Definition of the procedure to determine the suitability and durability of an anti-graffiti product for application on cultural heritage porous materials

Anti-graffiti protection is becoming a common practice in many urban buildings, especially in areas of social decay. When Cultural Heritage objects are affected by graffiti, the application of anti-graffiti products can result not only in an unsatisfactory result but also in an irreversible damage of an invaluable cost. The materials commonly found in these constructions are very frequently porous and present different types of decay forms. For this reason, the protection of these materials should be carefully considered. This paper proposes a criterion to decide on the suitability and durability of an anti-graffiti product prior to its application in a porous surface of a protected building. Performance classifications are defined for a series of properties including colour and gloss, and hydric and durability properties, and minimum acceptable values or reductions in these properties are recommended.     

Organic-inorganic material for the consolidation of plaster

Organic-inorganic materials to be used as hydrophobic consolidants for plasters were synthesized starting from an inorganic precursor (Tetraethoxysilane [TEOS]), added to a polysiloxane epoxy formulation and thermally cured with Ytterbium as acid catalyst. The TEOS reduces the viscosity of the resin, contributing to the mechanical properties of the film, without causing cracking. Solvents, that are harmful for workers and environment and show some drawbacks in the practice of restoration, were not used. The film properties and the formation of silica clusters were investigated. The products were applied by brush on plaster's samples and their compatibility and effectiveness were verified. Thanks to the organic content, the products penetrate deeply, are more stable to photo-oxidative degradation, and the hydrophobicity of the resin, provided by the silicone component, is not altered.     

Application of a new laser cleaning procedure to the mausoleum of Theodoric

Within the conservation programme of the mausoleum of Theodoric, located in Ravenna, Italy, we applied a new cleaning procedure based on the use of a recently developed Nd:YAG laser system, suitably equipped in this case with long optical fibre cables for the transmission of laser radiation to work sites on the façade. The intervention of the laser technique was required to complete the cleaning of a decoration surrounding the monolithic dome, after conventional cleaning methods had been applied with unsatisfactory results. Preliminary laboratory analyses on stone samples collected from the dome and subjected to laser treatment indicated that this technique was effective and could fully preserve the lime–Ca oxalate film existing below the thick layer of black crusts. Before starting the operative phase on the mausoleum, it was necessary to solve the practical problem of keeping free access to the monument during cleaning operations, which hindered the location of the laser in close proximity to the sites to be cleaned. This was achieved by preparing long fibre cables (up to 50 m) which permitted the successful completion of the cleaning while leaving the laser body far away from the dome.     

Microclimate inside a semi-confined environment: Valuation of suitability for the conservation of heritage materials

The microclimatic analysis of the Petrarca's tomb in Arquà Petrarca, Padua (Italy) was performed to assess the suitability of a closed environment located outdoors respect to the conservation requirements of heritage materials. Results showed that the thermo-hygrometric conditions inside the tomb were not suitable for the conservation of organic materials, like bones and wood. The orientation (north or south) was the main responsible for the different damage features of the two sides of the wooden case housing the human remains inside the tomb. Technical solutions were finally implemented to improve the conservation conditions, thus avoiding further damage.     

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.     

Building stone and related weathering in the architecture of the ancient city of Naples

The survey of materials constituting the buildings of the ancient city centre of Naples and of their decay typologies was carried out. Reports were entered in a database which enabled us to draw two thematic maps in a digital format: one of materials and lithotypes, and one showing weathering. On this basis, quantitative evaluations of the lithotypes were carried out. The research pointed out that the use of different lithotypes was mainly as a result of their availability and/or ease of exploitation. Furthermore, the importance of the preservation of the quarrying sites was stressed, both for their historical and cultural interest and, above all, for possible forthcoming provisioning finalized to restorations. The analysis of the results, made on a geo-mineralogical basis, as well as the thematic maps, gives a basic tool which will be very useful to those professionals involved in preservation of cultural heritage.     

Validation of non-destructive characterization of the structure and seismic damage propagation of plaster and texture in multi-leaf stone masonry walls of cultural-artistic value

Assessment of multi-leaf stone masonry in earthquake-prone areas is mostly related to the evaluation of its texture, morphology, leaf detachment and structural cracking due to previous seismic activity, as well as disintegration due to material deterioration. For the plastered masonry with heritage or artistic value (paintings, frescoes etc.), both the type of structure and the extent of damage should be characterized with minimal interference to the structure, which could be overcome solely by non-destructive testing (NDT). However, due to the complexity of plastered multi-leaf masonry structure, the performance of well-known NDT methods could be significantly worsened. Therefore, as a prerequisite for applying NDT on multi-leaf stone masonry in practice, a validation process should be carried out. In this study, complementary ground penetrating radar (GPR) and infrared (IR) thermography measurements on plastered laboratory three-leaf stone masonry walls were performed. Apart from assessing the wall texture and morphology with the type of connection between the leaves, detection of gradual plaster delamination and crack propagation while subjecting the walls to an in-plane cyclic shear test was taken into account. The results showed that GPR could successfully visualize header stones passing through the whole depth of the specimen. The masonry texture behind the plaster could be well resolved by both methods, although GPR near-field effects worsened its localisation. For the detection of plaster delamination, IR thermography outperformed GPR by detecting delamination as small as 2 mm as well as structural crack patterns, whereas GPR only detected delamination larger than 8 mm. It was shown that the performance of both methods for defect detection could be further improved by image fusion based on unsupervised clustering methods.     

宝顶山记游--世界文化遗产"大足石刻"一瞥

十月金秋,我畅游三峡后来到重庆,按计划在重庆有一整天可以逗留,于是就去了宝顶山。宝顶之游,使我大开眼界。规模宏大、精美绝伦的“大足石刻”令我深深折服。 大足石刻,是星罗棋布地分散于大足县境内的上百处摩崖石刻(窟)造像的总称;其中列为各级文物保护单位的即有75处。宝顶山,则是其中最著名、最具典型性的一处。“大足石刻”造像总数约有5万余尊,宝顶一处即有万尊之多。     

踏访亚洲地理中心

去新疆游览的人,大都会慕名走访一个叫"亚心"的地方。"亚心"就是亚洲地理中心。这个地理意义上的亚洲中心,是1992年由新疆科学家们测绘出来并予以定点定位的,距乌鲁木齐市只有30公里,那个地方的原地名叫包家槽子村。离开乌鲁木齐市区去"亚心",汽车一直沿216国道也就是乌鲁木齐河滩公路向西南而行。路况不错,路边风光也好,修剪得很整齐的绿化带,     

寻访苏青故居

正浣锦桥畔的童年时代走进苏青的"冯家大院",便走近了单纯、明爽的苏青。苏青在《浣锦集》后记中写道:"我是生长在宁波城西一个叫做浣锦乡的地方,其名称的来历不知道,我只知道我家的房子很大,走出大门不远处,有一石桥曰浣锦桥。在幼小的时候,我常常随着祖父到桥边去,桥边石栏上坐着各式各样的人,他们都在悠闲地谈天……"1914年,苏青出生在宁波,她的故居位于现在的鄞州区石碶街道冯家村,在这里,苏青度过了童年和少女时代。苏青     

基于建筑学和城市规划学背景的贵州安顺屯堡研究综述

贵州安顺屯堡作为明代军屯制度留下的宝贵遗产,遗存着大量传统民居建筑,具有很高的历史文化价值,蕴含着丰富而独特的历史文化信息。系统的对贵州安顺的研究屯堡聚落的相关文献和书籍按照研究的时间脉络进行了细致的梳理,主要针对建筑与规划学背景的研究成果进行了分类整理,并分析了各时期学界对安顺屯堡的研究成果和规律特点,总结了现有研究成果的贡献和不足,以期对后期的研究指明方向,做出更加切实有效的研究以供安顺地区的文化保护工作者参考借鉴。     

Alternatives to review by peers: A contribution to the theory of scientific choice

Conclusion The questions of scientific choice which were left unresolved when the rapid expansion of academic science in the United States began in the early 1960s have come back to trouble the scientific community. There is now widespread dissatisfaction with the process of review by peers as one of the major systems for the allocation of public funds for research. While earlier criticisms had been brushed off by the assertion—unsupported by facts—that no other systems existed, the present situation cannot be so easily dismissed.A serious examination of other national and international arrangements shows that a wide variety of procedures are in use and there is no research which shows that one system is either more productive scientifically, or more cost-effective in bringing about valuable scientific research. New systems which may be considered should avoid the major defects of the system of peer review as now practised: the enormous waste of scientists' time, the great potential for conflicts of interest, and the inherent bias against innovation.The principal system which I have proposed here combines the best elements of peer review with the simplicity and efficiency of the use of a formula. Moreover, this formula based on peer review of performance incorporates all the elements for which the academic scientific establishment should be accountable to its patron, which is the public treasury. A final virtue of the proposed system is that it provides simple and convenient procedures through the use of numerical weighting factors for the policy-maker to guide the support of scientific research as a whole.     

A Quantitative Approach to Evaluate the Relative Efficiency of Museums

Data Envelopment Analysis is used for evaluating the technical efficiency of museum institutions. This approach enables us to create for each museum a relative efficiency measure, which takes into account both the resources used by museums and the results of their activities. Moreover this technique is able to overcome some of the difficulties found when applying more traditional indicators of productivity in evaluating the technical efficiency of cultural institutions. An empirical analysis carried out on data from Italian municipal museums illustrates this application of the operational research model.     

A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible

The aim of this work is to analyse the evolution of the concept of cultural heritage in West European states. In the last decades of the 20th century, the term “heritage” was characterised by expansion and semantic transfer, resulting in a generalisation of the use of this word, frequently used in the place of another, such as, monument and cultural property. However, all these terms are not able to cover the same semantic field. Starting by the reflection on the semantic evolution of the notion of cultural heritage in France, we approach to the international definition of heritage given by the directives, charters and international resolutions in order to define a global outline of the meaning of heritage that is not just limited to a particular national dimension. From a purely normative approach, one went to a less restrictive approach, one based on the capacity of the object to arouse certain values that led the society in question to consider it as heritage and therefore, to a further step in which heritage is no longer defined on the basis of its material aspect. This development has also made it possible to recognise intangible cultural heritage, which was ignored for a long time, as heritage to be protected and safeguarded.     

世界顶级照片评选目击记

从2005年开始举行的中国国际新闻摄影比赛（华赛）,是一项高规格的新闻摄影国际性赛事。今年10月16日,第九届华赛在美丽的西子湖畔举行了简朴而隆重的颁奖典礼。我们特约请第八届、第九届华赛组委会成员徐斌撰写此文——     

陈叶根:西湖园林化妆师

西湖的美在于自然景观与人文景观的天然融合,它三面环山,一湖碧水,构成了卓然风姿。而西湖沿岸历经千年的寺庙、园林等人文景观,又使得西湖增添了浓重的历史文化底蕴,两者相得益彰,互为因果。然而湖山千年不老,但随着岁月流逝,人文景观会失去往日的面貌,这就需要专门的人才对西     

张洁:告别乌托邦的话语世界

20世纪80年代中期以来,张洁彻底告别了热情高歌式的理想主义文本模式,以亵渎"崇高"、调侃"神圣"的叙述立场,"挑战假相"的叙述姿态,反讽与讽刺相结合的叙述策略,片断拼接式的叙述结构,解构与颠覆了其前期作品以热诚的信仰、纯真的情感、和谐均衡的叙述方式、温婉感伤的语言格调为特点的乌托邦话语定势.     

徜徉在百年文学殿堂

到北京参观中国现代文学馆,我是怀着一种朝圣心情而去的。去年5月中国现代文学馆刚落成开馆不久,我们在北京向路人打听文学馆的地址,当时几乎无人知晓,连出租车司机也说不上。我们只能凭着媒体报道说它在“亚运村附近”这种朦朦胧胧的感觉,请的士师傅寻找。车子不知转了多少个弯,兜了多少个圈子,又打听了不少路人,总算才在东郊找到。据说这不止是我们的尴尬,网上也有人感叹这个文学馆“芳踪难寻”。     

A History of Universalism: Conceptions of the Internationality of Science from the Enlightenment to the Cold War

That science is fundamentally universal has been proclaimed innumerable times. But the precise geographical meaning of this universality has changed historically. This article examines conceptions of scientific internationalism from the Enlightenment to the Cold War, and their varying relations to cosmopolitanism, nationalism, socialism, and ‘the West’. These views are confronted with recent tendencies to cast science as a uniquely European product.