Fish as diet resource in North Spain during the Upper Paleolithic

During the last glacial maximum, the west European modern humans adapted to adverse conditions and their populations subsisted exploiting the natural resources available. Fish were always present as a source of animal protein, although their importance in the human diet and their contribution to the expansion of humans has not been fully explored. Based on the compilation of zooarchaeological evidences from north Spanish sites we have discovered a constant pattern of exploitation of freshwater fish (Salmonids) with high incidence in the human diet during the Upper Paleolithic. Shifts in the exploitation of marine resources can be explained by climate-related geographical changes. The characteristics of salmonids that make them target species for supporting human survival in adverse climate periods are identified and discussed.     

Competitive Multifacility Location on Networks: the (r∣Xp)‐Medianoid Problem

Abstract.  We investigate the ( r ∣ X _p )‐medianoid problem for networks. This is a competitive location problem that consists of determining the locations of r facilities belonging to a firm in order to maximize its market share in a space where a competitor is already operating with p facilities. We consider six scenarios resulting from the combination of three customer choice rules (binary, partially binary, and proportional) with two types of services (essential and unessential).
Known discretization results about the existence of a solution for the set of nodes are extended. Some examples and computational experience using heuristic algorithms are presented.     

Network topologies as collective social capital in cities and regions: a critical review of empirical studies

This paper outlines a theoretical framework to study collective social capital at the local scale using social network analysis. To do so, it develops a review on empirical research that found evidence regarding the impact of networks on the performance of cities and regions. Eight network topologies are identified with collective social capital: size and composition, connectivity, closeness, clustering, small world, openness, centralization and heterophily. The paper inquires into the effects of these properties concluding that they influence two aspects that are highly relevant for territorial development: they facilitate the diffusion of information and they foster cooperation among actors. Results help tracing roots among three different academic fields: literature on social capital, local and regional economics, and social network analysis. Furthermore, the article suggests a framework to obtain relevant conclusions regarding political and economic aspects of territorial capacities.     

A State Within the State: The Inquisition in Enlightenment Thought

ABSTRACT

Enlightenment thinkers wrote many pages against the Inquisition. In particular, they widely criticized the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions, which they regarded as the epitomes of cruelty and fanaticism. Both inquisitions were established at royal request and remained subjected to the authority of the kings until they were abolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Indeed, therein the kings nominated the grand inquisitors, who were invested with civil jurisdiction for reasons that were at least as much political as religious. However, Enlightenment writers almost always portrayed the Inquisition as the ultimate example of the many ills derived from clerical authority, ecclesiastical autonomy and monastic despotism. Kings and civil magistrates were, in fact, usually depicted as victims of inquisitorial power. This common portrayal of the Inquisition reveals that the Enlightenment idea of toleration was essentially constructed for reducing the power of churches to disturb public peace and challenge civil authority. Thus, this idea of toleration was in effect less capable of denouncing political intolerance, let alone of promoting the separation of church and state.     

Literature,crisis, and Spanish rural space in the context of the 2008 financial recession

ABSTRACT

The novelistic production related to the 2008 financial crisis has been partially studied from the lens of the label of “literatura de la crisis.” In this article, I analyze the complex and essential transformations suffered by literary writing practices in contemporary Spain where ill attention has been devoted to the social, political, and aesthetic implications of neoliberal globalization in rural areas. Departing from a thorough conceptualization of the notion of “literatura de la crisis” and its paradoxical impact over the most recent literary production, I study the rural discourse and the emerging academic challenges for the assessment of the rural experience in literary works. In conclusion, I set the main principles for the development of a transposable model of textual analysis that will shed new light on the cultural representation of the rural sphere in the aftermath of the 2008 financial recession.