1,720,976 research outputs found
Plasmonic Absorption in Antigen-Induced Aggregated Gold Nanoparticles: Toward a Figure of Merit for Optical Nanosensors
Full text linkGold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have been extensively used for colorimetric and optical detection of various analytes, exploiting the difference in optical properties when the NPs are dispersed or aggregated. The properties of Au NPs-based optical sensors depend strongly on the particle size, spacing, number, and disposition in the aggregate, which explains the different performances reported so far for this class of sensors. Here, we investigated the optical response of a model Au NP immunosensor and the correlation of its plasmonic absorption with the analyte-dependent aggregation state, supported by transmission electron microscopy and numerical calculations. The antigen–antibody system used for this study is the C-reactive protein (CRP)/anti-CRP couple, well-established and of great applicative interest. The results provide several insights into the evaluation of the extent and type of antigen-induced aggregation for receptor-conjugated Au NPs and point toward the identification of a figure of merit of great utility in the development of particle aggregates with the optimal structure for desirable nanosensor response
Wide range detection of C-Reactive protein with a homogeneous immunofluorimetric assay based on cooperative fluorescence quenching assisted by gold nanoparticles
No full textHomogeneous sandwich immunofluorimetric assays are valued for the rapid, low-cost and accurate detection of analytes in liquid phase. However, their exploitation with analytes covering a wide range of concentrations is limited by low sensitivity and the hook effect. Here, we describe a homogeneous immunofluorimetric system based on the quenching of fluorescence in a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor/acceptor couple of antibody functionalized with two different dyes, respectively fluorescein (donor) and eosin (acceptor), which form a sandwich multi-component assembly with antibody-functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in the presence of the analyte. The resulting cooperative fluorescence quenching is assisted by the GNPs scaffold through the nanomaterial-surface energy transfer (NSET) effect, which gives an extended linear response versus the antigen concentration that is not possible with the bi-component assays. This immunofluorimetric method allows accurate, reproducible and immediate detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the wide concentration range of clinical interest (over two orders of magnitude from 3.5 to 455 nM, 0.4–52 mg/L), without the hook effect. Moreover, the method does not require sample treatment or washing steps. The concept of this multi-component FRET/NSET fluorescence quenching system can be extended to any analyte amenable to the detection with homogeneous sandwich assays
A Diastereodynamic Probe Transducing Molecular Length into Chiroptical Readout
No full textNature takes advantage of molecular conformational changes to express functions such as signaling across cellular membranes or allosteric protein activation. At the synthetic level, molecular recognition events have been used to induce conformational changes able to trigger functions such as catalysis or sensing. In this context, transduction of stereochemical information has been the leading strategy. In particular, stereodynamic elements have been extensively employed to amplify and/or transduce chiral information. In this article, we report a chiral supramolecular cage with two stereodynamic units, which invert their helicities according to the length of the molecular guest confined within the system. Interestingly, achiral information is transduced by the supramolecular system to different diastereomeric states that have opposite chiroptical absorptions. This is the first example in which it is possible to produce a continuous modulation of the chiroptical output of a system by varying a physical achiral molecular property (viz. molecular dimension). This phenomenon can be exploited for the establishment of novel methods to program conformational control, for the development of innovative sensors and/or for transduction of molecular properties into chiroptical information
Tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amines as emerging scaffold in supramolecular chemistry
No full texttris-(2-Pyridylmethyl)amine (usually abbreviated as TPA or TPMA) are ligands which are emerging in many fields of chemistry because of their ability to form stable and catalytically active complexes with a wide variety of metals. While the applications in catalysis began soon after the synthesis of the first metal complexes, studies in supramolecular chemistry are more recent and they often take advantage from their stereodynamic nature. This review surveys TPMA applications as: i) anion sensors, ii) biochemical sensors, iii) molecular switches, iv) chiral probes and as v) building blocks in the synthesis of supramolecular cages
Hetero-Coencapsulation within a Supramolecular Cage: Moving away from the Statistical Distribution of Different Guests
No full textBeside sensing and delivery, another peculiar property arising from confinement in discrete molecular hosts comes from the possibility to have in close proximity, and in defined position, two different molecules (hetero-coencapsulation). This phenomenon can be tuned considering steric and electronic properties of the guests. In this work, a study on the parameters affecting homo- and hetero-coencapsulation processes within a supramolecular cage is reported. In particular, different benzoate guests were bound within a supramolecular cage containing two metal-binding sites and the experimental binding thermodynamics measured. Unexpectedly, from competition experiments it was observed that the maximum concentration of hetero-coencapsulation is achieved if a weakly binding guest is used to partially displace a strongly binding guest
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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