Formulación de un procedimiento heurístico evolucionario para la selección preliminar de estructuras de proceso alternativas

Formula un procedimiento que reduce el número de estructuras de proceso mediante la implementación sistemática de modificaciones topológicas para maximizar la rentabilidad del proceso. El presente trabajo formula un procedimiento heurístico evolucionario para la selección preliminar de estructuras de proceso competitivas contando con un conjunto inicial de estructuras alternativas. El procedimiento de selección es organizado como un problema de optimización con el objetivo único de maximizar la ganancia. Para aproximarse a la ganancia óptima se realizan modificaciones topológicas a las estructuras de proceso iniciales. Tales modificaciones se basan en el análisis paramétrico de las variables independientes del balance de materiales. Así se obtiene un conjunto final de estructuras de proceso mejoradas.Estados Unidos. Laspau - FulbrightTesi

From Continuity to Rhythm II : Adjustment and Entrainment

This work is the second part of the article “From Continuity to Rhythm” (Acta Se-miotica, II, 3, 2022), where I set out to define rhythm as a semiotic concept. The cornerstones for such a definition are Victoria Santa Cruz’s concept of Rhythm as an active and continu-ous principle of integration, Landowski’s understanding of continuity, Leibniz’s notion of Harmony, the physical concept of entrainment, and the formal definition of feedback from engineering as a framework to understand manipulation, adjustment and entrainment. The main contributions are: 1) analysing the regimes of adjustment and manipulation in terms of feedback, 2) establishing a link between manipulation and adjustment, showing that the former is a simplification of the latter, 3) providing a semiotic definition of entrainment that considers five different dimensions, expressing manipulation and adjustment as specific modes of entrainment, 4) providing a semiotic definition of Rhythm as a dynamic unification process departing from Leibniz’s notion of Harmony, 5) questioning Leibniz’s Harmony in favor of an active view of Rhythm that not only produces order or common properties, but that actively strives to maintain them in virtue of feedback.Trabajo académic

From Continuity to Rhythm

This work departs from the opposition between continuity and discontinuity as formulated by semiotician Eric Landowski. I argue that the opposition is a complex that can be fruitfully analysed in terms of self-identity vs difference, unity vs diversity and determinism vspure randomness. The study of these oppositions deploying Greimas’s square provides an insight into the notions of difference, boundary and cohesion. These will be key to the formulation of a semiotic concept of Harmony as the interplay between a unifying and a diversifying force. Harmony, I claim, is the first step for the study of rhythm as a semiotic concept.Trabajo académic

Digital contact tracing and data protection: assessing the French and Portuguese applications

The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 has necessitated a global response to manage the transmission, spread, and impact of the virus. Many countries started developing digital contact tracing applications to contribute to the process of lifting the restrictions imposed on its citizens. Generally, the protection of personal data is a right that appears in constitutional and legal provisions, and its processing can only be performed under very restricted circumstances, the protection of health being a valid justification. This article focusses on the systems developed as digital contact tracing tools in France (StopCovid) and in Portugal (STAYAWAY COVID), presenting their characteristics and the most relevant aspects concerning the processing of personal data. The most relevant positive characteristics of these systems are their voluntary adoption, their developers’ concern with the people’s security and privacy, and the transparency of their functioning. With the negative characteristics, the most relevant are the restricted interoperability with the systems from other EU countries, and the permanent risk to people’s privacy of collecting lists of contacts and the circumstances of their interactions with other users of the systems

Atmospheric Plasma Spray Processes: From Micro to Nanostructures

Atmospheric plasma spray is probably the most versatile of all thermal spraying processes, because there are few limitations either on the materials that can be sprayed or the substrate, in relation to its material, size, and shape. The material precursor of the coating could be in the form of powders, wires, melted materials, solutions, or suspensions. What distinguishes the plasma spray process from other technologies is its applicability and capacity to process a wide variety of materials, including metallic and refractory materials at atmospheric pressure. The coatings properties are improved by deposition of coatings with finer microstructure, which is are more suitable for mechanical and thermal stresses than the lamellar microstructure of conventional plasma-sprayed coatings

Propriedades psicométricas preliminares da escala de violência entre pares estudantes de educação secundária em Chile

The Violence Among Peers Scale by Cajigas de Segredo et al. (2004) consists of 43 items that intend to measure the presence of peer aggression in schools. This study aims to assess the scale's psychometric properties and develop provisional normative scales based on a non-probabilistic sample that comprised 223 Chilean students from two schools, one of medium and one of high economic stratum from the province of Santiago in the Chilean Metropolitan Region. The results of this research confirm the good properties of the test in the national context, and constitute a contribution to the empirical investigation of the phenomenon in Latin America. Additionally, it has generated a more reliable and valid scale for the study in the country. Other studies using probabilistic sampling methods and the development of definitive normative scales for the student population in Chile are projected.La Escala de Violencia entre Pares de Cajigas de Segredo et al. (2004) se compone de 43 reactivos que pretenden medir la presencia de agresión entre pares en el contexto escolar. El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar sus propiedades psicométricas y arrojar baremos provisorios en una muestra no probabilística constituida por 223 estudiantes chilenos correspondientes a dos colegios, uno de estrato económico medio y otro de estrato alto de la provincia de Santiago en la Región Metropolitana, Chile. Los resultados de la presente investigación confirman las buenas propiedades del test en el contexto nacional, y son un aporte en la investigación empírica del fenómeno en Latinoamérica, además de generar una escala de mayor validez y fiabilidad para el estudio en el país. Se proyectan estudios con muestreos probabilísticos y la generación de baremos definitivos para la población estudiantil en Chile.A Escala de violência entre pares de Cajigas, de Segredo et al. (2004), consta de 43 reagentes destinados a medir a presença de agressão entre pares no contexto escolar. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar suas propriedades psicométricas e produzir baremos provisório em uma amostra não probabilística constituída por 223 estudantes chilenos de duas escolas: uma de estrato econômico médio e outra de estrato alto da província de Santiago, na Região Metropolitana, Chile. Os resultados desta investigação confirmam as boas propriedades do teste no contexto nacional, e são uma contribuição para a investigação empírica do fenômeno na América Latina. Além disso, geram uma escala de maior nível de confiabilidade e validade para o estudo no país. Estão previstos estudos com amostragens probabilísticas e a geração de baremos definitivos para a população estudantil em Chile