Non-noble electrocatalysts for alkaline fuel cells

The doping of solid phase precursors followed by pyrolysis or the copyrolysis of gas phase precursors has allowed us to produce catalysts with good activity toward oxygen reduction. Efforts are currently underway to better understand the reasons for the catalytic activity of the bulk doped catalysts with a view toward further improving their activity

Resonant hyper-Raman scattering in spherical quantum dots

A theoretical model of resonant hyper-Raman scattering by an ensemble of spherical semiconductor quantum dots has been developed. The electronic intermediate states are described as Wannier-Mott excitons in the framework of the envelope function approximation. The optical polar vibrational modes of the nanocrystallites (vibrons) and their interaction with the electronic system are analized with the help of a continuum model satisfying both the mechanical and electrostatic matching conditions at the interface. An explicit expression for the hyper-Raman scattering efficiency is derived, which is valid for incident two-photon energy close to the exciton resonances. The dipole selection rules for optical transitions and Fr\"ohlich-like exciton-lattice interaction are derived: It is shown that only exciton states with total angular momentum $L=0,1$ and vibrational modes with angular momentum $l_p=1$ contribute to the hyper-Raman scattering process. The associated exciton energies, wavefunctions, and vibron frequencies have been obtained for spherical CdSe zincblende-type nanocrystals, and the corresponding hyper-Raman scattering spectrum and resonance profile are calculated. Their dependence on the dot radius and the influence of the size distribution on them are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages REVTeX (two columns), 2 tables, 8 figure

Enabling SmartWorkflows over heterogeneous ID-sensing technologies

Sensing technologies in mobile devices play a key role in reducing the gapbetween the physical and the digital world. The use of automatic identification capabilitiescan improve user participation in business processes where physical elements are involved(Smart Workflows). However, identifying all objects in the user surroundings does notautomatically translate into meaningful services to the user. This work introduces Parkour,an architecture that allows the development of services that match the goals of each ofthe participants in a smart workflow. Parkour is based on a pluggable architecture thatcan be extended to provide support for new tasks and technologies. In order to facilitatethe development of these plug-ins, tools that automate the development process are alsoprovided. Several Parkour-based systems have been developed in order to validate theapplicability of the proposal

Bose-Einstein condensation in an optical lattice: A perturbation approach

We derive closed analytical expressions for the order parameter $\Phi (x)$ and for the chemical potential $\mu$ of a Bose-Einstein Condensate loaded into a harmonically confined, one dimensional optical lattice, for sufficiently weak, repulsive or attractive interaction, and not too strong laser intensities. Our results are compared with exact numerical calculations in order to map out the range of validity of the perturbative analytical approach. We identify parameter values where the optical lattice compensates the interaction-induced nonlinearity, such that the condensate ground state coincides with a simple, single particle harmonic oscillator wave function

Seismic effects in archaeological sites: Archaeoseismological cataloguing and quantification

The analysis of the damage caused by seismic events in archaeological sites provides significant information about ancient and historic earthquakes that can improve seismic hazard analysis. In this paper a methodological analysis to quantify the deformation of structural damage recorded in archaeological sites is proposed. This methodology focuses on the establishment of the seismic/non-seismic origin of the observed damage and consists of three phases: (a) identification and inventory of damage; (b) quantification of deformation; and (c) incorporation of the results to seismic catalogues. The first phase is the inventory and mapping of the damage according with the classification of archaeological effects of earthquakes (EAEs). The second phase is to quantify the deformation of damage by setting different parameters such as the direction of maximum horizontal strain (ey). This analysis is performed at different levels: for each of the recorded EAEs, for all the records of a particular category of EAEs, and finally for the complete archaeological site including all the categories of EAEs. The homogeneity of the results (damage orientation) allows us to establish the seismic origin of deformations. This methodology has been developed in the Roman site of Baelo Claudia (Cádiz, Spain) and has been applied to different historical earthquakes in the Iberian Peninsula. To calibrate the method, analyses on oriented damage were carried out immediately after the recent instrumental earthquakes of Lorca 2011 (5.1 Mw, Spain) and Emilia Romagna 2012 (5.9 Mw; Italy).The analysis of the damage caused by seismic events in archaeological sites provides significant information about ancient and historic earthquakes that can improve seismic hazard analysis. In this paper a methodological analysis to quantify the deformation of structural damage recorded in archaeological sites is proposed. This methodology focuses on the establishment of the seismic / non-seismic origin of the observed damage and consists of three phases: (a) identification and inventory of damage; (b) quantification of deformation; and (c) incorporation of the results to seismic catalogues. The first phase is the inventory and mapping of the damage according with the classification of archaeological effects of earthquakes (EAEs). The second phase is to quantify the deformation of damage by setting different parameters such as the direction of maximum horizontal strain (ey). This analysis is performed at different levels: for each of the recorded EAEs, for all the records of a particular category of EAEs, and finally for the complete archaeological site including all the categories of EAEs. The homogeneity of the results (damage orientation) allows us to establish the seismic origin of deformations. This methodology has been developed in the Roman site of Baelo Claudia (Cádiz, Spain) and has been applied to different historical earthquakes in the Iberian Peninsula. To calibrate the method, analyses on oriented damage were carried out immediately after the recent instrumental earthquakes of Lorca 2011 (5.1 Mw, Spain) and Emilia Romagna 2012 (5.9 Mw; Italy).Este trabajo ha sido financiado por los proyectos CGL2015-67169-P (QTECTSPAIN, USAL) y CATESI-07 (IGME). Es una contribución al INQUA TERPRO Project 1299 y a los grupos de trabajo QTECT-AEQUA y GQMAEQU

Testing M2T/T2M Transformations

Presentado en: 16th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS 2013). Del 29 de septiembre al 4 de octubre. Miami, EEUU.Testing model-to-model (M2M) transformations is becoming a prominent topic in the current Model-driven Engineering landscape. Current approaches for transformation testing, however, assume having explicit model representations for the input domain and for the output domain of the transformation. This excludes other important transformation kinds, such as model-to-text (M2T) and text-to-model (T2M) transformations, from being properly tested since adequate model representations are missing either for the input domain or for the output domain. The contribution of this paper to overcome this gap is extending Tracts, a M2M transformation testing approach, for M2T/T2M transformation testing. The main mechanism we employ for reusing Tracts is to represent text within a generic metamodel. By this, we transform the M2T/T2M transformation specification problems into equivalent M2M transformation specification problems. We demonstrate the applicability of the approach by two examples and present how the approach is implemented for the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF). Finally, we apply the approach to evaluate code generation capabilities of several existing UML tools.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Proyecto TIN2011-2379

Innovative solutions and challenges to increase the use of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) in food packaging and disposables

[EN] Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) has gain in recent years a huge interest in the food packaging field due to its renewable origin from waste as well as non-food crops, high mechanical strength, medium-to-high barrier performance, and inherent biodegradability in natural environments. Despite these advantages, PHB also shows a narrow processing window and high brittleness since this homopolyester shows low thermal stability and high crystallinity, limiting its industrial application. The present review provides an updated state of the art of the most relevant aspects in terms of processing and properties of PHB materials with a particular emphasis for their use in sustainable food packaging. It also describes the most potential strategies that can be applied to improve both the processability and mechanical properties of PHB, including the melt blending with green plasticizers and flexible biodegradable polymers as well as the development of more ductile co-polyesters. Finally, the waste management of the newly developed PHB-based articles is discussed, from their potential compostability to develop more biopolymers to more economically favored alternatives such as mechanical and chemical recycling technologies.This work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN, Spain), grant PID2021-123753NA-C32 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe", by the "European Union"; Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) by CIRCULAGROPLAST, a research Project that has been funded by the Comunidad de Madrid through the call Research Grants for Young Investigators from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; as well as by the Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) through the BEST Program (CIBEST/2021/94). S. Torres-Giner acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN, Spain) for his Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC2019-027784-I).Garcia-Garcia, D.; Quiles-Carrillo, L.; Balart, R.; Torres-Giner, S.; Arrieta, MP. (2022). Innovative solutions and challenges to increase the use of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) in food packaging and disposables. European Polymer Journal. 178:1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2022.11150512017

A Combination of screening and computational approaches for the identification of novel compounds that decrease mast cell degranulation

High-content screening of compound libraries poses various challenges in the early steps in drug discovery such as gaining insights into the mode of action of the selected compounds. Here, we addressed these challenges by integrating two biological screens through bioinformatics and computational analysis. We screened a small-molecule library enriched in amphiphilic compounds in a degranulation assay in rat basophilic leukemia 2H3 (RBL-2H3) cells. The same library was rescreened in a high-content image-based endocytosis assay in HeLa cells. This assay was previously applied to a genome-wide RNAi screen that produced quantitative multiparametric phenotypic profiles for genes that directly or indirectly affect endocytosis. By correlating the endocytic profiles of the compounds with the genome-wide siRNA profiles, we identified candidate pathways that may be inhibited by the compounds. Among these, we focused on the Akt pathway and validated its inhibition in HeLa and RBL-2H3 cells. We further showed that the compounds inhibited the translocation of the Akt-PH domain to the plasma membrane. The approach performed here can be used to integrate chemical and functional genomics screens for investigating the mechanism of action of compounds

Asthma patient satisfaction with different dry powder inhalers

Altres ajuts: The study was supported by Orion Pharma, which also funded the writing.Background: The preferences and opinions of patients are important when choosing the optimal inhaler device for asthma management. We compared patient satisfaction of three dry powder inhalers in patients with moderate to severe asthma. Methods: We selected a group of patients treated with Easyhaler (n = 164) and a second group of patients treated with Turbuhaler (n = 100) or Diskus (Accuhaler ) (n = 64) from the register of an observational, multicenter study. Data of patients were paired according to age, gender, and asthma severity. Patient satisfaction with the inhaler type was assessed with the specific 'Feeling of Satisfaction with Inhaler' (FSI-10) questionnaire. Results: Specific satisfaction with inhaler was statistically significantly higher with Easyhaler , as well as the percentage of patients with high satisfaction with inhaler. (FSI-10 score ≥43). Scores for Easyhaler were also statistically significantly better for individual FSI-10 items such as learning how to use, inhaler preparation, inhaler use, weight and size, and portability. There were no significant differences in asthma control (ACT, Mini-AQLQ) and adherence (TAI global score). Conclusions: Specific satisfaction with inhaler was higher with Easyhaler in a homogeneous population of patients with moderate to severe asthma. However, the relationship between satisfaction with the inhaler and adherence and asthma control deserves more investigation

Heart Rate Variability Analysis Assessment for Asthma Control Stratification

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) has been suggested to play a major role in the pathogenesis of asthma. This hypothesis has motivated large research, revealing a reduced modulation of the heart rate in subjects with uncontrolled asthma, when compared to asthmatics with controlled symptomatology. In this work, we assessed ANS activity through heart rate variability analysis in a group of asthmatics classified attending to the control of their symptoms. This information was later used for training a logistic regression classifier aiming at differentiating between the levels of control in asthmatic patients. The accuracy of the classifier improved when including ANS information (71.77%, versus 64.73% when only clinical parameters were considered), suggesting that ANS assessment could contribute to better non-invasive asthma monitoring