Increasing access to credit through reforming secured transactions in the MENA Region

This paper provides a comparative summary of secured transactions systems related to the use of movable property as collateral in the MENA region vis a vis international practices in countries with modern secured transactions systems. The paper sets out the importance of introducing reforms in the area of secured transactions with the objective of increasing access to credit for businesses, particularly SMEs. The MENA region clearly lags behind all other regions in the introduction of secured transactions reforms. The paper summarizes many of the weaknesses common across the region. The two main critical areas that need urgent reforms are the creation of modern secured transactions laws and electronic movable collateral registries, and the need to improve enforcement mechanisms for security interests in movable property.Debt Markets,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Access to Finance,Emerging Markets,E-Business

El Romancero nuevo: recuperaciones, publicaciones y estudios en el tercer cuarto del siglo XX (1953-1973)

El trabajo que presento analiza las publicaciones y estudios que, durante el tercer cuarto del siglo xx, es decir, entre 1953 y 1973, llevaron a cabo Menéndez Pidal, Fernández Montesinos, Rodríguez-Moñino y otros eruditos dando a conocer, por vez primera, textos de los romances procedentes de los cancioneros, romanceros, pliegos sueltos y manuscritos que permanecían olvidados desde principios del siglo xviii. Este estudio se inscribe en un trabajo más amplio, del que hace tiempo vengo ocupándome, que pretende reconstruir la historia del Romancero nuevo, desde su aparición a fines del siglo xvi hasta nuestros días.This paper analyses publications and studies by scholars including Menéndez Pidal, Fernández Montesinos and Rodríguez-Moñino, who brought to light —for the first time during the third quarter of the 20th Century (1953- 1973)— ballads from the Romancero nuevo. These texts: songbooks, ballads, broadsides and manuscripts, had remained forgotten since the beginning of the 18th Century. This study is part of a wider work that aims to reconstruct the history of the new ballad from its origins, at the end of the 16th Century, up to the present day

Latin American Studies: Literary, Cultural, and Comparative Theory

In Latin American Studies: Literary, Cultural, and Comparative Theory, Román de la Campa explores the post-1989 era of Latin American literary studies, particularly the way in which theoretical production has responded to the collapse of left-wing state projects and the growing influence of market forces in academia. De la Campa suggests that in this context it becomes even more important to study the different ways in which national and regional imaginaries continue to shape Latin American literary studies in both Latin America and the United States. He asks whether we are witnessing the onset of new paradigms better able to comprehend or articulate the field in its ever-increasing complexity or a turn toward projects that are both more hermetic in their regional or national scope of application, as well as more immanent in their capacity to absorb difference in the abstract. De la Campa contends that the shifting grounds for Latin American postmodernism are particularly illustrative of how the post-1989 era converges on Latin American literary studies. As an example, he surveys the postcolonial turn, particularly as it pertains to two differing readings of testimonio, one largely articulated in the United States through the work of John Beverley and subaltern post-symbolic aesthetics, the other in Chile through the work of Nelly Richard\u27s cultural critique of the dictatorship and post-dictatorship. According to de la Campa the current state of Latin American literary and cultural studies calls for a new comparativism willing to recognize a growing field of contradictory differences among nations, regions, and scholars

El Romancero Nuevo en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX (1856-1899)

Este trabajo es parte de una serie de estudios que vengo desarrollando desde hace tiempo, que me permitirá valorar nuevamente desde la perpectiva actual, con mejores instrumentos y una visión más moderna, la historia de los estudios del Romancero nuevo. En ellos me ocupé tanto del periodo que cubre el siglo XVIII y primera mitad del siglo XIX (de 1700 a 1856) como de la etapa que abarca desde fines del siglo XIX hasta la primera mitad del siglo XX (de 1899 a 1953). Ahora me propongo analizar el periodo que cubre la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, que se extiende desde el año 1856 hasta el año 1899, es decir, entre la aparición de la antología de Ferdinand Wolf y Konrad Hofmann y los primeros estudios de Ramón Menéndez Pidal, quien vuelve a considerar al Romancero nuevo como parte no despreciable dentro de la historia general del Romancero

Behavioral-based algorithms for process model simplification

The analysis of processes, either by Business Process Management (BPM) or Process Mining (PM) techniques, has become a must for every organization in order to improve their performance. The role of the process model, a diagrammatic representation of the process, is crucial in most of the BPM and PM phases. During past years, the amount of process-related data that has been gathered by information systems has greatly increased. With more information and behavior related to the processes being recorded, the apparition of complex process models ---with hundreds of edges and activities--- has become more common, hindering the analysis of the process during most stages of BPM and PM. For this reason, the simplification of complex process models is a promising research field that can help the analysis of complex processes

Los inicios modernos en los estudios de cancionero, 1850-1865

[Resumo] A investigación sobre cancioneiros, tanto en España coma en Europa, iniciada a mediados do século XIX, tiña orientado os seus esforzos nunha líña que deixou trazos rastreabeis até a guerra civil española. O seu comezo pódese localizar na publicación do Cancioneiro de Baena, por P. J. Pidal en 1851. Con este traballo preténdese analizar a historia dos estudos da poesía de cancioneiro no periodo que vai de 1850 a 1865, é dicir, entre a impresión moderna do Cancionero de Baena (1851) e a Historia crítica de la Literatura Española de Amador de los Ríos (1865).[Resumen] La investigación sobre cancioneros, tanto en España como en Europa, iniciada a mediados del siglo XIX, había orientado sus esfuerzos en una línea cuya continuidad puede rastrearse hasta la guerra civil española. Su comienzo puede localizarse con la publicación del Cancionero de Baena, por P. J. Pidal en 1851. Con este trabajo se pretende analizar la historia de los estudios de la poesía cancioneril en el periodo que va de 1850 a 1865, es decir, entre la impresión moderna del Cancionero de Baena (1851) y la Historia crítica de la Literatura Española de Amador de los Ríos (1865).[Abstract] Cancionero research, in both Spain and Europe, began in the middle of the 19th century and pursued a line of investigation which can be traced continuously up to the Spanish Civil War. It can be dated from the publication of the Cancionero de Baena by P. J. Pidal in 1851. The aim of this article is to analyse the history of cancionero studies in the period 1850-1865, that is, from the first modern edition of the Cancionero de Baena (1851) to the Historia crítica de la Literatura Española by Amador de los Ríos (1865

La mirada de una abuela: Las relaciones afectivas y las ideas sobre la educación infantil en las cartas de María Luisa de Parma, reina de España, a la infanta María Luisa, reina de Etruria

María Luisa de Parma, queen of Spain, has been one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Hispanic Monarchy. Much negativity has been written about her, including her interference in politics, alleged promiscuity, her relationship with Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, and her relationship with her children. Despite this, evidence suggests she had a strong affection for her third daughter, the Infanta María Luisa, who married her cousin, Prince Louis of Bourbon. María Luisa played a significant role in advising her daughter on the upbringing of her grandchildren, showing a conservative approach to education with a focus on religion. However, she also supported innovative ideas like vaccination. Her correspondence reveals a caring grandmother, deeply concerned about the well-being and upbringing of her grandchildren, despite the physical distance separating them

Work-Life Balance of Sea Workers: Special Features and Regulations

[Resumo] Nun sentido amplo, o termo conciliación fai referencia ao desenvolvemento pleno das persoas nos ámbitos do traballo, afectivo, familiar, persoal, de lecer, estudo e investigación, e tamén a dispor de tempo propio; e, desde esta perspectiva, a conciliación preséntase como un dereito básico ou fundamental, como unha parte indisociable do propio ámbito laboral. A realidade social e laboral amósanos, porén, unha infinidade de obstáculos relacionados coa conciliación laboral e familiar para todos os traballadores. Estas dificultades de conciliación son aínda máis inxentes para os traballadores do mar, cuxas especiais condicións laborais espazo-temporais deron lugar a que os termos conciliación e mar sexan historicamente incompatibles. Cómpre termos en conta a este respecto que o buque é, ante todo, un sistema de persoas xestionado e tripulado por homes e mulleres con necesidades e expectativas laborais e sociais reais, que teñen que traballar e convivir durante longos períodos de tempo con persoas doutras nacionalidades, culturas, linguas e relixións nun espazo confinado e en case total illamento dos seus familiares e amigos. A pesar de que as actividades relacionadas coa pesca e o transporte marítimo son básicas e primordiais para a economía nos niveis rexional, nacional e internacional, as investigacións sobre as repercusións que o traballo a bordo ten sobre os mariños e a súa contorna familiar son escasas. Así, neste traballo preténdese botar un pouco de luz sobre as dificultades particulares que o traballo no mar presenta para a conciliación laboral, familiar e persoal dos traballadores do sector marítimo. Analízanse ademais diversas normativas de ámbito nacional e internacional que tratan o tema da conciliación ou cuxos criterios poderían ser aplicados co fin de mellorar este aspecto en particular no caso dos traballadores do mar. Por último proponse a planificación profesional como ferramenta para favorecer as condicións de traballo a bordo e a relación traballo-familia destes traballadores.[Abstract] In a broad sense, the concept work-life balance is referenced to the full development of people in work, love, family, personal, leisure, study and research fields, and it also includes having time for oneself. From this perspective work-life balance is presented as a basic or fundamental right, as an inseparable part of the labour activity. However the social and labour reality shows us a lot of difficulties related with the work-life balance of all workers. These difficulties become more pronounced for sea workers, whose special time-space labour conditions have given rise to a historical incompatibility between the concepts work-life balance and work at sea. Furthermore it is necessary to take into account that a ship is a people system, managed and crewed by men and women with real needs and real labour and social expectations, that have to work and live together with people from other countries, with other cultures, tongues and religions, confined during long periods of time and in almost total isolation regarding their families and friends. However, and although the activities related with fishing and maritime transport fields are of paramount importance for regional, national and international economy, issues related with the social life of sea workers have been scarcely studied until now. As a result there are few research publications on onboard working effects to seafarers and their families’ social relationships. The present paper sheds some light on the special difficulties of work at sea in relation to work-life balance of maritime sector workers. Also several national and international regulations on work-life balance are analyzed as well as the criteria that could be applied to sea workers with the aim of improving this issue. Finally career mapping is proposed as a tool to improve on board working conditions and to make easier the work-family balance of sea workers