Central University of Ecuador

About: Central University of Ecuador is a education organization based out in Quito, Ecuador. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 2220 authors who have published 1910 publications receiving 15052 citations.

ChatPy: Conversational agent for SMEs

Abstract: In the present research, we study the components and principles for chatbot built, perform an analysis and comparison of the different current technological platforms for Chatbots is done. The majority of SMEs in Ecuador feel the lack of support tools for customer service in their IT platforms, that is why they have seen in the development of this technology a solution to increase their sales and reach their customers. We propose ChatPy as an appropriate conversational agent for use in SMEs. An implementation of ChatPy is carried out in a wholesaler automotive spare parts, as a case of study. The ChatPy implementation uses the PSP framework. The results show improvement in sales, customer service and customer satisfaction.

El pensamiento crítico en la Educación

Abstract: El articulo tuvo como objetivo el detallar los factores que dificultan la aplicacion del pensamiento critico y senalar las posibles lineas de investigacion que puedan ser de interes en este. Se partio de una revision bibliografica en Scopus en relacion con los terminos: “critical thinking” en el titulo de los articulos y “critical thimking” en el titulo del documento y “education” en las palabras claves. En el primero de los caso se obtuvieron un total de 433 documentos, entre los anos 2004-2015, En el segundo se obtuvieron un total de 64 documentos, entre 2005-2015. El analisis de las tendencias de las publicaciones encontradas revelo que el pensamiento critico es una tematica de interes no solo para la educacion sino en otras disciplinas. Se discutieron las dificultades para la aplicacion del pensamiento critico en la Educacion, entre ellas las relacionadas con el cumplimiento de los estandares del pensamiento critico y aquellas que vienen dadas por la forma actual de evaluacion. Como lineas de investigacion de importancias se senalaron: bases conceptuales y filosoficas del pensamiento critico, estrategias pedagogicas para la aplicacion del pensamiento critico en los distintos niveles y asignaturas y aplicacion de tecnicas de mapeo y visualizacion.

Drug Nanoparticle Stability Assessment Using Isothermal and Nonisothermal Approaches

Abstract: Many drugs are administered in the form of liquid-dispersed nanoparticles. Frequently, one of the overlooked aspects in the development of this drug delivery system is the loss of efficacy and the degradation of the carried drugs. Estimating the shelf life of drug products implies the storage of samples under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity for different periods, ranging from months to years, delaying decisions during development, manufacturing, and commercialization. Adapting well-known isothermal and nonisothermal methods to nanoparticles would allow correlating kinetic parameters obtained in a single mathematical model and predicting the shelf life faster than traditional methods. Unlike the traditional approaches, the isoconversional method (i) considers drug products as heterogeneous systems, without a unique kinetic order, (ii) establishes a maximum percentage of degradation, (iii) assumes the same kinetics for all processes regardless of the conditions, and (iv) includes the influence of humidity by a modification of Arrhenius equation. This method serves in calculating the kinetic parameters and shelf life derived from them, in a few weeks. In the same way, nonisothermal treatments allow obtaining these parameters by differential scanning calorimetry. Samples are subjected to different heating rates to establish the temperature at which the thermal decomposition event occurs and, thus, to calculate in a few days the activation energy and the preexponential factor using the Kissinger method. But this approach has limitations: the isoconversional method does not consider crystalline state of the sample, while nonisothermal method ignores the effect of the storage conditions. Processing nanoparticles for isothermal and nonisothermal treatments would allow accurate and fast prediction of the drug-loaded nanoparticle shelf life correlating parameters obtained using a single mathematical model. The accuracy of the prediction would be assessed by comparison of estimated shelf life versus data coming from traditional stability studies.

La pandemia del Coronavirus en la Amazonía ecuatoriana: vulnerabilidades y olvido del Estado

Abstract: The Coronavirus pandemic, generated from the so-called SARS-CoV-2, unleashed a worldwide health crisis, with Latin America currently being the epicenter of the damage. Although in several countries of the region, the most populous cities are those with the highest cases of infection and death, the situations facing the Amazon basin, mainly in Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador are very worrying. In this article we focus on the Ecuadorian Amazon, with the framing of the figures of the pandemic, the cases of contagion in indigenous peoples and nationalities, the vulnerabilities, and the neglect of the State in guaranteeing access to health, prevention and management of the pandemic with attention to the specificities of geographic and cultural contexts. Finally, we present the actions carried out by indigenous organizations to curb the coronavirus.

Anthropometric variables as cardiovascular risk predictors in a cohort of adult subjects with Turner syndrome

Abstract: Background and purpose Excessive adiposity is associated with cardiometabolic complications in Turner syndrome (TS) subjects. Reference data for predictive anthropometric indices of overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) are lacking for subjects with TS. The purpose of this study was to identify the best anthropometric predictor of cardiometabolic risk in a Latin-American cohort of TS subjects. Patients and methods This was a cross-sectional correlational study conducted in adult TS subjects (n=88) over the past seven years. Anthropometric parameters, body composition and biochemical variables were evaluated in a study and in a reference (n=57) group. Overweight/obesity and MetS were diagnosed using international consensus. The area under the ROC curve (AUC-ROC) was then used to determine the value of each anthropometric variable in predicting MetS or overweight/obesity. Results The prevalence of MetS and overweight/obesity in TS subjects was 40% and 48%, respectively. All anthropometric and cardiometabolic variables were significantly increased in TS subjects when compared to the reference group, except for body mass index (BMI) and HDL-c. To detect MetS and overweight/obesity, waist to height ratio (WHtR) was found to have a higher correlation with cardiometabolic variables (TC, LDL-c, HDL-c levels and the LDL-c/HDL-c ratio), and to have a higher AUC-ROC and odds ratio than BMI, waist circumference (WC) and the waist to hip ratio (WHR). Conclusion The prevalence of MetS and overweight/obesity is elevated in TS subjects. WHtR was the most useful variable in predicting the presence of MetS and overweight and obesity in this TS cohort. A combination of WHtR with BMI or with WC could have the best clinical utility in identifying adult TS subjects with overweight/obesity and MetS, respectively.