The Rise of a New Genre: Dystopian Fantasy in Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire

Even though innovation inside literary fiction has been widely studied, there is scarce information and research carried out about the new subgenres that appear as a product of the hybridization of traditional genres. This undergraduate dissertation tries to fill that empty space by analyzing a potential new subgenre, dystopian fantasy. This is achieved by constructing a framework consisting of the most relevant elements for both fantasy and dystopian fiction and using it to analyze Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire. The selection of this specific novel derives from its massive success and from the influence it has had in other media despite its contemporaneity. The analysis of this novel provides tangible examples, which in turn solidify the theoretical framework and make it more reliable. The consolidation of this framework promotes the further exploration and analysis of other comparable stories, as a means to relabel them as necessary.Aunque la innovación en la ficción literaria se ha estudiado de manera exhaustiva, hay escasa información y estudios sobre los nuevos subgéneros que han surgido de la hibridación de los géneros tradicionales. Este trabajo de fin de grado intenta llenar ese vacío con el análisis de un posible nuevo subgénero, la fantasía distópica. Para ello, se ha construído un marco teórico formado por los elementos más relevantes de la ficción fantástica y de la distópica, que se utilizan para analizar El Imperio Final, de Brandon Sanderson. La elección de esta novela deriva de su éxito masivo y de su influencia en otros medios a pesar de su contemporaneidad. El análisis de esta novela proporciona ejemplos tangibles, que a su vez solidifican el marco teórico y lo hacen más fiable. La consolidación de este marco promueve la exploración y análisis de otras historias similares, como método para reetiquetarlas según sea necesario.Departamento de Filología InglesaGrado en Estudios Inglese

Síntesi de nous complexes de coordinació 3d o 4f amb bases de Schiff. Estudi estructural i magnètic

Treballs Finals de Grau de Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Any: 2021, Tutor: Mohammed Salah El FallahThe main goal of this work was to obtain 3d and 4f polynuclear coordination compounds with Schiff bases as ligands and the study of their magnetic and structural properties. A few trials were carried out using Ni(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Gd(III) and Dy(III), although only two compounds using Cu(II) and Mn(II) were able to crystallize. Their structures were successfully determined by X-ray diffraction. The copper compound crystallized as a dinuclear unit with formula C30H30Cl2Cu2N6O14, and a monomeric unit with formula C15H17Cl2CuN3O3 that co-crystallizes in the same crystal structure. The manganese complex was a dinuclear complex with formula C30H34Cl2Mn2N6O4 bridged by two chloride anions. Instead of the desired Schiff base, two new types of ligands were obtained due to an unexpected cyclization of one of the hydroxy groups leading to an oxazolidine ring in the first compound, and a rare double oxazolidine ring ligand that is able to complex the manganese (II) atoms in the second compound. Magnetic susceptibility measures were performed for both compounds. Compound 1 exhibits a weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the two Cu(II) metal ions, with an exchange constant J=-0.67 cm-1. Compound 2 exhibits a very weak antiferromagnetic coupling between the two Mn(II) metal ions, with an exchange constant J=-0.24 cm-

Gestión de créditos y cobranzas, y la rentabilidad. Revisión de la Literatura

RESUMEN El presente artículo es producto de una revisión sistemática que tuvo como objetivo establecer y contrastar las metodologías y hallazgos principalmente que guarden relación con el tema de estudio gestión de créditos y cobranza, y la rentabilidad, permitiendo al lector conocer e introducirse en el estudio y análisis de las mismas. Para ello, las palabras claves que se utilizaron en la indagación y recopilación fueron “créditos”, “cobranzas” y “rentabilidad”. El resultado de tal búsqueda, fue la obtención de 112 artículos científicos, mismos que se vinieron reduciendo a 13 al pasar por los parámetros de selección dispuestos por dos fases. Sus elementos metodológicos más resaltantes fueron el diseño longitudinal, el uso de sistemas estadísticos interpuestos por razones financieras y análisis de estados financieros en el sector empresarial. La principal conclusión relaciona de forma significativa el proceso de la gestión de créditos y cobranzas, y la rentabilidad, debido a factores como el mal manejo de dicha área, sobrexposición de créditos otorgados y aumento de la cartera de morosidad. PALABRAS CLAVE: gestión de créditos, créditos, cobranzas, rentabilidad, cuentas por cobrar, análisis financiero

Stellar activity analysis of Barnard’s Star: very slow rotation and evidence for long-term activity cycle

The search for Earth-like planets around late-type stars using ultrastable spectrographs requires a very precise characterization of the stellar activity and the magnetic cycle of the star, since these phenomena induce radial velocity (RV) signals that can be misinterpreted as planetary signals. Among the nearby stars, we have selected Barnard’s Star (Gl 699) to carry out a characterization of these phenomena using a set of spectroscopic data that covers about 14.5 yr and comes from seven different spectrographs: HARPS, HARPS-N, CARMENES, HIRES, UVES, APF, and PFS; and a set of photometric data that covers about 15.1 yr and comes from four different photometric sources: ASAS, FCAPT–RCT, AAVSO, and SNO. We have measured different chromospheric activity indicators (H α, Ca II HK, and Na I D), as well as the full width at half-maximum (FWHM), of the cross-correlation function computed for a sub-set of the spectroscopic data. The analysis of generalized Lomb–Scargle periodograms of the time series of different activity indicators reveals that the rotation period of the star is 145 ± 15 d, consistent with the expected rotation period according to the low activity level of the star and previous claims. The upper limit of the predicted activity-induced RV signal corresponding to this rotation period is about 1 m s^(−1). We also find evidence of a long-term cycle of 10 ± 2 yr that is consistent with previous estimates of magnetic cycles from photometric time series in other M stars of similar activity levels. The available photometric data of the star also support the detection of both the long-term and the rotation signals

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs Variability on long timescales as seen in chromospheric indicators

© The Authors 2023. Artículo firmado por 22 autores. B.F. acknowledges funding by the DFG under Schm 1032/69-1. We thank our referee for the careful reading and the suggestions for improvement. CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronómico Hispanoen Andalucía de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almería, Spain). We acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the priority programme SPP 1992 “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets” (JE 701/5-1), and from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación 10.13039/501100011033 of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the ERDF “A way of making Europe” through projects PID2019-109522GB- C5[1:4], PGC2018-098153-B-C33, and the Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María de Maeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (CEX2019- 000920-S), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), and Centro de Astrobiología (MDM-2017-0737), and the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Landessternwarte Königstuhl, Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, Institut für Astrophysik Göttingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiología and Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars”, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Württemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucía.It is clearly established that the Sun has an 11-yr cycle that is caused by its internal magnetic field. Such a cycle is also observed in a sample of M dwarfs. In the framework of exoplanet detection or atmospheric characterisation of exoplanets, the activity status of the host star plays a crucial role, and inactive states are preferable for such studies. This means that it is important to know the activity cycles of these stars. We study systematic long-term variability in a sample of 211 M dwarfs observed with CARMENES, the high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectrograph at Calar Alto Observatory. In an automatic search using time series of different activity indicators, we identified 26 stars with linear or quadratic trends or with potentially cyclic behaviour. Additionally, we performed an independent search in archival R′_(HK) data collected from different instruments whose time baselines were usually much longer. These data are available for a subset of 186 of our sample stars. Our search revealed 22 cycle candidates in the data. We found that the percentage of stars showing long-term variations drops dramatically to the latest M dwarfs. Moreover, we found that the pseudo-equivalent width (pEW) of the Hα and Ca II infrared triplet more often triggers automatic detections of long-term variations than the TiO index, differential line width, chromatic index, or radial velocity. This is in line with our comparison of the median relative amplitudes of the different indicators. For stars that trigger our automatic detection, this leads to the highest amplitude variation in R′_(HK), followed by pEW(Hα), pEW(Ca II IRT), and the TiO index.Depto. de Física de la Tierra y AstrofísicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEDFGDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the priority programme SPP 1992 “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets”Agencia Estatal de InvestigaciónERDF “A way of making Europe”Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María de Maeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de CanariasInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaCentro de AstrobiologíaGeneralitat de Catalunya/CERCAMax-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)European Union through FEDER/ERFMax-Planck-Institut für AstronomieInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaLandessternwarte KönigstuhlInstitut de Ciències de l’EspaiInstitut für Astrophysik GöttingenUniversidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Thüringer Landessternwarte TautenburgInstituto de Astrofísica de CanariasHamburger SternwarteCentro de Astrobiología and Centro Astronómico Hispano-AlemánMinisterio de EconomíaGerman Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation ProgrammeDFG Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars”Klaus Tschira StiftungStates of Baden-Württemberg and NiedersachsenJunta de Andalucíapu

Atmospheric characterization of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33b Detection of Ti and V emission lines and retrieval of a broadened line profile

© D. Cont et al. 2022. Artículo firmado por 20 autores. The authors thank the referee for very useful comments and suggestions. CARMENES is an instrument at the Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía (CAHA) at Calar Alto (Almería, Spain), operated jointly by the Junta de Andalucía and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC). CARMENES was funded by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through projects FICTS-2011-02, ICTS-2017-07-CAHA-4, and CAHA16-CE-3978, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Landessternwarte Königstuhl, Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, Institut für Astrophysik Göttingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiología and Centro Astronómico Hispano-Alemán), with additional contributions by the MINECO, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars”, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Württemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucía. We acknowledge financial support from the DFG through Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars” (RE 1664/21-1); the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the ERDF “A way of making Europe” through projects PID2019-109522GB-C5[1:4], PID2019- 110689RB-I00, and the Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María de Maeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (CEX2019-000920-S), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709), and Centro de Astrobiología (MDM-2017-0737); the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreements Nos. 832428-Origins and 694513, and under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 895525; and the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme.Ultra-hot Jupiters are highly irradiated gas giant exoplanets on close-in orbits around their host stars. The dayside atmospheres of these objects strongly emit thermal radiation due to their elevated temperatures, making them prime targets for characterization by emission spectroscopy. We analyzed high-resolution spectra from CARMENES, HARPS-N, and ESPaDOnS taken over eight observation nights to study the emission spectrum of WASP-33b and draw conclusions about its atmosphere. By applying the cross-correlation technique, we detected the spectral signatures of Ti I, V I, and a tentative signal of Ti II for the first time via emission spectroscopy. These detections are an important finding because of the fundamental role of Ti- and V-bearing species in the planetary energy balance. Moreover, we assessed and confirm the presence of OH, Fe I, and Si I from previous studies. The spectral lines are all detected in emission, which unambiguously proves the presence of an inverted temperature profile in the planetary atmosphere. By performing retrievals on the emission lines of all the detected species, we determined a relatively weak atmospheric thermal inversion extending from approximately 3400 to 4000 K. We infer a supersolar metallicity close to 1.5 dex in the planetary atmosphere, and find that its emission signature undergoes significant line broadening with a Gaussian full width at half maximum of about 4.5 km s^(−1) . Also, we find that the atmospheric temperature profile retrieved at orbital phases far from the secondary eclipse is about 300 to 700 K cooler than that measured close to the secondary eclipse, which is consistent with different day- and nightside temperatures. Moreover, retrievals performed on the emission lines of the individual chemical species lead to consistent results, which gives additional confidence to our retrieval method. Increasing the number of species included in the retrieval and expanding the set of retrieved atmospheric parameters will further advance our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres.Depto. de Física de la Tierra y AstrofísicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEMax-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Max-Planck-Institut für AstronomieInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaLandessternwarte KönigstuhlInstitut de Ciències de l’EspaiInstitut für Astrophysik GöttingenUniversidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)Thüringer Landessternwarte TautenburgInstituto de Astrofísica de CanariasHamburger SternwarteCentro de AstrobiologíaDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red Stars”Klaus Tschira StiftungStates of Baden-Württemberg and NiedersachsenJunta de AndalucíaAgencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónERDF “A way of making Europe”Centre of Excellence “Severo Ochoa” and “María de Maeztu” awards to the Instituto de Astrofísica de CanariasInstituto de Astrofísica de AndalucíaCentro de AstrobiologíaEuropean Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020Marie Skłodowska-CurieGeneralitat de Catalunya/CERCACentro Astronómico Hispano-Alemánpu

La matanza del cerdo

Treball presentat a l'assignatura de Deontologia i Veterinària Legal (21223

Uso por la población española de las TIC. Especial importancia durante la pandemia del Covid-19

La pandemia del COVID-19 ha traído consigo medidas que requieren largos periodos de confinamiento y aislamiento social, por lo que considero que en el año 2020 las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) han tenido especial relevancia, ya que han facilitado el día a día de la población, manteniéndonos interconectados en una situación tan compleja.Grado en Comerci

Análisis funcional de proteínas implicadas en el mantenimiento de la estabilidad cromosómica en mamíferos

[ES]Análisis funcional de las proteínas implicadas en el mantenimiento de la estabilidad cromosómica en mamíferos. La liberación secuencial de los complejos de cohesina tanto durante la mitosis y la meiosis es esencial para la segregación cromosómica precisa. Esta protección centromérica Shugoshin dependiente de la vía durante la profase mitótica y la primera división meiótica es, pues, crucial. Por otra parte, la cleaveage proteolítica por la separación en subunidades de los kleisin, que cierran estos complejos, es esencial para su disociación del ADN durante la mitosis y la meiosis. En el presente trabajo, hemos abordado la función mitótica de los mamíferos SGOL2 Shugoshin mediante la generación de un modelo de ratón deficiente en SGOL2. El análisis funcional del fenotipo del ratón y el estudio detallado de la mitosis de las células primarias, nos permitió determinar que SGOL2 es prescindible para la protección de la cohesión centromérica durante la profase de la vía y para la segregación correcta de los cromosomas durante la mitosis. Un análisis de transcriptoma de una pérdida prematura del modelo meiótica centroméricas cohesión debido a la ausencia de SGOL2, reveló que HDAC11 es uno de los genes que son regulados a la baja en los testículos. Hemos generado ratones knock-out para este histona desacetilasa, y se muestra que HDAC11 no interfiere con la progresión de la meiosis. Además, hemos determinado que HDAC11 modula la expresión de genes implicados en la transducción de los estímulos olfativos en testículos. Posteriormente, hemos abordado la búsqueda de nuevos paralogs de cohesin, que ha conducido a la identificación y caracterización bioquímica de un nuevo miembro de la familia kleisin. Esta nueva kleisin constituye un complejo específico de meiosis cohesin que colocaliza con elementos axiales del complejo sinaptonémico de meiocytes. Finalmente, se ha determinado que la separasa desempeña un papel protector contra la progresión de los tumores de piel inducidos químicamente.[EN]Functional Analysis of the Proteins Involved in Maintaining Chromosome Stability in Mammals. The sequential release of the cohesin complexes during both vertebrate mitosis and meiosis is essential for accurate chromosome segregation. This shugoshin-dependent centromeric protection during the mitotic prophase pathway and the first meiotic division is thus crucial. Moreover, the proteolytic cleaveage by Separase of the kleisin-subunits, which close these complexes, is essential for their dissociation of the DNA during mitosis and meiosis. In the present work, we have addressed the mitotic function of the mammalian shugoshin SGOL2 by generating a SGOL2-deficient mouse model. The functional analysis of the mouse phenotype and the detailed study of the mitosis of its primary cells, enabled us to determine that SGOL2 is dispensable for the protection of centromeric cohesion during the prophase pathway and for the correct segregation of chromosomes during mitosis. A transcriptomic analysis of a premature loss of meiotic centromeric cohesion model due to the absence of SGOL2, revealed that HDAC11 is one of the genes that are downregulated in testis. We have generated a constitutive knock-out mice for this histone deacetylase, and shown that HDAC11 does not interfere with meiosis progression. Moreover, we have determined that HDAC11 modulates the expression of genes involved in the transduction of olfactory stimuli on testes. Subsequently, we have addressed the search of new paralogs of cohesin, which has led to the identification and biochemical characterization of a new member of the kleisin family. This new kleisin constitutes a meiosis-specific cohesin complex that colocalizes with axial elements of the synaptonemal complex of meiocytes. Finally, we have determined that Separase plays a protective role against progression of chemically induced skin tumors