardous areas: Sierras de Córdoba in Argentina and Serra da Canastra in Brazil. This region was chosen due to the availability of the radiosonde launches required for comparison during 2016. Results: To characterize the regional performance of HI, we used data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast’s (ECMWF) reanalysis model (ERA Interim; Dee et al., Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 137: 553–597, 2011) for the period 2000 to 2016. A statistical analysis of the differences between the simulated HI from GPT2w (HI_GPT2w) and the HI values derived from radiosonde measurements (HI_R) was performed. The results showed that HI_GPT2w reproduced HI_R values about 50% of the time, most accurately for low-severity HI values (2 to 3, on a scale of 2 to 6). In general, HI_GPT2w exhibited an underestimation of HI that increased as the index value increased. We analyzed how this underestimation affected the different HI variants calculated. To this end, we recall that each HI variant results from the sum of the stability and moisture terms. The stability term resulted from the temperature difference at different pressure levels while the moisture term is represented by the dew-point depression. Thus, the pressure level limits in the stability term define the HI variant. In this study, we used the Low-variant HI (950 and 850 hPa) and the Mid-variant HI (850 and 700 hPa). If we analyze this underestimation according to the HI variants, the moisture term is responsible for the Low variant underestimation and the stability term is responsible for the Mid variant. Conclusion: The simple application of GPT2w to extrapolate the vertical values of temperature and its dew-point depression is not enough to reproduce the Haines Index as it was measured from radiosonde measurements. Nevertheless, an improved application of GPT2w and the extrapolated saturation water vapor pressure by using the Integrated Water Vapor from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS-IWV) values could improve the results.Fil: Fernandez, Laura Isabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.astronomicas y Geofisicas. Laboratorio Maggia; ArgentinaFil: Aragón Paz, Juan Manuel. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.astronomicas y Geofisicas. Laboratorio Maggia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Meza, Amalia Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.astronomicas y Geofisicas. Laboratorio Maggia; ArgentinaFil: Mendoza, Luciano Pedro Oscar. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.astronomicas y Geofisicas. Laboratorio Maggia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Abundance and diversity of soil macroinvertebrates in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) plantations under organic and chemical fertilization in Belize

Many studies suggest that sugarcane management practices have negative impact on soil quality, especially on soil organisms, however, information on macroinvertebrate abundance and diversity in conventional sugarcane fields is scarce. This study determined the abundance and diversity of soil macroinvertebrates in sugarcane plantations under 2 types of soils, Cambisol and Fluvisol, with three types of fertilizer management: chemical fertilizer, vinasse and filter mud, and in a secondary forest (on a Cambisol). Sampling was carried out in northern Belize during two crop cycles (from May 2013 to May 2015). Soil macroinvertebrates were collected using monoliths based on Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) Handbook of Methods at the end of the rainy seasons. The parameters evaluated were biomass, density and diversity of soil macroinvertebrates (number of morphospecies, an ecological index for tropical soil quality based on macrofauna, and a converted Shannon index (H_exp)), yield and plant response variables (number of stool, number of stem, number of active leaves, stem length and stem diameter). A total of 7,634 individuals were identified, grouped into 52 morphospecies belonging to 16 orders and three species of annelids. No significant differences existed among management systems (application of chemical fertilizer, vinasse, filter mud and secondary forest) on abundance and diversity of soil macroinvertebrates, yield and plant variables. However, there were significant differences between soils and cycles in some evaluated parameters. Presuming that soil type and seasonal conditions, in a two years trial, had higher weight on determine the studied parameters than the different management systems.Muchos estudios sugieren que las prácticas de manejo de la caña de azúcar tienen un impacto negativo en la calidad del suelo, especialmente en los organismos del suelo, sin embargo, la información sobre la abundancia y diversidad de macroinvertebrados en los campos de caña de azúcar convencionales es escasa. Este estudio determinó la abundancia y diversidad de macroinvertebrados del suelo en plantaciones de caña de azúcar en dos tipos de suelo, Cambisol y Fluvisol, tres tipos de manejo de fertilizantes: fertilizante químico, vinaza, cachaza, y en un bosque secundario (en un Cambisol). El muestreo fue llevado a cabo en el norte de Belice durante dos ciclos agrícolas (de mayo 2013 a mayo 2015). Los macroinvertebrados del suelo fueron colectados usando monolitos basados en el método del Manual de Métodos Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) al final de las temporadas de lluvia. Los parámetros evaluados fueron biomasa, densidad y diversidad de macroinvertebrados del suelo (número de morfoespecies, un índice ecológico para la calidad del suelo tropical y un índice de Shannon convertido (H_exp)), rendimiento y variables de las plantas (número de cepas, número de tallos, número de hojas activas, largo del tallo y diámetro del tallo). Un total de 7,634 individuos fueron identificados, agrupados en 52 morfoespecies pertenecientes a 16 Ordenes y tres especies de anélidos. No existió diferencias significativas entre los sistemas de manejo (aplicación de fertilizante químico, vinaza, cachaza y bosque secundario) en la abundancia y diversidad de macroinvertebrados, rendimiento y variables de las plantas. Sin embargo, hubo diferencias significativas entre suelos y ciclos en algunos de los parámetros. Suponiendo que el tipo de suelo y las condiciones estacionales, en un ensayo de dos años, tuvieron mayor peso para determinar los parámetros estudiados que los diferentes sistemas de manejo