Dal Principe di Machiavelli a Trump: Somiglianze in Politica Basate sulla Natura Umana

I wrote this paper as the final project for my independent study in Italian 499. It discusses the similarities between the tactics that worked for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and the recommendations of 16th century political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli’s most famous book, The Prince, focused on the ways that a ruler could maintain power. He based his observations on human nature, and although he did not see much success in his time, his work has been celebrated by later generations. Since human nature ought to remain relatively unchanged throughout the decades, it is sensible that the same political advice could apply today, even in a drastically different social environment. My project focuses on the choice to exploit the human ego to obtain maximum political benefits, the use of an antagonistic elite, and the necessity of a stabilizing reaction to the clashes between them and the collective

Phosphorus Placement for Soybean Production in Reduced Tillage Systems

From 1971 to 1991, soybean production in North Dakota increased from 211, 000 acres to 640,000 in 1989 with the greatest increase in the Red River Valley of eastern North Dakota. Typically, soybeans are grown on medium to fine textured soils in a rotation pattern following that of a small grain crop. A shift from moldboard plowing in the Fall season to a chisel method of plowing has gradually taken place to reduce wind erosion. Following Spring season field preparation involves a shallow tillage to add herbicides and to prep the seedbed with a sweep-type tillage tool or tandem disc. Soybeans have shown in the past that they respond better to a broadcast form of phosphorus. Under specific conditions, banded phosphorus appeared more effective. A study with it's results are given. The study was conducted to examine the efficiency of thre phosphorus application methods. Results showed that regardless how the phosphorus fertilizer was applied that it could be applied in reduced tillage farming systems and that it would be available for plant utilization

The effect of mannitol on renal function after cardiopulmonary bypass in patients with established renal dysfunction

The usefulness of mannitol in the priming fluid for cardiopulmonary bypass is uncertain in patients with normal renal function, and has not been studied in patients with established renal dysfunction. We studied 50 patients with serum creatinine between 130 and 250 mu mol.l(-1) having cardiac surgery. Patients were randomised to receive mannitol 0.5 g.kg(-1), or an equivalent volume of Hartmann's solution, in the bypass prime. There were no differences between the groups in plasma creatinine or change in creatinine from baseline, urine output, or fluid balance over the first three postoperative days. We conclude that mannitol has no effect on routine measures of renal function during cardiac surgery in patients with established renal dysfunctio