Renewable energy research progress in Mexico: a review

Mexico ranks 9th in the world in crude oil reserves, 4th in natural gas reserves in America and it is also highly rich in renewable energy sources (solar, wind, biomasss, hydropower and geothermal). However, the potential of this type of energy has not been fully exploited. Hydropower is the renewable energy source with the highest installed capacity within the country (11,603 MW), while geothermal power capacity (958 MW) makes Mexico to be ranked 4th in the use of this energy worldwide. Wind energy potential is concentrated in five different zones, mainly in the state of Oaxaca, and solar energy has a high potential due to Mexico's ideal location in the so called Solar Belt. Biomass energy has the highest potential (2635 to 3771 PJ/year) and has been the subject of the highest number of research publications in the country during the last 30 years (1982-2012). Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico has led research publications in hydropower, wind, solar and biomass energy and Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas in geothermal energy during this period. According to the General Law for Climate Change the country has set the goal of generating 35% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2024. This paper presents an overview of the renewable energy options available in Mexico, current status, main positive results to date and future potential. It also analyses barriers hindering improvements and proposes pertinent solutions. © 2014 The Authors

On the general structure of Ricci collineations for type B warped spacetimes

A complete study of the structure of Ricci collineations for type B warped spacetimes is carried out. This study can be used as a method to obtain these symetries in such spacetimes. Special cases as 2+2 reducible spacetimes, and plane and spherical symmetric spacetimes are considered specifically.Comment: 18 pages. Version accepted for publication in JM

Modelling the Interaction Levels in HCI Using an Intelligent Hybrid System with Interactive Agents: A Case Study of an Interactive Museum Exhibition Module in Mexico

Technology has become a necessity in our everyday lives and essential for completing activities we typically take for granted; technologies can assist us by completing set tasks or achieving desired goals with optimal affect and in the most efficient way, thereby improving our interactive experiences. This paper presents research that explores the representation of user interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system approach with agents. We evaluate interaction levels of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with the aim of enhancing user experiences. We consider the description of interaction levels using an intelligent hybrid system to provide a decision-making system to an agent that evaluates interaction levels when using interactive modules of a museum exhibition. The agents represent a high-level abstraction of the system, where communication takes place between the user, the exhibition and the environment. In this paper, we provide a means to measure the interaction levels and natural behaviour of users, based on museum user-exhibition interaction. We consider that, by analysing user interaction in a museum, we can help to design better ways to interact with exhibition modules according to the properties and behaviour of the users. An interaction-evaluator agent is proposed to achieve the most suitable representation of the interaction levels with the aim of improving user interactions to offer the most appropriate directions, services, content and information, thereby improving the quality of interaction experienced between the user-agent and exhibition-agent

Towards Team Formation Using Belbin Role Types and a Social Networks Analysis Approach

Problems relating to team formation is common across many industrial sectors, including education, sport and general business. For Team Leaders, team member selection can be a critical challenge due to the complexity in creating a well-balanced productive unit. It is beyond manual implementation to build near optimal teams as pools of employees grow. One of the essential skills of individuals is the ability to work in a team, and it takes on greater importance in engineering workgroups, where each member must know how to collaborate with their colleagues. In this paper, we use the combination of the Belbin roles and the social network analysis approach to find the possible members of a team. We present a case study based on an undergraduate course in computer engineering, we apply the Belbin test to each student, and each student expresses his preferences to work with his classmates. With this data, similarity patterns were searched within a social network using network analysis algorithms. We compare the results of the network analysis with the groups formed by a teacher. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of project teams, from the proposed approach

Hifomicetos ingoldianos del río Frío (Floridablanca), Santander, Colombia

The diversity of Ingoldian hyphomycetes in Colombia is known from three studies that reported in total 18 species of these fungi. For eastern Colombian there are no records of these microorganisms. In this study foam samples were collected in the Frío River drainage in the municipality of Floridablanca (Santander) in October 2013 and September 2014. In this inventory 23 hyphomycetes taxa are reported of which 20 are new records for Colombia. Clavatospora tentacula was found in both sample periods. A marked decline in species richness related to the reduction of rainfall in the year 2014 was observed.La diversidad de hifomicetos ingoldianos en Colombia se conoce a partir de tres estudios que reportan enconjunto 18 especies de estos hongos. Para el oriente colombiano no hay registros de estos microorganismos.En este estudio se procedió a colectar muestras de espumas en la subcuenca del río Frío en el municipio deFloridablanca (Santander) en octubre de 2013 y septiembre de 2014. En este inventario se reportan 23 taxade hifomicetos, de las cuales 20 corresponden a nuevos registros. Clavatospora tentacula se encontró enlos dos periodos de muestreo. Se observó un marcado descenso en la riqueza de especies relacionada con ladisminución de las lluvias en el año 2014

Hifomicetos ingoldianos del río Frío (Floridablanca), Santander, Colombia

La diversidad de hifomicetos ingoldianos en Colombia se conoce a partir de tres estudios que reportan en conjunto 18 especies de estos hongos. Para el oriente colombiano no hay registros de estos microorganismos. En este estudio se procedió a colectar muestras de espumas en la subcuenca del río Frío en el municipio de Floridablanca (Santander) en octubre de 2013 y septiembre de 2014. En este inventario se reportan 23 taxa de hifomicetos, de las cuales 20 corresponden a nuevos registros. Clavatospora tentacula se encontró en los dos periodos de muestreo. Se observó un marcado descenso en la riqueza de especies relacionada con la disminución de las lluvias en el año 2014

Obtención de propiedades morfológicas de materiales por medio de procesamiento digital de imágenes.

Las técnicas de procesamiento digital de imágenes están siendo ampliamente utilizadas para estudiar propiedades morfológicas de imágenes de todo tipo, tales como médicas, satelitales y de materiales. En este trabajo se presenta el estudio de propiedades morfológicas de imágenes superficiales de recubrimientos de nitruro de niobio (NbN), nitruro de tantalio (TaN), nitruro de circonio (ZrN) y nitruro de cromo (CrN), empleando la técnica de microscopía de barrido por sonda (SPM) en el modo de microscopía de fuerza atómica (AFM). Estas imágenes se trataron utilizando técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes. Para determinar la rugosidad se empleó la dimensión fractal (DF), y para hallar el número de granos y tamaño de grano se utilizó el método del Hessiano. La dimensión fractal es una herramienta que permite determinar el grado de complejidad de una superficie.Digital image processing techniques have been widely used for studying morphological properties of many diferent images, such as medical, satellite and materials images. In this work the study of morphological properties of niobium nitride (NbN), tantalum nitride (TaN), zirconium nitride (ZrN) and chromium nitride (CrN), employing the scanning probe microscopy (SPM) in the atomic force microscopy method (AFM) is present. These images were annalysed employing image processing techniques. To determine the roughness, fractal dimension (FD) was used. Fractal dimension is a tool that allows to calculate the surface complexity. The number and grains size was determined by using the Hessian method

Drainage And Sedimentary Response Of The Northern Andes And The Pebas System To Miocene Strike-slip Tectonics: A Source To Sink Study Of The Magdalena Basin

Miocene strike-slip tectonics was responsible for creating and closing short-lived (ca. 6 Ma) passages and the emergence of isolated topography in the Northern Andes. These geological events likely influenced the migration and/or isolation of biological populations. To better understand the paleogeography of the Miocene hinterland and foreland regions in the Northern Andes, we conducted a source-to-sink approach in the Magdalena Basin. This basin is located between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of Colombia and contains an ample Miocene record, which includes Lower Miocene fine-grained strata and Middle Miocene to Pliocene coarsening-up strata. Our study presents a new data set that includes detrital U–Pb zircon ages (15 samples), sandstone petrography (45 samples) and low-temperature thermochronology from the Southern Central Cordillera (19 dates); which together with previously published data were used to construct a paleogeographical model of the Miocene hinterland and foreland regions in the Northern Andes. The evolution of the Magdalena Basin during the Miocene was characterized by playa and permanent lake systems at ca. 17.5 Ma, which may be related to a marine incursion into NW South America and western Amazonia. The appearance of Eocene to Miocene volcanic sources in the Honda Group after ca. 16 Ma suggests the development of fluvial passages, which connected the Pacific with the western Amazonia and Caribbean regions. These passages were synchronous with a time of Miocene exhumation and topographic growth (ca. 16 to 10 Ma) in the Central Cordillera and the transition from lacustrine to fluvial deposition in the Magdalena Basin. Middle to Late Miocene strike-slip deformation promoted by oblique plate convergence and the oblique collision of the Panamá-Chocó Block likely explains the synchronous along-strike fragmentation and exhumation in the Central Cordillera