Rituali della giustizia e paradossi della verità in alcune novelle di Verga

The present paper focuses on a selection of Giovanni Verga’s short tales (Un processo, Tentazione!, Quelli del colèra, Cos’è il re, Il reverendo, La chiave d’oro, Don Licciu Papa), by analyzing his nonstereotypical enquiry into the close relationship between power forms and practices of justice.The present paper focuses on a selection of Giovanni Verga’s short tales (Un processo, Tentazione!, Quelli del colèra, Cos’è il re, Il reverendo, La chiave d’oro, Don Licciu Papa), by analyzing his nonstereotypical enquiry into the close relationship between power forms and practices of justice

Can You Hail Me Now? : Brand, Identity, and Althusserian Ideological Interpellation

A surge in the role of branding within marketing practices has influenced an industry transformation. A review of recent literature suggests that brand and the branding process have become integral in sustaining and amplifying organizations. This has been particularly influenced by Integrated Marketing Communication’s (IMC) espousal of being a consumer-driven process. As such, this project seeks to explore the current state of branding practices through the vision of French Marxist philosopher, Louis Althusser. Althusser’s philosophy inspects the human capacity to exercise autonomous decision-making and highlights the influence of social structures upon individuals. Through the Althusserian constructs of ideology and interpellation, as well as Althusser’s stance as an anti-humanist, the question guiding this process is how can Althusser’s agenda of ideological interpellation as a philosophy of communication help us to reinterpret branding as a societal process that systematically structures the lifeworld? While much of Althusser’s work has been dismissed and overlooked, key metaphors remain relevant and expository of current marketing shortcomings. Within this project, Althusser will be used to make the claim that there are gaps that exist within marketing discourse that must be addressed in order to improve those conditions affecting the relationship between the consumer and the brand

Moderne incertezze sul matrimonio.

Material incluido en el volumen especial de la revista del Instituto Martín de Azpilcueta, Universidad de Navarra : Ius Canonicum (1999), en honor de Javier Hervada

New technologies and alternative uses for poplar wood

Después de una breve introducción sobre la importancia del álamo tanto para el medio ambiente como para la industrial de la madera, se analizarán los usos más comunes de la madera de chopo, en particular la producción de chapas, que es el mas importante y rentable destino para la materia prima de mejor calidad, resultado del cultivo intensivo delchopo. La madera contrachapada puede ser considerado un producto "maduro" tanto en términos de desarrollo (niveles de eficacia, producciones como productividad) y de mercado (en este momento el chapeado, también sufre de la competencia de las nuevas clases de paneles). Desde un punto de vista técnico, las posibles innovaciones están relacionadas estrictamente con la capacidad de encontrar nuevos usos y productos, con un mayor valor añadido. En este marco, el sector de la construcción parece ofrecer nuevas posibilidades, gracias al interés renovado por la madera y productos derivados de la madera. Otro destino posible para la madera de chopo podría ser la producción de madera laminada encolada. En Italia se ralizó una investigación bastante completa sobre este tema, que incluyó la posibilidad del chopo mezclado con otra especie (en particular eucalipto y alerce). Se adjuntan detalles de los resultados obtenidos. En el sector de la construcción, más allá de la posibilidad de usar el contrachapado producido para este fin, la madera de chopo también podría ser una materia prima muy buena para la producción "de paneles tecnológicos" (LVL, OSB). Para concluir, la madera de chopo es seguramente conveniente también para el uso en otros sectores. La fiabilidad de productos (con propiedades mejoradas, si fuera necesario) y sus características ecológicas, juntos con la preparación de información técnica actualizada, son, en cualquier caso, algunos de los principales factores que pueden garantizar un aumento del empleo de madera de chopo en usos no tradicionales.________________________________After a brief introduction on the importance of poplar for both the environment and the woodindustry system, the current common uses of poplar wood are discussed, with particular reference to the production of plywood, which is by far the most important and remunerative destination for the best raw material resulting from intensive poplar cultivation. Plywood can be considered a “mature” product both in terms of development (efficiency levels, yields and productivity) and of market (at the moment plywood is also suffering from the competition of new kinds of panels). From a technical point of view, possible innovations are strictly related to the ability to find new uses and new products, possibly with value added figures. In this frame, the building sector seems to offer new possibilities, also thanks to the renewed interest for wood and wood-based products. Another possible destination for poplar wood could be the production of glue-laminated timber. A quite complete research was done in Italy on this subject, which included the possibility of mixing poplar with other species (in particular eucalypt and larch). Details are given on the results obtained. In the building sector, beyond the possibility of using purposely-produced plywood, Poplar wood could also be a very good raw-material for the production of “engineered panels” (LVL, OSB). In conclusion, poplar wood is surely suitable also for use in other sectors. The reliability of products (with improved properties, if necessary) and their ecological characteristics, together with the preparation of updated technical information, are, in any case, among the main factors that can guarantee an increase of the use of poplar wood in nontraditional applications

Perceived neighbourhood quality and adult health status: new statistical advices useful to answer old questions?

Interest in the quantitative effects of neighbourhood characteristics on adult health has recently increased in social epidemiology. Particularly, investigations concern the statistical influence on health of several individual demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and of neighbourhood characteristics as perceived by respondents. We analyze these issues within an original conceptual framework and employing statistical models unusual in this context. We use data collected in the Los Angeles Family and Neighbourhood Survey (L.A.FANS) to model the number of hospital admissions occurred to each individual as a function of some individual and neighbourhood characteristics, the latter being related to the individual perceptions about the neighbourhood he lives in. We employ generalized additive models with different distributional assumptions: Poisson, Negative Biomial and Zero Inflated Poisson (ZIP). Such models allow us to estimate (through spline functions) potential non linear effects of the covariates on the response. Moreover, non standard representations are used to overcome difficulties in interpreting the results for ZIP models. It turns out that perceived neighbourhood characteristics, and in particular the perception of social cohesion, have a significant effect after controlling for individual characteristics relevant to hospital admissions frequency. From a modeling point of view ZIP and Negative binomial models prove to be superior to standard Poisson model. We have confirmed the role of the neighbourhood where an individual lives in determining his health status. A strength of this analysis is that, due to the choice of the neighbourhood characteristics to be included in the model, the results do not depend of a particular definition of neighbourhood (which is traditionally based on administrative boundaries), since each individual refers his perceptions to his personal definition of it

Osservazioni sull’attività di Stromboli (16-19 giugno 2009)

Tra il 16 e il 19 giugno 2009 è stata svolta una campagna sul vulcano Stromboli durante la quale è stata osservata l’attività eruttiva e raccolti alcuni campioni di cenere. In particolare sono state svolte delle ricognizioni in area sommitale nei giorni 16, 17 e 19 giugno 2009. La campagna ha avuto anche lo scopo di trasportare un campionatore di cenere sulla sommità del vulcano, che durante i giorni di osservazione è stato posizionato lungo l’asse di dispersione delle ceneri emesse dall’attività eruttiva. Quest’ultima è stata documentata da foto a colori reali e infrarosso; inoltre sono state eseguite alcune misure delle bocche presenti all’interno della terrazza craterica mediante un binocolo distanziometric

Grain size distributions of volcanic particles by CAMSIZER

Grain size distribution is a key parameter in physical volcanology to describe and characterize tephra fall deposits. Walker (1973) used grain size parameters to propose a classification scheme of explosive volcanic eruptions. More recently, the role of grain size populations of eruptive mixtures at the vent has been widely considered a crucial input parameter for the application of numerical models simulating both plume and tephra dispersal (e.g. Cioni et al., 2003; Andronico et al., 2008; Scollo et al., 2008). Grain size analysis can be performed by various techniques that differ in their applicability, technology and affordability. The most commonly used technique is sieving, performed by a nested column of sieves arranged in decreasing order of aperture size (http://www.ivhhn.org/). Sieving can be performed manually or by machine shaking, usually in the particle range from 64 mm to less than 32 µm. Both these procedures are cumbersome, time-consuming and subject to many errors. Here, we present a new methodology to measure the distribution of volcanic particles by CAMSIZER® (Figure 1), an instrument developed by Retsch Technology GmbH (Haan) and Jenoptik AG (Jena) in Germany (see at http://www.retsch.com). CAMSIZER is a compact laboratory instrument for the simultaneous measurement of particle size distribution and particle shape of incoherent materials in the range of 30 µm to 30 mm, based on digital image processing. The sample is fed in from a vibrating feed channel that controls particles falling through the measurement field, where images of the particle flow are recorded by two digital cameras (Basic and Zoom) with different resolutions (Andronico et al., 2009). The Basic camera provides the analysis of the larger particles, while the Zoom camera focuses on smaller particles furnishing high resolution images of the finer classes of the wide measuring range. Software created by Retsch Technology enables processing digital images and providing grain size and shape parameters. Although this instrument is becoming very common in industry for quality control, research and production monitoring of very different kinds of materials, it has never been used before in volcanology. CAMSIZER has recently been installed at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania (INGV-CT) to measure grain-size distribution of volcanic particles within the volcanic monitoring activity of Eastern Sicily (Lo Castro and Andronico, 2008). As is well-known, this area is characterized by the presence of two of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mt. Etna and Stromboli, which commonly produce large quantities of tephra (e.g. Rosi et al., 2000; Alparone et al., 2007). The use of CAMSIZER on volcanic products ranging from fine lapilli to ash have allowed us to obtain detailed particle size analysis and drastically reduce the work and measuring time needed in classical sieve analysis. To optimize these objectives, CAMSIZER has been tested on different materials, not only volcanic, in order to calibrate the instrument and compare results with those obtained by sieving. In particular, we present results derived by two different kinds of test: the first regards repeatability by measuring the same sample several times to determine the accuracy of the instrument, the second concerns the compatibility between sieve analysis and CAMSIZER results. Our work suggests that CAMSIZER may constitute a good tool to improve grain size analysis in volcanology and thus help in tephra hazard assessments