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The world is changing, and university education must be able to adapt to it. New technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics are requiring tools such as simulation and process control to develop products and services. Thus, control systems engineering schools are adapting to new educational frameworks tailored to deploy promising and feasible new technologies. Herein, we have relied on computer animation-based education and its implementation as an online project-based strategy to attain the objectives and goals of the control systems engineering courses at University of Los Andes, Venezuela. The ControlAnimation library developed in Mathematica program in 2002 has been used as a tool to teach control systems engineering courses since 2008 and with greater prominence since 2020, when the stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic were enacted. Consequently, computer animation-based education has proven its feasibility as an online tool combined with project-based learning techniques, thus allowing students to interact with an animated control system by changing the mathematical model and the design parameters of control laws in a comfortable and somewhat playful way. This enabled new capabilities to study the dynamic behaviors of primordial control systems online. In addition, it allowed students to co-identify and relate in a more intuitive way to the mathematical models and control equations with the physical behavior of the real control systems.

Background: The pulp and paper industry (P&PI) is undergoing significant disruption driven by global megatrends that necessitate advanced tools for predicting future behavior and adapting strategies accordingly. Methods: This work utilizes a multi-criteria framework to quantify the effects of digitalization, changes in social behavior, and sustainability as three major megatrends transforming the P&PI industry, with a specific focus on hygiene tissue products. Thus, the research combines a comprehensive literature review, insights from a Delphi study, and topic modeling to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the present and future impacts of these global megatrends. Results: The findings suggest an urgent need to identify alternative raw materials to prevent potential supply chain disruptions. Moreover, due to shifts in social behavior, it becomes critical for businesses to substantiate their sustainability claims with hard data to avoid the risk of a "greenwashing" perception among consumers. Conclusions: This study provides decision support for strategic planning by highlighting actionable insights, quantitative predictions, and trend analysis, alongside the examination of consumer and market trends. It aims to incorporate diverse stakeholder perspectives and criteria into decision-making processes, thereby enriching the strategic planning and sustainability efforts within the P&PI industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-evolving cosmetic industry requires advanced analytical techniques to explore, understand, and optimize product performance at nano, micro, and macroscopic levels. Nowadays, these insights are crucial for translating microstructure behavior into macroscopic properties. This knowledge is essential to formulate products with a lower carbon footprint and a higher sustainability profile, incorporating, at the same time, natural or biobased raw materials. These raw materials may present challenges for formulators and analytical scientists due to either an inferior performance when compared to their fossil-derived counterparts or higher costs. This comprehensive review covers a spectrum of analytical methodologies employed in cosmetic formulation, including chromatographic analyses, olfactometry, and electronic nose technology. The characterization of product stability involving assessing parameters such as droplet size, zeta potential, viscosity, analytical centrifugation, surface tension, and interfacial tension are also explored. The discussion in this paper extends to the role of rheology in understanding the molecular structure and behavioral dynamics of cosmetic samples. This review concludes with an overview of colorimetric analysis, a crucial aspect related to consumer perception, followed by a discussion on the challenges and opportunities associated with using meta-analysis methodologies in cosmetics. The formulation of cosmetics employing biobased feedstocks is included, highlighting the evolving landscape of cosmetic science and the integration of sustainable practices. This review stands at the interface between a meta-analysis of cosmetics and product performance, which is attained through a detailed examination of each analytical method. The know-how shared serves as a valuable resource for formulators, researchers, and industry professionals for real-world applications in the analytical field of cosmetics formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimum formulation in a surfactant–oil–water (SOW) system is defined as the physicochemical situation at which the surfactant adsorbed at the interface exhibits exactly equal interactions for both oil and water. Identifying the optimum formulation of SOW systems is crucial in various industrial applications, ranging from pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and to petroleum issues like dehydration and enhanced oil recovery. Multiple techniques are available to identify the optimum formulation, often with its own advantages and limitations. In this comprehensive review, we provide an in‐depth analysis of the systematic use of formulation scans to identify the optimum formulation in SOW systems. We critically assess different methods, including conventional ones, such as phase behavior observation, determination of the minimum interfacial tension from equilibrated systems, and the localization of the minimum emulsion stability using formulation scans. We also mention a new promising technique that can be applied in practice, such as oscillating spinning drop interfacial rheology (OSDIR) as well as others that allow an understanding of some structural features of the domains present in the surfactant‐rich phase in SOW systems. Among these methods, dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle scattering (SAXS and SANS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X‐ray microcomputed tomography (Micro‐CT), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), can be found in the literature. Finally, we discuss potentially unusual behaviors that can appear in complex systems, thus providing guidance on the selection of the most suitable method tailored to the specific application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The given document is a summary of the 23rd International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution (SIS-2022) held in Lublin, Poland. The symposium brought together approximately 100 participants from around the world to discuss various aspects of surfactants. The conference included 14 sections related to surfactant research, and plenary lectures were given by professors from Spain, China, the USA, and Poland. The symposium also featured a separate event on "Adsorption layer dynamics at liquid interfaces" organized by individuals from Kazakhstan, Italy, and Germany. The winner of the Mittal award was Professor Kazimiera A. Wilk. The document also provides a brief history of the SIS meetings, which have been held biennially since 1976 in various countries. These meetings are considered the premier forum for discussing surfactant research and have attracted renowned experts in the field. The document concludes by expressing gratitude to the authors, editors, reviewers, and organizing committees involved in the symposium and announces the upcoming 24th International Symposium to be held in Goa, India in 2024. [Extracted from the article]

Three different cases were selected to study the effect of physicochemical formulation on interfacial rheology properties of surfactant–oil–water (SOW) systems by increasing the complexity of the system from a basic case. This was performed by changing the normalized hydrophilic–lipophilic deviation (HLDN) to attain the optimum formulation at HLDN = 0. Two types of SOW systems were studied: the first one used an ionic surfactant with a salinity scan, and the second one a mixture of two nonionic surfactants in a formulation scan produced by changing their proportion. Both of them contained cyclohexane as a pure oil phase, without alcohol. Sec‐butanol was then added as a co‐surfactant with hardly any formulation influence on HLDN. The complexity in interfacial rheology was then increased by changing the oil to a light crude with low asphaltene content. The interfacial rheology is also reported for a realistic system with a high asphaltene content comprised of crude oil diluted in cyclohexane with a conventional surfactant and a commercial demulsifier. The findings confirm that at optimum formulation and whatever the scanning variable (salinity, average ethylene oxide number in the nonionic surfactant mixture, or surfactant/demulsifier concentration), the interfacial tension, and interfacial elastic moduli E, E′, and E″ exhibit a deep minimum. These observations are related to the acceleration of the surfactant exchanges between the interface, oil, and water, near the optimum formulation. Several arguments are put forward to explain how these findings could contribute to the decrease in emulsion stability at HLDN = 0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anacardic acid, 2‐hydroxy‐6‐[(8Z,11Z‐pentadeca‐8,11,14‐trienyl]‐benzoic acid, extracted from cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), has been structurally modified to obtain the 2‐(O‐carboxymethyl)‐6‐[(8Z,11Z)‐pentadeca‐8,11,14‐trienyl]‐benzoic acid and its disodium carboxylate salt. Our separation method allows to easily obtain anacardic acid, which has been of interest for the fabrication of green products. These methods proposed for the first time to synthesize these derivatives are short and cheap, and with a high yield. The elucidation of its structure was carried out by means of infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. Interfacial rheology properties of surfactant‐air‐water and surfactant‐heptane‐water systems were determined by using a new oscillating spinning drop rheometer apparatus. Physicochemical characterization was performed with a salinity scan in a surfactant‐heptane‐brine system, obtaining a value of the surfactant characteristic parameter σ = −4.3 for the disodium salt and a critical micellar concentration (cmc) of 0.08 wt%, showing high surface activity. The biological activity of both compounds was determined and measurements of their potential antimicrobial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria were performed, exhibiting high effectiveness, especially for the disodium salt against Gram‐positive bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soap applications for cleaning and personal care have been used for more than 4000 years, dating back to the pharaonic period, and have widely proliferated with the appearance of synthetic surfactants a century ago. Synthetic surfactants used to make macro-micro-nano-emulsions and foams are used in laundry and detergency, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, food conditioning, emulsified paints, explosives, enhanced oil recovery, wastewater treatment, etc. The introduction of a multivariable approach such as the normalized hydrophilic–lipophilic deviation (HLD N) and of specific structures, tailored with an intramolecular extension to increase solubilization (the so-called extended surfactants), makes it possible to improve the results and performance in surfactant–oil–water systems and their applications. This article aims to present an up-to-date overview of extended surfactants. We first present an introduction regarding physicochemical formulation and its relationship with performance. The second part deals with the importance of HLD N to make a straightforward classification according to the type of surfactants and how formulation parameters can be used to understand the need for an extension of the molecule reach into the oil and water phases. Then, extended surfactant characteristics and strategies to increase performance are outlined. Finally, two specific applications, i.e., drilling fluids and crude oil dewatering, are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]