Publications by authors named "G S Wells"

Background: The connection between participants and their research team can affect how safe, informed, and respected a participant feels, and their willingness to complete a research project. Communication between researchers and participants is key to developing this connection, but there is little published work evaluating how communication during clinical research is conducted.

Purpose: This paper explores what communications happen (and how) with research participants in Australia post consenting to participate in clinical research.

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Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) represents an energy-efficient process for the removal of biological nitrogen from ammonium-rich wastewater. However, the susceptibility of anammox bacteria to coexisting heavy metals considerably restricts their use in engineering practices. Here, we report that acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL), a signaling molecule that mediates quorum sensing (QS), significantly enhances the nitrogen removal rate by 24% under Cu stress.

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SUMOylation, the covalent attachment of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) to target proteins, and its reversal, deSUMOylation by SUMO proteases like Sentrin-specific proteases (SENPs), are crucial for initiating cellular responses to hypoxia. However, their roles in subsequent adaptation processes to hypoxia such as mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy) remain unexplored. Here, we show that general SUMOylation, particularly SUMO2/3 modification, suppresses mitophagy under both normoxia and hypoxia.

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There is increasing recognition in the field of health and social care research that community-engaged methods should include patients and the public throughout the research process. Therefore, individuals from all backgrounds should be involved in the research. We explored the public and patient engagement experience in research and how researchers and community groups can work together to make the research process more inclusive and sustainable.

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Recovering nitrogen (N) from wastewater is a potential avenue to reduce reliance on energy-intensive synthetic nitrogen fixation via Haber-Bosch and subsequent treatment of N-laden wastewaters through nitrification-denitrification. However, many technical and economic factors hinder widespread application of N recovery, particularly low N concentrations in municipal wastewater, paucity of high-efficiency separations technologies compatible with biological treatment, and suitable products and markets for recovered N. In this perspective, we contextualize the challenges of N recovery today, propose integrated biological and physicochemical technologies to improve selective and tunable N recovery, and propose an expanded product portfolio for recovered N products beyond fertilizers.

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