Avalanche dynamics in fluid imbibition near the depinning transition

We study avalanche dynamics and local activity of forced-flow imbibition fronts in disordered media. We focus on the front dynamics as the mean velocity $\bar{v}$ of the interface is decreased and the pinning state is approached. Scaling arguments allow us to obtain the statistics of avalanche sizes and durations, which become power-law distributed due to the existence of a critical point at $\bar{v}= 0$. Results are compared with phase-field numerical simulations

Time dependent couplings and crossover length scales in non-equilibrium surface roughening

We show that time dependent couplings may lead to nontrivial scaling properties of the surface fluctuations of the asymptotic regime in non-equilibrium kinetic roughening models . Three typical situations are studied. In the case of a crossover between two different rough regimes, the time-dependent coupling may result in anomalous scaling for scales above the crossover length. In a different setting, for a crossover from a rough to either a flat or damping regime, the time dependent crossover length may conspire to produce a rough surface, despite the most relevant term tends to flatten the surface. In addition, our analysis sheds light into an existing debate in the problem of spontaneous imbibition, where time dependent couplings naturally arise in theoretical models and experiments.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review E (Rapid Comm.

FGs media gathering proposal 30/10/2020

European project Enhancing Social Cohesion through Sharing the Cultural Heritage of Forced Migrations - SO-CLOSEThe FGs begin in the core of the co-creation definition process, one of the most crucial and distinctive points of the project. The present proposal's objectives are: to document SO-CLOSE's FGs process and to make a media crowdsourcing call. That would allow to have an interesting source of content and enrich the project's media & storytelling ; work with hands-on material from one of the few in-person interactions and setup So-Close's Media Asset Manager

Impact properties and water uptake behavior of old newspaper recycled fibers-reinforced polypropylene composites

Natural fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites can be an alternative to mineral fiber-based composites, especially when economic and environment concerns are included under the material selection criteria. In recent years, the literature has shown how lignocellulosic fiber-reinforced composites can be used for a variety of applications. Nonetheless, the impact strength and the water uptake behavior of such materials have been seen as drawbacks. In this work, the impact strength and the water uptake of composites made of polypropylene reinforced with fibers from recycled newspaper have been researched. The results show how the impact strength decreases with the percentage of reinforcement in a similar manner to that of glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites as a result of adding a fragile phase to the material. It was found that the water uptake increased with the increasing percentages of lignocellulosic fibers due to the hydrophilic nature of such reinforcements. The diffusion behavior was found to be Fickian. A maleic anhydride was added as a coupling agent in order to increase the strength of the interface between the matrix and the reinforcements. It was found that the presence of such a coupling agent increased the impact strength of the composites and decreased the water uptake. Impact strengths of 21.3 kJ/m3 were obtained for a coupled composite with 30 wt % reinforcement contents, which is a value higher than that obtained for glass fiber-based materials. The obtained composites reinforced with recycled fibers showed competitive impact strength and water uptake behaviors in comparison with materials reinforced with raw lignocellulosic fibers. The article increases the knowledge on newspaper fiber-reinforced polyolefin composite properties, showing the competitiveness of waste-based materialsPostprint (published version

Accurate DOSY measure of out-of-equilibrium systems by permutated DOSY (p-DOSY)

NMR spectroscopy is an excellent tool for monitoring in-situ chemical reactions. In particular, DOSY measurement is well suited to characterize transient species by the determination of their sizes. However, here we bring to light a difficulty in the DOSY experiments performed in out-of-equilibrium systems. On such a system, the evolution of the concentration of species interferes with the measurement process, and creates a bias on the diffusion coefficient determination that may lead to erroneous interpretations. We show that a random permutation of the series of gradient strengths used during the DOSY experiment allows to average out this bias. This approach, that we name p-DOSY does not require changes in the the pulse sequences nor in the processing software, and restores completely the full accuracy of the measure. This technique is demonstrated on the monitoring of the anomerization reaction of \alpha- to \beta-glucose.Comment: Revised version - 15 pages, 8 figures program archived at 10.5281/zenodo.1926

Els bombardejos italians a Barcelona i la protecció internacional dels béns culturals

Treballs Finals de Grau de Dret. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2016-2017. Tutora: Rosa Ana Alija Fernández. Vinculat al Projecte Dret al Dret. Clínica jurídica de Lluita contra la ImpunitatLa Guerra Civil espanyola no deixa indiferent a ningú. Va ser una cruenta guerra civil internacionalitzada que preludiava el que havia de venir-li al món. Va ser un camp de proves on les potències nazi-feixistes van intervenir i van experimentar amb nous mitjans i mètodes de fer la guerra. Els bombardejos deliberats contra la població civil a diverses ciutats espanyoles, que van trasbalsar la comunitat internacional, en són la tràgica prova. La destrucció de béns culturals, una de les seves nefastes conseqüències, era un tema preocupava la comunitat internacional, però molt freqüentment ha quedat tapat per l’horror i les dimensions de les pèrdues humanes. Aquest treball s’emmarca dins del projecte Dret al Dret de la facultat de dret de la Universitat de Barcelona. En concret, s’inscriu dins del suport que la Clínica Jurídica de Lluita contra la Impunitat presta a la Plataforma Bombes d’Impunitat, que tracta de manera transversal els bombardejos durant la Guerra Civil espanyola i la recuperació de la memòria. L’objectiu d’aquest treball és cercar arguments jurídics, en l’àmbit de la protecció jurídica internacional dels béns culturals, per tal d’esbrinar si els bombardejos italians sobre la ciutat de Barcelona i la conseqüent destrucció de béns culturals serien il·legals als ulls del Dret Internacional. La Guerra Civil espanyola també va sacsejar els fonaments del Dret Internacional Públic perquè va suscitar problemes nous i va retorçar la interpretació de les normes vigents en aquells anys. En aquest sentit, l’estudi explora les normes sobre béns culturals en el dret convencional de l’època; planteja l’existència i l’aplicació de normes consuetudinàries al conflicte espanyol; i valora la incidència de la participació italiana durant la Guerra Civil a la llum dels principis del Dret Internacional. Per fer-ho, s’analitzen conceptes que actualment estan desenvolupats –com els objectius militars– i d’altres que són problemàtics –com el de “ciutat oberta” o la bel·ligerància–. En general, la protecció internacional dels béns culturals aplicada al cas espanyol roman encara poc tractada, almenys des d’una perspectiva jurídica..

Ideological freedom and related legal wording

In practical discourse, we can find out legal wording that is associated with ideological freedom and applied interchangeably: freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and religious freedom. In this essay, our aim consists in determining which the proper use of each expression is. For this purpose, we have observed: how the concept of ideological freedom is established in some legal systems; how it can be differentiated from religious freedom clearly but not from freedom of conscience on account of a vague material scope of validity; and why these difficulties move from conceptual to legal areas. In order to propose a convenient use to the latter expressions, we draw on BERLIN's two concepts of liberty