On the hierarchical use of colourants in a 15th century book of hours

An illuminated Book of Hours (in use in Chalon-sur-Sa\uf4ne) currently owned by the Museo Civico di Arte Antica and displayed in the prestigious Palazzo Madama in Torino (Italy) was investigated by means of optical microscopy, fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy, fibre optic molecular fluorimetry, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy. The aim of the scientific survey was to expand the knowledge of the manuscript itself and on the materials and techniques employed by Antoine the Lonhy, the versatile itinerant artist who decorated the book in the 15th century. The focus was to reveal the original colourants and to investigate the pigments used in rough retouches which were visible in some of the miniatures. The investigation was carried out in situ by portable instruments according to a non-invasive analytical sequence previously developed. It was evident that the use of different pigments by the master was ruled, at least partially, by a hierarchical scheme in which more precious materials were linked to the most important characters or details in the painted scene

Shallow submarine mud volcano in the northern Tyrrhenian sea, Italy

Submarine methane emissions in the Tuscan Archipelago have been studied since the 1960s, both for economic and research purposes. Offshore gas seepage is mainly concentrated southward and westward of Elba island, along N–S faults related to recent extensional activity in the Tuscan shelf and N–S trending positive magnetic anomalies, which have been interpreted as serpentinites associated with ophiolitic rocks due to their very high magnetic susceptibility. This study focuses on the gas chemistry of a new emission site corresponding to a shallow water mud volcano in the Scoglio d'Affrica area. The Scoglio d'Affrica seep has a gas composition typical of mud volcanoes, with methane as the prevalent component (95 vol%) and minor gases which include carbon dioxide, nitrogen and trace amounts of helium. The combined stable C and H isotope composition of CH4 (δ13C and δ2H) and the enrichment in heavy carbon isotopes of CO2, highlight a prevalent secondary microbial origin for these fluids (δ13C~−35.8‰ vs VPDB; δ2H~−166‰ vs VSMOW; δ13CCO2 up to + 21.7‰ vs VPDB). Thus, in spite of the occurrence of positive magnetic anomalies, a possible abiotic origin of methane is excluded. Moreover, the gas from the mud volcano is extremely depleted in 3He and presents typical 3He/4He ratios of a geological setting in which radiogenic crustal helium is strongly predominant. A photo-mosaic of the mud volcano is also reported. A possible connection with other submarine methane emissions in the Tuscan Archipelago is limited to emissions located few kilometers from the Scoglio d'Affrica area. Recent emissions in the area suggest that gases similar in composition from distinct reservoirs, find their way to the surface from Eocene deposits in different time intervals and through different faults and fractures, placed along the Elba-Pianosa ridge

Composition and optical property controlled in In 2 O 3 /W 2 N nanostructure composites by nitrogen plasma assisted in-situ thermal annealing

In2O3/W2N nanostructure composites were grown by nitrogen plasma assisted in-situ thermal annealing at different hot-filament temperatures, Tf. The in-situ thermal annealing changes the as-grown In2O3 nanostructure to In2O3/W2N nanostructure composite with decreasing the grain size from 200 to 300 nm to ~ 100 nm. The optical spectroscopy results indicate that the optical energy gap of the nanostructure composites (3.7–2.7 eV) can be effectively tailored by monotonically increasing the W2N incorporation. The formation of W2N is attributed to the high energetic ion bombardment of N adatoms and incorporation of W adatoms. Furthermore, the effects of the filament temperature, Tf on the compositions in relation with the optical properties of the nanostructure composite are discussed

Twilight waltz: composed and dedicated to Miss Georgianna A. Shaw by H.S. Saroni

(Published By F. W. Ratcliffe