Biochemistry in Wartime: The Life and Lessons of Adolf Butenandt, 1936–1946

This essay discusses the wartime work of one of the world’s leading biochemists, the Nobel Prize winner, Adolf Butenandt. It describes the influence of the war on Butenandt’s Institute, and considers his role as a representative figure in the collusion of science, government, and the military in Nazi Germany.Achim Trunk is a biologist and historian who specializes in the history of the life sciences. He studied at the University of Cologne, and now works at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science, where he is editing the scientific and medical papers of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Between 2001 and 2004, he was a member of the Berlin team that studied the history of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society during National Socialism. As part of that work, he coordinated the working party on Adolf Butenandt.     

Expert Opinion and Gastronomy: The Recipe for Success

Experts' opinions play an important role in the gastronomic market for the following reasons: information is imperfect and very costly to acquire and quality is, in large part, subjective and consumers need experts to define it. The number of guidebooks currently issued, their success (Michelin: 650,000 sold; GaultMillau: 200,000 sold) and the strong level of correlation generally obtained between prices and ratings or rankings (0.63 on average) for this class of activity illustrate this influence. Without experts, supply and demand would find it difficult to meet.Therefore, identifying the determinants of these evaluations of quality and then estimating their respective impact become relevant. According to the experts, the art of cooking is the only determinant that they take into account when selecting and then evaluating the chefs. For the chefs, the setting also appears to be a determinant and not the least important one.What is the best strategy to become a ``first rate'' chef? Would Alain Ducasse, one of the most famous French chefs, get the same rating in a roadside café as in a luxury restaurant? To answer these questions, a quality equation is estimated using an original database concerning 185 leading French chefs who have been selected in one of the most famous French guidebooks: GaultMillau (2000 edition). The results show that there are two strategies to become a ``first rate'' chef but that the art of cooking prevails over setting. This is in line with the observation that some gourmet restaurants tend to over-invest in luxurious surroundings.     

Non-invasive methods for characterisation of printed cultural heritage

The quality of a book reprint depends on several factors, e.g. paper, typesetting, reproduction of illustrations, printing and bookbinding. The quality of the 1958 and 1988 reprints of the fairytale edition from 1944 designed by the Slovenian architect Jo?e Ple?nik was studied using standard and other non-invasive testing methods, e.g. microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, sonic velocity, Young's modulus of elasticity, surface topography and image analysis. The chemical, physical and colorimetric properties of papers and typographic tonal density were analysed. The results showed that the reprints do not correspond to the originals. Some of the differences in the reprints, if compared with the original (e.g. typographic tonal density), could have been easily avoided, while others (e.g. structural and optical properties of paper) remain unavoidable, mainly due to the influence of internal and external factors on the ageing. The ageing process influences paper properties, since optical properties deteriorate in time. It has been concluded that a precise and systematic study of the properties of an old book should be performed before the preparation of a reprint. The results of the research have shown that the applied methods are useful and satisfactory for the characterisation of the paper properties and typography, and can be of use at the analysis of printing ink and illustration reproduction.     

与时俱进求创新——新春献辞

迎着新春朝阳的升起,2009年第一期的《文化交流》杂志已呈现在大家面前。《文化交流》迎来了出版月刊一年之后的第一个新春,也在新年之始站在新的起点。     

The Market for Picasso Prints: A Hybrid Model Approach

Two basic approaches have been used by the literature focusing on the return to holding artistic works: the hedonic price model and the repeat-sales model. This paper provides a procedure for jointly estimating the two models in a way that take advantages of the unique information contained in each. A semiannual price index for Picasso prints is estimated by using a model derived from the basic framework of the hybrid models. The empirical results suggest that the hybrid model provides the most precisely estimated price index by reducing the level of price volatility.JEL Classification: C5, Z1p     

The economic contribution of volunteerism toward the value of our cultural inventory

Scholars for centuries have been investigating and debating what determines the value of a good or service. However, the market has chosen to ignore what has been categorized as nonmarket transactions such as volunteerism. This paper will examine the economic contribution of volunteerism and its impact on our cultural inventory. Economic literature reveals three possible alternative methods to calculating the dollar figure for non-compensated volunteerism. They are Opportunity Cost Approach, Value-Added Approach, and Market Price Equivalency Model. Has cultural volunteerism contributed to cultural inventory by providing an expansion of our knowledge of the past and understanding the future?     

The Impact of Changing Funding and Authority Relationships on Scientific Innovations

The past three decades have witnessed a sharp reduction in the rate of growth of public research funding, and sometimes an actual decline in its level. In many countries, this decline has been accompanied by substantial changes in the ways that such funding has been allocated and monitored. In addition, the institutions governing how research is directed and conducted underwent significant reforms. In this paper we examine how these changes have affected scientists’ research goals and practices by comparing the development of three scientific innovations (one each in physics, biology, and educational research) in four European countries, namely Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. We find that the increased number of actors exercising authority over research goals does not necessarily lead to a greater diversity of interests funding research. A narrowing of goals and frameworks is especially probable when the increasing importance of external project funding is combined with reductions in state financing of universities and public research institutes. Finally, the growing standardisation of project cycle times and resource packages across funding agencies and scientific communities make it more difficult for researchers to pursue projects that deviate from these norms, especially, if they challenge mainstream beliefs and assessment criteria.     

The social life of measurement: how methods have shaped the idea of culture in urban regeneration

Although ‘culture-led regeneration’ has been critiqued as both a concept and practice, it is clear that policy-makers continue to make efforts to use cultural activity of varying forms to achieve ends which could be (and are) described in terms of urban ‘regeneration’. Whilst the idea of culture-led urban regeneration had gained considerable prominence in a range of policy by the early twenty-first century, many questions have remained over how exactly such ‘regenerative’ outcomes could be convincingly demonstrated, despite much activity to attempt such demonstration over the course of preceding years. The desire for convincing evidence can be seen in a continued, and increasing, focus on evaluation, and methods aimed at providing evidence of impact and outcomes. In light of the renewed political focus in recent years on ‘proving’ the effects and value of cultural activity, this paper considers the continuation of practice in this area, and asks what lessons, if any, have been learned in evaluative practice which seeks to demonstrate the regenerative effects of culture. In light of the continuation of apparently problematic practices, the paper seeks to delineate and account for what has been learned, and what has not.     

探访济公故居

在天台县城北的繁华地段,1927年建成的“济佛院”旧址上,新建了“济公故居”。这座故居由李府宅院、观霞阁、陇西园三部分组成,形成二高一低雄伟的建筑群,高处是峰,巍然矗立,飞檐桃角,画阁雕梁;低处是谷,是“三透九明堂”的宅院建筑,庭院雅致,开敞明亮,成为天台建筑群中一个旅游观光的亮点。一年四季游人如织,令人赞赏不已。     

Landscape quality of farm buildings: The evolution of the design approach in Italy

Rural buildings have undergone deep changes with the historical transition from traditional agriculture to industrial society. This paper discusses these trends in Italy, focusing on major changes in agriculture, design approach, and land-use planning, referring to some regional cases and relative building typologies. The analysis of the main historical treatises on the subject of farm building design allowed us to evaluate how the evolution of the technical approach influenced the architectural quality of rural buildings. This latter was traditionally based on a close relation between aesthetic values, functionality, and simplicity, broadly acknowledged only recently, as shown by the loss of landscape integration of farm buildings constructed in the last decades. By analysing the processes of reuse of historical buildings and construction of new farm buildings, we have found out different and time-evolving ways of referring to rural heritage and identity. In some cases, they have been considered important references, even through typological evolution aimed at combining traditional values with new needs and available techniques. In other cases, old farm buildings have been considered unsuitable things of the past, or rather have inspired new constructions based on an idealized and mystified concept of rurality. Since landscape integration of rural buildings plays a crucial role in the EU concept of agriculture, the choice of architectural quality postulates to be adopted for the design of new rural buildings is a key theme. Both consistency with pre-industrial tradition and typological discontinuity must necessarily consider consciously the relationships with historical buildings, whose important values have increasingly come to the fore over the last years. Once consistency with historical farm buildings is assumed as a design postulate, contemporary interpretation of traditional typologies through modern building techniques is a very challenging and topical field of study. Various degrees of consistency with traditional typologies are possible. Therefore, this approach calls for the development of analytic and metadesign methods aimed at decomposing rural building typologies into their essential physiognomical features, allowing designers to modulate them to meet ever-changing requirements.     

The combined use of lead–tin yellow type I and II on a canvas painting by Pietro Perugino

This article reports the first occurrence of the combined use of lead and tin yellow type I and type II identified on the same paint layer. The two forms have been identified by Raman microscopy on a green layer from the background of the painting Gonfalone della Giustizia (confraternity of Justice banner) executed at Perugia around 1496 by Pietro Perugino.     

The effect of Nd:YAG laser radiation on medieval pigments

Very often traces of paint and pigment have been found on medieval sculpture. Presently, little is known about the effects of laser radiation on polychromy. It is important to protect and preserve these traces during any cleaning or restoration process. The absorption properties of polychrome materials are likely to be different from those of the underlying stone or substrate and as a result special care must be taken to avoid any damaging or discolouring phenomena associated with laser cleaning. Spectroscopic methods (XPS, AES, reflectance spectroscopy) together with optical microscopy, digital photography and X-ray diffraction analysis have been used in a series of experiments on simulated samples of common medieval pigments (vermilion, red and white lead and ochres in linseed oil) on limestone plates, in order to study the reaction of these materials to infrared laser radiation.     

The characterization of commercial artists’ alkyd paints

There is little information in the conservation literature with respect to artists’ alkyd paints; thus, artists and conservators are somewhat at a loss about how to use and treat alkyds. Recently, analytical methods have been developed to identify the components in these polymers (oil modified polyesters), rates of cross-linking and mechanical properties. Presented in this paper are some of the characterization results of artists’ alkyd paints using THM (thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation) gas chromatography– mass spectrometry (THM–GC/MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy–attenuated total reflectance (FTIR–ATR). Four brands of artists’ alkyd paints containing alkyd resin have been analysed; one containing a phthalic anhydride and pentaerythritol based alkyd resin, two containing isophthalic acid and pentaerythritol based alkyd resins, and the final one containing both phthalic anhydride and isophthalic acid and pentaerythritol based resins among the colours studied.     

The Governance of University Knowledge Transfer: A Critical Review of the Literature

Universities have long been involved in knowledge transfer activities. Yet the last 30 years have seen major changes in the governance of university–industry interactions. Knowledge transfer has become a strategic issue: as a source of funding for university research and (rightly or wrongly) as a policy tool for economic development. Universities vary enormously in the extent to which they promote and succeed in commercializing academic research. The identification of clear-cut models of governance for university–industry interactions and knowledge transfer processes is not straightforward. The purpose of this article is to critically discuss university knowledge transfer models and review the recent developments in the literature on research collaborations, intellectual property rights and spin-offs, those forms of knowledge transfer that are more formalized and have been institutionalized in recent years. The article also addresses the role played by university knowledge transfer organizations in promoting commercialization of research results.

“入遗效应”的理论发展探究

"入遗效应"曾多次在国际文化遗产会议上被提及,是一项在遗产保护过程中不可忽视的重要课题。首先通过对既往文献的研究,结论分三个主流方向:(1)认为其具有正向影响;(2)认为其具有负向影响;(3)认为其基本无影响或影响相对较小。继而分析研究结论的差异性,厘清"入遗效应"理论演变的逻辑和原因,并且通过案例阐释这些变化,为国内遗产地构建可持续发展的世界遗产模式建立良好的理论基础。     

The scientific approach to the restoration and monitoring of mural paintings at S. Girolamo Chapel – SS. Annunziata Church in Florence

The scientific approach to the restoration and monitoring of mural paintings, at S. Girolamo Chapel – SS. Annunziata Church in Florence, is reported as a fruitful example of the synergic collaboration between restorers and scientists in the planning and development of conservative interventions. Before restoration, the painting technique and the state of preservation of the pictorial cycle have been investigated firstly by close examination of the painted surfaces and then by optical and/or SEM-EDS microscopy and μFT-IR spectroscopy on appropriately selected samples. In particular, the original constituent materials and those belonging to subsequent restorations were characterized together with those originating from decay processes. In this mural painting cycle, a peculiar “fresco” technique has been used although an auxiliary binder for pigment distemper has been also employed. The use of this technique, sometimes in an improper way together with uncorrected restoration interventions, are the main responsible of the unsatisfactory state of conservation of many painted areas. Preliminary conservation trials and scientific studies were carried out to design the most convenient restoration intervention and to verify the correctness and non-invasive of the necessary operations. Special attention was devoted to cleaning procedures, continuously monitored by a physico-chemical methodology, mainly based on microinvasive, microscopic and spectroscopic investigations, to evaluate the efficiency, advantages and drawbacks of the proposed cleaning procedures and define the most appropriate ones. Finally, specific decay markers have been recognized, by a comparison of the results obtained from the detached samples with those deriving from artificially aged models, to be used for a correct future monitoring and maintenance of the wall paintings.     

The Theory and Practice of the Virtual University: Working Through the Work of Making Work Mobile

The coming of new Information CommunicationTechnologies (ICTs) has prompted muchcontroversy in higher education. Scholars andadministrators have been excited by thepotential – perhaps the threat – of the`virtual' university. But whilst much has beenwritten about `virtual higher education', lesshas been said about the actual `work' involved.Drawing upon insights from the sociology oftechnology, this paper reports on the attemptsof one university to reconcile ideas about`virtuality' with the more established networksand infrastructures of traditional universitylife. This research is based upon aparticipant-observation study carried out inthe UK.     

The sound of the cathedral-mosque of Córdoba

In all cultures, and in many different ways, man has searched for God, and architecture has been a fundamental element in this search. The cathedral-mosque of Córdoba is a unique example of this particular history of the search for God through architecture: first with its choice of a horizontal space on a human scale, adapted to the praying practices of the Islamic period, and then with a vertical space, symbolizing the grandeur and spirituality of the Christian period. The different religions that have been accommodated in this building in the course of its history have brought with them different conceptions of space and different liturgies. These needs, peculiar to each form of worship for the propagation of the faith, imply different acoustic conditions for the particular space. The aim of this study is to look at the sonic characteristics of the space and analyze the evolution of its acoustic characteristics and their adaptation to the different liturgical needs of each period.     

Wall base ventilation system to treat rising damp: The influence of the size of the channels

One of the major causes of pathologies in our historic buildings is the presence of moisture, particularly rising damp. Since these constructions tended to be built near water lines, to facilitate their supply, and because their walls are mainly made of high porosity materials, the presence of rising damp is constant. Although many historic buildings in Portugal have already been the targets of interventions to eliminate pathologies, the fact is that it has not been possible to do it properly. The treatment techniques available nowadays are quite diverse but all of them have low applicability to historic constructions. Research has been carried out, in this past years, at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Coimbra in collaboration with Department of Civil Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto to try and solve this problem. An old but poorly studied technique has been investigated experimentally and numerically in the past few years: ventilation of the base of the walls. It was experimentally validated to limestone walls 20 cm thick. Numerical investigation has been carried out in order to analyze the influence of different parameters on its efficiency. In this paper we present the results of the latest investigations that have been carried out about the influence of the size of the ventilation channel on its efficiency.     

The Future of Innovation Studies in Less Economically Developed Countries

In this paper, we argue that there are patterns of innovation occurring in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) that have been historically overlooked by the innovation studies literature, including the literature on innovation systems and the triple helix. This paper briefly surveys cases in agriculture, banking, biomedicine and information and communications technologies that demonstrate organizational, scientific and technological innovation in Africa, South Asia, and Brazil. In particular, we track new developments in two distinctive patterns within LEDCs: (1) civil society as a site of innovation and; (2) innovation through appropriation. By systematically uncovering patterns of innovation in LEDCs, science and technology policy scholars may make new theoretical gains in innovation studies that can potentially contribute to innovation policies in the global South.