Returning knowledge back to Bellavista Nanay: a researcher's perspective

A previous study found that drinking water was becoming contaminated in households and there was a general lack of understanding surrounding household water contamination. It was felt that if this information was returned to the community it could be used to build capacity, so people can make informed choices regarding their drinking water practices. Participatory methods were explored and Ketso® a pre-packaged tool was thought to be the most appropriate for this community. Ketso was used to develop workshops with the focus being household drinking water contamination, which were delivered to 35 participants. The workshops provided an enjoyable forum for participants to exchange ideas on household water contamination. It was felt that capacity was built during the process through the participants’ exchange of ideas, and it gave participants a space to question their own practices. The aim of this paper is to describe, discuss and evaluate the process used

Modelling the cooling effects of urban canals

We investigate the effects of canals on urban air temperatures, performing a national-scale analysis of urban canals in the UK and Ireland. Using canal characteristics and high-temporal resolution weather data, we model variability in water temperatures for 2022 at 15-minute intervals and use these data to analyse the effects on surrounding air temperatures. In addition, we incorporate the effects of shading by buildings, which can play a key role in water energy balance. In turn, this has implications for the effectiveness of canals in offsetting temperature extremes as well as the management and regulation of adjacent urban areas

Expanding the molecular toolbox for Lactococcus lactis: construction of an inducible thioredoxin gene fusion expression system

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The development of the Nisin Inducible Controlled Expression (NICE) system in the food-grade bacterium <it>Lactococcus lactis </it>subsp. <it>cremoris </it>represents a cornerstone in the use of Gram-positive bacterial expression systems for biotechnological purposes. However, proteins that are subjected to such over-expression in <it>L. lactis </it>may suffer from improper folding, inclusion body formation and/or protein degradation, thereby significantly reducing the yield of soluble target protein. Although such drawbacks are not specific to <it>L. lactis</it>, no molecular tools have been developed to prevent or circumvent these recurrent problems of protein expression in <it>L. lactis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mimicking thioredoxin gene fusion systems available for <it>E. coli</it>, two nisin-inducible expression vectors were constructed to over-produce various proteins in <it>L. lactis </it>as thioredoxin fusion proteins. In this study, we demonstrate that our novel <it>L. lactis </it>fusion partner expression vectors allow high-level expression of soluble heterologous proteins Tuc2009 ORF40, Bbr_0140 and Tuc2009 BppU/BppL that were previously insoluble or not expressed using existing <it>L. lactis </it>expression vectors. Over-expressed proteins were subsequently purified by Ni-TED affinity chromatography. Intact heterologous proteins were detected by immunoblotting analyses. We also show that the thioredoxin moiety of the purified fusion protein was specifically and efficiently cleaved off by enterokinase treatment.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study is the first description of a thioredoxin gene fusion expression system, purposely developed to circumvent problems associated with protein over-expression in <it>L. lactis</it>. It was shown to prevent protein insolubility and degradation, allowing sufficient production of soluble proteins for further structural and functional characterization.</p

The COVID-19 pandemic: local to global implications as perceived by urban ecologists

From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-07-27, registration 2020-08-27, accepted 2020-08-27, pub-print 2020-09, pub-electronic 2020-09-11, online 2020-09-11Publication status: PublishedAbstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone, but in many different ways, stimulating contrasting reactions and responses: opportunities for some, difficulties for many. A simple survey of how individual workers in urban ecology have been coping with COVID-19 constraints found divergent responses to COVID-19 on people’s activities, both within countries and between continents. Many academics felt frustrated at being unable to do fieldwork, but several saw opportunities to change ways of working and review their engagement with the natural world. Some engaging with social groups found new ways of sharing ideas and developing aspirations without face-to-face contact. Practitioners creating and managing urban greenspaces had to devise ways to work and travel while maintaining social distancing. Many feared severe funding impacts from changed local government priorities. Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified issues, such as environmental injustice, disaster preparation and food security, that have been endemic in most countries across the global south in modern times. However, developing and sustaining the strong community spirit shown in many places will speed economic recovery and make cities more resilient against future geophysical and people-made disasters. Significantly, top-down responses and one-size-fits-all solutions, however good the modelling on which they are based, are unlikely to succeed without the insights that local knowledge and community understanding can bring. We all will have to look at disaster preparation in a more comprehensive, caring and consistent way in future