The Bible in Medieval Love Lyrics: A Fundamental Element of European Poetry Books

The focus of this study is the relationship among three different manuscripts (Modena, Bibl. Estense, MS α.R.4.4; Firenze, Bibl. Laurenziana MS Rediano 9; and London, BL, MS Harley, 2253) and the poetry they transmit. The aim of this research is to show the ways that the Bible was used in the transmission of the lyric poetry in the three literatures that they represent: Occitan (primarily through Marcabru’s songs), Italian (through the love poetry of Guittone d’Arezzo), and Middle English (through the Harley love lyrics and the MS.’s primary scribe), in a medieval European context.

Sustainable improvement of water networks : to achieve best decisions for rehabilitation plans using advanced GIS and statistical techniques

Many of developing countries are facing crisis in water management due to increasing of population, water scarcity, water contaminations and effects of world economic crisis. Water distribution systems in developing countries are facing many challenges of efficient repair and rehabilitation since the information of water network is very limited, which makes the rehabilitation assessment plans very difficult. Sufficient information with high technology in developed countries makes the assessment for rehabilitation easy. Developing countries have many difficulties to assess the water network causing system failure, deterioration of mains and bad water quality in the network due to pipe corrosion and deterioration. The limited information brought into focus the urgent need to develop economical assessment for rehabilitation of water distribution systems adapted to water utilities. Gaza Strip is subject to a first case study, suffering from severe shortage in the water supply and environmental problems and contamination of underground water resources. This research focuses on improvement of water supply network to reduce the water losses in water network based on limited database using techniques of ArcGIS and commercial water network software (WaterCAD). A new approach for rehabilitation water pipes has been presented in Gaza city case study. Integrated rehabilitation assessment model has been developed for rehabilitation water pipes including three components; hydraulic assessment model, Physical assessment model and Structural assessment model. WaterCAD model has been developed with integrated in ArcGIS to produce the hydraulic assessment model for water network. The model have been designed based on pipe condition assessment with 100 score points as a maximum points for pipe condition. As results from this model, we can indicate that 40% of water pipeline have score points less than 50 points and about 10% of total pipes length have less than 30 score points. By using this model, the rehabilitation plans for each region in Gaza city can be achieved based on available budget and condition of pipes. The second case study is Kuala Lumpur Case from semi-developed countries, which has been used to develop an approach to improve the water network under crucial conditions using, advanced statistical and GIS techniques. Kuala Lumpur (KL) has water losses about 40% and high failure rate, which make severe problem. This case can represent cases in South Asia countries. Kuala Lumpur faced big challenges to reduce the water losses in water network during last 5 years. One of these challenges is high deterioration of asbestos cement (AC) pipes. They need to replace more than 6500 km of AC pipes, which need a huge budget to be achieved. Asbestos cement is subject to deterioration due to various chemical processes that either leach out the cement material or penetrate the concrete to form products that weaken the cement matrix. This case presents an approach for geo-statistical model for modelling pipe failures in a water distribution network. Database of Syabas Company (Kuala Lumpur water company) has been used in developing the model. The statistical models have been calibrated, verified and used to predict failures for both networks and individual pipes. The mathematical formulation developed for failure frequency in Kuala Lumpur was based on different pipeline characteristics, reflecting several factors such as pipe diameter, length, pressure and failure history. Generalized linear model have been applied to predict pipe failures based on District Meter Zone (DMZ) and individual pipe levels. Based on Kuala Lumpur case study, several outputs and implications have been achieved. Correlations between spatial and temporal intervals of pipe failures also have been done using ArcGIS software. Water Pipe Assessment Model (WPAM) has been developed using the analysis of historical pipe failure in Kuala Lumpur which prioritizing the pipe rehabilitation candidates based on ranking system. Frankfurt Water Network in Germany is the third main case study. This case makes an overview for Survival analysis and neural network methods used in water network. Rehabilitation strategies of water pipes have been developed for Frankfurt water network in cooperation with Mainova (Frankfurt Water Company). This thesis also presents a methodology of technical condition assessment of plastic pipes based on simple analysis. This thesis aims to make contribution to improve the prediction of pipe failures in water networks using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Decision Support System (DSS). The output from the technical condition assessment model can be used to estimate future budget needs for rehabilitation and to define pipes with high priority for replacement based on poor condition. rn

Families Stories. Rappresentazioni di famiglie nella letteratura per l'infanzia in Europa e negli Stati Uniti

In questa tesi dottorale viene preso in analisi il tema della famiglia, uno degli elementi fondanti della riflessione pedagogica, crocevia di una molteplicità di nuclei interpretativi con diramazioni e contaminazioni, con mutamenti attraverso le epoche storiche, rappresentati in pagine contenute nei Classici della letteratura per l’infanzia e nei migliori libri di narrativa contemporanea. Si tratta di un tema di grande ampiezza che ha comportato una scelta mirata di Autori che, nei loro romanzi hanno trattato questioni riguardanti la famiglia nelle sue pluralità delle sue tante accezioni, dalla vita familiare agli abbandoni, dalle infanzie senza famiglia alle famiglie altre. Nelle diverse epoche storiche, le loro narrazioni hanno lasciato un segno per l'originalità interpretativa che ancora oggi ci raccontano storie di vie familiale Dai romanzi ottocenteschi alle saghe fantasy degli ultimi cinquant’anni, fino ai picturebook, destinati ai più piccoli, le families stories possono costituire un materiale pedagogico privilegiato, sia offrendo occasioni di scoperta e conoscenza di sé e del mondo, attraverso le quali i lettori bambini, enigmatici frontalieri, varcano soglie verso altrovi misteriosi, sia fornendo spunti agli studiosi per approfondire tematiche multiple e complesse. Le families stories riflettono spesso in maniera critica le divergenze che possono manifestarsi tra le prassi individuate e studiate dalle scienze umane e sociali e le metafore narrative proposte dai numerosi Autori della letteratura per l’infanzia. Proponendo una prospettiva spesso spiazzante, esse interpretano la realtà a fondo, cogliendo i più piccoli ed inosservati particolari che, invece, hanno la capacità di rompere gli schemi socio-educativi dell’epoca storica in cui le storie prendono vita.

Atome und Bücher : Primo Levis Erzählung Kohlenstoff im Periodischen System und Hermann Römpps „Lebensgeschichte eines Kohlenstoffatoms“ /// Arbeitsblätter für die Sachbuchforschung ; 21

Zusammenfassung: Primo Levis 1975 publiziertes Buch Il sistema periodico (Das periodische System, deutsch 1986) wurde 2006 bei einer Befragung des Imperial College in London zum „best science book ever“ gekürt. Zweifellos gehört Levis Buch zu den berühmtesten literarischen Werken mit chemischem Inhalt. Wohl jeder Chemiker kennt es oder hat schon davon gehört. Es gliedert sich in 21 Element-Erzählungen, die berühmteste von diesen ist die letzte, die vom Kohlenstoff handelt. Im Folgenden versuche ich, den Nachweis zu führen, dass diese Geschichte eine Vorlage hatte, nämlich die Erzählung ‚Lebensgeschichte eines Kohlenstoffatoms‘ von Hermann Römpp, die 1946 als Kosmos-Bändchen bei Franckh erschien. Hermann Römpp, der während des ‚Dritten Reiches‘ die antisemitischen und eugenischen Maßnahmen der Nationalsozialisten in einigen Schriften gepriesen und gerechtfertigt hatte, publizierte die Geschichte als einzige seines Oeuvres nicht unter eigenem Namen, sondern unter dem Pseudonym „Dr. Helmut Schmid“. rnDer Nachweis, dass Römpps Geschichte eine Vorlage für Levi war, soll eine vertiefte Lektüre von Levis Erzählung ermöglichen.

"The best me I can be" : Körper, Neoliberalismus und Authentizität in Makeover-Formaten des Reality-TV

Die vorliegende kulturwissenschaftlich ausgerichtete Arbeit befasst sich mit der Konstruktion und Inszenierung von Realität, insbesondere im Verhältnis zu Körperdiskursen und Körperpraktiken in Makeover-Sendungen sowie mit deren komplexen politischen und kulturellen Implikationen. Die leitenden Fragen der vorliegenden Arbeit sind: Wie wird der Körper in den ausgewählten Formaten dargestellt? Wie wird er erzählt und mit welchen (Film-)Techniken in Szene gesetzt? Welche expliziten und impliziten Körperbilder liegen den Darstellungen zu Grunde? Welche kulturellen und politischen Normen werden über den Körper konstruiert? Welche Rolle spielt diese Konstruktion des Körpers für die Darstellung von „Realität“ in den entsprechenden Formaten? Was ist der größere gesellschaftliche Zusammenhang dieser Darstellung? rnTrotz der Vielzahl und Komplexität der Darstellungsweisen des Körpers soll anhand verschiedener repräsentativ ausgewählter Reality-TV-Formate eine Annäherung an die heterogene kulturelle sowie politische Tragweite derselben geleistet werden. Hierzu werden insbesondere Formate bevorzugt, die explizit die Transformation des Körpers thematisieren. Dies kann durch kosmetische, d.h. nicht-operative Veränderungen (Kleidung, Make-up, Frisur), Fitness und Ernährung bis hin zu medizinischen Eingriffen wie etwa plastischer Chirurgie erfolgen.rnAls erstes wird der Untersuchungsgegenstand genauer eingegrenzt, wobei sich zeigt, dass sich exakte Grenzziehungen aufgrund des schwer greifbaren Reality-TV-Genres und der transmedialen Eigenschaft des Makeover-Fensehtextes als Herausforderung erweisen. Danach werden die kulturwissenschaftlichen Annahmen, die dieser Arbeit zugrunde liegen, ausgeführt. Darüber hinaus wird das revolutionäre Forschungsfeld der Fat Studies eruiert und auch der körpertheoretische Zugang erläutert. Abschließend wird näher auf den filmnarratologischen Zugang, der den Analysen als theoretische, aber auch methodische Grundlage dient, eingegangen. Zudem wird behandelt wie der Körper in den behandelten Makeover-Formaten zunächst erzählbar gemacht und erzählt wird. Die Körper der Teilnehmer werden zunächst in einen ökonomischen Diskurs der Maße und Zahlen überführt, um im weiteren Verlauf die „Transformation“ auch diskursiv dramatisieren zu können. Die über die Ökonomisierung vorbereitete, zumeist als märchenhaft dargestellte, Verwandlung der Teilnehmer, kulminiert immer in der Gegenüberstellung des „Vorher“-Bildes und des „Nachher“-Bildes. Diese Ökonomisierung ist allerdings nur die narrative Grundlage einer viel umfassenderen, in den Sendungen meist implizit vermittelten Selbstregierungstechnologie, der „Gouvernementalität“, die kontrovers im Hinblick auf Vertreter einer Affekttheorie, die die Vermittlung der besagten Gouvernementalität in Zweifel ziehen, diskutiert wird. Die Kernthese der vorliegenden Arbeit, die den Körper als entscheidendes, die „Realität“ der Makeover-Formate affirmierendes Element versteht, ist ferner eng mit dem Begriff der „Authentizität“ verknüpft. „Authentische“ Effekte sind oft das selbsterklärte Ziel der Einsätze des Körpers im Reality-TV und äußern sich in unterschiedlichen Erzähltechniken wie den autobiografischen Elementen der Formate. Die bereits im Genre des Reality-TV angelegte Selbstreflexivität sowohl auf Inhalts- als auch auf Produktionsseite wird abschließend kontextualisiert und bewertet. Letztendlich stellt sich die Frage, welche kulturellen Widerstände und Spielarten trotz der sehr dogmatisch wirkenden Inhalte der Makeover-Serien erhalten bleiben.

"Per una mappatura della Russia contemporanea". Aleksej Ivanov, il geografo si è bevuto il globo. Proposta di traduzione editoriale.

The purpose of this work is to introduce to the Italian audience one of the best known works written by the Russian novelist Aleksej Ivanov. The title of the book we refer to is Geograf glubus propil, [The geography drank his globe away]. The novel features peculiarities and themes that can be interesting also for non-Russian readers, being also an example of how Russian contemporary literature has evolved through the years. Nevertheless, it has already been translated in French and Serbian. In last years, the author has become increasingly famous in Russia: he has won many prices and has published a large number of books, many of which were awarded with different literature prizes. Moreover, a film based on the plot of the novel analyzed has been released in 2013, carrying the same name of the book. The film received positive feedback from both cinema critics and mass audience. The following work has been divided into two parts: an introductory part where the author and his book are presented, together with the main character and his peculiarities. It is then explained the context in which the book was created, the purpose of the author and how the book was perceived by readers. In addition to that, I listed some of the problems I had to face while translating , and the solutions I found in order to solve them. The second part is fully dedicated to the translation itself.