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Starting from the analysis of a cycle of sonnets neglected by criticism (Rime 126-130), this paper aims to demonstrate the meaning of the private themes in Bembo's lyrics with regard to the historical context of the first thirty years of the XVI century, in connection with the uncertainty generated by the Italian Wars as well as with the role of intellectuals and writers in Renaissance society. All of the texts are tied to a precise moment, the year 1526: the extremes of the sequence are two civic-political sonnets, addressed to Clemente VII and his datary Giberti, while the central texts are dedicated to the theme of friendship and to la Morosina's illness. The series appears particularly uneven, even more so because of its position just behind the ending of the amorous canzoniere and before the spiritual texts; however, the sonnets are bound together by the theme of fortune and history, in which is rooted Bembo's idea of the love lyric. The paper proves that this thematic thread hints at an articulated discourse about poetic autonomy, grounded in the Latin classics, which represent the true substrate of Bembo's poetry. The study of the sources and of the macrotext confirms the importance of Propertius and Horace in the Rime: specifically, in the Venusian poet Bembo identified a point of reference for the definition of the writers' position vis-à-vis power and for the idea of constructing a monumental work, capable of making eternal not only the memory of its author but also that of his friends, lovers, and lords who are involved in the verses; in Propertius, instead, he saw an example for the treatment of the amorous theme in poetic discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to show that in the second half of the XIXth Century the European Romantic trend in literature became even in Italy part of the launch pad for the first "Fanta-clinic" and "Medical-thriller" novels. According to the lesson of the coeval French literature it also baptized a kind of modern poetry turned to épater le bourgeois through the transfiguration of Anatomy and later through the use of the scientific method in composing verses and novels. This paper aims to focalize some links between Literature and Medicine by concerning literary inspirations felt by many coeval writers about Paolo Gorini (1813- 1881) and Efisio Marini (1835-1900). The paper tries to demonstrate that the dark suggestions offered by the two scientists to some well known names of the Italian Literature (from Carlo Dossi to Matilde Serao) grew up strong in the Northern part of Italy as well as they did in the Southern part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work originates from an interest of the Observatory group in exploring different associations dealing with groups: what theories inform their practice? What questions do they try to answer? Where do they find their origin and how much resonance can be found among group therapists, in spite of different affiliations? This paper will be followed by other papers aiming at describing and reviewing Italian journals on groups, so as to broaden the reader's knowledge while stimulating new lines of thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 is paper highlights the infl uence of Ori gen’ s intellectual legacy on the thought of the French theologian Henry de Lubac. In order to achieve this goal, the categories of “history” and “spirit” are scrutinized, constituting as they do not only the title of de Lubac’ s most important work on Origen, but also his fundamental theorical grid to understand the Alexandrian theologian. However, the essay aims to show that, though still retaining some explanatory potential for grasping how Origen’ s thought structures itself, such categories inevitably neglect deeper elements in the latter. Origen’ s assumptions about the epinoiai do especially help solve the aporias raised by de Lubac’ s frequent analogies between Logos, Scripture, Eucharist and Church, all of whom turn hardly distinguishable from one another, without recurring to such theorizing. As a result, a unitary reflection still emerges, centering around the aforementioned relationship between history and Spirit and up to date addressing issues and methods in contemporary theology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IIW White Paper is a booklet produced by a panel of 80 experts of the IIW, aimed at providing reader with a picture on welding and allied technologies dated 2012, but mainly focused on the challenges and direction of these technologies for the next 20 years. Statistical data on value added by welding and welding related occupation are included in the first part, while the main content is devoted to evaluating technologies, processes, materials, inspection and testing techniques, standard and codes which can potentially become state of the art in the next years. A section is also devoted to identify those changes in the industrial world that can impress a driving force to welding and allied technologies. The article is a non-exhaustive resume of the IIW White Paper, while the full document is available for free on the IIW website (www.iiwelding.org). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to reconstruct the climate of Turin where he lived and worked Giuseppe Levi, the particular figures which animated the subalpine universities in the fascist period, the fruitful interaction between Jewish and anti-fascist world. Particular attention will be devoted to the different reactions of the Jewish community during the confidence to fascism in 1931 oath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galen's discussions of philosophical issues show a complete mastery of the school debates of his time. Galen, however, is not a school philosopher: his philosophical allegiance is controversial and he refers to philosophical theories and debates for specific purposes that pertain to his views about the status of medical knowledge. The extant fragments of his lost treatise On Demonstration offer an interesting example of this attitude. The present paper focuses on some passages from Galen's lost On Demonstration book 4, which deal with the generation of cosmos and its incorruptibility. They are preserved in John Philoponus' On the Eternity of the World and in al- Rāzī's Doubts on Galen. Galen's argument relies heavily on philosophical sources such as Plato, Aristotle and the Platonic philosopher Atticus. Galen's treatment of the topic, however, is highly original and can plausibly be seen as a discussion pro et contra the eternity of the cosmos, which aims to show the limits and fallacies of speculative knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents some reflections on the impact of reconstruction work on the economic and social history of Italy. This problem dates far back in time and is largely under-appreciated: from the 11th century to the year 2000 over 4,800 sites (villages and towns) suffered serious destruction followed by massive and extensive reconstruction work. Few cases have attracted the attention of historians, with the exception of rebuilding work after the 1693, 1783, 1908 and 1915 earthquakes. Yet the interest of such studies lies less in the history of local town planning, and more in that of the surrounding territories and how these were managed administratively, politically and by government in general. What happens at the various stages of reconstruction work provides an accelerated glimpse of power and decision-making dynamics at work, conditioned by in-fighting, class conflict, or the slowness and instability of solutions dogged by bureaucratic squabbling within government. Such features of the governance process often escape historical analysis. The quality of reconstruction work significantly affects the impact of subsequent earthquakes. For this reason, and given the frequency of seismic events in Italy, we find „chains“ of destruction and reconstruction (L’Aquila, for example, is preparing for its sixth rebuilding, between the 14th century and today). Destruction and reconstruction map out a history spanning natural features and the features of the built environment. We must rise above set disciplinary patterns and topics if this history is to be explored, understood and more widely disseminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of the relationship between the career dynamics implemented within the Roman Curia, and the perception of the value of offices and their evolution in the early modern period. Specifically, it offers an analysis of the specific and unscrupulous economic strategy adopted by the Borghese family in the late sixteenth century, within the financial and judicial context of the Roman Curia. This article not only focuses on the economic manoeuvres of the Borghese brothers, already studied by Wolfgang Reinhard, but also offers some reflections, emerging from this correspondence, on the need to obtain ownership of certain offices, such as that of the Auditor Camerae. Since the second half of the fifteenth century the office was in the possession of a tribunal independent of the Apostolic Chamber and, while retaining precise functions linked to the tax authorities, had been granted some specific jurisdiction in civilibus and in criminalibus in papal bulls. After the end of the Council of Trent and in the last decades of the sixteenth century, the office, with its tribunal, acquired increasing importance in the balance between traditional curial functions and the new congregations of Sixtus V. The reconstruction of family relationships and patronage networks – using the Borghese as an example – is therefore placed in an historical context aimed at highlighting the role played by this tribunal in the context of Roman Justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the comital elites of the early 11th century mentioned in the documentation for the Rome area, the counts of Galeria occupied a prominent place. Though we can reconstruct their history until the second half of the 13th century, not all the individuals who held this title were of the same lineage. Count Gerardo [I], son of Ranieri, is the most important figure of all the Counts of Galeria, and therefore the main focus of this paper. He is documented between 1040–1060 and played an important role in Rome’s political history during these years. He collaborated with Popes Benedict IX and Benedict X; he played a leading role in the Roman Tuscia where he also owned several castles, and was a close ally of the abbots of Farfa. Count Sassone of Civita Castellana was his brother. Both men had descendants. It is very likely that after Count Gerardo’s death, in the early 1060s Galeria Castle returned under papal control. According to a document in the archives of San Paolo fuori le mura, Gregory VII granted it to the monastery in Via Ostiense. By contrast, the descendants of Count Sassone, his son Rainieri [II] and his grandson Sassone [II], managed to retain control of Civita Castellana until almost the end of the century. Our information on this family ceases in the last 20 years of the 11th century. At the end of the first millennium, other Roman families began to appear in the Roman contado and the southern Tuscia, and in the space of a century their ambitions obliterated the old families that had hitherto dominated. Other counts of Galeria appear sporadically in the documents of the 12th and 13th centuries, but none of these individuals were as important as the two brothers Gerardo [I] and Sassone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article elaborates and develops two speeches I made at the Forum of the General States of the Historical Re-enactment held in Florence on 9-10 April 2016 and will be included in the White Paper as a result of the Forum. The first part is also a preview of the long field work at a number of archaeological open museums, better known as archeoparks, during the last four years, I conducted as a participant observer, who has not remained a 'marginal native', but in some cases took a leading role. Thanks to this period of intense fieldwork, I was able to see the strengths and weaknesses of a number of Italian archeoparks. The second part, however, is more theoretical and concerns the problem of the "authentic reconstruction" of the past and the tension between traditional roles and modern requirements in the historical re-enactment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides information on the start and rapid development of training, research and laboratory activities of IIS and IIS Progress in Italy and abroad. In particular, two successive periods are considered separately for the first and the remaining tasks, the first one of affirmation and development of training and research activities and of start and growth of the Laboratory, the second one, characterized by the availability of the new modern IIS headquarters, of vigorous growth, also due to the reorganization of the corporate structure and to the preparation of the partition that led to the birth of the IIS Group. The latter includes, as it is now well known, along with IIS ente morale (Non-proflt Organization), IIS Cert srl (Ltd.), IIS Service srl (Ltd.), both created in early 2011, and IIS Progress srl (Ltd.) which was created in early 2013. At the same time the most important events are remembered related to the acquisition in 1988 of the new and well-equipped IIS headquarters in Genoa and, in the following years, of a number of offices in other Italian locations. IIS Group had in force at the end of 2013 approximately 225 employees (including about sixty graduates engineers and a hundred technical graduates), of which almost a quarter are employees and managers of IIS Progress. Appears as well as in over sixty years of activity before IIS and afler the IIS Group have been won a reputation for professionalism, reliability and expertise that have made it one of the most comprehensive European benchmarks in the field of joining and related and connected techniques, appreciated everywhere it has acted, in Italy, in Europe and in other continents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers information on the beginning and the development in Italy and abroad of technical assistance activities performed by IIS and later on by IIS Service srl. At the purpose, three subsequent periods are considered: a first one of affirmation of such activities; an intermediate one of consolidation of IIS on the market and of beginning of organization of its structure; a final one of further growth of such activities and of development and completion of IIS restructuring in order to prepare the partition which originated the IIS Group. The latter comprehends IIS Ente Morale (no profit distributing society), IIS Cert srl (Ltd) and IIS Service srl (Ltd), established at the beginning of 2011, and IIS Progress srl (Ltd), established at the beginning of 2013. In particular, the paper shows how, in some sixty years of activity, IIS gained a fame of seriousness, reliability and competence, that have made it one of the most comprehensive benchmarks in the field of welding, allied processes and connected techniques, appreciated everywhere it acted, in Italy, in Europe and in other continents. Finally, it is remembered that in 1988 IIS acquired with its own resources a modern and well-equipped headquarters in Genoa, that, in mid-2013, IIS Group owned various other regional offices and that at the time had in force some 225 employees (including some sixty graduate engineers and some one hundred technical licentiates), about half of whom are employees and managers of IIS Service srl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scientific and technological progress as well as the deep social changes experienced between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century were an ideal environment for the growth and development of the visionary ideas of Paul Otlet, the pioneer of modern documentation. His eclectic personality was influenced by a few decisive events occurred during his life: the shift from the strict Jesuit education to Positivism, and from law to bibliography studies, up to his commitment for the promotion of peace and culture - commitment that materialized in projects such as the League of Nations and the Mundaneum. All these events are essential to recall his work as well as to understand his thought. His main ambition was the foundation of a new science aimed at investigating the book - or document - that Otlet highly estimated because of its being the result of scientific research as well as a vehicle of dissemination, a knowledge and information medium in any field and discipline. In Otlet's opinion, the ultimate aim of documentation science was the Universal Bibliographic Repertory. This objective was put into effect by the creation of the Universal Decimal Classification, and by the publication-in 1934-of what is considered his philosophical testament: Le Traité de Documentation. Le livre sur le livre. Théorie et pratique. This paper outlines the figure of the Belgian biographer by pointing out the essential traits of his thought, and focusing on the unprecedented impact he had in the creation of a universal “free access to information and knowledge". So far, his work hasn't lost its value, and can still be of some help to contemporary documentation, librarianship and information science, who are now facing new and ever complex challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paleogenetics is providing increasing evidence about the biological characteristics of ancient populations. This paper examines the guiding principles and methodologies to the study of ancient DNA with constant references to the state of the art in this fascinating disciplin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers information on the beginning of qualification/certification activities in Italy and data and indications on the experiences gained by Italian Institute of Welding (Certifying Body Accredited by Sincert, and then Accredia, and Notified CE, www.iis.it) and more recently by IIS CERT (Certifying Body Accredited by Accredia and Notified CE, www.iiscert.it), applying the standards EN 473, ISO 9712 and the directive 97/23/CE (PED) on qualification, certification and approval ofnon destructive testing personnel. Particularly information updated to 31 July 2012 are given and discussed on the activity of qualification/certification since January 2001 (starting year for the application of EN 473, second edition, and PED directive) with reference to the issued certifications and approvals and to their distribution in method and level. Furthermore, it is reported that at the beginning of 2011 IIS originated two branches, IIS CERT e IIS SERVICE, both totally owned and passed to the first one its activities of certification and approval. Instead IIS maintained the training, education and laboratory activities; all of them, together with research and development activities, will be transferred to a third IIS branch, IIS PROGRESS (www.iisprogress.it), which will officially start these activities at the beginning of 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jerome never wrote neither ecclesiastical history nor a monastic history, nonetheless he cultivated the ambition to be a Church and monasticism historian competing with both Eusebius of Caesarea and Athanasius of Alexandria. The paper focuses on the several stages of this relationship, going through the Vita Pauli;Vita Hilarionis; De viris illustribus, Praecepta Pachomiana and the Epistula 127. Jerome's main concern is to establish who was the first and this aim makes him draw 'authentic' genealogies of the monasticism, challenging other historical reconstructions. His work is mainly targeted to ascetics and his origins' reconstruction and it is important since it reports of the rising of a monastic self-awareness in the first generation of western ascetics. Their experiences were linked to the Egyptian tradition, as it was the generating, most ancient and prestigious one; on the other side, they believed monasticism being related to the apostolic Church and considered themselves as contemporary 'apostolic men'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation has always bee a particularly significant aspect of university life. University is the place where research evaluation is produced as well as evaluation of the eligibility of scientists to teaching and research activities supported and oriented by social institutions. Evaluating activities are therefore essential to life and continuity of higher education system and research training.At present, traditional mechanisms of evaluation, based on self-autonomy and academic self-government, are at a critical point. New tools are actually used to ensure higher levels of objectivity and more opportunities for research comparison and legitimacy of researchers devoted to it. In this paper I offer a comment on the possibility of introducing quantitative evaluation methods or qualitative, individual and responsive methods for the formulation of reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]