A battle of elephants: (I)legitimate ethical voices?

In this paper, we aim to distil myriad stakeholder voices through a Foucaudian theoretical apparatus in the establishment of ethical stakeholder voices amidst a takeover of a Ghanaian National Bank with ownership control by the state National Pension Fund and Insurance Company. Resonating with Foucault’s position that, the prove and an actual practice of ethical principles despite risk is non-existent within a democracy, this paper reveals how stakeholders in a takeover further their own interest to the neglect of the very germane societal expectation of a salient stakeholder role. We further fill an existing gap within the stakeholder literature that posit of stakeholders as always possessing the right and ethical voices. We conclude that, despite Foucault’s last lecture of The Courage of Truth: The Government of the Self and others having proven of a robust apparatus in distilling ethical voices from non-ethical within the realm of a democratic field, its idealist nature demands a counterfactual position.

Fascist voices: an intimate history of Mussolini's Italy

This is a history of fascist Italy from 1919 to 1945 that explores through the private (and mostly unpublished) diaries, letters and memoirs of ordinary people, how the regime was lived and experienced. It sets out to examine the emotional, cultural and ideological landscape of fascism and to investigate what it was that induced so many millions of people to give their support, in varying degrees, to a regime that led the country ultimately to disaster.

An ichnofabric approach to the depositional interpretation of the intensely burrowed Bateig Limestone, Miocene, SE Spain

The foraminiferal-rich pelagic Bateig Limestone forms several varieties of the important building stones quarried at Bateig Hill in southeastern Spain. Three principal ichnofabrics (Bichordites, mottled-Palaeophycus and mottled-Ophiomorpha) are recognized, which are present in at least two (possibly up to four) repeated successions (cycles). Each succession begins with an erosional event. The Bichordites ichnofabric represents a new type of facies, formed as thin turbidity/grain flow, stratiform units derived from sediment slips off a fault into deep water. Each slipped unit became almost completely bioturbated by infaunal echinoids, colonizing by lateral migration. Because of the thinness of the units, successive colonizations tended to truncate the underlying burrows giving rise to a pseudo-stratification. As the Bichordites ichnofabric accumulated on the fault apron, thus reducing the effective height of the fault scarp, the substrate gradually came under the influence of currents traversing the shelf. This led to a change in hydraulic regime, and to the mottled-Palaeophycus and mottled-Ophiomorpha ichnofabrics in sediment deposited under bed load transport, and associated with laminar and cross-stratified beds and local muddy intervals. Reactivation of the fault triggered erosion and channeling and a return to grain flow sedimentation, and to the Bichordites ichnofabric of the succeeding cycle. The highest unit of the Bateig Limestone is formed entirely of cross-stratified calcarenites with occasional Ophiomorpha (Ophiomorpha-primary lamination ichnofabric) and is similar to many shallow marine facies but they still bear a significant content of pelagic foraminifera. The sedimentary setting bears resemblance with that described for the Pleistocene Monte Torre Paleostrait and the modem Strait of Messina (Italy), where the narrow morphology of the depositional area enhanced tidal currents and allowed for high-energy sandy deposition in relatively deep areas. More data on the Miocene paleogeography of the Bateig area should provide further testing for this hypothesis. The ichnofacies and stacking of the Bateig Limestone differ from the classic Seilacherian model in that they reflect changes in hydraulic process and are associated with faulting and subsidence and changes in sediment supply. Recognition of the unusual ichnofabrics and their relationships provides a clear indication of the overall dynamic setting. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Population genetic diversity of the endemic Sardinian newt Euproctus platycephalus: implications for conservation

The Sardinian mountain newt Euproctus platycephalus, endemic to the island of Sardinia, (Italy), is considered a rare and threatened species and is classed as critically endangered by IUCN. It inhabits streams, small lakes and pools on the main mountain systems of the island. Threats from climatic and anthropogenic factors have raised concerns for the long-term survival of newt populations on the island. MtDNA sequencing was used to investigate the genetic population structure and phylogeography of this endemic species. Patterns of genetic variation were assessed by sequencing the complete Dloop region and part of the 12SrRNA, from 74 individuals representing four different populations. Analyses of molecular variance suggest that populations are significantly differentiated, and the distribution of haplotypes across the island shows strong geographical structuring. However, phylogenetic analyses also suggest that the Sardinian population consists of two distinct mtDNA groups, which may reflect ancient isolation and expansion events. Population structure, evolutionary history of the species and implications for the conservation of newt populations are discussed.

Habitat correlates of distribution and local population decline of the endemic Sardinian newt Euproctus platycephalus

Habitat-based statistical models relating patterns of presence and absence of species to habitat variables could be useful to resolve conservation-related problems and highlight the causes of population declines. In this paper, we apply such a modelling approach to an endemic amphibian, the Sardinian mountain newt Euproctus platycephalus, considered by IUCN a critically endangered species. Sardinian newts inhabit freshwater habitat in streams, small lakes and pools on the island of Sardinia (Italy). Reported declines of newt populations are not yet supported by quantitative data, however, they are perceived or suspected across the species' historical range. This study represents a first attempt trying to statistically relate habitat characteristics to Sardinian newt occurrence and persistence. Linear regression analysis revealed that newts are more likely to be found in sites with colder water temperature, less riparian vegetation and, marginally, absence of fish. The implications of the results for the conservation of the species are discussed, and suggestions for the short-term management of newt inhabited sites suggested. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brief communication. Rain effect on the load of tephra deposits

Accumulation of tephra fallout produced during explosive eruptions can cause roof collapses in areas near the volcano, when the weight of the deposit exceeds some threshold value that depends on the quality of buildings. The additional loading of water that remains trapped in the tephra deposits due to rainfall can contribute to increasing the loading of the deposits on the roofs. Here we propose a simple approach to estimate an upper bound for the contribution of rain to the load of pyroclastic deposits that is useful for hazard assessment purposes. As case study we present an application of the method in the area of Naples, Italy, for a reference eruption from Vesuvius volcano.

Il realismo di un nuovissimo medio evo: Boccaccio in the age of neorealism

After the war Italian artists and intellectuals saw a significant and necessary confluence between their political desire to create a "new." Italy and their cultural ambition to re-invigorate the study of medieval Italy. This tendency is particularly evident, I argue, in the post-war scholarly and critical focus on Boccaccio, and especially Boccaccio’s Decameron. Not only within the academy but also in the popular press, Boccaccio was granted pride of place in the canon, venerated as the pioneer of socially conscious vernacular literary realism, the archetype for the pursuit of artistic truth in the face of social upheaval. As a result, I wish to suggest, Italian neorealism, which rose to prominence in the first years after the Second World War, was in a significant sense imbued with and realised through a profound engagement with the work of Boccaccio. In turn, the cultural currents affiliated with neorealism influenced Boccaccio studies, whose operative notions of medieval «realism» were to a perhaps surprising degree stimulated by approaches to the neo-realist poetics at work in the Italian films, novels, and criticism of the 1940s and ’50s. Situating the critical discourse surrounding Boccaccio within the post-war Italian context can therefore serve to shed unexpected light on both the cultural affirmation of neorealism and the disciplinary configuration of Italian medieval studies.

Organic farming in isolated landscapes does not benefit flower-visiting insects and pollination

Organic farming has often been found to provide benefits for biodiversity, but the benefits can depend on the species considered and characteristics of the surrounding landscape. In an intensively farmed area of Northeast Italy we investigated whether isolated organic farms, in a conventionally farmed landscape, provided local benefits for insect pollinators and pollination services. We quantified the relative effects of local management (i.e. the farm system), landscape management (proportion of surrounding uncultivated land) and interactions between them. We compared six organic and six conventional vine fields. The proportion of surrounding uncultivated land was calculated for each site at radii of 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 m. The organic fields did not differ from the conventional in their floral resources or proportion of surrounding uncultivated land. Data were collected on pollinator abundance and species richness, visitation rates to, and pollination of experimental potted plants. None of these factors were significantly affected by the farming system. The abundance of visits to the potted plants in the conventional fields tended to be negatively affected by the proportion of surrounding uncultivated land. The proportion fruit set, weight of seeds per plant and seed weight in conventional and organic fields were all negatively affected by the proportion of surrounding uncultivated land. In vine fields the impact of the surrounding landscape was stronger than the local management. Enhancement of biodiversity through organic farming should not be assumed to be ubiquitous, as potential benefits may be offset by the crop type, organicmanagement practices and the specific habitat requirements in the surrounding landscape.

L’illustration marginale d’un ouvrage profane : étude du manuscrit Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 95, xiiie siècle (1290)

BnF fr. 95 is a late 13th century manuscript containing Arthurian romances and other fictional and didactic texts. The Estoire del saint Graal and Merlin section is the most highly illuminated, with a rich marginal iconography, an unusual feature in the illustration of lay works and in these texts’ manuscript tradition. This article shows how in Merlin and its Vulgate Sequel marginal scenes overlap with widespread subjects in courtly and chivalric vernacular romances, in contrast with Latin and religious works. The reuse of similar patterns in principal and marginal miniatures, examined in the episode of the Battle of Danablaise, where King Arthur fights the Saxon King Rion, highlights the need for a comprehensive reading of text and images, taking into account the mise en page and the different levels of illustration in the manuscript.