Benthic foraminifera accumulation rate and benthic foraminiferal productivity proxies at ODP Site 165-999 in the Caribbean (Appendix A)

This study tests the hypothesis that the late Miocene to early Pliocene constriction and closure of the Central American Seaway (CAS), connecting the tropical Atlantic and East quatorial Pacific (EEP), caused a decrease in productivity in the Caribbean, due to decreased coastal upwelling and an end to the connection with high-productivity tropical Pacific waters. The present study compared paleoceanographic proxies for the interval between 8.3 and 2.5 Ma in 47 samples from south Caribbean ODP Site 999 with published data on EEP DSDP Site 503. Proxies for Site 999 include the relative abundance of benthic foraminiferal species representing bottom current velocity and the flux of organic matter to the sea floor, the ratio of infaunal/epifaunal benthic foraminiferal species and benthic foraminifer accumulation rates (BFARs). In addition, we calculated % resistant planktic foraminifers species and used the previously published % sand fraction and benthic carbon isotope values from Site 999. During early shoaling of the Isthmus (8.3-7.9 Ma) the Caribbean was under mesotrophic conditions, with little ventilation of bottom waters and low current velocity. The pre-closure interval (7.6-4.2 Ma) saw enhanced seasonal input of phytodetritus with even more reduced ventilation, and enhanced dissolution between 6.8 and 4.8 Ma. During the post-closure interval (4.2-2.5 Ma) in the Caribbean, paleoproductivity decreased, current velocity was reduced, and ventilation improved, while the seasonality of phytodetrital input was reduced dramatically, coinciding with the establishment of the Atlantic-Pacific salinity contrast at 4.2 Ma. Our data support the hypothesis that late Miocene constriction of the CAS at 7.9 Ma and its closure at 4.2 Ma caused a gradual decrease in paleoproductivity in the Caribbean, consistent with decreased current velocity and seasonality of the phytodetrital input.

Industrialization in Indonesia since the 1970s

Introduction: During the period from the latter half of the 1980s until just before the Asian currency crisis in 1997, Indonesia’s economic development had drawn expectations and attention from various quarters, along with Malaysia and Thailand within the same Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In fact, the 1993 report by the World Bank, entitled “East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy,” recognized Indonesia as one of the East Asian economies with the strong economic performance, i.e. sustained economic growth (World Bank [1993]). And it was the manufacturing industry that had been the driving force behind Indonesia’s economic growth during that period. Since the 1997 outbreak of the Asian currency crisis, however, the manufacturing sector in Indonesia has been mired in a situation that rules out the kind of bright prospects it had emanated previously. The Indonesian economy is still in the developing stage, and in accordance with the history of industrial structural changes in other countries, Indonesia’s manufacturing industry can still be expected to serve as the engine of the country’s economic development. But is it really possible in an environment where economic liberalization and globalization are forging ahead? And, what sort of problems have to be dealt with to make it possible? To answer these questions, it is necessary to know the current conditions of Indonesia’s manufacturing sector, and to do that, it becomes important to think back on the history of the country’s industrialization. Thus, this paper is intended to retrace and unlock the track of Indonesia’s industrialization up until the establishment of the manufacturing sector in its present form, with the ultimate goal being to give answers to the above-mentioned questions. Subject to an analysis in this paper is the period from the installment of President Soeharto’s administration onward when industrialization of the modern industrial sector2 moved into high gear. 　　　The composition of this paper is outlined below. Section 1 first shows why it is important to examine import substitution and export orientation, both of which are used as the measures of the analysis in this paper, in tracking the history of the industrialization, and then discuss indicators of import substitution and export orientation as well as statistical data and resources needed to develop those indicators. Section 2 clarifies the status of the manufacturing industry among all industries by looking at the composition ratio of the manufacturing industry in terms of value added, imports and exports. Section 3 to 5 cover three periods between 1971 and 1995 and make an analysis of import substitution, export orientation and changes in the industrial structure for each period. Section 3 analyzes the period from 1971 through 1985, when Indonesia pursued the import substitution policy amid the oil boom. Section 4 covers the period from 1985 through 1990, when the packages of deregulatory measures were announced successively under structural adjustment policies made necessary by the fall in oil prices. Section 5 examines the period from 1990 through 1995, which saw the alternate shifts between the overheating of the economy by sharply rising investment by both domestic and foreign investors in the wake of the liberalization of investment, trade and financial services, and polices to cool down the economy. Section 6, which covers the 1995-1999 period straddling the economic crisis, is designed for an analysis of the changes in production trends before and after the economic crisis as well as the changes in the industrial structure. Section 7, after summing up the history of Indonesia’s industrialization examined in the previous sections, discusses problems found in respective sectors and attempts to present future prospects for the country’s manufacturing industry.

Transformation of the Financial Sector in Indonesia

Introduction : The source and deployment of finance are central issues in economic development. Since 1966, when the Soeharto Administration was inaugurated, Indonesian economic development has relied on funds in the form of aid from international organizations and foreign countries. After the 1990s, a further abundant inflow of capital sustained a rapid economic development. Foreign funding was the basis of Indonesian economic growth. This paper will describe the mechanism for allocating funds in the Indonesian economy. It will identify the problems this mechanism generated in the Indonesian experience, and it will attempt to explain why there was a collapse of the financial system in the wake of the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997. History of the Indonesian Financial system The year 1966 saw the emergence of commercial banks in Indonesia. It can be said that before 1966 a financial system hardly existed, a fact commonly attributed to economic disruptions like the consecutive runs of fiscal deficit and hyperinflation under the Soekarno Administration. After 1996, with the inauguration of Soeharto, a regulatory system of financial legislation, e.g. central banking law and banking regulation, was introduced and implemented, and the banking sector that is the basis of the current financial system in Indonesia was built up. 　　　The Indonesian financial structure was significantly altered at the first financial reform of 1983. Between 1966 and 1982, the banking sector consisted of Bank Indonesia (the Central Bank) and the state-owned banks. There was also a system for distributing the abundant public revenue derived from the soaring oil price of the 1970s. The public finance distribution function, incorporated in Indonesian financial system, changed after the successive financial reforms of 1983 and 1988, when there was a move away from the monopoly-market style dominated by state-owned banks (which was a system of public finance distribution that operated at the discretion of the government) towards a modern market mechanism. The five phases of development The Indonesian financial system developed in five phases between 1966 and the present time. The first period (1966-72) was its formative period, the second (1973-82) its policy based finance period under soaring oil prices, the third (1983-91) its financial-reform period, the fourth (1992-97) its period of expansion, and the fifth (1998-) its period of financial restructuring. The first section of this paper summarizes the financial policies operative during each of the periods identified above. In the second section changes to the financial sector in response to policies are examined, and an analysis of these changes shows that an important development of the financial sector occurred during the financial reform period. In the third section the focus of analysis shifts from the general financial sector to particular commercial banks’ performances. In the third section changes in commercial banks’ lending and fund-raising behaviour after the 1990s are analysed by comparing several banking groups in terms of their ownership and foundation time. The last section summarizes the foregoing analyses and examines the problems that remain in the Indonesian financial sector, which is still undergoing restructuring.

Innovation networks in China, Japan, and Korea : evidence from Japanese patent data

The growing importance of innovation in economic growth has encouraged the development of innovation capabilities in East Asia, within which China, Japan, and Korea are most important in terms of technological capabilities. Using Japanese patent data, we examine how knowledge networks have developed among these countries. We find that Japan's technological specialization saw little change, but those of Korea and China changed rapidly since 1970s. By the year 2009, technology specialization has become similar across three countries in the sense that the common field of prominent technology is "electronic circuits and communication technologies". Patent citations suggest that technology flows were largest in the electronic technology, pointing to the deepening of innovation networks in these countries.

Innovation networks in China, Japan, and Korea : further evidence from U.S. patent data

The growing importance of innovation in economic growth has encouraged the development of innovation capabilities in East Asia, within which China, Japan, and Korea are most important in terms of technological capabilities. Using U.S. patent data, we examine how knowledge networks have developed among these countries. We find that Japan's technological specialization saw gradual changes, but those of Korea and China changed rapidly since 1970s. By the year 2009, technology specialization has become similar across three countries in the sense that the common fields of prominent technology are electronics and semiconductors. Patent citations suggest that technology flows were largest in the electronics technology, pointing to the deepening of innovation networks in these countries. Together with our prior work, the Japanese and U.S. data produce similar conclusions about innovation networks.

Growth of AlN oriented films on insulating substrates.

This work describes the structural and piezoelectric assessment of aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films deposited by pulsed-DC reactive sputtering on insulating substrates. We investigate the effect of different insulating seed layers on AlN properties (crystallinity, residual stress and piezoelectric activity). The seed layers investigated, silicon nitride (Si3N4), silicon dioxide (SiO2), amorphous tantalum oxide (Ta2O5), and amorphous or nano-crystalline titanium oxide (TiO2) are deposited on glass plates to a thickness lower than 100 nm. Before AlN films deposition, their surface is pre-treated with a soft ionic cleaning, either with argon or nitrogen ions. Only AlN films grown of TiO2 seed layers exhibit a significant piezoelectric activity to be used in acoustic device applications. Pure c-axis oriented films, with FWHM of rocking curve of 6º, stress below 500 MPa, and electromechanical coupling factors measured in SAW devices of 1.25% are obtained. The best AlN films are achieved on amorphous TiO2 seed layers deposited at high target power and low sputtering pressure. On the other hand, AlN films deposited on Si3N4, SiO2 and TaOx exhibit a mixed orientation, high stress and very low piezoelectric activity, which invalidate their use in acoustic devices.

High frequency high-order Rayleigh modes in ZnO/GaAs

Strong high-order Rayleigh or Sezawa modes, in addition to the fundamental Rayleigh mode, have been observed in ZnO/GaAs(001) systems along the [110] propagation direction of GaAs. The dispersion of the different acoustic waves has been calculated and compared to the experimental data. The bandwidth and impedance matching characteristics of the multimode SAW delay lines operating at high frequencies (2.5-3.5 GHz regime) have been investigated.

Análisis técnico-económico de acceso al mercado alemán EPEX SPOT

Acciona Energía dispone en Alemania de 150 MW de potencia instalada. Todos ellos de energía eólica, en un total de doce parques eólicos situados en la sur del país. El proyecto tiene por objeto comparar las distintas modalidades de venta de energía procedente de fuentes renovables que ofrece el estado alemán para la cartera de activos de Acciona Energía, llegando a una conclusión final de cuál de ellas es la más aconsejable. Para ello se ha realizado un estudio del funcionamiento y normas del mercado Epex Spot de la electricidad y de la legislación alemana correspondiente a la materia, así como un seguimiento exhaustivo de producción y otras variables de los parques eólicos para su análisis. Los cálculos y las estimaciones realizados llevaron a la conclusión, que la mejor opción era la venta directa en el mercado Epex Spot, para lo que primero habría que darse de alta como agente en dicho mercado. Aunque esta opción asuma mayores riesgos también ofrecería un aumento considerable de ingresos. ABSTRACT Acciona Energía has 150 MW of power capacity in Germany, all of them wind energy in a total of twelve installations, located in the south of the country. The main goal of the project is to compare the different ways to sell the energy which became from renewable source that German state offers for Acciona’s asset portfolio, finding the most advisable conclusion. To do so a study of standards and rules of Epex Spot electricity market and German law related to this topic has been made. In addition of an exhaustive monitoring of energy production and others wind farms variables has been analyzed. The reckoning and estimations saw the conclusion that the best option was the direct sell in Epex Spot market, in order to do that the first of all is to register as market agent. Despite this options assume bigger risks, it provide a substantial increase in income

On the lateral excitation of shear modes in AlN layered resonators

In this paper we describe the fabrication and frequency characterization of different structures intended for the lateral excitation of shear modes in AlN c-axis-oriented films, which are at the same time designed to minimize the excitation of longitudinal modes. Laterally excited resonators were built on partially metallic (SiO2, W) and insulating (SiOC, Si3N4) acoustic mirrors built on silicon substrates, and on insulating mirrors (SiO2, TaOx) built on insulating glass plates. TiOx seed layers were used to stimulate the growth of highly c-axis oriented AlN films, which was confirmed by XRD and SAW measurements. Coplanar Mo electrodes of different geometries were defined on top of the AlN films to excite the shear modes. All the structures analyzed displayed a clear longitudinal mode, corresponding to an acoustic velocity of 11000 m/s, but a null or extremely weak shear response corresponding to a sound velocity of around 6350 m/s. The simulation of the frequency response based on Mason's model confirms that the shear resonance is extremely weak. The observed longitudinal modes are attributed either to the field applied between the electrodes and a conductive plane (metallic layer or Si substrate) or to the electric field parallel to the c-axis in the edges of the electrodes or in tilted grains. The low excitation of shear modes is attributed to the very low values of electric field strength parallel to the surface.

La barrera del análisis estructural y la representación gráfica en el desarrollo de los proyectos arquitectónicos: el caso de la Ópera de Sidney

En numerosas ocasiones a lo largo de la historia la imaginación de los creadores ha ido por delante de las posibilidades técnicas de cada momento. Así, muchas de estas nuevas ideas han requerido largos periodos de tiempo para materializarse como realidad construida, hasta que el desarrollo tecnológico e industrial hubo alcanzado un grado de madurez suficiente. En el campo de la arquitectura, estas limitaciones técnicas se han ido acotando paulatinamente hasta desembocar en la situación actual en la que cualquier planteamiento formal puede ser representado gráficamente y analizado desde un punto de vista estructural, superádose de este modo la barrera existente históricamente en el tratamiento de las formas. A lo largo del presente tesis doctoral se analiza cómo la formulación del Método de los Elementos Finitos en la década de los cincuenta y las curvas de Bézier en la década de los sesenta del siglo pasado y la posterior generalización de los ordenadores personales y de los programas informáticos asociados (C.A.D. y F.E.M. principalmente) en los estudios de arquitectura e ingeniería a partir de la década de los noventa, posibilitó el desarrollo de cualquier propuesta arquitectónica, por compleja que ésta fuese, provocando una verdadera revolución a nivel formal en el mundo de la arquitectura, especialmente en el campo de la edificación singular o icónica. Se estudia este proceso a través de ocho edificios; cuatro anteriores y otros tantos posteriores a la desaparición de la barrera anteriormente referida, establecida de forma simbólica en la década de los años ochenta del siglo XX: Frontón de Recoletos en Madrid, Edificio Seagram en Nueva York, Habitat ’67 en Montreal, Ópera de Sídney, museo Guggenheim de Bilbao, ampliación del Victoria & Albert Museum en Londres, tanatorio “Meiso no Mori” en Gifu y nueva sede de la CCTV en Pekín. De entre ellos, la Ópera de Sídney, obra del arquitecto danés Jørn Utzon, condensa gran parte de los aspectos relevantes investigados en relación a la influencia que los métodos de representación y análisis estructural ejercen en la concepción y construcción de las obras de arquitectura. Por este motivo y por considerarse un hito de la arquitectura a nivel global se toma como caso de estudio. La idea general del edificio, que data de 1956, se enmarca en una época inmediatamente anterior a la del desarrollo científico y tecnológico anteriormente referido. Esta ausencia de herramientas de diseño disponibles acordes a la complejidad formal de la propuesta planteada condicionó enormente la marcha del proyecto, dilatándose dramáticamente en el tiempo y disparándose su coste hasta el punto de que el propio arquitecto danés fue separado de las obras antes de su conclusión. Además, la solución estructural finalmente construida de las cubiertas dista mucho de la prevista por Utzon inicialmente. Donde él había imaginado unas finas láminas de hormigón flotando sobre el paisaje se materializó una estructura más pesada, formada por costillas pretensadas de hormigón con unas secciones notablemente mayores. La forma también debió ser modificada de modo ostensible respecto a la propuesta inicial. Si este edificio se pretendiese construir en la actualidad, con toda seguridad el curso de los acontecimientos se desarrollaría por senderos muy diferentes. Ante este supuesto, se plantean las siguientes cuestiones: ¿sería posible realizar un análisis estructural de la cubierta laminar planteada por Utzon inicialmente en el concurso con las herramientas disponibles en la actualidad?; ¿sería dicha propuesta viable estructuralmente?. A lo largo de las siguientes páginas se pretende dar respuesta a estas cuestiones, poniendo de relieve el impacto que los ordenadores personales y los programas informáticos asociados han tenido en la manera de concebir y construir edificios. También se han analizado variantes a la solución laminar planteada en la fase de concurso, a través de las cuales, tratando en la medida de lo posible de ajustarse a las sugerencias que Ove Arup y su equipo realizaron a Jørn Utzon a lo largo del dilatado proceso de proyecto, mejorar el comportamiento general de la estructura del edificio. Por último, se ha pretendido partir de cero y plantear, desde una perspectiva contemporánea, posibles enfoques metodológicos aplicables a la búsqueda de soluciones estructurales compatibles con la forma propuesta originalmente por Utzon para las cubiertas de la Ópera de Sídney y que nunca llegó a ser construida (ni analizada), considerando para ello los medios tecnológicos, científicos e industriales disponibles en la actualidad. Abstract On numerous occasions throughout history the imagination of creators has gone well beyond of the technical possibilities of their time. Many new ideas have required a long period to materialize, until the technological and industrial development had time to catch up. In the architecture field, these technical limitations have gradually tightened leading to the current situation in which any formal approach can be represented and analyzed from a structural point of view, thus concluding that the structural analysis and the graphical representation’s barrier in the development of architectural projects has dissappeared. Throughout the following pages it is examined how the development of the Finite Element Method in the fifties and the Bezier curves in the sixties of the last century and the subsequent spread of personal computers and specialized software in the architectural and engineering offices from the nineties, enabled the development of any architectural proposal independently of its complexity. This has caused a revolution at a formal level in architecture, especially in the field of iconic building. This process is analyzed through eight buildings, four of them before and another four after the disappearance of the above mentioned barrier, roughly established in the eighties of the last century: Fronton Recoletos in Madrid, Seagram Building in New York Habitat '67 in Montreal, Sydney Opera House, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Victoria & Albert Museum extension in London, Crematorium “Meiso no Mori” in Gifu and the new CCTV headquarters in Beijing. Among them, the Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, condenses many of the main aspects previously investigated regarding the impact of representation methods and structural analysis on the design and construction of architectural projects. For this reason and also because it is considered a global architecture milestone, it is selected as a case study. The building’s general idea, which dates from 1956, is framed at a time immediately preceding the above mentioned scientific and technological development. This lack of available design tools in accordance with the proposal’s formal complexity conditioned enormously the project’s progress, leading to a dramatic delay and multiplying the final budget disproportionately to the point that the Danish architect himself was separated from the works before completion. Furthermore, the built structure differs dramatically from the architect’s initial vision. Where Utzon saw a thin concrete shell floating over the landscape a heavier structure was built, consisting of prestressed concrete ribs with a significantly greater size. The geometry also had to be modified. If this building were to built today, the course of events surely would walk very different paths. Given this assumption, a number of questions could then be formulated: Would it be possible to perform a structural analysis of Utzon’s initially proposed competition-free-ways roof’s geometry with the tools available nowadays?; Would this proposal be structurally feasable?. Throughout the following pages it is intended to clarify this issues, highlighting personal computers and associated software’s impact in building design and construction procedures, especially in the field of iconic building. Variants have also been analyzed for the laminar solution proposed in the competition phase, through which, trying as far as possible to comply with the suggestions that Ove Arup and his team did to Jørn Utzon along the lengthy process project, improving the overall performance of the building structure. Finally, we have started from scratch and analyzed, from a contemporary perspective, possible structural solutions compatible with Utzon’s Opera House’s original geometry and vision –proposal that was never built (nor even analyzed)-, taking into consideration the technological, scientific and industrial means currently available.

CsRAV1: a candidate gene for improving lignocellulosic biomass yield

Fast-growing tree species of Populus spp.,Salix spp. and Eucalyptus spp. are cultivated to produce wood in a short time. Poplars are cultivated with cycles of 15-18 years to obtain saw timber and peeler logs, but when grown as short -rotation coppice(SRC) to produce biomass, planting density increases and rotation is considerably reduced (3-5 years). In this regard, research efforts are focused in the identification of traits and loci that allow the generation of improved SRC biomass-yielding genotypes. Biomass yield is a highly complex trait as it is the combined outcome of many other complex traits, each under separate polygenic control. Among profitable biomass yield-related traits are the amount of sylleptic branching and the length of winter dormancy. In poplar and in a few other Salicaceae species some lateral buds grow out sylleptically, the same season in which they form without the need of an intervening rest period. Sylleptic branching in poplar increases branch number, leaf area and general growth of the tree in its early years, and is a reasonable predictor of coppice yield. On the other hand, the length of winter dormancy determines the extent of the growth period. Our group has characterized the RAV1 gene of Castanea sativa (CsRAV1), encoding a transcription factor of the subfamily RAV (Related to ABI3/VP1). CsRAV1 expression shows a marked seasonal pattern, being higher in autumn and winter both in stems and buds. We generated transgenic lines of the hybrid clone Populus tremulax P. alba INRA 717 1B4 constitutively expressing CsRAV 1. These CsRAV1-expressing poplars develop sylleptic branches only a few weeks after potting. In addition to the sylleptic branching phenotype, these trees show phenological features that could give rise to an extended growth period. We are currently assessing the phenotype and behavior of these transgenic trees in a field trial, and ultimately, we will evaluate the impact on lignocellulosic biomass quality and production.

Atelier Barani. Nice

I still remember the first time I saw photos of Marc Barani's Saint Pancrace Cemetery. ATELIER BARANI's project made such a lasting impression on me that I have followed hls work closely ever slnce. For the past six years, Barani has taught ln dlfferent places, most recently at the Speclal School of Architecture in Parls.