Structural Weakness in Nicaragua : Hindrances to Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction

Despite generous debt reduction under the HIPC initiative, Nicaragua is not growing at the rate required to alleviate poverty. This paper outlines Nicaragua’s vulnerability to external changes and its inability to compete in the global market. Nicaragua suffers from severe structural problems; it has a very poorly diversified industrial structure, and its trading performance is correspondingly weak, relying on basic agricultural exports that have suffered stagnant or declining prices on international markets. Nicaragua is a clear example of an HIPC country that has achieved the criteria to enter into the HIPC initiative but is struggling to maintain sustainable economic development while trying to achieve poverty reduction.

The intestinal short chain fatty acid production: its complexity and metabolic consequences

Recommendation of high fiber diets have been suggested as a valuable strategy to reduce the burden of metabolic diseases such as obesity, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes. In this context, gut microbiota has a pivotal role influencing host health. Acetate, propionate, and butyrate, the main short chain fatty acids (SCFA) produced by gut microbial fermentation of fibers, appear to be key mediators of the beneficial effects elicited by high fiber diets. However, while many studies focus on the regulatory role of SCFA, their quantitative role as a catabolic or anabolic substrate for the host has received relatively little attention. SCFA are also an extra source of energy from otherwise indigestible carbohydrates. To understand what controls the net effect of SCFA supplementation, more precise data on intestinal SCFA kinetics and their effect directly in other tissues is needed. Part I of the thesis (chapter 2, chapter 3, and chapter 4) aimed to study fiber fermentation and SCFA production, microbial interconversion, and absorption inside the lumen of the human gut in vivo, and the systemic metabolic fate of intestinal SCFA. Moreover, to further understand the mechanism by which SCFA can modulate host health, Part II of the thesis (chapter 5 and chapter 6), assessed the tissue specific effects of a single SCFA, butyrate, on fuel handling. This thesis raises important considerations for the study and development of dietary strategies for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome

Structural Weakness in Nicaragua : Hindrances to Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction

Despite generous debt reduction under the HIPC initiative, Nicaragua is not growing at the rate required to alleviate poverty. This paper outlines Nicaragua 's vulnerability to external changes and its inability to compete in the global market. Nicaragua suffers from severe structural problems; it has a very poorly diversified industrial structure, and its trading performance is correspondingly weak, relying on basic agricultural exports that have suffered stagnant or declining prices on international markets. Nicaragua is a clear example of an HIPC country that has achieved the criteria to enter into the HIPC initiative but is struggling to maintain sustainable economic development while trying to achieve poverty reduction.

Dynamic Vision Sensor integration on FPGA-based CNN accelerators for high-speed visual classification

Deep-learning is a cutting edge theory that is being applied to many fields. For vision applications the Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) are demanding significant accuracy for classification tasks. Numerous hardware accelerators have populated during the last years to improve CPU or GPU based solutions. This technology is commonly prototyped and tested over FPGAs before being considered for ASIC fabrication for mass production. The use of commercial typical cameras (30fps) limits the capabilities of these systems for high speed applications. The use of dynamic vision sensors (DVS) that emulate the behavior of a biological retina is taking an incremental importance to improve this applications due to its nature, where the information is represented by a continuous stream of spikes and the frames to be processed by the CNN are constructed collecting a fixed number of these spikes (called events). The faster an object is, the more events are produced by DVS, so the higher is the equivalent frame rate. Therefore, these DVS utilization allows to compute a frame at the maximum speed a CNN accelerator can offer. In this paper we present a VHDL/HLS description of a pipelined design for FPGA able to collect events from an Address-Event-Representation (AER) DVS retina to obtain a normalized histogram to be used by a particular CNN accelerator, called NullHop. VHDL is used to describe the circuit, and HLS for computation blocks, which are used to perform the normalization of a frame needed for the CNN. Results outperform previous implementations of frames collection and normalization using ARM processors running at 800MHz on a Zynq7100 in both latency and power consumption. A measured 67% speedup factor is presented for a Roshambo CNN real-time experiment running at 160fps peak rate.Comment: 7 page

Introduction: Special Issue on Hospitality

In the era of globalization, the economic contribution of the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry to the world’s GDP is significant. Tourism represents one of the main sources of income for many countries; tourism creates jobs, enhances exports and contributes to the economic welfare of a host country. Although the contribution of tourism, hospitality and the leisure industry in the era of globalization has been broadly recognized, there are also numerous challenges that this industry faces.Higher Learning Research Communications is publishing this special issue with articles focusing particularly on the development of tourism, hospitality and leisure in the globalized world. The issue consists of a selection of 4 papers from authors that contribute to the understanding of recent developments in this industry, as well as strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry in the globalized world.“Challenges and Opportunities of the World Tourism from the view Point of Ecotourism”, by Fredy González Fonseca, analyses the potential options of ecotourism as a key driver of sustainable economic development for local communities. Despite the benefits this sector presents to local communities in Mexico, the author argues that there is non-existent support from the national or local governments and no equitable tourism legislation protecting potential natural resources, which could be used for future ecotourism activities.On “Economic Competition, Sustainability and Survival of the Dodo: The Eastern Island Case and the Tragedy of the Common Effects”, Pedro Moreira examines the results of a series of decision games obtained under a quasi-experimental design. Behavioral patterns were analyzed and extrapolated to explore the terminal effects of competition trends on the survival and economic viability of organizations and travel destinations in restricted environments.Marina Mattera & Alberto Moreno Melgarejo write on the “Strategic Implications of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Hotel Industry: a comparative research between NH Hotels and Meliá Hotels International”. The study outlines the best practices of two leading Spanish hotel corporations: NH Hotels and Meliá Hotels International. By identifying actions undertaken by the most important firms of the sector, these hotels can serve as an exemplar and be replicated by other firms. The authors note that a firm can enhance their positive impact on their operating environment by increasing sustainability practices, improving understanding of the triple bottom line and minimizing negative social as well as environmental footprints.Finally, “Lifestyle entrepreneurs: Insights into Blackpool’s small hotel sector”, by William Rowson and Conrad Lashley, examines branded chains that dominate sections of commercial hospitality provision. The study acknowledges that those managing small accommodation properties, in the form of guest houses and small hotels, have more lifestyle ambitions for their commercial operation rather than classical entrepreneurial motives.We would like to thank Carmen M. Mendez for all her support during the development process of this issue and also Higher Learning Research Communications for giving us this opportunity to publish the special issue. We thank all the reviewers for their assistance and support in the review process of the papers for this special issue.Ruth Rios-Morales, Les Roches-Gruyè University of Applied SciencesIan Jenkins, Glion Institute of Higher Educatio

Circulation of Different Lineages of Dengue Virus Type 2 in Central America, Their Evolutionary Time-Scale and Selection Pressure Analysis

Dengue is caused by any of the four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV-1 to 4). Each serotype is genetically distant from the others, and each has been subdivided into different genotypes based on phylogenetic analysis. The study of dengue evolution in endemic regions is important since the diagnosis is often made by nucleic acid amplification tests, which depends upon recognition of the viral genome target, and natural occurring mutations can affect the performance of these assays. Here we report for the first time a detailed study of the phylogenetic relationships of DENV-2 from Central America, and report the first fully sequenced DENV-2 strain from Guatemala. Our analysis of the envelope (E) protein and of the open reading frame of strains from Central American countries, between 1999 and 2009, revealed that at least two lineages of the American/Asian genotype of DENV-2 have recently circulated in that region. In occasions the co-circulation of these lineages may have occurred and that has been suggested to play a role in the observed increased severity of clinical cases. Our time-scale analysis indicated that the most recent common ancestor for Central American DENV-2 of the American/Asian genotype existed about 19 years ago. Finally, we report positive selection in DENV-2 from Central America in codons of the genes encoding for C, E, NS2A, NS3, and NS5 proteins. Some of these identified codons are novel findings, described for the first time for any of the DENV-2 genotypes

Práctica de diseño hardware/software de un robot móvil con interfaces inalámbricas

En el presente artículo se describe una práctica de laboratorio multitarea en el ámbito de las asignaturas de sistemas empotrados en los grados de Ingeniería Informática, mediante una metodología de gestión de proyectos basada en Kanban. La práctica abarca diferentes familias de microcontroladores de distintos niveles de dificultad de programación, lectura de diferentes tipos de sensores con distintas interfaces, comunicación inalámbrica y control de motores. Esta práctica se enfoca como la elaboración de un proyecto en el que los alumnos han de ir realizando mediante tareas que inicialmente se planifican utilizando la metodología Kanban. En concreto, el desarrollo de la práctica se basa en la elaboración de un robot móvil controlado remotamente y de forma inalámbrica. El sistema de divide en tres partes: el dispositivo de control que cuenta con un microcontrolador tipo Arduino y dos joysticks analógicos como interfaz de usuario, el robot móvil que utiliza un microcontrolador STM32 con un RTOS (Real Time Operating System) con el que se realiza la lectura de los diferentes sensores que irán embarcados en el robot además de manejar el controlador de motores para un motor DC para la velocidad y un servo para el control de la dirección. Para la comunicación inalámbrica se utilizan módulos de radio de 2.4GHz de la familia XBee Pro Serie Z2B. Por último, se diseñará una aplicación software de escritorio bajo un sistema operativo Windows escrita en lenguaje C# utilizando .NET Framework y WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), que mostrará la información que el robot envía de cada uno de sus sensores. El PC donde está alojada la aplicación tiene conectado un módulo XBee, anteriormente mencionado, con el que se comunica mediante una conexión serie virtual (VCP). Para implementar la metodología Kanban se hará uso de una herramienta online y gratuita llamada Trello que permite la creación de diferentes tableros en el que ir añadiendo tareas (mediante tarjetas) e irlas moviendo entre las diferentes columnas según el estado de ésta. A cada tarea se le puede añadir uno o más participantes además de ponerle una fecha de vencimiento entre otras opciones. En el desarrollo de este tipo de prácticas se añade la dificultad del manejo de diferentes entornos de desarrollo, uno por cada tipo de microcontrolador y el de la aplicación software. Esta práctica se ha dividido en varias sesiones y ha presentado un gran atractivo para el alumnado ya que se consigue un sistema funcional y muy ampliable al final de estas.This paper presents a laboratory session of embedded systems imparted in the Computer Science degree using Kanban, a project management methodology. In the laboratory session different microcontroller families are used for reading several sensor types, wireless communications and motor control. This session is focused like a project in which the students have to complete the task previously described using Kanban. The project consist on implementing a mobile robot that is handled using a wireless controller. The system is divided in three parts: the controller device that is designed using an Arduino microcontroller to read two analogical joysticks used by the user, the mobile robot that uses a STM32 microcontroller with a RTOS (Real Time Operating System) to read the sensors attached to the robot and to handle the motor controller for a DC motor to control the velocity and, finally, a servo motor to change the robot direction. Some 2.4GHz radio modules of the XBee Pro Serie Z2B are used to implement the wireless communication. Finally a C# WPF Windows application is implemented using .NET framework, which collects the information from on-board sensors. An XBee module is plugged in the computer where the application runs using a virtual communication port (VCP). To plan the project under the Kanban methodology, an online free tool called Trello is used. Trello lets the user create different panels in which cards can be added and moved between different columns that denote the state of each card. Cards allow to add several participants and a due date. In this laboratory session the students have to learn several development environments which presents an extra difficulty. The laboratory session has been divided in several practical sessions and the students have been very motivated during every of them because at the end they obtain a functional robot which can be extended with new sensors