Article
Microbiology
C. D. Garner, J. Brazelton de Cardenas, S. Suganda, R. T. Hayden
Summary: Bloodstream infections are a significant burden on healthcare systems, with rapid identification of pathogens crucial for patient outcomes. The GenMark Dx ePlex BCID panels show good performance in detecting bloodstream pathogens in high-risk populations, providing valuable diagnostic information for clinical care providers.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
William Little, Caroline Black, Allie Clinton Smith
Summary: Research has shown that many human infectious processes are associated with a polymicrobial burden, which can lead to treatment failure and worse patient prognoses. Current clinical standards for determining antimicrobial susceptibility only test unimicrobial suspensions, but there is growing evidence that microorganisms in a polymicrobial environment can synergize their activities and impact antimicrobial susceptibility through resistance and tolerance mechanisms.
Article
Microbiology
Sanchita Mitra, Aparajita Mallick, Shilpa Priyadarshini
Summary: This study investigated the impact of polymicrobial interactions on the antimicrobial resistance of ocular pathogens. The results revealed antagonistic and synergistic interactions among human pathogens in polymicrobial settings. Gram-positive pathogens exhibited significantly higher antagonistic interactions compared to Gram-negative ones.
FUTURE MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Sacha Danielle Kuil, Soemeja Hidad, Caroline Schneeberger, Pragya Singh, Paul Rhodes, Menno Douwe de Jong, Caroline Elisabeth Visser
Summary: Bacteria produce VOCs during growth, which can be detected by CSAs. The SpecifAST (R) system enables AST directly from blood cultures, with results available within 3.1 hours of growth detection without subculture steps. In a 12-month study, the system showed 100% and 91% categorical agreement with VITEK (R) 2 for Gram-negatives and Gram-positives, respectively. Further evaluation with a larger sample of bacterial species and antimicrobials is needed.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Vincent Hickl, Gabriel Juarez
Summary: This study investigated the effects of dispersants on the attachment and growth of marine bacteria on different sizes of crude oil droplets using microfluidics and time-lapse microscopy. The results showed that dispersants do not affect these biophysical processes.
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yesman Akuoko, Heitor F. Nagliati, Calton J. Millward, Adam T. Woolley
Summary: Antimicrobial resistance remains a global threat, and developing rapid and efficient tools for bacterial analysis is crucial. In this study, a microfluidic setup was developed to enable bacteria incubation and growth detection in a short period of time, providing timely diagnosis and treatment.
ANALYTICAL AND BIOANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Mark Redell, Glenn S. Tillotson
Summary: This article reviews the real-world implications associated with lack of testing and reporting current carbapenem breakpoints and identifies potential barriers to their implementation. The results show that failure to adopt revised breakpoints can lead to negative clinical outcomes and increased costs, but there are also highlighted impediments for laboratories in implementing breakpoint updates. Practical steps to implement revised breakpoints are proposed, emphasizing the importance of accurate and relevant susceptibility results for clinicians.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Wannisa Meepoo, Tassanee Jaroensong, Chantima Pruksakorn, Jatuporn Rattanasrisomporn
Summary: This study investigated bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility in chronic rhinitis in cats. The results showed that rhinitis was more likely to occur in younger and young adult cats, with Pseudomonas spp. being the main bacterial species, followed by Pasteurella spp., Staphylococcus spp., and E. coli. Antimicrobials such as amikacin, imipenem, and meropenem exhibited high activity against most bacterial species. However, the use of antimicrobials in certain categories should be avoided in companion animals. The findings emphasize the importance of appropriate antimicrobial usage based on guidelines and susceptibility testing.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Mohammad Osaid, Yi-Sin Chen, Chih-Hung Wang, Anirban Sinha, Wen-Bin Lee, Priya Gopinathan, Hung-Bin Wu, Gwo-Bin Lee
Summary: The study developed a microfluidic platform for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing, including dilution of antibiotics and distribution of bacteria, which can improve efficiency and accuracy of the testing process.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Yousra Abid, Chedia Ben Amara, Houda Gharsallah, Emilie Dumas, Nour-Eddine Chihib, Hamadi Attia, Samia Azabou, Adem Gharsallaoui
Summary: This study found that anionic EPS and cationic nisin formed complexes through electrostatic interactions in a model solution at pH 5.0. EPS-GM was able to form larger and more complexes with nisin, which interestingly did not affect nisin's antimicrobial activity and may act as protective agents for nisin when used in foods. These results could help optimize the physicochemical conditions for food products containing EPS.
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Timothy J. Savage, Shun Rao, Jill Joerger, Al Ozonoff, Alexander J. McAdam, Thomas J. Sandora
Summary: The study has identified that direct disk diffusion testing is highly predictive of susceptibility for many common organism-antibiotic combinations and provides actionable information one day earlier than standard susceptibility approaches. However, the negative predictive value of dDD is variable and frequently lower than the positive predictive value. Antibiotics were narrowed in 30% of cases after a dDD result and a further 25% of cases after AST result.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Evan A. Larson, Josiah J. Rensner, Kristina R. Larsen, Bryan Bellaire, Young Jin Lee
Summary: A new antimicrobial susceptibility test utilizing deuterium labeling of membrane lipids to track bacterial growth has been developed and validated. This method can differentiate between resistant and susceptible strains of bacteria and has clinical relevance.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Thi Ngoc Diep Trinh, Nae Yoon Lee
Summary: This review discusses the current status and challenges in antimicrobial susceptibility testing, as well as the application advantages of microfluidic technology in this field. It also outlines the methods of genotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing and the advancements in microdevices.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Zeeshan Saifi, Urvashi Singh, Mridul Kumar, Krishnananda Soami Daya, Evangelyn C. Alocilja
Summary: This article systematically studies the social interactions between Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus in paired and triplet mixed cultures. The results show that the social interactions are mediated through the exchange of electrical charges, which can be characterized by measuring the Zeta potential. It is also found that the surface charge modifications arising from the social interactions can significantly affect the bactericidal action of antimicrobial agents.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NANOBIOSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Felix Roth, Nathan D. Leedahl, David D. Leedahl, Dubert M. Guerrero
Summary: The rapid identification of pathogens causing bloodstream infections is crucial in clinical microbiology laboratories. While most methods have reduced turnaround time and impact on clinical decisions, they do not provide complete antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) information. By employing rapid identification (ID) and AST with the Accelerate PhenoTest, the study observed a significant decrease in hospital stay, reduction in broad-spectrum antibiotic use, and potential cost savings.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Danielle A. Henckel, Michael J. Counihan, Hannah E. Holmes, Xinyi Chen, Uzoma O. Nwabara, Sumit Verma, Joaquin Rodriguez-Lopez, Paul J. A. Kenis, Andrew A. Gewirth
Summary: The study found that the local pH of a gas diffusion electrode undergoing CO2 reduction is significantly lower than the bulk electrolyte pH, showing dependence on applied potential. The decrease in pH is attributed to the formation of malachite from soluble Cu(II) species on the initially oxidized electrode surface.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Saket S. Bhargava, Daniel Azmoodeh, Xinyi Chen, Emiliana R. Cofell, Anne Marie Esposito, Sumit Verma, Andrew A. Gewirth, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: This study reduces the energy consumption of CO2 electrolysis by using a NiFe-based bimetallic catalyst and applying a magnetic field. Power savings ranging from 7% to 6496% are achieved in a gas diffusion electrode-based flow electrolyzer, with a maximum CO partial current density of -565 mA/cm(2) reached.
ACS ENERGY LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Electrochemistry
Saket S. Bhargava, Emiliana R. Cofell, Prithviraj Chumble, Daniel Azmoodeh, Sujay Someshwar, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: Research shows that the presence of multivalent cations can affect the electrochemical performance of CO2RR, possibly due to the deposition of metal oxides and/or metal hydrides on the electrode surface, blocking catalytically active sites.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Yuecheng Zhou, Folarin Latinwo, Charles M. Schroeder
Summary: This work applies the Crooks fluctuation theorem to understand the thermodynamics of dilute polymer solutions in flow. The nonequilibrium free energy for single polymer molecules in flow is directly determined through a combination of single molecule experiments and Brownian dynamics simulations. A time-dependent extensional flow protocol is developed to probe viscoelastic hysteresis over a wide range of flow strengths. The generalized fluctuation theorems provide a powerful framework for understanding polymer dynamics under far-from-equilibrium conditions.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hao Yu, Jialing Li, Songsong Li, Yun Liu, Nicholas E. Jackson, Jeffrey S. Moore, Charles M. Schroeder
Summary: This study demonstrates the highly efficient intermolecular charge transport of pyridinium molecules through the dimerization process inside the cavity of a synthetic host. Molecular modeling using density functional theory reveals that the dimerization process results in planarization of the pyridinium molecules and large intermolecular LUMO-LUMO couplings, leading to enhanced intermolecular charge transport.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
S. Kasra Tabatabaei, Bach Pham, Chao Pan, Jingqian Liu, Shubham Chandak, Spencer A. Shorkey, Alvaro G. Hernandez, Aleksei Aksimentiev, Min Chen, Charles M. Schroeder, Olgica Milenkovic
Summary: Researchers have developed a prototype DNA data storage system that uses an extended molecular alphabet to differentiate between natural and chemically modified nucleotides. They also demonstrated the capability of single-molecule sequencing using a neural network architecture, achieving an accuracy exceeding 60%.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Songsong Li, Edward R. Jira, Nicholas H. Angello, Jialing Li, Hao Yu, Jeffrey S. Moore, Ying Diao, Martin D. Burke, Charles M. Schroeder
Summary: This study uses automated synthesis to prepare a library of conjugated oligomers with systematically varied side chain composition and characterizes their charge transport properties at the single molecule level. The results reveal a concentration-dependent bimodal conductance in molecular junctions with long alkyl side chains, with unexpectedly high conductance arising from surface adsorption and backbone planarization. The role of side chain chemistry on charge transport is further explored through control experiments and density functional theory simulations.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chao Pan, S. Kasra Tabatabaei, Sm Hossein Tabatabaei Yazdi, Alvaro G. Hernandez, Charles M. Schroeder, Olgica Milenkovic
Summary: This study presents a two-dimensional molecular data storage system based on DNA that can store information in both the nucleotide sequence and backbone structure. It utilizes automatic discoloration detection and deep learning for enhanced image inpainting. The results demonstrate the potential of DNA as a write-once and rewritable memory for heterogeneous data storage.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicholas H. Angello, Vandana Rathore, Wiktor Beker, Agnieszka Wolos, Edward R. Jira, Rafal Roszak, Tony C. Wu, Charles M. Schroeder, Alan Aspuru-Guzik, Bartosz A. Grzybowski, Martin D. Burke
Summary: This study presents a closed-loop workflow that combines data-guided matrix down-selection, uncertainty-minimizing machine learning, and robotic experimentation to discover general reaction conditions. Application to the challenging problem of heteroaryl Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling identified conditions that significantly improve reaction yield. This research provides a practical approach for addressing multidimensional chemical optimization problems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Michael I. Jacobs, Prateek Bansal, Diwakar Shukla, Charles M. Schroeder
Summary: This study systematically investigates the supramolecular assembly process of oppositely supercharged green fluorescent protein variants using experiments and computational modeling. It is found that net charge can predict the interaction fate of oppositely charged proteins, while the assembled structures depend on surface charge distributions. Notably, a large excess of charge is necessary for nucleating assembly, and long-range electrostatic interactions involving charged residues contribute significantly to the interaction energy.
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Emiliana R. Cofell, Zachary Park, Uzoma O. Nwabara, Lauren C. Harris, Saket S. Bhargava, Andrew A. Gewirth, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: The electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) has the potential to reduce environmentally damaging CO2 emissions, produce carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals, and store excess renewable energy. This study investigates the durability of silver-coated gas diffusion electrode cathodes under potential cycling conditions, revealing the impact of cycling on cathode performance through carbonate formation and catalyst layer restructuring and loss.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Whitney E. Sinclair, Ashtamurthy S. Pawate, Ty'Nya A. Larry, Jeremy M. Schieferstein, Joseph J. Whittenberg, Deborah E. Leckband, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: Here, the development of an accessible organ-on-a-chip platform is described. This platform allows for ex vivo studies on vascular endothelial cells under physio-mechanical stress, by applying hydrodynamic and mechanical forces. The platform design and fabrication approach aim to improve accessibility of microfluidic technology, reducing the technical expertise and equipment required. The platform enables cell imaging on-chip and exposure to aerosolized particulates, validating its capacity for in situ cell imaging.
MICROFLUIDICS AND NANOFLUIDICS
(2023)
Article
Electrochemistry
Elizabeth J. Biddinger, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: R&D on electrochemical approaches for chemical manufacturing is thriving due to the societal goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Established processes like the chlor-alkali process and adiponitrile production have been scaled up and water electrolysis for hydrogen production is being deployed. This report highlights efforts to electrify chemical conversions using renewable feeds and discusses challenges in implementing electrochemical manufacturing approaches.
ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Michael A. Pence, Oliver Rodriguez, Nikita G. Lukhanin, Charles M. Schroeder, Joaquin Rodriguez-Lopez
Summary: In this study, a novel platform is developed for determining the rate constant of chemical reactions in solution. The platform uses microfabricated interdigitated electrode arrays (IDAs) with variable gap widths to achieve automated, multiplexed, and robust measurements. The results show that the natural logarithm of collection efficiency is linear with respect to gap width, enabling the determination of the decomposition rate constant of electrogenerated species. The platform allows for the characterization of a wide range of reactions under various conditions and can be applied in high-throughput workflows.
ACS MEASUREMENT SCIENCE AU
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ajit Vikram, Ken Brudnak, Arwa Zahid, Moonsub Shim, Paul J. A. Kenis
Summary: Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals with tunable optical and electronic properties offer exciting opportunities for various applications, but identifying optimal synthesis conditions and screening of recipes remain major challenges. An autonomous experimentation platform incorporating machine-learning and automated reactor can accelerate synthesis screening and optimization.