Coacervate microdroplets produced by liquid–liquid phase separation have been used as synthetic protocells that mimic the dynamical organization of membrane‐free organelles in living systems. ...Achieving spatiotemporal control over droplet condensation and disassembly remains challenging. Herein, we describe the formation and photoswitchable behavior of light‐responsive coacervate droplets prepared from mixtures of double‐stranded DNA and an azobenzene cation. The droplets disassemble and reassemble under UV and blue light, respectively, due to azobenzene trans/cis photoisomerisation. Sequestration and release of captured oligonucleotides follow the dynamics of phase separation such that light‐activated transfer, mixing, hybridization, and trafficking of the oligonucleotides can be controlled in binary populations of the droplets. Our results open perspectives for the spatiotemporal control of DNA coacervates and provide a step towards the dynamic regulation of synthetic protocells.
Photoswitchable coacervation: Light‐responsive liquid–liquid phase separation involving DNA and an azobenzene cation is demonstrated. The reversible, photoswitchable disassembly and reassembly of coacervate microdroplets, under UV and blue light, respectively, is exploited to trigger the mixing and trafficking of oligonucleotides in binary populations of the droplets.
Cell-free gene expression of a fluorescent protein (mCherry) is demonstrated within the molecularly crowded matrix of a polysaccharide/polypeptide coacervate.
Estimating the burden of disease attributable to long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air requires knowledge of both the shape and magnitude of the relative risk (RR) ...function. However, adequate direct evidence to identify the shape of the mortality RR functions at the high ambient concentrations observed in many places in the world is lacking.
We developed RR functions over the entire global exposure range for causes of mortality in adults: ischemic heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer (LC). We also developed RR functions for the incidence of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) that can be used to estimate mortality and lost-years of healthy life in children < 5 years of age.
We fit an integrated exposure-response (IER) model by integrating available RR information from studies of ambient air pollution (AAP), second hand tobacco smoke, household solid cooking fuel, and active smoking (AS). AS exposures were converted to estimated annual PM2.5 exposure equivalents using inhaled doses of particle mass. We derived population attributable fractions (PAFs) for every country based on estimated worldwide ambient PM2.5 concentrations.
The IER model was a superior predictor of RR compared with seven other forms previously used in burden assessments. The percent PAF attributable to AAP exposure varied among countries from 2 to 41 for IHD, 1 to 43 for stroke, < 1 to 21 for COPD, < 1 to 25 for LC, and < 1 to 38 for ALRI.
We developed a fine particulate mass-based RR model that covered the global range of exposure by integrating RR information from different combustion types that generate emissions of particulate matter. The model can be updated as new RR information becomes available.
Background: Evidence based largely on US cohorts suggests that long-term exposure to fine particulate matter is associated with cardiovascular mortality. There is less evidence for other pollutants ...and for cardiovascular morbidity. By using a cohort of 836,557 patients age 40 to 89 years registered with 205 English general practices in 2003, we investigated relationships between ambient outdoor air pollution and incident myocardial infarction, stroke, arrhythmia, and heart failure over a 5-year period. Methods: Events were identified from primary care records, hospital admissions, and death certificates. Annual average concentrations in 2002 for particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter <10 (PM₁₀) and <2.5 microns, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone, and sulfur dioxide at a 1 × 1 km resolution were derived from emission-based models and linked to residential postcode. Analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for relevant confounders, including social and economic deprivation and smoking. Results: While evidence was weak for relationships with myocardial infarction, stroke, or arrhythmia, we found consistent associations between pollutant concentrations and incident cases of heart failure. An interquartile range change in PM₁₀ and in NO₂ (3.0 and 10.7 μm³, respectively) both produced a hazard ratio of 1.06 (95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.11) after adjustment for confounders. There was some evidence that these effects were greater in more affluent areas. Conclusions: This study of an English national cohort found evidence linking long-term exposure to particulate matter and NO₂ with the development of heart failure. We did not, however, replicate associations for other cardiovascular outcomes that have been reported elsewhere.
Current air quality standards for particulate matter (PM) use the PM mass concentration PM with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 μm (PM(10)) or ≤ 2.5 μm (PM(2.5)) as a metric. It has been suggested that ...particles from combustion sources are more relevant to human health than are particles from other sources, but the impact of policies directed at reducing PM from combustion processes is usually relatively small when effects are estimated for a reduction in the total mass concentration.
We evaluated the value of black carbon particles (BCP) as an additional indicator in air quality management.
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of health effects of BCP compared with PM mass based on data from time-series studies and cohort studies that measured both exposures. We compared the potential health benefits of a hypothetical traffic abatement measure, using near-roadway concentration increments of BCP and PM(2.5) based on data from prior studies.
Estimated health effects of a 1-μg/m3 increase in exposure were greater for BCP than for PM(10) or PM(2.5), but estimated effects of an interquartile range increase were similar. Two-pollutant models in time-series studies suggested that the effect of BCP was more robust than the effect of PM mass. The estimated increase in life expectancy associated with a hypothetical traffic abatement measure was four to nine times higher when expressed in BCP compared with an equivalent change in PM(2.5) mass.
BCP is a valuable additional air quality indicator to evaluate the health risks of air quality dominated by primary combustion particles.
This edited volume, Modern Architecture and the Sacred, presents a timely reappraisal of the manifold engagements that modern architecture has had with ‘the sacred’. It comprises fourteen individual ...chapters arranged in three thematic sections – Beginnings and Transformations of the Modern Sacred; Buildings for Modern Worship; and Semi-Sacred Settings in the Cultural Topography of Modernity. The first interprets the intellectual and artistic roots of modern ideas of the sacred in the post-Enlightenment period and tracks the transformation of these in architecture over time. The second studies the ways in which organized religion responded to the challenges of the new modern self-understanding, and then the third investigates the ways that abstract modern notions of the sacred have been embodied in the ersatz sacred contexts of theatres, galleries, memorials and museums. While centring on Western architecture during the decisive period of the first half of the 20th century – a time that takes in the early musings on spirituality by some of the avant-garde in defiance of Sachlichkeit and the machine aesthetic – the volume also considers the many-varied appropriations of sacrality that architects have made up to the present day, and also in social and cultural contexts beyond the West.
Transport-related air and noise pollution, exposures linked to adverse health outcomes, varies within cities potentially resulting in exposure inequalities. Relatively little is known regarding ...inequalities in personal exposure to air pollution or transport-related noise.
Our objectives were to quantify socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in London in 1) air pollution exposure at residence compared to personal exposure; and 2) transport-related noise at residence from different sources.
We used individual-level data from the London Travel Demand Survey (n = 45,079) between 2006 and 2010. We modeled residential (CMAQ-urban) and personal (London Hybrid Exposure Model) particulate matter <2.5 μm and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), road-traffic noise at residence (TRANEX) and identified those within 50 dB noise contours of railways and Heathrow airport. We analyzed relationships between household income, area-level income deprivation and ethnicity with air and noise pollution using quantile and logistic regression.
We observed inverse patterns in inequalities in air pollution when estimated at residence versus personal exposure with respect to household income (categorical, 8 groups). Compared to the lowest income group (<£10,000), the highest group (>£75,000) had lower residential NO2 (−1.3 (95% CI −2.1, −0.6) μg/m3 in the 95th exposure quantile) but higher personal NO2 exposure (1.9 (95% CI 1.6, 2.3) μg/m3 in the 95th quantile), which was driven largely by transport mode and duration. Inequalities in residential exposure to NO2 with respect to area-level deprivation were larger at lower exposure quantiles (e.g. estimate for NO2 5.1 (95% CI 4.6, 5.5) at quantile 0.15 versus 1.9 (95% CI 1.1, 2.6) at quantile 0.95), reflecting low-deprivation, high residential NO2 areas in the city centre. Air pollution exposure at residence consistently overestimated personal exposure; this overestimation varied with age, household income, and area-level income deprivation. Inequalities in road traffic noise were generally small. In logistic regression models, the odds of living within a 50 dB contour of aircraft noise were highest in individuals with the highest household income, white ethnicity, and with the lowest area-level income deprivation. Odds of living within a 50 dB contour of rail noise were 19% (95% CI 3, 37) higher for black compared to white individuals.
Socioeconomic inequalities in air pollution exposure were different for modeled residential versus personal exposure, which has important implications for environmental justice and confounding in epidemiology studies. Exposure misclassification was dependent on several factors related to health, a potential source of bias in epidemiological studies. Quantile regression revealed that socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in air pollution are often not uniform across the exposure distribution.
•Differences in inequalities in air pollution when estimated at residence vs. personal•Exposure misclassification differed by age, income, and area-level income deprivation.•Inequalities in transport noise sensitive to socioeconomic indicator and source•Quantile regression revealed inequalities not uniform across exposure distribution.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has revolutionized the clinical care of late‐stage Parkinson's disease and shows promise for improving the treatment of intractable neuropsychiatric disorders. However, ...after over 25 years of clinical experience, numerous questions still remain on the neurophysiological basis for the therapeutic mechanisms of action. At their fundamental core, the general purpose of electrical stimulation therapies in the nervous system are to use the applied electric field to manipulate the opening and closing of voltage‐gated sodium channels on neurons, generate stimulation induced action potentials, and subsequently, control the release of neurotransmitters in targeted pathways. Historically, DBS mechanisms research has focused on characterizing the effects of stimulation on neurons and the resulting impact on neuronal network activity. However, when electrodes are placed within the central nervous system, glia are also being directly (and indirectly) influenced by the stimulation. Mounting evidence shows that non‐neuronal tissue can play an important role in modulating the neurochemistry changes induced by DBS. The goal of this review is to evaluate how DBS effects on both neuronal and non‐neuronal tissue can potentially work together to suppress oscillatory activity (and/or information transfer) between brain regions. These resulting effects of ~ 100 Hz electrical stimulation help explain how DBS can disrupt pathological network activity in the brain and generate therapeutic effects in patients.
Deep brain stimulation is an effective clinical technology, but detailed therapeutic mechanisms remain undefined. This review provides an overview of the leading hypotheses, which focus on stimulation‐induced disruption of network oscillations and integrates possible roles for non‐neuronal tissue in explaining the clinical response to therapeutic stimulation.
This article is part of a special issue on Parkinson disease.
Deep brain stimulation is an effective clinical technology, but detailed therapeutic mechanisms remain undefined. This review provides an overview of the leading hypotheses, which focus on stimulation‐induced disruption of network oscillations and integrates possible roles for non‐neuronal tissue in explaining the clinical response to therapeutic stimulation.
This article is part of a special issue on Parkinson disease.
The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused significant uncertainty for students and teachers. During this time, teacher and student creative beliefs and affect play a ...supportive role in adaptively managing stress, finding joy, and bouncing back from inevitable setbacks with resilience. Developing an adaptive orientation to creativity is a critically important step in helping teachers deal with the challenges and stress of reaching their students through distance learning, especially the most marginalized. This study aims to understand how teacher creativity linked to well-being in the face of COVID-19-related school shutdowns and how teachers planned to adapt creatively to distance learning through the guidance of a summer creative teaching training institute. Results from this sequential mixed method study demonstrated important relationships. Creative self-efficacy in teaching related to teacher buoyancy in the face of setbacks. Creative growth mindset related to teachers' general positive affect in teaching. Lowered creative anxiety related to reduced effects of secondary traumatic stress and general negative affect in teaching. Environmental support and encouragement for creativity in schools may be foundational for teacher well-being by enhancing teachers' dispositional joy, general positive affect, and reducing general negative affect. Results suggested additional stress and loss of creativity for most teachers due to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside substantial capacity for creative adaptations with the support of training for creativity in teaching and learning.
By constructing an in vivo-assembled, catalytically proficient peroxidase, C45, we have recently demonstrated the catalytic potential of simple, de novo-designed heme proteins. Here, we show that ...C45’s enzymatic activity extends to the efficient and stereoselective intermolecular transfer of carbenes to olefins, heterocycles, aldehydes, and amines. Not only is this a report of carbene transferase activity in a completely de novo protein, but also of enzyme-catalyzed ring expansion of aromatic heterocycles via carbene transfer by any enzyme.
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