Los atentados de Bruselas: una mirada ética a tres medios de comunicación

El pasado 22 de marzo de 2016 se produjo uno de los atentados más sangrientos de la historia de Bélgica. Todos los medios se hicieron eco de la tragedia y a la hora de informar abordaron la noticia como un ataque al “corazón de Europa”, pues se producía en la sede de la Unión Europea (Bruselas), donde cuatro días antes había sido detenido uno de los autores de los ataques de París, el yihadista Salah Abdeslam. El Estado Islámico reivindicó la autoría de la masacre: trataba de incidir nuevamente sobre la población y mandar otro amenazador mensaje al mundo. Aquí entra en juego el papel de los medios de comunicación. El lenguaje, los titulares, las imágenes, el tratamiento a las víctimas y la relevancia mediática son algunos de los aspectos claves cuando los periodistas tienen que dar noticias de este calado. Los medios digitales (El País), la televisión (TVE) y la prensa impresa (El Mundo) son algunos de los principales soportes mediáticos. Éstos disponen de sus propios códigos éticos —mecanismos autorreguladores— que pueden utilizar cuando tienen que emitir informaciones como estas, pero solo el de Radio Televisión Española aporta valor añadido y aporta premisas para informar sobre tragedias como la de la capital belga. Pero no existe ningún organismo externo que obligue a estos medios a aplicar las premisas de sus manuales. En un mundo en el que cada vez avanza más el terrorismo tratando de imponer el miedo, resulta clave el papel de los medios de comunicación y que éstos no se queden de brazos cruzados e intenten combatir ese miedo es de vital importancia. Al margen de RTVE, en el periodismo español los profesionales tienen otros códigos (como por ejemplo el de la FAPE) a los que ceñirse. Televisión Española, El País y El Mundo trataron los atentados de Bruselas desde un punto de vista coherente, sin embargo algunos reproches éticos pueden ser puestos en evidencia.On March 22nd, 2016, one of the bloodiest attacks in the history of Belgium occurred. All the media highlighted the tragedy and, at the time of reporting, they addressed the news as an attack in the "heart of Europe", since it took place at the headquarters of the European Union (Brussels) where one of Paris attacks’ perpetrator, the jihadist Salah Abdeslam, had been arrested four days before. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the massacre: it tried to re-influence the population and send another threatening message to the world. This is where the role of the media comes into play. Language, headlines, images, treatment of victims and media relevancy are some of the key aspects when journalists submit news of this draft. Digital media (El País), television (TVE) and print media (El Mundo) are some of the main media in Spain. These have their own ethic code - self-regulatory mechanisms - that can be used when they issue information such as these, but only Radio Televisión Española brings added value and provides premises to report on tragedies such as the Belgian capital. Nonetheless, there is no external body that forces these means to apply their manual premises. In a world where terrorism is increasingly trying to impose fear, the role of the media is of key importance when trying to fight fear and apathy. Apart from RTVE, in Spanish journalism professionals have other codes (such as FAPE) in which to abide by. Televisión Española, El País and El Mundo treated the Brussels’ issue from a coherent point of view, however some ethical reproaches may be put forward

Gold nanoparticles modification with liquid crystalline polybenzylic dendrons via 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition

A series of six polybenzylic dendrons with an alkynyl focal point were synthesized for their incorporation to gold nanoparticles. Five of these compounds showed columnar mesomorphism in a wide range of temperatures. These dendrons were reacted with gold nanoparticles stabilized with a combination of a dodecanethiol and 11-azidoundecane-1-thiol. The azido group of the last compound allowed the functionalization of the nanoparticles with the six polybenzylic dendrons by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between their alkynyl groups and the terminal azido groups of the thiols. A high efficiency of the cycloaddition process (47–69%) was confirmed by several experimental techniques and no decomposition or aggregation phenomena were detected in the dendron-coated nanoparticles. The involved mechanism and the resulting percentage composition of the final materials are discussed. The results of the ulterior growth of the nanoparticles by thermal treatment are influenced by the size and the shape of the dendron and the temperature of the process. The structures of the final nanoparticles were investigated by TEM, DSC, TGA, NMR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. These nanoparticles do not show liquid crystal properties. However, a melting process between a crystalline and a fluid phase is observed. In the solid phase, the nanomaterials prepared show a short-range interaction between nanoparticles with a 2D local hexagonal order. A near-field effect was observed in the UV-vis spectra by coupling of different surface plasmon resonance bands (SPR) probably due to the short-range interactions. The main novelty of this work lies in the scarcity of previous studies of gold nanoparticles coated with dendrons forming themselves columnar mesophases. Most of the studies reported in the literature deal with gold nanoparticles coated with calamitic mesogens. Additionally, the effect of the thermal treatment, which in a previous paper was shown to increase the mean size of the nanoparticles without increasing their size polydispersity, has been studied in these materials

A New Ant Species, Temnothorax ansei sp.n. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Arid Environments of South-eastern Spain

We describe here a new ant species in the genus Temnothorax, species grouplaurae, based on morphological evidence supported by other biologicalinformation. It has been discovered at two locations in southeast Spain:Pulpí (Almería) and Lorca (Murcia). This species is a member of the lauraespecies group based on the following characters: large eyes, long and erecthairs on alitrunk, petiole and postpetiole, rectangular head and metanotalgroove. Other characters unique to new species are: dark brown in color,decumbent pilosity, and smooth and shiny head and pronotum. In addition,this new species is distinctly nocturnal in its activity patterns. Based on themorphological measurements of the queens and the workers, as well as ourobservations in the laboratory, we predict that this species has a dependentcolony founding. An identification key to the Iberian Peninsula species ofthe laurae group is also provided

The impact of one of the most highly cited university patents: formalisation and localization

Ingenio Working Paper SeriesThis paper examines the underlying mechanisms of knowledge diffusion and interrelationships between formal and informal channels attending to the localisation of spillovers between university and industry. With this aim we present a historical in-depth case study centred in one of the most highly cited university patents, developing and applying a theoretical approach that combines formalisation and localisation analytical dimensions. Our findings show how knowledge diffused through channels with different degrees of formalization (patent licenses, “pure” spillovers and consultancy contracts with the inventors). The case also evidences the pervasive delocalization of several knowledge diffusion channels and the complexity of achieving local impact, even at a privileged environment like California. The crucial diffusion mechanism channel stemmed from bidirectional knowledge flows between the university and a non-regional company, which provided the university with the specific fabrication capabilities needed to create an open-lab programme, which ultimately achieved local impact.Peer reviewe

Dynamic perspectives on technology transfer: introduction to the special section

[EN] Theoretical frameworks acknowledge the dynamic and evolving nature of technology transfer. However, there is a scarcity of empirical work in the field incorporating a dynamic and longitudinal perspective. Several literature reviews call for technology transfer research agendas to include longitudinal studies. In response to such calls, this special section comprises selected contributions to the 2018 Technology Transfer Society (T2S) Conference which address this gap from different angles. The three qualitative and three quantitative works chosen contain research questions and methodologies related to dynamic aspects of technology transfer. We argue that historical and processual studies offer additional new directionsThe editors are grateful to 2018 T2S Conference participants for their comments on the papers published in this special section. We thank the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Polytechnic Innovation City for their support and hospitality. We are indebted to the reviewers of the papers submitted to this special section. The Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities funded Joaquin M. Azagra-Caro's and Pablo D'Este's contribution to the special section as part of the CSO2016-79045-C2-2-R and the RTI2018-101232-B-100 Projects of the Spanish National R&D&I Plan, respectively.Barberá Tomás, JD.; Azagra-Caro, JM.; Deste Cukierman, P. (2021). Dynamic perspectives on technology transfer: introduction to the special section. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-021-09898-7S1

Adherencia a la participación en un trabajo grupal voluntario en una asignatura de licenciatura Biología

En el plan Bolonia el trabajo grupal es una metodología de aprendizaje que está debidamente protocolizada; no así en los planes anteriores. Nuestro objetivo fue valorar la adherencia en los últimos cinco años a la participación en un trabajo grupal de carácter voluntario en la asignatura optativa Métodos y Técnicas en Biopatología Clínica de la licenciatura de Biología. Características del trabajo grupal: voluntario; grupos reducidos; a realizar fuera de las horas de clase; tema libre dentro del contexto de la asignatura; entregar un documento escrito; realizar una presentación pública. Medidas para estimular la participación: hasta un punto extra sobre la nota final de la asignatura. El número medio de alumnos matriculados en la asignatura fue de 32. No presentados 21%. La participación media en el trabajo grupal fue del 74% sobre el total de alumnos y 91% considerando solamente los alumnos que se presentaban al examen de la asignatura. El nivel de calidad los trabajos fue evaluado entre bueno y excelente. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto un gran nivel de aceptación y el buen hacer en un trabajo grupal voluntario, desvelando un carácter proactivo por parte del alumno hacia una metodología que ofrece grandes ventajas en su formación

Ionic self-assembly of pillar[5]arenes: proton-conductive liquid crystals and aqueous nanoobjects with encapsulation properties

Liquid crystal (LC) pillar[n]arenes have been barely explored due to their time-consuming and complicated synthesis, despite their promising properties for metal-ion separation, drug delivery, or surface functionalization. Herein, we report an easy and reliable method to functionalize pillar[n]arene macrocycles through electrostatic interactions. These ionic materials were prepared by ionically functionalizing a pillar[n]arene containing ten amine terminal groups with six different carboxylic acids. This supramolecular approach results in ionic pillar[n]arenes which self-organize into LC phases with good proton-conducting properties. Moreover, ionic functionalization provides a new amphiphilic character to the pillar[n]arenes, which self-assemble in water to produce a variety of nanoobjects (i.e., spherical or cylindrical micelles, vesicles, solid nanospheres, or nanotubes) that are capable of encapsulating a model hydrophobic drug. Interestingly, the presence of coumarin moieties in the chemical structure of the ionic pillar[n]arenes results in self-organized materials with light-responsive properties due to the ability of coumarins to undergo photo-induced [2+2] cycloaddition. In particular, we demonstrate that coumarin pohotodimerization can be employed to fabricate mechanically stable proton-conductive LC materials, as well as to obtain photo-responsive nanocarriers with light-induced release of encapsulated molecules