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.     

Comparison Between Colorimetry and Sensory Panel in Studying Similarity Between Roman and Integration Bricks,Assisted by Multivariate Data Treatment

ABSTRACT

The restoration of the Roman building of the third-fourth century CE called Minerva Medica, in Rome, highlighted a problem concerning the choice of the color of the bricks for integration. Current conservation practice in Italy favours a restoration that as much as possible is consistent with the original but leaves some visible differences to a careful observer. Color measurement is usually performed using portable spectrocolorimeters that provide the reflectance spectrum and also colorimetric parameters such as L* a* b*, h* L* C*, RGB, etc. In other sectors, such as for olive oils, for wines, and also for the colors of commercial products, sensory panels are used to provide results of difference/similarity and are known to be similar to observations made by consumers. In this study, data from a top quality spectrocolorimeter and from a sensory panel are compared. Twenty non-professional people were involved in the comparison between seven restoration bricks and three ancient Roman bricks from the studied site. Observations took place in a room with controlled lighting, and each observer filled out a sensory card using about 2000 known comparison colors. Comparison of the results was carried out with graphic methods and by means of cluster analysis. The results show that the sensory panel could be a useful alternative to colorimetry, while cluster analysis allowed a significant response to questions posed by conservation professionals, and was confirmed by other graphic-statistical methods.     

An empirical investigation of the tribes and their territories: Are research specialisms rural and urban?

We propose an operationalization of the rural and urban analogy introduced in Becher and Trowler (2001). According to them, a specialism is rural if it is organized into many, smaller topics of research, with higher author mobility among them, lower rate of collaboration and productivity, lower competition for resources and citation recognitions compared to an urban specialism. It is assumed that most humanities specialisms are rural while science specialisms are in general urban: we set to test this hypothesis empirically. We first propose an operationalization of the theory in most of its quantifiable aspects. We then consider specialisms from history, literature, computer science, biology, astronomy. Our results show that specialisms in the humanities present a sensibly lower citation and textual connectivity, in agreement with their organization into more, smaller topics per specialism, as suggested by the analogy. We argue that the intellectual organization of rural specialisms might indeed be qualitative different from urban ones, discouraging the straightforward application of citation-based indicators commonly applied to urban specialisms without a dedicated re-design in acknowledgement of these differences.     

The Challenges of Defining and Measuring Student Engagement in Science

Engagement is one of the hottest research topics in the field of educational psychology. Research shows that multifarious benefits occur when students are engaged in their own learning, including increased motivation and achievement. However, there is little agreement on a concrete definition and effective measurement of engagement. This special issue serves to discuss and work toward addressing conceptual and instrumentation issues related to engagement, with particular interest in engagement in the domain of science learning. We start by describing the dimensional perspective of engagement (behavioral, cognitive, emotional, agentic) and suggest a complementary approach that places engagement instrumentation on a continuum. Specifically, we recommend that instrumentation be considered on a “grain-size” continuum that ranges from a person-centered to a context-centered orientation to clarify measurement issues. We then provide a synopsis of the articles included in this special issue and conclude with suggestions for future research.     

Organizing links with science: Cooperate or contract?: A project-level analysis

Links with science have been argued to improve the (innovation) performance of firms. Yet we still know comparatively little about the project-level characteristics affecting the organization of such links. Our study, based on a sample of 52 projects carried out by a multinational company in the semiconductor industry, reveals that the knowledge attributes of a project help in predicting how the R&D activities will be organized. In particular, basic projects are likely to be developed through formal cooperative agreements with universities. Such projects also tend to be strategically less important. For strategically more important projects, in contrast, and for those where the knowledge to be developed is particularly novel to the firm, the firm is more likely to resort to formal contracting with a university for a specific component of the R&D project, usually early on in the project.     

The managerial foundations of knowledge assets dynamics

The ability of an organisation to harness knowledge assets dynamics lies at the core of organisational value creation capacity. A key challenge both for researchers and for practitioners is to understand how to measure and manage knowledge assets dynamics. In this paper the managerial foundations of knowledge assets dynamics are introduced. For measuring and managing knowledge assets dynamics within organisations three processes are discussed as follows: knowledge assets identification, knowledge assets mapping and knowledge assets flow. The ability of an organisation to gain sustainable competitive advantages is related to the capacity of mastering these processes. Each process is analysed introducing the possible frameworks that can inspire both scholars investigating the microfoundations of organisational knowledge dynamics, and practitioners looking for approaches to leverage knowledge assets to improve business performance.

     

Diagnostic investigations and statistical validation of EDXRF mapping of the burial monument of Pope Sixtus IV by Antonio Pollaiolo (1493) in the Vatican

It has become a common practice to include diagnostics and archaeometric studies during a masterpiece restoration. The advantages and limits of this approach are now topic of discussion in the community of researchers that is growing up quickly. The bronze burial monument of Pope Sixtus IV (1471–84) by Antonio del Pollaiolo, now in the Treasure Museum in the Vatican was intended to be located at the center of a chapel, this explains its apparent asymmetry: lack of height and large base. The restoration of the burial monument started in May 2007, it was carried out by first fulfilling a series of non-invasive analyses using a transportable EDXRF to map the composition of the alloy and evaluate the diagnostic capabilities for deterioration processes of the bronze surface. As a consequence of the first non-invasive diagnostic campaign, a second campaign of micro invasive tests was planned and carried out. The samples were analysed with SEM-EDS and XRF techniques. In this article some of the results of the EDXRF tests will be shown together with the procedures set up to maximize the diagnostic information obtained and minimize the need of microsampling from the artefact. The results and the statistical analysis of data show that a straightforward planning of the measurements can give several, sometimes unexpected, results in the definition of the state of conservation of the monument and also from an archaeometric point of view. With a high amount of data, the use of statistical analysis is necessary, for example in our case, the analysis of the variance confirmed the hypothesis of the use of different alloys for the elements of the panels.     

Investigating returns to scope of research fields in universities

For policy-makers and managers of research organizations, improvement in performance is a constant objective. The potential presence of returns to scope of fields of research could influence decisions in planning the fields of activity of the research organization and the spatial positioning of its researchers in function of their specializations. We investigate the possible presence of returns to scope and the relation between scope of fields in an organization and intensity of interdisciplinary collaboration. The results, from analyzing the scientific collaborations of Italian university researchers over the years 2004–2008, seem to indicate that in general the scope of the research fields has no impact on the productivity of research or the intensity of interdisciplinary collaboration.