SOCIAL RELATIONS AND SEED TRANSACTIONS AMONG SMALLSCALE MAIZE FARMERS IN THE CENTRAL VALLEYS OF OAXACA, MEXICO; PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

This paper explores social arrangements associated with seed transactions among small-scale maize farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico, a centre of crop genetic diversity. A formal seed distribution system has yet to develop in the region and when seed loss occurs, farmers are faced with costs and difficulties identifying, locating, and obtaining seed of desired varieties. For these reasons, it was hypothesized that there were strong incentives for collective action among farmers to facilitate seed supply. The study found, however, no evidence of collective action with regards to seed supply in the three study communities-San Pablo Huitzo, San Lorenzo Albarradas, Santa Ana Zegache. Instead, farmers acquired seed using a variety of networks of social relations and different types of seed transactions. The results suggest that seed flow among farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca is a complex process of negotiation and reciprocity, influenced by a variety of agroecological, socioeconomic, and cultural factors.Farm Management,

Design during COVID-19: Agents and allies in the role of designer, digital fabrication and distributed production

During COVID-19 global emergency, designers proposed solutions at different scales, as quick responses to demands from different agents. In the same way, we critically analyzed the emergence of allies, protocols and tools, which allowed the optimization of fabrication, from traditional manufacturing into distributed co-production. The analyzed local networks produced global co-design experiences, with involvement of FabLabs and users from different disciplines. Through case studies and the evaluation of surveys and testimonials from users and makers, we analyze the global panorama, to finally explore the specific situation in Latin America. This establishes a relationship between medical demand and digital fabrication, which allows evidence of positive and negative situations to be consider as new, significant aspects for the design in the future. The leading role acquired by the ecosystem surrounding digital fabrication during the pandemic, could enhance its processes in the search for greater positioning, changing society from within the different communities

Hiring Individuals in Addiction Recovery: Characteristics, Levels of Concern and Willingness

Research suggests employment is a key factor in an individual’s recovery and employer’s views have historically limited opportunities for highly marginalized groups. Objectives: This study provides an analysis of views among employers regarding the hiring of individuals in addiction recovery. Methods: A convenience sample of 382 employers affiliated with the chambers of commerce was recruited to participate in this study. The authors used descriptive and inferential statistical methods to analyze data received through an online questionnaire. Results: The results suggest gender influences the views of employers to hire individuals in recovery. Women are more likely to hire individuals in recovery than men. Additionally, levels of concern among employers vary across industries displaying a likelihood of employers to hire individuals in recovery dependent on the extent of needs. Conclusion: The findings help illuminate the employability of this unique population and also develop a better understanding of the characteristics of prospective employers who are willing to hire individuals in addiction recovery

From cheating to teaching: a path for conversion of illegal gambling machines

Video poker machines, a former symbol of fraud and gambling in Brazil, are now being converted into computer-based educational tools for Brazilian public primary schools and also for governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with communities of poverty and social exclusion, in an attempt to reduce poverty risks (decrease money spent on gambling) and promote social inclusion (increase access and motivation to education). Thousands of illegal gambling machines are seized by federal authorities, in Brazil, every year, and usually destroyed at the end of the criminal apprehension process. This paper describes a project developed by the University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil, responsible for the conversion process of gambling machines, and the social inclusion opportunities derived from it. All project members worked on a volunteer basis, seeking to promote social inclusion of Brazilian young boys and girls, namely through digital inclusion. So far, the project has been able to convert over 200 gambling machines and install them in over 40 public primary schools, thus directly benefiting more than 12,000 schoolchildren. The initial motivation behind this project was technology based, however the different options arising from the conversion process of the gambling machines have also motivated a rather innovative and unique experience in allowing schoolchildren and young people with special (educational) needs to access to computer-based pedagogical applications. The availability of these converted machines also helps to place Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the very daily educational environment of these children and youngsters, thus serving social and cultural inclusion aspects, by establishing a dialogue with the community and their technological expectations, and also directly contributing to their digital literacy

Remote experimentation: integrating research, education, and industrial application

This paper presents a low-cost scaled model of a silo for drying and airing cereal grains. It allows the control and monitor of several parameters associated to the silo's operation, through a remote accessible infrastructure. The scaled model consists of a 2.50 m wide × 2.10 m long plant with all control and monitor capacities provided by micro-Web servers. An application running on the micro-Web servers enables storing all parameters in a data basis for later analysis. The implemented model aims to support a remote experimentation facility for technological education, research-oriented tutorials, and industrial applications. Given the low-cost requirement, this remote facility can be easily replicated in other institutions to support a network of remote labs, which encompasses the concurrent access of several users (e.g. students)

Development of a Standard Test Scenario to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Portable Fire Extinguishers on Lithium-ion Battery Fires

Many sources of fuel are present aboard current spacecraft, with one especially hazardous source of stored energy: lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are a very hazardous form of fuel due to their self-sustaining combustion once ignited, for example, by an external heat source. Batteries can become extremely energetic fire sources due to their high density electrochemical energy content that may, under duress, be violently converted to thermal energy and fire in the form of a thermal runaway. Currently, lithium ion batteries are the preferred types of batteries aboard international spacecraft and therefore are routinely installed, collectively forming a potentially devastating fire threat to a spacecraft and its crew. Currently NASA is developing a fine water mist portable fire extinguisher for future use on international spacecraft. As its development ensues, a need for the standard evaluation of various types of fire extinguishers against this potential threat is required to provide an unbiased means of comparing between fire extinguisher technologies and ranking them based on performance

Learning Analytics and Recommender Systems toward Remote Experimentation

This paper presents a process based on learning analytics and recom- mender systems to provide suggestions to students about remote laboratories ac- tivities in order to scaffold their performance. For this purpose, the records of remote experiments from the VISIR project were analyzed taking into account one of its installations. Each record is composed of requests containing the as- sembled circuits and the configurations of the measuring equipment, as well as the response provided by the measurement server that evaluates whether a par- ticular request can be performed or not. With the log analysis, it was possible to obtain information in order to determine some initial statistics and provide clues about the student’s behavior during the experiments. Using the concept of rec- ommendation, a service is proposed through request analysis and returns to the students more precise information about possible mistakes in the assembly of circuits or configurations. The process as a whole proves consistent in what re- gards its ability to provide suggestions to the students as they conduct the exper- iments. Furthermore, with the log, relevant information can be offered to teach- ers, thus assisting them in developing strategies to positively impact student’s learning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A remote engineering solution for automating a roller hearth kiln

Remote engineering (also known as online engineering) may be defined as a combination of control engineering and telematics. In this area, specific activities require computacional skills in order to develop projects where electrical devives are monitored and / or controlled, in an intercative way, through a distributed network (e.g. Intranet or Internet). In our specific case, we will be dealing with an industrial plant. Within the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of activities related to remote engineering, which may be connected to the phenomenon of the large extension experienced by the Internet (e.g. bandwith, number of users, development tools, etc.). This increase opens new and future possibilities to the implementation of advance teleworking (or e-working) positions. In this paper we present the architecture for a remote application, accessible through the Internet, able to monitor and control a roller hearth kiln, used in a ceramics industry for firing materials. The proposed architecture is based on a micro web server, whose main function is to monitor and control the firing process, by reading the data from a series of temperature sensors and by controlling a series of electronic valves and servo motors. This solution is also intended to be a low-cost alternative to other potential solutions. The temperature readings are obtained through K-type thermopairs and the gas flow is controlled through electrovalves. As the firing process should not be stopped before its complete end, the system is equipped with a safety device for that specific purpose. For better understanding the system to be automated and its operation we decided to develop a scale model (100:1) and experiment on it the devised solution, based on a Micro Web Server

Personalized Student Assessment based on Learning Analytics and Recommender Systems

This paper presents a process based on learning analytics and recommender systems with the objective of analyzing student assessment in order to provide clues that can help teachers in scaffolding the students’ performance. For this, a set of tests was used to evaluate students' competence in direct current circuits. The tests had multiple versions and to solve them each student had to use multiple approaches. The results indicate a better performance in calculus and simulations approaches when compared with hands-on and remote laboratories approaches. The analyses also provide support for the recommendation step allowing the configuration of a knowledge base. The process as a whole is consistent in what regards its ability to make suggestions to the students as they complete a given test and to provide teachers with information that can help them formulate strategies to positively impact students’ learning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Correlation of Clinical Symptoms with Temporal and Frontoparietal Lobe Response During an Auditory \u27Odball\u27 Task of Chronic and First Episode Schizophrenia Patients (N=190)

The disorder of schizophrenia is defined by the presence of positive and negative clinical symptoms. One of the hallmark positive symptoms is the presence of auditory hallucinations which have previously been studied to involve bilateral temporal lobe anamolies. Our study seeks to further define and potentially quantify these anamolies in temporal lobe response by looking at the correlation of clinical symptoms with temporal lobe activation. To accomplish this task we have subjected 22 first episode and 64 chronic patients along with 104 matched healthy controls to a functional MRI scan while undergoing an auditory oddball\u27 task. Analysis of this data is unique in the use of independent component analysis (ICA) via Matlab toolbox (GIFT). Results showed expected positive activation patterns for temporal lobe activity across all participants but revealed no statistically significant differences within patient populations (first episode (FE) vs. chronic) or between patients and matched healthy controls. We observed strong correlation coefficients for both patient groups as positive symptoms were negatively correlated to temporal lobe response (FE rho = -0.31, chronic rho = -0.20). Negative symptoms were positively correlated but only statistically significant for first episode patients (rho = +0.23). This data is consistent with other studies involving EEG recordings of P300 amplitude response. Finally, in analyzing frontoparietal (FP) lobe activation we showed statistically signficant activation differences between patients and controls. This result could potentially be used as a future diagnostic test. In addition, we uncovered another point of asymmetry in first episode patients whose right FP lobe showed a nearly two-fold correlation coefficient value versus the left FP lobe for negative symptoms. This unique asymmetry could offer a new area of focus for future researchers into the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.\u2