Label-free and highly sensitive detection of aflatoxin B1 by Ag IANPs via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a pernicious constituent of the aflatoxin family, predominantly contaminates cereals, oils, and their derivatives. Acknowledged as a Class I carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO), the expeditious and quantitative discernment of AFB1 remains imperative. This investigation delineates that aluminum ions can precipitate the coalescence of iodine-modified silver nanoparticles, thereby engendering hot spots conducive for label-free AFB1 identification via Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). This methodology manifests a remarkable limit of detection (LOD) at 0.47 fg/mL, surpassing the sensitivity thresholds of conventional survey techniques. Moreover, this method has good anti-interference ability, with a relative error of less than 10% and a relative standard deviation of less than 6% in quantitative results. Collectively, these findings illuminate the substantial application potential and viability of this approach in the quantitative analysis of AFB1, underpinning a significant advancement in food safety diagnostics.

A Soft Robot Tactile Finger Using Oxidation-Reduction Graphene-Polyurethane Conductive Sponge.

Currently, intelligent robotics is supplanting traditional industrial applications. It extends to business, service and care industries, and other fields. Stable robot grasping is a necessary prerequisite for all kinds of complex application scenarios. Herein, we propose a method for preparing an elastic porous material with adjustable conductivity, hardness, and elastic modulus. Based on this, we design a soft robot tactile fingertip that is gentle, highly sensitive, and has an adjustable range. It has excellent sensitivity (~1.089 kpa-1), fast response time (~35 ms), and measures minimum pressures up to 0.02 N and stability over 500 cycles. The baseline capacitance of a sensor of the same size can be increased by a factor of 5-6, and graphene adheres better to polyurethane sponge and has good shock absorption. In addition, we demonstrated the application of the tactile fingertip to a two-finger manipulator to achieve stable grasping. In this paper, we demonstrate the great potential of the soft robot tactile finger in the field of adaptive grasping for intelligent robots.

Psychometric Properties Of The Highly Sensitive Person Scale In Mexican Population.

Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is a genetically-determined trait that allows people to notice external and internal subtleties in sensory stimuli easily. This feature provides certain advantages to those who possess it, such as, greater empathy, artistic tastes or skills, also, this people can get greater benefit in circumstances with little exposure to sensory input. However, an unfavorable feature of the trait is an increased vulnerability to development psychopathology. In Mexico there is not an instrument to assess the presence of the SPS, thus, the purpose of this research was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (HSP Scale) in Mexican population. The results showed that the adaptation of HSP Scale has adequate psychometric properties, so the essential contribution of this study is to provide a reliable and valid instrument that allows to discriminate the presence of the SPS.

A 72 × 60 Angle-Sensitive SPAD Imaging Array for Lens-less FLIM.

We present a 72 × 60, angle-sensitive single photon avalanche diode (A-SPAD) array for lens-less 3D fluorescence lifetime imaging. An A-SPAD pixel consists of (1) a SPAD to provide precise photon arrival time where a time-resolved operation is utilized to avoid stimulus-induced saturation, and (2) integrated diffraction gratings on top of the SPAD to extract incident angles of the incoming light. The combination enables mapping of fluorescent sources with different lifetimes in 3D space down to micrometer scale. Futhermore, the chip presented herein integrates pixel-level counters to reduce output data-rate and to enable a precise timing control. The array is implemented in standard 180 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology and characterized without any post-processing.

Enhancement of gas-sensing abilities in p-type ZnWO4 by local modification of Pt nanoparticles.

Semiconducting ZnWO4 nanorods and nanoparticles are synthesized by adjusting the composition of the reaction solvent. The effect of Pt nanoparticles on the sensing property of ZnWO4 nanostructures were evaluated and investigated systemically in the first time. Pure ZnWO4 nanostructures exhibited the highest sensitivity towards ethanol against Volatile Organic Compounds (methanol, acetone). Their lower limit of detection can reach 100 ppm for ethanol at temperature of about 23 °C. Pt nanoparticles play a positive effect in improving the sensitivity of ZnWO4 towards H2. After loading of Pt nanoparticles, the response of ZnWO4 nanorods towards 1.5% H2 increased from 1.4 to 12.5 at room temperature. In addition, the structure exhibits more significant promoting effect than nanoparticle structure because of their different microstructure and exposed crystallographic planes. Furthermore, Pt nanoparticles could eliminate the effect of ambient humidity to avoid the baseline shift. The gas sensing mechanism of PtZnWO4 nanocomposites is discussed detailedly at the same time. The generation of Schottky barrier at the interface between metal and semiconductor, as well as the formation of PtO on the surface of Pt nanoparticles contribute to the enhanced sensing response.