Optical binding of cylinder photonic molecules in the near-field of partially coherent fluctuating Gaussian Schell model sources. A coherent mode representation

We present a theory and computation method of radiation pressure from partially coherent light by establishing a coherent mode representation of the radiation forces. This is illustrated with the near field emitted from a Gaussian Schell model source, mechanically acting on a single cylinder with magnetodielectric behavior, or on a photonic molecule constituted by a pair of such cylinders. Thus after studying the force produced by a single particle, we address the effects of the spatial coherence on the bonding and anti-bonding states of two particles. The coherence length manifests the critical limitation of the contribution of evanescent modes to the scattered fields, and hence to the nature and strength of the electromagnetic fores, even when electric and/or magnetic partial wave resonances are excited

Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Ethanol on Rh-Pt Catalysts: Influence of CeO2, ZrO2, and La2O3 as Supports

CeO2-, ZrO2-, and La2O3-supported Rh-Pt catalysts were tested to assess their ability to catalyze the steam reforming of ethanol (SRE) for H2 production. SRE activity tests were performed using EtOH:H2O:N2 (molar ratio 1:3:51) at a gaseous space velocity of 70,600 h−1 between 400 and 700 °C at atmospheric pressure. The SRE stability of the catalysts was tested at 700 °C for 27 h time on stream under the same conditions. RhPt/CeO2, which showed the best performance in the stability test, also produced the highest H2 yield above 600 °C, followed by RhPt/La2O3 and RhPt/ZrO2. The fresh and aged catalysts were characterized by TEM, XPS, and TGA. The higher H2 selectivity of RhPt/CeO2 was ascribed to the formation of small (~5 nm) and stable particles probably consistent of Rh-Pt alloys with a Pt surface enrichment. Both metals were oxidized and acted as an almost constant active phase during the stability test owing to strong metal-support interactions, as well as the superior oxygen mobility of the support. The TGA results confirmed the absence of carbonaceous residues in all the aged catalysts.The authors are grateful to the Universidad de La Sabana and Universidad de Alicante for the financial support of this work

Kinetics of the Catalytic Thermal Degradation of Sugarcane Residual Biomass Over Rh-Pt/CeO2-SiO2 for Syngas Production

Thermochemical processes for biomass conversion are promising to produce renewable hydrogen-rich syngas. In the present study, model fitting methods were used to propose thermal degradation kinetics during catalytic and non-catalytic pyrolysis (in N2) and combustion (in synthetic air) of sugarcane residual biomass. Catalytic processes were performed over a Rh-Pt/CeO2-SiO2 catalyst and the models were proposed based on the Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, TG coupled to Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectrometry (TG-FTIR) and TG coupled to mass spectrometry (TG-MS). Results showed three different degradation stages and a catalyst effect on product distribution. In pyrolysis, Rh-Pt/CeO2-SiO2 catalyst promoted reforming reactions which increased the presence of H2. Meanwhile, during catalytic combustion, oxidation of the carbon and hydrogen present in biomass favored the release of H2O, CO and CO2. Furthermore, the catalyst decreased the overall activation energies of pyrolysis and combustion from 120.9 and 154.9 kJ mol−1 to 107.0 and 138.0 kJ mol−1, respectively. Considering the positive effect of the Rh-Pt/CeO2-SiO2 catalyst during pyrolysis of sugarcane residual biomass, it could be considered as a potential catalyst to improve the thermal degradation of biomass for syngas production. Moreover, the proposed kinetic parameters are useful to design an appropriate thermochemical unit for H2-rich syngas production as a non-conventional energy technology.This research was funded by Colciencias (Francisco Jose de Caldas Fund) and Universidad de La Sabana through the Project ING-221 (Colciencias contract 548–2019) and The International Relations Department of University of Alicante for the financial support through the program named “University Development Cooperation 2018”

Proof-of-Concept Application - Annual Report Year 2

This document first gives an introduction to Application Layer Networks and subsequently presents the catallactic resource allocation model and its integration into the middleware architecture of the developed prototype. Furthermore use cases for employed service models in such scenarios are presented as general application scenarios as well as two very detailed cases: Query services and Data Mining services. This work concludes by describing the middleware implementation and evaluation as well as future work in this area. --Grid Computing

Performance Evaluation - Annual Report Year 2

In this paper a performance measuring infrastructure,developed for the prototype and simulator, concering the experiment configuration, data measurement, and data collection, is presented. A corresponding performance evaluation framework is defined to obtain the metrics from the measured data. Initial experiments were carried out to test the developed prototype, simulator and the performance measuring infrastructure. --Grid Computing

Sintesis de poliuretanos a partir de polioles obtenidos a partir del aceite de higuerilla modificado por transesterificación con pentaeritritol

Castor oil was reacted by transesterification with various percentages in mass of pentaerythritol to obtain different esters of pentaerythritol. Alternatively, glycerol was also used instead of pentaerythritol for the same reaction in order to establish comparative reference products. The products of the reactions were characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy in order to detect and quantify (in terms of the molecular mass and structural information) the components of the products obtained. Analysis for hydroxyl value, acid value, viscosity and specific gravity were used to complete the characterization of the polyols obtained and also of the original castor oil. The polymer characterization was accomplished by tensile stress-strain tests, Shore A hardness, thermogravimetric analysis and chemical resistance to solvents

Polyurethane-based bioadhesive synthesized from polyols derived from castor oil (Ricinus communis) and low concentration of chitosan

[EN] Polyurethane-based bioadhesive was synthesized with polyols derived from castor oil (chemically modified and unmodified) and hexamethylene diisocyanate with chitosan addition as a bioactive filler. The objective was to evaluate the effect of type of polyols with the incorporation of low-concentrations of chitosan on the mechanical and biological properties of the polymer to obtain suitable materials in the design of biomaterials. The results showed that increasing physical crosslinking increased the mechanical and adhesive properties. An in vitro cytotoxic test of polyurethanes showed cellular viability. The biocompatibility of the polyurethanes favors the adhesion of L929 cells at 6, 24, and 48 h. The polyurethanes showed bacterial inhibition depending on the polyol and percentage of chitosan. The antibacterial effect of the polyurethanes for Escherichia coli decreased 60-90% after 24 h. The mechanical and adhesive properties together with biological response in this research suggested these polyurethanes as external application tissue bioadhesives.This work was supported by the Universidad de La Sabana under grant number ING-176-2016 and by Colciencias under scholarship grant 617-2-2014. CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER Actions are financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. J.A.G.T. and A.V.L. acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through project DPI2015-65401-C3-2-R (including FEDER financial support). Finally, the authors thank the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for assistance and advice with the equipment.Uscátegui, YL.; Arevalo-Alquichire, SJ.; Gómez-Tejedor, J.; Vallés Lluch, A.; Diaz, LE.; Valero, MF. (2017). Polyurethane-based bioadhesive synthesized from polyols derived from castor oil (Ricinus communis) and low concentration of chitosan. Journal of Materials Research. 32(19):3699-3711. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.371S36993711321

Realización de convenios con el Sector Privado como alternativa para la ampliación de las colocaciones de préstamo

La investigación se realizó para determinar como el modelo de gestión de préstamos que realiza un banco para el sector público se beneficia económicamente por los convenios con el sector privado y la cantidad de clientes calificados para crédito. La población está conformada por los convenios efectuados con seis empresas privadas, la encuesta se llevó a cabo con la participación de 370 personas de los diferentes centros mineros. Se utilizó tecnologías para el análisis de procesos y explotación del Data Warehouse, para la construcción y análisis de información. Se apreció que en promedio el 80% de los funcionarios, técnicos y administrativos, obreros y operarios encuestados de las empresas privadas están interesados que el banco estatal realice un convenio con sus empresas para que puedan recibir sus remuneraciones en la amplia red que cuenta el banco

Hydrolytic stability and biocompatibility on smooth muscle cells of polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone-based polyurethanes

[EN] Interactions between smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and biomaterials must not result in phenotype changes as this may generate uncontrolled multiplication processes and occlusions in vascular grafts. The aim of this study was to relate the hydrolytic stability and biocompatibility of polyurethanes (PUs) on SMCs. A higher polycaprolactone (PCL) concentration was found to improve the hydrolytic stability of the material and the adhesion of SMCs. A material with 5% polyethylene glycol, 90% PCL, and 5% pentaerythritol presented high cell viability and adhesion, suggesting a contractile phenotype in SMCs depending on the morphology. Nevertheless, all PUs retained their elastic modulus over 120 days, similar to the collagen of native arteries (similar to 10 MPa). Furthermore, aortic SMCs did not present toxicity (viability over 80%) and demonstrated adherence without any abnormal cell multiplication processes, which is ideal for the function to be fulfiled in situ in the vascular grafts.The research and publication were supported by the Universidad de La Sabana (ING-205-2018) and the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Republic of Colombia, MINCIENCAS (Contract number 80740-186-2019). M. M-G. would like to thank the Universidad de La Sabana for the scholarship for her master's studies. S. A-A. would like to thank MINCIENCIAS for the doctoral training scholarship (Grant 727-2015). The authors are thankful to Professor Ericsson Coy Barrera and his staff at Nueva Granada Military University for the access to the VarioskanT LUX multimode microplate reader. J. A. S. acknowledges the financial support by MINECO through FIS2017-83295-P, MAT2015-71070-REDC, MAT2016-75586-C4-1/2/3-P and the Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-201517482). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER actions are financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.Morales-Gonzalez, M.; Arévalo-Alquichire, S.; Diaz, LE.; Sans-Tresserras, JÁ.; Vilariño, G.; Gómez-Tejedor, J.; Valero, MF. (2020). Hydrolytic stability and biocompatibility on smooth muscle cells of polyethylene glycol-polycaprolactone-based polyurethanes. Journal of Materials Research. 35(23-24):3276-3285. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2020.303S327632853523-24Benrashid, E., McCoy, C. C., Youngwirth, L. M., Kim, J., Manson, R. J., Otto, J. C., & Lawson, J. H. (2016). Tissue engineered vascular grafts: Origins, development, and current strategies for clinical application. Methods, 99, 13-19. doi:10.1016/j.ymeth.2015.07.014Asadpour, S., Ai, J., Davoudi, P., Ghorbani, M., Jalali Monfared, M., & Ghanbari, H. (2018). 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Polyurethanes from modified castor oil and chitosan. Synthesis, characterization, in vitro degradation, and cytotoxicity

[EN] Polyurethanes (PUs) from castor oil (CO), modified CO (MCO) by transesterification reaction, isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) in an NCO/OH ratio equal to 1, and chitosan (CS) were synthesized to assess their potential as biomaterials. PUs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, hydroxyl value (ASTM D1957), thermogravimetric analysis, Shore A hardness (ASTM D2240), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Also, contact angle, water retention and in vitro degradation in PBS, and cell viability on fibroblast were performed. The hydroxyl value confirms CO modification, and IR analysis confirms urethane bond formation. The thermal assay does not show new degradation stages and polyol with a high functionality had better hardness performance due to the increase in cross-linking. The micrograph shows micro-phase separation of both polymers. The contact angle shows the hydrophobic surface with an angle over 65°, and the CS and polyol type do not affect swelling and in vitro degradation due to phase separation between both polymers. The cell viability was over 70% in all cases, and solid polymers and degradation products involve non-cytotoxic effects on the samples. The results suggest a potential for these formulations in the biomedical field.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Universidad de La Sabana under Grant number ING-160-2015. Also, Jose A. Gomez-Tejedor and Ana Valles-Lluch acknowledge the support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project DPI2015-65401-C3-2-R (including the FEDER financial support).Arévalo-Alquichire, S.; Ramírez, C.; Andrade, L.; Uscategui, Y.; Diaz, LE.; Gómez-Tejedor, JA.; Vallés Lluch, A.... (2018). Polyurethanes from modified castor oil and chitosan. Synthesis, characterization, in vitro degradation, and cytotoxicity. Journal of Elastomers and Plastics. 50(5):419-434. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095244317729578S41943450