The use of SVAR analysis in determining the effects of ?scal shocks in Croatia

In this paper we use multivariate Blanchard-Perotti SVAR methodology to analyze disaggregated short-term effects of fiscal policy on economic activity, inflation and short-term interest rates. The results suggest that the effects of government expenditure shocks and the shock of government revenues are relatively the highest on interest rates and the lowest on inflation. A tax shock in the short term increases the inflation rate and also decreases the short-term interest rate, and after one year stabilization occurs at the initial level, while spending shock leads to a reverse effect. The effects of fiscal policies on the proxy variable of output, i.e. industrial production, are less economically intuitive, because the shock of expenditure decreases and revenue shock permanently increases industrial production. The empirical result shows that a tax shock has a permanent effect on future taxes; while future levels of government spending are not related to current expenditure shocks. Interactions between the components of fiscal policy are also examined and it is concluded that a tax shock increases expenditures permanently, while an expenditure shock does not significantly affect government revenues, which is consistent with the tendency of growth in public debt. Furthermore, it was found that government revenue and expenditure shocks do not have a mirror effect, which justifies disaggregated analysis of fiscal policy shocks.model, fiscal shocks, government revenue, government spending

Cross-talk between topological defects in different fields revealed by nematic microfluidics

Topological defects are singularities in material fields that play a vital role across a range of systems: from cosmic microwave background polarization to superconductors, and biological materials. Although topological defects and their mutual interactions have been extensively studied, little is known about the interplay between defects in different fields -- especially when they co-evolve -- within the same physical system. Here, using nematic microfluidics, we study the cross-talk of topological defects in two different material fields -- the velocity field and the molecular orientational field. Specifically, we generate hydrodynamic stagnation points of different topological charges at the center of star-shaped microfluidic junctions, which then interact with emergent topological defects in the orientational field of the nematic director. We combine experiments, and analytical and numerical calculations to demonstrate that a hydrodynamic singularity of given topological charge can nucleate a nematic defect of equal topological charge, and corroborate this by creating $-1$, $-2$ and $-3$ topological defects in $4-$, $6-$, and $8-$arm junctions. Our work is an attempt toward understanding materials that are governed by distinctly multi-field topology, where disparate topology-carrying fields are coupled, and concertedly determine the material properties and response.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure

Sv. Štefan v Zanigradu, praznik sorodstva, vasi in soseske

Sv. Štefan je najpomembnejši praznik Zanigrada, opuščene vasi v občini Koper v slovenski Istri. Kljub temu, da je v vasi več kot deset let živel samo še en prebivalec in po njegovi smrti l. 1992 nihče več, se vsako leto na praznik zberejo nekdanji vaščani z družinami, njihovi sorodniki in prijatelji. Po l. 1995 je v praznovanje vključeno tudi blagoslavljanje konj, prej pa praznovanje s konji ni imelo zveze, saj konj v vasi niso imeli. Avtorica ugotavlja, da gre, kljub spremenjenemu zunanjemu dogajanju, še vedno za praznik sorodnikov, vaščanov in sosedov. *** St. Stephen’s Day is the most important holiday in Zanigrad, an unpopulated village situated in the municipality of Koper in Slovenian Istria. The village, which had been occupied by only one villager for over a decade, became uninhabited after his death in 1992. The yearly celebration of St. Stephen’s Day, however, brings together former villagers, their families, relatives, and friends. Even though the village has never had any horses, after 1995 the celebration includes the blessing of horses, a ceremony that has no connection with the past. Yet despite this introduction of new elements St. Stephen’s Day in Zanigrad remains the holiday of relatives, villagers, and neighbors

Vstop v Evropsko unijo v dolini Idrije

Članek obravnava dogodke v dolini reke Idrije na italijansko- slovenski meji ob vstopu Slovenije v EU 1. maja 2004. Gre za povezano kulturno regijo na obeh straneh reke, ki je bila že v preteklih stoletjih mejna, a jo je najbolj prizadela meja med Italijo in Jugoslavijo po 2. svetovni vojni. Prekinila je vitalne povezave, zato so kraji na obeh straneh meje nazadovali. Na krajevni proslavi in srečanjih domačinov v naslednjih mesecih je prišla do izraza skupna tradicionalna kultura, ne kot nostalgična rekonstrukcija, ampak kot izraz olajšanja po zgodovinskih travmah. *** Analyzed are the events that had taken place in the Idrija River Valley when Slovenia joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. The villages on both sides of the river were the ones most affected by the newly established border between Italy and Yugoslavia after the Second World War. The months following the entrance of Slovenia in the European Union were marked by a number of festivities, cultural events, and encounters organized by the local population. These reflect the common traditional cultural elements that, rather than a nostalgic reconstruction, express a sincere relief after the traumas of the past

Boundary element formulations for the numerical solution of two-dimensional diffusion problems with variable coefficients

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Computers & Mathematics with Applications. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.This paper presents new formulations of the radial integration boundary integral equation (RIBIE) and the radial integration boundary integro-differential equation (RIBIDE) methods for the numerical solution of two-dimensional diffusion problems with variable coefficients. The methods use either a specially constructed parametrix (Levi function) or the standard fundamental solution for the Laplace equation to reduce the boundary-value problem (BVP) to a boundary–domain integral equation (BDIE) or boundary–domain integro-differential equation (BDIDE). The radial integration method (RIM) is then employed to convert the domain integrals arising in both BDIE and BDIDE methods into equivalent boundary integrals. The resulting formulations lead to pure boundary integral and integro-differential equations with no domain integrals. Furthermore, a subdomain decomposition technique (SDBDIE) is proposed, which leads to a sparse system of linear equations, thus avoiding the need to calculate a large number of domain integrals. Numerical examples are presented for several simple problems, for which exact solutions are available, to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approaches

Sv. Štefan v Zanigradu ob desetletnici žegnanja konj: Popravki in dopolnitve

Prispevek je dodatek k članku o Sv. Štefanu v Zanigradu, ki ga je avtorica objavila v Traditiones 33/1 [Ravnik 2004]. Potem ko se je, že po oddaji članka v tisk, ponovno udeležila praznovanja sv. Štefana, je spoznala, da je v omenjenem članku premalo osvetlila pomen Konjeniškega društva Stena. V nadaljevanju raziskave je ugotovila, da je društvo po nastanku, članstvu in delovanju povezano s starim kulturnim izročilom Zanigrada in kontuinuiteto praznovanja sv. Štefana. Gre za izredno zanimiv splet starega vaškega duhovnega in družbenega izročila z novim dogajanjem, ki kljub spremenjenemu videzu še vedno, tako kot nekoč, obnavlja medčloveške vezi in skupnost. *** This text is an appendix to the article on St. Stephen‘s Day celebrations in Zanigrad, published by the author in Traditiones 33 (1) [Ravnik 2004]. After the article had been submitted for print she has, once again, attended the annual celebration and realized that insufficient emphasis had been given to the Stena Equestrian Society. Additional field research showed that the origin, membership structure, and activities of this society are strongly connected with the traditional culture of Zanigrad, therefore representing a continuation of St. Stephen‘s Day celebrations from the past. It is a fascinating mixture of the old village spiritual and social traditions with the new that, despite outwardly changed and modified, still continue to renew the ties between individuals and the community