The small sized, flexible, high-performed and bio-compatible sensing devices are the critical elements to realize the bio-related detection or on-site health monitoring systems. In this work, the flexible localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) bio-sensors were demonstrated by integrating the metal–insulator–metal (MIM) nanodisks with bio-compatible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The different geometries of MIM nanodisk sensors were investigated and optimized to enhance the spatial overlap of the LSPR waves with the environment, which lead to a high sensitivity of 1500 nm/RIU. The omni-directional characteristics of LSPR resonances were beneficial for maintaining the device sensitivity stable under various bending curvatures. Furthermore, the flexible MIM nanodisk LSPR sensor was applied to detect A549 cancer cells in PBS+ solution. The absorption peak of the MIM-disk LSPR sensor obviously redshift to easily distinguish between the phosphate buffered saline (PBS+) solution with A549 cancer cells and without cells. Therefore, the flexible MIM nanodisk LSPR sensor is suitable to develop on-chip microfluidic biosensors for detection of cancer cells on nonplanar surfaces.
We propose an innovative vehicle headlight design based on a highly efficient LED light pipe system. In the system, light rays are emitted from multiple high-power LEDs in front of a total internal reflection (TIR) lens. After passing through the TIR lens, the rays are divided into two beams by a prism splitter, and each beam is guided to each headlamp by a light pipe. We propose the system because it uses fewer LEDs but provides enough lumens and reduces the number of TIR lenses required. Detailed analysis of the system is given, and the simulation results show that the headlamp produces a legal Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) lowbeam pattern, with a total optical efficiency up to 40.2%, when four LED (Lumileds-K2) sources are used.
The examination of brain dynamics during cognitive-motor performance under conditions of mental stress provides insight into the influence of state anxiety and may guide interventions for performance enhancement. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to assess and compare cerebral cortical activity and connectivity between motor planning and nonmotor brain regions during a dart-throwing task executed under mentally stressful and nonstressful conditions. State anxiety was measured in 21 male participants, after they had practiced the task for a period of 3 months, via the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory 2, and cortical dynamics were assessed via electroencephalography to capture low- (8–10 Hz) and high-alpha (10–12 Hz) spectral power, as well as high-alpha coherence, over four consecutive 0.5-s time intervals immediately before the dart release. Participants exhibited higher cognitive and somatic anxiety, lower self-confidence, reduced throwing accuracy, and higher variability of performance in the stress condition. A series of 2 × 2 × 2 × 4 (Order of Conditions × Condition × Cerebral Hemisphere × Time) analysis of variance applied separately to the EEG spectral power and coherence measures derived from each of the frontal, temporal, central, parietal, and occipital regions revealed an increase in high-alpha power in the right occipital region during stress accompanied by an elevation in electroencephalography coherence between the motor planning (Fz) and verbal-analytic (T3) regions. The findings suggest a reduction in task-related visual attention and an elevation in explicit monitoring of task-related movements, respectively, during state anxiety, which translate as degradation in the accuracy of throwing performance.
We investigated hybrid
zero-dimensional core–shell CdSe/ZnS
quantum dot (QD)/two-dimensional monolayer WSe2 semiconductors
with an Ag nanodisk (ND) for manipulating plasmonic-enhanced photoluminescence
(PL) and color conversion efficiency. The absorption spectrum of the
local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effectively overlaps with that
of QDs or monolayer WSe2 to considerably enhance PL. The
broad absorption spectrum of the LSPR simultaneously overlapped with
the emission spectrum of QDs and the absorption spectrum of excitons
in WSe2 to enhance the color conversion efficiency. The
highest efficiency of color conversion from QDs to WSe2 with Ag ND was 53%. In the future, hybrid QD/transition metal dichalcogenide
light emitters could be further integrated with GaN-based white light-emitting
diodes to manipulate the color temperature and expand the color gamut
to develop a miniature white light-emitting diode.
Corporations would utilize advanced information technologies for generating corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and communicating with their stakeholders. However, corporations often could not determine whether their CSR websites are capable of e®ective communication with the stakeholders. The purpose of this study would be to analyze websites of benchmark companies for establishing an evaluation model to be a reference for CSR website design. Information from expert interviews carried out in this study underwent DEMATEL method for analyzing the mutual relationships between the quality criteria and dimensions of CSR websites. DANP was then used to calculate the weight of each criterion. Finally, we would make use VIKOR method to prioritize the performance CSR website satisfaction. The following provides the recommended improvement priorities according to results of the expert interviews: service quality (C) followed by information quality (B) followed by technical quality (A).
Although poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) and polyethylene glycol methacrylate (PEGMA) have been demonstrated to inhibit bacterial adhesion, no study has compared antibacterial adhesion when salivary pellicle is coated on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) grafted with pHEMA and on PMMA grafted with PEGMA. In this study, PMMA discs were fabricated from a commercial orthodontic acrylic resin system (Ortho-Jet). Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra taken before and after grafting confirmed that pHEMA and PEGMA were successfully grafted on PMMA. Contact angle measurements revealed PMMA-pHEMA to be the most hydrophilic, followed by PMMA-PEGMA, and then by PMMA. Zeta potential analysis revealed the most negative surface charges on PMMA-PEGMA, followed by PMMA-pHEMA, and then by PMMA. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed green fluorescence in the background, indicating images that influenced the accuracy of the quantification of live bacteria. Both the optical density value measured at 600 nm and single plate-serial dilution spotting showed that pHEMA was more effective than PEGMA against Escherichia coli and Streptococcus mutans, although the difference was not significant. Therefore, the grafting of pHEMA and PEGMA separately on PMMA is effective against bacterial adhesion, even after the grafted PMMA were coated with salivary pellicle. Surface hydrophilicity, bactericidality, and Coulomb repulsion between the negatively charged bacteria and the grafted surface contributed to the effectiveness.
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