Nondestructive analysis of potassium in ancient glass on the base of its natural gamma activity

The concentration of K₂O in historical glass objects was measured by gamma ray spectrometry. The method involved using moulds of the objects filled with material of known K₂O content. The results obtained were found to be close to results previously obtained by traditional methods and well within accepted tolerances in such cases. Gamma ray spectrometry produces results based on the whole object, not just on a sample of it which in the case of historical glass may not be representative. The method is completely nondestructive as no sample is taken, which allows it to be used for museum glass when destrucdon may not be permitted

Measurements of natural radioactivity in historical glasses

Natural radioactive components of historical glasses and two methods of the respective measurement of the radioactivity are discussed. The evaluation of radioactivity of glass objects using a Geiger-Müller counter and high-resolution gamma ray spectrometry is presented. Α survey of the Warsaw National Museum glass collection with a Geiger-Müller counter allowed distinguishing the vessels made of potassium and sodium glass by their level of natural radioactivity. Gamma spectrometry, on the other hand, enables estimating a specific radionuclide content. Special attention is given to uranium glasses. One 19th Century Bohemian vessel, coloured with a uranium compound, was carefully examined using gamma spectrometry. K2O and U content were estimated to be 16.2 and 0.33 %, respectively

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) for examination of artworks

Chapter in the book: Bastidas D., Cano E. (eds) Advanced Characterization Techniques, Diagnostic Tools and Evaluation Methods in Heritage Science. Springer, Cham, 2018, pp 49-59 , doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-75316-4, Authors’version after embargo periodOptical coherence tomography is a fast, non-invasive technique of structural analysis utilising near-infrared radiation. Examples of using OCT, for obtaining cross-sectional images of objects of craftsmanship and an easel painting have been shown. Issues regarding the technique of execution and destruction phenomena were resolved non-invasively. In some cases, the secondary alterations can be identified and localised within the object’s structure which helps in authentication of the artwork

Critical assessment of the elemental composition of Corning archeological reference glasses by LA-ICP-MS

Corning archeological reference glasses A, B, C, and D have been made to simulate different historic technologies of glass production and are used as standards in historic glass investigations. In this work, nanoseconds (193, 266 nm) and femtosecond (800 nm) laser ablation were used to study the elemental composition of Corning glasses using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The determined concentrations of 26 oxides (Li2O, B2O3, Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, K2O, CaO, TiO2, V2O5, Cr2O3, MnO, Fe2O3, CoO, NiO, CuO, ZnO, Rb2O, SrO, ZrO2, SnO2, Sb2O5, BaO, PbO, Bi2O3) are compared with values reported in the literature. Results show variable discrepancies between the data, with the largest differences found for Cr2O3 in Corning A; Li2O, B2O3, and Cr2O3 in Corning B; and MnO, Sb2O5, Cr2O3, and Bi2O3 in Corning C. The best agreement between the measured and literature values was found for Corning D. However, even for this reference, glass re-evaluation of the data was necessary and new values for PbO, BaO, and Bi2O3 are proposed

Determination of potassium content in the B, C and D Corning reference glasses using gamma-ray spectrometry

[no abstract available

Uranium in historical glass

W pracy omówiono wybrane zagadnienia związane z występowaniem uranu w szkle historycznym, takie jak: naturalna zawartość uranu w szkle, historia szkła uranowego, jego wybrane właściwości oraz radioaktywność szkieł historycznych ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem szkieł uranowych.The paper discusses selected issues related to an occurrence of uranium in historical glass, such as a natural occurrence of uranium in glass, history and selected properties of uranium glass as well as radioactivity of historical glasses with a particular attention to uranium glasses

Position of Homo sapiens seen from the molecular perspective

These studies refer primarily to the proteins and DNA. Works on rRNA and tRNA have a smaller significance in comparison with closely related groups. Comparative studies of proteins were started with the help of immunological methods, mainly precipitation and complement fixation reaction, then Immunoelectrophoresis and electrophoresis in gel were applied, and finally the sequencing of proteins. In the works on DNA the amount of repetitive DNA was determined, renaturalization and hybridization were defined , and then sequencing of DNA, particularly of the one drop DNA. Recently the mitrochondrial DNA started to be studied and quite recently the polymorphism of the length of restrictive segments has been investigated. A supplement of this are the cariological works, studies on the number and structure of chromosomes, their type of striation and the recent studies on the localization of genes. Discussions are carried out on the possibility and limitation of these studies, particularly on the so called melecular clock. Molecular studies refer at present to the living species of Hominidae family and particularly of the subfamily of Homininae with man included. Subsequent discussions refer to the relation of man with apes, their mutual philogenetic relations and the contribution of molecular biology to the achievements of anthropogenesis. Isolated molecular studies on the extinct forms are mentioned. The applicability of molecular methods in the studies on human populations and their value in the investigations on the ethnogenesis and the history of definite populations are discussed. The necessity is stressed that there is a need of a different interpretation of data obtained in the investigation on adaptation features and features with no adaptational values, taking into account not only the investigation of semandides but also the works on the frequency of mutations, on the genetic composition of different populations and the polymorphism of restriction segments. Finally the work discusses briefly the molecular studies of mummies and bones