“Enriching Lives within Sedimentary Geology”: Actionable Recommendations for Making SEPM a Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Society for All Sedimentary Geologists

Innovative science benefits from diversity of thought and influence at all waypoints along the scientific journey, from early education to career-length contributions in research and mentorship. Scientific societies, like the Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), steward their innovators and the direction of the science, thereby defining the societal impact and evolution of a discipline. They are uniquely positioned to promote the representation and success of all scientists, including those from minoritized populations, through proactive advocacy, and inclusive mentorship, awards, and leadership. We introspectively review available records of SEPM membership, leadership, awardees, and editorial boards to identify areas for growth and begin a dialogue about how the society and its members can work together to better reflect our community. In the last decade, SEPM has seen a decline in membership, while representation and recognition of scientists from minoritized groups has remained low. Awards and honors have overwhelmingly gone to men, even in the last ten years, and very few women or people of color are in leadership roles. SEPM has recently taken positive steps towards becoming more inclusive (e.g., the Code of Professional Conduct); however, much more work is needed. We provide recommendations for swift actions that SEPM and its members should undertake for the society to become a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment where all scientists thrive. The systemic changes needed will take continuous effort, which must be shared by all of us, to build an enduring legacy that we can be proud of

Observation of the superconducting proximity effect in Nb/InAs and NbNx/InAs by Raman scattering

URL:http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.66.134530 DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.134530High-quality thin Nb and NbN films (60-100 Å) are grown on (100) n+-InAs (n=1019cm-3) substrates by dc-magnetron sputter deposition. Studies of the electronic properties of interfaces between the superconductor and the semiconductor are done by Raman scattering measurements. The superconducting proximity effect at superconductor-semiconductor interfaces is observed through its impact on inelastic light scattering intensities originating from the near-interface region of InAs. The InAs longitudinal optical phonon LO mode (237cm-1) and the plasmon-phonon coupled modes L- (221cm-1) and L+ (1100 to 1350cm-1), for n+=1×1019-2×1019cm-3 are measured. The intensity ratio of the LO mode (associated with the near-surface charge accumulation region, in InAs) to that of the L- mode (associated with bulk InAs), is observed to increase by up to 40% below the superconducting transition temperature. This temperature-dependent change in light scattering properties is only observed with high quality superconducting films and when the superconductor and the semiconductor are in good electrical contact. A few possible mechanisms of the observed effect are proposed.We gratefully acknowledge support from the United States Department of Energy through Materials Research Laboratory~Grant No. DEFG02-96ER45439! ~I.V.R., A.C.A., L.H.G., T.A.T., J.F.D., P.W.B., J.F.K.!, and from the United States Department of Energy through Midwest Superconductivity Consortium ~MISCON! ~Grant No. DE FG02-90ER45427! and the NSF ~Grant No. DMR 96-23827! ~S.W.H., P.F.M.!. SEM, XRD, XPS, and RBS materials characterizations were performed at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials and Microfabrication Center at Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign ~Grant No. DE FG02-96ER45439!. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000

Nostalgia as a psychological resource for people with dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence of effectiveness from experimental studies

Objective: This review systematically examines evidence relating to the effect of nostalgia on psychological well-being through a meta-analysis of measures of social connectedness, self-esteem, meaning in life, self-continuity, optimism and positive and negative affect. Rationale: If nostalgia is to be used as a clinical intervention to boost well-being in dementia by reducing threat, then it is important to assess its therapeutic potential. Results: Searches carried out in July 2014 and updated in February 2018 identified 47 eligible experimental studies comparing nostalgic reminiscence and non-nostalgic reminiscence to be included in the meta-analysis. Nostalgic reminiscence had moderate effects on positive affect (0.51 (0.37, 0.65), p= 0.001), social connectedness (0.72 (0.57, 0.87), p= 0.001), self-esteem (0.50 (0.30, 0.70), p= 0.001), meaning in life (0.77 (0.47, 1.08), p= 0.001) and optimism (0.38 (0.28, 0.47), p= 0.001) and a large effect on self-continuity (0.81 (0.55, 1.07), p= 0.001). There was, however, no difference between the effect of nostalgic reminiscence and non-nostalgic reminiscence for negative affect (−0.06 (−0.20, 0.09), p= 0.443). Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis provides an overview of the evidence base for nostalgia. This is an important stage in developing nostalgia as a clinical intervention for people with dementia which might be achieved, for instance, by adapting current reminiscence and life review techniques. This meta-analysis will therefore also serve as a valuable reference point for the continued exploration of nostalgia as an intervention

Candida albicans Pma1p Contributes to Growth, pH Homeostasis, and Hyphal Formation

Candida albicans occupies diverse ecological niches within the host and must tolerate a wide range of environmental pH. The plasma membrane H+-ATPase Pma1p is the major regulator of cytosolic pH in fungi. Pma1p extrudes protons from the cytosol to maintain neutral-to-alkaline pH and is a potential drug target due to its essentiality and fungal specificity. We characterized mutants in which one allele of PMA1 has been deleted and the other truncated by 18–38 amino acids. Increasing C-terminal truncation caused corresponding decreases in plasma membrane ATPase-specific activity and cytosolic pH. Pma1p is regulated by glucose: glucose rapidly activates the ATPase, causing a sharp increase in cytosolic pH. Increasing Pma1p truncation severely impaired this glucose response. Pma1p truncation also altered cation responses, disrupted vacuolar morphology and pH, and reduced filamentation competence. Early studies of cytosolic pH and filamentation have described a rapid, transient alkalinization of the cytosol preceding germ tube formation; Pma1p has been proposed as a regulator of this process. We find Pma1p plays a role in the establishment of cell polarity, and distribution of Pma1p is non-homogenous in emerging hyphae. These findings suggest a role of PMA1 in cytosolic alkalinization and in the specialized form of polarized growth that is filamentation

The N-glycome of human embryonic stem cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complex carbohydrate structures, glycans, are essential components of glycoproteins, glycolipids, and proteoglycans. While individual glycan structures including the SSEA and Tra antigens are already used to define undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESC), the whole spectrum of stem cell glycans has remained unknown. We undertook a global study of the asparagine-linked glycoprotein glycans (N-glycans) of hESC and their differentiated progeny using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric and NMR spectroscopic profiling. Structural analyses were performed by specific glycosidase enzymes and mass spectrometric fragmentation analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The data demonstrated that hESC have a characteristic N-glycome which consists of both a constant part and a variable part that changes during hESC differentiation. hESC-associated N-glycans were downregulated and new structures emerged in the differentiated cells. Previously mouse embryonic stem cells have been associated with complex fucosylation by use of SSEA-1 antibody. In the present study we found that complex fucosylation was the most characteristic glycosylation feature also in undifferentiated hESC. The most abundant complex fucosylated structures were Le^xand H type 2 antennae in sialylated complex-type N-glycans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The N-glycan phenotype of hESC was shown to reflect their differentiation stage. During differentiation, hESC-associated N-glycan features were replaced by differentiated cell-associated structures. The results indicated that hESC differentiation stage can be determined by direct analysis of the N-glycan profile. These results provide the first overview of the N-glycan profile of hESC and form the basis for future strategies to target stem cell glycans.</p

RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals Different Dynamics of Differentiation of Human Dermis- and Adipose-Derived Stromal Stem Cells

Tissue regeneration and recovery in the adult body depends on self-renewal and differentiation of stem and progenitor cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that have the ability to differentiate into various cell types, have been isolated from the stromal fraction of virtually all tissues. However, little is known about the true identity of MSCs. MSC populations exhibit great tissue-, location- and patient-specific variation in gene expression and are heterogeneous in cell composition.Our aim was to analyze the dynamics of differentiation of two closely related stromal cell types, adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AdMSCs) and dermal fibroblasts (FBs) along adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages using multiplex RNA-seq technology. We found that undifferentiated donor-matched AdMSCs and FBs are distinct populations that stay different upon differentiation into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes. The changes in lineage-specific gene expression occur early in differentiation and persist over time in both AdMSCs and FBs. Further, AdMSCs and FBs exhibit similar dynamics of adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation but different dynamics of chondrogenic differentiation.Our findings suggest that stromal stem cells including AdMSCs and dermal FBs exploit different molecular mechanisms of differentiation to reach a common cell fate. The early mechanisms of differentiation are lineage-specific and are similar for adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation but are distinct for chondrogenic differentiation between AdMSCs and FBs

A point mutation in cpsE renders Streptococcus pneumoniae nonencapsulated and enhances its growth, adherence and competence.

BACKGROUND: The polysaccharide capsule is a major virulence factor of the important human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. However, S. pneumoniae strains lacking capsule do occur. RESULTS: Here, we report a nasopharyngeal isolate of Streptococcus pneumoniae composed of a mixture of two phenotypes; one encapsulated (serotype 18C) and the other nonencapsulated, determined by serotyping, electron microscopy and fluorescence isothiocyanate dextran exclusion assay.By whole genome sequencing, we demonstrated that the phenotypes differ by a single nucleotide base pair in capsular gene cpsE (C to G change at gene position 1135) predicted to result in amino acid change from arginine to glycine at position 379, located in the cytoplasmic, enzymatically active, region of this transmembrane protein. This SNP is responsible for loss of capsule production as the phenotype is transferred with the capsule operon. The nonencapsulated variant is superior in growth in vitro and is also 117-fold more adherent to and more invasive into Detroit 562 human epithelial cells than the encapsulated variant.Expression of six competence pathway genes and one competence-associated gene was 11 to 34-fold higher in the nonencapsulated variant than the encapsulated and transformation frequency was 3.7-fold greater. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a new single point mutation in capsule gene cpsE of a clinical S. pneumoniae serotype 18C isolate sufficient to cause loss of capsule expression resulting in the co-existence of the encapsulated and nonencapsulated phenotype. The mutation caused phenotypic changes in growth, adherence to epithelial cells and transformability. Mutation in capsule gene cpsE may be a way for S. pneumoniae to lose its capsule and increase its colonization potential