The synthesis of 1,2,3,6,6a,7-hexahydro-7-methyl-5-imino-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazolo[5,4-b]indole

N-3-(1-Methylindol-3-yl)propan-N-(2,2,2-trichloroethoxysulfonyl)guanidine was synthesized from 3-formyl-1-methylindole in six steps and subjected to conditions intended to convert the side-chain into a 2-iminotetrahydropyrimidine- containing product, of relevance to a possible synthesis of the aplicyanins. An alternative reaction course was observed, resulting in the formation of a new tetracyclic system.

L'Univers en una cadira de rodes

Superació. immobilitat. Grandesa intel·lectual. Infinitud finita. Personatge mediàtic. Excepcionalitat. Icona de la ciència. Ateu diuen que una mica divinitzat. Humà, en definitiva. La llista de qualificatius que es podrien utilitzar per definir Stephen Hawking seria, sens dubte, immensa, i segur que no reflectiria tots els aspectes de la seva personalitat. No és fàcil fer una descripció del tot. També és immens l'Univers on vivim, un espai aparentment inhòspit, com una freda cadira de rodes absolutament mecanitzada; però tanmateix ple d'una bellesa captivadora, que hostatja planetes com el nostre, capaços de generar intel·lectes i personalitats tan pròspers, influents i al mateix temps paradoxals com els de Hawking. Una bellesa, la de l'Univers, que no només és visual i cromàtica, sinó també conceptual, física i matemàtica, curulla de relacions aparentment impossibles. Tanmateix, el treball i la vida de Hawking ens l'han fet una mica menys desconegut, una mica més proper; ens han acostat a la teoria del tot.

Surface passivation and optical characterization of Al2O3/a-SiCx stacks on c-Si substrates

Postprint (published version)

Anisotropic surface properties of micro/nanostructured a-C:H:F thin films with self-assembly applications

The singular properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin filmsdeposited by pulsed DC plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), such as hardness and wear resistance, make it suitable as protective coating with low surface energy for self-assembly applications. In this paper, we designed fluorine-containing a-C:H (a-C:H:F) nanostructured surfaces and we characterized them for self-assembly applications. Sub-micron patterns were generated on silicon through laser lithography while contact angle measurements, nanotribometer, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the surface. a-C:H:F properties on lithographied surfaces such as hydrophobicity and friction were improved with the proper relative quantity of CH4 and CHF3 during deposition, resulting in ultrahydrophobic samples and low friction coefficients. Furthermore, these properties were enhanced along the direction of the lithographypatterns (in-plane anisotropy). Finally, self-assembly properties were tested with silicananoparticles, which were successfully assembled in linear arrays following the generated patterns. Among the main applications, these surfaces could be suitable as particle filter selector and cell colony substrate.

Retrats d'acollida : Una aproximació des de l'etnografia visual a les cuidadores i cuidadors de la Fundació Pere Mitjans

Acostament etnogràfic visual a un grup de cuidadors/es de la Fundació Pere Mitjans. Descobriment de l'empatia d'un col·lectiu divers de cuidadors/es amb el grup d'usuaris amb l'etiqueta de diferents, per la seva discapacitat o diversitat funcional.

Edició de llibres infantils i juvenils: la poesia

Una visió panoràmica de l'edició de llibres infantils i juvenils de poesia en llengua catalana durant el darrer bienni en permet fer una valoració globalment esperançadora. Quant als creadors, s'hi han incorporat noves veus, algunes de les quals han contribuït a la renovació temàtica i a la qualitat tant del llenguatge literari com del visual, han augmentat els llibres on flueix la paraula sense encarcaraments ni rimes forçades i s'han publicat obres en què la interrelació íntima aconseguida entre paraula i imatge va més enllà de la funció ornamental de bona part d'il·lustracions dels llibres de poesia. En l'àmbit editorial, els fenòmens més interessants del bienni són l'aparició de tres col·leccions de poesia i l'augment d'edicions en la nostra llengua i de versions de poesia d'altres cultures, algunes en edicions molt acurades. Pel que fa a la difusió i divulgació, s'han atorgat premis a obres de creació i a estudis sobre el gènere i s'han organitzat diverses exposicions.

Does visual impairment in a child or an adolescent affect their parents' quality of life? : A literature review

The purpose of this research was to determine whether the existing research shows that having a child with a visual impairment affects their parents' quality of life and, if it is thecase, in what way it does.

CASCO Questionnaire (c)

For full access to the document pleasecontact: idea@fbg.ub.edu

The natural hallucinogen 5-MeO-DMT, component of Ayahuasca, disrupts cortical function in rats: reversal by antipsychotic drugs

5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a natural hallucinogen component of Ayahuasca, an Amazonian beverage traditionally used for ritual, religious and healing purposes that is being increasingly used for recreational purposes in US and Europe. 5MeO-DMT is of potential interest for schizophrenia research owing to its hallucinogenic properties. Two other psychotomimetic agents, phencyclidine and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodo-phenylisopropylamine (DOI), markedly disrupt neuronal activity and reduce the power of low frequency cortical oscillations (<4 Hz, LFCO) in rodent medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here we examined the effect of 5-MeO-DMT on cortical function and its potential reversal by antipsychotic drugs. Moreover, regional brain activity was assessed by blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). 5-MeO-DMT disrupted mPFC activity, increasing and decreasing the discharge of 51 and 35% of the recorded pyramidal neurons, and reducing (−31%) the power of LFCO. The latter effect depended on 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor activation and was reversed by haloperidol, clozapine, risperidone, and the mGlu2/3 agonist LY379268. Likewise, 5-MeO-DMT decreased BOLD responses in visual cortex (V1) and mPFC. The disruption of cortical activity induced by 5-MeO-DMT resembles that produced by phencyclidine and DOI. This, together with the reversal by antipsychotic drugs, suggests that the observed cortical alterations are related to the psychotomimetic action of 5-MeO-DMT. Overall, the present model may help to understand the neurobiological basis of hallucinations and to identify new targets in antipsychotic drug development.

Morphological priming in Spanish verb forms: an ERP repetition priming study

The ERP repetition priming paradigm has been shown to be sensitive to the processing differences between regular and irregular verb forms in English and German. The purpose of the present study is to extend this research to a language with a different inflectional system, Spanish. The design (delayed visual repetition priming) was adopted from our previous study on English, and the specific linguistic phenomena we examined are priming relations between different kinds of stem (or root) forms. There were two experimental conditions: In the first condition, the prime and the target shared the same stem form, e.g., "ando-andar" [I walk-to walk], whereas in the second condition, the prime contained a marked (alternated) stem, e.g., "duermo-dormir" [I sleep-to sleep]. A reduced N400 was found for unmarked (nonalternated) stems in the primed condition, whereas marked stems showed no such effect. Moreover, control conditions demonstrated that the surface form properties (i.e., the different degree of phonetic and orthographic overlap between primes and targets) do not explain the observed priming difference. The ERP priming effect for verb forms with unmarked stems in Spanish is parallel to that found for regularly inflected verb forms in English and German. We argue that effective priming is possible because prime target pairs such as "ando-andar" access the same lexical entry for their stems. By contrast, verb forms with alternated stems (e.g., "duermo") constitute separate lexical entries, and are therefore less powerful primes for their corresponding base forms.

Efficient image mosaicing for multi-robot visual underwater mapping

Robotic platforms have advanced greatly in terms of their remote sensing capabilities, including obtaining optical information using cameras. Alongside these advances, visual mapping has become a very active research area, which facilitates the mapping of areas inaccessible to humans. This requires the efficient processing of data to increase the final mosaic quality and computational efficiency. In this paper, we propose an efficient image mosaicing algorithm for large area visual mapping in underwater environments using multiple underwater robots. Our method identifies overlapping image pairs in the trajectories carried out by the different robots during the topology estimation process, being this a cornerstone for efficiently mapping large areas of the seafloor. We present comparative results based on challenging real underwater datasets, which simulated multi-robot mapping

Primer "speed net-working" a la Facultat de Farmà cia de la Universitat de Barcelona

Un dels objectius plantejats pel Comissionat per a la Participació, Ocupabilitat i Emprenedoria Social de la Universitat de Barcelona és desenvolupar, conjuntament amb els centres i les facultats, estratègies i accions encaminades a millorar l’ocupabilitat i la inserció laboral i professional d’estudiants i egressats. A més, l’ equip deganal de la Facultat de Farmàcia té com a una de les seves prioritats implementar accions per a la Millora de les competències professionals dels estudiants del Grau de Farmàcia.

Primer "speed net-working" a la Facultat de Farmà cia de la Universitat de Barcelona

Un dels objectius plantejats pel Comissionat per a la Participació, Ocupabilitat i Emprenedoria Social de la Universitat de Barcelona és desenvolupar, conjuntament amb els centres i les facultats, estratègies i accions encaminades a millorar l’ocupabilitat i la inserció laboral i professional d’estudiants i egressats. A més, l’ equip deganal de la Facultat de Farmàcia té com a una de les seves prioritats implementar accions per a la Millora de les competències professionals dels estudiants del Grau de Farmàcia.

Primer "speed net-working" a la Facultat de Farmà cia de la Universitat de Barcelona

Un dels objectius plantejats pel Comissionat per a la Participació, Ocupabilitat i Emprenedoria Social de la Universitat de Barcelona és desenvolupar, conjuntament amb els centres i les facultats, estratègies i accions encaminades a millorar l’ocupabilitat i la inserció laboral i professional d’estudiants i egressats. A més, l’ equip deganal de la Facultat de Farmàcia té com a una de les seves prioritats implementar accions per a la Millora de les competències professionals dels estudiants del Grau de Farmàcia.

Assessing functional relations in single-case designs: Quantitative proposals in the context of the evidence-based movement

In the context of the evidence-based practices movement, the emphasis on computing effect sizes and combining them via meta-analysis does not preclude the demonstration of functional relations. For the latter aim, we propose to augment the visual analysis to add consistency to the decisions made on the existence of a functional relation without losing sight of the need for a methodological evaluation of what stimuli and reinforcement or punishment are used to control the behavior. Four options for quantification are reviewed, illustrated, and tested with simulated data. These quantifications include comparing the projected baseline with the actual treatment measurements, on the basis of either parametric or nonparametric statistics. The simulated data used to test the quantifications include nine data patterns in terms of the presence and type of effect and comprising ABAB and multiple baseline designs. Although none of the techniques is completely flawless in terms of detecting a functional relation only when it is present but not when it is absent, an option based on projecting split-middle trend and considering data variability as in exploratory data analysis proves to be the best performer for most data patterns. We suggest that the information on whether a functional relation has been demonstrated should be included in meta-analyses. It is also possible to use as a weight the inverse of the data variability measure used in the quantification for assessing the functional relation. We offer an easy to use code for open-source software for implementing some of the quantifications.