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The Collection provides an unrivalled resource for the study of Islamic jewellery, with nearly 600 catalogued pieces in gold, silver and copper alloys, of all periods from the 7th to the 20th centuries and from throughout the Islamic world Spain to Malaysia, and Africa to the Eurasian steppes. Various sectors of production and clienteles are represented, from the court to bespoke jewellery to the urban marketplace. The jewellery also illustrates a correspondingly wide range of techniques and materials, including all the main methods of working gold, silver and copper alloys and their decoration especially filigree, niello, enamel and the setting of gems. Inevitably some periods, areas and techniques are better represented than others, but overall the Collection is remarkably comprehensive and in some areas, such as the Fatimid filigree, is among the finest in the world. This two-part volume includes virtually every form of personal adornment head, hair and headdress ornaments; earrings; nose rings; finger rings; pendants; beads; necklaces; bracelets, armlets and anklets; armband elements; amulets and amulet cases; pins and brooches; buttons; belts and belt fittings as well as harness fittings. Separate volumes in the Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art series have been devoted to rings (vol. XVI) and the jewellery from Mughal India (vol. XVIII); more of the belt and harness fittings were included in the study of arms and armour (vol. XXI). Outstanding among the Khalili Collection jewellery are the Fatimid pieces, which include a pair of gold pins with extraordinarily fine vegetal designs rendered in the characteristic rope-and-grain filigree of Egypt or Syria; the many bracelets of the 10th early 13th centuries, including exceptional ones of gold sheet set with gems and decorated with inlaid niello and granulation made in Iran; the gold and silver repousse huntsmen s belt fittings from the Golden Horde Central Asia or the Qipchaq steppe, with clear Khitan or Jin influence; a larger number of enamelled and gilded copper-alloy belt and harness fittings from Nasrid Spain than in most other collections; an exquisite two-headed eagle in gold filigree set with emeralds from 18th-century Morocco; and a large group of Iranian enamelled jewellery of the Qajar period, including excellent enamelled pendants with portraits of the Qajar Shahs. In addition to Michael Spink s expertise in Islamic art and jewellery across its full geographical range brought to bear throughout the catalogue, Jack Ogden s comprehensive knowledge of ancient jewellery and jewellery technology is reflected in two important surveys of techniques and materials. Mark G. Kramarovksy contributed an important discussion of the origins of the spiral filigree style. Pedro Moura Carvalho reviewed the evidence for enamelling in Iran under the Safavid and Zand dynasties. J.M. Rogers made numerous additions, most notably his survey of the documentation of Ottoman jewellery, and with Manijeh Bayani have made the text of Nishaburi on medieval enamelling accessible to a wider audience.

This paper presents a brief overview of the technologies used to implement surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effects into fiber-optic sensors for chemical and biochemical applications and a survey of results reported over the last ten years. The performance indicators that are relevant for such systems, such as refractometric sensitivity, operating wavelength, and figure of merit (FOM), are discussed and listed in table form. A list of experimental results with reported limits of detection (LOD) for proteins, toxins, viruses, DNA, bacteria, glucose, and various chemicals is also provided for the same time period. Configurations discussed include fiber-optic analogues of the Kretschmann-Raether prism SPR platforms, made from geometry-modified multimode and single-mode optical fibers (unclad, side-polished, tapered, and U-shaped), long period fiber gratings (LPFG), tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBG), and specialty fibers (plastic or polymer, microstructured, and photonic crystal fibers). Configurations involving the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) on continuous thin metal layers as well as those involving localized SPR (LSPR) phenomena in nanoparticle metal coatings of gold, silver, and other metals at visible and near-infrared wavelengths are described and compared quantitatively.

To minimize saturation magnetization ( Ms ) degradation and simultaneously maintain the optical and magnetic responsiveness characteristics of Fe 3 O 4 /Au nanocomposites, we successfully prepared Fe 3 O 4 –Au seeds composite nanoparticles (NPs) by a novel seed deposition process. The effects of gold seeds coating amounts and the concentration of Fe 3 O 4 NPs on the morphologies of final products are extensively characterized. The results of energy-dispersive spectrometry mapping show that the gold seeds are uniformly adhered onto the Fe 3 O 4 NPs surfaces in precisely controlled amount. Importantly, with the electronic redistribution between Fe 3 O 4 and Au NPs interfaces, the obvious position shifting of Fe 2 p and Au 4 f electronic binding energy peaks is observed. Upon increasing surface coatings of gold seeds, the electron deficiency on the gold NPs leads to the redshift of the absorption peak. Though Ms declines slightly due to the diamagnetic contribution from decorated gold seeds, the developed Fe 3 O 4 –Au seeds composite NPs possess the robust magnetic responsiveness and they are amenable to be separated and recycled by the external magnet, which facilitates great potential applications in biological, medical and photocatalytic fields.

Urinary tract infection is one of the most common bacterial infections leading to increased morbidity, mortality and societal costs. Current diagnostics exacerbate this problem due to an inability to provide timely pathogen identification. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has the potential to overcome these issues by providing immediate bacterial classification. To date, achieving accurate classification has required technically complicated processes to capture pathogens, which has precluded the integration of SERS into rapid diagnostics. This work demonstrates that gold-coated membrane filters capture and aggregate bacteria, separating them from urine, while also providing Raman signal enhancement. An optimal gold coating thickness of 50 nm was demonstrated, and the diagnostic performance of the SERS-active filters was assessed using phantom urine infection samples at clinically relevant concentrations (10 5  CFU/ml). Infected and uninfected (control) samples were identified with an accuracy of 91.1%. Amongst infected samples only, classification of three bacteria ( Escherichia coli , Enterococcus faecalis , Klebsiella pneumoniae ) was achieved at a rate of 91.6%.

Liquid metals have attracted attention as functional components for moldable electronics, such as soft flexible connectors, wires or conductive ink. The relatively high surface tension (> 400 mN m −1 ) and the fact that liquid metals do not readily wet ceramic or oxide surfaces have led to devising unique techniques to spread the liquid and mold its shape. These techniques include surface modification, electrowetting and vacuum filling of channels. This work presents an injection technique based on pressurized fountain pen lithography with glass nanopipettes developed to directly pattern liquid metal on flat hard substrates. The liquid metals were eutectic alloys of Gallium, including Gallium-Indium (EGaIn), Gallium-Indium-Zinc and Gallium-Indium-Tin. The nanopipettes were coated internally with gold, acting as a sacrificial layer and facilitating the wetting of the pipette down to its pore, with an inner diameter of ~ 100–300 nm. By applying hydrodynamic pressure to the connected end of the pipette, the metal was extruded through the pore, forming long continuous (> 3 mm) and narrow (~ 1–15 µm) metal lines on silicon oxide and gold surfaces at room temperature and ambient conditions. With this robust platform, it is possible to pattern liquid metals on a variety of substrates and geometries down to the micron range.

Focussed ion beam milling (FIB) followed by TEM has been used to study ZDDP tribofilms on rubbed steel surfaces. It has been found that the impact of high energy platinum and gallium ions during FIB causes significant morphological and structural changes to the uppermost 30–50 nm of a ZDDP tribofilm. This can be prevented by the low energy deposition of a quite thick gold layer prior to installation of the sample in the FIB facility. This problem, and its solution, have been quite widely reported in the non-tribology literature but have not previously been highlighted in the application of FIB to study tribological surfaces. It has also been found, using this gold pre-deposition method, that the bulk of the ZDDP tribofilm studied has a polycrystalline structure.

Membrane proteins are central to many biological processes, and the interactions between transmembrane protein receptors and their ligands are of fundamental importance in medical research. However, measuring and characterizing these interactions is challenging. Here we report that sensors based on arrays of resonating microcantilevers can measure such interactions under physiological conditions. A protein receptor—the FhuA receptor of Escherichia coli —is crystallized in liposomes, and the proteoliposomes then immobilized on the chemically activated gold-coated surface of the sensor by ink-jet spotting in a humid environment, thus keeping the receptors functional. Quantitative mass-binding measurements of the bacterial virus T5 at subpicomolar concentrations are performed. These experiments demonstrate the potential of resonating microcantilevers for the specific, label-free and time-resolved detection of membrane protein–ligand interactions in a micro-array format. Membrane proteins are central to many biological processes, but it is difficult to measure their interactions with other objects. Sensors based on arrays of resonating microcantilevers have now performed label-free and time-resolved measurements of the interactions between a protein receptor and a bacterial virus under physiological conditions.

Lustering, a technique which involved the application of coloured translucent glazes over gilding and silvering was widely used to enrich and decorate altarpieces in the Baroque period. The decorations consist of a micrometric multilayered structure including several color glazes, metallic leaves and applied over a plaster ground. The collection of Baroque altarpieces, the oldest dating 1671 and the newest 1775 from the cathedral of Tortosa (Catalonia), is a perfect case of study of the materials used and the techniques employed throughout the period. Further information is obtained from the analysis of the reaction and aging compounds resulting from the interaction among the compounds present in the layers and between the different layers. A combination of sensitive analytical techniques, Synchrotron based μ-XRD and μ-IR and SEM-EDS which enabled the luster samples to undergo analysis without altering their original layered microstructure were selected. The nature of the compounds used to produce the yellow, green, red and blue glazes (pigments, pigment lakes and resins), metallic leaves and boles is presented. Relevant information from historical and conservation viewpoints about the origin and nature of the materials used, the making of the lusters and their reactivity and aging are also discussed.

Nanocomposite transition metal carbide/amorphous carbon coatings (Me-C/a-C) deposited by magnetron sputtering have excellent electrical contact properties. The contact resistance can be as low as that of noble metal coatings, although it is known to vary by several orders of magnitude depending on the deposition conditions. We have investigated a nanocrystalline niobium carbide/amorphous carbon (NbC x /a-C:H) model system aiming to clarify factors affecting the contact resistance for this group of contact materials. For the first time, the surface chemistry is systematically studied, by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and in extension how it can explain the contact resistance. The coatings presented a mean oxide thickness of about 1 nm, which could be grown to 8 nm by annealing. Remarkably, the contact resistances covered four orders of magnitude and were found to be exponentially dependent on the mean oxide thickness. Moreover, there is an optimum in the amount of a-C:H phase where the contact resistance drops very significantly and it is thus important to not only consider the mean oxide thickness. To explain the results, a model relying on surface chemistry and contact mechanics is presented. The lowest contact resistance of a nanocomposite matched that of a gold coating at 1 N load (vs. gold), and such performance has previously not been demonstrated for similar nanocomposite materials, highlighting their useful properties for electrical contact applications.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a well-known, rapid and sensitive technique used for probing the biomolecular interactions in real time. Several new approaches have been suggested to improve the sensitivity of SPR sensors over the last two decades. Recently, there have been few reports on using graphene on a metal film based SPR sensor in order to improve the sensitivity. The role of incident light wavelength and graphene layers in sensitivity enhancement is unclear. This paper reports computational investigations on sensitivity enhancement of SPR biosensor using tunable wavelength and graphene layers. The reflectivity of p-polarized incident light has been calculated using the N-layer model for the most common Kretschmann configuration. Sensitivity enhancements over a conventional angular interrogated SPR sensor have been calculated within the wavelength range 600 -1600 nm and up to ten graphene layers. Results indicate that the sensitivity can be enhanced by the increasing the graphene layers on conventional gold coating based SPR biosensor. Sensitivity enhancement is highly dominated by the wavelength of interrogation used in this design. By tuning the wavelength and graphene layers sensitivity of the graphene-based SPR biosensor can be increased.