A gamma-ray spectrometer based on MAPD-3NM-2 and LaBr(ce) and LSO scintillators for hydrogen detection on planetary surfaces.

The presented work is dedicated to the detection of hydrogen, using detectors based on a MAPD (Micropixel Avalanche Photodiode) array based on new MAPD-3NM-2 type photodiodes and two different scintillators (LaBr(Ce) and LSO(Ce)). The physical parameters of the MAPD photodiode used in the study and the intrinsic background of the scintillators were investigated. For the 2.

Influence of Thermal and Flash-Lamp Annealing on the Thermoelectrical Properties of CuZnSnS Nanocrystals Obtained by "Green" Colloidal Synthesis.

The problem with waste heat in solar panels has stimulated research on materials suitable for hybrid solar cells, which combine photovoltaic and thermoelectric properties. One such potential material is CuZnSnS (CZTS). Here, we investigated thin films formed from CZTS nanocrystals obtained by "green" colloidal synthesis.

Assembling Near-Infrared Dye on the Surface of Near-Infrared Silica-Coated Copper Sulphide Plasmonic Nanoparticles.

Functionalization of colloidal nanoparticles with organic dyes, which absorb photons in complementary spectral ranges, brings a synergistic effect for harvesting additional light energy. Here, we show functionalization of near-infrared (NIR) plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) of bare and amino-group functionalized mesoporous silica-coated copper sulphide (CuS@MSS and CuS@MSS-NH) with specific tricarbocyanine NIR dye possessing sulfonate end groups. The role of specific surface chemistry in dye assembling on the surface of NPs is demonstrated, depending on the organic polar liquids or water used as a dispersant solvent.

Raman Spectroscopy and Thermoelectric Characterization of Composite Thin Films of CuZnSnS Nanocrystals Embedded in a Conductive Polymer PEDOT:PSS.

CuZnSnS (CZTS) is an intensively studied potential solar cell absorber and a promising thermoelectric (TE) material. In the form of colloidal nanocrystals (NCs), it is very convenient to form thin films on various substrates. Here, we investigate composites of CZTS NCs with PEDOT:PSS, a widely used photovoltaics polymer.

Impact of the thermal properties of the environment on the hot-band absorption-assisted single-photon upconversion.

Single-photon hot-band absorption-assisted anti-Stokes photoluminescence (ASPL) is a non-equilibrium process which causes a local cooling effect and which therefore is accompanied by a reverse heat flux from the warmer environment. Here, we demonstrate that the thermal properties of the medium, , its thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity, play a significant role in driving the ASPL of an emitter placed in it. Exploiting seven different solvents and the near-infrared tricarbocyanine dye as a single-photon upconverter, we show an obvious correlation of activation energy and the quantum yield (QY) of ASPL with the solvent thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity, respectively.

"Awakening" of the S Emission of Tricarbocyanine Dyes Stimulated by Interaction with Carbon Quantum Dots.

Anti-Kasha emission (i.e., the emission from S ( > 1) excited levels) of infrared chromophores which possess intensive absorption and S emission in the near-infrared region, but which are spectrally silent in the visible, is a challenging task for relevant applications such as energy conversion, bioimaging, sensitization of solar cells, optical sensors, and so on.

Dynamics of Excitons in Conjugated Molecules and Organic Semiconductor Systems.

The exciton, an excited electron-hole pair bound by Coulomb attraction, plays a key role in photophysics of organic molecules and drives practically important phenomena such as photoinduced mechanical motions of a molecule, photochemical conversions, energy transfer, generation of free charge carriers, etc. Its behavior in extended π-conjugated molecules and disordered organic films is very different and very rich compared with exciton behavior in inorganic semiconductor crystals. Due to the high degree of variability of organic systems themselves, the exciton not only exerts changes on molecules that carry it but undergoes its own changes during all phases of its lifetime, that is, birth, conversion and transport, and decay.

SILICON WIRES FOR NERVE GAP MANAGEMENT: ROLE OF SURFACE PROPERTIES IN NERVE REGENERATION.

Up to 15% of combat trauma cases are accompanied by neuroinjuries with nerve gap formation that need to be bridged using various techniques and materials. Both with this prevalence of limb loss, especially traumatic amputations, tends to grow. Loosed limbs must be prosthetized by modern functional mind-controlled prosthesis based on nerve- or brain-computer interfaces.

Rectal Cancer: Redox State of Venous Blood and Tissues of Blood Vessels from Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Its Correlation with the Five-Year Survival.

A role of pro- and antioxidants for reducing rectal cancer (RC) incidence in operative, preoperative, and postoperative treatments is still disputable and controversial. The redox state of venous blood and tissues of blood vessels of 60 patients with RC (TNMG) and 20 donors is studied by means of the conventional and spin-trapping electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The intensity of the signals from ceruloplasmin (CP), transferrin (TF), and labile iron pool (LIP) at temperature T = 77 K as well as superoxide generation rate and nitric oxide (NO) levels at T = 300 K is measured.

Low-Temperature Reduction of Graphene Oxide: Electrical Conductance and Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy.

Graphene oxide (GO) films were formed by drop-casting method and were studied by FTIR spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy (mRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), four-points probe method, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning Kelvin probe force (SKPFM) microscopy after low-temperature annealing at ambient conditions. It was shown that in temperature range from 50 to 250 °C the electrical resistivity of the GO films decreases by seven orders of magnitude and is governed by two processes with activation energies of 6.22 and 1.

Excimer Emission in J-Aggregates.

An excimer in J-aggregates has been often considered as a self-trapped exciton originating from the free exciton excited on the same aggregate and relaxed through interaction with vibronic modes. Here we show that other types of excimers due to intermolecular off-diagonal interactions can be observed in J-aggregates of thiamonomethinecyanine dyes. These excimers arise owing to free excitons too, but they possess a longer formation time of more than 100 ps, indicating migration of free excitons to the excimer formation site, where they interact with a guest species in the ground state.

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Phonon Spectra of Bulk and Nano-Sized MoS Layer Crystals.

Theoretical analysis of Raman scattering spectra (RS) for single-crystal MoS sample and atomically thin MoS sample consisting from one to few layers was performed in order to explain the change of MoS vibrations at transition from a monoatomic layer to a bulk crystal. Experiments have shown that changes of frequencies of the most intensive bands arising from the in-plane, [Formula: see text], and out-of-plane, A , vibrations, as a function of number n of layers looks differently. Thus, the frequency of ω(A ) is increasing with growth of n, whereas the frequency of [Formula: see text] is decreasing.

Stomach Cancer: Interconnection between the Redox State, Activity of MMP-2, MMP-9 and Stage of Tumor Growth.

High levels of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) species can lead to the destruction of extracellular matrix facilitating tumor progression. ROS can activate matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), damage DNA and RNA. Therefore, the levels of MMP, ROS and RNS can serve as additional prognostic markers and for the estimation of the effectiveness of tumor therapy.

Local structure and paramagnetic properties of the nanostructured carbonaceous material shungite.

Using a scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, electron paramagnetic resonance, and Raman scattering methods, two types of the shungite materials (Sh-II from Zazhogino deposit and shungite from a commercial filter (ShF)), with different carbon content and porosity, are studied in this work. It was established by scanning electron microscopy data that the structure of the shungite samples is formed by a micron-size agglomeration of carbon and silicon dioxide clusters. It is found from the Raman data that carbon fraction is formed from sp(2)-hybridized clusters, size of which increases from 9 up to 12 nm after annealing of the samples.

Structural and electrical properties of oxygen complexes in Cz and FZ silicon crystals implanted with carbon ions.

Unlabelled: We present a comparative study of thermal donor (TD) center formation mechanisms as a result of carbon ion implantation into float zone (FZ-Si) and Czochralski (Cz-Si) silicon crystals. The kinetics of the TD center formation and transformation of their structure during annealing have been investigated. Also, the TD center formation takes place after additional oxygen implantation into FZ/Cz-Si, and an important role of recoil oxygen atoms (from the screen oxide) has been demonstrated for the FZ-Si case.

A simple SPR-based method for the quantification of the effect of potential virus inhibitors.

Here, we describe a highly sensitive method that allows for the correct quantification of inhibition effect with a higher degree of accuracy directly at the molecular level. The protocol involves two stages, namely serological virus titration in comparison with the same procedure for virus-effector mixture. Owing to the robustness of the analysis this assay can be performed on crude cellular and plant extracts, and therefore it may be suitable for the routine analysis of clinical samples, or in the field.

Sensitive coating for water vapors detection based on thermally sputtered calcein thin films.

In this paper the adsorption properties of thermally sputtered calcein thin films towards water and other polar molecules vapors are studied by different characterization techniques: quartz crystal microbalance, surface plasmon resonance and visible spectroscopy. Sensitivity of calcein thin films to water vapors resulted much higher as compared with those of a number of dyes whose structure was close to that of calcein. All types of sensors with calcein coatings have demonstrated linear concentration dependences in the wide range of water vapor pressure from low concentrations up to 27,000 ppm (close to saturation).

Giant enhancement of elastic surface plasmon-polariton scattering.

Here we report the first (as far as we know) experimental observation of extremely high enhancement factor due to elastic surface plasmon-polariton scattering by surface singularities.We have observed strong diffraction of surface plasmon-polaritons by shallow diffraction grating while its illumination by evanescent or volume waves do not shows any traces of diffraction structure in space distribution of scattered light.