Painting on textile Support in 15th Century Cologne. Stock - Technology - Forms of Cologne Canvas Paintings

Aus dem Kölner Kunstraum ist eine verhältnismäßig große Gruppe von Leinwandgemälden des 15. und beginnenden 16. Jahrhunderts überliefert. In der Forschung zur Entstehung und Verbreitung der Malerei auf textilem Bildträger im späten Mittelalter haben diese Gemälde bisher kaum Beachtung gefunden. Weder Umfang und Charakter des überlieferten Bestandes noch die für die Herstellung der Gemälde angewandten Techniken und verwendeten Materialen waren einer umfassenden Untersuchung unterzogen worden. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden die erhaltenen und noch nachweisbaren Leinwandbilder recherchiert, abgebildet und mit den dazu verfügbaren technologischen Daten katalogisiert. Auf der Basis des Bestandes des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums & Fondation Corboud zu Köln konnte erstmals eine Gruppe von Leinwandgemälden des 15. Jahrhunderts einer systematischen technologischen Reihenuntersuchung unterzogen werden. Die Inventarisation der Werke bestätigt die umfangreiche Produktion von Leinwandgemälden in Köln während des gesamten 15. Jahrhunderts und zeigt, dass diese integraler Bestandteil der dortigen Bildproduktion gewesen sein muss. Mit dem nachgewiesenen Bestand ist für den Kölner Kunstraum eine der größten Gruppen an spätmittelalterlichen Leinwandgemälden überliefert. Sie bilden damit aus technologischer Sicht neben den Leinwandgemälden in italienischer Technik und den nördlich der Alpen und in Norditalien entstandenen Tüchleinbildern nicht nur eine dritte und vergleichsweise früh ansetzende Art, sondern weisen Köln neben den Niederlanden und Italien als ein bedeutendes Zentrum der Produktion von Leinwandgemälden aus Mit der technologischen Untersuchung konnten verschiedene Herstellungsmethoden und technologische Charakteristika in den Bildern nachgewiesen werden, die bisher hauptsächlich aus Quellenschriften und erhaltenen Beispielen späterer Entstehungszeit bekannt waren. Darüber hinaus wurde deutlich, dass die Kölner Leinwandbilder in Aufbau, Material und Techniken den Kölner Tafelgemälden weitgehend entsprechen. Bestimmte, in Unkenntnis ihrer materiellen Beschaffenheit bisher für die Gemälde erwogene Formen der Nutzung entfallen damit. Es ergeben sich daraus neue Überlegungen zur Einordnung und den möglichen Funktionen von Leinwandgemälden sowie den Gründen für die Wahl des textilen Bildträgers im Köln des 15. Jahrhunderts. Das heutige Erscheinungsbild der Werke weicht häufig erheblich von deren ursprünglicher Gestalt ab. Neben den Formaten konnten Bildformen und unbekannte Zusammenhänge rekonstruiert und bisherige Zusammenstellungen erweitert oder in Frage gestellt werden. Zusammen mit der Kenntnis um die materielle Beschaffenheit der Gemälde bildet das Wissen um die ursprünglichen Formate, Zusammenhänge und deren Veränderungen die Basis für eine korrigierte Wahrnehmung nicht nur der Werke selbst sondern auch der Vielfalt ihrer ursprüglichen und späteren Erscheinungsformen und stellt die Überlegungen bezüglich der Rekonstruktion ihres historischen, räumlichen und funktionalen Kontextes auf eine neue Grundlage. Die Arbeit gliedert sich in vier Teile. Teil 1 Typologie des inventarisierten Bestands an Kölner Leinwandbildern - Darstellung und Diskussion der technologischen Befunde - Vergleich der technologischen Befunde mit jenen zeitgenössischer Kölner Tafelbilder und europäischer Leinwandgemälde - Überlegungen zu den Gründen für die Wahl des textilen Bildträgers und den Funktionen der Kölner Leinwandbilder - Wertschätzung spätmittelalterlicher Leinwandgemälde in Köln im Spiegel ihrer Restaurierungsgeschichte. Teil 2 Katalog der erhaltenen und noch nachweisbaren Kölner Leinwandbilder des 15. und beginnenden 16. Jahrhunderts, geordnet nach Bildtypen - Katalog der zum Vergleich untersuchten Tafelgemälde - Auflistung der in Quellen erwähnten, aber nicht mehr nachweisbaren Leinwandgemälde. Teil 3 Abbildungen zu Teil 1 und Teil 2 in der Reihenfolge der Katalognummern. Teil 4 Überblicks- und Orientierungstabelle über die katalogisierten Gemälde – Ergebnis- und Überblickstabellen zu den durchgeführten Analysen.Quite many canvas paintings from 15th and early 16th century Cologne are preserved but have never been included into the research regarding the beginning and development of canvas painting in medieval Europe. Neither their amount and character nor the materials and techniques employed in their production have been explored or analysed. For this reason the extant and traceable 15th century and early 16th century Cologne canvas paintings were researched and catalogued. On the basis of the stock of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne, the first systematic technological survey of the production, the materials and the techniques of late medieval canvas painting was carried out. The inventory of the works confirms that an extensive production of canvas paintings must have been in place in Cologne at the latest from the beginning of the 15th century. Painting on canvas must have been an integral constituent of art making in this city. With the documented stock one of the largest groups of conveyed late medieval canvas paintings originates from Cologne. From the technological point of view in addition to the Italian canvas paintings and the so called Tüchlein they not only form a third and comparatively early group but also prove Cologne to have been a significant centre for the production of canvas paintings throughout the 15th century. The examination of the paintings established various technological details known up to now only from written sources and existing examples of a later date. Beyond that, the properties and condition of the Cologne canvas paintings correspond largely to those of Cologne panel painting. This excludes certain forms of use as yet pondered for the canvas paintings in unawareness of their material condition. Out of this arise new considerations regarding the potential functions of the works and possible reasons for the choice of the textile support. The present-day form, dimensions and measurements of almost all of the paintings differ significantly from their original state. In many cases the analyses allowed the reconstruction of former formats, forms and relationships. Existing ensembles could be enlarged, others proved not to be original. The knowledge of the original form, dimensions and measurements of the paintings together with the awareness of their material properties and condition are fundamental for a correct perception of the paintings today and put considerations regarding their historical, spatial and functional context on a new base. The paper is divided in four parts: Part 1 Typology of the catalogued stock of Cologne canvas paintings - Description and discussion of the technological findings and results - Comparison of the technological findings and results with those of coeval Cologne panel paintings and European canvas paintings - Considerations regarding the reasons for the choice of the textile support and the functions of Cologne canvas paintings - Considerations regarding the valuation and material history of late medieval canvas paintings in Cologne. Part 2 Catalogue of the extant and traceable 15th and early 16th century Cologne canvas paintings - Catalogue of the examined Cologne panel paintings - Listing of canvas paintings mentioned in written sources with unknown whereabouts. Part 3 Figures and illustrations in order of the catalogue numbers - Photographic credits - Bibliography. Part 4 Table with overview of catalogued paintings - Tables with technological and analytical results

A Protocol for Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) is a branch of study concerned with constructing and broadcasting a message toward habitable planets. Since the Arecibo message of 1974, the handful of METI broadcasts have increased in content and complexity, but the lack of an established protocol has produced unorganized or cryptic messages that could be difficult to interpret. Here we outline the development of a self-consistent protocol for messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence that provides constraints and guidelines for the construction of a message in order to maximize the probability that the message effectively communicates. A METI protocol considers several factors including signal encoding, message length, information content, anthropocentrism, transmission method, and transmission periodicity. Once developed, the protocol will be released for testing on different human groups worldwide and across cultural boundaries. An effective message to extraterrestrials should at least be understandable by humans, and releasing the protocol for testing will allow us to improve the protocol and develop potential messages. Through an interactive website, users across the world will be able to create and exchange messages that follow the protocol in order to discover the types of messages better suited for cross-cultural communication. The development of a METI protocol will serve to improve the quality of messages to extraterrestrials, foster international collaboration, and extend astrobiology outreach to the public.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Polic

Optimizing psma radioligand therapy for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. A systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of the review was to evaluate patient and treatment characteristics for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with PSMA radioligand therapy (PRLT) associated with above-average outcome. The systematic review and meta-analysis followed recommendations by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). We searched for publications in PubMed, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 31 September 2020. Thirty-six publications and four duplicates reported 2346 patients. Nearly two-thirds of the patients had bone metastases. Median overall survival (OS) was 16 months. Asymptomatic patients and patients with only lymph node metastases lived longer than symptomatic patients and patients with more extensive metastases. Patients treated with an intensified schedule of177Lu PRLT lived longer than those treated with a conventional schedule. Half of the patients obtained a PSA decline ≥ 50% and these patients lived longer than those with less PSA decline. Approximately 10% of the patients developed hematologic toxicity with anemia grade 3 as the most severe adverse effect. Characteristics for patients, cancer, restaging, and PRLT predict above average overall survival following treatment with PRLT

The Benefits and Harms of Transmitting Into Space

Deliberate and unintentional radio transmissions from Earth propagate into space. These transmissions could be detected by extraterrestrial watchers over interstellar distances. Here, we analyze the harms and benefits of deliberate and unintentional transmissions relevant to Earth and humanity. Comparing the magnitude of deliberate radio broadcasts intended for messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) with the background radio spectrum of Earth, we find that METI attempts to date have much lower detectability than emissions from current radio communication technologies on Earth. METI broadcasts are usually transient and several orders of magnitude less powerful than other terrestrial sources such as astronomical and military radars, which provide the strongest detectable signals. The benefits of radio communication on Earth likely outweigh the potential harms of detection by extraterrestrial watchers; however, the uncertainty regarding the outcome of contact with extraterrestrial beings creates difficulty in assessing whether or not to engage in long-term and large-scale METI.Comment: Published in Space Polic

The Nature of the Nuclear H2O Masers of NGC 1068: Reverberation and Evidence for a Rotating Disk Geometry

We report new (1995) Very Large Array observations and (1984 - 1999) Effelsberg 100m monitoring observations of the 22 GHz H2O maser spectrum of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068. The sensitive VLA observations provide a registration of the 22 GHz continuum emission and the location of the maser spots with an accuracy of ~ 5 mas. Within the monitoring data, we find evidence that the nuclear masers vary coherently on time-scales of months to years, much more rapidly than the dynamical time-scale. We argue that the nuclear masers are responding in reverberation to a central power source, presumably the central engine. Between October and November 1997, we detected a simultaneous flare of the blue-shifted and red-shifted satellite maser lines. Reverberation in a rotating disk naturally explains the simultaneous flaring. There is also evidence that near-infrared emission from dust grains associated with the maser disk also responds to the central engine. We present a model in which an X-ray flare results in both the loss of maser signal in 1990 and the peak of the near-infrared light curve in 1994. In support of a rotating disk geometry for the nuclear masers, we find no evidence for centripetal accelerations of the redshifted nuclear masers; the limits are +/- 0.006 km/s/year, implying that the masers are located within 2 degrees of the kinematic line-of-nodes. We also searched for high velocity maser emission like that observed in NGC 4258. In both VLA and Effelsberg spectra, we detect no high velocity lines between +/- 350 km/s to +/- 850 km/s relative to systemic, arguing that masers only lie outside a radius of ~ 0.6 pc (1.9 light years) from the central engine (assuming a distance of 14.4 Mpc).Comment: 62 pages, 19 figure

Differentially expressed genes between drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive barley genotypes in response to drought stress during the reproductive stage

Drought tolerance is a key trait for increasing and stabilizing barley productivity in dry areas worldwide. Identification of the genes responsible for drought tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) will facilitate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance, and also facilitate the genetic improvement of barley through marker-assisted selection or gene transformation. To monitor the changes in gene expression at the transcriptional level in barley leaves during the reproductive stage under drought conditions, the 22K Affymetrix Barley 1 microarray was used to screen two drought-tolerant barley genotypes, Martin and Hordeum spontaneum 41-1 (HS41-1), and one drought-sensitive genotype Moroc9-75. Seventeen genes were expressed exclusively in the two drought-tolerant genotypes under drought stress, and their encoded proteins may play significant roles in enhancing drought tolerance through controlling stomatal closure via carbon metabolism (NADP malic enzyme, NADP-ME, and pyruvate dehydrogenase, PDH), synthesizing the osmoprotectant glycine-betaine (C-4 sterol methyl oxidase, CSMO), generating protectants against reactive-oxygen-species scavenging (aldehyde dehydrogenase,ALDH, ascorbate-dependent oxidoreductase, ADOR), and stabilizing membranes and proteins (heat-shock protein 17.8, HSP17.8, and dehydrin 3, DHN3). Moreover, 17 genes were abundantly expressed in Martin and HS41-1 compared with Moroc9-75 under both drought and control conditions. These genes were possibly constitutively expressed in drought-tolerant genotypes. Among them, seven known annotated genes might enhance drought tolerance through signalling [such as calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) and membrane steroid binding protein (MSBP)], anti-senescence (G2 pea dark accumulated protein, GDA2), and detoxification (glutathione S-transferase, GST) pathways. In addition, 18 genes, including those encoding Δl-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), protein phosphatase 2C-like protein (PP2C), and several chaperones, were differentially expressed in all genotypes under drought; thus they were more likely to be general drought-responsive genes in barley. These results could provide new insights into further understanding of drought-tolerance mechanisms in barley

Impact of brief prewarming on anesthesia-related core-temperature drop, hemodynamics, microperfusion and postoperative ventilation in cytoreductive surgery of ovarian cancer: a randomized trial

Background: General (GA)- and epidural-anesthesia may cause a drop in body-core-temperature (BCT(drop)), and hypothermia, which may alter tissue oxygenation (StO(2)) and microperfusion after cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer. Cell metabolism of subcutaneous fat- or skeletal muscle cells, measured in microdialysis, may be affected. We hypothesized that forced-air prewarming during epidural catheter placement and induction of GA maintains normothermia and improves microperfusion. Methods: After ethics approval 47 women scheduled for cytoreductive surgery were prospectively enrolled. Women in the study group were treated with a prewarming of 43 °C during epidural catheter placement. BCT (Spot on®, 3 M) was measured before (T(1)), after induction of GA (T(2)) at 15 min (T(3)) after start of surgery, and until 2 h after ICU admission (T(ICU2h)). Primary endpoint was BCT(drop) between T(1) and T(2). Microperfusion-, hemodynamic- and clinical outcomes were defined as secondary outcomes. Statistical analysis used the Mann-Whitney-U- and non-parametric-longitudinal tests. Results: BCT(drop) was 0.35 °C with prewarming and 0.9 °C without prewarming (p < 0.005) and BCT remained higher over the observation period (ΔT(4) = 0.9 °C up to ΔT(7) = 0.95 °C, p < 0.001). No significant differences in hemodynamic parameters, transfusion, arterial lactate and dCO(2) were measured. In microdialysis the ethanol ratio was temporarily, but not significantly, reduced after prewarming. Lactate, glucose and glycerol after PW tended to be more constant over the entire period. Postoperatively, six women without prewarming, but none after prewarming were mechanical ventilated (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Prewarming at 43 °C reduces the BCT(drop) and maintains normothermia without impeding the perioperative routine patient flow. Microdialysis indicate better preserved parameters of microperfusion. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; ID: NCT02364219; Date of registration: 18-febr-2015

Differentially expressed genes between drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive barley genotypes in response to drought stress during the reproductive stage

Drought tolerance is a key trait for increasing and stabilizing barley productivity in dry areas worldwide. Identification of the genes responsible for drought tolerance in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) will facilitate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance, and also facilitate the genetic improvement of barley through marker-assisted selection or gene transformation. To monitor the changes in gene expression at the transcriptional level in barley leaves during the reproductive stage under drought conditions, the 22K Affymetrix Barley 1 microarray was used to screen two drought-tolerant barley genotypes, Martin and Hordeum spontaneum 41-1 (HS41-1), and one drought-sensitive genotype Moroc9-75. Seventeen genes were expressed exclusively in the two drought-tolerant genotypes under drought stress, and their encoded proteins may play significant roles in enhancing drought tolerance through controlling stomatal closure via carbon metabolism (NADP malic enzyme, NADP-ME, and pyruvate dehydrogenase, PDH), synthesizing the osmoprotectant glycine-betaine (C-4 sterol methyl oxidase, CSMO), generating protectants against reactive-oxygen-species scavenging (aldehyde dehydrogenase,ALDH, ascorbate-dependent oxidoreductase, ADOR), and stabilizing membranes and proteins (heat-shock protein 17.8, HSP17.8, and dehydrin 3, DHN3). Moreover, 17 genes were abundantly expressed in Martin and HS41-1 compared with Moroc9-75 under both drought and control conditions. These genes were possibly constitutively expressed in drought-tolerant genotypes. Among them, seven known annotated genes might enhance drought tolerance through signalling [such as calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK) and membrane steroid binding protein (MSBP)], anti-senescence (G2 pea dark accumulated protein, GDA2), and detoxification (glutathione S-transferase, GST) pathways. In addition, 18 genes, including those encoding Δl-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), protein phosphatase 2C-like protein (PP2C), and several chaperones, were differentially expressed in all genotypes under drought; thus they were more likely to be general drought-responsive genes in barley. These results could provide new insights into further understanding of drought-tolerance mechanisms in barley