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With the globalization and complexity of the food supply chain, the market is becoming increasingly competitive and food fraudulent activities are intensifying. The current state of food detection faced two primary challenges. Firstly, existing testing methods were predominantly laboratory-based, requiring complex procedures and precision instruments. Secondly, there was a lack of accurate and efficient quantitative detection methods. Taking cow's milk as an example, this study introduced a novel method for nucleic acid quantification in dairy products, based on lateral flow strips (LFS). The core idea of this method is to design single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) probes to hybridize with mitochondrial genes, which are abundant, stable, and species-specific in dairy products, as detection targets. Drawing inspiration from the principles of nucleic acid amplification, this research innovatively established a new DNA hybridization method, named LAMP-Like Hybridization (HybLAMP-Like). Leveraging the denaturation and DNA polymerization functions of the bst enzyme, efficient binding of the probe and template strand was achieved. This method eliminated the need for nucleic acid amplification, simplifying the procedure and mitigating aerosol contamination, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the detection results. The method exhibited exceptional sensitivity, capable of detecting extremely low to 12.5 ng in visual inspection and 3.125 ng when using a reader. In terms of practicality, it could achieve visual detection of cow's milk content as low as 1% in adulterated dairy products. When combined with a portable LFS reader, it also enabled precise quantitative analysis of milk adulteration., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

DNases are enzymes that cleave phosphodiesteric bonds of deoxyribonucleic acid molecules and are found everywhere in nature, especially in bodily fluids, i.e., saliva, blood, or sweat. Rapid and sensitive detection of DNase activity is highly important for quality control in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. For clinical diagnostics, recent reports indicate that increased DNase activity could be related to various diseases, such as cancers. In this paper, we report a new bioelectronic device for the determination of nuclease activity in various fluids. The system consists of a sensor electrode, a custom design DNA target to maximize the DNase cleavage rate, a signal analysis algorithm, and supporting electronics. The developed sensor enables the determination of DNase activity in the range of 3.4 × 10 -4 - 3.0 × 10 -2 U mL -1 with a limit of detection of up to 3.4 × 10 -4 U mL -1 . The sensor was tested by measuring nuclease activity in real human saliva samples and found to demonstrate high accuracy and reproducibility compared to the industry standard DNaseAlert™️. Finally, the entire detection system was implemented as a prototype device system utilizing single-use electrodes, custom-made cells, and electronics. The developed technology can improve nuclease quality control processes in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry and provide new insights into the importance of nucleases for medical applications., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chemiresistive platforms are best suited for developing DNA hybridization detection systems, owing to their ease of fabrication, simple detection methodology and amenability towards electronics. In this work, we report development of a generic, robust, electrospun nanofiber based interdigitated chemiresistive platform for DNA hybridization detection. The platform comprises of interdigitated metal electrodes decorated with electrospun nanofibers on the top. Two approaches viz., drop casting of graphene doped Mn 2 O 3 nanofibers (GMnO) and direct electrospinning of polyaniline/polyethylene oxide (PANi/PEO) composite nanofibers, have been utilized to decorate these electrodes. In both approaches, inter-device variability, a key challenge for converting this proof-of-concept into a tangible prototype/product, has been addressed using a shadow masking technique. Consequently, the relative standard deviation for multiple PANi/PEO nanofiber based chemiresistors has been brought down from 17.82% (without shadow masking) to 4.41% (with shadow masking). The nanofibers are further modified with single-stranded probe DNAs, to capture a desired hybridization event. To establish the generic nature of the platform, detection of multiple target DNAs has been successfully demonstrated. These targets include dengue virus specific consensus primer (DENVCP) and four DNAs corresponding to Staphylococcus aureus specific genes, namely nuc, mecA, vanA and protein A. The chemiresistive detection of DENVCP has been performed in the concentration range of 10 fM - 1 µM, whereas the detection of the other targets has been carried out in the range of 1 pM - 1 µM. Using a 3σ method, we have estimated the limit of detection for the chemiresistive detection of DENVCP to be 1.9 fM., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Silver-dendrimer nanocomposites were synthesized and used as oligonucleotide labels for electrochemical stripping detection of DNA hybridization. The synthesized silver-dendrimer nanocomposites were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ratios of silver/dendrimer were optimized in order to obtain stable nanocomposites with maximal silver loading in the interior of a polymeric shell. The silver-dendrimer nanocomposites were attached to sequence-known DNA probes specific to colitoxin, and used to detect probe hybridization by dissolution of the silver nanoparticles in the interior of dendrimer in a diluted nitric acid, followed by measurement of Ag + ions by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV). Use of differential pulse voltammetry for the stripping step, along with optimization of the ASV conditions, enabled a detection limit of 0.78 pM. The present strategy, in combination with dendrimer-encapsulated copper labeled oligonucleotides probe reported previously, could potentially be used to detect single or multiple DNA targets in one sample., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

One major marker of nitrosative stress is the formation of 3-Nitrotyrosine (3-NT) from Tyrosine (Tyr) by adding a nitro group (-NO 2 ) with nitrating agents. Nitration of Tyr often causes loss of protein activity and is linked with many diseases. In this article, we detect 3-NT and discriminate it from Tyr with Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) as it is a very important biomarker. We first examined redox (oxidation/reduction) properties and stability of 3-NT in detail. Second, we provided the Tyr and 3-NT discrimination with DPV and compared with the chromatography. We then explored the interaction of 3-NT and DNA oligonucleotides. Our findings demonstrate that 3-NT can be used as a new electrochemical indicator, which is able to detect hybridization of probe (single stranded DNA-ssDNA) and hybrid (double stranded DNA-dsDNA) both via 3-NT reduction and guanine oxidation signal changes at the same time. The signal differences enabled us to distinguish ssDNA and dsDNA without using a label or a tag. Moreover, we achieved to detect hybridization of DNA by using the reduction signal of 3-NT obtained at -0.4V vs. Ag/AgCl. More importantly, we observed the changes of the reduction signals of 3-NT after the interaction of probe and hybrid sequences. We showed that 3-NT signal decreases more with hybrid than the probe. Our platform, for the first time, demonstrates the detection of hybridization both guanine oxidation and indicator reduction signal changes at the same time. Moreover, we, for the first time, demonstrated the interaction between 3-NT and DNA., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The quality of graphene strongly affects the performance of graphene-based biosensors which are highly demanded for the sensitive and selective detection of biomolecules, such as DNA. This work reported a novel transfer process for preparing a residue-free graphene film using a thin gold supporting layer. A Hall effect device made of this gold-transferred graphene was demonstrated to significantly enhance the sensitivity (≈ 5 times) for hybridization detection, with a linear detection range of 1pM to 100nM for DNA target. Our findings provide an efficient method to boost the sensitivity of graphene-based biosensors for DNA recognition., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Nanoscale biosensors, owing to their high-sensitivity and extremely low limits-of-detection, have enabled the realization of highly complex and sophisticated miniaturized platforms for several important healthcare applications, the most predominant one being disease diagnosis. In particular, nanomaterial facilitated electrochemical detection of DNA hybridization has had an exceptional impact on fields such as genetics and cancerous mutation detection Here we report an ultrasensitive electrochemical platform using electrospun semi-conducting Manganese (III) Oxide (Mn 2 O 3 ) nanofibers for DNA Hybridization detection. The proposed platform coalesces the inherent advantages of metal-oxide nanofibers and electrochemical transduction techniques, resulting in label-free zeptomolar detection of DNA hybridization. As proof of concept, we demonstrate zeptomolar detection of Dengue consensus primer (limit of detection: 120×10 -21 M) both in control as well as spiked serum samples. Our reported detection limit is superior in comparison with previously reported electrochemical DNA hybridization sensors for Dengue virus detection, spanning both labeled and label-free transductions. This ultra-sensitivity, we believe, is a result of synthesizing a low bandgap electrospun metal-oxide nanomaterial corresponding to a specific oxidation state of Manganese. This methodology can be extended for detection of any hybridization of interest by simply adapting an appropriate functionalization protocol and thus is very generic in nature., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The demand for simple, sensitive, affordable, and selective DNA biosensors is willing, due to the important role of DNA detection in the areas of disease diagnostics, environment monitoring and food safety. The presented work is devoted to the fabrication of an ultrasensitive homogeneous biosensor for the detection of DNA sequences related to HIV based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) between carbon dots(CDs) and AuNPs as nanoquenchers. CDs as fluorophore with average size 3-4nm were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of histidine. In this respect, the hybridization was occurring between the assemblies of fluorescence CDs functionalized 5-amino-labeled oligonucleotides as capture probe and label free oligonucleotides as detection probe. Due to strong fluorescence and good biocompatibility of CDs, the capture probe was covalently conjugated to CDs. In the presence of the target probe, the association between capture probe-CDs and detection probe is stronger than that between capture probe-CDs and AuNPs, leading to the release of the capture probe-CDs from AuNPs, resulting in the recovery of the fluorescence of CDs. This oligonucleotides detection probe was observed to detect target oligonucleotides specifically and sensitively in a linear range from 50.0fM to 1.0nM with a detection limit of 15fM. Furthermore, the sensitivity of this FRET strategy amplified using AuNPs/graphene oxide nanocomposite as quencher. The Sensor response indicates only the complementary sequence showing an obvious change signal in comparison to non-complementary and two bases mismatched sequences. Moreover, satisfactory results from determination of HIV DNA target in human serum were obtained showing great potential of the proposed method for real sample analysis. The proposed biosensor with highly biocompatibility and nontoxicity, can be developed for detection of other DNA biomarkers., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

As metal nano-arrays show great potential on metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) than random nanostructures, MEF of Ag zigzag nanorod (ZNR) arrays made by oblique angle deposition has been studied for biomolecule-protein interaction and DNA hybridization. By changing the folding number and the deposition substrate temperature, a 14-fold enhancement factor (EF) is obtained for biotin-neutravidin detection. The optimal folding number is decided as Z=7, owing to the high scattering intensity of Ag ZNRs. The substrate temperature T=25°C and 0°C slightly alters the morphology of Ag ZNRs but has no big difference in EF. Further, Ag ZNRs deposited on a layer of Ag film have been introduced to the DNA hybridization and a significant signal enhancement has been observed through the fluorescence microscope. Through a detailed quantitative EF analysis, which excludes the enhancing effect from the increased surface area of ZNRs and only considers the contribution of MEF, an EF of 28 is achieved for the hybridization of two single-stranded oligonucleotides with 33 bases. Furthermore, a limit of detection is determined as 0.01pM. We believe that the Ag ZNR arrays can serve as a universal and sensitive bio-detection platform., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A label-free DNA biosensor based on microfiber-assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MAMZI) for in-situ real-time DNA hybridization kinetics detection has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A microfiber of hundreds of microns in length is fabricated by tapering a segment of standard single-mode fiber (SMF) to construct the U-shaped microcavity between the lead-in and lead-out SMFs. Thanks to the mode field mismatching between the SMF and microfiber, the incident guided mode light would separate into two beams that respectively propagate in the air microcavity and the microfiber. Consequently, interference between different light modes would occur at the joint between the microfiber and the lead-out SMF. Experimental results indicate that owing to the participation of opening cavity modes in the modal interference process, the interferometric spectrum of our proposed microcavity sensor is highly sensitive to the variation of environmental refractive index (RI), especially for the RI range around 1.34 which is useful for most biological applications. The microfiber functionalization is achieved by stepwise modifying the microfiber with monolayer Poly-l-lysine (PLL) and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) probes to produce the sensitive surface that could uniquely attach specific target ssDNAs. The fiber surface functionalization as well as DNA hybridization processes have been experimentally investigated for different target ssDNA solutions in real time. The interferometric transmission spectrum shows large wavelength shift for different biological phases, and a detection limit conservatively down to 0.0001pmol/μL has been acquired by employing the U-shaped microcavity of 176.88μm in length. Our proposed DNA biosensor possesses several advantages such as compact size, ease of fabrication, and strong response for DNA hybridization, which make it a promising candidate for potential applications in such rapidly expanding areas as medical diagnosis, cancer screenings, medicine examination and environmental engineering, etc., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A quantum-dot electrode system was developed as a transducer surface for covalent immobilization of a designed synthetic ApoB-100 specific probe, DNA hybridization and monitoring of DNA synthesis for the sensitive detection of R3500Q mutation of apolipoprotein B-100 (ApoB-100) gene. CdS-QDs cause an improvement in the fundamental characteristics of the electrode interface, such as its electroactive surface area, diffusion coefficient and electron transfer kinetics. The sensing characteristics of this biosensor offer a suitable potential for detection of target oligonucleotide with a detection limit of 3.4 × 10(-17)M. Also, the electrochemical responses of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), DNA hybridization and DNA synthesis were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The extracted genomic DNA was detected based on changes in the charge transfer resistance (RCT) with [Fe(CN)6](3-/4-) as a redox probe. The proposed biosensor can distinguish between the normal sequence and the mutant sequence of ApoB-100 gene, promising a possibility to apply the QD-based biosensor for clinical investigations., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A novel labeling-free fluorescence complex probe has been developed for DNA hybridization detection based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism from pyrene excimer of pyrene-functionalized poly [2-(N, N-dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate] (PFP) to SYBR Green I (SG, a specific intercalator of double-stranded DNA) in a cost-effective, rapid and simple manner. The complex probe consists of the positively charged PFP, SG and negatively charged single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). Upon adding a complementary strand to the complex probe solution, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) was formed, followed by the intercalation of SG into dsDNA. The pyrene excimer emission was overlapped with the absorption of SG very well and the electrostatic interactions between PFP and dsDNA kept them in close proximity, enabling efficient FRET from pyrene excimer to SG. The fluorescence of SG in the duplex DNA resulting from FRET can be successfully applied to detect DNA hybridization with high sensitivity for a very low detection limit of 10nM and excellent selectivity for detection of single base pair mismatch., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Various proof-of-concept studies have shown the potential of biosensors with a high multiplex detection capability for the readout of DNA microarrays in a lab-on-a-chip. This is particularly interesting for the development of point-of-care genotyping tests, to screen for multiple pathogens and/or antibiotic resistance patterns. In this paper, an assay workflow is presented, suited for the development of novel lab-on-a-chips with an integrated DNA microarray. Besides the description of the different assay steps (DNA purification, amplification and detection), a control strategy is presented according to recommendations of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To use a lab-on-a-chip for diagnostic applications, the optimization and evaluation of the assay performance with clinical samples is very important. Therefore, appropriate quantification methods are described, which allow optimization and evaluation of the separate assay steps, as well as total assay performance. In order to demonstrate and evaluate the total workflow, blood samples spiked with Streptococcus pneumoniae were tested. All blood samples with ≥ 10(3)CFU S. pneumoniae per ml of human blood were successfully detected by this genotyping assay., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The increasing desire for sensitive, easy, low-cost, and label free methods for the detection of DNA sequences has become a vital matter in biomedical research. For the first time a novel label-free biosensor for sensitive detection of Amelogenin gene (AMEL) using reduced graphene oxide modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE/RGO) has been developed. In this work, detection of DNA hybridization of the target and probe DNA was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The optimum conditions were found for the immobilization of probe on RGO surface and its hybridization with the target DNA. CV and EIS carried out in an aqueous solution containing [Fe(CN)6](3-/4-) redox pair have been used for the biosensor characterization. The biosensor has a wide linear range from 1.0×10(-20) to 1.0×10(-14)M with the lower detection limit of 3.2×10(-21)M. Moreover, the present electrochemical detection offers some unique advantages such as ultrahigh sensitivity, simplicity, and feasibility for apparatus miniaturization in analytical tests. The excellent performance of the biosensor is attributed to large surface-to-volume ratio and high conductivity of RGO, which enhances the probe absorption and promotes direct electron transfer between probe and the electrode surface. This electrochemical DNA sensor could be used for the detection of specific ssDNA sequence in real biological samples., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hybridization chain reaction (HCR) strategy has been well developed for the fabrication of various biosensing platforms for signal amplification. Herein, a novel enzyme-free and label-free ultrasensitive electrochemical DNA biosensing platform for the detection of target DNA and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was firstly proposed, in which three auxiliary DNA probes were ingeniously designed to construct the dendritic DNA concatamer via HCR strategy and used as hexaammineruthenium(III) chloride (RuHex) carrier for signal amplification. With the developed dendritic DNA concatamer-based signal amplification strategy, the DNA biosensor could achieve an ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of DNA and ATP with a superior detection limit as low as 5 aM and 20 fM, respectively, and also demonstrate a high selectivity for DNA and ATP detection. The currently proposed dendritic DNA concatamer opens a promising direction to construct ultrasensitive DNA biosensing platform for biomolecular detection in bioanalysis and clinical biomedicine, which offers the distinct advantages of simplicity and cost efficiency owing to no need of any kind of enzyme, chemical modification or labeling., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The unique property of gold nanoparticles (Au NP) to induce colour change and the versatility of graphene oxides (GO) in surface modification makes them ideal in the application of colorimetric biosensor. Thus we developed a label free optical method to detect DNA hybridization through a visually observed colour change. The Au NP is conjugated to a DNA probe and is allowed to hybridize with the DNA target to the GO thus causing a change in colour from pinkish-red to purplish blue. Spectrophometry analysis gave a wavelength shift of 22 nm with 1 µM of DNA target. Sensitivity testing using serially diluted DNA conjugated GO showed that the optimum detection was at 63 nM of DNA target with the limit at 8 nM. This proves the possibility for the detection of DNA hybridization through the use of dual nanoparticle system by visual observation., (© 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

This work focuses on the development of electrochemical impedance biosensors based on capacitance readout, for the detection of biomolecules in small sample volumes. We performed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements of DNA hybridization in electrochemical cells with microfabricated gold electrodes. The time stability of the device was tested in two different configurations: two microelectrodes in a microfluidic channel; two microelectrodes plus a reference electrode in an electrochemical cell. Our results demonstrate that the three-electrode setup is more stable, more reproducible, and suitable for real-time measurements. In the last part of the work we perform a test study of DNA hybridization in real time, and we show that the three-electrode configuration can measure the process in situ and in real time., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We developed the first generation in-situ pathogen detection system (Gen1-IPDS) based on the NanoGene assay for detecting and quantifying Escherichia coli O157:H7 specific eaeA gene. The NanoGene assay employs the hybridization of target DNA with quantum dot labeled magnetic beads and probe DNAs to detect and quantify the target bacterial gene. The Gen1-IPDS is currently capable of executing four key steps required in the NanoGene assay: sample and reagents introduction, DNA hybridization, magnetic separation of complexes, and sample collection. Operational parameters such as magnet position, hybridization buffer composition, hybridization flow rate, and hybridization temperature were investigated. Using the experimentally determined operational parameters, the target gene was successfully quantified (R(2)=0.97) over a range of six orders of magnitude (10(-12) to 10(-6) mol L(-1)). The limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be 49×10(-15) mol L(-1). The specificity was also demonstrated by the differential discrimination of mismatched target DNAs. The NanoGene assay quantification results via Gen1-IPDS were validated by correlation with its laboratory version (R(2)=0.97)., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) were performed on the same Au nanoparticle (AuNP)-modified indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass surfaces. Cyclic voltammetry was applied to electrodeposit AuNPs on ITO surface directly. The surface plasmon band characterization of AuNPs was initially studied by controlling the electrodeposition conditions. It was found that the size of AuNP clusters was significantly affected by the applied potential and KCl concentration in solution. The dual-detection platform was applied to detect DNA hybridization related to a specific point mutation in apolipoprotein E gene (ApoE), which was related to the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The preliminary results facilitate the development of a versatile biosensor that can be easily miniaturized and integrated into a high-throughput diagnostic device., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report extremely sensitive plasmonic detection that was performed label-free based on the colocalization of target DNA molecules and electromagnetic hot spots excited at 3D nanogap arrays. The colocalization was self-aligned by oblique evaporation of a dielectric mask over the 3D nanopatterns, which creates nanogaps for spatially selective target binding. The feasibility was experimentally confirmed by measuring hybridization of 24-mer single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides on triangular and circular 3D nanogap arrays. We were able to achieve significantly amplified optical signatures that lead to sensitivity enhancement in terms of detectable binding capacity in reference to conventional thin film-based surface plasmon resonance detection on the order of 1 fg/mm(2)., (© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This work reports a novel signal amplification strategy for ultrasensitive detection of thrombin by cascade catalysis of gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) and glucose dehydrogenase (GDH). Herein, the AuNCs prepared by using polyamidoamine dendrimer as template were constructed not only as nanocarriers for anchoring the large amounts of secondary thrombin aptamers but also as nanocatalysts to catalyze the oxidation of NADH efficiently. Moreover, a large amount of GDH was loaded through the immobilization technology of DNA hybridization and a large amount of toluidine blue (Tb) was intercalated into the DNA grooves via electrostatic interaction. Significantly, the electrochemical signal was greatly enhanced based on cascade catalysis: firstly, GDH catalyzed the oxidation of glucose to gluconolactone with the concomitant generation of NADH in the presence of NAD(+). Then, AuNCs as nanocatalysts could effectively catalyze NADH to produce NAD(+) with the help of Tb as redox probe. Under the optimal conditions, the proposed aptasensor exhibits a linear range of 1.0×10(-14)-5×10(-9) M with a low detection limit of 3.3×10(-15) M for thrombin detection and shows high sensitivity and good specificity., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

An isothermal, enzyme-free and ultrasensitive protocol for electrochemical detection of DNA is proposed based on the ingenious combination of target catalyzed hairpin assembly and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) strategies for two-step signal amplification. The DNA hairpin assembly on the electrode is triggered by target DNA, accompanied by the release of target DNA for the successive hybridization and assembly process. The newly emerging DNA fragment on the electrode after hairpin assembly is further used to propagate the HCR between methylene blue-labeled signal probe and auxiliary probe, inducing a remarkably amplified electrochemical signal. The current dual signal amplification strategy is relatively simple and inexpensive owing to avoid the use of any kind of enzyme or sophisticated equipment. It can achieve a sensitivity of 0.1 fM with a wide linear dynamic range from 1 × 10(-15) to 1 × 10(-10)M and discriminate mismatched DNA from perfect matched target DNA with a high selectivity. The high sensitivity and selectivity make this method a great potential for early diagnosis in gene-related diseases., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)