Carl Menger’s revisited theory of capital in opposition to the Classical and Marginalist scholars’

Among several contributions, Carl Menger proposed a division of economic goods in orders. This sets the foundations for the Austrian capital theory, usually maintained as a complex of higher orders goods in a production process. Curiously, Menger dismissed this concept of capital, in favor of one used in common parlance. This change of view is often overlooked, but represents a turning point in the field of capital theory. This paper assesses how Menger's popular notion of capital differs from the scientific one. To achieve this goal, we investigate the concept of capital in Classical and Marginalist economists. One of the implications is that the popular concept is related to the theory of capitalism. Capital, as used in business language for economic calculations, is better suited for analyzing the capitalist system, as it captures the usage in monetary economies and business accounting.

A DIGITAL BRIDGE FOR COLLABORATION IN CULTURAL HERITAGE

The importance of history and the role that culture plays on the population is well defined, but we have never researched culture in a truly collective way. Data digitisation and archiving could be transformed into an exceptional tool for connecting all different users and sectors of cultural heritage into a “Global heritage” interaction and communication. The research undertaken is summarised to the development of a crowdsourcing, interdisciplinary platform, under the name “Heritage for People”.The paper consists of 6 sections. The first of these concerns a general description of the problem, linked to the risks of cultural heritage. A closer analysis of the risks present in the historic center of Vienna follows. The third paragraph deals with the tools for planning and protecting the cultural heritage of the Austrian capital. The fourth section introduces the “Heritage for People” tool in which a new online platform is outlined. The fifth chapter is instead dedicated to a description of the possible technologies to be used, while the last section illustrates how the proposed platform can have other applications depending on the cultural heritage.

Low SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the Austrian capital after an early governmental lockdown

We analyzed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in a large, well-described representative Viennese cohort after an early governmental lockdown with respect to the occurrence of symptoms and household transmission. Participants of the LEAD Study, a population-based cohort study from Vienna, Austria, were invited along with their household members (April 20th to May20th 2020). Sera were analyzed using anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay including a neutralization test as a confirmatory assay. A total of 12,419 individuals participated (5984 LEAD participants; 6435 household members), 163 (1.31%; 59 LEAD cohort members) of whom were SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive. The estimated number of COVID-19 cases projected from our findings by age and sex for Vienna was 21,504 (1.13%). Cumulative number of positively tested cases in Vienna until May 20th 2020 was 3020, hence 7.1 times (95% confidence interval 5.5–9.1) lower than projected. Relative risk (RR) of seropositivity by age was highest for children aged 6–9 years [RR compared to age group 20–49: 1.21 (CI 0.37–4.01)], lowest for ≥ 65 years [RR 0.47 (CI 0.21–1.03)]. Half of the positive individuals developed no or mild symptoms. In a multivariate analysis, taste and smell disturbances were most strongly related to SARS-CoV-2 positivity. Infection probability within households with one confirmed SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody-positive person was 31%. Although seroprevalence was very low (1.13%) for a central European capital city, due to an early governmental lockdown, SARS-CoV-2 infections were more prevalent than officially reported polymerase chain reaction-positive cases. Of note, seroprevalence was highest in young children. Half of SARS-CoV-2 antibody-positive subjects had no or only mild symptoms. Taste and smell disturbances were most prominent, possibly guiding clinicians in diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The strategic interests of Russia in the Austro-Russian-Turkish War (1735-1739) discovered in French intelligence sources

This paper is an analysis of the Russian strategic interests during the Austro-Russian-Turkish war (1735-1737) and is based on unpublished sources of French origin. The reports which Colonel Jean-Jacques de Beausobre (1704-1783) compiled as a direct witness of the conflict are of key importance in the study of this subject and to date have not been given the attention they deserve. Having chosen a military career, de Beausobre distinguished himself as a man with deep knowledge of the theory of war. For this reason, he was engaged in observing the conflict, sending regular reports to the French government. De Beausobre was posted as French military attaché to the Austrian army, spending much time in the Austrian General Staff. From this position he was able to collect intelligence, which he then dispatched to the French Ambassador in Vienna. Occasionally, he would even personally visit the Austrian capital and Paris in order to convey the information he had gathered. The intelligence mission of Colonel De Beausobre shows the great interest France had for the outcome of the war and the country's intention to position itself favorably in European diplomacy at the time. From De Beausobre's reports it is possible to see that he was able to see through Russian strategic interests in the war and his activities proved of great value for French diplomacy, which achieved great success at the Belgrade peace talks.