Explore the vast range of titles available.

Why did you do this work?The climate crisis is a global emergency that disproportionately affects children and young people. The RCPCH’s climate change action plan calls on paediatricians to be role models in mitigating climate change personally and professionally.1 Road transport is the largest contributor to UK CO2 emissions, with average car commuters (33km round-trip) directly emitting 1.1 metric tonnes of CO2 annually (MTCO2e).2 3 Understanding the environmental cost of commuting for paediatric training is crucial for exploring mitigation strategies. Given that rotational training placements are often outside trainees’ control and assigned on short notice—making green commuting options like carpooling challenging—this study aimed to estimate the CO2 emissions associated with commuting for paediatric rotational training in the East of England (EoE).What did you do?An anonymous electronic survey was distributed to all EoE paediatric trainees in June 2024, with reminders given at regional study days. The survey collected data on commuting modality currently and to furthest rotational placement, home outcodes, LTFT status, and concern for environment and ranked factors influencing commuting choices. Commute distances were calculated using RStudio’s ‘gmapsdistance’ package, and CO2 emissions were derived from UK government data.4 5 Annual emissions were based on 20 round trips per month, adjusted for full-time equivalent (FTE) status over 12 months. Total emissions for all trainees were calculated as a sum of mean emissions per trainee stratified by number of trainees per level of training.What did you find?Of 225 EoE Paediatric trainees, 34% (n=77) responded. Individual car use, mostly fossil-fuelled, is the dominant mode of commuting among trainees. Despite concerns about environmental impact, commute choices were primarily influenced by time, caring responsibilities, and cost and least by environmental concerns. The mean daily round-trip commute to current placements was 84.7km (UK average: 33km), and to furthest placements 141km. Annually, trainees averaged 8,968km commuting to current placements, equivalent to 1.94MTCO2e, and 14,641km to their furthest placements, equivalent to 3.4MTCO2e. Extrapolating these figures to all EoE paediatric trainees estimates 435.8MTCO2e attributable to paediatric training annually.What does it mean?Paediatric rotational training generates significant CO2 emissions, primarily from car commuting. Trainees are concerned about the environmental impact, but cost, time, and caring responsibilities primarily influence their commute choices. As paediatricians, we must reflect on the necessity of frequent rotations and their environmental impact. The RCPCH should consider strategies to alleviate this and lead by example: promoting remote training opportunities, improved longitudinal rota design and facilitating or incentivising green transport options including transition to electric vehicles. These initiatives would reflect the College’s commitment to sustainability, environmental responsibility, and trainee wellbeing.ReferencesThe impact of climate change on global child health – position statement RCPCH. Available from: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/impact-climate-change-global-child-health-position-statement#key-messages-for-health-professionalsOffice for National Statistics. Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc99999/covid-emissions-gh-pages/index.html?2020 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Available from: https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/wetlands/index.html;UK Government – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2023. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2023Melo R, Zarruk D. Distance and travel time between two points from google maps. 2016.

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurement is one of the most powerful tools for the evaluation of a cation valence state. XANES measurement is sometimes the only available technique for the evaluation of the valence state of a dopant cation, which often occurs in phosphor materials. The validity of the core excitation process should be examined as a basis for understanding the applicability of this technique. Here, we demonstrate the validity of valence estimation of tin in oxide glasses, using Sn K-edge and L-edge XANES spectra, and compare the results with 119 Sn Mössbauer analysis. The results of Sn K-edge XANES spectra analysis reveal that this approach cannot evaluate the actual valence state. On the contrary, in L II -edge absorption whose transition is 2p 1/2 -d, the change of the white line corresponds to the change of the valence state of tin, which is calculated from the 119 Sn Mössbauer spectra. Among several analytical approaches, valence evaluation using the peak area, such as the absorption edge energy E 0 at the fractions of the edge step or E 0 at the zero of the second derivative, is better. The observed findings suggest that the valence state of a heavy element in amorphous materials should be discussed using several different definitions with error bars, even though L-edge XANES analyses are used.

Methanol is an attractive one-carbon feedstock for sustainable biomanufacturing because of its abundance, cost-effectiveness, and industrial compatibility. However, its cytotoxicity limits its biotechnological applications in native methylotrophs such as Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. In this study, we developed AM1-derived strains capable of sustained growth under elevated methanol concentrations through adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE). From the evolved population, five representative strains were isolated, exhibiting up to a 1.68-fold increase in specific growth rates compared with those of the wild- type at 2.5% (v/v; 617.93 mM) methanol. Genomic analysis of the evolved strains revealed recurrent mutations in metY ( O -acetyl-L-homoserine sulfhydrylase) and kefB (potassium efflux antiporter). Functional validation confirmed that these recurrent mutations improve methanol tolerance through distinct yet complementary mechanisms. The consistent emergence of mutations in metY and kefB across all strains implies strong convergent selection, highlighting their independent roles in a coordinated adaptive strategy. Specifically, the metY mutations are hypothesized to fine-tune enzyme activity to reduce toxic byproduct formation, while the loss-of-function kefB mutation likely conserves cellular energy. The largely additive nature of their combined effect underscores how these distinct adaptive mechanisms, optimization of methionine biosynthesis and energy conservation, independently contribute to the overall fitness improvement under methanol stress. To further elucidate methanol adaptation strategies, we performed an integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis. Transcriptome profiling revealed 767 differentially expressed genes, indicating widespread transcriptional reprogramming. Notably, the key upregulated genes were involved mainly in central carbon metabolism, methionine biosynthesis, cellular defense responses such as oxidative stress mitigation, and nitrogen metabolism, as interpreted through DEG mapping onto metabolic pathways using a genome-scale metabolic model. Overall, this study highlights how coordinated genetic and transcriptional adaptations contribute to methanol tolerance in the AM1-derived evolved strains, providing systems-level insights. These strains represent promising platforms for methanol-based biomanufacturing, with the potential to improve microbial robustness and reduce stress-induced bottlenecks in industrial processes.

Protein origami using coiled-coil building blocks produces self-assembling polyhedral cages for diverse applications. Polypeptides and polynucleotides are natural programmable biopolymers that can self-assemble into complex tertiary structures. We describe a system analogous to designed DNA nanostructures in which protein coiled-coil (CC) dimers serve as building blocks for modular de novo design of polyhedral protein cages that efficiently self-assemble in vitro and in vivo . We produced and characterized >20 single-chain protein cages in three shapes—tetrahedron, four-sided pyramid, and triangular prism—with the largest containing >700 amino-acid residues and measuring 11 nm in diameter. Their stability and folding kinetics were similar to those of natural proteins. Solution small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), electron microscopy (EM), and biophysical analysis confirmed agreement of the expressed structures with the designs. We also demonstrated self-assembly of a tetrahedral structure in bacteria, mammalian cells, and mice without evidence of inflammation. A semi-automated computational design platform and a toolbox of CC building modules are provided to enable the design of protein cages in any polyhedral shape.