15 research outputs found

    Star colloids in nematic liquid crystals

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    We present a study of the elastic alignment, accompanying director field distortions, and elastic pair interactions of star-shaped colloids suspended in aligned nematic liquid crystals. We design and fabricate lithographic colloids, “N-stars”, containing N rod-like protrusions (i.e. “rays” or “arms”) each having a constant angle between adjacent rays. N-star geometries contain concave regions while retaining the rotational and mirror symmetries of regular polygonal platelets having N sides. Planar anchoring of the nematic director at N-star surfaces induces elastic deformations of the uniform background director, resulting in distinct orientational states and pair interactions that depend upon N. Director fields around isolated N-stars are characterized using polarized optical microscopy. For each N-star, we observe long-lived metastable orientational states with accompanying metastable director configurations, which are topologically distinct from the ground state director field. We develop a model, based on a superposition of the elastic energy of rod-like inclusions at appropriate angles to the far-field director, to estimate the energies in both cases. Numerical calculations of the director field around an individual ray elucidate the effect of azimuthal degeneracy in the anchoring and cross-sectional shape of the ray. The analytical results agree with the simulations, however, we find that the total elastic energy must be rescaled to account for weaker anchoring. The long-range elastic pair interactions between N-stars are probed using optical tweezers and video microscopy. We observe a distinct multipole depending on whether N is even or odd, which dominates the distance-dependence for attractive elastic forces between pairs of N-stars. Finally, we discuss assemblies made up of mixtures of different types of N-stars that display a variety of aggregated states

    Facilidad para hacer negocios en la Ciudad de Huaura

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    La presente investigación sugiere mejoras para la facilidad de hacer negocios en la ciudad de Huaura, una de las once provincias que conforman el departamento de Lima, en la república del Perú. Se hizo mediante una exploración cuantitativa y descriptiva y con la metodología de Doing Business, que recopila y analiza detalladamente todos los datos cuantitativos con el fin de comparar las siguientes variables: número de procedimientos, tiempo y costo para hacer negocios. Estas variables se estudiaron para los siguientes pilares: apertura de una empresa, obtención de permisos de construcción, instalación de servicios de electricidad, registro de la propiedad y cumplimiento de contratos. Con la aplicación de esta investigación, se ha realizado un análisis de brechas; primero a nivel local, entre la información regulatoria existente y algunas entrevistas. Luego, se han comparado los datos obtenidos en las entrevistas con lo que ocurre en la ciudad de Lima. Finalmente, se ha procedido a mostrar las brechas entre las ciudades de Huaura y Lima y dos ciudades de Colombia y España. Estas dos últimas tienen un mejor indicador de distancia a la frontera. Esto nos permitió encontrar y sugerir buenas prácticas realizadas en otras partes del mundo. Los resultados muestran un panorama completo de las facilidades para hacer negocios en la ciudad de Huaura, donde se observó que el ambiente para los negocios está poco desarrollado respecto a las ciudades de España y Colombia. Finalmente, se han sugerido soluciones para mejorar el entorno de negocios en la ciudad de Huaura, tomando en cuenta cada uno de los pilares estudiados. Una de las grandes brechas que se observó es el bajo nivel de integración electrónica entre las diferentes entidades necesarias para completar los cinco pilares, aunado a una escasa simplificación de trámitesThis research aims to suggest improvements to the ease of doing business in the city of Huaura, one of the eleven provinces that make up the department of Lima, in the Republic of Peru. It was done through a quantitative and descriptive exploration and with the methodology of Doing Business, which collects and analyzes in detail all the quantitative data in order to compare the following variables: number of procedures, time and cost to do business. These variables have been studied for the following pillars: opening a company, obtaining construction permits, installing electricity services, registering property and enforcing contracts. With the application of this research, a gap analysis is performed, first locally, between existing regulatory information and some interviews. Then, we compared the data obtained in the interviews with what happens in the city of Lima. Finally, the gaps between the cities of Huaura and Lima and two cities of Colombia and Spain are shown. These last two have a better indicator of distance to the border. This allowed us to find and suggest good practices in other parts of the world. The results showed a complete picture of the facilities to do business in the city of Huaura, where it was observed that the business environment is poorly developed compared to the cities of Spain and Colombia. Finally, we suggest solutions to improve the business environment in the city of Huaura, taking into account each of the pillars studied. One of the great gaps that was observed is the low level of electronic integration between the different entities necessary to complete the five pillars, together with a little simplification of proceduresTesi
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