I mutevoli volti dell’eroe

Yeats needed heroes and looked forward to finding one who might embody his ideas and hopes of the beginning of a new era. However, his standard of perfection changed over the years: from a character in whom the best and highest qualities of an individual might come into being, to a model of the hero able to stand as a symbol and guide for his fellow men, in particular those people Yeats felt mainly responsible for, the Irish. There is something Carlylean in this (Yeats knew and appreciated Carlyle, even though he did not like his style), but his view of the hero includes other models, like the tragic hero and the hero of myth. This paper takes into consideration two heroes who frequently recur in his work, Oisin and Cuchulainn, pointing to similarities and difference both in their qualities and functions. However, above and beyond them, it is the poet himself that emerges as a key figure of a hero in Yeats’s poetry, as the only one who can fulfil the double task of developing his self and playing an essential social and moral role

First national intercomparison of solar ultraviolet radiometers in Italy

A blind intercomparison of ground-based ultraviolet (UV) instruments has been organized for the first time in Italy. The campaign was coordinated by the Environmental Protection Agency of Aosta Valley (ARPA Valle d'Aosta) and took place in Saint-Christophe (45.8 degrees N, 7.4 degrees E, 570 m a.s.l.), in the Alpine region, from 8 to 23 June 2010. It involved 8 institutions, 10 broadband radiometers, 2 filter radiometers and 2 spectroradiometers. Synchronized measurements of downward global solar UV irradiance at the ground were collected and the raw series were then individually processed by the respective operators on the base of their own procedures and calibration data. A radiative transfer model was successfully applied as an interpretative tool. The input parameters and output results are described in detail. The comparison was performed in terms of global solar UV Index and integrated UV-A irradiance against a well-calibrated double monochromator spectroradiometer as reference. An improved algorithm for comparing broadband data and spectra has been developed and is discussed in detail. For some instruments, we found average deviations ranging from -16% up to 20% relative to the reference and diurnal variations as large as 15% even in clear days. Remarkable deviations were found for the instruments calibrated in the manufacturers' facilities and never involved in field intercomparison. Finally, some recommendations to the UV operators based on the campaign results are proposed

Irene DE ANGELIS, "The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry", 2012

Irene DE ANGELIS, "The Japanese Effect in Contemporary Irish Poetry", Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 2012 [Book Review