Addressable nanoantennas with cleared hotspots for single-molecule detection on a portable smartphone microscope

The advent of highly sensitive photodetectors and the development of photostabilization strategies made detecting the fluorescence of single molecules a routine task in many labs around the world. However, to this day, this process requires cost-intensive optical instruments due to the truly nanoscopic signal of a single emitter. Simplifying single-molecule detection would enable many exciting applications, e.g., in point-of-care diagnostic settings, where costly equipment would be prohibitive. Here, we introduce addressable NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) that are scaffolded by DNA origami nanostructures and can be specifically tailored for the incorporation of bioassays. Single emitters placed in NACHOS emit up to 461-fold (average of 89 ± 7-fold) brighter enabling their detection with a customary smartphone camera and an 8-US-dollar objective lens. To prove the applicability of our system, we built a portable, battery-powered smartphone microscope and successfully carried out an exemplary single-molecule detection assay for DNA specific to antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia on the road

Addressable Nanoantennas with Cleared Hotspots for Single-Molecule Detection on a Portable Smartphone Microscope

The advent of highly sensitive photodetectors1,2 and the development of photostabilization strategies3 made detecting the fluorescence of a single molecule a routine task in many labs around the world. However, to this day, this process requires cost-intensive optical instruments due to the truly nanoscopic signal of a single emitter. Simplifying single-molecule detection would enable many exciting applications, e.g. in point-of-care diagnostic settings, where costly equipment would be prohibitive.4 Here, we introduce addressable NanoAntennas with Cleared HOtSpots (NACHOS) that are scaffolded by DNA origami nanostructures and can be specifically tailored for the incorporation of bioassays. Single emitters placed in the NACHOS emit up to 461-fold brighter enabling their detection with a customary smartphone camera and an 8-US-dollar objective lens. To prove the applicability of our system, we built a portable, battery-powered smartphone microscope and successfully carried out an exemplary single-molecule detection assay for DNA specific to antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia "on the road “

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Target tracking system using multiple cameras and bayesian estimation

In recent years, the increase in amount of camera networks available has led to the rise up of new techniques and applications of signal processing. In this work, an implementation of image sensor network, cameras, for mobile target tracking is shown. More specifically, it is performed an application of particle filter in a distributed way, based on leader agents for state estimation. Finally, simulations are presented, as well as a real experiment made with a camera network to track a mobile platform.Fil: González Dondo, Diego. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Redolfi, Javier Andrés. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Griffa, Marti. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Steiner, Guillermo Max. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; ArgentinaFil: Canali, Luis Rafael. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Córdoba. Centro de Investigación en Informática para la Ingeniería; Argentin

Optimization of adsorptive removal of α-toluic acid by CaO2 nanoparticles using response surface methodology

The present work addresses the optimization of process parameters for adsorptive removal of α-toluic acid by calcium peroxide (CaO2) nanoparticles using response surface methodology (RSM). CaO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation method and confirmed by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) analysis which shows the CaO2 nanoparticles size range of 5–15 nm. A series of batch adsorption experiments were performed using CaO2 nanoparticles to remove α-toluic acid from the aqueous solution. Further, an experimental based central composite design (CCD) was developed to study the interactive effect of CaO2 adsorbent dosage, initial concentration of α-toluic acid, and contact time on α-toluic acid removal efficiency (response) and optimization of the process. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine the significance of the individual and the interactive effects of variables on the response. The model predicted response showed a good agreement with the experimental response, and the coefficient of determination, (R2) was 0.92. Among the variables, the interactive effect of adsorbent dosage and the initial α-toluic acid concentration was found to have more influence on the response than the contact time. Numerical optimization of process by RSM showed the optimal adsorbent dosage, initial concentration of α-toluic acid, and contact time as 0.03 g, 7.06 g/L, and 34 min respectively. The predicted removal efficiency was 99.50%. The experiments performed under these conditions showed α-toluic acid removal efficiency up to 98.05%, which confirmed the adequacy of the model prediction