Wait, bond, and buy:Consumer responses to economic crisis

Although economic crises tend to be perceived as a time in which consumers cut back on expenditures (including cars, clothes, and houses), market data also shows that sales of certain products increase during economic downturns. How do consumers respond to an economic crisis? And what is the psychology behind such behavior? These are questions to which this dissertation is devoted. Three empirical chapters show that an economic crisis activates different fundamental human needs, which play a decisive role in consumer spending and saving. In the first essay, we provide support for the idea that under external uncertainty about the future financial situation, consumers not only rapidly stop making large consumption decisions, but also stop making discretionary saving decisions. In the second essay, we provide support for the hypothesis that in times of economic crisis consumers' need to connect increases. Hence, brands, products, and advertising that cater to this need are preferred and can even increase consumers' willingness to pay for them. In the third eassy, we provide support for the idea that female sexy clothing that enhances chances to mate are preferred and even increase women's willingness to pay in times of economic crisis

Real-time multiframe blind deconvolution of solar images

The quality of images of the Sun obtained from the ground are severely limited by the perturbing effect of the turbulent Earth's atmosphere. The post-facto correction of the images to compensate for the presence of the atmosphere require the combination of high-order adaptive optics techniques, fast measurements to freeze the turbulent atmosphere and very time consuming blind deconvolution algorithms. Under mild seeing conditions, blind deconvolution algorithms can produce images of astonishing quality. They can be very competitive with those obtained from space, with the huge advantage of the flexibility of the instrumentation thanks to the direct access to the telescope. In this contribution we leverage deep learning techniques to significantly accelerate the blind deconvolution process and produce corrected images at a peak rate of ~100 images per second. We present two different architectures that produce excellent image corrections with noise suppression while maintaining the photometric properties of the images. As a consequence, polarimetric signals can be obtained with standard polarimetric modulation without any significant artifact. With the expected improvements in computer hardware and algorithms, we anticipate that on-site real-time correction of solar images will be possible in the near future.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Combining magneto-hydrostatic constraints with Stokes profiles inversions: III. Uncertainty in the inference of electric currents

Electric currents play an important role in the energy balance of the plasma in the solar atmosphere. They are also indicative of non-potential magnetic fields and magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, the direct measuring of electric currents has traditionally been riddled with inaccuracies. Aims. We study how accurately we can infer electric currents under different scenarios. Methods. We carry out increasingly complex inversions of the radiative transfer equation for polarized light applied to Stokes profiles synthesized from radiative three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The inversion yields the magnetic field vector. B. from which the electric current density, ./, is derived by applying Ampere's law. Results. We find that the retrieval of the electric current density is only slightly affected by photon noise or spectral resolution. However, the retrieval steadily improves as the Stokes inversion becomes increasingly elaborated. In the least complex case (a Milne- Eddington-like inversion applied to a single spectral region), it is possible to determine the individual components of the electric current density (jx, jy, jz) with an accuracy of cr = 0.90 - l.OOdex, whereas the modulus (|[/) can only be determined with cr - 0.75 dex. In the most complicated case (with multiple spectral regions, a large number of nodes, Tikhonov vertical regularization, and magnetohydrostatic equilibrium), these numbers improve to cr - 0.70-0.75 dex for the individual components and cr = 0.5 dex for the modulus. Moreover, in regions where the magnetic field is above 300 gauss, \\j\\ can be inferred with an accuracy of cr - 0.3 dex. In general, the x and y components of the electric current density are retrieved slightly better than the z component. In addition, the modulus of the electric current density is the best retrieved parameter of all, and thus it can potentially be used to detect regions of enhanced Joule heating. Conclusions. The fact that the accuracy does not worsen with decreasing spectral resolution or increasing photon noise, and instead increases as the Stokes inversion complexity grows, suggests that the main source of errors in the determination of electric currents is the lack of realism in the inversion model employed to determine variations in the magnetic field along the line of sight at scales smaller than the photon mean-free path, along with the intrinsic limitations of the model due to radiative transfer effects

Comprehensive Evaluation of Environmental Policy for Water Pollutants and Greenhouse Gases Reduction in Jiaxing city, China

Recently, various environmental problems have been generated with the rapid economic development in China. That’s because China currently over-emphasized economic development beyond environmental issues; therefore, now it is important to enforce optimal environmental policies in order to achieve economic development as well as environmental improvement. In this study, we selected Jiaxing city as research area for that the environmental pollution problem has become prominent with economic high growth, and we constructed environmental system model and social economic model to establish the scenarios. Through computer simulation, we can evaluate the efficiency of the comprehensive environmental policies from both environmental preservation and social economic development aspects. While the social-economic model shows the socioeconomic activities which are vital events, fortune and service, such as production, finance and budget; the environmental system model shows the water pollutants and the greenhouse gas movement in the region. The dynamic optimization simulation is accomplished based on this environmental and socio-economic system model. In view of the restriction on water pollutants, greenhouse gas total exhausted amount, and economic activity in the catchment area, the simulation we practiced can provide concrete inner-generating optimal policies which can achieve the best economic and environment improvement with the consideration of policy, regional and timing choice in Jiaxing City, China.

La pandemia de la COVID-19 desde los laboratorios de anatomía patológica del Perú: The COVID-19 pandemic from Anatomic Pathology laboratories in Peru

The anatomic pathology specialty plays a fundamental role within the multidisciplinary health systems team, since the majority of diseases are diagnosed by studying changes in cells, tissues and organs at both the macro and microscopic levels. Thus, this specialty is generally circumscribed in: surgical pathology, cytology and necropsy. Today, with the advent of new technologies in Peru, the practice of the specialty has considerably expanded its activity (immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy, molecular pathology, among others).La especialidad de anatomía patológica juega un papel fundamental en el equipo multidisciplinario de los sistemas de salud, debido a que un grupo mayoritario de enfermedades son diagnosticadas mediante el estudio de los cambios ocasionados en las células, tejidos y órganos a niveles macroscópico y microscópico, circunscribiendo esta especialidad, de forma general, en: patología quirúrgica, citología y necropsias. Hoy en día, con el advenimiento de nuevas tecnologías al Perú, el ejercicio de la especialidad ha ampliado su actividad enormemente (Inmunohistoquímica, inmunofluorescencia, microscopía electrónica, patología molecular, entre otras)

The Potential Benefits of Introducing Informal Recyclers and Organic Waste Recovery to a Current Waste Management System: The Case Study of Santiago de Chile

Chile has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades. However, this economic growth has been accompanied by a huge increase in waste generation. Although the country has historically put emphasis on appropriate final disposal of waste through landfill, the environmental problems generated by this activity have shown that it is necessary to improve the national solid waste management approach. Santiago, the capital of Chile, generates about 43% of the national solid waste. A study conducted by the Ministry of the Environment in 2011 found that 14% of the waste generated in the capital is recycled, mostly thanks to local campaigns and collection by the informal sector (scavengers). While in 2009 the government set a target to recycle 25% of municipal inorganic waste by 2020, there is no information on the implementation process to reach this target. Most importantly, the law has not established specific recycling rates for target materials, and, has not taken into consideration organic waste recovery, which accounts for 48% of the total waste stream. In order to meet the government target and at the same time promote organic waste recovery, this study proposes and evaluates the environmental impacts of different viable alternatives for municipal solid waste collection, treatment and recovery by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The proposed scenarios range from the current situation to the introduction of organic waste recovery and the inclusion of informal recyclers in the collection process. By considering the investment and treatment costs of each alternative, the study identifies the most effective scenario in terms of avoided pollutants per cost ratio. Finally, the study analyzes the feasibility of the implementation of the selected scenario by indicating benefits and challenges. The results of the scenario evaluation suggest that the scenario with the highest recovery of inorganic and organic materials, coupled with the participation of the informal collectors, will have a positive impact not only in terms of meeting and surpassing the government goal, but also in the reduction of CO2eq emissions. This scenario can reduce by approximately 3.5% the national CO2eq generated, with a cost of $14.1/ton. Moreover, the potential reductions of CH4 account for 8.5% of the national CH4 emissions and 24.5% of the national waste sector CH4 emissions

Center-to-limb variation of spectral lines and their effect on full-disk observations

An accurate description of the center-to-limb variation (CLV) of stellar spectra is becoming an increasingly critical factor in both stellar and exoplanet characterization. In particular, the CLV of spectral lines is extremely challenging as its characterization requires highly detailed knowledge of the stellar physical conditions. To this end, we present the Numerical Empirical Sun-as-a-Star Integrator (NESSI) as a tool for translating high-resolution solar observations of a partial field of view into disk-integrated spectra that can be used to test common assumptions in stellar physics.Comment: Conference proceeding for IAU Symposium 365: "Dynamics of Solar and Stellar Convection Zones and Atmospheres

Using Remote Sensing for Identifying Suitable Areas for Flood Shelter: A Case Study of Thatta, Sindh Pakistan

The most recurring type of disaster in the world these days is flood because of the spread and extent of its effect on people, among all-natural disasters of the world. Human activities have paved the way for many of these flood behavior to change as they used to be in the past. Pakistan experienced one of the most devastating natural disasters in its history all across the country in 2010, but Thatta district in southern part got severely affected during this flood. For the research, a simple yet efficient methodology Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) by using remote sensing images for identifying flood hazard areas was utilized. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) helps in finding shelter areas with a minimum effect of floods. It is essential to realize the importance of mapped results in consideration of manual flood management in future. The method used in this study is robust enough to explain the flood hazard for suggesting suitable shelter sites in case of flooding events. This would help disaster management bodies and other related agencies to formulate the development plans while keeping the hazard areas, which are unsuitable for development due to flood risk in the future