Antonio Bernal Guerrero

Bio: Antonio Bernal Guerrero is an academic researcher from University of Seville. The author has contributed to research in topics: Bioplastic & Entrepreneurship. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 75 publications receiving 373 citations.

Proteins from Agri-Food Industrial Biowastes or Co-Products and Their Applications as Green Materials

Abstract: A great amount of biowastes, comprising byproducts and biomass wastes, is originated yearly from the agri-food industry. These biowastes are commonly rich in proteins and polysaccharides and are mainly discarded or used for animal feeding. As regulations aim to shift from a fossil-based to a bio-based circular economy model, biowastes are also being employed for producing bio-based materials. This may involve their use in high-value applications and therefore a remarkable revalorization of those resources. The present review summarizes the main sources of protein from biowastes and co-products of the agri-food industry (i.e., wheat gluten, potato, zein, soy, rapeseed, sunflower, protein, casein, whey, blood, gelatin, collagen, keratin, and algae protein concentrates), assessing the bioplastic application (i.e., food packaging and coating, controlled release of active agents, absorbent and superabsorbent materials, agriculture, and scaffolds) for which they have been more extensively produced. The most common wet and dry processes to produce protein-based materials are also described (i.e., compression molding, injection molding, extrusion, 3D-printing, casting, and electrospinning), as well as the main characterization techniques (i.e., mechanical and rheological properties, tensile strength tests, rheological tests, thermal characterization, and optical properties). In this sense, the strategy of producing materials from biowastes to be used in agricultural applications, which converge with the zero-waste approach, seems to be remarkably attractive from a sustainability prospect (including environmental, economic, and social angles). This approach allows envisioning a reduction of some of the impacts along the product life cycle, contributing to tackling the transition toward a circular economy.

Flow behaviour and stability of oil‐in‐water emulsions stabilized by a sucrose palmitate

Abstract: The steady-state flow behaviour of oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by a sucrose palmitate was studied. Droplet size measurements were also carried out. The influence of sucrose ester (1–10% w/w) and oil concentrations (55–85% w/w) were analyzed. Influence of ageing was also studied. The Sisko and Carreau models were used to fit the experimental results depending on oil concentration. A master flow curve was obtained for all the oil and sucrose ester concentrations studied. The resulting master curve may be described fairly well by using a form of the Carreau model which includes a shift factor for both oil and sucrose ester concentration. The influence of the oil volume fraction on the shift factor was represented by a Frankel-Acrivos equation. A correlation between rheological properties and particle size parameters has also been established.

Women and Human Development.

Abstract: Women and Human Development. Martha C. Nussbaum. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000, 303 pp.

The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to Education

Abstract: The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to Education Nel Noddings. New York: Teachers College Press, 2005. 193 pages. ISBN: 0-8077-4609-6Reviewed by Karen A. Heid and Zach KelehearUniversity of South CarolinaMath instruction and learning matter. Science instruction and learning matter. And, to show how much they matter, federal and state policy makers (if we use NCLB mandates as evidence) emphasize that teachers should spend copious amounts of time, energy and money preparing students for standardized assessments of those content areas. One might conclude, in fact, that the more often something is assessed, then the more important it must be.In keeping with this line of thinking, other curriculum offerings that are of value should act and look more like math and science. This tension is also an argument not unfamiliar to some scholats who must negotiate the perceived value between arts-based research and qualitative studies versus quantitative analysis. NeI Noddings, in this recasting of her earlier 1992 work, asserts that what matters most is not a debate characterized as either- or m terms of what part of the curriculum is most important or how often it should be assessed. Rather, she frames the debate about what matters most in today's schools as a measure of how students and teachers can create a context for cultivating care. Whether die pedagogical practice or curricular assumptions be progressive or traditional, whether die subject be mathematics or art, Noddings notes that the essential conversation should be one focusing on ways in which we might help students be reflective, curious, and caring in all school subjects, with all people, and with our environment. It is this notion of what we call the "cult of care" that guides her analysis and discussion in this 2005 edition The Challenge to Care in SchooL·: An Alternative Approach to Education.In this review, we consider three aspects of Noddings' work, with particular attention to their applications to art education. First, we discuss her guiding principles and assumptions regarding the notion of care. Secondly, we reflect on her assertions regarding assessment and the focus on disciplines as related to discipline-based art education (DBAE). Lastly, we detail her view of care as the binding thread for all curricula in a global and democratic society.Noddings establishes throughout her book that care is the sine qua non for authentic learning. And by authentic (our word), she is considering learning where students are collaborators in both the selection of subject and the development of understanding. But for Noddings, care is not a matter of looking after someone or sympathizing with another ... or worse, pitying another. Noddings explains: "An ethic of care embodies a relational view of caring; that is, when I speak of caring, my emphasis is on the relation containing carer and cared-for" (p. xv). It is this bidirectional nature of caring that moves Noddings assertions away from care as solely one person's responsibility.In many ways, Noddings' notion of care requires a major shift in the nature of power and responsibility in school cultures. Can care be something that a teacher brings to a child? Certainly there are many giving teachers who care for their students. Many of us have heard good people, who happen also to be teachers, speak of their love for their young charges. But for Noddings, this notion of giving care is only half of the necessary equation. In order to balance the equation, care must also be reciprocated, and it is the responsibility of the teacher, in large part, to cultivate an environment that supports such an egalitarian context. In order for such an equitable process to emerge, one that certainly reflects notions of a democratic society, teachers must relinquish some of the power and control that many jealously protect in today's classrooms.Reciprocal, egalitarian, openness, honesty, fairness, collaboration, reflection-these and other characteristics are the descriptors of Noddings' school built on care. …

The return of a forgotten polymer : Polycaprolactone in the 21st century

Abstract: During the resorbable-polymer-boom of the 1970s and 1980s, polycaprolactone (PCL) was used in the biomaterials field and a number of drug-delivery devices. Its popularity was soon superseded by faster resorbable polymers which had fewer perceived disadvantages associated with long term degradation (up to 3-4 years) and intracellular resorption pathways; consequently, PCL was almost forgotten for most of two decades. Recently, a resurgence of interest has propelled PCL back into the biomaterials-arena. The superior rheological and viscoelastic properties over many of its aliphatic polyester counterparts renders PCL easy to manufacture and manipulate into a large range of implants and devices. Coupled with relatively inexpensive production routes and FDA approval, this provides a promising platform for the production of longer-term degradable implants which may be manipulated physically, chemically and biologically to possess tailorable degradation kinetics to suit a specific anatomical site. This review will discuss the application of PCL as a biomaterial over the last two decades focusing on the advantages which have propagated its return into the spotlight with a particular focus on medical devices, drug delivery and tissue engineering.