Air pollution is a current problem for environment and public health. Its impact needs to be monitored in urban agglomerates and critical hot-spots such as airports. The green aviation at low air emissions is a sustainable goal for future. The air pollutants are monitored by governmental agencies that employ regulatory monitoring stations which are very accurate, but also very expensive, bulky, and maintenance demanding. On the contrary, the low-cost sensor-systems can offer a proper solution to cover large areas at high spatio-temporal resolution. However, the low-cost air quality sensors are less accurate than reference analyzers operating in the regulatory stations. To enhance the sensor accuracy, field calibration and data correction with reference instrumentation is a valid strategy to improve sensor data quality. In this study, a sensor-system with a selected set of air quality gas sensors (NO₂, O₃) and particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM_2.5) has been developed and deployed in a near-city space-airport at Grottaglie (Southern Italy) to perform measurements in a period of 4 months, from October 2021 to February 2022. The sensor-units installed in the Airbox system used for this measurements campaign are the GS+4NO2 (DD Scientific) for NO₂ measurements, the O3-3E1F (City Technology, Sensoric) for O₃ measurements, and the NextPM (Tera Sensor) for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 measurements. Data gathered by the low-cost air quality sensors have been compared to reference instrumentations both co-located (ca. 1 m distance) together low-cost sensors (PM₁₀, R² > 0.87; PM_2.5, R² > 0.50) and a distributed regulatory network of 14 environmental stations operating in the local area around space-airport at a distance ranging from 3 to 26 km.

As a future energy source hydrogen is used in many industrial applications such as chemical, semiconductor, transportation, etc. Hydrogen gas, which has many unusual properties compared to other gases, has the risk of being flammable and explosive when it is present in the atmosphere at concentrations of 4% and higher. We need hydrogen sensors both to determine the risks in advance and because we do not want the hydrogen gas, which is the source of energy, to be lost due to leakage. Hydrogen sensors are used in hydrogen production plants to determine hydrogen purity, for leakage and safety in all areas where hydrogen gas is used, and also in the medical application as hydrogen gas is a marker in disease diagnosis. Considering the classification of hydrogen sensors according to the physico-chemical sensing mechanism, the performance of resistive metallic hydrogen sensors is one of the two best [1]. In metallic resistive hydrogen sensors, Pd, Pt and their alloys are generally used as sensing materials [2,3]. In this study, the nanostructured platinum (Pt) and Pt alloy based resistive hydrogen sensor are reviewed and discussed in detail. Hydrogen sensing properties of Pt, Pt alloys, Pt layered structures in many nanostructures such as nanowires, nanoporous, thin films have been investigated [4-10]. The sensing mechanism of Pt-based resistive hydrogen sensors has been explained with scattering of charge carriers at surface, from defects, from grain boundary and formation of hydride (PtH_x) phenomenas depending on the increase or decrease of resistance in hydrogen environment.

The BDNF gene is associated with high degrees of variability in antidepressant treatments. The Val66Met polymorphism is widely known as a source of this variability, warranting growing interest in genotyping patients that undergo antidepressant treatment to better suit their needs. This paper reports on an electrochemical genosensing platform, based on gold electrodes, capable of detecting this polymorphism, through the use of synthetic enzymatic labelled DNA-probes for 2 different BDNF alleles. The sensor showed promising results, and its applicability to real samples is currently being tested.

Heterocyclic compound of S and N with cyclic structure like Furans, thiophenes and related azole analogs are important as ligand because of readily available, stable and easily functionalized. Among the various types of heterocyclic molecules quinazolines and their derivatives contain important chromophores with desirable electrochemical properties to be applied for application in sensor field. Metal complexes of these compounds have demonstrated significant electrochemical properties as ionophore or electroactive material for the fabrication of ISEs with different polymeric membranes. R. Selva Kumar, et al.; 2019 reported the use of dibutyl(8-hydroxyquinolin-2-yl)methylphosphonate as ionophore in PVC metrix for the fabrication of potentiometric thorium(IV) ion-selective electrode [1]. These quinazoline based membranes with other additives and plasticizers are very useful for the development of potential difference across the membrane in electrochemical sensing devices in required proportions [2-4]. Analytes such as Butralin, Hydroxylamine, Nitrite, heavy metal ions like Fe3+, Th4+ have also been determined using quinazoline based membrane sensors. ISE based electrochemical sensors are very useful in analysis of food products, drinking water, beverages, fertilizers, soil industrial effluents etc. These alos finds application in potentiometric titrations as indicator electrode.

Development of the sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors is one of the main streams of modern analytical chemistry. Chemically modified electrodes are created for these purposes. Transition metal oxide nanomaterials (nanoparticles, nanorods, nanoflakes, nanoneedle, etc.) are of interest among the modifiers due to high stability, chemical and electrochemical inertness, high surface area and biocompartibility. Voltammetric sensors based on the CeO₂, SnO₂ and CeO₂·Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles, and MnO₂ nanorods have been developed for the quantification of various organic substances. Surfactant media have been applied as dispersive agents for metal oxide nanomaterials providing high stability of the dispersions after sonication, decrease of the nanoparticles size as well as preconcentration of the target analytes at the sensor surface due to the hydrophobic interactions between the surfactant and analyte molecules. Natural phenolics (quercetin, rutin, gallic acid, taxifolin, eugenol, vanillin, hesperidin), propyl gallate, α-lipoic acid and synthetic food colorants (tartrazine, brilliant blue FCF and sudan I) have been studied as analytes. The effect of the nature and concentration of surfactant on the target analyte response has been evaluated. Cationic surfactants (cetylpyridinium or cetyltriphenylphosphonium bromides) show the best effect for the majority of the analytes. The wide linear dynamic ranges and low detection limits have been obtained and are improved vs. reported to date. Simultaneous quantification of tartrazine and brilliant blue FCF has been achieved with high selectivity. The practical applicability of the sensors is shown on the real samples and is validated by comparison to independent methods.

This scientific paper delves into the effects of water stress on grapevines, specifically focusing on gene expression and polyphenol production. We conducted a controlled greenhouse experiment with three hydric conditions and analyzed the expression of genes related to polyphenol biosynthesis. Our results revealed significant differences in the expression of ABCC1, a gene linked to anthocyanin metabolism, under different irrigation treatments. These findings highlight the importance of anthocyanins in grapevine responses to abiotic stresses. By integrating genomics, metabolomics, and systems biology, this study contributes to our understanding of grapevine physiology under water stress conditions and offers insights for developing sensor technologies for real-world applications in viticulture.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was explored to assess the mineral constituents (Ca, Mg and N) in the skin, pulp, and seed of two Vitis vinifera cultivars - a white (Loureiro) and a red (Vinhão) cultivar. This study compares the two grape cultivars chosen and the characterisation of Ca, Mg and N in the skin, pulp and seed on three dates after veraison. Significant differences (p< 0.05) were found in the Ca, Mg and N in the skin, pulp and seed of both grape cultivars during the three assessment dates considered. The results of this study could provide insights into the mineral composition of grapes, offering a fast, accurate, and cost-effective alternative to traditional mineral quantification methods.

Immunochromatographic tests are of particular interest as tools for monitoring toxic environmental pollutants. In this regard, the aim of this study was to develop an immunochromatographic test system for the detection of surfactant nonylphenol in water. Two schemes of the assay were compared; they are characterized by detection limits of 1.1 and 0.4 μg/mL and recoveries of nonylphenol from spring water in the range of 68-113.7%.

The potential of hyperspectral UV–VIS–NIR reflectance for in-field, non-destructive discrimination of bacterial canker on kiwi leaves caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) was analyzed. Spectral data (325–1075 nm) of twenty kiwi plants were obtained in-vivo, in-situ, with a handheld spectroradiometer in two commercial kiwi orchards in northern Portugal, for 15 weeks, resulting in 504 spectral measurements. The suitability of different vegetation indexes (VIs) and applied predictive models (based on supervised machine learning algorithms) for classifying non-symptomatic and symptomatic kiwi leaves was evaluated. Eight distinct types of VIs were identified as relevant for disease diagnosis, highlighting the relevance of the Green, Red, Red-Edge, and NIR spectral features. The class prediction was achieved with good model metrics, achieving an accuracy of 0.71, kappa of 0.42, sensitivity of 0.67, specificity of 0.75, and F1 of 0.67. Thus, the present findings demonstrated the potential of hyperspectral UV–VIS–NIR reflectance for non-destructive discrimination of bacterial canker on kiwi leaves.

Hepatitis viral infections are the most common cause of hepatitis liver disease, which eventually leads to cancer and fibrosis if undetected early. Therefore, early detection would allow for pre-ventive and therapeutic actions. Here, a Raman spectroscopy-based biosensor was developed using plasmonic molybdenum trioxide quantum dots-based substrates functionalized with a proteoglycan (Syndecan-1) as a novel bioreceptor for target hepatitis E virus (HEV). The innova-tive bio-detection system achieved a detection limit of 1.05 fg/mL for tested HEV antigen (ORF2), indicating superb clinically relevant sensitivity and performance. The designed biosensing system incorporating a glycan motif as a bioreceptor instead of the conventional antibodies or aptamers, presents new insights for the ultrasensitive detection of HEV and other infectious viruses.