Abstract: Informal and low-income settlements in several Latin American countries are located in the cities’ outskirts where the dwellers experiment high levels of socio-spatial segregation and lack of basic services that affect their livelihoods. This study aims to explore the components and dynamics of community-based organizations’ networks to understand how they contribute to building resilience in low-income settlements. Based on a literature review, the concept of resilience was operationalized to create a holistic framework that included sub-dimensions and attributes related to ecological, social and political aspects. Through an empirical research of the case of two community-based organizations networks in Medellin (Colombia), it was possible to identify characteristics of these networks (e.g. members’ structure, programs and activities) with a positive impact on resilience attributes. The findings showed that the studied community-based organizations promoted, through their programs and members, the creation of social capital represented in bonding and bridging activities that involve not only community members but also academic and governmental actors. These findings demonstrate the high potential that community-based organizations have to enhance resilience in low-income settlements in Medellin; especially in regards to social resilience and strategies to deal with violence and armed groups. The study reveals that building resilience not only depends on community members’ capacities but it can be improved when resources and knowledge from state and academic actors are combined with communities’ actions. Therefore, more collaborative projects are needed with an inclusive perspective that can allow community organizations to engage as equal partners, maintaining their independence and power.

Abstract: The present research aims to formulate the effective history of Environmental Education in schools in Colombia, making use of the archaeological and genealogical tools proposed by Michel Foucault. Effective history, understood as that history that questions the present and undermines its intended continuity, that does not try to discover the origin to arrive at the truth, but rather delves into the interstices of the ruptures to find the beginnings. It is about giving an account of the network of forces that at a certain moment made possible the emergence of Environmental Education, understood in its own dispersions, which allow revealing that behind this event there is no truth or essence, but the chance of an accident. . Traditional history justifies what in the present seems to be full of light and transparency, of professing deep and benevolent intentions, takes a distant look towards nobler times and higher ways of relating to the environment to account for the imperative nature of its existence, as is the case of environmental discourse. On the contrary, the effective story looks more closely, on the body, just as a doctor does, it plunges under the skin with a surgical meticulousness to capture the perspectives, unfold the dispersions and the differences, leave each thing its measure and its intensity. In this way, the roots that are considered to give solidity to the identity mask are traced, in order to dissipate them and make the discontinuities that cross them appear, revealing the parody they represent. Resumen: Resumen: La presente investigación tiene como objetivo la formulación de la historia efectiva de la Educación Ambiental en la escuela en Colombia, haciendo uso de las herramientas arqueológicas y genealógicas propuestas por Michel Foucault. Historia efectiva, entendida como aquella historia que se cuestiona sobre el presente y socava su pretendida continuidad, que no intenta descubrir el origen para llegar a la verdad, sino que se adentra en los intersticios de las rupturas para encontrar los comienzos. Se trata de dar cuenta del entramado de fuerzas que en un determinado momento posibilitaron la emergencia de la Educación Ambiental, entendidas en sus propias dispersiones, que permiten revelar que detrás de este acontecimiento no existe una verdad o una esencia, sino el azar de un accidente. La historia tradicional justifica aquello que en el presente parece estar colmado de luz y transparencia, de profesar intenciones profundas y benevolentes, echa mano de una mirada lejana hacia épocas más nobles y formas más elevadas de relacionarse con el entorno para dar cuenta del carácter imperativo de su existencia, como es el caso del discurso ambiental. Por el contrario, la historia efectiva mira más de cerca, sobre el cuerpo, tal como lo hace un médico, se sumerge bajo la piel con una minuciosidad quirúrgica para captar las perspectivas, desplegar las dispersiones y las diferencias, dejar a cada cosa su medida y su intensidad. De esta forma, se rastrean las raíces que se considera dan solidez a la máscara de la identidad, con el fin de disiparlas y hacer aparecer las discontinuidades que las atraviesan, revelando la parodia que representan.

Abstract: Feedback processing is one of the most studied aspects of decision making, particularly with the use of evoked related potentials (ERP). Previous studies have shown that there are neural mechanisms that can be detected using ERPs components. These brain dynamics correspond with the activation of different structures such as posterior cingulate cortex, anterior one (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex, basal ganglia and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, in most cases, the experiments are performed with really simple gaming paradigms or very artificial design, away from real contexts. In this project, the brain electrical activity was recorded with EEG while participants were playing a manipulated virtual Blackjack version with different probabilities and conditions of winning and losing in an ecological environment. It was exerted in 14 subjects using Event-Related Potential (ERP) in combination with repeated measures ANOVA to analyse the time window among 0-600ms after delivery feedback. Significant differences between winning and losing in FRN and mainly, P3 was found, highlighting the difference between winning and losing when they were unexpected. Resumen: El procesamiento de retroalimentación es uno de los aspectos más estudiados de la toma de decisiones, particularmente con el uso de potenciales relacionados evocados (ERP). Estudios anteriores han demostrado que existen mecanismos neuronales que se pueden detectar utilizando componentes de ERP. Estas dinámicas cerebrales se corresponden con la activación de diferentes estructuras como la corteza cingulada posterior, la anterior (ACC), la corteza orbitofrontal, los ganglios basales y la corteza prefrontal medial (mPFC). Sin embargo, en la mayoría de los casos, los experimentos se realizan con paradigmas de juego realmente simples o con un diseño muy artificial, alejados de contextos reales. En este proyecto, la actividad eléctrica cerebral se registró con EEG mientras los participantes jugaban una versión virtual manipulada de Blackjack con diferentes probabilidades y condiciones de ganar y perder en un entorno ecológico. Se aplicó en 14 sujetos utilizando el potencial relacionado con eventos (ERP) en combinación con ANOVA de medidas repetidas para analizar la ventana de tiempo entre 0-600 ms después de la retroalimentación de la entrega. Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ganar y perder en FRN y principalmente, P3, destacando la diferencia entre ganar y perder cuando eran inesperados.

Resumen: El carcinoma pulmonar es la causa más frecuente de muerte por tumores y el cáncer de pulmón de células no pequeñas (CPCNP) constituye aproximadamente el 85% de los tumores malignos de pulmón. La incidencia y severidad de este tipo de cáncer aumenta de forma constante y sólo un 13% de los pacientes se encuentran vivos a los cinco años. El efecto que tienen las diferentes opciones terapéuticas junto a los efectos directos de la enfermedad como la fatiga, la disnea, la pérdida de peso y el dolor, combinados con los efectos indirectos del tratamiento oncológico, inducen progresivamente a un deterioro de la capacidad funcional que impacta en la calidad de vida y bienestar emocional. En este sentido, se ha sugerido que el ejercicio físico supervisado puede reducir los síntomas, incrementar la tolerancia al ejercicio y mejorar la calidad de vida. Sin embargo, en pacientes con CPCNP avanzado no existe suficiente evidencia científica sobre el efecto que pueda tener un programa de ejercicio físico que incluya ejercicios de fuerza muscular, resistencia, flexibilidad y equilibrio. Por último, no se conoce la efectividad de programas con ejercicios multicomponente para mejorar resultados, como la capacidad funcional, disnea, la fatiga y la calidad de vida en el contexto de oncogeriatría basada en intervenciones no farmacológicas. En esta Tesis doctoral, se presentan los resultados de dos estudios: una revisión sistemática y un estudio clínico que examina el impacto de intervenciones con programas de ejercicio físico multicomponente en la prevención del deterioro funcional y la mejora del estado cognitivo y la calidad de vida en adultos mayores con CPCNP en las fases de prehabilitación, tratamiento adyuvante y paliativo.

Abstract: This work uses Colombian import data, gathered at the firm-level, to find out the patterns in the distribution of sales across suppliers within importers. The results are evaluated in light of the model of Herkenhoff, Krautheim, and Saure (2020) and extended to different samples to validate the persistency of the stylized fact: the value traded by a firm and its median supplier is independent of how well-connected a firm is. This value is very close to the one traded by the average single-supplier firm. The sales distribution by top source countries and industries in some cases show a different performance. Also, the distribution for firms purchasing from US exporters did not to suffer any change after the COL-USA Free Trade Agreement, under an active or exhaustive extensive margin. The new insights shed light on the potential role of the firm size, in terms of number of connections, and the margins of trade to evaluate features of upstream networks in different contexts. Resumen: Esta investigación usa datos agregados a nivel de firma sobre las importaciones colombianas, con el fin de hallar patrones en la distribución de ventas entre firmas importadoras y sus proveedores. Los resultados son evaluados a la luz del modelo de Herkenhoff, Krautheim, and Saure (2020) y son extendidos en diferentes muestras con el fin de validar la persistencia del siguiente hecho estilizado: el valor negociado por una firma y su proveedor mediano es independiente de su nivel de conectividad con otros proveedores. La distribución de ventas por países de origen de las importaciones y por industrias en algunos casos muestra un patrón distinto. También, la distribución de ventas para firmas que se suplen de exportadores estadounidenses no tuvo ningún cambio después del Tratado de Libre Comercio Colombia-Estados Unidos, bajo un margen extensivo activo o inactivo. Los nuevos hallazgos dan cuenta del rol potencial del tamaño de la firma, en términos de número de conexiones comerciales, y los márgenes de comercio para evaluar las características de las redes de proveedores en diferentes contextos.

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) have gained great popularity in recent years in the United States. The reduction in the cost of EVs and the environmental regulations that seek to reduce the polluting gases generated by conventional petrol/diesel cars drive up the demand for electric vehicles. The traditional idea is to consider EVs as energy consumers, however Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is a technology that allows the batteries of parked EVs to operate as energy sources. V2G technology allows to store energy in EVs and then release it when this energy is needed. The implementation of V2G technologies can provide benefits to utility companies but also presents a series of challenges that must be analyzed and evaluated. V2G technology has a great potential to help Austin Energy use the energy stored in the EVs. This research focuses on the status of charging systems for EVs in Austin, the basic aspects of V2G technology, the standards related to V2G, and aims to provide specific and valuable applications of V2G technology for Austin Energy.

The cities are composed by a series of complex networks of relationships that shape an urban fabric based on the social condition developing around the territory. The urbanism that rules most human establishments today, can be clearly differentiated by the conditions in which the inhabitants have appropriated the spaces that constitute the urban centers. In the case of the city of Bogotá, the contrasting territory is notorious. The capital district stands as the largest urban center in the country, which has a great historical, economic, and social burden and yet stands out strongly for its anti-value of urban deterioration. Within the rest of the city, some sectors coexist despite of being on undergoing process of deterioration because of urbanistic and social reasons that determined the spatialization of the crime and marginal dynamics. This issue has spread and become more complex over time. The areas called “ollas”, remind the city the consequences of oblivion and indifference toward broken zones, and at the same time, set an opportunity to transform the urban environment through architectural actions. “Ollas” urban phenomenon in the city of Bogotá, intends to analyze the cases known as “ollas” in the Colombian capital scenario, understanding these urban decay cases from an abstract concept applied to an area of high complexity where spatial, institutional and social factors converge and result in a built territory inhabited by vulnerable populations isolated from legality and conventional city dynamics; the above, with the aim of generating an urban and architectural proposal in the character of a model of acting based on the analysis of causes and effects of the entire system.

Abstract: In this work, we proposed a new approach for learning legged locomotion for any legged robot, in the sagittal plane, by using a combination of classical control techniques and reinforcement learning. Specifically, we use optimal control of the low-order model Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP), for the planning and generation of expert reference trajectories that resemble the ideal dynamics of animals in nature, and a control policy that learns to imitate these ideal dynamics. The objective of this approach is to provide a generic methodology for learning legged locomotion, that is flexible enough to be applied to robots with different morphological properties, and reduces the impact of simulation inaccuracies in the emergence of unnatural controlled gaits.

Abstract: Colombia’s Constitutional Assembly enacted a constitution in 1991 whose text and application are regarded around the world as among the best examples of socioeconomic constitutionalism in the last three decades. Despite rising interest in the structural causes of economic inequality at both global and domestic levels, Colombian constitutional scholarship has not yet offered an account of the role of the current constitutional design in addressing economic inequality. In this paper, I show that the drafters of the Constitution of 1991 were deeply concerned with economic inequality and considered the problem from several angles. However, they did not agree on a structural plan with coherent tools to address it and avoid forces in the executive and the legislative branches, usually influenced by international agendas, undermine that purpose. As a result, after thirty years, the Assembly’s economic egalitarian aspirations are far from being achieved and Colombia is still among the most unequal countries on earth. Thus, the Colombian constitution-making experience provides a warning about how unclear and weak agreements in constitutional drafting when addressing economic inequality can be an obstacle to overcome it, especially in contexts that demand radical solutions.

Abstract: Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) and their governing structures are responsible not only to their shareholders but to a wide variety of stakeholders due to the scale of their business activities and their impact on societal and environmental levels. This study builds on such premise and investigates the relationship between the educational background of MNEs chief executive officers – CEOs and the firm’s corporate social performance (CSP). It also examines whether this relationship is moderated by the organizational visibility of the firm and/or by the institutional quality of the country where it is headquartered. First, while prior literature has predominantly focused on demographic characteristics of the firm’s dominant coalition that are likely to influence the company’s engagement with CSR activities, the current study examines their impact on the social performance of the company. Particularly, it focuses on the CEOs education background as a construct of both level and field of education. Second, building on the ‘upper-echelons’ and the stakeholder’s theories, the study theorizes and empirically investigates the mentioned relationships through a quantitative approach using a sample comprised by the Fortune Global 500. The study reveals that there is no significant correlation between CEOs educational background and firm’s CSP. Moreover, that neither the institutional quality nor the organizational visibility have a moderating effect on said relationship. Results are discussed and suggestions are made for further research. Resumen: Las empresas multinacionales (EMN) y sus estructuras de gobierno son responsables no sólo ante sus accionistas sino ante una gran variedad de partes interesadas debido a la escala de sus actividades comerciales y su impacto en la sociedad y el medio ambiente. El estudio se basa en tal premisa e investiga la relación entre la formación académica de los directores ejecutivos de las empresas multinacionales y el desempeño social empresarial de la compañía. Así mismo, examina si esta relación está moderada por la visibilidad organizacional de la firma y / o por la calidad institucional del país donde tiene su sede principal. En primer lugar, aunque la literatura previa se ha centrado predominantemente en las características demográficas de la coalición dominante de la empresa, las cuales tienden a influenciar los niveles de compromiso de la compañía con las actividades de responsabilidad social empresarial – RSE, el estudio actual examina su impacto en el desempeño social de la empresa. En particular, se centra en la formación académica de los directores ejecutivos, entendiéndola como una construcción de dos elementos a saber, el campo de estudio y el nivel educativo. En segundo lugar, basándose en las teorías de las ‘coaliciones dominantes’ y de los grupos de interés, el estudio teoriza e investiga empíricamente las relaciones mencionadas a través de un enfoque cuantitativo utilizando una muestra compuesta por las empresas del ‘Fortune Global 500’. El estudio revela que no existe una correlación significativa entre la formación académica de los directores ejecutivos y el desempeño social empresarial de las compañías. Adicionalmente, que ni la calidad institucional ni la visibilidad organizacional tienen un efecto moderador sobre dicha relación. Se discuten los resultados y se hacen sugerencias para futuras investigaciones.