Este estudio presenta la propuesta de un nuevo enfoque de diseño computacional para diseñar máquinas de pistones axiales de plato oscilante. Los modelos proporcionan una perspectiva única en relación con el comportamiento de las interfaces de lubricación y permite hacer predicciones sobre el espesor de la película de fluido, capacidad de carga, flujo de fuga, disipación de energía y los campos de temperatura de las películas de fluido que separan las partes móviles de alta carga dinámica de la máquina de pistones axiales. El método propuesto combina por primera vez los modelos numéricos desarrollados en el centro de investigación de los autores para cada interfaz tribológica en un solo marco de optimización.

Abstract: This dissertation explores how three applications of AI, namely classifiers, natural language processing and generative AI, have contributed and might contribute to the realisation of Richard Susskind’s predictions for the future of legal practice, as set in his 2023 book ‘Tomorrow’s Lawyers’. Besides reviewing Susskind’s predictions, it proposes a model to describe how lawyers work and uses it to identify existing uses of technology in the legal field. Also, it provides a general and non-technical approach to AI and its history and main features. With this context, it delves into the selected AI applications and explores how they work, their early legal applications, and their challenges. The research’s conclusion highlights the selected AI applications as powerful enablers for Susskind’s predictions. Moreover, how generative AI has the potential to disrupt the market of legal services and outperform lawyers in multiple tasks. A key insight refers to the latent market of underserved individuals, communities, and small and medium enterprises and how it offers an unbeatable opportunity for online-embedded generative AI-based legal services, which would improve access to legal services. Finally, this dissertation suggests an unavoidable shift in the general comprehension of the abbreviations ‘LL.M’ and ‘LLM’ within the legal field.

Este estudio presenta la propuesta de un nuevo enfoque de diseño computacional para diseñar máquinas de pistones axiales de plato oscilante. Los modelos proporcionan una perspectiva única en relación con el comportamiento de las interfaces de lubricación y permite hacer predicciones sobre el espesor de la película de fluido, capacidad de carga, flujo de fuga, disipación de energía y los campos de temperatura de las películas de fluido que separan las partes móviles de alta carga dinámica de la máquina de pistones axiales. El método propuesto combina por primera vez los modelos numéricos desarrollados en el centro de investigación de los autores para cada interfaz tribológica en un solo marco de optimización.

Abstract: Risk analysis techniques help to identify threats, problems and anomalies in processes and systems that may affect the health and safety of employees, the environment, equipment reliability and normative compliance. In this thesis, a stochastic risk analysis with Monte Carlo simulation applied to FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis) was performed for a specific model of wind turbine located in the Alpha Ventus offshore wind Park. Monte Carlo simulations provide the decisionmaker with a range of possible outcomes and the probabilities of occurrences of these results, that are derived mainly from the uncertainty associated to the subjectivity of judgement from a group of experts. As a supplementary method to the stochastic FMECA, Risk Assessments Matrix (RAM) was also used for bivariate distributions of Severity and Occurrence of the identified failure modes. The results obtained were compared to the results that would be normally obtained with a conventional FMECA and RAM and will serve in future steps to develop Risk-Based Inspection plans for this model of wind turbine in this offshore wind park.

Abstract: Material Adverse Change clauses (MAC clauses) are contractual provisions that are usually incorporated within M&A and debt finance transactions. However, the low number of disputes that have arisen regarding the interpretation and application of such provisions have raised concerns given the uncertainty of its application and construction by the courts. Although the doctrine of good faith has been regarded as alien to English Contract Law, in this dissertation that claim is challenged by exploring other dimensions of such principle through two Civil Law jurisdictions and two recent judgements in English Law concerning MAC clauses in the context of Loan Agreements. Resumen: Las cláusulas de Cambio Adverso Sustancial (MAC, por sus siglas en inglés) son disposiciones contractuales que generalmente se incorporan en transacciones de fusiones y adquisiciones, así como en transacciones de financiamiento de deuda. Sin embargo, la baja cantidad de disputas que han surgido respecto a la interpretación y aplicación de tales disposiciones ha generado preocupación dada la incertidumbre en su aplicación y construcción por parte de los tribunales. Aunque la doctrina de la buena fe ha sido considerada ajena al Derecho de Contratos inglés, en esta tesis se cuestiona esa afirmación al explorar otras dimensiones de dicho principio a través de dos jurisdicciones de Derecho Civil y dos sentencias recientes en el Derecho inglés relacionadas con cláusulas MAC en el contexto de Acuerdos de Préstamo.

Abstract: This study investigates the association between individual characteristics, normative beliefs about aggression, and involvement in antisocial and illegal activities among Colombian adolescents. The research explores temperament traits, such as effortful control, anger/frustration, and callous unemotional, and examines how these relationships differ between individuals engaged in antisocial acts and those who are not. Two groups of adolescents, one within the juvenile justice system and one outside, were analyzed. The results partially support the hypotheses based on the literature. The internal consistency of the scales used to measure individual characteristics and normative beliefs was confirmed partially. Effortful control and anger/frustration did not reach acceptable reliability levels, while normative belief scales showed good reliability. The study confirmed hypothesized relationships between aggression beliefs and levels of effortful control and anger/frustration. However, the hypothesized association between callous unemotional traits and beliefs was not confirmed. Comparing the two groups, higher levels of anger/frustration were associated with greater perceived normativity of aggressive behavior in both offenders and non-offenders. Higher levels of effortful control were associated with lower perceived normativity of aggressive behavior in offenders. Surprisingly, no significant association was found between callous unemotional traits and normativity of aggressive behavior in both groups. Predictive analysis indicated that higher levels of anger/frustration and callous unemotional traits significantly increased the risk of belonging to the offender group. However, normative belief in aggressive behavior emerged as a stronger predictor of vulnerability to antisocial behavior. The study concludes that while the internal consistency of the administered questionnaire was not entirely satisfactory, it provides valuable insights into individual characteristics and their association with maladaptive developmental outcomes, such as adolescent delinquency. The findings suggest a potential adaptive temperamental pattern that could be further investigated for its protective factors, especially within the Colombian juvenile justice system. The study recommends future research using scales adapted specifically to the Colombian context and suggests a more detailed analysis considering additional variables like the type of crime, punishment received, and recidivism. The lack of predictive value of social stratum implies that becoming an adolescent offender is not influenced by the family's economic status. The results regarding anger/frustration and callous unemotional traits highlight their significance in predicting adolescent offender status, while the perceived normativity of aggressive behavior stands out as a crucial predictor of vulnerability to antisocial behavior.

Abstract: “Green extractivism” refers to the way in which decarbonisation and the transition to green energy as part of the sustainable development policies of the Global North have increased the commodification of nature and expanded the extraction of minerals. Many of these minerals are located in the Global South, and within the territory of peasant and Indigenous communities. One example is the case of Chile, which has some of the largest reserves of lithium in the world; a mineral used for the production of batteries key to renewable energy technologies. In this dissertation, using a political ecology approach, I examine lithium mining in the Salar de Atacama (“the Salar”) in Chile, and the dynamics between the State, extractive companies, and Atacameña Indigenous communities. With the results obtained through a literature review and document analysis, I demonstrate how green extractivism perpetuates asymmetric local relations, and how this is related to the socio-environmental effects faced by Indigenous Atacameña communities due to the exploitation of lithium mining in their territories. Relying on an original analysis of legal and policy documents, I argue that green extractivism highlights the structural deficiencies of lithium mining regulation and Chile's neoextractivist system. These in turn contribute to the unequal and unfair distribution of the socioenvironmental costs of lithium exploitation in the Salar de Atacama. The dissertation shows that mining companies operating in the Salar benefit from the commodification of nature and transfer externalities to local communities to bear the costs of the green economy policies of the Global North. Nevertheless, I explain that the Atacameña Indigenous communities, despite being in an asymmetric relationship, have assumed an active role, through legal and political mechanisms, in defending their rights and demanding that companies and the State recognise their obligations to protect the Salar’s ecology. The dissertation concludes by contemplating possible political changes through a new constitution in Chile in the next few years and what this may mean for the dominance of green extractivism, especially for the Salar.

Abstract: This thesis examines the modeling of inorganic behavior on Twitter and its implications for media dynamics. Three approaches —userbased, activity-based, and text-based detection— are combined to gain insights that benefit journalism and civil organizations. Resumen: Esta tesis examina el modelado del comportamiento inorgánico en Twitter y sus implicaciones para las dinámicas mediáticas. Se combinan tres enfoques (detección basada en características del usuario, basada en su actividad y basada en el contenido textual que publica o con el que interactúa), para encontrar patrones que ayuden a periodistas y organizaciones civiles a entender el fenómeno. Esta es una primera valoración positiva del uso del Inteligencia Artificial para explorar relaciones complejas que tienen significancia cualitativa en el estudio del comportamiento inorgánico en Twitter más allá de la detección.

Abstract: Claystone degradation under the effect of freezing and thaw cycles represents a key aspect in the production of erodible material in mountain ranges. Erosion processes have numerous potential consequences such as dam filling, increment in slope instability, increase of badlands, among others. Due to the possible effects related to erosion, numerous research processes have been carried out following primarily experimental approaches based on both soil physical characteristics and mechanical properties. However, these have been based on a macroscopic scale. This document presents the development of a research process based on the implementation of numerical models aimed at representing the processes involved in freezing and thawing phenomena on porous media and their effect on potential changes in soil microfabric. A calibration and validation process of the proposed numerical models was carried out based on experimental measurements of the thermal behavior of soil samples subjected to freezing and thawing cycles. Using the numerical relationships found, a methodology for determining the soil water retention curve (SWRC) was established (as a first approximation) based on a quick and relatively simple freezing and thawing test under undrained conditions. Simultaneously, and following the main objective of the research, the microfabric state during cyclic freezing and thawing was established following the relationship between SWRC and pore size distribution (PSD), as well as the possible hysteresis between freezing and thawing processes. The significant effect of these thermodynamic processes on the state of the terrain, was identified particularly in regard to increased erodibility. One possible cause for particle detachment necessary for erosion processes to occur lies in the development of macroporosity along with the existence of gaps between pore families in the PSD. This behavior was observed through the developed numerical processes. The combined effect of freezing and thawing cycles leads to an increase in soil erodibility. Finally, though a constitutive model-based approach, the cryogenic suction paths associated with freezing and thawing processes under the modification of the soil’s microstructure were established. A final perspective to soil's mechanical degradation is presented in terms of the hydraulic work associated with the cryogenic suction paths developed within the soil mass. Both the progressive evolution of the microstructure (through PSD) and the values of hydraulic work associated with each cycle show an attenuation in the incremental change as the cycles continue. Due to the numerical nature of the approximations and the trends found, further cyclical laboratory tests should be carried out. However, these represent a novel approach to the degradation phenomenon as well as the effects associated with the soil water retention curve.

Abstract: An economic model, the Colombian Forest Sector Model (CFSM), was created to analyze Colombia's commercial forest plantation policy spanning from 2018 to 2038 (PFCm policy). The CFSM is an econometric model that uses neoclassical theory to predict quantities and prices in Colombia's forest product markets. Phase I of the CFSM, detailed in this study, includes a growth and yield simulator for Colombian forest plantations and two market submodels: one for Unprocessed Wood and another for Manufactured Wood Products. Using the CFSM-I, two PFCm policy objectives were simulated to reveal their impacts on the Colombian forest sector. Simulations of expanding Colombia's forest plantation area from 0.3 million hectares in December 2015 to 1.5 million hectares by 2025 showed a fivefold increase in the volume of industrial wood available in plantations from 2015 to 2047, averaging 20.8 million cubic meters of underbark roundwood annually. This expansion would significantly affect the unprocessed wood market, multiplying wood supply and exports by 2.5 and 14.5 times, respectively, while reducing the supply price by an average of 24% compared to a scenario without plantation expansion. Simulations of a 5.5-fold expansion in Colombia's manufactured wood forest product industry's current (2022) production capacity from 2023 to 2038 indicated an average 8% increase in the consumption of unprocessed wood and manufactured wood products by the pulp and paper industry over the next 25 years, compared to a no-expansion scenario. Additionally, imports of these products and manufactured furniture industry products would decrease by 35% and 25%, respectively. Simulations of alternative plantation area expansion policies enriched the information available for policymakers and other stakeholders in preparation for the first round of the PFCm policy evaluation, scheduled for 2023 after the initial implementation period ended in December 2022. Resumen: Se creó un modelo económico, el MFSC, para el sector forestal de Colombia, con el propósito de analizar la política de plantaciones forestales comerciales en Colombia para el período 2018-2038 (PFCm). Este modelo, basado en la teoría neoclásica de mercados competitivos, proyecta cantidades y precios en los mercados de productos forestales colombianos. La Fase I del modelo, denominada CFSM-I, se enfoca en el crecimiento de plantaciones forestales y dos submodelos de mercado: madera sin procesar y productos manufacturados de madera. Las simulaciones muestran que una expansión de las plantaciones de 0,3 a 1,5 millones de hectáreas para 2025 incrementaría la disponibilidad de madera industrial en Colombia cinco veces, con un promedio anual de 20,8 millones de metros cúbicos de madera sin corteza. Esta expansión impactaría significativamente el mercado de madera sin procesar, multiplicando la oferta y las exportaciones por 2,5 y 14,5 veces, respectivamente, mientras que reduciría el precio de suministro en un 24% en comparación con la no expansión. Además, simulaciones de una expansión de 5,5 veces la capacidad actual de producción de productos maderables entre 2023 y 2038 indican un aumento del consumo de madera sin procesar y productos maderables manufacturados por la industria de la pulpa y papel en un 8% cada uno. Asimismo, las importaciones de estos productos y de productos manufacturados de la industria del mueble disminuirían un 35% y un 25%, respectivamente, en comparación con el escenario sin expansión. Estas simulaciones de políticas alternativas de expansión enriquecen la información disponible para los responsables de políticas nacionales y otras partes interesadas, de cara a la primera evaluación de la política del PFCm programada para 2023 después de su implementación inicial en diciembre de 2022.