Selective desorption of organophosphonates on chemically functionalized titanium by Direct Laser Patterning

Surface functionalization based on organophosphonate molecules and Direct Laser Patterning (DLP) technique both allow to design chemically patterned titanium surfaces devoted to biomaterial engineering. Ultrapolished surfaces of commercially pure titanium were modified with 16-phosphonohexadecanoic acid and octadecylphosphonic acid. The DLP technique with a green pulsed laser was applied to selectively desorb the organophosphonate molecules on the functionalized titanium surfaces. Three regimes of laser ablation were found on the bare titanium surfaces as the ratio between the spot diameter and the interspot distance. Finally, the organophosphonate functionalized titanium surfaces subjected to DLP revealed different wettability domains with minimum impact on the roughness, validated by XPS, AFM and ESEM.This study was supported by the “Ministry of Science and Innovation” (project MAT2011-23339) and by the “Junta de Andalucı́a” (projects P08-FQM-4325, P09-FQM-4698 and P10-FQM-5977)

Surface activity and collective behaviour of colloidally stable Janus-like particles at the air-water interface

This work was supported by MINECO, MAT2010-15101 and MAT2011-23339 projects (Spain) and by “Junta de Andalucía” and FEDER under project P10-FQM-5977.In this work we report an experimental study on the surface activity and the collective behaviour of colloidally stable Janus-like silver particles at the air-water interface. The colloidal stability of silver nanoparticles has been enhanced using different capping ligands. Two polymers coated the silver particles: 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid and 1-undecanthiol. These capping ligands adsorbed onto the particle surface are spontaneously rearranged at the air-water interface. This feature leads to Janus behaviour in the silver particles with amphiphilic character. The surface activity of the silver particles at the air-water interface has been measured using pendant drop tensiometry. The Janus-like silver particles revealed a surface activity similar to that shown by conventional amphiphilic molecules but at much larger area per particle. The variation of the surface pressure with the area per particle was described properly using the Frumkin isotherm up to the collapse state. Furthermore, oscillating pendant drop tensiometry provided very useful data on the rheological properties of Janus particle monolayers; these properties depended on the lateral interactions between particles and were closely related to the monolayer microstructure. We revealed the close relationship between the collective behavior and the surface activity of Janus-like silver particles.MINECO MAT2010-15101, MAT2011-23339Junta de AndalucíaFEDER P10-FQM-597

La condicionalidad de avance en la implementación de políticas públicas en los apoyos presupuestarios de la Unión Europea en Honduras

Treball final de Màster Universitari en Cooperació al Desenvolupament. Codi: SRI522. Curs acadèmic 2014-2015Entre los instrumentos de cooperación al desarrollo de la Unión Europea, los apoyos presupuestarios ocupan un papel relevante en la cooperación con la República de Honduras y se ajusta plenamente a los principios y compromisos asumidos en la Declaración de Paris sobre la eficacia de la Ayuda en 2005, la declaración de la Agenda de Acción de Accra en 2008 y la declaración de la Alianza de Busán para el desarrollo de una eficaz colaboración del 2011. El apoyo presupuestario es una modalidad de ayuda que se basa en las transferencias financieras a la cuenta del tesoro nacional de Honduras y que tiene como fundamentos el diálogo, la evaluación del desempeño, el desarrollo de capacidades basándose en la colaboración y la responsabilidad mutua. El apoyo presupuestario no es un cheque en blanco y su desembolso está sujeto al cumplimiento de determinados criterios, los de elegibilidad que se deben cumplir antes y durante la duración del apoyo y los de desempeño que deben de cumplirse antes de efectuarse los desembolsos. Entre las condiciones de elegibilidad se incluye una referida a la implementación de las políticas públicas apoyadas indicando la Unión Europea como criterios la relevancia y credibilidad política del país y el progreso en función delos objetivos establecidos. Mientras que para el resto de criterios de elegibilidad y desempeño, la Unión Europea se ha dotado de formatos y herramientas que permitan su evaluación, en el caso de la implementación de las políticas públicas, solamente da un marco de referencia. El presente trabajo, partiendo de una revisión de los marcos teóricos y reglamentarios plantea la necesidad de dotarse de un instrumento que permita una adecuada y objetiva revisión de este indicador. El documento se estructura en tres capítulos, el primero iniciando con el marco general en el cual se desarrolla la cooperación al desarrollo centrándose posteriormente en el marco de cooperación al desarrollo de la Unión Europea. El segundo capítulo se centra en una breve revisión de la teoría existente sobre el diseño, implementación y evaluación de las políticas públicas. Y el tercer capítulo trata sobre los instrumentos actuales para medir el impacto de las intervenciones financiadas en la reducción de la pobreza. El trabajo desarrollado ha mostrado que, aún en el caso de instrumentos aplicados en países desarrollados, la evaluación de la implementación de las políticas públicas, adolece de la falta de un instrumento específico que integrando todas las dimensiones de una política y no solo los programas y proyectos que derivan de ella, recoja información de todos los grupos de interés, de los organismos públicos, privados y sociedad en general, que permita una retroalimentación periódica de su comportamiento y generar una opinión objetiva sobre su implementación

Educación y participación ciudadana en la democratización de la Administración Local: realidades y perspectivas de futuro en Galicia

El estudio trata de poner en valor el papel de la participación ciudadana como un mecanismo a partir del cual cimentar una nueva forma de entender la calidad de vida, fundamentada en un bienestar de naturaleza relacional y alejada de parámetros de corte materialista. Esa implicación cívica favorece el sentimiento de pertenencia y activa al ciudadano como sujeto político, acreedor de cotas de protagonismo en el gobierno de su ecosistema social más cercano, comprometiéndolo, de ese modo, con sus propios procesos de desarrollo. La vertiente política de la participación ciudadana persigue, pues, la depuración de un sistema de gobierno excesivamente jerarquizado, que fomenta planteamientos de corte paternalista y que se basa en la delegación de responsabilidades (democracia representativa). Para tal fin, la labor de los movimientos sociales, en su carácter plural, diverso y heterogéneo, se revela como indispensable, pues se constituyen en escuelas de participación -protagonismo del hecho educativo- y en plataformas que ofrecen un carácter contestatario que favorece la fiscalización del ejercicio de gobierno y la implicación directa de la ciudadanía en la gestión (democracia participativa), dotando a la política de densidad y profundidad. Tales modificaciones han de comenzar por generarse en los contextos locales, por ello, en aras de comprobar el grado de democratización de dicha administración en Galicia y proponer mecanismos de mejora, nos acercamos a algunos de los municipios gallegos, recogiendo las percepciones de los técnicos y políticos que trabajan en la promoción de la participación ciudadana y de las personas que se integran en entidades asociativas de carácter vecinal

Políticos y periodistas: interacción en twitter en el debate de investidura de Pedro Sánchez

Treball Final de Grau en Periodisme. Codi: PE0932. Curs acadèmic 2015-2016We are in 2016, in March and within the period of investiture debate to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español. The importance of social networks in recent years in politics is making different analysts investigate more specifically on Twitter, how this tool is used to convey the message that each political group wants to introduce in each of the citizens. In this study we will discern the use of individual accounts of social network twitter of the five major candidates for president of the Government, and five journalists from different media following today gubernatorial by that social network. One of the objetives is to know whether the selected users when they want to name others in twitter, what made directly to discuss with them or do so indirectly. One of the findings reveals the fact that relations in political twitter and journalists prefer not too directly appointed by the uncertainty that would create a possible and right or wrong answer

Polymeric foams as the matrix of voltammetric sensors for the detection of catechol, hydroquinone, and their mixtures

Producción CientíficaPorous electrodes based on polymethylmethacrylate and graphite foams (PMMA_G_F) have been developed and characterized. Such devices have been successfully used as voltammetric sensors to analyze catechol, hydroquinone, and their mixtures. The presence of pores induces important changes in the oxidation/reduction mechanism of catechol and hydroquinone with respect to the sensing properties observed in nonfoamed PMMA_graphite electrodes (PMMA_G). The electropolymerization processes of catechol or hydroquinone at the electrode surface observed using PMMA_G do not occur at the surface of the foamed PMM_G_F. In addition, the limits of detection observed in foamed electrodes are one order of magnitude lower than the observed in the nonfoamed electrodes. Moreover, foamed electrodes can be used to detect simultaneously both isomers and a remarkable increase in the electrocatalytic properties shown by the foamed samples, produces a decrease in the oxidation potential peak of catechol in presence of hydroquinone, from +0.7 V to +0.3 V. Peak currents increased linearly with concentration of catechol in presence of hydroquinone over the range of 0.37·10−3 M to 1.69·10−3 M with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.27 mM. These effects demonstrate the advantages obtained by increasing the active surface by means of porous structures.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project AGL2015-67482-R)Junta de Castilla y Leon - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA-011U16

Instrumentos metodológicos aplicados al sistema periódico y nomenclatura inorgánica

Memoria ID12-0079. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2012-2013

Automation of an atomic force microscope via Arduino

The Dimension 3000 AFM used in this work was kindly donated by Prof. Nicholas D. Spencer, and facilitated by Prof. Lucio Isa, and Dr. Shivaprakash N. Ramakrishna, from ETH-Zurich. We thank Prof. David Cuartielles for encouraging us to publish this work in this special issue on Arduino Science Hardware. We also thank Llorenc Mercadal Fernandez for frutiful discussions and ideas, and the BiblioMaker unit in the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Granada for their help in 3D printing the gears used here. MAFR acknowledges support by the project PID2020-116615RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, and the EMERGIA grant with reference EMC21_00008 funded by Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion de la Junta de Andalucia, and by FEDER "ERDF A way of making Europe". JGGF and CLMM acknowledge support from grant A1S35536 by Conacyt Mexico.The Atomic Force Microscopy is a very versatile technique that allows to characterize surfaces by acquiring topographies with sub-nanometer resolution. This technique often overcomes the problems and capabilities of electron microscopy when characterizing few nanometers thin coatings over solid substrates. They are expensive, in the half million dollar range for standard units, and therefore it is often difficult to upgrade to new units with improved characteristics. One of these improvements, motorization and automation of the measurements is very interesting to sample different parts of a substrate in an unattended way. Here we report a low cost upgrade under 60 $ to a Dimension 3000 AFM based on a control unit using an Arduino Leonardo. It enables to acquire dozens or hundreds of images automatically by mimicking keyboard shortcuts and interfacing the AFM PCI card.MCIN/AEI PID2020-116615RA-I00Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion de la Junta de Andalucia EMC21_00008Marie Curie ActionsConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT) A1S3553

Automatic selection of the Groebner Basis' monomial order employed for the synthesis of the inverse kinematic model of non-redundant open-chain robotic systems

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in José Guzmán-Giménez, Ángel Valera Fernández, Vicente Mata Amela & Miguel Ángel Díaz-Rodríguez (2023) Automatic selection of the Groebner Basis¿ monomial order employed for the synthesis of the inverse kinematic model of non-redundant open-chain robotic systems, Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines, 51:5, 2458-2480, DOI: 10.1080/15397734.2021.1899829 [copyright Taylor & Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15397734.2021.1899829[EN] The methods most commonly used to synthesize the Inverse Kinematic Model (IKM) of open-chain robotic systems strongly depend on the robot's geometry, which make them difficult to systematize. In a previous work we presented a systematic procedure that relies on Groebner Bases to synthesize the IKM of non-redundant open-chain robots. This study expands the developed procedure with a methodology for the automatic selection of the basis' monomial order. The procedure's inputs are the robot's Denavit-Hartenberg parameters and the movement range of its actuators, while the output is the synthesized IKM, ready to be used in the robot's control system or in a simulation of its behavior. This procedure can synthesize the IKM of a wide range of open-chain robotic systems, such as Cartesian robots, SCARA, non-redundant multi-legged robots, and all non-redundant manipulators that satisfy the in-line wrist condition. The procedure's performance is assessed through two study cases of open-chain robots: a walking hexapod and a PUMA manipulator. The optimal monomial order is successfully identified for all cases. Also the output errors of the synthesized IKMs are negligible when evaluated in their corresponding workspaces, while their computation times are comparable to those required by the kinematic models calculated by traditional methods.This research was partially funded by Plan Nacional de IthornDthorni, Agencia Estatal de Investigacion del Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad del Gobierno de Espana, in the project FEDER-CICYT DPI201784201-R.Guzmán-Giménez, J.; Valera Fernández, Á.; Mata Amela, V.; Díaz-Rodríguez, MÁ. (2023). Automatic selection of the Groebner Basis' monomial order employed for the synthesis of the inverse kinematic model of non-redundant open-chain robotic systems. Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines. 51(5):2458-2480. https://doi.org/10.1080/15397734.2021.18998292458248051