Training for museums and the National Charter for museum professions in Italy: a new prospective for development

Traditionally Italian universities have trained researchers and professionals in conservation: archaeologists, art historians and architects. It is only with the reform of the universities, from 1999, that the teaching of museology and museography have also been expanded.Italian museums are for the most part public museums, depending on local bodies or the national ministry; they lack autonomy and do not possess specific professional figures. The task of conservation has predominated over the other roles of museums, but with the reform of the conservation law in 2004 the definition of „museum‟ has been introduced in Italy as well, and regulations regarding the development of heritage have been issued; in addition the Regions have also taken on a more active role for museums belonging to local bodies and for the development of their territory.Museum professions are not officially recognised, but the museum community, through the various associations and ICOM Italia, has put together a document to act as a general reference, the National Charter of Museum Professions, which has been followed by the Manual of Museum Professions in Europe. Now there is a need to plan the content and outlines ofvocational training courses for museum professionals, together withthe universities, the regions and the museums themselves, alongwith the associations and ICOM – ICTOP, utilising the mostinnovative Master‟s courses which offer an interdisciplinaryapproach, a methodology which combines theory and practice, andan element of hands-on experimentation in museums, or withmuseums.

Role and potential influence of technologies on the most relevant challenges for long-term care. ENEPRI Research Report No. 113, 26 June 2012

This report considers three case studies (namely diabetes, dementia and obesity) for setting up a framework to assess the systemic influences of technologies in the long-term care milieu, using a problem-driven approach in relation to health care. Such technologies could be an enabling factor or a catalyser of advances taking place in the health and social sectors. They offer opportunities to support and amplify relevant organisational changes in the context of innovative care models, which stem from overall policies and regulations of a national or regional jurisdiction to address the future sustainability of health and social care.

Galen and libraries in the Peri Alupias

A long (12,000 word) article on the evidence for library function and usage in the newly-discovered Peri Alupias of Galen

Species divergence and trait convergence in experimental plant community assembly

Despite decades of research, it remains controversial whether ecological communities converge towards a common structure determined by environmental conditions irrespective of assembly history. Here, we show experimentally that the answer depends on the level of community organization considered. In a 9-year grassland experiment, we manipulated initial plant composition on abandoned arable land and subsequently allowed natural colonization. Initial compositional variation caused plant communities to remain divergent in species identities, even though these same communities converged strongly in species traits. This contrast between species divergence and trait convergence could not be explained by dispersal limitation or community neutrality alone. Our results show that the simultaneous operation of trait-based assembly rules and species-level priority effects drives community assembly, making it both deterministic and historically contingent, but at different levels of community organization.

An exploration of the drivers to bio-security collective action among a sample of UK cattle and sheep farmers

At present, collective action regarding bio-security among UK cattle and sheep farmers is rare. Despite the occurrence of catastrophic livestock diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and foot and mouth disease (FMD), within recent decades, there are few national or local farmer-led animal health schemes. To explore the reasons for this apparent lack of interest, we utilised a socio-psychological approach to disaggregate the cognitive, emotive and contextual factors driving bio-security behaviour among cattle and sheep farmers in the United Kingdom (UK). In total, we interviewed 121 farmers in South-West England and Wales. The main analytical tools included a content, cluster and logistic regression analysis. The results of the content analysis illustrated apparent 'dissonance' between bio-security attitudes and behaviour.(1) Despite the heavy toll animal disease has taken on the agricultural economy, most study participants were dismissive of the many measures associated with bio-security. Justification for this lack of interest was largely framed in relation to the collective attribution or blame for the disease threats themselves. Indeed, epidemic diseases were largely related to external actors and agents. Reasons for outbreaks included inadequate border control, in tandem with ineffective policies and regulations. Conversely, endemic livestock disease was viewed as a problem for 'bad' farmers and not an issue for those individuals who managed their stock well. As such, there was little utility in forming groups to address what was largely perceived as an individual problem. Further, we found that attitudes toward bio-security did not appear to be influenced by any particular source of information per se. While strong negative attitudes were found toward specific sources of bio-security information, e.g. government leaflets, these appear to simply reflect widely held beliefs. In relation to actual bio-security behaviours, the logistic regression analysis revealed no significant difference between in-scheme and out of scheme farmers. We concluded that in order to support collective action with regard to bio-security, messages need to be reframed and delivered from a neutral source. Efforts to support group formation must also recognise and address the issues relating to perceptions of social connectedness among the communities involved. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cost-sharing of agricultural technology transfer in Nigeria: perceptions of farmers and extension professionals

Cost-sharing, which involves government-farmer partnership in the funding of agricultural extension service, is one of the reforms aimed at achieving sustainable funding for extension systems. This study examined the perceptions of farmers and extension professionals on this reform agenda in Nigeria. The study was carried out in six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling technique was applied in the selection of respondents. A sample size of 268 farmers and 272 Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) extension professionals participated in the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analysing the data generated from this research. The results show that majority of farmers (80.6%) and extension professionals (85.7%) had favourable perceptions towards cost-sharing. Furthermore, the overall difference in their perceptions was not significant (t =0.03). The study concludes that the strong favourable perception held by the respondents is a pointer towards acceptance of the reform. It therefore recommends that government, extension administrators and policymakers should design and formulate effective strategies and regulations for the introduction and use of cost-sharing as an alternative approach to financing agricultural technology transfer in Nigeria.

Aldose reductase and the importance of experimental design

Kinetic studies on the AR (aldose reductase) protein have shown that it does not behave as a classical enzyme in relation to ring aldose sugars. As with non-enzymatic glycation reactions, there is probably a free radical element involved derived from monosaccharide autoxidation. in the case of AR, there is free radical oxidation of NADPH by autoxidizing monosaccharides, which is enhanced in the presence of the NADPH-binding protein. Thus any assay for AR based on the oxidation of NADPH in the presence of autoxidizing monosaccharides is invalid, and tissue AR measurements based on this method are also invalid, and should be reassessed. AR exhibits broad specificity for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic aldehydes that suggests that the protein may be involved in detoxification. The last thing we would want to do is to inhibit it. ARIs (AR inhibitors) have a number of actions in the cell which are not specific, and which do not involve them binding to AR. These include peroxy-radical scavenging and effects of metal ion chelation. The AR/ARI story emphasizes the importance of correct experimental design in all biocatalytic experiments. Developing the use of Bayesian utility functions, we have used a systematic method to identify the optimum experimental designs for a number of kinetic model data sets. This has led to the identification of trends between kinetic model types, sets of design rules and the key conclusion that such designs should be based on some prior knowledge of K-m and/or the kinetic model. We suggest an optimal and iterative method for selecting features of the design such as the substrate range, number of measurements and choice of intermediate points. The final design collects data suitable for accurate modelling and analysis and minimizes the error in the parameters estimated, and is suitable for simple or complex steady-state models.

Efficient and accurate experimental design for enzyme kinetics: Bayesian studies reveal a systematic approach

In areas such as drug development, clinical diagnosis and biotechnology research, acquiring details about the kinetic parameters of enzymes is crucial. The correct design of an experiment is critical to collecting data suitable for analysis, modelling and deriving the correct information. As classical design methods are not targeted to the more complex kinetics being frequently studied, attention is needed to estimate parameters of such models with low variance. We demonstrate that a Bayesian approach (the use of prior knowledge) can produce major gains quantifiable in terms of information, productivity and accuracy of each experiment. Developing the use of Bayesian Utility functions, we have used a systematic method to identify the optimum experimental designs for a number of kinetic model data sets. This has enabled the identification of trends between kinetic model types, sets of design rules and the key conclusion that such designs should be based on some prior knowledge of K-M and/or the kinetic model. We suggest an optimal and iterative method for selecting features of the design such as the substrate range, number of measurements and choice of intermediate points. The final design collects data suitable for accurate modelling and analysis and minimises the error in the parameters estimated. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Depreciation, income distribution and the UK REIT

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider prospects for UK REITs, which were introduced on 1 January 2007. It specifically focuses on the potential influence of depreciation and expenditure on income and distributions. Design/methodology/approach – First, the ways in which depreciation can affect vehicle earnings and value are discussed. This is then set in the context of the specific rules and features of REITs. An analysis using property income and expenditure data from the Investment Property Databank (IPD) then assesses what gross and net income for a UK REIT might have been like for the period 1984-2003. Findings – A UK REIT must distribute at least 90 per cent of net income from its property rental business. Expenditure therefore plays a significant part in determining what funds remain for distribution. Over 1984-2003, expenditure has absorbed 20 per cent of gross income and been a source of earnings volatility, which would have been exacerbated by gearing. Practical implications – Expenditure must take place to help UK REITs maintain and renew their real estate portfolios. In view of this, investors should moderate expectations of a high and stable income return, although it may well still be so relative to alternative investments. Originality/value – Previous literature on depreciation has not quantified amounts spent on portfolios to keep depreciation at those rates. Nor, to our knowledge, has its ideas been placed in the indirect investor context.

`Tactical' living: a situated study of teenagers' negotiations around and interactions with living room media

This paper examines everyday living room interactions in which teenage household members conduct `tactical' play in order to temporarily gain access to, and disrupt, the dominant, domestic codes of living room media. The practices of individuals are interpreted, through Michel de Certeau's language of `tactics', as struggles or a series of opportunistic actions which can often reforge these codes of living, precisely because the house `rules' are not fixed or deterministic in practice. In these tactical performances of self, the use of media is enmeshed in a host of situated and symbolic action, reaffirming how media and face-to-face interactions are multiply and closely entwined in everyday living room life. This video ethnographic work examines such instances of teenagers appealing to `house' rules and demonstrating domestic helpfulness in order to gain access to media, and the tethering of media to objects through the routine practice of `markers' and `stalls'.

Estimating reliability and resolution of probability forecasts through decomposition of the empirical score

References (20)Cited By (1)Export CitationAboutAbstract Proper scoring rules provide a useful means to evaluate probabilistic forecasts. Independent from scoring rules, it has been argued that reliability and resolution are desirable forecast attributes. The mathematical expectation value of the score allows for a decomposition into reliability and resolution related terms, demonstrating a relationship between scoring rules and reliability/resolution. A similar decomposition holds for the empirical (i.e. sample average) score over an archive of forecast–observation pairs. This empirical decomposition though provides a too optimistic estimate of the potential score (i.e. the optimum score which could be obtained through recalibration), showing that a forecast assessment based solely on the empirical resolution and reliability terms will be misleading. The differences between the theoretical and empirical decomposition are investigated, and specific recommendations are given how to obtain better estimators of reliability and resolution in the case of the Brier and Ignorance scoring rule.