Search results for: José Carlos Lázaro

Authors: Jose Hernandez, Lina Martínez, Gustavo Gonzalez, Carlos Lázaro, Diana Castrillon, Jonathan Cardona, Laura Mejía, Yina Sanchez, Luisa Ochoa, Evert Jimenez

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Objectives: Economic analyses of tuberculosis control interventions are usually focused on the payer’s perspective. To assess the overall economic impact of the disease, out-of-pocket and indirect costs are also required. This research is aimed to estimate overall economic impact under DOTS-strategy (Directly Observed Therapy Short Course). Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 91 adult tuberculosis patients in treatment for at least two months was conducted from the society perspective. A standardized questionnaire was used in three different cities of Colombia: Medellin (poverty is 17.7%), Monteria (poverty is 36.9%) and Quibdó (poverty is 51.2%). Costs were converted to 2013 USD and categorized into two periods: diagnostics phase and treatment. Results: The median cost during diagnostics was 13$ (±SD 9.5). The median monthly patient out-of-pocket costs during treatment were 32$ (±SD 6.8), equivalent to 17% of patient’s median monthly income, estimated in 186$ (±SD 23). Costs recorded in Medellin were 47$ in Monteria was 18$ and in Quibdó was 13$. Conclusion: Patient costs under DOTS strategy are high even when services are provided free of charge. The creation or strengthening of community-based treatment supervisors could greatly impact costs of tuberculosis and lower drop-outs.

Keywords: tuberculosis, costs and cost analysis, health promotion, Colombia

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Authors: Maria de Nazaré Moraes Soares, Silvia Maria Dias Pedro Rebouças, José Carlos Lázaro

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The Solidarity Economy (SE) acts in the re-articulation of the economic field to the other spheres of social action. The significant participation of women in SE resulted in the formation of a national network of self-managed enterprises in Brazil: The Solidarity and Feminist Economy Network (SFEN). The objective of the research is to identify factors of gender justice and feminist self-management practices that adhere to the reality of women in SE enterprises. The conceptual apparatus related to feminist studies in this research covers Nancy Fraser approaches on gender justice, and Patricia Yancey Martin approaches on feminist management practices, and authors of postcolonial feminism such as Mohanty and Maria Lugones, who lead the discussion to peripheral contexts, a necessary perspective when observing the women’s movement in SE. The research has a quantitative nature in the phases of data collection and analysis. The data collection was performed through two data sources: the database mapped in Brazil in 2010-2013 by the National Information System in Solidary Economy and 150 questionnaires with women from 16 enterprises in SFEN, in a state of Brazilian northeast. The data were analyzed using the multivariate statistical technique of Factor Analysis. The results show that the factors that define gender justice and feminist self-management practices in SE are interrelated in several levels, proving statistically the intersectional condition of the issue of women. The evidence from the quantitative analysis allowed us to understand the dimensions of gender justice and feminist management practices intersectionality; in this sense, the non-distribution of domestic work interferes in non-representation of women in public spaces, especially in peripheral contexts. The study contributes with important reflections to the studies of this area and can be complemented in the future with a qualitative research that approaches the perspective of women in the context of the SE self-management paradigm.

Keywords: feminist management practices, gender justice, self-management, solidarity economy

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Authors: Diego Sánchez, Sandra M. Aguilar, José F. Gómez, Gustavo Montaño, Laura P. Otero, Carlos V. Rey, José A. Martínez, Juliana Robles, Jorge E. Burgos, Juan S. López

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Bogota is making efforts towards urban resilience through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) incorporation in public projects as a climate change resilience strategy. The urban renovation project on the Alhambra square includes Green Infrastructure (GI), like Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) and Urban Trees (UT), as ecosystem services (ES) boosters. This study analyzes 3 scenarios: (1) the initial situation without NbS, (2) the expected situation including NbS in the design and (3) the projection of the second one after 30 years, calculating the ecosystem services, the stormwater management benefits provided by SUDS and the cultural services. The obtained results contribute to the understanding of the urban NbS benefits in public spaces, providing valuable information to foster investment in sustainable projects and encouraging policy makers to integrate NbS in urban planning.

Keywords: ecosystem services, nature-based solutions, stormwater management, sustainable urban drainage systems

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Authors: Mario Gómez, José Carlos Rodríguez

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The causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth has been an important issue in the economic literature. This paper studies the causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth in Mexico for the period of 1971-2011. In so doing, unit root tests and causality test are applied. The results show that the series are stationary in levels and that there is causality running from economic growth to energy consumption. The energy conservation policies have little or no impact on economic growth in México.

Keywords: causality, economic growth, energy consumption, Mexico

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Authors: Francisco José Plácido da Cunha, Tassio Ferenzini Martins Sirqueira, Marx Leles Viana, Carlos José Pereira de Lucena

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Open Multiagent Systems (MASs) are societies in which heterogeneous and independently designed entities (agents) work towards similar, or different ends. Software agents are autonomous and the diversity of interests among different members living in the same society is a fact. In order to deal with this autonomy, these open systems use mechanisms of social control (norms) to ensure a desirable social order. This paper considers the following types of norms: (i) obligation — agents must accomplish a specific outcome; (ii) permission — agents may act in a particular way, and (iii) prohibition — agents must not act in a specific way. All of these characteristics mean to encourage the fulfillment of norms through rewards and to discourage norm violation by pointing out the punishments. Once the software agent decides that its priority is the satisfaction of its own desires and goals, each agent must evaluate the effects associated to the fulfillment of one or more norms before choosing which one should be fulfilled. The same applies when agents decide to violate a norm. This paper also introduces a framework for the development of MASs that provide support mechanisms to the agent’s decision-making, using norm-based reasoning. The applicability and validation of this approach is demonstrated applying a traffic intersection scenario.

Keywords: BDI agent, BDI4JADE framework, multiagent systems, normative agents

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Authors: Marcelo Jose Cabarcas Ortega, Lissette Herrera, Juan Carlos Lemus Stave

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This work makes a rather theoretical reflection on a pedagogical response against the coloniality of knowledge and power. The purpose here is to reflect on the challenges and opportunities it opens up in the educational field. No doubt, ours derived in a more abstract than concrete reflection. The quest, nevertheless, to stimulate the interest in a non-violent, non-contemptuous education able to balance, improves and if necessary, transforms the relationships that have made it a space of privilege and exclusion. We all know the school has found itself in need of rethinking diversity while developing awareness of its own role in reproducing inequality. Intercultural education may provide an answer to that hurry when fostering critical awareness and dialogue.

Keywords: decoloniality, coloniality of power, diversity, interculturality

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Authors: Carlos Henrique Rodrigues de Oliveira, Luis Carlos Costa Fonseca, Caio de Castro Torres, Daniel Gusmão Pereira, Luiz Ricardo Souza Ripardo, Magno Castro Moraes, Ana Paula Ferreira Costa, Luiz Carlos Chaves Lima Junior, Aurelianny Almeida da Cunha

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VoIP University is a communication solution based on the IP protocol. This solution was proposed to modernize and save on communication, which required the development of Android, iOS, and Windows applications and a web service server. This solution allows integration with management system databases to create and manage a list of user extensions. VoIP UEMA was the first deployed project of VoIP University. MOS subjective voice quality test was done, and the results indicated good quality. A financial analysis revealed that annual spending on telephone bills decreased by more than 97 %.

Keywords: VoIP eTec, VoIP UEMA, VoIP University, VoIP Valen

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Authors: Jorge Ferro-Diaz, Lazaro Marquez-Llauger, Jose Alberto Camejo-Lamas, Lazaro Marquez-Govea

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The invasion of Scaevola sericea Vahl (Goodeniaceae) in Cuba is a recent process, this exotic invasive species was reported for the first time, in the national territory, by 2008. S. sericea is native to the coasts around the Indian Ocean and western Pacific, common on sandy beaches; it has expanded rapidly around the planet by either natural or anthropic causes, mainly due to its use in hotel gardening. Cuba is highly vulnerable to the colonization of these species, mainly due to tropical hurricanes which have increased in the last decades; it also affects other native species such as Tournefortia gnaphalodes (L.) R. Br. (Boraginaceae) that show invasive manifestations because of the unbalanced state of demographic processes of littoral vegetation, which has been studied by authors during the last 10 years. The fast development of Cuban tourism has encouraged the use of exotic species in gardening that invade large sectors of sandy coasts. Taking into account the importance of assessing the impacts dimensions and adopting effective control measures, a monitoring program for the invasion of S. sericea in Cuba was undertaken. The program has been implemented since 2013 and the main objective was to identify invasive patterns and interactions with other native species of coastal vegetation. This experience also aimed to validate the design and propose a standardized monitoring protocol to be applied throughout the country. In the Cuban territory, 12 sites were chosen, where there were established 24 permanent plots of 100 m2; measurements were taken twice a year taking into consideration variables such as abundance, plant height, soil cover, flora and companion vegetation, density and frequency; other physical variables of the beaches were also measured. Similarly, for associated individuals of T. gnaphalodes, the same variables were measured. The results of these first four years allowed us to document patterns of S. sericea invasion, highlighting the use of adventitious roots to enhance their colonization, and to characterize demographic indicators, ecosystem affections, and interactions with native plants. A density-dependent relationship with T. gnaphalodes was documented, finding a controlling effect on S. sericea, so that a manipulation experiment was applied to evaluate possible management actions to be incorporated in the Plans of the protected areas involved. With these results, it was concluded, for the evaluated sites, that S. sericea has had an invasion dynamics ruled by effects of coastal dynamics, more intense in beaches with affectations to the native vegetation, and more controlled in beaches with more preserved vegetation. It was found that when S. sericea is established, the mechanism that most reinforces its invasion is the use of adventitious roots, used to expand the patches and colonize beach sectors. It was also found that when the density of T. gnaphalodes increases, it detains the expansion of S. sericea and reduces its colonization possibilities, behaving as a natural controller of its biological invasion. The results include a proposal of a new Monitoring Protocol for Scaevola sericea in Cuba, with the possibility of extending its implementation to other countries in the region.

Keywords: biological invasion, exotic invasive species, plant interactions, Scaevola sericea

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Authors: Ramon Sancibrian, Carlos Redondo-Figuero, Maria C. Gutierrez-Diez, Esther G. Sarabia, Maria A. Benito-Gonzalez, Jose C. Manuel-Palazuelos

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In this paper, the design and evaluation of a handle for laparoscopic surgery is presented. The design of the handle is based on ergonomic principles and tries to avoid awkward postures for surgeons. The handle combines the so-called power-grip and accurate-grip in order to provide strength and accuracy in the performance of surgery. The handle is tested using both objective and subjective approaches. The objective approach uses motion capture techniques to obtain the angles of forearm, arm, wrist and hand. The muscular effort is obtained with electromyography electrodes. On the other hand, a subjective survey has been carried out using questionnaires. Results confirm that the handle is preferred by the majority of the surgeons.

Keywords: laparoscopic surgery, ergonomics, mechanical design, biomechanics

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Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez, Medardo Serna

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This paper analyses managing higher education institutions in emerging economies. The paper investigates the case of postgraduate studies development at public universities. In so doing, it adopts the complex theory approach to evaluate how postgraduate studies have evolved in these countries. The investigation suggests that the postgraduate studies sector at public universities can be seen as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Therefore, the paper adopts system dynamics (SD) methods to develop this analysis. The case of postgraduate studies at Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico is investigated in this paper.

Keywords: complex adaptive systems, higher education institutions, Mexico, system dynamics

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Authors: Mario Gómez, José Carlos Rodríguez

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This paper analyzes innovation trends in South Korea by means of the number of patent applications filed by residents and nonresidents during the period 1965 to 2012. Making use of patent data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we search for the presence of multiple structural changes in patent application series in this country. These changes may suggest that firms’ innovative activity has been modified as a result of implementing some science, technology and innovation (STI) policies. Accordingly, the new regulations implemented in this country in the last decades have influenced its innovative activity. The question conducting this research is thus how STI policies in South Korea have influenced its innovation activity. The results confirm the existence of multiple structural changes in the series of patent applications resulting from alternative STI policies implemented during these years.

Keywords: econometric methods, innovation activity, Korea, patent applications, science, technology and innovation policy, STI

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Authors: J. Carlos Frutos Dordelly, M. Coillot, M. El Mankibi, R. Enríquez Miranda, M. José Jimenez, J. Arce Landa

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Natural ventilation systems have increasingly been the subject of research due to rising energetic consumption within the building sector and increased environmental awareness. In the last two decades, the mounting concern of greenhouse gas emissions and the need for an efficient passive ventilation system have driven the development of new alternative passive technologies such as ventilated facades, trombe walls or solar chimneys. The objective of the study is the assessment of PCM panels in an in situ solar chimney for the establishment of a numerical model. The PCM integrated solar chimney shows slight performance improvement in terms of mass flow rate and external temperature and outlet temperature difference. An increase of 11.3659 m³/h can be observed during low wind speed periods. Additionally, the surface temperature across the chimney goes beyond 45 °C and allows the activation of PCM panels.

Keywords: energy storage, natural ventilation, phase changing materials, solar chimney, solar energy

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Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez

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The aim of this paper is to get insight on the nature of university-industry technology transfer (UITT) and technology transfer offices (TTOs) activity at universities in the case of emerging economies. In relation to the process of transferring knowledge/technology in the case of emerging economies, knowledge/technology transfer in these economies are more reactive than in developed economies due to differences in maturity of technologies. It is assumed in this paper that knowledge/technology transfer is a complex phenomenon, and thus the paper contributes to get insight on the nature of UITT and TTOs creation in the case of emerging economies by using a system dynamics model of knowledge/technology transfer in these countries. The paper recognizes the differences between industrialized countries and emerging economies on these phenomena.

Keywords: university-industry technology transfer, technology transfer offices, technology transfer models, emerging economies

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Authors: José Eugenio Ortiz, Pierre Plaza, Josefa Herrero, Iván Cabria, José Luis Blanco, Javier Gavilanes, José Ignacio Escavy, Ignacio López-Cilla, Virginia Yagüe, César Pérez, Silvia Rodríguez, Jorge Rico, Cecilia Serrano, Jesús Bernat

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The development of Artificial Intelligence services in mining processes, specifically in aggregate quarries, is facilitating automation and improving numerous aspects of operations. Ultimately, AI is transforming the mining industry by improving efficiency, safety and sustainability. With the ability to analyze large amounts of data and make autonomous decisions, AI offers great opportunities to optimize mining operations and maximize the economic and social benefits of this vital industry. Within the framework of the European DIGIECOQUARRY project, various services were developed for the identification of material quality, production estimation, detection of anomalies and prediction of consumption and production automatically with good results.

Keywords: aggregates, artificial intelligence, automatization, mining operations

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Authors: Jose Carlos Rodriguez, Mario Gomez

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In the last years, the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has gained popularity. It reveals the importance of a supportive community and adequate economic environment for entrepreneurial activity, and thus the possibility of developing a different perspective on the innovation system. On the other hand, the (regional/technology) innovation system approach lacks in its analyses the presence of an entrepreneur as a key actor that develops innovations. In this regard, this paper examines the foundations of both theoretical approaches (the entrepreneurial ecosystems and the regional/technology systems of innovation) and their contributions to understand entrepreneurial activity at different levels of analyses, namely national, regional or local. The paper makes a literature review on both perspectives of innovation stressing the role played by entrepreneurs in these theoretical approaches. It concludes remarking that the regional/technology innovation systems approach and the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach have established themselves in their own right, but the regional/technology innovation system approach is a predecessor of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation systems, entrepreneurial activity, comparative analysis

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Authors: José Carlos Rodríguez, Mario Gómez

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This paper analyses innovation trends in Latin America countries by means of the number of patent applications filed by residents and non-residents during the period 1965 to 2012. Making use of patent data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we search for the presence of multiple structural changes in patent application series in Argentina, Brazil Chile, and Mexico. These changes may suggest that firms’ innovative activity has been modified as a result of implementing a particular science, technology and innovation (STI) policy. Accordingly, the new regulations implemented in these countries during 1980s and 1990s have influenced their intellectual property regimes. The question conducting this research is thus how STI policies in these countries have affected their innovation activity? The results achieved in this research confirm the existence of multiple structural changes in the series of patent applications resulting from STI policies implemented in these countries.

Keywords: econometric methods, innovation activity, Latin America countries, patents, science, technology and innovation policy

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Authors: Mario Gómez, José Carlos Rodríguez

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This paper analyzes the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis to test the causality relationship between economic activity, trade openness and carbon dioxide emissions in Mexico (1971-2011). The results achieved in this research show that there are three long-run relationships between production, trade openness, energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. The EKC hypothesis was not verified in this research. Indeed, it was found evidence of a short-term unidirectional causality from GDP and GDP squared to carbon dioxide emissions, from GDP, GDP squared and TO to EC, and bidirectional causality between TO and GDP. Finally, it was found evidence of long-term unidirectional causality from all variables to carbon emissions. These results suggest that a reduction in energy consumption, economic activity, or an increase in trade openness would reduce pollution.

Keywords: causality, cointegration, energy consumption, economic growth, environmental Kuznets curve

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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: 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: 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: Taras Agryzkov, Almudena Nolasco-Cirugeda, Jose L. Oliver, Leticia Serrano-Estrada, Leandro Tortosa, Jose F. Vicent

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This paper aims to represent the commercial activity of a city taking as source data the social network Foursquare. The city of Murcia is selected as case study, and the location-based social network Foursquare is the main source of information. After carrying out a reorganisation of the user-generated data extracted from Foursquare, it is possible to graphically display on a map the various city spaces and venues –especially those related to commercial, food and entertainment sector businesses. The obtained visualisation provides information about activity patterns in the city of Murcia according to the people`s interests and preferences and, moreover, interesting facts about certain characteristics of the town itself.

Keywords: social networks, spatial analysis, data visualization, geocomputation, Foursquare

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Authors: Katherine Madero Valencia, Carlos Jaramillo, Elida Dueñas, Carlos Torres, María Del Pilar Delgado

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Asthma, described as a chronic inflammatory condition of the airways, courses accompanied by episodes known as exacerbations, characterized by a worsening of symptoms. Among the triggers, some allergen-irritative and infectious agents are found, including Chlamydophila pneumoniae which seems to play an increasingly important role. In this paper a PCR was used to detect C. pneumoniae in order to estimate the frequency of infections caused by this agent in pediatric patients with asthma exacerbations. C. pneumoniae distribution throughout the study period was also evaluated. 175 nasopharyngeal aspirates from children with asthma exacerbations were analyzed by PCR and sequencing. A global prevalence of C. pneumoniae of 53.71% was obtained. This study highlights a high circulation of C. pneumoniae during the study period, in children of all ages and especially in children under 5 years old. Molecular tests applied permit a rapid detection and improved our knowledge about these infections in children with asthma.

Keywords: Chlamydophila pneumoniae, detection, molecular techniques, pediatric asthma

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Authors: Mario Gómez, Won Ho Kim, Ángel Licona, José Carlos Rodríguez

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This article analyzes innovation activity in Mexico and South Korea. It develops an econometric model to test for structural breaks in the number of patent applications filed by residents and nonresidents in these countries during the period of 1965 to 2012. These changes may suggest that firms’ innovative capabilities have changed because of implementing different science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in Mexico and South Korea. Two important features characterize this research from others already developed by these authors. First, the theoretical research framework in this research is the debate between the assimilation view of growth and the accumulation view of growth. This characteristic suggests that trade liberalization should be accompanied by an adequate STI policy to boost competitiveness among indigenous firms. Second, the analysis in this research stresses the importance of key actors (e.g. governments) to successfully develop innovation capabilities among indigenous firms. Therefore, the question conducting this research is how STI policies in Mexico and South Korea contributed to develop firms’ innovation capabilities in these countries during last decades? The results from this research suggests that STI policy in South Korea was more suitable to boost innovation firms to compete in markets. Data to develop this research was released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Keywords: innovation, Mexico, South Korea, science, technology and innovation policy

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Authors: André Luis Lima de Oliveira, Vera Lúcia Viana do Nascimento, Victória Maura Silva Bermudez, Mauricio Nunes Kleinberg, João Carlos da Costa Assunção, José Osvaldo Beserra Carioca

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The objective of this study was to synthesize a triglyceride with high content of unsaturated fatty acids from salmon oil (Salmo salar L.) by esterification with glycerol catalyzed dealuminized zeolite. A kinetic study was conducted to determine the reaction order and the activation energy. A statistical study was conducted to determine optimal reaction conditions. Initially, the crude oil was refined salmon physically and chemically. The crude oil was hydrolyzed and unsaturated free fatty acids were separated by urea complexation method. An experimental project to verify the parameters (temperature, glycerin and catalyst) with the greatest impact on the reaction was developed. In experiments aliquots were taken at predetermined times to measure the amount of free fatty acids. Pareto, surface, contour and hub graphs were used to determine the factors that maximized the reaction. According to the graphs the best reaction conditions were: temperature 80 ° C, the proportion glycerine/oil 5: 1 and 1% of catalyst. The kinetic data showed that the system was compatible with a second-order reaction. After analyzing the rate constant versus temperature charts a value of 85.31 kJ/mol was obtained for the reaction activation energy.

Keywords: esterification, kinect, oil, salmon

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Authors: Georgi Vendramin, Aurea Lúcia, Yamamoto, Carlos Itsuo, Camargo Nogueira, Carlos Eduardo, Lenz, Anderson Miguel, Souza Melegari, Samuel N.

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The thermal performance of a solar water heating with 1.00 m2 flat plate collectors in Cascavel-PR, is which presented in this article, paper presents the solution to leverage the marketing of solar heating systems through detailed constituent materials of the solar collector studies, these abundant materials in construction, such as expanded polyethylene, PVC, aluminum and glass tubes, mixing them with new materials to minimize loss of efficiency while decreasing its cost. The system was tested during months and the collector obtained maximum recorded temperature of outlet fluid of 55 °C, while the maximum temperature of the water at the bottom of the hot water tank was 35 °C. The average daily energy collected was 19 6 MJ/d; the energy supplied by the solar plate was 16.2 MJ/d; the loss in the feed pipe was 3.2 MJ/d; the solar fraction was 32.2%, the efficiency of the collector was 45.6% and the efficiency of the system was 37.8%.

Keywords: recycling materials, energy efficiency, solar collector, solar water heating system

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Authors: Tamara Romero, Manuel Romero-Huelva, Jose V. Segarra, Jose Castro, Carlos Fernandez

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Many foods resulting from processing and manufacturing end up as waste, most of which is burned, dumped into landfills or used as compost, which leads to wasted resources, and environmental problems due to unsuitable disposal. Using residues of the crop and food processing industries to feed livestock has the advantage to obviating the need for costly waste management programs. The main residue generated in citrus cultivations and rice crop are pruning waste and rice straw, respectively. Within Spain, the Valencian Community is one of the world's oldest citrus and rice production areas. The objective of this experiment found out the effects of including orange leaves and rice straw as ingredients in the concentrate diets of goats, on milk production and methane (CH₄) emissions. Ten Murciano-Granadina dairy goats (45 kg of body weight, on average) in mid-lactation were selected in a crossover design experiment, where each goat received two treatments in 2 periods. Both groups were fed with 1.7 kg pelleted mixed ration; one group (n= 5) was a control (C) and the other group (n= 5) used orange leaves and rice straw (OR). The forage was alfalfa hay, and it was the same for the two groups (1 kg of alfalfa was offered by goat and day). The diets employed to achieve the requirements during lactation period for caprine livestock. The goats were allocated to individual metabolism cages. After 14 days of adaptation, feed intake and milk yield were recorded daily over a 5 days period. Physico-chemical parameters and somatic cell count in milk samples were determined. Then, gas exchange measurements were recorded individually by an open-circuit indirect calorimetry system using a head box. The data were analyzed by mixed model with diet and digestibility as fixed effect and goat as random effect. No differences were found for dry matter intake (2.23 kg/d, on average). Higher milk yield was found for C diet than OR (2.3 vs. 2.1 kg/goat and day, respectively) and, greater milk fat content was observed for OR than C (6.5 vs. 5.5%, respectively). The cheese extract was also greater in OR than C (10.7 vs. 9.6%). Goats fed OR diet produced significantly fewer CH₄ emissions than C diet (27 vs. 30 g/d, respectively). These preliminary results (LIFE Project LOWCARBON FEED LIFE/CCM/ES/000088) suggested that the use of these waste by-products was effective in reducing CH₄ emission without detrimental effect on milk yield.

Keywords: agricultural waste, goat, milk production, methane emission

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Authors: Alejandro Rodríguez-Molinero, Carlos Pérez-López, Jorge Hernández-Vara, Àngels Bayes-Rusiñol, Juan Carlos Martínez-Castrillo, David A. Pérez-Martínez

Abstract:

Background: Monitoring motor symptoms in Parkinson's patients is often a complex and time-consuming task for clinicians, as Hauser's diaries are often poorly completed by patients. Recently, new automatic devices (Parkinson's holter: STAT-ON®) have been developed capable of monitoring patients' motor fluctuations. The MoMoPa-EC clinical trial (NCT04176302) investigates which of the two methods produces better clinical results. In this sub-analysis, the concordance between both methods is analyzed. Methods: In the MoMoPa-EC clinical trial, 164 patients with moderate-severe Parkinson's disease and at least two hours a day of Off will be included. At the time of patient recruitment, all of them completed a seven-day motor fluctuation diary at home (Hauser’s diary) while wearing the Parkinson's holter. In this sub-analysis, 71 patients with complete data for the purpose of this comparison were included. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated between the patient diary entries and the Parkinson's holter data in terms of time On, Off, and time with dyskinesias. Results: The intra-class correlation coefficient of both methods was 0.57 (95% CI: 0.3-0.74) for daily time in Off (%), 0.48 (95% CI: 0.14-0.68) for daily time in On (%), and 0.37 (95% CI %: -0.04-0.62) for daily time with dyskinesias (%). Conclusions: Both methods have a moderate agreement with each other. We will have to wait for the results of the MoMoPa-EC project to estimate which of them has the greatest clinical benefits. Acknowledgment: This work is supported by AbbVie S.L.U, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [DTS17/00195], and the European Fund for Regional Development, 'A way to make Europe'.

Keywords: Parkinson, sensor, motor fluctuations, dyskinesia

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Authors: Derek Brandon G. Yu, Clyde Vincent O. Pilapil, Christine F. Peña

Abstract:

College students of Cebu province have been indoors since March 2020, and a challenge encountered is the sudden shift from face to face to online learning and with the lack of empirical data on online learning on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines. Sentiments on face to face and online learning will be collected from University of San Carlos (USC), School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) students regarding Mathematics in the Modern World (MMW), a General Education (GE) course. Natural Language Processing with machine learning algorithms will be used to classify the sentiments of the students. Results of the research study are the themes identified through topic modelling and the overall sentiments of the students in USC SAS

Keywords: natural language processing, online learning, sentiment analysis, topic modelling

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Authors: Mariana Mangas, Yaroslava Martins, Ana Charraz, Ana Matos Pires

Abstract:

Introduction: Health literacy empowers people of knowledge, motivation and skills to access, understand, evaluate and mobilize information relating to health. Although the benefits of public knowledge of physical disease are widely accepted, knowledge about mental disorder has been compatibly neglected. Nowadays there is considerably evidence that literacy is of great importance for the promotion of health and prevention of mental illness. Objective: Disclosure the concept and importance of mental health literacy and introduce the literacy program of Psychiatry Service of Hospital José Joaquim Fernandes. Methodology: A search was conducted on PubMed, using keywords “literacy” and “mental health”. A description of mental health literacy interventions implemented on Psychiatry Service of Hospital José Joaquim Fernandes was performed, namely, psychoeducation programs for depression and bipolar disorder. Results and discussion: Health literacy enables patient to be able to actively participate in his treatment. The improving of mental health literacy can promote early identification of mental disorders, improve treatment results, increase the use of health services and allow the community to take action to achieve better mental health. Psychoeducation is very useful in improving the course of disease and in reducing the number of episodes and hospitalizations. Bipolar patients who received psychoeducation and pharmacotherapy have no relapses during the program and last year. Conclusion: Mental health literacy is not simply a matter of having knowledge, rather, it is knowledge linked to action which can benefit mental health.

Keywords: mental health, literacy, psychoeducation, knowledge, empowerment

Procedia PDF Downloads 546