Surface plasmon polariton-enhanced upconversion luminescence for biosensing applications.

Upconversion luminescence (UCL) has great potential for highly sensitive biosensing due to its unique wavelength shift properties. The main limitation of UCL is its low quantum efficiency, which is typically compensated using low-noise detectors and high-intensity excitation. In this work, we demonstrate surface plasmon polariton (SPP)-enhanced UCL for biosensing applications.

Contributions of day length, temperature and individual variability on the rate and timing of leaf senescence in the common lilac Syringa vulgaris.

Deciduous trees prepare for winter by breaking up chlorophyll and other nitrogen-rich compounds, which are resorbed for storage. Timing is important as senescence too early will waste growing season, while senescence too late risks the loss of the leaf resources to frost. While plants of temperate and boreal regions use decreasing day length as a cue of approaching winter, we show that decreasing temperature may also play a role in the variability of leaf senescence.

Roll-to-roll fabrication of integrated PDMS-paper microfluidics for nucleic acid amplification.

Microfluidic-based integrated molecular diagnostic systems, which are automated, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, robust, rapid, easy-to-use, and portable, can revolutionize future medicine. Current research and development largely relies on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to fabricate microfluidic devices. Since the transition from the proof-of-principle phase to clinical studies requires a vast number of integrated microfluidic devices, there is a need for a high-volume manufacturing method of silicone-based microfluidics.

Influence of an AlO surface coating on the response of polymeric waveguide sensors.

The responses of a polymer ridge waveguide Young interferometer with and without a bilayer of AlO/TiO, fabricated by atomic layer deposition, are studied and compared when applied as an aqueous chemical sensor. The phase shift of the guided mode, as a result of the change in refractive index of the cover medium, is monitored. The results indicate that the over-coating affects the linearity of the sensor response.

Grazed wet meadows are sink habitats for the southern dunlin () due to nest trampling by cattle.

The effect of habitat management is commonly evaluated by measuring population growth, which does not distinguish changes in reproductive success from changes in survival or the effects of immigration or emigration. Management has rarely been evaluated considering complete life cycle of the target organisms, including also possible negative impacts from management. We evaluated the effectiveness of cattle grazing in the restoration of coastal meadows as a breeding habitat for small and medium-sized ground-nesting birds by examining the size and demography of a southern dunlin () breeding population.