Aqueous Stable Gold Nanostar/ZIF‐8 Nanocomposites for Light‐Triggered Release of Active Cargo Inside Living Cells

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: C. Carrillo-Carrión, R. Martínez, M. F. Navarro Poupard, B. Pelaz, E. Polo, A. Arenas-Vivo, A. Olgiati, P. Taboada, M. G. Soliman, Ú. Catalán, S. Fernández-Castillejo, R. Solà, W. J. Parak, P. Horcajada, R. A. Alvarez-Puebla, P. del Pino, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 7078, which has been published in final form at https:// doi.org/10.1002/anie.201902817. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsA plasmonic core–shell gold nanostar/zeolitic‐imidazolate‐framework‐8 (ZIF‐8) nanocomposite was developed for the thermoplasmonic‐driven release of encapsulated active molecules inside living cells. The nanocomposites were loaded, as a proof of concept, with bisbenzimide molecules as functional cargo and wrapped with an amphiphilic polymer that prevents ZIF‐8 degradation and bisbenzimide leaking in aqueous media or inside living cells. The demonstrated molecule‐release mechanism relies on the use of near‐IR light coupled to the plasmonic absorption of the core gold nanostars, which creates local temperature gradients and thus, bisbenzimide thermodiffusion. Confocal microscopy and surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) were used to demonstrate bisbenzimide loading/leaking and near‐IR‐triggered cargo release inside cells, thereby leading to DNA stainingThis work has received financial support from the MINECO‐Spain (MAT2016‐80266‐R, MAT2015‐74381‐JIN, CTQ2017‐88648R, ENE2016‐79608‐C2‐1‐R, CTQ2017‐89588‐R, RYC‐2014‐15039, RYC‐2014‐16962), the Xunta de Galicia, Centro singular de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2016–2019 (ED431G/09), the Agrupación Estratégica de Materiales Action (ED431E 2018/08), the Generalitat de Cataluña (2017SGR522, 2017SGR883, SLT002/16/00239), the URV (2017PFR‐URV‐B2‐02), the German Research Society (DFG PA 794‐21‐1), and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund—ERDF, H2020‐MSCA‐IF‐2016, project 749667). M.F.N.P acknowledges the CONACYT PhD fellowship programS

Determinantes del spread en las tasas de interés bancarias en Bolivia

Entre 1980 y la primera mitad de los noventas, la intermediación financiera en Bolivia se ha desenvuelto en dos ambientes de política económica completamente opuestos: el primero correspondió a una economía donde el rol del Estado era gravitante y el segundo a una economía de mercado. Hasta agosto de 1985 se impusieron controles sobre la tasa de interés. Esta política, la hiperinflación, la mora bancaria, la "desdolarización" del año 1982 y la reducción en el crecimiento de la economía, determinaron el desmoronamiento del sistema financiero. El aumento de la emisión monetaria aceleró la inflación de tal manera que las tasas de interés reales llegaron a ser negativas, afectando directamente a la intermediación financiera. Los bancos se vieron imposibilitados de cumplir sus compromisos con la banca extranjera, por lo que perdieron el acceso a esa fuente de financiamiento. La regulación no era suficientemente clara y tampoco se cumplía. El aumento de la mora, de los gastos administrativos, y de la proporción de activos no rentables disminuyó notoriamente los volúmenes de operación de la banca. En agosto de 1985, cuando se implementa la Nueva Política Económica (NPE), se introducen una serie de cambios que transformaron al sector financiero. El objetivo inicial fue detener la hiperinflación y luego retomar el crecimiento. Las medidas en términos generales fueron: i) saneamiento fiscal; ii) liberalización del sistema financiero; iii) liberalización de los mercados de bienes y factores; y iv) apertura al comercio exterior

Designing Food Supply Chains: An Application of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Supply Chain Paradigms to the Spanish Egg Industry

Since Womack et al. (1990) published “The Machine that Changed the World”, showing the results of an international assembly plant benchmarking study carried out by the MIT International Motor Vehicle Program, the Lean Production paradigm, initially based on the Toyota Production System, has been applied successfully by an increasing number of leading companies within the automotive industry. Currently, Lean Production methodologies and tools have already shown their potential, both in manufacturing and service sectors, to improve dramatically productivity, speed, responsiveness, delivered value, and profits. Lean Manufacturing has also been applied by large companies in the agri-food sector, but there is little information on these applications available in the scientific literature. Similarly to applications of other Total Quality Management improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, highly specialized consulting companies are playing a major role in supporting and facilitating its introduction in large companies. However, it is not clear whether these methodologies can be applied to SMEs following the same patterns. This paper illustrates the application of Lean Production methodologies and tools in an egg producing medium enterprise. In this initiative, a team from the Technical University of Madrid and consultants from Galgano Group, a consulting company with an extensive experience in Lean Production, have collaborated under the financial support of the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI). Preliminary results as well as strengths and weaknesses of the Lean Production methodology applied in this specific context are discussed. A connected issue is the role of Lean Manufacturing in the design of Lean Supply Chains for standard food products. Shell eggs are a good example of a standard food product. Advocates of Supply Chain Management maintain that competition is shifting from firm versus firm to supply chain versus supply chain. Supply Chain Management integrates suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers by using information and communication technologies to meet final consumer needs and expectations efficiently and effectively. Researchers in this field are investigating how to design and build more effective supply chains. Recently, a theoretical framework for supply chain design has been proposed. This framework establishes a connection between the type of product being produced (standard, innovative, or hybrid) and the type of supply chain (lean, agile, or hybrid) that could be more effective and competitive. The feasibility of applying this framework to the Spanish egg supply chains is examined. Adopting a case study perspective, this paper explores the possibilities of connecting Lean initiatives at company level with improvements in the coordination of food supply chains. 314 Designing Food Supply Chains: An Application of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Supply Chain paradigms... The results of this case study will be disseminated by the Spanish Association of Egg Producers (ASEPRHU) in the framework of a R&D project financed by the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA)

Designing Food Supply Chains: An Application of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Supply Chain Paradigms to the Spanish Egg Industry

Since Womack et al. (1990) published “The Machine that Changed the World”, showing the results of an international assembly plant benchmarking study carried out by the MIT International Motor Vehicle Program, the Lean Production paradigm, initially based on the Toyota Production System, has been applied successfully by an increasing number of leading companies within the automotive industry. Currently, Lean Production methodologies and tools have already shown their potential, both in manufacturing and service sectors, to improve dramatically productivity, speed, responsiveness, delivered value, and profits. Lean Manufacturing has also been applied by large companies in the agri-food sector, but there is little information on these applications available in the scientific literature. Similarly to applications of other Total Quality Management improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma, highly specialized consulting companies are playing a major role in supporting and facilitating its introduction in large companies. However, it is not clear whether these methodologies can be applied to SMEs following the same patterns. This paper illustrates the application of Lean Production methodologies and tools in an egg producing medium enterprise. In this initiative, a team from the Technical University of Madrid and consultants from Galgano Group, a consulting company with an extensive experience in Lean Production, have collaborated under the financial support of the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI). Preliminary results as well as strengths and weaknesses of the Lean Production methodology applied in this specific context are discussed. A connected issue is the role of Lean Manufacturing in the design of Lean Supply Chains for standard food products. Shell eggs are a good example of a standard food product. Advocates of Supply Chain Management maintain that competition is shifting from firm versus firm to supply chain versus supply chain. Supply Chain Management integrates suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers by using information and communication technologies to meet final consumer needs and expectations efficiently and effectively. Researchers in this field are investigating how to design and build more effective supply chains. Recently, a theoretical framework for supply chain design has been proposed. This framework establishes a connection between the type of product being produced (standard, innovative, or hybrid) and the type of supply chain (lean, agile, or hybrid) that could be more effective and competitive. The feasibility of applying this framework to the Spanish egg supply chains is examined. Adopting a case study perspective, this paper explores the possibilities of connecting Lean initiatives at company level with improvements in the coordination of food supply chains. 314 Designing Food Supply Chains: An Application of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Supply Chain paradigms... The results of this case study will be disseminated by the Spanish Association of Egg Producers (ASEPRHU) in the framework of a R&D project financed by the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA).Lean Manufacturing, Lean Supply Chains, Supply Chain Management, Consumption Egg Production, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Livestock Production/Industries,