Does urbanization trigger plant evolution?

Researchers from Japan uncover how urbanization impacts plant evolution and stress adaptation in the creeping woodsorrel plant

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CHIBA UNIVERSITY

 

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A RECENT STUDY EXAMINED THE ROLE OF HEAT STRESS OVER THE GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF GREEN AND RED OXALIS CORNICULATA VARIANTS IN CONTROLLED AND UNCONTROLLED CULTIVATION SETUPS. THIS FIGURE DEPICTS A COMPARISON OF VARIOUS PARAMETERS BETWEEN GREEN- AND RED-LEAVED VARIANTS OF O. CORNICULATA UNDER DIFFERENT CULTIVATION CONDITIONS.

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CREDIT: YUYA FUKANO FROM CHIBA UNIVERSITY

Urbanization and human activities have transformed a significant proportion of the land on Earth, resulting in the formation of urban environments. These urban environments are man-made habitats that often impose several selective pressures on their inhabitants. A key characteristic of such environments is the presence of impermeable, heat-retaining surfaces created using brick, stone, asphalt, and concrete. Notably, these surfaces form urban heat islands, i.e., regions with elevated surface temperatures. An unexpected result of heat stress is the impact on the behavior, physiology, and evolutionary trajectories of resident organisms. Although several studies have investigated the role of urban heat stress on evolution in animals, its effects on plant evolution remain largely unexplored.

 

To address this gap, a team of researchers led by Associate Professor Yuya Fukano from the Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Japan, investigated how urban heat islands affect the leaf colors of Oxalis corniculata, also known as the creeping woodsorrel. This plant exhibits diverse leaf colors ranging from green to red and is found in both urban and non-urban spaces across the world. Research suggests that these color variations serve as an evolutionary adaptation to protect the plant from environmental stress. Moreover, red pigments (anthocyanins) in the leaves are thought to mitigate heat and light-induced damage by intercepting light and forming antioxidants.

 

To investigate this evolutionary theory, Dr. Yuya Fukano and his team, comprising Dr. Wataru Yamori from the University of Tokyo, Dr. Yuuya Tachiki from Tokyo Metropolitan University, and Dr. Kenta Shirasawa from the Kazusa DNA Research Institute, conducted field observations of the leaf color distribution in the creeping woodsorrel, across urban and non-urban regions at the local, landscape, and the global scales. Their study findings were published in Science Advances on [date].  “We noticed that the red-leaved variants of the creeping woodsorrel commonly grew near impervious surfaces in urban areas but rarely grew in farmlands or green spaces in and around the city,” says Dr. Fukano, while discussing their observations. The team identified a pattern where green-leaved variants of the creeping woodsorrel dominated green spaces while their red-leaf counterparts dominated the urban sites of Tokyo at both the local and landscape levels. Upon further examination of an online database, the team discovered that these geographical findings were consistent across the globe, thereby confirming a link between urbanization and leaf color variations in the creeping woodsorrel.

 

This motivated the team to quantify the adaptive benefits of these leaf color variations by examining their influence over biomass growth and photosynthetic ability under heat stress and non-heat stress conditions across controlled and uncontrolled cultivation experiments.

 

Through these experiments, the team found that the red-leaf variants exhibited superior growth rates and higher photosynthetic efficiency under high temperatures, whereas green-leaf variants thrived in lower temperatures. As a result, red-leaf variants tend to thrive in urban areas with low plant density due to high stress tolerance. The opposite is true for their green-leaf counterparts, which display higher growth competitiveness in lush green areas. “Although these findings will not change much in the immediate future, this study showcases one of the most popular examples of ongoing evolution that can be observed in urban areas,” remarks Dr. Fukano.

 

The team also conducted genome-wide genetic analyses, which indicated that the red-leaf variant of O. corniculata may have evolved multiple times from the ancestral green-leaf plant. Discussing the implications of these findings, Dr. Fukano mentions, “Urban heat islands are precursors to global warming. Understanding the rapid adaptive evolution of urban organisms to high temperatures will provide valuable insights on ecosystem dynamics and sustainable crop production.”

 

These adaptations to high-temperature stress likely extend beyond leaf color, thereby warranting further research into various plant traits for a comprehensive understanding of plant adaptation to urban heat islands.

 

About Professor Yuya Fukano

Dr. Yuya Fukano is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Horticulture at Chiba University. He received his Ph. D from the Graduate School of Systems Life Science at Kyushu University. He has over 50 research publications to his credit and has previously served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services. Dr. Fukano specializes in ecology and crop science, focusing on sustainable agriculture that harmonizes environmental factors like climate change and biodiversity with food production. His field-based research encompasses crop production, evolutionary ecology, and conservation, and he also engages in sustainable smart agriculture using artificial intelligence technologies.

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.abq3542 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

From green to red: Urban heat stress drives leaf color evolution

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

 

Why do some men not produce sperm?

Stowers scientists collaborate to uncover one underlying reason for male infertility

Peer-Reviewed Publication

STOWERS INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH

 

VIDEO: 

STOWERS SCIENTISTS COLLABORATE TO UNCOVER ONE UNDERLYING REASON FOR MALE INFERTILITY. THE STUDY PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 20, 2023, IN SCIENCE ADVANCES FROM THE HAWLEY LAB AND WELLCOME CENTRE INVESTIGATOR OWEN DAVIES, PH.D., MAY HELP EXPLAIN WHY SOME MEN DO NOT MAKE ENOUGH SPERM TO FERTILIZE AN EGG.

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CREDIT: STOWERS INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH

KANSAS CITY, MO—October 20, 2023—Millions of couples worldwide experience infertility with half of the cases originating in men. For 10% of infertile males, little or no sperm are produced. Now, new research from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, in collaboration with the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, is shedding light on what may be going wrong in the process of sperm formation, leading to potential theories on possible treatments.  

“A significant cause of infertility in males is that they just cannot make sperm,” said Stowers Investigator Scott Hawley, Ph.D. “If you know exactly what is wrong, there are technologies emerging right now that might give you a way to fix it.”  

The study published on October 20, 2023, in Science Advances from the Hawley Lab and Wellcome Centre Investigator Owen Davies, Ph.D., may help explain why some men do not make enough sperm to fertilize an egg. In most sexually reproducing species, including humans, a critical protein structure resembling a lattice-like bridge needs to be built properly to produce sperm and egg cells. The team led by former Postdoctoral Research Associate Katherine Billmyre, Ph.D., discovered that in mice, changing a single and very specific point in this bridge caused it to collapse, leading to infertility and thus providing insight into human infertility in males due to similar problems with meiosis. 

Meiosis, the cell division process giving rise to sperm and eggs, involves several steps, one of which is the formation of a large protein structure called the synaptonemal complex. Like a bridge, the complex holds chromosome pairs in place enabling necessary genetic exchanges to occur that are essential for the chromosomes to then correctly separate into sperm and eggs.  

“A significant contributor to infertility is defects in meiosis,” said Billmyre. “To understand how chromosomes separate into reproductive cells correctly, we are really interested in what happens right before that when the synaptonemal complex forms between them.”  

Previous studies have examined many proteins comprising the synaptonemal complex, how they interact with each other, and have identified various mutations linked to male infertility. The protein the researchers investigated in this study forms the lattices of the proverbial bridge, which has a section found in humans, mice, and most other vertebrates suggesting it is critical for assembly. Modeling different mutations in a potentially crucial region in the human protein enabled the team to predict which of these might disrupt protein function. 

The authors used a precise gene editing technique to make mutations in one key synaptonemal complex protein in mice, which allowed the researchers, for the first time, to test the function of key regions of the protein in live animals. Just a single mutation, predicted from the modeling experiments, was verified as the culprit of infertility in mice.   

“We’re talking about pinpoint surgery here,” said Hawley. “We focused on a tiny little region of one protein in this gigantic structure that we were pretty sure could be a significant cause of infertility.”  

Mice have long been used as models for human diseases. From the modeling experiments using human protein sequences, along with the high conservation of this protein structure across species, the precise molecule that caused infertility in mice likely functions the same way in humans.   

“What is really exciting to me is that our research can help us understand this really basic process that is necessary for life,” said Billmyre.  

For Hawley, this research is a true representation of the versatility of the Institute. Hawley’s lab typically conducts research in fruit flies, yet the protein discovered in this study was not present in fruit flies and demanded a different research organism to continue. Because of the resources and Technology Centers at the Institute, it was possible to quickly pivot and test the new infertility hypothesis in mice. 

“I can’t imagine another place where this could happen,” said Hawley. “I think it’s an amazing example of how the Stowers Institute’s dedication toward discovery can yield big results providing important leaps forward in understanding.”     

Additional authors include Emily A. Kesler, Dai Tsuchiya, Ph.D., Timothy J. Corbin, Kyle Weaver, Andrea Moran, Zulin Yu, Ph.D., Lane Adams, Kym Delventhal, Michael Durnin, Ph.D., and Owen Richard Davies, Ph.D. 

This work was funded by the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology (award: 203149), the Wellcome Senior Research Fellowship (award: 219413/Z/19/Z), and by institutional support from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.  

About the Stowers Institute for Medical Research 

Founded in 1994 through the generosity of Jim Stowers, founder of American Century Investments, and his wife, Virginia, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research is a non-profit, biomedical research organization with a focus on foundational research. Its mission is to expand our understanding of the secrets of life and improve life’s quality through innovative approaches to the causes, treatment, and prevention of diseases. 

The Institute consists of 20 independent research programs. Of the approximately 500 members, over 370 are scientific staff that include principal investigators, technology center directors, postdoctoral scientists, graduate students, and technical support staff. Learn more about the Institute at www.stowers.org and about its graduate program at www.stowers.org/gradschool

Microscopy images showing normal seminiferous tubules in control testes with mature sperm (black arrow: left) but smaller empty seminiferous tubules in testes harboring a synaptonemal complex protein point mutation (black asterisk: right). 

Representative testes from 9-week-old control mice (left) and mice with a point mutation in one synaptonemal complex protein (right). 

Model of the synaptonemal complex in control and mutant mice. The protein the team investigated (SYCP1) forms normally, and all additional necessary proteins are recruited. In the mutant, SYCP1 localizes to the chromosome axes but does not successfully form the bridge-like structure (head-to-head interactions), and the additional proteins that help keep the bridge intact are either missing or not properly organized.

CREDIT

Stowers Institute for Medical Research

JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adi1562 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

SYCP1 head-to-head assembly is required for chromosome synapsis in mouse meiosis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

Venezuelans became the largest nationality arrested for illegally crossing the U.S. border


President Joe Biden, second from left, looks towards a large “Welcome to Mexico” sign that is hung over the Bridge of the Americas as he tours the El Paso port of entry, a busy port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

BY ELLIOT SPAGAT
October 21, 2023


SAN DIEGO (AP) — Venezuelans became the largest nationality arrested for illegally crossing the U.S. border, replacing Mexicans for the first time on record, according to figures released Saturday that show September was the second-highest month for arrests of all nationalities.

Venezuelans were arrested 54,833 times by the Border Patrol after entering from Mexico in September, more than double from 22,090 arrests in August and well above the previous monthly high of 33,749 arrests in September 2022.

Arrests of all nationalities entering from Mexico totaled 218,763 in September, up 21% from 181,084 in August and approaching an all-time high of 222,018 in December 2022, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Arrests for the government’s budget year that ended Sept. 30 topped 2 million for the second year in a row, down 7% from an all-time high of more than 2.2 million arrests in the same period a year earlier.

Venezuela plunged into a political, economic and humanitarian crisis over the last decade, pushing more than 7 million people to leave. They initially settled in nearby countries in Latin America but began coming to the United States in the last three years, settling in New York, Chicago and other major cities.

OTHER NEWS
Central America scrambles as the international community fails to find solution to record migration

The Biden administration recently announced temporary legal status for nearly 500,000 Venezuelans who were already in the United States on July 31, while vowing to deport those who come illegally after that date and fail to get asylum. It recently began deportation flights to Venezuela as part of a diplomatic thaw with the government of Nicolás Maduro, a longtime adversary.

The U.S. “surged resources and personnel” to the border in September, said Troy Miller, acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.

“We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela,” Miller said.

For decades, Mexicans accounted for the vast majority of illegal crossings but flows shifted over the last decade to Central Americans and, more recently, to people from South America, Africa and Asia.

Mexicans were arrested 39,733 times crossing the border in September, well behind Venezuelans. Guatemalans, Hondurans and Colombians rounded out the top five.

Republicans seized on the latest numbers as its leading presidential candidates have tried to frame the border as a major issue in next year’s elections.

“This fiscal year may have ended, but the historic crisis at our Southwest border sparked by (Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro) Mayorkas’ policies rages on,” said Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee.

The Biden administration proposed about $14 billion for the border in a $106 billion spending package announced Friday and has insisted that any long-term solution requires help from Congress.

The administration has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach of new legal pathways to seek asylum with restrictions on those who don’t adhere to them.

About 43,000 migrants entered the country at land crossings with Mexico in September using a mobile app called CBP One, bringing the total to nearly 278,000 since the online appointment system began in January. Also, more than 265,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela entered through September at airports after applying online with financial sponsors.

Including those legal pathways, the number of crossings hit a new all-time monthly high of 269,735 in September and a new budget-year high of nearly 2.5 million.

 

Dingoes given ‘almost-human’ status in pre-colonial Australia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

It's said that a dog is a man’s best friend, but the wild dingo is much maligned in Australia. This may not always have been the case though, with new research led by experts at The Australian National University and The University of Western Australia suggesting that dingoes were buried – and even domesticated – by First Nations people prior to European colonisation. 

The researchers examined remains at the Curracurrang archaeological site, south of Sydney, where radiocarbon dating of dingo bones revealed the animals were buried alongside humans as far back as 2,000 years ago. 

The care taken to bury the animals suggests a closer relationship between humans and dingoes than many previously realised, according to lead researcher Dr Loukas Koungoulos. 

“Not all camp dingoes were given burial rites, but in all areas in which the burials are recorded, the process and methods of disposal are identical or almost identical to those associated with human rites in the same area,” Dr Koungoulos said. 

“This reflects the close bond between people and dingoes and their almost-human status.” 

The burials weren’t the only sign that Australia’s First Peoples domesticated wild dingoes, however, with severely worn teeth found at the site suggesting a diet heavy in large bones, likely from scraps from human meals. 

The researchers also identified remains of dingoes of varying ages at the site – from pups to animals aged six to eight years. This shows that First Nations people didn’t just care for young dingoes before they returned to the wild, but that they built much more substantial relationships, the researchers argued. 

“These findings mark an important development in our understanding of the relationship between Australia’s First Peoples and dingoes,” co-author Professor Susan O’Connor said. 

“By the time Europeans settled in Australia, the bond between dingoes and Indigenous people was entrenched. This is well known by Indigenous people and has been documented by observers. 

“Our work shows that they had long-lasting relationships prior to European colonisation, not just the transient, temporary associations recorded during the colonial era.” 

The research is published in PLOS One. 

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Dingoes, companions in life and death: the significance of archaeological canid burial practices in Australia

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

Harsh workplace climate is pushing women out of academia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

Women faculty are more likely to leave academia than men faculty throughout all career stages in U.S. universities, University of Colorado Boulder researchers revealed in the most comprehensive analysis of retention in academia to date. 

The team published the findings Oct. 20 in the journal “Science Advances.” The researchers found that a harsh workplace climate, which can include harassment and feelings of not belonging, was the most common reason women left academia. This attrition affects not only early-career professionals, but also those who have achieved the highest ranks in universities, the study found.

This finding helps to explain, in part, why women remain underrepresented among faculty in nearly all academic fields in the U.S., said Katie Spoon, the paper’s first author and a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science. For example, only 28% of professors in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are women in the U.S., despite women receiving 40% of STEM PhDs for the past 10 to 15 years.

“If you look back at the literature from 20 or 30 years ago, it painted a much bleaker picture than many of the newer studies today,” said Aaron Clauset, the paper’s corresponding author and a professor of computer science. “Things are changing, but there is still a lot of work left to do.” 

Previous research on gendered attrition in academia tended to have a limited scope. 

Many studies investigated faculty retention only among assistant professors, in STEM fields, or at high-prestige institutions, due to the difficulties in finding and reaching faculty who left academia.

Spoon and her team analyzed a census of employment records of all 245,270 tenure-track and tenured professors from 391 PhD-granting universities and institutions in the U.S. They came from STEM fields, but also disciplines like social sciences and business. The tenure track is a professor's pathway to promotion. Faculty members usually start as assistant professors without tenure. If they get promoted, they become tenured associate professors, and eventually they can be promoted to full professors, an indefinite appointment that tends to come with more academic freedom and job security.

The researchers found women are leaving academia at a higher rate than men at every career stage, especially after they receive full professorship. During their appointment as assistant professors, women are 6% more likely to leave their jobs than men each year. The attrition rate is higher among full professors, where women professors are 19% more likely to leave academia than men each year. 

“We were surprised to see the gender gap actually grow after faculty received tenure, given how important the title is,” Spoon said. “This result suggests that perhaps the field has neglected thinking about tenured women and their experiences.”

The team also surveyed more than 10,000 current and former faculty members for factors that led or could lead to their decision to leave a faculty job. The result showed women are more likely to feel pushed by a variety of factors out of their faculty positions, while men are more likely to be pulled toward more attractive jobs elsewhere. The most common reasons women, especially tenured women, reported for leaving academia were harsh workplace climates, which can include dysfunctional leadership, harassment, discrimination and feelings of not belonging. 

While previous research has suggested that women are more likely to leave academia in pursuit of better work-life balance, the new paper found that male faculty were about as likely to leave for this reason.

“We see an emphasis on work-life balance among early career faculty members,” said Clauset. “But the issue with workplace climate is the dominating factor among the women tenured professors, a position that lasts the majority of one’s academic career.” 

The researchers hope their paper will inspire administrators nationwide to take action.

“It can start with asking faculty, particularly women, what needs to be done, listening, and taking specific, concrete steps to address their concerns,” Spoon said.
 

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adi2205 

ARTICLE TITLE

Gender and retention patterns among U.S. faculty

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Oct-2023

 

Predicting potential problems of persistent plastic particulates

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SINGAPORE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

 

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ADSORPTION CAPACITY (QE) OF EACH PPCP ON EACH MP

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CREDIT: SUTD

Plastics monopolise our household accessories due to their low cost and versatility. Unfortunately, the lack of proper disposal measures has led to widespread proliferation of these non-biodegradables into the natural environment. Although plastics do not generally break down via biological processes, they age and disintegrate via chemical reactions.

 

The resulting waste, dubbed microplastics for their size, make their way into the ocean and circulate back into our water supply. The long-term persistence of microplastics is harmful because they can adsorb—or bind—onto other waste products. In particular, chemical waste consumables can interact with microplastics in unforeseen and potentially harmful ways. Dubbed pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), these emerging chemical contaminants are dangerous in their ability to present physiological effects in humans at low doses.

 

Professor Yang Hui Ying from the Engineering Product Development pillar at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) has observed that the current literature on long-term ageing treatments of microplastics is inadequate. Most research only looks at short-term ageing, which may not fully reflect the environmental behaviour of microplastics.

 

She shared the difficulties involved in modelling the environmental dynamics, “Due to the various ageing processes experienced by microplastics and the complexity of adsorption processes and mechanisms of different PPCPs on microplastics, distinguishing these adsorption differences solely through experimental methods can be challenging.”

 

Together with collaborators from China, Prof Yang looked to utilising modern machine learning techniques to overcome this hurdle. They published their paper ‘Predicting adsorption capacity of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on long-term aged microplastics using machine learning’ in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

 

Previous studies have developed techniques for predicting adsorption capacity between PPCPs and microplastics to varying levels of success, using quantum chemical descriptors. However, these studies are often impractical to carry out due to their limited accuracy and time-consuming nature. In particular, they neglect the surface effects of microplastics, which are important when modelling adsorption behaviours.

 

To address this limitation, Prof Yang used Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. This technique allowed her to probe the surface of microplastics carefully, identifying different functional groups and how they influence interactions with surrounding chemicals. Linking the adsorption behaviour to the FT-IR of microplastics is important, but previous established models for studying interactions between microplastics and PPCPs had not incorporated this information. As such, Prof Yang decided to turn to machine learning.

 

“Machine learning can derive general conclusions, identify key roles, and discover potential patterns from complex data without relying on prior knowledge. This implies that we can gain a deeper understanding of the intricate interactions between microplastics and PPCPs, offering new insights and solutions to safeguard ecosystems,” said Prof Yang, highlighting the power of using the right tools.

 

The next step was to pick a suitable machine learning model to capture the multidimensional dynamics of the adsorption process. A strong algorithm for classification problems, the gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT) is a popular choice for prediction tasks. However, applying it onto the intricate and subtle task of distinguishing various complex adsorption behaviours proved challenging. Prof Yang and team then considered the maximal information coefficient (MIC) to observe dependencies between variables, accounting for the affinity between the functional groups on microplastics and the contaminant PPCPs. Integrating the two approaches with FT-IR data became the ideal approach in predicting aged microplastics behaviour.

 

To collect data for their machine learning model, the researchers marinated microplastic particles in a blend of chemicals to simulate the ageing process. The concoction was periodically sampled during ageing to observe longitudinal effects. In the study, the team took samples up to nearly two years from their initial proposal to ensure that proper adsorption behaviours were observed.

 

The team was able to attribute various dynamics between the microplastics and PPCPs to various well-studied mechanisms from correlations to quantum chemistry models. The FT-IR data allowed the team to observe the most prominent functional groups involved in the adsorption. With these insights in hand, their machine learning model captured the complexity of the system with up to 98% accuracy during training and 70% on test data.

 

“What amplifies its significance is our ability to forecast the adsorption quantities of various PPCPs on aged microplastics in real-world aquatic environments,” Prof Yang described.

 

This study shines an illuminating torch on the scene of microplastics, serving as a crucial reference for future assessments. Prof Yang is also hopeful in its potential to assist relevant authorities in identifying key pollutants for targeted pollution control strategies.

 

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to explore the next stage in the microplastic adsorption life cycle. A comprehensive evaluation in the release of organic substances from microplastics are in the works, to assess the long-term impact of the persistent plastic particulates. Prof Yang aspires to cast light on the complex dynamics between microplastics and pollutants, quantify their impact, and make substantial contributions to environmental awareness and policy formulation.

(a) MIC values between variable X (quantum chemistry parameters) and Y (MPs); (b) MIC statistical analysis of the long-term aged MPs; (c) MIC values between any two MPs; (d) a total number of MIC values are over 0.8000; (e) the correlation coefficient between variable X; and (f) comparison of the GBDT-reg predicted and experimental qe values

Comparison of the GBDT-reg predicted and experimental qe values for (a) Ptotal and (b) individual PPCP

JOURNAL

Journal of Hazardous Materials

DOI

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131963 

ARTICLE TITLE

Predicting adsorption capacity of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on long-term aged microplastics using machine learning

 

University of Warwick researcher to benefit from £80m Royal Society funding to develop sustainable plastics

The University of Warwick will be at the forefront of research into sustainable materials, thanks to a share of £80 million funding by the Royal Society

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

 

IMAGE: 

DR HANNES HOUCK

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CREDIT: CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

The University of Warwick will be at the forefront of research into sustainable materials, thanks to a share of £80 million funding by the Royal Society.

 

Dr Hannes Houck has been announced as one of the recipients of the Royal Society’s flagship early career research schemes, distinguishing him as an outstanding scientist with the potential to become a leader in the field of sustainability.

 

Hannes’ research focuses on the development of new chemical building blocks that can be used to improve the sustainability of materials and specifically to make plastics easier to reuse. He is devising new conceptual approaches to form, break and reform the chemical bonds that make up many of our daily life plastics, improving their function and aiding their recycling.

 

Thanks to the grant, Hannes will start a new research group at the University of Warwick – recruiting post-doctoral and PhD researchers over the next eight years. The team will drive the understanding of photochemical processes and cross-linked materials, which are strong plastics we use in everyday life. These last a long time but at the end of their use are hard to break down – either being burned or placed in landfill.

 

The aim is to develop new materials which have strong bonds to make them durable, but which are reusable at the end of their life. The team will use techniques such as photochemical bonding – harvesting energy from light – to make materials, which can later be deconstructed at higher temperature and eventually reformed to recycle the plastic.

 

Dr Hannes Houck, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, said: “Being awarded this University Research Fellowship and becoming part of the Royal Society’s vibrant research community is a true honour. The support and longevity of this award will provide me with the unique opportunity to pursue blue-skies research ideas and create a thriving environment for the next generation of scientists to develop their research skills and foster their personal and professional growth.

 

“Together with my team, we will tackle fundamental and application-driven challenges to design advanced materials with improved functionality and sustainability. I am extremely grateful for the support I received throughout the application process from colleagues and mentors in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Advanced Study, which has brought me to this exciting new stage of my career.”

 

The Royal Society’s flagship early career research schemes are a sign of the investment in world leading researchers the UK needs to become a global science superpower. The long-term, flexible funding schemes provide researchers with the stability and support required to pursue innovative, cutting-edge scientific research, form international collaborations, and establish research groups.

 

Sir Adrian Smith, president of The Royal Society, said: "The importance of long-term funding for scientists at the early stages of their research careers cannot be understated. These scientists are fundamental to the future of research and innovation in the UK, and it is essential that we give them the support and stability they need to allow them to pursue novel and groundbreaking research. Through its globally competitive grant schemes, The Royal Society aims to ensure we attract the brightest scientists from across the world.”

 

The researchers will take up their new posts at institutions across the UK and Ireland from the start of October. They will be working on research projects spanning the physical, mathematical, chemical, and biological sciences.

 

For more information and the full list of recipients of the early career research schemes, visit: https://royalsociety.org/news/2023/10/early-career-researchers-funding-2023/

 

Notes to editors

 

The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, as it has been since its foundation in 1660, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. http://royalsociety.org.

 

Follow the Royal Society on X /Twitter (@royalsociety) or on Facebook (facebook.com/theroyalsociety)

 

Media contact

University of Warwick press office contact:

Annie Slinn 07876876934

Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | University of Warwick Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk

 

The University of Warwick will be at the forefront of research into sustainable materials, thanks to a share of £80 million funding by the Royal Society.

 

Dr Hannes Houck has been announced as one of the recipients of the Royal Society’s flagship early career research schemes, distinguishing him as an outstanding scientist with the potential to become a leader in the field of sustainability.

 

Hannes’ research focuses on the development of new chemical building blocks that can be used to improve the sustainability of materials and specifically to make plastics easier to reuse. He is devising new conceptual approaches to form, break and reform the chemical bonds that make up many of our daily life plastics, improving their function and aiding their recycling.

 

Thanks to the grant, Hannes will start a new research group at the University of Warwick – recruiting post-doctoral and PhD researchers over the next eight years. The team will drive the understanding of photochemical processes and cross-linked materials, which are strong plastics we use in everyday life. These last a long time but at the end of their use are hard to break down – either being burned or placed in landfill.

 

The aim is to develop new materials which have strong bonds to make them durable, but which are reusable at the end of their life. The team will use techniques such as photochemical bonding – harvesting energy from light – to make materials, which can later be deconstructed at higher temperature and eventually reformed to recycle the plastic.

 

Dr Hannes Houck, Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, said: “Being awarded this University Research Fellowship and becoming part of the Royal Society’s vibrant research community is a true honour. The support and longevity of this award will provide me with the unique opportunity to pursue blue-skies research ideas and create a thriving environment for the next generation of scientists to develop their research skills and foster their personal and professional growth.

 

“Together with my team, we will tackle fundamental and application-driven challenges to design advanced materials with improved functionality and sustainability. I am extremely grateful for the support I received throughout the application process from colleagues and mentors in the Department of Chemistry and the Institute of Advanced Study, which has brought me to this exciting new stage of my career.”

 

The Royal Society’s flagship early career research schemes are a sign of the investment in world leading researchers the UK needs to become a global science superpower. The long-term, flexible funding schemes provide researchers with the stability and support required to pursue innovative, cutting-edge scientific research, form international collaborations, and establish research groups.

 

Sir Adrian Smith, president of The Royal Society, said: "The importance of long-term funding for scientists at the early stages of their research careers cannot be understated. These scientists are fundamental to the future of research and innovation in the UK, and it is essential that we give them the support and stability they need to allow them to pursue novel and groundbreaking research. Through its globally competitive grant schemes, The Royal Society aims to ensure we attract the brightest scientists from across the world.”

 

The researchers will take up their new posts at institutions across the UK and Ireland from the start of October. They will be working on research projects spanning the physical, mathematical, chemical, and biological sciences.

 

For more information and the full list of recipients of the early career research schemes, visit: https://royalsociety.org/news/2023/10/early-career-researchers-funding-2023/

 

Notes to editors

 

The Royal Society is a self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, as it has been since its foundation in 1660, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. http://royalsociety.org.

 

Follow the Royal Society on X /Twitter (@royalsociety) or on Facebook (facebook.com/theroyalsociety)

 

Media contact

University of Warwick press office contact:

Annie Slinn 07876876934

Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | University of Warwick Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk

 

Australia PM Anthony Albanese jets off for Washington to press Joe Biden and Congress on AUKUS subs deal


Australia's bid to acquire nuclear submarines is meeting opposition in Congress. Photo: TND


Anthony Albanese will use his visit to the United States to help “forge ahead” with a plan for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

The Prime Minister departed Sunday for Washington, where he will meet with President Joe Biden and seek progress on the AUKUS security partnership which will share US and British technology with Australia.

“We will be urging support for all of the legislation that is required for AUKUS,” he told reporters in Canberra on Sunday.

Mr Albanese said he will have important meetings with members of the US Congress and Senate so the partnership can continue to “forge ahead”.
Congressional resistance

The legislation for the pact has faced hurdles in Congress, and from strict US trade control restrictions.

Mr Albanese said the pact was in the interests of all three AUKUS nations.

Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said AUKUS was already behind.

“We’re seeing a lot of inaction from this government … the US White House, the Senate and Congress, they’ll have a lot of questions for our prime minister,” he told Sky News.

“He’s got to maintain the confidence of the US, particularly as they’re preparing to hand over the crown jewels of their military secrets in the form of nuclear-powered submarines.”

Critical minerals and the clean energy transition will also be raised during the visit.

In addition to the bilateral meeting with President Biden, Mr Albanese will be hosted at a state dinner at the White House.


The Prime Minister will also meet with Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, and attend the opening of Australia’s new embassy.

-AAP

Drought in Brazil's Amazon Reveals Ancient Engravings

October 21, 2023 
Agence France-Presse


MANAUS, BRAZIL —

An extreme drought in parts of the Amazon has led to a dramatic drop in water levels in the river, exposing dozens of usually submerged rock formations with carvings of human forms that may date back some 2,000 years.

Livia Ribeiro, a longtime resident of the Amazon's largest city, Manaus, said she heard about the rock engravings from friends and wanted to check them out.

"I thought it was a lie ... I had never seen this. I've lived in Manaus for 27 years," said Ribeiro, an administrator, after viewing the dazzling relics.

The rock carvings are not usually visible because they are covered by the waters of the Negro River, whose flow recorded its lowest level in 121 years last week.

The surfacing of the engravings on the riverbank have delighted scientists and the general public alike but also raised unsettling questions.

"We come, we look at (the engravings) and we think they are beautiful. But at the same time, it is worrying... I also think about whether this river will exist in 50 or 100 years," Ribeiro said.

Drought in Brazil's Amazon has drastically reduced river levels in recent weeks, affecting a region that depends on a maze of waterways for transportation and supplies.

The Brazilian government has sent emergency aid to the area, where normally bustling riverbanks are dry, littered with stranded boats.

According to experts, the dry season has worsened this year due to El Nino, an irregular climate pattern over the Pacific Ocean that disrupts normal weather, adding to the effect of climate change.

The engravings comprise an archaeological site of "great relevance," said Jaime Oliveira of the Brazilian Institute of Historical Heritage (Iphan).

They are at a site known as Praia das Lajes and were first seen in 2010, during another period of drought not as severe as the current one.

The rock carvings appear against a backdrop of dense jungle, with the low brownish waters of the Negro River flowing nearby.

Most of the engravings are of human faces, some of them rectangular and others oval, with smiles or grim expressions.

"The site expresses emotions, feelings, it is an engraved rock record, but it has something in common with current works of art," said Oliveira.

For Beatriz Carneiro, historian and member of Iphan, Praia das Lajes has an "inestimable" value in understanding the first people who inhabited the region, a field still little explored.

"Unhappily it is now reappearing with the worsening of the drought," Carneiro said. "Having our rivers back (flooded) and keeping the engravings submerged will help preserve them, even more than our work."

Foxconn faces tax audit, land use probe: Chinese state media

BEIJING - Foxconn Technology Group, Apple Inc’s largest supplier of iPhones, has been subjected to tax audits at some of its key subsidiaries, suspected of violating laws and regulations, Chinese state media reported on Sunday.

China’s natural resources department also conducted on-site investigations on the land use of enterprises of Foxconn in Henan, Hubei provinces and other places, according to the exclusive report in the nationalist tabloid, the Global Times.

It did not elaborate on the investigations or the timing of them.

Foxconn did not immediately respond for comment outside of regular business hours.

Professor Zhang Wensheng, deputy dean of the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times in an interview that the tax audit and land use investigations conducted by the relevant departments stemmed from any enterprise suspected of violating laws and regulations, and was a normal procedure.

“Foxconn’s subsidiaries are obliged to actively cooperate with audits and investigations, and if there are indeed violations of laws and regulations, they should admit mistakes and accept penalties and step up rectification,” Prof Zhang said. REUTERS