Laser scanning-based recognition of rotational movements on a deep seated gravitational instability: The Cinque Torri case (North-Eastern Italian Alps)

The Cinque Torri group (Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy) is an articulated system of unstable carbonatic rock monoliths located in a very important tourism area and therefore characterized by a significant risk. The instability phenomena involved represent an example of lateral spreading developed over a larger deep seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) area. After the recent fall of a monolith of more than 10 000 m3, a scientific study was initiated to monitor the more unstable sectors and to characterize the past movements as a fundamental tool for predicting future movements and hazard assessment. To achieve greater insight on the ongoing lateral spreading process, a method for a quantitative analysis of rotational movements associated with the lateral spreading has been developed, applied and validated. The method is based on: i) detailed geometrical characterization of the area by means of laser scanner techniques; ii) recognition of the discontinuity sets and definition of a reference frame for each set, iii) correlation between the obtained reference frames related to a specific sector and a stable external reference frame, and iv) determination of the 3D rotations in terms of Euler angles to describe the present settlement of the Cinque Torri system with respect to the surrounding stable areas. In this way, significant information on the processes involved in the fragmentation and spreading of a former dolomitic plateau into different rock cliffs has been gained. The method is suitable to be applied to similar case studies.

La sublimació i el procés d'individualització de la dona a la novel·la europea del segle XIX

El primer objectiu d'aquest treball és analitzar els motius pels quals les heroïnes malcasades d'Anna Karènina, Madame Bovary i La Regenta, acaben sent adúlteres, i el segon objectiu és intentar reflectir la personalitat de cadascuna de les protagonistes d'aquestes tres novel·les a través dels ulls d'altres personatges o dels seus propis ulls, influïts tots per una societat on predomina la hipocresia i l'autoritat de l'home.

Una petita novel·la en prosa en l'àmbit del Renaixement català : Paràmetres teoricoliteraris renaixentistes que expliquen la paròdia de l'estil culte de Les estil·lades y amoroses lletres trameses per Berthomeu Sirlot a la sua senyora, y per ella a ell

Aquest treball pretén esbrinar fins a quin punt se segueixen els criteris teòrics establerts pels autors catalans del Renaixement en la literatura catalana de ficció del segle XVI. Per examinar l'adequació als models proposats pels humanistes he triat una obra anònima de caràcter paròdic escrita en forma d'epístoles entre dos llauradors de l'Horta de València, Les estil·lades y amoroses lletres trameses per Berthomeu Sirlot a la sua senyora, y per ella a ell. El procediment de treball consistirà a analitzar com els teòrics del Renaixement de l'àrea catalanoparlant van interpretar i assimilar en la seva obra alguns dels conceptes més importants de les poètiques i les retòriques dels clàssics grecs i llatins (els principis d'imitació, decòrum, harmonia i ordre), en aquest cas Aristòtil i Horaci, i si l'autor anònim de Les estil·lades y amoroses lletres els va tenir en compte a l'hora de compondre la seva obra. A la vegada, en tractar-se d'una paròdia satírica amb clara voluntat humorística, aquesta anàlisi també pot donar compte de quina opinió tenien els intel·lectuals catalans del Renaixement sobre la ficció i l'humor.

SuperSense tagger for Italian

In this paper we present the procedure we followed to develop the Italian Super Sense Tagger. In particular, we adapted the English SuperSense Tagger to the Italian Language by exploiting a parallel sense labeled corpus for training. As for English, the Italian tagger uses a fixed set of 26 semantic labels, called supersenses, achieving a slightly lower accuracy due to the lower quality of the Italian training data. Both taggers accomplish the same task of identifying entities and concepts belonging to a common set of ontological types. This parallelism allows us to define effective methodologies for a broad range of cross-language knowledge acquisition tasks.

Embrutar-se les mans : una aproximació al pensament de la novel·la d'Ian McEwan

El treball pretén fer una aproximació al pensament de la novel·la de l'autor britànic Ian McEwan, fent especial èmfasi en els trets postmoderns de la seva producció enmarcats dins la nova ficció britànica.

Changes in patterns of practice for prostate cancer radiotherapy in Italy 1995-2003. A survey of the Prostate Cancer Study Group of the Italian Radiation Oncology Society.

Aims and background. In 2002, a survey including 1759 patients treated from 1980 to 1998 established a "benchmark" Italian data source for prostate cancer radiotherapy. This report updates the previous one. Methods. Data on clinical management and outcomes of 3001 patients treated in 15 centers from 1999 through 2003 were analyzed and compared with those of the previous survey. Results. Significant differences in clinical management (-10% had abdominal ma-gnetic resonance imaging; +26% received ≥70 Gy, +48% conformal radiotherapy, -20% pelvic radiotherapy) and in G3-4 toxicity rates (-3.8%) were recorded. Actuarial 5-year overall, disease-specific, clinical relapse-free, and biochemical relapse-free survival rates were 88%, 96%, 96% and 88%, respectively. At multivariate analysis, D'Amico risk categories significantly impacted on all the outcomes; higher radiotherapy doses were significantly related with better overall survival rates, and a similar trend was evident for disease-specific and biochemical relapse-free survival; cumulative probability of 5-year late G1-4 toxicity was 24.8% and was significantly related to higher radiotherapy doses (P <0.001). Conclusions. The changing patterns of practice described seem related to an improvement in efficacy and safety of radiotherapy for prostate cancer. However, the impact of the new radiotherapy techniques should be prospectively evaluated.

Trets d'oralitat en la novel·la Effi Briest de Theodor Fontane i la seva traducció al català i al castellà. La traducció de la partícula nun

L’objectiu del treball és mostrar la problemàtica de la traducció d’un element característic de la llengua parlada en l’alemany al català i al castellà, i determinar quines tècniques s’utilitzen de manera més freqüent i efectiva per a realitzar-la. L’element d’estudi és la partícula nun, molt freqüent en la novel•la Effi Briest de Theodor Fontane. Una de les funcions d’aquesta partícula és l’expressió de modalitat.Després d’una aproximació a l’oralitat fingida es fa referència a l’autor i a la novel•la, i es mostren els trets d’oralitat que aquesta conté. Les diverses taules permeten justificar l’objecte del treball i realitzar les hipòtesis i valoracions sobre el funcionament de la partícula i la seva traducció al català i al castellà.El treball finalitza amb l’anàlisi comparativa de la traducció d’aquells fragments d’un dels capítols de la novel•la on apareix la partícula. L’anàlisi comprèn una part descriptiva i la crítica de les traduccions.

U-Pb zircon dating of granitoids from the Dora-Maira massif (western Italian Alps)

Among the large number of granitic intrusions within the Dora-Maira massif, several main types can be distinguished. In this study we report field, petrographic and geochemical investigations as well as zircon typology and conventional U-Pb zircon dating of plutons representing these types. The main results are as follows: the Punta Muret augengneiss is a polymetamorphosed peraluminous granite of anatectic origin. It is 457 +/- 2 Ma old and represents one of the numerous Caledonian orthogneisses of the Alpine basement. All other dated granites are of Late Variscan age. The Cavour leucogranite is an evolved granite of probably calc-alkaline affiliation, dated at 304 +/- 2 Ma. The dioritic and granodioritic facies of the Malanaggio diorite (auct.) are typical calc-alkaline rocks, whose respective age of 290 +/- 2 and 288 +/- 2 Ma overlap within errors. The Sangone and Freidour granite types have very similar alkali-calcic characteristics; their ages are poorly constrained between 267-279 and 268-283 Ma, respectively. The new data for the Dora-Maira granites are in keeping with models of the overall evolution of the Late- to Post-Variscan magmatism in the Alpine area in terms of age distribution and progressive geochemical evolution towards alkaline melts. In a first approximation, granitic rocks across the Variscan belt seem to be increasingly younger towards the internal (southern) parts of the orogen. A Carboniferous, distensive Basin and Range situation is thought to be responsible for the magmatic activity. This tectonic context is comparable to the back-are opening of an active continental margin. The observed southward migration of the magmatism could be linked to the roll-back of the subducting Paleotethyan oceanic plate along the Variscan cordillera.

Toward validating the Italian version of the "Spanish Burnout Inventory": a preliminary study

AbstractOBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to develop the Italian version of the Spanish Burnout Inventory (SBI) and to examine its psychometric properties within a sample of nursing staff.METHODThe study was cross-sectional and not randomized. The data were gathered using an anonymous, self-report questionnaire. The sample consisted of 391 staff nurses employed in three hospitals in the Northern Region of Italy To evaluate burnout, the SBI and the Maslach Burnout Inventory were administered.RESULTSAn Exploratory Factor Analysis showed a four-factor structure close to the expected one. All Cronbach's alpha values were satisfactory. Furthermore, correlations support the concurrent validity.CONCLUSIONOverall, the results of this study provided evidence that the SBI is an adequate instrument to study burnout in the Italian nursing sample and indicated the feeling of guilt as an important dimension to gauge the structure of this phenomenon.

Italian maksusopimus

Puhe

Banks and development: Jewish communities in the Italian Renaissance and current economic performance

Are differences in local banking development long-lasting? Do they affect long-term economic performance?I answer these questions by relying on an historical development that occurred in Italian cities during the 15thcentury. A sudden change in the Catholic doctrine had driven the Jews toward money lending. Cities thatwere hosting Jewish communities developed complex banking institutions for two reasons: first, the Jews werethe only people in Italy who were allowed to lend for a profit and, second, the Franciscan reaction to Jewishusury led to the creation of charity lending institutions, the Monti di Pietà, that have survived until today andhave become the basis of the Italian banking system. Using Jewish demography in 1500 as an instrument, Iprovide evidence of (1) an extraordinary persistence in the level of banking development across Italian cities (2)large effects of current local banking development on per-capita income. Additional firm-level analyses suggestthat well-functioning local banks exert large effects on aggregate productivity by reallocating resources towardmore efficient firms. I exploit the expulsion of the Jews from the Spanish territories in Italy in 1541 to arguethat my results are not driven by omitted institutional, cultural and geographical characteristics. In particular,I show that, in Central Italy, the difference in current income between cities that hosted Jewish communitiesand cities that did not exists only in those regions that were not Spanish territories in the 16th century.

Effects of employment protection and product market regulations on the Italian labor market

Labor market regulations have often being blamed for high and persistentunemployment in Europe, but evidence on their impact remains mixed. Morerecently, attention has turned to the impact of product market regulationson employment growth. This paper analyzes how labor and product marketregulations interact to affect turnover and employment. We present a matchingmodel which illustrates how barriers to entry in the product market mitigatethe impact of labor market deregulation. We, then, use the Italian SocialSecurity employer-employee panel to study the interaction between barriersto entry and dismissal costs. We exploit the fact that costs for unjustdismissals in Italy increased for firms below 15 employees relative to biggerfirms after 1990. We find that the increase in dismissal costs after 1990decreased accessions and separations in small relative to big firms,especially for women. Moreover, consistent with our model, we find evidencethat the increase in dismissal costs had smaller effects on turnover for womenin sectors faced with strict product market regulations.