Effect of graphene substrate on the SERS Spectra of Aromatic bifunctional molecules on metal nanoparticles

The design of molecular sensors plays a very important role within nanotechnology and especially in the development of different devices for biomedical applications. Biosensors can be classified according to various criteria such as the type of interaction established between the recognition element and the analyte or the type of signal detection from the analyte (transduction). When Raman spectroscopy is used as an optical transduction technique the variations in the Raman signal due to the physical or chemical interaction between the analyte and the recognition element has to be detected. Therefore any significant improvement in the amplification of the optical sensor signal represents a breakthrough in the design of molecular sensors. In this sense, Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) involves an enormous enhancement of the Raman signal from a molecule in the vicinity of a metal surface. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of a monolayer of graphene oxide (GO) on the distribution of metal nanoparticles (NPs) and on the global SERS enhancement of paminothiophenol (pATP) and 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4MBA) adsorbed on this substrate. These aromatic bifunctional molecules are able to interact to metal NPs and also they offer the possibility to link with biomolecules. Additionally by decorating Au or Ag NPs on graphene sheets, a coupled EM effect caused by the aggregation of the NPs and strong electronic interactions between Au or Ag NPs and the graphene sheets are considered to be responsible for the significantly enhanced Raman signal of the analytes [1-2]. Since there are increasing needs for methods to conduct reproducible and sensitive Raman measurements, Grapheneenhanced Raman Scattering (GERS) is emerging as an important method [3].Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Blended Learning in University Education: Activities, Results and Quality

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Estimacion de los riesgos de lixiviation de nitratos en suelos agricolas: Enfoque numerico o analytico ?

The environmental problem of nitrate contaminant effects from agricultural sources exists in many rural regions around the world. The use of simulation models could be a way for knowing the risks of different agricultural practices on nitrate leaching. Nowadays, there is a wide variety of models capable of simulating water and solute movement in agricultural soils. The main objective of this work is to compare two models, with different approach for solving the 1D water flux and nitrate movements in soil, in relation to their ability to estimate the risks of nitrate leaching. The first model is STICS with an analytical approach, whereas HYDRUS-1D is chosen for its numerical approach. In order to reach this objective, 15 experimental trials, with different doses and kind of nitrogen fertilizers, were carried out in Baix Empordà (northeast of Spain) agricultural region during spring of 2004. The results show the good correlation between STICS and HYDRUS-1D models. However, HYDRUS-1D predicts amounts of nitrates leached greater that STICS. Considering the results obtained, we establish the first step for accepting the simulations of STICS in order to predict the risks of nitrate leaching on plots with furrow irrigation during all the crop seaso

Recuperación multinivel de procesos de negocio basado en semántica del comportamiento

Retrieving business process (BP) is a fundamental step for reusing software components within new information services and software products. Nevertheless, this step is critical in many fields and it may incur in unnecessary resources consumption due to the complexity to find services matching exactly the user's requirements. Therefore, the development of intuitive, endowed with artificial intelligence and semantics-based methods which can recognize what the user really needs, become an important R&D area because it speeds up the deployment and configuration of new BP. In this context, this book summarizes the results of a scientific research project conduc- ted by Telematics Engineering Group of the University of Cauca (Colombia), in which a BP retrieval environment called BeMantics is defined. This environment is developed through two main modules: a repository module with pre-matching mechanisms based on behavioral semantics; and a structural, semantics and behavioral matching module which uses and error- correcting algorithm to refine the results obtained from repository. As a result the BeMantics environment provides a BP ranking according to their structural, semantics and behavioral similarity with regard to a query BP. This result is later analyzed through a pertinence eva- luation web tool which enables a group of human judges to emit relevance judgments on a set of test BPs. These relevance judgments allow obtaining a subset of BP considered as rele- vant, which let the pertinence tool to be used as basis for studying the relevance of the results achieved with the BeMantics environmen

Recuperación multinivel de procesos de negocio basado en semántica del comportamiento

Retrieving business process (BP) is a fundamental step for reusing software components within new information services and software products. Nevertheless, this step is critical in many fields and it may incur in unnecessary resources consumption due to the complexity to find services matching exactly the user’s requirements. Therefore, the development of intuitive, endowed with artificial intelligence and semantics-based methods which can recognize what the user really needs, become an important R&D area because it speeds up the deployment and configuration of new BP. In this context, this book summarizes the results of a scientific research project conduc- ted by Telematics Engineering Group of the University of Cauca (Colombia), in which a BP retrieval environment called BeMantics is defined. This environment is developed through two main modules: a repository module with pre-matching mechanisms based on behavioral semantics; and a structural, semantics and behavioral matching module which uses and error- correcting algorithm to refine the results obtained from repository. As a result the BeMantics environment provides a BP ranking according to their structural, semantics and behavioral similarity with regard to a query BP. This result is later analyzed through a pertinence eva- luation web tool which enables a group of human judges to emit relevance judgments on a set of test BPs. These relevance judgments allow obtaining a subset of BP considered as rele- vant, which let the pertinence tool to be used as basis for studying the relevance of the results achieved with the BeMantics environment

Chiral phase transitions: focus driven critical behavior in systems with planar and vector ordering

The fixed point that governs the critical behavior of magnets described by the $N$-vector chiral model under the physical values of $N$ ($N =2, 3$) is shown to be a stable focus both in two and three dimensions. Robust evidence in favor of this conclusion is obtained within the five-loop and six-loop renormalization-group analysis in fixed dimension. The spiral-like approach of the chiral fixed point results in unusual crossover and near-critical regimes that may imitate varying critical exponents seen in physical and computer experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Discussion enlarge

The effect of acute sleep extension vs active recovery on post exercise recovery kinetics in rugby union players

Background Elite rugby players experience poor sleep quality and quantity. This lack of sleep could compromise post-exercise recovery. Therefore, it appears central to encourage sleep in order to improve recovery kinetics. However, the effectiveness of an acute ergogenic strategy such as sleep extension on recovery has yet to be investigated among athletes. Aim To compare the effects of a single night of sleep extension to an active recovery session (CON) on post-exercise recovery kinetics. Methods In a randomised cross-over design, 10 male rugby union players participated in two evening training sessions (19:30) involving collision activity, 7-days apart. After each session, participants either extended their sleep to 10 hours or attended an early morning recovery session (07:30). Prior to (PRE), immediately after (POST 0 hour [h]), 14h (POST 14) and 36h (POST 36) post training, neuromuscular, perceptual and cognitive measures of fatigue were assessed. Objective sleep parameters were monitored two days before the training session and over the two-day recovery period. Results The training session induced substantial decreases in countermovement jump mean power and wellness across all time points, while heart rate recovery decreased at POST 0 in both conditions. Sleep extension resulted in greater total sleep time (effect size [90% confidence interval]: 5.35 [4.56 to 6.14]) but greater sleep fragmentation than CON (2.85 [2.00 to 3.70]). Between group differences highlight a faster recovery of cognitive performance following sleep extension (-1.53 [-2.33 to -0.74]) at POST 14, while autonomic function (-1.00 [-1.85 to -0.16]) and upper-body neuromuscular function (-0.78 [-1.65 to 0.08]) were better in CON. However, no difference in recovery status between groups was observed at POST 36. Conclusion The main finding of this study suggests that sleep extension could affect cognitive function positively but did not improve neuromuscular function the day after a late exercise bout.</p