Biomolecules and interstellar molecules: structure, interactions and spectroscopic characterization

El trabajo de investigación de la presente Memoria, realizado con técnicas espectroscópicas de alta resolución en las regiones de microondas y milimétricas, presenta dos grandes vertientes: el estudio de moléculas y biomoléculas en fase gas y el de moléculas candidatas a estar presentes en el medio interestelar. En el estudio de moléculas y biomoléculas en fase gas, el objetivo es intentar establecer una conexión entre su estructura y las propiedades que dichas poseen, en un entorno libre de interacciones intermoleculares y con el medio, mediante el uso de la espectroscopia de microondas en jet supersónicos y en combinación con técnicas de ablación láser (LA-CP-FTMW y LA-MB-FTMW espectrómetros). Se han abordado con este fin: el estudio de edulcorantes artificiales como el D-sorbitol y la sacarina para intentar esclarecer el origen del dulzor; el efecto exo-anomérico ha sido puesto en evidencia por primera vez mediante el estudio de la methyl-β-D-xylopyranose; el primer estudio estructural en fase gas de los dos ácidos fenólicos más importantes, trans-cinámico y trans-p-cumárico,, y el estudio del dipéptido Ac-Val-NH2 para ver los efectos conformacionales que puede tener una cadena lateral apolar.Departamento de Química Física y Química InorgánicaDoctorado en Químic

Estrategias utilizadas en la formación de conceptos

La base de nuestro experimento es el estudio del pensamiento. Pero, ¿qué es el pensamiento? Parece ser una cuestión difícil, pero el pensar se conoce pensando. Nosotros estamos interesados en describir experimentalmente qué hace el hombre cuando piensa y qué condiciones determinan los patrones precisos de su actuación. Los resultados no son concluyentes, pero después de nuestro estudio se conocerá más qué hace el hombre cuando piens

An innovative approach for the generation of species of the interstellar medium

Producción CientíficaThe large amount of unstable species in the realm ofinterstellar chemistry drives an urgent need to develop efficientmethods for the in situ generations of molecules that enabletheir spectroscopic characterizations. Such laboratory experi-ments are fundamental to decode the molecular universe bymatching the interstellar and terrestrial spectra. We propose anapproach based on laser ablation of nonvolatile solid organicprecursors. The generated chemical species are cooled ina supersonic expansion and probed by high-resolution micro-wave spectroscopy. We present a proof of concept througha simultaneous formation of interstellar compounds and thefirst generation of aminocyanoacetylene using diaminomaleo-nitrile as a prototypical precursor. With this micro-laboratory,we open the door to generation of unsuspected species usingprecursors not typically accessible to traditional techniquessuch as electric discharge and pyrolysis.Czech Science Foundation (grant 19-25116Y)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants PID2019-111396GB-I00 and CTQ2016-76393-P)Junta de Castilla y León (grants VA244P20 and VA077U16)Consejo Europeo de Investigación (grant 610256

A journey across dopamine Metabolism: A rotational study of DOPAC

Producción CientíficaDOPAC, a relevant scaffold in dopamine metabolism, was probed in the gas phase and interrogated by high-resolution rotational spectroscopy. Herein, three distinct conformers were isolated in a supersonic jet and identified for the first time through an examination of the trend of the rotational constants and the dipole moment selection rules. Additionally, we examined the plausible relaxation pathways of the low-energy conformers of DOPAC, which helped us to claim the indirect detection of two additional conformers, providing conclusive experimental evidence of the flexible nature of this biomolecule. The current investigation sheds some light on the differences between jet-cooled rotational experiments and matrix-isolation infrared spectroscopy.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CTQ2016-76393-P and PID2019- 111396 GB-I00)Junta de Castilla y León (VA077U16 and VA244P20)European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007- 2013)/ERC-2013-SyG, Grant Agreement n. 610256 NANOCOSMO

The nicotinic agonist cytisine: The role of the NH···N interaction

Producción CientíficaWe report a detailed structural study of cytisine, an alkaloid used to help with smoking cessation, looking forward to unveiling its role as a nicotinic agonist. High-resolution rotational spectroscopy has allowed us to characterize two different conformers exhibiting axial and equatorial arrangements of the piperidinic NH group. Unexpectedly, the axial form has been found as the predominant configuration, in contrast to that observed for related molecules, such as piperidine. This anomalous behavior has been justified in terms of an intramolecular NH···N hydrogen bond. Moreover, this interaction justifies the overstabilization of the axial conformer over the equatorial one and is crucial for the mechanism of action of cytisine over the nicotinic receptor, further rationalizing its behavior as a nicotinic agonist.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (project PID2019-111396GB-I00)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA244P20)European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007- 2013)/ERC-2013-SyG (grant 610256 NANOCOSMOS

O método de Stanislávski como recurso interpretativo para os alunos de canto do ensino secundário

O presente Relatório da Prática de Ensino Supervisionada apresenta todas as atividades desenvolvidas na Escola Artística Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian de Braga durante o ano letivo 2021/2022, no âmbito do Mestrado em Ensino da Música da Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo/ Escola Superior de Educação. O relatório dispõe de três capítulos. Inicia com uma caracterização da instituição onde foi realizado o estágio, fazendo uma contextualização histórica e organizacional, segundo os seus documentos estruturantes. No segundo capítulo é apresentado todo o processo da prática educativa, contemplando a sua organização, observações e planificações das aulas no decorrer do ano letivo. O terceiro capítulo apresenta o projeto de intervenção, o qual procura responder à necessidade de dar recursos interpretativos aos alunos de canto do ensino secundário, para que os mesmos possam desenvolver as suas capacidades interpretativas desde o conhecimento integral da personagem que interpretam, aliado às suas próprias experiências pessoais e consciência corporal, utilizando uma abordagem prática e constante de alguns recursos do método de Stanislávski.This Supervised Teaching Practice Report presents all the activities developed at Escola Artística Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian de Braga during the academic year 2021/2022, in the context of the Master in Music Teaching at Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo/ Escola Superior de Educação. The report is divided in tree chapters. Firstly, is presented a characterization of the institution where the internship took place, providing its historical and organizational contextualization, according to its structuring documents. In the second chapter, is presented the entire educational practice process, contemplating its organization, observations, and lesson plans during the academic year. The third chapter presents the Intervention Project, which seeks to answer the need of providing high school singing students with resources to develop their interpretation capacities, by unifying a global knowledge of the character that they are performing, with their personal experiences and corporal awareness. With this purpose in mind, we are going to use a practical approach of some notions of the Stanislavski method

Life cycle energy of vehicles on lightweighting and alternative powertrain strategies—A review

To improve vehicles environmental performance, different strategies have been explored namely to reduce the use stage energy. In order to avoid problem shifting, a life cycle perspective should be used to compare alternative solutions. This paper aims to compare existing studies focused on life cycle energy (LCE) of vehicles to analyze the impacts and benefits regarding two trending improvement strategies: lightweight materials and alternative powertrain selection. A Literature review was performed to systematize quantitatively the LCE results of different studies (e.g. presented among figures, tables, and literature text). The LCE results were compiled and normalized for the same driving distance, 200 000 km, per life cycle stage. Moreover, the study discusses research findings on the application of the two strategies to improve overall vehicles’ LCE. As lightweight materials have generally higher embodied energy, the material selection is highly influenced by end-of-life scenarios. It was observed that carbon/glass fiber composites generally have the highest embodied energy, being a preferable option for vehicles that last longer driving distances. Innovative powertrains sourced by renewable energy sources, electric mixes, can significantly reduce vehicles’ LCE use stage, counteracting the benefit of lightweight design. Thus, the benefit of both strategies should be studied together.This research was funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement “No. 810764”, and by the regional European and development fund through the grant POCI-01- 0247-FEDER-046095. This work was supported by project Base Funding – UIDB/04730/2020 of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Industrial Technology – CIETI; LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE) and UIDB/00511/2020 - UIDP/00511/2020 (LEPABE) funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The SKA as a Prebiotic Molecule Detector

[EN] One of the theories for the origin of life proposes that a significant fraction of prebiotic material could have arrived to Earth from outer space between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago. This suggests that those prebiotic compounds could have originated in interstellar space, to be later on incorporated to small Solar-system bodies and planetesimals. The recent discovery of prebiotic molecules such as hydroxylamine and ethanolamine in the interstellar medium, strongly supports this hypothesis. However, some species such as sugars, key for the synthesis of ribonucleotides and for metabolic processes, remain to be discovered in space. The unmatched sensitivity of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) at centimeter wavelengths will be able to detect even more complex and heavier prebiotic molecules than existing instrumentation. In this contribution, we illustrate the potential of the SKA to detect simple sugars with three and four carbon atoms, using a moderate investment of observing time.IJ-S and JM-P acknowledge partial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through project numbers PID 2019-105552RB-C41 and MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu-Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA). EC thanks the support received from the MINECO (PID 2020-117892RB-I00), the Basque Government (IT1162-19 and PIBA 2018-11), the UPV/EHU (PPG17/10, GIU18/207), and CSIC (PIC 2018, LINKA20249). Computational resources and laser facilities of the UPV/EHU (SGIker) and CESGA were used in this work