Facultad de Ingenierías
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Thermal Dynamics in Agricultural Soils under Different Vegetative Covers in Coastal Ecuador

2025 , Buele, Jorge , Ángel Ramón Sabando-García , Rosario Esther Huerta-Vera , Liliana Carolina Argüello-Cedeño

Global shifts in climate patterns are exerting growing pressure on agricultural systems, particularly in equatorial regions where crop productivity is directly tied to microclimatic conditions. This study investigated the relationship between ambient temperature and soil temperature under three surface conditions - bare soil, dry organic mulch, and live grass cover - using six years of continuous data (2015-2020) from tropical agricultural lands in coastal Ecuador. Soil temperature was measured at 20 cm depth, and the analysis integrated descriptive statistics, linear regression models, and Pearson correlation coefficients to quantify the interaction between air and soil thermal behavior. Additionally, the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator were applied to detect temporal trends. The findings revealed statistically significant correlations between ambient and soil temperatures across all conditions. However, soils with vegetative cover demonstrated greater thermal stability and lower variability, highlighting their moderating role. Notably, a consistent downward trend was detected in both ambient air (-23.22%) and in soils with grass (-32.63%) and mulch (-28.54%) cover. These patterns suggest that vegetative layer's function as passive thermal regulators, buffering soils against climatic fluctuations. These insights have practical implications for agricultural and agro-industrial management. By promoting soil protection strategies, such as mulching or live cover maintenance, it is possible to mitigate thermal stress, optimize resource use, and enhance system resilience. Continuous soil-climate monitoring is recommended to guide adaptation efforts and ensure sustainability under future climate variability. © 2025 IEEE.

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Industrial Safety Strategies Supporting the Zero Accident Vision in High-Risk Organizations: A Scoping Review

2025 , Jesús Blanco-Juárez , Buele, Jorge

Industrial safety in high-risk sectors such as mining, construction, oil and gas, petrochemicals, and offshore fishing remains a strategic global challenge due to the high incidence of occupational accidents and their human, financial, and legal consequences. Despite international standards and advancements in safety strategies, significant barriers persist in the effective implementation of a Zero Accident culture. This scoping review, conducted under PRISMA-ScR guidelines, analyzed 11 studies selected from 232 records, focusing on documented practices in both multinational corporations from developed economies and local companies in emerging markets. The methodological synthesis validated theoretical models, practical interventions, and regulatory frameworks across diverse industrial settings. The findings led to the construction of a five-pillar model that provides the structural foundation for a comprehensive safety strategy: (1) strategic safety planning, defining long-term vision, mission, and objectives with systematic risk analysis; (2) executive leadership and commitment, expressed through decision-making, resource allocation, and on-site engagement; (3) people and competencies, emphasizing continuous training, communities of practice, and the development of safe behaviors; (4) process risk management, using validated protocols, structured methodologies, and early warning systems; and (5) performance measurement and auditing, combining reactive and proactive indicators within continuous improvement cycles. The results demonstrate that only a holistic approach, one that aligns strategy, culture, and performance, can sustain a robust safety culture. While notable reductions in incident rates were observed when these pillars were applied, the current literature is dominated by theoretical contributions and model replication from developed countries, with limited empirical evaluation in emerging contexts. This study provides a comparative, practice-oriented framework to guide the implementation and refinement of safety systems in high-risk organizations. This review was registered in Open Science Framework (OSF): 10.17605/OSF.IO/XFDPR.

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Virtual Reality applications based on activities of daily living (ADL) for cognitive diagnosis and rehabilitation

2022 , Buele, Jorge , Varela Aldas, José , Palacios-Navarro G.

Traditionally, screening tools are available to help diagnose a person's cognitive problem. Therefore, rehabilitation techniques are lab exercises that lack adequate ecological validity. In this paper, we propose to establish the projection of a methodology for the development of serious games based on activities of daily living (ADL). Both for real and immersive environments, to assess what provides better results when applied in healthy patients at first, but with a focus on those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. It is expected that when this research is completed, precedents will be established for the development of new proposals based on virtual environments. © 2022 IEEE.

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Integrating Automation and Artificial Intelligence into Educational Practice

2026 , Adrián Vargas-M. , Esteban Fabricio Gonzabay-Jiménez , Homero J. Velasteguí , Castro Chuquiana , Ricardo David

Digital transformation has introduced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and learning analytics into education, generating more personalized, efficient, and data-driven learning environments. These innovations support intelligent tutoring systems, automated feedback, performance prediction, and administrative decision making. However, their implementation also presents ethical, social, and technical risks that remain insufficiently understood and regulated. This study presents a narrative review of scientific literature published between 2021 and 2025, aiming to analyze the uses, benefits, and challenges of AI in educational contexts, with a particular focus on learning analytics. Articles were selected from major databases such as Scopus, IEEE, SpringerLink, and Web of Science, prioritizing studies that offered practical applications and a critical lens. The review highlights promising developments, including systems that enhance personalized learning trajectories, reduce grading time significantly, and predict student dropout risk with high accuracy. Nonetheless, it also exposes significant concerns, such as the reinforcement of algorithmic biases, excessive surveillance, and the exacerbation of digital inequalities—especially in Latin America, where a substantial portion of students still lack stable access to quality Internet. These findings underscore the dual nature of AI in education: while it has the potential to improve quality and equity, its effectiveness depends on ethical governance, equitable infrastructure, and meaningful teacher training. The review concludes that AI should be used to complement, rather than replace educators’ roles, placing emphasis on learner needs, human interaction, and contextualized pedagogy. Achieving a more human-centered and inclusive education will require a deliberate balance between technological innovation and professional educational judgment. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

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Acceptance Sampling of Vegetables and Legumes in Units Based on the Military Standard (MIL-STD 105E)

2024 , Villacís Guerrero, Jacqueline del Pilar , Álvarez-Duque W. , Bonilla-Villacís J.R. , Avilés-Castillo F.

A low-quality batch brings with its adverse effects on the productivity and profitability of a product. The Military Standard (MIL-STD 105E) allows calculating the acceptance number for an attribute sampling plan under regular inspection with an acceptable quality level. This study is carried out in the national distribution center (CND) of one of the largest supermarket chains in Ecuador. There is a lack of quality control in the reception of essential products and processes carried out empirically. Ensure the quality and safety of vegetables and legumes that are received daily. Develop specific instructions for sampling vegetables and legumes in units based on MIL-STD 105E. When conducting a verification audit, an increase of 15.93% in compliance with the standard technical ARCSA-DE-067-2015-GGG was obtained. Food product reception, processing, and distribution must follow strict biosafety and quality protocols. This proposal provides business opportunities for improvement and standardized handling of documentation and processes, which other similar institutions can use. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Digital Competency Enhancement in Personnel Training and Development: A Literature Review of Current Trends and Challenges

2024 , Taruchaín Pozo, Fernando , Avilés-Castillo, Fátima

In a perpetually advancing technological landscape, workforce training and development centered around digital competency and computer science principles are critical for ensuring the organizational resilience and competitiveness. This study undertakes a bibliographic analysis of technology-focused personnel training and development, aspiring to identify the strategies implemented, benefits perceived, and challenges emerging in this digital era. Three foundational research questions are outlined: What strategies are employed in technology-focused continuous training? What benefits do workers acquire after technology-centric training? And what are the prevalent challenges in digital skills training? A literature search approach was deployed to answer these queries, executing a meticulous analysis of 33 significant scientific papers. The results indicate a burgeoning trend towards virtual, technology-driven training, and the usage of practical simulations in training. It was also confirmed that continuous technology-focused training creates positive impacts on both work performance and worker attitudes. However, challenges like resistance to change and technological limitations persist in certain organizations.

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Integration of Information Technologies for Smart and Sustainable Management of Personal Protective Equipment Warehouses

2026 , Álvarez Sánchez, Ana , Suárez del Villar, Alexis , Torres Rodriguez, Ariel Antonio

The management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) warehouses in sectors such as mining is crucial to ensuring safety and operational efficiency, although challenges persist in developing countries such as Ecuador due to a lack of automation and manual processes. This study aimed to analyze the impact of digitization through technologies such as barcode readers and inventory software on PPE logistics management in an Ecuadorian mining company. A mixed approach was used, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, with a descriptive cross-sectional design, collecting data through interviews, observation, and documentary records, and evaluating inventory accuracy, traceability, and automation before and after the intervention. The results showed an increase in inventory accuracy from 82% to 98.7% and traceability improved to nearly 95%, in addition to a 40% reduction in delivery and replenishment times and 15% operational savings (This percentage corresponds mainly to the reduction in costs associated with labor and logistics resources, not including the initial costs of implementing the software). Acceptance of the new system was high, with ratings above 4.5 for ease of use and error reduction. The main conclusion is that digitization in PPE warehouse management significantly optimizes logistics efficiency, improves traceability, and reduces occupational risks, demonstrating its viability and benefits in the Ecuadorian context. These findings support technological modernization in similar sectors and lay the groundwork for future research that delves deeper into indicators such as service quality, staff satisfaction, and budget efficiency, thereby contributing to strengthening occupational safety and operational sustainability in critical industries. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

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Natural Language Processing Applied to Emotion Analysis for Continuous Improvement in Industrial Environments

2026 , Álvarez Sánchez, Ana , Suárez del Villar, Alexis , Sánchez Redrobán, José

The objective of this study was to analyze emotions expressed in natural language within Ecuadorian industrial environments using natural language processing (NLP) techniques. A sample of 150 anonymized texts was used, extracted from workplace climate surveys, satisfaction forms, operational reports, and digital suggestion boxes from companies in the manufacturing, food, logistics, health, education, and technology sectors. The texts were processed with an NLP pipeline using the spaCy library for cleaning, tokenization, and lemmatization, and semantically represented pre-trained models such as multilingual BERT and Emotion BERT. Supervised classification identified six emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and neutrality. Statistical analysis revealed that the most frequent emotion was neutrality (34% of the total), followed by joy (21%), sadness (18%), anger (12%), fear (10%), and surprise (5%). At the sectoral level, logistics was the sector with the highest proportion of joy (28%), followed by food (24%) and manufacturing (12%). Manufacturing, on the other hand, had the highest proportions of sadness (20%) and anger (18%). The temporal analysis of positive sentiment between January and June 2025 showed a sustained increase in the technology sector, which rose from 62% to 77%. The healthcare sector showed an oscillating curve, falling from 58% to 56% in March and recovering to 63% in June. Education showed a cyclical pattern between 49% and 54%, related to its institutional calendar. In contrast, manufacturing remained stable but low, fluctuating between 40% and 42%. These results show that PLN allows us to capture structural emotional differences between sectors, and that these emotions can be correlated with internal dynamics of recognition, workload, or participation. It is concluded that automated emotional analysis is a useful tool for monitoring the organizational climate, anticipating psychosocial risks, and designing tailored intervention strategies. Its systematic application is recommended in organizations with digitized internal communication structures, especially in sectors with high turnover or emotional vulnerability. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

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Machine Learning Algorithms for Filtering Data Acquired by Arduino

2024 , Mateo Llerena , Jessica López , Cumbajín Alferez, Myriam , Carlos Gordón

In this paper, we developed an artificial intelligence-based data filtering algorithm to improve the accuracy and reliability of MPU6050 sensor measurements. Using the Edge Impulse platform, we trained and optimized the machine learning model for real-time processing of accelerometer and gyroscope readings. The solution was implemented on the ESP32 with a sampling rate of 600 Hz. The experimental results validated the effectiveness of the solution, highlighting its relevance in applications requiring real-time monitoring

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AN ASSESSMENT OF CUBAN FOOD SECURITY BASED ON THE AGRICULTURAL AREA UNDER CULTIVATION AND AGRICULTURAL YIELDS

2022 , Cosío, E.C. , Suárez del Villar, Alexis , Álvarez Sánchez, Ana , Cruz, I.A.

The research was carried out with official data published in the country, collected from official information sources from 2007 to 2019. In the variables analyzed, the following were considered as having high explanatory power: land distribution, total area, agricultural area, cultivated area, yields of selected crops. For the calculation of the nutritional needs of the population, the nutritional recommendations for the Cuban population were taken into account and the productions were grouped ac-cording to the classification established for the food groups in Cuba. The country’s agricultural area is 6400.18 Mha in 2019, which its use decreases for all the items studied, except for banana, bell pepper, bean, lemon, guava and pump fruit. In addition, yields of the main crops are low, as is the productivity of the livestock sector analyzed. To contribute to the achieve-ment of food security for the Cuban population in correspondence with the standards of the National Institute of Nutrition, an area with technological package (irrigation and optimal yields) of 3942577.82 ha is needed, existing agricultural area in the country; and without technological package (without irrigation), an area of 6424285.82 ha, which are insufficient in 23485 ha. © 2022, University of Cienfuegos, Carlos Rafael Rodriguez. All rights reserved.

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