Israel and a sports boycott: Antisemitic? Anti-Zionist?

The paper identifies and summarises the debates that surround the place of Israel in international sport and assesses how that place is increasingly being contested. The long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine has begun to manifest in the world of sport with the paper sketching the debates of those calling for, and those opposed to, sport sanctions/boycott of Israel until the ‘Palestinian Question’ is resolved. Five related tasks are addressed: first, to summarise the call for sanctions/boycott emanating from the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions movement. Second, to explore how this call is establishing itself in the world of sport. The responses of those opposed to any form of sanction/boycott are then considered. The confusion that surrounds the term antisemitism is addressed and the relationship between (anti-) Zionism and antisemitism unpacked. The discussion concludes with an assessment of the claim made by the Israeli state, and its supporters, that any action against the country’s participation in international sport would be an act of antisemitism. Offering a timely, integrated summary of the heated debates that surround the Israel/Palestine conflict, the paper contributes to a wider discussion on the relationship between sport and politics

Performance evaluation of multifunctional SPR bimetallic sensor using hybrid 2D-nanomaterials layers

International audienceIn this paper, we analyzed the sensing performance of the multifunctional surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors based on bimetallic film (Ag/Al2O3), and a hybrid nanostructure of BaTiO3 and 2D nanomaterials (Ti3C2T, black phosphorus and BlueP/MoS2 heterostructure). Using excitation light at 633 nm, we numerically analyze performance such as angular sensitivity, peak sensitivity, figure of merit, and electric field strength. The study shows the proposed biosensor design exhibits a highest sensitivity of 504 deg/RIU with a 320% improvement over the conventional SPR sensor reported so far on similar 2D nanomaterials, and can also maintain a good quality SPR curve. The results of different proposed and optimized nano-configurations show that the improved angular sensitivity of 120%, 60%, 290% and 80% for BaTiO3, Ti3C2T, Black phosphorus and BlueP/MoS2, respectively, for a change in the refractive index (RI) of the sensing medium of RIU. Similarly, the variation in field intensity at the sensing interface further confirms the high sensitivity obtained for our proposed SPR biosensor. Therefore, our proposed design would be practically suitable for biosensing with higher performance with the available fabrication technologies

Effect of graphene layer on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the sensitivity in periodic nanostructure

International audienceWe study the interaction of gold nanoparticles with a graphene film. Graphene is used as a spacer, as thin as possible, between the gold nanoparticles and the detection dielectric medium, and one of the advantages of graphene is to protect the structure, which allows to avoid the oxidation of nanoparticles. We focus our study on the variation of the resonant structure (LSPR) depending on the thickness of the graphene layer (0.34-5 nm). A stronger resonance behavior of positions in the absorption spectrum shows a strong coupling between the LSP on gold nanoparticles and the covering film. Numerical simulations indicate a significant shift of the resonance wavelength structure SiOx/AuNPs/Graphene/SiOx (657.90 nm) compared with experimental results obtained on SiOx/AuNPs/SiOx (574.71 nm) and optimized for the required parameters proposed LSPR system we achieve the highest detection sensitivity range, while the location of points of the electric field on the best corners of the gold-graphene nanoparticles

MoS₂-graphene hybrid nanostructures enhanced localized surface plasmon resonance biosensors

International audienceWe propose a new configuration of a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) biosensor that is based on MoS2-graphene hybrid structures for ultrasensitive detection of molecules. The performance parameters of the proposed biosensor are defined in terms of absorption and sensitivity. Our study show that sensitivity can be greatly increased either by adding a bilayer MoS2/graphene on the Au nanoparticles or by adding the MoS2 layer or the graphene layer on the surface of the Au nanoparticles. The absorption curves for the proposed LSPR biosensor are analyzed and compared with the conventional biosensors without MoS2/graphene. By optimizing the structure of the sensor, we find that the sensitivity as high as 360 nm/RIU can be achieved with 8-layers of MoS2 and 10-layers of graphene. In addition, we show that the sensitivity can be controlled by changing the number of the monolayer of MoS2 and/or graphene. Finally, we show that this sensor can detect successfully impure water after absorption of target single-stranded DeoxyriboNucleic Acid (ssDNA) biomolecules

Effect of MoS2 layer on the LSPR in periodic nanostructures

International audienceIn this work, we propose a new configuration of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), based on MoS2 hybrid structures for ultrasensitive biosensing applications. The plasmonic resonances are widely used in bimolecular detection and continue to be an active network because of the rich variety of surface configurations and measurement donations. The present work studies the interaction of gold nanoparticles with a MoS2 film. MoS2 is used as a thin spacer between the gold nanoparticles and the dielectric medium used for detection. MoS2 monolayers have emerged recently as promising nanostructures for various applications in both the optics and electronics. This paper gives an overview of the optical properties of 2D nanostructures based on this new class of materials. A stronger behavior of the resonance positions in the absorption spectrum exhibits a strong coupling between the LSPR on the gold nanoparticles and the MoS2 coating film. Numerical simulations display a significant red shift of the plasmonic resonance (lambda(max)) and the results show that using a 3.90 nm MoS2 layer, the plasmon resonance wavelength is increased of 333.7 nm. We also study the performance of the proposed biosensors in terms of sensitivity using multilayers of MoS2, and normal incidence to the surface of SiOx/AuNPs/MoS2/water and SiO/MoS2/AuNPs/water. We obtain a very high sensitivity of 297.62 nm/RIU corresponding to an increase of 26% compared to the results obtained on SiOx/AuNPs/water, with a location of the electric field on the gold nanoparticles and the covering MoS2 layer. These characteristics should make these biosensors a preferred choice for detection applications