Sustainable energy policies from a complexity perspective.

The energy policies of the countries have become a key aspect of development. They must be formulated to guarantee economic and social development, state security and compliance with the objectives of sustainable development. In this framework, generation technologies must be considered not only in terms of available natural resources but also in terms of possible contingency scenarios. The purpose of this article is to prioritize technologies by applying a fuzzy inference model and uncertainty model and to address the principles of complex thinking to a case study. The methodology considers the integral vision of the dimensions under the systemic, feedback, autonomy/dependence, holographic and recursive principles, the assignment of weights for the dimension of sustainable development and, finally, the formulation of contingent scenarios. These scenarios consider: exhaustion of a primary source and change of technology with negative or positive impact. As a result, priority is given to the development of wind technology among renewable sources, followed by hydropower and geothermal. In the field of conventional energy, natural gas remains in the first place, since it also reinforces the security and fairness of the system. It is concluded that the process of formulating energy policies based on economic variables and the incorporation of sustainability, in terms of restrictions and linearity in the study models. This must be complemented with the adaptation of the legal and institutional framework that allows the fulfillment of the objectives that are expected to be achieved. Finally, it is necessary to keep constantly updated on changes and improvements in technology, which can modify the variables under study, in order to adapt strategies to new conditions.

Factors for the implementation of the circular economy in Big Data environments in service companies in post pandemic times of COVID-19: The case of Colombia.

In emerging economies, Big Data (BD) analytics has become increasingly popular, particularly regarding the opportunities and expected benefits. Such analyzes have identified that the production and consumption of goods and services, while unavoidable, have proven to be unsustainable and inefficient. For this reason, the concept of the circular economy (CE) has emerged strongly as a sustainable approach that contributes to the eco-efficient use of resources. However, to develop a circular economy in DB environments, it is necessary to understand what factors influence the intention to accept its implementation. The main objective of this research was to assess the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral norms on the intention to adopt CE in BD-mediated environments. The methodology is quantitative, cross-sectional with a descriptive correlational approach, based on the theory of planned behavior and a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). A total of 413 Colombian service SMEs participated in the study. The results show that managers' attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived norms of behavior positively influence the intentions of organizations to implement CB best practices. Furthermore, most organizations have positive intentions toward CE and that these intentions positively influence the adoption of DB; however, the lack of government support and cultural barriers are perceived as the main limitation for its adoption. The research leads to the conclusion that BD helps business and government develop strategies to move toward CE, and that there is a clear positive will and intent toward a more restorative and sustainable corporate strategy.

Business analytics approach to artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence has become an essential element for strengthening the business fabric. The advances obtained in recent years as a result of the incorporation of technology for the improvement of productive activities and the positioning of companies in the markets are remarkable. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the origin, evolution and development of business analytics (BA) and its relationship with Artificial Intelligence (AI); from the conceptualization, evolution and identification of the main characteristics and research areas of AI and BA, as well as research conducted and published in journals indexed in Scopus between 2002 and 2022. The aim is to define the incidence of BA in business activities and analyze scientific activity and advances of BA to define new research horizons in this field. For this purpose, a bibliometric and documentary analysis is applied, allowing to highlight the findings that provide recognition and comparison of the results. This will facilitate the understanding of the current dynamics, its importance for organizations, and its impact in the face of the new challenges generated by the requirements of world trade.

Tailored optical propulsion forces for controlled transport of resonant gold nanoparticles and associated thermal convective fluid flows.

Noble metal nanoparticles illuminated at their plasmonic resonance wavelength turn into heat nanosources. This phenomenon has prompted the development of numerous applications in science and technology. Simultaneous optical manipulation of such resonant nanoparticles could certainly extend the functionality and potential applications of optothermal tools. In this article, we experimentally demonstrate optical transport of single and multiple resonant nanoparticles (colloidal gold spheres of radius 200 nm) directed by tailored transverse phase-gradient forces propelling them around a 2D optical trap. We show how the phase-gradient force can be designed to efficiently change the speed of the nanoparticles. We have found that multiple hot nanoparticles assemble in the form of a quasi-stable group whose motion around the laser trap is also controlled by such optical propulsion forces. This assembly experiences a significant increase in the local temperature, which creates an optothermal convective fluid flow dragging tracer particles into the assembly. Thus, the created assembly is a moving heat source controlled by the propulsion force, enabling indirect control of fluid flows as a micro-optofluidic tool. The existence of these flows, probably caused by the temperature-induced Marangoni effect at the liquid water/superheated water interface, is confirmed by tracking free tracer particles migrating towards the assembly. We propose a straightforward method to control the assembly size, and therefore its temperature, by using a nonuniform optical propelling force that induces the splitting or merging of the group of nanoparticles. We envision further development of microscale optofluidic tools based on these achievements.

Mixed-charge pseudo-zwitterionic mesoporous silica nanoparticles with low-fouling and reduced cell uptake properties.

The design of drug delivery systems needs to consider biocompatibility and host body recognition for an adequate actuation. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) surfaces were successfully modified with two silane molecules to provide mixed-charge brushes (-NH3⊕/-PO3⊝) and well evaluated in terms of surface properties, low-fouling capability and cell uptake in comparison to PEGylated MSNs. The modification process consists in the simultaneous direct-grafting of hydrolysable short chain amino (aminopropyl silanetriol, APST) and phosphonate-based (trihydroxy-silyl-propyl-methyl-phosphonate, THSPMP) silane molecules able to provide a pseudo-zwitterionic nature under physiological pH conditions. Results confirmed that both mixed-charge pseudo-zwitterionic MSNs (ZMSN) and PEG-MSN display a significant reduction of serum protein adhesion and macrophages uptake with respect to pristine MSNs. In the case of ZMSNs, this reduction is up to a 70-90% for protein adsorption and c.a. 60% for cellular uptake. This pseudo-zwitterionic modification has been focused on the aim of local treatment of bacterial infections through the synergistic effect between the inherent antimicrobial effect of mixed-charge system and the levofloxacin antibiotic release profile. These findings open promising future expectations for the effective treatment of bacterial infections through the use of mixed-charge pseudo-zwitterionic MSNs furtive to macrophages and with antimicrobial properties. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Herein a novel antimicrobial mixed-charge pseudo-zwitterionic MSNs based system with low-fouling and reduced cell uptake behavior has been developed. This chemical modification has been performed by the simultaneous grafting of short chain organosilanes, containing amino and phosphonate groups, respectively. This nanocarrier has been tested for local infection treatment through the synergy between the antimicrobial effect of mixed-charge brushes and the levofloxacin antibiotic release profile.

Dynamic morphing of 3D curved laser traps for all-optical manipulation of particles.

The development of optical manipulation techniques focused on the confinement and transport of micro/nano-particles has attracted increased interest in the last decades. In particular the combination of all-optical confinement and propelling forces, respectively arising from high intensity and phase gradients of a strongly focused laser beam, is promising for optical transport. The recently developed freestyle laser trap exploits this manipulation mechanism to achieve optical transport along arbitrary 3D curves. In practice, reconfigurable 3D optical transport of numerous particles is a challenging problem because it requires the ability to easily adapt the trajectory in real time. In this work, we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a strategy for on-task adaptive design of freestyle laser traps based on a dynamic morphing technique. This provides programmable smooth transformation of the 3D shape of the curved laser trap with independent control of the propelling forces along it, that can be configured according to the considered application. Dynamic morphing, proven here on the example of colloidal dielectric micro-particles, significantly simplifies the important problem of real-time reconfigurable 3D optical transport and opens up routes for other sophisticated optical manipulation tasks.

Programmable optical transport of particles in knot circuits and networks.

A freestyle single-beam laser trap allows for multi-particle optical transport along arbitrary open or closed trajectories with independent control of the all-optical confinement and propulsion forces exerted over the particles. Here, exploiting this manipulation tool, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an optical dynamic routing technique to assist multi-particle transport in knot circuits and networks exhibiting multiple crossing paths. This new functionality for optical transport enables the particle circulation in such complex systems handling traffic jams and making possible particle separation/mixing in them. It is important for the development of programmable particle delivery and other automated optical transport operations of interest in colloidal physics, optofluidics, biophysics, etc.