The Belt and Road Initiative the People's Republic of China's new assertive foreign policy

This thesis investigates the motivations and rationale underlying the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It starts from a contextualisation of the project, scope and objectives, then presents an overview of the institutions and infrastructure created to promote, finance, and implement it, as well as of its main developments from 2013 to the present. In order to examine the key drivers for the BRI, it discusses the main (geo)political and (geo)economic challenges China faces after four decades of extraordinary economic growth following the politico-economic reforms and opening-up measures initiated by Deng Xiaoping, its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), ‘Go Out’ policy, and recent economic slowdown. It argues China’s foreign policy has become more assertive since the 2008 international financial crisis, especially after Xi Jinping came into power, and that, in this context, the BRI besides being a response to China’s domestic needs and international challenges, it also fits its medium to long-term strategy to reshape the world order. The last part of the thesis delves into whether or not the BRI constitutes a strategy to materialise an alternative model of globalisation through soft power or a mechanism to expand China’s spheres of influence, as it is commonly suggested by the literature. It concludes that none of these arguments capture the logic of the BRI, as the strategy relies mostly on hard rather than soft power, and the concept of spheres of influence reflects a Western-centric view of the international system.Esta tese investiga as motivações e racionalidade subjacentes à ‘Iniciativa Cinturão e Rota' da República Popular da China (RPC). Parte da contextualização do projeto, escopo e objetivos, em seguida, apresenta uma análise geral das instituições e infraestrutura criadas para o promover, financiar e implementar, assim como de seus principais desenvolvimentos de 2013 até o presente. Para examinar os impulsionadores-chave da iniciativa, discute os principais desafios (geo)políticos e (geo)económicos que a China encontra após quatro décadas de crescimento económico extraordinário a partir das reformas político-económicas e medidas de abertura iniciadas por Deng Xiaoping, de sua adesão à Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC), "Go Out Policy", e recente desaceleração económica. Argumenta-se que a política externa chinesa tornou-se mais assertiva desde a crise financeira internacional de 2008, especialmente após Xi Jinping assumir o poder e que, nesse contexto, a iniciativa, além de ser uma resposta às necessidades domésticas e aos desafios internacionais da China, também visa sua estratégia de médio e longo prazo de reformar a ordem mundial. A última parte da tese investiga se a iniciativa constitui uma estratégia para materializar um modelo alternativo de globalização através de "soft power" ou um mecanismo para expandir as esferas de influência da China, tal como comumente sugerido pela literatura. Conclui-se que ambos os argumentos são incapazes de capturar a lógica que sustenta a iniciativa, uma vez que a estratégia se alicerça sobretudo em "hard" ao invés de "soft power", e o conceito de esferas de influência reflete uma visão ocidental do sistema internacional

La aplicabilidad sustancial y material del pago de la cuota de compensación militar como contribución especial para definir el servicio militar obligatorio: un análisis de aplicabilidad del servicio militar en el Estado colombiano

Artículo de InvestigaciónCon el presente estudio, se desarrolla cuál ha sido la interpretación, frente al proceso de definición del servicio militar obligatorio, conforme a que sustancialmente se exige, que los ciudadanos quienes no ingresen a filas en razón de no ser aptos, están en la obligación de cancelar una contribución especial, la cual se dirige al tesoro nacional, denominada Cuota de Compensación Militar, con ello se configura la piedra angular del presente análisis, conforme a que se materializar que dicha obligación de contribución especial es absolutamente personalísima y el hecho de que el núcleo familiar tenga que responder patrimonialmente por este deber personal, atenta contra la autonomía de la voluntad evidenciando así la manifiesta contradicción del ordenamiento Jurídico.INTRODUCCIÓN 1. TRÁMITE PARA DEFINIR SITUACIÓN MILITAR. 2. SITUACIONES ESPECIALES DE APLICABILIDAD DE LA CUOTA DE COMPENSACIÓN MILITAR. 3. ANÁLISIS DE LA NUEVA LEY PRO JOVEN, LEY 1780 DE 2016. CONCLUSIONES. BIBLIOGRAFÍA. ANEXOS.PregradoAbogad

Adaptation of a Branching Algorithm to Solve the Multi-Objective Hamiltonian Cycle Problem

The Hamiltonian cycle problem (HCP) consists of finding a cycle of length N in an N-vertices graph. In this investigation, a graph G is considered with an associated set of matrices, in which each cell in the matrix corresponds to the weight of an arc. Thus, a multi-objective variant of the HCP is addressed and a Pareto set of solutions that minimizes the weights of the arcs for each objective is computed. To solve the HCP problem, the Branch-and-Fix algorithm is employed, a specific branching algorithm that uses the embedding of the problem in a particular stochastic process. To address the multi-objective HCP, the Branch-and-Fix algorithm is extended by computing different Hamiltonian cycles and fathoming the branches of the tree at earlier stages. The introduced anytime algorithm can produce a valid solution at any time of the execution, improving the quality of the Pareto Set as time increases.This project was funded by the ELKARTEK Research Programme of the Basque Government (project KK-2019/00068). This work has been possible thanks to the support of the computing infrastructure of the i2BASQUE academic network. The work of Roberto Santana was funded by the Basque Government (project IT-1244-19), and Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO (project TIN2016-78365-R)

Diseño de herramientas de labranza combinando criterios biomiméticos y métodos numéricos.

El laboreo de conservación requiere el diseño de herramientas de labranza que cumplan criterios de calidad de la labor, resistencia al desgaste y reducción del consumo energético (debido fundamentalmente a la adherencia suelo/herramienta). La biomimética es la ciencia que refiere al estudio de la estructura y la función de los sistemas biológicos como modelos para el diseño y fabricación de materiales y máquinas, en un proceso de ingeniería inversa en que el ser humano saca provecho de los procesos evolutivos de la naturaleza. En este trabajo de revisión, 1998-2013, se describen las respuestas adaptativas de diversos seres vivos al problema de la adherencia, y se analiza el caso concreto de optimización de una vertedera, un brazo de subsolador y un disco de corte empleando modelos numéricos y criterios biomiméticos. En todos los casos las etapas llevadas a cabo por distintos investigadores son: formulación del modelo de elementos finitos del apero, para posteriormente (en función de las condiciones de contorno) y de propiedades del suelo, obtener los resultados de la simulación. Por último se verifica experimentalmente con datos reales (sólo en dos de los tres ejemplos). Como resultado, comprobamos que en el caso del disco de corte la tensión total que soporta el material se reduce en un 34% con un diseño optimizado, mientras que en el caso del subsolador biomimético la resistencia horizontal y vertical se reducen en un 7% y 24% respectivamente

Una propuesta inclusiva de la enseñanza de la ubicación y localización espacial para estudiantes de grado 3

En este documento se presenta una propuesta inclusiva de la enseñanza de la ubicación y localización espacial para estudiantes de grado 3° incluyendo estudiantes con discapacidad visual, en la cual se desea realizar a la población inicialmente una apropiación conceptual por medio de procesos de formación e instrucción y un desarrollo del trabajo propuesto. Esta propuesta inclusiva en torno al pensamiento espacial, específicamente la localización (sistemas de referencia), permitirá que los estudiantes reconozcan y puedan describir las características de los sistemas de referencia, para ubicarse y orientarse en el espacio

Tool-Path Problem in Direct Energy Deposition Metal-Additive Manufacturing: Sequence Strategy Generation

The tool-path problem has been extensively studied in manufacturing technologies, as it has a considerable impact on production time. Additive manufacturing is one of these technologies; it takes time to fabricate parts, so the selection of optimal tool-paths is critical. This research analyzes the tool-path problem in the direct energy deposition technology; it introduces the main processes, and analyzes the characteristics of tool-path problem. It explains the approaches applied in the literature to solve the problem; as these are mainly geometric approximations, they are far from optimal. Based on this analysis, this paper introduces a mathematical framework for direct energy deposition and a novel problem called sequence strategy generation. Finally, it solves the problem using a benchmark for several different parts. The results reveal that the approach can be applied to parts with different characteristics, and the solution to the sequence strategy problem can be used to generate tool-paths.This work was supported in part by the Project HARITIVE under Grant HAZITEK 2017 and in part by the Project ADDISEND under Grant ELKARTEK 2018 through Basque Government, and in part by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant 822064. The work of Roberto Santana was supported in part by IT-1244-19, in part by the ELKARTEK Programmes through Basque Government, and in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness under Grant TIN2016-78365-R

“Empty spaces ‘Where’ we are living for” – First record of Dinoponera quadriceps reusing nests of Atta sexdens

The reuse of nests by the same or different species can save a colony energy and resources. Furthermore, it can increase colony growth and the production of brood. The queenless ant Dinoponera quadriceps builds deep nests in Caatinga to escape from the dry and hot environment. The reuse of deep nests from other species can provide D. quadriceps with protection from high temperature, whilst saving on the energy required to build new nests. Here, we present the first finding of D. quadriceps reusing the nest of Atta sexdens species

Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae, Scinax centralis Pombal and Bastos, 1996: distribution extension, geographic distribution map

This work provides records of Scinax centralis from municipalities of Campo Alegre de Goiás and Orizona, state of Goiás, Brazil. Those records represent, respectively, a southeast range extension of ca. 30 Km east and ca. 60 Km southeast from the previously known locality of Ipameri. All known populations of S. centralis remain restricted to the Paranaíba River basin, and with exception of Orizona, all localities from where the species is known to occur are inside priority areas for conservation of biodiversity in Cerrado and Pantanal

“Empty spaces ‘Where’ we are living for” – First record of Dinoponera quadriceps reusing nests of Atta sexdens

The reuse of nests by the same or different species can save a colony energy and resources. Furthermore, it can increase colony growth and the production of brood. The queenless ant Dinoponera quadriceps builds deep nests in Caatinga to escape from the dry and hot environment. The reuse of deep nests from other species can provide D. quadriceps with protection from high temperature, whilst saving on the energy required to build new nests. Here, we present the first finding of D. quadriceps reusing the nest of Atta sexdens species