Volumen 5 No. 1 (2014)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dspace-test.ucuenca.edu.ec/handle/123456789/5527

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Exposición, vulnerabilidad y perfil epidemiológico de trabajadores informales en el botadero a cielo abierto del cantón Portoviejo, Ecuador
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Solíz T., María F.
The present work covered an extensive study of the exposure, vulnerability and epidemiological profile of informal waste recyclers and their families in the open recycling dump of the Canton Portoviejo. Extensive interviews and surveys helped in evaluating the mechanism of the recycling unit and in revealing details of living condition and environmental exposure of the informal workers and their family. In addition to the process of discussion and collective reflection, the informal workers were subjected to a clinical examination, two psychological tests (Epiestrés and Goldberg), and a neurobehavioral test (Pentox). The cross sectional ethnographic survey enabled the identification and delineation of the informal workers and their families in 5 distinctive classes based on the type of recycling activity, the socio-economic status and living conditions, the exposure and vulnerability to contamination, and the epidemiological profile. It is suggested to use the findings of the study as basis for a public debate on the possibility of formalizing the unorganized waste trade, and a way to remove the discrimination and oppression of the recyclers, who belong to the poorest strata of the society.
University transformation and regional development
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Blume, Stuart; Universidad de Cuenca; Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca; DIUC
Faced with government pressure to transform themselves into research institutions, Ecuador’s universities confront a major challenge. Based on a review of the English language literature, this paper attempts to pull together some of the things that can be learned from the experiences of other universities, in other countries, that have been required to adopt new missions and roles. The paper argues that such transformations have implications for an institution’s structure and governance, but still more fundamentally for its culture. For transformation to be effective, it must involve rethinking existing (and perhaps long-established) ways of doing things, including how and by whom decisions are made, and how students are taught. Links with regional and community organizations need to be developed, because these can provide a valuable catalyst for change.
Estudio de caso: Diseño de viviendas ambientales de bajo costo, Cuenca (Ecuador)
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Barragán, Antonio E.; Ochoa, Pablo E.; Universidad de Cuenca; Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca; DIUC
The main objective of green homes is to minimize the overall environmental impact by using as much as possible local materials and reducing the water and energy consumption, both during the construction and the lifetime of the home. This paper presents the design of a low cost sustainable home guaranteeing the quality of life of the residents. The result is a modular house with a total habitable (built-up) area of 81 m2, taking optimal advantage of local climate. The Autodesk ECOTECT 3D simulation software was used to validate the concept. The analysis revealed that it is feasible to build in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, social homes meeting the basic bioclimatic requirements given the local economic and environmental conditions. The approach is easy extrapolatable to other locations using the regional climate parameters and local available building materials.
Eficacia de extracto etanólico de eucalipto (Eucaliptus globulus) en el control de Alternaria sp. en cultivos de col y patata
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Cazar, María Elena; Villena, Paulina; Parra, Juan; Espinoza Vázquez, Virgilio; Larriva, Giovanni; Caldas, Adriana; DIUC; UNIVERSIDAD DE CUENCA; Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca
The inhibitory effect of ethanolic extracts against Alternaria sp. in greenhouse cabbage cultivation (Oleracea brassica) and in-situ potato growing (Solanum tuberosum) was tested. Ethanolic extracts were prepared from Eucalyptus leaves (Eucalyptus globulus) with a Soxhlet extractor. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of considerable amounts of quinones, lactones and coumaranes, and small amounts of triterpenes and steroids. The experimental layout in the greenhouse cabbage cultivation consisted of three ethanol levels, one classical chemical treatment (Trizimand) and one control, ten cabbages per treatment, three repetitions, arranged in a randomized complete block design. The effect of three concentration levels of ethanol, one time sprayed on the leaves of the potato crop, was tested. The treatment plots, including a control plot, were randomized, each block 4 times repeated. In the greenhouse trial, the treatments with the effective dose increased by 50 and 25% MASKANA, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2014 Revista semestral de la DIUC 34 displayed a comparable activity with the chemical treatment. Those treatments showed an increased effectiveness, compared with the effective dose at lab conditions. In the potato field essay, based on the incidence of pustules measured in the period of 65 to 85 days after planting, all treatments had an equal effect. It is believed that the observed overall minor and equal impact of the ethanol treatments on the potato crop is due to the high plot-to-plot variability and the more than normal wet conditions during the growing season
Evaluation of infilling methods for time series of daily precipitation and temperature: The case of the Ecuadorian Andes
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Campozano, L.; Sánchez, E.; Aviles, A.; Samaniego, E.; DIUC; Universidad de Cuenca; Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Cuenca
Continuous time series of precipitation and temperature considerably facilitate and improve the calibration and validation of climate and hydrologic models, used inter alia for the planning and management of earth’s water resources and for the prognosis of the possible effects of climate change on the rainfall-runoff regime of basins. The goodness-of-fit of models is among other factors dependent from the completeness of the time series data. Particular in developing countries gaps in time series data are very common. Since gaps can severely compromise data utility this research with application to the Andean Paute river basin examines the performance of 17 deterministic infill methods for completing time series of daily precipitation and mean temperature. Although sophisticated approaches for infilling gaps, such as stochastic or artificial intelligence methods exist, preference in this study was given to deterministic approaches for their robustness, easiness of implementation and computational efficiency. Results reveal that for the infilling of daily precipitation time series the weighted multiple linear regression method outperforms due to considering the ratio of the Pearson correlation coefficient to the distance, giving more weight to both, highly correlated and nearby stations. For mean temperature, the climatological mean of the day was clearly the best method, most likely due to the scarcity of weather stations measuring temperature, and because the few available stations are located at different elevations in the landscape, suggesting the need to address in future studies the impact of elevation on the interpolation.
Factores de riesgo social en el desempeño escolar
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2014-06) Piedra, Elisa; Vélez, Ximena; Arciniegas, Liliana; Pacurucu, Ana; Cabrera, Patricio; Mora, Franklin
This paper explores some of the risk factors responsible for low school performance of the 4th to 6th level children of public elementary schools in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. To this end, children with respectively low and high academic performance, parents, teachers and school directors were interviewed, using a template from which the population characteristics, the socioeconomic conditions, attitude of children and teachers, and performance variables were evaluated. For this study a total of 786 surveys, in different public elementary schools in the city of Cuenca were conducted, of which 77 were eliminated by incompleteness. The results showed that the low school performance of the children in first instance is caused by health problems, malnutrition, the high rotation of teachers, the socioeconomic situation of the parents, and the grade of repetition of school years. Furthermore, it was shown that boys overall score less than girls.

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