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In this work, the design of a fully 3D-printed dielectric polarizer based on anisotropic engineered material operating at 38 GHz is presented. The anisotropy conditions to obtain circular polarization are achieved by using an array of dielectric strips, manufactured using two different commercially available filaments for 3D-printing. To illuminate the polarizer, a low-profile horn linear array fed by transverse slots is designed and manufactured. The results show good agreement between simulations and measurements, with the designed polarizer covering the whole operation band of the antenna by keeping a similar gain when compared to the structure without the polarizer.

Biomimetic bioreactor systems are increasingly being developed for tissue engineering applications, due to their ability to recreate the native cell/tissue microenvironment. Regarding bone-related diseases and considering the piezoelectric nature of bone, piezoelectric scaffolds electromechanically stimulated by a bioreactor, providing the stimuli to the cells, allows a biomimetic approach and thus, mimicking the required microenvironment for effective growth and differentiation of bone cells. In this work, a bioreactor has been designed and built allowing to magnetically stimulate magnetoelectric scaffolds and therefore provide mechanical and electrical stimuli to the cells through magnetomechanical or magnetoelectrical effects, depending on the piezoelectric nature of the scaffold. While mechanical bioreactors need direct application of the stimuli on the scaffolds, the herein proposed magnetic bioreactors allow for a remote stimulation without direct contact with the material. Thus, the stimuli application (23 mT at a frequency of 0.3 Hz) to cells seeded on the magnetoelectric, leads to an increase in cell viability of almost 30% with respect to cell culture under static conditions. This could be valuable to mimic what occurs in the human body and for application in immobilized patients. Thus, special emphasis has been placed on the control, design and modeling parameters governing the bioreactor as well as its functional mechanism.

Somatic markers have been evidenced as determinant factors in human behavior. In particular, the concepts of somatic reward and punishment have been related to the decision-making process; both reward and somatic punishment represent bodily states with positive or negative sensations, respectively. In this research work, we have designed a mechanism to generate artificial somatic punishments in an autonomous system. An autonomous system is understood as a system capable of performing autonomous behavior and decision making. We incorporated this mechanism within a decision model oriented to support decision making on stock markets. Our model focuses on using artificial somatic punishments as a tool to guide the decisions of an autonomous system. To validate our proposal, we defined an experimental scenario using official data from Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Dow Jones index, in which we evaluated the decisions made by the autonomous system based on artificial somatic punishments in a general investment process using 10,000 independent iterations. In the investment process, the autonomous system applied an active investment strategy combined with an artificial somatic index. The results show that this autonomous system presented a higher level of investment decision effectiveness, understood as the achievement of greater wealth over time, as measured by profitability, utility, and Sharpe Ratio indicators, relative to an industry benchmark.

Water scarcity and contamination are urgent issues to be addressed. In this context, different materials, techniques, and devices are being developed to mitigate contemporary and forthcoming water constraints. Photocatalysis-based approaches are suitable strategies to address water contamination by degrading contaminants and eliminating microbes. Photoreactors are usually designed to perform photocatalysis in a scalable and standardised way. Few or none have been developed to combine these characteristics with portability, flexibility, and cost effectiveness. This study reports on designing and producing a portable (490 g), low-cost, and multifunctional photoreactor that includes adjustable radiation intensity and two types of wavelengths (UV-A and visible), including combined agitation in a compact mechanism produced through 3D printing technology. The mechanical, electrical, and optical subsystems were designed and assembled into a robust device. It is shown that it is possible to apply radiations that can reach 65 mW/cm2 and 110 mW/cm2 using the installed visible and UV LEDs and apply mechanical agitation up to 200 rpm, all under a ventilated system. Regarding functionality, the photoreactor proof of concept indicated the ability to degrade ~80% and 30% ciprofloxacin under UV and visible irradiation of TiO2 and Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles. The device also showed the ability to eliminate E. coli bacteria, recurring to radiation set-ups and nanoparticles. Therefore, the originally designed and constructed photoreactor concept was characterised and functionally validated as an exciting and flexible device for lab-scaled or outdoor experiments, assuring standardised and comparable results.

The aim of this research was to identify gratitude profiles, basic psychological needs in relation with resilience of non-traditional students adults worker. This study was cross-sectional, descriptive, non-experimental in design and a cluster analysis was used. A total 114 students from a local university answered 3 instruments to evaluate these variables. This study reports 4 profiles and showed that only one significantly differs in resilience from the others, featuring high levels of gratitude and psychological needs. Profiles that are underperforming in the variables obtained lower resilience. One of them, equivalent to 10.5% of the students, also reports a lower need for autonomy. This study suggests that interventions must be focused on young students to strengthen their need for autonomy and resilience. El objetivo del estudio fue identificar perfiles de gratitud, necesidades psicológicas básicas y su relación con la resiliencia en estudiantes no tradicionales adultos-trabajadores. Se utilizó un diseño no experimental, transversal, descriptivo y un análisis de clústeres; 114 estudiantes universitarios respondieron tres instrumentos para evaluar las variables. Los resultados muestran 4 perfiles, sólo uno se diferencia significativamente en resiliencia, en ventaja de los otros, presentando altos niveles en gratitud y necesidades psicológicas. Los tres perfiles más desfavorecidos en las variables obtienen menor resiliencia. Uno de ellos, equivalente a un 10,5% de los estudiantes, presenta también baja necesidad de autonomía. Se concluye que las intervenciones deberían estar focalizadas en los estudiantes jóvenes, para fortalecer su necesidad de autonomía y resiliencia.

Purpose There is a growing urgent concern in involving higher education institutions (HEIs) towards an international effort in implementing a more suitable role as conductors of sustainable development. This paper/study aims to present the application of light emiting diode (LED) technology in an HEI assuming technology innovation as part of a larger institutional innovation management strategy addressing multiple dimensions in sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Investments in LED technology are analyzed for their impact on consumption results and quantitative comparisons between 2008 and 2022 are impaired with detailed information on the types of luminaires and the amount of installed energy. Findings The collected data shows a clear economic advantage of using LED technology, and the results subsidize institutional planning, considering not only ongoing technological innovation, but also educational components and community involvement in the organization sustainability strategy. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to a specific HEI and further comparative research should be carried out. Practical implications A holistic approach on sustainability objectives encourages further investment in environmental-friendly technology, example to other HEIs. Social implications The strategic vision of innovation is confirmed with the involvement of the community, at various levels, such as the academic community, local community, scientific international community. Originality/value This study addresses the lack of examples in the literature of structural planning and management systems that see sustainability as a strategy built in HEIs. The elaboration of an environmental sustainability plan places environmental sustainability at the confluence of themes such as education, investigation, use of natural resources, waste separation. For each topic are listed measures, actions, environment improvements, institution improvements and their results.

The market for interactive platforms is rapidly growing, and touchscreens have been incorporated in an increasing number of devices. Thus, the area of smart objects and devices is strongly increasing by adding interactive touch and multimedia content, leading to new uses and capabilities. In this work, a flexible screen printed sensor matrix is fabricated based on silver ink in a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Diamond shaped capacitive electrodes coupled with conventional capacitive reading electronics enables fabrication of a highly functional capacitive touchpad, and also allows for the identification of marked objects. For the latter, the capacitive signatures are identified by intersecting points and distances between them. Thus, this work demonstrates the applicability of a low cost method using royalty-free geometries and technologies for the development of flexible multitouch touchpads for the implementation of interactive and object recognition applications.

In this updated analysis, we present data on patients diagnosed up to 2018, with a median follow-up of 5 years. [...]this study highlights the need to improve healthcare access and reduce treatment disparities in LMICs. CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION The study is registered at https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02589548 DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT The corresponding author may provide the analyzed data supporting the study findings upon reasonable request, subject to data protection and applicable regulations, as the data are not publicly available due to ethical and privacy restrictions.

In recent years, several efforts have been made to develop tomato cultivars displaying both late blight resistance and good organoleptic fruit quality. Selection indexes are considered the best option to perform genotype selection when many different traits are being considered to select genotypes as close to the desired ideotype as possible. Therefore, this study aimed at selecting late blight-resistant tomato families based on their fruit quality attributes using factor analysis and ideotype-design / best linear unbiased predictor (FAI-BLUP) index. For this purpose, we assessed the fruit quality parameters of 81 F3:5 tomato families previously selected as late blight resistant. The tomato cultivars Thaise, Argos, and Liberty were included in the trial as checks. The experimental arrangement consisted of complete randomized blocks with three replicates. Each plot was formed by five plants, three of which were used in the fruit quality assessment. The quality parameters assessed were fruit diameter, fruit length, fruit color (L, a*, C, and H), fruit firmness, titratable acidity, soluble solids content, hydrogen potential, and SS:TA ratio. Fruit quality data were analyzed using the mixed model methodology via REML/BLUP (restricted residual maximum likelihood / best linear unbiased prediction) to obtain BLUPs that were further subjected to the FAI-BLUP selection index. The FAI-BLUP was efficient in selecting late blight-resistant tomato genotypes based on their fruit quality attributes. Fourteen tomato families were classified as closest to the desirable ideotype for fruit quality. These genotypes should move on to the following stages of the tomato breeding program.

El estudio se sitúa en el contexto sociocultural de la vulnerabilidad que presenta la población infantil de la región de la Araucanía que la caracteriza como una de las regiones más pobres de Chile y con los indicadores educativos más bajos. El propósito es explorar el nivel de desarrollo de competencias socioemocionales y su relación con el rendimiento escolar. Las variables investigadas son el potencial de adaptación socioemocional y la capacidad de resiliencia infantil.La muestra estuvo conformada por 718 niños y niñas de 5º a 8º años de educación básica de escuelas municipales vulnerables de la provincia de Malleco. La recolección de la información se llevó a cabo a través de la utilización de dos instrumentos: La escala de Resiliencia Escolar (ERE) de Saavedra y Castro (2008); el Cuestionario de Adaptación Socioemocional en Escolares, validado en Chile por Mathiesen, Merino; Castro, Mora y Navarro (2011). Los resultados obtenidos revelan un buen nivel de desarrollo del potencial de adaptación socioemocional y de resiliencia en niños, y una correlación positiva de estas con el rendimiento escolar. El buen nivel de las variables socioemocionales en los estudiantes connota un factor protector de salud mental, un recurso para compensar efectos de la vulnerabilidad y un potencial a usar para mejorar el rendimiento académico. Confirma la relevancia de la intervención en habilidades socioemocionales.