The white colour in Etruscan polychromes on terracotta: Spectroscopic identification of kaolin

The present work reports on a spectroscopic study of white colour samples collected from Etruscan polychromes on terracotta from the Cerveteri area. In particular, both white-on-red potsherds of the Orientalising period and high-value polychromes of the Archaic period were considered. The white pigment, a fundamental element in this class of artworks, was not clearly identified in previous archaeological and analytical studies, although the use of kaolin was tentatively proposed. Therefore, samples from the Monte Sughereto kaolin quarry in the Cerveteri area were also studied. The results of detailed analyses carried out using micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy first show that the quarry material is a high-purity kaolin containing quartz. Raman results strongly suggest that the same kind of kaolin was employed in the polychromes of the Archaic period. As to white-on red potsherds, infrared results have a key role in showing that the white pigment is a kaolin closely corresponding to the quarry material since a particular kaolin polytype (dickite) is dominant in both cases. The present work thus provides the first definitive identification of the white pigment used in Etruscan polychromes on terracotta from the Cerveteri area, and suggests that the source of kaolin might be the Monte Sughereto quarry.     

The Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Italian and American Short Forms

Objective. The aims of this article were to test the measurement invariance of the Italian and American versions of the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire and to compare adults’ remembrances of parental acceptance–rejection across the two nations. Design. The Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire was administered to 564 Italian adults (M = 23.04 years) and 509 U.S. American adults (M = 22.09 years), matched by gender and age. The measurement invariance of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire was first established by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. Results. The Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire is fully invariant across the two cultures, and adults organize their remembrances of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting around the same four classes of behavior in both nations. Italian and American adults tend to remember their parents as having been quite loving, with Italian parents being remembered as slightly less warm and more hostile than American parents. Conclusions. The full invariance of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire across the two populations represents additional strong evidence for the universality of interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory. Measurement invariance also confirmed that the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire (short form) can be used to measure adult remembrances of parental acceptance–rejection across these two populations.     

Evaluating the Power of Latent Growth Curve Models to Detect Individual Differences in Change

We evaluated the statistical power of single-indicator latent growth curve models to detect individual differences in change (variances of latent slopes) as a function of sample size, number of longitudinal measurement occasions, and growth curve reliability. We recommend the 2 degree-of-freedom generalized test assessing loss of fit when both slope-related random effects, the slope variance and intercept-slope covariance, are fixed to 0. Statistical power to detect individual differences in change is low to moderate unless the residual error variance is low, sample size is large, and there are more than four measurement occasions. The generalized test has greater power than a specific test isolating the hypothesis of zero slope variance, except when the true slope variance is close to 0, and has uniformly superior power to a Wald test based on the estimated slope variance.     

Cultural analysis of mathematical content in teacher education: the case of Elementary Arithmetic Theorems

This paper deals with the competence of Cultural (epistemological, historical and anthropological) Analysis of the Content (CAC), which is important for teachers’ awareness and autonomy when dealing with educational choices in a changing cultural and institutional context. We report on an 18-hour intervention in a teacher education course at the undergraduate level attended by 12 participants during the fall of 2013. The goal of the intervention was to enhance participants’ CAC in the case of Elementary Arithmetic Theorems by using the rationality construct derived from Habermas’ work. Qualitative analyses of participants’ discussions showed how the construct was gradually appropriated by them and contributed to their CAC. Trends emerging from quantitative comparisons with previous implementations of the same course provided some evidence regarding the effects of the intervention on the quality of participants’ CAC performances at the end of the course. The method chosen for participants’ assessment and their cultural background will be discussed as conditions for the success of the intervention.     

Evaluating the Efficiency of Research in Academic Departments: an Empirical Analysis in an Italian Region

This paper investigates the efficiency of university departments in science, technology and medicine in an Italian Region (Lombardy). The aim of the paper is twofold: (i) to analyse the changes in productivity in recent years (from 2004 and 2007); and (ii) to detect factors that are potentially affecting efficiency. The research benefited from a new and unique dataset (called QuESTIO) developed by the Lombardy Regional Government. Using facilities and academic staff as inputs and research grants and publications as outputs, the research activity of academic departments was modelled. The methodological approach for computing efficiency scores is (DEA) Data Envelopment Analysis; Malmquist indexes have been used to measure changes in productivity, while Kruskal‐Wallis tests were employed to study the potential determinants of efficiency. Two main results were obtained. First, the academic departments improved their efficiency but, at the same time, the efficiency frontier worsened. Second, external and measurable factors (such as scientific sector, proportion of tenured staff, location, etc.) have a limited impact in explaining efficiency differentials. The policy implications of both results are discussed.