Gender diversity for sustainability management: developing a research agenda from a supply chain perspective

Gender diversity (GD) is an issue that must be addressed for the sustainable development of businesses. Research is lacking on GD in the sustainability management of supply chains (SMSCs). This study addresses the potential impact of GD on SMSCs. A literature review methodology is used to review academic and professional articles over three decades. The findings show that some studies have examined GD and supply chain management (SCM) but the focus has tended to be on the challenges encountered by women in SCs, such as women as victims, but not women as potential change actors. In contrast, sustainability management literature invokes the importance of GD and the specificities women managers can bring to firms’ performance. A research agenda is proposed in this study by combining outcomes from both fields. It implies there is an important space to fill, especially concerning the environmental and social impacts GD may have on SMSCs

Nucleic acid-based fluorescent probes and their analytical potential

It is well known that nucleic acids play an essential role in living organisms because they store and transmit genetic information and use that information to direct the synthesis of proteins. However, less is known about the ability of nucleic acids to bind specific ligands and the application of oligonucleotides as molecular probes or biosensors. Oligonucleotide probes are single-stranded nucleic acid fragments that can be tailored to have high specificity and affinity for different targets including nucleic acids, proteins, small molecules, and ions. One can divide oligonucleotide-based probes into two main categories: hybridization probes that are based on the formation of complementary base-pairs, and aptamer probes that exploit selective recognition of nonnucleic acid analytes and may be compared with immunosensors. Design and construction of hybridization and aptamer probes are similar. Typically, oligonucleotide (DNA, RNA) with predefined base sequence and length is modified by covalent attachment of reporter groups (one or more fluorophores in fluorescence-based probes). The fluorescent labels act as transducers that transform biorecognition (hybridization, ligand binding) into a fluorescence signal. Fluorescent labels have several advantages, for example high sensitivity and multiple transduction approaches (fluorescence quenching or enhancement, fluorescence anisotropy, fluorescence lifetime, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and excimer-monomer light switching). These multiple signaling options combined with the design flexibility of the recognition element (DNA, RNA, PNA, LNA) and various labeling strategies contribute to development of numerous selective and sensitive bioassays. This review covers fundamentals of the design and engineering of oligonucleotide probes, describes typical construction approaches, and discusses examples of probes used both in hybridization studies and in aptamer-based assays

A fluorescence-based assay for exopeptidases using self-quenching peptide probes with single-molecule sensitivity

In recent years, the interest in assaying exopeptidases has become increasingly important because they are significantly involved in many diseases like cancer. To date, no generally applicable fluorescence-based detection method has been developed because commercially available doubly-labeled substrates are not always digested by exopeptidases. In this article we present a new method for the sensitive detection of exopeptidases based on fluorescently-labeled substrates containing only one fluorophore that is efficiently quenched by an adjacent tryptophan residue via photoinduced electron transfer. Because of their well-known properties we chose carboxypeptidase A (CPA) as a model system. The self-quenching probes were used in homogeneous solution as well as on cross-linked PEG-coated surfaces in combination with single-molecule imaging techniques. However, even with standard fluorescence spectrometers we achieved sensitivity below the picomolar range

Mechanistic studies of atomic layer deposition on oxidation catalysts – AlO_x and PO_x deposition

Atomic layer deposition is a rising technique for catalyst synthesis and modification. Typically, the focus of ALD in catalysis is on supported metal nanoparticles. Here, the authors give mechanistic insights into the ALD of oxides on redox active catalysts by a combination of in situ analytics, such as XPS, DRIFTS and gravimetric measurements. Phosphorus oxide and aluminum oxide were deposited on divanadium pentoxide powder in a fixed bed reactor. In contrast to the generally accepted concepts, the first half cycle does not proceed over surface hydroxyl groups but involves redox chemistry between the precursor and the vanadium atoms, as shown by 31P-SSNMR and XPS. For POx deposition, a temperature step from 150 °C in the first half cycle to 450 °C in the second half cycle is needed to obtain linear mass gain per cycle as the remaining ligands are combusted and reduced vanadium atoms are reoxidized. Homogeneous deposition was confirmed by STEM-EDX and XRD showing no additional phases, despite performing up to 10 ALD cycles. Even the well-known process of alumina ALD confirms the involvement of reduction–oxidation reactions between the ALD precursor and the substrate V2O5. However, redox chemistry can be suppressed for alumina ALD at low temperatures of 50 °C. Therefore, this study shows that ALD on oxidation catalysts is complex and thus the developed ALD processes are unusual compared to ALD on typical supports, such as SiO2 or Al2O3