Search

Looking to prevent future outbreaks of deadly pathogens by early detection? Infectious diseases continue to be a challenge that necessitates increased precision in detection and integration to achieve accurate diagnosis at the point of care (PoC). Field-effect transistors (FETs) have been investigated widely as biosensors for pathogen detection, with advantages such as label-free and real-time detection capabilities. These biosensors have: a high level of sensitivity, a remarkable capacity for miniaturization, a molecular minimum limit of detection (LoD), and seamless integration with semiconductor technology In this title, we have invited expert scientific researchers to share their experience in this field. This book focuses on the application and possibility of FETs as biosensors, for rapid and real time detection of pathogens that affect human life. The lack of commercially available efficient devices that can be deployed for this task resulted in the recent global spread of the SARS-CoV-19 virus. The book is an attempt to keep interested parties up to date. Aimed at scientists and engineers (researchers, academics, and postgraduate students) who are interested in developing and using BioFET based sensors, the information in this book is crucial to help prevent future outbreaks of pathogens which bring with them significant impacts on human health and wellbeing.

Global climate change is the most important challenge humankind is facing in the modern era. One of the main scientific concerns is the monitoring of contaminants in the environment, which require the right environmental remediation strategies. In this context, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques have a very important role in enabling the discovery of how pollutants are transformed, how they can move and how they can affect human health. This book discusses the present and the future perspectives of NMR techniques for environmental evaluations. It covers, amongst other topics, the importance of NMR as a contamination discovery tool, how to improve sensitivity in environmental NMR, and multiphase NMR for measurement of samples in their natural state. Samples include lubricant oils, soils and porous media. Due to the direct relationship between the environment and human health, there is information dedicated to the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor human health as related to environmental pollution. There is also a chapter on how NMR is used in cultural heritage to measure artefacts directly affected by environmental pollution. Filling a gap in the literature, the book is for researchers explaining how to apply their knowledge of NMR techniques to solve environmental problems, and for students who want to deepen their understanding of this topic.

Ionic liquids (ILs) play a crucial role in modern chemistry and chemical engineering. They remain more desirable than conventional volatile solvents and catalysts in many physical and chemical processes, often exhibiting green and designer properties for various applications. Examining the unique contribution of ILs towards current environmental challenges, this book addresses the importance of their role in the detection of micropollutants and decontamination processes in air and water compartments. It also presents a detailed review of how ILs impact the environment once released, a topic seldom covered in other books, and highlights novel chemoinformatic tools used to predict their fate, showing how advanced oxidation processes help in remediation. This is an ideal book for researchers in both academia and industry, and postgraduate students in environmental chemistry, chemical engineering and analytical chemistry looking at the potential applications of ionic liquids in addressing several environmental problems.

Proteins are an important nutrient and ingredient in food as well as in nutritional supplements. The application and take up of food proteins, especially plant proteins, has been limited due to their undesirable sensory properties, e.g. taste, odour, and chalky mouth feel. This will need to change if the availability of meat protein becomes scarcer. Documenting the latest research, this book is the first overview of the recent advances in flavour research of food proteins, with an emphasis on the major plant proteins, e.g. soy and pulse proteins. The topics to be covered include sensory and instrumental characterization of flavour compounds in food proteins, how flavour profiles in food proteins can be formed or altered, research advances of individual food proteins, the use of food protein products as flavouring ingredients, and future trends of flavouring food proteins. There is a growing interest in using plant proteins in food formulation and industrial applications, but no book has yet covered this systematically until now. Summarizing research advances in consumer studies and flavour chemistry that focus on food proteins, the book will discuss the flavour properties and problems in each major and novel food protein source for the academic and industry market.

This book details the latest research and development in the use of magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy as tools to give quantitative insights concerning late stage pharmaceutical formulation, tablet manufacturing and drug dissolution behaviour. The book combines different facets of magnetic resonance and highlights the use of spatial resolution (MRI) and how this adds to the knowledge base to further our understanding of the microscopic physicochemical processes occurring during drug release from solid dosage forms. New topics, that have not been thoroughly reviewed elsewhere, are covered including the applications of solution state magnetic resonance in process scale up, reaction monitoring/understanding and process analytical technologies (PAT); dissolution testing; and counterfeit analysis. Solid state NMR and its role in understanding phase separation in dispersions, polymorphism and crystallography are included and magnetic resonance imaging and its use in assessing tablet dissolution performance, mass transport and mixing in hot melt extrusion (HME) are covered.Focusing on late stage development rather than molecular drug discovery provides a unique approach and the book will appeal to a diversity of disciplines using spectroscopy for study. Aimed at researchers in drug development, manufacture and formulation in both industry (pharmaceutical companies) and academia (pharmacy program), it includes examples, where appropriate, of studies on commercially available pharmaceutical products.

Modern research in biology increasingly relies on multiple techniques for describing structures and mechanisms. This book provides an overview of the contemporary integrated biology approaches for solving structures and understanding mechanisms of complex biological systems. It includes several methodology chapters discussing the current developments in the areas of cryo-electron microscopy (EM) and cryo-electron tomography (ET), computational biophysics, solution NMR spectroscopy, solid-state NMR spectroscopy and dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), (photo-)chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP), X-ray crystallography and small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS). Several subsequent chapters demonstrate how these methods are used in synergy to address problems at the forefront of structural biology, with particular emphasis on examples where individual techniques are insufficient. Examples of biological systems include membrane proteins, viral protein assemblies, cytoskeleton protein assemblies, photosynthetic reaction centers, large enzyme complexes and whole cells. The book is targeted to both the current practitioners of structural biology and scientists who are interested in entering the fields of structural biology or biophysical chemistry.

Molecular chaperones are critical to control protein quality in all living cells. Understanding chaperone function at the atomic level, and in particular its mode of interaction with client proteins, is crucial to understanding the fundamental roles chaperones play in biology. This book fills a gap in the literature by comprehensively summarizing and discussing new advanced experimental techniques for their analysis. Providing a comprehensive overview of advanced biophysical methods for the characterization of molecular mechanisms of molecular chaperones, the majority of the contributions are NMR methodology. This is the method of choice for atomic resolution studies of such systems. Additional notable biophysical approaches are considered to present all relevant current developments in exploring chaperone function and the transient and dynamic interactions with their client proteins. The book is targeted at both current practitioners of structural biology and biophysical chemistry and scientists who are interested in entering the field. It could be useful for graduate students as supplementary reading.

Incidents such as nuclear weapon tests, accidents in nuclear power plants, transport accidents and accidental or authorised discharges from nuclear facilities have introduced anthropogenic radionuclides into the environment. Scientists need accurate analysis of these radionuclides in order to estimate the risk to the public from released radioactivity. This book is an authoritative, up-to-date collection from leading scientists across the globe on environmental radiochemistry and radioecology, nuclear industry decommissioning, radiation detection and imaging, medical imaging, radioanalytical techniques and nuclear forensics. The research contributions were first presented at the 14th International Symposium on Nuclear and Environmental Radiochemical Analysis in September 2022. Providing a key reference for graduates and professionals who work across fields involving analytical chemistry, radiochemistry, environmental science and technology, and waste disposal, this book is essential reading to aid risk analysis and protection.

In the human body, there are millions of living microorganisms involved in protecting the body from invaders, helping digestion and regulating moods, but there are also harmful pathogens that cause infectious diseases. For instance, the coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused considerable loss of life since its outbreak. Comprehensive analysis and characterization of microbes is of significant importance to understand the function and role of microorganisms, and rapid detection and identification of unknown pathogens are essential in early diagnosis, treatment monitoring and personalized medicine. Mass spectrometry is a technique to ionize molecules and detect the mass-to-charge ratio of the generated ions. The technique is widely used in hospitals for pathogenic bacteria identification, as well as in environmental science and food science for biosafety control. This book summarizes the most recent development of mass spectrometry techniques in microbial analysis, including mass spectrometry-based microbial identification, bacterial antimicrobial resistance study, data mining algorithm development, omics for microbial research, applications in clinical diagnosis, environmental science and food science, and more. It will guide researchers in the field, and those who are about to enter the field, in the most appropriate methods to characterize microbes and enable their detection.

With applications across chemistry, physics and medicine, nuclear magnetic resonance is a proven, uniquely versatile and powerful spectroscopic technique. The success of NMR and its constant redevelopment means that the literature is vast and wide-ranging. Each chapter in this volume is a distillation of the key recent literature in different areas, covering the spectrum of NMR theory and practice, and including theory and computation of nuclear shielding, NMR of soft matter, hyperpolarisation techniques and NMR of living systems. These reports are invaluable both for new researchers wishing to engage with literature for the first time, and for seasoned practitioners, particularly service managers, needing to keep in touch with the ever-expanding ways in which NMR is used.