Search results for: García Peña Elvia Inés

Authors: Luis F. Garcia, Julian E. Jaramillo, Jorge L. Chacón

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Colombia is a country where the benefits of wind power industry are barely used because of the geography in some areas does not allow the implementation of onshore horizontal axis wind turbines. Furthermore, exist rural areas without access to the electrical grid. Therefore, there is currently a deficit of energy supply in some towns. This research took place in one of those areas (i.e. Chicamocha Canyon-Santander) where the answer to the energy supply problems could be the use of vertical axis wind turbines, which can be used for turbulent flows. Hence, one task of this research is the analysis of the wind resources in the Chicamocha Canyon in order to implement the wind energy. The wind turbines must be designed in such a way that the blades take good advantage of the wind resources in the area of interest. Consequently, in the current research the analysis of two different airfoils (i.e. NACA0018 and DU 06-W-200) through a 2D CFD simulation is carried out by means of a free-software (OpenFOAM). Predicted results using the “Spalart-Allmaras” turbulence model are similar to the wind tunnel data published in the literature. Moreover, global parameters such as dimensionless lift and drag coefficients were calculated. Finally, this research encourages VAWT studies under wind turbulent flows in order to achieve the best use of natural resources in Colombia.

Keywords: airfoil, wind turbine, turbulence modelling, Chicamocha, CFD

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Authors: Farzaneh Mohammadi Jouzdani, Vahid Javidroozi, Monica Mateo Garcia, Hanifa Shah

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The emergence of developing smart net-zero cities in recent years has attracted significant attention and interest from worldwide communities and scholars as a potential solution to the critical requirement for urban sustainability. This research-in-progress paper aims to investigate the development of smart net-zero cities to propose a digital transformation roadmap for smart net-zero cities with a primary focus on data. Employing systems thinking as an underpinning theory, the study advocates for the necessity of utilising a holistic strategy for understanding the complex interdependencies and interrelationships that characterise urban systems. The proposed methodology will involve an in-depth investigation of current data-driven approaches in the smart net-zero city. This is followed by utilising predictive analysis methods to evaluate the holistic impact of the approaches on moving toward a Smart net-zero city. It is expected to achieve systemic intervention followed by a data-focused and systemic digital transformation roadmap for smart net-zero, contributing to a more holistic understanding of urban sustainability.

Keywords: smart city, net-zero city, digital transformation, systems thinking, data integration, data-driven approach

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Authors: Riccardo Zanni, Maria Galvez-Llompart, Ramon Garcia-Domenech, Jorge Galvez

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Biopesticides, such as naturally occurring chemicals, pheromones, fungi, bacteria and insect predators are often a winning choice in crop protection because of their environmental friendly profile. They are considered to have lower toxicity than traditional pesticides. After almost a century of pesticides use, resistances to traditional insecticides are wide spread, while those to bioinsecticides have raised less attention, and resistance management is frequently neglected. This seems to be a crucial mistake since resistances have already occurred for many marketed biopesticides. With an eye to the future, we present here a selection of new natural occurring chemicals as potential bioinsecticides. The molecules were selected using a consolidated mathematical paradigm called molecular topology. Several QSAR equations were depicted and subsequently applied for the virtual screening of hundred thousands molecules of natural origin, which resulted in the selection of new potential bioinsecticides. The most innovative aspect of this work does not only reside in the importance of the identification of new molecules overcoming biopesticides’ resistances, but on the possibility to promote shared knowledge in the field of green chemistry through this unique in silico discipline named molecular topology.

Keywords: green chemistry, QSAR, molecular topology, biopesticide

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Authors: M. Pacio, H. Juárez, R. Pérez-Cuapio E. Rosendo, T. Díaz, G. García

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In this study, zinc oxide (ZnO) quantum dots (QDs) have been prepared by a simple route. The growth parameters for ZnO QDs were systematically studied inside a SiO2 shell; this shell acts as a capping agent and also enhances stability of the nanoparticles in water. ZnO QDs in silica shell could be produced by initially synthesizing a ZnO colloid (containing ZnO nanoparticles in methanol solution) and then was mixed with 3-aminopropylsiloxane used as SiO2 precursor. ZnO QDs were deposited onto silicon substrates (100) orientation by spin-coating technique. ZnO QDs into a SiO2 shell were pre-heated at 300 °C for 10 min after each coating, that procedure was repeated five times. The films were subsequently annealing in air atmosphere at 500 °C for 2 h to remove the trapped fluid inside the amorphous silica cage. ZnO QDs showed hexagonal wurtzite structure and about 5 nm in diameter. The composition of the films at the surface and in the bulk was obtained by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), the spectra revealed the presence of Zn- and Si- related clusters associated to the chemical species in the solid matrix. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra under 325 nm of excitation only show a strong UV emission band corresponding to ZnO QDs, such emission is enhanced with annealing. Our results showed that the method is appropriate for the preparation of ZnO QDs films embedded in a SiO2 shell with high UV photoluminescence.

Keywords: ZnO QDs, sol gel, functionalization

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Authors: Maria Sheila S. Garcia

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A good number of researches indicate that living in another country may create different and unexpected adjustment problems, and foreign students are not exempted from this. To provide an understanding of this process, 30 foreign college students studying English in Tarlac City were asked to answer questionnaires. This is to determine their sociocultural adaptation, openness to the host culture and success of sojourn. Through statistical analysis, it was found that the students experience greater difficulty in the academic area. Moderate difficulty was attributed to everyday life and social interactions. Albeit difficult, what they like best is the school’s methods of teaching English while the areas that need improvement are the libraries and internet connection. The only significant relationship was found between sociocultural adaptation and success of sojourn. Negatively correlated, if students experience greater difficulties in their host country, they are likely to regret their stay and will not recommend it to anyone. Openness to the host culture did not have an effect on the adaptation and success of sojourn. The short period of time that the students have are spent in studying rather than making friends. Nonetheless, this indicates the need to look deeper into the academic, extra-curricular activities and facilities provided by learning institutions.

Keywords: foreign students, sociocultural adaptation, success of sojourn, Tarlac Philippines

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Authors: Marcus C. Garcia, Giselle C. Guimarães, Luciana H. Yamane, Renato R. Siman

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The environmental indicators and the classification of beach waste are essential tools to diagnose the current situation and to indicate ways to improve the quality of this environment. The purpose of this paper was to perform a quali-quantitative analysis of the beach waste on the Curva da Jurema Beach (Espírito Santo - Brazil). Three transects were used with equidistant positioning over the total length of the beach for the solid waste collection. Solid wastes were later classified according to their use and primary raw material from the low and high summer season. During the low season, average values of 7.10 items.m^-1, 18.22 g.m^-1 and 0.91 g.m^-2 were found for the whole beach, and transect 3 contributed the most waste, with the total sum of items equal to 999 (49%), a total mass of 5.62 kg and a total volume of 21.31 L. During the high summer season, average values of 8.22 items.m^-1, 54.40 g.m^-1 and 2.72 g.m^-2 were found, with transect 2 contributing the most to the total sum with 1,212 items (53%), a total mass of 10.76 kg and a total volume of 51.99 L. Of the total collected, plastic materials represented 51.4% of the total number of items, 35.9% of the total mass and 68% of the total volume. The implementation of reactive and proactive measures is necessary so that the management of the solid wastes on Curva da Jurema Beach is in accordance with principles of sustainability.

Keywords: beach solid waste, environmental indicators, quali-quantitative analysis, waste management

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Authors: Ian Marc G. Cabugsa, Kim Ryan Won, Kareem Mamac, Manuel Dee, Merlita Garcia

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An optimized cacao fermentation technique was developed for the cacao farmers of Davao City Philippines. Cacao samples with weights ranging from 150-250 kilograms were collected from various cacao farms in Davao City and Zamboanga City Philippines. Different fermentation techniques were used starting with design of the sweat box, prefermentation conditionings, number of days for fermentation and number of turns. As the beans are being fermented, its temperature was regularly monitored using a digital thermometer. The resultant cacao beans were assessed using physical and chemical means. For the physical assessment, the bean cut test, bean count tests, and sensory test were used. Quantification of theobromine, caffeine, and antioxidants in the form of equivalent quercetin was used for chemical assessment. Both the theobromine and caffeine were analyzed using HPLC method while the antioxidant was analyzed spectrometrically. To come up with the best fermentation procedure, the different assessment were given priority coefficients wherein the physical tests – taste test, cut, and bean count tests were given priority over the results of the chemical test. The result of the study was an optimized fermentation protocol that is readily adaptable and transferable to any cacao cooperatives or groups in Mindanao or even Philippines as a whole.

Keywords: cacao, fermentation, HPLC, optimization, Philippines

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Authors: Jakub Zágora, Daniela Plachá, Karla Čech Barabaszová, Sylva Holešová, Roman Gábor, Alexandra Muñoz Bonilla, Marta Fernández García

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The development of new antimicrobial materials that are not toxic to higher living organisms is a major challenge today. Newly developed materials can have high application potential in biomedicine, coatings, packaging, etc. A combination of commonly used biopolymer polylactide with cationic polymers seems to be very successful in the fight against antimicrobial resistance [1].PLA will play a key role in fulfilling the intention set out in the New Deal announced by the EU commission, as it is a bioplastic that is easily degradable, recyclable, and mass-produced. Also, the development of 3D printing in the context of this initiative, and the actual use of PLA as one of the main materials used for this printing, make the technology around the preparation and modification of PLA quite logical. Moreover, theenvironmentally friendly and energy saving technology like supercritical fluid process (SFP) will be used for their preparation. In a first approach, polylactide nano- and microparticles and structures were prepared by supercritical fluid extraction. The RESS (rapid expansion supercritical fluid solution) method is easier to optimize and shows better particle size control. On the contrary, a highly porous structure was obtained using the SAS (supercritical antisolvent) method. In a second part, the antimicrobial biobased polymer was introduced by SFP.

Keywords: polylactide, antimicrobial polymers, supercritical fluid technology, micronization

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Authors: D. Lepe-Cervantes, E. Leon-Becerril, J. Gomez-Romero, O. Garcia-Depraect, A. Lopez-Lopez

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In this study, raw coffee wastewater (CWW) was used as a complex substrate for anaerobic digestion. The inoculum adaptation stage, microbial diversity analysis and biomethane potential (BMP) tests were performed. A fast inoculum adaptation stage was used by the replacement of vinasse to CWW in an anaerobic sequential batch reactor (AnSBR) operated at mesophilic conditions. Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to analyze the microbial diversity. While, BMP tests using inoculum adapted to CWW were carried out at different inoculum to substrate (I/S) ratios (2:1, 3:1 and 4:1, on a VS basis). Results show that the adaptability percentage was increased gradually until it reaches the highest theoretical value in a short time of 10 d; with a methane yield of 359.10 NmL CH₄/g COD-removed; Methanobacterium beijingense was the most abundant microbial (75%) and the greatest specific methane production was achieved at I/S ratio 4:1, whereas the lowest was obtained at 2:1, with BMP values of 320 NmL CH₄/g VS and 151 NmL CH₄/g VS, respectively. In conclusion, gradual replacement of substrate was a feasible method to adapt the inoculum in a short time even using complex raw substrates, whereas in the BMP tests, the specific methane production was proportional to the initial amount of inoculum.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biomethane potential test, coffee wastewater, fast inoculum adaptation

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Authors: Nicanor Garcia Alvarez, Belarmino Adenso-Diaz, Laura Calzada Infante

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In recent years, researchers have shown an interest in modelling maritime traffic as a complex network. In this paper, we propose a bipartite weighted network to model maritime traffic and detect port maritime communities. The bipartite weighted network considers two different types of nodes. The first one represents Spanish ports, while the second one represents the countries with which there is major import/export activity. The flow among both types of nodes is modeled by weighting the volume of product transported. To illustrate the model, the data is segmented by each type of traffic. This will allow fine tuning and the creation of communities for each type of traffic and therefore finding similar ports for a specific type of traffic, which will provide decision-makers with tools to search for alliances or identify their competitors. The traffic with the greatest impact on the Spanish gross domestic product is selected, and the evolution of the communities formed by the most important ports and their differences between 2019 and 2009 will be analyzed. Finally, the set of communities formed by the ports of the Spanish port system will be inspected to determine global similarities between them, analyzing the sum of the membership of the different ports in communities formed for each type of traffic in particular.

Keywords: bipartite networks, competition, infomap, maritime traffic, port communities

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Authors: Jaime Carpio-García, Elena Blanco-Fernández, Jorge Rodríguez-Hernández, Daniel Castro-Fresno

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Geosynthetic mechanical behavior vs temperature or vs aging has been widely studied independently during the last years, both in laboratory and in outdoor conditions. This paper studies this behavior deeper, considering that geosynthetics have to perform adequately at different outdoor temperatures once they have been subjected to a certain degree of aging, and also considering the different geosynthetic structures made of the same material. This combining effect has been not considered so far, and it is important to ensure the performance of geosynthetics, especially where high temperatures are expected. In order to fill this gap, six commercial geosynthetics with different internal structures made of polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), bitumen and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or even a combination of some of them have been mechanically tested at mild temperature (20ºC or 23ºC) and at warm temperature (45ºC) before and after specific exposition to air at standardized high temperature in order to simulate 25 years of aging due to oxidation. Besides, for 45ºC tests, an innovative heating system during test for high deformable specimens is proposed. The influence of the combining effect of aging, structure and temperature in the product behavior have been analyzed and discussed, concluding that internal structure is more influential than aging in the mechanical behavior of a geosynthetic versus temperature.

Keywords: geosynthetics, mechanical behavior, temperature, aging, internal structure

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Authors: Juan Eduardo Rolon Rios, Fredy Alejandro Orjuela, Alexander Garcia Mariaca

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For banana and potato wastes, their peels are processed in order to make animal food with the condition that those wastes must not have started the decomposition process. One alternative to taking advantage of those wastes is to obtain a bioplastic based on starch from banana and potato shells. These products are 100% biodegradables, and researchers have been studying them for different applications, helping in the reduction of organic wastes and ordinary plastic wastes. Without petroleum affecting the prices of bioplastics, bioplastics market has a growing tendency and it is seen that it can keep this tendency in the medium term up to 350%. In this work, it will be shown the results for elasticity module and percent elongation for bioplastics obtained from a mixture of starch of bananas and potatoes peels, with glycerol as plasticizer. The experimental variables were the plasticizer percentage and the mixture between banana starch and potato starch. The results show that the bioplastics obtained can be used in different applications such as plastic bags or sorbets, verifying their admissible degradation percentages for each one of these applications. The results also show that they agree with the data found in the literature due to the fact that mixtures with a major amount of potato starch had the best mechanical properties because of the potato starch characteristics.

Keywords: bioplastics, fruit waste, mechanical testing, mechanical properties

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Authors: Pascual García, Francisco Ochoa, Jessica Ordoñez

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The links between migration and development have been widely written and analyzed from different perspectives. However, the nexus between entrepreneurship and migration is of recent interest. The different studies related to this have focused on the ventures of ethnic enclaves, or on transnational businesses, which link the community of origin and destination. Beyond this perspective, this work analyzes the return migration, (a few studies until now, but forming part of a theoretical body of migration). As a result of the European crisis started between 2007-2008. Many Ecuadorians who lived in Europe, decided to return to their place of origin. The rise of the price of the oil and commodities presented a better panorama in Ecuador than in Europe. Faced with the magnitude of returnees, the opportunities for entrepreneurship in Ecuador increased (Accumulation of human capital, social capital, learned skills and capital). Thus there is an interest in the possibility of returned migrants in the country to start a business in their place of origin. The following study is the result of this. A survey of 110 returned migrants was carried out in the south of Ecuador and, using a Probit econometric model, we determined that the variables specified as geographic area, sex, education level are not significant, so they are not determinant when undertaking. However, time abroad and skills learned, if they were significant at the time of the decision to start a business.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, development, migration, returned migration

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Authors: Inês Boticas, Diana P. Ferreira, Ana Eusébio, Carlos Silva, Pedro Magalhães, Ricardo Silva, Raul Fangueiro

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Since the beginning of the 20^th century, sportswear has a major contribution to the impact of fashion on our lives. Nowadays, the embracing of sportswear fashion/looks is undoubtedly noticeable, as the modern consumer searches for high comfort and linear aesthetics for its clothes. This compromise lead to the arise of the athleisure trend. Athleisure surges as a new style area that combines both wearability and fashion sense, differentiated from the archetypal sportswear, usually associated to “gym clothes”. Additionally, the possibility to functionalize and implement new technologies have shifted and progressively empowers the connection between the concepts of physical activities practice and well-being, allowing clothing to be more interactive and responsive with its surroundings. In this study, a design inspired in retro and urban lifestyle was envisioned, engineering textile structures that can respond to external stimuli. These structures are enhanced to be responsive to heat, water vapor and humidity, integrating shape memory polymers (SMP) to improve the breathability and heat-responsive behavior of the textiles and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) to heighten the surface hydrophobic properties. The best results for hydrophobic exhibited superhydrophobic behavior with water contact angle (WAC) of more than 150 degrees. For the breathability and heat-response properties, SMP-coated samples showed an increase in water vapour permeability values of about 50% when compared with non SMP-coated samples. These innovative technological approaches were endorsed to design innovative clothing, in line with circular economy and eco-design principles, by assigning a substantial degree of mutability and versatility to the clothing. The development of a coat and shirt, in which different parts can be purchased separately to create multiple products, aims to combine the technicality of both the fabrics used and the making of the garments. This concept translates itself into a real constructive mechanism through the symbiosis of high-tech functionalities and the timeless design that follows the athleisure aesthetics.

Keywords: breathability, sportswear and casual clothing, sustainable design, superhydrophobicity

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Authors: García López

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The Government Departments of Health have the task of informing and educating citizens about public health issues. For this, they use channels like Twitter, key in the search for health information and the propagation of content. The tweets, important in the virality of the content, may contain emotions that influence the contagion and exchange of knowledge. The goal of this study is to perform an analysis of the emotional projection of health information shared on Twitter by official American accounts: the disease control account CDCgov, National Institutes of Health, NIH, the government agency HHSGov, and the professional organization PublicHealth. For this, we used Tone Analyzer, an International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) tool specialized in emotion detection in text, corresponding to the categorical model of emotion representation. For 15 days, all tweets from these accounts were analyzed with the emotional analysis tool in text. The results showed that their tweets contain an important emotional load, a determining factor in the success of their communications. This exposes that official accounts also use subjective language and contain emotions. The predominance of emotion joy over sadness and the strong presence of emotions in their tweets stimulate the virality of content, a key in the work of informing that government health departments have.

Keywords: emotions in tweets, emotion detection in the text, health information on Twitter, American health official accounts, emotions on Twitter, emotions and content

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Authors: Esperanza Garcia-Uceda, Josefina L. Murillo-Luna, M. Pilar Latorre-Martinez, Marta Ferrer-Serrano

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Social entrepreneurship represents an innovation of traditional business models. During the last decade, its important role in contributing to rural and regional development has been widely recognized, due to its capacity to combat the problem of depopulation through the creation of employment. However, the success of this type of innovative business initiatives depends to a large extent on the existence of an adequate ecosystem of support resources. Based on the theoretical framework of the quadruple helix (QH), which highlights the need for collaboration between different interest groups -university, industry, government and civil society- for the development of regional innovations, in this work the network analysis is applied to study the ecosystem of resources to support social entrepreneurship in the rural area of the province of Zaragoza (Spain). It is a quantitative analysis that can be used to measure the interactions between the different actors that make up the quadruple helix, as well as the networks created between the different institutions and support organizations, through the study of the complex networks they form. The results show the importance of the involvement of local governments and the university, as key elements in the development process, but also allow identifying other issues that are susceptible to improvement.

Keywords: ecosystem of support resources, network analysis, quadruple helix, social entrepreneurship

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Authors: N. Moradi, C. M. Lopez-Vazquez, H. Garcia Hernandez, F. Rubio Rincon, D. Brdanovic, Mark van Loosdrecht

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Advanced oxidation processes have been widely used for disinfection, removal of residual organic material, and for the removal of emerging contaminants from drinking water and wastewater. Yet, the application of these technologies to sludge treatment processes has not gained enough attention, mostly, considering the complexity of the sludge matrix. In this research, ozone and UV/H₂O₂ treatment were applied for the removal of emerging contaminants from a digestate supernatant. The removal of the following compounds was assessed:(i) salicylic acid (SA) (a surrogate of non-stradiol anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)), and (ii) sulfamethoxazole (SMX), sulfamethazine (SMN), and tetracycline (TCN) (the most frequent human and animal antibiotics). The ozone treatment was carried out in a plexiglass bubble column reactor with a capacity of 2.7 L; the system was equipped with a stirrer and a gas diffuser. The UV and UV/H₂O₂ treatments were done using a LED set-up (PearlLab beam device) dosing H₂O₂. In the ozone treatment evaluations, 95 % of the three antibiotics were removed during the first 20 min of exposure time, while an SA removal of 91 % occurred after 8 hours of exposure time. In the UV treatment evaluations, when adding the optimum dose of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂:COD molar ratio of 0.634), 36% of SA, 82% of TCN, and more than 90 % of both SMX and SMN were removed after 8 hours of exposure time. This study concluded that O₃ was more effective than UV/H₂O₂ in removing emerging contaminants from the digestate supernatant.

Keywords: digestate sludge, emerging contaminants, ozone, UV-AOP

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Authors: Emma Garcia-Meca, Jennifer Martinez-Ferrero, Camino Ramon Llorens

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This paper provides insights into how narcissistic Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) influence the presence of women in top management teams (TMT). We also study whether a CEO's power and gender and the gender diversity of the firm's board moderate the relationship between CEO narcissism and TMT gender diversity. Our results reveal that narcissistic CEOs are less likely to support women in TMTs, confirming that CEO personality traits influence team structure. Further results suggest that this aversion increases as the CEO's power grows when female representation on boards decreases and when the CEO is a woman. This paper integrates theories that use the social psychology and upper echelon theories, offering a greater understanding of how CEO personality traits influence the structure of firms. We also contribute to the knowledge about how different governance characteristics can moderate the influence of narcissistic CEOs on women in TMTs, highlighting the relevance of governance traits that increase the effect of narcissism. The results demonstrate different female behavior toward promoting TMT gender equality depending on the specific position of women in the firm's hierarchy and their psychological attributes. We find that women directors support social identity values, and narcissistic female CEOs act like queen bees.

Keywords: gender diversity, board, corporate governance, female CEO, management

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Authors: L. R. Valencia Pérez, A. Morita Alexander, Peña A. Juan Manuel, A. Lamadrid Álvarez

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This research shows the reflection and identification of explanatory variables and their relationships between different variables that are involved with educational technology, all of them encompassed in macro-concepts which are: cognitive inequality, economy, food and language; These will give the guideline to have a more detailed knowledge of educational systems, the communication and equipment, the physical space and the teachers; All of them interacting with each other give rise to what is called educational technology management. These elements contribute to have a very specific knowledge of the equipment of communications, networks and computer equipment, systems and content repositories. This is intended to establish the importance of knowing a global environment in the transfer of knowledge in poor countries, so that it does not diminish the capacity to be authentic and preserve their cultures, their languages or dialects, their hierarchies and real needs; In short, to respect the customs of different towns, villages or cities that are intended to be reached through the use of internationally agreed professional educational technologies. The methodology used in this research is the analytical - descriptive, which allows to explain each of the variables, which in our opinion must be taken into account, in order to achieve an optimal incorporation of the educational technology in a model that gives results in a medium term. The idea is that in an encompassing way the concepts will be integrated to others with greater coverage until reaching macro concepts that are of national coverage in the countries and that are elements of conciliation in the different federal and international reforms. At the center of the model is the educational technology which is directly related to the concepts that are contained in factors such as the educational system, communication and equipment, spaces and teachers, which are globally immersed in macro concepts Cognitive inequality, economics, food and language. One of the major contributions of this article is to leave this idea under an algorithm that allows to be as unbiased as possible when evaluating this indicator, since other indicators that are to be taken from international preference entities like the OECD in the area of education systems studied, so that they are not influenced by particular political or interest pressures. This work opens the way for a relationship between involved entities, both conceptual, procedural and human activity, to clearly identify the convergence of their impact on the problem of education and how the relationship can contribute to an improvement, but also shows possibilities of being able to reach a comprehensive education reform for all.

Keywords: relationships macro-concepts, cognitive inequality, economics, alimentation and language

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Authors: Maurizio Dapor, Isabel Abril, Pablo de Vera, Rafael Garcia-Molina

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The ionization yield of ion tracks in polymers and bio-molecular systems reaches a maximum, known as the Bragg peak, close to the end of the ion trajectories. Along the path of the ions through the materials, many electrons are generated, which produce a cascade of further ionizations and, consequently, a shower of secondary electrons. Among these, very low energy secondary electrons can produce damage in the biomolecules by dissociative electron attachment. This work deals with the calculation of the energy distribution of electrons produced by protons in a sample of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), a material that is used as a phantom for living tissues in hadron therapy. PMMA is also of relevance for microelectronics in CMOS technologies and as a photoresist mask in electron beam lithography. We present a Monte Carlo code that, starting from a realistic description of the energy distribution of the electrons ejected by protons moving through PMMA, simulates the entire cascade of generated secondary electrons. By following in detail the motion of all these electrons, we find the radial distribution of the energy that they deposit in PMMA for several initial proton energies characteristic of the Bragg peak.

Keywords: Monte Carlo method, secondary electrons, energetic ions, ion-beam cancer therapy, ionization cross section, polymethylmethacrylate, proton beams, secondary electrons, radial energy distribution

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Authors: Rita Garcia

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Intelligent Programming Tutors, IPTs, are supplemental educational devices that assist in teaching software development. These systems provide customized learning allowing the user to select the presentation pace, pedagogical strategy, and to recall previous and additional teaching materials reinforcing learning objectives. In addition, IPTs automatically records individual’s progress, providing feedback to the instructor and student. These tutoring systems have an advantage over Tutoring Systems because Intelligent Programming Tutors are not limited to one teaching strategy and can adjust when it detects the user struggling with a concept. The Intelligent Programming Tutor is a category of Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ITS. ITS are available for many fields in education, supporting different learning objectives and integrate into other learning tools, improving the student's learning experience. This study provides a comparison of the IPTs currently adopted by the educational community and will focus on the different teaching methodologies and programming languages. The study also includes the ability to integrate the IPT into other educational technologies, such as massive open online courses, MOOCs. The intention of this evaluation is to determine one system that would best serve in a larger ongoing research project and provide findings for other institutions looking to adopt an Intelligent Programming Tutor.

Keywords: computer education tools, integrated software development assistance, intelligent programming tutors, tutoring systems

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Authors: Mufath Zorgani, Carlos Garcia-Mateo, Mohammad Jahazi

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In this study, the influence of pre-strained austenite on the extent of isothermal bainite transformation in medium-carbon, high-silicon steel was investigated. Different amounts of deformations were applied at 600°C on the austenite right before quenching to the region, where isothermal bainitic transformation is activated. Four different temperatures of 325, 350, 375, and 400°C considering similar holding time 1800s at each temperature, were selected to investigate the extent of isothermal bainitic transformation. The results showed that the deformation-free austenite transforms to the higher volume fraction of CFB bainite when the isothermal transformation temperature reduced from 400 to 325°C, the introduction of plastic deformation in austenite prior to the formation of bainite invariably involves a delay of the same or identical isothermal treatment. On the other side, when the isothermal transformation temperature and deformation increases, the volume fraction and the plate thickness of bainite decreases and the amount of retained austenite increases. The shape of retained austenite is mostly representing blocky-shape one due to the less amount of transformed bainite. Moreover, the plate-like shape bainite cannot be resolved when the deformation amount reached 30%, and the isothermal transformation temperatures are of 375 and 400°C. The amount of retained austenite and the percentage of its transformation to martensite during the final cooling stage play a significant role in the variation of hardness level for different thermomechanical regimes.

Keywords: ausforming, carbide free bainite, dilatometry, microstructure

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Authors: Abdullah Alsarrani, Leandro Garcia, Ruth Hunter, Laura Dunne

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Social integration with friends has an important role in shaping adolescents’ behavior and determining their well-being. Friendship features such as companionship, trust, closeness, intimacy, and conflicts all form the concept of friendship quality. The quality of friendship relationships can either enhance or impede mental development during adolescence. Therefore, this systematic review was conducted to understand the association between friendship quality and adolescents’ mental wellbeing. The evidence was synthesized from a search of five databases (Medline, Embase, ProQuest, Scopus, and PsycINFO). Thirty-two articles out of 18801 records were included in the review. The relationship between friendship quality and depression has been investigated extensively in the literature and negative (beneficial) associations were found in twelve studies out of sixteen. Poor peer relationship was linked to loneliness in eight studies out of nine. All five studies on life satisfaction and quality of peer connection found a positive association. In five studies, optimal peer relationship was found to be associated with happiness. A positive association between friendship quality and self-esteem in four out of five applicable studies. Friendship quality was found to be correlated with subjective well-being in all of three included studies focused on this area. The review demonstrates the paramount value of promoting healthy friendship to adolescents’ subjective well-being constructs. Interventions that aim to promote subjective wellbeing among adolescents should consider the development and maintenance of healthy friendships.

Keywords: adolescents, friendship quality, peer, wellbeing

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Authors: Juan Santos Garcia

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Introduction: Tuberculosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by a microorganism called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, it has the capacity to spread from the lungs to other parts of the body. Globally, the rate per 100 thousand inhabitants has varied from 136 in 2007 to 122 in 2012; while in the region of the Americas has been much lower: 32 cases per 100,000 in 2007, to 29 in 2012. In El Salvador have also varied incidence rates from 2007 to 2012, from 27.4 cases per 100 000 population to 32 in the period indicated. Methods: Screening was performed with smear and chest X-ray at 80 military personnel from Military Brigade # 5 of El Salvador. Besides HIV tests were taken at the positive cases, which are also made interview, investigating demographic, clinical, laboratory and risk factors data. Frequencies, percentages and rates were calculated using Excel page. The rates were calculated for each of the 5 military bedrooms (called A, B, C, D, and E). Results: Attack rate was 18.75% in the bedroom C. the index case was identified and two secondary cases, with an exposure period of 59 days. Only the index case presented symptoms: cough, fever and weight loss. The other two cases had no symptoms. Discussion: We found a rate of tuberculosis 526 times higher than the national rate. He was also 12.5 times higher than that found in other studies in closed populations such as school facilities. It was not possible to make association analysis.

Keywords: tuberculosis, outbreak, military brigade, chronic granulomatous disease

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Authors: Nancy Elizabeth Naranjo Garcia

Abstract:

Canoa (1976) by Felipe Cazals is a film that exposes the consequences of power that the Mexican State exercised over the 1968 student movement. The film, in this particular way, approaches the Tlatelolco Massacre from a point of view that takes into consideration the events that led up to it. Nonetheless, the reference to the political tension in Canoa remains ambiguous. Thus, the cinematographic representation refers to an event that leaves space for reflection, and as a consequence leaves evidence of an image that signals the notion of survival as Georges Didi-Huberman points out. In addition to denouncing the oppressive force by the Mexican State, the images in Canoa also emphasize what did not happen in Tlatelolco and its condensation with the student activists. To observe the images that Canoa offers in a new light, this work proposes further exploration with the following questions; How do the images in Canoa narrate? How are the images inserted in the film? In this fashion, a more profound comprehension of the objective and the essence of the images becomes feasible. As a result, it is possible to analyze the images of Canoa with the real killing at San Miguel Canoa in literature. The film visualizes a testimony of the event that once seemed unimaginable, an image that anticipates and structures the proceeding event. Therefore, this study takes a second look at how Canoa considers not only the killing at San Miguel Canoa and the Tlatlelolco Massacre, but goes further on contextualize an unimaginable image.

Keywords: cinematographic representation, student movement, Tlatelolco Massacre, unimaginable image

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Authors: Ariadna Manresa, Ines Ferrer

Abstract:

Introduction: Ultrasonic moulding process (USM) is a recent injection technology used to manufacture micro components. It is able to melt small amounts of material so the waste of material is certainly reduced comparing to microinjection molding. This is an important advantage when the materials are expensive like medical biopolymers. Micro-scaled components are involved in a variety of uses, such as biomedical applications. It is required replication fidelity so it is important to stabilize the process and minimize the variability of the responses. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of the main process parameters on the filling behaviour, the dimensional accuracy and the cavity pressure when a micro-plate is manufactured by biomaterials such as PLA and PCL. Methodology or Experimental Procedure: The specimens are manufactured using a Sonorus 1G Ultrasound Micro Molding Machine. The used geometry is a rectangular micro-plate of 15x5mm and 1mm of thickness. The materials used for the investigation are PLA and PCL due to biocompatible and degradation properties. The experimentation is divided into two phases. Firstly, the influence of process parameters (vibration amplitude, sonotrodo velocity, ultrasound time and compaction force) on filling behavior is analysed, in Phase 1. Next, when filling cavity is assured, the influence of both cooling time and force compaction on the cavity pressure, part temperature and dimensional accuracy is instigated, which is done in Phase. Results and Discussion: Filling behavior depends on sonotrodo velocity and vibration amplitude. When the ultrasonic time is higher, more ultrasonic energy is applied and the polymer temperature increases. Depending on the cooling time, it is possible that when mold is opened, the micro-plate temperature is too warm. Consequently, the polymer relieve its stored internal energy (ultrasonic and thermal) expanding through the easier direction. This fact is reflected on dimensional accuracy, causing micro-plates thicker than the mold. It has also been observed the most important fact that affects cavity pressure is the compaction configuration during the manufacturing cycle. Conclusions: This research demonstrated the influence of process parameters on the final micro-plated manufactured. Future works will be focused in manufacturing other geometries and analysing the mechanical properties of the specimens.

Keywords: biomaterial, biopolymer, micro injection molding, ultrasound

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Authors: Nidia Thalia Alva Rangel, Ferran Padros Blazquez, Ma. Ines Gomez Del Campo Del Paso

Abstract:

Happiness has been since antiquity a concept of interest around the world. Positive psychology is the science that begins to study happiness in a more precise and controlled way, obtaining wide amount of research which can be applied. One of the central constructs of Positive Psychology is Carol Ryff’s psychological well-being model as eudaimonic happiness, which comprehends six dimensions: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Humanistic psychology is a clear precedent of Positive Psychology, which has studied human development topics and it features a great variety of intervention techniques nevertheless has little evidence with controlled research. Therefore, the present research had the aim to evaluate the efficacy of a humanistic intervention program to increase psychological well-being in healthy adults through a mixed methods study. Before and after the intervention, it was applied Carol Ryff’s psychological well-being scale (PWBS) and the Symptom Check List 90 as pretest and posttest. In addition, a questionnaire of five open questions was applied after each session. The intervention program was designed in experiential workshop format, based on the foundational attitudes defined by Carl Rogers: congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy, integrating humanistic intervention strategies from gestalt, psychodrama, logotherapy and psychological body therapy, with the aim to strengthen skills in the six dimensions of psychological well-being model. The workshop was applied to six volunteer adults in 12 sessions of 2 hours each. Finally, quantitative data were analyzed with Wilcoxon statistic test through the SPSS program, obtaining as results differences statistically significant in pathology symptoms between prettest and postest, also levels of dimensions of psychological well-being were increased, on the other hand for qualitative strand, by open questionnaires it showed how the participants were experiencing the techniques and changing through the sessions. Thus, the humanistic psychology program was effective to increase psychological well-being. Working to promote well-being prompts to be an effective way to reduce pathological symptoms as a secondary gain. Experiential workshops are a useful tool for small groups. There exists the need for research to count with more evidence of humanistic psychology interventions in different contexts and impulse the application of Positive Psychology knowledge.

Keywords: happiness, humanistic psychology, positive psychology, psychological well-being, workshop

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Authors: R. H. Bustos, L. Martinez, J. García, F. Suárez

Abstract:

MRP1 (Multi-drug resistance associated protein 1) and MRP2 (Multi-drug resistance associated protein 2) are two proteins belonging to the transporters of ABC (ATP-Binding Cassette). These transporter proteins are involved in the efflux of several biological drugs and xenobiotic and also in multiple physiological, pathological and pharmacological processes. Evidence has been found that there is a correlation among different polymorphisms found and their clinical implication in the resistance to antiepileptic, chemotherapy and anti-infectious drugs. In our study, exonic regions of MRP1/ABCC1 y MRP2/ABCC2 were studied in the Colombian population, specifically in the region of the central Savannah (Cundinamarca) to determinate SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) and determinate its allele frequency and its genomics frequency. Results showed that for our population, SNP are found that have been previously reported for MRP1/ABCC1 (rs200647436, rs200624910, rs150214567) as well as for MRP2/ABCC2 (rs2273697, rs3740066, rs142573385, rs17216212). In addition, 13 new SNP were identified. Evidences show an important clinic correlation for polymorphisms rs3740066 and rs2273697. The study object population displays genetic variability as compared to the one reported in other populations.

Keywords: ATP-binding cassette (ABCC), Colombian population, multidrug-resistance protein (MRP), pharmacogenetic, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)

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Authors: Ezequiel Garcia-Rodriguez, Lenin Hernandez-Ferreyra, Luis Ochoa-Franco

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The Sustainable Sewer Urban Systems (SSUS) are mechanisms integrated into the cities for manage rain water, reducing its runoff volume and velocity, enhancing the rain water quality and preventing flooding and other catastrophes associated to the rain, as well as improving the energy efficiency. The objective of SSUS is to mimic or to equal the runoff and infiltration natural conditions of the land before its urbanization, reducing runoff that may cause troubles within the houses, as well as flooding. At the same time, energy for warming homes and for pumping and treating water is reduced, contributing to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and therefore contributing to reduce the climate change. This paper contains an evaluation of the advantages that SSUS may offer within a zone of Morelia City, Mexico, applying support tools for decision making. The hydrological conditions prior to and after the urbanization of the study area were analyzed to propose the recommended SSUS. Different types of SSUS were proposed in this case study, assessing their effect on the rainwater flow behavior within the study area. SSUS usage in this case resulted, positively, in an important reduction of the magnitude and velocity of runoff, reducing therefore the risk of flooding. So that, it is recommended the implementation of SSUS in this case.

Keywords: energy efficiency, morelia, sustainablesewer, urban systems

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Authors: Julian B. García, Virginie Q. R. Pinto, André P. Assis

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This paper presents numerical flow and slope stability simulations in three typical sections of earth dams built in tropical regions, two homogeneous with different slope inclinations, and the other one heterogeneous with impermeable core. The geotechnical material parameters used in this work were obtained from a lab testing of physical characterization, compaction, consolidation, variable load permeability and saturated triaxial type CD for compacted soil samples with standard proctor energy at optimum moisture content (23%), optimum moisture content + 2% and optimum moisture content +5%. The objective is to analyze the general behavior of earth dams built in rainy regions where optimum moisture is exceeded. The factor of safety is satisfactory for the three sections compacted in all moisture content during the stages of operation and end of construction. On The other hand, the rapid drawdown condition is the critical phase for homogeneus dams configuration, the factor of safety obtained were unsatisfactory. In general, the heterogeneous dam behavior is more efficient due to the fact that the slopes are made up of gravel, which favors the dissipation of pore pressures during the rapid drawdown. For the critical phase, the slopes should have lower inclinations of the upstream and downstream slopes to guarantee stability, although it increases the costs.

Keywords: earth dams, flow, moisture content, slope stability

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