Flexible substrates for sensing provide adaptable, lightweight, and highly sensitive platforms for detecting different substances. The flexibility of these substrates allows for seamless integration with complex shapes and dynamic surfaces, enabling monitoring in challenging conditions using methods such as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Here we outline a flexible metamaterial array sensor formed from plasmonic silver-coated nanoimprinted piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride film.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem C Nanomater Interfaces
February 2025
Hybrid platforms of organic semiconductors and plasmonic metal nanostructures have the potential to form effective optical detection substrates. Here, we report the use of an organic p-type conducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) combined with plasmon-active silver nanostructures to enhance both Raman and fluorescence signal intensities. This enhancement occurs when optically excited charge from the polymer is transferred to silver, causing an enhancement of the electromagnetic field and leading to an increase in both the Raman and fluorescence signal intensities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a growing demand for sustainable and safe materials in developing technological systems and devices, including those that enhance Raman scattering. Organic (bio) materials based on simple peptides are one class of such materials. This study investigates self-assembled semiconducting peptides as metal-free substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial infections are a leading cause of mortality worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for effective detection methods. This study introduces a novel approach that combines surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with an electro-optic technique for bacterial detection. The method utilizes a metal-semiconductor substrate that, when activated by an external electric field, significantly amplifies the SERS signal intensity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Ferumoxytol is a superparamagnetic iron-oxide product that is increasingly used off-label for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). With the recent regulatory approval of generic ferumoxytol, there may be an opportunity to reduce cost, so long as generic ferumoxytol has similar imaging performance to brand name ferumoxytol. This study aims to compare the relaxation-concentration dependence and MRI performance of brand name ferumoxytol with generic ferumoxytol through phantom and in vivo experiments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCellulose is a sustainable material capable of forming optically active nanoarrays on its surface. We created a composite of cellulose acetate (CA) and graphene oxide (GO), by mixing GO (0.1 mg mL) into CA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of sustainable and safe materials is increasingly in demand for the creation of photonic-based technology. Piezoelectric peptide nanotubes make up a class of safe and sustainable materials. We show that these materials can generate piezoelectric charge through the deformation of oriented molecular dipoles when the tube length is flexed through the application of sound energy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDystonia, typically characterized by slow repetitive involuntary movements, stiff abnormal postures, and hypertonia, is common among individuals with cerebral palsy (CP). Dystonia can interfere with activities and have considerable impact on motor function, pain/comfort, and ease of caregiving. Although pharmacological and neurosurgical approaches are used clinically in individuals with CP and dystonia that is causing interference, evidence to support these options is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF(1) Background: Food insecurity (FI) among university students has received less attention in Europe than in other regions before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022 using an online questionnaire ( = 924). The questionnaire addressed food security status; demographic, socioeconomic, and educational variables; academic performance; food consumption; and social support networks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBeginning in December 2018, increased numbers of gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) strandings were reported along the west coast of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, prompting declaration of a gray whale Unusual Mortality Event (UME) by the United States National Marine Fisheries Service. Although strandings declined in 2020 and 2021 from a peak in 2019, the UME is still ongoing as of fall 2023. Between 17 December 2018 and 31 December 2021, 503 animals stranded along the west coast of North America, with 226 strandings in Mexico, 71 in California, 12 in Oregon, 56 in Washington, 21 in British Columbia, and 117 in Alaska.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLowery urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) affect a large majority of the aging population. 3D Dynamic MRI shows promise as a noninvasive diagnostic tool that can assess bladder anatomy and function (urodynamics) while overcoming challenges associated with current urodynamic assessment methods. However, validation of this technique remains an unmet need.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividual-level assessments of wild animal health, vital rates, and foraging ecology are critical for understanding population-wide impacts of exposure to stressors. Large whales face multiple stressors, including, but not limited to, ocean noise, pollution, and ship strikes. Because baleen is a continuously growing keratinized structure, serial extraction, and quantification of hormones and stable isotopes along the length of baleen provide a historical record of whale physiology and foraging ecology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn order to meet environmental concerns, there is an increasing demand for biodegradable and sustainable materials in many areas, including photonics. Cellulose and its derivatives are potentially eco-friendly alternatives to conventional plastics, because of their abundance and lower environmental impact. Here, we report the fabrication of plasmonic structures by molding cellulose acetate into submicrometric periodic lattices, using soft lithography.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanocomposites comprising plasmon active metal nanostructures and semiconductors have been used to control the charge states in the metal to support catalytic activity. In this context dichalcogenides when combined with metal oxides offer the potential to control charge states in plasmonic nanomaterials. Using a model plasmonic mediated oxidation reaction -amino thiophenol ↔ -nitrophenol, we show that through the introduction of transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterial, reaction outcomes can be influenced, achieved through controlling the occurrence of the reaction intermediate dimercaptoazobenzene by opening new electron transfer routes in a semiconductor-plasmonic system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing an intersectional lens, this study analyses data from a nationally representative sample in Iceland, examining violence among marginalized groups of different social locations. The results highlight the precarious position of disabled women and show a significant increase of risk of violence with each marginalized social location women inhabit. Results illustrate how precarity and exposure increases for multiply marginalized women, demonstrating the importance of considering the social dimensions of violence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetin Cases Brief Rep
May 2024
Purpose: To demonstrate intraoperative dynamic flow through an optic disk pit.
Methods: Retrospective interventional case report.
Results: Surgical management of an optic disk pit involved standard, 25-gauge, pars plana vitrectomy, induction of posterior hyaloid separation with triamcinolone stain, temporal peripapillary laser, and SF 6 gas.
Purpose: To evaluate feasibility and reproducibility of liver diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI using cardiac-motion-robust, blood-suppressed, reduced-distortion techniques.
Methods: DW-MRI data were acquired at 3T in an anatomically accurate liver phantom including controlled pulsatile motion, in eight healthy volunteers and four patients with known or suspected liver metastases. Standard monopolar and motion-robust (M1-nulled, and M1-optimized) DW gradient waveforms were each acquired with single-shot echo-planar imaging (ssEPI) and multishot EPI (msEPI).
The transcript encoding Antizyme Inhibitor 1 (AZIN1) is frequently edited in various cancers, and this editing is associated with enhanced tumor aggressiveness. After comparison of wild-type AZIN1 (wtAZIN1) and edited AZIN1 (edAZIN1, which contains a Ser367Gly substitution), we report differential binding of edAZIN1 to a small set of proteins; specifically, edAZIN1 binds to alpha-smooth muscle actin (ACTA2), gamma actin 1 (ACTG1), and myosin9, whereas wtAZIN1 does not. This binding enables nuclear translocation of edAZIN1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF4D Flow MRI is a diagnostic tool that can visualize and quantify patient-specific hemodynamics and help interventionalists optimize treatment strategies for repairing coarctation of the aorta (COA). Despite recent developments in 4D Flow MRI, shortcomings include phase-offset errors, limited spatiotemporal resolution, aliasing, inaccuracies due to slow aneurysmal flows, and distortion of images due to metallic artifact from vascular stents. To address these limitations, we developed a framework utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) that enhances 4D Flow MRI visualization/quantification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnhancement of fluorescence through the application of plasmonic metal nanostructures has gained substantial research attention due to the widespread use of fluorescence-based measurements and devices. Using a microfabricated plasmonic silver nanoparticle-organic semiconductor platform, we show experimentally the enhancement of fluorescence intensity achieved through electro-optical synergy. Fluorophores located sufficiently near silver nanoparticles are combined with diphenylalanine nanotubes (FFNTs) and subjected to a DC electric field.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSemiconducting materials are increasingly proposed as alternatives to noble metal nanomaterials to enhance Raman scattering. We demonstrate that bioinspired semiconducting diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes annealed through a reported structural transition can support Raman detection of 10 M concentrations for a range of molecules including mononucleotides. The enhancement is attributed to the introduction of electronic states below the conduction band that facilitate charge transfer to the analyte molecule.
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