What if the future, so very different from today, turns out not to be so different after all? War, concern over the value of life, mistrust and hatred, racial tension. Sound like today's world? In this collection of short stories that concludes with a play patterned in the Greek classical tradition, Francesco Calvo shows us one way this future, not so different from our own, might turn out. It's a story of love, ultimate love, and its power to change people's hearts and reverse the entrenched mores of a society rapidly heading down a dead-end street. The end will delight you . . . and it is sure to surprise you.
Galaxis is a work of hard science fiction in dramatic form. This work is overflowing with science, technology, cosmic adventures, Christian-Catholic spirituality, life, love, and the mercy of God.
This book provides a much-needed analysis of this very important subject for international business lawyers,including discussion of the jurisdictional and choice of laws issues arising from cross-border contracts of insurance and reinsurance concluded by electronic means. This book is the first published in England to devote itself to a detailed analysis of the choice of laws rules in the E.C. Insurance Directives. It is aimed at academics and practitioners, at private international lawyers and at insurance lawyers. The private international law rules of the E.C. Insurance Directives deal with the applicable law to insurance contracts covering risks situated within the EU. They do not deal with the applicable law to reinsurance contracts and insurance contracts covering risks situated outside the EU. This should be ascertained by reference to the choice of laws provisions in the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations. Detailed discussion of these rules is also provided, and proposals for reform suggested.
With more than 180 films during a career spanning several decades, Jesus Franco (1930-2013) was an extraordinarily prolific and chameleon-like Spanish director, covering virtually every genre from horror to film noir, adventure and erotic, and adapting to all kinds of productions. A one-of-a-kind filmmaker, he was boldly original in the themes, style, and in his idea of cinema. This book examines his life and career between his first short film to the moment he cut his ties with his home country and became an "international" director, with a detailed production history and critical analysis of his films, placing his work within the social and political context of Spanish culture, politics, and cinema. Franco's most critically praised works are covered, namely such cult horror classics as The Awful Dr. Orlof and The Diabolical Dr. Z, as well as his working relationship with Orson Welles, whom he was to direct in a 1964 unfinished adaptation of Treasure Island. Detailed production history and critical analysis of his films are provided, placing his work within the context of Spanish culture, politics, and film industry. The book also includes plenty of never-before-seen bits of information and in-depth discussion of Franco's previously uncovered scripts, essays, and short films, as well as his unmade projects of the period.
This work aimed at designing, studying and producing the first prototypes of KIDs tailored for fusion plasma polarimetric diagnostics. Diamond was considered for the first time as substrate material for low-temperature superconducting detectors given its unmatched optical, radiation hardness and thermal qualities, properties necessary for working environments potentially saturated with radiation. This work represents a first step toward the optimization and final application of this technology.
Intensive Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy: An Integrated Model (ITAP) introduces a new approach of psychotherapy. Based on psychodynamic foundations, the ITAP integrates the most recent trends in short-term dynamic psychotherapy and Transactional Analysis. This book develops an innovative, clear and complete clinical model of ITAP, and introduces the reader, step-by-step, to the theoretical basis underlying the technique of this intervention. The authors introduce the therapeutic procedure by bringing together the theory with brief clinical examples, thereby demonstrating the attitude of the intense therapist as well as which theoretical pathways to take to progress with the patient. In addition to the modulation of the technique based on the level of the patient’s suffering, there is also a systematic examination of which cases should be treated with ITAP, and in what way. Intensive Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy is a therapy which can be easily used by all therapists, and this book will be of great interest to Transactional Analysis therapists and other therapists interested in Transactional Analysis and short-term dynamic psychotherapy.
Over the last three years Europe and North America have been hit by an unprecedented wave of terrorist attacks perpetrated by individuals motivated by jihadist ideology. Who are the individuals who have carried out these attacks? Were they born and raised in the West? Or were they an “imported threat”, refugees and migrants? How did they radicalize? Were they well educated and integrated, or social outcasts? Did they act alone? What were their connections to the Islamic State? The answers to these and other questions have large implications for our understanding of the threat facing us and, consequently, help us design sounder policy solutions built on empirical evidence. This study, the first of its kind, seeks to analyze the demographic profile, radicalization trajectories and connections to the Islamic State of all the individuals who have carried out attacks inspired by jihadist ideology in North America and Europe in the three years since the proclamation of the caliphate in June 2014.
The 1960s and the 1970s marked a generational shift in architectural discourse at a time when the revolts inside universities condemned the academic institution as a major force behind the perpetuation of a controlling society. Focusing on the crisis and reform of higher education in Italy, The University as a Settlement Principle investigates how university design became a lens for architects to interpret a complex historical moment that was marked by the construction of an unprecedented number of new campuses worldwide. Implicitly drawing parallels with the contemporary condition of the university under a regime of knowledge commodification, it reviews the vision proposed by architects such as Vittorio Gregotti, Giuseppe Samonà, Archizoom, Giancarlo De Carlo, and Guido Canella, among others, to challenge the university as a bureaucratic and self-contained entity, and defend, instead, the role of higher education as an agent for restructuring vast territories. Through their projects, the book discusses a most fertile and heroic moment of Italian architectural discourse and argues for a reconsideration of architecture’s obligation to question the status quo. This work will be of interest to postgraduate researchers and academics in architectural theory and history, campus design, planning theory, and history.
Is there any systematic explanation of variations in the cost of debt servicing over time and across countries? This paper examines the influence of fiscal variables on borrowing costs in a panel of OECD countries, showing that these variables have a significant role. In particular, an improvement of the primary fiscal balance is associated with a significant reduction in debt-servicing costs, amplifying the effects of primary adjustment on the fiscal position. A significant country-specific component remains, however; several explanations for this component are discussed, including debt management and market infrastructure.
The recent global financial crisis illustrates that financial frictions are a significant source of volatility in the economy. This paper investigates monetary policy stabilization in an environment where financial frictions are a relevant source of macroeconomic fluctuation. We derive a measure of output gap that accounts for frictions in financial market. Furthermore we illustrate that, in the presence of financial frictions, a benevolent central bank faces a substantial trade-off between nominal and real stabilization; optimal monetary policy significantly reduces fluctuations in price and wage inflations but fails to alleviate the output gap volatility. This suggests a role for macroprudential policies.
Un nuovo, letale virus sta colpendo gli utenti del peer to peer, ma non si tratta di un virus informatico. Una sindrome misteriosa, legata a un’antica leggenda e a una maledizione, sta mietendo vittime in tutta Europa a causa di un video casalingo distribuito random sul web, nel quale viene filmato l’omicidio di un’adolescente: nottetempo, chiunque abbia la sventura di osservare il filmato rimane orrendamente paralizzato, ma cosciente, fino al sopraggiungere di una morte lenta e angosciosa. Quando anche a Londra, Mae Ho e Nick Norwood vengono colpiti dal morbo misterioso, l’amico Lalo, con l’aiuto di un professore universitario e di un hacker informatico, si metterà sulle tracce della maledizione che accompagna il video. Una ricerca che lo condurrà lontano e che lo porterà a rischiare la vita pur di trovare la soluzione a questo inspiegabile rompicapo. La Fillette Triste è un thriller che unisce archeologia e informatica, azione e divertimento. La soluzione del mistero si dipanerà a poco a poco in un susseguirsi di colpi di scena che lasceranno il lettore con il fiato sospeso, in un intreccio che unisce realtà e fantasia, archeologia, mitologia, psicologia.
Many argue that improvements in monetary policy frameworks in emerging market economies over the past few decades, have made them more resilient to external shocks. This paper exploits the May 2013 taper tantrum in the United States to study the reaction of 18 large emerging markets to an external shock, conditioning on their degree of inflation expectations' anchoring. We find that while the tapering announcement negatively affected growth prospects regardless of the level of anchoring, countries with weakly anchored inflation expectations experienced larger exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices, hence comparatively higher inflation. We conclude that efforts to improve the extent of anchoring of inflation expectations in emerging markets pay off, as they ease the trade-off that central banks face when external shocks weaken growth prospects and trigger currency depreciations.
In 3D con gli opportuni riferimenti ipertestuali, l'affascinante storia di Ravenna nei primi tre secoli dalla caduta di Roma, quando sola, resse le sorti della Civilta in occidente; con la descrizion dei monumenti ora catalogati dall'UNESCO come patrimonio dell'umanita. Da non perdere la dettagliata biografia di tutti gli Esarchi che ivi ressero le sorti della civilta confrontantesi con l'irrompere delle invasioni barbariche. Acquista anche:
In the year that we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the ARETHUSE association, the second issue of 2014 includes a selection of research papers on topics of study and research that have always been focused on by the international university research groups that are members of the ARETHUSE association. These main research fields are Economics & Statistics (Economic Development, Resources and Territory, Services and Labor Markets), Strategic Management (R & D Management, Governance and Public Administration, Strategy and Control), Public Finance (Finance Policies, National versus European Finance, and European Finance Institutions). In the first paper, Consiglio, Cicellin, and Scuotto discuss the possibility of creating new models of healthcare. They affirm that the changing welfare system involves processes that are linked to the low cost approach and new initiatives are designed to meet the social need for community health and draw on the complex world of ‘bottom- up approach’. This article analyses the modern paradigm of social innovation by examining the issue of healthcare. Through the cases that currently exist in Italy, the Authors demonstrate that low cost healthcare is a specific model of social innovation which does not just consist of “low prices for mass consumption” as a competitive incentive. This research paper has the advantage of analysing the Italian healthcare system as an “extended enterprise” where the boundaries between internal and external resources appear to be less rigidly defined. Moreover, social innovation is not solely designed in order to increase the quality of the standard of living but also to play an important role in terms of increased competitiveness, efficiency of resources employed, and sustainability. In the second research contribution, González Laxe, Martín Palmero and Pateiro Rodriguez present the results of an important piece of research regarding a sample of 142 countries, in which they have verified that when income per capita (RGPD) in a country is high, the ecological footprint (EF) per capita is also at a high level. Following this experience carried out in different economic spaces, this paper assesses the evolution of incomes per capita in the Spanish economy, together with its ecological footprint, on the basis of the period 1955-2000. To carry out this research, the Authors defined two theoretical concepts identified as Autonomous Ecological Footprint, and Marginal Tendency. This research work highlights how the Spanish economy underwent a significant structural change after the second third of 20th Century. More precisely, the subsequent analysis of the most significant features in the different stages of the Spanish development, as well as the structural changes, will permit the establishment of a series of recommendations for the implementation of sustainability plans and programs. Calederón Patier and Campuzano analyse the regulation of corporate restructuring in Spain as a response to a dynamic, changing and internationalized economic reality, that requires business operators, i.e. companies, to conduct operations to reorganize or alter their financial or personnel structure (transformation, merger, division, exchange of securities, change of registered office etc.) within an appropriate legal, tax and accounting framework to ensure their viability and effectiveness. They highlight how the commercial and tax regulations applicable to corporate restructuring operations urgently requires harmonization, not only to rationalise the rules, in their development and implementation, but also to facilitate and encourage these types of operations, which are often a very important means of maintaining many corporate structures. This paper presents an interesting evaluative analysis of the differences between commercial and tax legislation that is applicable to the split-off, and conducts a critical and evaluative analysis of existing normative discrepancies on this issue. The research paper of Rivero Ceballos and Serafin Corral discuss the idea that natural resources’ economic evaluation processes cannot be isolated from scientific uncertainties and the influence of stakeholders’ strong concerns. They affirm that environmental decision-making processes are far from ideal processes where knowledge is available and experts and decision-makers are unaffected by the pressure of stakeholders’ interests. Based on the empirical analysis of the most representative business cases currently involving the gas and oil drill exploration occurring in the waters adjacent to the Canary Islands, the study analyses the expected economic benefits. Integrated qualitative assessment tools are implemented, in particular a multi- criteria assessment is carried out and two scenarios are built. It is interesting how this analysis integrated formal and informal aspects which may be used later for the resolution of the problem or for ways of exploring policy compromises. Mingorance Arnaíz and Barrusao Castillo’s interesting contribution analyses why some European countries have unemployment rates that are higher than others. By utilising a panel data model for the period 1985-2011 in order to know which variables are better to resolve unemployment, they study the role of macroeconomic and institutional variables (labor and product markets regulations) on the unemployment rate in 14 countries of the EU. The empirical results that they find and the conclusions with motived proposals to reduce the unemployment rate are interesting. This is very important given that the unemployment rate is one of the macroeconomic variables that is most affected by business cycles, and its fluctuations, a problem in all countries. In the end they highlight how employment protection legislation, the minimum wage, coordination of wage bargaining, a high employers contribution to social security, and entry barriers, may explain in part the high unemployment rates in some countries. Díaz Pérez and González Morales offer empirical evidence of the profile of the working population in Spain according to gender, quantify the extent to which self- employment or salaried employment is associated with certain characteristics or status (employment status, education level, activity sector, age, marital status) and analyse the situation in 2009. Their research work is particular important in analysing the effect of the economic crisis on the decline suffered by Spain’s working population between 2005 and 2009 and on the significant gender differences in employment status. Finally we would like to remind readers that this issue is the fruit of scientific research work that has been undertaken by numerous researchers of European universities. The articles presented in this issue are the result of a process of rigorous selection, in a scientific sense, carried out both by the Scientific Committee, and by the Editorial Board.
Unter dem Siegel der Nekropole 5 Andrew Chugg The Lost Tombs of the Last Pharaohs. The purpose of this fresh article is to present new evidence that connects the sarcophagus of the last 30th Dynasty pharaoh, Nectanebo II, currently displayed in the British Museum, with a fragment of Macedonian funerary sculpture from the middle of the Ptolemaic period, which is now in Venice. The context of this connection is the search for the missing tombs (there were at least three in Egypt) of Alexander the Great. Michael E. Habicht Meta-database of cranial measurements from Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The study presents a complex and extended database of the morphology of skulls and (partly) also for the body proportion in Ancient Egypt through all periods. The database covers the Predynastic time to the Roman period, males and females. In addition, available data on the Royal families are added. Unter dem Siegel der Nekropole 6 Cicero Moraes, Michael Habicht, Francesco M. Galassi, Elena Varotto & F. Donald Pate Facial reconstruction of the mummy Cairo CG 61076 from the Royal Mummies Cachette DB 320. A princess from the late 18th Dynasty? In this paper we investigate the anthropological aspects of the ancient Egyptian mummy Cairo CG 61076 found in the royal cachette of Deir el-Bahari (DB 320) and labelled as Baqt by reassessing the published literature and photographs and producing a facial reconstruction for the first time. South American mummies: an Overview. This preliminary overview of scientific studies on mummies in South America collects all information available in Europe on the topic. The core of the study is the geographical overview of mummies in different countries and various cultures (from pre-Columbian to Modern Age mummies). Updated edition
This book integrates new political and economic elements into the analysis of monetary policy credibility and central bank independence. The author considers imperfect monetary control, rational voters, distributional issues and uncertainty about future policy objectives in his welfare analysis of central banking. The role played by the different institutional elements that contribute to the making of an independent central bank is also assessed. A distinction is made between central bank independence and targets offering new insights into how a more inflation averse monetary policy may actually be achieved. Finally, explanations for the variation of central bank independence and conservatism across different countries are provided. This book will appeal to researchers, academics and policy makers in the fields of monetary policy, financial economics, money and banking and political economy.
The book investigates acoustic cloaking for elliptical targets, starting from the development of a systematic approach to deal with such non-axisymmetrical shapes by adopting transformation acoustics in elliptic coordinates, and concluding with numerical and experimental validation of a microstructured cloak in the underwater environment. The book thus comprises all the steps from theory to practice that led to the first experimental validation of acoustic invisibility for non-cylindrical objects, whose results are presented in the last chapter. Indeed, despite Transformation Theory is now an established tool to design material distributions capable to unlock the design of invisibility devices, it is not trivial to apply it for shapes different than the sphere and the cylinder, which are thus the ones mainly addressed in the literature. This book paves the way for exploration of other shapes, demonstrating the effectiveness of a pentamode cloak in reducing the acoustic visibility of an elliptical target, and discussing design choices that can make the implementation of the required microstructure less cumbersome despite the lack of axial symmetry of the problem, from both the numerical and manufacturing point of views.
We celebrate, talk about, and worry a great deal about transitions in life. Going to college, having a first child, losing a job, and retiring constitute just a few of the pivotal moments in the lives of many. Sociologists and psychologists have devoted considerable attention to life transitions. Yet we know very little about whether there exists a common thread to our understandings of life transitions in general. How do journalists, leading politicians, sport icons, bestselling authors, government agencies, Hallmark cards, popular TV shows, and other “voices” of popular culture talk about transitions in life? Do these voices provide a coherent picture of how we make sense of life transitions? In this book, Francesco Duina shows how the dominant American discourse articulates two basic approaches to transitions in life. The first approach depicts transitions as exciting, individualistic opportunities for new beginnings: the past is cast aside, the future is wide open, and the self has the opportunity to recreate itself anew. The second paints transitions as having to do with continuity, our connections to others, and the life-cycle, with an emphasis on acceptance and adaptation. Though contrasting, the two approaches ultimately complement each other. Their analysis reveals a great deal about American culture and society, and will be of great interest to students of the life course and the sociology of culture.
In Dynamics of Morphological Productivity, Francesco Gardani explores the evolution of the productivity of the noun inflectional classes of Latin and Old Italian, covering a span of almost 2,000 years – an absolute novelty for the theory of diachrony and for Latin and Italo-Romance linguistics. By providing an original set of criteria for measuring productivity, based on the investigation of loanword integration, conversions, and class shift, Gardani provides a substantial contribution to the theory of inflection, as well as to the study of the morphological integration of loanwords. The result is a wealth of empirical facts, including data from the contact languages Etruscan, Ancient Greek, Germanic, Arabic, Byzantine Greek, Old French and Provençal, accompanied by brilliant and groundbreaking analyses.
Human Nutrition: From Molecular Biology to Everyday Life presents an integrated approach on how nutrients and non-nutrients affect cellular biochemistry, and how, in turn, they shape human physiology. Over the course of 14 chapters, and covering topics ranging from the importance of diet on health to nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, this book debunks myths and provides readers with the knowledge they need to critically interpret and navigate nutrition information. Intended for nutritionists, dieticians, pharmacists, public health professionals, and others working in related fields, this book provides a comprehensive source on advances in human nutrition. Addresses the effect of the three macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients of health Discusses microbiota and human dietary needs Presents tools to understand evidence-based nutrition
Vienna, 1711. Eleven years after the events of Secretum, and by means of a mysterious bequest, Atto Melani arranges for his faithful helper to relocate from a Roman slum to the imperial court in Vienna. Here, Atto enlists his help in a secret mission to bring about the end of the war between France and Austria. Meanwhile, a Turkish delegation has arrived in Vienna for talks with Emperor Joseph I, despite the fact that Austria is supposed to be at peace with the Ottoman Empire. When the emperor suddenly falls ill with smallpox and students are targeted by a serial killer, fears grow that a centuries-old power struggle has been reignited. What can Atto and his helper do to prevent Europe from descending into all-out conflict? An unfinished palace known as the Place with No Name, an exotic menagerie and a fantastical Flying Ship are just some of the ingredients of this baroque spy novel which will intrigue and delight fans of Monaldi and Sorti's series.
Plato's reflection on the relationship between soul and body has attracted scholars' attention since antiquity. Less noted, but worthy of consideration, is Plato's thought on music and its effects on human beings. This book adopts an innovative approach towards analysing the soul-body problem by uncovering and emphasising the philosophical value of Plato's treatment of the phenomenon of music. By investigating in detail how Plato conceives of the musical experience and its influence on intelligence, passions and perceptions, it illuminates the intersection of cognitive and emotional functions in Plato's philosophy of mind.
An up-to-date and two volume overview of recent developments in the field of chemocatalytic and enzymatic processes for the transformation of renewable material into essential chemicals and fuels. Experts from both academia and industry discuss catalytic processes currently under development as well as those already in commercial use for the production of bio-fuels and bio-based commodity chemicals. As such, they cover drop-in commodity chemicals and fuels, as well as bio-based monomers and polymers, such as acrylic acid, glycols, polyesters and polyolefins. In addition, they also describe reactions applied to waste and biomass valorization and integrated biorefining strategies. With its comprehensive coverage of the topic, this is an indispensable reference for chemists working in the field of catalysis, industrial chemistry, sustainable chemistry, and polymer synthesis.
This book explores the interaction between the EU and international investment law, both at the internal level, namely within the EU internal market, and at the external level, i.e. in the context of its relations with third States. The joint treatment of these dimensions reveals that the EU has assumed an ostensibly ambivalent attitude towards international investment law. At the internal level, it has consistently asserted that intra-EU international investment agreements (IIAs) are not compatible with EU law and advocated their termination. At the external level, by contrast, it has eagerly deployed IIAs to develop its post-Lisbon international investment policy. The book finds that beneath this apparent ambivalence towards international investment law ultimately lies the EU's attempt to impose, both internally and externally, its own original model of regulation of cross-border investment. It then argues that the EU adopted this approach with a view to supporting its internal market, enhancing its external influence, and, ultimately, pursuing long-term 'federal aspirations'. Finally, the book identifies the legal and political obstacles that have curtailed the EU's efforts at both the internal and the external level.
Tells the forgotten story of post-Rossinian opera buffa, with attention to masterpieces by Donizetti and fascinating comic works by Luigi Ricci, the young Verdi, and other composers. This study represents the first substantial assessment of Italian comic operas composed during the central years of the Risorgimento -- the period during which upheavals, revolutions, and wars ultimately led to the liberation andunification of Italy. Music historians often view the period as one during which serious Romantic opera flourished in Italy while opera buffa inexorably declined. Laughter between Two Revolutions revises this widespread notion by viewing well-known comic masterpieces -- such as Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843) -- as part of a still-thriving tradition. Also examined are opere buffe by LuigiRicci, Lauro Rossi, Verdi (Un giorno di regno), and others, many of which circulated widely at the time. Francesco Izzo's pathbreaking study argues that in the "realm of seriousness" of mid-nineteenth-century Italy, comedywas not an anachronistic intruder, but a significant and vital cultural presence. This important volume offers new insights into opera history and theories of comedy in the arts. It will be of interest to opera lovers everywhere and to students in music, philosophy, comparative literature, and Italian cultural studies. Francesco Izzo is senior lecturer in music at the University of Southampton.
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