Gender equality in marine sciences in Kiel, Germany: how project-funded measures can urge institutions to act

In Kiel, in the north of Germany, marine research is rooted in a lively research community hosted mainly at Kiel University and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre. While the ratio of women and men is more or less balanced on all qualification levels with mainly nonpermanent junior positions, women are generally underrepresented in leading research positions. The problem of gender imbalance and inequality has been well-known for a long time. Especially in the last decade, however, manifold efforts were initiated to improve gender equality on a political and institutional level as well as within the research community itself. In our article we focus on the gender equality activities of the two large externally funded marine sciences research alliances: the Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean” and the Collaborative Research Centre 754 “Climate–Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean”. For about a decade they offered both financial provisions and a structural framework to tackle the problem of women's underrepresentation in science and came up with innovative measures. In the following case study, we not only introduce the situation of women in marine sciences in Kiel and the structural arrangement to improve gender equality in general, but we also discuss three specific measures developed within the two collaborative research projects in detail: (i) the mentoring program via:mento_ocean for female postdocs, (ii) hiring policies integrating a gender quota for recruiting postdoctoral researchers and (iii) a code of conduct. Based on these best-practice examples we can show that progress towards gender equality has been made despite some obstacles faced when implementing the measures. This was especially the case for attracting female researchers to work in Kiel marine sciences and bringing the relevance of the topic to the surface of debates within the community. Looking at gender equality activities from a managerial point of view, we conclude from the situation in Kiel, where external funding for both research alliances ended in 2019, that even time-bound activities can initiate change. Initiatives developed by the marine sciences community were taken up by other research groups and inspired new activities at the level of the institution

Field testing of World Health Organization (WHO) 2003 recommendations for initiating anti-retroviral therapy (ART) where CD4 is not available revealed low sensitivity among stage I and II patients; a combination of Automated Total Lymphocyte Count (TLC) and Haemoglobin (Hgb) can ration the referral for CD4 testing.

2006 AIDS Conference, Toront

embCAB Sequence Variation Among Ethambutol-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Isolates Without embB306 Mutation

Mechanisms of resistance to ethambutol in Mycobacterium tuberculosis remain inadequately described. Although there is mounting evidence that mutations of codon 306 in embB play a key role, a significant number of phenotypically ethambutol-resistant strains do not carry mutations in this codon. Here, other mutations in the embCAB operon are suggested to be involved in resistance development

NirK and nirS Nitrite reductase genes from non-agricultural forest soil bacteria in Thailand

The genetic heterogeneity of the nitrite reductase gene (nirK and nirS) fragments from denitrifying prokaryotes in a non-agricultural forest soil in Thailand was investigated using soil samples from the Plant Germplasm-Royal Initiation Project area in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. Soil bacteria were screened for denitrification activity and 13 (from 211) positive isolates were obtained and further evaluated for their ability to reduce nitrate and to accumulate or reduce nitrite. Three species with potentially previously unreported denitrifying activities were recorded. Analysis of the partial nirK and nirS sequences of these 13 strains revealed a diverse sequence heterogeneity in these two genes within the same environment and even potentially within the same host species, the potential existence of lateral gene transfer and the first record of both nirK and nirS homologues in one bacterial species. Finally, isolates of two species of bacteria (Corynebacterium propinquum and Micrococcus lylae) are recorded as denitrifiers for the first time

Integrating tropical research into biology education is urgently needed

Understanding tropical biology is important for solving complex problems such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic pandemics, but biology curricula view research mostly via a temperatezone lens. Integrating tropical research into biology education is urgently needed to tackle these issues. The tropics are engines of Earth systems that regulate global cycles of carbon and water, and are thus critical for management of greenhouse gases. Compared with higher-latitude areas, tropical regions contain a greater diversity of biomes, organisms, and complexity of biological interactions. The tropics house the majority of the world’s human population and provide important global commodities from species that originated there: coffee, chocolate, palm oil, and species that yield the cancer drugs vincristine and vinblastine. Tropical regions, especially biodiversity hotspots, harbor zoonoses, thereby having an important role in emerging infectious diseases amidst the complex interactions of global environmental change and wildlife migration [1]. These well-known roles are oversimplified, but serve to highlight the global biological importance of tropical systems. Despite the importance of tropical regions, biology curricula worldwide generally lack coverage of tropical research. Given logistical, economic, or other barriers, it is difficult for undergraduate biology instructors to provide their students with field-based experience in tropical biology research in a diverse range of settings, an issue exacerbated by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Even in the tropics, field-based experience may be limited to home regions. When tropical biology is introduced in curricula, it is often through a temperate- zone lens that does not do justice to the distinct ecosystems, sociopolitical histories, and conservation issues that exist across tropical countries and regions [2]. The tropics are often caricatured as distant locations known for their remarkable biodiversity, complicated species interactions, and unchecked deforestation. This presentation, often originating from a colonial and culturally biased perspective, may fail to highlight the role of tropical ecosystems in global environmental and social challenges that accompany rising temperatures, worldwide biodiversity loss, zoonotic pandemics, and the environmental costs of ensuring food, water, and other ecosystem services for humans [3]

Risk factors associated with default from multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, uzbekistan: a retrospective cohort analysis.

The Médecins Sans Frontières project of Uzbekistan has provided multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment in the Karakalpakstan region since 2003. Rates of default from treatment have been high, despite psychosocial support, increasing particularly since programme scale-up in 2007. We aimed to determine factors associated with default in multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis patients who started treatment between 2003 and 2008 and thus had finished approximately 2 years of treatment by the end of 2010

Pediatric brain tumor cancer stem cells: cell cycle dynamics, DNA repair, and etoposide extrusion

Reliable model systems are needed to elucidate the role cancer stem cells (CSCs) play in pediatric brain tumor drug resistance. The majority of studies to date have focused on clinically distinct adult tumors and restricted tumor types. Here, the CSC component of 7 newly established primary pediatric cell lines (2 ependymomas, 2 medulloblastomas, 2 gliomas, and a CNS primitive neuroectodermal tumor) was thoroughly characterized. Comparison of DNA copy number with the original corresponding tumor demonstrated that genomic changes present in the original tumor, typical of that particular tumor type, were retained in culture. In each case, the CSC component was approximately 3–4-fold enriched in neurosphere culture compared with monolayer culture, and a higher capacity for multilineage differentiation was observed for neurosphere-derived cells. DNA content profiles of neurosphere-derived cells expressing the CSC marker nestin demonstrated the presence of cells in all phases of the cell cycle, indicating that not all CSCs are quiescent. Furthermore, neurosphere-derived cells demonstrated an increased resistance to etoposide compared with monolayer-derived cells, having lower initial DNA damage, potentially due to a combination of increased drug extrusion by ATP-binding cassette multidrug transporters and enhanced rates of DNA repair. Finally, orthotopic xenograft models reflecting the tumor of origin were established from these cell lines. In summary, these cell lines and the approach taken provide a robust model system that can be used to develop our understanding of the biology of CSCs in pediatric brain tumors and other cancer types and to preclinically test therapeutic agents

Microbial community composition in sediments resists perturbation by nutrient enrichment

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 5 (2011): 1540–1548, doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.22.Functional redundancy in bacterial communities is expected to allow microbial assemblages to survive perturbation by allowing continuity in function despite compositional changes in communities. Recent evidence suggests, however, that microbial communities change both composition and function as a result of disturbance. We present evidence for a third response: resistance. We examined microbial community response to perturbation caused by nutrient enrichment in salt marsh sediments using deep pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA and functional gene microarrays targeting the nirS gene. Composition of the microbial community, as demonstrated by both genes, was unaffected by significant variations in external nutrient supply, despite demonstrable and diverse nutrient–induced changes in many aspects of marsh ecology. The lack of response to external forcing demonstrates a remarkable uncoupling between microbial composition and ecosystem-level biogeochemical processes and suggests that sediment microbial communities are able to resist some forms of perturbation.Funding for this research came from NSF(DEB-0717155 to JEH, DBI-0400819 to JLB). Support for the sequencing facility came from NIH and NSF (NIH/NIEHS-P50-ES012742-01 and NSF/OCE 0430724-J Stegeman PI to HGM and MLS, and WM Keck Foundation to MLS). Salary support provided from Princeton University Council on Science and Technology to JLB. Support for development of the functional gene microarray provided by NSF/OCE99-081482 to BBW. The Plum Island fertilization experiment was funded by NSF (DEB 0213767 and DEB 0816963)

Denitrification likely catalyzed by endobionts in an allogromiid foraminifer

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 6 (2012): 951–960, doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.171.Nitrogen can be a limiting macronutrient for carbon uptake by the marine biosphere. The process of denitrification (conversion of nitrate to gaseous compounds, including N2) removes bioavailable nitrogen, particularly in marine sediments, making it a key factor in the marine nitrogen budget. Benthic foraminifera reportedly perform complete denitrification, a process previously considered nearly exclusively performed by bacteria and archaea. If the ability to denitrify is widespread among these diverse and abundant protists, a paradigm shift is required for biogeochemistry and marine microbial ecology. However, to date, the mechanisms of foraminiferal denitrification are unclear and it is possible that the ability to perform complete denitrification is due to symbiont metabolism in some foraminiferal species. Using sequence analysis and GeneFISH, we show that for a symbiont-bearing foraminifer, the potential for denitrification resides in the endobionts. Results also identify the endobionts as denitrifying pseudomonads and show that the allogromiid accumulates nitrate intracellularly, presumably for use in denitrification. Endobionts have been observed within many foraminiferal species, and in the case of associations with denitrifying bacteria, may provide fitness for survival in anoxic conditions. These associations may have been a driving force for early foraminiferal diversification, which is thought to have occurred in the Neoproterozoic when anoxia was widespread.This research was supported by NSF grant EF-0702491 to JMB, KLC and VPE; some ship support was provided by NSF MCB-0604084 to VPE and JMB.2012-06-0