Search

PurposeThe monetary valuation of cultural heritage of a selection of 16 major public, not-for-profit Australian cultural institutions is examined over a period of almost three decades (1992–2019) to understand how they have responded to the paradoxical tensions of heritage valuation for financial reporting purposes.Design/methodology/approachAccounting for cultural heritage is an intrinsically paradoxical practice; it involves a conflict of two opposite ways of attributing value: the traditional accounting and the heritage professionals (or curatorial) approaches. In analysing the annual reports and other documentary sources through qualitative content analysis, the study explores how different actors responded to the conceptual and technical contradictions posed by the monetary valuation of “heritage assets”, the accounting phraseology of accounting standards.FindingsFour phases emerge from the analysis undertaken of the empirical material, each characterised by a distinctive nature of the paradox, the institutional responses discerned and the outcomes. Although a persisting heterogeneity in the practice of accounting for cultural heritage is evident, responses by cultural institutions are shown to have minimised, so far, the negative impacts of monetary valuation in terms of commercialisation of deaccessioning decisions and distorted accountability.Originality/valueIn applying the theoretical lens of paradox theory in the context of the financial reporting of heritage, as assets, the study enhances an understanding of the challenges and responses by major public cultural institutions in a country that has led this development globally, providing insights to accounting standard setters arising from the accounting practices observed.

Launched in October 2018, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is set to arrive at Mercury in late 2025. The modular S/C consists of two scientific Mercury orbiters and a cruise module with electric propulsion to support the 7-years cruise phase with planetary flybys at Earth (1x), Venus (2x) and Mercury (6x). Flight operations of the composite spacecraft are performed by ESOC Darmstadt, Germany. In the first year of flight, extensive near-Earth commissioning operations as well as two electric propulsion thrust arcs have taken place, with the S/C in excellent shape and well on its way to Mercury. Starting with a mission overview, the paper will present operations in the first year of flight, the current status of BepiColombo, as well as providing an outlook on upcoming activities and events.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdowns, school closures and distance learning may have had both negative and positive effects on physical and mental health of children. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on a large group of children between 1 and 10 years old in Lombardy, Italy (n = 3392). Their parents filled in a survey answering single or multiple-choice questions about their offspring’s behavior changes (including sleep, dietary habits, emotional disturbances), relationship with siblings, parents and peers, the use of digital technologies, and distance learning experience during the lockdown. Results Parents reported lifestyles and emotional alterations during the lockdown. The modifications of family relationships, parents’ remote working, and screen time were associated with sleep, emotional and behavioral modifications. Distance learning was overall considered adequate. Conclusions This study reported the most updated data on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on children between 1 and 10 years of age in a large sample of Italian schoolchildren. The results of this study point out that pediatricians and authorities should support relationships within families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents’ remote working might play an important role for this purpose.

The paper focuses on the effect of business model and governance changes on conservation and access outcomes in three heritage sites in Poland: Ksiaz Castle, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace Abbey and the Jelenia Gora Valley historic palaces. It argues that the interplay between business model and governance led by relevant political, administrative and economic changes has an impact on which historic buildings are conserved for future generations, in what form, and with which functions. Findings from the case studies allow us to design three ideal business models for the management of heritage sites. The paper also explores implications for management research regarding business model and public sector change.

International audience; PURPOSE. To describe the molecular epidemiology of nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Usher syndrome (US) in Italian patients. METHODS. A total of 591 probands (315 with family history and 276 sporadics) were analyzed. For 155 of them, we performed a family segregation study, considering a total of 382 relatives. Probands were analyzed by a customized multigene panel approach. Sanger sequencing was used to validate all genetic variants and to perform family segregation studies. Copy number variants of selected genes were analyzed by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. Four patients who tested negative to targeted next-generation sequencing analysis underwent clinical exome sequencing.RESULTS. The mean diagnostic yield of molecular testing among patients with a family history of retinal disorders was 55.2% while the diagnostic yield including sporadic cases was 37.4%. We found 468 potentially pathogenic variants, 147 of which were unpublished, in 308 probands and 66 relatives. Mean ages of onset of the different classes of RP were autosomal dominant RP, 19.3 ± 12.6 years; autosomal recessive RP, 23.2 ± 16.6 years; X-linked RP, 13.9 ± 9.9 years; and Usher syndrome, 18.9 ± 9.5 years. We reported potential new genotype-phenotype correlations in three probands, two revealed by TruSight One testing. All three probands showed isolated RP caused by biallelic variants in genes usually associated with syndromes such as PERCHING and Senior-Loken or with retinal dystrophy, iris coloboma, and comedogenic acne syndrome.CONCLUSIONS. This is the largest molecular study of Italian patients with RP in the literature, thus reflecting the epidemiology of the disease in Italy with reasonable accuracy.

Texts are among the most relevant data sources for social scientists, and traditionally researchers adopt qualitative methods for dealing with them. Yet, new computer aided techniques offer promising methodological avenues for scholars, which can now deal with big corpora of texts. One of the techniques that recently gained more relevance is Topic Modelling, which permits extracting bag of words which co-occur often in texts. While Topic Modelling was fruitfully used in sociology and management, existing software for performing it requires coding skills, and are not user friendly. In this paper we present MITAO, a new graphic-based, user friendly, open source software for performing topic modelling and other analysis on textual data.

The International Rosetta Mission was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 year journey to rendezvous with comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta performed comet orbit insertion on the 6th of August 2014, after which it characterised the nucleus and orbited it at altitudes as low as a few kilometres. In November 2014 Rosetta delivered the lander Philae to perform the first soft landing ever on the surface of a comet. After this critical operation, Rosetta began the escort phase of the comet in its journey in the Solar System heading to the perihelion, reached in August 2015. Originally foreseen till the end of 2015, the mission was extended for another nine months to follow the comet on its outbound arc of the orbit. In view of the acquired experience and of the approaching end of mission the spacecraft was flown at much closer distances from the nucleus so that the scientific instruments had the chance to perform unique measurements. Following this phase of very close orbits, on the 30th of September 2016 Rosetta was set on a collision course trajectory with the comet to terminate the mission with a controlled impact. This paper describes the details of the extended mission phase and the issues encountered during these months. It also includes the changes implemented on the spacecraft and in the operations concept to optimise the remaining mission time. The paper also includes the lessons learned from this unique and complex mission phase.

The paper discusses the role of hope in the construction of an accounting technology to realize a program, by looking at a process of choosing non-financial indicators in an effort to achieve healthier workplaces. By exploring the literature dealing with the concept of hope and by drawing on the debate on the relationship between accounting and action, we highlight the features of three hope-related concepts (hopelessness, naïve hope, and reflective hope). We also highlight how these concepts relate to different areas of uncertainty (validity, accuracy, and relevance) in the development of accounting technologies. Evidence collected through particiapant observation of a team involved in the construction of indicators offers empirical material to investigate the interplay between hopelessness, naïve hope, and reflective hope in relation to uncertainties concerning the link between accounting and action. Beyond analyzing how team members move from a naïve to a reflective hope in making the accounting–action link, the paper shows that among practitioners it is accepted that unintended consequences constitute the rule rather than the exception in the accounting–action link.

The International Rosetta Mission was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 year journey to comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko and has reached it early August 2014; it will now orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometres and has delivered the Lander Philae onto its surface. Following the exit in January 2014 from a 2.5 years hibernation period, necessary due to the large heliocentric distances reached by the solar-powered spacecraft, which prevented full operation of the on-board electrical systems, Rosetta conducted the delicate approach phase during which it slowly discovered its unexpected irregular shape. The spacecraft is now flying in close proximity of the comet and has begun its main science phase. The comet has been characterised to the level necessary to perform a proper orbit insertion and proceed with the global mapping and close observation phases. During this phase the landing site for Philae has been selected with all operations focusing on this extremely delicate and risky mission phase. The mission has been conducted according to plan and the planning and operations concepts defined have revealed to be adequate for the environment encountered during the early comet phases. The performance of the spacecraft and of the whole operations teams have been very good; all the tools and processes developed to characterise and model the environment revealed to be adequate and provided results that are fully in line with the needs. This paper describes the flight operations conducted till November 2014, the results and the performance of the mission from an operations point of view, and some of the details of the landing phase. Finally it also addresses the lessons learned that can be drawn after this initial phase of comet operations.

Background\ud To evaluate functional visual parameters using photocromic and selective blue-violet light filtering spectacle lenses in patients affected by central or peripheral scotoma due to retinal diseases.\ud \ud Sixty patients were enrolled in this study: 30 patients affected by central scotoma, group 1, and 30 affected by peripheral scotoma, group 2.\ud \ud Black on White Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BW-BCVA), White on Black Best Corrected Visual Acuity (WB-BCVA), Mars Contrast Sensitivity (CS) and a Glare Test (GT) were performed to all patients.\ud \ud Test results with blue-violet filter, a short-pass yellow filter and with no filters were compared.\ud \ud Results\ud All scores from test results increased significantly with blue-violet filters for all patients.\ud \ud The mean BW-BCVA increased from 0.30 ± 0.20 to 0.36 ± 0.21 decimals in group 1 and from 0.44 ± 0.22 to 0.51 ± 0.23 decimals in group 2 (Mean ± SD, p < 0.0001 in both cases).\ud \ud The mean WB-BCVA increased from 0.31 ± 0.19 to 0.38 ± 0.23 decimals in group 1 and from 0.46 ± 0.20 to 0.56 ± 0.22 decimals in group 2 (Mean ± SD, p < 0.0001 in both cases).\ud \ud The letter count for the CS test increased from 26.7 ± 7.9 to 30.06 ± 7.8 in group 1 (Mean ± SD, p = 0.0005) and from 31.5 ± 7.6 to 33.72 ± 7.3 in group 2 (Mean ± SD, p = 0.031).\ud \ud GT was significantly reduced: the letter count increased from 20.93 ± 5.42 to 22.82 ± 4.93 in group 1 (Mean ± SD, p < 0.0001) and from 24.15 ± 5.5 to 25.97 ± 4.7 in group 2 (Mean ± SD, p < 0.0001).\ud \ud Higher scores were recorded with the Blue filter compared to Yellow filter in all tests (p < 0.05).\ud \ud No significant differences in any test results could be detected between the Yellow filter and the No filter condition.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud The use of a combination of photocromic lens with a selective blue-violet light filter showed functional benefit in all evaluated patients.

PurposeTo study the correlation of the local ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer (GCL-IPL) thickness with corresponding retinal sensitivity as studied with microperimetry in patients with Type 2 diabetes and no signs of diabetic retinopathy.Patients and methodsWe analyzed 35 healthy subjects (68 eyes) and 26 Type 2 diabetic patients (48 eyes) with no signs of diabetic retinopathy. We tested best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), monocular and binocular constrast sensitivity (CS, Pelli - Robson chart) and retinal sensitivity with microperimetry, and acquired dense macular SD-OCT scans. We then studied the correlation between local GCL-IPL thickness and local sensitivity.ResultsMean BCVA was 1.09 (±1.03) decimals in diabetic subjects and 1.02 (±0.15) decimals in healthy subjects. Only binocular CS was significantly higher in healthy subjects (1.18±0.42 for healthy subjects, 1.62±0.63 for diabetic subjects). In both local and global analysis we observed higher GCL-IPL thickness and higher sensitivity in normal compared with diabetic subjects, but no difference reached significance (p0.05). Using a mixed multivariate linear model, we found a significant correlation between retinal sensitivity and the correspondent GCL-IPL thickness in diabetic subjects (0.022±0.006 dB/μm, p=0.0007) but not in healthy subjects (-0.002±0.006 dB/μm, p=0.77).Conclusiondespite close similarities between the two groups, we found a significant difference in the structure-function relationship in diabetic subjects without diabetic retinopathy, suggesting that diabetes might act as an additional effect in the normal deterioration of the visual function related to the inner retina.

This chapter investigates and critically reflects on highlights and blind spots in site management research. The analysis is based on a textual analysis of the case studies included in this book. Findings suggest the presence of three distinct, although overlapping, site management discourses: participation of local communities, development, and administrative complexity. Starting from this observation, the chapter tries to deepen each of these discourses, underlining the need to unpack the concept of participation, to improve existing discussions on heritage and development, and to reconsider the role of plans in dealing with administrative complexity. The chapter then moves to blind spots in site management, pinpointing human resources, financial resources, and management by numbers as areas that need further attention in the debate.

In the present paper, we investigate the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP), a partnership agreement between one public and two non-profit actors aimed at improving the conservation of the archeological site of Herculaneum. The study is motivated by different elements of interests. First, although HCP has been defined by UNESCO as a significant case study for private–public partnership (PPP) in the cultural heritage sector, its financial and organizational aspects are still under-investigated. Second, and quite paradoxically, an analysis of HCP through the lenses of PPP literature reveals its distinctive nature—i.e. more a borderline case than a typical example of PPP. Third, the presence of a similar archeological site nearby Herculaneum—i.e. Pompeii, also defined as a Herculaneum sister city—allows a thorough assessment of the benefit of the partnership scheme in a counterfactual logic. Through the study, we complement the current debate on partnerships in the heritage field, we report on an atypical experience of partnership, and we problematize the rationale of this governance solution within the Italian public sector.

The International Rosetta Mission was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 years journey to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta will reach the comet in 2014, orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometres and deliver the Lander Philae onto its surface. Following the fly-by of Asteroid (21-)Lutetia in 2010, Rosetta continued its travel towards the planned comet encounter in 2014. In this phase Rosetta became the solar-powered spacecraft that reached the largest Sun distances in history of spaceflight, up to an aphelion at 5.3 AU in October 2012. At distances above 4.5 AU the spacecraft's solar generator power is not sufficient to keep all spacecraft systems active. Therefore in June 2011 the spacecraft was spun up to provide gyroscopic stabilisation, and most of its on-board units, including those used for attitude control and communications, were switched off. Over this “hibernation” phase of about 2.5 years the spacecraft will keep a minimum of autonomy active to ensure maintenance of safe thermal conditions. After Lutetia fly-by, flight controllers had to tackle two anomalies that had significant impacts on the mission operations. A leak in the reaction control subsystem was confirmed and led to the re-definition of the operational strategy to perform the comet rendezvous manoeuvres planned for 2011 and 2014. Anomalous jumps detected in the estimated friction torque of two of the four reaction wheels used for attitude control forced the rapid adoption of measures to slow down the wheels degradation. This included in-flight re-lubrication activities and changes in the wheels operational speed regime. Once the troubleshooting of the two anomalies was completed, and the related operational scenarios were implemented, the first large (790 m/s) comet rendezvous manoeuvre was executed, split into several long burns in January and February 2011. The second burn was unexpectedly interrupted due to the anomalous behaviour of two thrusters, causing attitude off-pointing. Flight controllers modified the thrusters operation parameters in the on-board software and managed to re-start the sequence of burns and successfully complete the manoeuvre. After the manoeuvre, preparation for the critical spin-up and hibernation entry activities, planned for June 2011, began. This paper presents the activities carried out on Rosetta in the final year before hibernation entry. The major anomalies and the related troubleshooting and workaround solutions are detailed. Lessons learned from the operation of the first spacecraft operating with solar power at Jupiter-like distances from the Sun are presented and discussed.

The International Rosetta Mission, cornerstone of the European Space Agency Scientific Programme, was launched on 2nd March 2004 to its 10 years journey to comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta will reach the comet in summer 2014, orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few Kilometres and deliver the Lander Philae onto its surface. After its successful asteroid fly-by in September 2008, Rosetta came back to Earth, for the final gravity acceleration towards its longest heliocentric orbit, up to a distance of 5.3 AU. It is during this phase that Rosetta crossed for the second time the main asteroids belt and performed a close encounter with asteroid (21)Lutetia on the 10th of July 2010 at a distance of ca. 3160 km and a relative velocity of 15 km/s. The payload complement of the spacecraft was activated to perform highly valuable scientific observations. The approach phase to the celestial body required a careful and accurate optical navigation campaign that will prove to be useful also for the comet approach phase. The experience gained with first asteroid flyby in 2008 was fed back into the operations definition and preparation for this highly critical phase; this concerns in particular the operations of the navigation camera for the close-loop autonomous asteroid tracking and of the main scientific camera for high resolution imaging. It was shortly after the flyby that Rosetta became the solar-powered spacecraft to have flown furthest from the Sun (>2.72 AU). This paper presents the activities carried out and planned for the definition, preparation and implementation of the asteroid flyby mission operations, including the test campaign conducted to improve the performance of the spacecraft and payload compared to the previous flyby. The results of the flyby itself are presented, with the operations implemented, the achieved performance and the lessons learned.

This paper focuses on how Italian performing arts organizations were funded between 2003 and 2005. How does policy regulate the financing system for performing arts? What are the underlying logics that govern financing choices? In this paper the authors move beyond the simple examination of formal policies by analysing the funding data and organizational routines of the ministerial offices responsible for the allocation of grants. The authors implemented a multi-method research methodology consisting of document analysis, in-depth interviews, and quantitative analysis of funding data. The main findings can be summarized as follows. First, funds are continuously allocated to the same group of organizations. Second, although rigid, the system is imbued by a ‘rhetoric of the project’. Third, the system does not reward innovation. In conclusion, only by studying how the law is actually implemented can one capture the choices that underlie financing actions, and thus unravel unanticipated outcomes and inconsistencies between rhetoric and conduct.

The International Rosetta Mission, cornerstone of the European Space Agency Scientific Programme, was launched on 2 March 2004 on its 10 years journey towards a rendezvous with comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta will reach the comet nucleus in summer 2014, orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometres and deliver the lander Philae onto its surface. After its successful Asteroid fly-by in September 2008, Rosetta is coming back to Earth, for the last gravity acceleration towards its longest heliocentric orbit, up to a distance of 5.3 AU, never reached before by a solar generator-powered spacecraft. This revolution around the Sun will last several years, during which the spacecraft will have to be spun-up and put into hibernation mode, with most of the systems deactivated, to minimise power consumption. This paper presents the preparation and implementation of the deep space phase of the Rosetta mission. Differences between operations performed until now, at moderate distances to Earth and Sun, and the upcoming ones, involving distances up to 800 million km from the Sun and almost 1 billion km from Earth, are analysed and their impact on the operational concept described. The ground tools required in support of the operations are presented.

Accepted: 2009-09-25, 資料番号: SA1000895000

Digital divide can be considered a macro economical index representing the social differences and the separation between the North and the South of the world. Since the first definition of digital divide, it has been shown that it is also a great and unrecognized problem in the developed countries, especially in the field of education. “Digital disconnection” is a key problem for School and University as institutions. In this article, the above questions are widely analyzed with a special attention on the spreading gap between digital natives (i.e., young students), and digital immigrants (i.e., parents, teachers and policymakers in the school).

The International Rosetta Mission, a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency Scientific Programme, was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 years journey towards a rendezvous with comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Once reached the comet nucleus in summer 2014, Rosetta will orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometres and deliver a Lander, named Philae, onto its surface. In the long cruise to its target, Rosetta performs four gravity assist manoeuvres, three times with Earth and once with Mars. After the first successful Earth swing-by in March 2005, the year 2007 started with a highly critical Mars swing-by, carried out in February at a target altitude over the planet's surface of only 250 km. This manoeuvre re-oriented the spacecraft trajectory towards the second Earth swing-by, planned for November 2007. During both swing-by phases the payload was operated to achieve a variety of scientific and calibration objectives. This paper continues the periodic reporting of the operational experience from the Rosetta mission operations. Preparation and execution of the swing-by activities are described. As derived from the lessons learned in this phase, a generic approach to be adopted for planning and execution of planets swing-by phases, including those of future missions like BepiColombo, is presented.

At the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt (Germany) the activities for ground segment development and mission operations preparation for Rosetta started in 1997. Many of the characteristics of this mission were new to ESOC and have therefore required an early effort in identifying all the necessary facilities and functions. The ground segment required entirely new elements to be developed, such as the large deep-space antenna built in New Norcia (Western Australia). The long duration of the journey to the comet, of about 10 years, required an effort in the operations concept definition to reduce the cost of routine monitoring and control. The new approaches adopted for the Rosetta mission include full transfer of on-board software maintenance responsibility to the operations team, and the installation of a fully functioning spacecraft engineering model at ESOC, in support of testing and troubleshooting activities in flight, but also for training of the operations staff. Special measures have also been taken to minimise the ground contact with the spacecraft during cruise, to reduce cost, down to a typical frequency of one contact per week. The problem of maintaining knowledge and expertise in the long flight to comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko is also a major challenge for the Rosetta operations team, which has been tackled early in the mission preparation phase and evolved with the first years of flight experience.

The International Rosetta Mission, a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency Scientific Programme, was launched on 2nd March 2004 on its 10 years journey towards a rendezvous with comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Once reached the comet nucleus in summer 2014, Rosetta will orbit it for about 1.5 years down to distances of a few kilometers and deliver a Lander, named Philae, onto its surface. In its first year of flight, the spacecraft and its payloads have gone through an extensive commissioning exercise, several trajectory correction manoeuvres, the first Earth gravity assist manoeuvre (1 year after launch), and some important scientific operations. The spacecraft has finally entered its first Passive Cruise phase end of July 2005. This paper describes the mission operations experiences collected during the first year of routine flight, after completion of the commissioning activities mid-October 2004. The two main mission events that occurred during this period are described: the first Earth swing-by in March 2005 and the scientific Deep Impact observation campaign in July 2005. An overview of the major in-flight anomalies is given and lessons learnt are presented.

Study objectives To evaluate whether office spirometry by general practitioners (GPs) is feasible and may improve the diagnosis of asthma and COPD. Methods A prospective, randomized, comparative trial was planned involving 57 Italian pulmonology centers and 570 GPs who had to enroll consecutive subjects aged 18 to 65 years with symptoms of asthma or COPD without a previous diagnosis. Patients were randomized 1:1 into two groups with an interactive voice responding system: conventional evaluation alone vs conventional evaluation and spirometry. Office spirometry was performed by GPs who were trained by reference specialists using a portable electronic spirometer (Spirobank Office; MIR; Rome, Italy). Diagnosis was confirmed by the reference specialist center in blind fashion. Results Seventy-four GPs complied to the trial. Of 333 patients enrolled, 136 nonrandom violators completed the protocol. Per-protocol analysis showed a concordant diagnosis between GPs and specialists in 78.6% of cases in the conventional evaluation-plus-spirometry group vs 69.2% in the conventional evaluation group (p = 0.35). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the respective percentages of concordant diagnosis were 57.9 and 56.7 (p = 0.87). Conclusions Office spirometry by GPs is feasible, but frequent protocol violation and inadequate sample size did not allow us to prove a significant advantage of office spirometry in improving the diagnosis of asthma and COPD in standard general practice as organized at present in Italy, thus reinforcing the need for close cooperation between GPs and specialists in respiratory medicine.

The European Space Agency is preparing two major deep-space scientific missions for launch in 2003: Rosetta, a mission to comet P-Wirtanen, and Mars Express, a Mars Orbiter with a lander. In order to remain within the extremely tight budget available for the Mars Express ground segment development and operations, this mission will inherit and re-use as much as possible from what is developed and used for Rosetta. Although the two missions and spacecraft are very different from each other, the key to re-use of ground segment elements is in the identical interfaces to the space segment. This paper describes for the two missions the joint operations concept, the parallel mission preparation activities and the approach to achieve an integrated flight operations team. Cost savings in ground segment development and operations are identified and compared to a traditional solution. The initial implementation experiences are critically presented.

In September 1997, an ad hoc law (Law no. 352/1997) gave the archaeological site of Pompeii a new status. Its previous status as a local branch of the Ministry of Culture (the Soprintendenza) was reconfigured as an autonomous entity (Soprintendenza autonoma). In July 2008, the Italian Prime Minister declared a one year state of emergency in Pompeii, appointing a special Commissioner (Commissario straordinario) in order to cope with "the serious critical situation of the archeological area" (OPCM 3692/2008). The aim of the paper is to review the process of change in Pompeii over ten years, observing major institutional transformations and analyzing the evolution of activities and human and financial resources management. Beyond the substantive elements of interest (the mis-management of one of the most important archaeological sites in the world), the paper sheds lights on the role of accountability in the cultural sector and on the distinctive features of Italian public administration, questioning the existence of a path of international convergence in public sector change. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Author keywords Accountability; Arts management; Italy; New public management; Public sector

Telematics plays a major role in space exploration, as all space missions involve remote control from ground In addition, some control loops can be closed on-board, by human beings for manned missions, or by automation processes of increasing complexity for unmanned missions. The large distances between the spacecraft and the ground and the irreversibility of hardware failures are key features for the design of telematic applications used for space missions. This paper describes the mission control process on-board and on-ground. Examples taken from the operational experience with a near-Earth spacecraft and a deep-space scientific probe are presented and discussed.

This paper presents and discusses data on the use of technology in general and of Web 2.0 platforms and services in particular by students at the University of Milano-Bicocca. The data was obtained from a survey on media consumption habits and usage of new web technologies conducted by the university's Observatory on New Media, NuMediaBiOs. Research of this kind provides a valuable basis for the development, adaptation and improvement of existing services and offerings involving new technologies in educational contexts, given that for new technologies to be successfully integrated it is critical to have access to detailed information about how they are currently deployed by users (in this case, undergraduate students on basic degree programmes). Such analyses have implications for a range of contexts, not least for the public educational institution in which they are carried out, namely the university.

Facebook is the most popular social network site in Italy, and its usage is particularly spread among younger generations. This paper explores how undergraduate students use Facebook, and what meanings they attach to it. Research was performed in 2008 and in 2009 at a Italian university, with a triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methodology. The authors’ survey data show the quick adoption of Facebook. In 2008 half of the students were completely unfamiliar with Facebook, while in 2009 59% of them were using it on a regular basis. Evidence coming from semi-structured interviews with randomly selected university students show that the massive adoption of Facebook goes hand in hand with a general critical attitude. Concerns about privacy issues were common, and they can also lead to a kind of detachment from this site. Implications on the perspective use of Facebook as an educational tool are discussed in the paper.

EURECA, the EUropean REtrievable CArrier was launched in July 1992 and retrieved in June 1993. It is the largest ESA spacecraft ever launched, and the first one designed to be launched and retrieved by the NASA Space Shuttle. The experience gained during the first EURECA mission in dealing with the various failures that occurred is described. Emphasis is given to the actual performance of the autonomous fault management functions, their success or failure in carrying out their task, their impact on mission operations and ground control. Suggestions for potential improvement in the concept of on-board failure handling are given.

The first EURECA mission, a multidisciplinay science and technology mission, achieved all the objectives defined before the flight. This paper presents a summary of the mission, with emphasis on the supportgiven to scientific instruments and the technological experience gained. An overview of the spacecraft and ground segment performance is given, from the point of view of the mission control team. Recommendations for improvements in both space and ground segments for a next flight are given, together with generic suggestions for other future projects, derived from the operational experience gained from the EURECA challenge.

In September 1997 a regulation (law No. 352/1997) gave to Pompeii a new status: from its previous standing as a local branch of the Ministry of Culture (the Soprintendenza) it was configured as an autonomous entity (Soprintendenza autonoma). In July 2008, the Italian Prime Minister declared a one year state of emergency in Pompeii, appointing a special commissioner (Commissario straordinario) belonging to the Civil Protection in order to cope with “the serious critical situation of the archeological area” (DCPM 3692/2008). The aim of the paper is revise the process of change throughout ten years in Pompeii, observing major institutional transformations and analyzing the evolution of the activities and the human and financial resources management. Beyond shading some lights on one of the most important experiment for the Italian public sector - i.e. the autonomy of Pompeii, the paper further explores the distinctive features of the country’s public administration within a broader NPM and post-NPM debate.

In this paper we present and analyze some of the main results obtained by the empirical research carried out within the scope of the Socrates Grundtvig Project "Memory Line", that aimed at developing instruments and methodologies in order to help overcoming the intergenerational divide. The project aimed at training groups of elderly and young citizens, resident in the project partner countries, to collect records (stories, songs, poems, experiences, etc.) and to save them in a digital form, mainly by using the methodology of digital storytelling. Focus groups and interviews with people involved in the intergenerational ateliers have been carried out in order to gather a series of first hand evidences directly from the voices of people who were actively involved in the project, and to enable an ongoing monitoring and self evaluation of the project itself. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Developments in information and communication technologies have raised the issue of the intergenerational digital divide that can take place between “digital natives†and “digital immigrants†. Despite emphatic claims concerning how educational systems must take into account the specific characteristics of “digital natives†, sound empirical research on these topics is lacking, especially for Europe. This paper presents the results of research performed during the course of 2008, studying how university students in Italy use digital technologies. The research is based on a survey of 1086 undergraduate students at the University of Milan-Bicocca, complemented by focus groups and in-depth interviews. The results of our research show that, even if university students are familiar with digital technologies, the general possession of high level skills in accessing and using the Internet should not be taken for granted.

The BepiColombo Mission, an interdisciplinary cornerstone mission developed in collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), will be launched in August 2013 towards Mercury from Kourou using a Soyuz/Fregat rocket. The mission will be controlled from the European Space Operations Center of the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany, where all the other ESA interplanetary missions are also controlled. This paper presents the new operational challenges that the operators will have to accommodate compared to previous missions, and assesses their impact on the ground segment development.

The International Rosetta Mission involves a 10 years long interplanetary cruise to rendezvous with the nucleus of a comet. In order to reduce the operations cost, the mission baseline excluded payload operations during cruise, with the exception of a few selected scientific phases (asteroids fly-bys) and of periodic instrument checkout slots. However, soon after launch, it was realised that many reasons can arise to operate the scientific instruments in phases when they were planned to be inactive, from anomaly investigation and troubleshooting to the detection of an unplanned scientific opportunity. In the first two years of flight the Rosetta mission control team had to trade-off the needs and advantages of unplanned payload operations requests with the increase in resources consumption on-board the spacecraft and on the ground. Based on the Rosetta experience, recommendations were derived for future interplanetary missions with a long cruise phase. First, it is easier to keep the level of instrument operations low if the level of spacecraft resources is low, whilst the workload and cost argument on the ground segment side is more difficult to defend. Also, payload operations in cruise can be of significant advantage to a mission, as they allow detection of critical anomalies well ahead of the main scientific mission. This can be achieved without jeopardizing the concept of quiet cruise by carefully inserting windows for payload operations around active mission phases, as part of the mission long-term planning. Finally, scientific operations during cruise are more justifiable if they relate to one of the mission science objectives. Their added value to the mission needs to be carefully assessed against the available resources. These rules are now being applied for the upcoming Rosetta mission phases.

The International Rosetta Mission, a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency Scientific Programme, was scheduled for launch in January 2003 on Ariane 5, but it missed its 19 days launch window due to the suspension of Ariane 5 launches following the failure of flight 517 in December 2002. The search for a new mission opportunity started immediately after the launch cancellation. The new mission was finally selected in May, with launch in February 2004 for a rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014. At the European Spacecraft Operations Centre (ESOC) mission redefinition activities included the identification of new targets and related trajectories and the operational analysis of the new mission's characteristics. In addition, part of the system level testing and validation of the new on-board software version was performed by ESOC. This activity, a first for ESA spacecraft controlled by ESOC, could be carried out thanks to the already planned move of the spacecraft engineering qualification model to ESOC and the commonality between checkout and flight control systems pursued from the beginning in this project. This paper analyses the implications of the new mission's characteristics on flight operations. The integrated approach to testing of the spacecraft on-board software is also described. Lessons learned at ESOC from the mission redefinition exercise are presented.

Rosetta and Mars Express are two deep space missions that will be launched by ESA in the first half of 2003. The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt provides the Operations Control Centre (OCC) for both missions. In order to minimise the costs and exploit the similarity between the platforms of the two spacecrafts, the decision was taken to develop software for a single Mission Control System (MCS) able to serve both missions. The Rosetta/Mars Express Mission Control System (R(ME)MCS) is based on the ESA's SCOS-2000 MCS infrastructure. SCOS-2000 provides kernel functionality to implement a distributed client/server environment for mission control systems; it is written in C++ using OO methodology and makes use of several COTS products. This paper describes in details the activities performed during the transition from the architectural design to the implementation of the R(ME)MCS, as well as an outline of the innovative concepts developed for Rosetta/Mars Express and considerations on lessons learned.

The study describes the results of Octreoscan SPET (OCTSPET) qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluation in 38 patients with suspected pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. SPET studies were acquired at 4 and 24 hours after the injection of 111-220 MBq of 111-In-pentetreotide (Octreoscan). Qualitative and semi-quantitative evaluations were performed. The semi-quantitative approach was based on the time course of Tumor/Non Tumor ratios (TNTinc) from 4 and 24 hours. The OCTSPET results were true positive in 18 of 19 patients (10 gastrinoma, 5 insulinoma, 1 neuroendocrine tumor, 1 glucagonoma and 1 carcinoid) and false negative in one insulinoma. Besides, 20 of 38 patients (52%) had clinical plans modified after OCTSPET; OCTSPET was the only positive diagnostic test in 14 of 19 patients (73%) and guided the surgery decision in 14 of 25 patients (56%). In conclusion, these data indicate that Octreoscan represents an excellent tool for the diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Chest pain (CP) represents a frequent reason for presentation at the emergency department (ED). A large proportion of patients have non-diagnostic ECG on presentation, and in many cases several hours have elapsed since onset of symptoms. Acute rest myocardial scintigraphy (rest SPET) has been shown to have a relevant role in the detection of patients at risk for coronary events, but its sensitivity and negative predictive value are optimal only within the first 3 h following onset of symptoms. In those with delayed presentation, exercise SPET alone, as a screening approach, appears more promising, but its feasibility and diagnostic role in the ED are still unresolved. A total of 231 consecutive patients with a recent-onset (

The International Rosetta Mission is a scientific mission of the European Space Agency. It will be launched in January 2003 and it will reach, after a journey of about 9 years, the nucleus of comet P/Wirtanen, to orbit around it for almost two years. The characteristics of the mission, in particular its long duration and the fact that the most critical and intense operations phases occur many years after launch, induced ESA to define an operations concept that could take advantage of the low activity level required during the cruise phases. The aim was to minimise human intervention during non-critical mission phases by means of automated ground systems operations, in order to reduce the size of the flight control team.

The International Rosetta mission will be launched in 2003. After a flight of about 9 years the spacecraft will approach comet P-Wirtanen and orbit it for almost two years, performing scientific investigations of the comet nucleus environment, at distances of the order of a few kilometers from the nucleus surface. Rosetta will also release a probe that will land on the surface of the nucleus to perform in-situ investigations.

The Rosetta mission is a cometary mission, which will be launched in 2003 by Ariane 5. After a long cruise phase, the satellite will rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen and orbit it, while taking scientific measurements. A Surface Science Package (SSP) will be landed on the comet surface to take in-situ measurements. During the cruise phase, the satellite will be given gravity assist manoeuvres once by Mars and twice by the Earth. The satellite will also take measurements in the fly-bys of two asteroids. The Rosetta mission has characteristics differing quite considerably from those deep space missions hitherto supported at ESOC. One of these is the use of packet telemetry and packet telecommanding. Rosetta is the first ESA deep space mission using these standards. This paper describes in detail how the Rosetta on-board and ground segment design uses packetised telemetry and commands taking into account the deep space characteristic of the Rosetta mission. In particular the paper describes how Rosetta is designed to overcome two major problems with deep space missions, the relative low downlink rate and the long turnaround time for telecommands.

The first EURECA mission, a multidisciplinary science and technology mission, achieved all the objectives defined before the flight. This paper presents a summary of the mission, with emphasis on the support given to scientific instruments and the technological experience gained. An overview of the spacecraft and ground segment performance is given, from the point of view of the mission control team. Recommendations for improvements in both space and ground segments for a next flight are given, together with generic suggestions for other future projects, derived from the operational experience gained from the EURECA challenge.

EURECA, the EUropean REtrievable CArrier was launched in July 1992 and retrieved in June 1993. It is the largest ESA spacecraft ever launched, and the first one designed to be launched and retrieved by the NASA Space Shuttle. The experience gained during the first EURECA mission in dealing with the various failures that occurred is described. Emphasis is given to the actual performance of the autonomous fault management functions, their success or failure in carrying out their task, their impact on mission operations and ground control. Suggestions for potential improvement in the concept of on-board failure handling are given.

Two cases of Merkel cell carcinoma, a neuroendocrine neoplasia of the skin, investigated with iodine-131 metaiodobenzylguanidine (131i-mIBG) scintigraphy, are reported. Uptake in the tumor was evident only in 1 case. The possible diagnostic and therapeutic role of 131I-mIBG in patients with this rare neoplasm is discussed.

By intrabrachial artery injections of a bolus of human albumin microspheres labeled with 99 mTc in patients with primary or secondary Raynaud's phenome non (RP) and in a group of healthy volunteers, the authors developed a method of detecting the patency rate of arteriovenous anastomoses (AVA) in the hand, after local heat and cold stimulation, by quantifying the radioactivity of the lungs expressed as a percentage of an intravenously injected radionuclide dose. With strain gauge plethysmography, simultaneous changes in the digital total (DTF) flow were also measured. After exposure of fingers to cold, 25 of 26 subjects had a clear reduction in both DTF and the AVA patency rate (APR) in comparison with the corresponding heat values. The RP patients, in particular, showed a statistically significant reduction in DTF (P < 0.001) and in APR (P < 0.001). These results appear to be consistent with the onset of critically reduced patency of the AVA of the hand during the ischemic phase of RP.

The diagnostic efficacy of 99mTc-citrate brain scintigraphy was assessed in 22 patients with proven brain lesions. All patients were given 99mTc-DTPA and then 2 days later, 99mTc-citrate. Our results show a superior diagnostic efficacy of the 99mTc-DTPA test in detecting brain lesions both of vascular and neoplastic type, especially when the lesions have a poor blood supply.

Spacecraft hibernation is a mode garnering interest for long duration and deep space missions. There are different strategies, motivations, and implementations for hibernation. For example, hibernation was important for the Rosetta mission because of its limited spacecraft resources when the spacecraft ventured to far reaches of the solar system near the orbit of Jupiter. The NASA New Horizons probe to Pluto, on the other hand, is an example of a mission's use of hibernation with a goal to decrease the level of operations, while at the same time reducing spacecraft wear and tear. In the same way, the designers of the other missions using hibernation addressed in the paper, such as Deep Space 1, Spirit, WISE, Stardust/NEXT, and some DoD and NOAA missions, have all benefitted in unique ways from the use of the hibernation technique. The authors hope the summary of the techniques used and lessons learned in implementing hibernation in the described missions will prove valuable to other spacecraft designers whose missions may similarly benefit from the use of this mode.