Thèses sur le sujet « Tuscania »

In the last decades, evaluation has become an essential tool for policymakers, because it provides unbiased estimates of a policy effect. The purpose of an evaluation is to explore the causal relationship between the implementation of a policy and its effects – the “impact”. In the programming period 2007-2013, the European Commission – and the member States of the EU – have focused their attention on the development of innovation policies within Regional Innovation Systems: for this reason, the innovation policies have been particularly involved in evaluation processes. Six Italian regions have created the Poli di innovazione (Innovation poles), networks of universities, services centres, incubators, public and private laboratories, and enterprises, whose goals are to foster the creation of networks and to stimulate firms’ economic performance through the support in R&D activities. Due to the novelty of the policy, this research is a first attempt to evaluate the Poles, using the Tuscan context as case study. Tuscany Region have supported the creation of twelve poles, facilitating the access to a call for tender for the purchase of R&D qualified services. Using matching and difference-in-differences methods, it has been estimated the Average Treatment on the Treated – in terms of Total Factor Productivity and Labor Productivity – for three possible cases: subsidized SME, SME members of the Poles, subsidized SME members of the Poles. In addition, it has been implemented a model that include network centrality measures to assess the effect of the Poles on the performance of the firms. It emerges that the subsidized firms which belong to the poles experience on average a productivity gain towards the end of the period of subsidization, and the centrality of their pole have a positive effect, which is particularly relevant for the top enterprises – in terms of productivity.

In the last decades, evaluation has become an essential tool for policymakers, because it provides unbiased estimates of a policy effect. The purpose of an evaluation is to explore the causal relationship between the implementation of a policy and its effects – the “impact”. In the programming period 2007-2013, the European Commission – and the member States of the EU – have focused their attention on the development of innovation policies within Regional Innovation Systems: for this reason, the innovation policies have been particularly involved in evaluation processes. Six Italian regions have created the Poli di innovazione (Innovation poles), networks of universities, services centres, incubators, public and private laboratories, and enterprises, whose goals are to foster the creation of networks and to stimulate firms’ economic performance through the support in R&D activities. Due to the novelty of the policy, this research is a first attempt to evaluate the Poles, using the Tuscan context as case study. Tuscany Region have supported the creation of twelve poles, facilitating the access to a call for tender for the purchase of R&D qualified services. Using matching and difference-in-differences methods, it has been estimated the Average Treatment on the Treated – in terms of Total Factor Productivity and Labor Productivity – for three possible cases: subsidized SME, SME members of the Poles, subsidized SME members of the Poles. In addition, it has been implemented a model that include network centrality measures to assess the effect of the Poles on the performance of the firms. It emerges that the subsidized firms which belong to the poles experience on average a productivity gain towards the end of the period of subsidization, and the centrality of their pole have a positive effect, which is particularly relevant for the top enterprises – in terms of productivity.

This thesis aims at explaining the intersecting dynamics of structural changes in agriculture and urbanisation, which involves changes in urban-rural relationships. The research questions are: how and why do landowners differ in their attitudes to land and farming? what are the main implications on rural landscapes and the policy implications? Relationships between urbanisation and agriculture are firstly analysed through a critical literature review; the analysis focuses on the 'landowner' as the key actor who actively takes decisions on the rural landscape From the empirical study – which is based on a Tuscan area (Valdera), and addressed through qualitative methods – a great diversity of landowners' attitudes to land and farming emerge, thus contributing to the agricultural restructuring, such as: 1) the emphasis on recreational function of the countryside for urban people 2) contracting out of land management, especially when landowners live or/and have 'urban' employment 3) the active role of hobby farmers in land management 4) agricultural operations simplification and lack of investments (especially in case of property rights expropriation). The thesis is framed in three papers, with the same methods and research questions. It seems evident that rural landscapes is subjected to functional changes (e.g. residential) and structural changes (landscape polarisation), which requires the need 1) to consider that rural landscape management is increasingly less connected to agricultural production as economic activity; 2) to give a coherence to the range of policy interventions (physical planning, landscape, sectoral).
La tesi ha l'obiettivo di spiegare le relazioni tra cambiamenti strutturali dell'agricoltura e urbanizzazione, intesa come riconfigurazione dei rapporti città-campagna – consumo di suolo, urbanizzazione nascosta, contro-urbanizzazione, riconfigurazione socio-economica della classe dei proprietari terrieri. Quali sono gli effetti di queste relazioni sul land management? quali le principali implicazioni sul paesaggio, le implicazioni politiche? Le relazioni tra agricoltura e urbanizzazione sono inizialmente analizzate attraverso una rassegna della letteratura; l'analisi è inserita in un quadro concettuale relativo al land management ed è focalizzata sul 'landowner' come attore chiave nelle scelte di gestione dei terreni privati. Dallo studio empirico – basato sul caso Toscano della Valdera, affrontato mediante interviste qualitative, osservazione diretta, raccolta di dati secondari – emerge una grande varietà di risposte dei proprietari terrieri (land management decisions) alle pressioni dell'urbanizzazione e alla marginalizzazione dell'agricoltura, che contribuiscono alla ristrutturazione del settore primario: 1) esasperazione della funzione ricreativa della campagna, anche attraverso cambio di destinazioni d'uso di terreni e fabbricati; 2) affidamento del land management a contoterzisti soprattutto quando il proprietario lavori o viva in città; 3) ruolo attivo degli hobbisti, spesso provenienti dalla vicina città, nella manutenzione del territorio; 4) semplificazione nella gestione e riduzione degli investimenti sui terreni privati espropriati prima che siano utilizzati dai beneficiari dell'esproprio. La tesi è strutturata in tre articoli, accomunati da domande di ricerca, materiali-metodi, quadro concettuale. Dallo studio emergono cambiamenti nelle funzioni della campagna (da prevalentemente produttiva a residenziale, aumento attività hobbistica, ecc.), e nella sua struttura (frammentazione per urbanizzazioni, polarizzazione tra le sempre più grandi aziende professionali e le piccole hobbistiche, ecc.). In termini di implicazioni politiche emerge la necessità di 1) considerare la possibilità che la manutenzione del territorio sia affidata anche a profili sociali diversi dall'agricoltore tradizionale; 2) individuare strumenti coerenti di pianificazione territoriale, paesaggistica e di settore.

This thesis aims at explaining the intersecting dynamics of structural changes in agriculture and urbanisation, which involves changes in urban-rural relationships. The research questions are: how and why do landowners differ in their attitudes to land and farming? what are the main implications on rural landscapes and the policy implications? Relationships between urbanisation and agriculture are firstly analysed through a critical literature review; the analysis focuses on the 'landowner' as the key actor who actively takes decisions on the rural landscape From the empirical study – which is based on a Tuscan area (Valdera), and addressed through qualitative methods – a great diversity of landowners' attitudes to land and farming emerge, thus contributing to the agricultural restructuring, such as: 1) the emphasis on recreational function of the countryside for urban people 2) contracting out of land management, especially when landowners live or/and have 'urban' employment 3) the active role of hobby farmers in land management 4) agricultural operations simplification and lack of investments (especially in case of property rights expropriation). The thesis is framed in three papers, with the same methods and research questions. It seems evident that rural landscapes is subjected to functional changes (e.g. residential) and structural changes (landscape polarisation), which requires the need 1) to consider that rural landscape management is increasingly less connected to agricultural production as economic activity; 2) to give a coherence to the range of policy interventions (physical planning, landscape, sectoral).
La tesi ha l'obiettivo di spiegare le relazioni tra cambiamenti strutturali dell'agricoltura e urbanizzazione, intesa come riconfigurazione dei rapporti città-campagna – consumo di suolo, urbanizzazione nascosta, contro-urbanizzazione, riconfigurazione socio-economica della classe dei proprietari terrieri. Quali sono gli effetti di queste relazioni sul land management? quali le principali implicazioni sul paesaggio, le implicazioni politiche? Le relazioni tra agricoltura e urbanizzazione sono inizialmente analizzate attraverso una rassegna della letteratura; l'analisi è inserita in un quadro concettuale relativo al land management ed è focalizzata sul 'landowner' come attore chiave nelle scelte di gestione dei terreni privati. Dallo studio empirico – basato sul caso Toscano della Valdera, affrontato mediante interviste qualitative, osservazione diretta, raccolta di dati secondari – emerge una grande varietà di risposte dei proprietari terrieri (land management decisions) alle pressioni dell'urbanizzazione e alla marginalizzazione dell'agricoltura, che contribuiscono alla ristrutturazione del settore primario: 1) esasperazione della funzione ricreativa della campagna, anche attraverso cambio di destinazioni d'uso di terreni e fabbricati; 2) affidamento del land management a contoterzisti soprattutto quando il proprietario lavori o viva in città; 3) ruolo attivo degli hobbisti, spesso provenienti dalla vicina città, nella manutenzione del territorio; 4) semplificazione nella gestione e riduzione degli investimenti sui terreni privati espropriati prima che siano utilizzati dai beneficiari dell'esproprio. La tesi è strutturata in tre articoli, accomunati da domande di ricerca, materiali-metodi, quadro concettuale. Dallo studio emergono cambiamenti nelle funzioni della campagna (da prevalentemente produttiva a residenziale, aumento attività hobbistica, ecc.), e nella sua struttura (frammentazione per urbanizzazioni, polarizzazione tra le sempre più grandi aziende professionali e le piccole hobbistiche, ecc.). In termini di implicazioni politiche emerge la necessità di 1) considerare la possibilità che la manutenzione del territorio sia affidata anche a profili sociali diversi dall'agricoltore tradizionale; 2) individuare strumenti coerenti di pianificazione territoriale, paesaggistica e di settore.

This research project aims to analyze riparian vascular flora of four Mediterranean rivers belonging to two different regions (Sardinia and Tuscany). It focuses on the analysis of floristic differences, on distributional trends of functional and ecological groups, alien and endemic species, and also on the application of landscape classifications to be used as surrogate in conservation planning. The main goal is to evaluate similarities and differences among these rivers in the frame of a regional scale approach of study, thus contributing to improve the knowledge about their internal dynamics and their linkages with the main environmental factors, useful information for conservation management of these threatened habitats. The first part of the work focuses on distributional patterns of species and examines floristic differences at regional (between regions) as well as at local level (between rivers belonging to the same region), in order to elucidate the main gradients of riverbed floras and to investigate the role played by biogeography in driving riparian plant species distribution. Despite many floristic similarities between the two areas, always emerges the high floristic heterogeneity and the regional differentiation as the main variable affecting the distribution of our riverbed floras, thus confirming the primary role of geography in driving riparian plant species distribution at regional scale. At local level, longitudinal gradient results to strongly affect riverbed flora patterns in our rivers, while lateral gradient has a weak effect at regional scale and a relevant effect only in Tuscany. On the basis of the previous results, the second part was devoted to analyze more consistently endemic and alien flora of Sardinian rivers. This was done using a method to rapidly assess conservation priorities by comparing distribution models of these species along the fluvial corridors. The distributional trend of endemic and alien species resulted in general to follow the decreasing naturalness/increasing human impact gradient going toward the sea, but the study evidenced the presence of different degree of naturalness between the two rivers in general, nevertheless the presence of protected areas in both of them. The most critical areas resulted to be the middle course of the rivers, where endemic species coexist with alien species and overall with high human impact in the surroundings. These resulted to be the areas where should concentrate further conservation efforts. In the third part is tested the variation of riparian plant species composition along a Sardinian river according to lithological features. The analyses were based on field data recorded along Santa Lucia river, where the morphology is influenced by the bedrock-alluvial transition. The results underline that lithological types are the primary drivers in the organization of the riparian plant communities, followed by geomorphology and altitude. Moreover, the change bedrock-alluvial marks the highest species turnover, linked also to a different degree of human disturbance. The results indicate that the degree of bedrock/alluvial influence is an integral component to the patch structure and strongly influences riparian plant distribution patterns in a Mediterranean environment. 2 Starting from the previous findings, and going towards the definition of a morphological classification of rivers, in the fourth part is proposed (and applied in one river as a preliminary test) a method to assess the distribution of plant assemblages along rivers delimiting homogeneous fluvial types using morphological features, quantified with aerial photos and geographic information system software. This method identifies four fluvial types, characterized by well-defined indicator species, functional and ecological groups. Based on the ordination results, dividing fluvial types according to morphological features is justified by environmental and floristic differences, although plant species variability is only partially described. This results illustrate that the fluvial type classification created using this methodology is consistent with natural plant species distribution patterns, and can thus consider as a potential surrogate for riparian plant assemblages in a Mediterranean river with low human impact. Incorporating many landscape classifications in biodiversity surrogate schemes should increase concordance with biotic groups. Following this idea, in the last part is examined the strength of a morphology-based and a land-use based classification in accounting for riparian plant species and functional groups distribution in the four rivers, by applying a measure of classification strength. Moreover, is tested the hypothesis that a cross classification between morphology and land use would be more successful at explaining plant species variation than either of the separate approaches. Despite none of the classifications accounted for a large degree of variation in riparian plant assemblages, some of them performed better than others, suggesting that some factors at landscape scale could contribute to predict differences in biological characteristics at local scales, and that classifications created putting together many environmental variables would result in better performaces. These findings will be useful for better understand distributional trends of riparian flora and above all for prioritizing conservation actions in these areas, considering the threats to which rivers have currently subjected to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Il presente lavoro di ricerca analizza la flora vascolare ripariale di 4 fiumi mediterranei di 2 regioni diverse (Sardegna e Toscana), al fine di approfondirne le conoscenze riguardo le differenze floristiche, i trend di distribuzione di gruppi funzionali ed ecologici, di specie endemiche e aliene; infine, vengono applicate diverse classificazioni di paesaggio e ne viene testato l’utilizzo come potenziali surrogati per la pianificazione della conservazione. L’obiettivo principale è valutare similarità e differenze tra questi fiumi nell’ottica di un approccio di analisi a scala regionale, per contribuire al miglioramento della conoscenza sulle loro dinamiche interne e i loro legami con i principali fattori ambientali, fornendo utili informazioni per la gestione della conservazione di questi habitat fortemente minacciati. La prima parte del lavoro è incentrata sullo studio dei pattern di distribuzione delle specie ed è volta ad esaminare differenze floristiche a scala regionale (tra regioni) e a scala locale (differenze tra fiumi della stessa regione), per chiarificare quali siano i principali gradienti della flora ripariale e quanto e come la biogeografia influenzi la distribuzione di specie vegetali lungo questi fiumi. Nonostante le molte similarità floristiche tra le due aree, in tutte le analisi condotte è sempre emersa un’elevata eterogeneità floristica. Inoltre, l’appartenenza a differenti regioni si configura come la principale variabile che influenza la flora di questi fiumi, confermando il ruolo prominente della geografia nel guidare la distribuzione delle specie vegetali a scala regionale. A scala locale, è invece il gradiente longitudinale che risulta avere il maggior peso in tutti i fiumi indagati. Il gradiente laterale risulta avere un effetto rilevante solo in Toscana. Sulla base dei precedenti risultati, nella seconda parte del lavoro vengono analizzati in maniera più approfondita il contingente di specie endemiche ed esotiche dei fumi sardi. Il metodo qui utilizzato permette di stabilire in maniera rapida priorità di conservazione comparando modelli di distribuzione di queste specie lungo il corridoio fluviale. I trend di distribuzione di queste specie risultano seguire in generale il gradiente di decrescente naturalità/ crescente impatto antropico verso il mare, ma lo studio evidenzia la presenza di differenti gradi di naturalità tra i due fiumi in generale, nonostante la presenza di aree protette in entrambi. Le aree più critiche sono state individuate nel medio corso dei fiumi, dove le endemiche coesistono con le aliene e soprattutto con un elevato impatto antropico nelle aree circostanti, e dove dovrebbero essere concentrati i futuri piani di conservazione. Nella terza parte viene testata la variazione della flora ripariale in funzione delle caratteristiche litologiche del fiume. Le analisi hanno riguardato il Rio Santa Lucia (Sardegna), dove la morfologia è influenzata una netta transizione tra roccia affiorante e piana alluvionale. I risultati sottolineano come i tipi litologici siano i principali responsabili dell’organizzazione floristica delle comunità ripariali, seguiti da geomorfologia e altitudine. Inoltre in corrispondenza della transizione tra i due tipi litologici è stato riscontrato il più alto turnover di specie, in funzione anche del differente grado di disturbo antropico tra le due parti. I risultati sottolineano come che l’influenza della transizione roccia affiorante/depositi 4 alluviali sia una parte integrante della struttura di un’area e influenzi fortemente la distribuzione di specie ripariali in ambiente mediterraneo. Partendo dai precedenti risultati, e andando verso la definizione di una classificazione morfologica dei fiumi, nella quarta parte del lavoro viene proposta (e applicata in uno dei fiumi come test preliminare) un metodo per stabilire la distribuzione di gruppi di specie ripariali lungo i fiumi delimitando tipi fluviali omogenei dal punto di vista delle caratteristiche morfologiche, quantificate con foto aeree e software di analisi GIS. Questo metodo ha permesso di identificare 4 tipi fluviali, tutti caratterizzati da ben definite specie indicatrici, gruppi funzionali ed ecologici. Sulla base dei risultati degli ordinamenti, la divisione in tipi fluviali secondo parametri morfologici riflette reali differenze ambientali e floristiche, anche se le variabilità specifica è solo parzialmente descritta. Questo lavoro dimostra che la classificazione creata secondo questa metodologia è consistente con reali pattern di distribuzione di specie ripariali e può essere considerata un potenziale surrogato per la distribuzione della vegetazione ripariale nei fiumi mediterranei a basso impatto antropico. Unire più classificazioni del paesaggio negli schemi di classificazione da usare come surrogati di biodiversità dovrebbe incrementare la concordanza con questi e i gruppi biotici. Seguendo questa idea, nell’ultima parte del lavoro viene esaminata la forza di una classificazione morfologica e di una classificazione basata sull’uso del suolo nel determinare la distribuzione di gruppi funzionali e specie ripariali nei 4 fiumi oggetto di studio. Viene inoltre testata l’ipotesi che una classificazione incrociata tra morfologia e uso del suolo possa essere più idonea per spiegare la variazione floristica piuttosto che i due approcci separati. Nonostante nessuna delle classificazioni applicate abbia dimostrato di spiegare un’ampia frazione di variazione nella distribuzione della flora ripariale, alcune di queste hanno dimostrato di funzionare meglio di altre, suggerendo così che fattori misurabili a scala di paesaggio possono contribuire a predire differenze nelle caratteristiche delle comunità biologiche a scala locale. Inoltre, le classificazioni create unendo più fattori ambientali hanno avuto, come da previsione, le migliori performances. I risultati ottenuti da questa ricerca potranno fornire utili informazioni per migliorare la comprensione dei trend di distribuzione della flora ripariale nei fiumi indagati e soprattutto per stabilire priorità di conservazione, considerando le minacce alle quali i fiumi sono attualmente soggetti.

The controversial dating of the Baptistery San Giovanni is approached through formalistic considerations. Formal analyses of the Baptistery and the Duomo of Pisa lead to comparison and isolation of definitive features of Pisan and Florentine styles. As such, the buildings are shown to be prototypes and their respective receptions are traced in the Romanesque churches of Fiesole, Empoli, Lucca, Pistoia and Sardinia. It is concluded that the Baptistery must have been completed before the Duomo of Pisa was begun.

Le marais de Massaciuccoli est la plus importante zone humide de la Toscane septentrionale. C'est une lagune côtière qui draine un bassin d'environ 112 km2 de surface totale et qui est caractérisée par des eaux à salinité très variable. Cette zone est reliée à la mer par un canal artificiel, appelé « Burlamacca ».
Dans cette zone palustre, on retrouve de vieilles carrières (profondeur maximum : 30 m., superficie totale : 2,5 km2 ), témoignage d'une ancienne activité d'extraction de sable siliceux. Les principales sources polluantes sont représentées par les déchets urbains et industriels et par les eaux de drainage agricole ; au sein du bassin, il y a en effet 2 décharges et plusieurs entreprises agricoles.
Ce projet de recherche se propose d'étudier : 1) l'impact anthropique sur la chimie des eaux du bassin du lac de Massaciuccoli ; 2) l'apport de l'eau de mer, l'infiltration des eaux souterraines et le taux d'évaporation du lac ; 3) le rôle exercé par les anciennes carrières, et 4) le rôle des processus biologiques.
Les résultats ont été obtenus en appliquant des techniques géochimiques et en utilisant des traceurs chimiques (Br, B, Cl et des éléments nutritifs) et isotopiques (δ18O, δ11B, δ2H, δ13C, δ34SSO4 et δ18OSO4).
L'étude a mis en évidence des aspects méthodologiques importants, concernant :
1. l'influence des processus biologiques sur le contenu des composés chimiques dissous dans les eaux
2. l'application des techniques isotopiques qui, non seulement, a permis de suivre les processus chimiques et physiques qui se développent à l'interface entre les différents compartiments, mais qui a permis aussi d'établir l'origine des divers éléments et d'effectuer des datations.
Notamment, on a mis en évidence les points suivants:
a. la distribution des éléments dans le système étudié est fonction de la présence et de l'intensité de l'activité biologique
b. la géochimie est importante pour tracer l'origine des eaux et des processus chimiques et physiques.
c. Les datations effectuées sur la matière organique des sédiments avec le 14C mettent en évidence la présence d'un pic de l'activité radioactive, qui correspond aux essais atomiques effectués dans les années '60. La profondeur, à laquelle on peut trouver ces évidences, varie selon les différents sites échantillonnés.
En conclusion, ce travail a permis de mettre en évidence l'influence de l'activité agricole sur la composition chimique de l'eau du lac, sur l'équilibre hydrodynamique et sur la composition du sédiment superficiel. En outre, les carrières, en relation à leur extension et profondeur, représentent une barrière hydraulique à l'intrusion de l'eau marine dans le lac ; la disparition de la stratification des eaux des carrières ou un éventuel remplissage de ces dernières pourrait devenir un problème très sérieux pour l'équilibre de l'écosystème palustre.
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El principal objetivo de esta tesis es analizar el proceso de Europeización de los grupos de interés regionales (GIRs), explorando de qué manera, en qué medida y debido a que razones los GIRs han transformado sus valores, su organización y sus estrategias, adaptándolas a la lógica y formas de la Unión Europea (UE). Un GIR europeizado tiene valores y objetivos que son promovidos por la UE y los comparte con organizaciones similares alrededor del continente. Tiene una organización que le da preeminencia a los asuntos relativos a la UE, y es capaz de buscar, recibir y administrar fondos de la UE con eficacia. Finalmente, posee estrategias que superan las fronteras nacionales y regionales, lo que no solo significa trabajar en organizaciones pan-Europeas sino también acercarse a instituciones y actores mas allá de las arenas regionales y nacionales para intentar influenciar el desarrollo de las políticas de la UE. El estudio de la Europeización de los GIRs presenta un interés teórico y empírico para la ciencia política, dado que se encuentra en la intersección entre los estudios sobre Europeización, grupos de interés y regiones, donde la investigación es aún incipiente (Roller & Sloat, 2002; Constantelos, 2004; McCauley, 2010). Al parecer la Europeización de los GIRs varía dependiendo de la región que se observe, lo que lleva a nuestro interés en explicar de qué manera ocurren estas variaciones, y cuál puede ser su motive. Con este objetivo, planeamos primero medir el grado de Europeización, de los GIRs, lo que nos permitirá comparar e identificar variaciones entre ellos. En segundo lugar intentaremos explicar esas variaciones, haciendo uso de la variable de autoridad regional creada por Marks et al (2008), y teniendo en cuenta los factores intervinientes (Risse et al, 2001; Borzel & Risse, 2003) que pudiesen mediar en esta Europeización. Para analizar la Europeización de los GIRs, esta tesis propone un estudio comparativo de los GIRs en tres regiones diferentes de Europa. Cataluña, Toscana y Gales fueron elegidas por sus similitudes (Keating, 2009; Keating & Wilson, 2009; 2010) y su diferencia en la variable independiente de la autoridad regional (Hooghe et al, 2008). Para evitar la interferencia de las características de la política analizada, esta investigación se enfoca solo en la política ambiental, en la cual la UE tiene una capacidad regulativa considerable, y que es implementada no solo a nivel nacional sino principalmente a nivel regional. España, Italia y el Reino Unido están involucrados en procesos de descentralización desde hace cuatro décadas, así como en recientes reformas estatutarias (Keating, 2009). Este estudio espera encontrar diferencias en la Europeización de los GIRs de estas tres regiones. En este sentido, Cataluña, Toscana y Gales presentan una oportunidad invaluable para la comparación.
The main objective of this thesis is to analyse the process of Europeanization of regional interest groups (RIGs), exploring in which way, to which measure and due to which reasons RIGs have transformed their values, organization and strategies, adapting them to the logic and ways of the European Union (EU). A europeanized RIG has values and objectives that are championed by the EU and shares them with similar organizations around the continent. It has an organization that gives EU issues a prominent position, and is capable of searching for, receiving and administering EU funds with efficiency. Finally, it has strategies broader than the regional and national frontiers, which not only means working on pan-European organization, but also approaching actors and institutions beyond the regional and national arenas to try and influence EU policy-making. The study of the Europeanization of RIGs presents an empirical and theoretical interest for political science, as it stands in the intersection of the studies of Europeanization, interest groups and regions, where research is still incipient (Roller & Sloat, 2002; Constantelos, 2004; McCauley, 2010). It would appear that the Europeanization of RIGs varies depending on the region we observe, which leads to our interest in explaining in which way these variations occur, and which could be its driving force. For this purpose, we first plan to measure the degree of Europeanization of RIGs, which will allow us to compare and identify variations amongst them. Secondly, we will try to explain those variations, making use of the variable of regional authority created by Marks et al (2008), and taking account of the mediating factors (Risse et al, 2001; Borzel & Risse, 2003) that could intervene in this Europeanization. To analyse the Europeanization of RIGs, this thesis proposes a comparative study of the RIGs in three different regions of Europe. Catalonia, Tuscany and Wales were chosen for their similarities in many of their characteristics (Keating, 2009; Keating & Wilson, 2009; 2010) but their difference in relation to the independent variable of regional authority (Hooghe et al, 2008). In order to avoid an interference of the features of the policy analysed, this research was designed to focus on only one policy. We have selected the environmental policy, in which the EU has a considerable regulative capacity, and which is implemented not only on the national level but mainly on the regional level. Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom have been involved for the last four decades in processes of devolution and decentralization, as well as recent statute reforms (Keating, 2009).The study expects to find differences in the Europeanization of RIGs from these three regions. The fact that they are similar in most other aspects helps minimize the possibility of other explanations. In this sense, Catalonia, Tuscany and Wales present an invaluable possibility for comparison.

The importance of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) for economicdevelopment is frequently debated. SMEs have been called “the backbone of the European economy and the best potential source of jobs and growth”. Political intentions are expressed in numerous programmes, strategies, and organizations, all claiming that their objective is to assist SMEs. The purpose of the thesis is to explore the interaction between politicalaspirations and adequate solutions to SMEs’ challenges. The thesis adopts a comparative perspective, using two completely differentcultural, institutional and historical contexts, the Italian region Tuscany and theCounty of Jönköping. The study follows bottom-up logic, starting off withinterviewed businesspersons’ and other actors’ narratives on how they organizeto face and deal with challenges and opportunities. The challenges andpossibilities and the problem solving processes described by SMEs are outlinedthrough the identification and description of four case studies. Narratives by businesspersons and other actors indicate that only a few of theaspirations and strategies expressed by politicians and decision makers, whoelaborate the objectives of SME policy, actually reach enterprises. A gap seemsto exist between aspirations and realization. The study suggests that animportant part of the explanation to the missing link is found in the differentlifeworlds of SMEs, politicians and other decision makers. How can the gap be bridged? The study concludes that policy is not statementsonly; it is organizing. For organizing to ensue, individuals with a commondefinition of challenges need to get together. The concept of lifeworlds cannotbe ignored.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-68).
The importance of the margin has long been deemed important in creative processes. At both the level of the individual and the level of the city, research shows that creativity tends to flourish on the philosophical and physical outskirts of society. This thesis expands upon this theory by looking at a second, less documented trend of creative "edge" institutions: their deliberate use of storytelling for growth and idea development. This thesis examines these trends through three case studies, chosen to illuminate the particular case of Castel Pulci, a declining, vacant villa located ten miles outside of Florence, Italy, which the Italian government has slotted for physical and programmatic renovations to become a center for innovation and business in the fashion industry. The findings indicate that, in addition to exploiting their "edge" positions, innovative institutions pay constant, conscious, and deliberate attention to the role of narrative in their operations. Whether understanding objects, imagining the future, bringing a community together, or selling a product, the research in these case studies suggest that the use of storytelling is pivotal for innovative "edge" institutions.
by Alexa Mills.
M.C.P.

This is a study of a ledger written by Andrea di Gherardo Casoli between the years 1387 and 1412. Andrea was a lawyer in the Tuscan city of Arezzo, shortly after the city lost its sovereignty to the expanding Florentine state. While Andrea associated his identity with his legal practice, he engaged in many other, diverse enterprises, such as wine making, livestock commerce, and agricultural management. This thesis systematically examines each major facet of Andrea's life, with a detailed assessment of his involvement in rural commerce. Andrea's actions revolved around a central theme of maintaining and expanding the fortunes, both financial and social, of the Casoli family.

This thesis analyses the development of the hospitals and leprosaria in Narbonne and Siena from their foundation to the Black Death (1080-1348). Specifically, it examines their respective relationships with the people of Narbonne and Siena and the municipality within a comparative framework. This thesis helps address the gap in comparative studies of the history of hospitals and leprosaria. This comparative study demonstrates how the internal governance of these institutions responded to — and were indeed shaped by — changes in the political and social climate of Narbonne and Siena. This becomes apparent through a comparison of the Hospital of St Just and Hospital of St Paul in Narbonne with the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. While all these houses were established by ecclesiastical institutions between the late eleventh and mid-twelfth century, there is a marked difference between the growth of the Ospedale and that of the institutions in Narbonne. Furthermore, the Ospedale's independence from its founders, coupled with Siena's wealth and population, facilitated its development into a paragon of the medieval hospital. Such elements are absent from Narbonne, which was entering a period of decline in the thirteenth century. This thesis also recontextualises the study of leprosaria in both cities by deconstructing the traditional exclusion narrative; indeed, this study presents the first examination of the lepers and leprosaria in Siena. Examination of these two cities reveals that there were various approaches to supporting and regulating lepers. It also demonstrates that lepers and leprosaria played an important role within the urban environment, by providing lepers a community while also presenting the healthy with an opportunity to serve them and reap spiritual benefits. This thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the institutional development of assistive houses in these two cities, placing them in their respective political and social contexts and evaluates the relationship of these assistive institutions with authorities, especially the episcopacy, papacy, and municipality.

Worldwide, governments and representatives of the community sector believe that the adoption of ICT by community-sector organisations is important because it contributes to the achievement of mission, strategic and business objectives, and benefits the communities those organisations serve. However, despite the fact that many organisations have developed innovative ICT applications, most experience problems in taking up ICT (Burt & Taylor 1999, Surman 2001, DCITA 2005b). This thesis explores the conditions for success and barriers to the take-up and effective use of information and communications technology (ICT), specifically websites and online services, by community-based non-profit organisations, using a study of seventeen organisations based in rural and regional Victoria in Australia, and Tuscany in Italy. In particular, it examines the structural barriers and the inter-organisational relationships that act to facilitate the take-up, or otherwise, of technology by community sector non-profit organisations. The study adopts a grounded theory approach, based on a two-stage data analysis: using the LIAISE framework for the take-up of ICT (Schauder et al. 2005), to identify the factors or conditions that contribute to the development of effective, sustainable websites; and social network analysis to explore the extent to which organisational networks enable the achievement of those conditions. The broad aims of this approach are to enable the evaluation of the existing LIAISE framework and to develop it as a more dynamic systems model capable of serving as a guide to policy and action. The study finds that although the LIAISE framework provides a good taxonomy of the factors important to the take-up of ICT by community-based non-profit organisations, it has weaknesses in that it does not explicitly identify user literacy as a factor, nor does it sufficiently emphasise the importance of an organisation’s external relationships, which provide an essential means of accessing required information and resources such as technical skills, and of enhancing core internal skills such as the ability to develop strategic plans. A new model is proposed to address these weaknesses: ALLIANCE (Applications; Literacy; user Literacy; Infrastructure; Access; Networks; Computing support; and Evaluation).

Scopo della tesi è l'analisi e la caratterizzazione di vetri archeologici toscani, di periodo tardo romano e alto medioevale. Le analisi sono state effettuate con il LA-ICP-MS. Con il LA-ICP-MS è stato possibile ricavare la concentrazione degli elementi maggiori, minori e in tracce dei vetri. Successivamente si è proceduto ad un confronto con i vetri analizzati e altri dello stesso periodo.

Characterization of Pleistocene hydrothermal travertine deposits in the Albegna Valley, Southern Tuscany, Central Italy. A Pleistocene travertine body, cropping out on the Pianetti Terrace, central-eastward area of the Neogene Albegna Basin (Southern Tuscany, central Italy) was investigated: 1) to define the geometry of the sedimentary body and depositional environments, including their lateral and vertical evolution; 2) to characterize the varieties of hydrothermal travertine carbonate fabrics; 3) to improve the understanding of the abiotic and microbially mediated processes that control calcium carbonate precipitation in hot-spring settings; 4) to establish the link between fabric types and travertine depositional environments. The Pianetti travertine body, well exposed within an active quarry, exhibits a wedge shape differentiated into three decametre scale travertine units. Exposure surfaces represented by claystone layers separate the deposit in three travertine units and constitute the travertine sequence boundaries, suggesting an intermittent accretion of the travertine system. Different architectural patterns including clinoforms, stepped and sub-horizontal layers corresponding to smooth slope, terraced slope and pond depositional environments, respectively, were individuated within the travertine units. The geometry and the relative depositional systems of each unit are controlled by different factors such as the location, typology and activity (water supply, hydrostatic pressure of the spring) of the hydrothermal vents, roughness of pre-existing surface and topography along which hydrothermal water flew and mixing with meteoric water. A large variety of fabric types characterize the Pianetti travertine body. Eight main categories of fabric types and the relative sub-categories can be essentially classified into three classes: 1) travertine boundstone and cementstone s.l. in which the original components are directly precipitated from hydrothermal thermal water; 2) encrusted travertine in which original components (acting as substrate) are directly encrusted by carbonate precipitated by flowing hydrothermal water; 3) carbonate grains packstone/grainstone to floatstone/rudstone formed by fragments of already lithified travertine precipitates (intraclasts) and other lithoclasts. Pore structure (ranging from depositional to secondary porosity) is an important component of travertine fabrics. Porosity and permeability investigations (Helium techniques, microCT scanning and image analysis software AVIZO) shows that travertines display a wide range in porosity and permeability that is a direct function of: 1) primary fabric orientation; 2) diagenesis; 3) travertine fabric. The distinguished fabric types reflect the precipitation processes due to an interplay of abiotic and biotic processes (biologically induced by microbial metabolic process or simply influenced by nucleation on microbial biofilm substrate) and subsequent diagenesis. The physical-chemical and biological interaction is also registered in travertine isotopic geochemistry. Organic matter remains and organomineral nano-globules within the Pianetti travertine suggest that for some precipitates the biologic influence is fundamental. However, even for the biologically induced mineralization, abiotic processes and physical-chemical characteristic of the precipitating thermal water are necessary for travertine formation. A relationship between fabric types and velocity/turbulence and discharged volumes of the flowing water is suggested. In addition, fabrics occurring in low energy areas might be more biologically influenced than fabrics occurring in fast flowing dipping surface for which the abiotic processes of physical degassing might prevail. Many fabrics seem to represent transitional forms of a continuum between the two end-members of purely abiotic and microbially mediated (influenced/induced) precipitates.

Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) has recently attracted the attention of many scholars, pundits and policy makers involved in regional studies, as a new industrial policy able to fill the gap between the weak capacity of Europe to innovate in comparison to its strong academic base and research institutions. S3 is described as a policy aimed to encourage structural changes, through the generation of new domains of opportunities, according to the strengths and potentialities of each region and therefore with a “place-based” outlook. Its primary element of novelty, in comparison to the previous policy approaches, is constituted by the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP), which represents the modality among institutions, firms, R&D centres, universities, through which the direction(s) of the structural change is organised. To study S3, this Ph.D. thesis focuses on two pillars considered central to understand its rationales: relatedness and entrepreneurship. On one hand, the idea of relatedness is useful to understand the economic structure of a territory and its evolution through its network of connections, outlining possible areas of future development. On the other hand, entrepreneurship, somehow a missing dimension of S3, can be considered as part of the process of opportunity scanning to “challenge” inefficiencies of the society through new models of production and consumption, proactiveness of institutions, business development strategies of firms or cultural mindset of people. The aim of the thesis is to explore this relatedness-entrepreneurship relationship within S3, using a multi-level framework of analysis able to integrate the different aspects of the two concepts, providing theoretical and empirical advancements. The thesis is structured as follows: a general introduction on S3, three papers, which analyse Italy, focusing on the case of Tuscany and some final conclusions that sum up the findings of the papers and provide some further policy insights. The content of the three papers is reported hereinafter. In the first paper the analysis is conducted in the Italian provinces defining entrepreneurship as the creation of a new business and relatedness as one of the principal mechanisms that could explain the origin of innovation in connection with a given territorial knowledge base. The distinctiveness of this first paper seeds in the study of this relationship across individual industries, computing separate measures of external and internal relatedness across 27 sectors (among manufacturing and KIBS). The results suggest a broader and positive impact of external relatedness on the concentration of new firms at the territorial level in comparison to the impact of internal relatedness. The implications suggest that Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship can be included in the cognitive framework of S3 (newborns as expression of knowledge exchanged at the local level) and that innovation policies aimed to promote path creation should consider existent strengths of the territories. The second paper studies the EDP, integrating the concept of relatedness, useful in the initial phases of design and scoping, with the one of institutional entrepreneurship as an expression of the impact of agency in the micro-dynamics that rule the final outcome of innovation policies. This framework is applied to the case of Tuscany, using a mixed methodology. As a first picture of proximity connections between sectors of Tuscany, an original computation of the “Industry Space” of Tuscany is realised (using the methodology of Hidalgo et al., 2007). Then the Technological Districts’ managers and/or coordinators are interviewed, as a sort of fact checking with the Industry Space results, to understand how they define their planning strategies and through which mechanisms they integrate knowledge and combine firms and R&D specialities. Results confirm the necessity to integrate the two concepts to obtain a more realistic “policy orientation map”, and the broader horizon released by relatedness if deeply analysed with case studies at a micro-level and if directly discussed with some central agents embedded in the regional network of proximities. The third paper studies the entrepreneurial styles (as real business men) and their ways of integrating and combining knowledge, adopting a micro interpretation on the concept of relatedness. The paper aims to identify what role can play these entrepreneurial figures as fundamental “micro pieces” in the scanning process of future opportunities of regional transformation promoted by S3. The methodology adopts a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews administered to a selected set of 24 entrepreneurs in Tuscany. The sample of the entrepreneurs, selected with a purposeful criterion, has been built thanks to the help of key informants. The gathered data are codified with the help of Gioia methodology, in order to derive some characteristics of the entrepreneur and the firms to describe some “emerging properties”. Then, a ladder of entrepreneurial typologies, able to group the specific characteristics derived from the interviews, is proposed. Results suggest a “distributed technology transfer model” as a complementary bottom up strategy to converge towards a new cyber-manufacturing regime of production.

In recent years, the theoretical approaches of social network analysis have already made an impact in the historical field. Specifically, the Republic of Letters, the pan-European intellectual community of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century, has been the subject of a rich interdisciplinary historiography for the past few decades. But although this letter-writing community has attracted more and more scholarly attention in conjunction with a global turn in the practice of the digital humanities, the study of networks in historical research remains a field in its infancy. It has yet to establish its methodology, its ontologies, the best digital tools, and even the language by which we invoke technical processes in the study of early modern history. Rarely do historical studies offer an actual implementation and testing of how the mathematical tools employed by network scientists offer valuable ways of understanding and exploring the past. Most studies underline the potential utility of network metrics, but leave their exploration for future research. To add to this conceptual murkiness, the use of digital tools is often looked upon in a suspicious way, considered to be too simplistic and hence unsuitable to deal with the complexity and uncertainty of historical sources. There is, as underlined by Ruth Ahnert and Sebastian Ahnert, “still much work to be done before statistical methods are embedded within the literary historian’s toolbox”. We need, therefore, to continue to sharpen our digital tools and experiment with network models that give nuance, subtilty and detail to historical data. This study attempts to take up this challenge and to demonstrate how social network analysis enables us to advance the cause of historical inquiry. It will address this challenge by exploring the ways in which early modern scholars capitalized on opportunities in the social structure to which they were connected. Accordingly, much of the essence of this study focuses on methodology rather than historical narrative. We might even say that this study has an experimental character in nature. Specifically, we will take a look at how early modern networks were actively and consciously constructed, modified, questioned and navigated by early modern scholars. They were constantly monitoring their interactions with one another in making decisions. On the one hand, early modern scholars were expected to contribute towards the achievement of the collective goals of the Republic of Letters – the bonum commune – that rested on the imperative of sharing knowledge without frontiers. Nevertheless, they had to deal with many tensions and inefficiencies at a time in which the freedom of communication was not always guaranteed. These tensions ranged from restrictions imposed by the Inquisition to scholarly rivalries, jealousy and competition. As a consequence, it seems that the citizens of the Republic of Letters often found themselves between extremes, struggling to find a balance in dealing with these tensions. They had to strategically negotiate between open and closed circles in their networks, between friendly and hostile relationships and between openness and secrecy in their communication. [...]

This thesis explores mood selection in Old Italian, describing the use of the subjunctive and indicative in complement clauses in non-literary Tuscan of the Quattrocento (1375-1499). Using Wandruszka’s (1991) model of the subjunctive, and a Tuscan corpus of merchant letters and ricordi, sermons and other religious writing, based on Tavoni’s (1992) hierarchy of non-literary Quattrocento writings, I quantitatively assess the factors that influence mood selection in complement clauses. I restrict my analysis to complement clauses so as to compare the findings with those of Stefinlongo’s (1977) and Vegnaduzzo’s (2000) similar corpus-based studies of mood selection in thirteenth-century Italian, where possible, in order to suggest any trends in the use of the subjunctive. While I find that the semantics of the governing lexical element still has the predominant influence on the mood of the complement clause in fifteenth-century Italian, I also find that other factors, such as clause type, person and number, and tense and aspect, have a significant role in the modal outcome of complement clauses. However, the influence of these other factors is neither categorical nor equal, and it may be collective in the case of co-present factors. By conducting a quantitative comparison of mood selection in a variety of text types, my study also investigates Stefinlongo’s hypothesis that subjunctive use is not influenced solely by semantic or syntactic factors but also by features at the level of text type. However, I find the modal influence of text type to be largely indirect, influencing the relative incidence of different semantic contexts which in turn influences the incidence of subjunctive and indicative in a text. The findings of this study serve to inform our understanding of the evolution of the subjunctive in Italian.

This thesis explores the relations between the Druze emir Fakhr al-Din II Ma'n and three successive Medici Grand Dukes between 1605 and 1633. Eschewing traditional historiographical concerns with the origins of Lebanese nationalism and the cultural encounter between East and West, I have sought first and above all to locate relations between this powerful emir and the Court of Tuscany within the broader context of Mediterranean history.
I suggest that the actions of Fakhr al-Din and of the Medici Grand Dukes have to be understood in relation to broad, long-term trends in the economic and social history of the Mediterranean. I explore two of these trends in detail: the breakdown in commercial and diplomatic relations between Florence (and then Tuscany) and the Ottoman empire during the course of the sixteenth century; the bargaining between the Porte and provincial power-holders in the Syrian provinces in the century following the Ottoman conquest.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, representations of female worthies from classical lore began to appear on Italian furniture and wall paintings as well as on tapestries, porcelain and in prints. The women portrayed in these images were celebrated for possessing such virtues as patriotic heroism, the capacity for shrewd leadership, and even military prowess. Yet their presence in the visual arts of the Renaissance remains problematic and even paradoxical, having been created in an age when many secular and ecclesiastical authorities defined the roles of women strictly in terms of their obligations as virgin, wife, and mother. During this same period, a literary genre devoted to the praise and defense of women and deriving from the work of the fourteenth-century humanist Giovanni Boccaccio, was generated in the dynastic courts of northern Italy. The purpose of this study is to initiate an investigation into the relationships which may have existed between the literary and visual traditions of donne illustre by examining paintings executed from the mid-fifteenth to early sixteenth century in four important centres of Italian Renaissance culture: Florence, Siena, Ferrara and Mantua.

Sedimentation in the upstream reaches of incised valleys is predominantly fluvial and mostly out from any relative sea level fluctuations. Here, the dynamics of facies distribution respond to an interaction of tectonics and climate. Tectonics can directly influence fluvial aggradation and degradation through local changes in gradient, both longitudinal and transverse to the valley slope. This paper deals with a –Pliocene – Pleistocene fluvial valley fill developed in the northeastern shoulder of the Siena Basin (Northern Apennines, Italy). Valley fill aggradation resulted from the interaction of autogenic dynamics and extensional tectonics manifested by normal and oblique-slip faults parallel and near orthogonal to the valley axis, which generated rises of local fluvial base level. This thesis coupled a classical field approach, which aims at analysing the interaction between longitudinal and lateral alluvial plain tectonic tilting and fluvial sedimentation, and numerical modelling, which focuses on the temporal and spatial validation of tectonic forcing on the studied valley fill and on the effects of uplift rate on variable-discharge systems. Longitudinal tilting was generated by a transverse, upstream-dipping normal fault that controlled aggradation of fining-upward strata-sets both upstream and downstream of the fault zone. Aggradation in the upstream sector occurred as a backfilling process and predated that in the downstream one, where sediment was stored as a downfilling. Lateral tilting, spacing out the aggradations, was governed by the interaction between fault-generated subsidence and the topographic confinement of progradational, flank-sourced alluvial fans. Both longitudinal and lateral tilting anomalies are easily recorded in sedimentary succession generated by high-discharge system disturbed by high uplift rates.
Nel tratto prossimale di un sistema di valle incisa la sedimentazione fluviale risulta indipendente dalle variazioni eustatiche; pertanto la distribuzione delle diverse facies sedimentarie rispecchia principalmente l’interazione tra tettonica e clima. Una tettonica sindeposizionale può portare ad aggradazione o degradazione di depositi fluviali a causa di variazioni locali di gradiente sia longitudinale che trasversale dello slope della valle. Questo lavoro focalizza sulla successione di riempimento Plio-Pleistocenico di una valle sviluppatasi sul margine N-E del Bacino di Siena (Appennino Settentrionale, Italia). L’aggradazione di questa successione è il risultato dell’interazione tra dinamiche autogeniche ed allogeniche, manifestate da faglie normali con componente obliqua che presentano un’orientazione variabile da parallela ad ortogonale alla direzione dell’asse della valle e sono causa di un sollevamento localizzato rispetto al livello di base fluviale. La tesi integra un tradizionale approccio di campagna, finalizzato all’analisi dell’interazione tra il tilting longitudinale e laterale della piana alluvionale e la sedimentazione fluviale, con un’analisi basata su modellizzazione numerica, che risulta volta a convalidare il controllo spazio-temporale della tettonica sulla sedimentazione e ad analizzare gli effetti del diverso tasso di sollevamento su sistemi fluviali a diversa portata. Il tilting longitudinale della piana alluvionale è generato da una faglia normale immergente sopracorrente, la cui attività induce l’aggradazione di depositi con trend granulometrico tipo fining-upward sia sopracorrente che sottocorrente rispetto alla zona di faglia. A monte della zona di faglia, l’aggradazione avviene principalmente tramite un processo di backfilling e precede l’accumulo nelle aree sottocorrente, che si verifica secondo un processo di downfilling. Il tilting laterale è causato da subsidenza localizzata ed induce lo spostamento laterale del principale sistema di drenaggio, che risulta anche influenzato da apporti provenienti dai fianchi della valle.

La tesi pone al centro lo studio completo della figura di Guido Bigarelli, scultore comasco attivo principalmente tra Pisa, Lucca e Pistoia nel corso dei decenni centrali del XIII secolo (1220 circa – 1257). L’artista è stato messo a fuoco sia sotto il profilo individuale, indagandone, cioè, la personalità, i modelli e l’evoluzione dello stile, sia dal punto di vista delle relazioni: ruolo del maestro all’interno di una bottega precisamente connotata in quanto a linguaggio e prassi operativa, rapporti e interazioni sviluppate entro la comunità di artefici lombardi operanti nella Toscana occidentale (in particolare a Lucca), di cui si conoscono attestazioni dall’ultimo decennio del XII secolo. Lo studio ha preso avvio dall’esame dei contesti della scultura bigarelliana, sotto gli aspetti del sostrato di cultura figurativa pregressa, della natura dell’intervento, dell’organizzazione del cantiere e dei rapporti di committenza. L’indagine è stata condotta con l’intento di chiarire il percorso, artistico e geografico, dell’artista, e il suo inquadramento economico-sociale. Si è giunti, per questa via, a una complessiva rivalutazione delle fonti del linguaggio di Guido Bigarelli, dei suoi termini di confronto e della personale sintesi stilistica che lo scultore mette in opera a partire dai suoi modelli. La riflessione sulla parabola artistica di Guido Bigarelli è stata affrontata di pari passo alla redazione di un catalogo completo e aggiornato della sua opera, strumento fondamentale e imprescindibile su cui basare la conoscenza dell’artista, di cui fino ad ora si era avvertita la mancanza.
My thesis focuses on Guido Bigarelli, a Lombard sculptor active mainly between Pisa, Lucca and Pistoia during the central decades of the thirteenth century (around 1220 - 1257). The artist has been considered both from an individual point of view, investigating his personality, models and the evolution of the style, and concerning his role ad main master ofa precisely characterized workshop, and his relationships and interactions within the Lombard craftsmen community operating in western Tuscany (in particular in Lucca), since the last decade of the twelfth century. The dissertation starts by examining the contexts of Bigarellian sculpture, under the aspects of the substratum of previous figurative culture, the nature of the intervention, and the administration of the building site. The investigation has been conducted with the aim of clarifying the sculptor's artistic and geographical path and his economic and social framework, achieving a global reassessment of the sources of Guido Bigarelli's language and style, investigated with the aid of a complete and updated catalogue of the artist's work.

The hydrocarbon reservoir discoveries in continental Lower Cretaceous carbonates in the South Atlantic Pre-Salt (offshore Brazil and Angola) have renewed the scientific interest in recent and ancient carbonates developed in lacustrine, hydrothermal and fluvial environments. Outcrop analogues provide key information to improve the understanding of the stratigraphic, sedimentological, diagenetic and petrophysical subsurface reservoir properties and lithofacies spatial distribution. To improve the knowledge about continental carbonates lithofacies types, stratigraphic architecture and diagenesis, this project focuses on two case studies: the Messinian mixed terrigenous-travertine succession of the Albegna Basin (Southern Tuscany, Central Italy) and the Pleistocene Acque Albule Lapis Tiburtinus (Tivoli, Central Italy). In the both studied areas, travertines include facies types precipitated from thermal water through abiotic and biologically influenced processes, ranging from clotted peloidal micrite boundstone, to crystalline dendrites and coated reeds. The 70 m thick Messinian mixed terrigenous-travertine system, accumulated in the extensional continental Neogene Albegna Basin, was investigated in terms of lithofacies types, depositional environment and their spatial distribution, petrographic analysis, carbon and oxygen stable isotope geochemistry, diagenesis and porosity. The succession recorded three phases of evolution of the depositional system. 1) At the base, a 20 m thick northward prograding hydrothermal travertine terraced slope interfingered in the eastern part with an alluvial plain system prograding northward and westward (Phase I). 2) The continuous travertine succession was interrupted by the deposition of several metres thick alluvial fan breccias intercalated with 2-3 m thick travertine lenses (Phase II). 3) During Phase III, the basin evolved into an alluvial plain with ponds rich in coated reed travertines. Travertine stable isotope signatures during phase I and II confirm the geothermal origin of the precipitating water with 13C value averaging 1.46 ‰ V-PDB, while 18O is -7.50 ‰. Phase III travertines, enriched in coated plants, show lighter 13C values (mean 13C -0.36 ‰; 18O -7.22 ‰) indicative of influence of meteoric water with soil-derived CO2. The paragenetic history of the studied succession shows that it was affected by hydrothermal, meteoric and burial diagenesis. The studied succession was firstly affected by a burial phase, afterwards followed by uplift and exhumation to meteoric diagenesis. The 20 km2 and 50 m thick Pleistocene travertine succession accumulated in the Acque Albule Basin close to Tivoli village was investigated in terms of lithofacies types, its geometry and architecture, through the analyses and the correlation of six drilled borehole cores. The travertine unit consists of a wedge shape geometry thinning southwards and it is subdivided in a proximal, intermediate and distal part from North to South. The succession recorded four principal units separated by four main unconformities that consist of centimetre to few metres thick intraclastic/extraclastic wackestone to floatstone/rudstone, indicative of periods of non deposition and erosion, due to the temporary interruption of the thermal water out of the springs. The southern part of the wedge is intercalated with conglomerate and sandstone representing palaeo-river channels. This study shows the stratigraphic architecture and sedimentary evolution of these two decametre scale continental sedimentary successions in which hydrothermal activity and travertine precipitation were driven by the extensional and transtensive tectonic regimes, with faults acting as fluid paths for thermal water and creation of accommodation space for terrigenous and travertine deposition. Humid climate might have been instrumental for the aquifer recharge that fed the hydrothermal vents. This study proposes two different geological models useful for further comparison with other continental basin successions and hydrothermal travertine systems in outcrops and subsurface. It provides useful information for the petrographic, spatial and reservoir characterization of subsurface travertine analogues.

Entre le XIe et le XIIe siècle, le notariat connait une transition fondamentale. Cette mutation est déjà une préfiguration très nette d’un notariat pratiqué aujourd’hui encore. Dans les villes, l’environnement du régime politique des communes, la relance économique et commerciale puis la renaissance du droit romain font émerger le notariat public. Une capacité particulière d’authentification des actes commence à être reconnue aux notaires ; ils ne sont plus des praticiens privés, mais acquièrent une qualité publique de plus en plus explicite. Ce bouleversement a évidemment des répercussions sur de nombreux éléments de la pratique du notariat. Or, ce sont ces éléments qui sont analysés dans la présente étude afin de déterminer à quel moment cette transition a lieu dans les milieux ruraux. Le monastère de Passignano est situé dans une vallée au sud du contado florentin. A la fois isolé et à la croisée de quatre grandes villes médiévales, le fonds d’archives qu’il a laissé offre un fantastique observatoire pour évaluer le moment de ce basculement. Ainsi dans les campagnes au sud de la ville de Florence, les indices de l’apparition d’un notariat public sont de plus en plus visibles entre la seconde moitié du XIe siècle et le XIIe siècle. Le formalisme devient de moins en moins rigoureux, la graphie de plus en plus lisible, des bribes de latin grammatical commencent à se disséminer et les concepts juridiques se font de plus en plus audacieux. Surtout, le seing manuel des notaires se meut progressivement. Ce signe, par lequel ils transforment le document en acte, transite d’un seing manuel local et impersonnel à un signe original et individuel. Autrement dit il mute d’un signe de validation à un signe validateur et identificateur
Between 11th and 12th century, the notariate begins a fundamental transition. This mutation is already a very clear prefiguration of a notariate still practiced today. In the cities, the political regime of the communes, the economic and commercial revival and the reborn of the roman law allow for the emrgence of the public notariate. A special capacity of authentification begins to be granted to the notaries ; they are no more private praticians and they acquire, more and more explicitly, a public quality. This upset has impacts on many elements of the practice of the notariate. Therefore, those elements are the ones analysed in this study, to determine when this transition is happening in the countries. The monastery of Passignano is located in a valley in the south of the florentine contado. Both isolated and crossroad of three important medieval cities, his archival materials is a wonderful viewpoint to evaluate the time of the switching. Thus in the countries of Florence, the indices of the apparition of a public notariate are more and more visible between the 11th and the 12th century. The formalism becomes less and less rigorous, the graphics is increasingly readable, snippets of grammatical latin are disseminated and legal concepts are more and more audacious. Mainly, the sign manual of the notaries is progressively evolving. This sign is transiting from a local and impersonal sign manual to an original and individual sign ; it is switching form a validation sign to a validation and identification sign

This thesis explores changes in experimental reporting during the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In particular, I examine and compare some of the works of Count Lorenzo Magalotti, namely the Saggi di Naturali Esperienza or Essays on Natural Experiments and the Relazione d'Inghilterra. In 1667, as secretary of the Accademia del Cimento – the Tuscan experimental academy founded in 1657 – Magalotti (1637-1712) authored the Saggi, a collection of experimental reports. These reports included extensive written descriptions of experiments along with dozens of engravings depicting the instruments custom-made for the experiments. Magalotti also served as ambassador and agent of the Tuscan court and in the same year he traveled to England to offer a copy of the Saggi to King Charles II. While in England, Magalotti corresponded extensively with Prince Leopold and with the future grand duke, Cosimo III, reporting his observations of the English court: descriptions of political, military, and intellectual life at the court of Charles II. Magalotti’s account of his experience was compiled as Relazione d'Inghilterra in 1669. My work shows that the Saggi and the Relazione, although different in their content, emerged from the same historical context. I argue that the way information was conceived and organized, whether it originated from experimental practices (Saggi) or diplomatic actions (Relazione), changed over the course of the seventeenth century. Experimental reporting, like political reporting, became parceled into small, discrete units suited for high rates of information exchange.

This study aimed to characterize commercial extracts of propolis and apply it in different concentrations in Tuscany sausage. The characterization of propolis in the first experiment was carried out by their compositions and phenolic flavonoids, by colorimetry techniques. The extracts were also characterized as the antioxidant activity through the techniques of metal chelating and sequestering DPPH free radical. After the extracts were compared, which showed the best result was used in the second experiment, the concentrations of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% in the manufacture of sausages, which were analyzed under cold storage. The physicochemical properties of the sausages were made up of moisture, protein, ash, fat, pH and TBARS. The acceptability of these tests was determinated with sensory analysis within 1 week after production, propolis compared to green tea as the standard 0.03%. Were performed the same experiment, on days zero, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 27 days of storage, analysis of pH, TBARS and microbiological growth. The microbiological aspects evaluated were higher at day zero: the total count of mesophilic and / or psicotrophic, Salmonella, coliforms, sulfite reducer clostridia and Staphylococcus aureus, the other days of analysis was only the total count of mesophilic and / or psychrotrophic. The physicochemical parameters of the propolis extracts were all in accordance with the standards required by safety standards. With respect to sensory characteristics, the Tuscan sausages were accepted as the taste and appearance, and the use of propolis have decreased lipid oxidation and microbial growth, promoting quality during the days of storage.
Este trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar extratos de própolis comerciais e aplicá-lo em diferentes concentrações em lingüiça Toscana. A caracterização da própolis no primeiro experimento realizou-se pelas suas composições de fenólicos e flavonóides totais, por técnicas colorimétricas. Os extratos também foram caracterizados quanto a atividade antioxidante através das técnicas quelante de metal e sequestrante de radicais livre DPPH. Após os extratos serem comparados, o que obteve melhor resultado foi utilizado, no segundo experimento, nas concentrações de 0,1%, 0,2%, 0,3% e 0,4% na fabricação de lingüiças que foram analisadas sob armazenamento refrigerado. As análises físico-químicas das lingüiças foram compostas por umidade, proteínas, cinzas, gordura, pH e TBARS. Os testes de aceitabilidade das lingüiças foram determinados através da análise sensorial na 1ª semana após a produção, compararam a própolis ao chá-verde como padrão a 0,03%. Foram realizados no mesmo experimento, nos dias zero, 5º, 10º, 15º, 20º e 27º dias de armazenamento, análises de pH, TBARS e crescimento microbiológico. Os aspectos microbiológicos avaliados foram maiores no dia zero: contagem total de mesofílicos e/ou psicotróficos, Salmonella, Coliformes, Clostrídio sulfito redutores e Staphylococcus aureus; nos demais dias de análises apenas ocorreu a contagem total de mesofílicos e/ou psicrotróficos. Os parâmetros físicoquímicos dos extratos de própolis estavam todos de acordo com os padrões exigidos nas normas de segurança. Com relação às características sensoriais, as lingüiças Toscanas foram aceitas quanto ao gosto e aparência e o uso da própolis diminuiu a oxidação lipídica e o crescimento de microrganismos, promovendo a qualidade durante os dias de armazenamento.

This dissertation explores the temporal coordination of articulatory gestures in various segmental conditions in Italian, by comparing onset and coda singletons as well as word-final and intervocalic consonant clusters in a Tuscan variety of Italian. Articulatory models of syllable structure assume that the coordination between the vocalic gesture and the consonantal gesture may differ in onset vs. coda and in singletons vs. clusters. Based on previous literature on different languages, we expect to find differences in the temporal coordination of singletons and clusters in Italian too. In addition, recent literature suggests that the articulatory and coarticulatory properties of the segments play an important role in determining the details of the coordination patterns, and that not all segments or segmental sequences behave in the same way as far as their gestural coordination relations are concerned. Thus, an additional aim of this work is to compare consonants with different coarticulatory properties (in the sense of modifications of C articulation in varying vocalic contexts) and seek for possible relations between coarticulation and coordination patterns. The methodology used is new. We used an original system for the acquisition, realtime synchronization and analysis of acoustic, electropalatographic (EPG) and ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) data, called SynchroLing. EPG and UTI instrumental techniques provide complementary information on, respectively, linguo-palatal contact patterns in the anterior vocal tract and midsagittal profiles of the whole tongue, including postdorsum and root. SynchroLing allows real-time inspection of contacts in the artificial palate and tongue midsagittal movements, coupled with acoustics. [...]

L'invention de l'imagerie médicéenne a accompagné la campagne politique initiée par Cosimo I, investi duc de Florence en 1537, puis duc de Sienne en 1559, et grand-duc de Toscane en 1570, pour établir une autorité dynastique à la tête d'un principat créé en 1530 par Charles Quint et enraciner un pouvoir autocratique pour ses héritiers. Les arts du textile, de l'ornement et de la joaillerie sont aux fondements de cette image du pouvoir médicéen. Dans un contexte économique et culturel où Florence était considérée, sur la scène internationale, comme un des principaux foyers de l'artisanat du luxe et de la création artistique, les Medici utilisèrent cette renommée à leur avantage. Ils se firent représenter en ambassadeurs de la culture florentine pour faire reconnaître leur identité et promouvoir leur légitimité auprès de la société de cour européenne. Simultanément, ils prirent des mesures financières et législatives en faveur de la modernisation industrielle de leur État, du déploiement européen du marché textile régional et de la fondation d'un centre international de l'artisanat d'exception. Le portrait du costume définit la représentation d'une esthétique originale, en lien avec ce contexte singulier, qui fut instrumentalisée pour afficher une image à la hauteur de telles ambitions. Grâce à cette vitrine du luxe florentin, traduite avec une plasticité minutieuse et une authenticité sidérante, les portraits témoignent d'une stratégie des apparences orchestrée pour répondre à un double objectif : ériger Florence en joyau de l'art de la Renaissance et exalter le prestige royal conquis par les grands-ducs de Toscane
The creation of the Medicean portraiture has supported the political campaign started by Cosimo I, invested duke of Florence in 1537, then duke of Siena in 1559, and Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1570, to establish a dynastic authority on a princely state created by Charles V and to ensure the continued existence of an autocracy for his heirs. The arts of textile, ornament and jewellery are the pillars of this image of power. In an economic and cultural context where Florence was regarded as one of the major centers of luxury and artistic creation, the Medici used this world-renowned culture to their advantage. They became its ambassadors in order to have their identity recognized and to promote their legitimacy in the eyes of the European courtly society. At the same lime, they took financial and legislative measures to help the industrial modernization of their State, the European expansion of the Tuscan textile market and the foundation of an international and unparalleled center of the arts and crafts. The portrait du costume defines the representation of an original aesthetics, in connection with this singular context, which was mounted to realize such ambitions. With the exhibition of Florentine luxury, depicted with meticulous materiality and stunning authenticity, the portraits bear witness to a strategy of appearances staged to fulfill a double objective: enhance Florence as a jewel of Renaissance art and exalt the royal prestige conquered by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany