PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

UC research produces novel sensor with improved detection selectivity

UC research produces novel sensor with improved detection selectivity
2011-03-24
(Press-News.org) A highly sensitive sensor that combines a variety of testing means (electrochemistry, spectroscopy and selective partitioning) into one device has been developed at the University of Cincinnati. It's already been tested in a variety of settings – including testing for components in nuclear waste.

The sensor is unusual in that most sensors only have one or two modes of selectivity, while this sensor has three. In practical terms, that means the UC sensor has three different ways to find and identify a compound of interest. That's important because settings like a nuclear waste storage tank are a jumbled mix of chemical and radioactive wastes. The sensor, however, would have a variety of applications, including testing in other environments and even medical applications.

Research related to this novel sensor will be presented at the American Chemical Society biannual meeting March 27-31 in Anaheim, Calif., in a presentation titled "Using Spectroelectrochemistry to Improve Sensor Selectivity."

That presentation will be made March 28 by William Heineman, distinguished research professor of chemistry at the University of Cincinnati. He is one of six international scientists invited to speak by electrochemistry students involved in planning a conference symposium. Heineman has published more than 400 research articles on the topics of spectroelectrochemistry, electroanalytical chemistry, bioanalytical chemistry and chemical sensors, and has won numerous national and international awards for his work.

BACKGROUND AND USES FOR THIS SENSOR RESEARCH

Research on this sensor concept began more than a decade ago and has received support from the United States Department of Energy for most of that time. "They wanted a sensor that can be lowered in a tank to make lots of measurements quickly or have the option of leaving it in there to monitor what's going on over months or a year," said Heineman, who added that the ideal sensor is both rugged and very selective and sensitive.

The sensor has, in fact, been tested at the Hanford site, a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex in Washington state, where it was used to detect one important component of the radioactive and hazardous wastes stored inside the giant tanks there.

The basic design and concept for this monitor could be used in many other environmental or medical settings. These include detection of toxic heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at superfund sites.

HOW IT WORKS

The three-way selectivity comes from the use of coatings, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy. The selective coating only allows certain compounds to enter the sensing region. For example, all negatively charged ions might be able to enter the sensor while all positively charged ions are excluded. Next comes the electrochemistry. A potential is applied, and an even smaller group of compounds are electrolyzed. Finally, a very specific wavelength of light is used to detect the actual compound of interest.

The end result is that compounds, even those present in very low concentrations, can be detected and analyzed. This is especially important in medical monitoring and other applications requiring high selectivity and sensitivity.

"Our goal in this research was to demonstrate that the concept works, and that goal has been met as it's now been tested in several ways. Maybe that's why the students at the ACS meeting wanted to hear about it," said UC's Heineman.



INFORMATION:


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
UC research produces novel sensor with improved detection selectivity

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

First French bulldog with sex reversal identified in Spain

First French bulldog with sex reversal identified in Spain
2011-03-24
Tana, a female French bulldog, was brought to a veterinary centre for her first vaccination. Specialists there were alerted by the size of her clitoris, which was "larger than normal", and they started to carry out tests. These revealed the first ever genetic alteration ever detected in the reproductive system of this breed – the female puppy had cryptorchid testicles (outside the scrotum). Genetic alteration of the reproductive system or sexual reversal "has been described in many species, such as goats, pigs, horses and even human beings", Marcos Campos, lead author ...

'Knowing it in your gut' is real

2011-03-24
HAMILTON, ON (March 23, 2011) - A lot of chatter goes on inside each one of us and not all of it happens between our ears. Researchers at McMaster University discovered that the "cross-talk" between bacteria in our gut and our brain plays an important role in the development of psychiatric illness, intestinal diseases and probably other health problems as well including obesity. "The wave of the future is full of opportunity as we think about how microbiota or bacteria influence the brain and how the bi-directional communication of the body and the brain influence metabolic ...

Why some children are harmed by mother's alcohol, but others aren't

2011-03-24
CHICAGO --- Exposure to alcohol in the womb doesn't affect all fetuses equally. Why does one woman who drinks alcohol during pregnancy give birth to a child with physical, behavioral or learning problems -- known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder -- while another woman who also drinks has a child without these problems? One answer is a gene variation passed on by the mother to her son, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. This gene variation contributes to a fetus' vulnerability to even moderate alcohol exposure by upsetting the balance of thyroid hormones ...

Larger female hyenas produce more offspring

2011-03-24
EAST LANSING, Mich. — When it comes to producing more offspring, larger female hyenas outdo their smaller counterparts. A new study by Michigan State University researchers, which appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society, revealed this as well as defined a new way to measure spotted hyenas' size. "This is the first study of its kind that provides an estimate of lifetime selection on a large carnivore," said MSU graduate student Eli Swanson, who published the paper with MSU faculty members Ian Dworkin and Kay Holekamp, all members of the BEACON Center for the Study ...

Rice University lab creates self-strengthening nanocomposite

2011-03-24
Researchers at Rice University have created a synthetic material that gets stronger from repeated stress much like the body strengthens bones and muscles after repeated workouts. Work by the Rice lab of Pulickel Ajayan, professor in mechanical engineering and materials science and of chemistry, shows the potential of stiffening polymer-based nanocomposites with carbon nanotube fillers. The team reported its discovery this month in the journal ACS Nano. The trick, it seems, lies in the complex, dynamic interface between nanostructures and polymers in carefully engineered ...

Mayo Clinic researchers find cardiac pacing helps epilepsy patients with ictal asystole

2011-03-24
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Mayo Clinic researchers have found that cardiac pacing may help epilepsy patients with seizure-related falls due to ictal asystole, an unusual condition in which the heart stops beating during an epileptic seizure. The study was recently published in the journal Epilepsia. "During seizures, a patient's heart rate most often increases significantly, but in about 1 percent of this population, a seizure will lead to the heart stopping for a brief period of time," says Jeffrey W. Britton, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurologist and member of the research team. ...

Mercyhurst's Adovasio continues research of basketry from Peru's Huaca Prieta

2011-03-24
ERIE, Pa. - A collection of plant fiber artifacts woven by inhabitants of Huaca Prieta, a pre-Columbian site of the Late Preceramic Period in northern Peru, is making its way to the laboratory of Dr. James Adovasio, director of the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute. One of the world's leading authorities in the analysis of basketry, textiles, cordage and other plant fiber-derived artifacts in prehistoric societies, Adovasio recently returned from a two-week excursion in Peru, where he analyzed basketry from recent excavations at Huaca Prieta conducted by Vanderbilt University ...

Monitoring peccaries in Brazil benefits wildlife, local communities and food security

Monitoring peccaries in Brazil benefits wildlife, local communities and food security
2011-03-24
Veterinarians from the Wildlife Conservation Society and the State Institute of Animal Health (IAGRO) in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil have conducted one of the first health assessments of white-lipped peccaries (medium-sized pig-like animals) in Brazil's Pantanal. The study was an effort to gauge the impact of Leptospirosis—a zoonotic bacteria that affects a wide range of animals as well as humans—on wildlife and livestock. The study—conducted between 2003 and 2005 in a region of the Pantanal undergoing increasing land-use change and habitat fragmentation —has shed light ...

Jon "Bones" Jones Takes UFC Light Heavyweight Title Becomes First Ever UFC Fighter to Appear on The Tonight Show

Jon Bones Jones Takes UFC Light Heavyweight Title Becomes First Ever UFC Fighter to Appear on The Tonight Show
2011-03-24
California Sports Company KSwiss and FORM Athletics endorsed Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Jon "Bones" Jones made history Saturday night at UFC 128, becoming the youngest UFC Champion ever! Bringing home the title of Light Heavyweight Champion, 23-year-old Jones was up against Maurico "Shogun" Rua. As if being named youngest champion ever in the UFC was not momentous enough, Jon "Bones" Jones continues to blaze the trail in history making for the UFC with a scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Thursday, March 24th. Jones is the first ever UFC ...

Bird embryo provides unique insights into development related to cancer and wound healing

Bird embryo provides unique insights into development related to cancer and wound healing
2011-03-24
Avian embryos could join the list of model organisms used to study a specific type of cell migration called epiboly, thanks to the results of a study published this month in the journal Developmental Dynamics. The new study provides insights into the mechanisms of epiboly, a developmental process involving mass movement of cells as a sheet, which is linked with medical conditions that include wound healing and cancer. The study, published online on March 15, explains how epithelial cells expand as a sheet and migrate to engulf the entire avian egg yolk as it grows. It ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Medigap protection and plan switching among Medicare advantage enrollees with cancer

Bubbles are key to new surface coating method for lightweight magnesium alloys

Carbon stable isotope values yield different dietary associations with added sugars in children compared to adults

Scientists discover 230 new giant viruses that shape ocean life and health

Hurricanes create powerful changes deep in the ocean, study reveals

Genetic link found between iron deficiency and Crohn’s disease

Biologists target lifecycle of deadly parasite

nTIDE June 2025 Jobs Report: Employment of people with disabilities holds steady in the face of uncertainty

Throughput computing enables astronomers to use AI to decode iconic black holes

Why some kids respond better to myopia lenses? Genes might hold the answer

Kelp forest collapse alters food web and energy dynamics in the Gulf of Maine

Improving T cell responses to vaccines

Nurses speak out: fixing care for disadvantaged patients

Fecal transplants: Promising treatment or potential health risk?

US workers’ self-reported mental health outcomes by industry and occupation

Support for care economy policies by political affiliation and caregiving responsibilities

Mailed self-collection HPV tests boost cervical cancer screening rates

AMS announces 1,000 broadcast meteorologists certified

Many Americans unaware high blood pressure usually has no noticeable symptoms

IEEE study describes polymer waveguides for reliable, high-capacity optical communication

Motor protein myosin XI is crucial for active boron uptake in plants

Ultra-selective aptamers give viruses a taste of their own medicine

How the brain distinguishes between ambiguous hypotheses

New AI reimagines infectious disease forecasting

Scientific community urges greater action against the silent rise of liver diseases

Tiny but mighty: sophisticated next-gen transistors hold great promise

World's first practical surface-emitting laser for optical fiber communications developed: advancing miniaturization, energy efficiency, and cost reduction of light sources

Statins may reduce risk of death by 39% for patients with life-threatening sepsis

Paradigm shift: Chinese scientists transform "dispensable" spleen into universal regenerative hub

Medieval murder: Records suggest vengeful noblewoman had priest assassinated in 688-year-old cold case

[Press-News.org] UC research produces novel sensor with improved detection selectivity