Effect of climate and geography on worldwide fine resolution economic activity

Geography, including climatic factors, have long been considered potentially important elements in shaping socio-economic activities, alongside other determinants, such as institutions. Here we demonstrate that geography and climate variables satisfactorily explain the worldwide economic activity as measured by the per capita Gross Cell Product (GCP-PC) at a fine geographical resolution, typically much higher than country average. A 1° by 1° GCPPC dataset has been key for establishing and testing a direct relationship between 'local' geography/climate and GCP-PC. Not only have we tested the geography and climate hypothesis using many possible explanatory variables, importantly we have also predicted and reconstructed GCP-PC worldwide by retaining the most significant predictors. While this study confirms that latitude is the most important predictor for GCP-PC when taken in isolation, the accuracy of the GCP-PC prediction is greatly improved when other factors mainly related to variations in climatic variables, rather than average climatic conditions as typically used, are considered. However, latitude diminishes in importance when only the wealthier parts of the globe are considered. This work points to specific features of the climate system which explain economic activity, such as the variability in air pressure. Implications of these findings range from an improved understanding of why socio-economically better-off societies are geographically placed where they are in the present, past and future to informing where new economic activities could be established in order to yield favourable economic outcomes based on geography and climate conditions

Reconstruction of Multidecadal Country-Aggregated Hydro Power Generation in Europe Based on a Random Forest Model

Hydro power can provide a source of dispatchable low-carbon electricity and a storage solution in a climate-dependent energy mix with high shares of wind and solar production. Therefore, understanding the effect climate has on hydro power generation is critical to ensure a stable energy supply, particularly at a continental scale. Here, we introduce a framework using climate data to model hydro power generation at the country level based on a machine learning method, the random forest model, to produce a publicly accessible hydro power dataset from 1979 to present for twelve European countries. In addition to producing a consistent European hydro power generation dataset covering the past 40 years, the specific novelty of this approach is to focus on the lagged effect of climate variability on hydro power. Specifically, multiple lagged values of temperature and precipitation are used. Overall, the model shows promising results, with the correlation values ranging between 0.85 and 0.98 for run-of-river and between 0.73 and 0.90 for reservoir-based generation. Compared to the more standard optimal lag approach the normalised mean absolute error reduces by an average of 10.23% and 5.99%, respectively. The model was also implemented over six Italian bidding zones to also test its skill at the sub-country scale. The model performance is only slightly degraded at the bidding zone level, but this also depends on the actual installed capacity, with higher capacities displaying higher performance. The framework and results presented could provide a useful reference for applications such as pan-European (continental) hydro power planning and for system adequacy and extreme events assessments

Ideales hegemónicos de belleza femenina y concursos de belleza locales

Beauty pageants offer a stage for the display of hegemonic ideals of beauty. Behind the media spectacle, they lodge power discourses that are expressed through the body. Pageants like Miss Universe or Miss Ecuador present women which bodies aspire to be icons of a national identity. These pageants can give a testimony of the several political, social and historical processes that a country may face. Even though, women beauty is governed by international and permanent standards, the queen acquires new characteristics in each election. Talking about a local pageant like Reina de Quito, offers a different analysis. This investigation shows a platform where beauty ideals reaffirm each year and never change. In addition, this pageant presents static moral values that are rooted to a society. This investigation presents a local ideal of beauty that is defined from race and social class.Los concursos de belleza femenina son espacios que ofrecen una plataforma para la exhibición de ideales hegemónicos de belleza. Detrás del espectáculo mediático, albergan discursos de poder que se expresan a través del cuerpo. Certámenes como Miss Universo o Miss Ecuador presentan mujeres cuyos cuerpos buscan ser íconos de una identidad nacional. Estos concursos dan cuenta de distintos procesos políticos, sociales e históricos. Pese a que en ellos la belleza femenina se rige a ciertos estándares permanentes e internacionalmente aceptados, adquiere nuevos significados y nuevas características en cada elección. Hablar de un concurso como Reina de Quito ofrece un análisis distinto. Este estudio propone un acercamiento a una plataforma donde el ideal de belleza femenina se reafirma cada año y no se reinventa. Así, presenta una radiografía de una sociedad en donde el ideal de belleza se encuentra atravesado por discursos y valores estáticos. Esta investigación académica hace un acercamiento a un ideal local de belleza que se define desde la raza y la clase social

Dynamic metasurface lens based on MEMS Technology

In the recent years, metasurfaces, being flat and lightweight, have been designed to replace bulky optical components with various functions. We demonstrate a monolithic Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) integrated with a metasurface-based flat lens that focuses light in the mid-infrared spectrum. A two-dimensional scanning MEMS platform controls the angle of the lens along the two orthogonal axes (tip-tilt) by +-9 degrees, thus enabling dynamic beam steering. The device can compensate for off-axis incident light and thus correct for aberrations such as coma. We show that for low angular displacements, the integrated lens-on-MEMS system does not affect the mechanical performance of the MEMS actuators and preserves the focused beam profile as well as the measured full width at half maximum. We envision a new class of flat optical devices with active control provided by the combination of metasurfaces and MEMS for a wide range of applications, such as miniaturized MEMS-based microscope systems, LIDAR scanners, and projection systems

Locally Non-rigid Registration for Mobile HDR Photography

Image registration for stack-based HDR photography is challenging. If not properly accounted for, camera motion and scene changes result in artifacts in the composite image. Unfortunately, existing methods to address this problem are either accurate, but too slow for mobile devices, or fast, but prone to failing. We propose a method that fills this void: our approach is extremely fast---under 700ms on a commercial tablet for a pair of 5MP images---and prevents the artifacts that arise from insufficient registration quality

Effect of Supplementary Irrigation on Yield of Chickpea Genotypes in a Mediterranean Climate

Rosana G. Moreira, Editor-in-Chief; Texas A&M UniversityThis is a paper from International Commission of Agricultural Engineering (CIGR, Commission Internationale du Genie Rural) E-Journal Volume 8 (2006): Effect of Supplementary Irrigation on Yield of Chickpea Genotypes in a Mediterranean Climate. Manuscript LW 04 005. Vol. VIII. May, 2006

Correlation functions by Cluster Variation Method for Ising model with NN, NNN and Plaquette interactions

We consider the procedure for calculating the pair correlation function in the context of the Cluster Variation Methods. As specific cases, we study the pair correlation function in the paramagnetic phase of the Ising model with nearest neighbors, next to the nearest neighbors and plaquette interactions in two and three dimensions. In presence of competing interactions, the so called disorder line separates in the paramagnetic phase a region where the correlation function has the usual exponential behavior from a region where the correlation has an oscillating exponentially damped behavior. In two dimensions, using the plaquette as the maximal cluster of the CVM approximation, we calculate the phase diagram and the disorder line for a case where a comparison is possible with results known in literature for the eight-vertex model. In three dimensions, in the CVM cube approximation, we calculate the phase diagram and the disorder line in some cases of particular interest. The relevance of our results for experimental systems like mixtures of oil, water and surfactant is also discussed.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX file, 7 figure

Quantum cascade photonic crystal surface emitting injection laser

A surface emitting quantum cascade injection laser is presented. Direct surface emission is obtained by using a 2D photonic-band-gap structure that simultaneously acts as a microcavity. The approach may allow miniaturization and on-chip-integration of the devices

An approach for the estimation of the aggregated photovoltaic power generated in several European countries from meteorological data

Classical approaches to the calculation of the photovoltaic (PV) power generated in a region from meteorological data require the knowledge of the detailed characteristics of the plants, which are most often not publicly available. An approach is proposed with the objective to obtain the best possible assessment of power generated in any region without having to collect detailed information on PV plants. The proposed approach is based on a model of PV plant coupled with a statistical distribution of the prominent characteristics of the configuration of the plant and is tested over Europe. The generated PV power is first calculated for each of the plant configurations frequently found in a given region and then aggregated taking into account the probability of occurrence of each configuration. A statistical distribution has been constructed from detailed information obtained for several thousands of PV plants representing approximately 2 % of the total number of PV plants in Germany and was then adapted to other European countries by taking into account changes in the optimal PV tilt angle as a function of the latitude and meteorological conditions. The model has been run with bias-adjusted ERA-interim data as meteorological inputs. The results have been compared to estimates of the total PV power generated in two countries: France and Germany, as provided by the corresponding transmission system operators. Relative RMSE of 4.2 and 3.8 % and relative biases of −2.4 and 0.1 % were found with three-hourly data for France and Germany. A validation against estimates of the country-wide PV-power generation provided by the ENTSO-E for 16 European countries has also been conducted. This evaluation is made difficult by the uncertainty on the installed capacity corresponding to the ENTSO-E data but it nevertheless allows demonstrating that the model output and TSO data are highly correlated in most countries. Given the simplicity of the proposed approach these results are very encouraging. The approach is particularly suited to climatic timescales, both historical and future climates, as demonstrated here