VCD helps others in molecular aggregates

Molecular self-assembly is the driving force of a great number of physical, chemical and biological processes in Nature.1 The properties of the molecular aggregates are markedly dependent on the intermolecular forces which hold together the building blocks, but also on the chemical and structural features of these building blocks. The transference of properties from the individual molecules to the bulk aggregate can be summarized in three main behaviours: disappearance (dipole moment), direct sum (weight) and enhancement (resilience). A nice example of the last group is the optical activity. The presence of a chiral seed in the molecules modulates their folding by favouring one among the available macrostructures. As a consequence, new forms of supramolecular chirality are triggered, such as helical, spiral or chiral sheets, which usually give rise to a noticeable increasing of the chiral signal of the aggregates. Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) is the chiral version of infrared spectroscopy. It combines the intramolecular view provided by the molecular vibrations with the selective capability of a chiral analysis. It is also a suitable technique to observe the aggregation-induced signal enhancement in any type of condensed phase (solid, liquid, gel, etc). Here we present a series of studies on supramolecular systems, Figure 1, in which VCD helps and improves the analysis obtained by other techniques of chiral analysis as electron microscopy (SEM, AFM), electronic circular dichroism (ECD), Raman optical activity (ROA) or circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). These studies are aimed to obtain structural information of the macromolecular scaffolding useful to control the features and applications of the aggregates.Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Automating decision making to help establish norm-based regulations

Norms have been extensively proposed as coordination mechanisms for both agent and human societies. Nevertheless, choosing the norms to regulate a society is by no means straightforward. The reasons are twofold. First, the norms to choose from may not be independent (i.e, they can be related to each other). Second, different preference criteria may be applied when choosing the norms to enact. This paper advances the state of the art by modeling a series of decision-making problems that regulation authorities confront when choosing the policies to establish. In order to do so, we first identify three different norm relationships -namely, generalisation, exclusivity, and substitutability- and we then consider norm representation power, cost, and associated moral values as alternative preference criteria. Thereafter, we show that the decision-making problems faced by policy makers can be encoded as linear programs, and hence solved with the aid of state-of-the-art solvers

Online Automated Synthesis of Compact Normative Systems

Peer reviewedPostprin

A traction Control System based on Co-evolutionary Learning in Spiking Neural Networks (SNN)

A traction control system is designed and trained for different road conditions with co-evolutionary learning based on a genetic algorithm. Common solutions do not consider the variation and oscillation created in the transition between roads defining a control logic which is highly dependent on road accuracy and a speed estimator. To solve this problem, a co-evolutionary learning process is used. This procedure trains the control algorithm, a spiking neural network, on different roads and transitions looking for the worst-case scenario. We have developed a control algorithm with a good dynamic response to constant and changing roads. This control algorithm makes the system stable when the road estimation is delayed or unstable, solving a common flaw produced by sensor noise or computation delays.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

High Definition Liposuction: A Challenge for a Perfect Body Contouring

During the last decades, the plastic surgery field has made important advances in terms of clinical results and developing new surgical techniques, minimizing complications and reducing the mortality rates. An innovative and new technique is called High Definition LipoSculture. This is an advanced sculpting technique that creates an athletic and sculpted appearance. The aim of this chapter is to review the principal concepts that involve this technique and describe its clinical application. An electronic literature review was conducted in order to find the most recent medical literature published in this field. Keywords used were plastic surgery, liposuction, body contouring, aesthetic medicine, and surgical procedure. High definition liposuction procedures should be considered revolutionary in the plastic surgery field

Considerations on the physical and mechanical properties of lime-stabilized rammed earth walls and their evaluation by ultrasonic pulse velocity testing

This study examines the influence of moulding moisture content on the compressive strength, dry density and porosity of a rammed earth wall, using ultrasound as a complementary technique. Non-parametric and multivariate statistical techniques were applied to analyse the behaviour of variables with a sufficiently large population. The statistical analysis demonstrated that excessive or insufficient moulding moisture content directly determines the physical-mechanical properties of such walls. Ultrasound was confirmed as a valid technique for assessing the quality of a wall, since its response, albeit with certain limitations, was consistent with physical-mechanical properties

Development of a high precision telescopic instrument based on simultaneous laser multilateration for machine tool volumetric verification

This paper presents the design of a high precision telescopic system consisting in three lines, with measuring principle based on simultaneous laser multilateration. The system offers the high precision of the interferometer systems and allows the autonomous tracking of a sphere joined to the spindle nose of the machine tool by simultaneous contact of all the lines. The main advantage of the system is that it allows data capture to be carried out in a single cycle thanks to simultaneous operation with at least three telescopic arms using a novel multipoint kinematic coupling. This results in a significant reduction of the time taken for data capture and improves measurement accuracy due to avoiding the effect of temperature variations between cycles and machine tool repeatability. The work explains the working principle of the system, its main components, and the design parameters considered for the development of the system. The system is simple to operate, compact, agile, and suitable for the verification of small-or medium-sized machine tools with linear and/or rotary axes

Critical incidents which limit performance of Chilean University rowers who won a medal in the Pan American Games of Lima 2019

Main objective of this study was to provide a basis for the comprehension of the main critical incidents (i.e. obstacles) that Chilean rowers who were medallists in the Pan American Games of Lima 2019 have to face within the academic, socioeconomic and sports processes. 19 athletes were selected through a non-probabilistic sampling. A content validated questionnaire and an in-deep interview were used. Higher levels of consistency were observed. Through the inferential analysis (ANOVA) it was possible to conclude that athletes are concerned with some academic and social crisis within their sporting career. This fact does not allow them to concentration and integral tranquillity to be focused and achieve proper results in academic and sports areas. Results presented in this study may contribute to the improvement of public policies and, specifically, contingency and innovation plans for improvement within higher education institutions. This study is framed within the context of social transformation that Chile is currently living.Agencies: Chilean Rowing Federation; Chilean Olympic Committee

Modeling of an Overactuated Vehicle in Simscape Multibody for the Characterization of Suspension and Steering Actuation Systems.

Overactuated systems are increasingly among us. They are used for applications in vehicles, aeronautics and robotics, among others [1, 2]. These systems have a number of advantages, among which we can mention that there are multiple (or infinite) solutions for a given problem. More specifically, in the case of overactuated vehicles, similar states of the system can be achieved in many different ways. These systems are still under development, especially in the field of vehicle dynamics. For example, there are various steer-by-wire algorithms, when the steering of the vehicles is independent, or brake blending strategies. In this work, a part of an overactuated vehicle is designed and validated. This multiphysics model allows to know the plant of the system in much more depth in order to develop control algorithms. More specifically, by modeling the delay of the systems and the nonlinear relationships inherent to multibody systems, much more accurate predictive control can be performed. These results allow a previous validation of the control algorithms in the test platform vehicle being manufactured and developed by the research group, greatly accelerating the control process of each of the overactuated systems of the vehicle.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Organic-solvent-free extraction of carotenoids from yeast Rhodotorula glutinis by application of ultrasound under pressure

The extraction of Rhodotorula glutinis carotenoids by ultrasound under pressure (manosonication) in an aqueous medium has been demonstrated. The influence of treatment time, pressure, and ultrasound amplitude on R. glutinis inactivation and on the extraction of carotenoids was evaluated, and the obtained data were described mathematically. The extraction yields were lineal functions of those three parameters, whereas inactivation responded to a more complex equation. Under optimum treatment conditions, 82% of carotenoid content was recovered. Extraction of carotenoids in an aqueous medium was attributed to the capacity of ultrasound for cell disruption and emulsification. Cavitation caused the rupture of cell envelopes and the subsequent formation of small droplets of carotenoids surrounded by the phospholipids of the cytoplasmic membrane that would stabilize the emulsion. Analysis of the dispersed particle size of the extracts demonstrated that a fine, homogeneous emulsion was formed after treatment (average size: 230 nm; polydispersity <0.22). This research describes an innovative green process for extracting carotenoids from fresh biomass of R. glutinis in which only two unit operations are required: ultrasonic treatment, followed by a centrifugation step to discard cell debris. The extract obtained thanks to this procedure is rich in carotenoids (25 mg/L) and could be directly incorporated as a pigment in foods, beverages, and diet supplements; it can also be utilized as an ingredient in drugs or cosmetics