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ABSTRACT The paper proposes a brief analysis of the main elements that, on a theoretical, normative and situational basis, affect the value of properties placed as collateral for loans, with particular reference to the value they assume in the event that they are affected by an enforced procedure instead of being subject to normal sale, in free market conditions. Starting from the classic analytical estimate of the fair market value of a real estate asset in free market conditions, the paper will quantify the value that the asset should have when the appraiser has to indicate the value from which to start the judicial auction. Considering the regulatory mechanisms in place in Italy, the paper will put in evidence how a value calculated for an execution sale of a property occurring in a foreclosure process is considerably far from its fair market value and even more from its final judicial value, considered as the amount that will be recovered at the end of the sale of the property by judicial auction. For both debtors and creditors, the significant differences between fair market, execution and judicial values become an increasingly topical issue in the face of the growing number of default and distress of loans.

The general research here introduced concerns the phenomenon of urban sprawl unfolding in the last century and defined as “the physical pattern of low- density settlement in urban areas”. The focus, as part of the more general research cited, is the relationship between sprawl and public transportation. The specific study here present is a possible approach to planning and managing policy responses to urban sprawl through the integration of consolidated settlement systems (with a view to their re-revitalization) with rail green public transportation in the framework of TOD (Transit-Oriented Development). A paramount issue emerges about sprawl: there are prototype case in which TOD and rail green public transportation help concentrate settlement instead of sprawl? No cases have been found. Instead the most recent literature recommends to perform new researches concerning solutions through real world applications, given the total shortage of case studies. The general research framework has been applied in a specific Case Study to support the community of Calabria, the southernmost Mediterranean region of mainland Italy in European Union, within the most urbanized sub-regional sub-area, in analyzing the rampant phenomenon of sprawl and, possibly, in addressing and mitigating it relying on TOD and rail green public transportation. In the Case Study of the present research there are three alternatives in sub regional public transportation: A1; A2; A3. A1 is the status quo. A2 is the upgrading of the railway which, although existing, is illogically neglected. A3 is an unexpected new project by the railway managing body for a new route in the south of the area completely away from the most important settlements and outside any transport or mobility or accessibility institutional public plan. The three alternatives were subjected to social discussions well as a qualitative evaluation by a panel of experts. The multiple criteria valuation approach resulted in a preference for Alternative A2 over Alternatives A1 and A3. The preferred Alternative A2 integrates perfectly with the existing settlement by responding to a fundamental criterion placed at the top of the valuation: integrating the urban railway directly into the existing consolidated inhabited centers. This preferable Alternative A2 has among its peculiar characteristics: – directly connects many of the settlements in the area; – can serve approximately MORE THAN 250,000 potential settled residents; – connects coast to coast the narrowest regional and national isthmus; – creates the fastest and shortest possible connection in the national territory between the two fundamental railway backbones Tyrrhenian (Palermo - Milan - Torino) and Ionian-Adriatic (Reggio Calabria - Venice); – thereby helping to connect two of the Trans European Network and pan-European train mega-corridors I (Palermo - Berlin) and VIII (Skopje - Varna). The A2 Alternative has the further distinctive feature of performing both local and supra-local dual service in a unified venue that is both train-tram and long-distance rail, in analogy with continental benchmarks and experiences, such as the German S-Bahn. Subsequently, in the Case Study, the costs of the Alternative A2 for the upgrading (and “modernization”) of the existing railway has an estimated cost of 168 million appraised by the research team with a detailed quantification, and subsequently, in de facto double-blind estimate, surprisingly confirmed by the railway managing body. According to the latest and most up-dated estimates by the same railway managing body, the completely new route project located far south of all the settlements, constituting the Alternative A3, would cost over 485 million, are reported. This is because all the areas have to be acquired and because the route crosses land with technical difficulties to be overcome by carrying out expensive works. In terms of costs, the preferred Alternative 2 seems to be the most balanced, much more even than the status quo Alternative 1 (do nothing). The latter only apparently has no big investment costs, unless ordinary maintenance. In fact it hides enormous private costs and implicit (and not immediately monetary) social suffering, due to: car commuting (un-pooled) of people; their monetizable travel times, enormous due to congestion; air pollution; accident risks; congestion in cities; high private personal costs of using the individual vehicle (car wear; fuel); parking cost and fine risk; etc.

Climate change is the most lethal crises facing Humanity. The majority (99%) of scientists agree that climate change is caused by humans. According to empirical evidence this ecological tragedy is rooted primarily in world-wide enormous fossil energy production and consumption. The civil sector, including settlements, is the world’s “largest fossil energy consumer and polluter”. Green building is the only way to ensure sustainable development and to overcome climate change by decarbonizing the constructions. The aim of the research is to test a strategic solution, applied to the civil sector, valuated through new assessment tools including the novel BIM in updated platforms. Some significant Building Energy Performance Simulation Programs (BEPSPs) are comparatively tested in a Case Study experimented in the simplest Prototype Building. One goal of the present research is to valuate if the ecological coat produces a saving of up to at least 40% of energy consumption in the building in the short-medium terms i. e. by 2030 as required in the EU Directive 2018/844 and if it is economically feasible. The passivation of brown common inefficient Prototype Building is implemented using bio ecological panels made from natural materials. By simply using a six or ten centimeters thick panel coat, the energy saving for heating is around 71% or 82%, way above the set objective of 40% by 2030 as required in the EU Directive 2018/844. The building global energy saving is always more than 55%. The research achieved the general objective and the specific goal set, obtaining the empirical evidence of the extraordinary impacts/benefits produced by insulation using extremely small panels/boards made from local natural cork in a local circular economy structure. Since the economic and financial impacts are of great relevance for the feasibility of the Strategy “Green Building” Strategy, a financial estimate has been developed. It immediately also highlighted the economic profitability, pecuniary convenience and financial feasibility convenience of the Sustainable Scenario. Research appraised a favorable monetary Pay Back\recovery (within only five years from the ecological intervention) of the differential additional upfront cost due to passivation additional works. There is a gap in the real world and a strong request in the research world (Hopkins, 2016) of appraisal concerning financial feasibility of the “Green Building” Strategy. The presented research aims to contribute to answer these demands of economic valuation. Il cambiamento climatico è la crisi più letale che l’umanità deve affrontare. La maggior parte (99%) degli scienziati concorda sul fatto che il cambiamento climatico è causato dall’uomo. Secondo l’evidenza empirica, questa tragedia ecologica è radicata principalmente nell’enorme produzione e consumo di energia fossile a livello mondiale. Il settore civile, compresi gli insediamenti, è il «più grande consumatore di energia fossile e inquinatore con conseguenti emissioni di CO2» al mondo. La bioedilizia, e quindi la decarbonizzazione degli edifici con l’efficienza energetica e quindi il risparmio anche mediante cappotto ecologico, è l’unico modo per garantire uno sviluppo sostenibile e per superare il cam- biamento climatico. Tale approccio è definibile: Strategia “Green Building”. L’obiettivo della ricerca è quello di testare una soluzione strategica, applicata al settore civile, valutata attraverso nuovi strumenti di valutazione tra cui le nuove piattaforme BIM. Sono stati testati comparativamente alcuni importanti programmi di simulazione delle prestazioni energetiche degli edifici in un caso di studio sperimentato in un semplice edificio prototipo. Uno dei passaggi specifici della presente ricerca è quello di valutare se il cappotto ecologico produca un risparmio fino ad almeno il 40% dei consumi energetici dell’edificio nel breve-medio termine, ovvero entro il 2030, come previsto dalla Direttiva UE 2018/844, e se sia economicamente fattibile. La passivazione dell’edificio prototipo comune ed inefficiente è realizzata utilizzando pannelli bioecologici realizzati con materiali naturali. Utilizzando semplicemente un pannello di sei o dieci centimetri di spessore, il risparmio energetico per il riscaldamento si aggira intorno al 71% o 82%, ben al di sopra dell’obiettivo fissato del 40% entro il 2030 come previsto dalla Direttiva UE 2018/844. Il risparmio energetico globale dell’edificio è sempre superiore al 55%. La ricerca ha raggiunto l’obiettivo generale e l’obiettivo specifico prefissato, ottenendo l’evidenza empirica degli straordinari impatti / benefici prodotti dall’isolamento con pannelli di dimensioni estremamente ridotte realizzati con sughero naturale locale in una struttura di economia circolare locale. Poiché gli impatti economici e finanziari sono di grande rilevanza per la fattibilità della Strategia “Green Building”, è stata elaborata una stima finanziaria che ha immediatamente evidenziato anche la redditività economica e la convenienza di fattibilità finanziaria dello Scenario Sostenibile, valutando un favorevole Pay Back\recupero monetario (entro soli cinque anni dall’intervento ecologico) del differenziale costo aggiuntivo dovuto alle opere aggiuntive di passivazione. C’è una lacuna nel mondo reale e una forte richiesta nel mondo della ricerca (Hopkins, 2016) di valutazione riguardante la fattibilità finanziaria della Strategia “Green Building”, e la ricerca presentata mira a contribuire a rispondere a queste esigenze di valutazione economica.

More than one hundred years after his death, the life of the controversial Irish nationalist and British consular official Roger Casement is still of great interest to historians and novelists alike. In this paper I explore the discursive representation of Roger Casement in Sabina Murray’s Valiant Gentlemen (2016). In the light of theories on trauma and memory (Olick, Vinitzky-Seroussi, Levy 2011) I analyse the character’s development in relation to his experiences in the Congo and the Amazon. From a critical linguistic perspective (Fowler 1996) combined with the system of Appraisal within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics (Martin, White 2005), I analyse the construction of this character’s identity in the process of his transformation from a loyal British subject to an Irish revolutionary.

Bakhtin (1981, 427) does not regard bare assertions as simply neutral or factual, but as “undialogised” or “monoglossic”, and as such still not “free from subjective presencing of the speaker” (Thibault, 1997, 53). Based on such a view, in appraisal theory, monoglossic and heteroglossic propositions are defined as two discursive interpersonal choices for signalling the absence or presence of other voices within the category of engagement (Martin, White, 2005). Even though monoglossic propositions in advertisements apparently diminish their interpersonal and subjective value through undialogised positioning due to the absence of engagement elements, this value is nevertheless commonly increased by the highly evaluative nature of advertisements, which is often permeated by ideology. The paper identifies types of monoglossic propositions and investigates their evaluative charge in advertisements, which may contribute significantly to the overall persuasive rhetoric of advertisements, within the appraisal system (Martin, White, 2005).

In this article we examine the identity construction of two politicians in the 2011 Spanish pre-electoral debate, following four of Bucholtz & Hall’s (2005) linguistic means: evaluation, implicatures, interactional negotiation, and complementary identity relations. For the analysis, Martin & White’s (2005) evaluation model and Corpus Linguistics are adopted. The Socialist candidate’s positive identity positions him as a defendant of laymen’s interests (i.e. Nurturant Parent identity), while he contributes to Rajoy’s emergent identity as a dishonest politician. However, the Conservative politician plays down the other candidate’s identity inferences, casts his identity as a Nurturant Parent to attract the audience’s sympathy and embodies an identity of change. This positive identity contributed to his ethos in the debate and resulted in an overwhelming win.

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon that has attracted much interest in recent times. However, the main approach on offer, the mimicry theory, fails to properly account for its many facets. In particular, we focus on two shortcomings: the elicitation of emotional contagion is not context-independent, and there can be cases of emotional contagion without motor mimicry. We contend that a general theory of emotion elicitation (such as Scherer’s Component Process Model of Emotion) is better suited to account for these features, because of its multi-level appraisal component. From this standpoint, emotional contagion is viewed as a particular kind of emotional response that involves the same components and processes of emotional responses in general.

In the traditional methodology the two main approaches to estimate the market value are the synthetic procedure and the analytic procedure, that correspond respectively to the market comparison approach and to the method for direct capitalization, according to the valuation standards. In professional practice, the two procedures are often used to confirm the final result of he appraisal or to verify the results of one with the other. However the main purpose of using the two procedures independently in the estimate of the market value is to incorporate more data and market information and to work with a broader range of methodological tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intends to investigate the use of evaluation in a corpus of British tourist brochures produced by tour operators specializing in the promotion of Italy. The theoretical framework is the Appraisal System developed mainly by White (1998, 2001) and Martin (2000) in order to study the discourse functions of evaluative resources. The creators of brochures resort mainly to two categories of Appraisal. The first concerns the expression of emotions (Affect), both in an implicit and explicit way, while the second category (Appreciation) includes aesthetic assessments. Evaluation can be amplified by several linguistic devices which either sharpen the margins of an experiential category or intensify the meaning of a word, like those lexical items which include an assessment of intensity as part of their semantic load. The iteration of evalua­tive meanings constructs a prosody, bringing an emotional and aesthetic colour to the whole text which in­volves the reader and increases the perceived value of a tourist destination.

In this paper we explore the relationship between the language of evaluation and the use of paralinguistic features in reading aloud, relating Eggins & Slade's (1997) categories of appraisal with Brown's (1990) taxonomy of paralinguistic features. We mainly concentrate on two categories of appraisal: (1) affect, that is the expression of emotional states, and (2) amplification, that is the reader's aloud grading of attitudes and emotions. We present an analysis of part of The Story of Tilly, a story for children beautifully read aloud by Jackie Torrence. It seems to us that this association between paralinguistic features and appraisal may constitute a phonological domain for the description of the language of evaluation beyond the lexico-grammatical level.

Este artigo pretende, a partir da perspectiva da gramática sistêmico-funcional (Halliday, 1985, 1994, 2004), discutir, em um primeiro momento, a questão terminológica em relação ao Sistema de Avaliatividade (Martin and White, 2005; Martin and Rose, 2003) para que, em seguida, encaminhemos a discussão sobre como as instâncias avaliativas são realizadas no texto em português brasileiro. Nosso foco será principalmente nos recursos para Gradação, e a avaliação negativa utilizada pelo produtor textual para posicionar-se perante o que expressa e, para tanto, recorremos também à noção bakhtiniana de dialogismo.This paper aims to discuss, from Halliday's systemic functional grammar perspective (1985, 1994, 2004), the problems related to the translation of the term appraisal into Portuguese, as a way of discussing the lexico-grammatical realizations of evaluative stances in texts in Brazilian Portuguese. We will focus on Graduation (Martin and White, 2005; Martin and Rose, 2003), a resource used by text producers to take stances towards what they express and we will also refer to the Bakhtinian notion of dialogism.

Building construction and improvement and development require a holistic approach that allows an overall valuation of the investment, also as regards its town-planning/technical/economic aspects. The valuation can be done ex ante through feasibility studies (which are expressly provided for in the cases referred to in the Regulation for Implementation and Enforcement of the code of Public Contracts (D.P.R. 207/2010); to this end it is necessary to reconcile the “project constraints” that take shape in four macro-areas: Resources (and Economic Sustainability), Cost Engineering, Time Frames, Performance/Quality. Demonstrating the economic sustainability of a building project by combining principles and definite rules consistent with international best practices – even more so in the current international economic-financial situation – constitutes the essential prerequisite for raising resources, sometimes even among international institutional investors, that make it possible to develop all stages of the building process with continuity. An intelligent promotion and development of the immense national public real estate heritage will also promote the country’s economic-social development.

Object of the present analysis is the use of the cost method in estimating real estate as a method of determining the market value, solution proposed by the guidelines for estimating real estate published by the Italian Banking and the International Valuation Standards. In particular, we examined the setting where the real estate evaluation has the production costs as a solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the header of the Aestimum journal (published in Milan by Aldo Pagani between 1956 and 1974) that included a passage by Festasio regarding the origin of the latin word, this contribution shows how the hypothesis of its derivation from aes + tyme, widely spread among appraisers, can not be accepted. Moreover, latin etymologists could not formulate an alternative, plausible and unanimous proposal, and the origin of the word remains unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of economic appraisal of education and training systems under the light of the current economic and financial crisis and of the relevant "exit policy" strategies. On the basis of the literature on the Post World War II "economic miracles", the paper confirms that a careful evaluation of education and training systems can be a powerful tool to transit to the "post crisis" situation and to set a growth path. However, evaluation of human capital preparation through education and training cannot be disjoined from evaluation of human capital utilization- viz. of labor and retirement policies. The current practice is to follow different methodologies, techniques and procedures for evaluating human capital preparation, on the one hand, and human capital utilization, on the other. The paper outlines two possible strategies to define a unified evaluation methodology with pertinent techniques and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a review article based on 40 years of experience in the field of policy and project appraisal and evaluation. The author has had an extensive career in this area in the World Bank, the European Commission, Italian Government Ministries and in academia. The review concludes that cost benefit analysis extended to "real options" and applied jointly with the "effects method" helps solve certain critical issue of traditional financial and economic appraisal and evaluation techniques. More significantly, it contributes to better integrate financial and economic evaluation and appraisal techniques with organizational and sociological evaluation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RESUMO Este trabalho apresenta a análise discursiva de resenhas elaboradas por graduandos surdos do curso de Pedagogia do Instituto Nacional de Educação de Surdos (INES), com base nas abordagens teórico-metodológicas da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (Halliday 1994; Halliday e Mattiessen 2004), do Sistema de Avaliatividade (Martin e White 2005) e no que propõem pesquisadores interessados no ensino de Língua Portuguesa escrita para surdos (Quadros 2004; Lodi 2005; 2006; 2013; Lodi et al 2014; Fernandes 1999; Almeida, Santos e Lacerda 2015; entre outros). O ensino da resenha foi realizado a partir da proposta de Ramos (2004) e a análise das produções revela a presença de marcas avaliativas principalmente da categoria Julgamento do Sistema de Avaliatividade, destacando questões éticas e identitárias sobre preconceito, exclusão e inclusão social e educacional. O trabalho revela também a importância do uso de estratégias adequadas de ensino de Língua Portuguesa escrita para aprendizes surdos.

RESUMO Este artigo tem o embasamento do Sistema de Avaliatividade (Martin; White 2005), que elabora uma taxonomia para dar conta dos valores individuais e coletivos compartilhados em um grupo social. O foco deste estudo recai sobre uma das categorias da atitude: o julgamento, que avalia o comportamento das pessoas segundo valores de estima social (capacidade, tenacidade e normalidade) e sanção social (propriedade e veracidade). Investigamos, a partir de uma análise qualiquantitativa de cunho textual e semântico-discursivo, como os recursos linguísticos são empregados, em editoriais de um jornal brasileiro, quanto à expressão de julgamento em relação ao desempenho da então Presidente Dilma Rousseff. Os resultados mostram o predomínio de julgamentos negativos sobre o seu desempenho, prevalecendo avaliações de estima social, sobretudo de capacidade. Essas avaliações são, em sua maioria, explícitas e indicam a interpretação de que a então Presidente não estava preparada para administrar o Brasil.

RESUMO Este trabalho analisa as relações entre mídia e política em textos de uma representante da grande mídia impressa brasileira, a revista Veja, referentes a casos de corrupção política nos governos Lula e Dilma. O objetivo é identificar recursos linguístico-discursivos mobilizados na produção de seus textos que reforcem a defesa de que seu uso da linguagem é informativo e imparcial ou de que representam a voz da população. Ao discutir a relação entre o campo midiático e campo político sob uma perspectiva antagônica do político, vimos que o caráter informativo de Veja só se realiza na medida em que seus jornalistas se posicionam e a constroem enquanto tal. Além disso, o fato de as representações discursivas que Veja faz em seus textos convergirem para a identidade dos atores políticos revela marcas de antagonismo que incidem diretamente na construção de novas identidades. O artigo também leva à ideia de que a mídia tem participação no embate político, seja como um adversário, ou não, mas sempre como um ator político. Para essa análise, adotaram-se como referenciais teórico-metodológicos o Sistema da AVALIATIVIDADE, de Jim Martin e Peter White, e a teoria social de Chantal Mouffe sobre o político e democracia agonística.