Effects of structural factors on filtering operation of photonic band gap air bridges with circular and square shape holes

Applying the finite element analysis on the photonic band-gap materials with a cavity at the center for two types of structures, circular and square shape holes with the same cross section, filtering operation of these structures is simulated and compared. Any variations in the structure parameters, such as cavity length, period and hole dimensions, change the transmission peak and frequency bandwidth of these structures. The effects of rotation of square holes and ellipticity of circular holes on filtering operation are studied. Other new structures such as tapered, shortened and non-uniform rotated structures are proposed and filtering characteristics of them are discussed. It is found that, by rotating the square holes around their axis, it is possible to have a blue-shift in the transmission peak wavelength without notable variations in the filter peak and bandwidth. It is concluded that the increase of elliptical holes diameters length causes the decrease of transmission peak and increase of bandwidth with blueshift of the peak wavelength. This shift is larger for one of the elliptical diameter values considered that is along the waveguide length.     

Synthesis of AS1411-Aptamer-Conjugated CdTe Quantum Dots with High Fluorescence Strength for Probe Labeling Tumor Cells

In this paper, we report microwave-assisted, one-stage synthesis of high-quality functionalized water-soluble cadmium telluride (CdTe) quantum dots (QDs). By selecting sodium tellurite as the Te source, cadmium chloride as the Cd source, mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) as the capping agent, and a borate-acetic acid buffer solution with a pH range of 5–8, CdTe nanocrystals with four colors (blue to orange) were conveniently prepared at 100 °C under microwave irradiation in less than one hour (reaction time: 10–60 min). The influence of parameters such as the pH, Cd:Te molar ratio, and reaction time on the emission range and quantum yield percentage (QY%) was investigated. The structures and compositions of the prepared CdTe QDs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, selective area electron diffraction, and X-ray powder diffraction experiments. The formation mechanism of the QDs is discussed in this paper. Furthermore, AS1141-aptamer-conjugated CdTe QDs in the U87MG glioblastoma cell line were assessed with a fluorescence microscope. The obtained results showed that the best conditions for obtaining a high QY of approximately 87 % are a pH of 6, a Cd:Te molar ratio of 5:1, and a 30-min reaction time at 100 °C under microwave irradiation. The results showed that AS1141-aptamer-conjugated CdTe QDs could enter tumor cells efficiently. It could be concluded that a facile high-fluorescence-strength QD conjugated with a DNA aptamer, AS1411, which can recognize the extracellular matrix protein nucleolin, can specifically target U87MG human glioblastoma cells. The qualified AS1411-aptamer-conjugated QDs prepared in this study showed excellent capabilities as nanoprobes for cancer targeting and molecular imaging.     

In silico studies of novel scaffold of thiazolidin-4-one derivatives as anti-Toxoplasma gondii agents by 2D/3D-QSAR,molecular docking,and molecular dynamics simulations

Structural Chemistry - Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoa that can infect a wide variety of warm-blooded animals and humans. It was claimed that novel anti-Toxoplasma gondii...     

Conversion coefficients and E0 transitions in102, 104, 106Pd

In in-beam (p, p′) experiments, electron and γ-spectra were measured in the electron energy range of 500-1840 keV for¹⁰²Pd and¹⁰⁴Pd, and 600–1580 keV for¹⁰⁶Pd. The conversion coefficients of all transitions in this range were obtained with accuracies of about 20%, in some favourable cases 10%. Special attention was given to 0⁺′-0⁺ transitions from the two-phonon triplets to the ground states with the following results for the branching ratios 0⁺′-0⁺ (ground state) to 0⁺′-2⁺ (one-phonon state):¹⁰²Pd:T _k (E0)/T _γ (E2)<(2.1±3.6)·10^{?7 104}Pd:T _k (E0)/T _γ (E2)=(6.0±1.4)·10^{?5 106}Pd:T _k (E0)/T _γ (E2)=(6.0±2.0)·10^?4     

Ultrasensitive aptamer-based on-off assay for lysozyme using a glassy carbon electrode modified with gold nanoparticles and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide

The authors describe an electrochemical aptamer based assay for the determination of the serine protease lysozyme in very low (pM) concentrations. The method is based on the formation of a complex between anti-lysozyme aptamer fragments and lysozyme, and on electrochemical detection by differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The surface of a glassy carbon electrode was modified with a nanocomposite consisting of gold nanoparticles and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (AuNPs/erGO), and the thiolated aptamer was then linked to the AuNPs by self-assembly through Au-S bonds. The interaction of immobilized aptamers with lysozyme leads to the decreased peak current in DPV and increased charge transfer resistance (R_ct) in EIS when using hexacyanoferrate or Methylene Blue as a redox probe. The calibration plot, when applying EIS and working at a typical voltage of ?0.22 V (vs. SCE), is linear over 1.0 to 104.3 pM concentration range, with a detection limit of 0.06 pM (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3). The respective data for DPV are a 9.6–205.5 pM linear range with a detection limit of 0.24 pM. Depending on the redox marker applied, the method works in the “signal-off” or “signal-on” mode in DPV and EIS protocols, respectively. The sensing interface is high specific for lysozyme and not affected by other proteins. The method was applied to the determination of lysozyme in spiked diluted human serum, and the results agreed well with data obtained with a standard ELISA.

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Graphical abstract The surface of a glassy carbon electrode was modified with a nanocomposite consisting of gold nanoparticles and electrochemically reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (AuNPs/erGO). Then, the thiolated aptamer was linked to the AuNPs by self-assembly through Au-S bonds. The modified electrode was applied to the determination of lysozyme with “signal off” and “signal on” strategies.

     

Synthesis of α‐[5‐(5‐amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazol‐2‐yl)‐2‐imidazolylthio]acetic acids

The paper describes synthesis and antituberculosis activity of α‐[5‐(5‐amino‐1,3,4‐thiadiazol‐2‐yl)‐imidazol‐2‐ylthio]acetic acids ( 5a,b ). The compounds were tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv in comparison to rifampicin. Compounds exhibited low activity (MIC ≤ 6.25 μg/ml, % inhibition ≥ 24).     

Rapid diagnosis of mycobacterium tuberculosis with electrical impedance spectroscopy in suspensions using interdigitated microelectrode

A Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacilli are still widely spreading and have to be diagnosed fast and efficiently. Therefore, a new simple and rapid method was proposed to detect MTB by the impedance properties of MTB suspensions using interdigitated microelectrodes. As a result, MTB suspensions in deionized (DI) water with different cell concentrations generated different electrical impedance spectral responses. Whereas MTB suspensions in 0.9 wt. % NaCl solution did not produce any significant differences in the impedance spectra in response to different cell concentrations. In DI water suspensions, the impedance at 1 kHz decreased with increasing cell concentrations. The impedance of MTB suspension in DI water has been discussed; it was found to be resulted from the cell wall charges and release of ions from the cells. There was a linear relationship between the impedance and logarithmic value of the cell concentration in the cell concentration range of 10² to 10⁸ cfu/mL, which can be expressed by the regression equation of Z (kΩ) =–456lnN (cfu/mL) + 9717 with R² = 0.99. Detection limit was calculated as 10⁴ cfu/mL, which is comparable with many label-free immunosensors for detecting pathogenic bacteria reported in the literature. This work demonstrated that MTB concentration can be determined through measuring the impedance of MTB suspensions in DI water. This new detection mechanism can be an alternative for current impedance methods available for detecting bacterial cells.     

Ultrasonic assistance syntheses of new nano-sized lead(II) coordination polymers: motifs for PbO preparation

Nanoparticles of two new coordination polymers, [Pb(5,5′-dm-2,2′-bpy)Cl₂] _n (1) and [Pb(5,5′-dm-2,2′-bpy)Br₂] _n (2), {5,5′-dm-2,2′-bpy = 5,5′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine}, have been synthesized by ultrasonic assistance at different concentrations and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. Metal oxide nanoparticles were prepared from thermal decomposition of compounds 1 and 2 at 600 °C under air atmosphere. Scanning electron microscopy images of the residue which are obtained from calcination of compounds 1, 2 show the formation of lead(II) oxide nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 80 and 90 nm for compounds 1 and 2, respectively.     

Exploring the scope of the Gewald reaction: Expansion to a four-component process

An efficient four-component reaction was developed to take advantage of the reactivity of the 2-aminothiophene-3-carbonitrile functionality, which is obtained during the classical three-component Gewald reaction. Various α-methylene bearing ketones were reacted with malononitrile, elemental sulfur, and aryl/heteroarylnitrile derivatives in t-BuOH/NaOH to afford 2-arylthieno[2,3-d]pyrimidin-4-amines in high yields. Preliminary studies revealed the photophysical properties of the products and their potential for use as metal sensors.     

A meshless like method for the approximate solution of integral equations over polygons

In this paper, a numerical scheme based on a Gauss-like cubature formula from Sammariva and Vianello (2007) [1] is introduced for approximate solution of integral equations over a polygonal domain with a piecewise straight lines boundary in R²${\mathbb{R}}^2$. The proposed technique is a meshless like method with sufficient precision, which does not require any discretization of the polygon domain or any preprocessing such as mesh refinement. The error analysis of the method is provided and some numerical experiments are also presented to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm.