This research addressed a need for technical evaluation of the oceanic scenario of Panama for the use of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Its bathymetry and location can potentially lead to the exploitation of OTEC, diversifying the energy matrix and helping achieve sustainability. Nevertheless, site selection for OTEC can be a complex task since it involves various alternatives, with different quantitative and qualitative criteria, which may conflict in some cases. Optimization and multiple criteria (MCD) methods have been used lately to address these issues; however, their use is still limited. Here, Analytic Hierarchical Analysis (AHP) is proposed as a MCD method for site selection. Six sites of interest were considered as the alternatives for a plant installment. These sites were chosen, excluding the environmentally and aboriginal protected areas. The quantitative criteria considered were surface and deep-water temperatures, coastline distance, gross and net efficiency. Those variables related to the efficiency, such as the water temperatures, can be considered the most influential, leading to Punta Burica, located on Panama’s Pacific coast, as the best option (96.17%).

The expansion of the Panama Canal could be the largest project attempted by the Republic of Panama in its 100 years of existence. The objective of this simulation study is to use the canal expansion project to develop and demonstrate how more precise and applied concepts involving the complex decision making processes can be used in large "system of systems". It is an attempt to explain the decision making process for complex systems, and to develop a model that will help with the political, social and economic decision making processes involved in this very large project. Challenges involved in this research initiative included developing the parametric expressions that explain the dynamical intricacies and validation of the expansion project. A hybrid system is also proposed by using different types of simulation and mechanisms such as neural networks to incorporate some of the societal/political parameters

The goal is to present the main free and open access search engines such as PATENTSCOPE and Google Patents. It also seeks to verify the information retrieval system, which seeks to transform the user's information needs into a list or collection of documents whose content satisfies that need. We present the comparison of both verifying each one independently and then, a summary table. Finally, it is concluded that the constant search for inventions can make the difference between the positions of competences between global companies; It is for this reason that patents prove to be a source of reliable information on the subjects of interest of the people or companies. Pantestscope and Google Patents allows you to download as much data as a table for future analysis of the information. Keywords: Information retrieval, Patents, Patentscope, Google Patents, Web

Critical infrastructures are those key assets that provide highly demanded services for the growth and development of cities, and that impact on the economy and the quality of life of its inhabitants. Catastrophic events draw attention when they affect these critical infrastructures: terrorist attacks, cyber theft, natural disasters, among others, demonstrating that it is vital for countries to know the interdependent functioning of critical infrastructure systems, their ignorance can generate human losses and important economic The proposed study methodology consists of developing a causal analysis of the interdependencies in critical infrastructures, as a mental model of events that includes all affected stakeholders. The analysis of social networks is also used as a methodology to dimension interacting systems connected as a social network, which identify their most influential and most central actors that are related during an event. For the development of this analysis, it is used as a study base, a national blackout that left a whole country paralyzed for 4 hours, generating millions of losses and penalties, and which also put the entire Central American energy system at risk. The results identify 13 interacting systems before the event of a national blackout, and indicate a high cohesion between them, which increases their vulnerability to being so dependent on the electrical system.

Los residuos sólidos orgánicos son una materia prima con potencial para producir energía y materiales de medio y alto valor agregado. Los residuos orgánicos incluyen biomasa residual de actividades agrícolas y ganaderas que pueden promover una economía circular y el desarrollo de la sostenibilidad en diferentes áreas. Este proyecto tiene como objetivo la carbonización de residuos agroindustriales para su aplicación en suelos de regiones agrícolas. Esto podría ayudar a mejorar las propiedades fisicoquímicas del suelo. En este documento se presentó un resumen de los avances en la identificación de biomasa disponible. Este estudio se centró en la región de Azuero ya que se ha informado que los suelos de esta región están degradados. Como parte de los resultados anteriores, se identificaron ocho residuos con potencial de carbonización. Se aplicaron encuestas a productores agroindustriales y se utilizaron bases de datos nacionales para calcular la cantidad de residuos no utilizados para cultivos específicos. Los resultados para residuos de arroz y maíz se presentan en este documento. Se identificó que el residuo de arroz en los distritos de Tonosí, Pedasí y Pocrí fue de aproximadamente 52140 toneladas, 11984 toneladas y 3727 toneladas, respectivamente. Para el residuo de maíz, los distritos de Los Santos, Pocrí y Las Tablas generaron alrededor de 14045 toneladas, 12406 toneladas y 12264 toneladas, respectivamente. Por lo tanto, la cantidad de biomasa generada en la región podría representar una oportunidad para su implementación en diferentes actividades, incluida la carbonización, para mejorar la calidad de las áreas agrícolas.