Quantum dot layer-by-layer assemblies as signal amplification labels for ultrasensitive electronic detection of uropathogens

The preparation and use of a new class of signal amplification label, quantum dot (QD) layer-by-layer (LBL) assembled polystyrene microsphere composite, for amplified ultrasensitive electronic detection of uropathogen-specific DNA sequences is described. The target DNA is sandwiched between the capture probes immobilized on the magnetic beads and the signaling probes conjugated to the QD LBL assembled polystyrene beads. Because of the dramatic signal amplification by the numerous QDs involved in each single DNA binding event, subfemtomolar level detection of uropathogen-specific DNA sequences is achieved, which makes our strategy among the most sensitive electronic approach for nucleic acid-based monitoring of pathogens. Our signal amplified detection scheme could be readily expanded to monitor other important biomolecules (e.g., proteins, peptides, amino acids, cells, etc.) in ultralow levels and thus holds great potential for early diagnosis of disease biomarkers.     

Protection of superconducting coils by means of a secondary winding

A winding arrangement is proposed for the automatic protection of superconducting coils. The operation of the protection is discussed with particular reference to large superconducting coils.     

Fabrication of a highly sensitive aptasensor for potassium with a nicking endonuclease-assisted signal amplification strategy

A novel strategy to fabricate an aptasensor for potassium with high sensitivity and selectivity by using nicking endonuclease is proposed in this work. A nicking endonuclease (Nt.CviPII), which may recognize specific nucleotide sequences in double-stranded DNA formed by a potassium-binding aptamer and a linker DNA but cleave only the linker strand, may transfer and amplify the quantitative information of the potassium detection to that of the linker DNA through elaborate strand-scission cycles. Since the technique for gene assay is much more mature, the linker DNA can thereby be detected by a number of available methods. Here, taking advantage of a simple and fast gold nanoparticles-based sensing technique, we are able to assay the linker and consequently potassium ion simply by UV-vis spectroanalysis and even with the naked eye. Results show that a 2 μL sample containing 0.1 mM of potassium is enough to induce distinct color appearance of the nanoparticles, and the potassium ion can be easily distinguished from many other ions. The strategy proposed in this work shows some unique advantages over some traditional methods and may be further developed for the detection of some other chemicals in the future.     

Potassium formate as a secondary refrigerant

The properties of aqueous fluid of potassium formate were studied theoretically and experimentally in order to find an improved secondary refrigerant for indirect refrigeration systems. The most important advantages compared to the traditional aqueous solutions of alcohols and glycoles are good thermodynamic properties, low toxicity and non-flammability. A remarkable benefit is a reduced change of a laminar flow. Volumetric heat is lower, which brings about a higher rate of mass flow, if the temperature change of the fluid is maintained constant. However, because of the clearly lower values of viscosity, the pumping power demand is at same level. Good thermal conductivity promotes good heat transfer.     

不同聚烯烃包覆石蜡的定形相变材料性能比较研究

用乙烯-辛烯共聚物(POE)、乙烯-醋酸乙烯共聚物(EVA)取代高密度聚乙烯(HDPE)作为包覆材料,石蜡作为相变材料,通过热熔法制备了60%石蜡含量的定形相变材料(FSPCM),以此来提高定形相变材料的稳定性。用高温老化试验,恒温水浴试验和温度循环试验研究了定形相变材料的稳定性能。试验结果表明,POE/石蜡定形相变材料和EVA/石蜡定形相变材料的质量损失率远小于HDPE/石蜡定形相变材料的质量损失率。利用DSC研究了定形相变材料、石蜡及相应的基体树脂的热性能,并以此计算定形相变材料中实际的石蜡含量。结果表明,当设计含量为60%时,POE/石蜡定形相变材料和EVA/石蜡定形相变材料的实际石蜡含量为49.75%和58.49%,而HDPE/石蜡定形相变材料的仅为42.78%。这一结果与HDPE/石蜡定形相变材料样品在平板硫化机制备过程中发现有较多石蜡流出相一致。     

Cation exchange in ZnSe nanocrystals for signal amplification in bioassays

ZnSe nanocrystals (NCs), possessing low native luminescence but high biocompatibility, were employed as labeling tags in bioassays. They were able to amplify each target recognition event thousands of times through a cation-exchange reaction (CXAmp) that released over 3000 encapsulated Zn(2+) from one single NC. The freed cations in turn triggered strong fluorescence from the Zn-responsive dyes. The present study demonstrated that CXAmp with ZnSe delivered superior detection performance in comparison to the conventional labeling methods. The overall fluorescence intensity of CXAmp using 5 nM ZnSe NCs was 30 times higher than that from 5 nM core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). The limit of detection (LOD) obtained with ZnSe-based CXAmp was 10-fold lower than with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeling, and the detection sensitivity, represented by the slope of the signal-versus-concentration curve, was 20-fold higher. When applied to detect immunoglobulin E (IgE) in a sandwich format, a LOD of 1 ng/mL was achieved. The highly sensitive CXAmp also allowed detection of the total IgE content in dilute human serum, in which the abundant matrix proteins exhibited less interference and more accurate quantification could be performed. Besides high signal amplification efficiency and good biocompatibility, CXAmp with ZnSe could be easily adapted to common laboratory settings and act as a universal labeling system for reliable detection of low-abundance targets.     

Layer-by-layer of liposomes and membrane protein as a recognition element of biosensor

Layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly composed of liposome and membrane protein, bacteriorhodopsin (bR) was fabricated on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a sensor element for bio-recognition. The LBL assembly was prepared by stacking of liposome/bR solutions alternately with a flowing system. By atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the QCM monitoring the bR and the liposome were found to be stacked regularly until the 8th layer of the liposome. The fabricated LBL assembly on the QCM was engaged to detect nonylphenol in solution, which is one of the endocrine disrupting chemicals. It was confirmed that the existence of nonylphenol in solution can be detected by a mass decrease of the LBL assembly on the QCM, which is caused by the disruption of the liposome through nonylphenol, in the low concentration range of 0.1–10 ppm.     

Electronic influences on an infrared detector signal: nonlinearity and amplification

For mercury-cadmium-telluride detectors, frequently used in Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, the recorded signal is a nonlinear function of the light intensity. This behavior depends on a series resistor in the electronic circuit and thus the illumination of the detector. This nonlinearity must be accounted for to avoid spectroscopic errors. The results of theoretically calculating the effect permit a correction that can be applied, with corresponding lower accuracy, even after a phase correction. Also the use of the amplification stages does influence the phase of the signal electronically. For an accurate nonlinearity correction, compensation of the amplification of the analog signal is advisable.     

Au nanoparticle conjugation for impedance and capacitance signal amplification in biosensors

Amplification of the electrochemical impedance and capacitance signals in a biosensor is demonstrated for the model fluorescein/anti-fluorescein system. Following immobilization of fluorescein onto Au through formation of a self-assembled monolayer, goat anti-fluorescein conjugated with 10-nm Au nanoparticles is introduced into the system. This results in an increase in the capacitance of approximately 400 nF/cm(2), whereas no change can be observed for goat anti-fluorescein without the Au nanoparticle conjugate. An even greater sensitivity is obtained by introduction of a redox probe, [Fe(CN)6]3-/4-, whereby the charge-transfer resistance (R(ct)) is reduced to approximately 25% of its original value. This allows construction of high-sensitivity electrochemical impedance biosensors at a single low frequency, where the signal is sensitive to the interfacial R(ct). This change in the electrochemical impedance signal upon binding to goat anti-fluorescein conjugated with Au nanoparticles can be attributed to the much higher electrochemical activity of Au surfaces relative to the underlying organic layer.     

Hydrocarbon plasma emission as a means to monitor plasma polymerization

A diagnostic feature of the optical emission from a toluene glow discharge is the relative intensities of the aromatic benzyl radical V spectrum band and the aliphatic CH A ²Δ-X ²Π band system. The evaluation of the relative intensities of these emissions allows a prediction of the chemical structural characteristics of the deposited polymer film which is independent of the reactor power level, pressure or flow rate.     

Multi-functional chitosan nanoparticles encapsulating quantum dots and Gd-DTPA as imaging probes for bio-applications

Chitosan was used to encapsulate both CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate (Gd-DTPA), forming multi-functional nanoparticles that can be used in a wide range of in vitro or in vivo studies as fluorescent biological labels as well as MRI contrast agents, respectively. Multi-color QDs at pre-determined molar ratios were encapsulated into chitosan nanoparticles to produce bar-coding fluorescent labels. The encapsulated QDs and Gd-DTPA still maintained their desirable optical properties and relatively high relaxivity, respectively. The chitosan nanoparticles also showed good aqueous stability and enhanced biocompatibility on myoblast cells.     

Remanufacturing as a means for achieving low-carbon SMEs in Indonesia

Remanufacturing can reduce the energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions significantly and increase the eco-efficiency of product systems by utilizing recovered end-of-life parts. This paper presents the GHG mitigation potential of technically feasible remanufactured alternators in Indonesian small- and medium-sized enterprizes. Life cycle assessment approach and Weibull ++8 software have been used to calculate environmental and quality parameters. Since existing remanufactured alternators have not been found to meet the technical criterion for customers’ satisfaction, a number of alternative remanufacturing strategies have been explored to identify an option that has not only reduced GHG emissions but also has satisfied reliability, durability and warranty period criterion. Three improvement scenarios involving three different remanufacturing strategies were investigated in this case study, and yielded useful insights in order to come up with a technically feasible remanufacturing strategy for reducing a significant amount of GHG emissions. The improvement scenario III, which maximizes the use of used components, was found to offer technically and environmentally feasible remanufacturing solutions. Overall, this research has found that about 7207 t of CO₂ -eq GHG emissions and 111.7 TJ embodied energy consumption could potentially be avoided if 10 % of alternators in Indonesian automobile sector are remanufactured using technically feasible remanufacturing strategy.     

Triple signal amplification of graphene film, polybead carried gold nanoparticles as tracing tag and silver deposition for ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensing

A triple signal amplification strategy was designed for ultrasensitive immunosensing of cancer biomarker. This strategy was achieved using graphene to modify immunosensor surface for accelerating electron transfer, poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) microbead (PSA) carried gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as tracing tag to label signal antibody (Ab(2)) and AuNPs induced silver deposition for anodic stripping analysis. The immunosensor was constructed by covalently immobilizing capture antibody on chitosan/electrochemically reduced graphene oxide film modified glass carbon electrode. The in situ synthesis of AuNPs led to the loading of numerous AuNPs on PSA surface and convenient labeling of the tag to Ab(2). With a sandwich-type immunoreaction, the AuNPs/PSA labeled Ab(2) was captured on the surface of an immunosensor to further induce a silver deposition process. The electrochemical stripping signal of the deposited silver nanoparticles in KCl was used to monitor the immunoreaction. The triple signal amplification greatly enhanced the sensitivity for biomarker detection. The proposed method could detect carcinoembryonic antigen with a linear range of 0.5 pg mL(-1) to 0.5 ng mL(-1) and a detection limit down to 0.12 pg mL(-1). The immunosensor exhibited good stability and acceptable reproducibility and accuracy, indicating potential applications in clinical diagnostics.     

Sliding electric arc discharge as a means of aircraft trajectory control

The dynamics of sliding electric arc discharge and the formation of shock waves in the stages of leader motion and the electric arc development in a supersonic air flow behind the shock wave have been studied for an initial pressure of 0.09–0.5 atm (bar). The air flow in the discharge was imaged using an optical system comprising a shadow device (IAB-458), an optical interference attachment (RP-452), and a modified ruby laser (OGM-20) producing 10–15 output pulses per pumping pulse. Stable initiation of sliding electric arc discharge takes place in a supersonic air flow behind the shock waves with 1.7<M<3.4. This discharge produces shock waves leading to separation of the boundary layer and to an increase in the pressure at the surface. These shock waves can be used for modifying gasdynamics in the air flow streamlining the surface and for controlling the motion of an aircraft.     

Nanoindentation as a means for distinguishing clinical type of osteogenesis imperfecta

Due to abnormalities in basic bone building components (collagen and mineral), the intrinsic material properties of Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) bone were hypothesized to be degraded and correlated to clinical types. Nanoindentation techniques were used to compare intrinsic mechanical properties of OI types III and IV bone. Young’s modulus (E) and hardness (H) were measured using the Oliver–Pharr method. Analysis showed that no significant difference existed in Young’s modulus and hardness measurements. However, the ratio of E/H exhibited a significant decrease for OI type III bone tissue. Since the ratio is proportional to fracture toughness, the decreased E/H indicates less fracture resistance for OI type III, which is consistent to the clinical observation. The results of this study suggest that nanoindentation may serve as a means to distinguish clinical types of OI.