La Croce Processiva di Pietro Vannini

Nowadays, Pietro Vannini is considered one of the most skilled 15th- century Italian goldsmiths. He was able to harmonize stylistic features of the late Gothic tradition with the new elements typical of the Renaissance art. Indeed, he realised various monstrances, crosses and reliquaries that are still displayed in important museums and churches. Yet, this article focuses on one of his less famous creations, a processional cross displayed at the Diocesan Museum of Osimo. The artefact has not been adequately documented in the past, despite its relevance, and this has caused confusion on its origin and iconography. Various are the hypothesis on the date of its origin, among them the one from scholar Clerici assigns the cross to the late fifteenth century. Moreover, complex is the analysis and identification of the figures that decorate the cross from the iconographical point of view. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to clarify the story of the cross and to underline its relevance. The article starts from the origin of the cross along with a stylistic and iconographic in-depth analysis, where scholars such as Gori, Fanciulli and Montevecchi (one of the best scholars of Vannini) express their views. Then proceeds to a focus on the several restorations the piece has undergone, from those mandated by bishop Spada and bishop Compagnoni, to the campaignsthat have not been documented, yet can be inferred from the changes they brought to the artefact and its various descriptions throughout different periods in history.NowadaysPietro Vannini is considered one of the most skilled 15th- century Italian goldsmiths. He was able to harmonize stylistic features of the late Gothic tradition with the new elements typical of the Renaissance art. Indeed, he realised various monstrances, crosses and reliquaries that are still displayed in important museums and churches. Yet, this article focuses on one of his less famous creations, a processional cross displayed at the Diocesan Museum of Osimo. The artefact has not been adequately documented in the past, despite its relevance, and this has caused confusion on its origin and iconography. Various are the hypothesis on the date of its origin, among them the one from scholar Clerici assigns the cross to the late fifteenth century. Moreover, complex is the analysis and identification of the figures that decorate the cross from the iconographical point of view. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to clarify the story of the cross and to underline its relevance. The article starts from the origin of the cross along with a stylistic and iconographic in-depth analysis, where scholars such as Gori, Fanciulli and Montevecchi (one of the best scholars of Vannini) express their views. Then proceeds to a focus on the several restorations the piece has undergone, from those mandated by bishop Spada and bishop Compagnoni, to the campaignsthat have not been documented, yet can be inferred from the changes they brought to the artefact and its various descriptions throughout different periods in history.    Al giorno d’oggi Pietro Vannini è considerato uno dei più grandi orafi italiani del XV secolo. Egli è stato in grado di equilibrare caratteristiche tradizionali del gusto tardo-gotico con i nuovi elementi tipici dell’arte Rinascimentale; ha infatti realizzato vari ostensori, croci e reliquiari che sono ancora oggi visibili in musei e chiese di notevole importanza. Tuttavia, questo articolo si focalizza su una delle sue creazioni meno famose, una croce processionale esposta presso il Museo Diocesano di Osimo. Questo manufatto non è stato documentato in maniera adeguata in passato, nonostante la sua importanza, e ciò ha causato disorientamento su questioni riguardanti la sua origine e iconografia. Molte sono le ipotesi sulla sua data di manifattura, tra queste si distingue lo studioso Clerici che colloca la realizzazione della croce verso la fine del XV secolo. È inoltre complessa sia l’analisi che l’identificazione dal punto di vista iconografico delle figure che adornano la croce. Lo scopo di questo articolo è quello di chiarire le vicende legate alla croce e di evidenziare la sua importanza. L’articolo si propone di analizzare le origini della croce e di delineare una approfondita analisi stilistica e iconografica che muove dagli studiosi Gori, Fanciulli e Montevecchi (una dei più grandi studiosi di Vannini); infine, si analizzano i vari restauri effettuati sull’opera, alcuni commissionati dal cardinale Spada e dal cardinale Compagnoni, e altri che non sono stati documentati, ma che possono essere dedotti dai cambiamenti che hanno portato al manufatto e dalle numerose descrizioni effettuate in vari periodi storici

Analyzing a Creditor’s Ability to Exercise its Shareholder Rights to Prevent a Bankruptcy Filing by a Company

(Excerpt) Title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) operates as a tool allowing an honest, struggling debtor to gain a fresh start absent of their burdensome debts. Generally, when a company is about to enter bankruptcy, shareholders and creditors of the insolvent company play two distinct roles. Shareholders, those with an ownership stake in the company, have voting rights enumerated in their shareholder agreement, allowing them to vote on certain actions, including the company’s bankruptcy filing. On the other hand, creditors generally have a claim (i.e., a right to payment) against the company, which typically has arisen from receiving inadequate value in return for the value the creditor gave to the debtor. Thus, while a shareholder may have input into a company’s decision to file for bankruptcy, a creditor typically will not. However, in certain circumstances, a party may serve dual roles—it may be both a shareholder and a creditor. Ultimately, in such a circumstance, conflict arises as a creditor is now afforded the ability to exercise shareholder voting rights and prevent a company from filing for bankruptcy. Courts have recognized two central ways in which a creditor/shareholder attempts to block a company from filing for bankruptcy: (1) a golden share, and (2) blocking provisions. A golden share is a “share that controls more than half of the corporation voting rights and gives the shareholder veto power over changes to the company charter.” The term blocking provision “is a catch-all to refer to various contractual provisions through which a creditor reserves a right to prevent a debtor from filing for bankruptcy.” Ultimately, both golden shares and blocking provisions give a creditor/shareholder the ability to prevent a company with which they do business from entering into bankruptcy, eliminating the possibility of having their claims discharged. Part I of this memorandum discusses whether a creditor/shareholder may use its shareholder voting power to prevent a company from entering bankruptcy, while analyzing the difficulty courts have with uniformly deciding the issue. Part II of this memorandum examines the conclusion of many courts, that from a policy standpoint, when a party is both a shareholder and creditor, it should not have the ability to prevent a company from filing for bankruptcy

Epidemiological changes of hepatocellular carcinoma at the beginning of the twenty-first century: from the emerging role of metabolic diseases as etiological factors to the need of a revision of the staging system

Introduzione e scopo: la rapida diffusione delle malattie dismetaboliche sta modificando l’epidemiologia dell’epatocarcinoma (HCC). Scopo della tesi è, attraverso quattro studi, analizzare l’impatto di questi cambiamenti nella gestione clinica del paziente affetto da HCC. Materiali e metodi: quattro studi di coorte, condotti con analisi retrospettiva del database ITA.LI.CA. Studio 1:3658 pazienti arruolati tra il 01-01-2001 ed il 31-12-2012 suddivisi in base alla data di diagnosi:2001-2004 (954 pazienti), 2005-2008 (1122 pazienti), 2009-2012 (1582 pazienti). Studio 2:analisi comparativa tra 756 pazienti con HCC-NAFLD e 611 pazienti con HCC-HCV. Studio 3:proposta di quattro modelli alternativi al BCLC originale con validazione di una proposta di sottostadiazione dell’intermedio, considerando 2606 pazienti arruolati tra il 01-01-2000 e il 31-12-2012 e riallocati secondo gradi diversi di perfomance status (PS). Studio 4:analisi di 696 pazienti con HCC in stadio intermedio diagnosticato dopo il 1999 stratificati per trattamento. Risultati: studio 1:progressivo aumento dell’età alla diagnosi e delle eziologie dismetaboliche; più frequente esordio dell’HCC in stadio precoce e con funzione epatica più conservata; aumento della sopravvivenza dopo il 2008. Studio 2:i pazienti con HCC-NAFLD mostrano più frequentemente un tumore infiltrativo diagnosticato fuori dai programmi di sorveglianza, con prognosi peggiore rispetto ai pazienti HCC-HCV. Questa differenza di sopravvivenza si elimina rimuovendo i fattori di confondimento attraverso propensity analysis. Studio 3:il PS1 non è un predittore indipendente di sopravvivenza. Il modello 4 (considerando PS1=PS0 e con la sottostadiazione proposta), ha la migliore capacità discriminativa. Studio 4:i trattamenti curativi riducono la mortalità più della TACE, anche dopo propensity analysis. Conclusioni: l’aumento delle patologie dismetaboliche comporterà diagnosi di malattia ad uno stadio più avanzato, quando sintomatica, rendendo necessario stabilire un programma di sorveglianza. Inoltre per una migliore stratificazione e gestione dei pazienti, bisogna riconsiderare il ruolo del PS ed offrire un ventaglio di opzioni terapeutiche anche per il pazienti in stadio intermedio.Background and aim: the rapid spread of metabolic diseases is changing the epidemiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aim of the present thesis is, through four studies, to analyze the impact of these changes in the clinical management of patients with HCC. Materials and methods: four cohort studies, conducted with retrospective analysis of the ITA.LI.CA database. Study 1:3658 patients enrolled between 01-01-2001 and 31-12-2012 and divided by date of diagnosis: 2001 to 2004 (954 patients), 2005-2008 (1122 patients), 2009-2012 (1582 patients ). Study 2: comparative analysis of 756 patients with HCC-NAFLD and 611 patients with HCC-HCV. Study 3: proposal of four alternative models to original BCLC and validation of a proposed intermediate substaging, considering 2606 patients enrolled between 01-01-2000 and 31-12-2012 and reallocated according to different degrees of performance status (PS ). Study 4: analysis of 696 patients with HCC in intermediate stage diagnosed after 1999 and stratified by treatment. Results: Study 1: increasing of age at diagnosis and metabolic etiologies; more frequent onset of HCC in early stage and with more preserved liver function; increased survival after 2008. Study 2: patients with NAFLD-HCC show most frequently infiltrative tumour, diagnosed out of surveillance, with worse prognosis than patients HCC-HCV. This survival difference is eliminated by removing confounding factors through propensity analysis. Study 3: PS1 is not an independent predictor of survival. Model 4 (which considers PS0=PS1 and the proposed of substaging), has the best discriminative capacity. Studt 4: curative treatments reduce mortality more than TACE, even after propensity analysis. Conclusions: The widespread of metabolic diseases will involve an HCC diagnosis in a more advanced stage, when symptomatic, making it necessary to establish a screening program. T better stratify and manage patients, we must reconsider the role of PS and offer a range of treatment options for patients in the intermediate stage

RECOMMENDATIONS IN AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS – THE EFFECT OF CUSTOMER REVIEWS AND SELLER RECOMMENDATIONS ON PURCHASE INTENTION AND PRODUCT SELECTION

Not only since the launch of Pokémon Go in July 2016, augmented reality (AR) has received a big boost in awareness and popularity. AR-based start-ups have entered the market, and established companies start to offer AR functionalities in their smartphone applications. A new distribution channel in form of augmented commerce has been emerging, although only little is known about optimized design of AR environments due to the limited number of user studies researching the effects of AR usage. This paper’s research objective is to tackle this gap by analysing AR technology in combination with online recommendations, a well-established, ubiquitous design element in today’s e-commerce. We conducted a controlled online experiment with 208 subjects to examine the effects of customer recommendations (CR) and increasingly emerging seller recommendations (SR) in AR applications. Our results demonstrate that CRs in AR applications positively influence the intention to purchase and the selection of products by decreasing a customer’s product fit uncertainty, whereas SRs displayed no significant influence. These insights are the first steps to further understand how AR and online recommendations can be used and have to be implemented to provide customers with novel and accepted sources of value

Leben mit einem Parkinsonkranken – Eine Gratwanderung zwischen Überfürsorglichkeit und Überforderung : «Welche Faktoren gibt es, die Einfluss auf die Lebensqualität pflegender Angehörigen von Parkinson-PatientInnen haben?»

Thema: Der Grossteil von Parkinson-PatientInnen werden Zuhause durch Angehörige gepflegt. Diese Betreuung rund um die Uhr braucht viel Zeit und Energie auf Seiten der Angehörigen. In den vorhandenen Studien wird das Wohlergehen sowie gezielte Unterstützung der pflegenden Angehörigen oftmals vernachlässigt. Diese Lücke versucht die vorliegende Arbeit zu schliessen. Ziel: Das Ziel ist es, Hauptfaktoren zu eruieren, welche negativen Einfluss auf die Lebensqualität pflegender Angehöriger haben können. Methode: Mittels Literaturrecherchen wurden Studien gesucht, die Einflussfaktoren auf die Lebensqualität pflegender Angehöriger aufzeigen. Die Studienbeurteilung wurde anhand des Formulars für kritische Besprechung quantitativer Studien von Law et al. (1998) durchgeführt. Mit einem Fallbeispiel wurde untersucht, ob durch einfache Hilfestellungen mittels Hilfsmittelinstruktion und gezielter Beratung bezüglich Umgang mit den PatientInnen Einfluss auf die Lebensqualität pflegender Angehöriger genommen werden kann. Ergebnisse: Es zeigt sich, dass viele pflegende Angehörige mit ihrer Aufgabe überfordert sind. Depression, Funktionseinschränkungen, Stürze, Krankheitsdauer und fortgeschrittene mentale Symptome tragen dazu bei, dass die Belastung pflegender Angehöriger messbar erhöht ist. Schlussfolgerung: Den Autorinnen zufolge liegt es in der Verantwortung der Ärzte, Therapeuten und anderen Professionen, die pflegenden Angehörigen in ihrer Aufgabe aufzuklären und zu unterstützen

Dynamic investigation on the Mirandola bell tower in post-earthquake scenarios

After the seismic events of the 20th and 29th of May 2012 in Emilia (Italy), most of the monumental and historic buildings of the area were severely damaged. In a few structures, partial collapse mechanisms were observed (e.g. façade tilting, out-of-plane overturning of panels…). This paper presents the case-study of the bell tower of the Santa Maria Maggiore cathedral, located in Mirandola (Italy). The dynamic response of the structure was evaluated through operational modal analysis using ambient vibrations, a consolidated non-destructive procedure that estimates the dynamic parameters of the bell-tower. The dynamic tests were carried out in pre-intervention and post-intervention conditions in order to understand the sensitivity of dynamic measurements to safety interventions. Furthermore, a comparative study is made with similar cases of undamaged masonry towers up to the 6th mode. Finally, an investigation on the state of connections and of the building itself is carried out via FE model updating

Geography notes on critical toponymy

The methodological introduction to the critical toponymy session of the IGU-UGI World Geographical Congress Paris 2022 proposed actual geography notes aimed at delimiting the field of inquiry, identifying the conceptual tools offered by the discipline, and sharing a vocabulary and bibliography. The con-cise reflections offered again here focus on (1) the social production of space; (2) the process of territorialization; (3) memory as a spatial fact; (4) the places of memory; (5) the power of transforming time into space; and (6) critical toponymy as a geographical research perspective

The Influence of Gd-EOB-DTPA on T2 Signal Behavior: An Example from Clinical Routine

In the literature, it has repeatedly been stated that the introduction of hepatospecific contrast agents in Magnetic Resonance Imaging prolongs the acquisition time due to the hepatobiliary phase, normally acquired 15-20 min after injection. Many efforts have been made to shorten the time-consuming protocols, and it was demonstrated that T2-Weighted Images (T2WI) and Diffusion-Weighted Images (DWI) acquired after Gd-EOB-DTPA show a comparable diagnostic capability to pre-contrast T2WI and DWI in the detection and characterization of hepatic tumors. Therefore, T2WI and DWI are usually acquired after the acquisition of vascular phases, in the dead time until the acquisition of the hepatobiliary phase. Unfortunately, contrast agents, especially Gd-EOB-DTPA, reduce the hydrogen nuclei's relaxation time and modify signal intensity. We report a case in which, due to these limitations of the acquisition protocol, two hemangiomas showed an inhomogeneous, low signal on T2WI and DWI that was not visible in a follow-up scan a few days later. In conclusion, when liver lesions of unknown nature must be characterized, and there is a lack of previous radiological investigations, it could be useful to acquire pre-contrast T2WI and DWI to avoid diagnostic confusion, especially in non-tertiary centers

Semi-active control of the rocking motion of monolithic art objects

The seismic behaviour of many art objects and obelisks can be analysed in the context of the seismic response of rigid blocks. Starting from the pioneering works by Housner, a large number of analytical studies of the rigid block dynamics were proposed. In fact, despite its apparent simplicity, the motion of a rigid block involves a number of complex dynamic phenomena such as impacts, sliding, uplift and geometric nonlinearities. While most of the current strategies to avoid toppling consist in preventing rocking motion, in this paper a novel semi-active on–off control strategy for protecting monolithic art objects was investigated. The control procedure under study follows a feedback–feedforward scheme that is realised by switching the stiffness of the anchorages located at the two lower corner of the block between two values. Overturning spectra have been calculated in order to clarify the benefits of applying a semi-active control instead of a passive control strategy. In accordance with similar studies, the numerical investigation took into account the dynamic response of blocks with different slenderness and size subject to one-sine pulse excitation

A pulsão performativa de Jaceguai: 50 anos de Roda Viva, 50 anos do “teatro agressivo”

Assim como a encenação de O Rei da Vela, de Oswald de Andrade, pelo Teatro Oficina em 1967 representa um marco para o moderno teatro brasileiro, Roda Viva, escrita por Chico Buarque de Hollanda e encenada por José Celso Martinez Corrêa em 1968, constitui um capítulo fundamental para o estudo da performatividade brasileira nos palcos. Este artigo celebra os 50 anos de uma pulsão performativa de Jaceguai, apontando, com base em documentos jornalísticos da época, que aquilo que parte da crítica teatral chamou de “teatro agressivo” – em particular, o crítico Anatol Rosenfeld – era, no Brasil, um canto de nascimento de um novo campo disposto à análise: o da performance.As well as the staging of Oswald de Andrade’s play O Rei da Vela by Teatro Oficina, in 1967, represents a milestone for the modern Brazilian theatre, Roda Viva, written by Chico Buarque de Hollanda and staged by José Celso Martinez Corrêa in 1968, constitutes a fundamental chapter for the study of Brazilian performativity on stage. This article celebrates the 50th anniversary of a performative drive of Jaceguai, pointing out, based on journalistic documents of the time, that what part of theatrical criticism – in particular, the critic Anatol Rosenfeld – had called “Aggressive Theatre” was, in Brazil, a birth chant of a new field open for analysis: the performance