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Powdered pigments found in bowls from the Pompeii archaeological site and some wall-painting fragments from the Vesuvian area (conserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples) were investigated by microscopic Raman and FTIR spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray. Brown, red and yellow pigments are common ochres based on goethite and haematite. The blue pigment is Egyptian blue: the presence of tridymite and cristobalite indicates firing temperatures in the 1000-1100 • C range. Pink pigments were prepared both with purely inorganic materials, by mixing haematite and Egyptian blue (violet hue), or presumably by adding an organic dye to an aluminium-silica matrix. A white powder found in a bowl is composed mainly of the unusual pigment huntite (CaMg 3 (CO 3 ) 4 ). Celadonite is found in the green samples from the wall paintings, together with Egyptian blue and basic lead carbonate, while the heterogeneous green pigment in a bowl shows malachite mixed with goethite, Egyptian blue, haematite, carbon, cerussite and quartz.

BackgroundIn light of recent developments in nanotechnologies, interest is growing to better comprehend the interaction of nanoparticles with body tissues, in particular within the cardiovascular system. Attention has recently focused on the link between environmental pollution and cardiovascular diseases. Nanoparticles <50 nm in size are known to pass the alveolar–pulmonary barrier, enter into bloodstream and induce inflammation, but the direct pathogenic mechanisms still need to be evaluated. We thus focused our attention on titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, the most diffuse nanomaterial in polluted environments and one generally considered inert for the human body.MethodsWe conducted functional studies on isolated adult rat cardiomyocytes exposed acutely in vitro to TiO2 and on healthy rats administered a single dose of 2 mg/Kg TiO2 NPs via the trachea. Transmission electron microscopy was used to verify the actual presence of TiO2 nanoparticles within cardiac tissue, toxicological assays were used to assess lipid peroxidation and DNA tissue damage, and an in silico method was used to model the effect on action potential.ResultsVentricular myocytes exposed in vitro to TiO2 had significantly reduced action potential duration, impairment of sarcomere shortening and decreased stability of resting membrane potential. In vivo, a single intra-tracheal administration of saline solution containing TiO2 nanoparticles increased cardiac conduction velocity and tissue excitability, resulting in an enhanced propensity for inducible arrhythmias. Computational modeling of ventricular action potential indicated that a membrane leakage could account for the nanoparticle-induced effects measured on real cardiomyocytes.ConclusionsAcute exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles acutely alters cardiac excitability and increases the likelihood of arrhythmic events.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12989-014-0063-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Copper resinate is a green pigment widely used by the 16th century painters, as many surveys on Italian and European paintings proved. The pigment is a transparent green glaze, and its color is due to copper salts of resin acids. The oldest recipes suggest the preparation of copper resinate by mixing verdigris with terpenic resins as Venice turpentine (conifer resins) on hot ashes. The detection of copper resinate in paintings is up to this time an analytical challenge. We examined the Raman features of copper resinate (powder and in a mock paint film with linseed oil) and compared them with verdigris. Six laser sources (488, 514, 532, 633, 785, and 830 nm) were used in different laboratories to highlight the drawbacks and advantages of a specific excitation source. The obtained results were applied in the analyses of a famous Caravaggio's painting. For a detailed interpretation and full exploitation of the Raman spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements were carried out as well. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Plagioclase undergoes complex exsolution and ordering and phase transition processes during their evolution in nature, and this has hindered attempts to define simple trends relating the major peaks of their Raman spectra with composition. Here, the peak position and linewidth of major Raman features have been calibrated for a set of 20 plagioclases, spanning from albite to anorthite in composition, with symmetry and ordering states that were already well characterized. Point group symmetry is the most important factor determining the Raman peak behaviour with composition, though C true1¯, I true1¯, and P true1¯ plagioclases show different trends for the position of the main peak νa at ~500 cm−1. Using a simplifying approach, which merges the effect of Al–Si ordering and incommensurate modulations, a method has been developed to estimate the plagioclase composition from calibration of a few determinative Raman peaks. This makes use of the wavenumber difference Δab between the most intense peaks νa and νb around 500 cm−1, the linewidth Гa of the strongest νa peak, and the wavenumber difference Δcb between νc and νb peaks, where νc is a Raman feature at ~560–580 cm−1. The calibration was completed from data sets composed of spectra from metamorphic to pegmatitic plagioclase. The results were then tested against a further data set, mostly made by volcanic plagioclase. In most samples, the difference between electron micro probe analysis (EMPA) and Raman compositions is less than 5%. Higher residuals (beyond 10%) are observed for intermediate plagioclase, suggesting that some differences in Δab exist between volcanic and metamorphic plagioclase of intermediate compositions. The Raman compositional results for a plagioclase from Marsili submarine volcano agree with composition and zoning found from the analysis by laser ablation.