MoléMater: Grupo de Investigación en Moléculas y Materiales funcionales

06/01/2025

😊

It's all about the people! ICDD exhibited and taught worldwide in 2024 and looks forward to meeting you in 2025! See you in the UK for PPXRD-18 - Pharmaceutical Powder X-ray Diffraction Symposium! Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: 5 March 2025

https://www.icdd.com/ppxrd/

01/01/2025

🏆 It is inspiring to see how the CSD Champions are represented in this global network of committed volunteers. We have had the privilege of directly collaborating with Prof. Graciela Diaz De Delgado from Venezuela and Prof. Robert Toro from Colombia, as well as sharing with other champions from the region in the recent LACA 2024 Meeting in , . We are grateful to the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) for their continuous support and look forward to seeing represented with its own CSD Champions shortly. Their work and dedication strengthen the use of the CSD Portfolio in our region, promoting the advancement of crystallography and consolidating the scientific community in .

Universidad Central Del Ecuador
Investigación UCE
International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)
IUCr2026

✨Thank you to our CSD Champions, a community of 32 volunteers that represent 30 countries worldwide and help assist the scientific community in their region.

🔶In 2024, our CSD Champions hosted, supported, or contributed to over 12 local training events on the use of the CSD Portfolio.

24/12/2024

🎄✨❄️ 𝑨 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆. 🎁🎅

21/11/2024

🆕️ 𝗠𝗼𝗹é𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗨𝗖𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿!

We are proud to share that members of our research group, are featured in photographs and specific sections of the latest International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) newsletter. 📰

The article mentions our participation in the Seventh MathCryst School in Latin America - 2024, where we represented the Universidad Central Del Ecuador. 💎📚

Explore the details at the following links:

👉 Meeting report:
https://goo.su/IgQAcAM

👉 Letter from the President:
https://goo.su/fc5WPk

Our appearance in this newsletter underscores our commitment to and challenges us to keep working for the advancement of in .

06/11/2024

05/11/2024

💎✨️ Research networks are essential for scientific and technological advancement, as they enable collaboration between institutions and countries, fostering the exchange of knowledge and resources. Participating in events like the II International School of Crystallography strengthens our connection with international experts, promoting joint projects and the development of high-impact research.

Investigación UCE
Universidad Central Del Ecuador
Figempa
Facultad de Ciencias Químicas-UCE
International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC)

31/10/2024

💎✨ ️Our team is thrilled to be represented at the II International School of Crystallography, hosted by Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga, Colombia. We participated in a 3-day workshop from October 24 to 26, in collaboration with The International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD), focused on the characterization of industrially significant materials using the Powder Diffraction File (PDF-5+). Following this, we are attending the school, which runs from October 28 to November 1, 2024.

We feel privileged to be the only representatives from Ecuador at this important event and are excited to be part of such an enriching experience!

Universidad Central Del Ecuador
Investigación UCE
Figempa
Facultad de Ciencias Químicas-UCE

ICDD's Executive Director Tom Blanton and Miguel Delgado, ICDD's Distinguished Fellow, held a training workshop at the II INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF CRYSTALLOGRAPHY at the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia. www.icdd.com

14/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.”

This year’s economic sciences laureates – Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson – have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity. Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better. The laureates’ research helps us understand why.

When Europeans colonised large parts of the globe, the institutions in those societies changed. This was sometimes dramatic, but did not occur in the same way everywhere. In some places the aim was to exploit the indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers’ benefit. In others, the colonisers formed inclusive political and economic systems for the long-term benefit of European migrants.

The laureates have shown that one explanation for differences in countries’ prosperity is the societal institutions that were introduced during colonisation. Inclusive institutions were often introduced in countries that were poor when they were colonised, over time resulting in a generally prosperous population. This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa.

Some countries become trapped in a situation with extractive institutions and low economic growth. The introduction of inclusive institutions would create long-term benefits for everyone, but extractive institutions provide short-term gains for the people in power. As long as the political system guarantees they will remain in control, no one will trust their promises of future economic reforms. According to the laureates, this is why no improvement occurs.

However, this inability to make credible promises of positive change can also explain why democratisation sometimes occurs. When there is a threat of revolution, the people in power face a dilemma. They would prefer to remain in power and try to placate the masses by promising economic reforms, but the population are unlikely to believe that they will not return to the old system as soon as the situation settles down. In the end, the only option may be to transfer power and establish democracy.

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” says Jakob Svensson, chair of the committee for the prize in economic sciences.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/4ew7Dbc
Popular information: https://bit.ly/47HfD72
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/4eiMXDD

11/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2024 to the Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyo. This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the peace prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.

In response to the atomic bomb attacks of August 1945, a global movement arose whose members have worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons. Gradually, a powerful international norm developed, stigmatising the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable. This norm has become known as “the nuclear taboo”.

The testimony of the Hibakusha – the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – is unique in this larger context.

These historical witnesses have helped to generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience, and issuing urgent warnings against the spread and use of nuclear weapons. The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes nevertheless to acknowledge one encouraging fact: No nuclear weapon has been used in war in nearly 80 years. The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the Hibakusha have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo. It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.

The nuclear powers are modernising and upgrading their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare. At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen.

Next year will mark 80 years since two American atomic bombs killed an estimated 120 000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A comparable number died of burn and radiation injuries in the months and years that followed. Today’s nuclear weapons have far greater destructive power. They can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically. A nuclear war could destroy our civilisation.

The fates of those who survived the infernos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were long concealed and neglected. In 1956, local Hibakusha associations along with victims of nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific formed the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organisations. This name was shortened in Japanese to Nihon Hidankyo. It would become the largest and most influential Hibakusha organisation in Japan.

The core of Alfred Nobel’s vision was the belief that committed individuals can make a difference. In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace.

Nihon Hidankyo has provided thousands of witness accounts, issued resolutions and public appeals, and sent annual delegations to the United Nations and a variety of peace conferences to remind the world of the pressing need for nuclear disarmament.

One day, the Hibakusha will no longer be among us as witnesses to history. But with a strong culture of remembrance and continued commitment, new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses. They are inspiring and educating people around the world. In this way they are helping to maintain the nuclear taboo – a precondition of a peaceful future for humanity.

The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to Nihon Hidankyo is securely anchored in Alfred Nobel’s will. This year’s prize joins a distinguished list of peace prizes that the Committee has previously awarded to champions of nuclear disarmament and arms control.

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 fulfils Alfred Nobel’s desire to recognise efforts of the greatest benefit to humankind.

Learn more about the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize: https://www.nobelprize.org/press-release-peace-2024/

10/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

한 강 Han Kang was born in 1970 in the South Korean city of Gwangju before, at the age of nine, moving with her family to Seoul. She comes from a literary background, her father being a reputed novelist. Alongside her writing, she has also devoted herself to art and music, which is reflected throughout her entire literary production.

Han Kang began her career in 1993 with the publication of a number of poems in the magazine 문학과사회 (‘Literature and Society’). Her prose debut came in 1995 with the short story collection 여수의 사랑 (‘Love of Yeosu’), followed soon afterwards by several other prose works, both novels and short stories. Notable among these is the novel 그대의 차가운 손 (2002; ‘Your Cold Hands’), which bears obvious traces of Han Kang’s interest in art. The book reproduces a manuscript left behind by a missing sculptor who is obsessed with making plaster casts of female bodies. There is a preoccupation with the human anatomy and the play between persona and experience, where a conflict arises in the work of the sculptor between what the body reveals and what it conceals. “Life is a sheet arching over an abyss, and we live above it like masked acrobats” as a sentence towards the end of the book tellingly asserts.

Han Kang’s major international breakthrough came with the novel 채식주의자 (2007; ‘The Vegetarian’, 2015). Written in three parts, the book portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist Yeong-hye refuses to submit to the norms of food intake.

Han Kang’s work is characterised by a double exposure of pain, a correspondence between mental and physical torment with close connections to Eastern thinking.

In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose.

Anders Olsson
Chair of the Nobel Committee
The Swedish Academy

Learn more about the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature: https://bit.ly/3Y0TL3o

09/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with one half to David Baker “for computational protein design” and the other half jointly to Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper “for protein structure prediction.”

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about proteins, life’s ingenious chemical tools. David Baker has succeeded with the almost impossible feat of building entirely new kinds of proteins. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper have developed an AI model to solve a 50-year-old problem: predicting proteins’ complex structures. These discoveries hold enormous potential.

The diversity of life testifies to proteins’ amazing capacity as chemical tools. They control and drive all the chemical reactions that together are the basis of life. Proteins also function as hormones, signal substances, antibodies and the building blocks of different tissues.

Proteins generally consist of 20 different amino acids, which can be described as life’s building blocks. In 2003, David Baker succeeded in using these blocks to design a new protein that was unlike any other protein. Since then, his research group has produced one imaginative protein creation after another, including proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

The second discovery concerns the prediction of protein structures. In proteins, amino acids are linked together in long strings that fold up to make a three-dimensional structure, which is decisive for the protein’s function. Since the 1970s, researchers had tried to predict protein structures from amino acid sequences, but this was notoriously difficult. However, four years ago, there was a stunning breakthrough.

In 2020, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper presented an AI model called AlphaFold2. With its help, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified. Since their breakthrough, AlphaFold2 has been used by more than two million people from 190 countries. Among a myriad of scientific applications, researchers can now better understand antibiotic resistance and create images of enzymes that can decompose plastic.

Life could not exist without proteins. That we can now predict protein structures and design our own proteins confers the greatest benefit to humankind.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/3zAiZMq
Popular information: https://bit.ly/4diKiJ2
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/3TLJ1Dv

08/10/2024

BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.”

This year’s two Nobel Prize laureates in physics have used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning. John Hopfield created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data. Geoffrey Hinton invented a method that can autonomously find properties in data, and so perform tasks such as identifying specific elements in pictures.

Learn more
Press release: https://bit.ly/4diXSfz
Popular information: https://bit.ly/4gK57jl
Advanced information: https://bit.ly/4egLrly