Non-invasive multi-technique investigation of artworks: A new tool for on-the-spot data documentation and analysis

The main advantage of a multi-technique non-invasive artwork investigations relies on the use of different spectroscopic techniques that give rise to complementary information. Despite the artworks complexity, this approach allows great insight into the artwork composition and alteration phases. However, difficulties arise from the great amount of heterogeneous interconnected data that has to be stored for a prompt analysis and preserved. A suitable tool to handle and analyse all the information on the fly is therefore crucial to optimize work, specially in in situ investigations. In this paper we present MOVIDA, a new tool for the data management and analysis of non-invasive investigations in the Cultural Heritage field that not only allows the digital preservation of all the information and knowledge, but can also be used as an analytical tool while the investigation is being developed. The software can be installed on any computer to record, elaborate and analyse the data on-the-spot. All the data generated can be managed within the same application and the information can be easily consulted, compared and related to the corresponding areas of the artwork. The software is self-comprehensive and user-friendly and can be used by all the professionals involved in the investigation and preservation of Cultural Heritage whatever their background and computer skills are.     

Input-output and demographic accounting: A tool for educational planning

Conclusion In this paper I have tried to bring together various forms of input-output accounting and analysis suited to dynamic problems. In the usual, static accounting system, the entries all relate to a single time-period and the set of accounts is completely closed. In the alternative, dynamic system suggested here, the inputs for a given period come, either in whole or in part, from the preceding period and the outputs go, either in whole or in part, to the succeeding period.Two types of model can be built within the framework of this dynamic accounting structure: the conventional input-output model, in which the input coefficients are fixed; and an allocation model, in which the output co-efficients are fixed. The conventional model is appropriate to the analysis of production flows; the allocation model to that of demographic flows. These two models provide us with the main building blocks for an educational model, since as far as the human inputs are concerned the educational system is simply a partition of the demographic system, and as far as the economic inputs are concerned it is a partition of the productive system. A first attempt at combining the two was described in my earlier article.     

Geometric characterization of a cylinder-shaped structure from laser scanner data: Development of an analysis tool and its use on a leaning bell tower

The romanesque-byzantine style, 1000 year old leaning bell tower of Caorle (Venice Province, Italy) is a unique masonry structure, characterized by single and double lancet windows harmonically distributed on a cylinder-shaped shaft surmounted by a conic cusp. A terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) survey was carried out in 2011 and some analyses were performed on the resulting point cloud to provide the following: bell tower leaning angle, wall inclination/tapering and radius, local deviation from circular shape, and local curvature. Emphasis was placed on the changes of these quantities with elevation. In order to perform these analyses, a MATLAB/Octave toolbox was developed and is available as supplementary material of this paper. In this way, a reliable picture of the current geometry of the bell tower was obtained. In particular, a correlation between leaning angle (average value 1.4° towards East-South-East) and some surface deformations and damage (bulges, brick displacements or also material loss) was found. These results are useful for cultural heritage preservation purposes.     

Strategic Capacity and Organisational Capabilities: A Challenge for Universities

Are universities able to operate as strategic actors? An organisational sociology based approach supported by a comparative field research project identifies three types of social, cultural and cognitive processes that play a decisive role in building and implementing local capabilities required to mobilise a strategic capacity. The paper identifies how much these processes are present in the four ideal-types of universities defined by crossing their reputation and their metrics-based performance. Such a meso deterministic perspective suggests that universities may position themselves as proactive actors or principals, and not just as agents of national reforms and political demands. Nevertheless, their ability to do it varies according to their type. The paper also explores the implications of such findings for institutional leadership and steering policymakers.     

Superstars and heavy tails in recorded entertainment: empirical analysis of the market for DVDs

This research presents a systematic empirical analysis of the market for digital versatile discs (DVDs). We examine a sample of 953 DVD titles that appeared on the weekly top-30 sales charts in North America over a 30-month interval. We find that the size distribution of weekly DVD sales revenue does not indicate the presence of increasing returns to information. The empirical results for DVD sales contrast starkly with previous results obtained for motion-picture box-office revenue, where a number of researchers have found evidence of positive feedback in demand. While the distribution of cumulative revenues across DVDs is highly unequal, the DVD market appears not to be characterized by the extreme heavy upper tail that so well describes the winner-take-all nature of the distribution of box-office success across motion pictures.     

Charging for Admission to Museums and Galleries: A Framework for Analysing the Impact on Access

The Labour Government recently stated that access is a cornerstone of all its cultural policies, including those for museums and galleries. This paper therefore outlines a robust paradigm by means of which the impact of admission charges on access can be analysed. In applying that paradigm to museums, it demonstrates a number of analytical and theoretical red herrings which serve only to confuse a study of charges, including the zero marginal cost argument for free admission. Unless it uses this framework, the Government cannot be sure that it has secured access for the many instead of the few.     

Science and technology in Brazil: A new policy for a global world

Conclusion The plurality and complexity of modern science and technology require the research institutions in universities, government and even the private sector to engage in a plurality of activities, from basic to applied science, from graduate education to extension work and teacher-training. They should also be stimulated to diversify their sources of funds, from government to private companies, non-profit foundations and paying clients and students. Specialisation will take place, is necessary, and should grow through a combination of external incentives and internal drive. Scientific research and development, to remain alive, should take place in a highly internationalised and competitive environment for resources, prestige and recognition. And the leading scientists should be also entrepreneurs of this enterprise for the promotion of the growth of knowledge.An edited and abridged version of the document published by Fundaão Getúlio Vargas (Rio de Janiero, 1994). The specially commissioned papers and the references to other publications are not included here, but are listed in that document.     

Ettringite and thaumasite: A chemical route for their removal from cementious artefacts

The present paper reports a new method for converting ettringite and thaumasite in non-expansible and insoluble phases, for its application in the restoration of concrete artefacts subjected to deterioration through sulphate attack. The salts were synthesized by different processes and, after characterization by means of XRD, FT-IR and optical microscopy, were treated with a series of chemicals in order to induce their decomposition. In particular, different solutions containing barium nitrate, barium hydroxide and ammonium oxalate were used to achieve the complete transformation of both phases in barite, witherite, scarbroite and whewellite. Barium hydroxide seemed to be the most appropriate reactant because the others could give rise to efflorescence within the pores of the mortars by leaving free nitrate or sulphate ions inside the materials. The experimental technique was also tested on two concrete samples collected from the bell-tower of St. Nicholas’ Cathedral in Nicosia (Sicily) with encouraging results.     

郑和与满刺加--一个世界文明互动中心的和平崛起

郑和第一次下西洋有可能已到达满刺加"建碑封城".满刺加王国的兴起,与郑和下西洋密不可分;而下西洋的成功,也离不开满刺加国王的大力支持.作为一个史无前例规模巨大的外交贸易使团,郑和下西洋每次必经满剌加,推动了世界文明互动中心转移到满剌加,并持续繁盛了一个世纪.满刺加的凸显,正是东南亚的凸显,在世界文明史上具有重要意义.这一时期的明满关系是历史上国际关系和平发展取得双赢的成功范例.     

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.