Development of ionizing radiation sensors based on carbon nanotubes

SWNTs have been efficiently grown on patterned substrates, for its subsequent application to the development of ionizing radiation sensors. SWNTs before and after exposure to X-rays were characterized by Raman and XPS spectroscopy, revealing the appearance of alterations that have been justified as possibly due to the presence of adsorbed oxygen species. These materials have been used for the fabrication of a sensor prototype that has shown a quasi-linear behavior as a function of the time of exposure to X-ray radiationFinancial support from the U.S. Department of Energy, through the Massie Chair Project at Universidad del Turabo, from the U.S. Department of Defense under Grant W911NF-14-1-0046, from MINECO under Grant ENE2014-57977-C2-1-R and from the US Department of Energy and the Consortium for Integrating Energy System in Engineering and Science Education, CIESESE (DENA0003330), is gratefully acknowledge

Birefringence effects in multi-core fiber: coupled local-mode theory

© 2016 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibitedIn this paper, we evaluate experimentally and model theoretically the intra- and inter-core crosstalk between the polarized core modes in single-mode multi-core fiber media including temporal and longitudinal birefringent effects. Specifically, extensive experimental results on a four-core fiber indicate that the temporal fluctuation of fiber birefringence modifies the intra- and inter-core crosstalk behavior in both linear and nonlinear optical power regimes. To gain theoretical insight into the experimental results, we introduce an accurate multi-core fiber model based on local modes and perturbation theory, which is derived from the Maxwell equations including both longitudinal and temporal birefringent effects. Numerical calculations based on the developed theory are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.This work has been partly funded by Spain National Plan project MINECO/FEDER UE XCORE TEC2015-70858-C2-1-R; HIDRASENSE RTC-2014-2232-3; European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Galician Regional Government under project GRC2015/018. A. Macho and M. Morant work was supported by BES-2013-062952 F.P.I. Grant and postdoc UPV PAID-10-14 program, respectively.Macho-Ortiz, A.; García Meca, C.; Fraile-Peláez, FJ.; Morant Pérez, M.; Llorente Sáez, R. (2016). Birefringence effects in multi-core fiber: coupled local-mode theory. Optics Express. 24(19):21415-21434. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.24.021415S21415214342419Mizuno, T., Takara, H., Sano, A., & Miyamoto, Y. (2016). Dense Space-Division Multiplexed Transmission Systems Using Multi-Core and Multi-Mode Fiber. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 34(2), 582-592. doi:10.1109/jlt.2015.2482901Morant, M., Macho, A., & Llorente, R. (2016). On the Suitability of Multicore Fiber for LTE–Advanced MIMO Optical Fronthaul Systems. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 34(2), 676-682. doi:10.1109/jlt.2015.2507137Hayashi, T., Sasaki, T., Sasaoka, E., Saitoh, K., & Koshiba, M. (2013). Physical interpretation of intercore crosstalk in multicore fiber: effects of macrobend, structure fluctuation, and microbend. Optics Express, 21(5), 5401. doi:10.1364/oe.21.005401Fini, J. M., Zhu, B., Taunay, T. F., Yan, M. F., & Abedin, K. S. (2012). Statistical Models of Multicore Fiber Crosstalk Including Time Delays. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 30(12), 2003-2010. doi:10.1109/jlt.2012.2188017Luis, R. S., Puttnam, B. J., Cartaxo, A. V. T., Klaus, W., Mendinueta, J. M. D., Awaji, Y., … Sasaki, T. (2016). Time and Modulation Frequency Dependence of Crosstalk in Homogeneous Multi-Core Fibers. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 34(2), 441-447. doi:10.1109/jlt.2015.2474128Hayashi, T., Taru, T., Shimakawa, O., Sasaki, T., & Sasaoka, E. (2012). Characterization of Crosstalk in Ultra-Low-Crosstalk Multi-Core Fiber. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 30(4), 583-589. doi:10.1109/jlt.2011.2177810Fini, J. M., Zhu, B., Taunay, T. F., & Yan, M. F. (2010). Statistics of crosstalk in bent multicore fibers. Optics Express, 18(14), 15122. doi:10.1364/oe.18.015122Koshiba, M., Saitoh, K., Takenaga, K., & Matsuo, S. (2011). Multi-core fiber design and analysis: coupled-mode theory and coupled-power theory. Optics Express, 19(26), B102. doi:10.1364/oe.19.00b102Hayashi, T., Taru, T., Shimakawa, O., Sasaki, T., & Sasaoka, E. (2011). Design and fabrication of ultra-low crosstalk and low-loss multi-core fiber. Optics Express, 19(17), 16576. doi:10.1364/oe.19.016576Koshiba, M., Saitoh, K., Takenaga, K., & Matsuo, S. (2012). Analytical Expression of Average Power-Coupling Coefficients for Estimating Intercore Crosstalk in Multicore Fibers. IEEE Photonics Journal, 4(5), 1987-1995. doi:10.1109/jphot.2012.2221085Macho, A., Morant, M., & Llorente, R. (2015). Experimental evaluation of nonlinear crosstalk in multi-core fiber. Optics Express, 23(14), 18712. doi:10.1364/oe.23.018712Macho, A., Morant, M., & Llorente, R. (2016). Unified Model of Linear and Nonlinear Crosstalk in Multi-Core Fiber. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 34(13), 3035-3046. doi:10.1109/jlt.2016.2552958Mecozzi, A., Antonelli, C., & Shtaif, M. (2012). Coupled Manakov equations in multimode fibers with strongly coupled groups of modes. Optics Express, 20(21), 23436. doi:10.1364/oe.20.023436Mecozzi, A., Antonelli, C., & Shtaif, M. (2012). Nonlinear propagation in multi-mode fibers in the strong coupling regime. Optics Express, 20(11), 11673. doi:10.1364/oe.20.011673Mumtaz, S., Essiambre, R.-J., & Agrawal, G. P. (2013). Nonlinear Propagation in Multimode and Multicore Fibers: Generalization of the Manakov Equations. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 31(3), 398-406. doi:10.1109/jlt.2012.2231401Palmieri, L., & Galtarossa, A. (2014). Coupling Effects Among Degenerate Modes in Multimode Optical Fibers. IEEE Photonics Journal, 6(6), 1-8. doi:10.1109/jphot.2014.2343998Antonelli, C., Mecozzi, A., & Shtaif, M. (2015). The delay spread in fibers for SDM transmission: dependence on fiber parameters and perturbations. Optics Express, 23(3), 2196. doi:10.1364/oe.23.002196Marcuse, D. (1975). Coupled-Mode Theory for Anisotropic Optical Waveguides. Bell System Technical Journal, 54(6), 985-995. doi:10.1002/j.1538-7305.1975.tb02878.xWong, D. (1990). Thermal stability of intrinsic stress birefringence in optical fibers. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 8(11), 1757-1761. doi:10.1109/50.60576Gloge, D. (1971). Weakly Guiding Fibers. Applied Optics, 10(10), 2252. doi:10.1364/ao.10.002252Cartaxo, A. V. T., Luis, R. S., Puttnam, B. J., Hayashi, T., Awaji, Y., & Wada, N. (2016). Dispersion Impact on the Crosstalk Amplitude Response of Homogeneous Multi-Core Fibers. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 28(17), 1858-1861. doi:10.1109/lpt.2016.2573925Poole, C. D., & Favin, D. L. (1994). Polarization-mode dispersion measurements based on transmission spectra through a polarizer. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 12(6), 917-929. doi:10.1109/50.296179Karlsson, O., Brentel, J., & Andrekson, P. A. (2000). Long-term measurement of PMD and polarization drift in installed fibers. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 18(7), 941-951. doi:10.1109/50.850739Brodsky, M., Frigo, N. J., Boroditsky, M., & Tur, M. (2006). Polarization Mode Dispersion of Installed Fibers. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 24(12), 4584-4599. doi:10.1109/jlt.2006.88578

PEER RANKING: Un nuevo enfoque para la evaluación formativa

[EN] This paper introduces peer ranking as a type of a formative assessment methodology. By using this methodology, students compare written reports from their peer in pairs. We explain the advantages of using this methodology not only to enhance student’s learning but also as a way to assess student’s transversal competence of critical thinking.[ES] Este artículo introduce peer ranking como un tipo de metodología para la evaluación formative. Mediante la aplicación de esta metodología, los alumnos deben comparar por pares, trabajos escritos elaborados por otros compañeros. En el presente trabajo se exponen las ventajas de la adopción de esta metodología no sólo para mejorar el aprendizaje de los estudiantes, sino también como un modo de evaluar la competencia transversal de pensamiento crítico.Perelló Marín, MR.; García Sabater, JP.; Marín García, JA.; Morant Llorca, J. (2016). PEER RANKING: Un nuevo enfoque para la evaluación formativa. En In-Red 2016. II Congreso nacional de innovación educativa y docencia en red. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/INRED2016.2016.4329OC

Assembly plant simulation to support decision-making n Layout Design considering safety issues. A case study

[EN] This paper presents a simulation model that has been created to support decision-making during the layout redesign of an engine and transmission assembly plant in the automotive sector. The plant requires a new layout and supply logistic due to an increase in its complexity and daily production. Discrete event simulation has been used to validate an initial proposal and to propose different what-if scenarios of layout and operations management systems. These scenarios will be evaluated regarding materials flow generated throughout the plants. The main focus of the decision process was focused on safety issues related to the material handling. The simulation model and its description have been done according to the methodology proposed in Sáez Más, García Sabater, Morant Llorca, y Maheut (2016), where the simulation model is focus as a 4-layer architecture (network, logic, database and visual reality). The achieved model is very flexible and modular, and it allows to save modelling time because of the parameterize of different combinations in layout and operations management.[ES] Este trabajo presenta un modelo de simulación, que se ha creado para apoyar el rediseño de las instalaciones de una planta de montaje de motores y transmisiones en el sector del automóvil. La planta requiere de un nuevo layout y logística de aprovisionamiento, debido a un aumento en su complejidad y su producción diaria. La simulación por eventos discretos se utiliza para validar una propuesta inicial y proponer diferentes escenarios what-if de distribución y gestión de las operaciones. Estos escenarios se evalúan considerando el flujo de material generado a lo largo de las instalaciones. El principal objetivo durante la toma de decisiones se centra en aspectos de seguridad relacionados con el movimiento de material. La construcción de modelo de simulación y su descripción en el documento se realiza según la metodología propuesta en Sáez Más, García Sabater, Morant Llorca, y Maheut (2016) donde, el modelo de simulación se enfoca como una arquitectura de 4 capas (red, lógica, base de datos y realidad visual). El modelo obtenido resulta ser muy flexible y modular, lo que permite un ahorro de tiempo de modelado considerable, al parametrizar las diferentes combinaciones de distribución y de gestión de las operaciones.Sáez Más, AM.; García Sabater, JP.; Morant Llorca, J.; Maheut, J. (2016). Assembly plant simulation to support decision-making n Layout Design considering safety issues. A case study. Working Papers on Operations Management. 7(2):64-88. https://doi.org/10.4995/wpom.v7i2.4721SWORD64887

Photodegradation of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin by Au@ZnONPs-MoS2-Rgo nanocomposites

This study aimed to investigate the photocatalytic performance of diverse zinc oxide catalysts containing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) toward the degradation of the antibiotics levofloxacin (LFX) and ciprofloxacin (CFX) in aqueous solutions. The obtained results demonstrate that LFX is more resistant to degradation when compared with CFX and that the principal route of degradation under visible light is the formation of hydroxyl radicals. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were employed to verify the inhibitory effect of electron–hole recombination when AuNPs, MoS2, and rGO are integrated into a semiconductor. The catalyst that achieved the highest percentage of CFX degradation was 1%Au@ZnONPs-3%MoS2-1%rGO, exhibiting a degradation efficiency of 96%, while the catalyst that exhibited the highest percentage of LFX degradation was 5%Au@ZnONPs-3%MoS2-1%rGO, displaying a degradation efficiency of 99.8%. A gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis enabled the identification of reaction intermediates, facilitating the determination of a potential degradation pathway for both antibiotics. Additionally, recyclability assessments showed that the synthesized catalysts maintained stable photocatalytic efficiencies after 15 cycles, indicating that the heterostructures have the potential for further usage and may be tested with other organic contaminants as wellThe financial support from the NSF Center for the Advancement of Wearable TechnologiesCAWT (grant 1849243), from the Consortium of Hybrid Resilient Energy Systems (DE-NA0003982), and from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under NanoCat-Com Project (PID2021-124667OB-I00), are gratefully acknowledgedThe financial support from the NSF Center for the Advancement of Wearable TechnologiesCAWT (grant 1849243), from the Consortium of Hybrid Resilient Energy Systems (DE-NA0003982), and from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under NanoCat-Com Project (PID2021-124667OB-I00), are gratefully acknowledge

Self-growing Colored Petri Net for offshore wind turbines maintenance systems

The offshore wind turbines have been developed in a lot of aspects in the last years, but the big companies are still researching for new techniques that help improve the systems. We propose a new methodology to implement the automatic maintenance system using self-growing colored Petri nets developed in Labview, extendable to other industry systems.Perez Collada, MJ.; Correcher Salvador, A.; García Moreno, E.; Morant Anglada, FJ.; Quiles Cucarella, E. (2011). Self-growing Colored Petri Net for offshore wind turbines maintenance systems. Renewable energy & power quality journal. (9):381-386. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/45123S381386

Neuronal and astrocytic differentiation from Sanfilippo C syndrome iPSCs for disease modeling and drug development

Sanfilippo syndrome type C (mucopolysaccharidosis IIIC) is an early-onset neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder, which is currently untreatable. The vast majority of studies focusing on disease mechanisms of Sanfilippo syndrome were performed on non-neural cells or mouse models, which present obvious limitations. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are an efficient way to model human diseases in vitro. Recently developed transcription factor-based differentiation protocols allow fast and efficient conversion of iPSCs into the cell type of interest. By applying these protocols, we have generated newneuronal and astrocyticmodels of Sanfilippo syndrome using our previously established disease iPSC lines. Moreover, our neuronal model exhibits disease-specific molecular phenotypes, such as increase in lysosomes and heparan sulfate. Lastly, we tested an experimental, siRNA-based treatment previously shown to be successful in patients' fibroblasts and demonstrated its lack of efficacy in neurons. Our findings highlight the need to use relevant human cellular models to test therapeutic interventions and shows the applicability of our neuronal and astrocyticmodels of Sanfilippo syndrome for future studies on disease mechanisms and drug development

Fatty acid oxidation organizes mitochondrial supercomplexes to sustain astrocytic ROS and cognition

[EN]Having direct access to brain vasculature, astrocytes can take up available blood nutrients and metabolize them to fulfil their own energy needs and deliver metabolic intermediates to local synapses1,2. These glial cells should be, therefore, metabolically adaptable to swap different substrates. However, in vitro and in vivo studies consistently show that astrocytes are primarily glycolytic3-7, suggesting glucose is their main metabolic precursor. Notably, transcriptomic data8,9 and in vitro10 studies reveal that mouse astrocytes are capable of mitochondrially oxidizing fatty acids and that they can detoxify excess neuronal-derived fatty acids in disease models11,12. Still, the factual metabolic advantage of fatty acid use by astrocytes and its physiological impact on higher-order cerebral functions remain unknown. Here, we show that knockout of carnitine-palmitoyl transferase-1A (CPT1A)-a key enzyme of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation-in adult mouse astrocytes causes cognitive impairment. Mechanistically, decreased fatty acid oxidation rewired astrocytic pyruvate metabolism to facilitate electron flux through a super-assembled mitochondrial respiratory chain, resulting in attenuation of reactive oxygen species formation. Thus, astrocytes naturally metabolize fatty acids to preserve the mitochondrial respiratory chain in an energetically inefficient disassembled conformation that secures signalling reactive oxygen species and sustains cognitive performance

Captación y retención de empleo cualificado: acciones para su fortalecimiento en la provincia de Alicante

Desde que hace ya casi 25 años, los consultores de McKinsey Michaels, Handfields Jones & Axelrod, empezaran a hablar de la guerra por el talento, éste no solo sigue estando de moda, sino que se podría decir que se ha convertido en una variable clave en la determinación del éxito en las organizaciones. Los cambios en el entorno de tipo social, político, económico y tecnológico, la incorporación de nuevas formas de trabajo, o amenazas como la pandemia y conflictos bélicos, han hecho resurgir su importancia, de manera, que las organizaciones que quieran seguir compitiendo deben diseñar políticas de atracción, mantenimiento y desarrollo del talento. El talento se ha convertido en un impulsor crítico del rendimiento corporativo, de forma que la habilidad para atraer, desarrollar y retener el talento se está convirtiendo ya en una ventaja competitiva. La gestión del talento (en adelante GT), se está convirtiendo en un elemento indispensable para el diseño de la estrategia de las organizaciones. Si bien en la evolución de la dirección estratégica de las organizaciones han predominado las variables relacionadas con el entorno competitivo y el posicionamiento estratégico (Porter, 1980), con el tiempo han ido recibiendo mayor atención aspectos internos de las organizaciones como fuente de ventaja competitiva (e.g. los recursos y capacidades de Barney (1991) o las capacidades dinámicas de Teece (1999).) Este giro es esencial en la dirección corporativa de las organizaciones ya que se buscan recursos, capacidades y elementos diferenciadores de cada organización que les permitan posicionarse por delante de sus rivales. Y en este nuevo escenario es donde la variable personas cobra un especial relieve y en concreto el talento como elemento intangible. No obstante, para que el talento pueda ser incluido entre las herramientas de gestión estratégica de una organización debe conceptualizarse de una manera consensuada, y medirse de manera consistente con el concepto, y solo así se puede tener la seguridad de estar hablando y midiendo lo mismo. Pese a que no hay dudas sobre la importancia que tiene el talento para las organizaciones ni de la importancia que tiene la función de GT dentro de las organizaciones (según The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006), esta función acapara el 25% del tiempo de los directivos), conseguir una definición de consenso no ha sido una tarea fácil

Large-scale movement patterns in a social vulture are influenced by seasonality, sex, and breeding region

Quantifying space use and segregation, as well as the extrinsic and intrinsic factors affecting them, is crucial to increase our knowledge of species-specific movement ecology and to design effective management and conservation measures. This is particularly relevant in the case of species that are highly mobile and dependent on sparse and unpredictable trophic resources, such as vultures. Here, we used the GPS-tagged data of 127 adult Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus captured at five different breeding regions in Spain to describe the movement patterns (home-range size and fidelity, and monthly cumulative distance). We also examined how individual sex, season, and breeding region determined the cumulative distance traveled and the size and overlap between consecutive monthly home-ranges. Overall, Griffon Vultures exhibited very large annual home-range sizes of 5027 ± 2123 km2, mean monthly cumulative distances of 1776 ± 1497 km, and showed a monthly home-range fidelity of 67.8 ± 25.5%. However, individuals from northern breeding regions showed smaller home-ranges and traveled shorter monthly distances than those from southern ones. In all cases, home-ranges were larger in spring and summer than in winter and autumn, which could be related to difference in flying conditions and food requirements associated with reproduction. Moreover, females showed larger home-ranges and less monthly fidelity than males, indicating that the latter tended to use the similar areas throughout the year. Overall, our results indicate that both extrinsic and intrinsic factors modulate the home-range of the Griffon Vulture and that spatial segregation depends on sex and season at the individual level, without relevant differences between breeding regions in individual site fidelity. These results have important implications for conservation, such as identifying key threat factors necessary to improve management actions and policy decisions.his research was funded by Comunidad de Bardenas Reales de Navarra, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/FEDER (PID2020-113808RA-I00, PID2019-109685GB-I00, RTI2018-099609-B-C22, CGL2012-32544, CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R, and CGL2015-66966-C2-1-R2); Junta de Andalucía (RNM-1925 and P18-RT-1321); FEDER_2021.1524 and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and ERDF (RTI2018-099609-B-C21, TRASCAR); and Poctefa Interreg Project (EFA 089/15 Ecogyp). Part of this work was funded by Ecotone telemetry (Poland). J.M.P.G. was supported by a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities postdoctoral contract (IJC-2019-038968). E.A. was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (APOSTD/2021). ACA was supported by two Postdoc Contracts: I + D + I Retos E-41-202_0456599 and EMERGIA Program2021_1073, both from Junta de Andalucía.Peer reviewe