Laura De Matteis

Removal of Multiple Contaminants from Water by Polyoxometalate Supported Ionic Liquid Phases (POM-SILPs)

The simultaneous removal of organic, inorganic, and microbial contaminants from water by one material offers significant advantages when fast, facile, and robust water purification is required. Herein, we present a supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) composite where each component targets a specific type of water contaminant: a polyoxometalate-ionic liquid (POM-IL) is immobilized on porous silica, giving the heterogeneous SILP. The water-insoluble POM-IL is composed of antimicrobial alkylammonium cations and lacunary polyoxometalate anions with heavy-metal binding sites. The lipophilicity of the POM-IL enables adsorption of organic contaminants. The silica support can bind radionuclides. Using the POM-SILP in filtration columns enables one-step multi-contaminant water purification. The results show how multi-functional POM-SILPs can be designed for advanced purification applications.

Quantum dot and superparamagnetic nanoparticle interaction with pathogenic fungi: internalization and toxicity profile.

For several years now, nanoscaled materials have been implemented in biotechnological applications related to animal (in particular human) cells and related pathologies. However, the use of nanomaterials in plant biology is far less widespread, although their application in this field could lead to the future development of plant biotechnology applications. For any practical use, it is crucial to elucidate the relationship between the nanomaterials and the target cells. In this work we have evaluated the behavior of two types of nanomaterials, quantum dots and superparamagnetic nanoparticles, on Fusarium oxysporum, a fungal species that infects an enormous range of crops causing important economic losses and is also an opportunistic human pathogen. Our results indicated that both nanomaterials rapidly interacted with the fungal hypha labeling the presence of the pathogenic fungus, although they showed differential behavior with respect to internalization. Thus, whereas magnetic nanoparticles appeared to be on the cell surface, quantum dots were significantly taken up by the fungal hyphae showing their potential for the development of novel control approaches of F. oxysporum and related pathogenic fungi following appropriate functionalization. In addition, the fungal germination and growth, accumulation of ROS, indicative of cell stress, and fungal viability have been evaluated at different nanomaterial concentrations showing the low toxicity of both types of nanomaterials to the fungus. This work represents the first study on the behavior of quantum dots and superparamagnetic particles on fungal cells, and constitutes the first and essential step to address the feasibility of new nanotechnology-based systems for early detection and eventual control of pathogenic fungi.

Supramolecular antimicrobial capsules assembled from polyoxometalates and chitosan

This communication describes a surfactant-based strategy towards spherical metal-organic nanohybrid structures with antimicrobial properties. We demonstrate that the growth of the Gram-negative bacterium E.coli can be dramatically affected by the presence of these hybrid materials and that this effect strictly depends on the type of contained polyoxometalate and on the size of the composites.

Influence of a silica interlayer on the structural and magnetic properties of sol-gel TiO2-coated magnetic nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated with titanium dioxide have been synthesized, growing the titanium dioxide directly either on the magnetic nuclei or on magnetic nanoparticles previously coated with a semihydrophobic silica layer. Both coatings have been obtained by sol-gel. Since it is well-known that the existence of the intermediate silica layer influences the physicochemical properties of the material, a detailed characterization of both types of coatings has been carried out. The morphology, structure, and composition of the synthesized nanomatrices have been locally analyzed with subangstrom spatial resolution, by means of aberration corrected transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM and STEM-HAADF). Besides magnetization measurements, proton relaxivity experiments have been also performed on water suspensions of the as-synthesized nanoparticles to investigate the role of the silica interlayer in the relaxometric properties. The silica interlayer leads to nanoparticles with much higher water stability and to higher relaxivity of the suspensions.

Controlling properties and cytotoxicity of chitosan nanocapsules by chemical grafting

The tunability of the properties of chitosan-based carriers opens new ways for the application of drugs with low water-stability or high adverse effects. In this work, the combination of a nanoemulsion with a chitosan hydrogel coating and the following poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafting is proven to be a promising strategy to obtain a flexible and versatile nanocarrier with an improved stability. Thanks to chitosan amino groups, a new easy and reproducible method to obtain nanocapsule grafting with PEG has been developed in this work, allowing a very good control and tunability of the properties of nanocapsule surface. Two different PEG densities of coverage are studied and the nanocapsule systems obtained are characterized at all steps of the optimization in terms of diameter, Z potential and surface charge (amino group analysis). Results obtained are compatible with a conformation of PEG molecules laying adsorbed on nanoparticle surface after covalent linking through their amino terminal moiety. An improvement in nanocapsule stability in physiological medium is observed with the highest PEG coverage density obtained. Cytotoxicity tests also demonstrate that grafting with PEG is an effective strategy to modulate the cytotoxicity of developed nanocapsules. Such results indicate the suitability of chitosan as protective coating for future studies oriented toward drug delivery.

Intestinal anti-inflammatory effects of RGD-functionalized silk fibroin nanoparticles in trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced experimental colitis in rats

Background Current treatment of inflammatory bowel disease is based on the use of immunosuppressants or anti-inflammatory drugs, which are characterized by important side effects that can limit their use. Previous research has been performed by administering these drugs as nanoparticles that target the ulcerated intestinal regions and increase their bioavailability. It has been reported that silk fibroin can act as a drug carrier and shows anti-inflammatory properties. Purpose This study was designed to enhance the interaction of the silk fibroin nanoparticles (SFNs) with the injured intestinal tissue by functionalizing them with the peptide motif RGD (arginine–glycine–aspartic acid) and to evaluate the intestinal anti-inflammatory properties of these RGD-functionalized silk fibroin nanoparticles (RGD-SFNs) in the trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS) model of rat colitis. Materials and methods SFNs were prepared by nanoprecipitation in methanol, and the linear RGD peptide was linked to SFNs using glutaraldehyde as the crosslinker. The SFNs (1 mg/rat) and RGD-SFNs (1 mg/rat) were administered intrarectally to TNBS-induced colitic rats for 7 days. Results The SFN treatments ameliorated the colonic damage, reduced neutrophil infiltration, and improved the compromised oxidative status of the colon. However, only the rats treated with RGD-SFNs showed a significant reduction in the expression of different pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-6, and IL-12) and inducible nitric oxide synthase in comparison with the TNBS control group. Moreover, the expression of both cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 was significantly diminished by the RGD-SFN treatment. However, both treatments improved the intestinal wall integrity by increasing the gene expression of some of its markers (trefoil factor-3 and mucins). Conclusion SFNs displayed intestinal anti-inflammatory properties in the TNBS model of colitis in rats, which were improved by functionalization with the RGD peptide.

Effective in vitro photokilling by cell-adhesive gold nanorods

Upon excitation of their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band, gold nanorods (AuNRs) show a characteristic light-to-heat transduction, a useful and versatile property for a range of biomedical applications such as photothermal therapy, drug delivery, optoacoustic imaging and biosensing, among others. Nanoparticle (NP)-mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) rests on the ability of nanomaterials to convert light energy into heat and can currently be considered as a promising method for selectively destroying tumor cells by (photo)-thermoablation. One inherent limitation to NP-mediated PTT is that the nanoparticles must arrive at the site of action to exert their function and this typically involves cellular internalization. Here we report the use of the Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM) phosphotungstic acid (PTA) as an inorganic gelling agent for the encapsulation of plasmonic gold nanorods (AuNRs) inside a biocompatible and cell-adhesive chitosan hydrogel matrix. These functional sub-micrometric containers are non-cytotoxic and present the ability to adhere to the cytoplasmic membranes of cells avoiding any need for cellular internalization, rendering them as highly efficient thermoablating agents of eukaryotic cells in vitro.

Targeted nanoparticles for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

BACKGROUND Alzheimers disease (AD) has a dramatic impact on society. The therapeutic targets are located in the central nervous system (CNS), which limits the efficacy of drugs systemically administered: the blood-brain barrier (BBB) selectively allows the permeation of just a few kinds of molecules from the systemic circulation to the CNS. On the other hand, local administration routes to CNS are highly invasive. METHODS In this article, we have reviewed therapeutic approaches against AD, which are based on nanoparticles targeted to the brain and to the pathological hallmarks of the disease. The existing literature has been classified according to the AD feature that is addressed. RESULTS Nanoparticles have been used for the targeted delivery of drugs aiming to reduce the AD symptoms or to reverse the course of the disease. For this task the multivalency of nanoparticles has allowed their functionalization with several kinds of targeting groups, to cross the BBB and to target the place of treatment. With this approach an increased drug bioavailability has been achieved in the CNS using intravenous administration in place of more invasive administration routes. Additionally, nanoparticles have also been used in the development of vaccines and therapeutic formulations for intranasal administration. CONCLUSION Targeted nanoparticles have been proved useful to enhance the performance of therapies against AD in animal models. A better understanding of AD mechanisms will help the successful application of targeted nanoparticles for combined therapies.

Nanotechnology in Personalized Medicine: A Promising Tool for Alzheimer`s Disease Treatment

BACKGROUND Alzheimers disease (AD) is a public health priority all over the world. The difficulty of fighting the disease consists mostly in the complexity of symptoms and causes, in the still poor knowledge of its mechanisms and in the existence of a latent, asymptomatic, preclinical stage. Although many drugs are continuously screened in clinical studies for the treatment of Alzheimers disease, the unexpected lack of patient response and sometimes the important adverse effects make it a potential field of application for personalized medicine. OBJECTIVE This perspective review proposes nanotechnology as a valuable tool for the application of personalized medicine to AD. METHODS The aim of personalized medicine is the development of more patient-precise treatments based mostly on the knowledge of individual genetics as well as of disease progress, and of pharmacokinetics and metabolic response to available drugs. The optimization of new and more sensitive detection techniques is an important tool for obtaining the pool of data needed for prediction and understanding of patient response. RESULTS Research in bionanosensors is already providing examples with high sensitivity for core and new biomarkers for AD. In therapy the functionalization of nanoparticle surface can add specificity for biological recognition or for improving the bioavailability. This would allow the administration of lower doses with less adverse effects due to the local targeting. CONCLUSION Taking into account the promising characteristics of nanoparticles as excellent candidate tools for precision medicine development, the establishment of better standard methods for safety assessment and production scale up would be desirable for the nanomaterial fruitful employment.

Magnetic nanocapsules based on natural polymers

VV would like to acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 801809).Funding from the European Research Council under the 7th Framework Programme (ERC Strating Grant no. 203428 nµLIPIDS) is gratefully acknowledgedThis project has been funded by European Union within the Seventh Framework Programme of R&D.Trabajo presentado en Aquaculture Europe 19 (Our future, growing from water), celebrado en Berlin del 7 al 10 de octubre de 2019.Tesis llevada a cabo para conseguir el grado de Doctor por la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela.--2017-07-21.--Sobresaliente Cum LaudeOur aim is to provide insights into some basic facts of US government debt management by introducing simple financial frictions in a Ramsey model of fiscal policy. We find that the share of short bonds in total U.S. debt is large, persistent, and highly correlated with total debt. A well known literature argues that optimal debt management should behave very differently: long term debt provides fiscal insurance, hence short bonds should not be issued and the position on short debt is volatile and negatively correlated with total debt. We show that this result hinges on the assumption that governments buy back the entire stock of previously issued long bonds each year, which is very far from observed debt management. We document how the U.S. Treasury rarely has repurchased bonds before 10 years after issuance. When we impose in the model that the government does not buy back old bonds the puzzle disappears and the optimal bond portfolio matches the facts mentioned above. The reason is that issuing only long term debt under no buyback would lead to a lumpiness in debt service payments, short bonds help offset this by smoothing out interest payments and tax rates. The same reasoning helps explain why governments issue coupon-paying bonds. Solving dynamic stochastic models of optimal policy with a portfolio choice is computationally challenging. A separate contribution of this paper is to propose computational tools that enable this broad class of models to be solved. In particular we propose two significant extensions to the PEA class of computational methods which overcome problems due to the size of the model. These methods should be useful to many applications with portfolio problems and large state spaces.Este documento contiene la edicion critica, estudio e indices de la traduccion latina del Coran preparada para el cardenal italiano Egidio de Viterbo (c. 1465 – 1532). El texto fue traducido por primera vez en 1518 aunque su copia completa y corregida data del ano 1621. El estudio preliminar, que constituye la primera parte de la introduccion, incluye una sinopsis de las traducciones conocidas del Coran al latin, una edicion del prologo a uno de los manuscritos, presentacion de las personas historicas involucradas intelectualmente en la elaboracion y estudio de esta traduccion y tambien un estudio de algunas glosas. La segunda parte del estudio de la introduccion esta dedicada a los manuscritos y a las normas de edicion, y profundiza en el problema de la transmision del texto. La edicion critica esta fijada a partir de los dos manuscritos conservados, Cambridge ms. Mm. v. 26 (C) y Milan ms. D 100 inf. (M). El material editado ha requerido la lectura de 936 folios en total, que han sido editados en 708 paginas. El aparato critico recoge los variantes entre C y M, correcciones y aclaraciones anadidas entre lineas en ambos manuscritos, correcciones y anotaciones anadidas por la segunda mano de C y algunas glosas de caracter filologico o cultural relacionadas con la traduccion. Los indices elaborados en base a la edicion latina recogen nombres propios y palabras redactadas tambien en idiomas que no sean latin. Estos indices estan divididos en cuatro listas: los nombres propios (Index nominum personarum, locorum et rerum), las palabras arabes (Index verborum arabicorum), las palabras griegas (Index verborum graecorum) y las palabras hebreas (Index verborum hebraeorum).The structural phase behavior of high-quality single crystals of methylammonium lead iodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃ or MAPbI₃) was revisited by combining Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) measurements under high hydrostatic pressure up to ca. 10 GPa. The single crystals were specially grown with the final thickness needed for pressure experiments, retaining their high quality due to a less invasive preparation procedure, which avoids sample thinning. Both PL and Raman spectra show simultaneous changes in their profiles that indicate the occurrence of three phase transitions subsequently at around 0.4, 2.7, and 3.3 GPa. At the second phase transition, the Raman spectra exhibit a pronounced reduction in the line width of the phonon modes of the inorganic cage, similar to the changes observed at the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition occurring at around 160 K but ambient pressure. This behavior is interpreted as evidence for the locking of the organic cations in the cage voids above 2.7 GPa due to the reduced volume and symmetry of the unit cell. At the third phase transition, reported here for the first time, the PL is greatly affected, whereas the Raman spectrum experiences only subtle changes related to a splitting of some of the peaks. This behavior may indicate a change mostly in the electronic structure with little effect on the crystal structure. Strikingly, the sharp Raman features observed at high pressures do not support amorphization of MAPbI₃ with onset at 3 GPa, as claimed by most of the high-pressure (X-ray) literature. We interpret this apparent discrepancy in terms of the degree of disorder introduced at different length scales in the perovskite lattice by the pressure-induced freeze-out of the methylammonium cation motion.espanolEl presente articulo estudia el tratamiento que la historiografia espanola de epoca Moderna dio a Al-Andalus, y como la integro en una narracion de la historia nacional. En el, trato de ir mas alla de la narrativa, apologetica o critica, de la “Reconquista”, y muestro como Al-Andalus se asocia a una idea del Oriente biblico relacionada con la escritura de la historia sagrada, que acaba introduciendose en el pensamiento critico del s. XVII. EnglishThis paper studies the way in which Early Modern Spanish historiography dealt with Al- Andalus, and how it tried to integrate it into the framework of Spanish national history. I criticize the narratives linked to the “Reconquista” (both critical and apologetic), and argue how Al-Andalus was connected to a more general idea of the Biblical Orient, that was used to write the sacred history of Spain. Finally, I try to show how this idea became part of the 17th-century Spanish critical thought.Trabajo presentado en el XL Congreso de la Sociedad Espanola de Genetica, celebrado en Cordoba del 16 al 18 de septiembre de 2015.XXIII Europhysics Conference on Atomic and Molecular Physics of Ionized Gases, ESCAMPIG XXIII. -- Bratislava, Slovakia, July 12-16, 2016. -- https://www.escampig2016.org/The influence of the humanities on the study of a technological subject like robotics needs to rapidly grow, for the simple reason that robotics is becoming a part of humanity: assisting, interacting, and enabling people in an increasing number of ways in daily life. The robotics research community is well aware of the need for such a crossover with the humanities and many joint ventures are being undertaken, such as forums on “Robotics meets the Humanities” at main robotics conferences, the launching of research projects, and the publication of special issues in scientific journals. This cross-cutting has even led to a new discipline: Roboethics, a subfield of applied ethics studying both the positive and negative implications of robotics for individuals and society, with a view to inspire the moral design, development and use of so-called intelligent/autonomous robots, and help prevent their misuse against humankind. The discipline involves two main areas: legal regulation and ethical education. Regarding the former, institutions such as the European Parliament, the South Korean Robot Ethics Charter, the IEEE Standards Association, and the British Standards Institution are developing regulations for robot designers, programmers, and users. There are many options to integrate ethics education (or Humanities) in technological university degrees, ranging from including a professional ethics course in the syllabus, to allowing students to take certain credits or a minor in a Humanities Department, to even offering a combined degree, like the Computer Science and Philosophy degree at the University of Oxford. Prestigious associations such as IEEE and ACM include 18 knowledge areas in their Computer Science curricula, one of which is “Social Issues and Professional Practice”, so that “students develop an understanding of the relevant social, ethical, legal and professional issues”. To this end, some courses in this area recur to science fiction to exemplify conflictive situations, since narrative is a good way to engage students in safe discussion and reasoning about difficult and emotionally charged issues without making it personal. Some experiences along this line will be described.Los materiales aqui presentados incluyen: la presentacion de la actividad, el guion para el profesorado, un power-point para poner en la sesion, las 30 fichas de cada personaje, asi como un par de objetes representativos.M. E. F. Brollo acknowledges the Brazilian agency CNPq for the grant [232947/2014-7] within the Science without Borders program and the COST action program for the grant [TD1402 – 38989]. The work was supported by the Spanish Government under projects MAT2017-88148-R (AEI/FEDER, UE), MAT2016-76507-R, CTQ2016-78454-C2-2-R, by the Comunidad de Madrid (S2018/NMT-4321 NANOMAGCOST-CM), the European Research Council through ERC-AG grant 340177. IMDEA Nanociencia acknowledges support from the ‘Severo Ochoa’ Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant SEV-2016-0686). The characterization was performed using the ICMM/CSIC general services (X-ray, ICP). ACS analyses were performed at RISE Acreo in Gothenburg, Sweden and cryo-TEM images were taken by Dr. Francisco Javier Chichon at the Cryo-EM facility (CiB-CNB-CSIC) placed on the National Center for Biotechnology in Madrid, Spain.Oral presentation given at the XII Reunion Cientifica de la Sociedad Espanola de Astronomia, held in Bilbao (Spain), on July 18-22th, 2016.This dossier is the result of a project funded by European Research Council under the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ ERC Grant Agreement number 323316, project CORPI “Conversion, Overlapping Religiosities, Polemics, Interaction. Early Modern Iberia and Beyond,” IP: Mercedes Garcia-ArenaD. G. and Y. K. C would like to acknowledge sup-port from the project ND-PHOT jointly funded by CSIC and CNRS. D. G. and P.C. acknowledge financial support from Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI,Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional un-der Project SuMaEco, grant number: RTI2018-095441-B-C22 (AEI/FEDER,UE) and Agencia Estatal de Investigacion through Maria de Maeztu Program for Units o fExcellence in R&D (MDM-2017-0711). Y. K. C. also ac-knowledges funding from the European Research Council through the projects NextPhase & Versyt, from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales(CNES) through the project SHYRO, and from the University of Maryland.Trabajo presentado en el 57th European High Pressure Research Group Meeting on High Pressure Science and Technology ( EHPRG 2019), celebrado en Praga (Republica Checa), del 1 al 6 de septiembre de 2019Este trabajo de tesis ha sido posible gracias a una beca predoctoral del Subprograma de Formacion del Personal Investigador (FPI) del Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad asociada al proyecto SAF2011-26273. La investigacion ha sido financiada por los siguientes proyectos de investigacion: “Caracterizacion de los mecanismos moleculares involucrados en la generacion de neuronas serotonergicas”. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. Plan Nacional I+D (SAF2011-26273). “Estudio de los mecanismos transcripcionales que regulan la diferenciacion de las neuronas monoaminergicas y su conservacion evolutiva”. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. Plan Nacional I+D (SAF2014-56877-R). “Dissecting the gene regulatory mechanisms that generate serotonergic neurons and their link to mental disorders”. European Research Council. Starting Grant.Funding from the European Research Council under the 7th Framework Programme (ERC Starting Grant, project no. 203428, “nμ-LIPIDS”) and the ETH for the fellowship to J.P.-L. is gratefully acknowledged.V.V. would like to acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 801809)In this technical report we present a framework for the empirical validation of a physical cloth model. First, we introduce the model to be validated and its parameters, next we explain how to obtain real world data of the motion of a textile and finally we show how to fit the model to the experimental data. Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (IRI) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient́ıficas (CSIC) Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Llorens i Artigas 4-6, 08028, Barcelona, Spain Tel (fax): +34 93 401 5750 (5751) http://www.iri.upc.edu Corresponding author: Franco Coltraro tel: +34 93 401 5750 fcoltraro@iri.upc.edu http://www.iri.upc.edu/staff/fcoltraroLa linea de investigacion principal de este trabajo se desarrolla en el marco del «Los Caminos del Neolitico» (HAR2009‑09027), concedido por la Subdireccion General de Proyectos de Investigacion / Direccion General de investigacion y gestion del Plan Nacional de I+D+I / Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion, del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion. Del mismo modo, la parte analitica se enmarca en el proyecto denominado «Origins and spread of agriculture in the western Mediterranean region» (ERC‑AdG 230561), financiado por el ERCFRAGMENT has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 773051). Carlos Perez Garcia- Pando also acknowledges support by the AXA Research Fund, and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (RYC-2015-18690 and CGL2017-88911- R)Trabajo presentado en Aquaculture Europe 19 (Our future, growing from water), celebrado en Berlin del 7 al 10 de octubre de 2019.We thank the National Museum of Nairobi for permits to study the Leakey collection from SHK. Funding by the NSF (BCS-0852292) and the European Research Council-Starting Grants (283366) is gratefully acknowledgedEuropean Research Council under the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) ERC grant agreement no 340863 / JAE-PRE program