Fluorescence turn-on detection of DNA and label-free fluorescence nuclease assay based on the aggregation-induced emission of silole

By making use of the aggregation-induced emission feature of silole, compound 1 with an ammonium group is designed and synthesized with a view to developing a new optical probe for fluorescence turn-on detection of DNA and label-free fluorescence nuclease assay. The fluorescence of 1 increases largely upon mixing with DNA, in particular for long DNA, indicating that 1 can be used for fluorescence turn-on detection of DNA. More interestingly, 1 can be employed to follow the DNA cleavage process by nuclease. Therefore, a label-free fluorescence nuclease assay method is successfully established with 1. Furthermore, this label-free fluorescence assay can also be used for inhibitor screening of nucleases. Given its simplicity, easy operation, sensitivity and cost-effectiveness, this method can be extended to other nuclease assays and high-throughput screening of nuclease inhibitors.     

Intracellular magnesium ion selective microelectrode based on a neutral carrier

A magnesium ion selective microelectrode based on a synthetic neutral carrier is presented. The selectivity of Mg2+ over Na+, K+, H+, and Ca2+ is sufficient for assays of intracellular magnesium ion activities. The microelectrodes with an optimized membrane composition have a resistance of about 5 x 10(10) omega and a 90% response time of less than or equal to 3 s for a tip diameter around 1 microns. The lifetime of the microelectrode cell assembly is longer than 1 week and the emf drift after equilibration is less than or equal to 0.3 mV/h.     

A portable optical sensing system for rapid detection of fluorescence spectra

Development of a prototype of a portable optical sensing system is presented for fast detecting of samples' fluorescence spectra. A compact configuration is achieved by integrating a small spectrometer, a microcontroller, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) Host Shield, a network module, and a web server. The fluorescence spectra of a tested sample can be obtained. Then the test data are sent through network communication to our Cloud Server which can store the data for further analyses. With this configuration, test results can be revealed in a short time and downloaded by users to their laptops, tablets or cellphones anytime and anywhere.     

Entrapment of fluorescence signaling DNA enzymes in sol-gel-derived materials for metal ion sensing

Three fluorescence signaling DNA enzymes (deoxyribozymes or DNAzymes) were successfully immobilized within a series of sol-gel-derived matrixes and used for sensing of various metal ions. The DNAzymes are designed such that binding of appropriate metal ions induces the formation of a catalytic site that cleaves a ribonucleotide linkage within a DNA substrate. A fluorophore (fluorescein) and a quencher (DABCYL, [4-(4-dimethylaminophenylazo)benzoic acid]) were placed on the two deoxythymidines flanking the ribonucleotide to allow the generation of fluorescence upon the catalytic cleavage at the RNA linkage. In general, all DNAzymes retained at least partial catalytic function when entrapped in either hydrophilic or hydrophobic silica-based materials, but displayed slower response times and lower overall signal changes relative to solution. Interestingly, it was determined that maximum sensitivity toward metal ions was obtained when DNAzymes were entrapped into composite materials containing approximately 40% of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and approximately 60% tetramethoxysilane (TMOS). Highly polar materials derived from sodium silicate, diglycerylsilane, or TMOS had relatively low signal enhancements, while materials with very high levels of MTMS showed significant leaching and low signal enhancements. Entrapment into the hybrid silica material also reduced signal interferences that were related to metal-induced quenching; such interferences were a significant problem for solution-based assays and for polar materials. Extension of the solid-phase DNAzyme assay toward a multiplexed assay format for metal detection is demonstrated, and shows that sol-gel technology can provide new opportunities for the development of DNAzyme-based biosensors.     

Selective uranyl cation detection by polymeric ion selective electrode based on benzo-15-crown-5

A uranyl cation selective electrode based on benzo-15-crown-5(B15C5) incorporated into a polyvinylchloride (PVC) membrane has been developed. The electrode was prepared by coating the surface of a graphite rod by a membrane containing dioctylphtalate (DOP) as plasticizer, B15C5 as an ionophore, carbon powder and polyvinylchloride (PVC) in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The best composition of the coated membrane (w/w%) was found to be: 4% ionophore, 20% plasticizer, 56% PVC and 20% carbon powder. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian slope (29.5 ± 2 mv) over the concentration range from 1.0 × 10^? 4 to 1.0 × 10^? 1 M. The detection limit of the electrode is 1.0 × 10^? 4 M. The effects of the pH and the possible interfering cations and anions were investigated and the optimized conditions for electrode were evaluated. The response time of the electrode is about 15 s and it can be used for more than 6 weeks without observing any divergence in potentiometric response. The electrode was applied as indicator electrode in potentiometric titrations.     

Time-of-flight measurements of the mass-to-charge ratio of positive ion emission accompanying fracture

When non-metals are fractured, electrons and positive ions are emitted. We report our first time-of-flight measurements of the mass-to-charge ratio (M/q) of the positive ion emission (PIE) from the fracture of Kevlar and E-glass fibres and aluminium oxide coatings. Although the uncertainty is relatively large, theyM/q observed suggest that for these materials PIE is a result of molecular and atomic fragments being produced during fracture.     

基于时反选择性聚焦的信混比增强方法

将时反选择性聚焦方法应用于浅海波导中的信混比增强,提出了一种基于时反选择性聚焦的信混比增强方法。在没有探测声源的条件下,通过对返回的回波信号进行时反算子分解获得时反阵与目标及海底散射体之间的传输函数信息,取一个与目标对应的特征向量作为时反阵的激励权向量,可以实现声场在目标处的选择性聚焦,并抑制相应距离上的海底混响,从而增强回波信混比。该处理方法解决了直接时反处理需要探测声源和混响零点设置方法在海底处设置混响零点的同时也会在目标位置设置零点的问题。利用典型浅海波导环境,进行了计算机仿真实验．验证了该方法的有效性。     

Competitive quenching fluorescence immunoassay for chlorophenols based on laser-induced fluorescence detection in microdroplets

An improved biomonitoring system for the analysis of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) in urine samples has been developed. The principle of the biosensor device is the detection of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) in single microdroplets by a homogeneous quenching fluorescence immunoassay (QFIA). The competitive immunoassay occurs in microdroplets (d = 58,4 microm) produced by a piezoelectric generator system with 10-microm-diameter orifice. A continuous Ar ion laser (488 nm) excites the fluorescent tracer; its fluorescence is detected by a spectrometer attached to a 512 x 512 cooled, charge-coupled device camera. Fluorescence is quenched by specific binding of TCP polyclonal antibodies to the fluorescent tracer (hapten A-fluorescein); the quenching effect is diminished by the presence of the analyte. Thus, an increase in the signal is produced in a positive dose-dependent manner when TCP is present in the sample. In 10 mM PBS buffer, the IC50 of the LIF-microdroplet QFIA is 0.45 microg L(-1) reaching a LOD of 0.04 microg L(-1). The QFIA with the same reagents performed in microtiter plate format achieved a LOD of 0.36 microg L(-1) in buffer solution. Performance in human urine was similar to that observed in the buffer. A LOD of 1.6 ,g L(-1), with a dynamic range between 4 and 149.5 microg L(-1) in urine, was obtained without any sample treatment other than dilution with the assay buffer. The detectability achieved is sufficient for occupational exposure risk assessment.     

Phase-difference detection based on a double position sensing detector configuration for coherent combination

Phase-difference detection based on a double position sensing detector (PSD) configuration for coherent combination is proposed in this paper. The exact phase difference can be extracted from two PSD signals by using an algorithm, which can be used as the driven signal added to the phase modulator for phase-difference compensation. Numerical calculation considering practical experimental conditions was performed to show that the method is of great potential for coherent combination.     

A novel fluorescent covalent organic framework for the selective detection of fluoride ion

Journal of Materials Science - A novel fluorescent covalent organic framework containing trimethyl silicon group (COF-TMS) was designed and prepared via the Povarov reaction to be used to detect...     

Metal ion (silver, cadmium and zinc ions) modified CdS quantum dots for ultrasensitive copper ion sensing

Metal ion (Ag(+), Cd(2+), Zn(2+)) modified CdS quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized and used for Cu(2+) sensing. Modification by these metal ions could enhance the PL intensity of CdS QDs with the extent of the PL enhancement being related to the concentration of the metal ions. Different metal ion (Ag(+), Cd(2+), Zn(2+)) modified CdS QDs also showed different analytical characteristics for Cu(2+) sensing. In particular, Ag( + ) modified CdS QDs showed greatly enhanced sensitivity for Cu(2+) determination than did the unmodified CdS QDs. A limit of detection (LOD) of 2.0 × 10(-10) M was obtained for Ag(+) modified CdS QDs, which is the lowest LOD obtained using QDs as fluorescence probes for Cu(2+) sensing. This study demonstrates the important role of surface state of QDs in fluorescence sensing.     

Laterally selective adsorption of pH sensing coatings based on neutral red by means of the electric field directed layer-by-layer self assembly method

In this work, electric field directed layer-by-layer assembly is proposed for fabricating patterned sensing coatings. The Neutral Red (NR) colorimetric pH sensitive indicator and the polymers poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) which had been already proposed in the past by several groups to incorporate diverse indicators are used here in two different structures with the aim of obtaining selective deposition. The first structure studied combines NR and PAA while the second structure combines both NR and PAH with PAA. The results obtained in this work revealed that the LbL material adsorption over the electrodes was enhanced or even inhibited when applying a specific direct current voltage between them under some other particular fabrication parameters. Particularly, by adjusting to 7 the pH of the solutions used for the fabrication of the films and applying 1.4 V between the electrodes, laterally selective deposition was obtained with both of the pH sensing structures proposed here. This strategy allows the fabrication of pH-sensitive patterned films.     

用于氟离子浓度检测的水溶性荧光探针的制备

以4-氯-7-硝基-2,1,3-苯并(噁)唑(NBD Cl)为原料,4-(2-丙烯酸胺乙基酯)-7-硝基-2,1,3-苯并(噁)唑(NB-DAE),然后以2-溴异丁酸乙酯(t-EBiB)为引发剂,CuBr/bpy(2,2'-联吡啶)为催化剂,采用原子转移自由基聚合(ATRP),将荧光单体与水溶性单体丙烯酸低聚乙二醇酯(OEGMA)共聚,得到水溶性无规共聚物P(OEGMA-co-NBDAE).对产物进行1 H-NMR,GPC,UV-Vis及FL等相关表征.结果表明:成功制备了结构明确的荧光水溶性共聚物,并研究了该荧光聚合物对氟(F)离子的荧光淬灭现象.随F离子浓度的增加,聚合物的荧光强度不断降低,当F离子浓度增至100μL/cm2时,聚合物的荧光强度为初始(来加F离子)强度的0.035倍,几乎完全淬灭.这种对特定离子的荧光淬灭现象为制备水溶性荧光传感器提供了依据.     

Visual and colorimetric lithium ion sensing based on digital color analysis

A new optical analytical method, "Digital Color Analysis (DCA)", is proposed based on a digital color analyzer instead of the conventional optical methodology, "Spectrophotometry". The digital color analyzer is a hand-held-size instrument for measuring "colors", and it can transform the color information into numerical values, color library data, etc., that can be treated as analytical information. DCA gives us a more informative analytical method than spectrophotometry by treating colors as digital information. In addition, DCA can also simulate the optimum color variations for optimization of the visual sensor with computer assistance. By utilizing colors as digital information, colorimetric analysis that has been used for only semiquantitative analysis can serve as an accurate determination method. On the basis of DCA, we developed a plasticized PVC film optode and a paper optode for Li+ determination in saliva. After the optimization of color variation and the detection range for the Li+ measurements, the optode membrane gives colorless gray in the Li+ therapeutic range (at 10(-3) M) in saliva. Consequently, whether or not the optimum therapeutic Li+ concentration is maintained can be easily evaluated with these optodes. Especially, the sensing paper optode can be easily handled within a short measurement time (approximately 80 s) which is suitable for home use. Using the digital color analyzer with QxQy coordinates, a linear relation calibration curve can be obtained over the range from 10(-5) to 10(-1) M Li+, in which the analyzer can detect a concentration difference of approximately 0.1 mM Li+. For the near future, an accurate and simple analysis is needed for a health check at home that does not require going to a hospital. The optode based on DCA has great potential for this analytical purpose.     

Influence of assistant ion beam on the opto-electrical properties of molybdenum doped zinc oxide films deposited on polyethersulfone via dual ion beam sputtering

An alternative transparent conductive oxide, molybdenum doped zinc oxide (MZO) was deposited onto a flexible polyethersulfone (PES) substrate by using a dual ion beam sputtering system. One argon ion beam was used to sputter a MZO target and another assistant argon ion beam was for bombarding deposits simultaneously. The assistant ion source discharge voltage and current were changed respectively for investigating their influences on the conductivity of deposited MZO films. Changing the discharge voltage shows that, the film crystallinity, carrier concentration and mobility in films all increase with the discharge voltage and subsequently decrease when the applied voltage is over 100 V. Changing the discharge current also shows a similar trend. The film crystallinity and carrier concentration initially increase with the discharge current, and thereafter a minimum for 1.4 A, and a subsequent increase in resistivity is observed. According to the results, properly raising the discharge voltage and current of assistant ion source can improve both electrical conductivity and optical transparency of deposited MZO films, but the excess discharge voltage and current will cause the grain refinement which may retard the carrier mobility and result in the lower conductivity of MZO films.     

基于小波分析技术的高速撞击声发射源定位

针对在轨航天器遭受空间碎片撞击损伤的定位问题,利用二级轻气炮发射铝弹丸撞击铝板来模拟空间碎片对航天器结构的损伤;通过声发射传感器实时记录结构中的时域波形信号,结合板波的频散特性,分析了高速撞击穿孔损伤时波动在铝板中的传播模式.基于小波时频分析技术研究了高速撞击损伤的定位问题,分析了波速对定位精度的影响.结果表明,基于小波分析技术的高速撞击声发射源定位能够满足撞击损伤的定位要求,为解决航天器在轨遭受空间碎片撞击的损伤定位提供了一种新的方法.     

Dual-emission of a fluorescent graphene oxide-quantum dot nanohybrid for sensitive and selective visual sensor applications based on ratiometric fluorescence

A novel nanohybrid ratiometric fluorescence probe comprised of fluorescent graphene oxide and quantum dots (QDs) has been prepared by bringing CdTe QDs of red fluorescence and fluorescent graphene oxide (FGO) of blue fluorescence together through electrostatic attraction and hydrogen bonding interaction between their surface functional groups including carboxyl and amine groups. The nanohybrid ratiometric fluorescence probe exhibits dual emissions at 450 and 650 nm under a single excitation wavelength and shows high sensitivity for the detection of ferrous ions in the presence of H?O?. Ferrous ions reacts with H?O? to generate very reactive hydroxyl radicals which possess a strong oxidizing nature and easily capture the electrons from the surfaces of the CdTe QDs, leading to fluorescence quenching of the QDs and no effect on the fluorescence of the graphene oxide, which hence results in a great change of the fluorescence ratio. Moreover, the ratiometric fluorescence probe is not only extremely sensitive to ferrous ions, but is also selective over other biologically relevant metal cations. The changes of fluorescence colour ratios can be used for visual sensing applications for ferrous ions in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, and can also be used for the indication of the existence of hydrogen peroxide.