5 research outputs found
Reliable Methodology for Measuring SERS Enhancement Factor on Colloidal and Solid Substrates: A Practical Guide
No full textDevelopment of methods for the analysis of microplastics in environmental matrices using Raman and SERS techniques.
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Selective Labeling of Small Microplastics with SERS-Tags Based on Gold Nanostars: Method Optimization Using Polystyrene Beads and Application in Environmental Samples
No full textMicroplastics pollution is being unanimously recognized as a global concern in all environments. Routine analysis protocols foresee that samples, which are supposed to contain up to hundreds of microplastics, are eventually collected on nanoporous filters and inspected by microspectroscopy techniques like micro-FTIR or micro-Raman. All particles, whether made of plastic or not, must be inspected one by one to detect and count microplastics. This makes it extremely time-consuming, especially when Raman is adopted, and indeed mandatory for the small microplastic fraction. Inspired by the principles of cell labeling, the present study represents the first report in which gold nanostars (AuNS) are functionalized to act as SERS-tags and used to selectively couple to microplastics. The intrinsic bright signals provided by the SERS-tags are used to run a quick scan over a wide filter area with roughly 2 orders of magnitude shorter analysis time in respect of state of the art in micro- and nanoplastics detection by μ-Raman. The applicability of the present protocol has been validated at the proof-of-concept level on both fabricated and real offshore marine samples. It is indeed worth mentioning that a SERS-based approach is herein successfully applied on filters and protocols routinely adopted in environmental microplastics monitoring, paving the way for future implementations and applications
Élites della Spagna imperiale: famiglie e networks transnazionali tra Napoli, Praga e Madrid
No full textL’egemonia spagnola tra XVI e XVII secolo crea uno spazio europeo interconnesso, che offre molteplici
opportunità alle famiglie che dimostrano intraprendenza e ambizione. Le strategie delle élites, mediante
le alleanze matrimoniali, la partecipazione alle grandi imprese militari, la promozione di eventi nell’ambito
della sociabilità aristocratica, si inseriscono nella politica di integrazione della monarchia asburgica. La
funzione aggregante svolta dalla Corona, dispensatrice di titoli e mercedi, consente alla nobiltà legata agli
Asburgo di travalicare i confini nazionali e di costruire reti transnazionali in circuiti sempre più esclusivi.
Un esempio è rappresentato dalle vicende di Andrea Matteo Acquaviva d’Aragona, principe di Caserta,
grande aristocratico napoletano, che grazie alle relazioni privilegiate instaurate con il viceré Lemos, con
l’entourage madrileno del favorito Lerma e con la fazione filospagnola della nobiltà imperiale boema,
raggiunge i più alti livelli di inclusione nel patronage asburgico e la proiezione internazionale del suo
lignaggio. I suoi legami con la corte di Praga si sviluppano negli anni critici del conflitto delle Fiandre
e della Guerra dei Trent’Anni e testimoniano la sua appartenenza a networks sovranazionali promossi
dall’universalismo della Monarchia Ispanica.Spanish hegemony between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries creates an interconnected European space, which offers multiple opportunities to families who demonstrate resourcefulness and ambition.
The strategies of the elites, through marriage alliances, military enterprises, the promotion of events of
aristocratic sociability, are part of the integration policy of the Habsburg monarchy. The unifying function
carried out by the Crown, dispenser of titles and graces, allows the nobility linked to the Habsburgs to cross
national borders and to build transnational networks in exclusive circuits. An example is represented by
Andrea Matteo Acquaviva d’Aragona, prince of Caserta, a great Neapolitan aristocrat, who thanks to the
privileged relations established with the viceroy Lemos, with the Madrid entourage of the favorite Lerma
and with the pro-Spanish faction of the Bohemian imperial nobility, reaches the highest levels of inclusion
in the Habsburg patronage and the international projection of his lineage. His ties with the Prague court
developed in the critical years of the Flanders conflict and the Thirty Years War and testify to his belonging
to supranational networks promoted by the universalism of the Spanish monarchy
This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises
No full textThis paper offers a "panoramic" analysis of the history of financial crises dating from England’s fourteenth-century default to the current United States sub-prime financial crisis. Our study is based on a new dataset that spans all regions. It incorporates a number of important credit episodes seldom covered in the literature, including for example, defaults and restructurings in India and China. As the first paper employing this data, our aim is to illustrate some of the broad insights that can be gleaned from such a sweeping historical database. We find that serial default is a nearly universal phenomenon as countries struggle to transform themselves from emerging markets to advanced economies. Major default episodes are typically spaced some years (or decades) apart, creating an illusion that "this time is different" among policymakers and investors. A recent example of the "this time is different" syndrome is the false belief that domestic debt is a novel feature of the modern financial landscape. We also confirm that crises frequently emanate from the financial centers with transmission through interest rate shocks and commodity price collapses. Thus, the recent US sub-prime financial crisis is hardly unique. Our data also documents other crises that often accompany default: including inflation, exchange rate crashes, banking crises, and currency debasements.
