Some Applications of the Point-Open Subbase Game

Given a subbase S of a space X, the game PO(S,X) is defined for two players P and O who respectively pick, at the n-th move, a point xn 2 X and a set Un 2 S such that xn 2 Un . The game stops after the moves {xn, Un : n 2 !} have been made and the player P wins if the union of the Un’s equals X; otherwise O is the winner. Since PO(S,X) is an evident modification of the well-known point-open game PO(X), the primary line of research is to describe the relationship between PO(X) and PO(S,X) for a given subbase S. It turns out that, for any subbase S, the player P has a winning strategy in PO(S,X) if and only if he has one in PO(X). However, these games are not equivalent for the player O: there exists even a discrete space X with a subbase S such that neither P nor O has a winning strategy in the game PO(S,X). Given a compact space X, we show that the games PO(S,X) and PO(X) are equivalent for any subbase S of the space X

Ionic systems in materials research : new materials and processes based on ionic polymerizations and/or ionic liquids

Systems based on ionic interactions are usually related to reversible processes and/or transitory chemical states and, nowadays, they are believed to be key factors for the understanding and for the development of processes in several branches of chemistry and materials research. During the last decades, scientists have developed different approaches for the preparation of new materials and/or substances with outstanding properties based on ionic and other non-covalent interactions. In this thesis, different chemical systems, based on ionic interactions, have been employed for the preparation of different materials and for the development of more efficient synthetic methods in materials research. On the one hand "classical" and emerging applications of ionic interactions are utilized for the preparation of polymeric moieties and other materials, and on the other hand some of the results derived from these single approaches are combined to produce and investigate more complex systems. These systems may find applications in different fields of science and technology: From drug delivery and medical therapies to engineering devices and novel catalytic reactions systems. Thus, this dissertation is divided in three sections. In the first section, the synthetic approach for the well-established anionic polymerization procedure is enhanced by incorporating this technique into a high-throughput work-flow. The development of this experimental approach has allowed and accelerated the systematic synthesis of new block copolymer libraries. Some of the obtained block copolymers were utilized to prepare self-assembled micelles, which were investigated and characterized in detail. Furthermore, the proposed experimental approach was also applied for the development of a new synthetic route to prepare well-defined end-functionalized polymeric architectures bearing supramolecular moieties (e.g., terpyridine groups). In addition, this technique has shown to be a very useful tool for performing detailed kinetic investigations in a short time. Thus, the high-throughput approach was established for one of the most demanding experimental techniques in polymer synthesis. This new tool may help to speed-up research in this field, which will allow a better understanding of structure-property relationships in polymer science. In the second part of the thesis, ionic liquids are investigated as reaction media to carry out polymerizations by different reaction mechanisms. Due to their outstanding chemical and physical stabilities, ionic liquids are proposed as new ionic systems that can offer multiple advantages in polymer synthesis. Thus, it is demonstrated that ionic liquids can be efficiently utilized to perform homogeneous and heterogeneous polymerization reactions. In the homogeneous case, another important ionic polymerization mechanism, cationic ring opening polymerization, was selected as an example for the development of efficient and environmentally-friendly polymerization processes based on ionic liquids as reaction media and microwave irradiation as a heating source. Polymerizations performed in ionic liquids have shown faster reaction rates when compared to other solution polymerization methods, and also allow the synthesis of well-defined and chain extended polymers due to the fact that the investigated polymerization reactions reveal a "living" character. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed synthetic method is not only limited to one reaction mechanism and can be readily extended to other types of polymerizations, such as free radical processes. Due to the fact that not all monomers and/or polymers are soluble in specific ionic liquids, it is also demonstrated that heterogeneous polymerization processes can be carried out in these substances. For these cases, ionic liquids do not only act as a reaction medium, but they also behave as surfactants to stabilize these heterogeneous systems. This has allowed the synthesis of polymer beads with controlled particle sizes and surface areas. For all the investigated polymerization reactions in ionic liquids, suitable and efficient approaches for the ionic liquid recycling and polymer isolation were developed by the use of water as secondary substance during the separation processes, which entirely avoids the use of volatile organic solvents. In addition, it is also demonstrated that, with the approaches proposed, cleaner and more efficient polymerization processes can be developed due to the known "green" characteristics of ionic liquids (e.g., negligible vapor pressure, negligible flammability, and liquids in a broad range of temperatures) and to the high efficiency of microwave irradiation in the presence of ionic liquids. The proposed environmentally-friendly polymerization processes certainly arise as alternative methods for reducing emissions of harmful volatile organic compounds still widely used throughout the polymer industry and for energy savings. In the last part of the thesis, the materials and/or concepts developed in the first two sections are combined in order to obtain more complex materials and systems. Specifically, amphiphilic block copolymers that were synthesized in the first part of this thesis, or obtained by other methods, are utilized for the preparation of self-assembled micelles in ionic liquids. This has revealed interesting properties due to the fact that these block copolymer micelles, with and without encapsulated guest molecules in their respective core, can be thermo-reversible transferred between two different phases (an aqueous phase and an ionic liquid phase). Furthermore, it is also demonstrated that the investigated block copolymer micelles provide confined environments that protect the encapsulated guest molecules from (sudden) external changes in the surroundings. Finally, the surfactant properties revealed by ionic liquids are utilized for the preparation of composite materials, which is illustrated by two examples: The utilization of ionic liquids has allowed for the efficient and homogeneous dispersion of inorganic materials (e.g. magnetite) into a polymeric matrix. Thus, polymer composites with both magnetic and conductive properties were prepared by an inexpensive method. In addition, this latter concept is also extended to the preparation of composite materials in a liquid state. As a result, novel magnetorheological fluids based on ionic liquids were prepared by dispersing magnetic particles in ionic liquids. The use of ionic liquids has allowed for the preparation of dispersions with low sedimentation rates and magnetorheological fluids with enhanced properties. A combination of the outstanding properties of ionic liquids with the magnetorheological technology led to the fabrication of new and "smart" fluids, which may find applications in several areas of research and technology, such as medical therapies (drug delivery and cancer therapeutic methods), engineering devices (dampers and breaks), as well as accurate transportation and delivery of substances in multiphase biological and chemical systems

Micellar dye shuttle between water and an ionic liquid

The reversible transfer of poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline)-block-poly(2-nonyl-2-oxazoline) nanocarriers comprising encapsulated dyes is demonstrated between water and an ionic liquid. This dye transfer concept is shown to be applicable for loading and delivery of dye molecules as well as to provide a protective environment for the encapsulated dye

Coordination Models for Internet of Things

In constrained environments, there is a variety of devices like sensors and actuators with limited computation power or energy that form an Internet of Things (IoT) system. When processing complex tasks is required, those devices send the data to the cloud and obtain the result later. However, the IoT system could process complex task if more devices work together, sharing computational resources and cooperating. This cooperation can be achieved using a coordination model that distributes the load among the different devices based on a set of parameters, laws and defined entities. This research implements and evaluates a data-oriented coordination model with three variations for Internet of Things (IoT). It also presents, implements and evaluates a new process-oriented coordination model that can make constrained environments much more effective and allow the processing of more complex tasks closer to the network. The development of all the coordination models was focused on using the system’s computational resources effectively. As IoT is a heterogeneous field, devices with more power can process more complex tasks, creating an uneven but adequate load distribution. Various experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of each model using one and two workers. The results showed that every coordination model works effectively when distributing the load among more workers. For the process-oriented model, implementing some CoAP features allowed the system to perform better when repetitive tasks are required

MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENT COMPETENCY IN SPANISH SKILLS AND THE SUPPORT THEY RECEIVE

With the growth of the Latino population in the United States on the rise and the limited number of bilingual Spanish social workers, it is critical to explore the Master of Social Work student’s self-perceived competency in Spanish skills and the support they receive. These are the emerging professionals that will be interacting and providing services for Latinos in our communities. Exploring and understanding the challenges students encounter, their self-perceived competency, and how students can be supported, will be beneficial not only to them but also to Latino clients seeking services in Spanish. Providing appropriate services in Spanish may alleviate the language barrier that many Latinos are concerned about when seeking services. This research utilized a mixed methods design with self-administered surveys and interviews conducted and analyzed with SPSS and transcriptions. The study findings suggest that bilingual Spanish-speaking Masters of Social Work students are not provided with adequate training, resources, and support from their MSW program or their field placements in order to provide high quality services to the Latino population. The study findings also suggest that not all bilingual individuals are comfortable with working with monolingual Spanish-speaking clients

An essay about how much training the primary school teachers have about TIC use.

La sociedad actual se encuentra inmersa en una serie de cambios y como tal, esos cambios están afectando a la comunidad educativa. Para poder hacer frente a estos avances, la formación del profesorado se convierte en el elemento clave para facilitar la integración de las nuevas tecnologías al curriculum escolar.Esta investigación se centra en el proyecto “Escuela TIC 2.0”, de los centros educativos de Málaga. Se ha realizado un estudio de los efectos que la implantación de este proyecto tiene sobre la a metodología de enseñanza aprendizaje aplicado por el profesorado, como en la formación que éste debe tener para poder integrarlas en su metodología activa.Los datos obtenidos han constatado que sigue siendo una tarea pendiente la formación de determinado sector del profesorado que no se involucra con el nuevo concepto metodológico del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en el que se han integrado TIC

Disinfection Potential of the Catalytic Wet Peroxide Oxidation (CWPO) for inactivation of intestinal parasites Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum

Introduction WHO (World Health Organization) has estimated that around 24 % of the diseases at a global scale are related to environmental factors like consumption of insecure drinking water. Recent laws have become more stringent about the permitted parameters of quality, including more careful surveillance on the presence of resistant forms of Giardia (cysts) and Cryptosporidium (oocysts) in water for human consumption. It has been pointed out that some particular physicochemical properties of their cysts/oocysts cell walls make them strongly resistant against conventional chlorine disinfection [1]. Moreover, complex mechanisms there implied are not still completely elucidated. Therefore, conventional disinfection by chlorine should be assisted or even replaced by novel, safer technologies like the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The CWPO is a very efficient, not expensive AOP [2] that could offer a very interesting performance for effective and safe inactivation of resistant pathogen agents like the cysts/oocysts of the intestinal parasites Giardia and Cryptosporidium, even under very mild conditions of ambient temperature and pressure (15 – 25 °C; < 1 atm). This work is devoted to explore the true potential of the CWPO technology in the inactivation of these couple of resistant forms of dangerous parasites

Evaluation of Gender-Related Digital Violence Training in Catalonia

This study examines the results of evaluating a Catalan training program for practitioners working with survivors of gender-related violence. Considering the lack of scientific evidence previously shown by studies on this topic, this article aimed to triangulate the participants’ self-perception with their assessment of knowledge and competencies in tackling digital gender-related violence before and after the training. To do so, a pre-test and post-test case-based design was employed to identify and measure the participants’ improvement in self-perceived knowledge and their effective gain in knowledge and skills to address this kind of violence. Considering the contributions of a feminist evaluation approach, we also included in our evaluation the analysis of classroom interactions and the participants’ responses. The results overall demonstrate that the incorporation of assessment criteria from the feminist evaluation methodology increased the reliability of evaluation criteria. In addition, it also enabled us to identify the need to continue developing training programs that empower participants and prevent women and LGBTQI+ people from disengaging from digital spaces