A machine learning model to predict standardized tests in engineering programs in Colombia

This research develops a model to predict the results of Colombia’s national standardized test for Engineering programs. The research made it possible to forecast each student’s results and thus make decisions on reinforcement strategies to improve student performance. Therefore, a Learning Analytics approach based on three stages was developed: first, analysis and debugging of the database; second, multivariate analysis; and third, machine learning techniques. The results show an association between the performance levels in the Highschool test and the university test results. In addition, the machine learning algorithm that adequately fits the research problem is the Generalized Linear Network Model. For the training stage, the results of the model in Accuracy, AUC, Sensitivity, and Specificity were 0.810, 0.820, 0.813, and 0.827, respectively; in the evaluation stage, the results of the model in Accuracy, AUC, Sensitivity, and Specificity were 0.820, 0.820, 0.827 and 0.813 respectively

Porous Titanium surfaces to control bacteria growth: mechanical properties and sulfonated polyetheretherketone coating as antibiofounling approaches

Here, titanium porous substrates were fabricated by a space holder technique. The relationship between microstructural characteristics (pore equivalent diameter, mean free-path between pores, roughness and contact surface), mechanical properties (Young’s modulus, yield strength and dynamic micro-hardness) and bacterial behavior are discussed. The bacterial strains evaluated are often found on dental implants: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The colony-forming units increased with the size of the spacer for both types of studied strains. An antibiofouling synthetic coating based on a sulfonated polyetheretherketone polymer revealed an effective chemical surface modification for inhibiting MRSA adhesion and growth. These findings collectively suggest that porous titanium implants designed with a pore size of 100–200 µm can be considered most suitable, assuring the best biomechanical and bifunctional anti-bacterial properties.University of Seville VI Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia—US 2018, I.3A

Balancing porosity and mechanical properties of titanium samples to favor cellular growth against bacteria

Two main problems limit the success of titanium implants: bacterial infection, which restricts their osseointegration capacity; and the stiffness mismatch between the implant and the host cortical bone, which promotes bone resorption and risk of fracture. Porosity incorporation may reduce this difference in stiffness but compromise biomechanical behavior. In this work, the relationship between the microstructure (content, size, and shape of pores) and the antibacterial and cellular behavior of samples fabricated by the space-holder technique (50 vol % NH4HCO3 and three ranges of particle sizes) is established. Results are discussed in terms of the best biomechanical properties and biofunctional activity balance (cell biocompatibility and antibacterial behavior). All substrates achieved suitable cell biocompatibility of premioblast and osteoblast in adhesion and proliferation processes. It is worth to highlighting that samples fabricated with the 100–200 μm space-holder present better mechanical behavior—in terms of stiffness, microhardness, and yield strength—which make them a very suitable material to replace cortical bone tissues. Those results exposed the relationship between the surface properties and the race of bacteria and mammalian cells for the surface with the aim to promote cellular growth over bacteria.University of Seville (Spain) VI Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia—US 2018, I.3A

The Oxy-CaL process: A novel CO2 capture system by integrating partial oxy-combustion with the Calcium-Looping process

This paper proposes a novel CO2 capture technology from the integration of partial oxy-combustion and the Calcium-Looping capture process based on the multicycle carbonation/calcination of limestone derived CaO. The concentration of CO2 in the carbonator reactor is increased by means of partial oxy-combustion, which enhances the multicycle CaO conversion according to thermogravimetric analysis results carried out in our work, thus improving the CO2 capture efficiency. On the other hand, energy consumption for partial oxy-combustion is substantially reduced as compared to total oxy-combustion. All in all, process simulations indicate that the integration of both processes has potential advantages mainly regarding power plant flexibility whereas the overall energy penalty is not increased. Thus, the resulting energy consumption per kilogram of CO2 avoided is kept smaller than 4 MJ/kg CO2, which remains below the typical values reported for total oxy-combustion and amine based CO2 capture systems whereas CO2 capture efficiency is enhanced in comparison with the Calcium-Looping process.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CTQ2014-52763-C2-2-R, CTQ2014-52763-C2-1-R, MAT2013-41233-

Long-term evolution of shrub prescribed burning effects on topsoil organic matter and biological activity in the Central Pyrenees (NE-Spain)

Since the last half of the 20th Century, scrubs have been invading subclimatic grasslands in the montane and subalpine stages of Spain due to the decrease of the grazing activity. This shrub encroachment reduces biodiversity and the ecopastoral value of the region and leads to the accumulation of woody fuel, which represents a high fire risk. To control the encroachment, prescribed burnings are performed but their effects on soils over the years are still undetermined. This study aims to research about the long-term effects of a prescribed burn of Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Roth. on topsoil organic matter and biological activity. Soil sampling was carried out in Tella-Sin (Central Pyrenees, Aragón, Spain) and four treatments were selected: unburned (UB), immediately burned (B0), burned 6 years before (B6, mid-term) and burned 10 years before (B10, long-term). Among the obtained results, an immediately after burning decrease on β-D-glucosidase activity (GLU) was found, which did not recover over time. Other properties did not have an immediate reduction but did so over time: total soil organic carbon (SOC), labile carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), basal soil respiration (bSR). And others were not affected at all: microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and the microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2). Moreover, the normalized soil respiration (nSR) increased with the time, which implies an acceleration of the potential mineralization of soil organic carbon. In short, although the elimination of the dense shrubs by fire has not entailed major immediate soil modifications, which would be typical of a low severity prescribed burn, several mid- and long-term effects in the C cycle have been observed. Future studies will have to discern what is the main cause of these modifications (soil microbial composition, edaphoclimatic changes, lack of soil cover and soil loss, soil fertility, etc.)

Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis for prioritizing impacts in environmental and social impact assessments

Environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) can be an extremely useful tool for identifying and evaluating the repercussions of a wide range of initiatives. Typically when the project and its impacts are highly complex, an ESIA can detect a large number of issues that need to be prioritized so that they can be effectively and efficiently addressed. This article presents a mixed-methodology proposal for impact prioritization in ESIA, divided into four phases: (1) creation of the stakeholders’ platform; (2) identification and assessment of impacts; (3) impact categorization; and (4) impact assessment and prioritization using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). This procedure was applied as an ex-post evaluation of a golf-based tourism project in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Huelva, Spain), but can also potentially be used to conduct ex-ante assessments. The main contribution of the study is in the design and testing of a parsimonious procedure, which condenses a large amount of qualitative information into relatively simple operations using MCDA. The process is grounded in the constructivist social impact assessment (SIA) paradigm through stakeholder evaluation of impacts and criteria.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [CSO2012.32493] and the Council of Innovation, Science and Enterprise of the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian Regional Government) [SEJ2397]

Interleukin-15 and interferon-γ participate in the cross-talk between natural killer and monocytic cells required for tumour necrosis factor production

We have characterized the lymphocyte subset and the receptor molecules involved in inducing the secretion of TNF by monocytic cells in vitro. The TNF secreted by monocytic cells was measured when they were co-cultured with either resting or IL-15-stimulated lymphocytes, T cells, B cells or natural killer (NK) cells isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy subjects and from the synovial fluid from patients with inflammatory arthropathies. Co-culture with IL-15-activated peripheral blood or synovial fluid lymphocytes induced TNF production by monocytic cells within 24 hours, an effect that was mainly mediated by NK cells. In turn, monocytic cells induced CD69 expression and IFN-γ production in NK cells, an effect that was mediated mainly by β(2 )integrins and membrane-bound IL-15. Furthermore, IFN-γ increased the production of membrane-bound IL-15 in monocytic cells. Blockade of β(2 )integrins and membrane-bound IL-15 inhibited TNF production, whereas TNF synthesis increased in the presence of anti-CD48 and anti-CD244 (2B4) monoclonal antibodies. All these findings suggest that the cross-talk between NK cells and monocytes results in the sustained stimulation of TNF production. This phenomenon might be important in the pathogenesis of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis in which the synthesis of TNF is enhanced

Unified Ontology for a Holonic Manufacturing System

[ES] Los sistemas holónicos de manufactura son integrados por holones capaces de comportarse de una manera autónoma, cooperativa, auto-organizada y reconfigurable para adoptar estructuras distintas en condiciones de operación normales y de emergencia. Dichos holones cuentan con: (1) una representación del conocimiento, (2) una unidad de control distribuido y descentralizado, y (3) un módulo de coordinación. El objeto de interés de la presente investigación es la concepción de una ontología unificada en el dominio de manufactura, que garantice los requisitos en el formalismo del modelo de conocimiento de un sistema holónico. A diferencia de los modelos ontológicos encontrados en la literatura, el esquema de representación del conocimiento propuesto integra roles y comportamientos, mismos que son validados mediante un caso de estudio de una celda de manufactura de un laboratorio universitario. Los resultados muestran que al hacer uso de un vocabulario común, es posible representar coherentemente el conocimiento para que toda clase de holones en una holarquía puedan intercambiar, compartir y recuperar información.[EN] Holonic manufacturing systems are formed by holons that are capable of behaving in an autonomous, cooperative, selforganized and reconfigurable way to adopt dierent structures under normal and emergency operating conditions. These holons possess: (1) a representation of the world in which they live, (2) a distributed and decentralized control unit, and (3) a coordination module. The object of interest of the present research is the conception of a unified ontology in manufacturing domain, that guarantees the requirements in the formalism of the knowledge model of a holonic system. Unlike the ontological models found in the literature, the proposed knowledge representation scheme integrates roles and behaviors, which are validated through a case study of a manufacturing cell from a university laboratory. The results show that by using a common vocabulary, it is possible to represent knowledge coherently so that all kinds of holons in a holarchy can exchange, share and retrieve information. Simón-Marmolejo, I.; López-Ortega, O.; Ramos-Velasco, LE.; Ortiz-Domínguez, M. (2018). Ontología Unificada para un Sistema Holónico de Manufactura. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 15(2):217-230. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2017.8851OJS217230152Araúzoa, J. A., del Olmo-Martínez, R., Laviós, J. J., de Benito-Martín, J. J., 2015. Programación y control de sistemas de fabricación flexibles: un enfoque holónico. 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