Matelda in the Terrestrial Paradise

This analysis of the enigmatic figure of Matelda, guardian of the Terrestrial Paradise in Dante's Purgatorio, considers both the unresolved question of Matelda's historical identity, in particular whether Dante is alluding to the historical personage, Countess Matilda of Tuscany (1046-1115), and the numerous critical glosses that have emerged over the years, whereby Matelda has been interpreted as a symbolic figure, for example, as the biblical typology of the active/contemplative life, as the representation of human wisdom, or in a variety of other symbolic guises. Whilst alluding to recognisable idyllic poetic images, such as the donna angelicata of the vernacular tradition, Dante's conceptualisation of Matelda is nevertheless aligned to the pilgrim-poet's own development in via of a redemptive poetics in which the writer articulates an urgent message of reform, at both the secular and ecclesiastical levels. The linking of Matelda with the notion of the loss of the prelapsarian state of humankind's innocence and her supervision of the penitential cleansing rites performed on Dante-protagonist, in anticipation of his ascent to Paradise in the company of Beatrice, represent crucial moments in Dante's mapping out of prudential history for his readers and his call for a recovery of Christian values

Launch of Writers in Conversation 2014

Speech given at the launch of Writers in Conversation, 7 March 201

Extreme parameter sensitivity in quasidilaton massive gravity

We reanalyze the behavior of Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker cosmologies in the recently proposed quasidilaton massive-gravity model, and discover that the background dynamics present hitherto unreported features that require unexpected fine-tuning of the additional fundamental parameters of the theory for an observationally consistent background cosmology. We also identify new allowed regions in the parameters space and exclude some of the previously considered ones. The evolution of the mass of gravitational waves reveals non-trivial behavior, exhibiting a mass squared that may be negative in the past, and that presently, while positive, is larger than the square of the Hubble parameter. These properties of the gravity-wave mass have the potential to lead to observational tests of the theory. While quasidilaton massive gravity is known to have issues with stability at short distances, the current analysis is a first step toward the investigation of the more stable extended quasidilaton massive gravity theory, with some expectation that both the fine-tuning of parameters and the interesting behavior of the gravity-wave mass will persist.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

[BOOK REVIEW] Aldo S. Bernardo & Anthony L. Pellegrini (2006). Companion to Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Comprehensive Guide for the Student and General Reader, Revised Edition.

This revised edition, at a distance of 38 years since its appearance as A Critical Study Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy (a volume long out of print), offers useful study aids, including schematic charts, visual representations of the topography of the Comedy, biographical highlights and comparative chronological data. Composed in an accessible, unadorned style, Bernardo’s and Pellegrini’s companion study guide has appeal for English-speaking readers such as undergraduates, members of Dante reading or study groups and general readers of the poem

"Unrecorded Lives": Oral Narratives of a Group of First-Generation Campanian Women Residing in Adelaide, South Australia. [abstract].

This paper will focus on issues of identity and cultural maintenance, as evidenced by the oral testimonies of a generational cohort who were born in the region of Campania in Southern Italy and who emigrated to Australia in the 1950s-1960s. Although, during the post-war period of mass migration by Italians to overseas destinations, an Assisted Migration Agreement was signed by Australia and Italy (in 1951), the majority of Campanian migrants to Adelaide were not the beneficiaries of assisted passages. Instead, sponsorship by spouses, relatives or paesani, followed by cluster settlement patterns, were strong features of transnational immigration by Campanians to South Australia in the post-WWII period. Therefore the journeying and resettlement experiences of this project’s sampling of first generation Campanian women were predominantly influenced by family kinship networks operating within a system of chain migration

Of Thieves and Salvation Victories: Purgatorio V, 133

Dante's discourse with the penitent souls in the 'Purgatorio' reveals that these shades are characterised by a tendency towards self-effacement that is radically different from the destructive and self-absorbed attitude of the infernal spirits. Whereas the latter preserve an inner core of obduracy devoid of remorse, the contrite souls in 'Purgatory', through their trusting openness and willingness to communicate information about their private lives and the wider social and political circles of influence in which they once moved, help the Wayfarer to gain immeasurably in courage and inner strength. Throughout his journey, Dante-character is privy to surprising disclosures and, if the souls in Purgatory express amazement at his living presence among them, he is equally astonished by the news they relay to him, which has the potential to alter the destiny of members of the living Christian community and also to advance the spiritual cause of members of the community in Purgatory: "qui per quei di là molto savanza" (Purg. III, 145). Through his encounter with the shade of Pia in 'Purgatorio' V, the Pilgrim Dante is led to a higher level of spiritual cognition, not only as regards the souls in 'Purgatory', whose dialogues move back and forth in temporal and spatial terms as they reconstruct past events, relationships and places on earth, but also in relation to social networks and the interconnectedness of human society at large

Failures of homogeneous and isotropic cosmologies in extended quasidilaton massive gravity

We analyze the extended quasidilaton massive gravity model around a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson- Walker cosmological background. We present a careful stability analysis of asymptotic fixed points. We find that the traditional fixed point cannot be approached dynamically, except from a perfectly fine-tuned initial condition involving both the quasidilaton and the Hubble parameter. A less-well examined fixed- point solution, where the time derivative of the zeroth Stückelberg field vanishes φ_ 0 1⁄4 0, encounters no such difficulty, and the fixed point is an attractor in some finite region of initial conditions. We examine the question of the presence of a Boulware-Deser ghost in the theory. We show that the additional constraint that generically allows for the elimination of the Boulware-Deser mode is only present under special initial conditions. We find that the only possibility corresponds to the traditional fixed point and the initial conditions are the same fine-tuned conditions that allow the fixed point to be approached dynamically.Fil: Anselmi, Stefano. Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7; Francia. Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris; Francia. Case Western Reserve University; Estados UnidosFil: Kumar, Saurabh. Case Western Reserve University; Estados UnidosFil: Lopez Nacir, Diana Laura. Cern - European Organization For Nuclear Research; Suiza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Starkman, Glenn D.. Case Western Reserve University; Estados Unido

Outdoor Water Efficiency Offers Large Potential Savings, But Research on Effectiveness Remains Scarce

This article summarizes the work completed in Phase 1 of the Alliance for Water Efficiency’s (AWE) Outdoor Water Savings Research Initiative. Phase 1 was a review, analysis, and synthesis of published and pending research on outdoor water use and water savings. In particular, studies that documented water savings were reviewed. The research in Phase 1 was conducted specifically to identify the area(s) of greatest need for future research. Key findings are: • Outdoor water savings are achievable and can be significant. • Quantifying water savings from outdoor programs and measures is challenging. • Cost savings of any kind are rarely documented. • Standardized approaches and methods for measuring and evaluating outdoor water efficiency programs are needed

Re-examining the Information Systems Security Problem from a Systems Theory Perspective

This theoretical paper discusses a recent shift in cyber attackers’ interest away from traditional network and operating systems vulnerabilities and towards application level security flaws in end user systems. The authors argue that this shift signals a strong need to re-examine the way that security is addressed during the systems development process. Most of the systems development methodologies currently used do not contain formal processes for dealing with the interconnected complexity and risks associated with today’s computing environments. Using systems theory as a theoretical lens, the fundamental processes of current systems development methodologies are analyzed and weaknesses in their ability to deal with these environmental factors are discussed. The authors then present a proposed holistic framework for integrating security into existing systems development methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need for more scholarly research in this area and suggestions for future research directions are offered