A novel enzymatic approach to nanocrystalline cellulose preparation

In this work, conditions for an enzymatic pretreatment prior to NCC isolation from cotton linter were assessed. Different cellulase doses and reaction times were studied within an experimental design and NCC were obtained. At optimal enzymatic conditions (20U, 2 h), a total yield greater than 80% was achieved and the necessary enzymatic treatment time was reduced 90%. Different intensities of enzymatic treatments led to proportional decreases in fiber length and viscosity and also were inversely proportional to the amount of released oligosaccharides. These differences within fibers lead to quantitative differences in NCC: increase in acid hydrolysis yield, reduction of NCC surface charge and crystallinity increase. Benefits produced by enzymatic treatments did not have influence over other NCC characteristics such as their sulfur content (˜1%), size (˜200 nm), zeta potential (˜-50 mV) or degree of polymerization (˜200). Evidence presented in this work would reduce the use of harsh sulfuric acid generating a cleaner stream of profitable oligosaccharidesPostprint (author's final draft

Per una sistemàtica de la violència verbal del capità Haddock

Treball Final de Grau en Traducció i Interpretació. Codi: TI0983. Curs acadèmic 2013-2014El Treball de Fi de Grau Per una sistemàtica de la violència verbal del capità Haddock és una anàlisi dels renecs proferits per Haddock, un dels protagonistes de Les Aventures de Tintín. Una anàlisi dels renecs i de la seva traducció al català. Per tal de dur-la a terme, s’ha realitzat un estudi sobre el creador i dibuixant de Tintín, Georges Rémi, i el traductor al català, Joaquim Ventalló. La informació extreta d’articles i fòrums escrits per tintinaires (fans del còmic) i tintinòlegs (experts d’Hergé), així com les entrevistes amb el propi Hergé i Ventalló i els programes de ràdio dedicats exclusivament a Tintín han resultat clau a l’hora de realitzar el treball. Per tal de completar l’estudi sobre el capità, s’ha traduït l’article d’Éric Beaumatin: Pour une systématique de la violence verbale chez le capitaine Haddock. Aquest text analitza, a través d’un vocabulari molt elaborat, els diferents insults i renecs del capità: el seu origen, la seva composició, el seu significat... Finalment, la conclusió que s’extrau d’aquesta anàlisi és que Georges Rémi va realitzar una excel·lent tasca a l’hora de crear aquest ampli ventall de 800 renecs tan variats i originals i que el traductor al català, Joaquim Ventalló, va ser capaç de traduir un a un tots aquests renecs que van sortir de la boca de Haddock transmetent als lectors el característic enuig del capità

Cellulose oxidation by Laccase-TEMPO treatments

In this work, laccase-TEMPO (Lac-T) treatments were applied to bleached commercial dissolving pulp in order to introduce carbonyl and carboxyl groups, which were found to improve dry and wet strength-related properties. Also the solubility behavior towards xanthate reactions was assessed. The effect of a refining step (R) before the oxidative treatment, the absence or presence of oxygen pressure, TEMPO dose (2 or 8% oven dried pulp) and reaction time (8 or 20 h) were thoroughly examined. Treatments conducted in the presence of oxygen pressure exhibited greater amount of functional groups. Introducing a pre-refining treatment resulted in similar functional groups but higher wet strength was achieved. Specifically, a high W/D strength ratio was observed, indicating that wet strength-related property was satisfactorily developed. Besides the fact that all Lac-T treatments caused severe cellulose degradation, no fiber strength loss was detected. In fact, all oxidized samples presented higher Wet Zero-Span Tensile Strength, mainly in R+ Lac-T (O2) sample, which suggested the formation of hemiacetal linkages between the new introduced aldehyde groups and available free hydroxyl groups resulting from fibrillationPostprint (author's final draft

Predicting global e-entrepreneurship : an exploratory study

Globalization provides international career opportunities and options, such as entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education is currently promoted in both national and European educational strategies. For university students, the viability of this career option depends on their own motivations, perceived competencies, and professional objectives. This study uses a structural equations model analyses the factors that affect the intention to create an international company. It focuses on how intercultural skills, cognitive cultural intelligence, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and linguistic competence affects students' motivation to create a company with an international vocation. The results of the study show that proficiency in a foreign language, language competence, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are relevant factors. The research also discusses the implications of these results for teaching in higher education institutions. There is a need to update graduates' employability skills and the competences that future teachers must acquire.La globalització brinda oportunitats i opcions professionals internacionals, com l'emprenedoria global. L'educació en emprenedoria es promociona tant en les estratègies educatives nacionals com en les europees. Això ha suposat que en els darrers anys l'interès per promoure l'educació en emprenedoria hagi augmentat. Per als estudiants universitaris la viabilitat d'aquesta opció de carrera depèn de les seves pròpies motivacions, de les competències percebudes i dels objectius professionals. El present estudi analitza, a través d'un model d'equacions estructurals, els factors que afecten la intenció de crear una empresa internacional. En particular, se centra en com les competències interculturals, les habilitats cognitives culturals, l'autoeficàcia emprenedora i les competències lingüístiques afecten la motivació dels estudiants per crear una empresa amb vocació internacional. Els resultats de l'estudi realitzat mostren que tant el domini d'una tercera llengua com les habilitats del llenguatge i l'autoeficàcia emprenedora són factors rellevants. La recerca també discuteix les implicacions d'aquests resultats per a l'ensenyament en les institucions d'educació superior. És necessari actualitzar les competències per a l'ocupabilitat dels graduats i també les competències que els futurs docents han d'adquirir.La globalización brinda oportunidades y opciones profesionales internacionales, como el emprendimiento. La educación en emprendimiento se promociona en las estrategias educativas nacionales y europeas. Para los estudiantes universitarios la viabilidad de esta opción de carrera depende de sus propias motivaciones, de las competencias percibidas y de los objetivos profesionales. El presente estudio analiza, a través de un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales, los factores que afectan a la intención de crear una empresa internacional. En particular, se centra en cómo las competencias interculturales, las habilidades cognitivas culturales, la autoeficacia emprendedora y las competencias lingüísticas afectan la motivación de los estudiantes para crear una empresa con vocación internacional. Los resultados del estudio realizado muestran que tanto el dominio de una tercera lengua como las habilidades del lenguaje y la autoeficacia emprendedora son factores relevantes. La investigación también discute las implicaciones de estos resultados para la enseñanza en las instituciones de educación superior. Es necesario actualizar las competencias para la ocupabilidad de los graduados y también las competencias que los futuros docentes deben adquirir

Computing Epistasis of Template Functions Through Walsh Transforms

Template functions have been introduced as a class of test functions, allowing to study the convergence behaviour of genetic algorithms. In this note, we show how to use Walsh transforms to calculate the normalized epistasis of these functions

Comparative evaluation of the action of two different endoglucanases. Part I: on a fully bleached, commercial acid sulfite dissolving pulp

A fully bleached commercial acid dissolving pulp was treated with two endoglucanases, one obtained from Paenibacillus barcinonensis (B) and the other one produced from Cerrena unicolor (F) with the intention to improve cellulose reactivity and processability in the viscose process. B cellulose was tested under 120 U/g oven dry pulp (odp) and the F cellulase under two conditions, 12 and 60 U/g odp. In addition, a purification stage, consisting in a cold caustic extraction (CCE) of 9 % w/v NaOH, was applied before or after the enzymatic treatment in order to reduce the amount of hemicellulose and improve the action of enzymes. The treated pulps were evaluated in terms of brightness, viscosity, water retention value, fibre morphology, carbohydrate composition, Fock solubility and NMR. In general, results revealed that both endoglucanases improved cellulose reactivity, albeit in a different way; thus, B caused no scissions in the cellulose chain and no significant reduction in fibre length, whereas F strongly decreased viscosity, shortened fibre length and increased considerably the amount of fines. The result of applying two different doses of F cellulase was reflected on Fock solubility and fibre morphology. F60 treatment was found to give the highest value of Fock solubility and the biggest reduction of fibre length. The effect of both endoglucanases on Fock solubility was increased by introducing an earlier CCE stage. Finally, a CCE_B120 pulp with 3 % of hemicellulose and 69 % of Fock solubility was obtainedPostprint (author’s final draft

New strategies to bleach dissolving pulps using enzymatic treatments

A biobleaching sequence was applied to sulphite pulp in order to explore new bleaching possibilities using enzymatic treatments. Therefore, the well-known laccase-mediator system was used with the aim to achieve dissolving pulp characteristics. The enzymatic sequence was compared with a conventional hydrogen peroxide treatment in order to elucidate the effect of a laccase stage (L) for a potential industrial application. The treated pulps showed satisfactory results: high cellulose reactivity, high brightness and low content of hemicellulosesPostprint (published version

Between the heritage and the contemporaneity of the industrial city of Alcoy

[EN] The ARA plan, acronym for Architecture and Rehabilitation of Alcoy, was the response to a collective desire of change and to the need for the renewal of an industrial city with a deeply rooted bourgeois and working-class base. The impulse and credibility that made possible the conception of the ARA plan came from a series of projects that consolidated seriously damaged zones of the historic center, and secondarily from the economic commitment of the Generalitat with urban projects of great disciplinary interest that, at that time, had the character of pioneers for their modern procedures of intervention on the inherited city.The common framework of Plan ARA hosted many urban proposals very different in their methodology. However the sense of their cohesion in the city was evident because behind them there was a thought of order necessary for the consolidation and modernization of the urban patrimony that future challenges would ask for. The most relevant architectural project was the renovation of the neighborhood of La Sang, which won the FAD Architecture Award in 1999, but for the citizens the evidence of a remarkable change came with the construction of the public parks. Since that moment the people perceived that an ambitious and clear idea of the city was giving shape to their daily domestic outer spaces.Unfortunately a mix of political and economical issues truncated or set aside important ongoing projects so the completion of the ARA plan was never reached. and the aspiration of becoming an strategic city was forgotten.Palomares Figueres, MT.; Vidal Climent, CM.; Vidal Climent, IE. (2018). Between the heritage and the contemporaneity of the industrial city of Alcoy. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 299-308. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5812OCS29930

The virtual earth. The case study of the Rose garden in Alcoy

[EN] The Viaducte des Arts at the Coulée verte René-Dumont in Paris (1993) or the High Lane in New York (2009) have managed to increase the urban quality in large areas of their cities. In both cases, a costly infrastructure of disused highways was reused to generate a planted promenade or a linear park getting back a dynamic point of view at a height of about ten meters above the city.With the perspective of the time elapsed since its construction we must conclude that, although their structural singularity does not make them exportable to other cities, their simple constructive conception does. In them there is a common denominator that we can define as virtual earth. That concept is linked to the current technical capacity to generate green spaces over spaces of any other use. It is a new fertile land that allows the resolution of the complex problem produced by the accumulation of uses and requirements in the same place.In the present study case the objective is to recover an urban garden in Alcoy, known as la the Rose garden, without having to reduce the number of parking spaces of the garage that was built under it. At the same time, the project has to meet the surface requirements of earthen mantle necessary to consider restored the use of green zone. The solution solves in eighty centimeters of thickness a manufactured earth capable of assuming bulky trees that return to the city and to the Rose garden their lost atmosphere.Palomares Figueres, MT.; Vidal Climent, CM.; Vidal Climent, IE. (2018). The virtual earth. The case study of the Rose garden in Alcoy. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1657-1663. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5809OCS1657166

Medida de la transmitancia de córneas dañadas. Estudio del proceso de cicatrización

PROPÓSITO: obtener la transmitancia de córneas de conejo sanas y heridas con y sin tratamiento específico para la cicatrización. MÉTODO: se realiza la medida inmediatamente después de extraer la córnea y parte de la esclera. La transmitancia es la cantidad de luz que pasa a través de la córnea. Se realiza la medida de ésta en el rango del espectro visible (400-700 nm) utilizando un ordenador, un detector (cámara OMA2), un monocromador, una cámara portacórneas y una fuente de luz. RESULTADOS: en general no hay un comportamiento repetitivo de las córneas en cuanto a la transmitancia. Las córneas heridas presentan una mejor transmitancia en longitudes de onda mayores (zona de los rojos) y peor en las menores (azules). Las córneas control o sanas presentan una transmitancia muy similar en todas las zonas del espectro. Hay una gran variabilidad de transmitancias entre unas córneas heridas y otras; y lo mismo ocurre para las córneas control o sanas. CONCLUSIONES: no podemos afirmar que el tratamiento aplicado sea eficaz para la mejora de la cicatrización a nivel óptico o biofísico puesto que encontramos resultados muy diferentes entre distintas muestras. Además, tampoco podemos afirmar que aplicar este tratamiento es mejor que una evolución natural de la cicatrización puesto que los resultados obtenidos no son coherentes entre sí. Es necesario continuar la investigación para lograr un modelo más concreto de transparencia corneal y poder progresar hacia unos resultados más relacionados entre sí.Grado en Óptica y Optometrí