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Harishchandra Singh, Graham King and associates have employed high energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction (HE-SXRD) experiments and an analytical model in order to predict the yield strength of cerium-modified super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) subjected to various cold- and cryo-deformation. Spectroscopy recently had the opportunity to discuss the experiments and the findings with Singh and King.

Quantitative Prediction of Yield Strength of Highly Alloyed Complex Steel Using High Energy Synchrotron X-Ray Diffractometry

In the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), a contagious disease that causes 1.5 million deaths per year globally, early diagnosis is critical in order to control its spread. Unfortunately, standard tuberculosis diagnostic tests, such as sputum culture, can take days to weeks to yield results. In a recent paper, Ubaid Ullah of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering in Pakistan and his colleagues demonstrate a quick, portable, easy-to-use, and non-invasive optical sensor based on sputum samples for tuberculosis detection using Raman spectroscopy to detect TB in a patient’s sputum supernatant. Ullah spoke to Spectroscopy about this sensor and its development.

Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning-Based Optical Probe for Tuberculosis Diagnosis via Sputum 

While the tracing product origin by the analysis of their multi-element composition has been successfully applied in several commodities, the potential for doing the same with timber has not yet been determined. Laura Boeschoten and her team studied the reactive soil element pools and the multi-elemental composition in sapwood and heartwood for 37 Azobé (Lophira alata) trees at two forest sites in Cameroon, measuring 46 elements using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and conducted the first study relating wood multi-elemental composition of forest trees to soil chemical and physical properties in an effort to combat the illegal trade of timber. Laura spoke to Spectroscopy about this study and the technique’s potential.

Clay and Soil Organic Matter Drive Wood Multi-Elemental Composition of a Tropical Tree Species: Implications for Timber Tracing

Some macrofungal species are known for their ability to accumulate high concentrations of mercury in their fruit bodies. A recent paper by Simone Braeuer and colleagues of the University of Graz (Austria) and Ghent University (Belgium) discusses an efficient method developed for quantitative mapping of mercury and selenium in mushroom fruit bodies via laser ablation coupled to inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry with excellent limits of detection and high spatial resolution (down to 5 µm). Braeuer spoke to Spectroscopy about this paper. 

Quantitative Mapping of Mercury and Selenium in Mushroom Fruit Bodies with Laser Ablation–Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry  

Karen Faulds of the University of Strathclyde co-authored a paper where SESORS signals could be detected from nanotags at depths down to 48 mm for the first time using a handheld spatially offset Raman (SORS) instrument. She recently spoke to Spectroscopy about this and some of her other papers and the advances in the science that made them possible. Faulds is the 2022 recipient of the RSC Analytical Division Mid-Career Award. This interview is part of an ongoing series of interviews with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference, which will be held this year from October 2 through October 7, in Covington, Kentucky.

A Decade of Surface Enhanced Spatially Offset Raman Scattering (SESORS)

James Piret, and Robin Turner, of Michael Smith Laboratories (Vancouver, BC Canada) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) have been exploring the benefits of extracting and displaying correlated spectrometric and non-spectrometric variables with a proposed method called multisource correlation analysis (MuSCA). Their work has uncovered several advantages of using Raman spectroscopy for these applications. Here, they discuss their efforts to develop an approach that permitted the integration of diverse biochemical information with measured spectra for co-analysis to characterize the spectra and take advantage of the available spectral information. 

Multisource Correlation Analysis (MuSCA) Applied to Raman Spectroscopy for Biochemical Analysis

Wei Min, of the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University in New York City, and his associates recently published a paper outlining their devising a set of multiplexed Raman molecular probes with sharp and mutually resolvable Raman peaks to simultaneously quantify cell surface proteins, endocytosis activities, and metabolic dynamics of an individual live cell. Min, who recently spoke to us about this work, is the 2022 recipient of the Craver Award, presented annually at FACSS SciX to recognize the efforts of young professional spectroscopists that have made significant contributions in applied analytical vibrational spectroscopy.

Multiplexed Live-Cell Profiling with Raman Probes

Igor Gornushkin and colleagues at BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin, Germany studied the feasibility of using optical spectroscopy as a control method for laser metal deposition, and he recently spoke to us about this work. Gornushkin is the 2022 recipient of the Lester W. Strock Award from the New England Chapter of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS). 

Optical Detection of Defects during Laser Metal Deposition: Simulations and Experiment

Noureddine Melikechi of the Department of Physics and Applied Physics at the University of Massachusetts (Lowell, MA) saw an urgent need for the development of an untargeted and unbiased method to distinguish Gulf War illness (GWI) patients from non-GWI patients; he and his associates utilized laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in their efforts to meet that need.

Diagnosis of Gulf War Illness Using Laser-Induced Spectra Acquired from Blood Samples

Spray paint is often used by vandals for creating graffiti, as well as for criminals to leave signs, messages, and blots to conceal the left traces at the scene of their efforts. Rajinder Singh and his colleagues in the Department of Forensic Science at Punjabi University (Punjab, India) have used attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy for nondestructive analysis of 20 red spray paints of different manufacturers, which could possibly be encountered at a crime scene, particularly in case of vandalism. Singh spoke to Spectroscopy about the findings, and the paper that resulted from their efforts.

Spectroscopy Interviews