Photosynthetic Energy Transfer: Missing in Action (Detected Spectroscopy)?

In recent years, action-detected ultrafast spectroscopies have gained popularity offering distinct advantages over their coherently detected counterparts, such as spatially resolved and operando measurements with high sensitivity. However, there are also fundamental limitations connected to the process of signal generation in action-detected experiments. Here we perform fluorescence-detected two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (F-2DES) of the light-harvesting II (LH2) complex from purple bacteria.

Direct observation of triplet energy transfer between chlorophylls and carotenoids in the core antenna of photosystem I from Thermosynechococcus elongatus.

Quenching of chlorophyll triplet states by carotenoids is an essential photoprotective process, which prevents formation of reactive singlet oxygen in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes. The process is usually very efficient in oxygenic organisms under physiological conditions, thus preventing any observable accumulation of chlorophyll triplets. However, it subsequently prevents also the determination of the triplet transfer rate.

Regeneration of Post-Agricultural Brownfield for Social Care Needs in Rural Community: Is There Any Transferable Experience?

In the 21st century, rural communities face many challenges, including implications of dynamic population aging, a lack of social care services, and the occurrence of abandoned post-agricultural brownfields. This paper is methodologically based on the findings derived from a set of qualitative in-depth interviews with the key rural stakeholders, explores the decisive factors and limits, accelerators, and barriers governing successful regeneration of the post-agricultural brownfield in the post-socialist environment. We are using the case of the regeneration project of a large-scale former communist agricultural cooperative, located in Vranovice, the Czech Republic, to illuminate how complex and challenging the redevelopment of a post-agricultural brownfield into a social care facility for elderly people is.