A proposal for the spinning reserve assessment and allocation for El Salvador¡¦s Deregulated Electricity Market is formulated. Traditionally, the Independent System Operator calculates the spinning reserve as percentage of the forecast demand. And Automatic Generation Control (AGC) is allocated based on the partition factor. The reserve calculation neither reflects consistency achieving its main objective, reliability, nor is optimum performance control reached by the allocating mechanism. In the proposed method, the spinning reserve is estimated taking into account the generators outage ratio and AGC is allocated based on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation¡¦s Control Performance Standard-1. The allocation problem is solved with an improved Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm with a technique to modify the inertial factor on each iteration. The proposed method exhibits better results and it matches the Salvadorian technical requirements and market characteristics.

<p>In the Canadian context, little is known of the ways in which immigrants’ life course (s) are “mastering of transitions and coordinating life” across geographical space and in differing historical, political, economic and social contexts in their home countries and in their new country unfold (Matthias 2011, p2-3). In order to address this gap in the literature, this qualitative study is focused on the narratives of ten Salvadorian immigrants to examine the different factors that have affected their retirement planning decisions in their new country, Canada. The research study was guided by the Life Course theoretical perspective and considered the role that education, work, and family played in their planning for retirement. Ten Canadian Salvadorian men and women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. These participants were in the age ranges of mid to later life and included individuals who were not yet retired and individuals who were already retired. As well, this study captured the intersection between structural forces and life courses at the micro level in the pre-migration and post migration experiences of these individuals. Findings show that the effects of historical changes and socioeconomic status were carried over to Canada and that these constrained or produced opportunities that had varying implications for retirement planning. As a consequence, the majority of individuals prioritize their needs to here and now rather than to here and tomorrow.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

L’Amérique centrale s’est trouvée au centre de l’attention médiatique pendant les années 80 à cause de l’embrasement produit par les conflits armés et du fait de l’intérêt pour les témoignages liés aux revendications politiques. Le temps est venu de s’interroger aujourd’hui sur les voies empruntées par la littérature centre-américaine une vingtaine d’années après la signature des traités de paix. Cette question se trouve à l’origine de la présente étude : nous essayons de comprendre de quelle manière le roman contemporain s’intéresse à la construction des nouvelles subjectivités, quelles sont les nouvelles modalités de représentation propres à la fiction. La littérature centre-américaine contemporaine se présente de manière générale comme un domaine d’une grande diversité ; nous pouvons y lire une remise en question des contradictions, des luttes sociales et des discours dominants des sociétés de l’Isthme. Ces questionnements sont, à notre avis, reliés au texte littéraire du fait de la position privilégiée accordée à la subjectivité. Celle-ci a différentes manières de définir l’individu contemporain afin de renvoyer au lecteur toute une série d’énoncés tantôt intimistes, tantôt politiques et transgresseurs, qui montrent une crise dans la représentation des identités aussi bien personnelles que nationales. Jusqu’à quel point pouvons-nous considérer que la littérature centre-américaine contemporaine présente un renouvellement concernant les positions des sujets représentés dans les romans ? De quelle manière ces changements interagissent-ils dans une région conflictuelle, une région qui peine encore à définir sa propre identité ? Nous nous efforçons dans la thèse d’approfondir l’analyse des positions subjectives et des procédés littéraires ainsi que la démarche philosophique permettant la construction de nouveaux sujets-personnages dans un corpus constitué de romans publiés entre 1998 et 2009 par les écrivains suivants : Horacio Castellanos Moya, José Ricardo Chaves, Maurice Echeverría, Jacinta Escudos, Mauricio Orellana Suárez, Milagros Palma, Roberto Quesada et Uriel Quesada. Nous nous intéressons de manière particulière aux procédés narratifs mettant en rapport l’intimité et la subjectivité, avec la représentation des espaces corporels dessinés dans les romans, ainsi que les espaces géographiques et les lieux de la violence. Ces éléments vont dévoiler de nouveaux engagements et de nouveaux discours à un moment qui paraît dominé par la subjectivité. / Central America attracted greatly the media attention during the 1980s because of the armed conflicts and the increasing interest in testimonies linked to the political vindications. Now is the time to question the paths taken by Central American literature twenty years after the peace agreements were signed in the region. This question is found at the beginning of the present study on which we try to comprehend in what way the contemporary novel is interested in the construction of new subjectivities and in new means of representation specific to fiction. Contemporary Central American literature presents itself generally as a space of great diversity. We can read in it an important questioning of the contradictions, of the social struggles, and of the dominant discourses of isthmian societies. These questionings are, in our opinion, articulated on the literary text thanks to the privileged position given to subjectivity. It uses different ways to define the contemporary subject with the purpose of confronting the reader to a series of statements, intimist as well as political and transgressive, which express a crisis on the representation of national and personal identities. How far can we consider that contemporary Central American literature shows an important displacement related to the positions of the subjects represented in the novels? In what way said displacements interact in a conflictive region, a region which still has difficulties to define its own identity? On this thesis we make an effort to delve in the analysis of the subjective positions and in the literary and philosophical strategies which allow the construction of new subject-characters, in a corpus constituted of novels published between 1998 and 2009 by the following writers: Horacio Castellanos Moya, José Ricardo Chaves, Maurice Echeverría, Jacinta Escudos, Mauricio Orellana Suárez, Milagros Palma, Roberto Quesada, and Uriel Quesada. We are particularly interested in the narrative processes which relate intimacy and subjectivity with the representation of corporal spaces in the novels, as well as the geographical spaces and violence spaces. These elements will demonstrate new commitments and new discourses in a time that seems dominated by subjectivity.

This study, Jupiter, a theatre play: an ideological discourse through literature, is based upon the play written by Francisco Gavidia that tells the story of the Salvadoran nation, which after having lived many decades under the Spanish yoke, is organized with the help of the Creole elite, in order to obtain independence. For Francisco Gavidia it is important to raise awareness of the importance of freedom in the Salvadoran population. The objective of this work is to analyze the main characters in order to identify the existence of an ideological message in the drama, Jupiter. To accomplish this purpose, we have used some drama concepts established by García Barrientos 2007; some other concepts based on the narrative theory by Mieke Bal (1995), and the theory of the Historical Novel explained by Fernández (2003); both theories have served as a tool to facilitate and deepen the study of the characters, some structural elements, and ideological discourse that we find in this literary work. Our study has focused on the analysis of the main characters, both fictional and historical, with the main character being a black slave: Jupiter. This figure represents the Salvadoran population that has lived several decades under the Spanish yoke. Then we find the figure of the woman embodied in the character named Blanca. This character plays the role of a passive woman, since she has no voice or power, and she is seen as an object through which the male characters can obtain power and material wealth. Another fictional character is Beltranena who represents the Spanish power in Salvadoran territory during the Colonial era. Finally, there are two historical figures who serve the purpose of leaders in the planning and execution of the rebellion to acquire the freedom for the people. Our hypothesis has been corroborated, since according to our analysis the characters deliver an ideological message, because the author exposes the ideology through the main characters.