Search results for: Carlos Barcena Martin

Authors: Amir Aziz, Martin Tuner, Sebastian Verhelst, Oivind Andersson

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Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) is a combustion concept which aims to simultaneously achieve high efficiency and low engine-out emissions. Extending the ignition delay to promote the premixing, has been recognized as one of the key factor to achieve PPC. Fuels with high octane number have been proven to be a good candidates to extend the ignition delay. In this work, E85 (85% ethanol) has been used as a PPC fuel. The aim of this work was to investigate a suitable injection strategy for PPC combustion fueled with E85 in a single-cylinder heavy-duty engine. Single and double injection strategy were applied with different injection timing and the ratio between different injection pulses was varied. The performance and emission were investigated at low load. The results show that the double injection strategy should be preferred for PPC fueled with E85 due to low emissions and high efficiency, while keeping the pressure raise rate at very low levels.

Keywords: E85, partially premixed combustion, injection strategy, performance and emission

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Authors: Florian Kleber, Martin Kampel

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The increasing demand of gallium, indium and rare-earth elements for the production of electronics, e.g. solid state-lighting, photovoltaics, integrated circuits, and liquid crystal displays, will exceed the world-wide supply according to current forecasts. Recycling systems to reclaim these materials are not yet in place, which challenges the sustainability of these technologies. This paper proposes a multispectral imaging system as a basis for a vision based recognition system for valuable components of electronics waste. Multispectral images intend to enhance the contrast of images of printed circuit boards (single components, as well as labels) for further analysis, such as optical character recognition and entire printed circuit board recognition. The results show that a higher contrast is achieved in the near infrared compared to ultraviolet and visible light.

Keywords: electronics waste, multispectral imaging, printed circuit boards, rare-earth elements

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Authors: Samar Raffoul, Martin Heywood, Dimitrios Moutaftsis, Michael Rowell

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This paper comprises an experimental investigation into the structural performance of cold formed steel (CFS) and timber board composite floor systems. The tests include a series of small-scale pushout tests and full-scale bending tests carried out using a refined loading system to simulate uniformly distributed constant load. The influence of connection details (screw spacing and adhesives) on floor performance was investigated. The results are then compared to predictions from relevant existing models for composite floor systems. The results of this research demonstrate the significant benefits of considering the composite action of the boards in floor design. Depending on connection detail, an increase in flexural stiffness of up to 40% was observed in the floor system, when compared to designing joists individually.

Keywords: cold formed steel joists, composite action, flooring systems, shear connection

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Authors: Carlos Marden Cabral Coutinho, Jose Luis Bolzan de Morais

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The article proposed intends to analyze the possibility (and conditions) of a media regulation law in a democratic rule of law in the twenty-first century. To do so, will be presented initially the idea of the public sphere (by Jürgen Habermas), showing how it is presented as an interface between the citizen and the state (or the private and public) and how important is it in a deliberative democracy. Based on this paradigm, the traditional perception of the role of public information (such as system functional element) and on the possibility of media regulation will be exposed, due to the public nature of their activity. A critical argument will then be displayed from two different perspectives: a) the formal function of the current media information, considering that the digital age has fragmented the information access; b) the concept of a constructive democracy, which reduces the need for representation, changing the strategic importance of the public sphere. The question to be addressed (based on the comparative law) is if the regulation is justified in a polycentric democracy, especially when it operates under the digital age (with immediate and virtual communication). The proposal is to be presented in the sense that even in a twenty-first century the media in a democratic rule of law still has an extremely important role and may be subject to regulation, but this should be on terms very different (and narrower) from those usually defended.

Keywords: constructive democracy, media, digital age, public sphere

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Authors: Jarek Krajewski, Andre Wittenborn, Martin Sauerland

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This abstract describes a promising approach for estimating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on prosodic speech characteristics. It illustrates the validity of this method by briefly discussing results from an Arabic refugee sample (N= 47, 32 m, 15 f). A well-established standardized self-report scale “Reaction of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress” (RATS) was used to determine the ground truth level of PTSD. The speech material was prompted by telling about autobiographical related sadness inducing experiences (sampling rate 16 kHz, 8 bit resolution). In order to investigate PTSD-induced speech changes, a self-developed set of 136 prosodic speech features was extracted from the .wav files. This set was adapted to capture traumatization related speech phenomena. An artificial neural network (ANN) machine learning model was applied to determine the PTSD level and reached a correlation of r = .37. These results indicate that our classifiers can achieve similar results to those seen in speech-based stress research.

Keywords: speech prosody, PTSD, machine learning, feature extraction

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Authors: Hassan Badkoobehi, Pradip Peter Dey, Mohammad Amin, Milan Jose Carlos, Basmal Hana, Fadi Zaco

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The economy of coastline areas depends on the natural splendor of estuaries. When estuaries are improperly managed or polluted, long or short term damage to local economy or harm to local life forms can be caused. Estuaries are shelters for thousands of species such as birds, mammals, fish, crustaceans, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. The delicate balance of these life forms in estuaries requires careful planning for the benefit of all. The commercial value of estuaries is very important; recreational activities that people enjoy like boating, kayaking, windsurfing, swimming, bird-watching and fishing are marketable. Estuaries are national treasures with vital community and ecological resources. Years of estuarine environmental studies have produced extensive results that merit consideration. This study reviews research results from various sources and suggests best strategies for maintaining healthy estuaries in the current socioeconomic conditions. The main hypothesis is that many estuaries can be restored to their original healthy status in a cost effective manner with restoration or prevention plans suggested in published studies.

Keywords: environment, pollution, sustainable, wildlife

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Authors: Martin Blaha, Ladislav Potužák, Daniel Holesz

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This paper focused on application support for technical control of artillery units – PVNPG-14M, especially on interpolation issue. Artillery units of the Army of the Czech Republic, reflecting the current global security neighborhood, can be used outside the Czech Republic. The paper presents principles, evolution and calculation in the process of complete preparation. The paper presents expertise using of application of current artillery communication and information system and suggests the perspective future system. The paper also presents problems in process of complete preparing of fire especially problems in permanently information (firing table) and calculated values. The paper presents problems of current artillery communication and information system and suggests requirements of the future system.

Keywords: Fire for Effect, Application, Fire Control, Interpolation method, Software development.

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Authors: Martin Cermak, Tomas Karasek, Jaroslav Rojicek

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The key role in phenomenological modelling of cyclic plasticity is good understanding of stress-strain behaviour of given material. There are many models describing behaviour of materials using numerous parameters and constants. Combination of individual parameters in those material models significantly determines whether observed and predicted results are in compliance. Parameter identification techniques such as random gradient, genetic algorithm, and sensitivity analysis are used for identification of parameters using numerical modelling and simulation. In this paper genetic algorithm and sensitivity analysis are used to study effect of 4 parameters of modified AbdelKarim-Ohno cyclic plasticity model. Results predicted by Finite Element (FE) simulation are compared with experimental data from biaxial ratcheting test with semi-elliptical loading path.

Keywords: genetic algorithm, sensitivity analysis, inverse approach, finite element method, cyclic plasticity, ratcheting

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Authors: Carlos David Carrillo Trujillo, Rebelín Echeverría Echeverría, Nancy Evia Alamilla, Rocío Quintal López

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Gender as a social construct is a term now widely studied. Within the social sciences it has become very important. In this sense, psychology tries to make some contributions from your area. The intention is to promote equal opportunities for men and women. Social, employment and educational inequities perpetuate sexism, violence and other important social problems in Mexico. The gender perspective is conceptualized as a tool to promote laws, policies, plans, programs and procedures where women are made ​​visible and empowered. The aim of this is the pursuit of equality. Thus, gender mainstreaming is one of the main challenges of education in Mexico. Only a few universities have programs, research or subjects related to the topic. Human resources, and time allocated to teachers are identified as obstacles to the institutionalization of gender. The objective was to make a diagnosis on course offerings and policies on gender. A documentary study and interviews with managers of at least 20 higher education institutions (IES's) were performed. The results indicate the need for greater gender courses, research projects and intervention. The need to promote policies that seek equal opportunities between men and women is also noted.

Keywords: gender mainstreaming, institutionalization, universities, intervention

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Authors: Eric Mensah, Carlos Mensah

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The road maintenance backlogs created as a result of deferred maintenance especially in developing countries has caused considerable deterioration of many road assets. This is usually due to difficulties encountered in selecting and prioritising maintainable roads based on objective criteria rather than some political or other less important criteria. In order to ensure judicious use of limited resources for road maintenance, five factors were identified as the most important criteria for road management within the study area. This was based on the judgements of 40 experts. The results were further used to develop weightings using the Multi-Criteria Decision Process (MCDP) to analyse and select road alternatives according to maintenance goal. Using Geographical Information Systems (GIS), maintainable roads were grouped using the Jenk’s natural breaks to allow for further prioritised in order of importance for display on a dashboard of maps, charts, and tables. This reduces the problems of subjective maintenance and road selections, thereby reducing wastage of resources and easing the maintenance process through an object organised spatial decision support system.

Keywords: decision support, geographical information systems, multi-criteria decision process, weighted sum

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Authors: J. Carlos Kuri, Varun Vij, Raymond J. Turner, Orly Yadid-Pecht

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Celiac disease (CD) is an immune system disorder that is triggered by ingesting gluten. As a gluten-free (GF) diet has become a concern of many people for health reasons, a gold standard had to be nominated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has taken the seat of this role. However, multiple limitations were discovered, and with that, the desire for an alternative method now exists. Nucleic acid-based aptamers have become of great interest due to their selectivity, specificity, simplicity, and rapid-testing advantages. However, fluorescence-based aptasensors have been tagged as unstable, but lifespan details are rarely stated. In this work, the lifespan stability of a fluorescence-based aptasensor is shown over an 8-week-long study displaying the accuracy of the sensor and false negatives. This study follows 22 different samples, including GF and gluten-rich (GR) and soy sauce products, off-the-shelf products, and reference material from laboratories, giving a total of 836 tests. The analysis shows an accuracy of correctly classifying GF and GR products of 96.30% and 100%, respectively when the protocol is augmented with molecular sieves. The overall accuracy remains around 94% within the first four weeks and then decays to 63%.

Keywords: aptasensor, PEG, rGO, FAM, RM, ELISA

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Authors: Carlos A. Domínguez Torres, Antonio Domínguez Delgado

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In this work we study the thermodynamic behavior of some ventilated facades under summer operating conditions in Southern Spain. Under these climatic conditions, indoor comfort implies a high energetic demand due to high temperatures that usually are reached in this season in the considered geographical area. The aim of this work is to determine if during summer operating conditions in Southern Spain, ventilated façades provide some energy saving compared to the non-ventilated façades and to deduce their behavior patterns in terms of energy efficiency. The modeling of the air flow in the channel has been performed by using Navier-Stokes equations for thermodynamic flows. Numerical simulations have been carried out with a 2D Finite Element approach. This way, we analyze the behavior of ventilated façades under different weather conditions as variable wind, variable temperature and different levels of solar irradiation. CFD computations show that the combined effect of the shading of the external wall and the ventilation by the natural convection into the air gap achieve a reduction of the heat load during the summer period. This reduction has been evaluated by comparing the thermodynamic performances of two ventilated and two unventilated façades with the same geometry and thermophysical characteristics.

Keywords: passive cooling, ventilated façades, energy-efficient building, CFD, FEM

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Authors: Matteo Calabrese, Martin Cimmino, Dimos Kapetis, Martina Manfrin, Donato Concilio, Giuseppe Toscano, Giovanni Ciandrini, Giancarlo Paccapeli, Gianluca Giarratana, Marco Siciliano, Andrea Forlani, Alberto Carrotta

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In this paper we describe a machine learning methodology for Predictive Maintenance (PdM) applied on woodworking industrial machines. PdM is a prominent strategy consisting of all the operational techniques and actions required to ensure machine availability and to prevent a machine-down failure. One of the challenges with PdM approach is to design and develop of an embedded smart system to enable the health status of the machine. The proposed approach allows screening simultaneously multiple connected machines, thus providing real-time monitoring that can be adopted with maintenance management. This is achieved by applying temporal feature engineering techniques and training an ensemble of classification algorithms to predict Remaining Useful Lifetime of woodworking machines. The effectiveness of the methodology is demonstrated by testing an independent sample of additional woodworking machines without presenting machine down event.

Keywords: predictive maintenance, machine learning, connected machines, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Eniye Tebekaemi, Martin Zhao

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The dichotomy between the skills set of newly minted college graduates and the skills required by cybersecurity employers is on the rise. Colleges are struggling to cope with the rapid pace of technology evolution using outdated tools and practices. Industries are getting frustrated due to the need to retrain fresh college graduates on skills they should have acquired. There is a dire need for academic institutions to develop new tools and systems to deliver cybersecurity education to meet the ever-evolving technology demands of the industry. The Cyber-Softbook project’s goal is to bridge the tech industry and tech education gap by providing educators a framework to collaboratively design, manage, and deliver cybersecurity academic courses that meet the needs of the tech industry. The Cyber-Softbook framework, when developed, will provide a platform for academic institutions and tech industries to collaborate on tech education and for students to learn about cybersecurity with all the resources they need to understand concepts and gain valuable skills available on a single platform.

Keywords: cybersecurity, education, skills, labs, curriculum

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Authors: Ayoub Daoudi, Javad Eslami, Anne-Lise Beaucour, Martin Vigroux, Albert Noumowé

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As a fact, many cultural heritage masonry buildings have undergone violent fires during their history. In order to investigate the high temperature behaviour of stone masonry, six French limestones were heated to 600 °C at a rate of 9 °C/min. The main focus is the comparison between the high temperature behaviour of stones at the material and at the structural scale. In order to evaluate the risk of spalling, the tests have been carried out on the stone blocks (12x30x30 cm) instrumented with thermocouples and subjected to an unidirectional heating on one face. Thereafter, visual assessments and non-destructive measurements (dynamic elastic modulus) performed on blocks demonstrate a different behaviour from what was observed at the material scale. Finally, a series of thermo-mechanical computations, using finite element method, allowed us to highlight the difference between the behaviour of stones at material and block scales.

Keywords: limestones, hight temperature behaviour, damage, thermo-mechanical modeling, material and blocks scales, color change

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Authors: Pedro Pablo Ramírez Sánchez, Alassane Ballé Ndiaye, Roberto Rendeiro Martín-Cejas

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The aim of this paper is to analyse the different environmental policies adopted in Europe for car emissions, to comment on some of the possible perverse effects generated and point out these policies which are considered more efficient under the environmental perspective. This paper is focused on passenger cars as this category is the most significant in road transport. The utility of this research lies in this being the first step or basis to improve and optimise actual policies. The methodology applied in this paper refers to a comparative analysis from a practical and theoretical point of view of European environmental policies in road transport. This work describes an overview of the road transport industry in Europe pointing out some relevant aspects such as the contribution of road transport to total emissions and the vehicle fleet in Europe. Additionally, we propose a brief practice guide with the combined policies in order to optimise their aim.

Keywords: air quality, climate change, emission, environment, perverse effect, road transport, tax policy

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Authors: Omid Noroozi, Martin Mulder

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The motivational potential of educational games is undeniable especially for teaching topics and skills that are difficult to deal with in traditional educational situations such as argumentation competence. Willingness to argue has an association with student epistemic beliefs, which can influence whether, and the way in which students engage in argumentative discourse activities and critical discussion. The goal of this study was to explore how undergraduate students engage with argumentative discourse activities which have been designed to intensify debate, and whether epistemic beliefs are significant to the outcomes. A pre-test, post-test design was used with students who were assigned to groups of four. They were asked to argue a controversial topic with the aim of exploring various perspectives, and the 'pros and cons' on the topic of 'Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)'. The results show that the game facilitated argumentative discourse and a willingness to argue and challenged peers, regardless of students’ epistemic beliefs. Furthermore, the game was evaluated positively in terms of students’ motivation and satisfaction with the learning experience.

Keywords: argumentation, attitudinal change, epistemic beliefs, dialogue, digital game objectives and theoretical

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Authors: Marcell Serra de Almeida Martins, Benedito de Souza Ribeiro Neto, Gerson Lima Serejo, Carlos Gustavo Resque Dos Santos

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Indoor positioning systems use sensors such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi, as well as cameras for image capture, which can be fixed or mobile. These computer vision-based positioning approaches are low-cost to implement, mainly when it uses a mobile camera. The present study aims to create a design of a fiducial marker for a low-cost indoor localization system. The marker is tape-shaped to perform a continuous reading employing two detection algorithms, one for greater distances and another for smaller distances. Therefore, the location service is always operational, even with variations in capture distance. A minimal localization and reading algorithm were implemented for the proposed marker design, aiming to validate it. The accuracy tests consider readings varying the capture distance between [0.5, 10] meters, comparing the proposed marker with others. The tests showed that the proposed marker has a broader capture range than the ArUco and QRCode, maintaining the same size. Therefore, reducing the visual pollution and maximizing the tracking since the ambient can be covered entirely.

Keywords: multiscale recognition, indoor localization, tape-shaped marker, fiducial marker

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Authors: Diana G. Ramirez-Wong, Marius Ramirez, Regina Sanchez-Leija, Adriana Rugerio, R. Araceli Mauricio-Sanchez, Martin A. Hernandez-Landaverde, Arturo Carranza, John A. Pojman, Josue D. Mota-Morales, Gabriel Luna-Barcenas

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Chitin films were prepared using alpha-chitin from shrimp shells as raw material and a simple method of precipitation-evaporation. Choline chloride: urea Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) was used to disperse chitin and compared against hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP). A careful analysis of the chemical and crystalline structure was followed along the synthesis of the films, revealing crystalline-phase transitions. The full conversion of alpha- to beta-, or alpha- to gamma-chitin structure were detected by XRD and NMR on the films. The synthesis of highly crystalline monophasic gamma-chitin films was achieved using a DES; whereas HFIP helps to promote the beta-phase. These results are encouraging to continue in the study of DES as good processing media to control the final properties of chitin based materials.

Keywords: chitin, deep eutectic solvent, polymorph, phase transformation

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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: Juan Carlos Briones Macias

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Currently, the Huancavilca City Park in Guayaquil is an abandoned public space that is discovering a growing problem of insecurity, where various problems have been perceived, such as the lack of green areas, deteriorating furniture, insufficient lighting, the use of inadequate cladding materials and very sunny areas due to the lack of planning in the design of green areas. The objective of this scientific article is to redesign Huancavilca Park through public space design strategies for more attractive and comfortable areas, becoming a point of interaction in a safe and accessible way. A mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative) was applied, obtaining information based on surveys, interviews, field observations, and systematizing the data in the traditional weighting of the structuring aspects of the park. The results were obtained from the methodological design scheme of iterative analysis of public spaces by Jan Güell. It is concluded that the use of urban strategies in the structuring elements of the park, such as vegetation, furniture, generating new activities, and security interventions, will specifically solve all the problems of the Huancavilca Park tested in a Pareto 80/20 Diagram.

Keywords: public space, green areas, vegetation, street furniture, urban analysis

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Authors: Fernando Maass, Pablo Martin, Jorge Olivares

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Fractional derivatives have become very important in several areas of Engineering, however, the solutions of simple differential equations are not known. Here we are considering the simplest first order nonhomogeneous differential equations with Bessel regular functions of the first kind, in this way the solutions have been found which are hypergeometric solutions for any fractional derivative of order α, where α is rational number α=m/p, between zero and one. The way to find this result is by using Laplace transform and the Caputo definitions of fractional derivatives. This method is for values longer than one. However for α entire number the hypergeometric functions are Kumer type, no integer values of alpha, the hypergeometric function is more complicated is type ₂F₃(a,b,c, t2/2). The argument of the hypergeometric changes sign when we go from the regular Bessel functions to the modified Bessel functions of the first kind, however it integer seems that using precise values of α and considering no integers values of α, a solution can be obtained in terms of two hypergeometric functions. Further research is required for future papers in order to obtain the general solution for any rational value of α.

Keywords: Caputo, fractional calculation, hypergeometric, linear differential equations

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Authors: Carlos Joel Tchawouo Mbiada

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This paper intends to refrain from debating the different meanings of justice, such as its social or moral meaning, nor to discuss the different theories of justice. This paper focuses on the legal understanding of access to justice to mean access to the court. Using the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts as a case study, this paper investigates whether the composition of the bench, the personnel and state mechanisms to promote access to court offer ideal conditions to access to court. The investigation is benchmarked against the South African new constitutional order underpinned by the concept of social justice to eradicate past injustices. To provide justice to all, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 guarantees the right to access to the court. The question that takes centre stage in this paper is whether litigants are denied the right to access the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts. The paper argues that factors such as the status of the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts, the number of judges, and the building structure prevent litigants from accessing these courts. The paper advocates for a legislative overhaul of the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts structure so that litigants may access the courts. Until such time, the paper argues that the right to access the Labour and Labour Appeal Courts would remain far from the reach of many litigants.

Keywords: access to justice, access to court, labour court, labour appeal court

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Authors: Ana Beatriz C. G. Silva, Luiz Carlos Wrobel, Fernando Luiz B. Ribeiro

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This paper presents a thermoregulation model using the finite element method to perform numerical analyses of brain cooling procedures as a contribution to the investigation on the use of therapeutic hypothermia after ischemia in adults. The use of computational methods can aid clinicians to observe body temperature using different cooling methods without the need of invasive techniques, and can thus be a valuable tool to assist clinical trials simulating different cooling options that can be used for treatment. In this work, we developed a FEM package applied to the solution of the continuum bioheat Pennes equation. Blood temperature changes were considered using a blood pool approach and a lumped analysis for intravascular catheter method of blood cooling. Some analyses are performed using a three-dimensional mesh based on a complex geometry obtained from computed tomography medical images, considering a cooling blanket and a intravascular catheter. A comparison is made between the results obtained and the effects of each case in brain temperature reduction in a required time, maintenance of body temperature at moderate hypothermia levels and gradual rewarming.

Keywords: brain cooling, finite element method, hypothermia treatment, thermoregulation

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Authors: Libia Yanelli Yanez-Penunuri, Carlos Alejandro Hidalgo-Rasmussen, Cesar Armando Rey-Anacona

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Cultural and social norms have a great influence on individual behavior, including the use of violence. In this way, culture can protect against violence, but it can also support and encourage the use of violence. The aim of this study was to analyze differences in cultural acceptance and dating violence among Mexican high school students. A Cross-sectional study was carried out with 867 adolescent Mexican students of high school aged 14 to 18 years old in a dating relationship for at least a month in Guzman City, Mexico. To measure cultural acceptance and dating violence, the questionnaire abuse in dating (CMO) was applied. Informed consent to parents and students was requested. Analyses of descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Participants were adolescent girls (61.4%) and adolescent boys (38.6%). About 63.7% of adolescents reported cultural acceptance of dating violence in their dating relationships. Associations between physical, sexual, economical dating violence and cultural acceptance were found. No association was found between psychological dating violence and cultural acceptance. The effect size in all dimensions was small. For future research, it is very important to take into consideration the change and evaluation of culture norms to prevent dating violence among adolescents.

Keywords: adolescents, culture, social norms, dating violence, students

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Authors: Jose Carlos Montemayor, Kendrick Thomas Angelo Santos

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Filipinos have been divided on President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership ever since his election in 2016. This study aimed to gain a thorough, in-depth understanding of the opinions of Filipinos from different age and income brackets on these issues in order to address the lack of studies analysing the current Philippine political landscape. An interview tackling relevant national issues were conducted with twelve respondents from the intersections of four age groups and three income brackets. The government’s handling of some issues received mixed opinions, some had neutral viewpoints, while others had more unfavorable ones. The responses differed on three levels: (1) the general stance on an issue; (2) the strength of a stance; and (3) the factoring in of an issue in forming an overall perception on the administration’s performance. Contrary to previous studies on political thought, opinions varied greatly such that no unique set of viewpoints could be attributed to any of the defined age or income groups. These results will be most useful to political science researchers, political analysts, and candidates shaping their platforms for the upcoming elections. Future studies are recommended to tackle more national issues and to consider other factors that may affect political opinions and behavior.

Keywords: age groups, opinion formation, socioeconomic brackets, Philippine politics, Rodrigo Duterte

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Authors: Fidel Lòpez Saca, Carlos Avilés-Cruz, Miguel Magos-Rivera, José Antonio Lara-Chávez

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Automated object recognition and identification systems are widely used throughout the world, particularly in assembly lines, where they perform quality control and automatic part selection tasks. This article presents the design and implementation of an object recognition system in an assembly line. The proposed shapes-color recognition system is based on deep learning theory in a specially designed convolutional network architecture. The used methodology involve stages such as: image capturing, color filtering, location of object mass centers, horizontal and vertical object boundaries, and object clipping. Once the objects are cut out, they are sent to a convolutional neural network, which automatically identifies the type of figure. The identification system works in real-time. The implementation was done on a Raspberry Pi 3 system and on a Jetson-Nano device. The proposal is used in an assembly course of bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. The results presented include studying the efficiency of the recognition and processing time.

Keywords: deep-learning, image classification, image identification, industrial engineering.

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Authors: Rajashekhar K. Patil, Martin J. Babu

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Weaver ants-Oecophylla smaragdina live in colonies that have polymorphic castes. The females which include the queen, major and minor workers are haploid. The individuals of castes are dependent on olfactory cues for carrying out caste-specific behaviour. In an effort to understand whether organizational differences exist to support these behavioural differences, we studied the olfactory system at the level of the sensilla on the antennae, olfactory glomeruli and the Kenyon cells in the mushroom bodies (MB). The MB differ in major and minor workers in terms of their size, with the major workers having relatively larger calyces and peduncle. The morphology of different types of Kenyon cells as revealed by Golgi-rapid staining was studied and the major workers had more dendritic arbors than minor workers. This suggests a greater degree of olfactory processing in major workers. Differences in caste-specific arrangement of sensilla, olfactory glomeruli and celluar architecture of MB indicate a developmental programme that forms basis of differential behaviour.

Keywords: ant, oecophylla, caste, mushroom body

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Authors: Giselda Cristina Ferreira, Carlos Alberto Kamienski, Ana Lígia Scott

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The COVID-19 pandemic has enhanced the anti-vaccination movement in Brazil, supported by unscientific theories and false news and the possibility of wide communication through social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified the large volume of information on the subject against COVID-19 as an Infodemic. In this paper, we present a protocol to identify polarizing users (called polarizers) and study the profiles of Brazilian polarizers on Twitter (renamed to X some weeks ago). We analyzed polarizing interactions on Twitter (in Portuguese) to identify the main polarizers and how the conflicts they caused influenced the COVID-19 vaccination rate throughout the pandemic. This protocol uses data from this social network, graph theory, Java, and R-studio scripts to model and analyze the data. The information about the vaccination rate was obtained in a public database for the government called OpenDataSus. The results present the profiles of Twitter’s Polarizer (political position, gender, professional activity, immunization opinions). We observed that social and political events influenced the participation of these different profiles in conflicts and the vaccination rate.

Keywords: Twitter, polarization, vaccine, Brazil

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Authors: Petronella Jonck, Martin Chanza, Anna-Marie Pelser

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Ascribed to the global pandemic most higher education institutions responded by relocating content presented by means of contact sessions to an online platform giving rise to digital pedagogy. The purpose of the research reported on was to explore emerging challenges linked to digital pedagogy from a practitioner stance. Digital pedagogy has emerged as a powerful tool to compliment traditional methods. However, stumbling blocks should be identified and addressed for future utilization. A qualitative research design was implemented by means of a semi-structured interview schedule distributed to practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results revealed that institutional type influenced the implementation of digital pedagogy. Other challenges relate to the increased cost of education, decreased access, limited knowledge about digital pedagogy, behavioral intent to adopt a multi-modal approach, lack of ICT infrastructure to mention a few. Higher education institutions should address challenges towards the optimal use of digital pedagogy in future.

Keywords: COVID-19, digital pedagogy, higher education institutions, information communication technology

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