El tema de aseguramiento del suministro energético, especialmente en lo concerniente a la protección de las infraestructuras energéticas, ha suscitado especial interés en los países de la OCDE en los últimos años. Al respecto, el Consejo de la Unión Europea ha aprobado la Directiva 2008/114/CE (sobre la identificación y designación de infraestructuras críticas europeas) y el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de EE.UU ha publicado el NIPP en 2009 (National Infrastructure Protection Plan). Dichos planes contemplan el establecimiento de procedimientos para la protección y seguridad de las infraestructuras críticas, en el marco de estrategias de gestión de riesgos. A partir de los conceptos establecidos en ambos programas, en esta tesis se presentan propuestas metodológicas aplicables a la identificación de riesgos y a la evaluación de amenazas en la red de infraestructura eléctrica. Se propone el uso de mapas interconectados de riesgos, complementados con la determinación de componentes de riesgo en el sistema de infraestructura. Así mismo, se propone el uso de las cartas de riesgos, mediante las cuales se obtiene una representación gráfica e intuitiva de la evaluación semicuantitativa de los riesgos más relevantes. Por otro lado, se formulan y validan estrategias metodológicas para la evaluación de la vulnerabilidad estructural en redes de transporte de alta tensión, a partir de la combinación de modelos de flujos de carga y medidas de grafos de libre-escala. De esta manera, es posible estudiar los escenarios de riesgos en función de los eventos que pueden desencadenar fallos en cascada dentro de un sistema eléctrico de potencia. Se demuestra la utilidad de las técnicas de teoría de grafos para analizar las respuestas de los sistemas eléctricos de potencia y evaluar la vulnerabilidad de las redes de transporte. Un ejemplo de dicha evaluación se desarrolla mediante valoración de la tolerancia de redes de prueba IEEE contra fallos aleatorios y contra ataques deliberados. Adicionalmente, se ha realizado una aplicación de la propuesta metodológica para evaluación de vulnerabilidad en los sistemas eléctricos de alta tensión en Colombia y España. Como resultado, los trabajos desarrollados en la tesis aportan nuevos instrumentos para la gestión de riesgos en infraestructuras eléctricas, en particular en redes de transporte en alta tensión.

The capture of CO2 from a flue gas stream using chemical absorption was studied using two different aqueous amine solvents: the conventional 30% wt. monoethanolamine (MEA) and the novel 40% wt. piperazine (PZ), using a conventional absorption/stripping flowsheet and different combinations of advanced flowsheet variations including absorber intercooling (AIC), stripper interheating (SIH) and adiabatic lean flashing (ALF), amounting for a total of twelve flowsheet alternatives. Additionally, the conventional flowsheet was also studied using 30% wt. 2-amino 2-methyl 1-propanol (AMP). The simulations were performed in Aspen Plus® v.2006.5 using the latest thermodynamic frameworks published by AspenTech [2010] for each solvent, which include regressed interaction parameters for the ENRTL activity coefficient model, adjusted physical properties and kinetic parameters. The absorption and stripping operations were simulated using the rate-based model built in Aspen Plus®. The conventional MEA flowsheet was found to have a minimum specific reboiler duty around 3.854 GJ/ton CO2 and a minimum total equivalent work around 308 kWh/ton CO2, correspondent to a lean solvent load of 0.24 mol CO2/mol MEA. The limited PZ solubility restricts the correspondent to 0.25 mol CO2/mol PZ, giving a of 3.232 GJ/ton CO2 and a of 286.8 kWh/ton CO2 for the conventional PZ flowsheet. The best technical performance was predicted for the AIC + SIH flowsheet using PZ, obtaining a of 2.463 GJ/ton CO2 and a of 239.5 kWh/ton CO2, representing reductions of 36.1% and 22.4% respectively, when compared to the baseline conventional MEA flowsheet. A simplified economic assessment was performed to account for the different solvents, equipment types and steam quality requirements of the evaluated flowsheets, using the annualised cost of purchased equipment and the utilities cost, obtaining the same preference for the PZ based AIC + SIH flowsheet with 17.7% less cost than the conventional MEA flowsheet.

Developing countries have widely adopted data exclusivity for pharmaceutical test data protection although this is not mandated by TRIPS. Moreover at the bilateral level, developed countries have pushed towards stringent IP packages, among them, data exclusivity. The dissertation explores the challenges of data exclusivity in developing countries and argues that the alleged benefits of innovation and dissemination of technology do not exceed the social costs this IP regime poses. Therefore, the research goes on to examine legal alternatives in compliance with Article 39.3, TRIPS, and suggest other legal frameworks for pharmaceutical test data protection. The study finds that developing countries have underestimated TRIPS flexibilities and have ignored safeguard measures for addressing their public health concerns. The discussion concludes that developing countries are in strong legal position to persuade changes on this field and argues for implementing measures according to the country´s level of development.

The thesis work deals with the techno-economical assessment of the reactor network for methanol synthesis and direct dimethyl ether synthesis from the energy-process integration viewpoint. The reactor network is composed by a water-cooled reactor; a gas-cooled reactor used to preheat the syngas fed to the network; a separation section and a recycle loop. This general configuration is often reduced to the study of the sole water-cooled reactor in literature works. Although such reactor is the key-element of the overall system, the other parts of the process cannot be anymore neglected when the techno-economical assessment is the target of reactor design. Therefore, the so-called systematic staging design methodology proposed by Hillestad, 2010 is adopted to redefine the optimal ratio between the different stages of methanol synthesis reactor network. To do so, the phenomenological mathematical model of the overall system is required together with the solution of the resulting set of ordinary differential equations coupled with algebraic constraints and initial and boundary conditions as well. It means that beyond the cumbersome issues of mathematical modeling to properly characterize the heterogeneous reactors for methanol and dimethyl ether synthesis, a boundary value problem has to be solved iteratively within an optimization procedure. According to what has been described, the model is then implemented into a multivariable, nonlinear optimization routine in order to maximize not only the methanol and/or dimethyl ether production but also the steam generation. It is demonstrated that a revision of the traditional design based on the systematic staging design for the integrated optimization of energy and process yield can increase the net operating margin of a medium size methanol synthesis plant by about 2 M€/y.

The aim of this report is to demonstrate and explore how the vernacular architecture and crafts of the Andean region of Colombia could inspire the creation of an interior installation that is designed to convey a personal interpretation of the tensions associated with the current internal conflict in Colombia and a sincere aspiration for sustainable peace. To approach this hypothesis, the perspectives of experts in those matters were imperative and guided the further research of alternative secondary methods that included books, journals, and official publications. The main structure of the report attempts to address three principal chapters. The first chapter intends to recognise and highlight the importance of Guadua to the vernacular architecture and crafts associated with the Andean region of Colombia. The second chapter focuses on the investigation of the current trends and science behind narrative design and the infinite possibilities of storytelling in exhibitions and set design. Finally, the third chapter explores the current internal conflict between the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and Colombia’s National Government, which in theory is being tried to be resolved from the study of peace agreements and new possibilities for both parts achieving justice and repair.Findings obtained throughout the research and analytical process show that Guadua’s characteristics as a construction material represent a new insight in the scenario of a sustainable world. Furthermore, Colombia’s ongoing conflict, although it depends on many factors, should be acknowledged globally and has the potential to be tackled from a new artistic perspective, where an interior installation encodes a sincere aspiration for sustainable peace.

The FreshWaterMill project is a transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology (EST) from The Netherlands to Colombia that involves several Dutch companies, the Delft University of Technology and Coralina (corporation for sustainable development of the Archipelago San Andrés, Providence and Saint Kathleen). The installation place is Johnny Cay, a small islet 1.5 km northeast from San Andrés, Colombia, uninhabited and exclusive for touristic use (Van Tonningen, 2014). The technology is a wind powered reverse osmosis (RO) system that can fulfil the drinkable water and electricity demands of the Cay. This way can be alleviated the sanitary conditions resulting from unsustainable touristic practices. Moreover, this project is seen as a promoter of sustainable development in the Archipelago (Coralina, 2006), and as a potential solution to provide electricity and water to rural and remote areas of low utility coverage but abundant wind power. There are no environmental or social impact analyses that validate the sustainable character of the technology transfer. Moreover, although it is intended to improve the livelihood of target users their opinions are not reflected in the project plans. This situation resembles those factors that describe the trend to failure of technology transfers. Therefore this research made an integral assessment of the project as a Socio-Technical System (STS) to provide useful findings and recommendations that could lead it away from such trend. The Functions of Innovation Systems (FIS) framework (Van Alphen, 2008) was chosen for a systems approach analysis. Through this was found that poor planning, insufficient financial resources and ineffective communication channels are the most relevant barriers for a successful implementation of the FreshWaterMill. The most relevant drivers are the suitability of the place for a wind/RO system, the planning of a local educational center, a remarkable advocacy for Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) in the Archipelago and the existence of local human capital and R&D on RE. Five conditions for self-organization were derived from the PAR (Participatory Action Research) methodology to explore the likeliness of self-organization for bottom-up management. Through this methodology was shown that the difficult relationship between the corporation and the touristic service providers, their lack of group cohesion, managerial and operational capacities, ignorance and/or misuse of instruments for self-organization, make unfeasible for this group to address the barriers and support the drivers of the project. Relevant conditions from the context not covered by the previous methodologies were also included. These reflected that the advocacy for RETs is counteracted by the fragmentation between institutional actors and their lack of managerial skills on technology topics, which makes them rely on national and international assistance to achieve a technological transition. The regular interaction that Johnny Cay workers will have with the windmill, the affinity of the life plan of young adults to the project objectives and the likeliness of this group to make economic contributions urges the need for a participatory approach. The socio-cultural crisis of the Archipelago supports this recommendation. However, the difficulty of institutional entities to understand and assume the roles that require a participatory approach and the path dependency on top-down regulation makes it a complex challenge. A participatory approach for the FreshWaterMill is indirectly supported by the management plan of the Natural Regional Park Johnny Cay and the Community and institutional participation board. Additional to the commitment of the corporation to assume an enabling role, the process needs a mediator so the touristic service.

The main purpose of this research is to demonstrate the connection between the vernacular architecture of La Cabaña and El Chuzo, two coffee regions of Caldas, Colombia, and how their ordinary domestic spaces of everyday life are defined and intimately related to the process of coffee production. The study of both veredas will lead us to understand an architecture that has been shaped by the two systems of coffee production in Caldas, known as Latifundios1 (La Cabaña) and minifundios2 (El Chuzo). Both systems determine the social and economic structure of the Caldas coffee region and therefore also its vernacular architecture and its peoples’ everyday life. This study will demonstrate the tangible and intangible qualities of these places, enabling us to understand in a deep way their values, meaning, and change over time. In Colombia, a country just starting to document its history and to create a written patrimony, being able to narrate what people do not know about La Cabaña and El Chuzo is a way to work toward a better understanding of the coffee region´s vernacular architecture and cultural landscape, and its sense of place and identity. To achieve this understanding of the coffee region, the project is undertaken in the emerging field of Cultural Landscape studies. This methodology aims to identify and analyze the essential and fundamental qualities of specific places, to then reveal their sense of place and identity. The study is done through historic photographs, oral histories, interviews, direct observation and documentation of peoples’ everyday lives around the process of coffee production. Only by studying how people live and the activities that take place in their domestic spaces and by being part of their everyday life, will we be able to understand how the vernacular architecture of La Cabaña and El Chuzo has been shaped by the process and culture of coffee production.

Résumé: La figure de Syméon Seth est celle d’un intellectuel encyclopédiste, comparable à celle de son contemporain Michel Psellos en ce qui concerne son attachement aux grandes familles constantinopolitaines. Pourtant, Seth se consacre à développer la science médicale plus que les autres branches du savoir, et il ne se limite pas à pratiquer la médecine dans le milieu privée des empereurs puisqu’une bonne partie de sa vie il l’a dédiée à l’écriture, des manuels à usage quotidien et d’autres manuscrits d’ordre théorique ou littéraire. Nous pensons qu’un portrait bio-intellectuel de Syméon Seth peut nous montrer s’il y a une pensée byzantine originale au tournant des XIe et XIIe siècles, et, de plus, s’il existait une dialectique entre la culture populaire et la plume des lettrés de la plus haute culture. Resumen: La figura de Syméon Seth es la de un intelectual enciclopedista, comparable a la de su contemporáneo Michel Psellos en lo concerniente a los lazos con las grandes familias de Constantinopla. Sin embargo, Seth se dedica a desarrollar la ciencia médica mucho más que las otras ramas del Saber, y no se limita a practica la medicina en el medio privado de los emperadores porque una buena parte de su vida la dedicó a la escritura, de manuales de uso cotidiano y otros manuscritos de tipo teórico o literario. Pensamos que un retrato bio-intelectual de Syméon Seth puedo mostrarnos si huno un pensamiento bizantino original alrededor de los siglos XI y XII, y, además, si existió una dialéctica entre la cultura popular y la pluma de los letrados de la más alta cultura.

Resumen: Se hace un estudio de los aspectos legales de las asociaciones público privadas (APP) en Colombia bajo el régimen de la ley 1508 del 2012 que busca determinar la necesidad y la coherencia de esta ley en el ordenamiento jurídico colombiano. Se propone identificar la naturaleza legal de las transacciones de tipo APP en la legislación colombiana y determinar si esta regulación es coherente con las reglas del régimen de contratación estatal o si le son derogatorias. En aras de establecer los elementos esenciales del concepto se hace referencia a las llamadas “experiencias internacionales” más representativas que inspiraron al legislador colombiano y las características de la definición adoptada por la ley colombiana. El estudio luego se enfoca en las particularidades del régimen de la Ley 1508 de 2012 frente a la compra pública tradicional, dando especial atención al principio de valor por dinero y a las reglas particulares que rigen la estructuración, el proceso de selección y la ejecución de proyectos APP. Abstract: A study of the legal aspects of public private partnerships (PPP) in Colombia under the Law 1508 of 2012 that assesses the question of the necessity and the coherence of the law into the Colombian legal system. It purports to identify the legal nature of PPP transactions under the Colombian law and to determine whether such a regulation is in accordance with the public procurement regime or if it abolishes it. Aiming to establish the key elements of the concept, reference is made to the most representative international experiences that inspired the Colombian legislator and the special characteristics of the definition adopted by the Colombian law. The study then focuses on the peculiarities of the regime set forth under the Law 1508 of 2012 compared to the rules of the traditional public procurement, special attention is given to the principle of value for money and the particular rules governing the structuring process, the awarding of the contracts and the execution of PPP projects.

Prescriptive ideas on war have been traditionally focused on the reasons and the means of war. However, contemporary scholars have emphasised the importance of normative judgements about the aftermath of armed conflicts. Although peacetime after war has been mainly guided by notions of corrective justice like retribution and restoration, a distributive approach to justice is currently proposed to redress socio-economic inequalities within highly unequal post-conflict scenarios. From this perspective, a peaceful state of affairs that preserves severe inequalities could not be deemed a just peace. In this regard, Colombian conflict is frequently utilised as an example of the expected role of distribution after war. Then, it seems a relevant question whether reducing socio-economic inequalities through mechanisms of distributive justice must be considered indispensable for a just peace after war. I will argue that distributive justice must be regarded as essential for a just peace within highly unequal post-conflict societies like Colombia. To that end, consequentialist and deontological arguments for post-conflict distribution will be discussed to analyse Colombian case as a scenario in which a just peace must necessarily include notions of distribution.