Abstract:Bone remodeling is a continuous physiological process that requires constant generation of new osteoblasts from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Differentiation of MSCs to osteoblast requires a metabolic switch from glycolysis to increased mitochondrial respiration to ensure the sufficient energy supply to complete this process.As a consequence of this increased mitochondrial metabolism, the levels of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) rise. In the current study we analyzed the role of forkhead box O3 (FOXO3) in the control of ROS levels in human MSCs (hMSCs) during osteogenic differentiation. Treatment of hMSCs with H2O2 induced FOXO3 phosphorylation at Ser294 and nuclear translocation.This ROS-mediated activation of FOXO3 was dependent on mitogen-activated protein kinase 8 (MAPK8/JNK) activity. Upon FOXO3 downregulation, osteoblastic differentiation was impaired and hMSCs lost their ability to control elevated ROS levels.Our results also demonstrate that in response to elevated ROS levels, FOXO3 induces autophagy in hMSCs. In line with this, impairment of autophagy by autophagy-related 7 (ATG7) knockdown resulted in a reduced capacity of hMSCs to regulate elevated ROS levels, together with a reduced osteoblast differentiation.Taken together our findings are consistent with a model where in hMSCs, FOXO3 is required to induce autophagy and thereby reduce elevated ROS levels resulting from the increased mitochondrial respiration during osteoblast differentiation. These new molecular insights provide an important contribution to our better understanding of bone physiology.Resumen: La remodelación ósea es un proceso fisiológico continuo que demanda la generación constante de nuevos osteoblastos a partir de células madre mesenquimales (CMMs). La diferenciación de las CMMs a osteoblastos requiere un cambio de glicólisis a respiración mitocondrial para así asegurar la obtención de suficiente energía.Como consecuencia, los niveles endógenos de especies reactivas del oxígeno (ERO) se elevan siendo perjudiciales para la integridad celular. En el presente estudio hemos analizado el papel de FOXO3 en el control de ERO en las CMMs durante la diferenciación osteogénica.El tratamiento de las CMMs con H2O2 induce la fosforilacion de FOXO3 en la serina 294 resultando en la translocación de FOXO3 al núcleo. Dicha activación mediada por el aumento de ERO es dependiente de la actividad de JNK. Al disminuir los niveles de FOXO3, la diferenciación osteoblástica se deteriora y las CMMs pierden su capacidad para controlar los niveles de ERO. Adicionalmente, nuestros resultados demuestran que en presencia de ERO, FOXO3 induce la autofagia en CMMs.En este orden de ideas, la disminución en los niveles de ATG7 da lugar a una reducción de la capacidad de las CMMs para regular los niveles elevados de ERO, junto con una reducción de la diferenciación de osteoblastos.Tomados en conjunto, nuestros resultados son consistentes con un modelo en el que FOXO3 es necesario para inducir la autofagia y por lo tanto reducir los niveles elevados de ERO que resultan del aumento de la respiración mitocondrial durante la diferenciación de osteoblastos. Estos nuevos conocimientos moleculares son importantes para una mejor comprensión de la fisiología ósea.

Adaptable Morphodynamics addresses the development of complex high density urban systems over space and time. Building morphologies can be conceived as living organisms that change in form, shape and structure through the interaction of physical, informational and geometrical processes. This research focuses on density, environmental quality and spatial identity. These studies are extended to present-day Hong Kong and addresses a design system that aims to reinterpret spatial logics, connected with local socio-cultural attributes, into a set of rules and code for an “intelligent densification”.From the data gathered, two strategies are developed in parallel and as they become more defined, they begin to inform one another until a holistic urban approach is developed. Urban porosity and Urban growth at different scales (neighbourhood, plot and building) become the key design tools to achieve environmental performance, in terms of urban ventilation, housing public programmes, and maximizing pedestrian and bicycle accessibility for all people through a fluid mobility network at ground and multiple layers of connectivity.Existing building morphologies are transformed computationally into porous organisms and are used to construct accurate models of growth for regaining the lost demographic pressure. Multi-objective evolutionary algorithms are employed to generate a complex urban design model. This is characterized by the emergence of public green areas, integration of socio-cultural amenities within the existing building morphologies and by generation of a comfortable outdoor microclimate, at different operational scales.The improvement of the well-being of the urban population could be achieved through a spatial approach based on principles of social inclusion, especially in the most deprived areas of the patch, characterized by illegal and informal settlements, known as “rooftop villages or sky-slums”. The main target, in the long term, will be to develop an “urban intelligence” that takes into account the mutual relation between demographic demand, site constraints and the potentialities and limitations of the architectural targets.

Fundamentos: La satisfacción de los profesionales de la medicina es una preocupación en el sector sanitario y su medida requiere un cuestionario multidimensional en español que estudie sus necesidades de alto nivel. Los objetivos de este estudio son adaptar el cuestionario 4CornerSAT para la medida de la satisfacción profesional del personal médico y evaluar su validez en nuestro contexto.Método: Se adaptó el cuestionario al español, validándolo en profesionales médicos de hospitales de Andalucía, España. Se realizó un análisis factorial confirmatorio (AFC) para corroborar el modelo a priori y se evaluó la consistencia interna y la validez de constructo mediante el alfa de Cronbach y la correlación entre la escala y el ítem global, respectivamente.Resultados: El cuestionario adaptado se administró a 121 especialistas. El AFC corroboró las cuatro dimensiones del cuestionario (?2=114,64, df=94, p<0,07; ?2/df=1,22; RMSEA=0,04). La consistencia interna obtuvo un ?=0,92 y la correlación entre la suma de la escala y el ítem global verificó la validez de constructo (r=0,77; p<0,001).

Objective. To adapt in Poland an instrument to measure physicians’ career satisfaction through a previously tested adaptation process. Method. An instrument to measure physicians’ career satisfaction with a multidimensional approach was selected after a literature research in several databases. Then, it was followed a three stage methodology designed and previously applied in Spain to adapt selected instrument. Results. It was developed the instrument adaption from English into Polish.This process had three phases: first, two bilingual physicians performed two independent translations to Polish; second, a translation committee evaluated the equivalence of the translated versions, and consequently developed a Polish version by consensus, keeping the content validity of the instrument and looking for its language and cultural adaptation; third, a pilot with individuals of the instrument target population finished the process. Conclusions.It was done the adaptation of an instrument to measure physicians’ career satisfaction in Polish language. The followed instrument adaptation methodology is useful to be replicated in other languages. It is recommended to continue the process developing a study with a sample of Polish physicians to validate the selected instrument and corroborate its psychometrics results with English and Spanish versions.

La situación de miles de niños y niñas colombianas que participan activamente en las filas de grupo armados ilegales, comporta varios problemas dogmático penales. Uno de ellos es la procedencia de responsabildiad penal para quienes estan entre los 14 a 18 años (edad de responsabilidad penal en el país). A pesar que el marco normativo inernacional que nos indica que todo menor de 18 años reclutado por un grupo armado es una víctima y debe ser tratado como tal, los adolescentes son vinculados al proceso penal.La presente Tesis pretende brindar herramientas desde la dogmática penal que permitan excluir la responsabilidad penal del adolescentes vinculado a un grupo armado, cuando este ha convivico toda su vida en entonrnos de conflicto. Esto, entendiendo que muchas veces el adolescente participa en el grupo armado porque falsamente cree que es su deber, o que es une stilo de vida deseable, válido, respetable. Y esta nefasta circunstancia se da por los fallos que ha tenido su proceso de socialización atribuibes al Estado, soceida dy su familia.La pregunta central que orientará la tesis es ¿La adecuación social de la conducta a contextos de guerra excluye la responsabilidad penal de adolescentes “soldado”, incluyendo delitos de guerra y lesa humanidad?. Para resolverlo se inicia con una perspectiva panorámica que ubique al lector en la problemática social concreta y la valoración que de la misma ha realizado el derecho internacional (Capítulo II), para continuar con el planteamiento del marco teórico de análisis basado en la categoría de la dogmática de adecuación social para el derecho penal, sus limites e implicaciones en materia de responsabilidad (Capitulo III). Posteriormente se analiza la guerra como contexto coditiano, de cuando los niños crecen en entornos que muestran el conflicto como lo “normal” y adecuado, es decir la sociabilidad en entornos de guerra para niños y la valoración “positiva” que de esta realizan las comunidades (Capitulo IV). Por ultimo se presentan algunas conclusiones (Capítulo V).

Urban trees are a dominant natural element in cities; they provide important ecosystem services to urban citizens and help urban areas adapt to climate change. Many rationales have been proposed to provide a purpose for urban forest management, some of which have been ineffective in addressing important ecological and social management themes. Among these rationales we find a values-based perspective, which sees management as a process where the desires of urban dwellers are met.Another perspective is climate change adaptation, which sees management as a process where urban forest vulnerability to climate change is reduced and resilience enhanced. Both these rationales have the advantage of complementing, enhancing, and broadening urban forest management objectives. A critical analysis of the literature on public values related to urban forests and climate change adaptation in the context of urban forests is undertaken to discuss what it means to adopt these two issues in urban forest management.The analysis suggests that by seeing urban forest management as a process by which public values are satisfied and urban-forest vulnerabilities to climate change are reduced, we can place issues such as naturalization, adaptive management, and engaging people in management at the centre of urban forest management. Focusing urban forest management on these issues may help ensure the success of programs focused on planting more trees and increasing citizen participation in urban forest management.

This work constitutes an inquiry into the field of memory studies. Through the presentation and the analysis of a particular case study I will provide an insight to some approaches to address the field. To begin with a general background of the case study will be presented to fully understand its social, historical and cultural connotation, and then I introduce the dynamic of how this work will be developed from this point. Finally this research concludes with some recommendations about the concepts previously developed.

Although it has been in the center of political debates for years, the growing Social Housing deficit in Colombia, particularly Bogotá, has not yet found a permanent and sustainable long term solution. The internal conflict has forced millions of people to migrate into larger cities and, while the center of Bogotá presents a low population density, the less accessible and less service-supplied outskirts are overcrowding with newcomers. This research strives to understand the dynamics that have shaped the city profile allocating low income households on the peripheries while lowering the population in the city center. It will propose architectural tools to be applied within the Bogota’s current Mayor’s plan for the city center re-densification trough social housing.The research will be supported on the description of urban phenomena such as the city growth towards the periphery, internal forced migrations and social housing allocations dynamics. It will also explore case studies for contemporary Social Housing in urban centralities,as well as the social principles described in the Mayor’s Plan.The research identifies key tools to propose affordable and sustainable quality Social Housing that would become a platform for social interaction and sets the bases to invert a negative process and reduce the gap of housing inequality in Bogotá.

Abstract:Climate change poses great challenges to modern societies, central amongst which is to decouple human need satisfaction from energy use. Energy systems are the main source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the services provided by energy (such as heating, power, transport and lighting) are vital to support human development. To address this challenge, we advocate for a eudaimonic need-centred understanding of human well-being, as opposed to hedonic subjective views of well-being. We also argue for a shift in the way we analyse energy demand, from energy throughput to energy services. By adopting these perspectives on either end of the wellbeing-energy spectrum, a “double decoupling” potential can be uncovered. We present a novel analytic framework and showcase several methodological approaches for analysing the relationship between, and decoupling of, energy services and human needs. We conclude by proposing future directions of research in this area based on the analytic framework.Resumen:El cambio climático plantea grandes retos para las sociedades modernas, entre los cuales es de central importancia desacoplar la satisfacción de necesidades humanas de luso de la energía. Los sistemas energéticos son la mayor fuente de emisiones de gases efecto invernadero, y los servicios provistos por la energía (como calentamiento, fuerza, movilidad e iluminación) son vitales para el desarrollo humano. Para abordar este reto, abogamos por un entendimiento de bienestar humano eudamónico centrado en necesidades, contrario a posiciones hedónicas subjetivas de bienestar. También argumentamos en favor de un cambio en la manera como analizamos la demanda energética, pasando de energía final a servicios energéticos. Por medio de la adopción de estas perspectivas a ambos lados del espectro energía-bienestar, se descubre un potencial de “doble desacoplamiento”. Presentamos un marco teórico original al igual que varias aproximaciones metodológicas para analizar la relación entre (y el desacoplamiento de) servicios energéticos y necesidades humanas. Concluimos proponiendo futuras avenidas de investigación en esta área, basadas en este marco teórico.

A theoretical approach is developed for finding the optimal age to remove an orchard (or plantation) to maximize net present value, after a disease attack. The model is a bioeconomic model that considers the effects of disease manage- ment on disease spread and the effect of the disease on yields.This provides an optimal disease management strategy and optimal rotation period. Our work makes an important contribution to the literature. To the best of our knowledge, no previous work has considered the simultaneous question of optimal disease management and replanting age when disease is present in perennial crops.An empirical application is presented for the case of pudricióndelcogollo, a lethal and contagious disease that threatens oil palm plantations in Colombia. The model could be applied to a wide range of perennial crop diseases.