A study of the microstructure and condition of thin sheets of painting support ivory using SEM and ESEM

This paper outlines a study of the microstructure of thin sheets of ivory used as a painting support for portrait miniatures. Warping of the ivory support is one of the main problems commonly found in portrait miniatures from the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. Portrait miniatures from this period are painted on very thin sheets of ivory that are often only 0.2 mm in thickness. Warping can lead to cracking of the ivory and can also accentuate flaking of the paint layer. The problem of warping in ivory has thus been of long-term interest to conservators who deal with portrait miniatures, including those at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum. The causes of warping are complex. However, it should be noted that artists normally stuck the thin ivory sheets onto paper or card before commencing the painting. The possible causes of warping therefore are thought to relate to the differential reactions of the ivory/adhesive/paper or card layers to changes in relative humidity (RH). It is well known that ivory is hygroscopic and anisotropic.1 However, only a few scientific studies have been carried out related to this subject and systematic analyses of the morphological and microstructural changes due to changes in RH or moisture in such thin sheets of ivory have yet to be investigated.

People or machines? Assessing the impacts of smart meters and load controllers in Italian office spaces

Government initiatives in several developed and developing countries to roll-out smart meters call for research on the sustainability impacts of these devices. In principle smart meters bring about higher control over energy theft and lower consumption, but require a high level of engagement by end-users. An alternative consists of load controllers, which control the load according to pre-set parameters. To date, research has focused on the impacts of these two alternatives separately. This study compares the sustainability impacts of smart meters and load controllers in an occupied office building in Italy. The assessment is carried out on three different floors of the same building. Findings show that demand reductions associated with a smart meter device are 5.2% higher than demand reductions associated with the load controller.

Impegno nero: Italian intellectuals and the African-American struggle

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Italian intellectuals participated in Italy’s reconstruction with an ideological commitment inspired by the African-American struggle for equal rights in the United States. Drawing on the work of many of the leading figures in postwar Italian culture, including Italo Calvino, Giorgio Caproni, Cesare Pavese, and Elio Vittorini, this essay argues that Italian intellectual impegno—defined as the effort to remake Italian culture and to guide Italian social reform—was united with a significant investment in the African-American cause. The author terms this tendency impegno nero and traces its development in the critical reception of African-American writers including W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, and Richard Wright. Postwar impegno nero is then contrasted with the treatment of African-American themes under Fascism, when commentators had likewise condemned American racism, but had paradoxically linked their laments for the plight of African Americans with defenses of the racial policies of the Fascist regime. Indeed, Fascist colonialism and anti-Semitism were both justified through references to what Fascist intellectuals believed to be America’s greater injustices. After 1945, in contrast, Italian intellectuals advocated an international, interdependent campaign for justice, symbolizing national reforms by projecting them onto an emblematic America. In this way, impegno nero revived and revised the celebrated "myth of America" that had developed in Italy between the world wars. Advancing a new, postwar myth, Italian intellectuals adopted the African-American struggle in order to reinforce their own efforts in the ongoing struggle for justice in Italy.

Consumers perception and evaluation of fresh cut buying attributes: a survey on the Italian market

During the last twenty years, consumer choice in high income countries is no longer merely dictated by price and the organoleptic characteristics of a product, but also by other features some of which are not patently tangible. The growing importance of such attributes in the process of consumer choice is not only due to income increase, but also to changes in lifestyle such as migrations from the countryside, a generalized urbanization and consequential city life style, female emancipation and work outside the domestic walls for women, the drastic decrease in hard physical labor and the process of internationalization. The present survey study aims to explore the importance that Italian consumers give to fresh cut buying attributes and which of these attributes should be taken into consideration by industries in order to satisfy the needs of the most critical shoppers. Where possible, market and survey data for fresh cut products will be compared with those for cooked products and before presenting the results and conclusions of the study, the technical issues of processing will be highlighted owing to the fact that they affect the marketing of these products, the recent market situation with regard to consumption will be illustrated and the methodology used will be described.

Firms in international trade: importers’ and exporters’ heterogeneity in Italian manufacturing industry

Combining data on structural characteristics and economic performance for a large sample of Italian firms with data on exporting and importing activity, we uncover evidence supporting recent theories on firm heterogeneity and international trade, together with some new facts. In particular, we find that importing is associated with substantial firm heterogeneity. First, we document that trade is more concentrated than employment and sales, and show that importing is even more concentrated than exporting both within sectors and along the sector- and country-extensive margins. Second, while supporting the fact that firms involved in both are the best performers, we also find that firms involved only in importing activities perform better than those involved only in exporting. Our evidence suggests there is a strong self-selection effect in the case of importers and the performance premia of internationalised firms correlate relatively more with the degree of geographical and sectoral diversification of imports.

Variation on the effects of the 2003 CAP reform and regional differences in the Italian olive oil sector

This paper analyses the impacts of the 2003 CAP reform on the production of Italian olive oil controlling for the regional differences in olive oil production as well as for the differences between years. Italian olive oil production time series data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network for the 2000-2010 period at regional level is used to examine the effect of the 2003 Fischler reform on the production of olive oil. Production costs and payments received by farmers to support their income are considered. The data were collected at micro level based on a sample of farms representative of the production systems in the country. In order to consider the differences in production among the regions, eight representative regions in terms of surveyed farms are considered: Liguria, Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Puglia and Sicilia. We found that the most important factors affecting the production of olive oil are the area under olive groves and labour productivity. Results also show no evidence that the level of payments have an impact to the level of production, however, the type of payments has. Future work should explore the impact of the 2003 reform into the technical and production efficiency of the Italian olive oil farmers. It would be interesting to link the measures introduced by the cross compliance and the management practices of the different farms to have a more complete picture of the various parameters influencing the production of olive oil.

The rise and fall of Benedetto Croce: intellectual positionings in the Italian cultural field 1944-1947

This article evaluates the discourse developed around Benedetto Croce in the Italian cultural periodical press between 1944 and 1947 and it discusses the forms of adversarial discourse and the agents involved in the anti-Croce polemics that unfolded in the Communist party’s official cultural journal Rinascita. Specifically, this article focuses on a selection of intellectuals who moved away from Crocean idealism to embrace Marxism in order to investigate how their conversion was presented in Rinascita.

A comparative study of internationalization potential for Italian SMEs in the fashion industry in Brazil and Russia

Este estudo tem como objetivo desenvolver uma análise comparativa do potencial de internacionalização na Rússia e no Brasil para as PME italianas que operam na indústria da moda. Depois de apresentar ao leitor as principais áreas cobertas, tais como, o contexto, a metodologia e revisão da literatura, é fornecido um panorama macroeconômico das áreas geográficas composto, englobando um estudo específico sobre o estado atual da economia e da demanda para os bens italianos. O estudo, introduzindo o leitor na indústria de moda italiana, suas principais características e o desempenho atual, já evidencia a busca pela internacionalização. As conclusões decorrentes das análises macroeconômicas funcionam como introdução à visão geral da indústria de moda italiana, uma indústria que representa, fortemente, o "Made in Italy" no exterior. A breve análise da história desta indústria, principais características e situação atual irão, então, sugerir que a internacionalização é o caminho mais viável às PME, para se recuperarem dos anos turbulentos da crise. Entre o vasto conjunto de opções geográficas que as PME têm para abraçar internacionalização, este estudo tem como objetivo fornecer duas análises sobre a indústria da moda: o mercado russo e o brasileiro. A análise, com base no quadro de capacidade de ‘resposta internacional’ proposto por Bartlet e Ghoshal (1989), apresenta os resultados de um conjunto de pesquisas e entrevistas realizadas no Brasil, na Itália e na Rússia, sob a forma de uma análise comparativa dos dois mercados-alvo. A análise evidenciará os drivers de mercado, custo, competitividade e legislação que justificam o processo de internacionalização em ambos os mercados. Os resultados levam à conclusão e às recomendações que os dois mercados representam duas oportunidades muito diferentes para as PME da indústria da moda italiana.