Search results for: Maria Ines da Rosa

Authors: Md Al Masum Bhuiyan, Maria C. Mariani, Osei K. Tweneboah

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In the present work, we develop a technique for estimating the volatility of financial time series by using stochastic differential equation. Taking the daily closing prices from developed and emergent stock markets as the basis, we argue that the incorporation of stochastic volatility into the time-varying parameter estimation significantly improves the forecasting performance via Maximum Likelihood Estimation. While using the technique, we see the long-memory behavior of data sets and one-step-ahead-predicted log-volatility with ±2 standard errors despite the variation of the observed noise from a Normal mixture distribution, because the financial data studied is not fully Gaussian. Also, the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process followed in this work simulates well the financial time series, which aligns our estimation algorithm with large data sets due to the fact that this algorithm has good convergence properties.

Keywords: financial time series, maximum likelihood estimation, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type models, stochastic volatility model

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Authors: Natasha Petrovska, Mirjana Pavlovic, Maria M. Larrondo-Petrie

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Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multi-potent, self-renewing cells that generate new neurons. Three subtypes of NSCs can be separated regarding the stages of NSC lineage: quiescent neural stem cells (qNSCs), activated neural stem cells (aNSCs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs), but their gene expression signatures are not utterly understood yet. Single-cell examinations have started to elucidate the complex structure of NSC populations. Nevertheless, there is a lack of thorough molecular interpretation of the NSC lineage heterogeneity and an increasing need for tools to analyze and improve the efficiency and correctness of single-cell sequencing data. Feature selection and ordering can identify and classify the gene expression signatures of these subtypes and can discover novel subpopulations during the NSCs activation and differentiation processes. The aim here is to review the implementation of the feature selection technique on NSC subtypes and the classification techniques that have been used for the identification of gene expression signatures.

Keywords: feature selection, feature similarity, neural stem cells, genes, feature selection methods

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Authors: Ernest Moles, Patricia Urbán, María Belén Jiménez-Díaz, Sara Viera-Morilla, Iñigo Angulo-Barturen, Maria Antònia Busquets, Xavier Fernàndez-Busquets

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Bearing in mind the absence of an effective vaccine against malaria and its severe clinical manifestations causing nearly half a million deaths every year, this disease represents nowadays a major threat to life. Besides, the basic rationale followed by currently marketed antimalarial approaches is based on the administration of drugs on their own, promoting the emergence of drug-resistant parasites owing to the limitation in delivering drug payloads into the parasitized erythrocyte high enough to kill the intracellular pathogen while minimizing the risk of causing toxic side effects to the patient. Such dichotomy has been successfully addressed through the specific delivery of immunoliposome (iLP)-encapsulated antimalarials to Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells (pRBCs). Unfortunately, this strategy has not progressed towards clinical applications, whereas in vitro assays rarely reach drug efficacy improvements above 10-fold. Here, we show that encapsulation efficiencies reaching >96% can be achieved for the weakly basic drugs chloroquine (CQ) and primaquine using the pH gradient active loading method in liposomes composed of neutrally charged, saturated phospholipids. Targeting antibodies are best conjugated through their primary amino groups, adjusting chemical crosslinker concentration to retain significant antigen recognition. Antigens from non-parasitized RBCs have also been considered as targets for the intracellular delivery of drugs not affecting the erythrocytic metabolism. Using this strategy, we have obtained unprecedented nanocarrier targeting to early intraerythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite for which there is a lack of specific extracellular molecular tags. Polyethylene glycol-coated liposomes conjugated with monoclonal antibodies specific for the erythrocyte surface protein glycophorin A (anti-GPA iLP) were capable of targeting 100% RBCs and pRBCs at the low concentration of 0.5 μM total lipid in the culture, with >95% of added iLPs retained into the cells. When exposed for only 15 min to P. falciparum in vitro cultures synchronized at early stages, free CQ had no significant effect over parasite viability up to 200 nM drug, whereas iLP-encapsulated 50 nM CQ completely arrested its growth. Furthermore, when assayed in vivo in P. falciparum-infected humanized mice, anti-GPA iLPs cleared the pathogen below detectable levels at a CQ dose of 0.5 mg/kg. In comparison, free CQ administered at 1.75 mg/kg was, at most, 40-fold less efficient. Our data suggest that this significant improvement in drug antimalarial efficacy is in part due to a prophylactic effect of CQ found by the pathogen in its host cell right at the very moment of invasion.

Keywords: immunoliposomal nanoparticles, malaria, prophylactic-therapeutic polyvalent activity, targeted drug delivery

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Authors: Ferentinos George, Papatheodorou George, Belmonte Genuario, Geraga Maria, Christodoulou Dimitris, Fakiris Elias, Iatrou Margarita, Kordella Stravroula, Prevenios Michail, Mentogianis Vassilis, Sotiropoulos Makis

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The Ionian Sea Aquarium-Museum in Kefallinia Island, Greece and its twinning with that of Santa Maria al Bagno in the Salento peninsula, Italy, are recently established Hubs in the Ionian Sea funded by the European Territorial Cooperation Programme, Greece-Italy 2007-2013. The objectives of the Ionian Sea Aquarium-Museum are: (i) exhibiting to the public the underwater natural and cultural treasures of the seas surrounding the island, (ii) the functioning of a recreational/vocational hub for all educational levels but also for sea users and stakeholders, to raise their awareness of the seas and engage them in the European notion of the Blue Growth of the Seas and (iii) setting up diving parks in sites of natural and cultural importance. The natural heritage in the Aquarium-Museum is exhibited in five tanks displaying the two most important benthic habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, that is, the Posidonia oceanica and the Coralligene assemblages with the associated rich fauna. The cultural heritage is exhibited in: (i) Dioramas displaying scale model replicas of the three best preserved ancient and historic wrecks. -The Fiscardo Roman wreck dating between 1st cent B.C. and 2nd cent. A.D., which is one of the largest and best preserved in the Mediterranean Sea. -The HMS PERSEUS British submarine, which is known for the second deepest submarine escape from all sunken submarines in WW II, and -A wooden wreck, the Italian ship Alma probably, which was requisitioned by the German army and used for transporting supplies and ammunition. (ii) Documentaries: The first two present the complete story from launching to sinking of: the HMS PERSEUS British submarine, the SS Ardena which is associated with the Italian Aqui Division killed by the German forces in Kefallinia and made known from the book and film “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and the third documentary deals with the birth place of seafaring in the world, which took place in the Greek. Archipelago by Neanderthals and modern humans between 115 and 35 thousand years ago. The Aquarium-Museum starts from next year (a) educational programmes for schools and tourists to discover the natural and cultural treasures around Kefallinia island, (b) recreational/vocational holiday activities centered on eco-diving and get involved in mapping and monitoring NATURA 2000 sites around the island and thus actively engaged in the Blue Growth of the seas and (c) summer schools aimed at under/post-graduate students, who are interested in marine archaeology and geo-habitat mapping and are looking for a job in the sustainable management of the seas. The exhibition themes in the Aquarium-Museum as well as the recreational /vocational and educational activities are prepared by the Oceanus Net laboratories of Patras University and were selected after surveying the seafloor using the latest state of art sonar and camera technologies.

Keywords: aquarium-museum, cultural and natural treasures, ionian sea, Kefallinia Island

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Authors: A. Maria G. Melero, A. M. Senna, J. A. Domingues, M. A. Hausen, E. Aparecida R. Duek, V. R. Botaro

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A hydrogel from cellulose acetate cross linked with ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride (HAC-EDTA) was synthesized by our research group, and submitted to characterization and biological tests. Cytocompatibility analysis was performed by confocal microscopy using human adipocyte derived stem cells (ASCs). The FTIR analysis showed characteristic bands of cellulose acetate and hydroxyl groups and the tensile tests evidence that HAC-EDTA present a Young’s modulus of 643.7 MPa. The confocal analysis revealed that there was cell growth at the surface of HAC-EDTA. After one day of culture the cells presented spherical morphology, which may be caused by stress of the sequestration of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions at the cell medium by HAC-EDTA, as demonstrated by ICP-MS. However, after seven days and 14 days of culture, the cells present fibroblastoid morphology, phenotype expected by this cellular type. The results give efforts to indicate this new material as a potential biomaterial for tissue engineering, in the future in vivo approach.

Keywords: cellulose acetate, hydrogel, biomaterial, cellular growth

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Authors: Maria Casoria

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Throughout the last decade developing countries have been undergoing substantial reforms to promote the establishment of competition regimes, as consequence of the trade liberalization and the spread of a ‘competition awareness movement’ across the globe. The legislative trend affected the whole Asia. Notwithstanding the existence of extensive joint ventures, cartels and other collusive business relationships in this geographical area, almost all the countries have already passed or are committed to enforce specific laws in the field. The study dwells into legal solutions adopted in the five sub-regions in which the continent is commonly divided –i.e. Central, East, South, Southeast, and Western Asia- and, using a comparative methodology, shed lights on the main differences and similarities in place. The final outcome of the analysis is that, despite the undeniable divergences of approach, what links together the legislation in force in the region is the unveiled influence exercised by the European Union competition regulation. Consequently, in order to properly evaluate the deterrence of the rule of law in the sector concerned, it is fundamental to scrutinize the major role played by the EU and its policy for the evolution of pro-competitive practices in the continent.

Keywords: Asia, competition law, differences and similarities, European union, influences

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Authors: Vanessa Bennemann, Gabriela Laste, Márcia Inês Goettert

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The gestational period is a phase in which the pregnant woman undergoes constant physiological and hormonal changes, which are part of the woman’s biological cycle, the development of the fetus, childbirth, and lactation. These are factors of response to the immunological adaptation of the human reproductive process that is directly related to the pregnancy’s well-being and development. Although most pregnancies occur without complications, about 15% of pregnant women will develop potentially fatal complications, implying maternal and fetal risk. Therefore, requiring specialized care for high-risk pregnant women (HRPW) with obstetric interventions for the survival of the mother and/or fetus. Among the risk factors that characterize HRPW are the women's age, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases such as syphilis and HIV, hypertension (SAH), preeclampsia, eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, uterine contraction abnormalities, and premature placental detachment (PPD), thyroid disorders, among others. Thus, pregnancy has an impact on the thyroid gland causing changes in the functioning of the mother's thyroid gland, altering the thyroid hormone (TH) profiles and production as pregnancy progresses. Considering, throughout the gestational period, the interpretation of the results of the tests to evaluate the thyroid functioning depends on the stage in which the pregnancy is. Thyroid disorders are directly related to adverse obstetric outcomes and in child development. Therefore, the adequate release of TH is important for a pregnancy without complications and optimal fetal growth and development. Objective: Investigate the physiological effects caused by thyroid disorders in the gestational period. Methods: A search for articles indexed in PubMed, Scielo, and MDPI databases, was performed using the term “AND”, with the descriptors: Pregnancy, Thyroid. With several combinations that included: Melatonin, Thyroidopathy, Inflammatory processes, Cytokines, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, High-risk pregnancy. Subsequently, the screening was performed through the analysis of titles and/or abstracts. The criteria were: including clinical studies in general, randomized or not, in the period of 10 years prior to the research, in the English literature; excluded: experimental studies, case reports, research in the development phase. Results: In the preliminary results, a total of studies (n=183) were found, (n=57) excluded, such as studies of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and skin diseases. Conclusion: To date, it has been identified that thyroid diseases can impair the fetus’s brain development. Further research is suggested on this matter to identify new substances that may have a potential therapeutic effect to aid the gestational period with thyroid diseases.

Keywords: pregnancy, thyroid, melatonin, high-risk pregnancy

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Authors: Cristina Maria Mendoza Sanchez, Maria Angeles Navarro Perán

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Introduction: Nursing as a profession, from its initial formation and after its development in practice, has been built and identified mainly from its technical competence and professionalization within the positivist approach of the XIX century that provides a conception of the disease built on the basis of to the biomedical paradigm, where the care provided is more focused on the physiological processes and the disease than on the suffering person understood as a whole. The main issue that is in need of study here is a review of the nursing profession's history to get to know how the nursing profession was before the XIX century. It is unclear if there were organizations or people with knowledge about looking after others or if many people survived by chance. The holistic care, in which the appearance of the disease directly affects all its dimensions: physical, emotional, cognitive, social and spiritual. It is not a concept from the 21st century. It is common practice, most probably since established life in this world, with the final purpose of covering all these perspectives through quality care. Objective: In this paper, we describe and analyze the history of education in nursing learning in terms of reviewing and analysing theoretical foundations of clinical teaching and learning in nursing, with the final purpose of determining and describing the development of the nursing profession along the history. Method: We have done a descriptive systematic review study, doing a systematically searched of manuscripts and articles in the following health science databases: Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Temperamentvm and CINAHL. The selection of articles has been made according to PRISMA criteria, doing a critical reading of the full text using the CASPe method. A compliment to this, we have read a range of historical and contemporary sources to support the review, such as manuals of Florence Nightingale and John of God as primary manuscripts to establish the origin of modern nursing and her professionalization. We have considered and applied ethical considerations of data processing. Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria in our search, in Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, Temperamentvm and CINAHL, we have obtained 51 research articles. We have analyzed them in such a way that we have distinguished them by year of publication and the type of study. With the articles obtained, we can see the importance of our background as a profession before modern times in public health and as a review of our past to face challenges in the near future. Discussion: The important influence of key figures other than Nightingale has been overlooked and it emerges that nursing management and development of the professional body has a longer and more complex history than is generally accepted. Conclusions: There is a paucity of studies on the subject of the review to be able to extract very precise evidence and recommendations about nursing before modern times. But even so, as more representative data, an increase in research about nursing history has been observed. In light of the aspects analyzed, the need for new research in the history of nursing emerges from this perspective; in order to germinate studies of the historical construction of care before the XIX century and theories created then. We can assure that pieces of knowledge and ways of care were taught before the XIX century, but they were not called theories, as these concepts were created in modern times.

Keywords: nursing history, nursing theory, Saint John of God, Florence Nightingale, learning, nursing education

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Authors: Juliane P. De Oliveira, Carlos H. Dos Santos, Marcia Shoji, Maria E. C. Ferreira, Natalia U. Yamaguchi

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The construction sector is considered a major generator of environmental impacts due to the high consumption of natural resources and waste generation. Thus, this article aims to evaluate the performance of a concrete produced by the partial and total replacement of natural coarse aggregate by recycled coarse aggregate, derived from the concrete residue of buildings and demolitions. The study was made by comparing the compressive strength and absorption of three different concrete traces, keeping the water/cement factor of 0.60 and changing only the proportions of recycled coarse aggregate between 0%, 50% and 100%. Traces 50% and 100% obtained good results by comparing the actual specific mass, because the material used is lighter to the natural coarse aggregate. It was concluded that the concrete produced with recycled aggregates, even with inferior results, can be used where it is not needed a structural function, giving an adequate destination to the construction and demolition waste and consequently reducing the extraction and consumption of natural resources.

Keywords: green concrete, recycled aggregate, recycling, sustainable development

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Authors: Claudio Burguez, María Castelló, Mikaela Pisani, Marcos Umpiérrez

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BIOFEEDBACK exhibition offers a unique experience for each visitor, combining art, neuroscience, and technology in an interactive way. Using a headband that captures the bioelectric activity of the brain, the visitors are able to generate sound and images in a sequence loop, making them an integral part of the artwork. Through this interactive exhibit, visitors gain a deeper appreciation of the beauty and complexity of the brain. As a special takeaway, visitors will receive an NFT as a present, allowing them to continue their engagement with the exhibition beyond the physical space. We used the EEG Biofeedback technique following a closed-loop neuroscience approach, transforming EEG data captured by a Muse S headband in real-time into audiovisual stimulation. PureData is used for sound generation and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for image generation. Thirty participants have experienced the exhibition. For some individuals, it was easier to focus than others. Participants who said they could focus during the exhibit stated that at one point, they felt that they could control the sound, while images were more abstract, and they did not feel that they were able to control them.

Keywords: art, audiovisual, biofeedback, EEG, NFT, neuroscience, technology

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Authors: Charles Kwasi Antwi, Mohammad Naushad Emmambux, Natalia Rosa-Sibakov

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The consumption of high-fibre snacks is beneficial in reducing the prevalence of most non-communicable diseases and improving human health. However, using high-fibre flour to produce snacks by extrusion cooking reduces the expansion ratio of snacks, thereby decreasing sensory properties and consumer acceptability of the snack. The study determines the effects of adding Viscozyme®-treated sorghum bran on the properties of extruded sorghum snacks with the aim of producing high-fibre expanded snacks with acceptable quality. With a twin-screw extruder, sorghum endosperm flour [by decortication] with and without sorghum bran and with enzyme-treated sorghum bran was extruded at high shear rates with feed moisture of 20%, feed rate of 10 kg/hr, screw speed of 500 rpm, and temperature zones of 60°C, 70°C, 80°C, 140°C, and 140°C toward the die. The expanded snacks that resulted from this process were analysed in terms of their physical (expansion ratio, bulk density, colour profile), chemical (soluble and insoluble dietary fibre), and functional (water solubility index (WSI) and water absorption index (WAI)) characteristics. The expanded snacks produced from refined sorghum flour enriched with Viscozyme-treated bran had similar expansion ratios to refined sorghum flour extrudates, which were higher than those for untreated bran-sorghum extrudate. Sorghum extrudates without bran showed higher values of expansion ratio and low values of bulk density compared to the untreated bran extrudates. The enzyme-treated fibre increased the expansion ratio significantly with low bulk density values compared to untreated bran. Compared to untreated bran extrudates, WSI values in enzyme-treated samples increased, while WAI values decreased. Enzyme treatment of bran reduced particle size and increased soluble dietary fibre to increase expansion. Lower particle size suggests less interference with bubble formation at the die. Viscozyme-treated bran-sorghum composite flour could be used as raw material to produce high-fibre expanded snacks with improved physicochemical and functional properties.

Keywords: extrusion, sorghum bran, decortication, expanded snacks

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Authors: María Victoria Alvarez Magañini, Lautaro Nahuel Rubbi

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According to different theories, the hegemonic war between the United States and the People's Republic of China seems to be imminent. However, nowadays, it is clear that China's conventional military capacity is inferior to that of the United States. Nevertheless, the conditions that in the past were considered to be an indicator of validity in asymmetrical warfare, at present, in a possible asymmetric war scenario, are no longer considered to be taken as such. The military capacity is not the only concept that represents the main indicator of victory. The organisation and the use of forces are also an essential part of it. The present paper aims to analyze the Chinese Defense Strategy in relation to the concept of asymmetric warfare in the face of a possible war with the United States. The starting point will be developed on the basis of application of the theory which corresponds to the concept aforementioned making focus on recent developments of the People’s Republic of China in the field of non-conventional defense. A comparative analysis of the conventional forces of both powers/countries will also be carried out.

Keywords: asymmetric warfare, China, United States, hegemonic warfare

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Authors: Maria Santana, Jose Estaire

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Even though recycling strategies are becoming more important in recent years, there is still a huge amount of industrial by-products that are the disposal of at landfills. Due to the size, possible dangerous composition, and heterogeneity, most of the wastes are located at landfills without a basic geotechnical characterization. This lack of information may have an important influence on the correct stability calculations. This paper presents the results of geotechnical characterization of some industrial wastes disposed at one landfill. The shear strength parameters were calculated based on direct shear test results carried out in a large shear box owned by CEDEX, which has a shear plane of 1 x 1 m. These parameters were also compared with the results obtained in a 30 x 30 cm shear box. The paper includes a sensitive analysis of the global safety factor of the landfill's overall stability as a function of shear strength variation. The stability calculations were assessed for various hydrological scenarios to simulate the design and performance of the leachate drainage system. The characterization was completed with leachate tests to study the potential impact on the environment.

Keywords: industrial wastes, landfill, leachate tests, stability

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Authors: Maria Joseph Israel, Ahmed Amer

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Our work aims to broaden the application of provenance technology beyond its traditional domains of scientific workflow management and database systems by offering a general provenance framework to capture richer and extensible metadata in unstructured textual data sources such as literary texts, commentaries, translations, and digital humanities. Specifically, we demonstrate the feasibility of capturing and representing expressive provenance metadata, including more of the context for citing scholarly works (e.g., the authors’ explicit or inferred intentions at the time of developing his/her research content for publication), while also supporting subsequent augmentation with similar additional metadata (by third parties, be they human or automated). To better capture the nature and types of possible citations, in our proposed provenance scheme metaScribe, we extend standard provenance conceptual models to form our proposed provCite ontology. This provides a conceptual framework which can accurately capture and describe more of the functional and rhetorical properties of a citation than can be achieved with any current models.

Keywords: knowledge representation, provenance architecture, ontology, metadata, bibliographic citation, semantic web annotation

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Authors: Abeer Toheed Quadri, Maria Abubakar, Mehreen Sirshar

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Component Based Software Development (CBSD) is a new trend in software development. Selection of quality components is not enough to ensure software quality in Component Based Software System (CBSS). A software product is considered to be a quality product if it satisfies its customer’s needs and has minimum defects. Authors’ survey different research papers and analyzes various techniques which ensure software quality in component based software development. This paper includes an investigation about how to improve the quality of a component based software system without effecting quality attributes. The reported information is identified from literature survey. The developments of component based systems are rising as they reduce the development time, effort and cost by means of reuse. After analysis, it has been explored that in order to achieve the quality in a CBSS we need to have the components that are certified through software measure because the predictability of software quality attributes of system depend on the quality attributes of the constituent components, integration process and the framework used.

Keywords: CBSD (component based software development), CBSS (component based software system), quality components, SQA (software quality assurance)

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Authors: Juan C. Gutierrez-Estrada, Inmaculada Pulido-Calvo, Ignacio De La Rosa, Antonio Peregrin, Fernando Gomez-Bravo, Samuel Lopez-Dominguez, Alejandro Garrocho-Cruz, Jairo Castro-Gutierrez

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The semi-intensive aquaculture in traditional earth ponds is the main rearing system in Southern Spain. These fish rearing systems are approximately two thirds of aquatic production in this area which has made a significant contribution to the regional economy in recent years. In this type of rearing system, a crucial aspect is the correct quantification and control of the fish abundance in the ponds because the fish farmer knows how many fishes he puts in the ponds but doesn’t know how many fishes will harvest at the end of the rear period. This is a consequence of the mortality induced by different causes as pathogen agents as parasites, viruses and bacteria and other factors as predation of fish-eating birds and poaching. Track the fish abundance in these installations is very difficult because usually the ponds take up a large area of land and the management of the water flow is not automatized. Therefore, there is a very high degree of uncertainty on the abundance fishes which strongly hinders the management and planning of the sales. A novel and non-invasive procedure to count fishes in the ponds is by the means of imaging sonars, particularly fixed systems and/or linked to aquatic vehicles as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). In this work, a method based on census stations procedures is proposed to evaluate the fish abundance estimation accuracy using images obtained of multibeam sonars. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain a realistic approach about the number of fishes, sizes and therefore the biomass contained in the ponds. This research is included in the framework of the KTTSeaDrones Project (‘Conocimiento y transferencia de tecnología sobre vehículos aéreos y acuáticos para el desarrollo transfronterizo de ciencias marinas y pesqueras 0622-KTTSEADRONES-5-E’) financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal Programme (POCTEP) 2014-2020.

Keywords: census station procedure, fish biomass, semi-intensive aquaculture, multibeam sonars

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Authors: María-José Palacin-Sanchez, Filippo Di Pietro, Reyes Samaniego-Medina

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This article examines, in an institutional context such as Spanish one, the corporate board structure characteristics and determinants in entrepreneurial firms to go public. Specifically, it explores these issues through all the initial public offerings in the Spanish Alternative Equity Market (MAB), which is a market segment for smaller growing companies. The results show that: a) firm size, age of the company, and the reputation of the auditor and the nominated advisor and Corporate Governance Code favour a larger and more independent board structure that enhances its monitoring functions; and b) leverage, opportunities of growth, sector risk and ownership by executive directors all lead towards a smaller broad of directors where the role of entrepreneurship provided by executive directors remains crucial. This reflects the delicate balance of power between small-business entrepreneurs and financial equity market forces, which demand more transparency and monitoring in the companies.

Keywords: board composition, board size, corporate governance, IPO, SMEs

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Authors: Genaro Bolívar, Manuel Mas, Maria Tortolero, Jorge Salazar

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Due to the extensive use of water injection for oil displacement and pressure maintenance in oil fields, many reservoirs experience the problem of scale deposition when injection water starts to break through. In most cases the scaled-up wells are caused by the formation of sulfate and carbonate scales of calcium and strontium. Due to their relative hardness and low solubility, there are limited processes available for their removal and preventive measures such as the “squeeze” inhibitor treatment have to be taken. It is, therefore, important to gain a proper understanding of the kinetics of scale formation and its detrimental effects on formation damage under both inhibited and uninhibited conditions. Recently, the production of chitosan was started in our country and in the PDVSA-Intevep laboratories was synthesized and evaluated the properties of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMQ) as chelating agent of Ca2 + ions in water injection. In this regard, the characterization of the biopolymer by 13C - NMR, FTIR, TGA, and TM0374-2007 standard laboratory test has demonstrated the ability to remove up to 70% calcium ions in solution and shows a behavior that approaches that of commercial products.

Keywords: carboxymethyl chitosan, scale, calcium carbonate scale deposition, water injection

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Authors: Aline Alves Bandeira, Luís Pedro Lima, Maria Cecília de Paula Silva, Paulo Henrique de Viveiros Tavares

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Nowadays, the study of public policies regarding management efficiency is essential. Public policies are about what governments do or do not do, being an area that has grown worldwide, contributing through the knowledge of technologies and methodologies that monitor and evaluate the performance of public administrators. The information published on official government websites needs to provide for transparency and responsiveness of managers. Thus, transparency is a primordial factor for the execution of Accountability, providing, in this way, services to the citizen with the expansion of transparent, efficient, democratic information and that value administrative eco-efficiency. The ecologically balanced management of a Smart City must optimize environmental education, building a fairer society, which brings about equality in the use of quality environmental resources. Smart Cities add value in the construction of public management, enabling interaction between people, enhancing environmental education and the practical applicability of administrative eco-efficiency, fostering economic development and improving the quality of life.

Keywords: accountability, environmental education, new public administration, smart cities

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Authors: Jaime Martín-de-Nicolás, David Mata-Moya, Nerea del-Rey-Maestre, Pedro Gómez-del-Hoyo, María-Pilar Jarabo-Amores

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Ship detection is nowadays quite an important issue in tasks related to sea traffic control, fishery management and ship search and rescue. Although it has traditionally been carried out by patrol ships or aircrafts, coverage and weather conditions and sea state can become a problem. Synthetic aperture radars can surpass these coverage limitations and work under any climatological condition. A fast CFAR ship detector based on a robust statistical modeling of sea clutter with respect to sea states in SAR images is used. In this paper, the minimum SNR required to obtain a given detection probability with a given false alarm rate for any sea state is determined. A Gaussian target model using real SAR data is considered. Results show that SNR does not depend heavily on the class considered. Provided there is some variation in the backscattering of targets in SAR imagery, the detection probability is limited and a post-processing stage based on morphology would be suitable.

Keywords: SAR, generalized gamma distribution, detection curves, radar detection

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Authors: Marilyn U. Balagtas, Maria Ruth M. Regalado, Carmelina E. Barrera, Ramer V. Oxiño, Rosarito T. Suatengco, Josephine E. Tondo

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This study presents the perceptions of the students and teachers from kindergarten to tertiary level of the image of the 21st century teacher to provide basis in designing teacher development programs in Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in the Philippines. The highlights of the report are the personal, psychosocial, and professional images of the 21st century teacher in basic education and the teacher educators based on a survey done to 612 internal stakeholders of nine member institutions of the National Network of Normal Schools (3NS). Data were obtained through the use of a validated researcher-made instrument which allowed generation of both quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the teacher image. Through the use of descriptive statistics, the common images of the teacher were drawn, which were validated and enriched by the information drawn from the qualitative data. The study recommends a repertoire of teacher development programs to create the good image of the 21st century teachers for a better Philippines.

Keywords: teacher image, 21st century teacher, teacher education, development program

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Authors: María José López Rey, Mar Chaves Carrillo, Manuela Caballero Guisado

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The data presented here are part of a broader investigation on active population aging. The work was carried out in November 2020 in Extremadura, a region of southern Spain. This R + D + I project, called "Active aging scenarios in Extremadura: intervention proposals," was carried out by a team of professors, researchers from the University of Extremadura. The project has been financed by the European Regional Development Funds and the Government of Extremadura. Here, we focus on aspects that have to do with the experience of health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how this has affected the population related to the main sociodemographic variables. In an exercise of methodological triangulation, thus providing robustness to the analysis, primary data, obtained from the survey designed ad hoc, are combined with other secondary data from various sources and studies carried out in Spain (Sociological Research Centre, and National Institute of Statistics). The survey was carried out on a representative sample of the population over 55 years old, coming from Extremadura. Among the findings, we must highlight the practical invariability of perceptions based on the main sociodemographic variables, as well as some differences indicated by the variables sex and age.

Keywords: aging, health, COVID-19, perceptions

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Authors: Ana María Velasco Molpeceres

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With this work, we try to offer a complete digest of female fashion magazines edited in Spain from the XVIII century to today. During the XIX century Spain developed an important journalistic industry and the feminine press was very popular. In addition, a lot of women wrote and directed fashion magazines which tried to improve women’s status and education. In the XX century, fashion magazines reflected the ideological conflicts and the history of Spain. Before the Civil War (1936-1939), women get many rights and the modernization was clear. In the Franco’s dictatorship, fashion magazines portrayed ideals of a conservative femininity. But, in the sixties, the media helped to connect Spain with the rest of the world, being at the same time under the censorship of the regime. After the dictatorship, fashion was a very important part of the Transition’s culture and the ‘Movida’ (reflected in Almodovar’s films) contributed and expressed the new ideals of citizenship for men and women. Fashion magazines showed the changes of the society. In the XXI century, today, these magazines are a part of a global culture and Vogue or Elle live with Spanish magazines as Telva or Hola. The objective of this research is to study the history, meaning and evolution of the fashion magazines in Spain. And, of course, the ideal of women reflected on them.

Keywords: fashion, Spain, magazines, women

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Authors: Badino Manuel, Farias Maria Alejandra

Abstract:

Telemedicine (TM) has the potential to develop efficient and cost-effective means for delivering quality health care services and outcomes, showing equal or, in some cases, better results than in-person treatment. To analyze patient satisfaction with the use of TM becomes relevant because this can affect the results of treatment and the adherence to it. The aim is to assess patient satisfaction with telemedicine for treating substance-related disorders in a mental health service in Córdoba, Argentina. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with substance-related disorders (N=115). A patient satisfaction survey was conducted from December 2021 to March 2022. For a total of 115 participants, 59,1% were male, 38,3% were female and 2,6% non-binary. In relation to educational status, 40% finished university, 39,1% high school, and 20,9 % only primary school. Regarding age, 4,3 % were young, 92,2% were adults, and 3,5% were elderly. Regarding TM treatment, 95,7% reported being satisfied. Furthermore, 85,2% of users declared that they would continueTM treatment, and 14,8% said that they would not resume TM treatment. To conclude, high levels of patient satisfaction contributes to the continuity of TM modality.

Keywords: telemedicine, mental health, substance-related disorders, patient satisfaction

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Authors: Luciana Aparecida Bastos, Tatiana Diair L. F. Rosa, Jesus Creapldi

Abstract:

The idea of Latin American integration occurred from the ideals of Simón Bolívar that, in 1824, called the Ibero-American nations to Amphictyonic Congress of Panama, on June 22, 1826, where he would defend the importance of Latin American unity. However, this congress was frustrating and the idea of Bolívar went no further. It was only after the European Union to start the process, driven by the end of World War II that the subject returned to emerge in Latin America. Thus, in 1960, supported by the European integration process, started in 1957 with the excellent result of the ECSC - European Coal and Steel Community, a result of the Customs Union of the BENELUX (integration between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) in 1948, was created in Latin America, LAFTA - Latin American Free Trade Association, in 1960. In 1980, LAFTA was replaced by LAAI- Latin American Association, both with the same goal: to integrate Latin America, it´s economy and its trade. Most researchers in this period agree that the regional market would be expanded through the integration. The creation of one or more economic blocs in the region would provide the union of Latin American countries through a fusion of common interests and by their geographical proximity, which would try to develop common projects to promote mutual growth and economic development, tariff reductions, promotion of increased trade between, among many other goals set together. Thus, taking into account Mercosur, the main Latin-American block, created in 1994, the aim of this paper is to make a brief analysis of the trade balance performance of Brazil (larger economy of the block) in Mercosur in the periods: 1989-1994 and 1994-2012. The choice of this period was because the objective is to compare the period before and after the integration of Brazil in Mercosur. The methodologies used were the literature review and descriptive statistics. The results showed that after the integration of Brazil in Mercosur, the exports and imports grew within the bloc and the country turned out to become the leading importer of other economies of Mercosur after integration, that is, Brazil, after integration to Mercosur, was largely responsible for promoting the expansion of regional trade through the import of products from other members of the block.

Keywords: Brazil, mercosur, integration, trade balance, comparison

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Authors: Lorenzo Maiorino, Fabio Fortuna, Giovanni Panebianco, Marco Sanzari, Gabriella Arcese, Valerio Maria Paolozzi

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It is well known that sport is a factor of social cohesion and the breaking down of barriers between people. From this point of view, the aim is to demonstrate how, through the (re)generation of sustainable structures, it is possible to give life to a new social, cultural, and economic pathway, where possible, in peripheral areas with problems of abandonment and degradation. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to study realities such as European programs and funds and to highlight the ways in which planning can be used to respond to critical issues such as urban decay, abandonment, and the mitigation of social differences. For this reason, the analysis will be carried out through the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package, the Next Generation EU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund, and other managed funds. The procedure will rely on sources and data of unquestionable origin, and the relation to the object of study in question will be highlighted. The project lends itself to be ambitious and exploring a further aspect of the sports theme, which, as we know, is one of the foundations for a healthy society.

Keywords: sport, social inclusion, urban regeneration, sports facilities, European funds

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Authors: Nadia Selene Molina-Moreno, Maria Susana Avila-Garcia, Marco Bianchetti, Marcelina Pantoja-Flores

Abstract:

Visual Programming Tools available are a great tool for introducing children to programming and to develop a skill set for algorithmic thinking. On the other hand, collaborative learning and pair programming within the context of programming activities, has demonstrated to have social and learning benefits. However, some of the online tools available for programming for children are not designed to allow simultaneous and equitable participation of the team members since they allow only for a single control point. In this paper, a report the work conducted with children playing a user role is presented. A preliminary study to cull ideas, insights, and design considerations for a formal programming course for children aged 8-10 using collaborative learning as a pedagogical approach was conducted. Three setups were provided: 1) lo-fi prototype, 2) PC, 3) a 46' multi-touch single display groupware limited by the application to a single touch entry. Children were interviewed at the end of the sessions in order to know their opinions about teamwork and the different setups defined. Results are mixed regarding the setup, but they agree to like teamwork.

Keywords: children, collaborative programming, visual programming, multi-touch tabletop, lo-fi prototype

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Authors: Maria Christofi, George Plastiras, Rafaella Elia, Vaggelis Tsiourtis, Theocharis Theocharides, Miltiadis Katsaros

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The rapidly expanding urban areas of the world constitute a challenge of how we need to make the transition to "the next urbanization", which will be defined by new analytical tools and new sources of data. This paper is about the production of a spatial application, the ‘FUMapp’, where space and its initiative will be available literally, in meters, but also abstractly, at a sensed level. While existing spatial applications typically focus on illustrations of the urban infrastructure, the suggested application goes beyond the existing: It investigates how our environment's perception adapts to the alterations of the built environment through a dataset construction of biophysical measurements (eye-tracking, heart beating), and physical metrics (spatial characteristics, size of stimuli, rhythm of mobility). It explores the intersections between architecture, cognition, and computing where future design can be improved and identifies the flexibility and livability of the ‘available space’ of specific examined urban paths.

Keywords: biophysical data, flexibility of urban, livability, next urbanization, spatial application

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Authors: Laura Rodrigues Carmona, Maria José Chambel, Vânia Sofia Carvalho

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Background: In peacekeeping operations, military personnel are often exposed to the same traumatic stress factors found during conventional war and may also be subject to the physical risks and psychological stressors associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Objectives: To discuss the prevalence of PTSD among peacekeepers as well as the risks of and protective factors against this disorder and its comorbidities and/or consequences. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed with relevant keywords, and 53 articles were identified for this review. Results and conclusions: Military personnel deployed in peacekeeping operations have a higher prevalence of PTSD than nonmilitary personnel, a prevalence similar to that of military personnel deployed in war situations. Concerning the salient risk factors, the contextual factors are highlighted, and in regard to the protective factors, the individual factors are highlighted. This study thus demonstrates that there are factors in which the role of the military is essential, via both its selection and monitoring of peacekeepers during and after their deployment, to protect deployed personnel’s mental health.

Keywords: peacekeepers, peacekeeping, military, PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder

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Authors: Dimitrios J. Dimitriou, Maria F. Sartzetaki

Abstract:

Transport infrastructures are high-cost, long-term investments that serve as vital foundations for the operation of a region or nation and are essential to a country’s or business’s economic development and prosperity, by improving well-being and generating jobs and income. The development of appropriate financing options is of key importance in the decision making process in order develop viable transport infrastructures. The development of transport infrastructure has increasingly been shifting toward alternative methods of project financing such as Public Private Partnership (PPPs) and hybrid forms. In this paper, a methodological decision-making framework based on the evaluation of the financial viability of transportation infrastructure for different financial schemes is presented. The framework leads to an assessment of the financial viability which can be achieved by performing various financing scenarios analyses. To illustrate the application of the proposed methodology, a case study of rail transport infrastructure financing scenario analysis in Greece is developed.

Keywords: rail transport infrastructure, financial viability, scenario analysis, rail project feasibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 260