Search

This paper evaluates economically build a new cogeneration plant with clean energy from forest biomass company Norske Skog Bio Bio (NSBB). This is to show that this plant-based forest biomass for electricity generation is a viable option in Chile from the economic and environmental perspective. For this evaluation, we propose an approach that uses “real options theory" based on the application of log-transformed binomial method with six steps. Also, comparing the results obtained with this approach, the results using traditional methods. It is found that for all cases studied, the value yielded by the real options method was higher than estimated by traditional methods. It is concluded that this alternative profitable investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between leadership and performance in teams of higher education students. For this, first, we conceptualize leadership as an influence process between team members and, second, we model this team process using social network analysis. To study the proposed relationship between leadership and performance, we conducted a study at 164 students of 41 teams of industrial engineering students of two universities in Chile. We analyzed our data using linear regression analysis, and our results showed that leadership network density is positively related to performance, and leadership network centrality is negatively related to performance. These results help teachers, and higher education institutions have a reliable statistical tool to track student leadership development throughout the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper has been to investigate the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and financial performance, based on two constructs, human capital (HC) and relational capital (RC), measured in financial terms. The methodology was applied to a sample of Universities of Chile. This was done at public and private universities during the 2014-2018 periods. In this investigation, we used descriptive statistics, level of correlation, and panel data analysis to demonstrate the existence of a positive relationship between each component of IC and the performance of universities, measured in terms of financial performance. The panel results confirm the hypothesis that HC and RC positively impact the university financial performance (return on equity, ROE, and return on assets, ROA). The article contributes to improving the conceptualization of Intellectual Capital and its relationship with the financial performance of Universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the funding model used by the Chilean Ministry of Education. The model considers mechanisms to encourage the implementation or enhancement of institutional performance and the use of analysis units, both for the development of programs and projects, and the institutional management and the feeding of the Higher Educational Information System (SIES). In Chile, through the experience obtained with the Higher Education Quality and Performance Enhancement Program (MECESUP) to promote the objectives of the public policy, the Ministry of Education has created the experimental development of a new instrument for assigning resources based on results, Performance Agreements. Results indicate that they are an efficient funding instrument and, mainly, are an incentive and a means to get important enhancements in higher education institutions and the higher education system. Experience gained with the application of these agreements, suggests, in this paper, aspects to perfect in order to provide sustainability to this instrument as a public policy, and get an integrating vision and strategy of quality enhancement in the overall work of universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a framework for minimizing the average interruption frequency in radial Distribution Systems with uniformly distributed loads. Here, the position of the reclosers has been modeled using a linear approximation. The objective of this paper is to minimize the average interruption frequency per installed power. According to the current electric regulation in Chile, this index is the metric used to regulate and classify the performance of utilities. In the analysis a novel concept of Distance Factor between the main feeder and a branch feeder was introduced. This concept can be utilized as a theoretical limit for the number of switches to install on the main feeder. In addition, based upon the service history of the line, the distance factor determines if a certain line must be economically assessed like a new feeder so that the aforementioned performance index of average interruption frequency per installed power is minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine energies are being increasingly considered worldwide as a major and promising resource. One of them, wave energy, captures the mechanical energy of waves to generate electricity. This paper presents a review of the following topics: global energy situation, advantages and currently used types of wave energy converters. Chile possesses an energy situation that requires the use of new technologies. The region of Tarapacá has a considerable potential for generating electricity from waves, so using this type of energy is presented as a highly relatable option with industries that are part of the major economic driver of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge society and globalization have impacted higher education, generating a series of changes in recent decades. These changes make reference to the growing demand, widespread growth of enrollment and diversification of higher education institutions, with or without profit, in addition to a large increase in the presence of universities from private sources. Therefore, universities have different missions, thus forming graduates with heterogeneous quality. The quality assurance, therefore, is seen as crucial to safeguard the quality of the academic training of students. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to generate a ranking of universities, for which a spatial arrangement of 52 Chilean universities is carried out in a scatter plot, using for this purpose the variables of institutional accreditation and return of equity, besides using the average of both. These two aspects conceive in forming four groups of universities, thus generating a new approach for the analysis of existing universities in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to accomplish a partial validation of UTAUT 2 (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2) in mobile Internet. The study analyzes the relationship between hedonistic motivation, price/value and habit and the use intention of mobile internet in a sample of Chileans users. From the data collected in the field study, a SEM-PLS analysis of the research model was performed. The results of this analysis show a strong association of both hedonistic motivation and habit with the intention to use mobile internet. The research model and the results of this analysis are presented in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows to what extent a national policy for higher education state funding to finance state owned and private universities members of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) caused economic and territorial impaired resource allocation among institutions. Despite political changes, current funding for higher education policy, implemented more than three decades ago, remains untouched. Correlation analysis of current financing variables, confirms impaired resource allocation among institutions between 2011 and 2012, specially valid for state owned regional universities, verifying "clear initial disadvantages", because of basal resource supply in an offer financing system, showing the greater amount provided to higher complexity institutions, mixing direct funding instruments with subsidies to the demand, grants and credits, in a highly competitive system, with strong effect in the ranking, classification, reputation and social perception of the institutional prestige. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a firm foundation for the implementation of Home Area Networks (HAN) and metering infrastructure, orientated to the transport of information acquired in Smart Grids. The general aim of the research is to implement a HAN on the basis of a hybrid Broadband Power Line (BPL) and Ethernet TCP/IP system, along with the integration of Smartmeter for electric parameters measurement. Finally, the present work proposes a base of technical design criteria for the implementation of these kind of systems in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the organization of the seismicity associated with the 24th July 2001 earthquake in‘‘Quebrada de Aroma," northern Chile using data from the seismological network belonging to the Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile. There are very important features in the organization in a defined zone around the hypocenter. In fact, a fractal index is built, having significant statistical values before, during and after the event, such as that it can shed some light about predictability of major events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to answer the relevant question, from a theoretical view, if the leadership styles and human resources management have an impact on the effectiveness of schools in secondary education in Chile. The motivation for this work is given by the observed differences in the levels of quality in secondary education, which is manifested in the results of university selection tests, where it is shown that secondary school educational establishments, which have equivalent school populations, do not achieve the same results. Indeed from a theoretical reflection based on critical analysis of a framework, we show that leadership and human resources management ultimately affect the teaching quality and results achieved by students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is one of the most used models in practice to determine the risk premium of an individual asset or portfolio. This paper tests the CAPM in the Chilean stock market using the time series methodology and the generalized method of moments to test mean-variance efficiency. This work uses monthly returns of individual stocks between 1997 and 2007 and considers an equally weighted portfolio as a proxy for the market portfolio. The results show that the CAPM explains successfully the cross section of expected stock returns in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universidad del Bío-Bío is in process of establishment of an educational model based on competences. In this context, the course programs should be adapted to the new educational model. This paper shows that the change of the educational model is manifested in course programs providing consistent, coherent and clearly the necessary information that the student will learn: competences or expected learning, formative strategies that will be used, activities that are carried out, and the way the students will be evaluated: strategies, criteria and indicators. Some guides are given for the design of a course program and an application example is shown. This work is one of the first efforts in the establishment of the institutional educational model at the Department of Electric and Electronic Engineering at the Universidad del Bío-Bío. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universidad del Bío-Bío is in process of establishment of an educational model based on competences. In this context, the course programs should be adapted to the new educational model. This paper shows that the change of the educational model is manifested in course programs providing consistent, coherent and clearly the necessary information that the student will learn: competences or expected learning, .formative strategies that will be used, activities that are carried out, and the way the students will be evaluated: strategies, criteria and indicators. Some guides are given for the design of a course program and an application example is shown. This work is one of the first efforts in the establishment of the institutional educational model at the Department of Electric and Electronic Engineering at the Universidad del Bío-Bío. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the results obtained by analyzing time series of ground level energy of the solar radiation in the 305 nm band and stratospheric ozone layer thickness are shown. The most relevant feature found is the independence of the variability of the ground level energy with respect to the short period variations of the ozone layer, being the meteorological local effects those which more heavily affect the variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reliability evaluation of the Chilean SING* by means of an analytical and probabilistic method for the enumeration of states, which permits to determine the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor. This evaluation allows a comparative analysis between the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor, the CNE**, provides in its technical reports of local the nodal price. Hereby, the proposed results suggest a solution for continuous observations made by SING electric companies in the technical reports of nodal price, with respect to the criteria used for modeling and determining the unavailability of transmition and associated overcharge factor. The reliability evaluation is made considering generation and transmission facilities. * SING: Northern Interconnected System: Transmission system of high voltage electricity in northern Chile. ** CNE: National Energy Commission: Chilean government agency that oversees the transmission systems of electric power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning to program is a difficult process for novice students and challenging for teaching methods. In this paper we present an automatic evaluation platform and a methodology to support the teaching/learning process in computer programming introductory courses for engineering students at the Universidad de Concepción. This platform uses static/dynamic techniques and applies comprehension /analysis evaluation enabling personalized feedback to students. This work includes the criteria used to create didactic problems sequences and effective ways to apply them through automatic evaluation. The results obtained during six years of application show that automatic evaluation along with the proposed methodology improves student's motivation, performance and self-efficacy. The methodology used to study the effectiveness of the platform includes qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative aspects are extracted by observing student behavior during the learning process, whereas the quantitative analysis is based on student data registered by the platform. In order to gather quantitative information, we applied different experiments based on control and experimental student groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a reliability evaluation of the Chilean SING* by means of an analytical and probabilistic method for the enumeration of states, which permits to determine the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor. This evaluation allows a comparative analysis between the unavailability index and the associated overcharge factor, the CNE**, provides in its technical reports of local the nodal price. Hereby, the proposed results suggest a solution for continuous observations made by SING electric companies in the technical reports of nodal price, with respect to the criteria used for modeling and determining the unavailability of transmition and associated overcharge factor. The reliability evaluation is made considering generation and transmission facilities. * SING: Northern Interconnected System: Transmission system of high voltage electricity in northern Chile. ** CNE: National Energy Commission: Chilean government agency that oversees the transmission systems of electric power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning to program is a difficult process for novice students and challenging for teaching methods. In this paper we present an automatic evaluation platform and a methodology to support the teaching/learning process in computer programming introductory courses for engineering students at the Universidad de Concepción. This platform uses static/dynamic techniques and applies comprehension /analysis evaluation enabling personalized feedback to students. This work includes the criteria used to create didactic problems sequences and effective ways to apply them through automatic evaluation. The results obtained during six years of application show that automatic evaluation along with the proposed methodology improves student's motivation, performance and self-efficacy. The methodology used to study the effectiveness of the platform includes qualitative and quantitative analysis. The qualitative aspects are extracted by observing student behavior during the learning process, whereas the quantitative analysis is based on student data registered by the platform. In order to gather quantitative information, we applied different experiments based on control and experimental student groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the results obtained by analyzing time series of ground level energy of the solar radiation in the 305 nm band and stratospheric ozone layer thickness are shown. The most relevant feature found is the independence of the variability of the ground level energy with respect to the short period variations of the ozone layer, being the meteorological local effects those which more heavily affect the variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the redistributive effect of a system of social tariffs of water supply services, compared to the current direct subsidies from the government to low-income consumers. The goal is to determine social prices for non-deficit operation, using a mathematical model based on the theory of welfare economics. A scheme of differentiated tariffs according to income of consumers in the city of Arica, Chile, is evaluated as to the theoretical impact on the distribution of wealth of these consumers. From the results of this investigation, we concluded that social tariffs have a small advantage over direct subsidies in terms of redistribution, but undesirable side effects are produced, creating market distortions that could cancel out any significant redistribution of wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a process oriented to the addition of business intelligence (BI) elements at Universidad de Tarapacá (UTA), Arica, Chile. For the purpose, a data mart (DM) was implemented, focused on the Admission and Registration area of Academic Vice-Rectory. Its development required carrying out activities such as to obtain business requirements, to investigate the area key performance indicator (KPI), to analyze several internal information sources and to develop a dimensional model based on the Kimball star schema. For proper implementation and integration of these data repositories, extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) processes were carried out from two data sources. The creation of this DM, allowed users of the Academic Vice-Rectory to visualize the information they required through online analytical processing (OLAP) tools. The implementation was complemented with reporting and dashboards tools. The integration of these elements formed a business intelligence platform, which allows supporting of the information and analysis requirements associated to the admission and registration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ACO is a metaheuristic inspired in the behavior of natural ant colonies to solve combinatorial optimization problems, based on simple agents that work cooperatively communicating by artificial pheromone trails. In this paper a model to solve the municipal waste collection problem by containers is presented, which applies a concept of partial collection sequences that must be joined to minimize the total collection distance. The problem to join the partial collection sequences is represented as a TSP, which is solved by an ACO algorithm. Based on the literature, algorithm parameters are experimentally calibrated and range of variations that represents good average solutions are recommended. The model is applied to a waste collection sector of the San Pedro de la Paz commune in Chile, obtaining recollection routes with less total distance with respect to the actual route utilized and to the solution obtained by a previously developed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at sharing some pedagogical implications that emerge from the design and application of an active methodological proposal based on problem solving and on the use of differential calculus as a means to approach the contents of kinematics to promote and facilitate meaningful learning of concepts, procedures, attitudes, principles, and laws that govern kinematics in the course of Physics I for students of engineering at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chile. The starting point of this proposal consists of presenting an integrating problem for the contents of kinematics, which are at the very core of the learning unit, and that, in turn, can be divided into a series of more localized problems to deal with the different/various contents of this unit. Research findings suggest that students present a favorable opinion about this proposal, and that these findings seem to point out an influence of the methodological proposal on academic achievement and learning strategies as indicators of meaningful learning as well as the value assigned by the students to this proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a multimedia environment puzzle about Pre-Columbian textiles exhibiting ornamental complexities, found in the Archeological Museum San Miguel de Azapa, Arica-Chile. The software allows an enjoyable and didactic interactive way of learning by playing, giving the users the opportunity of identifying intricate pre-Columbian symbols and signals, that otherwise would be unnoticed. The software was tested with schoolboys of ages 12 to 16 years old, from schools in Arica, with the purpose of complementing their studies in History courses containing Pre-hispanic topics. This educational software was implemented with Multimedia Flash Tool, so as to stimulate the creativity of the students, opening a world of complementary games with the philosophy of "learning by playing ". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]