Optimization of Dengue Epidemics: a test case with different discretization schemes

The incidence of Dengue epidemiologic disease has grown in recent decades. In this paper an application of optimal control in Dengue epidemics is presented. The mathematical model includes the dynamic of Dengue mosquito, the affected persons, the people's motivation to combat the mosquito and the inherent social cost of the disease, such as cost with ill individuals, educations and sanitary campaigns. The dynamic model presents a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The problem was discretized through Euler and Runge Kutta schemes, and solved using nonlinear optimization packages. The computational results as well as the main conclusions are shown.Comment: Presented at the invited session "Numerical Optimization" of the 7th International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics (ICNAAM 2009), Rethymno, Crete, Greece, 18-22 September 2009; RepositoriUM, id: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/1083

Analysis of the inner collection efficiency in hybrid silicon solar cells

The collection of photogenerated carriers in hybrid silicon solar cells structures were determined by the DICE (dynamic inner collection efficiency) technique. The hybrid solar cells have a microcrystalline n-type emitter and a crystalline p-type base. Cells with amorphous buffers of several thickness and p+ back surface field microcrystalline layers were also studied. Spectral response and reflectivity were measured for each sample in order to obtain the internal spectral response or quantum efficiency. These data are the input to DICE analysis, together with the optical parameters of each layer. We observed that the emitter thickness is the most important parameter which defines the solar cell photovoltaic behavior. DICE profiles show that cells with emitter thickness of 80 Å have better collection efficiency than cells with higher thickness values mainly near the surface (until 1 μm below the ITO/microcrystalline interface). The efficacy of the back surface field can be observed with this technique by determining the DICE values near the back metalization and the minority carriers diffusion length can be calculated using the DICE profile in the bulk.The collection of photogenerated carriers in hybrid silicon solar cells structures were determined by the DICE (dynamic inner collection efficiency) technique. The hybrid solar cells have a microcrystalline n-type emitter and a crystalline p-type base. Cells with amorphous buffers of several thickness and p+ back surface field microcrystalline layers were also studied. Spectral response and reflectivity were measured for each sample in order to obtain the internal spectral response or quantum efficiency. These data are the input to DICE analysis, together with the optical parameters of each layer. We observed that the emitter thickness is the most important parameter which defines the solar cell photovoltaic behavior. DICE profiles show that cells with emitter thickness of 80 Å have better collection efficiency than cells with higher thickness values mainly near the surface (until 1 μm below the ITO/microcrystalline interface). The efficacy of the back surface field can be observed with this technique by determining the DICE values near the back metalization and the minority carriers diffusion length can be calculated using the DICE profile in the bulk.The collection of photogenerated carriers in hybrid silicon solar cells structures were determined by the DICE (dynamic inner collection efficiency) technique. The hybrid solar cells have a microcrystalline n-type emitter and a crystalline p-type base. Cells with amorphous buffers of several thickness and p+ back surface field microcrystalline layers were also studied. Spectral response and reflectivity were measured for each sample in order to obtain the internal spectral response or quantum efficiency. These data are the input to DICE analysis, together with the optical parameters of each layer. We observed that the emitter thickness is the most important parameter which defines the solar cell photovoltaic behavior. DICE profiles show that cells with emitter thickness of 80 Å have better collection efficiency than cells with higher thickness values mainly near the surface (until 1 μm below the ITO/microcrystalline interface). The efficacy of the back surface field can be observed with this technique by determining the DICE values near the back metalization and the minority carriers diffusion length can be calculated using the DICE profile in the bulk

Lightning climatology of exoplanets and brown dwarfs guided by Solar system data

We highlight financial support of the European Community under the FP7 by an ERC starting grant number 257431. RAT thanks the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and the Physics Trust of the University of St Andrews for supporting his summer placement at the University of St Andrews.Clouds form on extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs where lightning could occur. Lightning is a tracer of atmospheric convection, cloud formation and ionization processes as known from the Solar system, and may be significant for the formation of prebiotic molecules. We study lightning climatology for the different atmospheric environments of Earth, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. We present lightning distribution maps for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, and flash densities for these planets and Venus, based on optical and/or radio measurements from the World Wide Lightning Location Network and Sferics Timing and Ranging Network radio networks, the Lightning Imaging Sensor/Optical Transient Detector satellite instruments, the Galileo, Cassini, New Horizons and Venus Express spacecraft. We also present flash densities calculated for several phases of two volcano eruptions, Eyjafjallajökull's (2010) and Mt Redoubt's (2009). We estimate lightning rates for sample, transiting and directly imaged extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs. Based on the large variety of exoplanets, six categories are suggested for which we use the lightning occurrence information from the Solar system. We examine lightning energy distributions for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. We discuss how strong stellar activity may support lightning activity. We provide a lower limit of the total number of flashes that might occur on transiting planets during their full transit as input for future studies. We find that volcanically very active planets might show the largest lightning flash densities. When applying flash densities of the large Saturnian storm from 2010/11, we find that the exoplanet HD 189733b would produce high lightning occurrence even during its short transit.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Stress reactivity elicits a tissue-specific reduction in telomere length in aging zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Individual differences in personality are associated with variation in healthy aging. Health behaviours are often cited as the likely explanation for this association; however, an underlying biological mechanism may also exist. Accelerated leukocyte telomere shortening is implicated in multiple age-related diseases and is associated with chronic activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, providing a link between stress-related personality differences and adverse health outcomes. However, the effects of the HPA axis are tissue specific. Thus, leukocyte telomere length may not accurately reflect telomere length in disease-relevant tissues. Here, we examined the correlation between stress reactivity and telomere length in heart and brain tissue in young (6-9 month) and aging (18 month) zebrafish. Stress reactivity was assessed by tank diving and through gene expression. Telomere length was assessed using quantitative PCR. We show that aging zebrafish have shorter telomeres in both heart and brain. Telomere length was inversely related to stress reactivity in heart but not brain of aging individuals. These data support the hypotheses that an anxious predisposition contributes to accelerated telomere shortening in heart tissue, which may have important implications for our understanding of age-related heart disease, and that stress reactivity contributes to age-related telomere shortening in a tissue-specific manner

Accurate masses and radii of normal stars: modern results and applications

This paper presents and discusses a critical compilation of accurate, fundamental determinations of stellar masses and radii. We have identified 95 detached binary systems containing 190 stars (94 eclipsing systems, and alpha Centauri) that satisfy our criterion that the mass and radius of both stars be known to 3% or better. To these we add interstellar reddening, effective temperature, metal abundance, rotational velocity and apsidal motion determinations when available, and we compute a number of other physical parameters, notably luminosity and distance. We discuss the use of this information for testing models of stellar evolution. The amount and quality of the data also allow us to analyse the tidal evolution of the systems in considerable depth, testing prescriptions of rotational synchronisation and orbital circularisation in greater detail than possible before. The new data also enable us to derive empirical calibrations of M and R for single (post-) main-sequence stars above 0.6 M(Sun). Simple, polynomial functions of T(eff), log g and [Fe/H] yield M and R with errors of 6% and 3%, respectively. Excellent agreement is found with independent determinations for host stars of transiting extrasolar planets, and good agreement with determinations of M and R from stellar models as constrained by trigonometric parallaxes and spectroscopic values of T(eff) and [Fe/H]. Finally, we list a set of 23 interferometric binaries with masses known to better than 3%, but without fundamental radius determinations (except alpha Aur). We discuss the prospects for improving these and other stellar parameters in the near future.Comment: 56 pages including figures and tables. To appear in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. Ascii versions of the tables will appear in the online version of the articl

Dynamic study on fusion reactions for 40,48^{40,48}Ca+90,96^{90,96}Zr around Coulomb barrier

By using the updated improved Quantum Molecular Dynamics model in which a surface-symmetry potential term has been introduced for the first time, the excitation functions for fusion reactions of $^{40,48}$Ca+$^{90,96}$Zr at energies around the Coulomb barrier have been studied. The experimental data of the fusion cross sections for $^{40}$Ca+$^{90,96}$Zr have been reproduced remarkably well without introducing any new parameters. The fusion cross sections for the neutron-rich fusion reactions of $^{48}$Ca+$^{90,96}$Zr around the Coulomb barrier are predicted to be enhanced compared with a non-neutron-rich fusion reaction. In order to clarify the mechanism of the enhancement of the fusion cross sections for neutron-rich nuclear fusions, we pay a great attention to study the dynamic lowering of the Coulomb barrier during a neck formation. The isospin effect on the barrier lowering is investigated. It is interesting that the effect of the projectile and target nuclear structure on fusion dynamics can be revealed to a certain extent in our approach. The time evolution of the N/Z ratio at the neck region has been firstly illustrated. A large enhancement of the N/Z ratio at neck region for neutron-rich nuclear fusion reactions is found.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures,3 table

CONTROL APLICADO A UNA ESTRUCTURA MECÁNICA PARA EL POSICIONAMIENTO AUTOMÁTICO DE MÓDULOS FOTOVOLTAICOS

This paper deals with the design of a mechanical structure to a system ofautomatic positioning of cells or photovoltaic modules, which allows locating the cells to a solar incidence angle of 90°, which allows better performance in converting sunlight into is electrical energy. The design of the mechanical structure development in the mechanical design software SolidWorks, which was achieved by analysis for the selection of materials used.Este trabajo trata del diseño de una estructura mecánica para un sistema de posicionamiento automático de celdas o módulos fotovoltaicos; el cual permite ubicar las celdas a un Angulo de incidencia solar de 90º, lo cual permite obtener un mejor rendimiento en cuanto conversión de luz solar en energía eléctrica se trata. El diseño de la estructura mecánica se desarrolló en el software de diseño mecánico SolidWorks, mediante el cual se consiguió realizar análisis para la selección de materiales a utilizar

Identificar los factores sensoriales visuales y auditivos que podr?an influir en la valoraci?n del turista estadounidense interesado en el trekking Camino Inca

Sobre la afluencia de turistas estadounidense que llegan al Cusco por vacaciones viajan a la ciudad, motivados principalmente por conocer Machu Picchu y cuatro de cada diez visitantes llegan a esta regi?n para practicar deportes de aventura. Se identific? una oportunidad de investigaci?n de estudio para medir el nivel de la actitud de valoraci?n de los turistas estadounidense que viene al Per? a realizar el trekking Camino Inca hacia a trav?s del marketing sensorial activando el sentido visual y auditivo. A fin de identificar las variables altamente correlaci?nales y potencialidades de la investigaci?n se realiz? entrevistas de profundidad a expertos del turismo de aventura que vendan Tour Camino Inca y para la ejecuci?n del proyecto se propone un Modelo Factores Sensoriales que afectan en la actitud de la valoraci?n del turista ante el ?Camino del Inca hacia Machu Picchu? para medir los 3 factores del cerebro y comportamiento del ser humano, factor cognitivo, factor sensitivo y factor de intenci?n. Finalmente, luego de las evaluaciones y an?lisis realizados, se puede concluir que la variable que mayor influye en la valoraci?n positiva en los turistas es la visual ya que atrae a su mente la sensaci?n de naturaleza, paisajes maravillosos