Comproportionation of CO2 and Cellulose to Formate Using a Floating Semiconductor-Enzyme Photoreforming Catalyst

Funding Information: We would like to thank the European Research Council (ERC) for a Proof of Concept Grant (SolReGen; to E.L. and E.R.) and a Consolidator Grant (MatEnSAP; to M.M. and E.R.), the Swiss National Science Foundation (Early Postdoc Fellowship: P2EZP2 191791 to E.L.) as well as the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for a Postdoctoral Fellowship (S.L.). We thank also Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) for fellowship DFA/BD/7897/2020 (R.M.), grant PTDC/BII-BBF/2050/2020 (I.A.C.P.), MOSTMICRO-ITQB unit (UIDB/04612/2020 and UIDP/04612/2020) and Associated Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020). Ariffin Mohamad Annuar, Subhajit Bhattacharjee, Dongseok Kim (University of Cambridge) and Victor Mougel (ETH Zürich) are acknowledged for helpful discussions. Funding Information: We would like to thank the European Research Council (ERC) for a Proof of Concept Grant (SolReGen; to E.L. and E.R.) and a Consolidator Grant (MatEnSAP; to M.M. and E.R.), the Swiss National Science Foundation (Early Postdoc Fellowship: P2EZP2 191791 to E.L.) as well as the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for a Postdoctoral Fellowship (S.L.). We thank also Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) for fellowship DFA/BD/7897/2020 (R.M.), grant PTDC/BII‐BBF/2050/2020 (I.A.C.P.), MOSTMICRO‐ITQB unit (UIDB/04612/2020 and UIDP/04612/2020) and Associated Laboratory LS4FUTURE (LA/P/0087/2020). Ariffin Mohamad Annuar, Subhajit Bhattacharjee, Dongseok Kim (University of Cambridge) and Victor Mougel (ETH Zürich) are acknowledged for helpful discussions. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.Formate production via both CO2 reduction and cellulose oxidation in a solar-driven process is achieved by a semi-artificial biohybrid photocatalyst consisting of immobilized formate dehydrogenase on titanium dioxide (TiO2|FDH) producing up to 1.16±0.04 mmolformate g (Formula presented.) −1 in 24 hours at 30 °C and 101 kPa under anaerobic conditions. Isotopic labeling experiments with 13C-labeled substrates support the mechanism of stoichiometric formate formation through both redox half-reactions. TiO2|FDH was further immobilized on hollow glass microspheres to perform more practical floating photoreforming allowing vertical solar light illumination with optimal light exposure of the photocatalyst to real sunlight. Enzymatic cellulose depolymerization coupled to the floating photoreforming catalyst generates 0.36±0.04 mmolformate per m2 irradiation area after 24 hours. This work demonstrates the synergistic solar-driven valorization of solid and gaseous waste streams using a biohybrid photoreforming catalyst in aqueous solution and will thus provide inspiration for the development of future semi-artificial waste-to-chemical conversion strategies.publishersversionpublishe

Strengthening national identity partnerships through community participation in border areas

This study aimed to investigate the participation of border communities in maintaining national identity in the border areas between Indonesia and Timor Leste. The research approach utilized in this study was a case study, and data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation. The study focused on border communities in East Kobalima District, Malaka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The findings revealed that border communities participated in maintaining the spirit of nationalism and national identity in three ways. Firstly, they participated in Technical Guidance (Bimtek) on Border Guard Management and capacity building activities for border communities, including the maintenance of national boundary markers such as National Boundary Pillars (PBN) and Border Sign Posts (BSP) along the national border. Additionally, they preserved local culture. Secondly, the community actively participated in flag ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Indonesia and National Education Day. Thirdly, they participated in preserving the national language in border areas to communicate with fellow Indonesians and citizens of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste (RDTL)

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Electrocardiogram for Heart Failure With Reduced or Preserved Ejection Fraction

Current heart failure (HF) guidelines recommend electrocardiography (ECG) as an essential initial investigation in a patient's workup. 1 However, these recommendations were based on studies primarily including patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). 1 , 2 , 3 Guidelines do not distinguish HFrEF from HF with preserved and mid-range ejection fraction (HFpEF and HFmrEF) in their ECG recommendations. We hypothesized that a normal ECG does not exclude HFpEF and has a considerably lower sensitivity for diagnosing HFpEF than HFrEF

Swiss CAT+, a Data-driven Infrastructure for Accelerated Catalysts Discovery and Optimization

The Catalysis Hub – Swiss CAT+ is a new infrastructure project funded by ETH-domain, co-headed by EPFL and ETHZ. It offers the scientific community a unique integrated technology platform combining automated and high-throughput experimentation with advanced computational data analysis to accelerate the discoveries in the field of sustainable catalytic technologies. Divided into two hubs of expertise, homogeneous catalysis at EPFL and heterogeneous catalysis at ETHZ, the platform is open to academic and private research groups. Following a multi-year investment plan, both hubs have acquired and developed several high-end robotic platforms devoted to the synthesis, characterization, and testing of large numbers of molecular and solid catalysts. The hardware is associated with a fully digitalized experimental workflow and a specific data management strategy to support closed-loop experimentation and advanced computational data analysis

In-Vivo Biodistribution and Safety of 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC in Canine Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Theranostic agents are critical for improving the diagnosis and treatment of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The peptidomimetic LLP2A is a novel peptide receptor radiotherapy candidate for treating NHL that expresses the activated α4β1 integrin. Tumor-bearing dogs are an excellent model of human NHL with similar clinical characteristics, behavior, and compressed clinical course. Canine in vivo imaging studies will provide valuable biodistribution and affinity information that reflects a diverse clinical population of lymphoma. This may also help to determine potential dose-limiting radiotoxicity to organs in human clinical trials. To validate this construct in a naturally occurring model of NHL, we performed in-vivo molecular targeted imaging and biodistribution in 3 normal dogs and 5 NHL bearing dogs. 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC-PEG and 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC were successfully synthesized and had very good labeling efficiency and radiochemical purity. 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC and 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC-PEG had biodistribution in keeping with their molecular size, with 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC-PEG remaining longer in the circulation, having higher tissue uptake, and having more activity in the liver compared to 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC. 99mTc-LLP2A-HYNIC was mainly eliminated through the kidneys with some residual activity. Radioactivity was reduced to near-background levels at 6 hours after injection. In NHL dogs, tumor showed moderately increased activity over background, with tumor activity in B-cell lymphoma dogs decreasing after chemotherapy. This compound is promising in the development of targeted drug-delivery radiopharmaceuticals and may contribute to translational work in people affected by non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Open innovation in the power & energy sector: Bringing together government policies, companies’ interests, and academic essence

The Power and Energy (P&E) sector needs to respond to several challenges fostering investments in research and development. According to the Open Innovation (OI) paradigm, key stakeholders like utilities, vendors, laboratories, universities etc. should take advantage of external knowledge to improve their innovation performance. Several studies have demonstrated that firms adopting the OI paradigm are more likely to innovate. Despite the interest of P&E firms in enhancing their innovation capabilities, surprisingly few articles (usually case studies) described the implementation of the OI paradigm in P&E firms. This article fills the gap by identifying the key drivers that encourage a firm in the P&E sector to embrace the OI paradigm. The authors adopt a hybrid research approach collecting evidence from the literature and through a multiple case-study analysis involving seven British firms and universities operating in the P&E industry. As the drivers of OI have mutual influence, this article describes them with a fuzzy cognitive map. Finally, the authors identify appropriated policies to enhance the OI adoption and, consequently, the sustainability of innovation in the P&E sector. A salient research agenda closes the paper

Discordant American College of Physicians and international rheumatology guidelines for gout management: consensus statement of the Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN).

In November 2016, the American College of Physicians (ACP) published a clinical practice guideline on the management of acute and recurrent gout. This guideline differs substantially from the latest guidelines generated by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and 3e (Evidence, Expertise, Exchange) Initiative, despite reviewing largely the same body of evidence. The Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN) convened an expert panel to review the methodology and conclusions of these four sets of guidelines and examine possible reasons for discordance between them. The G-CAN position, presented here, is that the fundamental pathophysiological knowledge underlying gout care, and evidence from clinical experience and clinical trials, supports a treat-to-target approach for gout aimed at lowering serum urate levels to below the saturation threshold at which monosodium urate crystals form. This practice, which is truly evidence-based and promotes the steady reduction in tissue urate crystal deposits, is promoted by the ACR, EULAR and 3e Initiative recommendations. By contrast, the ACP does not provide a clear recommendation for urate-lowering therapy (ULT) for patients with frequent, recurrent flares or those with tophi, nor does it recommend monitoring serum urate levels of patients prescribed ULT. Results from emerging clinical trials that have gout symptoms as the primary end point are expected to resolve this debate for all clinicians in the near term future

Stabilizing Salt-Bridge Enhances Protein Thermostability by Reducing the Heat Capacity Change of Unfolding

Most thermophilic proteins tend to have more salt bridges, and achieve higher thermostability by up-shifting and broadening their protein stability curves. While the stabilizing effect of salt-bridge has been extensively studied, experimental data on how salt-bridge influences protein stability curves are scarce. Here, we used double mutant cycles to determine the temperature-dependency of the pair-wise interaction energy and the contribution of salt-bridges to ΔCp in a thermophilic ribosomal protein L30e. Our results showed that the pair-wise interaction energies for the salt-bridges E6/R92 and E62/K46 were stabilizing and insensitive to temperature changes from 298 to 348 K. On the other hand, the pair-wise interaction energies between the control long-range ion-pair of E90/R92 were negligible. The ΔCp of all single and double mutants were determined by Gibbs-Helmholtz and Kirchhoff analyses. We showed that the two stabilizing salt-bridges contributed to a reduction of ΔCp by 0.8–1.0 kJ mol−1 K−1. Taken together, our results suggest that the extra salt-bridges found in thermophilic proteins enhance the thermostability of proteins by reducing ΔCp, leading to the up-shifting and broadening of the protein stability curves