Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of burnt flints: problems,perspectives and some examples of application

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating is a powerful tool in archaeology, and its reliability has been checked since the early 1970s. It is, in principle, specific for ceramic, but it can also be successfully applied to other materials of archaeological interest, provided that they have been submitted in the past to some kind of heating up to several hundreds of degrees centigrade. This is the case of prehistoric flint deliberately or accidentally burnt by ancient man. Illustrating the specific aspects of this application, we report the TL dating results of a group of burnt flints from three prehistoric sites in northern Italy. The first two, Ghiardo and Ghiardello, are open-air sites close to Reggio Emilia, at the fringe of the Apennine on Middle Pleistocene terraces. The third, Fumane, is a large cave system in the Venetian Pre-Alps, in the Lessini plateau, close to Verona. It includes a thick Palaeolithic sequence, spanning the whole first Pleninglacial period.     

“全球最佳”背后的文化基石——三位“游客”眼中的杭州

正一封联合国世界旅游组织(UNWTO)的正式函件,近日越过辽阔的太平洋,飞到杭州市旅游委员会的信箱里。函件带来的,是一个让人振奋的好消息:杭州入选全球15个旅游最佳实践样本城市。入选的理由是旅游对城市产生的积极而卓越的社会文化影响。翻开中华大辞典,对"旅游"一词的阐述很有意思:"‘旅’是为了实现某一目的而在空间上的行进过程;‘游’     

Nanocontainer aqueous systems for removing polymeric materials from marble surfaces: A new and promising tool in cultural heritage conservation

The present study dealt with the characterisation of marble surfaces coated by three kinds of polymeric material usually employed in stones conservation and with the evaluation of the removal of these coatings from the surfaces by means of new nanocontainer aqueous systems constituted of micellar solutions (MS) and oil-in-water microemulsions (MC). The polymeric coatings were also subjected to accelerated artificial ageing in order to detect possible effects associated to natural photochemical ageing. The aim of the work was the assessment of the performance of such nanocontainer aqueous systems taking acetone (Ac) as a reference “traditional” solvent for the removal procedure. The characterisation was carried out by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and the results obtained showed that the performance of these innovative methods based on nanocontainer aqueous systems can be considered highly promising in the view of a “green approach” to the conservation of cultural heritage.     

The conservation of the Vecchietta's wall paintings in the Old Sacristy of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena: The use of nanotechnological cleaning agents

In the present article we report a study on some sodium dodecyl sulphate/propylene carbonate based aqueous micellar solutions developed with the aim of setting up a nanotechnological cleaning system to remove naturally aged polymeric acrylic layers from the surface of the wall paintings in the Old Sacristy of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena (15th century). Being these systems mainly composed of water (more than 70% by weight), the cleaning of the painted surface have been performed with low environmental impact, due to the small amount of the pure organic solvents used (always less than 25% by weight). Furthermore, the aqueous phase constitutes a hydrophilic barrier to the penetration of the hydrophobic acrylic materials into the porous support. Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-rays analysis (SEM/EDX) and in situ capillary water adsorption measurements indicated the efficacy of this cleaning procedure. Finally, the chemical diagnostics investigation enabled to ascertain the presence of both salts (nitrates and gypsum) and the acrylic polymeric material.     

Cinema Demand in Spain: A Cointegration Analysis

In this paper we explain the decline in cinema attendance in Spain since 1968. We use a cointegration analysis to estimate an individual demand function for cinema, with annual data and in terms of average attendance per inhabitant. We find that cinema is a luxury good and that its demand is elastic with respect to its price. We also show that television acts as a deterrent with regard to cinema attendance. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The effects of cultural and historical information and contribution threshold on public contributions: an experimental study on the conservation of heritage houses in Penang,Malaysia

Budget constraints at the local government level towards the provision of public goods have fuelled interest in the voluntary contribution and provision point mechanisms. However, due to their public nature, these mechanisms are not without problems. The literature shows the presence of free riding and socially inefficient contribution levels. This paper experimentally tests the effect of cultural and historical information pertaining to heritage houses in Penang, Malaysia, on public contributions for their conservation. This paper considers a standard linear one-shot four-person public good game and the decision of the subjects being to contribute either to a private or to a public account. We devise 4 treatments: a Control treatment, a treatment where subjects are provided with cultural and historical information pertaining to the heritage houses, a treatment that includes a contribution threshold, and finally a treatment that combines the use of cultural and historical information with the contribution threshold. The main finding shows that 60–75 % of the subjects contributed more than what they believed others in the same group would contribute when they were provided with the pertinent cultural and historical information. Most of the subjects contributed less than their belief, while 75–77 % cooperated ‘selfishly’ in treatments without the information. These findings are in agreement with the literature, namely that contributions are higher in treatments with a contribution threshold. Moreover, the combination of a contribution threshold and cultural information could encourage more pro-social behaviours.     

Field Analysis and Interdisciplinary Science: Scientific Capital Exchange in Behavior Genetics

This paper uses Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory to develop tools for analyzing interdisciplinary scientific fields. Interdisciplinary fields are scientific spaces where no single form of scientific capital has a monopoly and therefore multiple forms of scientific capital constitute the structures and stakes of scientific competition. Scientists compete to accumulate and define forms of scientific capital and also to set the rates of exchange between them. The paper illustrates this framework by applying it to the interdisciplinary field of behavior genetics. Most behavior geneticists envision their participation in the field as a means to compete for scientific capital in other fields. However, the scientific capital of behavior genetics has different values for scientists attempting to deploy it in different neighboring fields. These values depend on situations in each field and the ways behavior genetics mediates relationships among them. The pattern of relationships of exchange helps explain the social hierarchy and several features of knowledge production within behavior genetics.     

A procedure for determining the chemical composition of binder and aggregate in ancient mortars: its application to mortars from some medieval buildings in Pisa

The use of a scanning electron microscope equipped with a microanalytical system is proposed for characterising ancient mortars. A calculation procedure is presented that allows a determination of the binder and aggregate compositions (including volatile components) from microprobe data collected on the binder, and chemical, mineralogical, petrographical and physical data collected on the mortar bulk sample. The proposed procedure is applied to 11 mortar samples from three historical monuments built in Pisa throughout the Middle Ages. The binder of the analysed samples consists of a carbonate crystalline fraction and an amorphous carbonate-free fraction that makes up from 20 to 60 % by weight of the binder. The aggregate composition, on average, is close to that of the Arno River sands.     

State Subsidies and Repertoire Conventionality in the Non-Profit English Theatre Sector: An Econometric Analysis

This paper examines the impact of financial and socio-economic factors on repertoire decisions of the grant-aided, non-profit theatre sector in England using cross-sectional regression analysis for the seasons 1996/97 to 1998/99. The dependent variable, a conventionality index, a variant of the DiMaggio/Stenberg conformity index, is calculated first. This shows a very considerable variation in repertoire conventionality, so measured, in the non-profit English theatre sector. A model is then constructed to assess the impact of the above-mentioned factors in determining variations in this index using a dataset hitherto not analysed in this way. The empirical results show that public subsidy, the size and the location of a theatre as well as the local average income have an impact on conventionality, which confirms existing empirical findings.     

Internet Software Piracy in China: A User Analysis of Resistance to Global Software Copyright Enforcement

Abstract

China's entry into the global networked society has raised considerable debate over what is derived from the development and expansion of information and communication technologies (ICTs). One of the hotly debated issues is Internet copyright piracy, which is critical to the credibility and stability of China's membership to the global networked society. This paper examines Chinese users’ online discussion about Internet software piracy as local resistance to global copyright enforcement exercised through globalization processes. The study uses Mittelman and Chin's (2005) framework of Polanyi's (1957) counter-hegemony and Gramsci's (1971) counter-movements as a heuristic device to conceptualize the resistance points to globalization located within the dominant discourse on intellectual property rights, specifically Internet software piracy, by Chinese Internet users. Gee's (2002) discourse analysis framework is applied to produce seven recurring themes within online postings: cost, convenience, software companies, foreign developed countries, China's development, Chinese culture, and moral dilemma. The analysis on these dominant themes illustrates the cultural models held by Chinese users towards the issues of Internet software piracy: Internet as a public domain, socialist market economy, patriotism, and Chinese culture. These cultural models represent different types of resistance in Mittelman and Chin's (2005) framework. Meanwhile, these resistance positions are integrated under the notion of Chinese nationalism to constitute a complete set of counter-discourses to global software copyright enforcement.     

Virology Experts in the Boundary Zone Between Science,Policy and the Public: A Biographical Analysis

This article aims to open up the biographical black box of three experts working in the boundary zone between science, policy and public debate. A biographical-narrative approach is used to analyse the roles played by the virologists Albert Osterhaus, Roel Coutinho and Jaap Goudsmit in policy and public debate. These figures were among the few leading virologists visibly active in the Netherlands during the revival of infectious diseases in the 1980s. Osterhaus and Coutinho in particular are still the key figures today, as demonstrated during the outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1). This article studies the various political and communicative challenges and dilemmas encountered by these three virologists, and discusses the way in which, strategically or not, they handled those challenges and dilemmas during the various stages of the field’s recent history. Important in this respect is their pursuit of a public role that is both effective and credible. We will conclude with a reflection on the H1N1 pandemic, and the historical and biographical ties between emerging governance arrangements and the experts involved in the development of such arrangements.     

Assessing Cultural Differences in Translations: A Semantic Network Analysis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Abstract

Intercultural communication, in many cases, is cross-lingual communication. Effective cross-lingual communication requires successful translation processes. Translation quality involves two factors, the technical and the linguistic. Focusing on the influence of language factor, this study demonstrates the application of semantic network analysis and spatial modeling to examine translation equivalence. The examined texts are seven different linguistic versions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (six official languages and Korean). The results suggest that translations are roughly equivalent but with subtle differences reflective of each language's cultural predispositions. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of translation and language issues for intercultural communication.     

The Economic Dimension of the Culture and Leisure Industry in Spain: National, Sectoral and Regional Analysis

This article analyses the economic dimension of a set of activities groupedunder the heading, Culture and Leisure Industry, from three complementaryperspectives: national (Spain), sectoral and regional. Particular emphasis isplaced on determining the value added generated by this industry and itscontribution to the Gross Domestic Product – 4.5% – as wellas showing its level of employment both in absolute terms and as a percentageof the number of employees in the economy – 7.8%. This is apioneer project; studies in this field on either a national or internationalscale are scarce. The study demonstrates that the cultural sector is aproductive activity generating wealth in Spain. However, a high degree ofheterogeneity is found at both the sectoral and regional levels. Economicactivity is led by Performing, Musical and Audiovisual Arts (mainlyTelevision) and Publishing and Printing, which jointly account for about70% of sales and gross value added, and it is concentrated in similarproportions in developed regions specialized in service industries, Madrid andCatalonia, where most culture and leisure activities are available.