Lung Cancer Screening Before and After a Multifaceted Electronic Health Record Intervention: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.

Importance: Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the US. Early-stage lung cancer detection with lung cancer screening (LCS) through low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) improves outcomes.

Objective: To assess the association of a multifaceted clinical decision support intervention with rates of identification and completion of recommended LCS-related services.

Studies of Protein Binding to Biomimetic Membranes Using a Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts Derived From 8-Anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic Acid.

Tuning the 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) structure usually requires harsh conditions and long reaction times, which can result in low yields. Herein, ANS was modified to form an ANS group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS), prepared with simple metathesis reactions and distinct cations, namely tetrabutylammonium (N), tetrahexylammonium (N), and tetrabutylphosphonium (P). These ANS-based GUMBOS were investigated as fluorescent probes for membrane binding studies with four proteins having distinct physicochemical properties.

Fluoroquinolone-Based Organic Salts (GUMBOS) with Antibacterial Potential.

Antimicrobial resistance is a silent pandemic considered a public health concern worldwide. Strategic therapies are needed to replace antibacterials that are now ineffective. One approach entails the use of well-known antibacterials along with adjuvants that possess non-antibiotic properties but can extend the lifespan and enhance the effectiveness of the treatment, while also improving the suppression of resistance.

Microbial Primer: Transposon directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS): A high throughput method for linking genotype to phenotype.

Genetic screens are a key tool for linking phenotype and genotype. Transposon mutagenesis was one of the first genetic methodologies to associate genetic loci with phenotypes. The advent of next-generation sequencing transformed the use of this technique allowing rapid interrogation of whole genomes for genes that correlate with phenotype.

Influence of humidity on accuracy of QCM - IR780-based GUMBOS sensor arrays.

Herein, hydrophobic coating materials are reported for QCM detection of VOCs under dry and humid conditions. In this study, IR780-based GUMBOS ([IR780][OTf] and [IR780][NTf2]) were synthesized using an ion exchange reaction and the anions trifluoromethanesulfonimide ([OTf]) and bisperfluoromethanesulfonimide ([NTf2]). The parent iodide salts and GUMBOS ([IR780][I]), [IR780][OTf], and [IR780][NTf2]) were characterized using several analytical techniques.

Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening in Primary Care and Pulmonary Clinics: Pragmatic Clinical Trial of Electronic Health Record-Integrated Everyday Shared Decision-Making Tool and Clinician-Facing Prompts.

Background: Although low-dose CT (LDCT) scan imaging lung cancer screening (LCS) can reduce lung cancer mortality, it remains underused. Shared decision-making (SDM) is recommended to assess the balance of benefits and harms for each patient.

Research Question: Do clinician-facing electronic health record (EHR) prompts and an EHR-integrated everyday SDM tool designed to support routine incorporation of SDM into primary care improve LDCT scan imaging ordering and completion?

Study Design And Methods: A preintervention and postintervention analysis was conducted in 30 primary care and four pulmonary clinics for visits with patients who met United States Preventive Services Task Force criteria for LCS.

LI-Detector: a Method for Curating Ordered Gene-Replacement Libraries.

In recent years the availability of genome sequence information has grown logarithmically resulting in the identification of a plethora of uncharacterized genes. To address this gap in functional annotation, many high-throughput screens have been devised to uncover novel gene functions. Gene-replacement libraries are one such tool that can be screened in a high-throughput way to link genotype and phenotype and are key community resources.

Perspectives of Three African American Chemists: Reflections on Careers, Experiences, and the Future.

Three African American analytical chemists, whose primary research careers have focused in the respective sectors of academia, government, and industry, have come together to provide personal perspectives on parameters that have impacted their careers as well as to provide their perceptions of the current and future status of African Americans in the overall science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) enterprise, and the more specific field of analytical chemistry. The authors, having ∼150 years of combined experiences, reflect on the past status and contemplate future advances for African Americans in STEM. The most important factors during their formative years that underpinned their success over the long-term are enumerated.

Recognize and Alleviate a Resource Management Conundrum Facing Science Diaspora Networks.

Increasingly, science diaspora networks are managed by formal organizations such as embassies or non-profit organizations. Researchers have studied these networks to understand how they influence international collaborations and science diplomacy, and to determine which network activities foster those outcomes and which do not. In this perspective, we suggest that many of these network organizations confront an underappreciated conundrum for managing resources: organizations with few resources must learn how to obtain more resources despite lacking means to do so.

Nanoscale Structure of Langmuir-Blodgett Film of Bent-Core Molecules.

Bent-core mesogens (BCMs) are a class of thermotropic liquid crystals featuring several unconventional properties. However, the interpretation and technological exploitation of their unique behavior have been hampered by the difficulty of controlling their anchoring at surfaces. To tackle this issue, we report the nanoscale structural characterization of BCM films prepared using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique.

A Thermoset Shape Memory Polymer-Based Syntactic Foam with Flame Retardancy and 3D Printability.

Here we report a thermoset shape memory polymer-based syntactic foam inherently integrated with flame retardancy, good mechanical properties, excellent shape memory effect, and 3D printability. The syntactic foam is fabricated by incorporating a high-temperature shape memory polymer (HTSMP) as the matrix, with 40 vol % hollow glass microspheres (HGM) K20, K15, and K1 as fillers. Compressive behavior, strain-controlled programming followed by free recovery, stress recovery, and flame retardancy of these three syntactic foams were studied.

Fluorescent Ionic Probe for Determination of Mechanical Properties of Healed Poly(ethylene--methacrylic acid) Ionomer Films.

In recent years, advanced materials with properties resembling biological systems, particularly artificial muscles, have received intense scrutiny. This is because the interesting conformational shape characteristics of such materials have benefited a variety of technologies, including textiles, 3D printing, and medical devices. Although a multitude of shape memory properties have been studied and developed in recent years, self-healing of these polymers after puncture or rupture has also become a major area of study.

Protein discrimination using erythrosin B-based GUMBOS in combination with UV-Vis spectroscopy and chemometrics.

GUMBOS (Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts) have recently emerged as interesting materials for protein analysis due to their unique features and high tunability. In this regard, four novel erythrosin B (EB)-based GUMBOS were synthesized and their potential to discriminate among proteins with distinct properties (e.g.

Loss of YhcB results in dysregulation of coordinated peptidoglycan, LPS and phospholipid synthesis during Escherichia coli cell growth.

The cell envelope is essential for viability in all domains of life. It retains enzymes and substrates within a confined space while providing a protective barrier to the external environment. Destabilising the envelope of bacterial pathogens is a common strategy employed by antimicrobial treatment.

Recycling Thermoset Epoxy Resin Using Alkyl-Methyl-Imidazolium Ionic Liquids as Green Solvents.

Herein, a solvent-based green recycling procedure is reported for recycling thermoset epoxy resins (TERs) and carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites (CFRECs) employing ionic liquids (ILs) and alcohols under mild conditions. With melting points less than 100 °C, ILs are defined as organic salts, typically composed of bulky cations with organic or inorganic counteranions. As a result of their unique physical properties such as low vapor pressure, relatively high thermal stability, and multifunctional tunability, these solvents are often classified as "green solvents" as compared to traditional organic solvents.

Pyrene-Benzimidazole Derivatives as Novel Blue Emitters for OLEDs.

Three novel small organic heterocyclic compounds: 2-(1,2-diphenyl)-1-benzimidazole-7--butylpyrene (compound ), 1,3-di(1,2-diphenyl)-1-benzimidazole-7--butylpyrene (compound ), and 1,3,6,8-tetra(1,2-diphenyl)-1-benzimidazolepyrene (compound ) were synthesized and characterized for possible applications as blue OLED emitters. The specific molecular design targeted decreasing intermolecular aggregation and disrupting crystallinity in the solid-state, in order to reduce dye aggregation, and thus obtain efficient pure blue photo- and electroluminescence. Accordingly, the new compounds displayed reasonably high spectral purity in both solution- and solid-states with average CIE coordinates of (0.

Efficient Low-Cost Procedure for Microextraction of Estrogen from Environmental Water Using Magnetic Ionic Liquids.

In this study, three magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) were investigated for extraction of four estrogens, i.e., estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and ethinylestradiol (EE2), from environmental water.

QCM Sensor Arrays, Electroanalytical Techniques and NIR Spectroscopy Coupled to Multivariate Analysis for Quality Assessment of Food Products, Raw Materials, Ingredients and Foodborne Pathogen Detection: Challenges and Breakthroughs.

Quality checks, assessments, and the assurance of food products, raw materials, and food ingredients is critically important to ensure the safeguard of foods of high quality for safety and public health. Nevertheless, quality checks, assessments, and the assurance of food products along distribution and supply chains is impacted by various challenges. For instance, the development of portable, sensitive, low-cost, and robust instrumentation that is capable of real-time, accurate, and sensitive analysis, quality checks, assessments, and the assurance of food products in the field and/or in the production line in a food manufacturing industry is a major technological and analytical challenge.

GUMBOS and nanoGUMBOS in chemical and biological analysis: A review.

GUMBOS (group of uniform materials based on organic salts) is a novel class of materials that exhibits similar features to those of ionic liquids, but have melting points between 25 and 250 °C. GUMBOS can be easily converted into nanomaterials (nanoGUMBOS), with advantages of working at nanoscale. Due to the huge number of possible cation-anion combinations, these materials can be multifunctional and designed for a specific task.

Octenidine/carbenicillin GUMBOS as potential treatment for oropharyngeal gonorrhoea.

Background: Reducing Neisseria gonorrhoeae colonies in the oropharynx is a viable solution to minimize the transmission of this bacterium amongst individuals.

Objectives: A strategy involving the electrostatic interaction between a common antiseptic and a discontinued antibiotic (i.e.

Protein Discrimination Using a Fluorescence-Based Sensor Array of Thiacarbocyanine-GUMBOS.

Sensitive and selective detection of proteins from complex samples has gained substantial interest within the scientific community. Early and precise detection of key proteins plays an important role in potential clinical diagnosis, treatment of different diseases, and proteomic research. In the study reported here, six different compounds belonging to a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) have been synthesized using three thiacarbocyanine (TC) dyes and employed as fluorescent sensors.

Hyaluronic Acid-Cellulose Composites as Patches for Minimizing Bacterial Infections.

A facile method was used to synthesize biocomposites containing differing ratios of hyaluronic acid (HA) and cellulose (CEL). Based on the properties of the individual polymers, the resultant composite materials may have potentially great wound care properties. In the method outlined here, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim][Cl]), a simple ionic liquid, was used as the sole solvent without chemical modifiers to dissolve the biopolymers at ratios of 1:1 and 2:1 HA to CEL.

Quartz Crystal Microbalance Based Sensor Arrays for Detection and Discrimination of VOCs Using Phosphonium Ionic Liquid Composites.

Herein, we examine two sensing schemes for detection and discrimination of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In this work, phosphonium ionic liquids (ILs) were synthesized and vapor sensing properties examined and compared to phosphonium IL-polymer composites. Pure IL sensors were used to develop a QCM-based multisensory array (MSA), while IL-polymer composites were used to develop an MSA and virtual sensor arrays (VSAs).

Pyrenylpyridines: Sky-Blue Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

A novel sky-blue-emitting tripyrenylpyridine derivative, 2,4,6-tri(1-pyrenyl)pyridine (2,4,6-TPP), has been synthesized using a Suzuki coupling reaction and compared with three previously reported isomeric dipyrenylpyridine (DPP) analogues (2,4-di(1-pyrenyl)pyridine (2,4-DPP), 2,6-di(1-pyrenyl)pyridine (2,6-DPP), and 3,5-di(1-pyrenyl)pyridine (3,5-DPP)). As revealed by single-crystal X-ray analysis and computational simulations, all compounds possess highly twisted conformations in the solid state with interpyrene torsional angles of 42.3°-57.

Imidazolium-dysprosium-based magnetic NanoGUMBOS for isolation of hemoglobin.

A novel imidazolium-dysprosium-based magnetic nanomaterial, i.e. [Cmim][Dy(SCN)] nanoGUMBOS (nanomaterials fabricated from a group of uniform material based on organic salts), was prepared using a facile method for selective hemoglobin (Hb) isolation.