Sliding mode regulator as solution to optimal control problem for non-linear polynomial systems

This paper presents the optimal control problem for a nonlinear polynomial system with respect to a BolzaMeyer criterion with a non-quadratic non-integral term. The optimal solution is obtained as a sliding mode control, whereas the conventional polynomial-quadratic regulator does not lead to a causal solution and, therefore, fails. Performance of the obtained optimal controller is verified in the illustrative example against the conventional polynomial-quadratic regulator that is optimal for the quadratic Bolza-Meyer criterion. The simulation results confirm an advantage in favor of the designed sliding mode control

Occupational safety and health in Ecuador

Background: The occupational safety and health diagnostic (OSH) constitutes a first step for the design of national programs and ongoing reviews of existing regulations.  The OSH diagnostic performed in Ecuador in 2011 is devastating due to the high labor accidents toll, the scarce official information, lack of high-level academic education, and insufficient research. Objective: To diagnose the current state of occupational safety and health in Ecuador from official sources of information. Methods: We examined the geographical situation, sociodemographic and public health data, legal regulations, statistics on occupational accidents and diseases, training and research on OSH in Ecuador between 2010 to 2015. The main sources of data and information were: national laws and regulations on OSH, conventions of the International Labor Organization, resolutions of the Andean Community of Nations, and official web pages of national public bodies. In addition, we analyzed the scientific production on OSH of authors with Ecuadorian affiliation, carried out in Ecuador, and published in journals indexed in the main scientific databases. Results: In Ecuador, the rate of employment is 94,3%, and 40% is recognized as adequate employment. The percentage of the working population covered by the social security has raised during the period of study, but it remains around 42% of this population. The country has ratified the 32 ILO OSH conventions and has adopted regional regulatory instruments. The national OSH legal body starts with the Constitution. A total of 99.156 occupational injuries and 2.733 occupational were notified, showing a significant increase from 2010 to 2015. Regarding fatal occupational accidents, 1.524 cases were notified. Training in OSH is focused on occupational risk prevention. Twelve scientific articles on OSH from authors of Ecuadorian affiliation and developed in a national context were identified. Conclusions: OSH status in Ecuador faces a persistent high toll of informal workers, an aging working population, an increase of work accidents, a scarce scientific evidence and an outdated legislation. The design of a OSH National Plan should become a priority in order to improve working conditions and health in Ecuador

Gestión del conocimiento. Perspectiva multidisciplinaria. Volumen 7

El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, volumen 7, de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro es una publicación internacional, seriada, continua, arbitrada de acceso abierto a todas las áreas del conocimiento, que cuenta con el esfuerzo de investigadores de varios países del mundo, orientada a contribuir con procesos de gestión del conocimiento científico, tecnológico y humanístico que consoliden la transformación del conocimiento en diferentes escenarios, tanto organizacionales como universitarios, para el desarrollo de habilidades cognitivas del quehacer diario. La gestión del conocimiento es un camino para consolidar una plataforma en las empresas públicas o privadas, entidades educativas, organizaciones no gubernamentales, ya sea generando políticas para todas las jerarquías o un modelo de gestión para la administración, donde es fundamental articular el conocimiento, los trabajadores, directivos, el espacio de trabajo, hacia la creación de ambientes propicios para el desarrollo integral de las instituciones

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

Algoritmos de filtrado y control en sistemas con observaciones incompletas mediante las técnicas óptimas de promedio cuadrático, H y modos deslizantes

Se consideraron sistemas con estados polinomiales afectados por ruidos blancos gaussianos sobre observaciones lineales con una matriz de observación arbitraria y no necesariamente invertible y sobre observaciones polinomiales, también afectadas por ruidos blancos gaussianos

Occupational Safety and Health in Ecuador

Background: The occupational safety and health diagnostic (OSH) constitutes a first step for the design of national programs and ongoing reviews of existing regulations.  The OSH diagnostic performed in Ecuador in 2011 is devastating due to the high labor accidents’ toll, the scarce official information, lack of high-level academic education, and insufficient research.Objective: To diagnose the current state of occupational safety and health in Ecuador from official sources of information.Methods: We examined the geographical situation, sociodemographic and public health data, legal regulations, statistics on occupational accidents and diseases, training and research on OSH in Ecuador between 2010 to 2015. The main sources of data and information were: national laws and regulations on OSH, conventions of the International Labor Organization, resolutions of the Andean Community of Nations, and official web pages of national public bodies. In addition, we analyzed the scientific production on OSH of authors with Ecuadorian affiliation, carried out in Ecuador, and published in journals indexed in the main scientific databases.Results: In Ecuador, the rate of employment is 94,3%, and 40% is recognized as adequate employment. The percentage of the working population covered by the social security has raised during the period of study, but it remains around 42% of this population. The country has ratified the 32 ILO OSH conventions and has adopted regional regulatory instruments. The national OSH legal body starts with the Constitution. A total of 99.156 occupational injuries and 2.733 occupational were notified, showing a significant increase from 2010 to 2015. Regarding fatal occupational accidents, 1.524 cases were notified. Training in OSH is focused on occupational risk prevention. Twelve scientific articles on OSH from authors of Ecuadorian affiliation and developed in a national context were identified.Conclusions: OSH status in Ecuador faces a persistent high toll of informal workers, an aging working population, an increase of work accidents, a scarce scientific evidence and an outdated legislation. The design of a OSH National Plan should become a priority in order to improve working conditions and health in Ecuador

Valoración clínica y parasitológica del tití gris (Primates-Saguinus leucopus): en dos poblaciones naturales presentes en San Carlos y San Rafael (Antioquia, Colombia)

Abstract While much of the natural history of Neotropical primates has been revealed through studies conducted in captive individuals, environmental factors may impose ecological and physiological differences in free-range populations. For the white-footed tamarin (Saguinus leucopus), a primate endemic to Northwest Colombia, physiological parameters that have been assessed in captivity still remain to be measured in free-range populations. In order to diagnose the health status of this species in a natural environment, we assessed several external traits, measured hematological and blood-chemistry values, and characterized the parasite community of two natural populations. Despite the identification of eleven different parasite taxa and wide distribution of filaria and Trypanosoma spp., we faieled to detect signs of poor health condition. Substantial differences were found between captive and free-range tamarin populations in the composition of their parasite communities. Likewise, hematological and blood-chemistry profiles differed between free-range populations and even between neighboring social groups, suggesting a role of environmental factors in the physiological response. However, none of the physiological parameters varied as a response to parasite infection. Our results revealed a high diversity of parasites and elevated rates of parasitic infections in natural populations of S. leucopus, that do not seem to be associated with indicators of health conditions. Future studies should emphasize on ecological, genetic and demographic factors that determine the health conditions of S. leucopus in the wild. Lastly, geographic variation of physiological profiles and parasite distribution, as well as epidemiological differences between captive and wild populations, should be incorporated in rehabilitation plans of captive tamarins in order to restrict the transmission of infectious agents between populationsResumo O estudo de indivíduos em cativeiro de primatas Neotropicais tem permitido conhecer aspectos básicos da história natural. Embora as condições ambientais podem determinar diferenças ecológicas e fisiológicas em populações silvestres. No caso do sagui cinza (Saguinus leucopus), primata endémico do noroeste colombiano, diferentes parâmetros fisiológicos tem sido avaliados em cativeiro. Com o intuito de diagnosticar o estado de saúde em condições naturais, avaliaram-se vários rasgos externos e parâmetros fisiológicos, assim como a comunidade de parasitas de duas populações naturais. Ainda que em geral não se detectassem signos de deterioro nas condições gerais de saúde, identificaram-se onze táxones de parasitas entre helmintos e protozoários, alguns com alta prevalência (filarias e Trypanosoma spp). As comunidades de parasitas em cativeiro e no estado silvestre mostram diferenças notáveis. Igualmente, identificou-se uma aparente variação entre populações silvestres e entre grupos sociais circundantes com respeito aos perfis hematológicos e de química sanguínea, que sugere diferenças na resposta fisiológica diante condições ambientais do médio. Nenhuma das mencionadas variáveis fisiológicas pareceu estar relacionada com as parasitas encontradas. Os resultados revelaram uma grande diversidade de parasitas e uma alta taxa de infecção parasitária em populações naturais de S. leucopus, que não parecem estar associados com indicadores do condição de saúde. Estudos deste tipo no futuro deveram enfatizar em aspectos ecológicos, genéticos e demográficos que determinem as condições de saúde de S. leucopus em seu médio natural. Recomenda-se que a reabilitação de indivíduos em cativeiro tenha presente possíveis diferenças em variáveis fisiológicas e epidemiológicas entre populações naturais e grupos em cativeiro com o fim de restringir a transmissão de agentes infeciosos entre populaçõesResumen El estudio de individuos en cautiverio de primates Neotropicales ha permitido conocer aspectos básicos de su historia natural. Sin embargo las condiciones medioambientales pueden determinar diferencias ecológicas y fisiológicas en poblaciones silvestres. En el caso del tití gris (Saguinus leucopus), primate endémico del noroccidente colombiano, diferentes parámetros fisiológicos han sido evaluados en cautiverio. Con el fin de diagnosticar el estado de salud en condiciones naturales, se evaluaron varias características externas y parámetros fisiológicos, así como la comunidad de parásitos de dos poblaciones naturales. Aunque en general no se detectaron signos de deterioro en las condiciones generales de salud, se identificaron once taxones de parásitos entre helmintos y protozoos, algunos con alta prevalencia (filarias y Trypanosoma spp). Las comunidades de parásitos en cautiverio y en estado silvestre muestran diferencias notables. Igualmente, se identificó una aparente variación entre poblaciones silvestres e incluso entre grupos sociales circundantes con respecto a los perfiles hematológicos y de química sanguínea, que sugiere diferencias en la respuesta fisiológica ante condiciones medioambientales. Ninguna de dichas variables fisiológicas pareció estar relacionada con los parásitos encontrados. Los resultados revelaron una amplia diversidad de parásitos y una elevada tasa de infecciones parasitarias en poblaciones naturales de S. leucopus, que parecen no estar asociadas con indicadores de la condición de salud. Futuros estudios deberán enfatizar en aspectos ecológicos, genéticos y demográficos que determinen las condiciones de salud de S. leucopus en su medio natural. Se recomienda que la rehabilitación de individuos en cautiverio tenga presente posibles diferencias en variables fisiológicas y epidemiológicas entre poblaciones naturales y grupos en cautiverio con el fin de restringir la transmisión de agentes infecciosos entre poblacione