Issues Related to the Restoration of Mirrors of the Wooden paliotto della chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso all’Albergheria,Sicily (Italy)

In this work, the decision-making process involved in the restoration of the eighteenth century paliotto ligneo (wooden altar frontal) della chiesa del Santissimo Crocifisso all’Albergheria of Palermo is presented. Earlier research concerning mirror restoration was based on only a few case studies and the proposed techniques were not suitable for the artwork here. As a consequence, it was necessary to re-examine theories and protocols of modern restoration to plan an appropriate intervention of the altar frontal. Since in this artwork the role of mirrors is not to give back images, as usual, but rather to create special light effects and play of lights, this work aims to find an approach to the restoration of the altar frontal and its decorations that allows a homogeneous overview of the piece. Thus, the mirrors were not substituted or re-created. Only a visual integration of the damaged ancient mirrors was proposed, with the use of metallic-polymeric films, permitting a completely reversible restoration.     

Insect-Infested Wood Remediation by Microwave Heating and Its Effects on Wood Dehydration: A Case Study of Hylotrupes bajulus Larva

Wood artefacts are subject to damage by biologic infestations due to bacteria, insects, and fungal species. One of the worst feared attacks is due to the xylophagous insects whose larvae feed on wood by boring galleries, at the expense of building timbers and worked woods. These beetles are responsible for daily destruction of the world’s wooden cultural heritage, and their elimination has been always a big problem for conservation of wood. The need to avoid the use of chemical methods in conservation for pest control has led to the development of various non-chemical, non-toxic treatments. Among these, heating with microwaves (MW) seems to be one of the most promising, since it has already shown its high efficacy in destroying pests. Insect-infested wood remediation by MW heating in conservation is based on the larger thermal increment induced in larvae than in wood, due to their different dielectric permittivity in the GHz frequency range. However, the side effects that may occur due to MW heating of wood, such as dehydration, have never been discussed so far. Here we study the possible application of microwave heating as a remediation method for wood samples infested by the larvae of the insect Hylotrupes bajulus. We show that it is possible to set up exposure conditions able to achieve 100% of larvae death and that are sufficiently mild not to induce significant dehydration of the exposed wood from which shrinkage effects may derive. Indeed, under these conditions, MW-induced wood dehydration on cubic and parallelepiped sweetgum samples can be kept under control and to percentages as low as 0.4% (w/w).     

Vocational education and students with learning disabilities

This inquiry focuses on the status of nearly 500 students with learning disabilities in 17 state-operated regional vocational-technical schools in a northeastern state. The inquiry addressed four primary concerns: patterns of assessment, career choice, school marks, and attendance. The data indicate that a variety of instruments were used in the assessment process and that the overall grade equivalent levels of attainment ranged between fifth- and seventh-grade levels. Children defined as learning disabled participated in a large number of vocational trade specialties and some 50% or more had school marks indicating that they were passing in these areas. Attendance was high. Many children with learning disabilities successfully perform in competitive vocational education programs designed to produce proficiency at the level of journey person.     

Development of the concepts of living and animal in the child

From Piaget’s research down to the most recent work of Carey and Wellman, it has been attempted to describe the development of basic concepts such as living and animal in the child. There have been less frequent attempts to draw from the results of these investigations suitable teachings for correct scientific education at school. The educational system continues to make proposals which clash clearly with the indications of research. The aim of our research is to bridge the gap between these two needs, as well as to study the development of the concept of living and animal in seven to twelve-year-olds and to draw the necessary educational conclusions. In particular, we have investigated how these concepts are modified at the various ages, between boys and girls and between country dwellers, who have a direct experience of animals, and town dwellers, who do not. The results are on the one hand in agreement with those of international research, adding information concerning the variables sex and direct experience, hitherto relatively uninvestigated; on the other, they provide definite indications as to the succession of contents to offer in a science syllabus, to the advisability of taking into account the considerable difference between boys and girls, and to the need to enhance the role of practical experience of exploring and laboratory work in studying natural science.     

The Impact of the Bologna Process on Graduation: New Evidence from Italy

Research in Higher Education - Between 2001 and 2005, higher education in Italy went through a considerable process of reform according to the Bologna Process. This paper evaluates the effects of...     

Intercultural practices and inclusive education in Europe: can migration be a resource for individual and societal development?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This is an introductory paper to the special section “Multilingual learning and social inclusion of children: The development of educational...     

Knowledge codification and the geography of innovation: the case of Brescia mechanical cluster

The paper re-examines the twin concepts of knowledge “tacitness” and “codification”, which both the literature on (broadly defined) industrial districts, and some recent econometric literature on “localized knowledge spillovers” have possibly mis-handled. Even within specialized local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) clusters, knowledge may be highly codified and firm-specific. The case study on Brescia mechanical firms shows that knowledge, rather than flowing freely within the cluster boundaries, circulates within a few smaller “epistemic communities”, each centered around the mechanical engineers of individual machine producers, and spanning to a selected number of suppliers’ and customers’ technicians. Physical distance among members of each community vary a lot, but even local messages may be highly codified.