Immunological fingerprint of 4CMenB recombinant antigens via protein microarray reveals key immunosignatures correlating with bactericidal activity.

Serogroup B meningococcus (MenB) is a leading cause of meningitis and sepsis across the world and vaccination is the most effective way to protect against this disease. 4CMenB is a multi-component vaccine against MenB, which is now licensed for use in subjects >2 months of age in several countries. In this study, we describe the development and use of an ad hoc protein microarray to study the immune response induced by the three major 4CMenB antigenic components (fHbp, NHBA and NadA) in individual sera from vaccinated infants, adolescents and adults. The resulting 4CMenB protein antigen fingerprinting allowed the identification of specific human antibody repertoire correlating with the bactericidal response elicited in each subject. This work represents an example of epitope mapping of the immune response induced by a multicomponent vaccine in different age groups with the identification of protective signatures. It shows the high flexibility of this microarray based methodology in terms of high-throughput information and minimal volume of biological samples needed.

Size-selecting effect of water on fluorescent silicon clusters.

Silicon clusters were produced by gas aggregation in vacuum and co-deposited with water vapour onto a cold target where the water vapour froze. Melting of the ice yielded fluorescent silicon nanoparticles suspended in water which were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The PL spectrum showed a prominent band at 420 nm and other, less intense bands at shorter wavelengths. No fluorescence was observed below 275 nm. The shortest wavelength observed was related to a silicon cluster diameter of 0.9 nm using a simple particle-in-a-box model. Drops of the suspension were also deposited on freshly cleaved HOPG and investigated by AFM. The images showed single and agglomerated clusters with heights of typically 0.6 up to 2 nm. The sizes displayed by our measurements are not correlated to the average sizes that result from gas aggregation, indicating a size-selecting effect of the water suspension. The cluster-cluster interaction in water is governed by repulsion due to thermal energy and attraction due to van der Waals forces. For very small clusters repulsion dominates; at 3 nm diameter the two forces are balanced. We identify this stable phase of small clusters as the origin of exceptionally stable fluorescence.

A MEMS-based high frequency x-ray chopper.

Time-resolved x-ray experiments require intensity modulation at high frequencies (advanced rotating choppers have nowadays reached the kHz range). We here demonstrate that a silicon microlever oscillating at 13 kHz with nanometric amplitude can be used as a high frequency x-ray chopper. We claim that using micro-and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), it will be possible to achieve higher frequencies in excess of hundreds of megahertz. Working at such a frequency can open a wealth of possibilities in chemistry, biology and physics time-resolved experiments.

A real-time 2-D vector Doppler system for clinical experimentation.

A real-time hardware software 2-D vector Doppler system has been realized by means of the FEMMINA platform. The system operates by performing two independent 1-D Doppler estimations on the scan plane of a linear array probe along different directions; the probe is connected to a commercial scanner. The reconstructed velocity is presented in real-time as superposition on the conventional B-mode images. Two different scanning techniques have been implemented, in order to carry out the 2-D Doppler investigation in the area of interest. These techniques allow to use the system both in vivo and in vivo. An extensive set of simulations has been performed in order to establish a gold standard regarding vector Doppler 2-D techniques, and to be able to assess the performance of the 2-D Doppler system by comparing simulated and experimental results. The whole real-time 2-D vector Doppler system is fully certified as hospital equipment, and thus it can be employed to carry out an experimental characterization of the 2-D Doppler technique in the clinical environment.

X-ray pushing of a mechanical microswing.

We report here for the first time the combination of x-ray synchrotron light and a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS). We show how it is possible to modulate in real time a MEMS mass distribution to induce a nanometric and tunable mechanical oscillation. The quantitative experimental demonstration we present here uses periodic thermal dilatation of a Ge microcrystal attached to a Si microlever, induced by controlled absorption of an intensity modulated x-ray microbeam. The mechanism proposed can be envisaged either for the detection of small heat flux or for the actuation of a mechanical system.