Mapping lacunae for retouching paintings with computer graphics software

The objective of this paper is to present a workflow procedure to support the graphic recording of the operations performed during the retouching process involved in paintings. In this particular context, an orthophotography of a portrait painted on canvas from a university museum collection was used in Blender, a free and open-source 3D creation software suite. Blender uses an important metric coordination value, provided by the 3D workspace software that allows the areal characterization and numeric identification of each surface loss. The step-by-step procedure adopted to document and map lacunae in this artwork for subsequent retouching, is described.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Os «fingidos» no grande órgão de Tibães, entre ilusão e matéria

O surgimento da organaria em Portugal, e do sentimento subjacente ao espírito religioso da época, permitiu a proliferação de órgãos promovendo obras de qualidade artística e musical incomparáveis. Um dos mais belíssimos exemplares é o grande órgão do Mosteiro de São Martinho de Tibães. Constitui uma das mais significativas expressões do Rococó no plano da arte da talha e da decoração de mobiliário, com o recurso sistemático à imitação pictórica de materiais nobres, assim como uma excelente fonte documental quanto à sua execução. Com este estudo pretende-se compreender a técnica dos marmoreados fingidos. Tendo em conta o facto de existir no órgão três elementos visualmente semelhantes mas materialmente bem separados: a caixa, a varanda e a bacia, tratou-se também de perceber se os respectivos revestimentos pictóricos foram feitos ou não pelos mesmos pintores. Foram consultadas várias fontes e tratados existentes da época, e estudadas trinta amostras por técnicas laboratoriais complementares.publishersversionpublishe

Dual Relief of T-lymphocyte Proliferation and Effector Function Underlies Response to PD-1 Blockade in Epithelial Malignancies

Although understanding of T-cell exhaustion is widely based on mouse models, its analysis in patients with cancer could provide clues indicating tumor sensitivity to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Data suggest a role for costimulatory pathways, particularly CD28, in exhausted T-cell responsiveness to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. Here, we used single-cell transcriptomic, phenotypic, and functional approaches to dissect the relation between CD8+ T-cell exhaustion, CD28 costimulation, and tumor specificity in head and neck, cervical, and ovarian cancers. We found that memory tumor–specific CD8+ T cells, but not bystander cells, sequentially express immune checkpoints once they infiltrate tumors, leading, in situ, to a functionally exhausted population. Exhausted T cells were nonetheless endowed with effector and tumor residency potential but exhibited loss of the costimulatory receptor CD28 in comparison with their circulating memory counterparts. Accordingly, PD-1 inhibition improved proliferation of circulating tumor–specific CD8+ T cells and reversed functional exhaustion of specific T cells at tumor sites. In agreement with their tumor specificity, high infiltration of tumors by exhausted cells was predictive of response to therapy and survival in ICB-treated patients with head and neck cancer. Our results showed that PD-1 blockade–mediated proliferation/reinvigoration of circulating memory T cells and local reversion of exhaustion occur concurrently to control tumors

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Uma Pintura de André Gonçalves para a Basílica de Mafra

Estudo material e técnico da pintura sobre tela representando "São Carlos Borromeu e São Francisco de Sales", da autoria de André Gonçalves, c. 1730

Duas lunetas de André Gonçalves para o Palácio Nacional de Mafra. História, técnica e conservação.

A intervenção de conservação e restauro da luneta PNM 2680, pintada em c. 1730, pelo pintor André Gonçalves para a Basílica de Mafra, possibilitou uma interpretação mais completa dos dados obtidos pelos diversos meios de exame e análise laboratoriais, desta forma obtendo uma compreensão mais profunda e exacta da técnica, materialidade e vivência desta pintura ao longo do tempo. A intervenção constituiu igualmente um momento privilegiado para documentar gráfica e fotograficamente as características originais da obra, proceder a um mapeamento preciso do seu estado de conservação no início e ao longo do tratamento e, finalmente, registar ainda todas as novas intervenções a que foi submetida e que hoje integram a sua história. Ao expor a pintura no seu estado original actual , adquire-se uma percepção ímpar da maneira de pintar do artista e da qualidade da composição que nenhum exame poderá alguma vez reproduzir (figs. 48-56). Este ganho nas dimensões artística e estética da luneta nesta sua nova aparência é precisamente aquele que motiva a maior parte das intervenções de restauro, tanto em âmbito museológico como privado. Convém, no entanto, recordar que esta mais-valia implica perdas, também elas substanciais, de outros aspectos não menos relevantes. De facto, o tratamento pelo qual se optou, apesar de assente no princípio da “intervenção mínima” e com base numa tomada de decisão consciente e partilhada com as entidades responsáveis por este património, não deixou de eliminar, de forma definitiva, grande parte das evidências históricas posteriores a 1730

Application of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to polychrome terracotta sculptures from the Alcobaça Monastery, Portugal

Portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) was used in the Alcobaça Monastery, in order to study the chromatic coatings applied to terracotta statues that belong to two seventeenth-century monumental groupings. The main goal of this scientific approach consisted in determining the elemental composition of the constitutive layers and in trying to reconstitute the existing polychromy, taking into account the technical aspects observed at naked eye. The measurements carried out by EDXRF allowed a first material characterization of these artworks. By comparing the results obtained in each statue, it was possible to attest the application of a seventeenth-century coating to each one and at least a subsequent intervention in the form of a refurbishment or a new polychromy. According to the materials employed in their production, it appears that the refurbishment is likely dated from the 19th century while the new polychromy is still dated from the 18th century