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Infection of various pathogenic bacteria causes severe illness to human beings. Despite the research advances, current identification tools still exhibit limitations in detecting Gram-negative bacteria with high accuracy. In this study, we isolated single-stranded DNA aptamers against multiple Gram-negative bacterial species using Toggle-cell-SELEX (systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) and constructed an aptamer-based detection tool towards bacterial secretory cargo released from outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria. Three Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli DH5α, E . coli K12, and Serratia marcescens , were sequentially incubated with the pool of random DNA sequences at each SELEX loop. Two aptamers selected, GN6 and GN12, were 4.2-times and 3.6-times higher binding to 10 8 cells of Gram-negative bacteria than to Gram-positive bacteria tested, respectively. Using GN6 aptamer, we constructed an Enzyme-linked aptamer assay (ELAA) to detect bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) of Gram-negative bacteria, which contain several outer membrane proteins with potent immunostimulatory effects. The GN6-ELAA showed high sensitivity to detect as low as 25 ng/mL bacterial OMVs. Aptamers developed in this study show a great potential to facilitate medical diagnosis and early detection of bacterial terrorism, based on the ability to detect bacterial OMVs of multiple Gram-negative bacteria.

The cancer stem cell (CSC) model posits the presence of a small number of CSCs in the heterogeneous cancer cell population that are ultimately responsible for tumor initiation, as well as cancer recurrence and metastasis. CSCs have been isolated from a variety of human cancers and are able to generate a hierarchical and heterogeneous cancer cell population. CSCs are also resistant to conventional chemo- and radio-therapies. Here we report that ionizing radiation can induce stem cell-like properties in heterogeneous cancer cells. Exposure of non-stem cancer cells to ionizing radiation enhanced spherogenesis, and this was accompanied by upregulation of the pluripotency genes Sox2 and Oct3/4. Knockdown of Sox2 or Oct3/4 inhibited radiation-induced spherogenesis and increased cellular sensitivity to radiation. These data demonstrate that ionizing radiation can activate stemness pathways in heterogeneous cancer cells, resulting in the enrichment of a CSC subpopulation with higher resistance to radiotherapy.

In the presence of network externalities, we examine the endogenous delegation structure in an import-competing market with import tariff under Bertrand competition. We show that (i) with strong network externalities, choosing delegation for home and foreign firms is a dominant strategy, which implies that the managerial delegation for output expansion is socially desirable; (ii) with weak (intermediate) network externalities, home firm chooses delegation (no delegation) but foreign firm chooses no delegation (delegation) in equilibrium; Thus, delegation to expand output of home and foreign firms is a more profitable choice than no delegation if the strength of network externalities is sufficiently large.

Diabetes is highly prevalent in individuals with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and even precedes diagnosis of PDAC; however, the mechanisms of pancreatic cancer-associated blood glucose deterioration remain largely unknown. Here, we constructed a prospective cohort of patients undergoing pancreatectomy to investigate the underlying mechanism of PDAC-associated hyperglycemia. A total of 160 patients who underwent pancreatectomy (72 patients with PDAC and 88 patients without PDAC) were enrolled at a tertiary care hospital. Glucometabolic parameters under oral glucose tolerance test were assessed in both pre- and postoperative periods, and patient-derived blood and pancreatic tissue samples were collected. Compared with patients without PDAC, patients with PDAC showed severe hyperglycemia with impaired insulin secretion before surgery. However, despite identical type of pancreatectomy in both groups, hyperglycemia improved more significantly and insulin secretory function declined less after pancreatectomy in patients with PDAC. Plasma Wnt5a and pancreatic islet β-catenin levels were higher in patients with PDAC and correlated with the degree of hyperglycemia and insulin deficiency. Plasma Wnt5a levels also correlated with tumor size and pancreatic islet β-catenin expression in patients with PDAC. In rodent islets, Wnt5a treatment suppressed insulin release, which was recovered by inhibition of β-catenin. Collectively, impaired pancreatic insulin secretion by aberrant Wnt5a/β-catenin activation may underlie the hyperglycemia associated with PDAC. Our finding provides insights into the unique molecular mechanism of pancreatic cancer-associated hyperglycemia, paving the way for the identification of potential biomarker and therapeutic targets for this condition. Wnt5a/β-catenin activation impairs insulin secretion in patients with pancreatic cancer Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal cancer with low survival. Many patients with PDAC also develop diabetes, but the connection between the two is still unclear. Researchers aimed to explore this link by studying 160 patients, including those with PDAC and those without PDAC, who had surgery to remove part of their pancreas. The study involved measuring blood sugar and insulin levels before and after surgery. Patients with PDAC had higher blood sugar levels and lower insulin production than those without PDAC before surgery. After the surgery, patients with PDAC showed greater improvement in blood sugar control and a smaller decrease in insulin secretion than patients without PDAC. A protein called Wnt5a secreted by cancer was higher in patients with PDAC and might be linked to reduced insulin production. This protein could serve as a marker for early detection of PDAC-related diabetes. This summary was initially drafted using artificial intelligence, then revised and fact-checked by the author.

Electrochemical processes coupling carbon dioxide reduction reactions with organic oxidation reactions are promising techniques for producing clean chemicals and utilizing renewable energy. However, assessments of the economics of the coupling technology remain questionable due to diverse product combinations and significant process design variability. Here, we report a technoeconomic analysis of electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction–organic oxidation reaction coproduction via conceptual process design and thereby propose potential economic combinations. We first develop a fully automated process synthesis framework to guide process simulations, which are then employed to predict the levelized costs of chemicals. We then identify the global sensitivity of current density, Faraday efficiency, and overpotential across 295 electrochemical coproduction processes to both understand and predict the levelized costs of chemicals at various technology levels. The analysis highlights the promise that coupling the carbon dioxide reduction reaction with the value-added organic oxidation reaction can secure significant economic feasibility. Coupling of carbon dioxide reduction and organic oxidation is promising for sustainable chemicals production; however, economics are impacted by variations in product combinations and process design. Here the authors report technoeconomic analysis for a range of technologies and coproduction processes.

As the performance of photoelectrodes used for solar water splitting continues to improve, enhancing the long-term stability of the photoelectrodes becomes an increasingly crucial issue. In this study, we report that tuning the composition of the electrolyte can be used as a strategy to suppress photocorrosion during solar water splitting. Anodic photocorrosion of BiVO 4 photoanodes involves the loss of V 5+ from the BiVO 4 lattice by dissolution. We demonstrate that the use of a V 5+ -saturated electrolyte, which inhibits the photooxidation-coupled dissolution of BiVO 4 , can serve as a simple yet effective method to suppress anodic photocorrosion of BiVO 4 . The V 5+ species in the solution can also incorporate into the FeOOH/NiOOH oxygen-evolution catalyst layer present on the BiVO 4 surface during water oxidation, further enhancing water-oxidation kinetics. The effect of the V 5+ species in the electrolyte on both the long-term photostability of BiVO 4 and the performance of the FeOOH/NiOOH oxygen-evolution catalyst layer is systematically elucidated. Photoelectrodes used to split water, driven by solar energy, often suffer from a lack of stability. Here the authors demonstrate that a V 5+ -saturated electrolyte can be used to inhibit photooxidation-coupled dissolution of a BiVO 4 photoanode, suppressing photocorrosion and allowing stable photocurrent generation over hundreds of hours.

Spiegelmers are enantiomers of natural D-oligonucleotides that bind to targets with distinct structures such as aptamers. The high susceptibility of natural D-form aptamers to nucleases greatly hinders their application in biological environments. Here, a nonbiodegradable spiegelmer-based platform for the sensitive detection of bisphenol A (BPA) was developed. Due to the symmetric molecule of BPA, the D-form aptamer can be directly converted into mirror forms via chemical synthesis. Aptamer–target interactions that involve chemically synthesized spiegelmers were characterized by biolayer interferometry, and their stabilities were tested in various biological fluids by exposure to nucleases. We demonstrate for the first time the use of a nuclease-resistant spiegelmer in a simple, label-free gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric assay to detect BPA in a highly sensitive and selective manner. The aptasensor exhibits an LOD of 0.057 ng/mL and dynamic range of 105 (100 pg/mL to 10 mg/mL). With sensing capacity and biological stability, the developed aptasensor shows great potential to utilize in in-field applications such as water quality monitoring.

We examine that the bilateral supplier affects the incentive contracts that owners of retailers offer their managers, assuming that the manufacturer sets the input price after observing the terms of the incentive contracts offered to management in the downstream market. Thus, we compare the two models: (1) decentralized bargaining between manufacturers and retailers including two-part tariff contract (2) linear input pricing without bargaining. Contrast to previous studies, we find that in equilibrium, the owners of retailers offer delegation contracts to managers for output restriction regardless of competition modes when offering linear input pricing, which implies that owners do not face a prisoners’ dilemma situation and Pareto superior profit is obtained for retailer. Thus, managerial delegation of retailer is not socially desirable due to the output restriction. Furthermore, decentralized bargaining allows to equalize all the equilibrium outcomes in the different delegation structure under both Bertrand and Cournot competition and leads no delegation for the endogenous delegation problem.

Carbon capture and utilization technology has been studied for its practical ability to reduce CO 2 emissions and enable economical chemical production. The main challenge of this technology is that a large amount of thermal energy must be provided to supply high-purity CO 2 and purify the product. Herein, we propose a new concept called reaction swing absorption, which produces synthesis gas (syngas) with net-zero CO 2 emission through direct electrochemical CO 2 reduction in a newly proposed amine solution, triethylamine. Experimental investigations show high CO 2 absorption rates (>84%) of triethylamine from low CO 2 concentrated flue gas. In addition, the CO Faradaic efficiency in a triethylamine supplied membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer is approximately 30% (@−200 mA cm −2 ), twice higher than those in conventional alkanolamine solvents. Based on the experimental results and rigorous process modeling, we reveal that reaction swing absorption produces high pressure syngas at a reasonable cost with negligible CO 2 emissions. This system provides a fundamental solution for the CO 2 crossover and low system stability of electrochemical CO 2 reduction. Carbon capture, utilization and storage technology is limited by the need for a separate CO 2 capture step. Here, the authors propose a strategy and economic analysis for simultaneous dilute CO 2 capture from flue gas and direct electrochemical reduction to synthesis gas via reaction swing absorption.

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) cells incorporating Cu catalysts are effective for generating C 2+ chemicals via the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR). However, the impact of MEA configuration on the inevitable reconstruction of Cu catalysts during CO 2 RR remains underexplored, despite its considerable potential to affect CO 2 RR efficacy. Herein, we demonstrate that MEA cells prompt a unique reconstruction of Cu, in contrast to H-type cells, which subsequently influences CO 2 RR outcomes. Utilizing three Cu-based catalysts, specifically engineered with different nanostructures, we identify contrasting selectivity trends in the production of C 2+ chemicals between H-type and MEA cells. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy, alongside ex-situ analyses in both cell types, indicates that MEA cells facilitate the reduction of Cu 2 O, resulting in altered Cu surfaces compared to those in H-type cells. Time-resolved CO 2 RR studies, supported by Operando analysis, further highlight that significant Cu reconstruction within MEA cells is a primary factor leading to the deactivation of CO 2 RR into C 2+ chemicals. The impact of cell configuration on Cu catalyst reconstruction is crucial for optimizing CO 2 electroreduction to produce C 2+ chemicals. Here, the authors shows that membrane electrode assembly cells uniquely alter Cu reconstructions compared to H-type cells, significantly affecting performance.