Characterization of Roman painted frescoes from Mecenate's Auditorium and from Città Dipinta - Traianus's Thermae for their preventive conservation

Characterization of Roman Painted Frescoes from Mecenate's Auditorium and from Città Dipinta - Traianus's Thermae for their Preventive Conservation - ABSTRACT: This master thesis is focusing on the archaeometric investigation and analysis of Roman Painted Frescoes from Mecenate's Auditorium and from Città Dipinta - Traianus's Thermae, to characterize the materials used in execution of the painting layers and mortar, for their Preventive Conservation. Mecenate's Auditorium and Città Dipinta fresco paintings are unique with their decorations which characterized by absence of the human figures and focusing on nature and topographical drawings. Both of them are located in archaeological imperial buildings in Rome. The main objective of this study was to characterize the fresco wall paintings through studying the painting techniques, the pigments used in execution of paintings, mortars characteristics at Citta Dipinta which will play role in the preliminary dating of the wall. Furthermore, determine the conservation condition and the previous conservation procedures that may severely affect the paintings in the future. Selected analytical and investigation techniques have been used for this purpose such as Optical – Stereo microscopy, Micro Raman Spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric analysis. According to the acquired data and its interpretation, a variety of pigments has been identified representing the color palette of Roman fresco paintings such as, Red Ochre, Cinnabar, Yellow Ochre and Carbon black; regarding the blue pigment it was challenging to be confirmed. For the mortars it was really unique with high strength and durability attributed to its hydraulic characteristics. A degradation product has been detected such as Gypsum on the surface of paint layers at the Auditorium, and layer of yellowish Paraloid acrylic resin was found and this is used in previous conservation. The results of the archaeometric study and the documentation of the degradation aspects at the Auditorium of Mecenate and Citta Dipinta paintings, enabled to propose a preventive conservation plan, to prevent the sites from more alteration and degradation and establish maintenance system for the future

Hearing holy landscapes: heritage of silence - Intangibility between nature and culture

This thesis is an exploration through silence to contemplate the landscape of the Ovčar – Kablar Gorge and its heritage. Departing from the traditional focus on acoustics and soundscape in landscape and heritage studies, the work considers silence as a threshold into the experiential field of expansion and openness. Based on relational perspectives of phenomenology, the research looks into how silence imbues the way of life in this sacred natural area, including intangible elements such as traditional practices, memories, and people’s relationship with nature. Its overarching aim in doing so is to examine an underlying interplay between landscape and silence. Contextualised in the dynamics of connectivity, movement and becoming, pursued by the path of experimental methodology, this endeavour takes us into a suspended, mercurial state of the ineffable, where landscape is pondered through an interweaving and unfolding of experience. In the flow between insideness and outsideness, solitude and sharing, this journey shows silence as a portal into the realm of alternative, personal and shared stories, encounters, and others, while unveiling intangibility as a relationship innately embodied in the landscape, which is itself lived as heritage. The research adds to the collaborative interdisciplinary trends that explore subjectivity and embodied, relational ways of knowing. It also contributes to the deliberations on silence as a concept while pertaining to efforts to revitalise sensory, art-based inquiries that harness the potential of the intricacies of human experience for academic research. In the in-betweenness of paradoxical emerging and evanescing, silence illuminates the landscape through the inevitable fluidity of life, awakening us to the realisation that understanding of ourselves and of the world we indwell lies in the thread of their perpetual, open-ended, and ever-shifting entanglement; - RESUMO: Ouvindo as Paisagens Sagradas: Património do Silêncio - Intangibilidade entre a Natureza e a Cultura A presente tese é uma exploração através do silêncio para contemplar a paisagem do desfiladeiro Ovčar — Kablar e o respetivo património. Partindo do foco tradicional na acústica e soundscape em estudos de paisagem e património, o trabalho considera o silêncio como um limiar para o campo experiencial de expansão e abertura. Usando as perspetivas fenomenológicas relacionais, o estudo explora como o silêncio impregna o modo de vida nessa área natural sagrada, incluindo as práticas tradicionais, memórias e a relação com a natureza. O seu objetivo abrangente é examinar uma relação subjacente entre paisagem e silêncio. Contextualizada na dinâmica da conectividade, do movimento e do devir, perseguida pelo caminho da metodologia experimental, esta empreitada leva-nos a um estado suspenso e fluido do inefável, onde a paisagem é pensada através de um entrelaçamento e evolução da experiência. No fluxo entre o interior e o exterior, entre a solidão e a partilha, esta viagem revela o silêncio como um portal para o reino de histórias alternativas, pessoais e partilhadas, encontros, e outros, ao mesmo tempo que desvenda a intangibilidade como uma relação, inerentemente incorporada na paisagem que é ela própria vivida como património. A pesquisa contribui para as tendências interdisciplinares colaborativas que exploram a subjetividade e as formas corporizadas e relacionais de conhecer. Também contribui para as deliberações do silêncio como um conceito, paralelamente em que pertence aos esforços para revitalizar as investigações sensoriais baseadas na arte que aproveitam o potencial das complexidades da experiência humana para a pesquisa académica. No meio do paradoxal surgimento e desaparecimento, o silêncio ilumina a paisagem através da inevitável fluidez da vida, despertando-nos para a perceção de que a compreensão de nós mesmos e do mundo em que habitamos está no fio da sua perpétua, aberta e sempre evoluindo em forma de meada

Águas subterráneas en Portugal y España durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX

Resumo: Águas subterrâneas em Portugal e Espanha durante a segunda metade do século XX - Durante as ditaduras de Franco e do Estado Novo, os aquíferos começaram a ser intensamente explorados em Espanha e Portugal, graças ao apoio dos aparelhos públicos (através de regulamentos, financiamento e estudos) e à existência de novas tecnologias. Nas duas últimas décadas do século XX, as primeiras investigações sistemáticas forneceram dados sobre as águas subterrâneas em ambos os países e revelaram a situação de sobre-exploração e poluição deste tipo de águas em inúmeras áreas. Esta tese tem como objetivo decifrar as razões históricas de um processo de deterioração dos aquíferos que se tem prolongado, quiçá agravado, até aos dias de hoje. Em primeiro lugar, a tese aborda o tratamento jurídico deste recurso, cujo aproveitamento foi deixado nas mãos de quem controlava o solo no século XIX e no início do século XX. À medida que o interesse político pelos aquíferos aumentou, especialmente na década de 1950, foram introduzidas reformas, mas até hoje, não conseguiram transformar completamente a visão de que o acesso à água subterrânea é um direito particular, nem as possibilidades de uma gestão hídrica pública ou coletiva. Em segundo lugar, a tese aborda a receção das ajudas norte-americanas durante a década de 1950 nos dois países, o que estimulou a atividade de prospeção de águas subterrâneas com recurso a tecnologia moderna. Por outras palavras, existia capital e equipamentos para realizar explorações mais profundas, mas faltava o mais importante: o conhecimento para realizar esta prática. A partir da década de 1970, organismos internacionais e diversos movimentos sociais lançaram as bases para uma visão diferente da água, a chamada nova cultura da água, que, no entanto, teve um impacto limitado na política pública e nas práticas sociais; - Abstract: Groundwaters in Portugal and Spain during the second half of the 20th century - During the Francoist and Estado Novo dictatorships, Spain and Portugal began an intensive exploitation of aquifers thanks to the support of public apparatus (through regulations, funding, and studies) and the existence of new technologies. The last two decades of the 20th century saw the first systematic research offering data on subterranean water in both countries, which highlighted the overexploitation and contamination of groundwater in numerous locations. This thesis attempts to unravel the historical reasons for the process of aquifer degradation that has endured, if not worsened, to the present day. First, the thesis deals with the legal status of the resource whose exploitation was left to those who controlled the land in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. As political interest in aquifers increased, particularly in the decade of the 1950s, reforms were introduced. However, to date it has not been possible to fully change the view that access to groundwater constitutes an individual right, nor to explore the possibilities of a public or collective management of water resources. Secondly, the thesis deals with the reception of North American aid by both countries in the 1950s, which stimulated prospection for groundwater using modern technologies. However, although both the equipment and the capital existed to conduct deeper exploration, the most important element to do so, knowledge, was lacking. From the 1970s, international authorities and diverse social movements laid the foundations for a different view of water, establishing what is known as the ‘new water culture’ paradigm; however, this had little impact on public policies and social practices

A gestão de recursos humanos na Empresa Mecachrome Aeronáutica de Évora

O relatório de estágio aqui exposto foi realizado no âmbito do Mestrado em Gestão: Especialização em Recursos Humanos da Universidade de Évora do ano letivo 2017/2018. Tendo por base a experiência de estágio curricular no Departamento de Recursos Humanos na empresa Mecachrome Aeronáutica, Unipessoal, Lda., procedeu-se a uma descrição detalhada das atividades realizadas e posterior análise de acordo com as dimensões Estratégia de Gestão de Recursos Humanos, Recrutamento e Seleção, Formação e Desenvolvimento, Manutenção de Gestão de Recursos Humanos e Higiene e Segurança no Trabalho. Posteriormente, foram enquadradas as atividades a nível teórico, e partindo de uma análise crítica, elaborou-se um conjunto de propostas de intervenção/melhoria da realidade organizacional, particularmente ao nível dos Recursos Humanos; Abstract: The Human Resources Management at Mecachrome Aeronáutica de Évora The present master´s degree final word was carried out within the scope of the Master in Management: Specialization in Human Resources of the University of Évora for the 2017/2018 academic year. Based on the curricular internship experience in the Human Resources Department at Mecachrome Aeronáutica, Unipessoal, Lda., A detailed description of the activities carried out and further analysis according to the dimensions of Human Resources Management Strategy, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Maintenance of Human Resources Management and Health and Safety at Work. Subsequently, the activities were framed at the theoretical level, and based on a critical analysis, a set of intervention/improvement proposals for the organizational reality was developed, particularly at the Human Resources level

Coupling homogeneous chains of damped harmonic oscillators

We study vibrational properties of nonhomogeneous materials. We consider idealized materials composed of one dimensional chains of damped harmonic oscillators represented by a sequence of particles, springs and dampers. The system is linear, thus possesses exact explicit solutions, nevertheless the formulas can be very complicated. Homogeneous chains are used as basic building blocks for characterizing global dynamics of the system. In particular, we determine the solutions for a system composed of two distinct homogeneous chains in terms of the original solutions for these two homogeneous chains, and the original parameters, when uncoupled. Two types of coupling are considered, one with a gluing particle, the other with a gluing spring and damper

Some computational tests for inverse conductivity problems based on vector, variational principles: The 2D case

We focus on several direct vector, variational principles to tackle the practical recovery problem of an unknown conductivity coefficient from boundary measurements. Though the problem is classical and have received a lot of attention because of its practical significance, the variational methods we explore are not so. Despite difficulties associated with the vector nature of the problems, including lack of (quasi, poly)-convexity, experiments show remarkable performance of some of the functionals examined. Beyond the specific meaning of such computations for inverse conductivity problems, the task of approximating the optimal solutions of vector, variational problems, as in hyperelasticity models or non-linear PDE systems at the level of optimality, is also interesting on its own right

Archaeological biomarkers on cooking ware from the Roman Cistern at Spoletino, Viterbo, Italy

Spoletino cistern, dated between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD and divided into two sections around the mid-1st century AD, from where 21 potsherds from cooking ware were collected and analyzed by GC-MS for indentifying the organic residues on them and provide information regarding dietary habits on the population associated to the cistern during the transition from Republic to Imperial period. All samples exhibited organic residues, and for most of them, it was possible to assess their archaeological biomarkers and associate them with food groups, in accordance with the presence of specific archaeological biomarkers referred from previous ORA researches. After analyzing the results, it was possible to suggest a wide variety of edible products from a mixed diet of vegetable and animal products as well as a preferential use for Pentola (casserole) vessel compared with the Olla (pot) and Tegame (pan) shapes; - RESUMO: Biomarcadores arqueológicos em cerâmicas de cozinha da Cisterna Romana de Spoletino, Viterbo, Itália A Cisterna de Spoletino, datada entre o século I a.C. e o século IV d.C. e dividida em duas secções por volta de meados do século I d.C., de onde foram recolhidos e analisados por GC-MS 21 fragmentos de cerâmica de cozinha para identificar os resíduos orgânicos nelas contidos e fornecer informações sobre os hábitos alimentares da população associada à cisterna durante a transição do período da República para o Imperial. Todas as amostras apresentaram resíduos orgânicos, para a maioria delas foi possível avaliar seus biomarcadores arqueológicos e associá-los a grupos alimentares, de acordo com a presença de biomarcadores arqueológicos específicos referidos em pesquisas anteriores de ORA. Após a análise dos resultados foi possível sugerir uma grande variedade de produtos comestíveis provenientes de uma dieta mista de produtos vegetais e animais, bem como uma utilização preferencial do recipiente Pentola (caçarola) em comparação com as formas Olla (panela) e Tegame (frigideira)

Pensar sobre o património cultural imaterial

Este texto apresenta algumas reflexões sobre o Património Cultural Imaterial (PCI), na sequência das comemorações mundiais da Convenção para a Salvaguarda do PCI (2003)

Covid-19: Signs and symptoms related to the feeding behavior

COVID-19 reached pandemic level in March 2020 and the number of confirmed cases continued to increase worldwide. The clinical course of the disease has not yet been fully characterized, and some specific symptoms related to smell, taste, and feeding behavior require further examination. The present study aimed to assess the presence of symptoms related to the feeding behavior occurred during and/or after COVID-19 in adults residing in Portugal and to link them to disease severity using a multivariate approach. Data were collected from May to September 2020, through a questionnaire answered online containing questions about general and specific symptoms before, during and after COVID-19. 362 participants were included: 201 were symptomatic, being 15 hospitalized and 186 non-hospitalized. Cluster analysis grouped the symptomatic non-hospitalized participants as mild and severe cases. For these patients, the most frequent symptoms related to the feeding process were smell disorders in 40% and 62%, taste disorders in 37% and 60%, and dry mouth, in 23% and 48% of the mild and severe cases, respectively. Dry mouth was significantly associated with difficulty to swallow, pain during swallow, choking when eating or drinking, and preference for mushy/pasty foods (p < 0.01; Chi-squared test). Among the severe cases, the incidence of coughing during the meal (31%), difficulty (19%) and pain during swallow (17%), preference for mushy/pasty foods (10%) and choking when eating or drinking (6%) were clinically relevant and may indicate the presence of swallowing disorders. This group also showed a higher frequency of general symptoms, such as fever, headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, diarrhea, nausea, and shortness of breath (p < 0.05; Chi-squared test). Smell disorders, taste disorders and dry mouth were the most frequent symptoms related to the feeding behavior for both mild and severe cases. Dry mouth was significantly associated with swallowing difficulties and future research should investigate it as a frequent symptom and as a predictive of the presence of eating and swallowing disorders in COVID-19 cases

Clustered patterns of household water consumption in Portuguese municipalities: Do regional location and population trajectory matter?

Portugal faces water scarcity challenges, yet studies on per-household water consumption are limited. This study aims to address this gap by employing cluster analyses to assess how population trajectories, a previously overlooked aspect, and the regional location influence per-household monthly water consumption across 122 municipalities. Findings highlight higher consumption in the South despite lower prices. Municipalities experiencing population growth and those with long-term population declines show higher per-household water consumption but lower prices. Interestingly, while higher prices correlate with lower consumption, southern municipalities show increased prices without reduced consumption. Clustering reveals slight changes in consumption patterns from 2011 to 2020