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An overview is given of all results from the International Co-operative Programme on Effects on Materials including Historic and Cultural Monuments (ICP Materials), which was launched in 1985. Since then, about twenty different materials have been exposed repeatedly in a network of test sites consisting of more than twenty sites with an extensive environmental characterisation and more than sixty official reports have been issued. Recent results on trends in corrosion, soiling, and pollution show that corrosion of carbon steel, zinc, and limestone is today substantially lower than 25 years ago, but while corrosion of carbon steel has decreased until today, corrosion of zinc and limestone has remained more or less constant since the turn of the century. Unique data are given on measured HNO3concentrations from 2002-2003, 2005-2006, and 2008-2009, and the relative average decrease was about the same from 2002-2003 to 2005-2006 as it was from 2005-2006 to 2008-2009.

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic affecting individuals to varying degrees. There is emerging evidence that even patients with mild symptoms will suffer from prolonged physical impairment.Methods: In this prospective observational study, lung function, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing have been performed in 100 patients for 3–6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis (post-CoVG). Depending on the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, patients were divided into asymptomatic, or mild to moderate (mild post-CoVG), and severe post-CoVG [hospitalization with or without intensive care unit/non-invasive ventilation (ICU/NIV)]. Results have been compared with age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) matched control group (CG, N = 50).Results: Both lung function (resting) and exercise capacity (peak workload, Wpeak and peak oxygen uptake, VO2 peak - % predicted) were considerably affected in patients with severe post-CoV (81.7 ± 27.6 and 86.1 ± 20.6%), compared to the mild post-CoVG (104.8 ± 24.0%, p = 0.001 and 100.4 ± 24.8; p = 0.003). In addition, also the submaximal exercise performance was significantly reduced in the severe post-CoVG (predicted VT1/VO2 peak; p = 0.013 and VT2/VO2 peak; p = 0.001). Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that 74 % (adjusted R2) of the variance in relative VO2 peak of patients who had CoV could be explained by the following variables: lower age, male sex, lower BMI, higher DLCO, higher predicted heart rate (HR) peak, lower breathing reserve (BR), and lower SaO2 peak, which were related to higher relative VO2 peak values. Higher NT-proBNP and lower creatinine kinase (CK) values were seen in severe cases compared to patients who experienced mild CoV.Discussion: Maximal and submaximal exercise performance in patients recovering from severe COVID-19 remain negatively affected for 3–6 months after COVID-19 diagnosis. The presented findings reveal that impaired pulmonary, cardiac, and skeletal muscle function contributed to the limitation of VO2 peak in those patients, which may have important implications on rehabilitation programs.

This paper reports on the comparative evaluation of traditional and innovative methods for the investigation of mortar technology. Preliminary results of various approaches to determining the mix proportions in lime mortars with carbonate aggregate are presented. Quantitative analysis was tested on ad hoc prepared mortars of known composition containing carbonate aggregates of different origin (travertine and Bath limestone). Wet chemical methods, manual disaggregation and Digital Image Analysis of thin sections and cross-sections stained with Alizarin Red S were tested. The advantages and drawbacks of the different approaches are discussed, and applications to the analysis of archaeological mortars and plasters are highlighted.