“Voi che ve ne andaste per paura” ovvero tre sguardi sulla battaglia di Montaperti

L’obiettivo che si pone l’articolo č quello di esaminare le diverse prospettive in cui fu percepita la battaglia di Montaperti, combattuta nel 1260 tra guelfi fiorentini e ghibellini senesi, sostenuti a loro volta dagli esuli ghibellini di Firenze. Questo scontro s’impresse durevolmente nella memoria dei membri di ambedue i partiti rivelando quanta importanza avesse per gli italiani dell’epoca l’appartenenza a un raggruppamento politico determinato. In una tale ottica, l’adesione a una data fazione va ritenuta un tratto italiano per antonomasia che, seppure in una forma rudimentale, č sopravvissuta per secoli. Basti pensare al Palio di Siena, che puň esser visto come un prolungamento della rivalitŕ tra guelfi e ghibellini. Ai fini della ricerca sono stati analizzati: il sonetto ***[A voi che ve ne andaste per paura] di Rustico Filippi (di Filippo) – ghibellino fiorentino che deride lo sbaraglio dei guelfi, il Canto X dell’Inferno, in cui Dante parla con il capo degli esuli ghibellini fiorentini, Farinata degli Uberti, e la canzone ***[Ahi lasso! or e stagion de doler tanto] di Guittone d’Arezzo che constata con amarezza che Firenze č ormai soltanto un simulacro dell’antica grandezza. Viene inoltre segnalato che tra le righe dei componimenti traspare un’altra caratteristica tipicamente italiana, quella di una specie di campanilismo, ovverossia di patriottismo locale.Artykuł ukazuje różne literackie spojrzenia na bitwę pod Montaperti z 1260 r.: potyczkę o ogromnym znaczeniu w historii walk gwelfów i gibelinów, które można postrzegać jako przejaw campanilismo, tj. lokalnego patriotyzmu. Tytułem wstępu zostaje nakreślone ówczesne tło społeczno-polityczne, rywalizacja partii jest wpisana w szerszy kontekst. Aby uzmysłowić konsekwencje starcia, autorka pracy wzmiankuje o jego niszczycielskich skutkach, w tym o zamiarze zrównania Florencji z ziemią przez zwycięskich gibelinów. Na szczęście w samą porę powstrzymuje ich Farinata degli Uberti, z punktu widzenia którego oglądamy bitwę w Pieśni X Piekła Dantego. Zdaje się, że również Rustico di Filippo w sonecie ***[A voi, che ve ne andaste per paura], skierowanym do gwelfów, ceni wyżej wspólne dobro niż zwycięstwo w politycznych potyczkach, zważywszy że wyznaje: „nie chcę z wami żyć w niezgodzie” (“io non voglio con voi stare a tenzone”). Podobną postawę przyjmuje Guittone d’Arezzo w słynnej kanconie ***[Ahi lasso! or č stagion de doler tanto], w której ubolewa nad wewnętrzną niezgodą wśród mieszkańców Florencji. Tym, co łączy wszystkich autorów, jest zatem płomienna miłość do miasta

Human chorionic gonadotropin – a well-known hormone with unknown functions

Human chorionic gonadotropin (CG) belongs to the glycoprotein family consisting of LH, FSH and TSH. All of these hormones are composed of two subunits: common to the whole family alpha subunit and hormone-specific beta subunit. CG has paracrine effects on several processes such as placentation, implantation, angiogenesis and delaying the apoptosis of corpus luteum. Serum level of CG is used to monitor pregnancy and pregnancy disorders. Recent studies have shown that the synthesis of CG is a characteristic feature of a wide variety of malignant and non-malignant tumors. The role of CG in cancerogensis remains unclear, but the main hypothesis concerns its antiapoptotic impact of the hormone on the neoplastic cells. The synthesis of functional CG requires the activity of separate genes encoding both hormone’s subunits, but it is the beta subunit accessibility which controls the process. The protein synthesis must be followed by proper folding and posttranslational modifications of the molecule. Particularly, glycosylation of human chorionic gonadotropin was shown to have an impact on the hormone’s function. The amount and the structure of carbohydrate residuals attached to CG may be different and lead to the formation of hormone variants, which vary in molecular mass. Normal CG with a molecular mass of about 37.5 kDa is produced by the syncytiotrophoblast, while the variant with higher molecular mass – 38.5-40 kDa, described as hyperglicosylated CG, is secreted by undifferentiated trophoblast cells and some cancers. It is suggested that those forms have different but complementary biological functions. However, the mechanism of the action of particular variants and signaling pathways activated by those forms are still obscure

We Do Not Like It: A Likert-Type Scale Survey on the Attitudes of a Young Population towards the Transhumanistic Theory of Education

Transhumanists assume that future education may be purely based on technological stimulation. The question is: Do potential clients of education “like” such vision? In order to check this, we asked over one thousand two hundred young Poles to evaluate their identification with the transhumanistic theory of education. The results are quite surprising: its show that they disagree with the assumptions of this theory, while they rather agree with the postulates of more traditional (and no technology-based) concepts of education

Enzymatic activity in soil treated with exogenous organic matter

The content of organic matter affects the quality and productivity of agricultural soils. Due to the shortage of manure as the basic source of organic matter for agricultural soils, al- ternative and commonly available exogenous sources of organic matter, such as sewage sludge and bottom sediments, are taken into account. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the addition of various types of manure, municipal sewage sludge and bottom sediments on the enzymatic activity of soils (dehydrogenases, acidic and alkaline phosphatases). Manure and sludge were applied to the soil in two doses, corresponding to 20 and 40 tons of dry matter of material per ha. The control was soil fertilized with ammonium nitrate in the amount corresponding to 170 kg N per ha. The experiment included 2 different variants of the same fertilization combinations: without plants and with a test plant (Sinapis alba L.). The greenhouse experiment showed the stimulating effect of one of the municipal sewage sludge and poultry manure. On the other hand, the introduction of bottom sediments to the soil limited its enzymatic activity

Is the Distribution of Research Grants Sustainable? An Empirical Study of Grant Assessment

Financing of basic research is an important task in supporting research activities and development of dynamically advancing interdisciplinary fields of science. A significant challenge in this aspect is the correct distribution of limited finances sustainably. In this paper, we present an empirical study related to National Science Centre (NSC), which is the main government agency in Poland. NSC funds projects in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences and Engineering. In this work, we analyse three primary funding schemes of NSC, which are called PRELUDIUM, SONATA and OPUS. Each of theses programms is asigned to another group of scientists from beginners to experts. Projects’ data concerning PRELUDIUM, SONATA and OPUS schemes are collected from NSC projects database (only completed projects) and proccessed for further investigation. Effectiveness and sustainability of projects implemented in scientific fields are analysed concerning criteria such as the total number of book publications, papers, amount of grants and IF points. The results obtained are presented regarding scientific disciplines and panels. Prevailingly, the PRELUDIUM scheme exhibits better results in the majority of criteria and panels