29 research outputs found
Driving rate effects in avalanche-mediated, first-order phase transitions
We have studied the driving rate and temperature dependence of the power-law
exponents that characterize the avalanche distribution in first-order phase
transitions. Measurements of acoustic emission in structural transitions in
Cu-Zn-Al and Cu-Al-Ni are presented. We show how the observed behaviour emerges
within a general framework of competing time scales of avalanche relaxation,
driving rate, and thermal fluctuations. We have confirmed our findings by
numerical simulations of a prototype model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Training-induced criticality in martensites
We propose an explanation for the self-organization towards criticality
observed in martensites during the cyclic process known as `training'. The
scale-free behavior originates from the interplay between the reversible phase
transformation and the concurrent activity of lattice defects. The basis of the
model is a continuous dynamical system on a rugged energy landscape, which in
the quasi-static limit reduces to a sandpile automaton. We reproduce all the
principal observations in thermally driven martensites, including power-law
statistics, hysteresis shakedown, asymmetric signal shapes, and correlated
disorder.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Acoustic emission across the magnetostructural transition of the giant magnetocaloric Gd5Si2Ge2 compound
We report on the existence of acoustic emission during the
paramagnetic-monoclinic to ferromagnetic-orthorhombic magnetostructural phase
transition in the giant magnetocaloric Gd5Si2Ge2 compound. The transition
kinetics have been analyzed from the detected acoustic signals. It is shown
that this transition proceeds by avalanches between metastable states.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Driving-induced crossover: from classical criticality to self-organized criticality
We propose a spin model with quenched disorder which exhibits in slow driving
two drastically different types of critical nonequilibrium steady states. One
of them corresponds to classical criticality requiring fine-tuning of the
disorder. The other is a self-organized criticality which is insensitive to
disorder. The crossover between the two types of criticality is determined by
the mode of driving. As one moves from "soft" to "hard" driving the
universality class of the critical point changes from a classical
order-disorder to a quenched Edwards-Wilkinson universality class. The model is
viewed as prototypical for a broad class of physical phenomena ranging from
magnetism to earthquakes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Quality More Than Quantity: The Use of Carbohydrates in High-Fat Diets to Tackle Obesity in Growing Rats
This research was supported by funds provided by the Abbott
Laboratories S.A.Childhood obesity prevention is important to avoid obesity and its comorbidities
into adulthood. Although the energy density of food has been considered a main
obesogenic factor, a focus on food quality rather that the quantity of the different
macronutrients is needed. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of changing the
quality of carbohydrates from rapidly to slowly digestible carbohydrates on metabolic
abnormalities and its impact on obesity in growing rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD).
Growing rats were fed on HFD containing carbohydrates with different digestion
rates: a HFD containing rapid-digesting carbohydrates (OBE group) or slow-digesting
carbohydrates (ISR group), for 4 weeks and the effect on the metabolism and signaling
pathways were analyzed in different tissues. Animals from OBE group presented an
overweight/obese phenotype with a higher body weight gain and greater accumulation
of fat in adipose tissue and liver. This state was associated with an increase of HOMA
index, serum diacylglycerols and triacylglycerides, insulin, leptin, and pro-inflammatory
cytokines. In contrast, the change of carbohydrate profile in the diet to one based
on slow digestible prevented the obesity-related adverse effects. In adipose tissue,
GLUT4 was increased and UCPs and PPARg were decreased in ISR group respect
to OBE group. In liver, GLUT2, FAS, and SRBP1 were lower in ISR group than OBE
group. In muscle, an increase of glycogen, GLUT4, AMPK, and Akt were observed in
comparison to OBE group. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the replacement
of rapidly digestible carbohydrates for slowly digestible carbohydrates within a highfat
diet promoted a protective effect against the development of obesity and its
associated comorbidities.Abbott
Laboratories S.A
Single chain variable fragment fused to maltose binding protein: a modular nanocarrier platform for the targeted delivery of antitumorals
This work was supported by grants CTQ2014-55474-C2-1-R,
CTQ2014-55474-C2-2-R and CTQ2017-86125-P from the
Ministerio Economia, Industria y Competitividad (co-financed
by FEDER funds). SP is supported by a FPU fellowship (FPU17/
04749). We acknowledge the University of Granada (Spain) cell
culture, animal and microscopy central facilities (CIC-UGR).The use of the specific binding properties of monoclonal antibody fragments such as single-chain variable fragments (ScFv) for the selective delivery of antitumor therapeutics for cancer cells is attractive due to their smaller size, low immunogenicity, and low-cost production. Although covalent strategies for the preparation of such ScFv-based therapeutic conjugates are prevalent, this approach is not straightforward, as it requires prior chemical activation and/or modification of both the ScFv and the therapeutics for the application of robust chemistries. A non-covalent alternative based on ScFv fused to maltose-binding protein (MBP) acting as a binding adapter is proposed for active targeted delivery. MBP-ScFv proves to be a valuable modular platform to synergistically bind maltose-derivatized therapeutic cargos through the MBP, while preserving the targeting competences provided by the ScFv. The methodology has been tested by using a mutated maltose-binding protein (MBP I334W) with an enhanced affinity toward maltose and an ScFv coding sequence toward the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Non-covalent binding complexes of the resulting MBP-ScFv fusion protein with diverse maltosylated therapeutic cargos (a near-infrared dye, a maltosylated supramolecular beta-cyclodextrin container for doxorubicin, and non-viral polyplex gene vector) were easily prepared and characterized. In vitro and in vivo assays using cell lines that express or not the HER2 epitope, and mice xenografts of HER2 expressing cells demonstrated the capability and versatility of MBP-ScFv for diagnosis, imaging, and drug and plasmid active targeted tumor delivery. Remarkably, the modularity of the MBP-ScFv platform allows the flexible interchange of both the cargos and the coding sequence for the ScFv, allowing ad hoc solutions in targeting delivery without any further optimization since the MBP acts as a pivotal element.Ministerio Economia, Industria y Competitividad - FEDER funds
CTQ2014-55474-C2-1-R
CTQ2014-55474-C2-2-R
CTQ2017-86125-PSpanish Government
FPU17/0474
CiTiEs (Ciudades: Tiempo + Espacio) Diseño e implementación de materiales didácticos para la enseñanza virtual del Patrimonio cultural de Madrid a través de la flipped classroom
Se han diseñado e implementado materiales digitales para la Educación patrimonial de Madrid, dirigidos a estudiantes de varias asignaturas. Para su utilización, se ha utilizado preferentemente el "aula invertida" (flipped classroom), adaptándose a las circunstancias excepcionales del curso académico 2020-21
CiTiEs (Ciudades: Tiempo + Espacio). Implementación de itinerarios didácticos para la enseñanza virtual y presencial del Patrimonio cultural de Madrid a través del aprendizaje cooperativo
Retomando los itinerarios didácticos diseñados en un PID anterior (2019/20, nº 363), se implementarán materiales digitales para la Educación patrimonial de Madrid. Se utilizarán técnicas de aprendizaje cooperativo y recursos para la enseñanza virtual.Depto. de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales , Sociales y MatemáticasFac. de EducaciónFALSEsubmitte