Lying with the Saints: Heavenly Bodies and Earthly Bodies in the Succorpo of San Gennaro

In January 1497, when the powerful Carafa family translated the relics of San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples, to the city's cathedral, a devastating plague that had ravished the region is said to have immediately ceased. The presence and miraculous power of the saint's relics give meaning to the Succorpo, Cardinal Oliviero Carafa's funerary chapel in the cathedral. This magnificent foundation serves two functions: first, it is the private funerary chapel of Carafa and select members of his family; second, it is the locus of the cult of San Gennaro himself. My thesis examines the chapel's dual functions and explores the iconography of its decoration. I present new propositions regarding the architectural plan and artistic attributions of the chapel, and I provide a close reading of the portrait sculpture of Cardinal Carafa in the Succorpo, considering how its strategic placement informs our understanding of the program and its meaning

King of the Renaissance: Art and Politics at the Neapolitan Court of Ferrante I, 1458-1494

In the second half of the fifteenth century, King Ferrante I of Naples (r. 1458-1494) dominated the political and cultural life of the Mediterranean world. His court was home to artists, writers, musicians, and ambassadors from England to Egypt and everywhere in between. Yet, despite its historical importance, Ferrante’s court has been neglected in the scholarship. This dissertation provides a long-overdue analysis of Ferrante’s artistic patronage and attempts to explicate the king’s specific role in the process of art production at the Neapolitan court, as well as the experiences of artists employed therein. By situating Ferrante and the material culture of his court within the broader discourse of Early Modern art history for the first time, my project broadens our understanding of the function of art in Early Modern Europe. I demonstrate that, contrary to traditional assumptions, King Ferrante was a sophisticated patron of the visual arts whose political circumstances and shifting alliances were the most influential factors contributing to his artistic patronage. Unlike his father, Alfonso the Magnanimous, whose court was dominated by artists and courtiers from Spain, France, and elsewhere, Ferrante differentiated himself as a truly Neapolitan king. Yet Ferrante’s court was by no means provincial. His residence, the Castel Nuovo in Naples, became the physical embodiment of his commercial and political network, revealing the accretion of local and foreign visual vocabularies that characterizes Neapolitan visual culture

International Business: Strategy, Management and the New Realities

International Business Strategy, Management, and the New Realities, is a component of an innovative educational system we have been developing over the past several years. The system represents an innovative and exciting approach to teaching international business. The insight we gained from comprehensive research research to teaching international business. The insight we gained from comprehensive research and discussions with hundreds of practitioners, students, and faculty have been instrumental in refining our pedagogical philosofy and resources. The book attemts to impart the core body of knowledge in international business in an interesting and lively manner. Our teaching system works from the ground up, where cases, exercise, and management skill buliders are seamlessly integrated and matched to the topics covered in each chapter

A Igreja de Santa Iria, Um Regresso ao Passado: Projecto de Intervenção

A presente dissertação tem como objetivo explorar, desenvolver, investigare refletir sobre a metodologia de intervenção no património edificado, tendocomo foco principal os edifícios de caráter religioso.Partindo de um trabalho académico desenvolvido no âmbito da disciplinada História da Arquitetura Portuguesa, estuda-se o caso particular da Igrejado Convento de Santa Iria, erigida no início do século XVI, que, pelo seu valorarquitetónico, se torna um objeto de estudo relevante e de interesse para a realizaçãode uma proposta de intervenção. Esta obra foi alvo de diversas transformaçõesao longo do tempo, das quais se destacam a introdução de elementosbarrocos no seu interior, no princípio do século XVII, e o corte do coro alto e docoro baixo do seu volume, no final do século XIX, da qual resultou a diminuiçãoda sua dimensão e consequente alteração das suas proporções.De uma abordagem introdutória aos temas principais que constituem oestado da arte sobre a temática em apreço, designadamente, a história das teoriasda intervenção no património e o estudo de casos considerados relevantesna analogia com o objeto de estudo, desenvolveu-se uma metodologia de intervençãopensada para responder aos problemas e necessidade específicos doedifício em estudo.Como tal, a proposta apresentada é o resultado de uma reflexão quepartiu do estudo das origens, da história, das transformações e do contexto atualda Igreja do Convento de Santa Iria, com o intuito de devolver a dignidade aoedifício e de o reconectar com a comunidade de Tomar.The purpose of the following thesis is the exploration, development,research and reflection of the intervention methodology in built heritage, havingas main focus the religious buildings.Starting from an academic work developed for the subject of History ofPortuguese Architecture, it is studied the peculiar case of the Convent Churchof Santa Iria, erected in the beginning of the XVI century, that, thanks to itsarchitectural value, becomes a relevant study object and with interest for theexecution of an intervention proposal. This building was the target of severaltransformations over time, of which highlights the introduction of baroque elementsin its interior, in the beginning of the XVII, and the removal from itsvolume of the high and low choir, at the end of the XIX century, resulting in thediminishing of its size and the change of its proportions.From an introductory approach to the main themes of the history ofintervention in built heritage and from the study of references of interventions,considered relevant for the object that is being studied, a methodology of interventionwas developed, thought with the intent to solve the problems and needsof the building that is being studied.As such, the presented proposal is the result of a reflection that startedfrom the study of the origins, the history, the transformations and the currentcontext, with the goal of returning the building's dignity and to reconnect it withthe community of Tomar

Productivity improvement of transmission electron microscopes - A case study

This paper aims to improve the performance of Transmission Electron Microscopes (TEM) used in asbestos detection processes in a business context. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) were studied, identifying the critical failure modes, proposing risk reduction measures and changing maintenance practices based on the Reliability Centered Maintenance strategy. In the elaboration of the FMEA it was evident the lack of data and poor information quality regarding the reliability and maintenance of TEM. These circumstances led to the implementation of training projects to standardize operations and to the development of a software application for data collection and reports generation with relevant performance indicators (Costs, Mean Down Time, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, …) to support operators tasks and decision-making. The approach followed and the tools developed allowed monitoring TEM productivity and maintenance performance. As a result, more informed decisions can be made that will lead to improved performance of TEM.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020

Disaster Situation and Humanitarian Emergency – In-Between Responses to the Refugee Crisis in Germany

In 2015, the needs of hundreds of thousands of refugees who arrived in Germany could only be met by deploying all available civil protection units. This article presents procedures and practices of state and non-state formal actors in the field of civil protection and related crisis management structures implemented and established across the board in the municipalities, the Federal Government and mass shelters, in particular in Bavaria. From a disaster research and humanitarian studies perspective we use the concept of “patterns of interpretation” to analyse the application of the “humanitarian emergency” and the “disaster situation” procedures to discuss whether the situation can really be categorized as “either-or” or whether the coexistence of the two served a function in managing such a complex situation. Finally, we discuss some developments that occurred after 2015/16 and consider the extent to which these developments shift or expand the existing patterns of interpretation