Covalent polyester colouration by in situ chromophore creation

The permanent colouration of a polyester by straightforward azo coupling is disclosed. Uniquely, the chromophore is created only upon successful polymer modification with a non-coloured molecule (in situ colouration), which confirms successful polymer adaptation and ensures that coloured waste is not produced. The method of colouration, which may feasibly be applied for the coloration of a wide-range of step-growth polyesters, yielded a polymer capable of preventing indigo deposition onto a range of fabrics, offering potential use within advanced detergent formulations

Correction: Thermoresponsive polysarcosine-based nanoparticles

Correction for ‘Thermoresponsive polysarcosine-based nanoparticles’ by Huayang Yu et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2019, 7, 4217–4223

Metastable austenite driven work-hardening behaviour in a TRIP-assisted dual phase steel

The mechanically-induced transformation behaviour of the metastable austenite phase in a high-strength industrial TRIP-assisted Dual Phase steel was monitored in situ using high-energy synchrotron diffraction under uniaxial loading. This allowed direct quantification of the impact of the transformation of the metastable austenite phase (16 vol %), embedded in a ferrite-bainite-martensite matrix, on the work hardening behaviour of this steel. Our results show that the mechanically induced transformation of austenite does not begin until the onset of matrix yielding. We provide experimental evidence which demonstrates for the first time that the austenite transformation increases the work-hardening contribution, σw thereby supporting a driving force approach to transformation induced plasticity. The transformation work required leads to an increase in the macroscopic work-hardening rate after matrix yielding and continues to offset the decrease in the work-hardening rate in the ferrite and martensite phases up to the UTS. Further we show conclusively that martensite yielding does not occur until the completion of the mechanically induced transformation of austenite. Plastic deformation of martensite is immediately followed by local plastic instability leading to necking and ultimate failure of this material

Meticulous Doxorubicin Release from pH‐responsive Nanoparticles Entrapped within an Injectable Thermoresponsive Depot.

The dual stimuli‐controlled release of doxorubicin from gel‐embedded nanoparticles is reported. Non‐cytotoxic polymer nanoparticles are formed from poly(ethylene glycol)‐ b ‐poly(benzyl glutamate) that, uniquely, contain a central ester link. This connection renders the nanoparticles pH‐responsive, enabling extensive doxorubicin release in acidic solutions (pH 6.5), but not in solutions of physiological pH (pH 7.4). Doxorubicin loaded nanoparticles were found to be stable for at least 31 days and lethal against the three breast cancer cell lines tested. Furthermore, doxorubicin loaded nanoparticles could be incorporated within a thermoresponsive poly(2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate) gel depot, which forms immediately upon injection of poly(2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate) in DMSO solution into aqueous solution. The combination of the poly(2‐hydroxypropyl methacrylate) gel and poly(ethylene glycol)‐ b ‐poly(benzyl glutamate) nanoparticles yields an injectable doxorubicin delivery system that facilities near‐complete drug release when maintained at elevated temperatures (37 °C) in acidic solution (pH 6.5). In contrast, negligible payload release occurs when the material is stored at room temperature in non‐acidic solution (pH 7.4). The system has great potential as a vehicle for the prolonged, site‐specific, release of chemotherapeutics

Complex circular subsidence structures in tephra deposited on large blocks of ice: Varða tuff cone, Öræfajökull, Iceland

Several broadly circular structures up to 16 m in diameter, into which higher strata have sagged and locally collapsed, are present in a tephra outcrop on southwest Öræfajökull, southern Iceland. The tephra was sourced in a nearby basaltic tuff cone at Varða. The structures have not previously been described in tuff cones, and they probably formed by the melting out of large buried blocks of ice emplaced during a preceding jökulhlaup that may have been triggered by a subglacial eruption within the Öræfajökull ice cap. They are named ice-melt subsidence structures, and they are analogous to kettle holes that are commonly found in proglacial sandurs and some lahars sourced in ice-clad volcanoes. The internal structure is better exposed in the Varða examples because of an absence of fluvial infilling and reworking, and erosion of the outcrop to reveal the deeper geometry. The ice-melt subsidence structures at Varða are a proxy for buried ice. They are the only known evidence for a subglacial eruption and associated jökulhlaup that created the ice blocks. The recognition of such structures elsewhere will be useful in reconstructing more complete regional volcanic histories as well as for identifying ice-proximal settings during palaeoenvironmental investigations

Camels and Climate Resilience: Adaptation in Northern Kenya

In the drylands of Africa, pastoralists have been facing new challenges, including those related to environmental shocks and stresses. In northern Kenya, under conditions of reduced rainfall and more frequent droughts, one response has been for pastoralists to focus increasingly on camel herding. Camels have started to be kept at higher altitudes and by people who rarely kept camels before. The development has been understood as a climate change adaptation strategy and as a means to improve climate resilience. Since 2003, development organizations have started to further the trend by distributing camels in the region. Up to now, little has been known about the nature of, reasons for, or ramifications of the increased reliance on camels. The paper addresses these questions and concludes that camels improve resilience in this dryland region, but only under certain climate change scenarios, and only for some groups.This study was funded by The Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers Thesiger-Oman Fellowship

Investigation of cerebral autoregulation in the newborn piglet during anaesthesia and surgery

The relationship between cerebral autoregulation (CA) and the neurotoxic effects of anaesthesia with and without surgery is investigated. Newborn piglets were randomly assigned to receive either 6 h of anaesthesia (isoflurane) or the same with an additional hour of minor surgery. The effect of the spontaneous changes in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) on the cerebral haemodynamics (oxy- and deoxy-haemoglobin, HbO2 and Hb) was measured using transverse broadband near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). A marker for impaired CA, concordance between MABP and intravascular oxygenation (HbD = HbO2 - Hb) in the ultra-low frequency domain (0.0018-0.0083 Hz), was assessed using coherence analysis. Presence of CA impairment was not significant but found to increase with surgical exacerbation. The impairment did not correlate with histological outcome (presence of cell death, apoptosis and microglial activation in the brain)

Institutional Mergers in Ireland

The importance of knowledge as a driver of social and economic growth and prosperity, and the increasingly competitive “global race for knowledge and talent” (Hazelkorn, Higher Educ Manage Policy 21(1):55–76, 2009) have combined to transform the higher education landscape, forcing national governments and higher education institutions (HEIs) to pursue new ways of addressing the challenges of a multi-polar world order. Rising demand for higher education (HE), as part of the broader shift from elite to mass to universal participation, has led to the emergence of new models of provision. At the same time, many governments face restrictions on public resources due to high levels of public and private debt; accordingly, system-level and institutional restructuring has been contemplated as a way to enhance quality, performance and efficiency

Ancient origins determine global biogeography of hot and cold desert cyanobacteria

Factors governing large-scale spatio-temporal distribution of microorganisms remain unresolved, yet are pivotal to understanding ecosystem value and function. Molecular genetic analyses have focused on the influence of niche and neutral processes in determining spatial patterns without considering the temporal scale. Here, we use temporal phylogenetic analysis calibrated using microfossil data for a globally sampled desert cyanobacterium, Chroococcidiopsis, to investigate spatio-temporal patterns in microbial biogeography and evolution. Multilocus phylogenetic associations were dependent on contemporary climate with no evidence for distance-related patterns. Massively parallel pyrosequencing of environmental samples confirmed that Chroococcidiopsis variants were specific to either hot or cold deserts. Temporally scaled phylogenetic analyses showed no evidence of recent inter-regional gene flow, indicating populations have not shared common ancestry since before the formation of modern continents. These results indicate that global distribution of desert cyanobacteria has not resulted from widespread contemporary dispersal but is an ancient evolutionary legacy. This highlights the importance of considering temporal scales in microbial biogeography

Intrinsic Structural Disorder Confers Cellular Viability on Oncogenic Fusion Proteins

Chromosomal translocations, which often generate chimeric proteins by fusing segments of two distinct genes, represent the single major genetic aberration leading to cancer. We suggest that the unifying theme of these events is a high level of intrinsic structural disorder, enabling fusion proteins to evade cellular surveillance mechanisms that eliminate misfolded proteins. Predictions in 406 translocation-related human proteins show that they are significantly enriched in disorder (43.3% vs. 20.7% in all human proteins), they have fewer Pfam domains, and their translocation breakpoints tend to avoid domain splitting. The vicinity of the breakpoint is significantly more disordered than the rest of these already highly disordered fusion proteins. In the unlikely event of domain splitting in fusion it usually spares much of the domain or splits at locations where the newly exposed hydrophobic surface area approximates that of an intact domain. The mechanisms of action of fusion proteins suggest that in most cases their structural disorder is also essential to the acquired oncogenic function, enabling the long-range structural communication of remote binding and/or catalytic elements. In this respect, there are three major mechanisms that contribute to generating an oncogenic signal: (i) a phosphorylation site and a tyrosine-kinase domain are fused, and structural disorder of the intervening region enables intramolecular phosphorylation (e.g., BCR-ABL); (ii) a dimerisation domain fuses with a tyrosine kinase domain and disorder enables the two subunits within the homodimer to engage in permanent intermolecular phosphorylations (e.g., TFG-ALK); (iii) the fusion of a DNA-binding element to a transactivator domain results in an aberrant transcription factor that causes severe misregulation of transcription (e.g. EWS-ATF). Our findings also suggest novel strategies of intervention against the ensuing neoplastic transformations