Waiting for the DACA Decision During the Pandemics: Two Perspectives

Journal #79 from Media Rise's Quarantined Across Borders Collection by Dilma Da Silva and Julio Maldonado Guzman. Da Silva is from Brazil. Quarantined in College Station, Texas. Maldonado Guzman is from Mexico. Quarantined in Harlingen, Texas.The COVID-19 crisis highlights the critical contributions from DACA recipients as we await a decision on the future of DACA from the Supreme Court.Media Rise Publications. Quarantined Across Borders Collection. Edited by Dr. Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian

ChatGPT-4 as a Tool for Reviewing Academic Books in Spanish

This study evaluates the potential of ChatGPT-4, an artificial intelligence language model developed by OpenAI, as an editing tool for Spanish literary and academic books. The need for efficient and accessible reviewing and editing processes in the publishing industry has driven the search for automated solutions. ChatGPT-4, being one of the most advanced language models, offers notable capabilities in text comprehension and generation. In this study, the features and capabilities of ChatGPT-4 are analyzed in terms of grammatical correction, stylistic coherence, and linguistic enrichment of texts in Spanish. Tests were conducted with 100 literary and academic texts, where the edits made by ChatGPT-4 were compared to those made by expert human reviewers and editors. The results show that while ChatGPT-4 is capable of making grammatical and orthographic corrections with high accuracy and in a very short time, it still faces challenges in areas such as context sensitivity, bibliometric analysis, deep contextual understanding, and interaction with visual content like graphs and tables. However, it is observed that collaboration between ChatGPT-4 and human reviewers and editors can be a promising strategy for improving efficiency without compromising quality. Furthermore, the authors consider that ChatGPT-4 represents a valuable tool in the editing process, but its use should be complementary to the work of human editors to ensure high-caliber editing in Spanish literary and academic books.Comment: Preprint. Paper accepted in the 18\textsuperscript{th} Latin American Conference on Learning Technologies (LACLO 2023), 14 page

El efecto de la imagen de marca país en el proceso de decisión de compra del consumidor

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en determinar el efecto de la imagen de las empresas de España en Brasil. Para tal efecto, se ha realizado un análisis comparativo de la imagen de las empresas de España, y de las empresas de sus principales competidores en Brasil (EEUU y Alemania), en una muestra de 346 empresarios brasileños. Los resultados del estudio podrán servir a los empresarios españoles como soporte para desarrollar mejores tácticas de marketing adecuadas al mercado brasileño.The main objective of this research will be to determine the effect of national brand image of Spanish Firms in Brazil. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the image of the Spanish companies and of their main competitors in Brazil (USA and Germany) has been made, from a sample of 346 Brazilian entrepreneurs. The results of this research may contribute to Spanish entrepreneurs in supporting the development of better marketing tactics, adapted to the Brazilian market

Alternativas para Retomada de Trechos Ferroviários Sub-Aproveitados no Brasil

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Tecnológico. Engenharia Civil.O transporte ferroviário é um tema de grande discussão no cenário da logística brasileira. O Brasil apresenta uma baixa densidade de malhas quando comparado a outros países de dimensões territoriais das mesmas proporções. Porém, além da necessidade da criação de novas ferrovias, é necessário também aprimorar o aproveitamento das malhas já existentes que estão sub-utilizadas ou até mesmo abandonadas. O objetivo do trabalho é procurar identificar as principais causas que ocasionam este sub-aproveitamento e, sugerir possíveis alternativas para melhorar e estimular o aproveitamento destas malhas. A pesquisa tem cunho exploratório, onde através de revisão bibliográfica foi possível investigar o tema central do trabalho.Rail transport is a topic of great discussion in the Brazilian logistics scenario. Brazil has a low density of networks when compared to other countries with territorial dimensions of the same proportions. However, in addition to the need to create new railroads, it is also necessary to improve the use of existing networks that are underused, or even abandoned. The goal of the work is to look for and identify the main causes thar lead to this underutilization and suggest possible alternatives to improve and to promote the use of these networks. The research has an exploratory nature, based on a bibliographical review to investigate the central theme of the work

The effect of national brand image in the process of customer purchase decision

El objetivo principal de esta investigación consiste en determinar el efecto de la imagen de las empresas de España en Brasil. Para tal efecto, se ha realizado un análisis comparativo de la imagen de las empresas de España, y de las empresas de sus principales competidores en Brasil (EEUU y Alemania), en una muestra de 346 empresarios brasileños. Los resultados del estudio podrán servir a los empresarios españoles como soporte para desarrollar mejores tácticas de marketing adecuadas al mercado brasileño.The main objective of this research will be to determine the effect of national brand image of Spanish Firms in Brazil. For this purpose, a comparative analysis of the image of the Spanish companies and of their main competitors in Brazil (USA and Germany) has been made, from a sample of 346 Brazilian entrepreneurs. The results of this research may contribute to Spanish entrepreneurs in supporting the development of better marketing tactics, adapted to the Brazilian market.Peer Reviewe

Facilitating Learning at Home: The Experiences of Parents with Multiple Children

Abstract: Facilitating Learning at Home: The Experiences of Parents with Multiple Children. Objectives: The study explored the experiences of parents who are assisting multiple children in accomplishing learning tasks. Methods: The study employed a phenomenological research design using semi-structured interviews. Ten parents were purposefully selected to participate in the study. All of them are female and working mothers. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The gathered data and analysis of the findings identified five emerging themes capped into FOCUS (Facilitating learning tasks, Older siblings help, Challenging and lack of confidence, Understanding, and Safety and security) describing parents with multiple children experiences in time of pandemic. Conclusions: One conclusion states that parents’ lack of skills and expertise regarding how to teach their children is one of the most challenging aspects.Keywords: distance learning modality, facilitators, parents with multiple children, lived experiences, challenges.Abstrak: Memfasilitasi Pembelajaran di Rumah: Pengalaman Orang Tua dengan Banyak Anak. Tujuan: Studi ini mengeksplorasi pengalaman orang tua yang membantu banyak anak dalam menyelesaikan tugas belajar. Metode: Penelitian ini menggunakan desain penelitian fenomenologi dengan wawancara semi terstruktur. Sepuluh orang tua sengaja dipilih untuk berpartisipasi dalam penelitian ini. Semuanya berjenis kelamin perempuan dan ibu bekerja. Analisis data menggunakan analisis tematik. Temuan: Data yang dikumpulkan dan analisis temuan mengidentifikasi lima tema yang muncul yang dibatasi oleh FOCUS (Memfasilitasi tugas belajar; Bantuan saudara yang lebih tua; Menantang dan kurang percaya diri; memahami; dan Keselamatan dan keamanan) yang menggambarkan orang tua dengan banyak pengalaman anak di masa pandemi. Kesimpulan: Salah satu kesimpulan menyatakan bahwa kurangnya keterampilan dan keahlian orang tua tentang cara mengajar anak-anak mereka adalah salah satu aspek yang paling menantang.Kata kunci: modalitas pembelajaran jarak jauh, fasilitator, orang tua dengan banyak anak, pengalaman hidup, tantangan.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23960/jpp.v11.i3.20212

Development of an Accelerated Method for Assessing Decay of Wood Plastic Composites (WPC's)

This study examined the decay resistance of the pine and maple components of wood plastic composites (WPC' s) of varying thicknesses exposed on several culture media to wood decay fungi under laboratory conditions. The ability of malt agar extract (MEA), potato dextrose agar (PDA), amended basal salts, sawdust (maple and red alder), soil (direct exposure, sandwich system and soil block tests), vermiculite, and malt liquid broth (stationary and rotary shaker conditions) to enhance WPC decay was compared with traditional soil block tests. Modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), creep, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), moisture content, weight loss or scanning electronic microscopy were used to assess fungal effects on the WPC. MOE, MOR, creep and UTS were poor parameters for assessing decay because the plastic component tended to dominate WPC properties and was not susceptible to fungal attack. Agar and soil block tests were both suitable for assessing wood decay of the WPC's. Decay rates were strongly influenced by media type and test fungus. WPC specimens exposed to Trametes versicolor or Postia placenta on 1.5% PDA, and those specimens exposed to Gloeophyllum trabeum and P. placenta on MEA reached higher moisture contents and experienced greater weight losses than specimens exposed to the same fungi in the soil block test. Liquid media was unsuitable for enhancing WPC decay, probably due to oxygen limiting conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that surface wood particles exposed directly to fungal attack were partially or totally degraded, increasing the void volume and exposing more wood particles to fungal attack, regardless of fungus or composite type. WPC specimens made of maple were more susceptible to fungal degradation than those made with pine. Increasing WPC thickness reduced moisture content and weight loss of the wood. Slow moisture uptakes sharply reduced fungal attack in thicker specimens. A strong relationship was found between weight loss and moisture content; higher weight losses were consistently associated with higher moisture contents. The results indicate that WPC decay can be accelerated using both agar and soil as media, provided the specimens are small enough to rapidly absorb moisture

An IoT-based energy management system for AC microgrids with grid and security constraints

This paper proposes an Internet-of-Things (IoT) based energy management system (EMS) for the optimal operation of unbalanced three-phase AC microgrids. The system utilizes a software architecture based on microservices, which includes a stochastic economic dispatch optimizer (EDO), a database, a web-based graphical user interface (GUI), and an application programming interface (API). The EDO uses a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to ensure the day-ahead dispatch of the distributed energy resources (DERs) in the microgrid while adhering to grid constraints such as voltage, current, and power limits. Additionally, the optimization module takes into account security constraints for unplanned islanded operation, as well as stochastic scenarios of local demand and renewable generation. To assess the performance of the proposed IoT-based EMS, tests are conducted using a real-time simulator in a software-in-the-loop (SIL) experimental setup. Actual data from a microgrid located at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil is utilized for the tests. The microgrid consisted of a photovoltaic (PV) system, a battery energy storage system (BESS), a thermal generation unit, and variable demands. Results indicated the effectiveness of the proposed IoT-based EMS in monitoring the operation of the microgrid and defining the optimal day-ahead dispatch of local DERs.</p

First record of humpback whale songs in Southern Chile: Analysis of seasonal and diel variation

Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce complex, patterned songs that are traditionally recorded on their breeding grounds. In this work, we report results from the first continuous acoustic monitoring of a humpback whale feeding ground off southern Chile, Corcovado Gulf. Using an autonomous continuously recording system anchored to the seafloor and an automatic signal detector, we used the units within a song to analyze the temporal distribution and diel patterns of humpback whales. Acoustic recordings were made at the end of the austral summer and autumn of 2012. Songs occurred over the entire 130 d monitoring period, from 1 February to 15 June 2012. The percentage of units detected increased throughout the monitored period with the highest detections in the last recorded month (June), despite recording for fewer days that month. Furthermore, songs were detected during all light regimes studied, but most frequently during darknessPostprint (author's final draft