History of management and stratigraphy of organizing. The Venice Arsenal between tangible and intangible heritage

The purpose of this contribution is to analyze the role of the Arsenal in the history of management, still underrepresented in international historiography, and link it to the literature on industrial heritage. It is this central role in the history of management that endows the Venice Arsenal with particular significance as intangible heritage. Discussing specific problems related to the research and interpretation of this intangible significance, in a context of stratification of levels of organization over time, this paper considers some implications for restoration of the Arsenal, as well as area to preserve this intangible heritage in terms of research, documentation, and presentation needs

The Chinese accounting profession in the People's Republic: A preliminary understanding from an oral history perspective

While oral history still has a marginal role in accounting literature in general, it has not been applied at all in relation to the history of Chinese accounting. Within broader research on accounting change in China, this paper uses oral history to investigate patterns of the career of accountants in China. We interviewed 21 retired accountants, aging from 60 to 90 at the time of the interview, asking them to share their professional experience in open and unstructured talk. We reconstruct individual experiences, which provides insights into the working lives of our interviewees. Unlike previous studies that only focus on influential informants, we investigate Chinese accounting changes as they emerge from the collective memory of everyday accountants. Taking a pluralist perspective, we collect non-archival data to illustrate the education and common elements in accounting career development. Our approach takes a ‘view from below’, underlining the limitations of top-down perspectives in most of the literature on accounting change in China. The findings contribute to our understanding of accounting changes in China and their social and economic impacts on the profession while providing interesting implications for oral history in accounting in general

Affect in mathematics education: an introduction

The article presents an introduction to the concept of affect in mathematics education research

The income gap reporting framework in public not-for-profit organizations: the British Museum case

The income gap is the negative margin between earned income and operating expenses: this is the main financial concern for not-for-profit entities (both public sector and nongovernmental organizations). Despite this, all over the world these entities are forced to use the standard profit-centered income statements format, with its focus on net income generation (the bottom line). This paper proposes an income statement format that uses the income gap to understand/discuss/present the financial viability of a not-for-profit entity in the arts sector, specifically a museum. We apply the framework to the British Museum's income statements from 1999-2000 to 2018-2019. This allows us to analyze institutional narratives in the context of the evolution of the museum's financial viability over two decades, and to assess the performance of the museum's neoliberal reform agenda from the end of the 1990s. Enlarging the perspective, ad hoc adaptations of the framework can allow a better understanding of the financial viability of not-for-profit organizations, in the arts sector and possibly more broadly in public services and not-for-profit sector

A novel polymorphism of resistin gene and its association with meat quality traits in Chinese Bos taurus

Searching for candidate gene polymorphisms and their relationship with meat quality traits is an important issue for Bos taurus industry. In this study, we evaluated polymorphism of resistin (RETN) gene involved in energy metabolism. Using the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) technology, a novel missense substitution single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) g.2528T>C was identified in the exon 2 region of the RETN gene. Allele frequencies, gene heterozygosity, effective allele number and polymorphism information content of the bovine RETN SNP in six populations were investigated and calculated by the χ2 test. The distribution of the polymorphism from the studied six B. taurus breeds was not uniform. Our results suggested that Qinchuan, Luxi and Luxi × Simmental were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Moreover, the polymorphism and its association with meat quality traits were analyzed in 369 Qinchuan and 73 Nanyang individuals. The analyzed SNP in the RETN revealed a significant association with marbling and intramuscular fat (p < 0.05). We observed that TT genotype was associated with a heightened marbling score when compared with the TC and CC in Qinchuan and Nanyang breeds. In Qinchuan breed, we also found that TT genotype was associated with an increased intramuscular fat content when compared with the TC. Such associations were not observed on backfat thickness, loin-muscle area and loin-muscle depth. This study showed that polymorphism of the RETN gene is potentially associated with B. taurus meat quality traits.Key words: Bos taurus, meat quality traits, polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP), resistin gene, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)

Understanding decentralization: deconcentration and devolution processes in the French and Italian cultural sectors

none3noPurpose – Decentralization is a widespread and international phenomenon in public administration. Despite the interest of public management scholars, an in-depth analysis of the interrelationship between two of its forms – deconcentration and devolution – and its impact on policy and management capacities at the local level is seldom investigated. Design/methodology/approach – This article addresses this gap by examining the implementation of deconcentration and devolution processes in France and Italy in the cultural field, combining the analysis of national reform processes with in-depth analyses of two regional cases. The research is the result of document analysis, participatory observation and semi-structured interviews. Findings – The article reconstructs the impacts of devolution and deconcentration processes on the emergence of policy and management capacity in two regions (Rhone-Alpes and Piedmont) in the cultural sector. The article shows that decentralization in the cultural sector in France and Italy is the result of different combinations of devolution and deconcentration processes, that the two processes mutually affect their effectiveness, and that this effectiveness is deeply linked to the previous policy and management capacity of the central state in a specific field/country. Originality/value – The article investigates decentralization as a result of the combination of deconcentration and devolution in comparative terms and in a specific sector of implementation, highlighting the usefulness of this approach also for other sectors/countries.mixedSantagati, Maria Elena; Bonini Baraldi, Sara; Zan, LucaSantagati, Maria Elena; Bonini Baraldi, Sara; Zan, Luc

Planning and heritage

Purpose \u2013 The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers selected for the present special issue on planning and heritage. This paper aims at advancing knowledge about the variety of uses and meanings of planning tools and practices in the cultural heritage field, by bridging disciplines and by building on evidence from the studies composing the special issue. Design/methodology/approach \u2013 After a review of the debate on planning in management studies, the paper briefly outlines the features of the five selected papers and it reconstructs a composite narrative on planning in cultural heritage, as it emerges from the collected papers taken together. Findings \u2013 In the fields of both management and urban studies a similar trajectory of \u201crise and fall\u201d of rationalistic views of planning has taken place. Today's discourse of planning in urban studies is strongly dominated by the issue of inclusiveness and participation. When looking at \u201cwho\u201d really participates in these processes, it is clear that a vast array of public and private actors is involved, at least formally. When looking at \u201chow\u201d they are involved, a variety of possible approaches to participative planning are in use, from more formal, to more informal and emergent ones. Whether these participative forms of planning in cultural heritage actually \u201cwork\u201d remains in part an open question. Originality/value \u2013 Despite the increasing centrality of plans and planning in cultural heritage management, an investigation about the state-of-the-art of the debate on planning in this field and an exploration of how planning is done in practice are missing

Atomically resolved structural determination of graphene and its point defects via extrapolation assisted phase retrieval

Previously reported crystalline structures obtained by an iterative phase retrieval reconstruction of their diffraction patterns seem to be free from displaying any irregularities or defects in the lattice, which appears to be unrealistic. We demonstrate here that the structure of a nanocrystal including its atomic defects can unambiguously be recovered from its diffraction pattern alone by applying a direct phase retrieval procedure not relying on prior information of the object shape. Individual point defects in the atomic lattice are clearly apparent. Conventional phase retrieval routines assume isotropic scattering. We show that when dealing with electrons, the quantitatively correct transmission function of the sample cannot be retrieved due to anisotropic, strong forward scattering specific to electrons. We summarize the conditions for this phase retrieval method and show that the diffraction pattern can be extrapolated beyond the original record to even reveal formerly not visible Bragg peaks. Such extrapolated wave field pattern leads to enhanced spatial resolution in the reconstruction.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure