Latin-American Journal of Computing

Editorial

Edison Loza, Dr. — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 00:35:28 +0000

A recognized statement states that change is the only constant in life. Societies, organizations, and people evolve, change, to adapt or anticipate the challenges of their environments. These changes in turn engender new changes, which causes these evolutions to accelerate. To the point at which, the advances that are taking place today have never been so massive or of such magnitude.

It is within this framework that, starting with this issue, I have the pleasure of once again collaborating as co-editor of the Latin American Journal of Computing. I was fortunate to work, until three years ago, under the direction of Jenny Torres Olmedo, PhD., when she was editor-in-chief. And now I have the honor of supporting Denys Flores Arnas, PhD., and his team in this scientific dissemination challenge. The entire team of the journal has worked very hard to bring you this issue, and we have several initiatives that will be implemented in future issues and of which we will have news very soon.

The articles selected for this issue gather interesting contributions from the different fields of computing. Thus, José Sillagana, Daniel Morocho-Lara, Génesis Dayana Pinto and Yennifer Bustos Gamboa present a mixed experimental study focused on the contribution of gamification in the learning of Mathematics in basic education. In their work, these authors report the contributions of the development of web 3.0 authoring resources for Canvas, Liveworksheet and Nearpood.

Luis Pineda, Bayron S. Gutiérrez, Marcos Orellana Cordero and Jorge Luis Zambrano-Martínez present their results on the implementation of layered encryption methods through distributed systems using SOAP. Their work allows to increase the security of the data that is sent from an origin to its destination with a minimum consumption of computational resources in the system.

In their article, Cristhian H. Bastidas Paz and Héctor F. Chinchero Villacís present an energy management system for intelligent buildings using distributed generation. For this, the authors use a control system based on a microcomputer, which defines a control algorithm based on different scenarios where the energy rules for each of the building services are determined. As a result, reductions of about 50% in energy consumption are reported.

Carlos A. Aguirre and Carlos E. Anchundia report the results of the development of a middleware for the interconnection of a mobile application with a legacy system. To do this, the authors worked on a reengineering process for the legacy system, developed methods for data translation, applied security controls, and redesigned user interfaces to adapt them to a mobile environment.

The work of Brian Jordano Cagua Gómez, Julia Edith Pilatasig Caizaguano and Roberto Rodrigo Aguiar Falconí focuses on contributing, through static nonlinear analysis, a method for the evaluation of steel frames. New functionalities of the system for seismic-structural analysis CEINCI LAB are presented.

Sergio Jiménez and Andrés Merino present the application of machine learning models based on CRISP-DM to analyze the levels of depression in students at an Ecuadorian university. The authors conducted a study with 302 students consisting of the Beck Depression Inventory II. From their work, a model with 0.59 accuracy was obtained and it was verified that the variables of gender, age and interpersonal relationships are the most significant when determining the severity of depression.

We hope these articles will be an interesting contribution for our readers. We invite all our audience to continue sending with their contributions. We keep the door open for any concerns and contacts with us and with the authors of the contributions presented in this issue.

Gamification in Mathematics

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:41:00 +0000

The application of gamification in education is scarce; therefore, the purpose of this study is to consider the contribution of Gamification in the learning of Mathematics in eighth grade students of General Basic Education. The methodology used has a quali-quantitative approach, of exploratory experimental type, based on the survey technique with the questionnaire instrument, instrument validated with Cronbach's alpha with a result of 0.846, on a Likert scale of 5 points, applied to a sample of 30 students with a pretest and a posttest. Thus, it was determined the non-use of gamification resources for the teaching of mathematics, so that an intervention was performed with the developed author resources of the web 3. 0 by means of the A.D.D.I.E. methodology in the Canva, Liveworksheet and Nearpood applications. To measure the results and test the hypothesis, chi-square statistics and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used, finding that gamification contributes to the learning of mathematics and generates interactive classes awakening the students' attention.

Non-linear Static Analysis of Steel Frames using OpenSees and CEINCI LAB

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 22:27:13 +0000

Static nonlinear analysis, called Pushover, is focused on the application of incremental lateral forces to a structure to visualize its probable performance under seismic actions; this is important in countries such as Ecuador, where there is high seismicity. This paper describes the new CEINCI LAB functions for Pushover analysis of steel frames. The CEINCI LAB Computational System is a collection of functions for the seismic-structural analysis. Since 2019, functions have been developed to facilitate data input and presentation of results about non-linear analysis of structures using OpenSees. Our motivation is to present new functions that allow us obtaining animations of the analysis, and to appreciate the level of damage in the structural elements by means of a color code, facilitating the interpretation of the results. Besides, these functions generate an editable file with information on the structural model, type of analysis, results, and other parameters of interest that can be modified on demand. The modeling procedure is illustrated with emphasis on the developed computational functions and their functionality.

The Energy Management System for Smart Buildings using Distributed Generation

Cristhian H. Bastidas Paz, Héctor F. Chinchero Villacís — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 20:00:12 +0000

This paper presents an energy management system for Smart Buildings (SB) using Distributed Generation (DG). The proposal allows reducing the excessive energy consumption of lighting, air conditioning and computing systems at the campus of the administrative building at the University PUCESE. We employ a control system based on the raspberry microcomputer, which allows establishing the working conditions autonomously. The system defines a control algorithm based on different scenarios, where the energy rules for each of the building's services are determined. As a result, there is a 50 % reduction in energy consumption for each of the systems, evidencing a reduction in the energy bill and in the ecological footprint of the building.

Text encryption through distributed systems

Luis D. Pineda, Bayron Gutiérrez, Marcos Orellana, Jorge Luis Zambrano-Martínez — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 19:14:52 +0000

In recent years, the exponential growth of interconnections between digital devices has led to a significant increase in cyberattack incidents, often leading to severe and disastrous consequences for an organization by exploiting existing vulne rabilities in emerging technologies. One of the most innovative and effective defense mechanisms is cryptography, considered an essential requirement in the cybersecurity community for data protection. In this paper, we implement encryption methods executed on each machine in a distributed manner through the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) web service for the data that want to be protected. To achieve it, a distributed system was created with virtual machines that host encryption methods such as AES-256, Caesar, and Blowfish, to send encrypted data from a source machine to a destination machine and, in turn, decrypt the encrypted data. The results obtained were excellent because our proposal adds more security to the data, performing it difficult for attackers to obtain the data quickly. In addition, the consumption of computational resources for executing the algorithms in the distributed system is minimal, which is adequate to guarantee its use in any computer with limited resources.

The Middelware development for interconecting a mobile app with a legacy system

Carlos Arturo Aguirre Maldonado, Carlos Eduardo Anchundia Valencia — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 17:15:50 +0000

The modernization of legacy systems is a complex process due to the limitations that they can present when facing of new trends and technologies. Systems such as the “Control Gerencial/Web” (CG/Web) software of the Ecuadorian company “Información Tecnológica del Ecuador S.A.” (“I.T. del Ecuador”) exemplify these challenges. The system architecture, source code, data management and possible bad practices applied are some aspects that engineers must consider when implementing updates of these systems. We develop the CGApp mobile application as a solution to the mobility needs of managerial users of the CG/Web system. However, the development was conditioned by the monolithic architecture of the legacy system, requiring the design and implementation of a middleware as a means of interaction between the mobile component and the elements of the CG/Web. Therefore, we need to perform a legacy system reengineering process, developing methods for data translation, applying security controls and redesigning screens to adapt them to a mobile environment. As a result, it was possible to integrate the mobile application with the legacy system, adding value to the project.

CRISP-DM-based Machine Learning Models for Analyzing the Depression Level in Students of the National Polytechnic School

Sergio Jiménez, Andrés Merino — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 16:48:31 +0000

This project analyzes the depression rates among students from Escuela Politécnica Nacional (EPN). A total of 302 students from different EPN careers, voluntarily and anonymously completed an online survey of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). In addition, they were asked to answer 19 questions related to the lifestyle of an EPN student; These questions were reviewed and endorsed about their possible relationship with depressive disorders by a professional in the field of psychology. The CRISP-DM methodology was used for the project phases, which involved the analysis of the current situation, objectives setting, data collection, data preparation, and construction of ML models that allows predicting the degree of depression based on the BDI-II metrics and evaluation of the models. The model obtained has 0.59 accuracy score and shows that variables of gender, age and relationships are significant to determine severity depression.

Educational technology to teach lip reading: a systematic review of the literature

Evelyn Jazmín Del Pezo Izaguirre, María Abásolo, César Collazos — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this study is to identify the production of educational resources from scientific publications, web pages and mobile application store for the teaching of lip reading to the deaf, emphasizing the applied educational methodologies and the use of technology. The results refer to technological solutions supported by audiovisual elements and texts, leaving sign language in the background. The methodological approach applied is passive, combines synchronous and asynchronous media, uses low levels of gamification and extended reality, demands prior knowledge of reading and writing to interact with the tools that are oriented to the practice of vocabulary or phrases. The presence of mobile applications is minimal in relation to the number of web pages and projects derived from scientific productions to teach lip reading, in general they scarcely mention technical documentation of the projects unless they are the product of formal postgraduate studies.

Assessing the Cyber Threat Landscape for Virtual Power Plants

Georgios Gkoktsis — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) aggregate and coordinate Distributed Energy Resources (DER) as a single entity aiding in decarbonization of the energy generation mix. The infrastructure of VPPs relies heavily on rigorous and accurate exchange of information between the DER and the VPP, as well as other grid entities. This exposes them to possible cyber threats that impede their functions and can have negative impacts on the stability and reliability of the grid. In this paper, the threat landscape is evaluated against threats that affect VPPs. A heuristic method of assessing the impact and likelihood of attacks is constructed based on a) proposed methods in literature, b) standardization bodies, and c) in relation to a VPPs security profile. Our findings indicate that False Data Injection attacks are posing the greatest risk, competing with disruption of their functions due to Denial of Service.