Charting a new course with plasmon-mediated chemistry.

is pleased to introduce a Collection of articles on the topic of plasmon-mediated chemistry. Here, the Guest Editors discuss different themes within and look towards the future of the field.

Harnessing the resolution power of two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) for the screening of bisphenol contaminants in canned food items.

Overlapping peaks can be difficult to avoid in 1D-LC, which make the identification and quantification of compounds ambiguous, especially if the only available detector is a UV/DAD. To overcome this, a two-dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) method to monitor Bisphenols (BPs), and particularly the chosen analogues BPA, BPB, BPF, BPS, BPZ, and BPAF, in a complex matrix (canned food) was developed and validated. BPs are endocrine disruptors present in the lining of the can, which may leach into the content of canned food.

Improving grapevine virus diagnostics: Comparative analysis of three dsRNA enrichment methods for high-throughput sequencing.

The extraction of double stranded (ds) RNA is a common enrichment method for the study, characterization, and detection of RNA viruses. In addition to RNA viruses, viroids, and some DNA viruses, can also be detected from dsRNA enriched extracts which makes it an attractive method for detecting a wide range of viruses when coupled with HTS. Several dsRNA enrichment strategies have been developed.

An Exploration of Cysteamine as a Subphase Additive for the Fabrication of Uniform Gold Nanorod Arrays using Langmuir-Blodgett Deposition.

Gold nanorods (AuNRs) have attracted significant attention over the past several decades for a variety of applications and there has been steady progress with regards to their synthesis and modification. Despite these advances, the assembly of AuNRs into well-organized hierarchical assemblies remains a formidable challenge. Specifically, there is a need for tools that can fabricate assemblies of nanorods over large length scales at low cost with the potential for high-throughput manufacturing.

Correction: Electrochemical and X-ray structural evidence of multiple molybdenum precursor candidates from a reported non-aqueous electrodeposition of molybdenum disulfide.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D3RA04605B.].

Molecular responses of agroinfiltrated Nicotiana benthamiana leaves expressing suppressor of silencing P19 and influenza virus-like particles.

The production of influenza vaccines in plants is achieved through transient expression of viral hemagglutinins (HAs), a process mediated by the bacterial vector Agrobacterium tumefaciens. HA proteins are then produced and matured through the secretory pathway of plant cells, before being trafficked to the plasma membrane where they induce formation of virus-like particles (VLPs). Production of VLPs unavoidably impacts plant cells, as do viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) that are co-expressed to increase recombinant protein yields.

Electrochemical and X-ray structural evidence of multiple molybdenum precursor candidates from a reported non-aqueous electrodeposition of molybdenum disulfide.

A published report of electrodeposited molybdenum(iv) disulfide microflowers at 100 °C in the ionic liquid -methyl--propylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (PP13-TFSI) from 1,4-butanedithiol and the concentrated filtrate from a reaction mixture of molybdenum(vi) trioxide and ethylene glycol could not be reproduced reliably, affording numerous uniquely coloured reaction mixtures that precipitated a variety of crystalline molybdenum coordination complexes. Further attempts to use the same two of these filtrates to electrodeposit molybdenum(iv) disulfide from 0.1 M PP13-TFSI in tetrahydrofuran with 1,4-butanedithiol at room temperature were unsuccessful.

Electromechanical interactions between cell membrane and nuclear envelope: Beyond the standard Schwan's model of biological cells.

We investigate little-appreciated features of the hierarchical core-shell (CS) models of the electrical, mechanical, and electromechanical interactions between the cell membrane (CM) and nuclear envelope (NE). We first consider a simple model of an individual cell based on a coupled resistor-capacitor (Schwan model (SM)) network and show that the CM, when exposed to ac electric fields, acts as a low pass filter while the NE acts as a wide and asymmetric bandpass filter. We provide a simplified calculation for characteristic time associated with the capacitive charging of the NE and parameterize its range of behavior.

Maternal prebiotic supplementation impacts colitis development in offspring mice.

Background And Aims: Maternal diet plays a key role in preventing or contributing to the development of chronic diseases, such as obesity, allergy, and brain disorders. Supplementation of maternal diet with prebiotics has been shown to reduce the risk of food allergies and affect the intestinal permeability in offspring later in life. However, its role in modulating the development of other intestinal disorders, such as colitis, remains unknown.

Immunomodulation of B Lymphocytes by Prebiotics, Probiotics and Synbiotics: Application in Pathologies.

Introduction: Prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics are known to have major beneficial effects on human health due to their ability to modify the composition and the function of the gut mucosa, the gut microbiota and the immune system. These components largely function in a healthy population throughout different periods of life to confer homeostasis. Indeed, they can modulate the composition of the gut microbiota by increasing bacteria strands that are beneficial for health, such as and , and decreasing harmful bacteria, such as .

Effects of solution conductivity on macropore size dynamics in electroporated lipid vesicle membranes.

Using fast imaging microscopy, we investigate in detail the expansion of micron-sized pores occurring in individual electroporated giant unilamellar vesicles composed of the phospholipid 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC). To infer pore dynamics on the electrodeformed and electropermeabilized vesicles, we develop a computational approach and provide for the first time a direct evidence of quantitative agreement between experimental data and the well-established theoretical prediction of Smith, Neu and Krassowska (SNK). The analysis we describe also provides an extension to the current theoretical literature on how the conductivity ratio of the internal and the external vesicle solution plays a determinant role in the definition of the electrical force driving pore expansion kinetics.

Observing the On-Site Generation of Excitons and Charges by Low-Temperature Spectroscopy.

Understanding the relation between phase morphology and physical processes in polymer blends is the key to the fabrication of reproducible and reliable polymer optoelectronic devices. In this work, taking the advantage of low-temperature spectroscopy, we have observed the on-site generation of excitons and long-lived charges in different phase morphology polymer/fullerene blends. Probing at 10K, the photo-generated species are localized to where they are generated.

Thin-layer approximation for the multi-physics and multiscale simulation of cell membrane electrodeformation.

Multi-physics simulation techniques provide a platform that is used to gain insights into complex biological problems with multiple length scales such as cell electrodeformation (ED) and electropermeabilization (EP). However, owing to the large degrees of freedom required to compute the electromechanical properties at very different length scales (membrane thickness, cell size, and customized tissue scaffold) finite element (FE) simulations can be computationally very expensive. Here, we report on a general method of analysis by which we can systematically simulate multiscale ED under direct-current electric fields.

Prebiotic Supplementation During Gestation Induces a Tolerogenic Environment and a Protective Microbiota in Offspring Mitigating Food Allergy.

Food allergy is associated with alterations in the gut microbiota, epithelial barrier, and immune tolerance. These dysfunctions are observed within the first months of life, indicating that early intervention is crucial for disease prevention. Preventive nutritional strategies with prebiotics are an attractive option, as prebiotics such as galacto-oligosaccharides and inulin can promote tolerance, epithelial barrier reinforcement, and gut microbiota modulation.

Electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS): a tool for the identification of polyphenolic components in natural lake pigments.

The identification of natural organic pigments is important for the conservation, preservation, and historical interpretation of artwork. Due to the fugitive nature of the natural dye components in pigments, their analysis can be complicated by issues such as low concentration and sample complexity. In addition, these pigments are exceedingly diverse, and often represent complex mixtures which are difficult to analyse without a separation step.

Modeling cell membrane electrodeformation by alternating electric fields.

With the aim of characterizing and gaining insight into the frequency response of cells suspended in a fluid medium and deformed with a controlled alternating electric field, a continuum-based analysis is presented for modeling electrodeformation (ED) via Maxwell stress tensor (MST) calculation. Our purpose here is to apply this approach to explain the fact that the electric field anisotropy and electrical conductivity ratio Λ of the cytoplasm and the extracellular medium significantly impact the MST exerted on the cytoplasm-membrane interface. One important finding is that the modulation of electrical cues and MST force by the frequency of the applied electric field provides an extremely rich tool kit for manipulating cells.

Prebiotic Supplementation During Pregnancy Modifies the Gut Microbiota and Increases Metabolites in Amniotic Fluid, Driving a Tolerogenic Environment .

The gut microbiota is influenced by environmental factors such as food. Maternal diet during pregnancy modifies the gut microbiota composition and function, leading to the production of specific compounds that are transferred to the fetus and enhance the ontogeny and maturation of the immune system. Prebiotics are fermented by gut bacteria, leading to the release of short-chain fatty acids that can specifically interact with the immune system, inducing a switch toward tolerogenic populations and therefore conferring health benefits.

Thiacloprid Detection by Silver Nanocubes-Based SERS Sensor.

The use of neonicotinoid insecticides leads to environmental problems such as accumulation and death of different insects and even bird species. In this work, we compared the SERS performance of Ag nanocubes- and nanospheres-based substrates for the analysis of thiacloprid, a neonicotinoid, reaching its detection at 1 mM using nanocubes as the active material.

Fabrication of high quality electrochemical SERS (EC-SERS) substrates using physical vapour deposition.

Screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) are an efficient and inexpensive substrate for electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS) studies. Traditionally, the working electrode of the SPE is modified with either a colloidal paste of metal nanoparticles or an electrodeposited metallic film. These methods can be time-consuming and often produce non-uniform nanostructured films.

Human Milk Oligosaccharides: Their Effects on the Host and Their Potential as Therapeutic Agents.

Breastmilk is known to be very important for infants because it provides nutrients and immunological compounds. Among these compounds, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) represent the third most important component of breastmilk after lipids and lactose. Several experiments demonstrated the beneficial effects of these components on the microbiota, the immune system and epithelial barriers, which are three major biological systems.

[Mitochondrial DNA methylation: Controversies, issues and perspectives].

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that has been largely probed regarding eukaryotic nuclear genome and bacteria, and its role is especially crucial in the regulation of gene expression. In mammals, it is almost exclusively acting on a cytosine preceding a guanine (CpG), whereas it presents itself mainly in a non-CpG context in bacteria's DNA. Conversely to nuclear and bacterial genomes, the existence of methylation in the mitochondrial genome is still widely debated.

Terahertz Shielding Properties of Carbon Black Based Polymer Nanocomposites.

The majority of industry using high-speed communication systems is shifting towards higher frequencies, namely the terahertz range, to meet demands of more effective data transfer. Due to the rising number of devices working in terahertz range, effective shielding of electromagnetic interference (EMI) is required, and thus the need for novel shielding materials to reduce the electromagnetic pollution. Here, we show a study on optical and electrical properties of a series of ethylene co-butyl acrylate/carbon black (EBA/CB) composites with various CB loading.