Laura Tolosa - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Laura Tolosa

The integration of product-based learning strategies in Materials in Chemical Engineering educati... more The integration of product-based learning strategies in Materials in Chemical Engineering education is crucial for students to gain the skills and competencies required to thrive in the emerging circular bioeconomy. Traditional materials engineering education has often relied on a transmission teaching approach, in which students are expected to passively receive information from instructors. However, this approach has shown to be inadequate under the current circumstances, in which information is readily available and innovative tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality environments are becoming widespread (e.g., metaverse). Instead, we consider that a critical goal of education should be to develop aptitudes and abilities that enable students to generate solutions and products that address societal demands. In this work, we propose innovative strategies, such as product-based learning methods and GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) artificial intelligence text...

Ciencia e Ingeniería

La presencia de burbujas en el interior de los fluidos con frecuencia es un fenómeno no deseado q... more La presencia de burbujas en el interior de los fluidos con frecuencia es un fenómeno no deseado que repercute en la calidad del producto final, como es el caso del chocolate sólido, en el que las burbujas se producen durante su fabricación en estado líquido siendo necesario eliminarlas por agitación y/o vibración antes de que solidifique. La expulsión de las burbujas fuera del fluido viene determinada por las fuerzas que actúan sobre ellas, principalmente las de flotabilidad y de arrastre, ampliamente estudiadas y calculadas en fluidos Newtonianos como no Newtonianos. Debido a que se conoce que el chocolate fundido tiene un comportamiento no Newtoniano y que su naturaleza opaca impide la observación directa de las burbujas en su interior, en este trabajo se planteó como hipótesis la posibilidad de determinar las fuerzas de flotabilidad y de arrastre utilizando formulaciones matemáticas desarrolladas en la literatura con fluidos transparentes no Newtonianos, junto con datos de las ob...

Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Until recently, food packaging has been used as a barrier to unfavorable environmental and microb... more Until recently, food packaging has been used as a barrier to unfavorable environmental and microbial conditions, but new technologies are arising aimed at upgrading the protective nature of these materials. Cases of bacterial and viral transmission through food and surfaces have shown the vulnerabilities of the food packaging distribution systems over the years, creating awareness about new methods to prevent the proliferation of pathogens. This has been highlighted by safety concerns due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This work reviews the state‐of‐the‐art biobased technologies tailored for antiviral applications on surfaces, focusing on packaging materials. A survey and selection tool of essential oils (EOs) and nanoparticles that have been proven effective in reducing the proliferation or transmission of viruses through surfaces is presented. Additionally, the use of essential oil formulations or nanoparticle‐functionalized biobased materials that can be deployed to prevent virus tran...

Ciencia e Ingeniería, Dec 3, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated disruptions in supply chains, traveling, businesses, and a lo... more The COVID-19 pandemic has generated disruptions in supply chains, traveling, businesses, and a loss of human lives that is being accounted in at least one million diseased. When the pandemic started, uncertainties, the lockdown of countries, and stay-at-home orders generated that millions of people made runs to grocery stores to buy essential products, the most distinctive being hygiene tissue, antibacterial formulations, and hand sanitizers. Then workers in essential processes in the medical, food, and manufacturing industries had to restart work to keep supply chains running. That generated further repercussions due to the infection of workers in multiple facilities, which created bigger uncertainties. Universities and schools were mandated to close, and work-from-home orders were enacted in the majority of sectors. In this work, we make a review of events and a summary of the important factors, current situation, and future perspective regarding the effect generated by COVID-19 on the disruptions of supply chains. The strategic sectors summarized are food and produce, transportation, paper products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, automobiles, minerals and technology companies. At six months since the WHO declaration, there are still shockwaves that show some unpredictability. Hence, companies and governments should look for strategical plans for preparing for this kind of event, making supply chains resilient or even immune to pandemics, natural disasters and trade wars.

Encyclopedia of Surface and Colloid Science, Third Edition, 2016

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf ... more Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Ciencia E Ingenieria, 2021

The formulation and formation of emulsions imply a very large number of variables; hence, attaini... more The formulation and formation of emulsions imply a very large number of variables; hence, attaining the sought properties is usually long and tedious because of the large number of experiments to be carried out. The current state-of-the-art of physicochemical formulation may be thoroughly used to considerably reduce the number of required experiments and to indicate to the formulator the relation between the kind of properties to expect and the generalized formulation expression. After these first-order formulation factors are dealt with, several second-order factors are shown to be available to adjust the emulsion properties upward or downward in order to satisfy the specifications, either directly or by means of a multistep process. can change considerably) and in a lesser measure on the oil and aqueous phase nature, and other variable such as temperature. The characteristics of the components, particularly, the surfactant, have been represented by various parameters introduced ov...

An ointment is a semisolid preparation consisting of a single external phase in which liquid or s... more An ointment is a semisolid preparation consisting of a single external phase in which liquid or solid substance(s) can be dispersed. In the case of beeswax ointments, there are several studies that confirm their antibiotic and healing power over injuries, especially in those caused by burns. Beeswax can be used also as an oil phase for the production of soaps by saponification. Soaps that contain beeswax have many advantages: they solidify quickly, provide detergency and cleaning properties, give a solid and pleasant texture and their aroma can be improved by adding natural essences. In this work, dermocosmetic ointments and soaps based on beeswax and sesame oil were formulated implementing the “Reproducing an Innovation Environment in the Classroom” (RAIS) strategy at the Chemical Engineering School at Universidad de Los Andes. Beeswax purification procedures were applied and sesame oil - beeswax formulations were obtained. In this sense, soaps were manufactured at the same concent...

Educación Química, 2016

Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commo... more Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.