Spatially Mediated Paper Reactors for On-Site Multicoded Encryption.

This report develops a point-of-use chemical trigger and applies it to a dual-functional chemical encryption chip that enables manual and digital identification with enhanced coding security levels suitable for on-site information verification. The concept relies on conducting continuous chemical synthesis and chromatographic separation of specified compounds on a paper device in a straightforward sketch. In addition to single-step chemical reactions, cascade syntheses and operations involving components of distinct mobilities are also demonstrated. The condensation of dione and hydrazine is first demonstrated on a linear paper reactor, where precursors can mix to react, followed by final product separation under optimized conditions. This linear paper reactor design can also support a multistep cascade Wittig reaction by controlling the relative mobility of reactants, intermediates, and final products. Furthermore, a three-dimensional paper reactor with appropriate mobile phases helps to initiate complex solvent system-driven azide-alkyne cycloaddition. By the use of a three-dimensional device design for spatially limited interdevice reactant transportation, reactants crossing designated boundaries trigger confined chemical reactions at specific positions. Accumulation of repetitive reactions leads to successful product gradient generation and mixing effects, representing a fully controllable intersubstrate chemical operation on the platform. Standing on initiating desired chemical reactions at particular interface regions, integration of appropriate selective reaction area, numerical digits overlay, color diversity, and mobile recognition realizes this dual-functional multicoding encryption process.

Dietary Utilization Drives the Differentiation of Gut Bacterial Communities between Specialist and Generalist Drosophilid Flies.

Gut bacteria play vital roles in the dietary detoxification, digestion, and nutrient supplementation of hosts during dietary specialization. The roles of gut bacteria in the host can be unveiled by comparing communities of specialist and generalist bacterial species. However, these species usually have a long evolutionary history, making it difficult to determine whether bacterial community differentiation is due to host dietary adaptation or phylogenetic divergence. In this regard, we investigated the bacterial communities from two Araceae-feeding Colocasiomyia species and further performed a meta-analysis by incorporating the published data from Drosophila bacterial community studies. The compositional and functional differentiation of bacterial communities was uncovered by comparing three (Araceae-feeding, mycophagous, and cactophilic) specialists with generalist flies. The compositional differentiation showed that Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes inhabited specialists, while more Proteobacteria lived in generalists. The functional prediction based on the bacterial community compositions suggested that amino acid metabolism and energy metabolism are overrepresented pathways in specialists and generalists, respectively. The differences were mainly associated with the higher utilization of structural complex carbohydrates, protein utilization, vitamin B12 acquisition, and demand for detoxification in specialists than in generalists. The complementary roles of bacteria reveal a connection between gut bacterial communities and fly dietary specialization. IMPORTANCE Gut bacteria may play roles in the dietary utilization of hosts, especially in specialist animals, during long-term host-microbe interaction. By comparing the gut bacterial communities between specialist and generalist drosophilid flies, we found that specialists harbor more bacteria linked to complex carbohydrate degradation, amino acid metabolism, vitamin B12 formation, and detoxification than do generalists. This study reveals the roles of gut bacteria in drosophilid species in dietary utilization.

Manipulating Chemical Processes by Pseudosolid Spatial Limitation.

It is always preferred to perform chemical processes in liquid or gas phases because of the merits of operation convenience, reaction efficiency, and component homogeneity. However, tremendous efforts have to be made to purify the final product and minimize procedure losses unless a well-defined chemical mechanism is found. Herein, an unconventional chemical functioning system accommodating molecule-in-pseudosolid manipulation is reported. It entails the properties of enhanced molecular effective collision and directional guidance for delicate chemical reaction spatial controls. This design achieves facilitated rates on multicomponent chemical reactions with pros of unique simultaneous final product separation through intrapseudosolid spatial limitation. Localized homogeneous component mixing, pronounced molecular collision, and pure product separation happening in this action surmount the obstacles of conventional chemical operation with a straightforward sketch. A path toward fine chemistry is therefore paved, where traditional thoughts on beneficial reaction environments may be reconsidered.