Product design with recycled plastic: material study, impact measurement and application proposal within the framework of the project PlasticPLA

El present TFE es duu a terme en el marc del projecte PlasticPLA, una iniciativa amb l’objectiu de dissenyar, desenvolupar i implementar un procés industrial per a recuperar grans quantitats de residus plàstics a Barcelona, en forma de panells. Dins del projecte PlasticPLA, la finalitat del TFE és contribuir al desenvolupament de la iniciativa per tal d’incrementar-ne la viabilitat i robustesa. El treball se centra en tres àrees: Primer, la creació de coneixement sobre les propietats i aplicacions del material així com els potencials competidors. Segon, la mesura de l’impacte de la iniciativa en les dimensions ambiental, social i econòmica. Finalment, el disseny i desenvolupament d’un producte fet íntegrament amb panells PlasticPLA, com a mostra d’una de les seves possibles aplicacions. A partir del treball realitzat es conclou que els panels PlasticPLA són apropiats per a disseny interior domèstic i comercial i per a disseny de mobiliari. L’existència d’iniciatives similars a Espanya és residual, fet que unit amb el creixent desenvolupament d’iniciatives que fabriquen panells reciclats a nivell europeu, assenyala una oportunitat per a implementar el projecte PlasticPLA al mercat espanyol. Pel que fa a l’impacte, de forma general, es considera positiu. Ambientalment, l’ús dels panells PlasticPLA té un impacte inferior al de la majoria dels materials amb què ha estat comparat. L’impacte social del projecte rep la qualificació més elevada, contribució a solucions per als grups d’interès involucrats. Finalment, el projecte resulta econòmicament viable i genera una valorització econòmica dels residus plàstics d’un 70%. El resultat de l’exercici de disseny és una taula auxiliar que implementa estratègies d’eco-disseny que mostra una de les moltes possibles maneres de tancar el cicle iniciat amb la fabricació de panells a partir de plàstic reciclat.The present thesis is conducted under the umbrella of the project PlasticPLA, an initiative to design, develop and implement an industrial process to upgrade large amount of plastic waste in Barcelona by producing recycled plastic panels. Within the PlasticPLA project framework, this thesis aims to develop further the initiative to improve its viability and robustness by focusing in three areas. First, building knowledge around the material properties and applications as well as identifying potential competitors. Second, measuring the project impact according to the environmental, social and economic dimensions. Third, developing a product manufactured entirely with PlasticPLA panels, as an example of a potential application. From the present thesis it is concluded that PlasticPLA panels are suitable for furniture design and domestic and retail & hospitality interior design applications. The presence of similar initiatives in Spain is low. This fact, together with the increasing number of organizations manufacturing panels with recycled materials globally, points out a market opportunity in Spain to implement the project PlasticPLA. Regarding the project impact, it is altogether considered positive. Regarding environmental impact, panels generate a lower impact than most of the materials they are compared with. Regarding social impact, the project obtains the highest score, contribute to solutions for the involved stakeholders. Finally, the project is economically viable. Moreover, it leads to an economic revalorization of plastic waste around 70%. The result derived from the design exercise is an auxiliary table which implements eco-design strategies, showing one of many possible ways to close the loop, originated with the manufacture of recycled plastic panels

La calidad humana en la integración de los espacios públicos

Peer Reviewe

Alimentación y nutrición entre los aborígenes chaqueños

Fil: Ferrarini, Stella. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Méndez, Marta Graciela. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Los Chorote en retrospectiva

Fil: Méndez, Marta Graciela. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Ferrarini, Stella. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Hippocampal alterations after SARS-CoV-2 infection: a systematic review

SARS-CoV-2 infection produces a wide range of symptoms. Some of the structural changes caused by the virus in the nervous system are found in the medial temporal lobe, and several neuropsychological sequelae of COVID-19 are related to the function of the hippocampus. The main objective of the systematic review is to update and further analyze the existing evidence of hippocampal and related cortices’ structural and functional alterations due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Both clinical and preclinical studies that used different methodologies to explore the effects of this disease at different stages and grades of severity were considered, besides exploring related cognitive and emotional symptomatology. A total of 24 studies were identified by searching in SCOPUS, Web Of Science (WOS), PubMed, and PsycInfo databases up to October 3rd, 2022. Thirteen studies were performed in clinical human samples, 9 included preclinical animal models, 3 were performed post-mortem, and 1 included both post-mortem and preclinical samples. Alterations in the hippocampus were detected in the acute stage and after several months of infection. Clinical studies revealed alterations in hippocampal connectivity and metabolism. Memory alterations correlated with altered metabolic profiles or changes in grey matter volumes. Hippocampal human postmortem and animal studies observed alterations in neurogenesis, dendrites, and immune response, besides high apoptosis and neuroinflammation. Preclinical studies reported the viral load in the hippocampus. Olfactory dysfunction was associated with alterations in brain functionality. Several clinical studies revealed cognitive complaints, neuropsychological alterations, and depressive and anxious symptomatology

Las decisiones reproductivas reflejan las estrategias evolutivas en los Chorote

Fil: Méndez, Marta Graciela. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Ferrarini, Stella. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Nuevos hallazgos de restos humanos en el noroeste bonaerense

Fil: Salceda, Susana Alicia. Cátedra de Métodos y técnicas en la Investigación Antropobiológica. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La PlataFil: Méndez, Marta Graciela. Cátedra de Antropología General. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Determinants of competitive performance in rhythmic gymnastics: a review

Rhythmic Gymnastics is as a complex artistic and aesthetic sport with a particular training process and which demands high levels of physical and psychological stress in competition. Not many studies explain a good proposal which determinate the predictors of a competitive performance and a useful interaction-model of training and sport performance for the different context, ages and levels in rhythmic gymnastic. In this perspective, based on a critical examination of the literature about “Rhythmic Gymnastics” and “Performance”, the aim of this research was to identify the factors that have been studied to predict a higher performance in Rhythmic Gymnastics, analyze them and determinate an "effectively training proposal" to achieve the higher results in competitions. We divided the references in different groups: a) Physiological and biological condition; b) Technical aspects; c) Psychological factors; d) Training process, e) Other dimensions and f) Performance analysis. The results show that most studies on rhythmic gymnastics are descriptive studies about a topic, fewer studies have examined one or more variables related with the performance and more scarce are the studies that show a global perspective and try to explain the predictor of the level of performance. In conclusion, we found some determinants of a competitive performance in Rhythmic Gymnastics which define our proposal. Further intervention studies and studies on the way of the Metamodel studies, “The theoretical and interaction of training and sport performance”, would permit identify the contribution of each factor to the performance and would explain our model on a properly and scientifically way