Search results for: Claudio García

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: 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: Louise H. Gracioso, Marcela P.G. Baltazar, Ingrid R. Avanzi, Bruno Karolski, Luciana J. Gimenes, Claudio O. Nascimento, Elen A. Perpetuo

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Introduction: Higher copper concentrations promote a selection pressure on organisms such as plants, fungi and bacteria, which allows surviving only the resistant organisms to the contaminated site. This selective pressure keeps only the organisms most resistant to a specific condition and subsequently increases their bioremediation potential. Despite the bacteria importance for biosphere maintenance, it is estimated that only a small fraction living microbial species has been described and characterized. Due to the molecular biology development, tools based on analysis 16S ribosomal RNA or another specific gene are making a new scenario for the characterization studies and identification of microorganisms in the environment. News identification of microorganisms methods have also emerged like Biotyper (MALDI / TOF), this method mass spectrometry is subject to the recognition of spectroscopic patterns of conserved and features proteins for different microbial species. In view of this, this study aimed to isolate bacteria resistant to copper present in a Copper Processing Area (Sossego Mine, Canaan, PA) and identifies them in two different methods: Recent (spectrometry mass) and conventional. This work aimed to use them for a future bioremediation of this Mining. Material and Methods: Samples were collected at fifteen different sites of five periods of times. Microorganisms were isolated from mining wastes by culture enrichment technique; this procedure was repeated 4 times. The isolates were inoculated into MJS medium containing different concentrations of chloride copper (1mM, 2.5mM, 5mM, 7.5mM and 10 mM) and incubated in plates for 72 h at 28 ºC. These isolates were subjected to mass spectrometry identification methods (Biotyper – MALDI/TOF) and 16S gene sequencing. Results: A total of 105 strains were isolated in this area, bacterial identification by mass spectrometry method (MALDI/TOF) achieved 74% agreement with the conventional identification method (16S), 31% have been unsuccessful in MALDI-TOF and 2% did not obtain identification sequence the 16S. These results show that Biotyper can be a very useful tool in the identification of bacteria isolated from environmental samples, since it has a better value for money (cheap and simple sample preparation and MALDI plates are reusable). Furthermore, this technique is more rentable because it saves time and has a high performance (the mass spectra are compared to the database and it takes less than 2 minutes per sample).

Keywords: copper mining area, bioremediation, microorganisms, identification, MALDI/TOF, RNA 16S

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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: Veronique Jubera, Guillaume Salek, Manuel Gaudon, Alain Garcia, Alain Demourgues

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Luminescence of transition metal and rare earth elements cover ultraviolet to far infrared wavelengths. Applications of phosphors are numerous. One can cite lighting, sensing, laser, energy, medical or military applications. But regarding each domain, specific criteria are required and they can be achieved with a strong control of the chemical composition. Emission of doped materials can be tailored with modifications of the local environment of the cations. For instance, the increase of the crystal field effect shifts the divalent manganese radiative transitions from the green to the red color. External factor as heat-treatment can induce changes of the doping element location or modify the unit cell crystalline symmetry. By controlling carefully the synthesis route, it is possible to initiate emission shift and to establish the thermal history of a compound. We propose to demonstrate through the luminescence of divalent manganese and trivalent rare earth doped oxide, that it is possible to follow the thermal history of a material. After optimization of the synthesis route, structural and optical properties are discussed. Finally, thermal calibration graphs are successfully established on these doped compounds. This makes these materials promising probe for thermal sensing.

Keywords: emission, thermal sensing, transition metal, rare eath element

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Authors: Deborah Garcia-Magna

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The use of new technologies has become widespread in the last decade, giving rise to various risks associated with the transfer of personal data and the publication of sensitive material on social media. There are already several supranational instruments that seek to protect the citizens involved in this growing traffic of personal information and, especially, the most vulnerable people, such as minors, who are also the ones who make the most intense use of these new means of communication. In this sense, the configuration of the concept of privacy as a legal right has necessarily been influenced by these new social uses and supranational instruments. The researcher considers correct the decision to introduce sexting as a new criminal behaviour in the Penal Code in 2015, but questions the concrete manner in which it has been made. To this end, an updated review of the various options that our legal system already offered is made, assessing whether these legal options adequately addressed the new social needs and guidelines from jurisprudence and other supranational instruments. Some important issues emerge as to whether the principles of fragmentarity and subsidiarity may be violated since the new article 197.7 of the Spanish Penal Code could refer to very varied behaviours and protect not only particularly vulnerable persons. In this sense, the research focuses on issues such as the concept of 'seriousness' of the infringement of privacy, the possible reckless conduct of the victim, who hang over its own private material to third parties, the affection to other legal rights such as freedom and sexual indemnity, the possible problems of concurrent offences, etc.

Keywords: criminal law reform, ECHR jurisprudence, right to privacy, sexting

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Authors: Antonin Ponsich, Eric Alfredo Rincon Garcia, Roman Anselmo Mora Gutierrez, Miguel Angel Gutierrez Andrade, Sergio Gerardo De Los Cobos Silva, Pedro Lara Velzquez

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The electoral zone design problem consists in redrawing the boundaries of legislative districts for electoral purposes in such a way that federal or state requirements are fulfilled. In Mexico, this process has been historically carried out by the National Electoral Institute (INE), by optimizing an integer nonlinear programming model, in which population equality and compactness of the designed districts are considered as two conflicting objective functions, while contiguity is included as a hard constraint. The solution technique used by the INE is a Simulated Annealing (SA) based algorithm, which handles the multi-objective nature of the problem through an aggregation function. The present work represents the first intent to apply a classical Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA), the second version of the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II), to this hard combinatorial problem. First results show that, when compared with the SA algorithm, the NSGA-II obtains promising results. The MOEA manages to produce well-distributed solutions over a wide-spread front, even though some convergence troubles for some instances constitute an issue, which should be corrected in future adaptations of MOEAs to the redistricting problem.

Keywords: multi-objective optimization, NSGA-II, redistricting, zone design problem

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Authors: Miguel Angel Garcia-Ruiz, Pedro Cesar Santana-Mancilla, Laura Sanely Gaytan-Lugo

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This paper describes the design and application of a short in-class project conducted in Algoma University’s Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) course taught at the Bachelor of Computer Science. The project was based on the Maker Movement (people using and reusing electronic components and everyday materials to tinker with technology and make interactive applications), where students applied low-cost and easy-to-use electronic components, the Arduino Uno microcontroller board, software tools, and everyday objects. Students collaborated in small teams by completing hands-on activities with them, making an interactive walking cane for blind people. At the end of the course, students filled out a Technology Acceptance Model version 2 (TAM2) questionnaire where they evaluated microcontroller boards’ applications in HCI classes. We also asked them about applying the Maker Movement in HCI classes. Results showed overall students’ positive opinions and response about using microcontroller boards in HCI classes. We strongly suggest that every HCI course should include practical activities related to tinkering with technology such as applying microcontroller boards, where students actively and constructively participate in teams for achieving learning objectives.

Keywords: maker movement, microcontrollers, learning, projects, course, technology acceptance

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Authors: Ana Luiza Casasanta Garcia, Maria Del Carmen Cortizo

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From the classic contractualist and early declarations of modern rights, discussions on policies for the protection and promotion of human rights were highlighted in an attempt to ensure the realization of human dignity and its values, which are (re) negotiated according to the needs evidenced in each historical and contextual moment. Aiming at guaranteeing human rights to Brazilian citizens, created in 2009 and updated in 2010, the Third National Human Rights Program (PNDH III) in force highlights guidelines and recommendations to guarantee human rights, among them, to guarantee the rights of women in Brazil. Based on this document, this article aims to locate historically and culturally the understanding of human rights related to the rights of women in Brazilian territory, from the analysis of the guiding axes of women's rights of the PNDH III. In methodological terms, the qualitative approach and documentary research were used to analyze the data according to the critical discourse analysis. As a result, it has been found that the process of building and maintaining the guarantee of women's human rights needs a reformulation that also shows a social revolution. This is justified by the fact that even with the provision in the PNDH III that, in order to guarantee the rights of women, it is necessary, for example, to adapt the Penal Code to the decriminalization of abortion and the professionalization of prostitution, these points are still very controversial and are not put into practice by the State. Finally, the importance of the critique of politics and the current system of production of understandings in favor of this social transformation is emphasized.

Keywords: human rights of women, social transformation, national human rights program III, public politics

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Authors: Suelane Garcia Fontes, Silvio Luiz Stanzani, Pedro L. Pizzigatti Corrła Ronaldo G. Morato

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Environmental changes and major natural disasters are most prevalent in the world due to the damage that humanity has caused to nature and these damages directly affect the lives of animals. Thus, the study of animal behavior and their interactions with the environment can provide knowledge that guides researchers and public agencies in preservation and conservation actions. Exploratory analysis of animal movement can determine the patterns of animal behavior and with technological advances the ability of animals to be tracked and, consequently, behavioral studies have been expanded. There is a lot of research on animal movement and behavior, but we note that a proposal that combines resources and allows for exploratory analysis of animal movement and provide statistical measures on individual animal behavior and its interaction with the environment is missing. The contribution of this paper is to present the framework AniMoveMineR, a unified solution that aggregates trajectory analysis and data mining techniques to explore animal movement data and provide a first step in responding questions about the animal individual behavior and their interactions with other animals over time and space. We evaluated the framework through the use of monitored jaguar data in the city of Miranda Pantanal, Brazil, in order to verify if the use of AniMoveMineR allows to identify the interaction level between these jaguars. The results were positive and provided indications about the individual behavior of jaguars and about which jaguars have the highest or lowest correlation.

Keywords: data mining, data science, trajectory, animal behavior

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Authors: C. Castro-Egler, A. Durán-Escalante, A. García-González

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This paper presents a method to generate a finite element model of the human auditory inner ear system. The geometric model has been realized using 2D images from a virtual model of temporal bones. A point cloud has been gotten manually from those images to construct a whole mesh with hexahedral elements. The main difference with the predecessor models is the spiral shape of the cochlea with its three scales completely defined: scala tympani, scala media and scala vestibuli; which are separate by basilar membrane and Reissner membrane. To validate this model, numerical simulations have been realised with two models: an isolated inner ear and a whole model of human auditory system. Ideal conditions of displacement are applied over the oval window in the isolated Inner Ear model. The whole model is made up of the outer auditory channel, the tympani, the ossicular chain, and the inner ear. The boundary condition for the whole model is 1Pa over the auditory channel entrance. The numerical simulations by FEM have been done using a harmonic analysis with a frequency range between 100-10.000 Hz with an interval of 100Hz. The following results have been carried out: basilar membrane displacement; the scala media pressure according to the cochlea length and the transfer function of the middle ear normalized with the pressure in the tympanic membrane. The basilar membrane displacements and the pressure in the scala media make it possible to validate the response in frequency of the basilar membrane.

Keywords: finite elements method, human auditory system model, numerical analysis, 3D modelling cochlea

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Authors: Garcia-Rodriguez Ezequiel, Luis A. Ochoa-Franco, Adrian I. Cervantes-Servin

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In this work, the Ictalurus punctatus species estimated available physical habitat is compared with the estimated physical habitat for the same but modified river reach, with the aim of creating a linear park, along a length of 5 500 m. To determine the effect of ecological park construction, on physical habitat of the Lerma river stretch of study, first, the available habitat for the Ictalurus punctatus species was estimated through the simulation of the physical habitat, by using surveying, hydraulics, and habitat information gotten at the river reach in its actual situation. Second, it was estimated the available habitat for the above species, upon the simulation of the physical habitat through the proposed modification for the ecological park creation. Third, it is presented a comparison between both scenarios in terms of available habitat estimated for Ictalurus punctatus species, concluding that in cases of adult and spawning life stages, changes in the channel to create an ecological park would produce a considerable loss of potentially usable habitat (PUH), while in the case of the juvenile life stage PUH remains virtually unchanged, and in the case of life stage fry the PUH would increase due to the presence of velocities and depths of lesser magnitude, due to the presence of minor flow rates and lower volume of the wet channel. It is expected that habitat modification for linear park construction may produce the lack of Ictalurus punktatus species conservation at the river reach of the study.

Keywords: Habitat modification, Ictalurus punctatus, Lerma, river, linear park

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Authors: Claudio Lamilla, Andrés Santos, Vicente Llanquinao, Jocelyn Hermosilla, Leticia Barrientos

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The industry in general is very interested in improving and optimizing industrial processes in order to reduce the costs involved in obtaining raw materials and production. Thus, an interesting and cost-effective alternative is the incorporation of bioactive metabolites in such processes, being an example of this enzymes which catalyze efficiently a large number of enzymatic reactions of industrial and biotechnological interest. In the search for new sources of these active metabolites, Antarctica is one of the least explored places on our planet where the most drastic cold conditions, salinity, UVA-UVB and liquid water available are present, features that have shaped all life in this very harsh environment, especially bacteria that live in different Antarctic ecosystems, which have had to develop different strategies to adapt to these conditions, producing unique biochemical strategies. In this work the production of cellulolytic enzymes of seven bacterial strains isolated from marine sediments at different sites in the Antarctic was evaluated. Isolation of the strains was performed using serial dilutions in the culture medium at M115°C. The identification of the strains was performed using universal primers (27F and 1492R). The enzyme activity assays were performed on R2A medium, carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC)was added as substrate. Degradation of the substrate was revealed by adding Lugol. The results show that four of the tested strains produce enzymes which degrade CMC substrate. The molecular identifications, showed that these bacteria belong to the genus Streptomyces and Pseudoalteromonas, being Streptomyces strain who showed the highest activity. Only some bacteria in marine sediments have the ability to produce these enzymes, perhaps due to their greater adaptability to degrade at temperatures bordering zero degrees Celsius, some algae that are abundant in this environment and have cellulose as the main structure. The discovery of new enzymes adapted to cold is of great industrial interest, especially for paper, textiles, detergents, biofuels, food and agriculture. These enzymes represent 8% of industrial demand worldwide and is expected to increase their demand in the coming years. Mainly in the paper and food industry are required in extraction processes starch, protein and juices, as well as the animal feed industry where treating vegetables and grains helps improve the nutritional value of the food, all this clearly puts Antarctic microorganisms and their enzymes specifically as a potential contribution to industry and the novel biotechnological applications.

Keywords: antarctic, bacteria, biotechnological, cellulolytic enzymes

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Authors: Pooja Booluck

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This project seeks to translate a chapter in Le Silence des Chagos by Shenaz Patel a Mauritian author whose work has never been translated before. The chapter discusses the attempt of the protagonist to return to her home country Diego Garcia after her deportation. The English translation will offer an historical account to the target audience of the deportation of Chagossians to Mauritius during the 1970s. The target audience comprises of English-speaking translation scholars translation students and African literature scholars. In light of making the cultural elements of Mauritian culture accessible the translation will maintain the cultural items such as food and oral discourses in Creole so as to preserve the authenticity of the source culture. In order to better comprehend the cultural elements mentioned the target reader will be provided with detailed footnotes explaining the cultural and historical references. This translation will also address the importance of folkloric songs in Mauritius and its intergenerational function in Mauritian communities which will also remain in Creole. While such an approach will help to preserve the meaning of the source text the borrowing technique and the foreignizing method will be employed which will in turn help the reader in becoming more familiar with the Mauritian community. Translating a text from French to English while maintaining certain words or discourses in a minority language such as Creole bears certain challenges: How does the translator ensure the comprehensibility of the reader? Are there any translation losses? What are the choices of the translator?

Keywords: Chagos archipelagos in Exile, English translation, Le Silence des Chagos, Mauritian culture and history

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Authors: Thalía Moreno-García Malo, Santiago Torres-Ríos, María G. González-Cruz, María M. Hernández-Arroyo, Sergio R. Trejo-Estrada

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Agave atrovirens is the main source of agave sap, the raw material for the production of pulque, an artisanal fermented beverage, traditional since prehispanic times in the highlands of central Mexico. Agave sap is rich in glucose, sucrose and fructooligosaccharides, and strongly differs from agave syrup from A. tequilana, which is mostly a high molecular weight fructan. Agave sap is converted into pulque by a highly diverse microbial community which includes bacteria, yeast and even filamentous fungi. The bacterial diversity has been recently studied. But the composition of consortia derived from directed enrichments differs sharply from the whole fermentative consortium. Using classical microbiology methods, and selective liquid and solid media formulations, either bacterial or fungal consortia were developed and analyzed. Bacterial consortia able to catabolize specific prebiotic saccharides were selected and preserved for future developments. Different media formulations, selective for bacterial genera such as Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Lactococcus and Enterococcus were also used. For yeast, specific media, osmotic pressure and unique carbon sources were used as selective agents. Results show that most groups are represented in the enrichment cultures; although very few are recoverable from the whole consortium in artisanal pulque. Diversity and abundance vary among consortia. Potential bacterial probiotics obtained from agave sap and agave juices show tolerance to hydrochloric acid, as well as strong antimicrobial activity.

Keywords: Agave, pulque, microbial consortia, prebiotic activity

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Authors: Manuel Chacon-Fuentes, Leonardo Bardehle, Marcelo Lizama, Claudio Reyes, Andres Quiroz

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The insect-plant interaction is a complex process in which the plant is able to release chemical signaling that modifies the behavior of insects. Insect herbivory can trigger mechanisms that allow the increase in the production of secondary metabolites that allow coping against the herbivores. Monoterpenes are a kind of secondary metabolites involved in direct defense acting as repellents of herbivorous or even in indirect defense acting as attractants for insect predators. In addition, an increase of the monoterpenes concentration is an effect commonly associated with the herbivory. Hence, plants subjected to damage by herbivory increase the monoterpenes production in comparison to plants without herbivory. In this framework, co-evolutionary aspects play a fundamental role in the adaptation of the herbivorous to their host and in the counter-adaptive strategies of the plants to avoid the herbivorous. In this context, Ugni molinae 'murtilla' is a native shrub from Chile characterized by its antioxidant activity mainly related to the phenolic compounds presents in its fruits. The larval stage of the red grape caterpillar Chilesia rudis Butler (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) has been reported as an important defoliator of U. molinae. This insect is native from Chile and probably has been involved in a co-evolutionary process with murtilla. Therefore, we hypothesized that herbivory by the red grape caterpillar increases the emission of monoterpenes in Ugni molinae. Ecotypes 19-1 and 22-1 of murtilla were established and maintained at 25° C in the Laboratorio de Química Ecológica at Universidad de La Frontera. Red grape caterpillars of ⁓40 mm were collected near to Temuco (Chile) from grasses, and they were deprived of food for 24 h before performing the assays. Ten caterpillars were placed on the foliage of the ecotypes 19-1 and 22-1 and allowed to feed during 48 h. After this time, caterpillars were removed from the ecotypes and monoterpenes were collected. A glass chamber was used to enclose the ecotypes and a Porapak-Q column was used to trap the monoterpenes. After 24 h of capturing, columns were desorbed with hexane. Then, samples were injected in a gas chromatograph coupled to mass spectrometer and monoterpenes were determined according to the NIST library. All the experiments were performed in triplicate. Results showed that α-pinene, β-phellandrene, limonene, and 1,8 cineole were the main monoterpenes released by murtilla ecotypes. For the ecotype 19-1, the abundance of α-pinene was significantly higher in plants subjected to herbivory (100%) in relation to control plants (54.58%). Moreover, β-phellandrene and 1,8 cineole were observed only in control plants. For ecotype 22-1, there was no significant difference in monoterpenes abundance. In conclusion, the results suggest a trade-off of β-phellandrene and 1,8 cineole in response to herbivory damage by red grape caterpillar generating an increase in α-pinene abundance.

Keywords: Chilesia rudis, gas chromatography, monoterpenes, Ugni molinae

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Authors: Javier Carroquino, Nieves García-Casarejos, Pilar Gargallo

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Climate change, depletion of non-renewable resources in the current energies, pollution from them, the greater ecological awareness of the population, are factors that suggest the change of energy sources in business. The agri-food industry is a growth sector, concerned about product innovation, process and with a clear awareness of what climate change may mean for it. This sector is supposed to have a high receptivity to the implementation of clean energy, as this favors not only the environment but also the essence of its business. This work, through surveys, aims to know the willingness of Spanish wineries to implement renewable energies in their vineyards, as well as the limitations they perceive for their implementation. This questionnaire allows the characterization of the sector in terms of its geographical typologies, their activity levels, their perception of environmental issues, the degree of implementation of measures to mitigate climate change and improve energy efficiency, and its uses and energy consumption. The analysis of data proves that the penetration of renewable energies is still at low levels, being the most used energies, solar thermal, photovoltaic and biomass. The initial investment seems to be at the origin of the lack of implantation of this type of energy in the wineries, and not so much the costs of operations and maintenance. The environmental management of the wineries is still at an embryonic stage within the company's organization chart, because these services are either outsourced or, if technicians are available, they are not exclusively dedicated to these tasks. However, there is a strong environmental awareness, as evidenced by the number of climate change mitigation and energy efficiency measures already adopted. The gap between high awareness and low achievement is probably due to the lack of knowledge about how to do it or the perception of a high cost.

Keywords: survey, renewable energy, winery, Spanish case

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Authors: Abdallah Abu Madi, Dongmei Cao, Alexeis Garcia-Perez, Qile He

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The failure of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide is much higher in comparison to other sectors, such as banking or manufacturing, to our knowledge limited research has been conducted on this issue. To date, prior literature has identified some key success factors (KSFs) mostly either in the domain of information and system (IS) or in the industrial context. However, evidence of ERP implementation in the higher education sector has had little attention in the extant literature. Hence, this paper identifies and categories KSFs of ERP implementation in HEIs. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with technicians and managers from three Jordanian HEIs. From these case studies, three new sector- and context-specific KSFs were identified and categorized according to two dimensions: organizational and technical. The first new KSF is the selection of the ERP system, which is an influential factor in the organizational dimension. Results show that an ERP solution that is suitable to one context may be disastrous in another. The second new KSF, which falls under the technical dimension, is the relationship between vendors and HEIs. This must be fair and impartial to enable successful decision-making and thus the achievement of pre-defined goals. Also within the technical dimension is the third factor: in-house maintenance. Once an appropriate system is selected and a strong relationship is established, the ERP system requires continuous maintenance for effective operation. HEIs should ensure that qualified IT support is in place and in-house to avoid excessive running expenses.

Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)implementation, key success factors, higher education institutions, Jordanian higher education

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Authors: Pedro Gomes, Lia Ferreira, Sofia Garcia, Jaime Babulal, Luís Costa, Luís Castelo, José Muras, Isabel Gonçalves, Rui Carvalho

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Introduction: Foot ulcers and their complications are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetes. Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the outcomes in terms of need for hospitalization, amputation, healing time and mortality in patients with new-onset diabetic foot ulcers in subgroups stratified by etiology. Methods: A retrospective study based on clinical assessment of patients presenting with new ulcers to a multidisciplinary diabetic foot consult during 2012. Outcomes were determined until September 2014, from hospital registers. Baseline clinical examination was done to classify ulcers as neuropathic, ischemic or neuroischemic. Results: 487 patients with new diabetic foot ulcers were observed; 36%, 15% and 49% of patients had neuropathic, ischemic and neuroischemic ulcers, respectively. For analysis, patients were classified as having predominantly neuropathic (36%) or ischemic foot (64%). The mean age was significantly higher in the group with ischemic foot (70±12 vs 63±12 years; p <0.001), as well as the duration of diabetes (18±10 vs 16 ± 10years, p <0.05). A history of previous amputation was also significantly higher in this group (24.7% vs 15.6%, p <0.05). The evolution of ischemic ulcers was significantly worse, with a greater need for hospitalization (27.2% vs 18%, p <0.05), amputation (11.5% vs 3.6% p <0.05) mainly major amputation (3% vs. 0%; p <0.001) and higher mean healing time (151 days vs 89 days, p <0.05). The mortality rate at 18 months, was also significantly higher in the ischemic foot group (7.3% vs 1.8%, p <0.05). Conclusions: All types of diabetic foot ulcers are associated with high morbidity and mortality, however, the presence of arterial disease confers a poor prognosis. Diabetic foot can be successfully treated only by the multidisciplinary team which can provide more comprehensive and integrated care.

Keywords: diabetes, foot ulcers, etiology, outcome

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Authors: P. Gil Del Álamo, J. García Pereda, A. Castañeda De La Paz, D. Arazola Lopez, M. D. Cubiles De La Vega, A. Enguíx González, J. M. Muñoz Pichardo

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In the last decades, obesity has more than doubled and is, with overweight, the second leading cause of preventable death. Despite multiple strategies against obesity, no country to date has reduced the number of obese people. To achieve World Health Organization’s target to reverse this tendency we need dramatic and different actions to engage the civil society in creating demand for a healthy style of life. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that a social media as the television can be used to convince the civil society that a healthy nutrition and physical activity are affordable, effective and necessary to prevent and to treat the obesity. Methodology: 61 individuals (34 women and 27 men) with obesity (mean BMI 45,51) were recruited to follow during 22 weeks an intensive lifestyle intervention in order to lose weight in a healthy manner. They were not isolated or moved from their usual environment. This program included endocrinological and nutritional assessment, promotion of physical activity and psychological support. BMI was measured every week. Time to leave obesity between men and women was analyzed with a survival analysis. Results: BMI decreased in all the cases. Analysing Time to leave obesity, around the week 30, 25% of men leave the obesity and around the week 39, 25% of women leave the obesity too. Conclusion: We demonstrate the audience that improving the quality of the diet and increasing the physical activity is a realistic way to lose weight. This evidence can encourage the people to act in their own self-interest changing their style of life in order to prevent or to reduce their overweight.

Keywords: obesity epidemic, obesity prevention, obesity strategies, social media

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Authors: Fatma Dridi, Mouna Marrakchi, Mohammed Gargouri, Alvaro Garcia Cruz, Sergei V. Dzyadevych, Francis Vocanson, Joëlle Saulnier, Nicole Jaffrezic-Renault, Florence Lagarde

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An original method has been successfully developed for the immobilization of thermolysin onto gold interdigitated electrodes for the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA) in olive oil samples. A mix of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyethylenimine (PEI) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was used. Cross-linking sensors chip was made by using a saturated glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor atmosphere in order to render the two polymers water stable. Performance of AuNPs/ (PVA/PEI) modified electrode was compared to a traditional immobilized enzymatic method using bovine serum albumin (BSA). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments were employed to provide a useful insight into the structure and morphology of the immobilized thermolysin composite membranes. The enzyme immobilization method influence the topography and the texture of the deposited layer. Biosensors optimization and analytical characteristics properties were studied. Under optimal conditions AuNPs/ (PVA/PEI) modified electrode showed a higher increment in sensitivity. A 700 enhancement factor could be achieved with a detection limit of 1 nM. The newly designed OTA biosensors showed a long-term stability and good reproducibility. The relevance of the method was evaluated using commercial doped olive oil samples. No pretreatment of the sample was needed for testing and no matrix effect was observed. Recovery values were close to 100% demonstrating the suitability of the proposed method for OTA screening in olive oil.

Keywords: thermolysin, A. ochratoxin , polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylenimine, gold nanoparticles, olive oil

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Authors: Henar Martín-Sanz García, Eleni Chatzi, Eugen Brühwiler

Abstract:

Located on the shore of Geneva Lake, in Switzerland, the Chillon Viaducts are two parallel structures consisted of post-tensioned concrete box girders, with a total length of 2 kilometers and 100m spans. Built in 1969, the bridges currently accommodate a traffic load of 50.000 vehicles per day, thereby holding a key role both in terms of historic value as well as socio-economic significance. Although several improvements have been carried out in the past two decades, recent inspections demonstrate an Alkali-Aggregate reaction in the concrete deck and piers reducing the concrete strength. In order to prevent further expansion of this issue, a layer of 40 mm of Ultra High Performance Fiber Reinforced cement-based Composite (UHPFRC) (incorporating rebars) was casted over the slabs, acting as a waterproof membrane and providing significant increase in resistance of the bridge structure by composite UHPFRC – RC composite action in particular of the deck slab. After completing the rehabilitation works, a Structural Monitoring campaign was installed on the deck slab in one representative span, based on accelerometers, strain gauges, thermal and humidity sensors. This campaign seeks to reveal information on the behavior of UHPFRC-concrete composite systems, such as increase in stiffness, fatigue strength, durability and long-term performance. Consequently, the structural monitoring is expected to last for at least three years. A first insight of the analyzed results from the initial months of measurements is presented herein, along with future improvements or necessary changes on the deployment.

Keywords: composite materials, rehabilitation, structural health monitoring, UHPFRC

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Authors: Felipe Osorio Ospina, Maria Adelaida Mejia Arango, Esteban Onésimo Vallejo Agudelo, Victoria Lucía Dávila Osorio, Natalia Vargas Grisales, Lina María Martínez Sanchez, Camilo Andrés Agudelo Vélez, Ángela Maria Londoño García, Isabel Cristina Ortiz Trujillo

Abstract:

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, has shown to be a risk factor for photodamage, alteration of the immune mechanisms to recognize malignant cells and cutaneous pro-inflamatorios States and skin cancers. Objective: Identify the time of exposure to ultraviolet radiation for the production of chromosomal damage in human lymphocytes. Methodology: We conducted an in vitro study serial, in which samples were taken from heparinized blood of healthy people, who do not submit exposure to agents that could induce chromosomal alterations. The samples were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, penicillin and streptomycin antibiotic. Subsequently, they were grouped and exposed to ultraviolet light for 1 to 20 seconds. At the end of the treatments, cytology samples were prepared, and it was colored with Giemsa (5%). Reading was carried out in an optical microscope and 100 metaphases analysed by treatment for posting chromosomal alterations. Each treatment was conducted at three separate times and each became two replicas. Results: We only presented chromosomal alterations in lymphocytes exposed to UV for a groups 1 to 3 seconds (p<0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to ultraviolet radiation generates visible damage in chromosomes from human lymphocytes observed in light microscopy, the highest rates of injury was observed between two and three seconds, and above this value, the reduction in the number of mitotic cells was evident.

Keywords: ultraviolet rays, lymphocytes, chromosome breakpoints, photodamage

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Authors: Felipe Osorio Ospina, Maria Adelaida Mejia Arango, Esteban Onésimo Vallejo Agudelo, Victoria Lucía Dávila Osorio, Natalia Vargas Grisales, Lina María Martínez Sanchez, Camilo Andrés Agudelo Vélez, Ángela Maria Londoño García, Isabel Cristina Ortiz Trujillo

Abstract:

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, has shown to be a risk factor for photodamage, alteration of the immune mechanisms to recognize malignant cells and cutaneous pro-inflamatorios states and skin cancers. Objective: To identify the time of exposure to ultraviolet radiation for the production of chromosomal damage in human lymphocytes. Methodology: We conducted an in vitro study serial, in which samples were taken from the heparinized blood of healthy people, who do not submit exposure to agents that could induce chromosomal alterations. The samples were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, penicillin, and streptomycin antibiotic. Subsequently, they were grouped and exposed to ultraviolet light for 1 to 20 seconds. At the end of the treatments, cytology samples were prepared, and it was colored with Giemsa (5%). Reading was carried out in an optical microscope and 100 metaphases analysed by treatment for posting chromosomal alterations. Each treatment was conducted at three separate times and each became two replicas. Results: We only presented chromosomal alterations in lymphocytes exposed to UV for groups 1 to 3 seconds (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to ultraviolet radiation generates visible damage in chromosomes from human lymphocytes observed in light microscopy, the highest rates of injury was observed between two and three seconds, and above this value, the reduction in the number of mitotic cells was evident.

Keywords: chromosome breakpoints, lymphocytes, photodamage, ultraviolet rays

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Authors: Mauricio Cruz, Andrés Díaz García, Martha Isabel Gómez, Juan Carlos Serrato Bermúdez

Abstract:

The disadvantages of using natural substrates in SSF processes have been well recognized and mainly are associated to gradual decomposition of the substrate, formation of agglomerates and decrease of porosity bed generating limitations in the mass and heat transfer. Additionally, in several cases, materials with a high agricultural value such as sour milk, beets, rice, beans and corn have been used. Thus, the use of economic inert supports (natural or synthetic) in combination with a nutrient suspension for the production of biocontrol microorganisms is a good alternative in SSF processes, but requires further studies in the fields of modeling and optimization. Therefore, the aim of this work is to compare the performance of two inert supports, a synthetic (polyurethane foam) and a natural one (rice husk), identifying the factors that have the major effects on the productivity of T. asperellum Th204 and the maximum specific growth rate in a PROPHYTA L05® fixed bed bioreactor. For this, the six factors C:N ratio, temperature, inoculation rate, bed height, air moisture content and airflow were evaluated using a fractional design. The factors C:N and air flow were identified as significant on the productivity (expressed as conidia/dry substrate•h). The polyurethane foam showed higher maximum specific growth rate (0.1631 h-1) and productivities of 3.89 x107 conidia/dry substrate•h compared to rice husk (2.83x106) and natural substrate based on rice (8.87x106) used as control. Finally, a quadratic model was generated and validated, obtaining productivities higher than 3.0x107 conidia/dry substrate•h with air flow at 0.9 m3/h and C:N ratio at 18.1.

Keywords: bioprocess, scale up, fractional design, C:N ratio, air flow

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Authors: Karla Sanchez-Ortiz, Yunuen Tapia-Torres, John Larsen, Felipe Garcia-Oliva

Abstract:

Due to food demand production, the use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer has increased in agricultural soils to replace the N losses. Nevertheless, the intensive use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizer in conventional agriculture negatively affects the soil and therefore the environment, so alternatives such as organic agriculture have been proposed for being more environmentally friendly. However, further research in soil is needed to see how agricultural management affects the dynamics of C and N. The objective of this research was to evaluate the C and N dynamics in the soil with three different agricultural management: an agricultural plot with intensive inorganic fertilization, a plot with semi-organic management and an agricultural plot with recent abandonment (2 years). For each plot, the soil C and N dynamics and the enzymatic activity of NAG and β-Glucosidase were characterized. Total C and N concentration of the plant biomass of each site was measured as well. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was higher in abandoned plot, as well as this plot had higher total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN), besides microbial N and microbial C. While the enzymatic activity of NAG and β-Glucosidase was greater in the agricultural plot with inorganic fertilization, as well as nitrate (NO₃) was higher in fertilized plot, in comparison with the other two plots. The aboveground biomass (AB) of maize in the plot with inorganic fertilization presented higher TC and TN concentrations than the maize AB growing in the semiorganic plot, but the C:N ratio was highest in the grass AB in the abandoned plot. The C:N ration in the maize grain was greater in the semi-organic agricultural plot. These results show that the plot under intensive agricultural management favors the loss of soil organic matter and N, degrading the dynamics of soil organic compounds, promoting its fertility depletion.

Keywords: mineralization, nitrogen cycle, soil degradation, soil nutrients

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: R. Morbidelli, C. Saltalippi, A. Flammini, A. Garcia-Marin, J. L. Ayuso-Munoz

Abstract:

The climate change, mainly due to greenhouse gas emissions associated to human activities, has been modifying hydrologic processes with a direct effect on air surface temperature that has significantly increased in the last century at global scale. In this context the Mediterranean area is considered to be particularly sensitive to the climate change impacts on temperature indices. An analysis finalized to study the evolution of temperature indices and to check the existence of significant trends in the Umbria Region (Italy) is presented. Temperature data were obtained by seven meteorological stations uniformly distributed in the study area and characterized by very long series of temperature observations (at least 60 years) spanning the 1924-2015 period. A set of 39 temperature indices represented by monthly and annual mean, average maximum and average minimum temperatures, has been derived. The trend analysis was realized by applying the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test, while the non-parametric Pettit test and the parametric Standard Normal Homogeneity test (SNHT) were used to check the presence of breakpoints or in-homogeneities due to environmental changes/anthropic activity or climate change effects. The Umbria region, in agreement with other recent studies exploring the temperature behavior in Italy, shows a general increase in all temperature indices, with the only exception of Gubbio site that exhibits very light negative trends or absence of trend. The presence of break points and in-homogeneity was widely explored through the selected tests and the results were checked on the basis of the well-known metadata of the meteorological stations.

Keywords: reception theory, reading, literary translation, horizons of expectation, reader

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Authors: Deborah García-Magna

Abstract:

When a person goes through the criminal justice system, either as a suspect, arrested, prosecuted or convicted, certain personal data are recorded, and a wide range of persons and organizations may have access to it. The recording of data can have a great impact on the daily life of the person concerned during the period of time determined by the legislation. In addition, this registered information can refer to various aspects not strictly related directly to the alleged or actually committed infraction. In some areas, the Spanish legislation does not clearly determine the cancellation period of the registers nor what happens when they are cancelled since some of the files are not really erased and remain recorded, even if their consultation is no more allowed or it is stated that they should not be taken into account. Thus, access to the recorded data of arrested or convicted persons may reduce their possibilities of reintegration into society. In this research, some of the areas in which data recording has a special impact on the lives of affected persons are analyzed in a critical manner, taking into account Spanish legislation and jurisprudence, and the influence of the European Court of Human Rights, the Council of Europe and other supranational instruments. In particular, the analysis cover the scope of video-surveillance in public spaces, the police record, the recording of personal data for the purposes of police investigation (especially DNA and psychological profiles), the registry of administrative and minor offenses (especially as they are taken into account to impose aggravating circumstaces), criminal records (of adults, minors and legal entities), and the registration of special circumstances occurred during the execution of the sentence (files of inmates under special surveillance –FIES–, disciplinary sanctions, special therapies in prison, etc.).

Keywords: ECHR jurisprudence, formal and informal criminal control, privacy, disciplinary sanctions, social reintegration

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: German Galvez-Garcia, Javier Albayay, Javiera Peña, Marta Lavin, George A. Michael

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to investigate whether the selection of the actions needs different inhibition processes during the response selection stage. In Experiment 1, we compared the magnitude of the Spatial Stroop effect, which occurs in response selection stage, in two motor actions (lifting vs reaching) when the participants performed both actions in the same block or in different blocks (mixed block vs. pure blocks).Within pure blocks, we obtained faster latencies when lifting actions were performed, but no differences in the magnitude of the Spatial Stroop effect were observed. Within mixed block, we obtained faster latencies as well as bigger-magnitude for Spatial Stroop effect when reaching actions were performed. We concluded that when no action selection is required (the pure blocks condition), inhibition works as a unitary system, whereas in the mixed block condition, where action selection is required, different inhibitory processes take place within a common processing stage. In Experiment 2, we investigated this common processing stage in depth by limiting participants’ available resources, requiring them to engage in a concurrent auditory task within a mixed block condition. The Spatial Stroop effect interacted with Movement as it did in Experiment 1, but it did not significantly interact with available resources (Auditory task x Spatial Stroop effect x Movement interaction). Thus, we concluded that available resources are distributed equally to both inhibition processes; this reinforces the likelihood of there being a common processing stage in which the different inhibitory processes take place.

Keywords: inhibition process, motor processes, selective inhibition, dual task

Procedia PDF Downloads 359

Authors: Aanh Eduardo Dimate-Garcia, Diana Carolina Rodriguez-Romero, Edna Yuliana Gonzalez Rincon, Diana Marcela Pardo Lopez, Yessica Garibello Cubillos

Abstract:

Musculoskeletal disorders (MD) are the new epidemic of chronic diseases, are multifactorial and affect the different productive sectors. Although there are multiple instruments to evaluate the static and dynamic load, the method of repetitive occupational action (OCRA) seems to be an attractive option. Objective: It is aimed to analyze the use of the OCRA method and the prevalence of MD in workers of various productive sectors according to the literature (2007-2018). Materials and Methods: A literature review (following the PRISMA statement) of studies aimed at assessing the level of biomechanical risk (OCRA) and the prevalence of MD in the databases Scielo, Science Direct, Scopus, ProQuest, Gale, PubMed, Lilacs and Ebsco was realized; 7 studies met the selection criteria; the majority are quantitative (cross section). Results: it was evidenced (gardening and flower-growers) in this review that 79% of the conditions related to the task require physical requirements and involve repetitive movements. In addition, of the high appearance of DM in the high-low back, upper and lower extremities that are produced by the frequency of the activities carried out (footwear production). Likewise, there was evidence of 'very high risks' of developing MD (salmon industry) and a medium index (OCRA) for repetitive movements that require special care (U-Assembly line). Conclusions: the review showed the limited use of the OCRA method for the detection of MD in workers from different sectors, and this method can be used for the detection of biomechanical risk and the appearance of MD.

Keywords: checklist, cumulative trauma disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, repetitive movements

Procedia PDF Downloads 152