The Universidad de Medellín (UdeMedellín or UdeM) is a Colombian private university located in Medellín offering 27 undergraduate programs, 36 specializations, 21 masters, and six doctoral programs. It was founded on February 1, 1950, by a group of prominent professors and intellectuals in response to the intolerance and political persecution that existed in the country, with the goal of creating a secular and welcoming institution apart from the political ideologies of the time.It has seven academic faculties such as Law, economic and administrative sciences, engineering, communication, design, basic sciences and social and human sciences.In 2021, the National Ministry of Education renewed the university's Institutional Accreditation of High Quality until 2027.
Building pathologies may result from structural deficiencies or unfavourable geotechnical conditions. When unstable ground affects diverse structures across wide areas, slow surface deformation often produces minor, unnoticed damage, commonly misattributed to poor construction in low-income districts. This study uses multitechnique Interferometric SAR (InSAR) to reveal large unstable sectors in Medellín, Colombia, disentangling structural from geomorphological drivers of damage hotspots. We integrated Sentinel-1 Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) and persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) processing, automated active deformation area (ADA) extraction, detailed geomorphological interpretation, and city-wide structural damage reports from the municipal risk management agency. Multiple ADAs with line-of-sight velocities exceeding −70 mm/yr were identified, focusing on three sectors (“Doce de Octubre”, “Manrique”, and “Villa Hermosa”). InSAR-detected deformation coincided with gravitational landforms, suggesting reactivation of large, slow-moving deep-seated mass movements and a previously unrecognized deep-seated gravitational slope deformation system in the Aburrá Valley hillslopes. Statistical analyses showed no relationship between building type and ground motion, but strong spatial clustering and overlap between ADAs and neighbourhood-level damage densities, especially in the northeast. Recent 2025 landslides occurred within preidentified zones, validating the instability mapping. A detailed geomorphological assessment based on high-resolution digital elevation models and historical aerial photographs supports the hypothesis that extensive sectors of the city are affected by slow-moving, deep-seated landslides. This finding challenges the prevailing assumption that building damage hotspots in Medellín are primarily caused by construction deficiencies and underscores the need to incorporate slow-moving landslide processes into urban hazard management strategies.
Growing environmental concerns have promoted the adoption of sustainable practices in pavement engineering, including the incorporation of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) into asphalt mixtures. RAP, obtained from existing asphalt pavements that have reached the end of their service life, allows the reuse of valuable materials, reducing both the consumption of natural resources and production costs. However, its influence on the fracture performance of asphalt mixtures remains a critical issue, particularly at high RAP contents. This study evaluated the applicability of the Flexibility Index Test (FIT), according to the AASHTO TP 124-20 standard, to characterize the cracking resistance of MDC-19 dense hot-mix asphalt containing 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% RAP. The load-displacement response obtained from the FIT was used to determine fracture energy and the Flexibility Index (FI). The results revealed a clear relationship between RAP content and fractured performance. The mixture containing 25% RAP exhibited the highest fracture energy and the greatest average Flexibility Index (25.53), indicating superior resistance to crack initiation and propagation compared with the control mixture (FI = 13.84). In contrast, RAP contents above 50% produced a marked reduction in both fracture energy and FI, with average FI values close to 3, reflecting a transition toward a more brittle mechanical behavior caused by the increased stiffness of the aged asphalt binder. These findings demonstrate that moderate RAP incorporation can enhance cracking resistance without the use of additives or rejuvenators, whereas high RAP contents significantly reduce the energy dissipation capacity and flexibility of the mixtures. The study supports the implementation of the Flexibility Index Test as a reliable tool for evaluating recycled asphalt mixtures in pavement design and quality control.
Esta investigación analiza cómo el estilo visual de Arca influye en la identidad queer de la generación Z. A partir de una metodología cualitativa, se aplicaron entrevistas semiestructuradas y cartas proyectivas a cinco personas con identidades de género diversas.
El texto analiza los presupuestos epistemológicos y metodológicos fundamentales de la aproximación que la teoría crítica contemporánea ha desarrollado para el análisis crítico-normativo del Estado democrático de derecho y la esfera pública-política, principalmente a partir de los desarrollos de la crítica reconstructiva de Jürgen Habermas. A partir de la lectura de las fuentes bibliográficas primarias se propone que la centralidad de aquellas estructuras normativas del mundo moderno se deriva de dos aspectos epistemológicos y metodológicos centrales: la interpretación de la acción y el diagnostico social de las condiciones en las que la libertad política podría realizarse. Con ello, se presenta el modo en que el paradigma crítico de investigación social, conocido como la Escuela de Frankfurt, ha evolucionado hasta nuestros días y se destacan algunos alcances de estos cambios. El texto concluye exponiendo cómo es que la perspectiva contemporánea de la teoría crítica llega construir una defensa de ciertas ideas e instituciones democráticas.
Gamification has become a strategic resource for software engineering, supporting motivation, engagement, and collaboration in software development teams. In agile teams, the retrospective, a recurring meeting at the end of each iteration, is the tool to inspect how the last sprint went. In the retrospective sessions, the team identifies what worked well, and creates actionable items. Throughout this process, gamification can enhance reflection to foster continuous improvement. This paper presents the evaluation and redesign of the gamified strategy Ga-Starfish, which guides agile teams through structured, motivational retrospective practices. Unlike traditional tools, Ga-Starfish focuses on non-technical factors influencing team productivity and incorporating gamification elements aligned with ten predefined principles from existing literature. A formal framework was applied to assess the degree of gamification using quantitative variables, supported by an interactive Shiny-based interface that automates calculations and generates visual reports. Results classified the strategy as partially gamified (32.98
