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Detergent-Triggered Membrane Remodelling Monitored via Intramembrane Fluorescence Dequenching
Get PDFDetergent-induced membrane solubilization is important for several biotechnological applications including membrane protein isolation, cell lysis and virus inactivation. The thermodynamic details of the underlying process have been previously examined, but the mechanistic details remain largely underexplored owing in part to a lack of suitable technologies capable of assessing nanoscopic membrane disruption events. Key open questions include: how do detergents remodel the membrane structure at subsolubilizing concentrations? And what is the sequence of morphological transitions that lead up to solubilization? Here, we introduce a single-color assay based on the fluorescence dequenching of membrane-integrated fluorophores as a sensitive and generalizable tool to probe nanoscale membrane remodelling events induced by detergents. We demonstrate, using fluorescence spectroscopy and time-correlated single photon counting, that the widely used detergent Triton X-100 triggers substantial morphological changes at concentrations below its critical micellar concentration. Moreover, by taking advantage of single vesicle fluorescence lifetime imaging and scanning electron microscopy, we reveal that the swelling step involves a morphological transition from spherical vesicles to toroidal structures, providing direct evidence for detergent-driven membrane reorganization prior to solubilization. Our findings support and refine a multistep model of detergent-induced membrane solubilization, positioning fluorescence dequenching as a tool for detecting conformational intermediates. We show that the fluorescence dequenching approach performs robustly across multiple cyanine-based probes and experimental conditions and its nanoscale sensitivity provides a platform from which to interrogate membrane perturbations induced by a wide variety of molecular disruptors, including those with important biomedical significance
Environmental and socio-ecological performance of greening at household and street level
No full textHousehold- and street-level greening is a key strategy for enhancing urban resilience to climate change, yet gaps persist in understanding their environmental and socio-ecological performance. To address this gap, this study aims to identify the most common household and street-scale green infrastructure (GI) types in the UK, develop a structured scoring framework for evaluating their environmental and socio-ecological performance, and determine which configurations deliver the greatest multifunctional benefits. We surveyed 112 cities and towns in England and Wales, documenting a total of over 900 sites across front gardens, back gardens, and streets. Common types of greenery included grass, hedges, container plants, street trees, and low shrubs. A five-level scoring framework was developed to assess these configurations' environmental and socio-ecological performance across five impact dimensions: air quality, cooling, flood mitigation, biodiversity, and health and wellbeing. The framework was informed by 991 peer-reviewed studies (2015–2025), expert judgement, and remote visual assessments. The results reveal a clear performance gap between single-element and multi-element configurations. At the household level, combinations of hedges, grass, and trees scored highest in pollutant reduction, cooling, and surface water management. Adding container plants or vertical green screens further improved biodiversity and wellbeing, especially in front gardens. At the street level, the highest scores were associated with configurations that included street trees, roadside grass, hedges, and shrubs. Pocket gardens further enhanced socio-ecological performance through vegetation diversity and vertical layering. These findings underscore the role of plant diversity and spatial composition in maximising the multifunctional benefits of household and street-scale greenery and emphasise that collectively these provide the most benefit when planned as a multifunctional network of GI. The study offers a replicable, evidence-based reference to support DIY and community greening and supports equity and resilience in UK residential areas
Synergistic piezophototronic and plasmonic effects in Pt-Pd/BiVO4 composites for enhanced tetracycline degradation
No full textPiezo-photocatalysis has emerged as a promising strategy for environmental remediation, particularly in addressing persistent organic pollutants such as antibiotics. However, its practical implementation faces two critical challenges: (1) rapid recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and (2) insufficient active sites for surface redox reactions. To overcome these limitations, we developed an innovative piezo-photocatalytic system composed of ultrathin BiVO4 nanosheets decorated with bimetallic Pt-Pd alloy nanoparticles (Pt-Pd/BiVO4) for efficient tetracycline (TC) degradation. As an efficient combination of photocatalysis and piezocatalysis, the built-in polarization field generated by the piezoelectric effect of BiVO4 catalysts could serve as a powerful driving force for the separation and migration of photoexcited charges. Simultaneously, the Pt-Pd nanoparticles enhance catalytic performance through (i) localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-induced hot electron generation and (ii) optimized charge transfer pathways due to their superior electrical conductivity. Under simultaneous ultrasonic vibration and visible light illumination, the PPB-0.5 composites achieves an outstanding TC degradation rate constant (k = 0.071 min−1), representing a 3.54-fold enhancement compared to pure BiVO4. Furthermore, the degradation efficiency remains nearly 90 % after four cycles, highlighting the system's stability. The result reveal that the synergistic coupling of photocatalysis, piezoelectric polarization and plasmonic excitation significantly promotes the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), particularly ·OH and ·O2- radicals, which play a dominant role in TC degradation. This work not only provides fundamental insights into piezo-photo-plasmonic coupling effects but also offers a viable design strategy for developing robust hybrid catalysts for wastewater treatment applications
Intersectional inequalities in neighbourhood air pollution concentration in England: A quantitative analysis of ecological data using Eco-Intersectional Multilevel (EIM) modelling
No full textAir pollution is detrimentally associated with many health outcomes, yet its impacts are not equally distributed. Research consistently finds inequalities by ethnicity, area deprivation and age. However, such inequalities are typically investigated separately, potentially underestimating the extent of differential exposures. We aim to investigate inequalities in NOx concentrations across multiple intersecting neighbourhood characteristics in England simultaneously. We do this using the novel Eco-Intersectional Multilevel (EIM) modelling approach, we define analytic “strata” of neighbourhoods based on sociodemographic characteristics. This enables us to quantify NOx concentration inequalities across community types, simultaneously considering area deprivation, ethnicity, education, rurality and age of residents. We find that neighbourhoods belonging to the “most deprived, high proportion minority ethnic, high education, urban and not ageing” stratum had the highest average NOx concentration. This concentration was five times higher than places with the lowest concentration in the mid deprivation, low proportion minority ethnic, high education, rural and ageing stratum. We find clear and striking inequalities by ethnicity. However, we do not find evidence of inequalities by area deprivation that operate independently of community ethnicity, likely due to the strong relationship between ethnicity and deprivation distributions. This study demonstrates the value of taking an intersectional approach to geographical inequalities
Revised Methods Guide for Economic Evaluation Studies of Health Technologies in Portugal
No full textChallenges in aerodynamic performance of micro gas turbines and design inefficiencies
No full textMicro gas turbines (MGTs) hold significant potential for applications in distributed power generation, aviation, and military sectors due to their compact size and high power density. However, their performance is hindered by substantial aerodynamic challenges, including inherently low-Reynolds-number flows, large tip clearances, thick trailing edges, and low aspect ratios, all of which contribute to increased aerodynamic losses. To investigate these challenges, this study employs large-eddy simulation (LES) with Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes methodologies on a single-stage Wren100 turbine (capable of 100N thrust and ∼ 20kW power), focusing on critical design aspects such as stator and rotor Reynolds number of around 30,000 to 60,000. The research begins with baseline LES analyses to capture unsteady flow structures, laminar separation, and tip leakage effects. Parametric redesigns of stator vane count, aspect ratio, trailing edge thickness, and rotor tip clearance are then proposed to address identified loss sources. Results demonstrate a thrust increase from 24.25N to 29.95N, and a rise in the rotor isentropic efficiency from 80.1% to 81.1% by optimizing stator parameters. Further reducing rotor tip clearance from 5% to 2.5% of blade height improves efficiency to 83.4% while sustaining the improved thrust levels. Although aerodynamic challenges remain, targeted geometry refinements can yield tangible performance gains, offering guidance for next-generation MGT development that balances efficiency with manufacturability. Future work will focus on experimental testing of these redesigned components, along with optimization methods that incorporate thermal and structural constraints to further refine the MGT performance. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4069508
Alpha, beta and gamma diversity in relatively natural, mixed and transformed landscape scenarios
No full textBiodiversity losses and biotic homogenisation associated with human-induced land-cover changes are key issues for ecology. However, the effects of human-caused land-use changes on biodiversity change at the landscape scale are not well understood. Combining the PREDICTS global biodiversity database with MODIS satellite-based land cover from 2001 to 2013, we created three landscape modification scenarios - relatively natural, partially modified (mixed, e.g., mixtures of crops and natural remnants) and fully modified (transformed, e.g., urban and plantation mosaics) and estimated the landscape-scale alpha, beta and gamma diversity associated with each. Our results reveal that landscape-scale modification from relatively natural landscapes to mixed landscapes increases the variety of ecosystem types and modification levels, hence increasing the variety of ecological communities (beta diversity) and maintaining landscape-level diversity (gamma), despite reductions in average local-level diversity (alpha). However, total transformation (from mixed towards completely transformed landscapes) causes a decline in both alpha and gamma diversity. Our results highlight that anthropogenic modification can potentially increase some elements of biodiversity while decreasing others and that high levels of landscape-scale diversity can be maintained within mixed landscapes
The origins of monetary policy disagreement: The role of supply and demand shocks
No full textWe investigate how dissent in the FOMC is affected by structural macroeconomic shocks obtained using a medium-scale DSGE model. We find that dissent is less (more) frequent when demand (supply) shocks are the predominant source of inflation fluctuations. In addition, supply shocks are found to raise private sector forecasting uncertainty about the path of interest rates. Since supply shocks impose a trade-off between inflation and output stabilization while demand shocks do not, our findings are consistent with heterogeneous preferences over the dual mandate among FOMC members as a driver of policy disagreement
Educating in a world on fire: Deweyan problem-solving and the role of higher education
No full textIn this chapter, Forstenzer asks: How can education help us deal with a world in which the harsh realities of climate chaos, violence, and catastrophe threaten our collective survival? To explore this question, the chapter examines Dewey’s Human Nature and Conduct (1922), beginning by discussing his conception of human nature and violence. Second, it addresses how Dewey conceives of how we overcome the threat of violence via cultural means. Third, it discusses our orientation toward the future, as well as problems and catastrophes. Fourth, it addresses the role that education and higher education in particular plays in supporting the task of intelligently responding to problems and catastrophes. Ultimately, Forstenzer argues that Dewey’s conception of intelligent cultural adaptation provides us with a helpful injunction to focus our efforts on fostering the development of moral, civic, and epistemic character across the community
Mucoadhesive nanofibers for ocular drug delivery: mechanisms, design strategies, and applications
Get PDFDelivering drugs effectively to the ocular surface is challenging due to rapid clearance mechanisms, including blinking, tear turnover, and protective barriers of the conjunctival and corneal epithelium. As a result, conventional options such as eye drops often fail to provide sustained therapeutic effects and require frequent dosing, leading to reduced patient compliance. Mucoadhesive nanofiber systems offer a promising solution by enhancing drug retention and enabling controlled release at the ocular surface. These nanofibers, produced primarily through electrospinning, provide a high surface area, tunable mechanical properties, and compatibility with mucoadhesive polymers, collectively improving drug bioavailability, extending residence times, and minimizing systemic side effects. This review comprehensively explores the fundamentals of mucoadhesion, including the structural and compositional characteristics of ocular mucosal surfaces and the molecular interactions essential for optimized drug delivery. It examines advanced strategies for incorporating mucoadhesive features into nanofibers, such as polymer blending, surface modification, and molecular imprinting, and assesses their influence on therapeutic outcomes. Finally, recent advancements and their potential for clinical translation are discussed. By presenting a thorough analysis of current techniques and emerging innovations, this review aims to guide researchers in developing next-generation mucoadhesive nanofiber platforms that improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance in ocular drug delivery
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