Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
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El estadístico Robert F. Engle fue uno de los ganadores del Premio Nobel de Economía 2003, por sus estudios sobre métodos estadísticos en series temporales económicas. Engle tuvo como mérito el descubrimiento del concepto de la “Heteroscedasticidad Autoregresiva Condicional (ARCH)”, que permite modelar estadísticamente la volatilidad de numerosas series temporales. En este trabajo se hace una revisión de la literatura respecto a estos modelos y a su generalización: los modelos GARCH, se realiza una aplicación a la estimación de la volatilidad de los precios del quintal de café en el mercado ecuatoriano.

El presente documento ilustra la relación a largo y corto plazo que tiene la velocidad de circulación de dinero con otras dos variables económicas tales como: el nivel de ingreso reales (PIB Real 1975), y la tasa de interés de los bancos privados. Para esto se realizó el análisis de cointegración de las variables y el método de corrección de errores. Los resultados muestran la existencia de una relación de largo plazo para las variables mencionadas, y los valores obtenidos para los coeficientes son similares a los obtenidos para otras economías.

En el presente trabajo se muestra la relación que existe entre el filtraje con filtros paso-banda en el sentido clásico y la transformada Wavelet de Haar y el análisis multirresolución, se analizan también las propiedades de reconstrucción perfecta que tiene este tipo de desarrollo. Se utiliza el lenguaje de procesamiento de señales conjuntamente con el Análisis Multirresolución para pasar del Universo matemático (continuo) al universo de representación (discreto).

This research was performed with Pinus oocarpa Schiede ex Schltdl. Var. Ochoterenai of Forest Plantation of Colombia, which presents some important troubles that limiting its use, due to its low dimensional stability and mechanical resistance.  Polymer impregnation treatments could reduce deformation and improve physical and mechanical properties of the wood. The aim of this research was evaluated the effect of polyethylene glycol impregnation with molecular weight 600 and 1500, polyvinyl alcohol and zeolite addition, on density, dimensional stability, static flexion and compression parallel to Grain. The samples were impregnated in hot bath at 95 °C for 8 hours, and then impregnated at room temperature for 16 hours. The assessment of the wood was carried out under the Colombian Technical Standards NTC 290, 663, 784 and other standards. The best results were obtained with the impregnation of polyethylene glycol 1500 where the density increased between 21 % and 24 %; the anti-swelling efficiency was 60 %; in static flexion the modulus rupture increased 20 %, modulus of elasticity 39 % and compression parallel to grain increased 8 %.  Wood changed to the structural lumber category, improving in its mechanical and physical properties.  Treatment with polyethylene glycol 600 provided lower anti-swelling efficiency (14%), and lower improvement in density (8%), and in mechanical properties (1% to 7%).

The above-ground performance of decking treated with two alternative copper-based preservative formulations is being evaluated at a test site near Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Southern pine sapwood lumber specimens (38 mm by 140 mm by 910 mm) were pressure treated with 0,93 %, 1,40 % or 2,34 % (oxide basis) actives concentrations of a boron-copper formulation (BC) composed of 7,2 % copper hydroxide and 92,8 % sodium tetraborate decahydrate. Similar specimens were pressure-treated with 0,66 % or 1,32 % actives concentrations of a copper-zinc formulation (CZDP) composed of 18 % copper (CuO basis), 12 % zinc (ZnO basis), 14 % dimethylcocoamine and 56 % propanoic acid. In both cases untreated specimens and specimens treated with a 1% concentration of chromated copper arsenate Type C (CCA-C) were included for comparison.  The specimens were installed on racks approximately 760 mm above the ground and periodically evaluated for extent of fungal decay and surface microbial growth. After 18 years in test specimens treated with the lowest solution concentration of BC (0,93 %) suffered substantial degradation and all but three replicates have failed. Obvious decay has not yet been detected in specimens treated to the highest BC concentration (2,34 %), but decay is suspected in one of these specimens. Decking specimens treated with CZDP exhibited no evidence of decay until year 17 when a fruiting body was observed on one specimen treated with a 0,66 % solution concentration. There has been no evidence of decay in specimens treated with 1,32 % CZDP or in either set of specimens treated with 1 % CCA-C. Both BC and CZDP-treated specimens were at least as effective as 1 % CCA-C in minimizing noticeable surface microbial growth. These decking studies confirm that relatively low copper concentrations can provide substantial protection for decking exposed in a moderate climate, and that the CZDP formulation is potentially more effective than the BC formulation. However, caution is warranted in extrapolating these findings to more severe climates and to construction designs that are more likely to trap moisture.

Thermal treatments have the effect of reducing the hygroscopicity and improving the resistance to microbiological attack of wood by the degradation of its chemical constituents. During the treatments, the mass of the wood is reduced, a factor that can affect the quality of the materials according to their use. The objective was to verify the effect of the thermal treatment variables on the thermogravimetric properties and the chemical composition of Eucalyptus grandis. The treatments were carried out in a vacuum oven with three atmosphere conditions - vacuum; N2; vacuum+N2 at temperatures of 140, 180 and 220 °C for 6 hours. It was observed that the mass loss during treatments differed only according to the temperatures used. The extractive content, total lignin and holocellulose presented significant changes only at 220°C in all three atmospheres. In the thermogravimetric analysis, the greatest value of residual mass was found in the treatment that used nitrogen and 220 °C, thus demonstrating that this treatment was more invasive, leading to the conclusion that the vacuum application can help to reduce the degradation of the constituents of the eucalypti wood. wood, which can lead to the production of thermally treated wood without great losses in the mechanical properties.

This study aimed to evaluate the variations in thermal and chemical characteristics of juvenile Eucalyptus grandis wood submitted to a deterioration test by Nasutitermes termites. For this purpose, a biodeterioration test with termites was conducted according to ASTM D 3345 (2008), in which, after the end of the period corresponding to the test (40 days), we evaluated the mass loss, chemical composition and thermal stability of the main components of the deteriorated wood samples and those belonging to the control group. We found that deterioration due to exposure of the samples to Nasutitermes sp. termites caused a mass loss of 66.88% for wood with a density at 12% moisture content of 0.412 g.cm-3. The quantitative chemical composition showed a reduction in the contents of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Analysis of the variations of the organic functional groups related to the chemical composition of the wood by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and relative intensity of the spectral bands also showed reductions, demonstrating homogeneous deterioration of the main components of the deteriorated woods. The thermal stability showed an increase in deteriorated wood for most of the temperature ranges, mainly for those that corresponded to losses in moisture and volatiles (25 °C - 100 °C), hemicelluloses (240 °C - 300 °C), celluloses, and together with initial lignin degradation (310 °C to 400 °C), possibly due to the removal of cellulose and hemicellulose, as well as the deposition of substances expelled by the termites in the cell wall. From the results, we conclude that the termites do not have specificity regarding the chemical component and that the deterioration caused variations in the chemical composition of the wood, whereas the opposite was observed for thermal stability, which presented an increase in most of the temperatures ranges for the deteriorated woods compared to the control group.

Thermal modification of wood is a promising alternative to chemical and biocidal modification processes, increasing the biological durability and dimensional stability of wood. However, the wood-decay resistance properties of heat-treated wood are still not well known. The main objective of this study was to determine the biological resistance of heat-treated ash wood, and assess the antifungal and anti-termite activity of extractive compounds from heat-treated ash woods, depending on the intensity of the modification process (2 hours at 170, 200, 215, 228 (°C) - steam pressure). Untreated and heat-treated wood samples were extracted with water or acetone. The extracts were then used to determine inhibition effectiveness against white-rot (Trametes versicolor) and brown-rot (Rhodonia placenta) fungi. Whatman papers impregnated with extractives were used to evaluate the inhibition of termite feeding. Lastly, the extractives were analyzed by Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and compared for their level of anti‑termite and antifungal activity. The results showed that the degree of antifungal activity of these extracts depended on the solvent used during the extraction process and varied depending on heat treatment intensity. The extracts were more effective against brown-rot than white-rot fungi. However, the anti-termite activity of heat-treated ash wood extracts was not really significant. A GC-MS analysis showed that the main share of the extractives in untreated wood was removed. In addition, new chemical elements were generated by the thermal degradation of wood polymers (lignin and hemicelluloses), including aliphatic acids, monosaccharides and other products resulting from their dehydration reaction. The most abundant element was syringaldehyde, from lignin derived compounds, which might explain the antifungal activities of thermally treated ash wood extracts.

The purpose of this study was to develop an automatic indirect (non-invasive) system to identify the condition of drill bits on the basis of the measurement of feed force, cutting torque, jig vibrations, acoustic emission and noise which were all generated during machining. The k-nearest neighbors algorithm classifier (k-NN) was used. All data analyses were carried out in MATLAB (MathWorks – USA) environment. It was assumed that the most simple (but sufficiently effective in practice) tool condition identification system should be able to recognize (in an automatic way) 3 different states of the tool, which were conventionally defined as “Green” (tool can still be used), “Red” (tool change is necessary) and “Yellow” (intermediate, warning state). The overall accuracy of classification was 76 % what can be considered a satisfactory result at this stage of studies.

Wood has several advantages as structural material. For this use to be applied in a safe way, it is necessary to know the statistical behavior of the mechanical properties. Some works and normative codes, such as the “Brazilian timber standard” (as well as its review project), accepts a normal distribution model for determining the characteristic value of compressive strength parallel to wood fiber, with the adoption of a coefficient of variation for this property equal to 18 %. This work evaluates the distribution model of compressive strength parallel to the fibers, as well as the coefficient of variation of this property. Tests and statistical treatment were performed in compression parallel to the fibers for 7 species of hardwood commonly found in Brazil. It was observed that the compressive strength of wood actually follows a normal distribution, and the adoption of an average coefficient of variation equal to 18 % is acceptable and in favor of safety.