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.

Abstract: This PhD dissertation addresses the open and collaborative mode of production in software. Specifically, it examines how various practices in the software culture have evolved and their relevance in the construct of the network society. It begins with a philosophical discussion in which a modern philosophy of technology points to technology as a system of thought and software as a technical culture. Not unlike the open and collaborative mode of production, software is source of metaphors. Upon these foundations, it undertakes the evolution of open practices from a historical and structural position. The historical account follows the premise that open collaborative practices of software precede the well-known Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS). It presents some examples, first, related to the history of software and then to computer networks to track the motives and transformation of the open collaboration metaphor. The structural approach presents modern open collaboration in software as the result of a sociotechnical network composed of actants (node/artifacts), executed, in turn, by a collective made up of a human community and technical developments, in which textual machines for coding and communication are highlighted. Finally, the conclusion posits the findings and three modes of agency in software (algorithmic, interactive, and distributive). It also and suggests hybridization as the means to overcomes some shortcomings of the software open metaphor rhetoric. Resumen: Esta tesis doctoral aborda el modo de producción abierto y colaborativo del software. En concreto, examina cómo han evolucionado diversas prácticas de la cultura del software y su relevancia en la construcción de la sociedad en red. Comienza con una discusión filosófica en la que una filosofía moderna de la tecnología apunta a la tecnología como un sistema de pensamiento y al software como una cultura técnica. Al igual que el modo de producción abierto y colaborativo, el software es fuente de metáforas. Sobre estos fundamentos, emprende la evolución de las prácticas abiertas desde una posición histórica y estructural. El relato histórico parte de la premisa de que las prácticas abiertas y colaborativas del software preceden al conocido software libre de código abierto (FLOSS). Presenta algunos ejemplos, primero, relacionados con la historia del software y, después, con las redes informáticas para rastrear los motivos y la transformación de la metáfora de la colaboración abierta. El enfoque estructural presenta la colaboración abierta moderna en el software como el resultado de una red sociotécnica compuesta por actantes (nodos/artefactos), ejecutados, a su vez, por un colectivo formado por una comunidad humana y por desarrollos técnicos, en los que destacan las máquinas textuales de codificación y comunicación. Por último, la conclusión postula los hallazgos y tres modos de agencia en el software (algorítmica, interactiva y distributiva). También sugiere la hibridación como medio para superar algunas deficiencias de la retórica de la metáfora abierta del software.

Abstract: The concept of semi-regular sequences was introduced in order to assess the complexity of Gröumlbner basis algorithms such as F4 for the solution of polynomial equations. Despite the experimental evidence that semi-regular sequences are common, it was unknown whether there existed semi-regular sequences for all n, except in extremely trivial situations. In the present work, I prove some results on the existence and non-existence of semi-regular sequences. It was observed by J. Schlather and T. Hodges that if an element of degree d in Β(n)-variables is semi-regular, then we must have n≤3d. In this thesis, I establish precisely when the elementary symmetric polynomial of degree d is semi-regular. In particular, when d=2t and n=3d, the elementary symmetric polynomial of degree d is semi-regular establishing that the bound given by J. Schlather and T. Hodges is sharp for infinitely many n. For the general case of existence of semi-regular sequences Bardet, Faug&egravere and Salvy conjecture that the proportion π(n, m, d1, . . . , dm) of semiregular sequences over F2 in the set Ε(n, m, d1, . . . , dm) of algebraic systems of mequations of degrees d1, . . . , dm in n-variables tends to 1 as n tends to infinity. In this work, I show that for a fixed choice of (m, d1, . . . , dm), we have that limn→∞ π(n, m, d1, .. . , dm ) — 0 showing that the conjecture is false in this case.

Abstract: The present dissertation consists of three main chapters of self-contained works about international human migration and migrant's integration in the host society. The empirical studies can be read independently since each chapter addresses a research question and contains a specific literature review, methodology, empirical results, conclusions, and discussion of the results. As a summary: first, it estimates the joint effects of the preexisting stocks of migrant and ancestral distance to predict migration inflows. Second, it studies the children of migrants in the United States of America, their performance in high school when compared to the children of natives, and the role of educational aspirations and expectations as determinant factors behind their educational performance. Third, it examines international students and the role of financial aid on the successful completion of higher education abroad using data from Colfuturo's scholarship loan program. Resumen: La presente tesis consta de tres capítulos principales dedicados a estudiar la migración humana internacional y la integración de los migrantes en la sociedad de acogida. Los estudios empíricos se pueden leer de forma independiente ya que cada capítulo aborda una pregunta de investigación, contiene una revisión de literatura específica, metodología, resultados empíricos, conclusiones y discusión de los resultados. Como resumen: primero, esta tesis estima los efectos conjuntos de los stocks preexistentes de distancia migrante y ancestral para predecir los flujos migratorios. En segundo lugar, estudia a los hijos de migrantes en los Estados Unidos de América, su desempeño en la escuela secundaria en comparación con los hijos de nativos, y el papel de las aspiraciones y expectativas educativas como factores determinantes de su desempeño educativo. En tercer lugar, examina a los estudiantes internacionales y el papel de la ayuda financiera en la finalización exitosa de la educación superior en el extranjero utilizando datos del programa de becas / préstamos de Colfuturo.