The 7DL.7Ag translocation from Lophopyrum elongatum that carries Lr19, a leaf rust resistance gene, was found to be associated with a significant increase in grain yield under irrigated, disease-free conditions, but a generally lower yield under moisture stress conditions. These studies, however, involved a limited number of genetic recipients and environments, and the effect of the translocation on physiological traits was not considered. We examined the translocation effect in six different recipient genotypes and under five environmental conditions, including drought and heat stress. The increase in grain yield under irrigated conditions was associated with a higher rate of biomass production in the 7DL.7Ag lines and may be attributed to higher sink strength. Effect of the translocation on physiological traits was noted only under heat stress and was not associated with difference in yield. Under moisture stress conditions, 7DL.7Ag lines yielded less than their corresponding recipients, possibly because of a longer growing cycle. It is concluded that the effect of the 7DL.7Ag translocation may very much depend on the phenological adaptation of the recipient genotype and the translocation may be useful for enhancing yield, mainly under favourable conditions.

Strict pollutant emission regulations are pushing gas turbine manufacturers to develop devices that operate in lean conditions, with the downside that combustion instabilities are more likely to occur. Methods to predict and control unstable modes inside combustion chambers have been developed in the last decades but, in some cases, they are computationally expensive. Sensitivity analysis aided by adjoint methods provides valuable sensitivity information at a low computational cost. This paper introduces adjoint methods and their application in wave-based low order network models, which are used as industrial tools, to predict and control thermoacoustic oscillations. Two thermoacoustic models of interest are analysed. First, in the zero Mach number limit, a nonlinear eigenvalue problem is derived, and continuous and discrete adjoint methods are used to obtain the sensitivities of the system to small modifications. Sensitivities to base-state modification and feedback devices are presented. Second, a more general case with non-zero Mach number, a moving flame front and choked outlet, is presented. The influence of the entropy waves on the computed sensitivities is shown.

In gas turbines, thermoacoustic oscillations grow if moments of high fluctuating heat release rate coincide with moments of high acoustic pressure. The phase between the heat release rate and the acoustic pressure depends strongly on the flame behaviour (specifically the time delay) and on the acoustic period. This makes the growth rate of thermoacoustic oscillations exceedingly sensitive to small changes in the acoustic boundary conditions, geometry changes, and the flame time delay. In this paper, adjoint-based sensitivity analysis is applied to a thermoacoustic network model of an annular combustor. This reveals how each eigenvalue is affected by every parameter of the system. This information is combined with an optimization algorithm in order to stabilize all thermoacoustic modes of the combustor by making only small changes to the geometry. The final configuration has a larger plenum area, a smaller premix duct area and a larger combustion chamber volume. All changes are less than 6% of the original values. The technique is readily scalable to more complex models and geometries and the inclusion of further constraints, such that the combustion chamber itself should not change. This demonstrates why adjoint-based sensitivity analysis and optimization could become an indispensible tool for the design of thermoacoustically-stable combustors.

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ResumenEl trabajo analiza el comportamiento de las microempresas bajo un marco de competencia imperfecta donde dichas unidades económicas son capaces de fijar un precio por encima de su costo marginal, el cual les permite subsistir e incluso ser rentables a pesar de las condiciones en las que suelen operar. Para probarlo, se estima un modelo econométrico que considera al índice de Lerner como variable dependiente de un conjunto de variables cualitativas previamente clasificadas por área de influencia. Se concluye que las microempresas son capaces de ser rentables y operar con poder de mercado gracias a la publicidad y estrategia de ventas utilizada, así como a la flexibilidad del proceso productivo. En cualquier caso, su capacidad de fijar precios está altamente influenciada por las condiciones socioeconómicas del mercado en el que operan.Palabras clave: Microempresas, poder de mercado, marginación, índice de Lerner. jel: D4, D41, D21 AbstRActThe paper analyzes the behavior of microenterprises in a context of imperfect competition in which they have the ability to profitably raise the market price of goods over their marginal cost. This allows them to survive and even be profitable despite the conditions under which they typically operate. We use an econometric model to conduct the analysis, in which we explain the Lerner index as a function of several qualitative variables previously classified by area of influence. We conclude that microenterprises are capable of being profitable and operating with market power through advertising and sales strategies due to the flexibility of the production process. In any case, the capacity to set prices is strongly influenced by the socioeconomic conditions of the market in which they operate.

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We construct a low order thermoacoustic network model that contains the most influential physical mechanisms of a thermoacoustic system. We apply it to a laboratory-scale longitudinal combustor that has been found to be thermoacoustically unstable in experiments. We model the flame, which is behind a bluff body, by a geometric level set method. We obtain the thermoacoustic eigenvalues of this configuration and examine a configuration in which six eigenmodes are unstable. We then derive the adjoint equations of this model and use the corresponding adjoint eigenmodes to obtain the sensitivities of the unstable eigenvalues to modifications of the model geometry. These sensitivities contain contributions from changes to the steady base flow and changes to the fluctuating flow. We find that these two contributions have similar magnitudes, showing that both contributions need to be considered. We then wrap these sensitivities within a gradient-based optimization algorithm and stabilize all six eigenvalues by changing the geometry. The required geometry changes are well approximated by the first step in the optimization process, showing that this sensitivity information is useful even before it is embedded within an optimization algorithm. We examine the acoustic energy balance during the optimization process and identify the physical mechanisms through which the algorithm is stabilizing the combustor. The algorithm works by, for each mode, reducing the work done by the flame, while simultaneously increasing the work done by the system on the outlet boundary. We find that only small geometry changes are required in order to stabilize every mode. The network model used in this study deliberately has the same structure as one used in the gas turbine industry in order to ease its implementation in practice. * Now at Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU);

El presente trabajo analiza la posibilidad de que algunos tipos de microempresas puedan actuar con poder de mercado, pese a la marginación socioeconómica en la que operan. Al concentrarse en zonas carentes de infraestructura y con rasgos de marginación, esas empresas se ven con posibilidades de fijar un precio mayor al del mercado, actuando en un marco de competencia distinto al de competencia perfecta. El consumidor, por su parte, está dispuesto a pagar un precio más elevado por el mismo bien, debido a lo alto de los costos (en términos de tiempo y esfuerzo) que trae consigo el adquirirlo en zonas más comerciales. Este trabajo se fundamenta en un análisis de 29 microempresas, en el cual los resultados muestran una relación positiva entre el índice de Lerner y el nivel de marginación de las colonias donde se concentran.