Impact of breakwaters on sediment characteristics and submerged aquatic vegetation

This study examined the impact of breakwaters, with varying ages (1-19 y) and in 3 salinity regions of Chesapeake Bay, on sediment characteristics and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Sediment and SAV characterisitcs were determined at an adjacent-exposed and a breakwater-protected site in 24 locations. A mesocosm experiment was also conducted to evaluate SAV response to 4 organic-content treatments for 3 SAV species (Ruppia maritima, Vallisneria americana, and Zannichellia palustris). Breakwater effects on sedimentation were site-specific, some sites, having no apparent affect, while others where sandy shoreline erosion was dominant, an increase in grain size and sedimentation rate was observed. At other sites breakwaters facilitated fine-sediment deposition. SAV responses in the mesocosms, were highly variable with organic content. Therefore, SAV biomass in breakwater-protected area was related to the amount and type of sediments that the breakwater retained. Site evaluations should be conducted before breakwater construction if SAV colonization is desired

A comprehensive modelling framework for demand side flexibility in smart grids

The increasing share of renewable energy generation in the electricity system comes with significant challenges, such as the volatility of renewable energy sources. To tackle those challenges, demand side management is a frequently mentioned remedy. However, measures of demand side management need a high level of exibility to be successful. Although extensive research exists that describes, models and optimises various processes with exible electrical demands, there is no unified notation. Additionally, most descriptions are very process-specific and cannot be generalised. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive modelling framework to mathematically describe demand side exibility in smart grids while integrating a majority of constraints from different existing models. We provide a universally applicable modelling framework for demand side exibility and evaluate its practicality by looking at how well Mixed-Integer Linear Program (MIP) solvers are able to optimise the resulting models, if applied to artificially generated instances. From the evaluation, we derive that our model improves the performance of previous models while integrating additional exibility characteristics

Enzyme‐Activatable Chemokine Conjugates for In Vivo Targeting of Tumor‐Associated Macrophages

Increased levels of tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs) are indicators of poor prognosis in most cancers. Although antibodies and small molecules blocking the recruitment of macrophages to tumors are under evaluation as anticancer therapies, these strategies are not specific for macrophage subpopulations. Herein we report the first enzyme‐activatable chemokine conjugates for effective targeting of defined macrophage subsets in live tumors. Our constructs exploit the high expression of chemokine receptors (e.g., CCR2) and the activity of cysteine cathepsins in TAMs to target these cells selectively over other macrophages and immune cells (e.g., neutrophils, T cells, B cells). Furthermore, we demonstrate that cathepsin‐activatable chemokines are compatible with both fluorescent and therapeutic cargos, opening new avenues in the design of targeted theranostic probes for immune cells in the tumor microenvironment

A Bivalent Activatable Fluorescent Probe for Screening and Intravital Imaging of Chemotherapy‐Induced Cancer Cell Death

The detection and quantification of apoptotic cells is a key process in cancer research, particularly during the screening of anticancer therapeutics and in mechanistic studies using preclinical models. Intravital optical imaging enables high-resolution visualisation of cellular events in live organisms; however, there are few fluorescent probes that can reliably provide functional readouts in situ without interference from tissue autofluorescence. Here we report the design and optimisation of the fluorogenic probe Apotracker Red for real-time detection of cancer cell death. The strong fluorogenic behaviour, high selectivity, and excellent stability of Apotracker Red make it a reliable optical reporter for the characterisation of the effects of anticancer drugs in cells in vitro and for direct imaging of chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in vivo in mouse models of breast cancer

Acid‐Resistant BODIPY Amino Acids for Peptide‐based Fluorescence Imaging of GPR54 Receptors in Pancreatic Islets

The G protein-coupled kisspeptin receptor (GPR54 or KISS1R) is an important mediator in reproduction, metabolism and cancer biology; however, there are limited fluorescent probes or antibodies for direct imaging of these receptors in cells and intact tissues, which can help to interrogate their multiple biological roles. Herein, we describe the rational design and characterization of a new acid-resistant BODIPY-based amino acid (Trp-BODIPY PLUS), and its implementation for solid-phase synthesis of fluorescent bioactive peptides. Trp-BODIPY PLUS retains the binding capabilities of both short linear and cyclic peptides and displays notable turn-on fluorescence emission upon target binding for wash-free imaging. Finally, we employed Trp-BODIPY PLUS to prepare some of the first fluorogenic kisspeptin-based probes and visualized the expression and localization of GPR54 receptors in human cells and in whole mouse pancreatic islets by fluorescence imaging

SCOTfluors: Small, Conjugatable, Orthogonal and Tunable Fluorophores for in vivo Imaging of Cell Metabolism

The transport and trafficking of metabolites are critical for the correct functioning of live cells. However, in situ metabolic imaging studies are hampered by the lack of fluorescent chemical structures that allow direct monitoring of small metabolites under physiological conditions with high spatial and temporal resolution. Herein, we describe SCOTfluors as novel small-sized multi-colored fluorophores for real-time tracking of essential metabolites in live cells and in vivo and for the acquisition of metabolic profiles from human cancer cells of variable origin. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.The authors acknowledge funding from Medical Research Scotland (S.B.: 879-2015), MSCA Individual Fellowship (A.F.: 704912), OPTIMA (N.D.B.: EP/L016559/1), Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (Y.F.: 100104/Z/12/Z) and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (J.L.A, A.D.: CTQ2017-85378-R). M.V. acknowledges funds from ERC Consolidator Grant (771443), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M025160/1) and the Royal Society (IEC\R3\170132). The authors thank the technical support from the Flow Cytometry and the Confocal Advanced Light Microscopy units at the University of Edinburgh.Peer reviewe