From CO2 to Value-Added Products: A Review about Carbon-Based Materials for Electro-Chemical CO2 Conversion

This research was funded by Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, grant number RTI2018-099224-B-I00; and Junta de Andalucía, grant numbers P12-RNM-2892, P18- RTJ-2974 and RNM172. L.D.R.V. was funded by MINCIENCIAS.Data sharing not applicable.The authors thank the financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (project RTI2018-099224-B-I00) and Junta de Andalucía (Project P12- RNM-2892, P18-RTJ-2974 and RNM172). L.D. Ramírez-Valencia is grateful to the Colombian Ministry of Sciences, Technology and Innovation (MINCIENCIAS) for supporting her PhD studies.The global warming and the dangerous climate change arising from the massive emission of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels have motivated the search for alternative clean and sustainable energy sources. However, the industrial development and population necessities make the decoupling of economic growth from fossil fuels unimaginable and, consequently, the capture and conversion of CO2 to fuels seems to be, nowadays, one of the most promising and attractive solutions in a world with high energy demand. In this respect, the electrochemical CO2 conversion using renewable electricity provides a promising solution. However, faradaic efficiency of common electro-catalysts is low, and therefore, the design of highly selective, energy-efficient, and cost-effective electrocatalysts is critical. Carbon-based materials present some advantages such as relatively low cost and renewability, excellent electrical conductivity, and tunable textural and chemical surface, which show them as competitive materials for the electro-reduction of CO2. In this review, an overview of the recent progress of carbon-based electro-catalysts in the conversion of CO2 to valuable products is presented, focusing on the role of the different carbon properties, which provides a useful understanding for the materials design progress in this field. Development opportunities and challenges in the field are also summarized.Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities RTI2018-099224-B-I00Junta de Andalucia P12-RNM-2892 P18RTJ-2974 RNM17

Impacto de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación en el aprendizaje y motivación en un grupo de estudiantes de segundo básico

Tesis (Profesor de Educación General Básica, Licenciado en Educación)El siguiente seminario de grado fue realizado para determinar el impacto que puede ejercer el uso de tecnologías de información y comunicación en el aprendizaje y motivación en un grupo de estudiantes de segundo en la asignatura de historia. A lo largo de este artículo realizaremos un análisis sobre las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) entendidas éstas como: un conjunto de técnicas, desarrollos y dispositivos avanzados derivados de las nuevas herramientas (software y hardware), soportes de la información y canales de comunicación que integran funcionalidades de almacenamiento, procesamiento y transmisión digitalizados de la información. La incorporación de las TIC en la sociedad y en especial en el ámbito de la educación ha ido adquiriendo una creciente importancia y ha ido evolucionando a lo largo de estos últimos años, de tal manera que la utilización de estas tecnologías en el aula pasará de ser una posibilidad a erigirse como una necesidad. La aparición de las nuevas tecnologías ha supuesto un cambio profundo en una sociedad que no en vano ha pasado a recibir el nombre de sociedad de la información. En nuestro actual entorno y gracias a herramientas como Internet, la información está disponible en cantidades ingentes al alcance de todos. Tras la recolección de datos, estos fueron tabulados y analizados, estableciendo como resultado la existencia notoria entre la motivación y buenos resultados de los estudiantes con el mayor uso de TIC.The following degree was conduct to determine the impact that the use of information and communication technologies can have on learning and motivation in a group of second-grade students in the history subject. Throughout this article, we will carry out an analysis on information and communication technologies (ICT) understood like, "The set of technologies developed to manage information and send it from one place to another." They cover a wide range of solutions. They include technologies to store information and retrieve it later, send and receive information from one site to another, or process information to calculate results and prepare reports "(ICT Services, 2006). The incorporation of ICT in society and especially in the field of education has become increasingly important and has evolved over recent years, so that the use of these technologies in the classroom will go from being a possibility to establish itself as a necessity and as a basic work tool for teachers and students. The emergence of new technologies has meant a profound change in a society that has in not in vain has known as the information society. In our current environment and thanks to tools such as the Internet, information is available in huge amounts available to everyone. After the data collection, these were tabulate and analyze, establishing as a result the notable existence between the motivation and good results of the students with the greater use of ICT

Asimetrías socioespaciales y los modelos de planificación racional. Un estudio de la dinámica urbana en la ciudad de Temuco

Desde finales del siglo XX, diversos autores plantearon que el modelo neoliberal había generado profundas asimetrías en la morfología de las ciudades, situación que se vio potenciada por la aplicación de modelos de planificación racionalistas que no han permitido el desarrollo sostenible de las áreas urbanas. Ante la existencia de estos fenómenos, se busca determinar cómo se manifiestan estas asimetrías socioespaciales en una de las ciudades chilenas con mayores tasas de crecimiento demográfico y espacial, como es el caso de Temuco. Para ello, se compara la concentración de equipamiento y la estructura de rentas de suelo, en los distritos que han contado con las mayores tasas de expansión urbana entre los años 1992 y 2017. Frente a la evidencia encontrada, se plantean alternativas a los modelos tradicionales de planificación, que pudiesen remediar las asimetrías generadas sobre la base de una mayor movilidad de la población dentro de un marco socioambiental sostenible.Socio-spatial asymmetries and rational planning models. A study of urban dynamics in the city of Temuco.Since the end of the 20th century, several authors have proposed that the neoliberal model has generated deep asymmetries in the morphology of cities, a situation that was worsened by the application of rationalist planning models that did not allow the sustainable development of urban areas. Given the existence of these phenomena, our study has sought to determine how these socio-spatial asymmetries manifest themselves in one of the Chilean cities with higher rates of demographic and spatial growth, as is the case of Temuco. For this, we compare the concentration of equipment and the structure of land rent, in the districts that have had the highest rates of urban expansion between 1992 and 2017. Faced with the confirmation of our hypothesis, on the basis of greater mobility of the population within a sustainable socio-environmental framework.we propose alternatives to traditional planning models, which could moderate the existing asymmetries

Urban dynamics and transition to metropolitan spaces: the Valdivia case and Ríos Region, Chile

El proceso de urbanización avanza de manera veloz y afecta a múltiples partes del planeta. Así, algunas ciudades de tamaño medio comienzan a evidenciar un proceso de metropolización en sus espacios y en el caso de Chile sus urbes no han estado ajenas a tal proceso. Bajo tal contexto, este artículo buscó comprender las dinámicas de crecimiento en población, variación de superficie construida, verticalización y variaciones del empleo en diferentes áreas económicas de la ciudad de Valdivia, Chile. Se observa un aletargamiento en las tasas de crecimiento de tal ciudad, tanto en su contexto regional como nacional, lo cual se valora de manera positiva al no polarizar su espacio regional. No obstante, existe un incipiente proceso de expansión urbana y crecimiento inmobiliario en altura, vinculado a una tercerización de sus actividades productivas, lo cual es un llamado de atención para los planificadores y el futuro de la sustentabilidad de la urbe, considerando los desafíos que presenta la ciudad en términos de la generación de instrumentos actualizados de planificación territorial, los cuales no están presentes hasta la fecha

Insights into the spatiotemporal component of feeding ecology: an isotopic approach for conservation management sciences

Aim:Bringing new approaches to trace spatiotemporal variations in animals' feeding ecology, which is fundamental for wildlife management and conservation since the accessibility of animals to trophic resources plays a key role in the dynamics of populations and metapopulations. Location:Western Mediterranean coast. Methods:The analysis of naturally occurring stable isotopes constitutes an exceptional approach to assess variations in the trophic ecology of species within the spatiotemporal dimensions. Here, we examined the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in resource exploitation of a nuisance and overpopulated gull species with a great feeding plasticity, the Yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, by measuring the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C, delta 13C), nitrogen (15N/14N, delta 15N) and sulphur (34S/33S, delta 34S) in different wing feathers.Results:Tracing isotopic changes among feathers in relation to moulting sequence, we showed that isotopic analyses on first primary feathers were good indicators of breeding trophic ecology, while others, such as eighth secondary feathers, reflected the feeding behaviour during the non-breeding period. This knowledge was then used to report on estimations of seasonal feeding patterns throughout the year for seven gull populations along the Western Mediterranean coast. Main conclusions: The high diversity in the exploitation patterns of the foraging habitats found in the study area both at spatial and at temporal scale indicated the opportunistic feeding behaviour of Yellow-legged gulls. Proposed isotopic approach has revealed as a useful tool to evaluate spatiotemporal variations in the feeding ecology of populations which may become clue for dealing with the management of wild species, not only nuisance populations but also endangered species. We finally pointed out the relevance of the isotopic variability among individuals to infer diet diversity and food availability of a given population, thereby allowing demographic forecasts when trophic resources vary in abundance

Humans shape the year-round distribution and habitat use of an opportunistic scavenger

Research focused on evaluating how human food subsidies influence the foraging ecology of scavenger species is scarce but essential for elucidating their role in shaping behavioral patterns, population dynamics, and potential impacts on ecosystems. We evaluate the potential role of humans in shaping the year-round distribution and habitat use of individuals from a typical scavenger species, the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), breeding at southwestern Spain. To do this, we combined long-term, nearly continuous GPS-tracking data with spatially explicit information on habitat types and distribution of human facilities, as proxied by satellite imagery of artificial night lights. Overall, individuals were mainly associated with freshwater habitats (mean proportion, 95% CI: 40.6%, 36.9%-44.4%) followed by the marine-related systems (40.3, 37.7%-42.8%), human-related habitats (13.5%, 13.2%-13.8%), and terrestrial systems (5.5%, 4.6%-6.5%). However, these relative contributions to the overall habitat usage largely changed throughout the annual cycle as a likely response to ecological/physiological constraints imposed by varying energy budgets and environmental constraints resulting from fluctuations in the availability of food resources. Moreover, the tight overlap between the year-round spatial distribution of gulls and that of human facilities suggested that the different resources individuals relied on were likely of anthropogenic origin. We therefore provide evidence supporting the high dependence of this species on human-related food resources throughout the annual cycle. Owing to the ability of individuals to disperse and reach transboundary areas of Spain, Portugal, or Morocco, international joint efforts aimed at restricting the availability of human food resources would be required to manage this overabundant species and the associated consequences for biodiversity conservation (e.g., competitive exclusion of co-occurring species) and human interests (e.g., airports or disease transmission)

A framework to secure the development and auditing of SSL pinning in mobile applications: The case of android devices

Article number 1136The use of mobile devices has undergone rapid growth in recent years. However, on some occasions, security has been neglected when developing applications. SSL/TLS has been used for years to secure communications although it is not a vulnerability-free protocol. One of the most common vulnerabilities is SSL pinning bypassing. This paper first describes some security controls to help protect against SSL pinning bypassing. Subsequently, some existing methods for bypassing are presented and two new methods are defined. We performed some experiments to check the use of security controls in widely used applications, and applied SSL pinning bypassing methods. Finally, we created an applicability framework, relating the implemented security controls and the methods that are applicable. This framework provides a guideline for pentesters and app developers.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (España) RTI2018-094283-B-C3

H2-rich syngas production from biogas reforming: overcoming coking and sintering using bimetallic Ni-based catalysts

Dry reforming of methane is a very appealing catalytic route biogas (mainly composed by greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide and methane) conversion into added value syngas, which could be further upgraded to produce liquid fuels and added value chemicals. However, the major culprits of this reaction are coking and active phase sintering that result in catalysts deactivation. Herein we have developed a highly stable bimetallic Ni–Rh catalyst supported on mixed CeO2–Al2O3 oxide using low-noble metal loadings. The addition of small amounts of rhodium to nickel catalysts prevents coke formation and improves sintering resistance, achieving high conversions over extended reaction times hence resulting in promising catalysts for biogas upgrading. © 2023 The Author(s)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICIN). España PLEC2021-008086, RYC2018- 024387-I, PID2019-108502RJ-I00European Commission (EC) BIOALL project (Grant Agreement: 101008058

A physiological marker for quantifying differential reproductive investment between the sexes in Yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis)

Asymmetry between males and females in the energy they invest initially in reproduction has resulted in the evolution of differing reproductive strategies (caring females vs. competitive males). However, parental care in many birds is shared by both sexes suggesting that male energy expenditure in agonistic behaviors and courtship feeding might compensate female costs of clutch production. Here, we tested the hypothesis that initial investment in reproduction by both sexes in the Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis), a species with biparental care, is similar from a physiological perspective. In this income breeder, female and male reproductive investment during early breeding can be ultimately related to muscular activity (local foraging effort required for clutch production in females and courtship feeding and agonistic behaviors in the case of males). Thus, we evaluated sex-specific patterns of creatine kinase (CK, IU/L) levels in plasma, an indicator of physical effort associated with muscular activity dependent behaviors, through incubation as a reflection of the physiological response of both sexes to the reproductive investment they made up to clutch completion. Raw levels of CK were related to plasma levels of total proteins (TP, g/dL) to account for the differential physiological state of individuals when sampled (i.e. differential dehydratation). Female costs of clutch production were associated with post-laying levels of CK/TP. We grouped females according to their relative investment in clutch production: 17.3% of field metabolic rate; which showed increasing values of CK/TP (24.6, 53.1 and 66.0 IU/g, respectively). Moreover, we found similar CK/TP trends throughout incubation for both sexes (CK/TP = 50.2- [3.3 x days from laying]) suggesting similar physiological responses to reproductive effort and, therefore, analogous sex-specific initial investment. Thus, male investment in agonistic behaviors and courtship feeding apparently equaled female investment in clutch production. The use of CK measurements is revealed as a useful approach to investigating overall investment in reproduction for both sexes, providing further insights into our comprehension of reproductive strategies in seabirds

Guidelines towards secure SSL pinning in mobile applicationsand

Security is a major concern in web applications for so long, but it is only recently that the use of mobile applications has reached the level of web services. This way, we are taking OWASP Top 10 Mobile as our starting point to secure mobile applications. Insecure communication is one of the most important topics to be considered. In fact, many mobile applications do not even implement SSL/TLS validations or may have SSL/TLS vulnerabilities. This paper explains how an application can be fortified using secure SSL pinning, and offers a three-step process as an improvement of OWASP Mobile recommendations to avoid SSL pinning bypassing. Therefore, following the process described in this paper, mobile application developers may establish a secure SSL/TLS communication.Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain ECLIPSE RTI2018-094283-B-C33Junta de Andalucía the PIRAMIDE and METAMORFOSIS projectsEuropean Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER)Universidad de Sevilla Cátedra de Telefónica “Inteligencia en la red