Supercharged Phosphotriesterase for improved Paraoxon activity.

Phosphotriesterases (PTEs) represent a class of enzymes capable of efficient neutralization of organophosphates (OPs), a dangerous class of neurotoxic chemicals. PTEs suffer from low catalytic activity, particularly at higher temperatures, due to low thermostability and low solubility. Supercharging, a protein engineering approach via selective mutation of surface residues to charged residues, has been successfully employed to generate proteins with increased solubility and thermostability by promoting charge-charge repulsion between proteins.

Incorporating biofeedback into the Mindfulness in Motion Intervention for health care professionals: Impact on sleep and stress.

Context: Health care providers (HCP) experience high stress and burnout rates. Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBI) with biofeedback may help improve resiliency but require further research.

Design And Study Participants: Aims were to evaluate changes in sleep patterns, nocturnal physiology, stress, mood disturbances, and perceived experience with biofeedback during the Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) intervention.

Structure-Dependent Water Responsiveness of Protein Block Copolymers.

Biological water-responsive (WR) materials are abundant in nature, and they are used as mechanical actuators for seed dispersal by many plants such as wheat awns and pinecones. WR biomaterials are of interest for applications as high-energy actuators, which can be useful in soft robotics or for capturing energy from natural water evaporation. Recent work on WR silk proteins has shown that β-sheet nanocrystalline domains with high stiffness correlate with the high WR actuation energy density, but the fundamental mechanisms to drive water responsiveness in proteins remain poorly understood.

NF-κB in the Radiation Response of A549 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells to X-rays and Carbon Ions under Hypoxia.

Cellular hypoxia, detectable in up to 80% of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) tumors, is a known cause of radioresistance. High linear energy transfer (LET) particle radiation might be effective in the treatment of hypoxic solid tumors, including NSCLC. Cellular hypoxia can activate nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), which can modulate radioresistance by influencing cancer cell survival.

Cities, planetary boundaries, and degrowth.

Cities are the main hubs of human activity and the engines of economic growth. In pursuit of such growth, cities are transgressing their local environmental boundaries. Ongoing urbanisation increasingly contributes to the human pressure on planetary boundaries and negatively affects planetary health.