Numerical interactions between compactons and kovatons of the Rosenau-Pikovsky K(cos) equation

A numerical study of the nonlinear wave solutions of the Rosenau-Pikovsky K(cos) equation is presented. This equation supports at least two kind of solitary waves with compact support: compactons of varying amplitude and speed, both bounded, and kovatons which have the maximum compacton amplitude, but arbitrary width. A new Pad\'e numerical method is used to simulate the propagation and, with small artificial viscosity added, the interaction between these kind of solitary waves. Several numerically induced phenomena that appear while propagating these compact travelling waves are discussed quantitatively, including self-similar forward and backward wavepackets. The collisions of compactons and kovatons show new phenomena such as the inversion of compactons and the generation of pairwise ripples decomposing into small compacton-anticompacton pairs

Remapping the European Cultural Memory: The Case of Julia Kristeva’s \u3cem\u3eMurder in Byzantium\u3c/em\u3e

This article considers Julia Kristeva’s novel Murder in Byzantium in the context of some of the most pressing ehtical and political dilemmas faced by Europe today, regarding the role of religion and the inclusion of religious references in the Constitution of the European Union. It traces Kristeva’s remapping of the European tradition, and places feminine creativity at the core of her analysis. I argue that this remapping that revalorizes feminine creativity and sensibility envisions the question of the eternal Europe as an illusion to be endlessly reinvented

The Return of the Edwardians in Contemporary Fiction

My research stems from the hypothesis that a subgenre exists within the contemporary historical novel in English with a series of features that can be labelled as neoEdwardian and belong in a broader social and cultural phenomenon. Thus, trough the analysis of a series of recent novels set in the years prior to the First World War, this dissertation could contribute to the study of the relationship that we establish with the past, especially when History and fiction interact in novels. The main goals of this research are: 1. To delve into the state of the art of contemporary historical fiction in English. 2. To trace the state of the art of the neo-Edwardian novel, including a chronology of primary works and their evolution. 3. To analyse a series of primary works that could be considered neo-Edwardian and to obtain some common features. 4. To investigate critical concepts about our contemporary views on the past that can be related to this subgenre. 5. To contribute to the study of the neo-historical novel. In order to achieve this, a thorough examination of a selection of contemporary novels set in the Edwardian period is being carried out. The theoretical framework employed revolves around memory in contemporary fiction and the evolution of the historical novel in the 20th and the 21st centuries.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Displaying Mr Selfridge

Whereas, in literature a stream of recent bio-fictions have focused their efforts on resurrecting great Edwardian authors, the first season of Mr Selfridge (2013), based on Lindy Woodhead’s biography Shopping, Seduction & Mr Selfridge (2007), features a capitalist hero and constitutes an intriguing object of study which connects the present context with the history of England and of costume drama itself. Consequently, this paper will analyse the series in terms of how it relates to and differs from other representations of Edwardian characters, in an attempt to explore what the impulse lying behind Mr Selfridge’s filmic return could be.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Environmental Depletion, Governance and Conflict

The link between natural resource dependence and internal conflict has been approached from a variety of angles in a large and growing interdisciplinary literature. While there is an expanding consensus as to what matters the most for such intra-state violence episodes, the feasibility - discontent dichotomy still appears to characterize a disciplinary divide between economists and political scientists. This paper attempts to help bridge the gap by allowing for both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of potential rebels. Simple non-cooperative bargaining yields a nonlinear impact of regulatory quality on the likelihood of conflict and shows that corruption and resource depletion jointly affect the outcome. The empirical analysis that follows looks at the effect of environmental depletion and government corruption on the emergence of civil conflicts using a large panel dataset. Resource depletion, the quality of governance and their interaction are found to be significant determinants of civil conflictincidence. Results are robust to several steps taken to address potential endogeneity concerns.

In what circumstances is investment in HR worthwhile?

INTRODUCTION By High Speed Rail (HSR) we normally mean rail technologies capable of speeds of the order of 300km ph on new dedicated track. Such systems offer journey times that are more competitive with other modes, and particularly air, than traditional train services, and very high capacity. But their capital cost is also high. The proposals of the European Commission for the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T) envisage expenditure of 600b euros, of which 250b euros is for priority projects, and a large part of this expenditure is for high speed rail. Thus it is extremely important to have a robust appraisal methodology for these huge investments. It is not clear that this has happened in the case of the Trans European Networks. Individual projects are suggested by, and appraised by, member state governments, even though they are applying to the European Commission for assistance with funding. Research for the European Commission has appraised the TEN-T network as a whole, but has not appraised the individual elements of the programme to ensure that they are all worthwhile (TML, 2005). The aim of this paper is to consider the methodology for the appraisal of high speed rail proposals, and to produce some indication of the circumstances in which such proposals might be worthwhile. In the next section we present an overview of the principal costs and benefits which need to be taken into account in an HSR appraisal. Then we illustrate the process for two particular contrasting examples – the study of HSR proposals in Great Britain, and an ex post evaluation of the Madrid-Seville line in Spain. In section four of the paper we formulate a model to incorporate the principal parameters influencing the outcome of an appraisal and in section five we use this model to draw conclusions on the circumstances in which high speed rail may be justified