Publications by authors named "Ahreum Hwang"

Background: The diagnosis of the culprit allergen depends on exposure, symptoms at exposure, and the presence of specific IgE (sIgE). Pet allergens are sticky and can sensitize individuals without adoption history. Exclusive dog owners frequently exhibit both dog (e5) and cat dander sIgE (e1).

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Effective capture and rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria causing pandemic/epidemic diseases is an important task for global surveillance and prevention of human health threats. Here, we present an advanced approach for the on-site capture and detection of pathogenic bacteria through the combination of hierarchical nanostructures and a nuclease-responsive DNA probe. The specially designed hierarchical nanocilia and network structures on the pillar arrays, termed 3D bacterial capturing nanotopographical trap, exhibit excellent mechanical reliability and rapid (<30 s) and irreversible bacterial capturability.

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Well-ordered bioreceptors on atomically flat Au surfaces can be a high-performance biosensor. Cardiac troponin I proteins (cTnIs) have been regarded as a specific biomarker for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Here, we report the accurate detection of cTnIs using an aptamer-immobilized Au nanoplate platform.

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Influenza viruses cause respiratory infection, spread through respiratory secretions, and are shed into the nasal secretion and saliva specimens. Therefore, nasal fluid and saliva are effective clinical samples for the diagnosis of influenza virus-infected patients. Although several methods have been developed to detect various types of influenza viruses, approaches for detecting mutant influenza viruses in clinical samples are rarely reported.

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Atomically flat surfaces of single-crystalline Au nanoplates can maximize the functionality of biomolecules, thus realizing extremely high-performance biosensors. Here, we report both highly specific and supersensitive detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) by employing atomically flat Au nanoplates. CRP is a protein biomarker for inflammation and infection and can be used as a predictive or prognostic marker for various cardiovascular diseases.

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To prevent the global transmission of mutant viruses and minimize the damage caused by mutant virus infection, the accurate identification of newly emerged mutant viruses should be a priority. The key problem in mutant virus identification is that the selective detection of a mutant virus in the biological environment, where small amounts of mutant virus and copious amounts of wild-type virus coexist, is difficult. Herein, we report specific and ultrasensitive detection of oseltamivir-resistant (pH1N1/H275Y mutant) virus using functional Au nanoparticles (NPs).

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We demonstrate simple and rapid bacterial detection using a nuclease-responsive DNA probe. The probe consisting of a fluorescent dye and a quencher at the 5' and 3' termini, respectively, was designed to be cleaved by nucleases such as endonucleases, exonucleases, and DNases, which are released from bacteria using an optimized lysis buffer. The fluorescence signal of the cleaved DNA probe correlates with the number of Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, and the detection limit was 10 CFU for E.

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By greatly enhancing binding affinities against target biomolecules, multivalent interactions provide an attractive strategy for biosensing. However, there is also a major concern for increased binding to nonspecific targets by multivalent binding. A range of charge-engineered probes of a structure-specific RNA binding protein PAZ as well as multivalent forms of these PAZ probes were constructed by using diverse multivalent avidin proteins (2-mer, 4-mer, and 24-mer).

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We report on the fabrication and electrical transport properties of superconducting junctions made of β-AgSe topological insulator (TI) nanowires in contact with Al superconducting electrodes. The temperature dependence of the critical current indicates that the superconducting junction belongs to a short and diffusive junction regime. As a characteristic feature of the narrow junction, the critical current decreases monotonously with increasing magnetic field.

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Single-crystalline β-Ag2Se nanostructures, a new class of 3D topological insulators (TIs), were synthesized using the chemical vapor transport method. The topological surface states were verified by measuring electronic transport properties including the weak antilocalization effect, Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. First-principles band calculations revealed that the band inversion in β-Ag2Se is caused by strong spin-orbit coupling and Ag-Se bonding hybridization.

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Bimetallic nanostructures can provide distinct and improved physicochemical properties by the coupling effect of the two metal components, making them promising materials for a variety of applications. Herein, we report composition-selective fabrication of ordered intermetallic Au-Cu nanowires (NWs) by two-step chemical vapor transport method and their application to nano-electrocatalytic glucose detection. Ordered intermetallic Au3Cu and AuCu3 NWs are topotaxially fabricated by supplying Cu-containing chemicals to pre-synthesized single-crystalline Au NW arrays.

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