Noticias

Fecha: Viernes 24 de Marzo de 2023.
Hora: 12:00h.
Lugar: Sala Audiovisuales de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de Granada.

Ponente: Prof. Michael D. Ward (Director del Instituto de Diseño Molecular de la Universidad de Nueva York).

Organizan: Departamento de Química Inorgánica y Unidad de Excelencia en Química.

Several years ago we reported the discovery of a new crystalline form of the contact insecticide DDT that is more lethal to fruit flies – proxies for mosquitoes – than the only previously known crystalline phase. DDT and other contact insecticides, which act as neurotoxins, poison insects when they are absorbed through their hydrophobic footpads upon contact with insecticide crystal surfaces. This suggested that the uptake of DDT was connected to its crystalline form and habit, as well as the surface and bulk energetics of single crystals, creating a convergence of organic solid-state chemistry, polymorphism, and biology. Further investigations of other insecticides – lindane, fluorinated analogs of DDT, deltamethrin, imidacloprid – demonstrated that polymorphism is common among these materials. Moreover, in every case the effectiveness of the contact insecticide crystals against mosquitoes, as well as fruit flies, scaled inversely with the thermodynamic stability of their crystal forms. That is, the higher energy metastable crystal forms were most effective. These observations also reveal a unique opportunity to innovate more effective formulations that are more effective for vector control, are less susceptible to resistance development, and promise to reduce environmental impact. New high-energy polymorphs of deltamethrin and imidacloprid, the most widely used contact insecticides, are especially effective against malaria-transmitting mosquitoes, demonstrating that solid-state chemistry can be manipulated for the prevention of infectious disease.

Fecha: miércoles 22 de marzo de 2023.
Hora: 18:00h.
Lugar: Online.
Ponente: María José Martínez Pérez (Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón).
Contacto UGR: Blanca Biel (Junta de Gobierno del DFMC-GEFES, comisión #universoGEFES).

Estas charlas están orientadas principalmente a estudiantes de grado y máster.

Inscripciones.

Organiza: División de Física de la Materia Condensada-GEFES de la Real Sociedad Española de Física.
Patrocina: CASIO, DIPC.

Fecha: 30 de marzo de 2023.
Hora: 12:00 a 13:00.
Lugar: Aula A22 de la Facultad de Ciencias. 

Ponente: Prof. Camila Palla (Universidad Nacional del Sur, Conicet, Argentina).

Organiza el Grupo de Física de Fluidos y Biocoloides del Departamento de Física Aplicada de la UGR.

Resumen: Three-dimensional (3D) printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of creating a 3D object, usually by placing thin layers of material in succession, using digital data and under the control of computer software. Several different techniques are available for 3D printing that allows users to produce 3D structures that may not have been achievable with conventional manufacturing techniques. In addition, 3D printed objects can be highly customized through their design and the use of different printing materials and printing process parameters.

These advantages have led to rapid progress in the application of 3D printing in various fields, such as mechanical engineering, medicine, construction, and aerospace. In particular, 3D printing technology presents an enormous potential for use in the food field since it enables personalized and complex-shaped designs, generates new sensory properties, offers personalized nutrition, simplifies the supply chain, and enables the use of non-conventional food materials, among others. In fact, the development of 3D printed nutraceuticals and functional foods for different sectors of the population represents one of the most interesting objectives within this field. This lecture presents: i) existing 3D food printing technologies, focusing on the extrusion technique, which is the most widely used in 3D food printing; ii) early attempts to develop 3D printed foods with nutrient-rich ingredients, probiotics, and bioactive compounds, customized formulations to prevent health diseases, and products with new textures for people with dysphagia; and iii) current challenges, opportunities, and prospects of this new food production method.

Fecha: 17 de marzo de 2023.
Hora: de 9:30 a 11:30 horas.
Lugar: F01 de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de Granada.
Ponente: Eleonora Viezzer (Universidad de Sevilla).

Se tratarán de manera divulgativa la fusión nuclear y los aspectos relacionados con la producción de energía. Se discutirán los aspectos más relevantes de los desarrollos actuales en fusión nuclear y se describirán el tokamak SMART que se está construyendo en Sevilla.

Seminario del Máster en Física: Radiaciones, Nanotecnología, Partículas y Astrofísica

Fecha: jueves, 16 de marzo de 2023.
Hora: 12h:00.
Lugar: seminario del Dpto. de Física Atómica, Molecular y Nuclear (Facultad de Ciencias, Sección Físicas, 3ª planta).
Ponente: Dr. Jesús I. Mendieta-Moreno. Dpto. Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

In the last years, controlled manipulation of molecules on different surfaces has been used for various applications like biosensors, on-surface reactions, and studies of exotic quantum behaviours as proton tunnelling. These systems usually appear in complicated environments or at specific temperatures where a minimum energy characterization is not enough to describe the system. To be able to access bigger systems and include temperature effects we can employ a Quantum Mechanics / Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) approach, which provides a good characterization of the environment with a low computational cost. This approach, in combination with Molecular Dynamics (MD) sampling techniques, allow us to include temperature effects and to explore the role of the water environment, surfaces, and temperature.

In this talk, I will present how we have employed this approach to characterize a biosensor to measure the change in the graphene work function when an aptamer interacts with a protein. With these techniques we can also characterize on-surface reactions and how the use of metal surfaces has enabled us, in combination with AFM and STM experiments, to promote new reactions that were not accessible in traditional approaches of solution-based chemistry. Another use of these techniques, in combination with Path Integral Molecular Dynamic simulations, is to understand nuclear quantum effects. I will show how at low temperature (5K), 1D H-bond molecular chains on a surface can experience a deep proton tunnelling that leads to changes in the mechanical and electronic properties.