163 research outputs found
Optimisation of a one-step PCR assay for the diagnosis of Flavescence doreerelated phytoplasmas in field-grown grapevines and vector populations
Field-infected grapevines and natural populations of Scaphoideus titanus have been analysed to detect group V phytoplasmas associated with flavescence doree in northwestern Italy using nested PCR. A first amplification driven by universal ribosomal primers R16SF2/R2 was followed by a second round assisted by R16(V)F1/R1 primers and subsequent RFLP analysis. To optimize the test, nested PCRs were compared with direct amplification assisted by the group V-specific fAY/rEY primer pair, directed towards other ribosomal sequences. In nested and direct PCRs, respectively, DNAs from 71 and 57 out of 96 grapevines (i.e. 73.9 and 59.3 %) and 51 and 50 out of 108 insects (i.e. 47.2 and 46.3 %) reacted positively. Although it was not possible to determine the subgroup of the phytoplasmas after fAY/rEY amplification, these primers could be used successfully in mass screening of plant material and insect populations. They could detect, in single-step amplification, the phytoplasmas in 80 and 98 % of the plant and insect samples, respectively, that were already indexed as positive using nested PCR. This strongly reduced the number of samples requiring the nested approach, with beneficial effects on costs, labour and risks of the analysis.
Implementation of electrical resistance tomography for conductivity mapping of nanostructured transparent conductor materials
Recommended implementation of electrical resistance tomography for conductivity mapping of metallic nanowire networks using voltage excitation
The knowledge of the spatial distribution of the electrical conductivity of metallic nanowire networks (NWN) is important for tailoring the performance in applications. This work focuses on Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT), a technique that maps the electrical conductivity of a sample from several resistance measurements performed on its border. We show that ERT can be successfully employed for NWN characterisation if a dedicated measurement protocol is employed. When applied to other materials, ERT measurements are typically performed with a constant current excitation; we show that, because of the peculiar microscopic structure and behaviour of metallic NWN, a constant voltage excitation protocols is preferable. This protocol maximises the signal to noise ratio in the resistance measurements—and thus the accuracy of ERT maps—while preventing the onset of sample alterations
Characterization of the recovery of mechanical properties of ion-implanted diamond after thermal annealing
Due to their outstanding mechanical properties, diamond and diamond-like
materials find significant technological applications ranging from
well-established industrial fields (cutting tools, coatings, etc.) to more
advanced mechanical devices as micro- and nano-electromechanical systems. The
use of energetic ions is a powerful and versatile tool to fabricate
three-dimensional micro-mechanical structures. In this context, it is of
paramount importance to have an accurate knowledge of the effects of
ion-induced structural damage on the mechanical properties of this material,
firstly to predict potential undesired side-effects of the ion implantation
process, and possibly to tailor the desired mechanical properties of the
fabricated devices. We present an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
characterization of free-standing cantilevers in single-crystal diamond
obtained by a FIB-assisted lift-off technique, which allows a determination of
the Young's modulus of the diamond crystal after the MeV ion irradiation
process concurrent to the fabrication of the microstructures, and subsequent
thermal annealing. The AFM measurements were performed with the beam-bending
technique and show that the thermal annealing process allows for an effective
recovery of the mechanical properties of the pristine crystal.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Fabrication of flexible silicon nanowires by self-assembled metal assisted chemical etching for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
A homogenous array of flexible gold coated silicon nanowires was
fabricated by the combination of nano spheres lithography and metal
assisted chemical etching to obtain highly effective Surface Enhanced
Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. 3D nanostructures with different
aspect ratios and well-defined geometries were produced by adjusting the
fabrication parameters in order to select the best configuration for
SERS analysis. The optimum flexible nanowires with an aspect ratio of 1
: 10 can self-close driven by the microcapillary force under exposure to
liquid and trap the molecules at their metallic coated ``fingertips'',
thus generating hot spots with ultrahigh field enhancement. The
performance of these SERS substrates was evaluated using melamine as the
analyte probe with various concentrations from the millimolar to the
picomolar range. Flexible gold coated SiNWs demonstrated high uniformity
of the Raman signal over large area with a variability of only 10% and
high sensitivity with a limit of detection of 3.20 x 10(-7) mg L-1
(picomolar) which promotes its application in several fields such food
safety, diagnostic and pharmaceutical. Such an approach represents a
low-cost alternative to the traditional nanofabrication processes to
obtain well ordered silicon nanostructures, offering multiple degrees of
freedom in the design of different geometries such as inter-wire
distance, density of the wires on the surface as well as their length,
thus showing a great potential for the fabrication of SERS substrates
Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence Reference Materials for Cascade Impactor Air Quality Monitoring Systems
The 12th International Conference on “Instrumental Methods of Analysis” www.ima2021.gr (accessed on 8 November 2021)), was organized by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and National Technical University of Athens, during 20–23 September 2021 as a virtual event, providing the opportunity for high-level analytical scientists from all around the world to promote their relevant research.
IMA is a biannual series of conferences that started in 1999 and cover all areas of Chemical Analysis, including the development of new techniques, modern trends, and applications in a wide range of scientific disciplines. To date, several leading analytical chemists from Greece and abroad have presented their research work at previous IMA meetings. The 12th IMA conference (in a virtual format for the first time), had the ambition to bring together some of the most talented and innovative analytical chemists from all over the world for an excellent scientific online conference. The program of the 4-day event attended by 260 participants from 23 countries, included 14 invited speakers, 73 oral presentations, and 98 poster contributions.
Covered topics included: spectrometric and electrometric analysis; chromatographic, mass spectrometric, microscopic, and thermal analysis methods; proteomics, metabolomics, metallomics, and elemental speciation analysis; chemical and biosensors; field analysis—mobile analytical instruments; miniaturized analytical systems (lab-on-a-chip), micro-, and nanofluidics; immunoassays and electrophoretic separation techniques; sampling techniques and strategies; robotics and automation; quality control—quality assurance in analysis; metrology; data processing and chemometrics; environmental analysis; biomedical (ecotoxicological and clinical) and pharmaceutical analysis; food analysis; materials analysis (nanomaterials, smart/advanced materials, and surface analysis); archaeometry; and analytical chemistry markets and possibilities for commercialization. Special sessions, focused on aerosol metrology (supported by EU Project AEROMET II), advanced X-ray techniques (supported by the European X-ray Spectrometry Association), and application of chemical analysis in the study of virus spread analytics (airborne and wastewaters), were also organized within the frame of IMA-2021
Memristive devices as a potential resistance standard
The EMPIR [1] project 20FUN06 MEMQuD --- “Memristive devices as quantum standard for nanometrology” [2] has as one of its fundamental goals the development of technical capability and scientific knowledge for the implementation of a quantum resistance standard based on memristive devices characterized by high scalability down to the nanometer scale, CMOS compatibility and working in air at room temperature. In this work it is presented an overview of the project and highlighted relevant
characteristics and working principles of memristive devices, applications as well as the last revision of the International System of Units (SI) that is the motivation and background for the aim of this project
Electroluminescence from a diamond device with ion-beam-micromachined buried graphitic electrodes
Focused MeV ion microbeams are suitable tools for the direct writing of
conductive graphitic channels buried in an insulating diamond bulk, as
demonstrated in previous works with the fabrication of multi-electrode ionizing
radiation detectors and cellular biosensors. In this work we investigate the
suitability of the fabrication method for the electrical excitation of colour
centres in diamond. Differently from photoluminescence, electroluminescence
requires an electrical current flowing through the diamond sub-gap states for
the excitation of the colour centres. With this purpose, buried graphitic
electrodes with a spacing of 10 micrometers were fabricated in the bulk of a
detector-grade CVD single-crystal diamond sample using a scanning 1.8 MeV He
micro-beam. The current flowing in the gap region between the electrodes upon
the application of a 250 V bias voltage was exploited as the excitation pump
for the electroluminescence of different types of colour centres localized in
the above-mentioned gap. The bright light emission was spatially mapped using a
confocal optical microscopy setup. The spectral analysis of electroluminescence
revealed the emission from neutrally-charged nitrogen-vacancy centres (,
= 575 nm), as well as from cluster crystal dislocations
(A-band, {\lambda} = 400-500 nm). Moreover, an electroluminescence signal with
appealing spectral features (sharp emission at room temperature, low phonon
sidebands) from He-related defects was detected ( = 536.3 nm,
= 560.5 nm); a low and broad peak around {\lambda} = 740 nm was
also observed and tentatively ascribed to Si-V or GR1 centres. These results
pose interesting future perspectives for the fabrication of
electrically-stimulated single-photon emitters in diamond for applications in
quantum optics and quantum cryptography
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