3 research outputs found

    The Effects of α-Helical Structure and Cyanylated Cysteine on Each Other

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    β-Thiocyanatoalanine, or cyanylated cysteine, is an artificial amino acid that can be introduced at solvent-exposed cysteine residues in proteins via chemical modification. Its facile post-translational synthesis means that it may find broad use in large protein systems as a probe of site-specific structure and dynamics. The CN stretching vibration of this artificial side chain provides an isolated infrared chromophore. To test both the perturbative effect of this side chain on local secondary structure and its sensitivity to structural changes, three variants of a model water-soluble alanine-repeat helix were synthesized containing cyanylated cysteine at different sites. The cyanylated cysteine side chain is shown to destabilize, but not completely disrupt, the helical structure of the folded peptide when substituted for alanine. In addition, the CN stretching bandwidth of the artificial side chain is sensitive to the helix−coil structural transition. These model system results indicate that cyanylated cysteine can be placed into protein sequences with a native helical propensity without destroying the helix, and further that the CN probe may be able to report local helix formation events even when it is water-exposed in both the ordered and disordered conformational states. These results indicate that cyanylated cysteine could be a widely useful probe of structure-forming events in proteins with large in vitro structural distributions

    What works in attracting and retaining teachers in challenging schools and areas?

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    This paper describes a systematic review of international research evidence identifying the most promising approaches to attracting and retaining teachers in hard-to-staff areas. Only empirical studies that employed a causal or suitable comparative design and had robust measurements of recruitment and retention outcomes were considered. Studies were assessed for strength of evidence taking into account threats to trustworthiness which may bias the results. A search of 13 electronic databases and Google/Google scholar identified 20 distinct research reports that met the inclusion criteria. Financial incentives was the only approach that seemsto work in attracting teachers to challenging schools, but not effective in retaining them. To keep teachers working in challenging schools a supportive and conducive working environment would be needed. Other approaches such as mentoring, support, or teacher development do not have strong evidence of effectiveness, largely because much of the research on these approaches was weak. More robust research capable of addressing causal questions is therefore urgently required to determine their impact in attracting and retaining good teachers in areas where they are most needed. Long-term solution would be to change school-allocation policies and improve economic conditions in such areas so that the problem of staffing does not arise
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