Core–shell silica–rhodamine B nanosphere for synthetic opals: from fluorescence spectral redistribution to sensing

Dowsing for opals

Emerging fluorescence sensing technologies: from photophysical principles to cellular applications.

Fluorescent molecular sensors are poised to solve problems in many disciplines. This report outlines their design basis and their applications in the fields of gene expression and neuronal activity. After a long induction period, fluorescent molecular sensors are showing several signs of wide-ranging development (1, 2). The clarification of the underlying photophysics, the discovery of several ...

Quorum-sensing crosstalk-driven synthetic circuits: from unimodality to trimodality.

Widespread quorum-sensing (QS) enables bacteria to communicate and plays a critical role in controlling bacterial virulence. However, effects of promiscuous QS crosstalk and its implications for gene regulation and cell decision-making remain largely unknown. Here we systematically studied the crosstalk between LuxR/I and LasR/I systems and found that QS crosstalk can be dissected into signal c...

Nanoparticle-tuned structural color from polymer opals.

The production of high-quality low-defect single-domain flexible polymer opals which possess fundamental photonic bandgaps tuneable across the visible and near-infrared regions is demonstrated in an industrially-scalable process. Incorporating sub-50nm nanoparticles into the interstices of the fcc lattice dramatically changes the perceived color without affecting the lattice quality. Contrary t...

Spectral Imaging for Remote Sensing

■ Spectral imaging for remote sensing of terrestrial features and objects arose as an alternative to high-spatial-resolution, large-aperture satellite imaging systems. Early applications of spectral imaging were oriented toward ground-cover classification, mineral exploration, and agricultural assessment, employing a small number of carefully chosen spectral bands spread across the visible and ...