scholarly journals The Origins of the Postgraduate Programs on Cultural Heritage Knowledge, Management, Conservation, and Communication in Italy: A Vision of the Past as Engine for the Next Future

Heritage ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 2691-2720
Author(s):  
Benedetto Benedetti ◽  
Ilaria Abbondandolo ◽  
Marco Gaiani
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Proper Training ◽  
Educational Paradigm ◽  
High Level

A discriminating, multi-disciplinary knowledge is a necessary expertise that all the actors who operate in the management, conservation, and communication of Cultural Heritage (CH) must have. They are, therefore, expected to be seriously prepared in many fields. However, a proper training program for them, which effectively combines humanistic studies with scientific ones, is difficult to be arranged when there is lack of comprehensive perspective in the education system. This paper introduces the experiences of the postgraduate programs that were established for many years at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy. Through a calibrated mixture of theoretical background and practical applications taught by high-profile scholars, those programs proved to be effective in the preparation of figures later dealing with the CH at different levels. The clear organization of those specialized lectures, the innovation introduced with hands-on practical case studies and the adoption of state-of-the-art techniques, led to an educational paradigm that is still efficient, whose outcomes also demonstrated how it can be inspiring for future high-level learning programs, which must be oriented towards fostering an aware preparation for leading operators involved in the conservation and dissemination of CH.

scholarly journals The International School of Crystallography: an example of continuing education

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (a1) ◽  
pp. C1274-C1274
Author(s):  
Annalisa Guerri ◽  
Giovanna Scapin ◽  
Paola Spadon
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
International School ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Great Success ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Local Staff ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Traditional Lectures ◽  
High Level

2014 has been declared by UNESCO the International Year of Crystallography. Following the declaration, many initiatives have flourished with the intent of spreading the science and culture of crystallography, since among the major objectives of the IYCr2014 are increase of public awareness on the science of crystallography, promotion of education and research in all fields of crystallography and fostering of international collaborations. The International School of Crystallography is an internationally recognized meeting that was started in 1974 by Prof. Riva di Sanseverino, with the similar goals of promoting high level crystallographic education, scientific exchanges and collaborations. In 2014 the school celebrates its 40th year of activity. During these forty years, courses have been held on many different topics addressing all aspects of crystallography, from crystal growth theory to practical applications in drug discovery to the use of cutting edge technologies; students and teachers have been brought together in an environment that fostered high level scientific discussions as well as unique interpersonal relationships. Many of the students moved on to become well known personality in the crystallographic community, while retaining collaborations and friendships started during the School. Through these years the School teaching methods have also evolved, taking advantage of the fast technological progress of the past 10 years or so. The School offers both traditional lectures and practical computer-based workshops, to guarantee the students not only a theoretical background, but also hands-on experiences on applied crystallography. The dedication of the organizers and lecturers, the unconditioned support of the local staff, and the unique location of the School have made it a great success and a very popular meeting for generations of crystallographers.

scholarly journals Practical Applications of Systems Thinking to Business

Systems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Jamie Monat ◽  
Matthew Amissah ◽  
Thomas Gannon
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Organizational Management ◽  
System Thinking ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Business Failures ◽  
Hands On ◽  
High Level ◽  
Systems Thinking Approach

In this paper we summarize the research on Systems Thinking for business management and explore several examples of business failures due to a lack of application of Systems Thinking, with an ultimate goal of offering a Systems Thinking approach that is useful to all levels of management. Although there is significant literature aimed at facilitating Systems Thinking in organizational management, there remains a lack of adoption of Systems Thinking in mainstream business practice. This is perhaps because the literature does not reduce high-level Systems Thinking principles to hands-on, practical protocols that are accessible for typical managers, thus limiting the working application of Systems Thinking concepts to researchers and consultants who specialize in the field. The goal of this work is to not only elaborate on the high-level ideals of System Thinking, but also to articulate a more precise and practical hands-on approach that is useful to all levels of business managers.

Large qualitative models of complex chemical and bioengineering processes

1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
pp. 2107-2141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Dohnal
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Chemical Process ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Chemical Reactor ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Qualitative Model ◽  
Complex Chemical ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Qualitative Models ◽  
Decomposition Principle

Qualitative model is a theoretical background of commonsense. Complex qualitative models can have prohibitively many solutions (qualitative states). Therefore a qualitative analogy of such classical quantitative tools as e.g. the decomposition is developed. Practical applications of decomposition principle is nearly always ad hoc. Therefore two case studies are presented in details, a chemical process (mixer, chemical reactor, separator) and an anaerobic fermentor.

scholarly journals Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violeta Cabello ◽  
David Romero ◽  
Ana Musicki ◽  
Ângela Guimarães Pereira ◽  
Baltasar Peñate
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Quantitative Information ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Story Telling ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Narrative Assessment ◽  
Alternative Water

AbstractThe literature on the water–energy–food nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water–energy–food nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.

scholarly journals A ‘Suitable Soil’: Plague’s Urban Breeding Grounds at the Dawn of the Third Pandemic

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Lynteris
Keyword(s):  
Modern Medicine ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Scientific Investigations ◽  
The Third ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Material Reality ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Major Outbreak ◽  
Urban Terrain ◽  
Scientific Debates

A pressing question during the first half-decade of the third plague pandemic (1894–9) was what was a ‘suitable soil’ for the disease. The question related to plague’s perceived ability to disappear from a given city only to reappear at some future point; a phenomenon that became central to scientific investigations of the disease. However, rather than this simply having a metaphorical meaning, the debate around plague’s ‘suitable soil’ actually concerned the material reality of the soil itself. The prevalence of plague in the working-class neighbourhood of Taipingshan during the first major outbreak of the pandemic, in 1894 in Hong Kong, led to an extensive debate regarding the ability of the soil to harbour and even spread the disease. Involving experiments, which were seen as able to procure evidence for or against the demolition or even torching of the area, scientific and administrative concerns over the soil rendered it an unstable yet highly productive epistemic thing. The spread of plague to India further fuelled concerns over the ability of the soil to act as the medium of the disease’s so-called true recrudescence. Besides high-profile scientific debates, hands-on experiments on purifying the soil of infected houses by means of highly intrusive methods allowed scientists and administrators to act upon and further solidify plague’s supposed invisibility in the urban terrain. Rather than being a short-lived, moribund object of epidemiological concern, this paper will demonstrate that the soil played a crucial role in the development of plague as a scientifically knowable and actionable category for modern medicine.

Open source software as a mature library system in Armenia

Infolib ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-37
Author(s):  
Anna Chulyan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Digital Preservation ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Efficient Organization ◽  
Digital Repositories ◽  
High Level

The article touches upon the importance of long-term digital preservation of Armenian cultural heritage through creation of digital repositories using Open-Source Software in Armenian libraries. The research highlights the advantages of Open-Source Software in context of providing free access to digital materials, as well as its high level of functionality in order to empower libraries with new technologies for more efficient organization and dissemination of information.

scholarly journals A Two-Level Sound Classification Platform for Environmental Monitoring

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stelios A. Mitilineos ◽  
Stelios M. Potirakis ◽  
Nicolas-Alexander Tatlas ◽  
Maria Rangoussi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Organizational Innovation ◽  
Gaussian Mixture ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Acoustic Sensor Networks ◽  
Preventive Actions ◽  
Integrated Platform ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact

STORM is an ongoing European research project that aims at developing an integrated platform for monitoring, protecting, and managing cultural heritage sites through technical and organizational innovation. Part of the scheduled preventive actions for the protection of cultural heritage is the development of wireless acoustic sensor networks (WASNs) that will be used for assessing the impact of human-generated activities as well as for monitoring potentially hazardous environmental phenomena. Collected sound samples will be forwarded to a central server where they will be automatically classified in a hierarchical manner; anthropogenic and environmental activity will be monitored, and stakeholders will be alarmed in the case of potential malevolent behavior or natural phenomena like excess rainfall, fire, gale, high tides, and waves. Herein, we present an integrated platform that includes sound sample denoising using wavelets, feature extraction from sound samples, Gaussian mixture modeling of these features, and a powerful two-layer neural network for automatic classification. We contribute to previous work by extending the proposed classification platform to perform low-level classification too, i.e., classify sounds to further subclasses that include airplane, car, and pistol sounds for the anthropogenic sound class; bird, dog, and snake sounds for the biophysical sound class; and fire, waterfall, and gale for the geophysical sound class. Classification results exhibit outstanding classification accuracy in both high-level and low-level classification thus demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed approach.

scholarly journals Cooperative Learning to Enhance Horticulture Skills and Raise Funds for Professional Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-457
Author(s):  
Brian J. Pearson ◽  
Kimberly Moore ◽  
James Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Academic Departments ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Critical Skills

Increased global trade coupled with diversified employment opportunities have generated demand for college graduates to possess enhanced interpersonal and foreign communication skills and a well-developed understanding of foreign culture. Horticultural employment opportunities also require students to possess a mastery of horticultural theory with an established record of direct, hands-on experience. Despite these needs, financial limitations of students and academic departments coupled with a lack of available opportunities may restrict students from developing these critical skills. Through development of cooperative learning programs, students have an opportunity to master and refine their horticultural skills while simultaneously raising funds, which are allocated for professional development including an international learning program. This article provides a successful overview of a student-based cooperative learning program that enhances student learning opportunities.

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