Research and Development in the School of Technologies of the Catholic University of Colombia

The current article is intended to bring to notice the process which allowed for the outlining of Applied and Technological research at the School of technologies of the Catholic University of Colombia. This subsystem of research is characterized by overlapping all academic programs, research focuses, research groups, research practices, degree works, research projects and all scientific outreaching eventsEl objetivo de este artículo es divulgar el proceso que originó la reestructuración de los lineamientos de investigación aplicada y tecnológica en la Escuela de Tecnologías de la Universidad Católica de Colombia. Este subsistema de investigación se caracteriza por vincular formalmente dentro de los programas académicos y alrededor de sus líneas de investigación, todos los agentes implicados en el desarrollo investigativo: semilleros y grupos de investigación, prácticas investigativas, trabajos de grado, proyectos de investigación, y eventos académicos de divulgación científic

Unraveling late Pennsylvanian brachiopod assemblages from the San Rafael Basin (Argentina): Biostratigraphic implications to southwestern Gondwana

New and previous fossil remains and resulting biostratigraphy of the El Imperial Formation at Arroyo del Imperial, Quebrada de La Horqueta, and Can˜on ´ del Atuel key sections are analyzed, while the faunal relationships among them are clarified. Two diachronnous faunas, the pTS and TSAIII associations, relatives to the TivertoniaStreptorhynchus assemblage are recognized and constrained to early late Bashkirian and Moscovian ages, respectively. These age assignments are supported by statistical analyses and available palynological and radiometric dating. Previous mentions of brachiopods from Arroyo del Imperial and Quebrada de La Horqueta are elucidated with the identification of Buxtonia cf. riojanae (Leanza), Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus Leanza, Spiriferellina? sp., Septosyringothyris (Precosyringothyris) aff. jaguelensis Lech, Septosyringothyris (Precosyringothyris) cf. feruglioi (Amos), Saltospirifer guevarai Cisterna and Archbold and Pericospira sp. A new marine fauna from the upper part of the Can˜on ´ del Atuel section (Cabecera del Can˜on ´ Member) is reported. It includes the brachiopods Argentiella cf. A. stappenbecki Archbold, Cisterna and Sterren, Oehlertella annae (Feruglio), Orbiculoidea saltensis Reed, Calytrixia piersoni Taboada, Coolkilella aredesi Taboada, Costatumulus sp. and Septosyringothyris? sp. A biochronostratigraphic correlation scheme, including key lithostratigraphic units and biozones of central-western Argentina is updated.Fil: Taboada, Arturo Cesar. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud - Sede Esquel. Departamento de Química; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Pardo, Cristian Adrian. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud - Sede Esquel. Departamento de Química; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagóica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ciencias Naturales - Sede Esquel. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Taboada, Carlos Alberto. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Pagani, María Alejandra. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Monitoring student progress using virtual appliances: a case study

The interactions that students have with each other, with the instructors, and with educational resources are valuable indicators of the effectiveness of a learning experience. The increasing use of information and communication technology allows these interactions to be recorded so that analytic or mining techniques are used to gain a deeper understanding of the learning process and propose improvements. But with the increasing variety of tools being used, monitoring student progress is becoming a challenge. The paper answers two questions. The first one is how feasible is to monitor the learning activities occurring in a student personal workspace. The second is how to use the recorded data for the prediction of student achievement in a course. To address these research questions, the paper presents the use of virtual appliances, a fully functional computer simulated over a regular one and configured with all the required tools needed in a learning experience. Students carry out activities in this environment in which a monitoring scheme has been previously configured. A case study is presented in which a comprehensive set of observations were collected. The data is shown to have significant correlation with student academic achievement thus validating the approach to be used as a prediction mechanism. Finally a prediction model is presented based on those observations with the highest correlation.Work partially funded by the Learn3 project (“Plan Nacional de IþDþI” TIN2008-05163/TSI), TELMA Project (“Plan Avanza”, TSI-020110-2009-85), and the “Emadrid: Investigación y desarrollo de tecnologías para el e-learning en la Comunidad de Madrid” project (S2009/TIC-1650).Publicad

Fluctuations for matrix-valued Gaussian processes

We consider a symmetric matrix-valued Gaussian process $Y^{(n)}=(Y^{(n)}(t);t\ge0)$ and its empirical spectral measure process $\mu^{(n)}=(\mu_{t}^{(n)};t\ge0)$. Under some mild conditions on the covariance function of $Y^{(n)}$, we find an explicit expression for the limit distribution of $$Z_F^{(n)} := \left( \big(Z_{f_1}^{(n)}(t),\ldots,Z_{f_r}^{(n)}(t)\big) ; t\ge0\right),$$ where $F=(f_1,\dots, f_r)$, for $r\ge 1$, with each component belonging to a large class of test functions, and $$Z_{f}^{(n)}(t) := n\int_{\mathbb{R}}f(x)\mu_{t}^{(n)}(\text{d} x)-n\mathbb{E}\left[\int_{\mathbb{R}}f(x)\mu_{t}^{(n)}(\text{d} x)\right].$$ More precisely, we establish the stable convergence of $Z_F^{(n)}$ and determine its limiting distribution. An upper bound for the total variation distance of the law of $Z_{f}^{(n)}(t)$ to its limiting distribution, for a test function $f$ and $t\geq0$ fixed, is also given

MÓDULO ROBÓTICO DE SEGUIMIENTO SOLAR USANDO MPPT SUPERVISADO Y CONTROLADO VÍA ETHERNET

El presente trabajo consiste en el desarrollo de un modulo robótico para el seguimiento del punto máximo de potencia en un sistema solar fotovoltaico, que a su vez  es controlado y supervisado por vía Ethernet. Básicamente el sistema robótico se orienta automáticamente hacia donde halla mayor cantidad de radiación solar la cual es la que me permite obtener la mayor potencia en determinado instante de tiempo. El software utilizado para él la supervisión y control del sistema es LabVIEW 2011

Fluctuations for matrix-valued Gaussian processes

We consider a symmetric matrix-valued Gaussian process $Y^{(n)}=(Y^{(n)}(t);t\ge0)$ and its empirical spectral measure process $\mu^{(n)}=(\mu_{t}^{(n)};t\ge0)$. Under some mild conditions on the covariance function of $Y^{(n)}$, we find an explicit expression for the limit distribution of $$Z_F^{(n)} := \left( \big(Z_{f_1}^{(n)}(t),\ldots,Z_{f_r}^{(n)}(t)\big) ; t\ge0\right),$$ where $F=(f_1,\dots, f_r)$, for $r\ge 1$, with each component belonging to a large class of test functions, and Z_{f}^{(n)}(t) := n\int_{\R}f(x)\mu_{t}^{(n)}( x)-n\E\left[\int_{\R}f(x)\mu_{t}^{(n)}( x)\right]. More precisely, we establish the stable convergence of $Z_F^{(n)}$ and determine its limiting distribution. An upper bound for the total variation distance of the law of $Z_{f}^{(n)}(t)$ to its limiting distribution, for a test function $f$ and $t\geq0$ fixed, is also given

Monitoring of meteorological variables through a wireless data acquisition system

1 recurso en línea (páginas 333-341).En este artículo se presenta el desarrollo de un sistema para el monitoreo inalámbrico de variables climáticas. El diseño se realizó a partir de microcontroladores de Microchip, los cuales realizan la adquisición, almacenamiento y transmisión inalámbrica de las señales digitales. Igualmente, el microcontrolador emplea un reloj en tiempo real para saber la fecha y hora de adquisición de las muestras. El hardware también cuenta con cinco canales para la conexión de sensores y una memoria Micro SD para almacenamiento de información, junto con un módulo Wi-Fi para la supervisión inalámbrica de las variables. La información se sube a un servidor que aloja la página web, diseñada para visualizar los datos desde cualquier ordenador con conexión a internet. Adicionalmente, se desarrolló una aplicación Android que permite visualizar los datos desde dispositivos móviles con ese sistema operativo. El rendimiento del sistema fue satisfactorio, luego de comparar los datos adquiridos con los de una estación meteorológica comercial, que sirvió de patrón. Se concluye que los microcontroladores continúan siendo dispositivos adecuados para implementar sistemas de adquisición de datos, que al ser combinados con aplicativos desarrollados a la medida, brindan soluciones competitivas y a un costo razonable.In this article we present the development of a system for the wireless monitoring of climatic variables. The design was made from microchip microcontrollers, which perform the acquisition, storage and wireless transmission of digital signals. Likewise, the microcontroller uses a clock in real time to know the date and time of acquisition of the samples. The hardware also has five channels for connecting sensors and a Micro SD memory for storage of data, along with a Wi-Fi module for wireless monitoring of variables. The information is uploaded to a server that hosts the web page, designed to view the data from any computer with an internet connection. Additionally, an Android application was developed that allows data to be viewed from mobile devices with that operating system. The performance of the system was satisfactory, after comparing the data acquired with those of two commercial meteorological stations, which served as a pattern. It is concluded that microcontrollers continue to be adequate devices to implement data acquisition systems, which when combined with customized applications, provide competitive solutions at a reasonable cost.Bibliografía y webgrafía: páginas 339-341

Conclusiones

En una perspectiva normativa se presentaron los antecedentes del actual Estatuto de Protección al Consumidor, observando que ha sido latente la preocupación del legislativo por regular lo concerniente a esta actividad, hecho que se materializó en la Ley 73 (1981), denominada en su momento como Ley del Consumo

Using Tic-Tac software to reduce anxiety-related behaviour in adults with autism and learning difficulties during waiting periods: A pilot study

Deficits in the perception of time and processing of changes across time are commonly observed in individuals with autism. This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the use of the software tool Tic-Tac, designed to make time visual, in three adults with autism and learning difficulties. This research focused on applying the tool in waiting situations where the participants exhibited anxiety-related behaviour. The intervention followed a baseline and intervention (AB) design, and a partial interval recording procedure was used to code the presence of stereotypes, nervous utterances, wandering or other examples of nervousness during the selected waiting situations. The results showed that the use of Tic-Tac resulted in lower levels of anxiety-related behaviour in all three participants, compared to the baseline, suggesting that this software may be an effective technology for helping people with autism with organisation and predictability during waiting periods. The results are discussed in terms of limitations and implications for further study.This study was supported by the Orange Foundation in Spain and the Spanish Ministry for Industry, Commerce and Tourism (grant number PDM-2006-010) through Avanza Program