Enfoque UTE

pp. 1 - 15

Authors: Ariosto Vicuña, Orlando Erazo

Interaction based on hand gestures has experienced a great progress in recent years. Its utility has been verified in several areas, particularly in the educational field, where it can contribute to enhance the quality of education. However, there are still some topics that have received little attention, such as the use of drawing gestures executed in the air with the hand. For this reason, this article analyzes the feasibility of using this type of gestures with educational purposes. With this aim, we conducted a study in which the participants interacted with the developed application by means of several drawing gestures. The obtained quantitative and qualitative results confirm the validity of our proposal. Specifically, the participants’ performance was acceptable according to the values of the used metrics. Moreover, the participants indicated the proposal is interesting and enjoyable. As a consequence, the use of applications of this type, in the classroom or at home, could contribute to increase the students’ interest in the corresponding subject, which should lead to obtain better marks.

pp. 31 - 42

Authors: Marcelo Muñoz, Jessica Reina, María Belén Aldás

A pilot aerobic horizontal plug flow reactor filled with pieces of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), from plastic bottles was installed for treatment of a synthetic substrate prepared from lactic whey with COD values of 800 to 2100 mg/L. A bacterial inoculum previously acclimated to the substrate was used. Organic material removal efficiencies of 62.2%, 85% y 94% were obtained with retention times of 5.14, 6.01 and 8.01 hours, and with volumetric organic loads (Lv) of 7.68, 6.19 and 4.61 kg/day.m3, respectively. Also, the kinetic mass transfer constant (k) was calculated and it presented a value of 0.02 m/day. On the other hand, an F/M ratio of 0.4 was determined, indicating that the process had a similar performance to an extended aeration system. Finally, the biomass generated inside the reactor was analyzed, obtaining a value of 11560 mg /L, which is a higher value than those of conventional systems.

pp. 55 - 70

Authors: Patricio Lozano, Aracely Armas, Verónica Machado

To drive conservation processes and sustainable use of an ecosystem implies, on the one hand, the understanding of the territory as a socio-ecosystem, and on the other hand, the application of the ecosystemic approach. For this reason, this is a tool that contributes to the highland ecosystem management of the communities Pulinguí San Pablo and Chorrera Mirador. This process was based on the socio-ecosystem characterization, determination of conservation elements and formulation of conservation and use of sustainable strategies. Data show that 186 habitants live in these socio-ecosystem and mainly benefit from three types of ecosystemic services: supply, regulation and cultural, carrying out agricultural, livestock and touristic activities. These settlements exert a moderated anthropic pressure in the socio-ecosystem due to the fact that only 98,65 hectares (out of 4567,20 hectares) are used for these activities. This is reflected in the state of the identified conservation elements that, evaluated according to their size, condition and landscaping context, obtained a mean of 3,3/4,0 (points) which means that they are in a decay process, nonetheless, their impacts may be diminished using established and executed strategies by local populations.

pp. 86 - 95

Authors: Rodolfo Najarro Quintero, Eduardo Samaniego Mena, Freddy Fares Vargas, Amilkar Puris Cáceres

The development of this research is done with the aim of finding the relationship betweenweather conditions and the loss of wireless connection. The data were obtained by ameteorological center of the area and a telecommunications company that operates in the sameplace. We studied different models based on fuzzy logic due to the easy interpretation the easyinterpretation of the rules and data management. We used the Weka application that providestools for pre-processing of data and Keel software tool for data classification. Nine classifiersbased on fuzzy rules were applied, where the Furia-C was that better results obtained in orderto quality and quantity of rules. In this scenario, a preprocessing of data were computed, wheresome techniques to improve the information was performed. Some of the obtained rulerscorroborate the influence of heavy rain over the loss of the signal, but other relationships thatincorporate new knowledge in the area, such as dew point and the average relative humidityappear.

pp. 111 - 126

Authors: Carlos Banchón, Ricardo Baquerizo, Diego Muñoz, Leila Zambrano

Industrial and agricultural pollution has generated undoubtedly a high environmental impact on the natural resources of our planet. Deficiencies in the provision of water for human consumption due to pollution from natural sources are expected. In response to this, the application of iron and aluminum coagulants are the first choice for wastewater treatment. However, the abundant use of aluminum is subject of discussion because of the potential impact on humans. Therefore, this article highlights the latest advances in the field of natural coagulation, an ancestral technology used for water decontamination. Its proven effectiveness is based on electrokinetic destabilization mechanisms that remove turbidity up to 99%. Experimental evidence agrees that concentrations of tannins and mucilages allow the remediation of effluents from chemical industries such as textile and tanneries.