De praça a praça: Praças de toiros portuguesas (1850-1950): contributo para a sua salvaguarda e divulgação

O presente trabalho pretende demonstrar o valor patrimonial das praças de toiros, enquanto manifestações arquitetónicas representativas de uma manifestação cultural e patrimonial herdada - a Tauromaquia. Assim sendo, é nossa intenção criar mecanismos que despertem interesse pelo referido património e que lhe seja reconhecido valor arquitetónico e cultural, sendo que aliada à materialidade do edificado identificámos também aspetos imateriais: costumes, tradições e rituais que, aliados à prática tauromáquica contribuem para a nossa identificação enquanto povo. Através da inventariação do património tauromáquico imóvel existente dentro das balizas cronológicas apontadas procuramos sensibilizar a sociedade para o papel que estes edifícios assumem na história e na cultura das populações, contribuindo simultaneamente para a sua preservação e valorização. O presente trabalho teve como base um vasto leque de leituras alusivas ao tema da tauromaquia que permitiu traçar um percurso de molde a evidenciar a evolução dos preceitos da arte tauromáquica, onde se insere o aparecimento e desenvolvimento das praças de toiros portuguesas. Julgamos que um dos aspetos mais importantes deste trabalho seja o facto da identificação dos espaços e o registo das suas características nos ter permitido conhecer e dar a conhecer a existência de uma tipologia patrimonial que se encontra como que oculta, que para muitos chega mesmo a ser desconhecida ou ignorada, mas que faz parte do nosso património, transcendendo uma dimensão puramente material. ABSTRACT: This paper aims to demonstrate the heritage value of bullrings as architectural manifestations, representing a cultural heritage and legacy - Bullfighting. First of all, the construction of these buildings requires a “will of manifestation" and the recognition of values with which part of the Portuguese people identifies itself. lt is therefore our intention to create mechanisms to awaken interest in this heritage, so that its architectonic and cultural value is recognized. Along with the materiality of the buildings, we have also identified intangible aspects, such as: customs, traditions and rituals, that when allied to bullfighting contribute to our identity as a people. With the inventorying of the bullfighting assets existing within the established timelines, we seek to enlighten society about the role that these buildings assume both in history and culture, as well as contributing to its preservation and enhancement. This research was based on a vast range of readings related to bullfighting which allowed us to outline the path of the evolution of the bullfighting art, which includes the appearing and development of Portuguese bullrings. We believe that one of the most important aspects in this paper is the fact that the identification of the places and the registration of their features has allowed us not only to acknowledge but also to display the existence of a heritage that has been hidden. For many people this is unknown or even ignored, but it's part of our heritage, transcending a purely material dimension.

Testing the cleaning effectiveness of new ecological aqueousdispersions applied on old icons

Adherent deposits are very aggressive towards ancient heritage paintings since they affect the varnish and the painting’s layers, sometimes reaching the preparative layers. The biggest problem to the restorer is their removal without affecting the patina, the transparent varnish (well preserved) and fine colour glazes made during painting. Therefore, their removal requires preliminary cleaning tests that allow the optimization of the cleaning system composition that is going to be used. The study was focused on organic natural systems, as colourless supernatants, some of them used during ages, but insufficiently studied. The paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of cleaning varnished icons of the nineteenth century, with complex conservation cases using supernatants derived from aqueous dispersions extracted from vegetables and dry indigenous herbal infusions. Best results, after six consecutive cleaning steps, on tempera old icon was obtained for a mixture made of mature white onion juice + extract of Soapwort flowers + corn silk tea + acacia tea. As a best result after just one cleaning step was obtained for a quaternary mixture composed from mature white onion juice + mature carrot juice + corn silk tea + aqueous extract of Soapwort flowers.

Long term performance evaluation of small-diameter vascular grafts based on polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel and dextran and MSCs-based therapies using the ovine pre-clinical animal model.

The functional and structural performance of a 5 cm synthetic small diameter vascular graft (SDVG) produced by the copolymerization of polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel with low molecular weight dextran (PVA/Dx graft) associated to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based therapies and anticoagulant treatment with heparin, clopidogrel and warfarin was tested using the ovine model during the healing period of 24 weeks. The results were compared to the ones obtained with standard expanded polyetetrafluoroethylene grafts (ePTFE graft). Blood flow, vessel and graft diameter measurements, graft appearance and patency rate (PR), thrombus, stenosis and collateral vessel formation were evaluated by B-mode ultrasound, audio and color flow Doppler. Graft and regenerated vessels morphologic evaluation was performed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis. All PVA/Dx grafts could maintain a similar or higher PR and systolic / diastolic laminar blood flow velocities were similar to ePTFE grafts. CD14 (macrophages) and α-actin (smooth muscle) staining presented similar results in PVA/Dx/MSCs and ePTFE graft groups. Fibrosis layer was lower and endothelial cells were only detected at graft-artery transitions where it was added the MSCs. In conclusion, PVA/Dx graft can be an excellent scaffold candidate for vascular reconstruction, including clinic mechanically challenging applications, such as SDVGs, especially when associated to MSCs-based therapies to promote higher endothelialization and lower fibrosis of the vascular prosthesis, but also higher PR values.