Aesthetic campaigns and counter-campaigns. Jorge Luis Borges and a century of the Argentine detective story (1877-1977)

This cultural history of Argentine crime fiction involves a comprehensive analysis of the literary and critical traditions within the genre, paying particular attention to the series of ‘aesthetic campaigns’ waged by Jorge Luis Borges and others during the period between 1933 and 1977. The methodological approach described in the introductory chapter builds upon the critical insight that in Argentina, generic discourse has consistently been the domain, not only of literary critics in the traditional mould, but also of prominent writers of fiction and specialists from other disciplines, effectively transcending the traditional tripartite ‘division of labour’ between writers, critics and readers. Chapter One charts the early development of crime fiction, and contextualises the evolution of the classical and hardboiled variants that were to provide a durable conceptual framework for discourse in the Argentine context. Chapter Two examines a number of pioneering early works by Argentine authors, before analysing Borges’ multi-faceted aesthetic campaign on behalf of the ‘classical’ detective story. Chapter Three examines a transitional period for the Argentine crime genre, book-ended by the three Vea y Lea magazine-sponsored detective story competitions that acted as a vital stimulus to innovation among Argentine writers. It includes a substantial treatment of the work of Rodolfo Walsh, documenting his transition from crime writer and anthologist to pioneer of the non-fiction novel and investigative journalism traditions. Chapter Four examines the period in which the novela negra came to achieve dominance in Argentina, in particular the aesthetic counter-campaigns conducted by Ricardo Piglia and others on behalf of the hard-boiled variant. The study concludes with a detailed analysis of Pablo Leonardo’s La mala guita (1976), which is considered as a paradigmatic example of crime fiction in Argentina in this period. The final chapter presents conclusions and a summary of the dissertation, and recommendations for further research.

Partitioning of reproduction among queens in the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile

We investigated how queens share parentage (skew) in the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, a social insect with multiple queens (polygyny). Overall, maternity of 546 male and female sexuals that mated successfully was determined with microsatellites in 26 colonies consisting of two queens and workers. The first main finding was that queens all contributed to sexual production. However, there was a significant departure from equal contribution to male and female sexual production in a notable proportion of colonies. Overall, reproductive skew for sexual (male and female) production was relatively low but higher than reproductive skew for egg production. The second interesting result was that there was a trade-off in the relative contribution of queens to male and female production. The queens contributing more to male production contributed significantly less to female sexual production. Finally, there was no significant association between colony productivity and the degree of reproductive skew. The relatively low reproductive skew is in line with predictions of the so-called concession models of reproductive skew because, in the Argentine ant, relatedness between queens is low and ecological constraints on dispersal nonexistent or weak. © 2001 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Biological parameters and glomalin levels as quality indicators in a soil implanted with exotic forest species in Argentine Patagonia

p.83-88

Fertilization trial on soybean in Argentine Pampa : boron or nitrogen?

p.29-36

Sulfur fertilization technology in the Argentine Pampas Region : a review

p.61-73

Fertilization trial on soybean in Argentine Pampa : boron or nitrogen?

p.29-36

Sulfur fertilization technology in the Argentine Pampas Region : a review

p.61-73

Termination of tenancies for tenant default: Law Commission's draft Bill

Reviews key proposals of a draft Bill set out in Command Paper: The Law Commission: Termination of Tenancies for Tenant Default (Cm.6946), aimed at replacing the existing law on forfeiture of tenancies. Summarises the main elements of the proposed termination action by landlords, the events justifying such an action, the time limits for serving default notices, the revised range of court orders available and the considerations influencing which type of order to make. Examines the position of qualifying interest holders and the circumstances in which summary termination notices are prohibited.

Credit default swap (CDS) prediction model & trading strategy

This project focuses on the study of different explanatory models for the behavior of CDS security, such as Fixed-Effect Model, GLS Random-Effect Model, Pooled OLS and Quantile Regression Model. After determining the best fitness model, trading strategies with long and short positions in CDS have been developed. Due to some specifications of CDS, I conclude that the quantile regression is the most efficient model to estimate the data. The P&L and Sharpe Ratio of the strategy are analyzed using a backtesting analogy, where I conclude that, mainly for non-financial companies, the model allows traders to take advantage of and profit from arbitrages.

Cross sectional default probabilities in european corporate bonds

This study attempts to identify basis-trading opportunities in the European banking sector by comparing two different measures for the market’s assessment of risk: market-observed CDS spreads and model-implied Z-spreads. Using a sample of 10 banks, over a period of 3 years following the European banking crisis, it can be concluded that there were arbitrage opportunities in the sector, as evidenced by the derived negative bases.

Kin structure and queen execution in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile

Every spring, workers of the Argentine Ant Linepithema humile kill a large proportion of queens within their nests, Although this behaviour inflicts a high energetic cost oil the colonies, its biological significance has remained elusive so far. An earlier study showed that the probability of a queen being executed is not related to her weight, fecundity, or age. Here we test the hypothesis that workers collectively eliminate queens to which they are less related, thereby increasing their inclusive fitness. We found no evidence for this hypothesis. Workers of a nest were on average not significantly less related to executed queens than to surviving ones. Moreover, a population genetic analysis revealed that workers were not genetically differentiated between nests. This means that workers of a given nest are equally related to any queen in the population and that there can be no increase in average worker-queen relatedness by selective elimination of queens. Finally, our genetic analyses also showed that, in contrast to workers, queens were significantly genetically differentiated between nests and that there was significant isolation by distance for queens.