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Graphene is a good candidate for filling the market requirements for cheap, high sensitivity, robust towards contamination, low noise, and low power consumption gas sensors, thanks to its unique properties, i.e., large surface, high mobility, and long-term stability. Inkjet printing is a cheap additive manufacturing method allowing fast, relatively precise and contactless deposition of a wide range of materials; it can be considered therefore the ideal technique for fast deposition of graphene films on thin substrates. In this paper, the sensitivity of graphene-based chemiresistor gas sensors, fabricated through inkjet printing, is investigated using different concentrations of graphene in the inks. Samples have been produced and characterized in terms of response towards humidity, nitrogen dioxide, and ammonia. The presented results highlight the importance of tuning the layer thickness and achieving good film homogeneity in order to maximize the sensitivity of the sensor.

Sensors for the reliable measurement of nitrogen dioxide concentrations are of high interest due the adverse health effects of this pollutant. This work employs photothermal spectroscopy to measure nitrogen dioxide concentrations at the parts per billion level. Absorption induced temperature changes are detected by means of a fiber-coupled Fabry−Pérot interferometer. The small size of the interferometer enables small detection volumes, paving the way for miniaturized sensing concepts as well as fast response times, demonstrated down to 3 s. A normalized noise equivalent absorption of 7.5 × 10 − 8 cm−1W/ Hz is achieved. Additionally, due to the rigid structure of the interferometer, the sensitivity to mechanical vibrations is shown to be minor.

To realize an actual in-situ Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) sensor system for measurements in an exhaust pipe of a combustion engine, suitable components for such an application were chosen, integrated in a first prototype and tested. Key components for the proposed LII system are a super-compact high-power DPSS laser (CTR HiPoLas®) as excitation source, fast KETEK silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) as detectors and a specially designed optical measurement setup. Using a defined aerosol from a soot generator (Jing 5201 miniCAST), signals were collected at different laser energies and soot concentrations. By comparing the recorded behaviour with the literature, the incandescence effect could be reliably identified as the true source of the signal. Further long-term tests at an AVL engine testbed were performed.

With the application of a recently developed deposition method called initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), responsive hydrogel thin films in the order of a few hundred nanometers were created. When in contact with humid air, the hydrogel layer increases its thickness considerably. The measurement of the thickness change was realized interferometrically with a laser and a broadband light source in two different implementations. The relative change in thickness with respect to humidity can be described with the Flory⁻Huggins theory. The required Flory⁻Huggins interaction parameter was determined for the actual hydrogel composition. The setup was designed without electric components in the vicinity of the active sensor layer and is therefore applicable in harsh environments such as explosive or corrosive ones. The implemented sensor prototype delivered reproducible relative humidity ( R H ) values and the achieved response time for an abrupt change of the humidity τ 63 ≤ 2.5 s was about three times faster compared to one of the fastest commercially available sensors on the market.

Mobile measurement of particle number concentration (PN) in the exhaust of motor vehicles has recently become an integral part of emission legislation. Charge-based sensing techniques for the examination of PN, like Diffusion Charging (DC), represent a promising alternative to condensational particle counters (CPCs) as established PN sensors, because they enable to build robust, compact and energy efficient systems. However, due to the charging process, particle properties like size and morphology have a big impact on the sensor’s PN response. For particles of different size and shape we experimentally investigated those impacts using own-built charging-based sensors. The PN response of the DC sensor showed desired behavior for compact NaCl particles, but less satisfying behavior for combustion aerosol standard (CAST) particles, which is a widely used test aerosol for automotive applications. With a photoelectric charger, the PN response of CAST particles was significantly better.

We characterize a novel micro-sensor with pairs of interdigitated combs of microelectrodes designed to detect particles in air. We evaluate the sensor’s response to 1 µm Polystyrene Latex (PSL) particles experimentally and crosscheck the results with simulations. Experiment and simulation show good consistency. Based on the promising results we propose a redesign of the capacitive particle sensor with respect to PM2.5.

With the application of a recently developed deposition method called initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), remarkably fast responsive hydrogel thin films in the order of a few hundred nanometers were created. When in contact with humid air, the hydrogel layer extends its thickness manifold, which can be detected. The verification of the thickness change was realized interferometrically with a laser and a white light input source in two different implementations. The setup was designed without electric components in the vicinity of the active sensor layer and is therefore applicable in harsh and explosive environment. The achieved response time for an abrupt change of the humidity τ63 ≤ 2.5 s is about three times lower compared to one of the fastest commercially available sensors on the market.

We present a low cost Particle Number (PN) diluter including mass flow monitoring. The device consists of a commercial hypodermic needle, a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. and a custom-made flow sensor. The flow sensor is used to monitor the diluter’s performance and enable in-time replacement of the low cost elements used. Neither the sampling flow rate nor the pressure drop drastically change the dilution factor introduced by the presented device. This makes the presented device especially useful for particle number measurements at positions close to the tailpipe of internal combustion engine powered vehicles, where aggravating, fast pressure pulsations complicate correct sampling.

A gas diluter based on critical orifices was built and evaluated. The gas diluter is capable of creating dilution ratios of 1:1400 at a total flow of 6.5 L/min. An extended uncertainty analysis of gas concentrations and dilution ratios according to the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement was conducted. A gas cylinder of 5.16 ppm NO2 with a relative uncertainty of 1.5% (k = 1) can be diluted down to a concentration of 3.69 ppb NO2 (dilution ratio of 1:1400) at an uncertainty of 1.9% (k = 1). The results are in good agreement with reference NO2 measurements, conducted with a chemiluminescence detector (CLD, European reference method EN14211; 2005).

In order to design an imaging unit of a novel holographic particle counter an aerosol particle model was developed to generate a virtual hologram plane of an aerosol volume of interest. The herein presented model combines the three essential components to help dimensioning a target detection unit: (i) an In-Line holography model with a reference light source and a basic transfer function of an imager to take into account imager size, pixel pitch and exposure time; (ii) an aerosol particle model with particles of variable count, size and spatial distribution; and (iii) the possibility to import fluid dynamics simulation data to simulate the particle flow in an arbitrary sampling volume.

The rising effort to track local air pollution measurements require low-cost air quality sensors that provide good accuracy, long-term stability and possibly Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. To provide such a solution and avoid cost-intensive equipment the development of a low-cost environmental sensor system was started. To measure the pollutant NO2, a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) setup was established. A pulsed 450 nm laser diode excites NO2 molecules due to its strong absorption at this wavelength and causes a vibrational-translational relaxation, which results in an acoustic wave. The acoustic wave is detected by a quartz tuning fork (QTF) which generates a weak electrical signal proportional to the NO2 concentration. To realize this at low cost, a laser driver and an analysis circuit including a lock-in amplifier and analog-to-digital conversion were developed. We present first results, which proof the functionality of the circuitry compared to a more expensive laboratory setup.

Rapid fibrovascularization is a prerequisite for successful biomaterial engraftment. In addition to their well-known roles in fibrinolysis, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or their inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) have recently been implicated as individual mediators in non-fibrinolytic processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Since these events are critical for fibrovascularization of biomaterial, we hypothesized that the components of the plasminogen activation system contribute to biomaterial engraftment. Employing in vivo and ex vivo microscopy techniques, vessel and collagen network formation within porous polyethylene (PPE) implants engrafted into dorsal skinfold chambers were found to be significantly impaired in uPA-, tPA-, or PAI-1-deficient mice. Consequently, the force required for mechanical disintegration of the implants out of the host tissue was significantly lower in the mutant mice than in wild-type controls. Conversely, surface coating with recombinant uPA, tPA, non-catalytic uPA, or PAI-1, but not with non-catalytic tPA, accelerated implant vascularization in wild-type mice. Thus, uPA, tPA, and PAI-1 contribute to the fibrovascularization of PPE implants through common and distinct effects. As clinical perspective, surface coating with recombinant uPA, tPA, or PAI-1 might provide a novel strategy for accelerating the vascularization of this biomaterial.

Radial GaInP/AlGaInP nanowire array light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are promising candidates for novel high-efficiency solid state lighting due to their potentially large strain-free active emission volumes compared to planar LEDs. Moreover, by proper tuning of the diameter of the nanowires, the fraction of emitted light extracted can be significantly enhanced compared to that of planar LEDs. Reports so far on radial growth of nanowire LED structures, however, still point to significant challenges related to obtaining defect-free radial heterostructures. In this work, we present evidence of optically active growth-induced defects in a fairly broad energy range in vertically processed radial GaInP/AlGaInP quantum well nanowire array LEDs using a variety of complementary experimental techniques. In particular, we demonstrate strong infrared electroluminescence in a spectral range centred around 1 eV (1.2 μm) in addition to the expected red light emission from the quantum well. Spatially resolved cathodoluminescence studies reveal a patchy red light emission with clear spectral features along the NWs, most likely induced by variations in QW thickness, composition and barriers. Dark areas are attributed to infrared emission generated by competing defect-assisted radiative transitions, or to trapping mechanisms involving non-radiative recombination processes. Possible origins of the defects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The polyphenolic alcohol resveratrol has demonstrated promising activities for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Different modes of action have been described for resveratrol including the activation of sirtuins, which represent the class III histone deacetylases (HDACs). However, little is known about the activity of resveratrol on the classical HDACs of class I, II and IV, although these classes are involved in cancer development or progression and inhibitors of HDACs (HDACi) are currently under investigation as promising novel anticancer drugs. We could show by in silico docking studies that resveratrol has the chemical structure to inhibit the activity of different human HDAC enzymes. In vitro analyses of overall HDAC inhibition and a detailed HDAC profiling showed that resveratrol inhibited all eleven human HDACs of class I, II and IV in a dose-dependent manner. Transferring this molecular mechanism into cancer therapy strategies, resveratrol treatment was analyzed on solid tumor cell lines. Despite the fact that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known to be particularly resistant against conventional chemotherapeutics, treatment of HCC with established HDACi already has shown promising results. Testing of resveratrol on hepatoma cell lines HepG2, Hep3B and HuH7 revealed a dose-dependent antiproliferative effect on all cell lines. Interestingly, only for HepG2 cells a specific inhibition of HDACs and in turn a histone hyperacetylation caused by resveratrol was detected. Additional testing of human blood samples demonstrated a HDACi activity by resveratrol ex vivo. Concluding toxicity studies showed that primary human hepatocytes tolerated resveratrol, whereas in vivo chicken embryotoxicity assays demonstrated severe toxicity at high concentrations. Taken together, this novel pan-HDACi activity opens up a new perspective of resveratrol for cancer therapy alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutics. Moreover, resveratrol may serve as a lead structure for chemical optimization of bioavailability, pharmacology or HDAC inhibition.

BackgroundTumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) is able to kill cancer cells via receptor-mediated cell death requiring adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Clinical usage of TNF so far is largely limited by its profound hepatotoxicity. Recently, it was found in the murine system that specific protection of hepatocytes against TNF's detrimental effects can be achieved by fructose-mediated ATP depletion therein. Before employing this quite attractive selection principle in a first clinical trial, we here comprehensively investigated the interdependence between ATP depletion and TNF hepatotoxicity in both in vitro and ex vivo experiments based on usage of primary patient tissue materials.MethodsPrimary human hepatocytes, and both non-tumorous and tumorous patient-derived primary liver tissue slices were used to elucidate fructose-induced ATP depletion and TNF-induced cytotoxicity.ResultsPHH as well as tissue slices prepared from non-malignant human liver specimen undergoing a fructose-mediated ATP depletion were both demonstrated to be protected against TNF-induced cell death. In contrast, due to tumor-specific overexpression of hexokinase II, which imposes a profound bypass on hepatocytic-specific fructose catabolism, this was not the case for human tumorous liver tissues.ConclusionNormal human liver tissues can be protected transiently against TNF-induced cell death by systemic pretreatment with fructose used in non-toxic/physiologic concentrations. Selective TNF-targeting of primary and secondary tumors of the liver by transient and specific depletion of hepatocytic ATP opens up a new clinical avenue for the TNF-based treatment of liver cancers.

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a rare form of chronic inflammatory granulomatous arteritis of the aorta and its major branches. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has demonstrated its value for the detection of vessel wall alterations in TA. The aim of this study was to assess LGE of the coronary artery wall in patients with TA compared to patients with stable CAD.We enrolled 9 patients (8 female, average age 46±13 years) with proven TA. In the CAD group 9 patients participated (8 male, average age 65±10 years). Studies were performed on a commercial 3T whole-body MR imaging system (Achieva; Philips, Best, The Netherlands) using a 3D inversion prepared navigator gated spoiled gradient-echo sequence, which was repeated 34-45 minutes after low-dose gadolinium administration.No coronary vessel wall enhancement was observed prior to contrast in either group. Post contrast, coronary LGE on IR scans was detected in 28 of 50 segments (56%) seen on T2-Prep scans in TA and in 25 of 57 segments (44%) in CAD patients. LGE quantitative assessment of coronary artery vessel wall CNR post contrast revealed no significant differences between the two groups (CNR in TA: 6.0±2.4 and 7.3±2.5 in CAD; p = 0.474).Our findings suggest that LGE of the coronary artery wall seems to be common in patients with TA and similarly pronounced as in CAD patients. The observed coronary LGE seems to be rather unspecific, and differentiation between coronary vessel wall fibrosis and inflammation still remains unclear.

Nanowire array ensembles contacted in a vertical geometry are extensively studied and considered strong candidates for next generations of industrial scale optoelectronics. Key challenges in this development deal with optimization of the doping profile of the nanowires and the interface between nanowires and transparent top contact. Here we report on photodetection characteristics associated with doping profile variations in InP nanowire array photodetectors. Bias-dependent tuning of the spectral shape of the responsivity is observed which is attributed to a Schottky-like contact at the nanowire–ITO interface. Angular dependent responsivity measurements, compared with simulated absorption spectra, support this conclusion. Furthermore, electrical simulations unravel the role of possible self-gating effects in the nanowires induced by the ITO/SiOx wrap-gate geometry. Finally, we discuss possible reasons for the observed low saturation current at large forward biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phonon energies of AlGaP in wurtzite crystal structure are generally not known, as opposed to their zincblende counterparts, because AlGaP crystallizes in zincblende phase in bulk and thin films structures. However, in nanowires AlGaP can be grown in wurtzite crystal structure. In this work we have grown wurtzite GaP/AlGaP/GaP core–shell nanowires by use of MOVPE. After developing suitable growth conditions, the Al composition was determined by STEM-EDX measurements and the wurtzite AlGaP phonon energies by Raman spectroscopy. Raman measurements show a peak shift with increasing Al composition in the AlGaP shell. We find that the phonon energies for wurtzite AlGaP are slightly lower than for zincblende AlGaP. Our results can be used to determine the Al composition in wurtzite AlGaP by Raman scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ternary nanowires (NWs) often exhibit varying material composition along the NW growth axis because of different diffusion properties of the precursor molecules. This constitutes a problem for optoelectronic devices for which a homogeneous material composition is most often of importance. Especially, ternary GaInP NWs grown under a constant Ga–In precursor ratio typically show inhomogeneous material composition along the length of the NW due to the complexity of low temperature precursor pyrolysis and relative rates of growth species from gas phase diffusion and surface diffusion that contribute to synthesis of particle-assisted growth. Here, we present the results of a method to overcome this challenge by in situ tuning of the trimethylindium molar fraction during growth of ternary Zn-doped GaInP NWs. The NW material compositions were determined by use of x-ray diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and the optical properties by photoluminescence spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the influence of hydrogen bromide (HBr) in situ etching on the growth of InP, GaP and GaAs nanowires. We find that HBr can be used to impede undesired radial growth during axial growth for all three material systems. The use of HBr opens a window for optimizing the growth parameters with respect to the materials’ quality rather than only their morphology. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization reveals a partial transition from a wurtzite crystal structure to a zincblende upon the use of HBr during growth. For InP, defect-related luminescence due to parasitic radial growth is removed by use of HBr. For GaP, the etching with HBr reduced the defect-related luminescence, but no change in peak emission energy was observed. For GaAs, the HBr etching resulted in a shift to lower photon emission energies due to a shift in the crystal structure, which reduced the wurtzite segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]