Mainstream Strategy Research Articles

Pulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma in patients aged 45 years and younger: clinical features and novelty in treatment

BackgroundPulmonary benign metastasizing leiomyoma (PBML) is the most common extrauterine spread of uterine leiomyoma, and its biological behavior is traditionally thought to be hormone dependent. Studies on older PBML patients have been previously reported, but limited literature has been published regarding the clinical features and treatment of PBML in young women.MethodsA total of 65 cases of PBML in women aged 45 years and younger were reviewed, including 56 cases selected from PubMed and 9 cases from our hospital. The clinical characteristics and management of these patients were analyzed.ResultsThe median age of all the patients at diagnosis was 39.0 years. PBML most commonly presented as bilateral solid lesions (60.9%), with other rare imaging manifestations. The median interval time from a pertinent gynecologic procedure to diagnosis was 6.0 years. A total of 16.7% of patients received careful observation, and all achieved stable status in a median follow-up time of 18.0 months. A total of 71.4% of patients were administered anti-estrogen therapies, including surgical castration (33.3%), gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (23.8%) and anti-estrogen drugs (14.3%). Eight of 42 patients underwent surgical resection of metastatic lesions. Patients who underwent curative surgery for the removal of pulmonary lesions combined with adjuvant anti-estrogen therapies had favorable outcomes compared with those who only underwent surgical resection. The disease control rates of surgical castration, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog, and anti-estrogen drugs were 85.7%, 90.0%, and 50.0%, respectively. For two patients, sirolimus (rapamycin) achieved successful relief of symptoms and control of pulmonary lesions without lowering hormone levels and causing estrogen deficiency symptoms.ConclusionsIn the absence of standard treatment guidelines for PBML, maintaining a low-estrogen environment using different kinds of antiestrogen therapies has been the mainstream strategy and has satisfying curative effects. A wait-and-see strategy might be an option, but therapeutic approaches must be contemplated when complications or symptoms progress. For PBML in young women, the negative effect on ovarian function of anti-estrogen treatment, especially surgical castration, should be considered. Sirolimus might be a new treatment option for young PBML patients, especially for those who want to preserve ovarian function.

Formation of value-added products from the pyrolysis of date pits: A combined experimental–DFT approach

In arid and semiarid environments, bio-oil extraction from environmentally favorable and waste biomass is presently used as a mainstream strategy for the development of sustainable sources of energy. In keeping with this, we provide a thorough analysis of the pyrolysis of date palm pits here, focusing particularly on relevant thermal degradation profiles and pyrolytic products over a wide temperature range. Pyrolysis experiments were performed using a single-stage reactor at several temperature intervals. The temperature ranges were chosen following mass loss profiles of date pit biomass obtained by thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) analysis. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations map out reaction pathways that dictate the decomposition of two model compounds that represented oxygen and nitrogen content in the collected condensed and non-condensed fractions. In-depth temperature-dependent profiles of pyrolytic products are thoroughly presented and analyzed. Analysis of products indicates the generation of a wide spectra of green diesel's ingredients of (i.e., long aliphatic compounds) and transportation fuels additives (alkylated benzenes). Aromatic compounds attain the highest fractions in the collected bio-oil at investigated temperature windows. Glucose derivatives appear in appreciable loads in the non-condensable fractions. The obtained mass loss curves reflect degradation curves for the most prominent biomass structural components; namely lignocellulosic, hemicellulose, and lignin. Findings presented herein shall be helpful to develop pyrolysis technologies that are suited for niche categories of biomass found in arid and semiarid regions where cultivation of standard energy crops is impractical.

Enhanced excretion of recombinant cyclodextrin glucanotransferase and cell stability of immobilized recombinant Escherichia coli by reducing tryptone concentration

AbstractBACKGROUNDRecombinant protein excretion has become a mainstream strategy in reducing downstream processing costs. However, recombinant protein excretion is often bottlenecked by cell lysis and plasmid stability. In the present study, recombinant Escherichia coli cell immobilization was performed on a hollow fiber membrane. Tryptone concentration in the expression medium (Super Optimal Broth), which was used as a nitrogen source, was varied between 5 and 20 g L−1 to enhance the excretion of recombinant cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase), plasmid stability, and resistance of cell lysis.RESULTSThe immobilized cells with 5 g L−1 concentration of tryptone improved the plasmid stability with 119% improvement and 69% reduction of cell lysis without remarkably altering the excretion of CGTase compared with the tryptone concentration of 20 g L−1. The immobilized cells showed a 2‐fold increase in excretion of CGTase, a 45% reduction in cell lysis, and a 172% gain in plasmid stability in comparison with the free cells. Moreover, the doubling time increased to 58 and 5 h for the immobilized and free cells, respectively. The immobilized cells recorded 2301.62 U mL−1 of cumulative CGTase activity through seven fermentation cycles using the untreated membrane, marking their excellent reusability.CONCLUSIONThis new technique of recombinant protein expression utilizing an immobilized cell system under low tryptone concentration is an outstanding approach to improve recombinant CGTase excretion and plasmid stability with low cell lysis. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

Proteome and genome integration analysis of obesity.

The prevalence of obesity has increased worldwide in recent decades. Genetic factors are now known to play a substantial role in the predisposition to obesity and may contribute up to 70% of the risk for obesity. Technological advancements during the last decades have allowed the identification of many hundreds of genetic markers associated with obesity. However, the transformation of current genetic variant-obesity associations into biological knowledge has been proven challenging. Genomics and proteomics are complementary fields, as proteomics extends functional analyses. Integrating genomic and proteomic data can help to bridge a gap in knowledge regarding genetic variant-obesity associations and to identify new drug targets for the treatment of obesity. We provide an overview of the published papers on the integrated analysis of proteomic and genomic data in obesity and summarize four mainstream strategies: overlap, colocalization, Mendelian randomization, and proteome-wide association studies. The integrated analyses identified many obesity-associated proteins, such as leptin, follistatin, and adenylate cyclase 3. Despite great progress, integrative studies focusing on obesity are still limited. There is an increased demand for large prospective cohort studies to identify and validate findings, and further apply these findings to the prevention, intervention, and treatment of obesity. In addition, we also discuss several other potential integration methods.

Growth for Good: Reshaping Capitalism to Save Humanity from Climate Catastrophe

Terzi, an economist at the European Commission, describes his approach as follows: ‘Climate change is too important an issue to allow ideology to blind us to truth. I have worked hard to free myself from preconceptions taking as much as possible an open-minded approach, even to theories normally belittled by mainstream economics. This book carefully considers the points raised by those who criticise capitalism, its relation to nature, and therefore the mainstream strategy—green growth—being pursued to deal with climate change’ (p. xii). Alongside this promising start is the final chapter outlining a ‘Blueprint for Green Capitalism’, in which Terzi appears to recognise the scale of the transformation facing economy and society if we are to avoid climate catastrophe, noting that ‘full decarbonization will require a “whole-of-nation approach” akin to a wartime economy’ (p. 184). He repeatedly states that the green transition will require a much larger role for the state, and an even more urgent need to introduce a wide range of policies to reduce economic inequality. European Commissioner Frans Timmermans’s remark that there will either be a just green transition, or no transition, is endorsed with supporting arguments acknowledging that most forms of carbon pricing are regressive, and that some regions especially affected by the transition (such as coal mining areas) are often already suffering from severe economic disadvantage.

Key events in cancer: Dysregulation of SREBPs.

Lipid metabolism reprogramming is an important hallmark of tumor progression. Cancer cells require high levels of lipid synthesis and uptake not only to support their continued replication, invasion, metastasis, and survival but also to participate in the formation of biological membranes and signaling molecules. Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) are core transcription factors that control lipid metabolism and the expression of important genes for lipid synthesis and uptake. A growing number of studies have shown that SREBPs are significantly upregulated in human cancers and serve as intermediaries providing a mechanistic link between lipid metabolism reprogramming and malignancy. Different subcellular localizations, including endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and nucleus, play an indispensable role in regulating the cleavage maturation and activity of SREBPs. In this review, we focus on the relationship between aberrant regulation of SREBPs activity in three organelles and tumor progression. Because blocking the regulation of lipid synthesis by SREBPs has gradually become an important part of tumor therapy, this review also summarizes and analyzes several current mainstream strategies.

Simple Recycling of Ag+, Surfactant, and Solvent for Repeatable Synthesis of Silver Nanowires for Applications as Flexible Transparent Heaters

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have shown great potential in various optical and electronic applications, especially in flexible and wearable devices. Polyol method is now a mainstream strategy to synthesize AgNWs. However, unreacted reagents including silver salt, surfactant, and solvent are usually discarded after the collection of products, resulting in a huge waste as well as a burden to the environment. In this work, we demonstrate a simple recycle method to reuse these reagents based on a two-step direct centrifugation protocol. Larger nanowires are separated, while remaining small nanowires and nanoparticles provide nucleation sites and likely function as catalysts to achieve a three-times faster nanowire growth. The cyclic synthesis can maintain at least five consecutive rounds to produce AgNWs with similar size and yield and more rounds under suitable adjustment of Ag+ supply. Transparent conductive films based on AgNWs grown from recycled reagents show excellent and consistent optoelectronic performance, namely, a sheet resistance of 141.3 Ω/sq at a transmittance of 99.7% and 9.48 Ω/sq at 92.9%. A transparent heater with a PDMS/AgNWs/PET structure exhibits a resistance of 8.6 Ω at a total transmittance of 76.5% and is heated to 75.8 °C at a 3.5 V power supply. A fast-defrosting process is demonstrated. The recycling method significantly reduces the cost of AgNW production and may widen their application in high-performance flexible devices.

Recent Progress of Nanodiamond Film in Controllable Fabrication and Field Emission Properties.

The interest in the field electron emission cathode nanomaterials is on the rise due to the wide applications, such as electron sources, miniature X-ray devices, display materials, etc. In particular, nanodiamond (ND) film is regarded as an ideal next-generation cathode emitter in the field emission devices, due to the low or negative electron affinity, small grain size, high mechanical hardness, low work function, and high reliability. Increasing efforts are conducted on the investigation of the emission structures, manufacturing cost, and field emission properties improvement of the ND films. This review aims to summarize the recent research, highlight the new findings, and provide a roadmap for future developments in the area of ND film electron field emitter. Specially, the optimizing methods of large-scale, high-quality, and cost-effective synthesis of ND films are discussed to achieve more stable surface structure and optimal physical properties. Additionally, the mainstream strategies applied to produce high field emission performance of ND films are analyzed in detail, including regulating the grain size/boundary, hybrid phase carbon content, and doping element/type of ND films; meanwhile, the problems existing in the related research and the outlook in this area are also discussed.

Constructing a Stabilized Cathode Electrolyte Interphase for High-Voltage LiCoO2 Batteries via the Phenylmaleic Anhydride Additive

Increasing the charge cutoff voltage (≥4.6 V) is an effective and mainstream strategy to elevate the energy density of LiCoO2 (LCO)-based lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the cycle life is compromised and challenged owing to the vulnerable cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) and severe structural degradation of LCO at high voltages. In this work, a functional electrolyte additive phenylmaleic anhydride (PMA) is applied to construct a stabilized CEI film with compact and uniform properties, which facilitates preserving the fast Li+ diffusion kinetics during cycling and mitigates the dissolution of Co ions and fragmentation of LCO. As a result, the durability of the LCO battery is significantly improved in the electrolyte with PMA, and the capacity retention is promoted from 55.3 to 78.6% after 300 cycles at 1C at a cutoff voltage of 4.65 V. The electrolyte regulation with a proper additive provides an effective path to enhance the electrochemical performance of LIBs with high energy density and thus realize their practical applications.

Elucidating Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Kinetics via Intermediates by Time-Dependent Electrochemiluminescence.

Facile evaluation of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics for electrocatalysts is critical for sustainable fuel-cell development and industrial H2 O2 production. Despite great success in ORR studies using mainstream strategies, such as the membrane electrode assembly, rotation electrodes, and advanced surface-sensitive spectroscopy, the time and spatial distribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) intermediates in the diffusion layer remain unknown. Using time-dependent electrochemiluminescence (Td-ECL), we report an intermediate-oriented method for ORR kinetics analysis. Owing to multiple ultrasensitive stoichiometric reactions between ROS and the ECL emitter, except for electron transfer numbers and rate constants, the potential-dependent time and spatial distribution of ROS were successfully obtained for the first time. Such exclusively uncovered information would guide the development of electrocatalysts for fuel cells and H2 O2 production with maximized activity and durability.

Elucidating Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Kinetics via Intermediates by Time‐Dependent Electrochemiluminescence

AbstractFacile evaluation of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics for electrocatalysts is critical for sustainable fuel‐cell development and industrial H2O2 production. Despite great success in ORR studies using mainstream strategies, such as the membrane electrode assembly, rotation electrodes, and advanced surface‐sensitive spectroscopy, the time and spatial distribution of reactive oxygen species (ROS) intermediates in the diffusion layer remain unknown. Using time‐dependent electrochemiluminescence (Td‐ECL), we report an intermediate‐oriented method for ORR kinetics analysis. Owing to multiple ultrasensitive stoichiometric reactions between ROS and the ECL emitter, except for electron transfer numbers and rate constants, the potential‐dependent time and spatial distribution of ROS were successfully obtained for the first time. Such exclusively uncovered information would guide the development of electrocatalysts for fuel cells and H2O2 production with maximized activity and durability.

Degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA) with calcium hydroxide: a thermo-kinetic analysis.

Thermal treatment of bromine-contaminated polymers (i.e., as in e-waste) with metal oxides is currently deployed as a mainstream strategy in recycling and resources recovery from these objects. The underlying aim is to capture the bromine content and to produce pure bromine-free hydrocarbons. Bromine originates from the added brominated flame retardants (BFRs) to the polymeric fractions in printed circuits boards, where tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBA) is the most utilized BFR. Among notable deployed metal oxides is calcium hydroxide, i.e., Ca(OH)2 that often displays high debromination capacity. Comprehending thermo-kinetic parameters that account for the BFRs:Ca(OH)2 interaction is instrumental to optimize the operation at an industrial scale. Herein, we report comprehensive kinetics and thermodynamics studies into the pyrolytic and oxidative decomposition of a TBBA:Ca(OH)2 mixture at four different heating rates, 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C min-1, carried out using a thermogravimetric analyser. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and a carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur (CHNS) elemental analyser established the vibrations of the molecules and carbon content of the sample. From the thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) data, the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters were evaluated using iso-conversional methods (KAS, FWO, and Starink), which were further validated by the Coats-Redfern method. The computed activation energies for the pyrolytic decomposition of pure TBBA and its mixture with Ca(OH)2 reside in the narrow ranges of 111.7-112.1 kJ mol-1 and 62.8-63.4 kJ mol-1, respectively (considering the various models). Obtained negative ΔS values suggest the formation of stable products. The synergic effects of the blend exhibited positive values in the low-temperature ranges (200-300 °C) due to the emission of HBr from TBBA and the solid-liquid bromination process occurring between TBBA and Ca(OH)2. From a practical point of view, data provided herein are useful in efforts that aim to fine-tune operational conditions encountered in real recycling scenarios, i.e., in co-pyrolysis of e-waste with Ca(OH)2 in rotary kilns.

Системная парадигма и разработка альтернативных стратегий построения институциональных экономических теорий

This article addresses the key aspects of constructing contemporary theories in institutional economics. The goal is to uncover the paradigmatic framework guiding different strategies in institutional theo­ries and their potential for change. Using interdisciplinary constructivist methods from social sciences, the study highlights the intersubjective nature of economics and contrasts the principles that serve as the foundation for the development of institutional economic theories. The study’s historical review shows that shared research strategies have emerged from a paradigm rooted in the marginalist revolution. In this approach, collective phenomena explain the behavior of agents pursuing utilitarian motives. The unorthodox strategy involves constructing macro-, micro-, and historical-economic theories based on the distinction of two main levels of research: value-normative and institutional-instrumental. Meanwhile, the mainstream strategy concentrates only on institutions and tools. Relying on the established paradigm results in the creation of structuralist and eclectic theories that lead to a fragmented view of the economy. The paper advocates a transition to a poststructura­list paradigm via constructivist logic. This shift entails examining the relationship between agents and institutions from the perspective of economic culture, values, and ideas, rather than psychology. This approach enables a multi-level assessment of the economy as a system of institutions forged through value compromise. It also allows us to show internal changes, considering the impact of path determinacy linked to new values and ideas (ideational path determinacy).

Rapid LC–MS assay for targeted metabolite quantification by serial injection into isocratic gradients

Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS) has emerged as a mainstream strategy for metabolomics analyses. One advantage of LC–MS is that it can serve both as a biomarker discovery tool and as a platform for clinical diagnostics. Consequently, it offers an exciting opportunity to potentially transition research studies into real-world clinical tools. One important distinction between research versus diagnostics-based applications of LC–MS is throughput. Clinical LC–MS must enable quantitative analyses of target molecules in hundreds or thousands of samples each day. Currently, the throughput of these clinical applications is limited by the chromatographic gradient lengths, which—when analyzing complex metabolomics samples—are difficult to conduct in under ~ 3 min per sample without introducing serious quantitative analysis problems. To address this shortcoming, we developed sequential quantification using isotope dilution (SQUID), an analytical strategy that combines serial sample injections into a continuous isocratic mobile phase to maximize throughput. SQUID uses internal isotope-labelled standards to correct for changes in LC–MS response factors over time. We show that SQUID can detect microbial polyamines in human urine specimens (lower limit of quantification; LLOQ = 106 nM) with less than 0.019 normalized root mean square error. Moreover, we show that samples can be analyzed in as little as 57 s. We propose SQUID as a new, high-throughput LC–MS tool for quantifying small sets of target biomarkers across large cohorts.Graphical

Dietary energy restriction inneurologicaldiseases: what's new?

Energy-restricted diet is a specific dietary regimen, including the continuous energy-restricted diet and the intermittent energy-restricted diet. It has been proven effective not only to reduce weight and extend the lifespan in animal models, but also to regulate the development and progression of various neurological diseases such as epilepsy, cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease) and autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis). However, the mechanism in this field is still not clear and a systematic neurological summary is still missing. In this review, we first give a brief summary of the definition and mainstream strategies of energy restrictions. We then review evidence about the effects of energy-restricted diet from both animal models and human trials, and update the current understanding of mechanisms underlying the biological role of energy-restricted diet in the fight against neurological diseases. Our review thus contributes to the modification of dietary regimen and the search for special diet mimics.

Oxidative and pyrolytic decomposition of an evaporated stream of 2,4,6-tribromophenol over hematite: A prevailing scenario during thermal recycling of e-waste

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) constitute a major load in the polymeric fraction of e-waste. Degradation of BFRs-laden plastics over transition metal oxides is currently deployed as a mainstream strategy in the disposal and treatment of the non-metallic segment of e-waste. However, interaction of pyrolysis’s products of BFRs with transition metal oxides is well-known to facilitate the formation of notorious pollutants. Despite recent progress to comprehend the germane chemistry of this interaction, several important pertinent aspects remain to be addressed. To fill in this gap, an integrated experimental and simulation account of the pyrolytic and oxidative decomposition of a gaseous stream of 2,4,6-tribromophenol (TBP) over hematite (Fe2O3) has been reported herein. TBP is utilized as a model compounds of BFRs as their most common formulations include brominated phenolic rings. Overall, hematite entails a rather low cracking capacity under pyrolytic conditions. Analysis of condensate products indicates that oxidative degradation of a gaseous stream of TBP results mainly in the formation of brominated alkanes such as bromoethane and bromo-pentane. Likewise, Ion chromatography (IC) measurements disclosed a noticeable reduction in the concentrations of escaped HBr. Transformation of iron oxides into iron bromides (possibly in the form of FeBr2) during pyrolysis and combustion operations is evident through XRD measurements. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations map out important reactions pathways that operate in the initial degradation of the TBP molecule. From a broader perspective, outlined results shall be instrumental to precisely assess the effectiveness of using iron oxides in thermal catalytic recycling of e-waste and the likely emission of brominated toxicants.

A feasible and versatile strategy to endow rubbers with self-healing based on reversible non-covalent interactions: A concept of self-healing masterbatch

To achieve self-healing for commercial rubbers, the current mainstream strategy is to equip rubber molecules with essential functional groups by chemical modifications. However, different structure of rubber molecules determines a disparate optimal self-healing mechanism, which turns out a consequent complex and multifarious chemical modifications for them. In other words, the same modification method cannot be applied to various rubbers, which is partly a limitation on the preparation of self-healing rubbers. Herein, we propose a concept of self-healing masterbatch which can effectively endow rubber matrix with self-healing ability via a facile processing method. We design this rubber masterbatch equipped with a mass of carboxyl groups by the grafting reaction between natural rubber and 2-methacrylic acid. Then the rubber masterbatch can be mixed with rubber matrix and simultaneously ZnO must be added to introduce Zn2+ via its neutralization reaction with the masterbatch. After a controlled peroxide-induced vulcanization, the chains of masterbatch are grafted onto the chains of rubber matrix and then a reversible Zn2+ crosslinking network is generated. Based on above method, natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber and cis-polybutadiene rubber successfully earn considerable self-healing ability, showing a self-healing efficiency of >90%. Furthermore, based on the reversible non-covalent interactions between the carboxyl groups of the self-healing masterbatch and inorganic substrates, the self-healing masterbatch can recover its adhesion and reuse to bond the cements together, showing a “dynamic reversible adhesion”. We hope this concept of self-healing masterbatch could open up a feasible and versatile avenue to prepare self-healing rubbers based on reversible non-covalent interactions.

Strategy as Practice Research: Reflections on its Rationale, Approach, and Contributions

AbstractStrategy as practice (SAP) research has developed into an established area of study, and the Journal of Management Studies (JMS) has played an important role in this as a hospitable outlet, including via a foundational special issue in 2003. This article offers a bird's eye view of the domain and a ready source of relevant literature to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to this topic. We make three observations that reflect both the JMS thematic collection and the wider literature on SAP and help to shed light on some of the key tensions facing scholars who seek to develop a distinct body of research. First, in terms of the rationale for SAP research, this body of work has grappled with its framing as building upon, yet distinct from strategy process research, to delve into practices within strategy process. Second, in terms of the approach to research (and community‐building), SAP research has reflected European intellectual roots which has helped to deliver on its broad research purpose but has perhaps also impeded its impact on more mainstream strategy. Third, in terms of the contribution of SAP research, there has been a large volume of high quality work, appearing in well‐regarded journals, generating a considerable diversity of perspectives.

Elastomer-based thermal interface materials by introducing continuous skeleton to achieve the improved thermal conductivity and smart stress sensing capability

Owing to the rapid development towards high power density of the modern electronics, heat accumulation and low dissipation efficiency seriously affect its service lifetime. To settle this problem, polymer-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) with high thermal conductivity have become the mainstream strategy to eliminate influence of air factor between chip and heat sink. Herein, the covalently bonded CNTs-rGO hybrids assisted NR hydrogel was proposed by one-step method and then treated by hot-pressing approach to obtain TIMs. As a result, such TIMs exhibited a superior through-plane thermal conductivity of 1.82 W m−1 K−1, the good tensile strength of 14.5 MPa and the excellent stress sensing capability. The results demonstrated that the strongly interactions and well-ordered structures played the important role in ameliorating thermal conductivity. Simultaneously, the excellent stress sensing capability is benefit to detect its operation stability. Importantly, this work provides the meaningful guidance to design highly comprehensive performance TIMs.

Microbial containment device: A platform for comprehensive analysis of microbial metabolism without sample preparation.

Metabolomics is a mainstream strategy for investigating microbial metabolism. One emerging application of metabolomics is the systematic quantification of metabolic boundary fluxes – the rates at which metabolites flow into and out of cultured cells. Metabolic boundary fluxes can capture complex metabolic phenotypes in a rapid assay, allow computational models to be built that predict the behavior of cultured organisms, and are an emerging strategy for clinical diagnostics. One advantage of quantifying metabolic boundary fluxes rather than intracellular metabolite levels is that it requires minimal sample processing. Whereas traditional intracellular analyses require a multi-step process involving extraction, centrifugation, and solvent exchange, boundary fluxes can be measured by simply analyzing the soluble components of the culture medium. To further simplify boundary flux analyses, we developed a custom 96-well sampling system—the Microbial Containment Device (MCD)—that allows water-soluble metabolites to diffuse from a microbial culture well into a bacteria-free analytical well via a semi-permeable membrane. The MCD was designed to be compatible with the autosamplers present in commercial liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry systems, allowing metabolic fluxes to be analyzed with minimal sample handling. Herein, we describe the design, evaluation, and performance testing of the MCD relative to traditional culture methods. We illustrate the utility of this platform, by quantifying the unique boundary fluxes of four bacterial species and demonstrate antibiotic-induced perturbations in their metabolic activity. We propose the use of the MCD for enabling single-step metabolomics sample preparation for microbial identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and other metabolic boundary flux applications where traditional sample preparation methods are impractical.