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This research study proposes a classification system to identify and prevent occupational accidents in fiber storage warehouses at a pulp and paper facility. The present analysis is based on variables including pedestrian circulation, bobcat, trailer trucks, access, pedestrian circulation zones, and handrails. The proposed methodology defines and trains the system by using occupational accident event data collected at the facility. Three different predicting algorithms are used: J48 decision-making trees, Naive Bayes, and Bayesian nets. The results show that the J48 decision-making tree algorithm accurately identifies possible occupational accidents 90% of the time. It is concluded that identifying variables involved in occupational accidents allows generating a C4.5 (J48) decision-making tree that can be used as a support tool to prevent occupational accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to provide the physical bases that allow more accurate diagnosis of the conditions of paper machines for better maintenance. The diagnostic of the mechanical condition of press felts and rolls in the press section of paper machines using the classical vibration analysis is complex, so maintenance of these elements is done in a preventive and not predictive way. In this work a mathematical model that describes the dynamic behavior of the presses in paper machines is developed. Through numerical simulations, the motion equation of the proposed model is solved and compared with measurements done in industrial machines. It is concluded that the proposed model properly describes the vibratory behavior of presses and provides the vibratory symptoms that allow the diagnosis of the problems that they may have. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an alternative of industrial use of the banana rachis (the woody center of the cluster of bananas), as source of fibers for the structure of paper. Banana rachis is considered to be an agroindustrial residue in producing countries of banana it represents 2.8 % of the cluster of Muse balbisiana and 4.4 % of the cluster of Muse acuminata. The physical and chemical structure of the rachis is almost simliar to that of the sugar cane so a chemical process similar to that employed to obtain fibers from the sugar bagasse cane was used. An experimental factorial design that allows the correlation of independent variables (cooking time, reagent concentration) in four levels with response parameters (yield, reagents consumption, rejects and residual lignin) was adopted. The rachis of Muse acuminata needs lower temperature and less reagent consumption to liberate fibers in comparison with the rachis of Muse balbisiana. Therefore yield of the fibbers from Musa acuminata is major than that of the fibbers from Musa balbisiana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the work presented in this paper is to improve the thermal performance of industrial stoves that use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in order to promote good use of the resource in the city of Lima. The tests were carried out in a test bench, where physical variables were registered to be used in the prototype model. Then, the power and performance of several industrial stoves in the Peruvian market were determined to compare with the design of the prototype device considering two international standards. The burner gave a wide range of power according to the working pressure used and a high efficiency of 59% compared to the stoves that are nationwide sold, which are on average 45%. The advantage of this prototype device is that it uses operating pressures between 28 to 60 mbar compared to kitchens in the Peruvian market that use pressures between 3 to 6 bar, thus reducing the risks associated with fire and explosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this research study is to examine the chemical composition of Samanea saman (Rain tree) wood, oil, and seed meal through chemical analyses to explore potential applications. The study area is a 300ha extension with S. saman trees that are used for shading mainly. Wood and seeds are collected, dried, and crushed. Wood analyses characterize its humidity, extractives, ashes, lignin, cellulose, and holocellulose. Oil is extracted from seeds to assess its physicochemical properties and fatty acid profile. Seed meal is examined by conducting a proximal analysis. The results reveal that S. saman wood is rich in cellulose (45.3%) and holocellulose (63.6%). S. saman oil contains a high proportion (81.77%) of unsaturated fats and its seed meal has high protein and carbohydrate content. In conclusion, the chemical compositions of S. saman wood, oil, and seed meal have adequate characteristics to make paper, medicines, and food, among other derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is proposed for separating fiber material from the main components of cartonboard commonly used for storing liquids and for evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of this material as fiber sources for paper manufacture. The mechanical resistance of the cartonboard has been reduced by hydration using NaOH to accelerate the process. This process destroys hydrogen bonding that joint fiber-fiber. The process allows recovering 92% of the existing fiber in the carton packaging , which makes this material a potential alternative as fibber source for the manufacture of paper. The recovered material contains a high quantity of stickies, although it is possible to reduce this amount to levels that allows using the recovered fiber in paper manufacture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to analyze the activities for organizational learning in medium-size companies. This paper studies the activities of knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation. The research considers a descriptive approach, of field type, and not experimental form. A data collection questionnaire was applied to 44 medium-sized companies in Valledupar, Colombia. The results highlight the strong presence of activities about knowledge exploration and knowledge exploitation in the companies analyzed. Additionally, the results indicate the absence of statistical differences in the development of these activities inside the companies analyzed in this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looking for a new methodology of modular software development, this paper proposes JPI FM, that is, Feature Models (FM) with Join Point Interfaces (JPI) of Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) as the basis of the Feature-Oriented Programming (FOP) + JPI methodology. Therefore, this paper describes the advantages and details of FOP and AOP JPI as individual paradigms and their symbiosis to produce modular software. As an application example, MC JPI is used over a classic FOP example to visualize traditional FM components, and special associations or constraints between features. Additionally, this paper describes the advantages of JPI FM and the differences with respect to some previous research works to support aspect-oriented modeling principles of JPI. This paper concludes that JPI allows modularization on feature models, and thus this approach seems promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model for the integrated Transmission and Generation Expansion Planning (TGEP) considering security constraints. The proposed model combines the transmission network expansion (TNE) planning problem with the generation expansion planning (GEP) problem considering security constraints (N- 1 criteria). The resulting problem (TGEP) is approached by means of a mixed integer linear programming model. The main contribution of the paper is the inclusion of security constraints in the TGEP. Results show that including small scale generation in the transmission network expansion planning reduces the number of lines and associated costs incurred in attending the expected demand. Tests were performed with the 6 bus Garver system as well as the IEEE 24 and 48 bus power systems showing the applicability of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how knowledge can be managed within the organizations to promote the generation of new and useful ideas. The aim of the paper is to show specific knowledge management practices that have impact on organizational creativity. Structural equations by the partial least squares method and bootstrappercentile analysis to test the existence of mediation in a sample of 160 companies were used. It was found that continuous learning practices and management of individual skills of employees have significant impact on creativity, considered a source of competitive advantage and an indispensable element for the survival of organizations. Therefore, it was recognized that startup of knowledge management practices promotes an organizational environment, provides resources, and develops processes that promote organizational creativity and facilitate the process of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a research project for developing Rusty Roads, a videogame that simulates line follower robots in tridimensional, competitive environments. During the software development process, it was necessary to define the key physical factors that could affect the performance of the robot. A real robot was considered to define real parameters for the simulation, and to define discrete equations for simulating the robot in the Unity framework, comparing their accuracy with that of continuous, exact equations specifically developed for this study. This paper presents the process for obtaining and testing those equations, which were the foundations for the successful development of the simulation layer of the videogame and allowed the subsequent creation of its 3D visualization component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a power system interdiction model that incorporates demand response (DR) as strategy to reduce the vulnerability of the system. The interaction of two agents is taken into account: a disruptive agent (terrorist) that pretends causing the maximum load shedding and a protective agent (the system operator) that reacts by modifying the generation dispatch and using DR as an additional strategy to protect the system. The initial hypothesis is that the disruptive agent has limited resources and aims at selecting the set of elements that once attacked would cause the maximum damage to the system. The main contribution of this paper lies in the inclusion of the DR as an additional strategy (besides generation redispatch) to deal with eventual attacks and protect the system. The interaction of the two agents is modeled as a bi-level programming problem and is solved by means of the metaheuristic technique Iterative Local Search. Results on a 24 bus test IEEE system show the effectiveness of DR as a tool to reduce the vulnerability of power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a pilot study carried out in software development companies in Chile to establish the value, presence and validation of performance, security, and reliability as variables in the production of quality software in Chile. First, the article reports software engineering approaches about the production of quality software and then, it describes the dimensions considered in the study. After that, the paper reveals details of the companies under study. It also presents a description of the elements included in the instrument used to assess the variables and the responses. This study determines that these variables are important in the development and production processes of quality software. Thus, this study presents extrapolated results to other software development companies in Chile with similar features. The results show that performance, security, and reliability are highly important during the software development cycle. Differences are observed in just one well-defined case, the post-sale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies research trends about ethics training in organizations. The methodology combines the systematic search with the narrative. Systematic search is done through the web platform Tree of Science, which allows papers classification based on bibliographic citation networks. Four trends research are highlighted: 1) pedagogical aspects for ethics training in organizations; 2) impact of gender in ethics training in organizations; 3) relationship between ethics training in organizations and ethical decision-making; and 4) relationships between ethics training in organizations and ethical organizational cultures. In conclusion, the pedagogical aspects are those that have received most attention by researchers, while relationships between ethics training in organizations and ethical organizational cultures have not been enough studied, finding here a promising line of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model for the integrated Transmission and Generation Expansion Planning (TGEP). The main contribution of this paper lays in the use of the WTLR indexes (Weighted Transmission Loading Relief) for identifying new expansion candidates (lines and generators). The WTLR indexes are given as function of the distribution power factors and allow measuring the severity of overloads in normal conditions and under contingency (N-1 criterion). The applicability of the proposed model was tested in the IEEE RTS 24 bus power system. The TGEP was solved by means of the NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II) with the aim of minimizing costs and maximizing system security. The inclusion of generators as expansion alternatives reduces the number of necessary transmission lines in the expansion plan, especially when security criteria are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a scheme in which a time-frequency representation is first obtained using the continuous wavelet transform (CWT), which has a logarithmic resolution in the frequency domain, like that of the human ear. The development of these environmental sound classification systems is a topic of extensive research due to its application in several fields of science and engineering. Like other classification schemes, they are based on the extraction of specific parameters that are inserted in the classification stage. The CWT is then inserted into a deep learning neural network to carry out the classification task. The evaluation results obtained using several databases such as ESC-50, TUT Acoustic Scene, and SONAM-50 show that the proposed scheme provides a classification performance that is better than that provided by other previously proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to provide an in depth review of the current research about the process and the development of quality cloud applications. Papers published between 2010 and 2014 were thoroughly analyzed following a methodology of collecting primary sources of high impact and the exhaustive and critical analysis of the selected bibliographic sources. Of all sources found, 206 papers were selected and classified in eight areas. Being the quality of the software development process, the main area of interest in this work, a classification that allowed identifying five key subcategories was done: quality of service, development process quality, mobile cloud compute quality, data quality, and quality of experience. In is concluded that quality data and privacy of such data are and they will continue being critical subjects on the quality of software services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the most relevant metadata schemas for marking up multimedia content of television found in the literature: MPEG-7, TV-Anytime, P-META, EBUCore, PBCore and SMPTE. Furthermore, the characteristics and relationships between schemas are clarified, and their extensions and application profiles for audio, video or audiovisual content are identified. Finally, the paper presents a comparison between them identifying advantages and disadvantages that allow defining TVAnytime and MPEG-7 as more suitable than the others for describing multimedia content in television context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the comparison of the influence of energy losses on the efficiencies of a scroll compressor and a reciprocating compressor. The influences of the scroll compressor losses are estimated with an experimentally validated semi-empirical model. For the reciprocating compressor, data from the previous literature is used. Regarding isentropic efficiency, mechanical, electrical losses, and leaks have a similar influence on the two compressors of approximately 90%. Heat transfer and suction pressure losses are 7% more influential in the reciprocating compressor. Regarding volumetric efficiency, mechanical, electrical losses, and leaks are approximately 39% more influential in the scroll compressor, and the influence of suction pressure losses and heat transfer are 21% greater in the reciprocating compressor. It is concluded that the reciprocating compressor has a higher leaked mass flow rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the study trends of lean manufacturing at a national and international level through a systematic review of the scientific literature between 2015 and 2019. A total of 3776 research articles were retrieved from the main bibliographic databases. Metadata and VOSviewer were used to perform a bibliometric cluster analysis by topic and year. The results indicated that the database with the largest number of publications was Science Research. In addition, 36% of all the research articles retrieved were from Asian countries and they addressed efficiency of production processes and productivity. The present article provided an analysis of the implementation of the lean manufacturing philosophy and a summary of the tools used in companies in the food sector to generate inputs that promote productivity. A general framework is proposed that summarizes the trends in lean manufacturing from the literature review performed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a model for flood control during rainy seasons, and especially during the phenomenon of "La Niña". The proposed model optimizes the hydric resources of a hydroelectric plant maximizing the income of the generator for energy sales but considering constraints and penalizations for flood control. The main contribution of the paper is the inclusion of social responsibility criteria within an energetic economic dispatch. The proposed model is tested in a real system in a geographic area where floods occur regularly. The resulting energetic dispatch scheme guarantees reliability in the flood control zone according to the established constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study about the user satisfaction of senior people in Chile for the use of earphones given by the Chilean Program Explicit Health Guaranties (GES). For this reason, the requirements established for the use of earphones in a representative sample of older people in Chile (target population) are analyzed and the benefits achieved by the use of earphones in the target population are discussed. In addition, this paper presents an analysis of factors of the main components of life quality perception by the use of earphones in senior people. It is concluded that there is direct relation between the use of earphones and quality life of senior people that used them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to establish the potency range and the action mechanism of selective serotonin reuptake inhibition (SSRI) fluoxetine on female CD-1 mice (25-39 kg). Our results indicated that fluoxetine's antidepressant doses of 16 mg/kg (i.p.), 32 mg/kg (i.p.), and 64 mg/kg (i.p.) had an analgesic and anxiolytic effect without significant results on the spatial memory test. Reduced activity on memory work on specific activities was only observed with a dose of 64 mg/kg (i.p.). This is evidence to suggest that fluoxetine can be more effective with doses that showed an antidepressant effect. It also indicates that fluoxetine can have an analgesic and anxiolytic effect without reducing motor activity on mice. The maximum dose tested on this study showed variations on motor activity of mice suggesting that SSRI fluoxetine can have sedative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present the results obtained by comparing two reactive routing protocols: ad hoc ondemand distance vector and dynamic source routing protocol. This served to evaluate quality of service quality metrics in two wireless network topologies in a rural isolated electric microgrid. The network infrastructure was simulated using the Network Simulator 2. The quality of service metrics compared in this study includes the average delay, the throughput, the rate of successfully delivered packets, and the jitter in two network topologies: tree and mesh. The results showed that the reactive routing on-demand protocol presented better service quality indicators in both topologies. In conclusion, the routing protocol complies with the communication requirements for the operation of a rural isolated microgrid with low node density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design of an ontological model to improve the web accessibility to blind people, through the use of the World Wide Web Consortium standard (W3C) and the Colombian Technical Standard NTC 5854. The ontological model was developed using web semantic tools and new web design technologies, which contains four main components: (1) the creation of representational data schema, (2) the integration of the ontology and the development tool, (3) the visualization of each labelled web elements and visualization of semantic metadata, and (4) validation and translation/compilation process. Preliminary results facilitated the generation of a clear scheme to create a website accessible to blind people. The rresults allowed identifying functional aspects that facilitated the generation of a development scheme to create a website accessible to blind people. Recommendations are presented to web designers and programmers, to provide strategies for creating products accessible to blind people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an explanation of the structure and how a self-organized neuro-fuzzy inference system (SONFIS) works, is given with detail. The study uses three classification problems (Fisher iris, Breast Cancer and Human Activities) to then compare the results with well-known universal classifiers such as artificial neural networks (ANN) and multiclass support vector machines (SVM). A brief description of each of these methods is presented. The results show that SONFIS has a similar, and sometimes better, performance than ANN and SVM with the advantage of generating a rule basis that helps understanding the inner structure of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase the efficiency of the independent component analysis (ICA) and reduce the computational complexity of the system, this paper proposes a methodology based on the compressive sampling with minimum measurements. This allows compressing and modifying the Gaussian characteristics of audio signals. ICA is one of the most widely used schemes for separating the sources involved in an audio mixture received in a set of sensors. However, for proper operation it is required that the signals involved in the mixture do not have Gaussian characteristics or at most only one of them be Gaussian, characteristics that are not satisfied by the audio signals, which have in general Gaussian characteristics. The proposed methodology allows obtaining a better separation with lower computational complexity, and with a more efficient separation of the mixed signals, even if the signals involved in the mixture are of Gaussian toe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes and solves a mathematical model to predict the behavior of precipitation in the city of Tunja. For this, pluviometric information was subjected to fitting tests to probability distribution functions, finding the Gumbel function as the optimal one. Then, by means of mathematical treatments that use this distribution and applying the multiple linear regression method, the relationship between intensity, duration and frequency of precipitation (IDF) was determined. With the established model, the IDF curves were plotted for different return periods, depending on the duration of the precipitation event. The previous procedure was applied to the data of four stations that affect the basin that crosses the city of Tunja, generating fundamental information for the decision making in the design of engineering works and in the prevention of disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present the application of a methodology that seeks facilitating the teaching about the selection of international markets, focused on firm internationalization. The existing literature that validates this type of approach for decision-making is analyzed, identifying the general factors that have influence on the selection of new export markets. Then a new economic factor is proposed with a series of sub-factors to be analyzed, such as country risk, consumer price index, GDP per capita and the unemployment rate. The analytic hierarchy process technique was developed in order to rank the judgments made by ten chemical companies for each of the previously established dimensions. The results suggest that factors such as costs, logistics, trade barriers, economics, and environment and culture are taken into account, in this order of importance, for the exportation of chemical products from Colombia; while the most attractive markets for this case are the United States, Honduras and Ecuador. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to demonstrate the capabilities that the Universidad del Cauca in Colombia (UNICAUCA), a public national institution of Higher Education, would have to become, in the medium term, an entrepreneurial university within the framework of an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. Relevant scientific literature is explored, legal references related to the subject are analyzed, and information is obtained from a census applied to the 64 research groups recognized by the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of COLCIENCIAS in 2017. Results suggest, among other relevant considerations, that 89% of them, because of their profile and abilities, would be able to develop or be part of Spin Off technology-based projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two techniques for identifying topological scenarios of transmission networks for security enhancement in degraded network conditions. The implemented techniques are Simulated Annealing and Iterated Local Search. The objective of the topological modifications is the reduction of the number of violated constraints under N-1 contingencies. The proposed search techniques make topologic explorations through state changes in sub-station switches. These explorations are used to find reconfigurations of the electric power system which guaranty a higher level of security in face of N-1 contingencies when compared with the case when the topology is not changed. Security conditions consider an AC model and a bay-switch model to the assessment of contingencies, which allows the evaluation of real conditions of failure release in the power system. Results are presented with the IEEE 118 bus test system that demonstrates the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents experiences for the development of Arduino projects of Computing Engineering students of the Viña del Mar University in Chile in a module (course) of their formative process. The computing and electronic areas usually consider different formative courses without presenting a clear hegemony in the teaching process. There exists low development of competences to produce solutions combining hardware and software for the signal processing, barriers that Arduino permits reducing in a high degree. This article highlights that in just six weeks, the students of Computing Engineering of the Viña del Mar University were able to develop competences for the use of Arduino to implement prototype systems for the acquisition of environmental variables. This is just a proof that electronics and computing are more accessible for everybody nowadays, with low barriers of cost and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was the development of a content-based image retrieval system, using siamese and triplet convolutional neural networks. These networks were used to generate visual descriptors, extracting semantic information from two images (siamese) or three images (triplet) at the same time. Then, a similarity learning was done, encoding these two or three visual descriptors. In the proposed scheme the storage of descriptors is not required. The experimental results show that the schemes based on convolutional neural networks extract more semantic information. The siamese and triplet architectures, apart from extracting semantic information, improved the image retrieval rate. It is concluded that the proposed scheme solved three of the main challenges in these systems, such as, semantic gap, similarity learning and storage space, which have not been solved in the previous works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between competitive strategies of cost advantage, product differentiation and hybrid strategy with three types of organizational learning: exploitation, exploration and ambidexterity. To this end, a questionnaire was applied to a sample of 313 managers of Colombian companies. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the scales and multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. It was found that there is a positive relationship between the cost advantage strategy with exploitation learning, the product differentiation strategy with exploration learning and the hybrid strategy with ambidextrous learning. It is concluded that each type of competitive strategy is adjusted in a particular way with each type of organizational learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an alternative for noise reduction in electrical signals produced by partial discharges, PDs. The method is based on the local polynomial approximation (LPA) and its combination with the intersection of confidence intervals (ICI) algorithm. The method differs from other techniques by providing the best version of a signal from a mathematical and statistical analysis that does not depend on the calculation of its representation in the time-frequency plane. Likewise, an evaluation of the proposed method is done from experimentally obtained PD signals. Finally, the results are compared with those obtained by different filters (Fourier, FIR and discrete wavelets transform-DWT). This comparison shows that, although the methods based on the DWT provide good results, the LPA-ICI method provides signals with high signal-to-noise ratio (>70%), a high correlation (>0.899) and a low amplitude distortion (<3.5%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper was to carry out the evaluation of the liquefaction process on Water Hyacinth biomass. To achieve this, a factorial experimental design with a cubic model was developed, for determining the effect of the variables temperature, time and liquid/solid ratio (L/S) on the response variable Energy Yield (EY). Best results were obtained at 300°C, 60 min and L/S = 10 (exp. 15) with RE of 6.34 MJ/kg biomass, at 300°C, 30 min and L/S = 10 (exp. 5) with EY of 6.31 MJ/kg biomass and at 270°C, 60 min and L/S = 20 (exp. 9) with 6.29 MJ/kg biomass, selecting the conditions of exp. 5 as the most appropriate given the lower L/S ratio and the shorter reaction time. The advantage of catalyst presence in the reaction was evident when comparing the results of the EY in exp. 26 with catalyst (5.9 MJ/kg biomass) and experiment without catalyst (3.3 MJ / kg biomass) under the same conditions. It was also possible to determine that the biooils were composed mainly of aromatic compounds, fatty acids, aliphatic hydrocarbons, ketones, aldehydes and alcohols, and carboxylic acids under more drastic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effect of the capacities associated with Information Systems and Technologies (IS/IT) in the alignment of IS/IT with the business strategy. For these purposes, a survey was applied to managers of IS/IT and managers who that have some influence in the decisions related to the IS/IT, belonging to companies of the Biobío Region (Chile). The variables were determined by using measurement scales from previous studies. The analysis of the data was carried out by means of structural equations model based on PLS (Partial Least Squares). The results indicate that the alignment is explained in 52% by the capacities associated with IS/IT. It is concluded that, although the development and implementation of information systems and technologies requires the support of top management, the participation of the IS/IT managers for the achievement of the alignment is fundamental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the creation and application of two Intelligent Virtual Environments (IVE) with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are presented. In one EVI, the diagnosis of vision problems like astigmatism, myopia and hyperopia is studied. The other one focuses to the perception and reasoning of warning signals in a work environment. For the development of this paper, the characterization of Artificial Neural Networks is done, followed by the simulation; according to the results one network architecture is selected (Multilayer Perceptron) and then implemented in the IVE. Finally the time constraints in ANN learning and in computational cost applied to IVE are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to present the symbolic execution of programs and its extension, generalized symbolic execution, to indicate the necessary improvements to symbolic execution so that it becomes a practical approach for program verification. Program analysis allows determining levels of software correctness or compliance with the user requirements. There are two approaches for program verification, analytic and dynamic, and, between them, symbolic execution exits which statically analyzes the program source code, and dynamically simulates the execution of executable instructions of programs by means of symbolic input data. In this paper, concepts of program verification, the original proposal of symbolic execution along with their advantages and disadvantages, and the main features of generalized symbolic execution are described. Finally, the main open research areas related to symbolic execution are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for load estimation of power transformers by means of artificial neural networks. To implement the proposed methodology the data of two power transformers, located in different geographical areas and with different operational conditions, were considered. The load estimation methodology was implemented using historical data provided by the company Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. (ISA). To predict the load curves a neural network was trained using MATLAB, being able to fit a load curve with daily and weekly prediction times. The proposed method allows the estimation of load curve values in power transformers with an average percent relative error of around 10%. The method described in this paper can be applied to other equipment with similar operating characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a methodology based on decentralized operation and coordination of large power systems, obtaining the system's optimization in a simplified way, and reducing time consumption. The optimal search of generator voltage, tap changer and compensation, is accomplished by using an evolutionary technique, and considering the problem as a multi-objective optimization case. In this paper, both the decomposition network and the optimization problem are applied to two study cases (39 and 190 buses). Global optimal operation is attained, preserving the voltage stability and the exchanges among areas, with minimal operational information, simplicity in the equivalents and time consuming reduction. Results are similar to those obtained by a centralized optimization strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to conduct an initial test of whether green disposable products satisfactorily degrade in small-scale vermicomposting systems. Most of these materials are made of paper/cardboard or natural biopolymers, being the polylactic acid (PLA) the most commonly employed. Four disposable green products, made of sugar cane fiber, PLA, paper covered with PLA and corn polymer, respectively, were tested. Results showed that disposable items made of PLA, paper covered with PLA, and corn polymer do not satisfactorily degrade in this kind of systems. This is mainly due to not having the ideal conditions for biopolymer hydrolysis, molecular weight reduction, and subsequent microbiological attack and/or worm digestion. However, the sugar cane fiber material had a positive performance in the test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a methodology for the sizing of linear Fresnel reflectors with curved mirrors and inverted compound parabolic concentrator cavity. The objective of the paper is to determine the geometrical parameters of the concentrator to obtain the maximum solar energy collection. The proposed methodology uses an analytical procedure in conjunction with a ray trace technique. A parametrical study evaluating the operation hours for a representative day in the critical month for the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, was carried out. For a concentrator with seven curved mirrors of 34.3 cm width and tubular absorber of 4.2 cm diameter, the resulting dimensions were: 10 cm spacing between mirrors, 1.8 m focal distance and 19.7 cm width cavity. With these dimensions, a geometrical concentration of 11.9 and collection efficiency of 82.4% are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a methodology to determine the optimal routes for the recollection of infectious waste in the city of Rio Cuarto in Argentina. The case can be formulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem and is classified as NP-hard. (non-deterministic polynomialtime hard). The paper proposes to improve the quality of the solutions obtained by an exact searching algorithm by mean of a local search heuristics. This technique inspects the surroundings of such solutions by different mechanisms ensuring the intensive exploitation of the promising regions of the search space. The methodology and its performance for solving different problems taken from literature and for determining a set of optimal routes are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose a representation of the competencies of the main roles of the software development teams in the Semat Essence kernel. Some proposals include the profiles of the software teams, but a definition of competencies and levels of competency according to the role of the people in the software development life cycle is still needed. To achieve this, we integrate the theory of organizational competencies with the Semat Essence kernel, for identifying roles and competencies of people with skills of teamwork in software development. As a result, seven competencies with their level of competencies represented in the Semat Essence kernel, additional to the existing representations of the roles involved in the software development life cycle, are obtained. It is expected that software development companies will consider the proposed competencies and the levels of competencies in order to construct efficient software development teams with exceptional performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the thermodynamics analysis of the power generation plants that use ultracritical, supercritical, subcritical regenerative steam cycle configurations and geothermal systems with two and three flash steam. This analysis is mainly carried out on the steam turbines to analyze the energy transformation and degradation in each of the expansion stages as function of the degree of overheating and the generated irreversibilities. The greater exergetic efficiencies are obtained in the stages of expansion of intermediate pressure that are done after the first and second reheat. However, for the case of the supercritical cycle the maximum efficiency occurs in the second stage of expansion of the high-pressure section. Geothermal systems have the lowest efficiencies due to their low enthalpy condition, although the availability of energy is used in 42%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design and testing of a new training model for single hidden layer feedforward network based on the same properties of Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). The model acts by compressing the information coming from the hidden layer by means of a subset of nodes from the same layer. This allows to considerably reduce the computational complexity compared to ELM. Experimental results based on simulation for different classification problems indicate that the proposed model achieves the same ELM performances in terms of generalization, exceeding it in speed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to identify trends in research at a global level in the supply chain of the Integral and Sustainable Management of Solid Waste (ISMSW), in terms of management and treatment of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). For this purpose, an exhaustive search of articles in specialized databases was carried out, information that was processed using the free software applications Bibexcel, Pajek, VoSviewer © and Tagxedo for bibliometric analysis. As a result, it was found a predominant use of technologies to treat MSW for the purpose of energy recovery. On the other hand, the ISMSW analyzed as a supply chain, involves SWM treatment decisions, actors involved and environmental, technical, social and economic aspects. Finally, four major research gaps or opportunities were identified that can be addressed with engineering tools to support decisions that involve resources, money and energy flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to establish what are the critical factors for the spatial design of distribution centers, specially inmotic storage ships. To do so, the principles of the adjusted general methodology (MGA) were used along with the implementation of experimental design (DOE) in the context of a faucet production company in Bogotá, Colombia. The MGA methodology lays its foundations in the application to industrial real estate projects, in a supply network scheme. Furthermore, DOE is used as a way of obtaining an optimal alternative which satisfies the expectations of the company and its clients from an economic and statistical point of view. The results show that the storage capacity of the centralized distribution center is the most significant factor in the design stage, being an essential factor for rationalizing investment in working capital and for maximizing the benefits of the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of the main transformers thermal models considering the number of input data required and the output data reliability of each model. Also, a brief analysis of transformer thermal behaviour based on the hot-spot temperature is shown. Then, an experimental validation of the thermal models performed in two oil-immersed distribution transformers is described, simulating a load profile in specific periods of time. Finally, the experimental results are compared with data resulting from the implementation of the models in numerical analysis software in order to establish the parametric differences and precision of each model showing that the most optimal performance corresponds to the model of differential equations of the International Electrotechnical Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]