Mandibular fractures are common facial lesions typically treated with titanium plate and screw systems; nevertheless, this material is associated with secondary effects. Absorbable material for implants is an alternative to titanium, but there are also problems such as incomplete screw insertion and screw breakage due to high pretension in the screw caused by the insertion torque. The purpose of this paper is to find the optimal screw pretension (SP) in absorbable plate and screw systems by means of artificial neural network (ANN) and its inverse (ANNi). This optimal SP must satisfy a desired maximum von Mises strain (MVMS). For training the ANN, a database was generated by means of a design of experiments (DOE). Each DOE configuration was solved by means of finite element method (FEM) calculations. To obtain the optimal value for (SP) in the mini absorbable screw for fracture fixation, a strategy to invert the ANN is developed. Using the ANN coefficients, a sensitive study was performed to identify the influence of the design parameters in the MVMS. The optimal SP obtained was 14.9742 N. The MVMS condition was satisfied with an error less than 1.1% in comparison with FEM and ANN results. The screw shaft length is the most influencing MVMS parameter.

En el presente trabajo se revisa el estado del arte que guarda la manufactura aditiva en cuanto a sus avances en la mejora de sus materiales, específicamente, a través de la incorporación de materiales compuestos, como la fibra de carbono. Además, se hace una revisión de los procesos convencionales de manufactura de materiales compuestos y se analiza el grado de aplicación de la manufactura aditiva y los materiales compuestos en la manufactura de prótesis transtibiales prostéticas y de uso deportivo, con el objetivo de identificar oportunidades de mejora.

At present, the manufacturing industries require the implementation of more efficient and flexible fabrication processes to offer high-quality products. The changeover methodologies can be used to reduce the setup times, allowing the industries to be more competitive. The application of changeover methodologies is mainly influenced by the 4Ps model, which is composed of organizational and design factors, such as people, practices, product, and processes. However, this model is not useful in determining the relationship between each one of the Ps and the changeover activities. In this chapter, the authors have developed an exhaustive review of the references to establish the indicators to design an instrument composed of 79 items and divided into the five constructs of the 4P model, which was statistically validated using the Kendall W indicator and the Cronbach´s alpha indicator.

This work explores the factors and indicators that influence the interest and motivation of children to pursue Science, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) in basic education. The STEM interest, through the dimensions of Hands-on and Playful Learning, Technologies and Scientific Skills, Vocational Motivation towards Engineering, Creativity and Visual Learning, Adult Support and Guidance, and Curiosity and Motivation for discovery, was evaluated using data from a survey instrument administered to 165 elementary school children. Results showed that children exhibit enhanced interest in dynamic activities and technological devices, and highlight the relevance of factors such as family support and the practical experience in STEM skill development. These findings suggest the necessity of specific educational curricula in order to increase STEM interest from an early age, with targeted interventions to obtain better STEM competencies at the basic education stage.

El cambio constante en los mercados, así como clientes más exigentes en los temas de calidad, las variaciones de productos y tiempos de entrega, ha inducido que las organizaciones tengan que generar innovaciones tecnologías de tipo radical y/o incremental en sus productos o sistemas de fabricación, esto a través de la mejora de sus procesos administrativos y de tecnologías que favorezcan la eficiencia y flexibilidad de los procesos productivos. En este sentido, una de las problemáticas más investigadas por las empresas de manufactura son los cambios de modelo, que, a pesar de la implementación de metodologías de manufactura de clase mundial, aún queda un área de oportunidad en la mejora continua de reducir los tiempos de cambio, los cuales benefician la productividad, eficiencia, flexibilidad y calidad de la compañía, por lo que en este artículo se estudian una serie de indicadores críticos diferenciados en factores administrativos y técnicos evaluados en la industria maquiladora de Tijuana, Baja California, a través de la aplicación de un instrumento de medición validado por expertos y por el coeficiente de fiabilidad de alfa de Cronbach de 0.974, a una muestra de 337 individuos que tienen relación directa en los procesos de cambios, quedando de manifiesto la necesidad de controlar variables en el área técnica del sistemas de fabricación y relacionadas con el diseño de los productos, que al ser consideradas permite generar acciones de mejoras más eficientes.