163 research outputs found
Il potere vescovile nel regnum Italiae carolingio. Cultura, mobilità e pratiche sociali di un’élite politica
No full textScopo del presente studio è fornire un profilo del corpo episcopale italico nel regnum Italiae carolingio. Tale fine è perseguito attraverso l’adozione di una prospettiva che si è affermata soprattutto nel corso dell’ultimo ventennio, e che fa perno sul concetto di élite. Tale concetto è servito, alla più recente medievistica, a separare lo studio di detti gruppi dirigenti dagli approcci più tradizionali, che prendevano le mosse da assetti istituzionali e sistemi politici, per definire solo in un secondo tempo il ruolo giocato al loro interno dai gruppi di potere che ne facevano parte. A partire dall’ultimo decennio del Novecento, la critica storica ha tentato di andare oltre, in maniera sempre più marcata, questa prospettiva. Lo ha fatto attraverso l’adozione di strumenti concettuali mutuati, in primo luogo, da antropologia e sociologia che, nella loro generalità e precedenza rispetto a ogni concreto ordinamento politico, hanno permesso uno studio diretto delle élites politiche. Uno studio che si è caratterizzato, sin dall’inizio, non solo come superamento della centralità della riflessione politico-costituzionale in storiografia politica, ma anche come messa in discussione di narrazioni e paradigmi storiografici che avrebbero avuto, secondo i sostenitori di questa prospettiva, un ruolo fondamentale nel differenziare ambiti e oggetti privilegiati dalla ricerca storica, rispetto ad altri, relegati in secondo piano.
Da questa prospettiva prende le mosse il presente studio che, pur dedicato a uno degli attori principali della politica e della società carolingia – l’episcopato – tenta di affrontarne lo studio nella stessa prospettiva, che valorizzi il momento pratico del potere sociale e politico del corpo episcopale italico, rispetto alla sua dimensione istituzionale (sia essa da riferire all’assetto politico del regnum Italiae o a quello ecclesiastico). Per farlo, si è deciso di prendere le mosse, dopo una preliminare messa a punto del contesto metodologico entro il quale ci si muove, da una panoramica di ordine prosopografico, che metta in rilievo, secondo una prospettiva già da lungo tempo affermatasi in medievistica, l’aspetto personale del potere episcopale, il momento concreto delle reti di rapporti personali che legavano i vescovi tanto tra di loro quanto con gli attori che ne costituivano gli interlocutori politici ai vari livelli della gerarchia sociale e politica, dalla corte imperiale alle pievi. A questo primo livello, si individua, come centro della ricerca, la dialettica tra detto elemento personale e un apparato istituzionale, che talvolta trova con esso una sintesi compiuta, talvolta è integrato o direttamente superato quando non in accordo con esigenze di governo e amministrazione in grado di appoggiarsi su strumenti e canali a esso alternativi.
La rilevanza delle pratiche di potere è filo conduttore anche del prosieguo dello studio, nel quale si isola, come oggetto di studio, il momento della costruzione culturale di tale potere, e i soggetti che, in maniera precipua, ne furono protagonisti. Si mostrano, così casi di studio relativi a quella parte dell’episcopato che, muovendosi a stretto contatto con il potere regio e imperiale, costituì un gruppo ristretto, fortemente legato, personalmente e ideologicamente al regime carolingio, oltre che un fondamentale vettore di integrazione delle chiese italiche nel più ampio contesto carolingio. Integrazione che avvenne non solo ai livelli più alti delle gerarchie sociali e politiche, ma anche a livello locale, nei rapporti con le élites cittadine e del territorio, e nel rinnovamento culturale e istituzionale delle sedi episcopali, in cui questa parte dell’episcopato operò. Conclude il lavoro una compilazione prosopografica dell’episcopato italico e un prospetto della documentazione relativa alle maggiori occasioni (rilascio di diplomi, sinodi ecclesiastici, placiti) di intervento pubblico dell’episcopato.The aim of this study is to provide a profile of the Italic episcopal body in the Carolingian regnum Italiae. This aim is pursued through the adoption of a perspective that has been affirmed, in the study of the ruling groups of the Early Middle Ages, during the last twenty years, and that hinges on the concept of elite. This concept has served, in the most recent medieval studies, to separate the study of these ruling groups from the more traditional approaches, which started from institutional structures and political systems, to define only later the role played within them by the power groups that were part of them. Since the last decade of the twentieth century, historical criticism has attempted to go beyond this perspective in an increasingly marked manner. It has done so by adopting conceptual tools borrowed, first and foremost, from anthropology and sociology, which, in their generality and precedence over any concrete political order, have allowed a direct study of the political elites. From the outset, this study was characterised not only by the overcoming of the centrality of political-constitutional reflection in political historiography, but also by the questioning of historiographic narratives and paradigms which, according to the supporters of this perspective, played a fundamental role in differentiating fields and objects privileged by historical research from others relegated to the background.
This is the perspective from which the present study takes its cue. Although it is dedicated to one of the main actors of Carolingian politics and society - the episcopate - it attempts to approach the study from the same perspective, which enhances the practical moment of the social and political power of the Italic episcopal body, with respect to its institutional dimension (be it the political structure of the regnum Italiae or the ecclesiastical one). In order to do so, we decided to start, after a preliminary definition of the methodological context within which we are moving, from a prosopographical overview, which highlights, according to a perspective already long established in medieval studies, the personal aspect of episcopal power, the concrete moment of the networks of personal relationships that bound the bishops both among themselves and with the actors that constituted their political interlocutors at various levels of the social and political hierarchy, from the imperial court to the parishes. At this first level, the focus of the research is the dialectic between this personal element and an institutional apparatus, which sometimes finds a complete synthesis with it, sometimes is integrated or directly overcome when not in accordance with the needs of government and administration able to rely on alternative instruments and channels.
The relevance of the practices of power is also the leitmotif of the remainder of the study, in which the moment of the cultural construction of this power is isolated as the object of study, as well as the subjects who were the main protagonists. Thus, we show case studies related to that part of the episcopate that, moving in close contact with the royal and imperial power, constituted a restricted group, strongly linked, personally and ideologically, to the Carolingian regime, as well as a fundamental vector of integration of the Italic churches in the wider Carolingian context. This integration took place not only at the highest levels of the social and political hierarchies, but also at a local level, in relations with the city and local elites, and in the cultural and institutional renewal of the episcopal sees in which this part of the episcopate operated. The work concludes with a prosopographical compilation of the Italic episcopate and a prospectus of the documentation relating to the major occasions (issuing of diplomas, ecclesiastical synods, placits) of public intervention by the episcopate
St. George and the Dragon or the town planner as a story-teller. In conversation with Bernardo Secchi about Il racconto urbanistico / Der heilige Georg und der Drache, oder: Der Stadtplaner als Geschichtenerzähler. Ein Gespräch mit Bernardo Secchi über Il racconto urbanistico
No full textAt the end of the second edition of his Storia dell’architettura italiana, Manfredo Tafuri declares that “one book assumes a crucial relevance”1 in finding a way out of the endemic crisis of modern architecture in the 1980s: Il racconto urbanistico. The publication of this work by the Italian urban planner 2 Bernardo Secchi in 1984 constitutes a unique event in recent European architecture—an event that still has not been appropriately described or analyzed. Matteo D’Ambros and Roberto Zancan met with the author to discuss the circumstances of the book’s publication. In a world of short memory, revisiting the possible contribution of literary studies to architecture and urban planning promises to shed light on the contemporary understanding of the disciplines. / Manfredo Tafuri schreibt am Ende der zweiten Auflage seiner Storia dell’architettura italiana, dass bei der Suche nach einem Ausweg aus der endemischen Krise der modernen Architektur in den 1980er Jahren „einem Buch entscheidende Bedeutung zukommt“1: Il racconto urbanistico. Die Ver öffentlichung dieses Werks des italienischen Stadtplaners 2 Bernardo Secchi im Jahr 1984 ist ein außergewöhnliches Ereignis in der neueren euro päischen Architektur – ein Ereignis, das noch nicht angemessen gewürdigt beziehungsweise analysiert worden ist. Matteo D’Ambros und Roberto Zancan trafen sich mit dem Autor, um über Aspekte rund um die Veröf fentlichung des Buches zu sprechen. In einer Welt mit kurzem Gedächtnis verspricht die erneute Betrachtung des Beitrags der Literaturwissenschaf ten zum Verständnis von Architektur und Stadt, neues Licht auf das berufliche Selbstverständnis zu werfen
How management accountants address the challenges of energy and climate change reporting: evidence from a longitudinal case study
No full textThis study examines how management accountants contribute to address the challenges of energy and climate change reporting. Through a four-year longitudinal case study based on interviews and documentary analysis of a leading Italian multi-utility company, this research relies on institutional theory to explore how management accountants influence corporate practices to meet the demands of the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically concerning Goal 7 and Goal 13.
The findings suggest that management accountants should follow a seven-step incorporating key strategies such as defining, constructing identities, educating, enabling, mimicry, embedding and routinizing, and policing, relying on cognitive, organizational, interpersonal, and behavioral competencies to address energy and climate change challenges.
A hybrid, dynamic, and context-specific view of management accountants emerges, emphasizing their dual role in traditional accounting tasks and business-supporting corporate activities. This study illustrates the evolving role of management accountants in integrating climate change issues within corporate reporting practices, highlighting their strategic importance in promoting sustainability
The impact of humanitarian disaster on the working approach of accountants: a study of contingent effects
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a humanitarian disaster as coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19) shapes the working approach of accountants. This research is motivated by the call for more in-depth analyses of how COVID-19 affects the work, role and human condition of accountants. The study aims to discover the contingent effects, based on the contingency theory, on accountants’ work due to a disaster like COVID-19.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study with an action research approach. The
research relies on semi-structured interviews and the active participation of a co-author in a professional organisation under investigation. Data collected are analysed using thematic analysis through an inductive interpretative approach.
Findings – The contingent shock embodies both a reactive and adaptive approach in the accountants’
professional work. From a theoretical perspective, this study identifies nine contingent phases related to shock.
The accountants’ experience helps to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic contingently shapes the
working approach of accountants with both short- and long-term organisational implications.
Originality/value – Based on the literature survey, this is the first study to adopt an action research approach to engage with the complex dynamics involved in the social context of COVID-19 by discovering the effective actions, reactions, changes and solutions to problems experienced by professional accountants. This approach helps to build knowledge that enhances professional, and community practises by answering the call for multidisciplinary contributions in accounting to address the global COVID-19 crisis, its impacts and opportunities for future research
The impact of a humanitarian disaster on the working approach of accountants: a study of contingent effects
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a humanitarian disaster as Covid-19 shapes the working approach of accountants. This research is motivated by the call for more in-depth analyses of how Covid-19 affects the work, role, and human condition of accountants. The study aims to discover the contingent effects, based on the contingency theory, on accountants’ work due to a disaster like Covid-19.
Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study with an action research approach. The research relies on semi-structured interviews and the active participation of a co-author in a professional organisation under investigation. Data collected are analysed using thematic analysis through an inductive interpretative approach.
Findings – The contingent shock embodies both a reactive and adaptive approach in the accountants’ professional work. From a theoretical perspective, this study identifies nine contingent phases related to shock. The accountants’ experience helps to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic contingently shapes the working approach of accountants with both short-term and long-term organisational implications.
Originality/value – Based on the literature survey, this is the first study to adopt an action research approach to engage with the complex dynamics involved in the social context of Covid-19 by discovering the effective actions, reactions, changes and solutions to problems experienced by professional accountants. This approach helps to build knowledge that enhances professional, and community practises by answering the call for multidisciplinary contributions in accounting to address the global Covid-19 crisis, its impacts, and opportunities for future research
Erratum to: Portal vein thrombosis relevance on liver cirrhosis: Italian Venous Thrombotic Events Registry (Intern Emerg Med, 10.1007/s11739-016-1416-8)
No full textIn the original publication, the second author name was incorrectly published as Roberto Gino Corazza. The correct name should read as “Gino Roberto Corazza”. Also, the PRO-LIVER Study Collaborator, Dr. Gabriella Carnevale Maffè has not been included in the Appendix by mistake. The name of Dr. Carnevale Maffe` should read in the Appendix as follows: Bergamaschi Gaetano, Carnevale Maffè Gabriella, Masotti Michela, Costanzo Filippo (I° Clinica Medica, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia, Italy)
Virtual vs. Standard Strike: An Experiment
No full textIn this paper we compare - in the laboratory - stoppage and virtual strike. Our experiment confirms that higher wages offered by an employer lead to considerably more costly effort provision. The number of strikes, the level of efforts and average total payoffs are higher under virtual strike than under standard strike. However, when standard strike is associated with reciprocal externalities, it induces higher effort levels, higher payoffs and an extremely reduced number of strikes than virtual strike. It is unclear whether this behavior re?ects reciprocity or other forms of social preferences. However our results might explain why standard strikes rather than virtual ones are generally adopted by workers.virtual strike, cooperation, reciprocity, fairness, experiments
MicroRNAs miR-584-5p and miR-425-3p Are Up-Regulated in Plasma of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Patients: Targeting with Inhibitor Peptide Nucleic Acids Is Associated with Induction of Apoptosis in Colon Cancer Cell Lines
No full textLiquid biopsy has dramatically changed cancer management in the last decade; however, despite the huge number of miRNA signatures available for diagnostic or prognostic purposes, it is still unclear if dysregulated miRNAs in the bloodstream could be used to develop miRNA-based therapeutic approaches. In one author’s previous work, nine miRNAs were found to be dysregulated in early-stage colon cancer (CRC) patients by NGS analysis followed by RT-dd-PCR validation. In the present study, the biological effects of the targeting of the most relevant dysregulated miRNAs with anti-miRNA peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) were verified, and their anticancer activity in terms of apoptosis induction was evaluated. Our data demonstrate that targeting bloodstream up-regulated miRNAs using anti-miRNA PNAs leads to the down-regulation of target miRNAs associated with inhibition of the activation of the pro-apoptotic pathway in CRC cellular models. Moreover, very high percentages of apoptotic cells were found when the anti-miRNA PNAs were associated with other pro-apoptotic agents, such as sulforaphane (SFN). The presented data sustain the idea that the targeting of miRNAs up-regulated in the bloodstream with a known role in tumor pathology might be a tool for the design of protocols for anti-tumor therapy based on miRNA-targeting molecules
A Common Protocol for Agent-Based Social Simulation
No full textTraditional (i.e. analytical) modelling practices in the social sciences rely on a very well established, although implicit, methodological protocol, both with respect to the way models are presented and to the kinds of analysis that are performed. Unfortunately, computer-simulated models often lack such a reference to an accepted methodological standard. This is one of the main reasons for the scepticism among mainstream social scientists that results in low acceptance of papers with agent-based methodology in the top journals. We identify some methodological pitfalls that, according to us, are common in papers employing agent-based simulations, and propose appropriate solutions. We discuss each issue with reference to a general characterization of dynamic micro models, which encompasses both analytical and simulation models. In the way, we also clarify some confusing terminology. We then propose a three-stage process that could lead to the establishment of methodological standards in social and economic simulations.Agent-based, simulations, methodology, calibration, validation.
Quality for Solar Cooling on Component Level
No full textWithin IEA-SHC Task 48 “Quality assurance and support measures for Solar Cooling” the most crucial components of solar thermal cooling plants have been analyzed in detail aiming at improving their quality. Test procedures for characterizing continuous and discontinuous chillers have been developed; market available heat rejection devices have been investigated, rating their performance through monitoring data and comparing them; pump efficiency has been also investigated and design guidelines for pump selection and hydraulic configuration are now available; a detailed and updated database of medium temperature collectors has been built
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