Variation in motion events: Theory and applications

This chapter analyses the role of intratypological and dialectal variation in the lexicalisation of motion events (Talmy 1991, 2000) and its application to second language acquisition. The first part discusses intratypological variation with respect to the semantic component of Path and proposes a cline of Path salience on the basis of twenty-one languages. Then, it describes dialectal variation in Spanish and Aragonese. Results show that dialects within these two Romance languages differ in the type of linguistic resources they use as well as in their quality and quantity. The second part briefly reviews some L2 problematic areas that can benefit from these approaches such as conceptual transfer, deixis, and idiomaticity. Examples are drawn from L2 Spanish and L2 Basque

Economic Growth and Electricity Consumption in 12 European Countries: A Causality Analysis Using Panel Data

We apply recent panel methodology to investigate the relationship between electricity consumption and real GDP for a set of 12 European Union countries using annual data for the period 1970-2004. Recently developed tests for panel unit roots, cointegration in heterogeneous panels and panel causality are employed. The results show a long-run relationship between the series. We estimate this relationship and test for causality. We find no short-run causality in any direction. These results might help to design appropriate electricity consumption policies in the sample countries, as well as investment policies in interconnections to build a single European market for electricity.electricity consumption, economic growth, panel cointegration, panel causality

Market Power in the Spanish Electricity Auction

Published as an article in: Journal of Regulatory Economics, 2010, vol. 37, issue 1, pages 42-69.market power, electricity market

The Impact of Regulation on Pricing Behavior in the Spanish Electricity Market

In this paper we measure the impact of regulatory measures which affected the Spanish electricity wholesale market in the period 2002-2005. Our approach is based on the fact that regulation changes firms' incentives and therefore their market behavior. In the absence of any regulation firms would choose profit- maximizing prices on their residual demands so that the observed gap between optimal and actual prices provides a measure of the effect of regulation. Our results indicate that regulation has decreased wholesale prices considerably, but became less effective at the end of the sample period which explains the change of regulatory regime introduced in 2006.regulation, pricing, electricity market

A Supply Function Competition Model for the Spanish Wholesale Electricity Market

We model the Spanish wholesale market as a multiplant linear supply function competition model. According to the theory, the larger generators should have supply curves for each plant which are to the left of the supply curves of plants owned by smaller generators. We test this prediction for fuel plants using data from the Spanish Market Operator (OMEL) from May 2001 to December 2003. Our results indicate that the prediction of the model holds.supply function competition, electricity market

A note on collusion sustainability with optimal punishments and detection lags

In this note we characterize optimal punishments with detection lags when the market consists of n oligopolistic firms. We extend a previous note by Colombo and Labrecciosa (2006) [Colombo, L., and Labrecciosa, P., 2006. Optimal punishments with detection lags. Economic Letters 92, 198-201] to show how in the presence of detection lags optimal punish- ments fail to restore cooperation also in markets with a low number of firms.optimal punishments, detection lags, collusion sustainability

The role of force dynamics and intentionality in the reconstruction of L2 verb meanings:A Danish-Spanish bidirectional study

This paper examines the role of force dynamics and intentionality in the description of placement events by two groups of native speakers of typologically and genetically different languages, Danish and Spanish, and by two groups of intermediate adult learners, Danish learners of L2 Spanish and Spanish learners of L2 Danish. The results of the study showed that (a) force dynamics and intentionality are important semantic components in both languages, but their distribution and relative focus differed crosslinguistically, and (b) the two learner groups had difficulties in reconstructing the meanings of the L2 verbs involving these two semantic components. Learning difficulties were observed when moving from a less to a more complex L2 system, when moving in the opposite direction, i.e., from a more to a less complex L2 system and when moving to an L2 system that is as complex as the learners native one

Top Quarks, Axigluons and Charge Asymmetries at Hadron Colliders

Axigluons are colored heavy neutral gauge boson that couple to quarks through an axial vector current and the same strong coupling as gluons. The most important model-independent manifestation of axigluons is the generation of a forward--backward asymmetry in top-antitop quark production at $p\bar{p}$ collisions which originates from the charge asymmetry. We update our previous analysis for the inclusive QCD induced forward--backward asymmetry and define a new observable which is more sensitive to the effect than the forward--backward asymmetry. Furthermore, we find a lower limit of 1.2 TeV at 90% C.L. on the axigluon mass from recent measurements of the asymmetry at Tevatron. Also at LHC, the charge asymmetry is sizable in suitably selected samples. We evaluate this asymmetry in the central region for different selection cuts and show that, like at Tevatron, the charge asymmetry can probe larger values of the axigluon mass than the dijet mass distribution.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Dynamics of saturn's polar regions

132 p.En esta tesis, estudiamos la dinámica de las regiones polares de Saturno a nivel de las nubes de amoniaco desde 60º a 90º latitud mediante el análisis de imágenes multiespectrales de muy alta resolución capturadas por las cámaras del instrumento Imaging Science System (ISS) de la nave Cassini entre Octubre 2006 y Septiembre 2014 en longitudes de onda del visible entre el ultravioleta (~ 400 nm) y el infrarrojo cercano (~ 1000 nm) y nos centramos en la comparación de la dinámica entre ambas regiones polares. Con el fin de estudiar la dinámica de estas regiones, medimos el movimiento horizontal de las nubes y construimos mapas de viento zonal y meridional, junto con perfiles de viento zonal medio, desde 60º hasta el polo. Por otro lado, construimos mapas de vorticidad relativa y mapas bisimensionales de vorticidad potencial tanto de Ertel como quasi-geostrófica. Además, con el propósito de entender la naturaleza de la dinámica observada en ambas regiones polares, caracterizamos la morfología nubosa de la región polar norte de Saturno a diferentes longitudes de onda y analizamos su variación temporal. Finalmente, estudiamos varias posibles interpretaciones de la naturaleza del Hexágono, utilizando los vientos obtenidos al inicio de la tesis. Los resultados de este estudio nos muestran que la dinámica en ambas regiones polares es muy similar, alcanzando valores tanto de velocidades zonales como de vorticidades muy similares en ambos casos. Por otro lado vemos que, a pesar de observar variaciones en la apariencia del vórtice polar norte y actividad de tipo convectiva en el Hexágono, ninguna de estas estructuras muestra cambios estacionales en su dinámica