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.     

Predicting publication long-term impact through a combination of early citations and journal impact factor

The ability to predict the long-term impact of a scientific article soon after its publication is of great value towards accurate assessment of research performance. In this work we test the hypothesis that good predictions of long-term citation counts can be obtained through a combination of a publication's early citations and the impact factor of the hosting journal. The test is performed on a corpus of 123,128 WoS publications authored by Italian scientists, using linear regression models. The average accuracy of the prediction is good for citation time windows above two years, decreases for lowly-cited publications, and varies across disciplines. As expected, the role of the impact factor in the combination becomes negligible after only two years from publication.     

Who benefits from a country’s scientific research?

When a publication is cited it generates a benefit. Through the country affiliations of the citing authors, it is possible to work upwards, tracing the countries that benefit from results produced in a national research system. In this work we take the knowledge flow from Italy as an example. We develop a methodology for examination of how the knowledge flows vary across fields, in each beneficiary country. We also measure the field comparative advantage of countries in benefiting from Italian research. The results from this method can inform bilateral research collaboration policies.     

Revisiting the scientometric conceptualization of impact and its measurement

The development of scientometric indicators and methods for evaluative purposes, requires a multitude of assumptions, conventions, limitations, and caveats. Given this, we cannot permit ambiguities in the key concepts forming the basis of scientometric science itself, or research assessment exercises would rest on quicksand. This conceptual work attempts to spell out some principles leading to a clear definition of “impact” of research, and above all, of the appropriate scientometric indicator to measure it. The aim is to stimulate a discussion aimed at a definitive convergence on the meaning and measurement of a fundamental concept of the scientometric science.     

Strategic management accounting in universities: the Italian experience

This paper presents an investigation of management accounting in four major Italian universities, which have been struggling to build their strategy in a context of significant change. Following many OECD countries the Italian government has been changing its higher education system by giving more autonomy to universities. These changes pose a number of challenges for management and accounting systems in Italian Universities. Drawing on self-referential theory and its applications to accounting research the paper analyses the construction of Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) in four Italian universities, which are immersed in a similar context of change. The focus is specifically on two aspects of decisions: (1) resource allocation and (2) new academic programme.

From democratic school to civic and political participation / De la escuela democrática a la participación política y ciudadana

The aim of this article is to study the possible influence that exercising a representative role at school may have on secondary school students’ willingness to participate politically in society. In order to do this, an analysis was carried out of the answers given by 300 students between 13 and 18 years old, from a school with marked democratic practices, when asked about their experience of democracy at school and their intention to participate politically. The results show that students’ willingness to participate in society by means of conventional actions, such as voting, does not depend directly on whether they have exercised a representative role at school. However, non-conventional actions, such as attending demonstrations or supporting boycotts, does have a meaningful relation with the exercise of representative roles in the school. As a conclusion, we highlight that participating in the representation of the school influences the democratic formation of students and their willingness to participate politically in society, although this influence is more closely related to non-conventional actions, such as strikes, boycotts and demonstrations.     

Affective Learning in Online Multimedia and Lecture Versions of an Introductory Computing Course

This study evaluated students' affective learning in an introductory computing course that was taught in Hong Kong once in a lecture format and twice in a rich interactive multimedia online format to 414 college students in all. A simplified experience sampling method was used to assess affective learning at the midterm and end of each course in terms of intrinsic engagement (positive affect, perceived challenges, perceived skills in course activities), extrinsic engagement (performance expectations, performance goals, performance self‐efficacy), and negative affect in course activities. Controlling for students' computing background and pre‐enrollment academic ability, multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that, compared to lectures, e‐learning modules fostered more intrinsic engagement, comparable extrinsic engagement, and more negative affect. Findings suggest directions for developing online courses that optimise both cognitive learning and affective learning.     

Luigi Stefanini — Membre du Conseil de Rédaction de la Revue

Sans résumé     

Socio-cognitive dynamics of knowledge building in the work of 9- and 10-year-olds

This study examines four months of online discourse of 22 Grade 4 students engaged in efforts to advance their understanding of optics. Their work is part of a school-wide knowledge building initiative, the essence of which is giving students collective responsibility for idea improvement. This goal is supported by software—Knowledge Forum—designed to provide a public and collaborative space for continual improvement of ideas. A new analytic tool—inquiry threads—was developed to analyze the discourse used by these students as they worked in this environment. Data analyses focus on four knowledge building principles: idea improvement; real ideas, authentic problems (involving concrete/empirical and abstract/conceptual artifacts); community knowledge (knowledge constructed for the benefit of the community as a whole); and constructive use of authoritative sources. Results indicate that these young students generated theories and explanation-seeking questions, designed experiments to produce real-world empirical data to support their theories, located and introduced expert resources, revised ideas, and responded to problems and ideas that emerged as community knowledge evolved. Advances were reflected in progress in refining ideas and evidence of growth of knowledge for the community as a whole. Design strategies and challenges for collective idea improvement are discussed.

University-industry research collaboration: a model to assess university capability

Scholars and policy makers recognize that collaboration between industry and the public research institutions is a necessity for innovation and national economic development. This work presents an econometric model which expresses the university capability for collaboration with industry as a function of size, location and research quality. The field of observation is made of the census of 2001–2003 scientific articles in the hard sciences, co-authored by universities and private enterprises located in Italy. The analysis shows that research quality of universities has an impact higher than geographic distance on the capability for collaborating with industry. The model proposed and the measures that descend from it are suited for use at various levels of administration, to assist in realizing the “third role” of universities: the contribution to socio-economic development through public to private technology transfer.