Suchergebnisse

For many years, the aging of the population has been associated with developed countries. Lately, it increases in developing countries like Brazil. However, it remains a relatively unknown phenomenon whose complexity begins to appear. But if aging and old age are gaining importance in several fields of science and contemporary politicalconcerns, yet it is the view of those who live it daily that is often overlooked: the old themselves. In this research, we put our efforts into a comprehensive approach, which is able to capture this atmosphere. From the life histories of older people in Rio de Janeiro, we attempted to understand the meaning they ascribe to their experiences in order to account for their existence and their lack of ease in existing, their lifestyle. We use the methodology of narratives to understand the empirical material. We observe the heterogeneity of the aging process in Brazil, and a more positive image of the elderly andageing emerges from our scenario. We also perceive the transfiguration of the relation to the body, to time and to health among these persons and a new form of being together, highlighting the emergence of the postmodern paradigm and its coexistence with modern values in Brazilian society. We conclude with the importance of taking into account theunderstanding of elderly people in developing and implementing policies, programs and services that can mean a qualitative gain for this population ; Pendant de longues années, le vieillissement de la population a été associé aux pays développés. Récemment, il prend de l'envergure dans les pays en développement comme le Brésil. Cependant, il reste un phénomène assez méconnu et dont la complexité commence à se révéler. Mais si le vieillissement et la vieillesse prennent de l'importance dans les divers domaines scientifiques et dans les préoccupations politiques contemporaines, c'est pourtant le regard de ceux qui vivent ce processus quotidiennement qui est trop souvent négligé : les vieux eux-mêmes. Dans cette recherche, nous situons ...

For many years, the aging of the population has been associated with developed countries. Lately, it increases in developing countries like Brazil. However, it remains a relatively unknown phenomenon whose complexity begins to appear. But if aging and old age are gaining importance in several fields of science and contemporary politicalconcerns, yet it is the view of those who live it daily that is often overlooked: the old themselves. In this research, we put our efforts into a comprehensive approach, which is able to capture this atmosphere. From the life histories of older people in Rio de Janeiro, we attempted to understand the meaning they ascribe to their experiences in order to account for their existence and their lack of ease in existing, their lifestyle. We use the methodology of narratives to understand the empirical material. We observe the heterogeneity of the aging process in Brazil, and a more positive image of the elderly andageing emerges from our scenario. We also perceive the transfiguration of the relation to the body, to time and to health among these persons and a new form of being together, highlighting the emergence of the postmodern paradigm and its coexistence with modern values in Brazilian society. We conclude with the importance of taking into account theunderstanding of elderly people in developing and implementing policies, programs and services that can mean a qualitative gain for this population ; Pendant de longues années, le vieillissement de la population a été associé aux pays développés. Récemment, il prend de l'envergure dans les pays en développement comme le Brésil. Cependant, il reste un phénomène assez méconnu et dont la complexité commence à se révéler. Mais si le vieillissement et la vieillesse prennent de l'importance dans les divers domaines scientifiques et dans les préoccupations politiques contemporaines, c'est pourtant le regard de ceux qui vivent ce processus quotidiennement qui est trop souvent négligé : les vieux eux-mêmes. Dans cette recherche, nous situons ...

For many years, the aging of the population has been associated with developed countries. Lately, it increases in developing countries like Brazil. However, it remains a relatively unknown phenomenon whose complexity begins to appear. But if aging and old age are gaining importance in several fields of science and contemporary politicalconcerns, yet it is the view of those who live it daily that is often overlooked: the old themselves. In this research, we put our efforts into a comprehensive approach, which is able to capture this atmosphere. From the life histories of older people in Rio de Janeiro, we attempted to understand the meaning they ascribe to their experiences in order to account for their existence and their lack of ease in existing, their lifestyle. We use the methodology of narratives to understand the empirical material. We observe the heterogeneity of the aging process in Brazil, and a more positive image of the elderly andageing emerges from our scenario. We also perceive the transfiguration of the relation to the body, to time and to health among these persons and a new form of being together, highlighting the emergence of the postmodern paradigm and its coexistence with modern values in Brazilian society. We conclude with the importance of taking into account theunderstanding of elderly people in developing and implementing policies, programs and services that can mean a qualitative gain for this population ; Pendant de longues années, le vieillissement de la population a été associé aux pays développés. Récemment, il prend de l'envergure dans les pays en développement comme le Brésil. Cependant, il reste un phénomène assez méconnu et dont la complexité commence à se révéler. Mais si le vieillissement et la vieillesse prennent de l'importance dans les divers domaines scientifiques et dans les préoccupations politiques contemporaines, c'est pourtant le regard de ceux qui vivent ce processus quotidiennement qui est trop souvent négligé : les vieux eux-mêmes. Dans cette recherche, nous situons ...

"Relational sociology is coming increasingly to the fore on the international academic stage. As it invariably happens in such circumstances, when a new paradigm attracts a growing number of scholars, researchers and practitioners, it is almost inevitably interpreted and identified in many different ways. This book aims to highlight the specific nature of relational sociology, disseminates knowledge about the relational approach which has been developed in Italy and in Europe starting from the work of Pierpaolo Donati, and confronts this approach with issues which are currently much debated in social theory, social research and social work. The authors try to consolidate the directions taken in the research field in order to distinguish relational sociology from other approaches which are not relational, or are only so to a certain degree"--

Supplementary materials

ITALIANO: Il saggio introduce la sezione monografica su "Istituzioni, relazioni e culture politiche nelle città tra stato della Chiesa e regno di Napoli (1350-1500 ca.)". Dopo aver messo a fuoco due persistenti chiavi di lettura della storia politica urbana del tardo medioevo italiano – quella dualistica e quella plurale basata sugli stati regionali – si presentano alcuni spunti di riflessione a partire dalle acquisizioni storiografiche degli ultimi due decenni. Si illustrano poi le nuove prospettive entro le quali si intende verificare, attraverso i saggi raccolti, l'esistenza di un'area di cultura politica urbana intorno ai confini fra stato della Chiesa e regno di Napoli, e il questionario entro il quale si sono mossi gli autori dei singoli saggi. / ENGLISH: The essay introduces the collection of papers Institutions, relationships, and political cultures in the cities along the border between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples (c. 1350-1500). After discussing two persistent points of view on the urban political history of late medieval Italy – the North-South dualism and the pluralistic understanding of the regional states– this essay highlights some points for reflection which arise from recent studies. It then suggestsnew perspectives to verify, through the following contributions, the existence of an area of urban political culture at the borders between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Lastly, it presents the specific issues that guided the authors' work.

The monographic section includes six essays concerning seven cities: Benevento (G. Araldi), Terracina and Gaeta (M.T. Caciorgna), Rieti (T. Leggio), Norcia (F. Lattanzio), Ascoli (F. Pirani), L'Aquila (P. Terenzi). Those cases are analysed in detail, following some specific issues – institutions, social groups and elites, factions and supralocal alliances, personal power, territory, negotiation with monarchical authorities, elements of urban political culture – in order to verify the existence of an area, around the borders between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, characterised by common political features, from the half of the fourteenth to the end of the fifteenth century. ; La sezione monografica presenta sei saggi dedicati a sette città: Benevento (G. Araldi), Terracina e Gaeta (M.T. Caciorgna), Rieti (T. Leggio), Norcia (F. Lattanzio), Ascoli (F. Pirani), L'Aquila (P. Terenzi). Attraverso lo studio sistematico di questi casi, incentrato su alcuni punti chiave – istituzioni, gruppi sociali ed élites, fazioni e schieramenti sovralocali, poteri personali, territorio, negoziazione con le autorità monarchiche, elementi della cultura politica cittadina – si punta a verificare l'esistenza di un'area ai confini fra stato della Chiesa e regno di Napoli, connotata da esperienze politiche comuni fra metà Trecento e fine Quattrocento.

The essay introduces the collection of papers Institutions, relations and political cultures in the cities between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples (1350-1500 ca.). After discussing two persistent points of view on the urban political history of late medieval Italy – the North-South dualism and the pluralistic understanding of the regional states – this essay highlights some points for reflection which arise from recent studies. It then suggests new perspectives to verify, through the following contributions, the existence of an area of urban political culture at the borders between the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. Lastly, it presents the specific issues that guided the authors' work. ; Il saggio introduce la sezione monografica su Istituzioni, relazioni e culture politiche nelle città tra stato della Chiesa e regno di Napoli (1350-1500 ca.). Dopo aver messo a fuoco due persistenti chiavi di lettura della storia politica urbana del tardo medioevo italiano – quella dualistica e quella plurale basata sugli stati regionali – si presentano alcuni spunti di riflessione a partire dalle acquisizioni storiografiche degli ultimi due decenni. Si illustrano poi le nuove prospettive entro le quali si intende verificare, attraverso i saggi raccolti, l'esistenza di un'area di cultura politica urbana intorno ai confini fra stato della Chiesa e regno di Napoli, e il questionario entro il quale si sono mossi gli autori dei singoli saggi.

This study focuses on different groups of Palestinian citizens of Israel, representing more than 20% of the total Israeli population. Working on the link between urban space and social diversity, the authors will capture complex dynamics of segregation and social inequalities ex-isting among different Arab communities. This research aims to promote a new approach that, overcoming the stereotyped vision of two social monolithic blocks at war with each other - Jews and Arabs- shows a complex social mosaic of multiple cultural identities, characterizing the contemporary Israeli society.

Blockchain represents the backbone of cryptocurrencies, their underlying technology. It can be seen as a large database shared by a peer-to-peer network of users, which collectively validates the information that is recorded on it. Not residing on a single central server, it overcomes a centralised logic, the one used by the best-known web applications like Amazon, Google or Facebook. Instead, DApps (DApp being the acronym of Decentralised Application) are distributed, decentralised applications specifically designed to run on blockchain systems. Blockchain does not involve intermediaries or trusted third parties and its main feature lies in its ability to increase transparency and traceability in transactions. A recent resolution of the European Parliament called for measures to increase the adoption of public and private blockchains, particularly in supply chain management, stating that they can have an indirect effect both at a social and economic level. Several studies have already analysed the potential of blockchain in the agri-food sector, but also in the production and distribution chain of luxury goods or other consumer goods. The existing literature focuses mainly on the role of blockchain in improving the processes related to safety and efficiency of the supply chain, yet it does not seem to problematize the concept of transparency. Despite this, the relationship between transparency and trust, which is generally confirmed by literature, is far from linear. Following an introduction of the technical characteristics of blockchain technology and its possible implementation, we address the way in which blockchain affects the issues of disintermediation, such as in the public sector, where the role of blockchain is still being defined. We also focus on the way blockchain shifts the centre of gravity of trust from an institutional, central entity, either towards the periphery or towards a technological system. Comparing the constructs of trust and transparency, we question the a priori desirability of transparency. In fact, the relationship between trust and transparency becomes rather complex in organizational communication processes. A spotlight is also placed on the aspects that affect the relationship between an organization implementing the blockchain and its relevant stakeholders, along with their different needs. We argue that blockchain still leaves a need for a relationship of trust, as much as the achievement of a trust-free model is pursued. Finally, we mention some of the major critical issues of blockchain, which are still to be resolved.

Abstract
Tornadoes are a notorious, common threat to human life and property in the United States. Although less common, violent tornadoes are also reported in Europe. The authors aim for an estimation of the average annual loss ratio of European buildings due to tornadoes. An aggregated loss model is used that takes as input the tornado intensity distribution over the Fujita scale (F scale), the distribution of tornado footprint sizes per F class, the vulnerability of European buildings, and the average occurrence rate of tornadoes. Information about these variables is taken from the European Severe Weather Database and, where needed, from the U.S. Storm Prediction Center tornado database, which contains about 16 times more records. However, both databases are biased. Weak tornadoes are underrepresented. Therefore a bias-corrected tornado intensity distribution is used, with its uncertainty taken from the literature. Individual tornadoes are modeled as moving Rankine vortices creating elliptic footprints with correlated length and width. This allows for the estimation of the area fraction of a tornado footprint with lower wind speeds than the maximum wind speed, which is generally used to attribute an intensity. This approach is applied to define effective vulnerability functions of European buildings. A major result is that an expected 90% of the tornadoes contribute only about 1% to the average loss, while the rare F4 tornadoes contribute more than 40% of losses. Given that most national tornado databases in Europe contain tornado records for recent years only and few (if any) violent tornadoes, observed losses can lead to a remarkable underestimation of tornado risk in Europe.