GaAs nano-ridge laser diodes fully fabricated in a 300-mm CMOS pilot line.

Silicon photonics is a rapidly developing technology that promises to revolutionize the way we communicate, compute and sense the world. However, the lack of highly scalable, native complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-integrated light sources is one of the main factors hampering its widespread adoption. Despite considerable progress in hybrid and heterogeneous integration of III-V light sources on silicon, monolithic integration by direct epitaxy of III-V materials remains the pinnacle of cost-effective on-chip light sources.

An Artificial Neural Network to Eliminate the Detrimental Spectral Shift on Mid-Infrared Gas Spectroscopy.

We demonstrate the successful implementation of an artificial neural network (ANN) to eliminate detrimental spectral shifts imposed in the measurement of laser absorption spectrometers (LASs). Since LASs rely on the analysis of the spectral characteristics of biological and chemical molecules, their accuracy and precision is especially prone to the presence of unwanted spectral shift in the measured molecular absorption spectrum over the reference spectrum. In this paper, an ANN was applied to a scanning grating-based mid-infrared trace gas sensing system, which suffers from temperature-induced spectral shifts.

Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 on salt-coated surfaces: an in vitro study.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), face masks have become a very important safety measure against the main route of transmission of the virus: droplets and aerosols. Concerns that masks contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 infectious particles could be a risk for self-contamination have emerged early in the pandemic as well as solutions to mitigate this risk. The coating of masks with sodium chloride, an antiviral and non-hazardous to health chemical, could be an option for reusable masks.

Ultrathin ALD Aluminum Oxide Thin Films Suppress the Thermal Shrinkage of Battery Separator Membranes.

Thermal runaway is a major safety concern in the applications of Li-ion batteries, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) market. A key component to mitigate this risk is the separator membrane, a porous polymer film that prevents physical contact between the electrodes. Traditional polyolefin-based separators display significant thermal shrinkage (TS) above 100 °C, which increases the risk of battery failure; hence, suppressing the TS up to 180 °C is critical to enhancing the cell's safety.

Printed Antifouling Electrodes for Biosensing Applications.

Biosensors based on miniaturized, functional electrodes are of high potential for various biosensing applications, especially at the point-of-care setting among others. However, the sensor performance of such electrochemical devices is still strongly limited, especially due to surface fouling in complex sample fluids, such as blood serum. Electrode coatings based on conductive nanomaterials embedded in antifouling matrices offer a promising strategy to overcome this limitation.

In vitro testing of salt coating of fabrics as a potential antiviral agent in reusable face masks.

During the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, wearing face masks in public spaces became mandatory in most countries. The risk of self-contamination when handling face masks, which was one of the earliest concerns, can be mitigated by adding antiviral coatings to the masks. In the present study, we evaluated the antiviral effectiveness of sodium chloride deposited on a fabric suitable for the manufacturing of reusable cloth masks using techniques adapted to the home environment.

Tools for manipulation and positioning of microtissues.

Complex three-dimensional (3D) models are emerging as a key technology to support research areas in personalised medicine, such as drug development and regenerative medicine. Tools for manipulation and positioning of microtissues play a crucial role in the microtissue life cycle from production to end-point analysis. The ability to precisely locate microtissues can improve the efficiency and reliability of processes and investigations by reducing experimental time and by providing more controlled parameters.

Soft-Clamped Silicon Nitride String Resonators at Millikelvin Temperatures.

We demonstrate that soft-clamped silicon nitride strings with a large aspect ratio can be operated at mK temperatures. The quality factors (Q) of two measured devices show consistent dependency on the cryostat temperature, with soft-clamped mechanical modes reaching Q>10^{9} at roughly 46 mK. For low optical readout power, Q is found to saturate, indicating good thermalization between the sample and the stage it is mounted on.

Correction: Peters et al. Benchmarking the ACEnano Toolbox for Characterisation of Nanoparticle Size and Concentration by Interlaboratory Comparison. 2021, , 5315.

Due to miscommunication a number of potential co-authors were not listed in the original publication [...

Electrospun and 3D printed polymeric materials for one-stage critical-size long bone defect regeneration inspired by the Masquelet technique: Recent Advances.

Critical-size long bone defects represent one of the major causes of fracture non-union and remain a significant challenge in orthopaedic surgery. Two-stage procedures such as a Masquelet technique demonstrate high level of success however their main disadvantage is the need for a second surgery, which is required to remove the non-resorbable cement spacer and to place the bone graft into the biological chamber formed by the 'induced membrane'. Recent research efforts have therefore been dedicated towards the design, fabrication and testing of resorbable implants that could mimic the biological functions of the cement spacer and the induced membrane.

4 Swiss Symposium in Point-of-Care Diagnostics held at the Davos Conference Center on 21 October, 2021.

After last year's successful online symposium, the 4 edition of the Swiss Symposium in POC Diagnostics gathered more than 150 participants from medicine, industry and science as well as from different European countries to meet at the Davos Conference Center for an exciting program with 13 expert speakers, a poster session and a product & technology exhibition. The mandatory COVID-certificate to access the event has allowed people to meet (again at last!), network and share their views and success stories in the field of POC Diagnostics that continues to be propelled by digitalization, new technological possibilities, user needs and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benchmarking the ACEnano Toolbox for Characterisation of Nanoparticle Size and Concentration by Interlaboratory Comparisons.

ACEnano is an EU-funded project which aims at developing, optimising and validating methods for the detection and characterisation of nanomaterials (NMs) in increasingly complex matrices to improve confidence in the results and support their use in regulation. Within this project, several interlaboratory comparisons (ILCs) for the determination of particle size and concentration have been organised to benchmark existing analytical methods. In this paper the results of a number of these ILCs for the characterisation of NMs are presented and discussed.

Deposition of Extended Ordered Ultrathin Films of Au (SC H Ph) Nanocluster using Langmuir-Blodgett Technique.

Langmuir-Blodgett technique is utilized to deposit ultrathin films of Au (SC H Ph) nanocluster onto solid surfaces such as mica and silicon. The morphologies of the films transferred at various surface pressures within the mono/bi/trilayer regime are studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The time spent on the water surface before the deposition has a decisive effect on the final ordering of nanoclusters within the network and is studied by fast AFM, X-ray reflectivity, and grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering.

Swept-wavelength lasers based on GaSb gain-chip technology for non-invasive biomedical sensing applications in the 1.7-2.5 μm wavelength range.

The infrared spectral region beyond 1.7 μm is of utmost interest for biomedical applications due to strong overtone and combination absorption bands in a variety of important biomolecules such as lactates, urea, glucose, albumin, etc. In this article, we report on recent progress in widely tunable swept-wavelength lasers based on type-I GaSb gain-chip technology, setting a new state-of-the-art in the 1.

Quantitative Micro-Raman Spectroscopy for Partial Pressure Measurement in Small Volumes.

We demonstrate the quantitative capabilities of Raman confocal microscopy as a nondestructive method to measure the partial pressure of molecular gases in mm range sealed volume having an optical access. Thanks to a calibration procedure, we apply this technique for the characterization of the absolute nitrogen partial pressure inside buffered micro electromechanical system (MEMS) atomic vapor cells developed for atomic clocks. Our results are compared with measurements obtained by rubidium hyperfine frequency spectroscopy and a good agreement is demonstrated between the two methods, with a three-sigma detection limit below 10 mbar for a 1 h integration time, using a 33 mW 532 nm excitation laser.

Evaluation and review of body fluids saliva, sweat and tear compared to biochemical hydration assessment markers within blood and urine.

Evaluating and testing hydration status is increasingly requested by rehabilitation, sport, military and performance-related activities. Besides commonly used biochemical hydration assessment markers within blood and urine, which have their advantages and limitations in collection and evaluating hydration status, there are other potential markers present within saliva, sweat or tear. This literature review focuses on body fluids saliva, sweat and tear compared to blood and urine regarding practicality and hydration status influenced by fluid restriction and/or physical activity.

An m-Health system for education and motivation in cardiac rehabilitation: the experience of HeartCycle guided exercise.

Introduction Home-based programmes for cardiac rehabilitation play a key role in the recovery of patients with coronary artery disease. However, their necessary educational and motivational components have been rarely implemented with the help of modern mobile technologies. We developed a mobile health system designed for motivating patients to adhere to their rehabilitation programme by providing exercise monitoring, guidance, motivational feedback, and educational content.

Internet-based training of coronary artery patients: the Heart Cycle Trial.

Low adherence to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) might be improved by remote monitoring systems that can be used to motivate and supervise patients and tailor CR safely and effectively to their needs. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a smartphone-guided training system (GEX) and whether it could improve exercise capacity compared to CR delivered by conventional methods for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). A prospective, randomized, international, multi-center study comparing CR delivered by conventional means (CG) or by remote monitoring (IG) using a new training steering/feedback tool (GEx System).

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) for quantification of pulmonary edema in acute lung injury.

Background: Assessment of pulmonary edema is a key factor in monitoring and guidance of therapy in critically ill patients. To date, methods available at the bedside for estimating the physiologic correlate of pulmonary edema, extravascular lung water, often are unreliable or require invasive measurements. The aim of the present study was to develop a novel approach to reliably assess extravascular lung water by making use of the functional imaging capabilities of electrical impedance tomography.

Experimental Validation of the Sensitivity of Waveguide Grating Based Refractometric (Bio)sensors.

Despite the fact that the theoretical foundations of the sensitivity of waveguide grating based (bio)sensors are well-known, understood and their implications anticipated by the scientific community since several decades, to our knowledge, no prior publication has experimentally confirmed waveguide sensitivity for multiple film thicknesses, wavelengths and polarization of the propagating light. In this paper, the bulk refractive index sensitivity versus waveguide thickness of said refractometric sensors is experimentally determined and compared with predictions based on established theory. The effective refractive indices and the corresponding sensitivity were determined via the sensors' coupling angles at different cover refractive indices for transverse electric as well as transverse magnetic polarized illumination at various wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared.

Automated and portable solid phase extraction platform for immuno-detection of 17β-estradiol in water.

A fully automated and portable system for solid phase extraction (SPE) has been developed for the analysis of the natural hormone 17β-estradiol (E2) in environmental water by enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). The system has been validated with de-ionized and artificial sea water as model samples and allowed for pre-concentration of E2 at levels of 1, 10 and 100 ng/L with only 100 ml of sample. Recoveries ranged from 24±3% to 107±6% depending on the concentration and sample matrix.

Biosensors based on porous cellulose nanocrystal-poly(vinyl alcohol) scaffolds.

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), which offer a high aspect ratio, large specific surface area, and large number of reactive surface groups, are well suited for the facile immobilization of high density biological probes. We here report functional high surface area scaffolds based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and demonstrate that this platform is useful for fluorescence-based sensing schemes. Porous CNC/PVA nanocomposite films with a thickness of 25-70 nm were deposited on glass substrates by dip-coating with an aqueous mixture of the CNCs and PVA, and the porous nanostructure was fixated by heat treatment.

Superradiance dynamics in semiconductor laser diode structures.

We analyze theoretically the superradiant emission (SR) in semiconductor edge-emitting laser heterostructures using InGaN/GaN heterostructure quantum well (QW) as a model system. The generation of superradiant pulses as short as 500 fs at peak powers of over 200 W has been predicted for InGaN/GaN heterostructure QWs with the peak emission in the blue/violet wavelength range. Numerical simulations based on semiclassical traveling wave Maxwell-Bloch equations predict building up of macroscopic coherences in the ensemble of electrons and holes during SR pulse formation.

Au-labeled antibodies to enhance the sensitivity of a refractometric immunoassay: detection of cocaine.

An integrated platform for a very sensitive detection of cocaine based on a refractometric biosensor is demonstrated. The system uses a waveguide grating biosensor functionalized with a cocaine multivalent antigen-carrier protein conjugate. The immunoassay scheme consists of the competitive binding of cocaine-specific antibodies to the immobilized conjugates.