The replication database: documenting the replicability of psychological science

In psychological science, replicability — repeating a study with a new sample achieving consistent results (Parsons et al., 2022) — is critical for affirming the validity of scientific findings. Despite its importance, replication efforts are few and far between in psychological science with many attempts failing to corroborate past findings. This scarcity, compounded by the difficulty in accessing replication data, jeopardizes the efficient allocation of research resources and impedes scientific advancement. Addressing this crucial gap, we present the Replication Database (https://forrt-replications.shinyapps.io/fred_explorer), a novel platform hosting 1,239 original findings paired with replication findings. The infrastructure of this database allows researchers to submit, access, and engage with replication findings. The database makes replications visible, easily findable via a graphical user interface, and tracks replication rates across various factors, such as publication year or journal. This will facilitate future efforts to evaluate the robustness of psychological research

Surface-enhanced Raman fiberoptic sensors for remote monitoring

A new sensor design for remote surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements has been developed for environmental applications. The design features the modification of an optical fiber using layers of alumina microparticles and silver coatings for inducing the SERS effect at the sensing probe. A single fiber carries both the laser excitation and the SERS signal radiation, keeping optical parameters at the remote tip simple and consistent. The small tip size achievable with this configuration also demonstrates potential of this new design as a microsensor for in-situ measurement in microenvironments. Details of sensor tip fabrication and optical system design are described. SERS spectra of aqueous environmental samples acquired in-situ using the SERS sensor are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the SERS sensor

Detection of polyaromatic compounds using antibody-based fiberoptics fluoroimmunosensors

In this work we have investigated the performance of an antibody-based fiberoptics sensor for the detection of the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene and its DNA-adduct product BP-tetrol. The excellent sensitivity of this device - femtomole limits of detection for BP - illustrates that it has considerable potential to perform analyses of chemical and biological samples at trace levels in complex matrices. The results indicate that fiberoptics-based fluoroimmunosensors can be useful in a wide spectrum of biochemical and clinical analyses. 17 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Field screening of polycyclic hydrocarbons contamination in soil using a portable synchronous scanning spectrofluorometer

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contamination is a considerable problem at various hazardous waste sites. Sources of PAH contamination include incomplete combustion processes, wood preservatives, and the fuel industry (1). The development of rapid, cost-effective field screening techniques to qualitate or quantitate potential PAH contamination could result in improved remediation efficiency. We have recently developed a portable spectrofluorometer (2) for screening potential PAH contaminants at field sites using the synchronous fluorescence approach. In this paper, the portable spectrofluorometer was used to field screen several contaminated soil areas located at the Morristown Industrial Site in Morristown, Tennessee using the synchronous fluorescence technique. An attempt to quantify PAH contamination was performed using the NIST 1647a Priority pollutant standard to generate a calibration curve. Representative samples were subsequently related to the results obtained from standard laboratory measurements