PIXE Analysis of Persian Miniature Used in 16th Century Poetry Manuscript

In Persian culture, precious poetry manuscripts used to be decorated by miniature paintings and illuminations to visualize the story of the poem to the reader. The Joseph and Zulaikha story written in Persian by Jami (1414-1492) is one of the poetry books which has attracted considerable attention and has been copied and decorated by calligraphers and painters several times. This paper will focus on characterization of Persian miniature of the Joseph and Zulaikha created in the 15th-16th century in the Bokhara school. To collect the required information for preservation, restoration, and authenticity of the masterpiece, the elemental composition of the applied pigments in the miniature paintings as well as the elemental composition of the employed ink and paper was analyzed by external PIXE

Investigation of toxic and non-toxic hair trace elements in patients with breast cancer and benign breast diseases

Background: Trace elements are essential for all life forms and play a vital role in human nutrition and biochemical functions. Epidemiologic studies suggest that trace element deficiency may be associated with increased risk of cancer. Materials and Methods: In this study, the levels of a number of the elements in scalp hair samples of 81 people (21 breast cancer patients‌‌, 50 people suffering from benign breast diseases and 10 healthy individuals) were measured by a PIXE analysis. Pellets of hair samples were prepared and bombarded by 2.2 MeV proton beam of a 3 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. Results: The concentrations of S, Cl, K, Ca, Fe and Cu in the hair of healthy individuals are in agreement with those observed in the hair of the benign breast disease and cancer patients within the standard deviations. There was a significant decrease in the mean total of Zn in scalp hair samples of the cancer patients compared to the control group. The average scalp hair concentrations of Pb, Br were higher in the benign breast disease and cancer patients than the healthy control. Conclusion: If the deficiency or excess of a particular trace element can be linked to the cancer of an organ, such studies can be initiated to see whether controlled administering of that elements would check the growth of cancer, which ultimately can pave the way for developing a new drug to be used in chemotherapy for cancer

Ion Beam Analysis of Hydrogen-Treated Ti/TiN Protective Nanomultilayers

Ti/TiN multilayer films with a few multilayer periods and a total sub-μm thickness were deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates by ion coating deposition technique. To investigate the effect of hydrogen treatment on the corrosion behavior of the multilayers, some of the samples were hydrogen treated after deposition of the first and/or the second Ti interlayer. $\text{}^{14}N(d,\alpha_1) \text{}^{12}C$ nuclear reaction and the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry were used to obtain the atomic composition profiles and thickness of Ti/TiN layers. Nuclear reaction analysis confirmed the presence of two separable TiN layers of comparable thickness on the surface and in depth of the two-period multilayers. These techniques were used to determine the thickness of individual Ti and TiN layers and revealed that the stoichiometry of TiN layers was approximately Ti:N=1:1. Hydrogen depth profile in the prepared samples was obtained by elastic recoil detection analysis. It was found that a remarkable volume of hydrogen was uptaken by the Ti layer in the hydrogen treated samples. The TiN (200) diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern was observed with different intensities depending on the sample preparation parameters. The corrosion behavior of the multilayers was studied by means of potentiodynamic polarization in 0.5 M NaCl solutions. It was found that the hydrogen treatment of Ti interlayer could potentially improve the corrosion properties of the Ti/TiN layers

Ion Beam Analysis of Hydrogen-Treated Ti/TiN Protective Nanomultilayers

Ti/TiN multilayer films with a few multilayer periods and a total sub-μm thickness were deposited on AISI 304 stainless steel substrates by ion coating deposition technique. To investigate the effect of hydrogen treatment on the corrosion behavior of the multilayers, some of the samples were hydrogen treated after deposition of the first and/or the second Ti interlayer. $\text{}^{14}N(d,\alpha_1) \text{}^{12}C$ nuclear reaction and the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry were used to obtain the atomic composition profiles and thickness of Ti/TiN layers. Nuclear reaction analysis confirmed the presence of two separable TiN layers of comparable thickness on the surface and in depth of the two-period multilayers. These techniques were used to determine the thickness of individual Ti and TiN layers and revealed that the stoichiometry of TiN layers was approximately Ti:N=1:1. Hydrogen depth profile in the prepared samples was obtained by elastic recoil detection analysis. It was found that a remarkable volume of hydrogen was uptaken by the Ti layer in the hydrogen treated samples. The TiN (200) diffraction peak in the X-ray diffraction pattern was observed with different intensities depending on the sample preparation parameters. The corrosion behavior of the multilayers was studied by means of potentiodynamic polarization in 0.5 M NaCl solutions. It was found that the hydrogen treatment of Ti interlayer could potentially improve the corrosion properties of the Ti/TiN layers

Characterisation of decorations on Iranian (10th -13th century) lustreware

It has been recently shown that lustre decoration of Medieval and Renaissance pottery consists of silver and copper nanoparticles, dispersed within the glassy matrix of the ceramic glaze. Lustre surfaces show peculiar optical effects, such as metallic reflection and iridescence. Here we report the findings of a study on lustred glazes of several shards belonging to Iranian pottery of the 10th and 13th centuries, decorated on both sides. Two different glazes, depending on the side of the sample, have been identified. Different lustre chromatic effects are characterised by the relative presence of silver- and copper-metal nanoparticles dispersed in the glassy matrix