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Amber is fossilized resin that preserves biological remains in exceptional detail, study of which has revolutionized understanding of past terrestrial organisms and habitats from the Early Cretaceous to the present day. Cretaceous amber outcrops are more abundant in the Northern Hemisphere and during an interval of about 54 million years, from the Barremian to the Campanian. The extensive resin production that generated this remarkable amber record may be attributed to the biology of coniferous resin producers, the growth of resiniferous forests in proximity to transitional sedimentary environments, and the dynamics of climate during the Cretaceous. Here we discuss the set of interrelated abiotic and biotic factors potentially involved in resin production during that time. We name this period of mass resin production by conifers during the late Mesozoic, fundamental as an archive of terrestrial life, the `Cretaceous Resinous Interval (CREI)., This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [research agreement CRE CGL2017-84419 AEI/FEDER, UE] and by the Consejería de Industria, Turismo, Innovación, Transporte y Comercio of the Gobierno de Cantabria through the public enterprise EL SOPLAO S.L. [research agreement #20963 with University of Barcelona and research contract Ref. VAPC 20225428 to CN-IGME CSIC, both 2022–2025]; the Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (Brazil) [research grand PQ 304529/19–2]; National Geographic Global Exploration Fund Northern Europa [research agreement GEFNE 127-14]; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [research agreement SO 894/6-1]; VolkswagenStiftung [research agreement 90946]; the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 program of research and innovation of the European Union under the Marie-Curie [research contract no. 801370, Beatriu de Pinós]; the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and the European Social Fund [research contract 2021FI_B2 00003]; this work is a contribution to the grant RYC2021-032907-I, funded by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union «NextGenerationEU»/PRTR; and the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) Scholarship Program [BECAS CHILE 2020-Folio 72210321]., Keywords 1. Introduction 2. Definition of the Cretaceous Resinous Interval 3. Conditional factors on resin production and preservation 3.1. Abiotic factors 3.1.1. Atmospheric gas composition, temperature, and wildfires 3.1.2. Volcanism and changes in sea level 3.1.3. Oceanic physicochemical properties and hurricanes 3.1.4. Climatic overview throughout the CREI 3.2. Biotic factors 4. Present limitations and future directions 5. Conclusions Funding Author contributions Declaration of Competing Interest Acknowledgements Appendix A. Supplementary data Data availability References

Aquest treball exposa dos aspectes de la investigació translacional de la metàstasi cerebral en càncer de mama. Primer, el desenvolupament d’un model preclínic de tractament, demostrant la seva utilitat per investigar l’efectivitat de teràpies contra la metàstasi cerebral mitjançant experiments que combinen radioteràpia i quimioteràpia. I per altra banda, el desenvolupament de la validació de biomarcadors predictius de metàstasi cerebral (GRP94 i FN14) en un estudi clínic multicèntric amb pacients diagnosticades de carcinoma infiltrant de mama. Aquest estudi mostra el valor de la determinació de l’expressió d’aquestes proteïnes al tumor primari per estratificar les pacients amb un risc augmentat de desenvolupar metàstasis cerebrals al llarg de la seva malaltia. L’estudi preclínic experimental està basat en el disseny d’un model de irradiació cranial en ratolins femella atímics previament inoculats, vía intracarotídea, amb cèl·lules seleccionades d’adenocarcinoma de mama humana amb capacitat per creuar la barrera hemato-encefàlica i desenvolupar metàstasis cerebrals. En aquest model terapèutic hem optimitzat tant la tècnica de inoculació intracarotídea com la dosi de radiació holocranial combinada amb quimioteràpia via oral. És un model fàcil d’aplicar, reproduible, fiable i econòmicament accesible a investigadors preclínics en un entorn hospitalari amb la infraestructura d’un Servei Clínic d’Oncologia Radioteràpica. L’estudi clínic retrospectiu inclou pacients diagnosticades entre 1989 i 2009 amb un seguiment clínic mitjà de sis anys. Aquesta serie inclou pacients que no havien metastatitzat, pacients que havien metastatitzat a altres òrgans sense afectació cerebral i pacients amb metàstasis cerebrals, i ha permès establir la sensibilitat, l’especificitat, i el valor pronòstic dels biomarcadors i relacionar-los amb la supervivència lliure de metàstasi cerebral i amb la seva predicció, especialment en pacients amb receptors hormonals positius i amb tumors triple negatius. Com a conclusió, proposem una nova pauta de seguiment clínic que ens ajudi al diagnòstic precoç i a la prevenció de la metàstasi cerebral en càncer de mama, tenint en compte la relevància que aquests marcadors tenen sobre la predicció de la metàstasi cerebral i el seu possible valor en la presa de decisions terapèutiques. Este trabajo expone dos aspectos de la investigación translacional de la metástasis cerebral en cáncer de mama. Primero, el desarrollo de un modelo pre-clínico de tratamiento, demostrando su utilidad para investigar la efectividad de terapias contra la metástasis cerebral mediante experimentos que combinan radioterapia y quimioterapia. Y por otro lado, el desarrollo de la validación de biomarcadores predictivos de metástasis cerebral (GRP94 y FN14) en un estudio clínico multicéntrico con pacientes diagnosticadas de carcinoma infiltrante de mama. Este estudio muestra el valor de la determinación de la expresión de estas proteínas en el tumor primario para estratificar a las pacientes con un riesgo aumentado de desarrollar metástasis cerebrales en el curso de su enfermedad. El estudio pre-clínico experimental está basado en el diseño de un modelo de irradiación craneal en ratones hembra atímicos previamente inoculados, vía intracarotídea, con células seleccionadas de adenocarcinoma de mama humana con capacidad para atravesar la barrera hemato-encefálica y desarrollar metástasis cerebrales. En este modelo terapéutico hemos optimizado tanto la técnica de inoculación intracarotídea como la dosis de radiación holocraneal combinada con quimioterapia vía oral. Es un modelo fácil de aplicar, reproducible, fiable y económicamente accesible a investigadores pre-clínicos en un entorno hospitalario con la infraestructura de un Servicio Clínico de Oncología Radioterápica. El estudio clínico retrospectivo engloba pacientes de tres hospitales diagnosticadas entre 1989 y 2009 con un seguimiento clínico medio de seis años. La serie incluye pacientes que no habían metastatizado, pacientes que habían metastatizado en otros órganos sin afectación cerebral y pacientes con metástasis cerebrales, y ha permitido establecer la sensibilidad y especificidad predictiva y el valor pronóstico de los biomarcadores al relacionarlos con la supervivencia libre de metástasis cerebral, especialmente en pacientes con receptores hormonales positivos y con tumores triple-negativos. Como conclusión, proponemos una nueva pauta de seguimiento clínico en cáncer de mama que nos ayude al diagnóstico precoz y a la prevención de la metástasis cerebral, teniendo en cuenta la relevancia que dichos marcadores tienen sobre la predicción de la misma y su posible valor en la toma de decisiones terapéuticas. This work exposes two aspects of the translational research of brain metastasis in breast cancer. First, the development of a preclinical model of treatment, proving its usefulness to research the effectiveness of therapies against the brain metastasis by means of experiments that combine radiotherapy and chemotherapy. And, on the other hand, the development of the validation of predictive biomarkers of brain metastasis (GRP94 and FN14) in a multicentric clinical study with patients diagnosed of breast infiltrating carcinoma. This study shows the value of determining the expression of these proteins in the primary tumour to stratify the patients with an increased risk to develop brain metastasis in the course of their disease. The experimental preclinical study is based on the design of a cranial irradiation model on athymic female mice previously inoculated, via intracarotid, with selected cells of human breast adenocarcinoma with ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and to develop brain metastases. In this therapeutic model we have optimised both the intracarotid inoculation technique and the dose of whole cranial radiation combined with oral chemotherapy. It is a model easy to apply, reproducible, reliable and economically accessible to preclinical researchers in a Hospital environment with the infrastructure of a Clinical Department of Radiation Oncology. The retrospective clinical study encompases patients from three hospitals diagnosed between 1989 and 2009 with a mean clinical follow-up of six years. The serie includes patients who had not metastatised, patients who had metastatised in other organs without brain involvement and patients with brain metastases, and it has allowed to establish the sensitivity and predictive specificity and the prognostic value of the biomarkers when they relate to brain metastasis free survival, especially in patients with positive hormone receptors and with triple negative tumours. In conclusion, we propose a new guideline of clinical follow-up in breast cancer that help us to an early diagnosis and prevention of the brain metastasis, keeping in mind the importance that such markers have on its prediction and its possible value on the therapeutic decision-making. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Medicina

En este trabajo, podemos ver una intención de conocer con más detalle una época histórica destacada de nuestro país. Sin embargo, pese a la duración de la misma y su importancia, es ampliamente ignorada y desconocida. Tengo la intención de poder mostrar documentos que permitan descubrir una injusticia manifiesta durante y después de la Guerra Civil española. Se podrá ver la represión producida por el bando vencedor sobre aquellos que no estuvieran a favor del régimen, en los expedientes que analizaremos más adelante. Además, se podrá comprobar un procedimiento que vulnera todas las garantías legales y derechos fundamentales. Una de las primeras iniciativas para la reparación del daño causado por aquel entonces es la Ley 52/2007, que reconoce la necesidad de futuras actuaciones para honrar y recuperar a aquellos que se vieron directamente afectados por la represión. Actualmente, la Ley 20/2022, de Memoria Democrática pretende el fomento de la reparación, y recuperar la dignidad de las víctimas de la Guerra Civil., In this work, we can see an intention to get to know in more detail an important historical period in our country. However, despite its duration and importance, it is largely ignored and unknown. I intend to be able to show documents that will allow us to discover a manifest injustice during and after the Spanish Civil War. We will be able to see the repression by the winning side of those who were not in favour of the regime, in the files that we will analyse later on. Furthermore, a procedure that violated all legal guarantees and fundamental rights can be seen. One of the first initiatives for the reparation of the damage caused at that time is Law 52/2007, which recognises the need for future actions to honour and recover those who were directly affected by the repression. Currently, Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory aims to promote reparation and recover the dignity of the victims of the Civil War., Universidad de Granada. Grado en Derecho

A raíz de la Revolución Francesa ocurrida el 14 de julio de 1789, se tambalearon las Monarquías Europeas y apareció una nueva forma de pensar, el Liberalismo, y éste, unido a la Guerra de la Independencia Española, provocaron incontables cambios a la hora de gobernar España. Tras las Abdicaciones del Rey Carlos IV y Fernando VII, y la Guerra de la Independencia, España se vio envuelta en un caos para poder administrar de una manera eficiente el país, y tuvieron que organizarse por sí mismos (sin la figura del Rey). Primero aparecieron las Juntas Provinciales, y éstas, al poco tiempo, decidieron constituir una Junta Central Suprema para poder ir todas en consonancia contra el invasor y asumir el mando en los territorios no conquistados. A la vez fueron formadas las Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias de Cádiz, en la que se reunieron diputados de todas las partes del Reino de España, y debatieron para crear la primera Constitución Española, en la que se daba una cierta protección al pueblo y se repartían los poderes del estado. A causa de la necesidad de una modificación territorial, se necesitaba un acercamiento de la administración al pueblo, y éste se consiguió, durante el tiempo que duró la Constitución de 1812, a través de la creación de Diputaciones Provinciales, las cuales se encargaban de administrar todos los partidos y pueblos dentro de la demarcación de su provincia, crear Ayuntamientos Constitucionales, y ayudar en todo lo posible a las instituciones subordinadas jerárquicamente a ella y a los ciudadanos, para así, desde el Gobierno Central, ayudar a prosperar a todos los territorios., In the awake of the French Revolution on 14 July 1789, the European Monarchies staggered and a new way of thinking appeared, Liberalism, and this one, together with the Spanish War of Independence, caused countless changes in governing Spain. After the Abdications of King Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, and the War of Independence, Spain was e wrapped in chaos in order to efficiently manage the country, and they had to organize themselves (without the King's figure). First the Provincial Boards appeared, and these, before long, they decided to form a Supreme Central Board so that they could all go in line with the invader and asume command in the unconquered territories. At the same time, the General and Extraordinary Courts of Cadiz were formed, in which deputies from all parts of the Kingdom of Spain met, and debated to create the first Spanish Constitution, which gave some protection to the people and distributed the powers of the state. Due to of the need for a territorial change, an approach from the administration to the people was needed, and this was achieved during the duration of the Constitution of 1812, through the creation of Provincial Councils, which were responsable for administering all parties and citizens within the demarcation of their province, creating Constitutional Councils, and to help as much as posible the institutions subordinate hierarchically to it and the citizens, so, from the Central Government, help prosper all territories., Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Derecho Internacional Privado e Historia del Derecho. Curso académico 2020-2021

Orientador: Waldyr Luiz Ribeiro Gallo Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica Resumo: Um dos principais desafios do mundo passou a ser produzir energia limpa, barata e ecologicamente correta para alcançar o desenvolvimento sustentável. A indústria sucroenergética tem mostrado grande potencial para produzi-la utilizando biomassa. Para suprir a produção de açúcar e álcool necessária, suprir todas as necessidades de energia elétrica e até mesmo para vender energia elétrica à rede, sugere-se operar com pressão de vapor superaquecido superior a 60 bar. No entanto, a avaliação do processo de conversão de energia de forma mais eficiente depende do desenvolvimento de diversos parâmetros termodinâmicos. Diante desses desafios, foi desenvolvida uma análise de custo exergético e exergético de uma usina de cana-de-açúcar para identificar as perdas do sistema e por quais razões essas perdas ocorrem no processo de conversão de energia. Este sistema processa mais de 9.000 toneladas de cana-de-açúcar por dia e está equipado com três caldeiras e sete turbinas a vapor de contrapressão. Hoje, esta usina opera com um sistema de cogeração de baixa eficiência baseado em um ciclo de vapor com vapor superaquecido a 22 bar e temperaturas em torno de 285ºC. Nesta usina, nenhuma energia elétrica é vendida à rede e o sistema de cogeração deve suprir todas as necessidades de energia elétrica, bem como as necessidades de energia térmica. Para avaliar o desempenho deste sistema e propor modificações para aumentar a eficiência global, cujos dados foram coletados in situ, o procedimento de cálculo e as propriedades termodinâmicas são compilados no Engineering Equation Solver (EES). Os resultados da análise de exergia demonstram que (1.) A taxa de destruição de exergia através dos gases de escape representa 14.59% da exergia do combustível. Essa destruição de exergia pode ser reduzida usando a temperatura dos gases de exaustão para aumentar a temperatura da água que é alimentada nas caldeiras. (2.) A destruição de exergia em turbinas e válvula de expansão é de 2.71% e 0.36%, respectivamente. (3.) As turbinas estão operando em condições de carga parcial e a válvula de expansão é um dispositivo puramente dissipativo. Por outro lado, o custo exergético pode ordenar os componentes, de acordo com sua destruição de exergia, e mostrar quais componentes devem ter prioridade nas medidas de aprimoramento para aumentar a eficiência do sistema. Os resultados de custo exergético demonstram que (4.) O elemento com maior prioridade são as três caldeiras, com uma diferença de custo relativa de 3.79, 3.79 e 3.58, respectivamente (5.) Os resultados sugerem que quanto mais exergia é destruído para produzir o fluxo, mais caro é o custo exergético unitário; então, o custo exergético está aumentando através do sistema até os produtos finais, (6.) Considerando a energia elétrica como um produto, o custo exergético unitário deste produto é cerca de 3 vezes maior em relação a outros sistemas que produzem o mesmo produto (7.) Os outros componentes mais bem classificados são as turbinas do sistema e a expansão válvula. Portanto, substituir a turbina menos eficiente por um motor elétrico, desativando a válvula de expansão e enviando seu consumo de vapor para a turbina, que é acoplada ao gerador elétrico, parece ser interessante, pois essa turbina tem capacidade para isso. As modificações propostas foram avaliadas e os resultados demonstram que: (8.) Obteve-se um excedente de energia 10,69% maior que a potência do caso real (9.) As eficiências de cogeração de energia e exergia no caso real e no caso proposto são: 62.56% – 17.14% e 63.99% – 18.37%, respectivamente, e (10.) A análise de custo exergético mostra que a formação de custos através do sistema de configuração proposto diminuiu 8.54% em relação ao caso base. Desta forma, este estudo indica que as modificações propostas se mostraram eficazes do ponto de vista termodinâmico e podem ser implementadas para disponibilizar a energia excedente para venda à rede como um projeto futuro. Essas modificações são baseadas apenas na alteração das condições de operação, e não requerem altos investimentos para alterar toda a configuração do sistema de cogeração, ou seja, aumentar as condições de trabalho de pressão para mais de 60 bar Abstract: One of the main challenges in the world has become to produce clean, cheap, and environmentally friendly energy to achieve sustainable development. The sugarcane industry has shown great potential to produce it using biomass. In order to provide the required sugar and alcohol production, supply all-electric power needs, and even for selling electric energy to the grid as well, it is suggested to operate with superheated steam pressure higher than 60 bar. However, the evaluation of the energy conversion process more efficiently depends on the development of several thermodynamics parameters. Facing these challenges, an exergy and exergetic cost analysis of a real-world sugarcane power plant was developed to identify the system losses and for what reasons those losses occur in the energy conversion process. This system process over 9000 tons of sugarcane per day and is equipped with three boilers and seven back pressure steam turbines. Today, this power plant is operating with a low-efficiency cogeneration system based on a steam cycle with superheated steam at 22 bar and a temperature around 285ºC. In this power plant, no electric power is sold to the grid and the cogeneration system must supply all-electric power needs, as well as the thermal power needs. To evaluate the performance of this system and propose modifications to increase the global efficiency, which data was collected in situ, calculation procedure and thermodynamics properties are compiled in Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The exergy analysis results demonstrate that (1.) Exergy destruction rate through exhaust gas represents 14.59% of fuel exergy. This exergy destruction could be reduced by using the exhaust gas temperature to increase the water temperature that is fed in boilers. (2.) Exergy destruction in turbines and expansion valve are 2.71% and 0.36%, respectively. (3.) Turbines are operating at partial load conditions and the expansion valve is a purely dissipative device. On the other hand, the exergetic cost can rank the components, according to their exergy destruction, and show which components should have priority in enhancement measures to increase the efficiency of the system. The exergetic cost results demonstrate that (4.) The element with the highest priority is found to be the three boilers, with a relative cost difference of be 3.79, 3.79, and 3.58, respectively (5.) Results suggest that the more exergy is destroyed to produce the flow, the more expensive is the unit exergetic cost; then, the exergetic cost is increasing through the system to the final products, (6.) Considering electrical power as a product, the unit exergetic cost evaluated here is about 3 times higher compared to the values found in the literature; (7.) The other top-ranked components are the turbines for mechanical power and the expansion valve. Therefore, replacing the less efficient turbine with an electric motor, deactivating the expansion valve, and sending their steam consumption to the turbine, which is coupled to the electric generator, seems to be interesting, since this turbine has the capacity to do it. The proposed modifications were evaluated and the results demonstrate that: (8.) A surplus energy of 10.69% greater than the power output of the actual case was obtained, which could be sold to the local electric distributor (9.) The energy and exergy cogeneration efficiencies in the real case and proposed case are: 62.56% – 17.14% and 63.99% – 18.37%, respectively, and (10.) The exergetic costy analysis shows that the cost formation through the proposed configuration system has decreased by 8.54% comparing to the base case. In this manner, this study indicates that proposed modifications have been proved to be effective from a thermodynamics point of view and can be implemented to make the surplus energy available for sale to the grid as a future project. Since these modifications are based only on the change of the operation conditions and do not require high investments to change all cogeneration system configurations i.e., increase pressure working conditions above 60 bar Mestrado Térmica e Fluídos Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica CAPES 88887.499814/2020-00