Il rischio della fine in Nottetempo, Casa per casa di vincenzo consolo

This essay aims to analyse the novel, Nottetempo, casa per casa (1992), byVincenzo Consolo, considering the motif of the end of the world as a centraland unifying element of the different levels on which the narrative unfolds.While The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche is the intellectual referencefor the novel, the considerations by the anthropologist Ernesto De Martino onthe apocalypse allows us to interpret Nottetempo as a response to thepsychological, cultural and literary risk of the “end” experienced in these threedifferent areas

1860 E Nuovomondo: due diverse “Storie” di subalterni siciliani a confronto

The article compares two films set in Sicily, 1860 by Blasetti and Nuovomondo by Crialese, which focus on the representation of the subaltern. Through a narrative and technical analysis of the two works, the aim is to show how Crialese through the lens of postcolonial theory subverts the overall idea of history that informs a classical work such as Blasetti’s film, including the role assigned to the subaltern within society

Partial constraint singularities in elastic rods

We present a unified classical treatment of partially constrained elastic rods. Partial constraints often entail singularities in both shapes and reactions. Our approach encompasses both sleeve and adhesion problems, and provides simple and unambiguous derivations of counterintuitive results in the literature. Relationships between reaction forces and moments, geometry, and adhesion energies follow from the balance of energy during quasistatic motion. We also relate our approach to the balance of material momentum and the concept of a driving traction. The theory is generalizable and can be applied to a wide array of contact, adhesion, gripping, and locomotion problems.Comment: edited tex

Constant-angle surfaces in liquid crystals

We discuss some properties of surfaces in R3 whose unit normal has constant angle with an assigned direction field. The constant angle condition can be rewritten as an Hamilton-Jacobi equation correlating the surface and the direction field. We focus on examples motivated by the physics of interfaces in liquid crystals and of layered fluids, and discuss the properties of the constant-angle surfaces when the direction field is singular along a line (disclination) or at a point (hedgehog defect

Analyzing post modern consumer behavior and beef consumption patterns: Insights from Sicilian market

In current events, consumers are subject to various stimuli (advertising campaigns, popular magazines, social) that affect their marginal consumption propensity. However, as Economic Theory teaches us, the marginal propensity to consume does not necessarily translate into consumer spending. This is strongly affected by consumers' eating habits and other variables that determine where the consumption phenomenon occurs. The study aims to analyze post-modern consumer behavior toward beef consumption. An online questionnaire was administered to 535 Sicilian participants to achieve this goal. Statistical analyses were performed by R statistical software, using two-tailed P-values, and setting statistical significance at P <= 0.05. The results show that consumption choices are influenced by beef meat's impact on health. In addition, consumers consider the origin and certifications of the raw material to be extremely crucial

Long-Term Stability of TiS2–Alkylamine Hybrid Materials

Layered TiS2 intercalated with linear alkylamines has recently attracted significant interest as a model compound for flexible n-type thermoelectric applications, showing remarkably high power factors at room temperature. The thermal and, particularly, environmental stability of such materials is, however, a still an open challenge. In this paper, we show that amine-intercalated TiS2 prepared by a simple mechanochemical process is prone to chemical decomposition through sulfur exsolution, and that the presence of molecular oxygen is likely to mediate the decomposition reaction. Through computational analysis of the possible reaction pathways, we propose that Ti-N adducts are formed as a consequence of amine groups substituting for S vacancies on the internal surfaces of the S-Ti-S layers. These findings provide insights for possible future applications of similar hybrid compounds as devices operating in ambient conditions, and suggest isolating them from atmospheric oxygen

Energies of S^2-valued harmonic maps on polyhedra with tangent boundary conditions

A unit-vector field n:P \to S^2 on a convex polyhedron P \subset R^3 satisfies tangent boundary conditions if, on each face of P, n takes values tangent to that face. Tangent unit-vector fields are necessarily discontinuous at the vertices of P. We consider fields which are continuous elsewhere. We derive a lower bound E^-_P(h) for the infimum Dirichlet energy E^inf_P(h) for such tangent unit-vector fields of arbitrary homotopy type h. E^-_P(h) is expressed as a weighted sum of minimal connections, one for each sector of a natural partition of S^2 induced by P. For P a rectangular prism, we derive an upper bound for E^inf_P(h) whose ratio to the lower bound may be bounded independently of h. The problem is motivated by models of nematic liquid crystals in polyhedral geometries. Our results improve and extend several previous results.Comment: 42 pages, 2 figure