Towards the Final Fate of an Unstable Black String

Black strings, one class of higher dimensional analogues of black holes, were shown to be unstable to long wavelength perturbations by Gregory and Laflamme in 1992, via a linear analysis. We revisit the problem through numerical solution of the full equations of motion, and focus on trying to determine the end-state of a perturbed, unstable black string. Our preliminary results show that such a spacetime tends towards a solution resembling a sequence of spherical black holes connected by thin black strings, at least at intermediate times. However, our code fails then, primarily due to large gradients that develop in metric functions, as the coordinate system we use is not well adapted to the nature of the unfolding solution. We are thus unable to determine how close the solution we see is to the final end-state, though we do observe rich dynamical behavior of the system in the intermediate stages.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Effect of ripening on physico-chemical properties and bioactive compounds in papaya pulp, skin and seeds

Byproducts generated by the food industry represent an alternative to obtain functional ingredients. Byproducts of tropical fruits, such as papaya skin and seeds, represent a source of bioactive compounds (BC), which could change during fruit ripening. Effect of ripening stage (RS) on BC content and antioxidant properties of edible pulp, skin and seeds of papaya cv. Maradol was determined. Papaya skin showed significantly higher ascorbic acid (~250 mg AAE/100 g) content than seeds (~20 mg/100 g), while pulp had the highest values (~600 mg/100 g). However, papaya skin presented higher total phenolic content (~560 mg GAE/100 g) and flavonoids (~1000 mg QE/100 g) than pulp and seeds. Also, papaya skin showed the highest values followed by pulp and seeds with TEAC, FRAP and DPPH. Papaya skin had higher carotenoids and α-tocopherol (~1500 µg/100 g and ~4000 µg/100 g, respectively) content than pulp and seeds. BC content in each byproduct varied in all RS. Therefore, among the papaya byproducts, skin represents a good source of BC with good antioxidant properties, which may be used to extract them for its incorporation in functional foods depending on RS

Process design for the manufacturing of soft X-ray gratings in single-crystal diamond by high-energy heavy-ion irradiation

Artículo con 9 figurasThis paper describes in detail a novel manufacturing process for optical gratings suitable for use in the UV and soft X-ray regimes in a single-crystal diamond substrate based on highly focused swift heavy-ion irradiation. This type of grating is extensively used in light source facilities such as synchrotrons or free electron lasers, with ever-increasing demands in terms of thermal loads, depending on beamline operational parameters and architecture. The process proposed in this paper may be a future alternative to current manufacturing techniques, providing the advantage of being applicable to single-crystal diamond substrates, with their unique properties in terms of heat conductivity and radiation hardness. The paper summarizes the physical principle used for the grating patterns produced by swift heavy-ion irradiation and provides full details for the manufacturing process for a specific grating configuration, inspired in one of the beamlines at the ALBA synchrotron light source, while stressing the most challenging points for a potential implementation. Preliminary proof-of-concept experimental results are presented, showing the practical implementation of the methodology proposed herein.The authors acknowledge funding support by the following projects: PID2020-112770RB-C22 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, TechnoFusión (III)-CM (S2018/EMT-4437) from Comunidad de Madrid (cofinanced by ERDF and ESF), agreement between Community of Madrid and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (item “Excellence of University Professorate”). M.L.C. acknowledges financial support from the research project “Captacion de Talento UAM” Ref: #541D300 supervised by the Vice-Chancellor of Research of Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). LOREA beamline at ALBA is a project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Framework of the Smart Growth Operative Programme 2014-2020. The authors acknowledge the support from The Centro de Microanálisis de Materiales (CMAM)—Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, for the beam time proposal (demonstration of a grating profile for soft X-rays in diamond via ion lithography) with code IuB-005/21, and its technical staff for their contribution to the operation of the accelerator. We also acknowledge P. Olivero for very useful comments on the manuscript draf

Direct and indirect effects of planning density, nitrogenous fertilizer and host plant resistance on rice herbivores and their natural enemies

In rice ecosystems, seeding densities can be adjusted to compensate for lower nitrogen levels that reduce GHG emissions, or to increase farm profitability. However, density-induced changes to plant anatomy could affect herbivore-rice interactions, and alter arthropod community dynamics. We conducted an experiment that varied transplanting density (low or high), nitrogenous fertilizer (0, 60 or 150 kg added ha−1) and rice variety (resistant or susceptible to phloem-feeding insects) over two rice-growing seasons. Yields per plot increased with added nitrogen, but were not affected by variety or transplanting density. Planthopper and leafhopper densities were lower on resistant rice and in high-density field plots. Nitrogen was associated with higher densities of planthoppers, but lower densities of leafhoppers per plot. High planting densities and high nitrogen also increased rodent damage. The structure of arthropod herbivore communities was largely determined by season and transplanting density. Furthermore, two abundant planthoppers (Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) and Nilaparvata lugens (Stål)) segregated to low and high-density plots, respectively. The structure of decomposer communities was determined by season and fertilizer regime; total decomposer abundance increased in high-nitrogen plots during the dry season. Predator community structure was determined by season and total prey abundance (including decomposers) with several spider species dominating in plots with high prey abundance during the wet season. Our results indicate how rice plasticity and arthropod biodiversity promote stability and resilience in rice ecosystems. We recommend that conservation biological control, which includes a reduction or elimination of insecticides, could be promoted to attain sustainable rice production systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation Action Plans to Support Climate-Resilient Development in the Eastern African Highlands

Smallholder farmers in the Eastern African Highlands depend on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods. Climate adaptation and sustainable development goals must be targeted in an integrated way to better match farmers’ realities and address local priorities and vulnerabilities in these areas. To support climate-resilient development in the Eastern African Highlands, 224 local stakeholders were engaged in the development of community-based climate change adaptation action plans for the Jimma Highlands in Ethiopia, Taita Hills in Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Participatory methods, high-resolution climate projections and the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) guidelines were used in the design of these climate action plans with specific objectives to: 1) engage stakeholders to increase understanding of climate change impacts, adaptation options and their potential trade-offs, 2) build their capacities to design climate change adaptation projects, 3) empower stakeholders to identify existing vulnerabilities and enhance climate resilience and 4) strengthen networks to facilitate information access and sharing. Increased risk of water stress and reduction of agricultural productivity were the most frequently identified climate-change-induced problems in the three areas. The developed action plans target the underlying causes of these problems and describe sector-specific responses, activities, critical barriers and opportunities and support the National Adaptation Programmes of Action.Peer reviewe

Procedure for short-lived particle detection in the OPERA experiment and its application to charm decays

The OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of $\nu_\mu \rightarrow \nu_\tau$ oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of the $\tau$ leptons produced in $\nu_\tau$ charged current interactions, has collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed to detect $\tau$ particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of 1 mm from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail. The results of its application to the search for charmed hadrons are then presented as a validation of the methods for $\nu_\tau$ appearance detection

A Comparison of Machine Learning and Classical Demand Forecasting Methods: A Case Study of Ecuadorian Textile Industry

[EN] This document presents a comparison of demand forecasting methods, with the aim of improving demand forecasting and with it, the production planning system of Ecuadorian textile industry. These industries present problems in providing a reliable estimate of future demand due to recent changes in the Ecuadorian context. The impact on demand for textile products has been observed in variables such as sales prices and manufacturing costs, manufacturing gross domestic product and the unemployment rate. Being indicators that determine to a great extent, the quality and accuracy of the forecast, generating also, uncertainty scenarios. For this reason, the aim of this work is focused on the demand forecasting for textile products by comparing a set of classic methods such as ARIMA, STL Decomposition, Holt-Winters and machine learning, Artificial Neural Networks, Bayesian Networks, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, taking into consideration all the above mentioned, as an essential input for the production planning and sales of the textile industries. And as a support, when developing strategies for demand management and medium-term decision making of this sector under study. Finally, the effectiveness of the methods is demonstrated by comparing them with different indicators that evaluate the forecast error, with the Multi-layer Neural Networks having the best results with the least error and the best performance.The authors are greatly grateful by the support given by the SDAS Research Group (https://sdas-group.com/).Lorente-Leyva, LL.; Alemany Díaz, MDM.; Peluffo-Ordóñez, DH.; Herrera-Granda, ID. (2021). 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Limit on the Radiative Neutrinoless Double Electron Capture of 36^{36}Ar from GERDA Phase I

Neutrinoless double electron capture is a process that, if detected, would give evidence of lepton number violation and the Majorana nature of neutrinos. A search for neutrinoless double electron capture of $^{36}$Ar has been performed with germanium detectors installed in liquid argon using data from Phase I of the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory of INFN, Italy. No signal was observed and an experimental lower limit on the half-life of the radiative neutrinoless double electron capture of $^{36}$Ar was established: $T_{1/2} >$ 3.6 $\times$ 10$^{21}$ yr at 90 % C.I.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure