Machine Learning in Business Intelligence 4.0: Cost Control in a Destination Hotel

Cost control is a recurring problem in companies where studies have provided different solutions. The main objective of this research is to propose and validate an alternative to cost control using data science to support decision-making using the business intelligence 4.0 paradigm. The work uses Machine Learning (ML) to support decision-making in company cost-control management. Specifically, we used the ability of hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) algorithms to generate clusters and suggest possible candidate products that could be substituted for other, more cost-effective ones. These candidate products were analyzed by a panel of company experts, facilitating decisions based on business costs. We needed to analyze and modify the company's ecosystem and its associated variables to obtain an adequate data warehouse during the study, which was developed over three years and validated HAC as a support to decision-making in cost control

Manejo prostodóntico convencional de una paciente con síndrome de CREST. Reporte de caso

ResumenEl síndrome de CREST se caracteriza por calcinosis, síndrome de Raynaud, dismotilidad esofágica, esclerodactilia y telangiectasia. Presenta signos y síntomas en el sistema estomatognático que merecen consideración en un tratamiento. El objetivo del presente artículo fue reportar las manifestaciones orales de un caso de síndrome de CREST y describir su tratamiento protésico realizado en el Departamento de Rehabilitación Oral de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Se reporta una paciente mujer de 42 años, con diagnóstico de síndrome de CREST por su médico tratante, que acude a la facultad de odontología para un tratamiento restaurador. El manejo prostodóntico incluyó coronas, prótesis parcial fija metal-cerámicas y prótesis parcial removible. Los resultados obtenidos nos permiten recomendar las alternativas restaurativas convencionales similares a las usadas en un paciente sin esta condición sistémica, pero manteniendo un control estricto.AbstractThe CREST syndrome is characterized by calcinosis, Raynaud's syndrome, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasia. It has signs and symptoms in the stomatognathic system that deserve consideration in its treatment. The objective of this paper is to report the oral manifestations of a case of CREST syndrome and describe the prosthetic treatment performed in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation in the National University of Colombia. The case is presented of a patient female aged 42 years, diagnosed with CREST syndrome by the treating doctor. She came to the Faculty of Dentistry for restorative treatment. The prosthodontic management included metal-ceramic crowns, fixed partial denture, and removable partial denture. The results demonstrate that conventional restorative alternatives, similar to that used in a patient without this systemic condition, while maintaining strict control of it, can be recommended

Motivación, estrategias de aprendizaje y rendimiento de los alumnos universitarios

Se ha aplicado un cuestionario de autoinforme para conocer la motivación y las estrategias de aprendizaje de un grupo de alumnos universitarios. Se calcularon los índices de correlación entre los factores del cuestionario y el rendimiento encontrándose correlaciones considerablemente altas (por encima de 0.40) entre los siguientes factores: motivación intrínseca-elaboración; valor de la tarea-elaboración; valor de la tarea-total estrategias; esfuerzo-concentración; esfuerzo-metacognición; metacognición-elaboración y metacognición-organización. La correlación más alta con el rendimiento es la de la puntuación total en estrategias de aprendizaje. Se delimitaron tres grupos de rendimiento (alto, medio y bajo) y se estudiaron las diferencias entre los grupos. En el apartado motivacional, se encontraron diferencias significativas solamente en dos de los seis factores: valor de la tarea y autoeficacia. En cuanto a las estrategias de aprendizaje, las mayores diferencias se producen en el factor concentración, le siguen los factores de metacognición, elaboración, esfuerzo y ayuda, siendo la organización el único factor respecto al que no se producen diferencias significativas entre los grupos. -------------------------------We administered a self-report instrument to assess motivation and use of learning strategies by a group of university students. We used correlational methods to examine the relation between test performance and each of the motivational and learning strategies scales. We found very high correlations (higher than .40) between the following factors: intrinsic motivation-elaboration, task value-elaboration, task value-learning strategies, effort-concentration, effort-metacognition, metacognition-elaboration and metacognition-organization. The strongest correlation with performance corresponded to the total punctuation in learning strategies. We also divided the students in three performance groups: high, medium and low achievement, and studied the differences between the groups using variance analyses. On the motivational section we only found significative differences between groups in two of the six factors: task value and self-efficacy For the learning strategies scales, the strongest differences between groups were found in the concentration scale, followed by metacognition, elaboration, effort and help-seeking, The only learning strategies scale where differences between groups were not significative was organization

Validación preliminar del CEAM II (Cuestionario de Estrategias de Aprendizaje y Motivación II)

En el presente trabajo se estudia la fiabilidad y validez de constructo de la traducción al castellano de un instrumento que mide la motivación y las estrategias de aprendizaje de los estudiantes: el MSLQ (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire). Por lo que se refiere a la motivación, los análisis factoriales exploratorios revelan que las seis dimensiones postuladas, motivación intrínseca, motivación extrínseca, valor de la tarea, creencias de control, creencias de autoeficacia y ansiedad, se reproducen con notable claridad. La fiabilidad de conjunto de la escala es alta (0.82) y la de cada una de las subescalas tiene valores que van de moderados a altos (0.48 a 0.86). Las estrategias de aprendizaje presentan una estructura diferente a la hipotetizada. En lugar de los nueve factores previstos, sólo se identifican claramente seis, cuyo contenido se corresponde en parte con el de los factores teóricos. Son los siguientes: elaboración, concentración, ayuda de otros, organización, esfuerzo y metacognición. La fiabilidad de conjunto alcanza un valor elevado (0.89) y la de cada una de las subescalas alcanza también valores considerables (entre 0.68 y 0.84)

Performance and energy efficiency analysis of a Reversi player for FPGAs and General Purpose Processors

Board-game applications are frequently found in mobile devices where the computing performance and the energy budget are constrained. Since the Artificial Intelligence techniques applied in these games are computationally intensive, the applications developed for mobile systems are frequently simplistic, far from the level of equivalent applications developed for desktop computers. Currently board games are software applications executed on General Purpose Processors. However, they exhibit a medium degree of parallelism and a custom hardware accelerator implemented on an FPGA can take advantage of that. We have selected the well-known Reversi game as a case study because it is a very popular board game with simple rules but huge computational demands. We developed and optimized software and hardware designs for this game that apply the same classical Artificial Intelligence techniques. The applications have been executed on different representative platforms and the results demonstrate that the FPGAs implementations provide better performance, lower power consumption and, therefore, impressive energy savings. These results demonstrate that FPGAs can efficiently deal with this kind of problems

Autoconcepto, motivación y rendimiento escolar en alumnos de 5º de EGB

En este trabajo se estudian las relaciones entra las dimensiones académicas y no académicas del autoconcepto, la orientación motivacional intrínseca/extrínseca en el aula y el rendimiento académico en una muestra de 668 estudiantes de 5º de EGB. Como medidas del autoconcepto y la motivación se emplearon las adaptaciones de las escalas: The Self Description Questionnaire de Marsh y cols. (1983) y The Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom (Harter, 1980) que miden diferentes componentes de ambos constructos. Los resultados indican que a medida que el rendimiento es más alto, los sujetos muestran valores más altos en las diferentes dimensiones del autoconcepto académico y en motivación intrínseca (curiosidad, preferencia por el reto, autonomía en el trabajo y criterio interno de evaluación). A partir de la información presentada se destaca la importancia que para la evaluación psicológica dentro del aula tienen las escalas utilizadas en el estudio y la conveniencia de atender al desarrollo del autoconcepto académico y la motivación intrínseca, de cara a favorecer la implicación de los sujetos en el aprendizaje y la mejora de su rendimiento académico. SUMMARY This paper is focused on the study of the relationships between academic and non-academic dimension of self-concept, intrinsic-extrinsic motivation in the classroom and academic achievement of 668 fifth graders. Self-concept was measured with the spanish version of Marsh's Self-Description Questionnaire and Harter's Scale of Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation in the Classroom. Results indicated that the higher achievement the better student's self-evaluation of their academic self-concept dimensions and intrinsic motivation. The importance of the use of the above mentioned scales in the psychological evaluation process is discused. The importance of the development of student's self-concept and intrinsic motivation is considered in order to facilitate a greater engage of students in their learning process

Evolutionary Dynamics of Multigene Families in Triportheus (Characiformes, Triportheidae): A Transposon Mediated Mechanism?

Triportheus (Characiformes, Triportheidae) is a freshwater fish genus with 18 valid species. These fishes are widely distributed in the major river drainages of South America, having commercial importance in the fishing market, mainly in the Amazon basin. This genus has diverged recently in a complex process of speciation carried out in different river basins. The use of repetitive sequences is suitable to trace the genomic reorganizations occured along the speciation process. In this work, the 5S rDNA multigene family has been characterized at molecular and phylogenetic level. The results showed that other multigene family has been found within the non-transcribed spacer (NTS): the U1 snRNA gene. Double-FISH with 5S and U1 probes were also performed, confirming the close linkage between these two multigene families. Moreover, evidences of different transposable elements (TE) were detected within the spacer, thus suggesting a transposon-mediated mechanism of 5S-U1 evolutionary pathway in this genus. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated a species-specific grouping, except for Triportheus pantanensis, Triportheus aff. rotundatus and Triportheus trifurcatus. The evolutionary model of the 5S rDNA in Triportheus species has been discussed. In addition, the results suggest new clues for the speciation and evolutionary trend in these species, which could be suitable to use in other Characiformes species

Characterization of the distribution of water vapour for DInSAR studies on the volcanic island of Tenerife, Canary Islands

Measurements of ground displacement have been carried out on the entire active volcanic island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, by means of classical and advanced DInSAR techniques. The main limiting factor on the accuracy of DInSAR measurements is the distribution of the water vapour in the lower troposphere. Hence, it is yet necessary to perform a detailed spatial and temporal characterization of water vapour to understand, and to be able to carry out a direct computation of, the effect of the tropospheric delay on DInSAR results. In this sense, satellite and balloon data have been analysed to infer the variability in the distribution of water vapour and hence, the robustness of DInSAR results on the island of Tenerife.Peer reviewe

Caracterización espectral de aguacate Persea americana Mill cv. Hass empleando espectrometría e imágenes en el rango visible a infrarrojo cercano

Remote sensing technologies, such as spectral imaging, have great potential for crop monitoring. Spectral systems measure the energy reflected and emitted by a surface, typically between the visible and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This paper presents a spectral characterization of avocado (Persea americana Mill. cv. Hass) using spectrophotometry and spectral imaging. The study uses data from four avocado farms, which were collected in situ using spectrometers and GreenSeeker sensors and remotely using satellites such as Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2. The spectral signatures captured by the in situ and remote sensors were compared and subsequently related to vegetation indices. Spectrometry revealed differences between young and mature leaves, particularly in the 480 nm to 650 nm region of the spectrum, which showed color changes in young avocado leaves. The analysis of satellite data highlighted significant differences between Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8 spectral signatures. These differences are likely due to several factors, including collection date, preprocessing, and spatial resolution of the data. Finally, the vegetation indices derived from in situ and satellite measurements displayed different scales. For in situ data, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values were around 0.9 for the spectrometers and 0.7 for the GreenSeeker sensors. However, the NDVI values derived from satellite data were around 0.4 for Sentinel 2 and 0.3 for Landsat 8.Las tecnologías de la percepción remota, como las imágenes espectrales, tienen un gran potencial para el monitoreo de los cultivos. Los sistemas espectrales miden la energía reflejada y emitida de una superficie, usualmente entre los rangos visible e infrarrojo cercano del espectro electromagnético. Este artículo tuvo como objetivo presentar una caracterización espectral del aguacate Persea americana Mill cv. Hass utilizando espectrofotometría e imágenes espectrales. El estudio usó datos in situ capturados con espectrómetros y GreenSeeker, y datos remotos capturados por sensores en satélites como Landsat 8 y Sentinel 2. Lo anterior se hizo sobre cuatro unidades productivas de aguacate. En primer lugar, se compararon la forma de las firmas espectrales captadas por los sensores in situ y remotos, y después se relacionaron con los índices de vegetación. A partir de la espectrometría, se establecieron diferencias entre las hojas jóvenes y las hojas desarrolladas o maduras, principalmente entre 480 nm y 650 nm. Esta región del espectro muestra los cambios de color presentes en las hojas jóvenes del aguacate. A partir de los datos de satélite, la firma espectral presenta diferencias significativas entre Sentinel 2 y Landsat 8. Los resultados mostraron que estas diferencias se derivan de varios factores, como la fecha de adquisición, el preprocesamiento y la resolución espacial. Por último, los índices de vegetación procedentes de mediciones in situ y por satélite evidenciaron escalas diferentes. El índice de vegetación de diferencia normalizada (NDVI, por sus siglas en inglés) para los datos in situ tiene valores alrededor de 0.9 y 0.7 para el espectrómetro y el GreenSeeker, respectivamente. Sin embargo, el NDVI derivado de los datos satelitales está alrededor de 0.4 para Sentinel 2 y 0.3 para Landsat 8