Sale or free assignation: conveyance of family estates in a manufacturing village of Lombard Prealps (Lumezzane, XVIII and XIX century): a first approach

Lumezzane, a village in the Lombard Prealps, in XVIII and XIX century was characterized by the presence of important manufactures favoured by the local availability of raw material and water power. People worked in forges of 2nd level and produced components for fire-arms, sidearms and hand-manufactured goods in iron or in brass. People financed their activities by domestic patrimony or contracting mortgage debts from private individuals or charitable institutions: it was impossible to have credit without securities as lands or houses, so it is very important to know the way used for conveyance of the family estates and the dimensions of lands and houses market. This paper concerns just real estates market and analyses the type of acts (sales, barters or free assignations), the level of commercialisation of houses and lands, the social relationships between buyers and sellers, the prices registered on the land and house market as well as the ways in which transactions on real estates were settled (by cash or annual instalments with or without interest, settlement of precedent debts or release to other properties).

Common Land in Eastern Lombardy during the Nineteenth Century.

Este texto presente las características de las tierras comunales en Lombardía oriental durante el siglo XIX. Analiza los métodos empleados para maximizar los ingresos obtenidos del comunal y el sistemaempleado para distribuir los productos cosechados.Además pone de relieve los daños medioambientales ocasionados por la población (colonos o propietarios) que no utilizaba el comunal en los valles alpinos. Los gobiernos favorecieron la venta de los comunales, pero tendieron a subestimar la inversión que debían afrontar los nuevos propietarios para mejorar los suelos. El resultado fue que las leyes desamortizadoras produjeron una sobreexplotación de las tierras comunales: en su mayor parte fueron vendidas pero el objetivo principal de los municipios y el Estado generar ingresos a través de las ventas y del aumento de los rendimientos no se alcanzá. En algunos pueblos los costes sociales y económicos de las ventas fueron altos (entre el 50% y el 80% de los habitantes se vieron obligados a emigrar) y, en la medida en que los nuevos propietarios sobreexplotaron los antiguos comunales, se causó un perjuicio ecológico. Muchos problemas se derivaron del uso inapropiado de los comunales: los nuevos propietarios intentaron recuperar rápidamente las inversiones con costes elevados para los suelos. únicamente el progreso técnico (aumento de rendimientos) y la nueva legislación que limitó el poder de los propietarios pudieron restaurar la situación. Si consideramos cómo los comunales y la distribución del producto redujeron los riesgos medioambientales y ayudaron a mucha gente a sobrevivir, podemos concluir que el uso colectivo de la propiedad era menos caro que la propiedad privada. Esto es mucho más evidente en los altos valles alpinos y allá donde los ingresos medios eran bajos y las inversiones necesarias para aumentar los rendimientos, muy altas.The paper presents the features of common land in eastern Lombardy during the nineteenth century. It analyses the methods used to maximise earnings derived from common land and the system used for the distribution of the products which were obtained. Furthermore it evaluates the damage caused to the environment by the people (whether tenants or owners) who did not use common land in the Alpine valleys as a whole. Governments favoured the sale of common land, but they underestimated the investment required by new landlords to make real improvement in plots of land. The result was that new laws contributed to an over‐exploitation of common land: most of the common land was sold but the principal goal of municipalities and governments (to generate revenue through sales and increased yields) was not been achieved. In some villages the social and economic costs were very high (between 50% and 80% of inhabitants were forced to emigrate) and, as new landlords over‐exploited previously common land, there was some environmental damage. Many problems were related to the inappropriate use of common lands: new landlords adopted a strategy aiming at a rapid pay‐off for their investment which simultaneously created environmental dangers. Only technical progress (improving yields) and new laws limiting the power of landlords could restore the situation. If we consider how common land and the system of distribution of its produce reduced environmental risks and helped people to survive, it becomes clear that the collective use of property was less expensive than private ownership. This was more evident in the high Alpine valleys and where the average earnings were low and the investments needed to increase yields were very expensive

How cooperation between EU states shapes counterterrorism policies

Cooperation between EU states has become increasingly important in the fight against terrorism. But what types of cooperation are most beneficial? Drawing on a new study, Mario Gilli and Paolo Tedeschi find that intelligence cooperation is associated with more efficient defensive policies than unanimous political cooperation

Laser scanning technology for the hypogean survey: the case of Santa Barbara karst system (Sardinia, Italy)

The morphological knowledge of the territory, bothin its surface and subterranean aspects, is the main premise to all decision-making procedures as well as all planning and management activities. Knowledge takes shape into reliable precise and complete thematic cartography and databases, whichare necessary for anybody dealing withunderground contexts: speleologists, scientists, public administrations, managing authorities etc. Surveys in caves are normally carried out withtraditional techniques and instruments, whichare essential for a first representation but not enoughfor a pragmatic effective topographic approach. Laser scanning technique can be an alternative to the traditional systems. Laser scanning quickly acquires the shape of cavities as “point clouds” (x, y, z coordinates and colour values) and produces a highprecision database of the surveyed object. Laser scanning technology is therefore a feasible way to document caves in a precise exhaustive way, limiting risks relating to lack and/or inadequacy of data. The present paper explains the laser scanning survey carried out in San Giovanni mine near Iglesias (Sardinia, Italy), particularly in Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara 2 caves, the data post-processing and three-dimensional modelling of “point clouds” (operations performed witha dedicated software), and the use of the obtained digital model. Moreover, the paper describes the advantages of laser scanning for the hypogean survey in comparison to traditional methods and the future potentialities of a broad application of laser scanning instruments in caves.

Regressivity reducing VAT reforms

A concern about a more extensive use of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in national tax systems often arises both from its impact on aggregate consumption and its alleged regressivity over income. Yet, the empirical evidence on this latter issue is still narrow mainly due to the lack of joint data on income and expenditures with enough detail to account for commodity-specific tax rates. After discussing relevant problems in the measurement of VAT incidence over current income – which are likely to cause severe upward bias in the estimated regressivity – the paper aixsms at analysing the distributional implications of different VAT structures. In a framework of marginal tax reforms, relying on the concept of Gini elasticity (Yitzhaki, 1983), a general methodology is proposed to analyse and improve the distributional profile of VAT over income. Using a static microsimulation model (EGaLiTe), the methodology is applied on a comprehensive dataset of expenditures and incomes obtained by a statistical matching of two different sources representative of the Italian population. It is shown that an alternative allocation of goods among existing rates could mitigate the regressive profile of the tax over income, and that a properly designed two-rate setting could even improve the distributional outcome compared with the current setting. Finally, behavioural responses to tax-driven price changes are also simulated in order to assess the potential impact of the proposed reforms on aggregate expenditures

Verification of the electromagnetic deep-penetration effect in the real world

The deep penetration of electromagnetic waves into lossy media can be obtained by properly generating inhomogeneous waves. In this work, for the very first time, we demonstrate the physical implementation and the practical relevance of this phenomenon. A thorough numerical investigation of the deep-penetration effects has been performed by designing and comparing three distinct practical radiators, emitting either homogeneous or inhomogeneous waves. As concerns the latter kind, a typical Menzel microstrip antenna is first used to radiate improper leaky waves. Then, a completely new approach based on an optimized 3-D horn TEM antenna applied to a lossy prism is described, which may find applications even at optical frequencies. The effectiveness of the proposed radiators is measured using different algorithms to consider distinct aspects of the propagation in lossy media. We finally demonstrate that the deep penetration is possible, by extending the ideal and theoretical evidence to practical relevance, and discuss both achievements and limits obtained through numerical simulations on the designed antennas

The Anemonia sulcata Toxin BDS-I Protects Astrocytes Exposed to Aβ1–42 Oligomers by Restoring [Ca2+]i Transients and ER Ca2+ Signaling

Intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) transients in astrocytes represent a highly plastic signaling pathway underlying the communication between neurons and glial cells. However, how this important phenomenon may be compromised in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains unexplored. Moreover, the involvement of several K+ channels, including KV3.4 underlying the fast-inactivating currents, has been demonstrated in several AD models. Here, the effect of KV3.4 modulation by the marine toxin blood depressing substance-I (BDS-I) extracted from Anemonia sulcata has been studied on [Ca2+]i transients in rat primary cortical astrocytes exposed to Aβ1–42 oligomers. We showed that: (1) primary cortical astrocytes expressing KV3.4 channels displayed [Ca2+]i transients depending on the occurrence of membrane potential spikes, (2) BDS-I restored, in a dose-dependent way, [Ca2+]i transients in astrocytes exposed to Aβ1–42 oligomers (5 µM/48 h) by inhibiting hyperfunctional KV3.4 channels, (3) BDS-I counteracted Ca2+ overload into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) induced by Aβ1–42 oligomers, (4) BDS-I prevented the expression of the ER stress markers including active caspase 12 and GRP78/BiP in astrocytes treated with Aβ1–42 oligomers, and (5) BDS-I prevented Aβ1–42-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell suffering measured as mitochondrial activity and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. Collectively, we proposed that the marine toxin BDS-I, by inhibiting the hyperfunctional KV3.4 channels and restoring [Ca2+]i oscillation frequency, prevented Aβ1–42-induced ER stress and cell suffering in astrocytes

Bone and Joint Infections: The Role of Imaging in Tailoring Diagnosis to Improve Patients' Care

Imaging is needed for the diagnosis of bone and joint infections, determining the severity and extent of disease, planning biopsy, and monitoring the response to treatment. Some radiological features are pathognomonic of bone and joint infections for each modality used. However, imaging diagnosis of these infections is challenging because of several overlaps with non-infectious etiologies. Interventional radiology is generally needed to verify the diagnosis and to identify the microorganism involved in the infectious process through imaging-guided biopsy. This narrative review aims to summarize the radiological features of the commonest orthopedic infections, the indications and the limits of different modalities in the diagnostic strategy as well as to outline recent findings that may facilitate diagnosis