Comparing phonetic difficulties by EFL learners from Spain and Japan.

XXII Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials (Any 2017)After decades of improving language learning methods, English as a Foreign Language (hereafter EFL) still makes Spanish and Japanese learners struggle with the correct pronunciation. Each country focused on its own lack of phonemes in relation to the target language and, despite years, of research the problem is as present as ever. This article approaches this border-crossing problem by means of the moderate version of the contrastive analysis hypothesis (henceforth CAH) and compares and analyses the phonetic problems of both languages against the target language, English. By expanding the focus, the resulting data could serve as a starting point for further studies that down the way could facilitate EFL learning all around the world

Chemistry in the laser-induced plasma

Since the first uses of LIBS, it is known that the laser induced plasma, as many other atom reservoirs, is a dynamic system that evolves rapidly to stable species after the end of the laser pulse. LIBS of metallic targets, which is the best established body of knowledge in this area of research, reveals the existence of a limited number of reactions between the excited and ionized atoms and atmospheric oxygen. The oxides formed may be used for characterizing the original sample, as for instance using the recently demonstrated application of LIBS for isotopic analysis at atmospheric pressure. The case of LIBS of organic compounds is much more complex. Recent investigations reveal that reactions in the plasma between fragments formed by dissociation of the original compound and by reactions of these fragments with the gas surrounding the plasma are extensive. While these reactions tend to complicate the spectroscopy and its interpretation, the products formed and the way they interact can be exploited for assigning the identity of the original compound. In this talk, a discussion of the several factors affecting the plasma chemistry of a number of molecular compounds will be presented. Factors influencing the formation of emitting species and some applications in the chemical analysis of organic samples will be discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Multielemental analysis in nanoplasmas of isolated particles in an optical trap

Single particle characterization still constitutes a challenge to contemporary chemical analysis. Considerable effort worldwide is being devoted to conceive experimental strategies providing detection capabilities compatible with the extremely low mass of micro- and nano-particles and the ability to determine the chemical composition of the individual entities. The notion of using optical levitation to trap individual particles was demonstrated in the past century. Recently we have proposed the multielemental analysis of individual nanoparticles in optical traps using LIBS. In this lecture, the fundamentals of optical trapping of nanoparticles in air will be presented. The specific excitation and ionization processes leading to efficient optical detection and an analysis of the photon emission efficiency will be discussed. Finally, some limiting factors involved in our approach and prospective directions for improvement will be presented.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

From the sea bottom to the red planet with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) constitutes one of the most active research fields in analytical science. Among several important features, ability for adaptation to radically different scenarios constitutes its most valuable asset. For instance, technology based on LIBS has been developed for sub-sea operations and for planetary exploration, two extreme environments that require analytical solutions not available for most measurement techniques. In this talk, a discussion will be presented on the challenges represented by these analyses and the solutions envisaged using advanced LIBS approaches.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

LIBS spectroscopy meets the ocean. Chemical analysis of archeological materials in Mediterranean waters

After decades of development in laboratories and land operations, chemical analysis of submerged objects is starting to become a reality. While the analysis of water at variable depth has been demonstrated in the past using florescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, determination of the atomic composition of submerged objects is much a more complex task. Technology based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been recently developed for such sub-sea operations. This paper will discuss the operating parameters of a marine LIBS analyzer. Metals, alloys, rocks, marble, concrete, can be analyzed at a depth of up to 50 m. The system has been tested in several coastal surveys in Mediterranean waters.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

LIBS detection of atoms and molecules in nanoplasmas of levitated particles

Single particle characterization still constitutes a challenge to contemporary chemical analysis. Considerable effort worldwide is being devoted to conceive experimental strategies providing detection capabilities compatible with the extremely low mass of micro- and nano-particles and the ability to determine the chemical composition of the individual entities. The notion of using optical levitation to trap individual particles was demonstrated in the past century. Recently we have proposed the multielemental analysis of individual nanoparticles in optical traps using LIBS. In this lecture, the fundamentals of optical trapping of nanoparticles in air will be presented. The specific excitation and ionization processes leading to efficient optical detection and an analysis of the photon emission efficiency will be discussed. Finally, some limiting factors involved in our approach and prospective directions for improvement will be presentedUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Computational medical imaging for total knee arthroplasty using visualitzation toolkit

This project is presented as a Master Thesis in the field of Civil Engineering, Biomedical specialization. As the project of an Erasmus exchange student, this thesis has been under supervision both the Universite Livre de Bruxelles and the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. The purpose of this thesis to put in practice all the knowledges acquired during this Master in Industrial Engineering in UPC and to be a support for medical staff in total knee arthoplasty procedures. Prof. Emmanuel Thienpont has been working for years as orthopaedic surgeon at the Hospital Sant Luc, Brussels. His years of work and research have been mainly focused on Total Knee Arthroplasty or TKA. During one of the most important steps of this procedure, the orthopaedic surgeon has to cut the head of the femur following two perpendicular cutting planes. Nevertheless, the orientation of these planes are directly dependant of the femur constitution. This Master Thesis has been conceived in order to offer the surgeon a tool to determine the proper direction planes in a previous step before the surgical procedure. This project pretends to give the surgeon an openfree computational platform to access to patient geometrical and physiological information before involving the subject in any invasive procedure

OC-OT-LIBS: A novel approach to the chemical characterization of single particles

Spectral identification of individual micro- and nano-sized particles by the sequential intervention of optical catapulting, optical trapping and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is presented [1]. The three techniques are used for different purposes. Optical catapulting (OC) serves to put the particulate material under inspection in aerosol form [2-4]. Optical trapping (OT) permits the isolation and manipulation of individual particles from the aerosol, which are subsequently analyzed by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Once catapulted, the dynamics of particle trapping depends on the laser beam characteristics (power and intensity gradient) and on the particle properties (size, mass and shape). Particles are stably trapped in air at atmospheric pressure and can be conveniently manipulated for a precise positioning for LIBS analysis. The spectra acquired from the individually trapped particles permit a straightforward identification of the inspected material. The current work focuses on the development of a procedure for simultaneously acquiring dual information about the particle under study via LIBS and time-resolved plasma images by taking advantage of the aforementioned features of the OC-OT-LIBS instrument to align the multiple lines in a simple yet highly accurate way. The plasma imaging does not only further reinforce the spectral data, but also allows a better comprehension of the chemical and physical processes involved during laser-particle interaction. Also, a thorough determination of the optimal excitation conditions generating the most information out of each laser event was run along the determination of parameters such as the width of the optical trap, its stability as a function of the laser power and the laser wavelength. The extreme sensibility of the presented OC-OT-LIBS technology allows a detection power of attograms for single/individual particle analysis.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Personal aircraft: a more affordable luxury

Access to luxury products has been limited traditionally to the upper classes. Products and services related to the means of transport have usually been considered of luxury and industrialization has made accessible to much of the population in developed countries. An emerging market is personal aircraft which is currently restricted to certain layers of society but it is expected that their use will represent the next great advance in transport. This article has the object of presenting the results of ongoing research and it focuses on possible demand and the tendency to use this transport option in Spanish societ