Evaluation of Non-Survey International IO Construction Methods with the Asian-Pacific Input-Output Table

This paper presents four non-survey methods to construct a full-information international input-output table from national IO tables and international import and export statistics, and this paper tests these four methods against the semi-survey international IO table for nine East-Asian countries and the USA, which is constructed by the Institute of Developing Economies in Japan. The tests show that the impact on the domestic flows of using self-sufficiency ratios is small, except for Singapore and Malaysia, two countries with large volumes of smuggling and transit trade. As regards the accuracy of the international flows, all methods show considerable errors, of 10%-40% for commodities and of 10%-70% for services. When more information is added, i.e. going from Method 1 to 4, the accuracy increases, except for Method 2 that generally produces larger errors than Method 1. In all, it seems doubtful whether replacing the semi-survey Asian-Pacific IO table with one of the four non-survey tables is justified, except when the semi-survey table itself is also considered to be just another estimate.

Forest connectivity restoration through reforestation: an integrated methodology for prioritizing agricultural lands and selecting reforestation species

Forest connectivity restoration is a major goal in natural resource planning. Given the high amount of abandoned cultivated lands, setting efficient methods for the reforestation of agricultural lands offers a good opportunity to face this issue. However, reforestations must be carefully planned, which poses two main challenges. In first place, to determine those agricultural lands that, once reforested, would meet more effectively the planning goals. As a further step, in order to grant the success of the activity, it is fairly advisable to select those tree species that are more adapted to each particular environment. Here we intend to give response to both requirements by proposing a sequential and integrated methodology that has been implemented in two Spanish forest districts, which are formed by several landscape types that were previously defined and characterized. Using the software Conefor Sensinode, a powerful tool for quantifying habitat availability that is based on graph theory concepts, we determined the landscapes where forest planning should have connectivity as a major concern and, afterwards, we detected the agricultural patches that would contribute most to enhance connectivity if they were reforested. The subsequent reforestation species assessment was performed within these priority patches. Using penalized logistic regressions we fitted ecological niche models for the Spanish native tree species. The models were trained with species distribution data from the Spanish Forest Map and used climatic and lithological variables as predictors. Model predictions were used to build ordered lists of suitable species for each priority patch. The lists include dominant and non dominant tree species and allow adding biodiversity goals to the reforestation planning. The result of this combined methodology is a map of agricultural patches that would contribute most to uphold forest connectivity if they were reforested and a list of suitable tree species for each patch ordered by occurrence probability. Therefore the proposed methodology may be useful for suitable and efficient forest planning and landscape designing.

A Generalized Regression Methodology for Bivariate Heteroscedastic Data

We present a methodology for reducing a straight line fitting regression problem to a Least Squares minimization one. This is accomplished through the definition of a measure on the data space that takes into account directional dependences of errors, and the use of polar descriptors for straight lines. This strategy improves the robustness by avoiding singularities and non-describable lines. The methodology is powerful enough to deal with non-normal bivariate heteroscedastic data error models, but can also supersede classical regression methods by making some particular assumptions. An implementation of the methodology for the normal bivariate case is developed and evaluated.

Down-Regulating γ-gliadins in bread wheat leads to non-specific increases in other gluten proteins and has no major effect on dough gluten strength.

Background Gliadins are a major component of gluten proteins but their role in the mixing of dough is not well understood because their contribution to wheat flour functional properties are not as clear as for the glutenin fraction. Methodology/Principal Findings Transgenic lines of bread wheat with γ-gliadins suppressed by RNAi are reported. The effects on the gluten protein composition and on technological properties of flour were analyzed by RP-HPLC, by sodium dodecyl sulfate sedimentation (SDSS) test and by Mixograph analysis. The silencing of γ-gliadins by RNAi in wheat lines results in an increase in content of all other gluten proteins. Despite the gluten proteins compensation, in silico analysis of amino acid content showed no difference in the γ-gliadins silenced lines. The SDSS test and Mixograph parameters were slightly affected by the suppression of γ-gliadins. Conclusions/Significance Therefore, it is concluded that γ-gliadins do not have an essential functional contribution to the bread-making quality of wheat dough, and their role can be replaced by other gluten proteins

On the non-slip boundary condition enforcement in SPH methods.

The implementation of boundary conditions is one of the points where the SPH methodology still has some work to do. The aim of the present work is to provide an in-depth analysis of the most representative mirroring techniques used in SPH to enforce boundary conditions (BC) along solid profiles. We specifically refer to dummy particles, ghost particles, and Takeda et al. [1] boundary integrals. A Pouseuille flow has been used as a example to gradually evaluate the accuracy of the different implementations. Our goal is to test the behavior of the second-order differential operator with the proposed boundary extensions when the smoothing length h and other dicretization parameters as dx/h tend simultaneously to zero. First, using a smoothed continuous approximation of the unidirectional Pouseuille problem, the evolution of the velocity profile has been studied focusing on the values of the velocity and the viscous shear at the boundaries, where the exact solution should be approximated as h decreases. Second, to evaluate the impact of the discretization of the problem, an Eulerian SPH discrete version of the former problem has been implemented and similar results have been monitored. Finally, for the sake of completeness, a 2D Lagrangian SPH implementation of the problem has been also studied to compare the consequences of the particle movement

Methodology for adapting the parameters of a fuzzy system using the extended Kalman filter

When we try to analyze and to control a system whose model was obtained only based on input/output data, accuracy is essential in the model. On the other hand, to make the procedure practical, the modeling stage must be computationally efficient. In this regard, this paper presents the application of extended Kalman filter for the parametric adaptation of a fuzzy model

Methodology for automated generation of multiple choice questions in self assessment

Current trends in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) are moving towards the continuous evaluation of the students in substitution of the traditional evaluation based on a single test or exam. This fact and the increase in the number of students during last years in Engineering Schools, requires to modify evaluation procedures making them compatible with the educational and research activities. This work presents a methodology for the automatic generation of questions. These questions can be used as self assessment questions by the student and/or as queries by the teacher. The proposed approach is based on the utilization of parametric questions, formulated as multiple choice questions and generated and supported by the utilization of common programs of data sheets and word processors. Through this approach, every teacher can apply the proposed methodology without the use of programs or tools different from those normally used in his/her daily activity

Tomas Lopez's Geographic Atlas of Spain in the Peninsular War: A methodology for determining errors

During the Peninsular War, Napoleon's and Wellington's armies were aware of the lack of precision in the maps of Spain and its provinces that appeared in Tomas Lopez \s Geographical Atlas of Spain. The errors were due to the non-topographical surveying method he used which he had learned from his teacher Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D 'Anville. To map all of the Spanish provinces, Tomas Lopez divided them into circles of three leagues in diameter (16,718 m), taking a particular town as the centre. He asked the town's priest to draw a map of the territory and to complete a questionnaire that Tomas Lopez sent to him. The priest was to return the two documents after he had completed them. Subsequently, at his desk, Tomas Lopez used the maps and reports as well as other graphic and written sources from various locations to make an outline of each map. Next, he made a mosaic that served as a pattern for drawing the final provincial map. We will see the way that this method was applied in two concrete cases: the villages ofChavaler and Monteagudo, situated in the Spanish province of Soria, and verify their degree of accuracy. We will use the maps drawn by the priests in 1767, the final map of the province which was published in 1804 by Tomás López, and a current map of the province showing the angular and linear errors in Lopez \s map.

Advances in the Simultaneous Multiple Surface optical design method for imaging and non-imaging applications

Classical imaging optics has been developed over centuries in many areas, such as its paraxial imaging theory and practical design methods like multi-parametric optimization techniques. Although these imaging optical design methods can provide elegant solutions to many traditional optical problems, there are more and more new design problems, like solar concentrator, illumination system, ultra-compact camera, etc., that require maximum energy transfer efficiency, or ultra-compact optical structure. These problems do not have simple solutions from classical imaging design methods, because not only paraxial rays, but also non-paraxial rays should be well considered in the design process. Non-imaging optics is a newly developed optical discipline, which does not aim to form images, but to maximize energy transfer efficiency. One important concept developed from non-imaging optics is the “edge-ray principle”, which states that the energy flow contained in a bundle of rays will be transferred to the target, if all its edge rays are transferred to the target. Based on that concept, many CPC solar concentrators have been developed with efficiency close to the thermodynamic limit. When more than one bundle of edge-rays needs to be considered in the design, one way to obtain solutions is to use SMS method. SMS stands for Simultaneous Multiple Surface, which means several optical surfaces are constructed simultaneously. The SMS method was developed as a design method in Non-imaging optics during the 90s. The method can be considered as an extension to the Cartesian Oval calculation. In the traditional Cartesian Oval calculation, one optical surface is built to transform an input wave-front to an out-put wave-front. The SMS method however, is dedicated to solve more than 1 wave-fronts transformation problem. In the beginning, only 2 input wave-fronts and 2 output wave-fronts transformation problem was considered in the SMS design process for rotational optical systems or free-form optical systems. Usually “SMS 2D” method stands for the SMS procedure developed for rotational optical system, and “SMS 3D” method for the procedure for free-form optical system. Although the SMS method was originally employed in non-imaging optical system designs, it has been found during this thesis that with the improved capability to design more surfaces and control more input and output wave-fronts, the SMS method can also be applied to imaging system designs and possesses great advantage over traditional design methods. In this thesis, one of the main goals to achieve is to further develop the existing SMS-2D method to design with more surfaces and improve the stability of the SMS-2D and SMS-3D algorithms, so that further optimization process can be combined with SMS algorithms. The benefits of SMS plus optimization strategy over traditional optimization strategy will be explained in details for both rotational and free-form imaging optical system designs. Another main goal is to develop novel design concepts and methods suitable for challenging non-imaging applications, e.g. solar concentrator and solar tracker. This thesis comprises 9 chapters and can be grouped into two parts: the first part (chapter 2-5) contains research works in the imaging field, and the second part (chapter 6-8) contains works in the non-imaging field. In the first chapter, an introduction to basic imaging and non-imaging design concepts and theories is given. Chapter 2 presents a basic SMS-2D imaging design procedure using meridian rays. In this chapter, we will set the imaging design problem from the SMS point of view, and try to solve the problem numerically. The stability of this SMS-2D design procedure will also be discussed. The design concepts and procedures developed in this chapter lay the path for further improvement. Chapter 3 presents two improved SMS 3 surfaces’ design procedures using meridian rays (SMS-3M) and skew rays (SMS-1M2S) respectively. The major improvement has been made to the central segments selections, so that the whole SMS procedures become more stable compared to procedures described in Chapter 2. Since these two algorithms represent two types of phase space sampling, their image forming capabilities are compared in a simple objective design. Chapter 4 deals with an ultra-compact SWIR camera design with the SMS-3M method. The difficulties in this wide band camera design is how to maintain high image quality meanwhile reduce the overall system length. This interesting camera design provides a playground for the classical design method and SMS design methods. We will show designs and optical performance from both classical design method and the SMS design method. Tolerance study is also given as the end of the chapter. Chapter 5 develops a two-stage SMS-3D based optimization strategy for a 2 freeform mirrors imaging system. In the first optimization phase, the SMS-3D method is integrated into the optimization process to construct the two mirrors in an accurate way, drastically reducing the unknown parameters to only few system configuration parameters. In the second optimization phase, previous optimized mirrors are parameterized into Qbfs type polynomials and set up in code V. Code V optimization results demonstrates the effectiveness of this design strategy in this 2-mirror system design. Chapter 6 shows an etendue-squeezing condenser optics, which were prepared for the 2010 IODC illumination contest. This interesting design employs many non-imaging techniques such as the SMS method, etendue-squeezing tessellation, and groove surface design. This device has theoretical efficiency limit as high as 91.9%. Chapter 7 presents a freeform mirror-type solar concentrator with uniform irradiance on the solar cell. Traditional parabolic mirror concentrator has many drawbacks like hot-pot irradiance on the center of the cell, insufficient use of active cell area due to its rotational irradiance pattern and small acceptance angle. In order to conquer these limitations, a novel irradiance homogenization concept is developed, which lead to a free-form mirror design. Simulation results show that the free-form mirror reflector has rectangular irradiance pattern, uniform irradiance distribution and large acceptance angle, which confirm the viability of the design concept. Chapter 8 presents a novel beam-steering array optics design strategy. The goal of the design is to track large angle parallel rays by only moving optical arrays laterally, and convert it to small angle parallel output rays. The design concept is developed as an extended SMS method. Potential applications of this beam-steering device are: skylights to provide steerable natural illumination, building integrated CPV systems, and steerable LED illumination. Conclusion and future lines of work are given in Chapter 9. Resumen La óptica de formación de imagen clásica se ha ido desarrollando durante siglos, dando lugar tanto a la teoría de óptica paraxial y los métodos de diseño prácticos como a técnicas de optimización multiparamétricas. Aunque estos métodos de diseño óptico para formación de imagen puede aportar soluciones elegantes a muchos problemas convencionales, siguen apareciendo nuevos problemas de diseño óptico, concentradores solares, sistemas de iluminación, cámaras ultracompactas, etc. que requieren máxima transferencia de energía o dimensiones ultracompactas. Este tipo de problemas no se pueden resolver fácilmente con métodos clásicos de diseño porque durante el proceso de diseño no solamente se deben considerar los rayos paraxiales sino también los rayos no paraxiales. La óptica anidólica o no formadora de imagen es una disciplina que ha evolucionado en gran medida recientemente. Su objetivo no es formar imagen, es maximazar la eficiencia de transferencia de energía. Un concepto importante de la óptica anidólica son los “rayos marginales”, que se pueden utilizar para el diseño de sistemas ya que si todos los rayos marginales llegan a nuestra área del receptor, todos los rayos interiores también llegarán al receptor. Haciendo uso de este principio, se han diseñado muchos concentradores solares que funcionan cerca del límite teórico que marca la termodinámica. Cuando consideramos más de un haz de rayos marginales en nuestro diseño, una posible solución es usar el método SMS (Simultaneous Multiple Surface), el cuál diseña simultáneamente varias superficies ópticas. El SMS nació como un método de diseño para óptica anidólica durante los años 90. El método puede ser considerado como una extensión del cálculo del óvalo cartesiano. En el método del óvalo cartesiano convencional, se calcula una superficie para transformar un frente de onda entrante a otro frente de onda saliente. El método SMS permite transformar varios frentes de onda de entrada en frentes de onda de salida. Inicialmente, sólo era posible transformar dos frentes de onda con dos superficies con simetría de rotación y sin simetría de rotación, pero esta limitación ha sido superada recientemente. Nos referimos a “SMS 2D” como el método orientado a construir superficies con simetría de rotación y llamamos “SMS 3D” al método para construir superficies sin simetría de rotación o free-form. Aunque el método originalmente fue aplicado en el diseño de sistemas anidólicos, se ha observado que gracias a su capacidad para diseñar más superficies y controlar más frentes de onda de entrada y de salida, el SMS también es posible aplicarlo a sistemas de formación de imagen proporcionando una gran ventaja sobre los métodos de diseño tradicionales. Uno de los principales objetivos de la presente tesis es extender el método SMS-2D para permitir el diseño de sistemas con mayor número de superficies y mejorar la estabilidad de los algoritmos del SMS-2D y SMS-3D, haciendo posible combinar la optimización con los algoritmos. Los beneficios de combinar SMS y optimización comparado con el proceso de optimización tradicional se explican en detalle para sistemas con simetría de rotación y sin simetría de rotación. Otro objetivo importante de la tesis es el desarrollo de nuevos conceptos de diseño y nuevos métodos en el área de la concentración solar fotovoltaica. La tesis está estructurada en 9 capítulos que están agrupados en dos partes: la primera de ellas (capítulos 2-5) se centra en la óptica formadora de imagen mientras que en la segunda parte (capítulos 6-8) se presenta el trabajo del área de la óptica anidólica. El primer capítulo consta de una breve introducción de los conceptos básicos de la óptica anidólica y la óptica en formación de imagen. El capítulo 2 describe un proceso de diseño SMS-2D sencillo basado en los rayos meridianos. En este capítulo se presenta el problema de diseñar un sistema formador de imagen desde el punto de vista del SMS y se intenta obtener una solución de manera numérica. La estabilidad de este proceso se analiza con detalle. Los conceptos de diseño y los algoritmos desarrollados en este capítulo sientan la base sobre la cual se realizarán mejoras. El capítulo 3 presenta dos procedimientos para el diseño de un sistema con 3 superficies SMS, el primero basado en rayos meridianos (SMS-3M) y el segundo basado en rayos oblicuos (SMS-1M2S). La mejora más destacable recae en la selección de los segmentos centrales, que hacen más estable todo el proceso de diseño comparado con el presentado en el capítulo 2. Estos dos algoritmos representan dos tipos de muestreo del espacio de fases, su capacidad para formar imagen se compara diseñando un objetivo simple con cada uno de ellos. En el capítulo 4 se presenta un diseño ultra-compacto de una cámara SWIR diseñada usando el método SMS-3M. La dificultad del diseño de esta cámara de espectro ancho radica en mantener una alta calidad de imagen y al mismo tiempo reducir drásticamente sus dimensiones. Esta cámara es muy interesante para comparar el método de diseño clásico y el método de SMS. En este capítulo se presentan ambos diseños y se analizan sus características ópticas. En el capítulo 5 se describe la estrategia de optimización basada en el método SMS-3D. El método SMS-3D calcula las superficies ópticas de manera precisa, dejando sólo unos pocos parámetros libres para decidir la configuración del sistema. Modificando el valor de estos parámetros se genera cada vez mediante SMS-3D un sistema completo diferente. La optimización se lleva a cabo variando los mencionados parámetros y analizando el sistema generado. Los resultados muestran que esta estrategia de diseño es muy eficaz y eficiente para un sistema formado por dos espejos. En el capítulo 6 se describe un sistema de compresión de la Etendue, que fue presentado en el concurso de iluminación del IODC en 2010. Este interesante diseño hace uso de técnicas propias de la óptica anidólica, como el método SMS, el teselado de las lentes y el diseño mediante grooves. Este dispositivo tiene un límite teórica en la eficiencia del 91.9%. El capítulo 7 presenta un concentrador solar basado en un espejo free-form con irradiancia uniforme sobre la célula. Los concentradores parabólicos tienen numerosas desventajas como los puntos calientes en la zona central de la célula, uso no eficiente del área de la célula al ser ésta cuadrada y además tienen ángulos de aceptancia de reducido. Para poder superar estas limitaciones se propone un novedoso concepto de homogeneización de la irrandancia que se materializa en un diseño con espejo free-form. El análisis mediante simulación demuestra que la irradiancia es homogénea en una región rectangular y con mayor ángulo de aceptancia, lo que confirma la viabilidad del concepto de diseño. En el capítulo 8 se presenta un novedoso concepto para el diseño de sistemas afocales dinámicos. El objetivo del diseño es realizar un sistema cuyo haz de rayos de entrada pueda llegar con ángulos entre ±45º mientras que el haz de rayos a la salida sea siempre perpendicular al sistema, variando únicamente la posición de los elementos ópticos lateralmente. Las aplicaciones potenciales de este dispositivo son varias: tragaluces que proporcionan iluminación natural, sistemas de concentración fotovoltaica integrados en los edificios o iluminación direccionable con LEDs. Finalmente, el último capítulo contiene las conclusiones y las líneas de investigación futura.

Simplified computational method for non-linear seismic analysis of bridges

After the experience gained during the past years it seems clear that nonlinear analysis of bridges are very important to compute ductility demands and to localize potential hinges. This is specially true for irregular bridges in which it is not clear weather or not it is possible to use a linear computation followed by a correction using a behaviour factor. To simplify the numerical effort several approximate methods have been proposed. Among them, the so-called Dynamic Plastic Hinge Method in which an evolutionary shape function is used to reduce the structure to a single degree of freedom system seems to mantein a good balance between accuracy and simplicity. This paper presents results obtained in a parametric study conducted under the auspicies of PREC-8 european research program.

A non-perturbative renormalization group study of the stochastic NavierStokes equation

We study the renormalization group flow of the average action of the stochastic Navier-Stokes equation with power-law forcing. Using Galilean invariance, we introduce a nonperturbative approximation adapted to the zero-frequency sector of the theory in the parametric range of the Hölder exponent 4−2 ɛ of the forcing where real-space local interactions are relevant. In any spatial dimension d, we observe the convergence of the resulting renormalization group flow to a unique fixed point which yields a kinetic energy spectrum scaling in agreement with canonical dimension analysis. Kolmogorov's −5/3 law is, thus, recovered for ɛ=2 as also predicted by perturbative renormalization. At variance with the perturbative prediction, the −5/3 law emerges in the presence of a saturation in the ɛ dependence of the scaling dimension of the eddy diffusivity at ɛ=3/2 when, according to perturbative renormalization, the velocity field becomes infrared relevant.

Time-Frequency based Feature Selection for Discrimination of non stationary Biosignals.

This research proposes a generic methodology for dimensionality reduction upon time-frequency representations applied to the classification of different types of biosignals. The methodology directly deals with the highly redundant and irrelevant data contained in these representations, combining a first stage of irrelevant data removal by variable selection, with a second stage of redundancy reduction using methods based on linear transformations. The study addresses two techniques that provided a similar performance: the first one is based on the selection of a set of the most relevant time?frequency points, whereas the second one selects the most relevant frequency bands. The first methodology needs a lower quantity of components, leading to a lower feature space; but the second improves the capture of the time-varying dynamics of the signal, and therefore provides a more stable performance. In order to evaluate the generalization capabilities of the methodology proposed it has been applied to two types of biosignals with different kinds of non-stationary behaviors: electroencephalographic and phonocardiographic biosignals. Even when these two databases contain samples with different degrees of complexity and a wide variety of characterizing patterns, the results demonstrate a good accuracy for the detection of pathologies, over 98%.The results open the possibility to extrapolate the methodology to the study of other biosignals.

Automatic generation of real-time deformable parametric model of the aorta for a VR-based catheterism guidance system

The purpose of this work is twofold: first, to develop a process to automatically create parametric models of the aorta that can adapt to any possible intraoperative deformation of the vessel. Second, it intends to provide the tools needed to perform this deformation in real time, by means of a non-rigid registration method. This dynamically deformable model will later be used in a VR-based surgery guidance system for aortic catheterism procedures, showing the vessel changes in real time.

Numerical CFD modelling of non-neutral atmospheric boundary layers for offshore wind resource assessment based on Monin-Obukhov theory

The presented works aim at proposing a methodology for the simulation of offshore wind conditions using CFD. The main objective is the development of a numerical model for the characterization of atmospheric boundary layers of different stability levels, as the most important issue in offshore wind resource assessment. Based on Monin-Obukhov theory, the steady k-ε Standard turbulence model is modified to take into account thermal stratification in the surface layer. The validity of Monin-Obukhov theory in offshore conditions is discussed with an analysis of a three day episode at FINO-1 platform.

The NeOn Methodology for Ontology Engineering

In contrast to other approaches that provide methodological guidance for ontology engineering, the NeOn Methodology does not prescribe a rigid workflow, but instead it suggests a variety of pathways for developing ontologies. The nine scenarios proposed in the methodology cover commonly occurring situations, for example, when available ontologies need to be re-engineered, aligned, modularized, localized to support different languages and cultures, and integrated with ontology design patterns and non-ontological resources, such as folksonomies or thesauri. In addition, the NeOn Methodology framework provides (a) a glossary of processes and activities involved in the development of ontologies, (b) two ontology life cycle models, and (c) a set of methodological guidelines for different processes and activities, which are described (a) functionally, in terms of goals, inputs, outputs, and relevant constraints; (b) procedurally, by means of workflow specifications; and (c) empirically, through a set of illustrative examples.