Beyond simulation: designing for uncertainty and robust solutions

Simulation is an increasingly essential tool in the design of our environment, but any model is only as good as the initial assumptions on which it is built. This paper aims to outline some of the limits and potential dangers of reliance on simulation, and suggests how to make our models, and our buildings, more robust with respect to the uncertainty we face in design. It argues that the single analyses provided by most simulations display too precise and too narrow a result to be maximally useful in design, and instead a broader description is required, as might be provided by many differing simulations. Increased computing power now allows this in many areas. Suggestions are made for the further development of simulation tools for design, in that these increased resources should be dedicated not simply to the accuracy of single solutions, but to a bigger picture that takes account of a design’s robustness to change, multiple phenomena that cannot be predicted, and the wider range of possible solutions. Methods for doing so, including statistical methods, adaptive modelling, machine learning and pattern recognition algorithms for identifying persistent structures in models, will be identified. We propose a number of avenues for future research and how these fit into design process, particularly in the case of the design of very large buildings

The Orion Protostellar Explosion and Runaway Stars Revisited : Stellar Masses, Disk Retention, and an Outflow from the Becklin-Neugebauer Object

© 2020 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.The proper motions of the three stars ejected from Orion's OMC1 cloud core are combined with the requirement that their center of mass is gravitationally bound to OMC1 to show that radio source I (Src I) is likely to have a mass around 15 M o˙ consistent with recent measurements. Src I, the star with the smallest proper motion, is suspected to be either an astronomical-unit-scale binary or a protostellar merger remnant produced by a dynamic interaction ∼550 yr ago. Near-infrared 2.2 μm images spanning ∼21 yr confirm the ∼55 km s -1 motion of "source x" (Src x) away from the site of stellar ejection and point of origin of the explosive OMC1 protostellar outflow. The radial velocities and masses of the Becklin-Neugebauer (BN) object and Src I constrain the radial velocity of Src x to be. Several high proper-motion radio sources near BN, including Zapata 11 ([ZRK2004] 11) and a diffuse source near IRc 23, may trace a slow bipolar outflow from BN. The massive disk around Src I is likely the surviving portion of a disk that existed prior to the stellar ejection. Though highly perturbed, shocked, and reoriented by the N-body interaction, enough time has elapsed to allow the disk to relax with its spin axis roughly orthogonal to the proper motion.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Technology Integration around the Geographic Information: A State of the Art

One of the elements that have popularized and facilitated the use of geographical information on a variety of computational applications has been the use of Web maps; this has opened new research challenges on different subjects, from locating places and people, the study of social behavior or the analyzing of the hidden structures of the terms used in a natural language query used for locating a place. However, the use of geographic information under technological features is not new, instead it has been part of a development and technological integration process. This paper presents a state of the art review about the application of geographic information under different approaches: its use on location based services, the collaborative user participation on it, its contextual-awareness, its use in the Semantic Web and the challenges of its use in natural languge queries. Finally, a prototype that integrates most of these areas is presented

SketChart: A Pen-Based Tool for Chart Generation and Interaction.

It has been shown that representing data with the right visualization increases the understanding of qualitative and quantitative information encoded in documents. However, current tools for generating such visualizations involve the use of traditional WIMP techniques, which perhaps makes free interaction and direct manipulation of the content harder. In this thesis, we present a pen-based prototype for data visualization using 10 different types of bar based charts. The prototype lets users sketch a chart and interact with the information once the drawing is identified. The prototype\u27s user interface consists of an area to sketch and touch based elements that will be displayed depending on the context and nature of the outline. Brainstorming and live presentations can benefit from the prototype due to the ability to visualize and manipulate data in real time. We also perform a short, informal user study to measure effectiveness of the tool while recognizing sketches and users acceptance while interacting with the system. Results show SketChart strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvement

Supranational Organizations and Legitimacy: How the 2008 Global Economic Crisis has affected Public Opinion on Membership in the EU

This thesis examines public opinion towards membership in the EU, before and after the 2008 global economic crisis, in the newest member states to join the institution in 2004 (the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) and 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania). Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1989, socialist economies and communism maintained a citizenry that never experienced unemployment and that did not have a political voice. Because free-market economic policies and democratic values are new to these countries, public opinion regarding membership in a supranational organization that promotes and fosters these ideals is important to study. Data from the Eurobarometer Public Opinion Survey spring waves 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the World Bank, and Eurostat are used to measure multiple indicators of support for membership in the EU. Ordered logistic regression and means comparison analyses are employed to measure the effect of national-level economic prospects, economic winner/loser status, political party power, age, national identity, gender, and individual-level political ideology on public opinion toward membership. The results demonstrate that multiple indicators affect attitudes toward membership and that a negative shift in public opinion is apparent following the 2008 global economic crisis. At the individual-level of analysis, economic winner/loser status and national identity are significant in the predicted direction in all five models. Age is a significant indicator of support only in 2008, 2009, and 2010. At the aggregate-level, means comparison analyses and t-test statistics indicate that GDP annual growth rates have a positive effect on attitudes toward membership in the EU. As GDP annual growth increases, approval of membership in the EU increases. Eurozone membership and unemployment rates indicate varied support for membership in the EU, and the results of means comparison analyses of political party power at the national-level are inconclusive and exploratory in nature. With all findings considered, future studies can further examine the implications and long-term effects of global financial crises on public opinion towards membership in various international economic organizations

Supplementation of cereal straws with lucerne and sugar beet pulp in diets for ruminants

The aim of this work was to study the effects of supplementing untreated (US) and ammonia-treated (TS) barley straw with lucerne (L) and/or unmolassed sugar beet pulp (BP) on the digestibility and intake of the dietary components in ruminants. Coarsely shredded straw was fed ad libitum and pelleted supplements at restricted levels.Rumen-fistulated steers and wethers were offered a diet containing (g/kg diet, DM basis): 760 US and 240 L. The in sacco degradation of US and L, estimated with the dacron bag technique, was similar for both species at most incubation times (5, 8, 11, 14, 24, 48 and 72 h). The differences for pH, ammonia-nitrogen (NH₃-N) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the rumen were small and inconsistent among times post-feeding. The daily straw organic matter intake (OMI, per kg LW⁰.⁷⁵ or LW⁰.⁹) was higher in steers than in wethers.In two experiments, mature rumen-fistulated wethers were offered either US or TS supplemented with L at levels of (g/kg diet, DM basis): 0, 160, 320 and 480. These diets were also fed to 35-kg wethers in two digestibility and intake trials. Increasing the level of lucerne had little or no effects on the in sacco degradation of straw and lucerne nor on most parameters of rumen fermentation. The in vivo digestibility and metabolizable energy (ME) of the diets and the N retained by the sheep increased linearly as the level of lucerne increased. The organic matter digestibility (OMD) and ME for US and TS fed alone were 0.40 and 0.60 and 5.1 and 8.5 MJ per kg DM, respectively. There was little or no replacement of the straws by lucerne.Comminution and passage of chromium-mordanted straws were studied with mature rumen-fistulated wethers offered four diets: US and TS alone or supplemented with L at 480 g per kg diet, DM basis. The rates of comminution of large straw particles (retained on sieves with aperture size > 1.18 mm) in the rumen were similar among treatments (0.055 per h). The rate of escape of small straw particles (passing through a 1.18-mm sieve) from the rumen was faster for the supplemented TS (0.033 per h) than for the other diets (0.021 per h).In two experiments, mature rum en-fistulated wethers were offered either US and pellets at 320 g per kg diet, DM basis or TS and pellets at 480 g per kg diet, DM basis. The pellets contained L:BP in the following relative proportions: 3:0 (US-OBP and TS-0BP); 2:1 (US-33BP and TS-33BP); 1:2 (US-67BP and TS-67BP) and 0:3 (US-100BP and TS-100BP). The diets were also fed to 35-kg wethers in two digestibility and intake trials. Although the differences were mostly non-significant, rumen pH and NH₃-N tended to decrease while total rumen VFA tended to increase as the level of BP increased. The in sacco degradation of straw tended to be higher for diet US-100BP than for diet US-OBP. It tended to increase between diets TS-0BP and TS-67BP and then to decrease for diet TS-100BP. There were indications of positive associative effects of L and BP (1:2 ratio) on the intake and/or digestibility of the total diet. The US-OMI increased linearly whereas the TS-OMI remained constant as the level of BP increased.It was concluded that lucerne and sugar beet pulp were effective supplements for barley straws as they generally maintained or increased the digestibility and/or intake of the straws and also increased significantly the intake of digestible nutrients

Scalar Perturbations of two-dimensional Horava-Lifshitz Black Holes

In this article, we study the stability of black hole solutions found in the context of dilatonic Horava-Lifshitz gravity in $1+1$ dimensions by means of the quasinormal modes approach. In order to find the corresponding quasinormal modes, we consider the perturbations of massive and massless scalar fields minimally coupled to gravity. In both cases, we found that the quasinormal modes have a discrete spectrum and are completely imaginary, which leads to damping modes. For a massive scalar field and a non-vanishing cosmological constant, our results suggest unstable behaviour for large values of the scalar field mass.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure. Accepted version in EPJC. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:gr-qc/070109

Advanced Reactor Physics Methods for Transient Analysis of Boiling Water Reactors

The safety assessment of nuclear power plants requires the consideration of the several physical phenomena taking place in the reactor core. Since the last decade, the simulations are performed using the so-called Best-Estimate (BE) thermal-hydraulic system codes coupled with 3D nodal diffusion reactor dynamics solvers. These numerical tools are well developed and validated for PWR but for BWR there are still improvements and developments to be done. In addition, homogenized cross sections libraries, depending on the individual thermal-hydraulic state parameters, e.g. fuel temperature, moderator density, etc., must be supplied to take into account the interdependencies of the involved physics. In this PhD a new coupled code system named TRADYN was developed that consists of the novel and innovative integration of the core simulator DYN3D into the code system TRACE/PARCS using compiler preprocessor directives. This has the advantage to preserve the original TRACE/PARCS system “untouch” and to facilitate the maintenance, modification and debugging. In order to manage the transfer information between TRACE and DYN3D, a General Interface and Specific Data Map routines in FORTRAN were developed. To properly describe the tightly-coupled neutronics and thermal-hydraulic phenomena within the core of a BWR, different physical models were extended and new ones implemented in DYN3D and PARCS. Another contribution of this doctoral thesis is the development of a new in-house methodology called GENSIM-XS for the generation of nodal cross sections for BWRs considering history effects of control rods and void. GENSIM-XS is able to greatly simplify the number of the neutronics regions present in the reactor core. This new methodology uses the AUDIT option of SIMULATE-3 (S3) to report the cross sections on the output file. Then, they are extracted and written in multi-group tabulated cross sections in NEMTAB format in an automatized manner using Python scripts. The validation of TRADYN is based on Boiling Water Reactor Turbine Trip (TT) benchmark data, where TRADYN has demonstrated its capability to predict the stationary plant conditions as well as the temporal evolution of the main plant parameters, showing a good agreement with the measurements e.g. core power and dome pressure. The static core of the cycle 4 of BWR Laguna Verde nuclear power plant was selected as second case for the validation not only of the GENSIM-XS methodology but also of TRADYN. The TRADYN results such as k-eff, axial power profile, axial void fraction exhibit an excellent agreement with the reference values. This underpins the capabilities of the new methodology to generate cross-sections for coupled thermal-hydraulic/neutronics calculations accounting also for history effects for BWR core analysis

Instituciones financieras: Marco legal tributario relativo a la declaración y pago anual del impuesto sobre la renta aplicado al Banco La Fise Bancentro en el periodo fiscal 2013

En el presente trabajo abordaremos aspectos relevantes dentro de las finanzas e instituciones financieras, dimos a conocer que dentro de las opciones de financiamiento a largo plazo se encuentran las deudas la cual tienden a tener un plazo de duración mayor a dos años, así mismo podemos encontrar las obligaciones con las que deben cumplir tales instituciones en las que podemos encontrar el pago de impuesto, en tanto las acciones además de proporcionarle recursos a la empresa con la emisión de esta ,la misma hacen que se disminuyan la participación de los socios en la utilidades de la empresa, los bonos son llamados título de deuda y finalmente los arrendamiento financiero que son créditos por el goce de un activos fijo. En el actual mundo de la banca, el cumplimiento de las obligaciones tributarias constituye un elemento fundamental derivado de las actividades propias de cada organización. Por ello, es necesario administrar las obligaciones impositivas de forma tal que dentro de un marco de legalidad se logre minimizar del costo tributario sobre el desempeño de los bancos. Sin dejar atrás la forma en que declaran el impuesto sobre la renta los bancos donde elaboraremos un caso práctico en el cual mostraremos las instrucciones para el llenado del formulario de pago, haciendo referencia a la declaración de este impuesto, así mismo hablaremos de las leyes que regulan este impuesto dentro de las instituciones financieras, en este caso enfocándonos en la declaración anual de LAFISE BANCENTRO

O impacto dos programas de mobilidade internacional na aquisição de habilidades acadêmicas para entrar no mercado de trabalho: México

Egresados con y sin participación en el Programa de Movilidad Universitaria Internacional Se realizó un análisis de las competencias académicas que influyen en la adquisición y conservación del empleo de los estudiantes y egresadosEl objetivo es realizar un análisis de las competencias académicas que influyen en la adquisición y conservación del empleo de los estudiantes y egresados de una universidad estatal. Dichas variables fueron estudiadas a través de realizar un análisis comparativo entre estudiantes y egresados con y sin participación en el Programa de Movilidad Universitaria Internacional (PMUI). El método utilizado es de diseño no experimental, comparativo en formato de encuesta, corte transversal, selección de la muestra al azar (estudiantes o egresados con y sin movilidad internacional como empleadores) para realizar un análisis estadístico de tipo descriptivo e inferencial. Las poblaciones son: 1 391 estudiantes y egresados, 68 empleadores. Muestras al azar: 372 estudiantes y egresados como 54 empleadores. Material: encuesta electrónica del cuestionario de competencias para estudiantes, egresados y empleadores. En los resultados se observa el desarrollo de más competencia académica en alumnos que asistieron en programas de movilidad que los que no asistieron. Sus diferencias se acentuaron en competencias de contextos internacionales y responsabilidad social y compromiso ciudadano