Abstract: Ethical innovation in the skincare industry has been mainly concerned with biodegradable packaging concerns and so-called green formulations. This interpretation of what ethics means is a response to the current dominant discourses of sustainability, in which nature is seen as a perfect and idyllic set of goods and resources that has to be managed in the same way a bank account is administered. This journal attempts to invite skincare consumers to create other ways of relating to nature and sustainability, by re-thinking the meanings of these concepts.To help consumers rethink their position within nature in the skincare industry, the sense of touch and its capacity to confer understanding and raise consciousness is introduced as an ethical strategy for doing so.

Abstract: The rising poverty rates, internal displacement, market-oriented development and social inequalities are some of many factors that shaped the binary configuration of the so-called formal and informal urban fabric of Bogotá. Urban informality emerges as the answer to a lack of opportunities and spatial offers, evidencing the inability of the existing planning structures to embody and decode the complex conditions, dynamics and vulnerability gradients that these environments entail. Bogotá’s upgrading program, despite being a crucial instrument in the transformation of informal areas, has proven to be insufficient to overcome the fragmentation between formal and informal urban dynamics, in which the generic and rigid approach has impeded the achievement of a structural change and local empowerment in a long term perspective. The thesis proposes an alternative assessment and planning framework, as an opportunity to improve the current planning methods within a new long term perspective, that embraces and increases the adaptive capacity of the diverse vulnerable groups and systemic interrelations in the current structures of Bogotá. This, by redefining the current overview of risk and to vulnerability, as potential tools to improve the local conditions from a co-evolutionary socio-ecological approach. The proposed Framework is therefore not a definitive and static project. In turn, it is a dynamic tool to reveal the diverse challenges but also the amount of endogenous opportunities in the local informal environments. By redefining the role of nature and the role of formal and informal actors as co-agents of change in the development process, the proposed model aims to transform the segregated dynamics of the city, empower the local and most neglected communities, reinforce bottom-up approaches and provide alternative possibilities for more resilient socioecological systems that in turn are prepared to an uncertain future. Resumen: Los crecientes índices de pobreza, el desplazamiento interno, el desarrollo orientado al mercado y las desigualdades sociales son algunos de los muchos factores que configuraron la configuración binaria del llamado tejido urbano formal e informal de Bogotá. La informalidad urbana surge como respuesta a la falta de oportunidades y ofertas espaciales, evidenciando la incapacidad de las estructuras de planificación existentes para plasmar y decodificar las complejas condiciones, dinámicas y gradientes de vulnerabilidad que estos entornos conllevan. El programa de mejoramiento de Bogotá, a pesar de ser un instrumento crucial en la transformación de las áreas informales, ha demostrado ser insuficiente para superar la fragmentación entre las dinámicas urbanas formales e informales, en las que el enfoque genérico y rígido ha impedido el logro de un cambio estructural y el empoderamiento local en una perspectiva de largo plazo. La tesis propone un marco alternativo de evaluación y planificación, como una oportunidad para mejorar los actuales métodos de planificación dentro de una nueva perspectiva de largo plazo, que abarque y aumente la capacidad de adaptación de los diversos grupos vulnerables y las interrelaciones sistémicas en las actuales estructuras de Bogotá. Esto, al redefinir la visión actual del riesgo y de la vulnerabilidad, como herramientas potenciales para mejorar las condiciones locales desde un enfoque socioecológico co-evolutivo. El Marco propuesto no es, por tanto, un proyecto definitivo y estático. A su vez, es una herramienta dinámica para revelar los diversos retos pero también la cantidad de oportunidades endógenas en los entornos locales informales. Al redefinir el papel de la naturaleza y el de los actores formales e informales como coagentes del cambio en el proceso de desarrollo, el modelo propuesto pretende transformar las dinámicas segregadas de la ciudad, empoderar a las comunidades locales y más desatendidas, reforzar los enfoques ascendentes y ofrecer posibilidades alternativas para sistemas socioecológicos más resilientes que, a su vez, estén preparados para un futuro incierto.

Resumen: Después de medio siglo de preocupación por las implicaciones en el ambiente del estilo de vida consumista, no se han visto cambios que estén impulsando la relación entre economía y naturaleza positivamente. Los procesos lineales en las ciudades aumentan el agotamiento de recursos, producción de desechos y contaminación. Por lo tanto, se debe impulsar una mentalidad circular para evitar el derroche de energía y promover una mejor gestión de recursos para relacionarse con las lógicas metabólicas naturales. Es necesario repensar cómo nuestras ciudades pueden cambiar la idea errada de basura, por la de material esperando a ser reintegrado al sistema. La arquitectura es uno de los impulsores de la generación de desperdicios mediante la construcción y demolición de edificaciones. El diseño arquitectónico, la producción de materiales y la disposición de edificios antiguos, son problemas a resolver para proporcionar un cambio en el medio. Por lo tanto, la presente investigación buscó encontrar relaciones entre diferentes grupos de diseño para crear una ciudad circular sostenible con un modelo de producción circular. Se realizó un análisis de cadenas productivas para encontrar relaciones en busca de cerrar bucles abiertos. Se analizaron materiales, agua, alimentos, naturaleza y energía como recursos básicos de un enfoque ecosistémico. Posteriormente, se presenta una investigación en producción cero residuos y la creación de materiales sostenibles, plasmando al final todos los hallazgos en el producto arquitectónico de una fábrica de materiales reciclados. Se definió un plan maestro para el barrio Muide Meulestede en Bélgica para el año 2030, como población objetivo. Esta exploración reveló que las iniciativas dispersas pueden orientarse hacia objetivos más resilientes y definió que la creación de relaciones puede ser una estrategia de diseño sostenible para lograr una mentalidad circular. Una vez se utilizan lógicas circulares como metodología principal de diseño, es posible adaptar estrategias para ser uno de los principales núcleos a tener en cuenta en el desarrollo arquitectónico y planteamiento de ciudades. Abstract: After half a century of concern about the environmental implications of consumer lifestyle, there have been no changes that turn the relationship between economy and nature positively. Linear processes in cities increase resource depletion, waste production, and pollution. A circular mindset is needed to avoid energy waste, a better resource management and a strategy to relate to the nature metabolic logics. It is necessary to rethink how our cities can change the mistaken idea of garbage, for a material waiting to be reintegrated into the system. Architecture is introduced as one of the drivers of waste generation through the construction and demolition of buildings. Architectural design, production of materials and renovation of old buildings are problems that must be solved to provide a change in field. Therefore, this research finds relationships between different design groups to create a sustainable circular city with a new circular production model. An analysis of productive chains was carried out to find relationships to close open loops. The basic resources dealt to respond to an ecosystem approach were materials, water, food, nature and energy. Subsequently, an investigation in zero waste production and the creation of sustainable materials will be presented, to finally translate all the findings into the architectural product of a recycled materials factory. A master plan for Muide Meulestede neighborhood in Belgium, projected to 2030, was defined as the target population. This exploration revealed that dispersed initiatives can be geared towards more precise and resilient goals, and defined that creating relationships can be a sustainable design strategy to achieve a circular mindset. Once circular and metabolic logics are used as a main design methodology, it is possible to adapt these strategies to be one of the main nuclei to take into account in the architectural development and planning of cities.

Abstract: Biological and physiological changes in response to stress are crucial to achieving adaption to environmental constraints. Typical stress responses activate the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortical axis, which aim to maintain homeostasis in response to demands and influence various biological responses at neuroendocrine, cellular, and immune levels. In particular, there is compelling evidence showing the devastating effects of high-stress levels on immune responses and brain functionality. In that sense, data suggest that a sustained stress-physiological response predicts decreases in immunity and leads to allostatic load, the wear, and tear of biological systems. Similarly, in cancer research, chronic stress levels have been reported to impair the bodysurveillance systems and be related to cancer incidence, progression, and mortality. Despite the evidence demonstrating the associations between stress and cancer, there are limited data on whether lifetime stress exposure relates to clinical indicators of cancer aggressiveness. Considering the evidence showing the adverse effects of prolonged stress exposure on cancer disease, this thesis aimed to explore the relationship between lifetime stress exposure and the clinical characteristics of tumor-aggressiveness in a cohort of patients affected with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Likewise, as research has shown that coping responses moderate the stress-physiological response, we aimed to investigate the role of coping responses in moderating the association between tumor aggressiveness and lifetime stress exposure. According to the scientific literature, high-stress levels would increase physiological arousal and allostatic load favoring a debilitated immune system. Thus, we hypothesized finding positive associations between lifetime stress exposure and tumor-aggressiveness. In the same line, we suspected that adaptative coping styles would be negatively related to tumoraggressiveness. The participants of this study were 29 women diagnosed with TNBC who were treated in the University Hospital for Gynecology Pius-Hospital (Oldenburg, Germany). Correlation and moderation regression analyses with the use of composite scores were conducted. Overall, we could not demonstrate significant associations between lifetime stress exposure and coping responses on the clinical indicators of tumor aggressiveness in this cohort of patients. Possible explanations for these results are discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided. This study was the first to investigate the effect of lifetime stress exposure and coping response on the aggressive tumor characteristics of TNBC. We provided a deep theoretical framework to understand the interplay between biological and psychological aspects of cancer disease, and we hope that our recommendations may serve as a base for upcoming studies.

Abstract: Islands have been considered natural laboratories to study evolutionary processes. Ibiza is a small island in Spain whose population stands out from other Spanish populations due to its particular demographic and historical processes. War, famine, and several epidemics have affected Ibizans, and these phenomena could have left signatures of positive selection in their genomes. Here, we used three different methodologies to detect positive selection: The Population Branch Statistic (PBS), the Integrated Haplotype Score (iHS), and the Cross-Population Extended Haplotype Homozygosity (XP-EHH). We used a sliding windows approach to control for spurious results. The candidate windows for selection were chosen using three different criteria for each test: maximum and mean score within each window, and proportion of high scores in each window. Only the windows being simultaneously on the top of each of the three criteria were selected for annotation and enrichment analyses. The most common traits associated with the SNPs present in the candidate windows were blood function, cardiovascular diseases, body mass measures, lipid metabolism, renal function, and skin diseases. We suggest some hypotheses to explain the selection signatures related to some of these traits and some recommendations for further studies to overcome the present research's limitations. Resumen: Las islas se han considerado laboratorios naturales para estudiar procesos evolutivos. Ibiza es una pequeña isla de España cuya población se distingue del resto de poblaciones españolas por sus particulares procesos demográficos e históricos. La guerra, el hambre y varias epidemias han afectado a los ibicencos, y estos fenómenos podrían haber dejado huellas de selección positiva en sus genomas. Aquí, utilizamos tres metodologías diferentes para detectar selección positiva: el Population Branch Statistic (PBS), el Integrated Haplotype Score (iHS) y la Cross-Population Extended Haplotype Homozygosity (XP-EHH). Usamos un enfoque de ventanas deslizantes para controlar resultados espurios. Las ventanas candidatas para la selección se eligieron utilizando tres criterios diferentes para cada prueba: puntuación máxima y media dentro de cada ventana, y proporción de puntuaciones altas en cada ventana. Solo las ventanas que se encontraban simultáneamente en la parte superior de cada uno de los tres criterios se seleccionaron para los análisis de anotación y enriquecimiento. Los rasgos más comunes asociados con los SNP presentes en las ventanas candidatas fueron la función sanguínea, las enfermedades cardiovasculares, las medidas de masa corporal, el metabolismo de los lípidos, la función renal y las enfermedades de la piel. Sugerimos algunas hipótesis para explicar las señales de selección relacionadas con algunos de estos rasgos y algunas recomendaciones para futuros estudios para superar las limitaciones de la presente investigación.

Abstract: Thanks to theoretical and technological advances in evolutionary biology we can look into genomic patters to infer evolutionary processes such as divergence and gene flow, and how they shape the genomic landscape. However, such studies tend to focus on model species with small genomes and overlook non-model species with large repetitive genomes, thus missing generality across a big part of the tree of life. Here, we develop new genomic methods for the grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus, which is characterized by a giant genome of 13.5 Gb, which is not only expensive to sequence but impossible to assemble using state of the art methodologies. Alternative genomic methods involving Exome Capture have been developed in the last years to study other species with large repetitive genomes but these approaches have not been developed in grasshoppers yet. In this study we test two different library protocols — Nextera and Collibri — coupled with multiplexing, exome capture and Illumina sequencing. To test which library protocol was the best to be coupled with the exome capture we compared the number of retained reads and PCR duplicates in both protocols after sequencing. We found that Nextera was the library protocol with the highest number of retained reads and lowest number of PCR duplicates making it the best library protocol to be used in future studies. To test If the capture worked, these reads were mapped to a file containing target sequences and the coverage was then compared to the coverage resulting from a no-enrichment protocol. The capture protocol had a up to ~26 fold enrichment confirming that the baits hybridized with the target sequences. We also found that beads attached to the baits inhibit the polymerase, suggesting that beads should be removed before the amplification step. Two technical replicates showed consistent patterns but higher input of DNA seems to increase the efficiency of the capture. Together, our results suggest that this protocol could be used in organisms with large genomes, like grasshoppers, for which no reference genome is available, helping to fill the gaps in the knowledge of the genomic landscape of differentiation in these underrepresented species.

Resumen: Robert Nozick es conocido por sus posiciones libertarias, expuestas en su libro Anarquía, Estado y Utopía. Sin embargo, textos posteriores del autor (en particular La vida examinada) parecen mostrar una renuncia al libertarianismo y una crítica a éste como posición política y ética. A través del análisis de su último libro (Invariances) este trabajo busca identificar si existe o no esa renuncia y, además, analiza el alcance, condiciones y contenido de la renuncia o, al menos, de los cambios en perspectiva. En ese sentido, el trabajo analiza si Invariances presenta un marco libertario y si este marco es compatible con el presentado en Anarquía, Estado y Utopía, tanto desde la perspectiva de la teoría del Estado, como desde la perspectiva de la ética. Abstract: Robert Nozick is known for his libertarian positions, presented in his book Anarchy, State and Utopia. Nevertheless, later books by the author (particularly The examined life) seem to show a renunciation of libertarianism and a criticism of it as a political and as an ethical position. By analyzing his last book (Invariances) this work attempts to identify whether this renunciation exists or not and, also, analyzes the extent, conditions and content of this renunciation or, at least, if its changes in perspective. In this sense, this work analyzes if Invariances presents a libertarian framework and if this framework is compatible with the one exposed in Anarchy, State and Utopia, both from the perspective of the theory of the State as from the perspective of ethics.

Abstract: Most socioeconomic studies on illicit economies have been approached through the lens of war economics, hence, a wide variety of them are rooted in the greed and grievance literature. On contrast, recent studies (Eventon & Gutierrez, 2020, p. 10) (Gutierrez, 2020) (International Journal of Drug Policy, 2021) have found that illicit economies, particularly on illicit crops, arise as a source of livelihoods for impoverished farmers that provides opportunities to enhance agricultural practices and local development such as infrastructure, land access, access to credit, and supplies for cropping coca, also for other licit products and services. In addition, its origin is not only the result of poverty or "lack of development", but of a modernisation process in which coca has emerged as an "autonomous form of development." (Gootenberg, 2021). The aim of this study which dialogues with these new analytical frames, is measuring the influence that subnational inequality measures have in explaining the variation of coca area –among municipalities identified as coca leaf producers— and contrasting them with municipal poverty measures. I will argue that coca crops expansion adapts to different land regimes, but particularly in uneven distribution of land, where coca interacts with other conditions of economic precarity (Rigg, et al., 2016). Based on a longitudinal analysis of 217 Colombian municipalities, I contrast the effect of Gini of land owning and the Dependency on National Transfers on coca area from 2014 and 2018. The results feeds into and contributes to an Agrarian Change perspective to explain the influence of structures and mechanisms that shape rural change (Cramer & Richards, 2011); and a subnational analysis to make visible “within-country heterogeneity” of the association coca and land inequality. Resumen: La mayoría de los estudios socioeconómicos sobre las economías ilícitas se han abordado a través de los lentes de la economía de la guerra, por lo que una gran variedad de ellos están arraigados en la literatura de la codicia y el agravio. Por el contrario, estudios recientes (Eventon & Gutierrez, 2020, p. 10) (Gutierrez, 2020) (International Journal of Drug Policy, 2021) han encontrado que las economías ilícitas, en particular sobre los cultivos ilícitos, surgen como una fuente de sustento para los agricultores empobrecidos que proporciona oportunidades para mejorar sus prácticas agrícolas y el desarrollo local, tales como la infraestructura, el acceso a la tierra, el acceso al crédito y los suministros para el cultivo de coca, también para otros productos y servicios lícitos. Además, su origen no es sólo el resultado de la pobreza o la "falta de desarrollo", sino de un proceso de modernización en el que la coca ha surgido como una "forma autónoma de desarrollo". (Gootenberg, 2021). El objetivo de este estudio, que dialoga con estos nuevos marcos analíticos, es medir la influencia que tienen las medidas de desigualdad subnacional en la explicación de la variación de la superficie de coca -entre los municipios identificados como productores de hoja de coca- y contrastarlas con las medidas de pobreza municipal. Argumentaré que la expansión de los cultivos de coca se adapta a diferentes regímenes de tierra, pero particularmente en la distribución desigual de la tierra, donde la coca interactúa con otras condiciones de precariedad económica (Rigg, et al., 2016 ). A partir de un análisis longitudinal de 217 municipios colombianos, contrasto el efecto del Gini de la propiedad de la tierra y la Dependencia de las Transferencias Nacionales sobre la superficie de coca de 2014 y 2018. Los resultados alimentan y contribuyen a una perspectiva de Cambio Agrario para explicar la influencia de las estructuras y mecanismos que moldean el cambio rural (Cramer & Richards, 2011); y un análisis subnacional para hacer visible la "heterogeneidad dentro del país" de la asociación coca y desigualdad de la tierra.

Abstract: This research aims at critically appraising the connections that can be traced between the regulation of strategic approaches towards public procurement and the interest of integrating sustainability and innovation driven goals within procurement proceedings. As such, the investigation is framed under areas of research that have not acquired significant attention until recently; on the one hand, the interaction of sustainability and environmental concerns has increased at the same rate that the environmental crisis has worryingly amplified, and the study of law and technology has simultaneously gained attention as regulation attempts to keep the pace in which technology rapidly change human experience. Along these two intertwined objects of academic interest, this research will attempt to demonstrate that the synergy between public procurement and sustainability concerns may be further enhanced and strengthened by reaching out to the support that technological innovations may provide along the multiple stages of the procurement process. The investigation is thus concerned not only in identifying the advantages derived from such cooperative interaction, but also in examining the margins and shortcomings which this involvement entails.

Resumen: Ensayo que pretende analizar, desde la disertación filosófica, los acontecimientos que se desarrollan en torno a la aplicación de la política de asignación de riesgos y reasentamiento de población en Bogotá y verificar la calidad de los mismos como manifestación de confrontaciones entre el poder hegemónico ejercido a través del Estado y el arraigo como expresión de fuerzas vivas de la heterogeneidad social, resaltando de estas últimas su contenido, como información fundamental para la cualificación de las estructuras de gobernanza del espacio. Abstract: A essay intending to analyze, from the philosophical dissertation, the events that take place around the application of the risk allocation policy and population resettlement in Bogotá, to verify their quality as a manifestation of confrontations between the hegemonic power exercised through the State and the roots as an expression of the living forces of social heterogeneity, highlighting such heteogeneity as fundamental information for the qualification of the governance structures of the space.