Differential gene expression analysis shows that cephalosporin resistance is intrinsic to Clostridioides difficile strain 630.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is the most common nosocomial infection in the US. CDI has become a growing concern due to C. difficile's resistance to several antibiotics, including cephalosporins.

Flexible Thermoelectric Reduced Graphene Oxide/AgS/Methyl Cellulose Composite Film Prepared by Screen Printing Process.

As an organic-inorganic thermoelectric composite material, a flexible, reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/silver sulfide (AgS)/methyl cellulose (MC) film was fabricated by a two-step method. Firstly, a rGO/AgS composite powder was prepared by a chemical synthesis method, and then, the rGO/AgS/MC composite film was prepared by a combined screen printing and annealing treatment process. The rGO and rGO/AgS composite powders were evenly dispersed in the rGO/AgS/MC composite films.

Data supporting a saturation mutagenesis assay for Tat-driven transcription with the GigaAssay.

The data in this article are associated with the research paper "GigaAssay - an adaptable high-throughput saturation mutagenesis assay" [1]. The raw data are sequence reads of HIV-1 cDNA amplified from cellular genomic DNA in a new single-pot saturation mutagenesis assay designated the "GigaAssay". A bioinformatic pipeline and parameters used to analyze the data.

Urban monitoring of antimicrobial resistance during a COVID-19 surge through wastewater surveillance.

During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, infected patients presented with symptoms similar to bacterial pneumonias and were treated with antibiotics before confirmation of a bacterial or fungal co-infection. We reasoned that wastewater surveillance could reveal potential relationships between reduced antimicrobial stewardship, specifically misprescribing antibiotics to treat viral infections, and the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in an urban community. Here, we analyzed microbial communities and AMR profiles in sewage samples from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and a community shelter in Las Vegas, Nevada during a COVID-19 surge in December 2020.

GigaAssay - An adaptable high-throughput saturation mutagenesis assay platform.

High-throughput assay systems have had a large impact on understanding the mechanisms of basic cell functions. However, high-throughput assays that directly assess molecular functions are limited. Herein, we describe the "GigaAssay", a modular high-throughput one-pot assay system for measuring molecular functions of thousands of genetic variants at once.

Use of wastewater surveillance for early detection of Alpha and Epsilon SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and estimation of overall COVID-19 infection burden.

A decline in diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 is expected to delay the tracking of COVID-19 variants of concern and interest in the United States. We hypothesize that wastewater surveillance programs provide an effective alternative for detecting emerging variants and assessing COVID-19 incidence, particularly when clinical surveillance is limited. Here, we analyzed SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater from eight locations across Southern Nevada between March 2020 and April 2021.

Hazard profiling of a combinatorial library of zinc oxide nanoparticles: Ameliorating light and dark toxicity through surface passivation.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the high-volume production nanoparticles (NPs) currently used in a wide range of consumer and industrial goods. The inevitable seepage into environmental matrices and the photoactive nature of ZnO NPs warrants hazard profiling under environmentally related conditions. In this paper, the influence of simulated solar light (SSL) on dissolution behaviour and phototoxicity of ZnO NPs was studied using a combinatorial library of ZnO NPs with different sizes, surface coatings, dopant chemistry, and aspect ratios in a fish cell line (BF2) and zebrafish embryos.

How Can We Provide Additively Manufactured Parts with a Fingerprint? A Review of Tagging Strategies in Additive Manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly evolving from "rapid prototyping" to "industrial production". AM enables the fabrication of bespoke components with complicated geometries in the high-performance areas of aerospace, defence and biomedicine. Providing AM parts with a tagging feature that allows them to be identified like a fingerprint can be crucial for logistics, certification and anti-counterfeiting purposes.

Exposure, assessment and health hazards of particulate matter in metal additive manufacturing: A review.

Metal additive manufacturing (AM), also known as metal three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a new technology offering design freedom to create complex structures that has found increasing applications in industrial processes. However, due to the fine metal powders and high temperatures involved, the printing process is likely to generate particulate matter (PM) that has a detrimental impact on the environment and human health. Therefore, comprehensive assessement of the exposure and health hazards of PM pollution related to this technique is urgently required.

Effects of Preparation Methods on the Thermoelectric Performance of SWCNT/BiTe Bulk Composites.

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)/BiTe composite powders were fabricated via a one-step in situ reductive method, and their corresponding bulk composites were prepared by a cold-pressing combing pressureless sintering process or a hot-pressing process. The influences of the preparation methods on the thermoelectric properties of the SWCNT/BiTe bulk composites were investigated. All the bulk composites showed negative Seebeck coefficients, indicating n-type conduction.

How rheological behaviors of concentrated starch affect graft copolymerization of acrylamide and resultant hydrogel.

Corn starches with different amylose/amylopectin ratios were used to explore the effect of rheological behaviors of concentrated system on the graft copolymerization of acrylamide and resultant hydrogels, which sheds a light on their reactive extrusion process. The viscoelastic moduli of starch melts increased with increasing amylose content (AC), leading to a decreased extent of micro-mixing detected by a reduced rheokinetic rate. With increasing AC, the graft efficiency was decreased but with almost similar monomer conversion (about 87.

Morphologies Tuning of Polypyrrole and Thermoelectric Properties of Polypyrrole Nanowire/Graphene Composites.

Polypyrrole (PPy) with different morphologies (e.g., particles, nanotubes, and nanowires) were successfully prepared by adding or without adding different kinds of surfactants through a chemical oxidative polymerization method, respectively.

Effect of Macro-, Micro- and Nano-Calcium Carbonate on Properties of Cementitious Composites-A Review.

Calcium carbonate is wildly used in cementitious composites at different scales and can affect the properties of cementitious composites through physical effects (such as the filler effect, dilution effect and nucleation effect) and chemical effects. The effects of macro (>1 mm)-, micro (1 μm⁻1 mm)- and nano (<1 μm)-sizes of calcium carbonate on the hydration process, workability, mechanical properties and durability are reviewed. Macro-calcium carbonate mainly acts as an inert filler and can be involved in building the skeletons of hardened cementitious composites to provide part of the strength.

Functionalized graphene nanosheets as absorbent for copper (II) removal from water.

Functionalized graphene nanosheets (FGNs) with high surface area and various functional groups were prepared by oxidation method. The characteristics of FGNs were studied by nitrogen adsorption using the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersion spectrum (EDS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The specific surface area of obtained FGNs was measured as 834.

Prognostic roles for IL-2-producing and CD69 T cell subsets in colorectal cancer patients.

Tumor infiltrating T cells are a predictor of patient outcome in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). However, many T cell populations have been associated with both poor and positive patient prognoses, indicating a need to further understand the role of different T cell subsets in CRC. In this study, the T cell infiltrate from the tumor and nontumor bowel (NTB) was examined in 95 CRC patients using flow cytometry and associations with cancer stage and disease recurrence made.

Rheokinetics of graft copolymerization of acrylamide in concentrated starch and rheological behaviors and microstructures of reaction products.

A widely recognized challenge in starch chemistry is to manipulate the graft copolymerization onto starch melt by reactive extrusion (REX). To understand the complex in-situ graft copolymerization in highly concentrated systems, we firstly used a mixer to achieve a homogeneous viscous starch melt, and then undertook dynamic rheological measurements to study the rheokinetics of the reaction. The in-situ synthesis also facilitated the characterization of the microstructures of reaction products.

Thermoelectric Properties of Flexible PEDOT:PSS/Polypyrrole/Paper Nanocomposite Films.

Flexible poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)/polypyrrole/paper (PEDOT:PSS/PPy/paper) thermoelectric (TE) nanocomposite films were prepared by a two-step method: first, PPy/paper nanocomposite films were prepared by an in situ chemical polymerization process, and second, PEDOT:PSS/PPy/paper TE composite films were fabricated by coating the as-prepared PPy/paper nanocomposite films using a dimethyl sulfoxide-doped PEDOT:PSS solution. Both the electrical conductivity and the Seebeck coefficient of the PEDOT:PSS/PPy/paper TE nanocomposite films were greatly enhanced from 0.06 S/cm to ~0.

Research and industrialization progress of recovering alumina from fly ash: A concise review.

Fly ash, a by-product of high temperature combustion of coal in coal-fired power plants, is one of the most complex and largest amount of industrial solid wastes generated in China. Its improper disposal has become an environmental problem. Now it is widely realized that fly ash should be considered as a useful and potential mineral resource.

Thermoelectric fabrics: toward power generating clothing.

Herein, we demonstrate that a flexible, air-permeable, thermoelectric (TE) power generator can be prepared by applying a TE polymer (e.g. poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate)) coated commercial fabric and subsequently by linking the coated strips with a conductive connection (e.

Design and construction of polymerized-chitosan coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles and its application for hydrophobic drug delivery.

In this study, a novel hydrogel, chitosan (CS) crosslinked carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin (CM-β-CD) polymer modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles was synthesized for delivering hydrophobic anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (CS-CDpoly-MNPs). Carboxymethyl-β-cyclodextrin being grafted on the Fe3O4 nanoparticles (CDpoly-MNPs) contributed to an enhancement of adsorption capacities because of the inclusion abilities of its hydrophobic cavity with insoluble anticancer drugs through host-guest interactions. Experimental results indicated that the amounts of crosslinking agent and bonding times played a crucial role in determining morphology features of the hybrid nanocarriers.