Direct observation of field quantization

Treballs Finals de Grau de Física, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2016, Tutor: Josep Taron RocaWe have studied a recent experiment reported in [1] which manifests the discrete nature of the electromagnetic field inside a cavity. There, it is observed the coupling of atoms to the e.m. field. We have reproduced the calculations leading to the observation of discrete transition frequencies between two states of the atom. These frequencies are proportional to the square root of successive integers, which is a direct evidence of field quantization. Also, we have discussed the validity of the approximations that we have made

The technique of unpopularity:or the problematic reception of Francesc Trabal’s subversively modern fiction

Catalan writer Francesc Trabal (1899-1957) had a problematic reception. While his works before the Spanish Civil War were generally applauded because of their modernity and freshness, after the war an important part of the readership rejected his last novel, Temperatura, because it was seen as a frivolity in transcendent times. This dissertation aims to establish the context of this rejection and try to prove it was caused by the fact that Trabal’s earlier reception was already problematic: an important part of Trabal’s readers refused to read the texts in their own terms. With a detailed survey on reviews and scholarly studies the terms and circumstances of the reception is established and clarified. With a literary analysis of Temperatura first and then of Trabal’s literature in relation to parody and intermediality. Trabal’s literature is radically modern and essentially metalinguistic and metaliterary both before and after the Spanish Civil War. While considered frivolous by critics Trabal was challenging current literary values and exploring the great topic: the relationship between literature and life, between art and life. In short, he devoted his art to explore how humans make sense of the world and themselves

Study and use of textile substrates as a vehicle system for biomedical applications

The encapsulation efficiency and the drug delivery of microcapsules of soluble drugs with chitosan is directly influenced by many factors during the process that have not been studied yet. The aim of this project is to make a first approach of the influence of the variables of the process as the concentration of the components of the microcapsules, the stirring times, the process temperature, molar ratios and many other variables. In this project, several combinations of this variables have been tested and analyzed afterwards in order to compare their results and have a first view of the influence of each variable. Also the drug delivery essay have been studied and analyzed to see the effect of different fabrics in different samples of microcapsules, and modeled for achieving a controlled drug release

Building an architecture of everyday life in South Korea: mass housing estates in Seoul as an instrument of modernization, 1962-2008

The mass housing estates – apat’u tanji in Korean – that were developed in Seoul during the second half of the twentieth century are the most characteristic spatial practice of the South Korean modernization project. They are not just a passive outcome of economic and urbanization processes, but an active political means of introducing new economic and social structures within the modernizing project of the developmental regime, with a radical impact on the transformation of the city and society. Thus, they function at two interrelated levels: as the building blocks of a modern project of city-making in physical terms (an urbanizing mechanism), and as a means of constructing a modern urban society and way of life (a socializing mechanism). Mass housing estates have been instrumental in shaping all the settings of everyday life, from the urban scale to residential neighborhoods and domestic habitats. Although an estimated 53% of the population of Seoul lives in mass housing estates, they are not considered a disciplinary subject. They are largely disregarded as banal by the architectural community and often criticized from a sociological, economic or policy perspective. This research questions that assumed banality and inquiries into the spatial and organizational logics behind the apparent normality of these estates. The thesis approaches them as an architectural topic and proposes a methodology to identify, describe, interpret and criticize them from a disciplinary stance at different scales: the scale of the city, the scale of the housing estate and the scale of the building type or residential unit. These three scales determine the basic structure of the research. The findings demonstrate that the implementation of mass housing in Seoul has not been a homogeneous process. Instead, it has followed different rationales over the study period. The housing problem was understood at urban scale simply as the quantitative provision of housing units. The complexes did not contribute to the formation and organization of urban space and remained as isolated fragments that are partially coordinated with other processes of urban growth, the existing city and the natural context. Nevertheless, the systematization of planning processes and formal models for the provision of housing units at a massive scale were consolidated into a technology that normalized the construction of entire urban fragments. At the scale of the housing estate, relevant innovations were produced for a brief period with the introduction of site planning strategies based on residential clusters. The development of a standardized unit type also yielded an innovative modern layout which hybridizes global housing models with local understanding of domesticity, privacy, posture and comfort. The thesis evidences how, ultimately, the shift to private development at the end of the 1980s prevented further development of the mass housing model. Today, apat’u tanji have become spatial organizational protocols that standardize the built environment at different scales. Site planning strategies and unit types developed earlier under the patronage of the public housing authority were captured by the market and pressed into service without their original community-building agendas or theoretical bases.Els polígons residencials -o apat’u tanji en coreà- construïts a Seül durant la segona meitat del segle XX són la pràctica espacial més característica del projecte modernitzador de Corea del Sud. No són només el subproducte passiu de processos econòmics i urbanitzadors, sinó una estratègia política activa amb l’objectiu d'introduir noves estructures econòmiques i socials dins del projecte modernitzador del règim desenvolupamentalista, i han tingut un impacte radical en la transformació de la ciutat i la societat. Així, operen a dos nivells interrelacionats: com a pilars del projecte modern de fer ciutat en termes físics (un mecanisme d’urbanització), i com a mitjà per a donar forma a una societat i un estil de vida urbans moderns (un mecanisme de socialització). Els polígons d'habitatge massiu han estat essencials per definir diferents àmbits de la vida quotidiana, des de l’escala urbana, passant per l’escala dels barris residencials, fins els hàbitats domèstics. Malgrat que es calcula que un 53% de la població de Seül viu en polígons residencials, no són considerats com un tema disciplinar per la comunitat arquitectònica. Són menystinguts per la seva percebuda banalitat i estudiats majoritàriament des d’una perspectiva sociològica, econòmica o política. La recerca posa en dubte aquesta suposada banalitat i s’interessa per les lògiques espacials i organitzatives ocultes darrere l’aparent normalitat dels polígons d’habitatge massiu. La tesi els aborda com un tema arquitectònic i proposa una metodologia per identificar-los, descriure’ls, interpretar-los i criticar-los des de la disciplina a diferents escales: a l'escala de la ciutat; a l'escala de la parcel·la; i a l’escala del tipus edificatori-unitat residencial. Aquests tres àmbits determinen l’estructura bàsica de la investigació. Els resultats de la recerca demostren que l’adopció de polígons d’habitatge massiu per respondre a la manca crònica d’habitatge durant gran part del segle XX no ha estat un procés homogeni. Els polígons han adoptat una varietat de papers urbans, s’han destinat a diversos públics i han seguit diferents lògiques de posicionament dins la ciutat durant el període d’estudi. El problema de l’habitatge va ser entès a escala urbana simplement com la provisió quantitativa d’unitats residencials, de manera que els polígons no han contribuït a la formació i l’Organització de l'espai urbà. Han romàs com a fragments urbans aïllats, només integrats de forma parcial amb altres processos de creixement urbà, amb la ciutat existent i amb el context natural. No obstant, la sistematització de processos de planificació i de models formals per a la provisió d'unitats d’habitatge a gran escala es va consolidar en una tecnologia que va normalitzar la construcció unitària de fragments urbans sencers. A l’escala del planejament dels polígons es van produir innovacions rellevants durant un breu període amb la introducció d'estratègies d'ordenació basades en clústers d’edificis residencials. El desenvolupament d’una unitat residencial estandarditzada també va donar lloc a una tipologia moderna i innovadora que hibrida models d’habitatge globals amb formes autòctones d'entendre la domesticitat, la comoditat, l’ús del pla del sòl i la privacitat. La tesi evidencia com la transició vers el desenvolupament privat a finals dels anys vuitanta va torbar l’evolució del model d’habitatge massiu a Corea del Sud. Avui dia, els apat’u tanji han esdevingut protocols d’organització espacial que estandarditzen l’entorn construït a diferents escales. Els sistemes d’ordenació i les tipologies residencials desenvolupats anteriorment sota la direcció de l’administració pública van ser apropiats pel mercat sense tenir en compte els objectius socials i els continguts teòrics originals.Postprint (published version

Combined use of 16S ribosomal DNA and 16S rRNA to study the bacterial community of polychlorinated biphenyl-polluted soil

The bacterial diversity assessed from clone libraries prepared from rRNA (two libraries) and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (one library) from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-polluted soil has been analyzed. A good correspondence of the community composition found in the two types of library was observed. Nearly 29% of the cloned sequences in the rDNA library were identical to sequences in the rRNA libraries. More than 60% of the total cloned sequence types analyzed were grouped in phylogenetic groups (a clone group with sequence similarity higher than 97% [98% for Burkholderia andPseudomonas-type clones]) represented in both types of libraries. Some of those phylogenetic groups, mostly represented by a single (or pair) of cloned sequence type(s), were observed in only one of the types of library. An important difference between the libraries was the lack of clones representative of the Actinobacteriain the rDNA library. The PCB-polluted soil exhibited a high bacterial diversity which included representatives of two novel lineages. The apparent abundance of bacteria affiliated to the beta-subclass of theProteobacteria, and to the genus Burkholderiain particular, was confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis. The possible influence on apparent diversity of low template concentrations was assessed by dilution of the RNA template prior to amplification by reverse transcription-PCR. Although differences in the composition of the two rRNA libraries obtained from high and low RNA concentrations were observed, the main components of the bacterial community were represented in both libraries, and therefore their detection was not compromised by the lower concentrations of template used in this study

Corporate Governance And Earnings Management: A Survey Of Literature

Corporate governance can reduce or even eliminate the extent of earnings management. Normally, an institutional environment that provides better legal protection can control managers’ self-interest to a certain extent. Takeover force can exert market pressure on managers to do the best for shareholders. Prior studies have investigated different corporate governance mechanisms that can have negative relationships with earnings management. Board independence can enhance certain monitoring behaviors in managers, including the misappropriation of assets. Female directors can develop trust leadership, which requires managers to share information, and are more likely to be risk-averse to frauds and opportunistic earnings management. An audit committee can oversee the internal control for financial reporting and the quality of financial information. Directors with financial expertise can provide incremental control effects on earnings management, especially in firms with weak corporate governance. This paper contributes to corporate governance by providing detailed reviews of different corporate governance mechanisms, reviewing the latest findings on classification shifting, and summarizing earnings management measures, including a new diagnostic system. In the future, this new diagnostic system may be investigated in different contexts