Antonio Bresciani and the Sects: conspiracy myths in an intransigent Catholic response to the Risorgimento

Antonio Bresciani's notorious trilogy of novels about the revolutions of 1848, starting with L'Ebreo di Verona, first appeared in the earliest issues of the Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica from 1850. They constitute an intransigentist attack on the Risorgimento, and portray the events of 1848-9 as the result of a satanically inspired conspiracy by secret societies. This article re-analyses those novels by placing Bresciani in the context of the 'culture war' between lay and religious world views across Europe from the middle of the nineteenth century. The article argues that Bresciani represents a significant case study in the intransigent Catholic response to the kind of patriotic motifs identified by the recent cultural historiography on the Risorgimento. The 'paranoid style' of Bresciani's conspiracy myth is analysed, as is Bresciani's portrayal of Garibaldi, female fighters, and Jews--in particular the tale of Christian conversion presented in L'Ebreo di Verona. The article argues that, despite its polarising, reactionary intentions, Bresciani's fiction betrayed many influences from the Romantic culture of the Risorgimento that he claimed to despise

A 2009 perspective of HR practices in Australian mining

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the idea of how HR professionals undertake strategic, management and operational roles in mining organisations during varying economic cycles. The discussion is primarily set in the Western Australian context. Design/Methodology/Approach - A review of the relevant literature, an overview of mining industry trends in Australia and an examination of HR issues in the mining industry, provide the background for developing a case for a strategic approach using HR practices to address challenges. Findings - A 5-point model for effective delivery of HR in the mining industry is proposed as a means of overcoming environmental discontinuities. Research limitations/implications - Whilst an extensive list of research in the mining industry, is not cited, given that the mining industry tends to operate globally and HR departments source and deploy professional staff on a global basis, the implications for future research are more extensive than limiting. Practical implications - Contrary to many current practices used in mining organisations, suggestions are made regarding specific approaches that can be promulgated to change HR policies and procedures to assist overcoming, or mitigating, bust cycle issues in the industry. Originality/value - Mining companies need a well organised plan if they are to balance out the extremes of the industry's boom/bust cycles. The model in this paper, establishing strategic implementation strategies for HR policies and procedures, provides a direct approach to business improvement and a direct link between corporate and mine-site HR issues

Eco-geomorphological processes within grasslands, shrublands and badlands in the semi-arid Karoo, South Africa

Vegetation type and cover play an important role in the operation of geomorphological processes by controlling runoff and sediment dynamics. In drylands, land degradation is particularly sensitive to these eco-geomorphic interactions. Although many geomorphological studies of land degradation focus on the change in hydrological response as a function of vegetation cover, few have investigated how the autogenic response of plants may influence the susceptibility of soil to erosion through a change of soil resources. This study investigates the hypothesis that shrub communities possess greater soil parameter heterogeneity compared with grasslands and assesses how these different scales of heterogeneity can influence the susceptibility of soil to erosion.  Soil samples were taken from seven 60 m × 60 m plots within grasslands, shrublands and badlands situated in the Sneeuberg uplands of the central Karoo. One hundred and eight samples per plot were analysed for bulk density, organic matter, pH, conductivity and available sodium, calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. Geostatistical analyses determined that the grassland landscape was largely homogenous in its distribution of soil parameters, whereas shrublands demonstrated an increase in heterogeneity. Periodicity in the semi-variograms indicated that regular patterns across the landscape were evident for all parameters and thus likely to represent the differences between shrub and intershrub regions, areas of high and low erodibility. More pronounced patterns were identified in the badlands. This indicates that, if the conditions are right, changes in plant-soil interactions caused by soil parameter redistribution in shrubland landscapes can exacerbate erosion, leading to further degradation in the form of badlands

A major midlatitude hurricane in the Little Ice Age

An unusually severe hurricane (Louisbourg Storm) struck Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1757. Historic records describing storm conditions as well as damage to ships and coastal fortifications indicate an intensity beyond any modern (post-1851) Atlantic cyclones striking the same region, yet this storm struck during a cold climate period known as the Little Ice Age (LIA). Its track and timing coincided with a British naval blockade of a French fleet at Fortress Louisbourg during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). This provides a unique opportunity to explore growing scientific evidence of heightened storminess in the North Atlantic despite a colder climate expected to suppress hurricane intensification but which research is increasingly showing to have supported North Atlantic storms of exceptional strength. Weather attributes extracted from the logs of naval vessels scattered by the Louisbourg Storm provided multiple hourly observations recorded at different locations. Wave height and wind force estimates at ship locations were compared to extreme storm surge heights calculated for Louisbourg Harbour and a shipwreck site south of Fortress Louisbourg. Comparing these metrics to those of modern analogues that crossed the same bathymetry reflects landfall intensity consistent with a powerful major hurricane. Historical records show this storm originated as a tropical cyclone at the height of hurricane season and intensified into the northern midlatitudes along the Gulf Stream. Its intensity at landfall is consistent with established seasonal climatological models where highly baroclinic westerlies driven by autumn continental cooling encounter intensifying north-tracking tropical cyclones fuelled by sea surface temperatures that peak in autumn. Stronger seasonal contrasts from earlier and colder continental westerlies in the Little Ice Age (LIA) may have triggered explosive extratropical transition from a large hurricane resulting in a more severe strike. It suggests that tropical cyclones lasting days to weeks and the conditions that generate them are likely masked by cooler historic mean annual to multi-decadal LIA climate reconstructions.</p

Estimación de rendimientos de soja y maíz a partir de variables edafoclimáticas

Estimación de rendimientos de soja y maíz a partir de variables edafoclimáticasFil: Coronel, Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentin

Periodic fever syndrome and autoinflammatory diseases

The concept of autoinflammatory disease as a new disease classification has resulted in a paradigm shift in our understanding of the the broad spectrum of immunological diseases. The effectiveness of interleukin-1 blockade in a variety of disorders has resulted in a marked reduction in suffering for many of these patients