An earthquake of Mw 7.1 occurred on January 14, 2018 in the southern coast of Peru. In this study, public available Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) were used to look for ionospheric disturbances pre- and postearthquake. Twelve days before the seismic event, a positive anomaly was detected at low latitudes in the northern hemisphere in differential vertical total electron content maps. Moreover, given the low-latitude nature of this incident, changes in the shape of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) were analyzed as well. A significant amplification of the northern crest in the EIA of 33.3 % was also observed 12 days before the earthquake. Because the geomagnetic and solar conditions for January 2, 2018 were very quiet and also knowing that natural ground radioactivity produced by the earthquake's preparation can increas...

A catastrophic seismic event of M w 7.8 occurred on April 16, 2016 in Ecuador. As with some other major earthquakes, many human lives were lost. Thus in the last two decades, the search for seismo-ionospheric signatures has become an active field of research. In order to provide further insights into ionospheric precursors of earthquakes, Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) were used to look for ionospheric anomalies prior to the earthquake in Ecuador. By producing differential Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) maps and using a statistical method, a negative ionospheric anomaly was observed 10 days before the incident. At different confidence levels the negative disturbance was permanently visible. This anomaly also is located within the earthquake preparation zone, defined by the Dobrovolsky equation. Additionally, due to t...

A catastrophic seismic event of M w 7.8 occurred on April 16, 2016 in Ecuador. As with some other major earthquakes, many human lives were lost. Thus in the last two decades, the search for seismo-ionospheric signatures has become an active field of research. In order to provide further insights into ionospheric precursors of earthquakes, Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) were used to look for ionospheric anomalies prior to the earthquake in Ecuador. By producing differential Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) maps and using a statistical method, a negative ionospheric anomaly was observed 10 days before the incident. At different confidence levels the negative disturbance was permanently visible. This anomaly also is located within the earthquake preparation zone, defined by the Dobrovolsky equation. Additionally, due to t...

Predatory open access journals and predatory conferences’ main purpose is to make profit rather than promoting good science. In Peru, the University Law 30220 asks that professors and lecturers undertake research duties at universities. Hence, nowadays part of this academic staff is required to write scientific articles. However, not all of them are experienced on how to write a scholarly paper. Thus, in the rush to comply with the publication requirements that their individual institutions demand from them, a great number of these professors and lecturers are likely to fall prey of predatory publishing, which already is happening in other developing nations. This publishing method is not only unethical because it produces low-quality articles but also is an egregious mismanagement of the resources that universities allocate to fund research. Moreover, the time and effort that the acad...

Introduction: The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 2 aims to end malnutrition in all its forms. To reach this goal one of the several health problems to tackle is childhood obesity. Aim: In this study, spatial data for the prevalence of obesity among Peruvian children under five years of age in 2017 is presented and analyzed in order to observe in which regions this disease is a high risk. Material and Methods: By geo-referencing public data provided by the National Institute of Health from Peru and using a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool, it was possible to generate maps of prevalences and also of clusters and outliers at a regional and district level, respectively. Results: Observing at the map of prevalences, it could be identified that in the natural region of the coast there are the highest prevalences of obesity among children under five. A second map showing the ...

A moderate geomagnetic storm occurred on April 20, 2018. Using vertical total electron content (VTEC) maps provided by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, ionospheric responses to the geomagnetic storm could be identified in generated two-dimensional differential VTEC maps. During the day of the storm the enhancement of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), product of the super-fountain effect was identified. A localized TEC enhancement (LTE) was also observed to the south of the EIA on April 20, 2018. It was also possible to visualize this LTE in a longitudinal section of the EIA as a third crest. The maximum increment of VTEC for the LTE was 204%. This LTE is quite unique because it happened during the expected solar cycle 24 and 25 minimum, and according to a previous study no LTE observation could be done for the last solar two-cycle minimum. The origin of the observed L...

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is not only having a negative impact on individuals’ physical health, but also on their mental health. Particularly, people living in disadvantaged communities in the developing world have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. They live precariously and are more vulnerable to mental health issues. Objective: In this study, we have evaluated COVID-19-related anxiety and fear and the predictors associated with them among shantytown dwellers in the Peruvian capital. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which 816 shantytown dwellers participated. Anxiety and fear of the virus were assessed using the Corona Anxiety Scale (CAS) and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Also, sociodemographic data were collected. Results: Stable and occasional workers were more likely to show the anxiety about the virus, whereas older adults presented higher levels of fear of CO...

A software tool was developed in the Imaging Processing Research laboratory (INTI-Lab) that automatically downloads several IONEX files around a specific user input date and also performs statistical calculations to look for ionospheric anomalies through the generation of differential vertical total electron content (ΔVTEC) maps. The IONEX CODE-Database Processing Tool (ICPT) software allows to save a considerable amount of time spended in gathering the necessary IONosphere map EXchange (IONEX) files for the production of differential VTEC maps. Using the ICPT software we were able to detect ionospheric anomalies before the devastating earthquake that happened in Mexico on September 7, 2017. A positive and negative ionospheric anomalies were detected nine days and one day before the seismic event. Due to stable geomagnetic conditions we suggest that the anomalies are assocciated to the ...

Sugarcane diseases in Peru occur due to the agricultural community's lack of understanding of these, which means a slow response to the application of methods of control and eradication of these diseases; thus, causing economic losses and underproduction. Due to the aforementioned, a web application for sugarcane diseases recognition is proposed. The five types of sugarcane diseases that will be recognized using this system are: Pineapple Sett Rot, Ring Spot, Mosaic, Brown Rust and Leaf Scorch. This system was developed using GoogLeNet, which is a 22 layers convolutional neural network (CNN), and also the Matlab software and its App Designer extensions (for the web application creation); additionally, Matlab Web App Server was used to host the application on the web. The pre-trained neural network developed in Matlab based on the GoogLeNet architecture allowed the creation and configurat...

High concentrations of CO2 levels are significantly present in closed environments that do not have proper ventilation. Such high concentrations generate negative health consequences such as dizziness, headaches and various respiratory problems. For this reason, the design and implementation of a low-cost CO2 monitoring and control prototype is proposed to optimize ventilation levels in closed spaces. The parameters that the proposed device measures are concentration of carbon dioxide, humidity and temperature. A digital PID controller was implemented, with the use of C++ programming language and an exhaust fan to stabilize carbon dioxide levels within a closed space. The aforementioned parameters can be viewed in two ways: The first way is locally through a LCD screen and LED indicators, and the second one, remotely using the free Arduino IoT Cloud platform. The closed environment was e...

The present work has the purpose of determining and implementing the optimal design to convert a conventional bicycle into an electric bicycle (e-bike) for public transport in order to help people to move around urban areas. The proposed e-bike is also affordable and meets the required standards and regulations. The design of the e-bike was carried out based on the mathematical model of a regular bicycle with the parameters for urban transport for its conversion into an electric bicycle. From this, the selection of components, mechanical upgrades, hardware and firmware designs was carried out. Finally, a data acquisition method for the tests was conducted. The results of the design parameters, the maximum motor assistance speed, the inclination control and the results against different slopes were obtained from these tests. Our results showed that, based on the incorporated control syste...

In recent decades, it has been shown that epidemiological surveillance is one of the most valuable tool that public health has, since it allows us to have an overview of the population general health, thus allowing to anticipate outbreaks of epidemics by helping in timely interventions. Currently there is an increase in cases of dengue disease in several regions of Peru. Therefore, to control this outbreak and to help population centers and human settlements that are far from the city this work puts forward a drone system with an object recognition algorithm. Drones are very efficient in terms of surveillance, allowing easy access to places that are difficult for humans. In this way, drones can carry out the field work that is required in epidemiological surveillance, carrying out photography or video work in real time, and thus identifying infectious foci of diverse diseases. In this wo...