Thoughts from a past AGU SPA fellows committee

Community honours, such as those bestowed by professional scientific societies like the American Geophysical Union (AGU) are an important element of both individual career advancement and contributes to the historical record of scientific progress. The process by which honours are bestowed is not widely shared amongst the community. The purpose of this article is to share the recent experiences of several members of the AGU Space Physics and Aeronomy (SPA) Fellows committee. We outline the criteria for selection, the evaluation process, difficulties encountered by the committee, and steps taken to mitigate these difficulties. Of particular note is the impact of implicit bias in the award system. Steps could be taken by the awarding scientific societies to reduce the impact of these biases, but in the meantime individual award committees can employ some of the strategies we outline in this article. By sharing our experiences, we hope to improve the process of granting awards and honours for the scientists putting together award nominations, future committee members, and the scientific societies granting these awards. &nbsp;</p

On the Sources of Cold and Dense Plasma in Plasmasphere Drainage Plumes

Previous observations have revealed that the ionospheric Storm Enhanced Density (SED) plumes are colocated with the cold, dense plumes observed at the dayside magnetopause. However, the origin of the cold, dense plume plasma is not well understood with multiple possible sources in the magnetosphere. Improving our understanding of these plasmaspheric plumes is crucial due to their impact on the dayside magnetic reconnection. We report that plumes were simultaneously observed in both the ionosphere and plasmasphere by TEC and geosynchronous spacecraft for the magnetic storms occurred in 2013 and 2015 on Mar 17. Moreover, in 2015, the plume was also observed by THEMIS spacecraft near the dayside magnetopause. Simulations using a physics-based model of the ionosphere and plasmasphere reproduced the observed plume colocation in the ionosphere and plasmasphere for both storms. Our results suggest that plasmaspheric plume was created by the enhanced convection transporting the plasma sunward that was peeled off from the outer plasmasphere, whereas the ionospheric plume plasma came from the density enhancement generated in the dayside subauroral ionosphere. These plumes were observed near the same closed field lines at the peak of the geomagnetic activity because the cold plasma motion in the ionosphere and plasmasphere is connected through the ExB drift motion. Furthermore, our results suggest that weaker storms transport more plasmaspheric materials toward the dayside/duskside magnetopause. However stronger storms may have a larger impact on the dayside reconnection because plasmaspheric plumes tend to be shifted to the noon MLT sector where dayside reconnections more likely to occur. &nbsp; &nbsp; Plain Language Summary The plasmasphere is the region of cold, relatively dense ionized gas (mostly protons and helium ions) that resides on the magnetic field lines close to the Earth. It is the upward extension of cold, dense Earth&rsquo;s ionospheric plasma as the ionosphere had filled the persistently &ldquo;closed&rdquo; flux tubes of plasmasphere. Enhanced convection plasma flow during solar storms peels the cold, dense plasma away from the outer plasmasphere to form a plume of plasma that moves sunward. Recently, the plasmaspheric cold, dense plasma has been found near where the Earth&rsquo;s magnetic field first contacts the solar wind, however, where the plasma originates from remains unclear. Understanding the plume plasma is very important because they could rearrange the magnetic topology by altering the rate of the magnetic reconnection, which determines how much solar wind energy gets into the Earth&rsquo;s magnetosphere. Here we report that in two solar storms in 2013 and 2015, plumes were observed simultaneously in both ionosphere and plasmasphere. Our study suggests that the observed plumes in the plasmasphere and ionosphere were mainly created by different mechanisms, but were observed near the same magnetic field lines at the peak of the solar storms.</p

Plasma Imaging, LOcal Measurement, and Tomographic experiment (PILOT): a mission concept for transformational multi-scale observations of mass and energy flow dynamics in Earth’s magnetosphere

We currently do not understand the fundamental physical processes that govern mass and energy flow through the Earth’s magnetosphere. Knowledge of these processes is critical to understanding the mass loss rate of Earth’s atmosphere, as well as for determining the role that a planetary magnetic field plays in atmospheric retention, and therefore habitability, for Earth-like planets beyond the solar system. Mass and energy flow processes are challenging to determine at Earth in part because Earth’s planetary magnetic field creates a complex “system of systems” composed of interdependent plasma populations and overlapping spatial regions that perpetually exchange mass and energy across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. Further, the primary mass carrier in the magnetosphere is cold plasma (as cold as ∼0.1 eV), which is invisible to many space-borne instruments that operate in the inner magnetosphere. The Plasma Imaging LOcal and Tomographic experiment (PILOT) mission concept, described here, provides the transformational multi-scale observations required to answer fundamental open questions about mass and energy flow dynamics in the Earth’s magnetosphere. PILOT uses a constellation of spacecraft to make radio tomographic, remote sensing, and in-situ measurements simultaneously, fully capturing cold plasma mass dynamics and its impact on magnetospheric systems over an unprecedented range of spatial and temporal scales. This article details the scientific motivation for the PILOT mission concept as well as a potential mission implementation.AGS-1845151 - National Science FoundationPublished versio

In vitro potency, in vitro and in vivo efficacy of liposomal alendronate in combination with γδ T cell immunotherapy in mice

Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate (N-BP), including zoledronic acid (ZOL) and alendronate (ALD), have been proposed as sensitisers in γδ T cell immunotherapy in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Therapeutic efficacy of N-BPs is hampered by their rapid renal excretion and high affinity for bone. Liposomal formulations of N-BP have been proposed to improve accumulation in solid tumours. Liposomal alendronate (L-ALD) has been suggested as a suitable alternative to liposomal ZOL (L-ZOL), due to unexpected mice death experienced in pre-clinical studies with the latter. Only one study so far has proven the therapeutic efficacy of L-ALD, in combination with γδ T cell immunotherapy, after intraperitoneal administration of γδ T cell resulting in delayed growth of ovarian cancer in mice. This study aims to assess the in vitro efficacy of L-ALD, in combination with γδ T cell immunotherapy, in a range of cancerous cell lines, using L-ZOL as a comparator. The therapeutic efficacy was tested in a pseudo-metastatic lung mouse model, following intravenous injection of γδ T cell, L-ALD or the combination. In vivo biocompatibility and organ biodistribution studies of L-BPs were undertaken simultaneously. Higher concentrations of L-ALD (40–60 μM) than L-ZOL (3–10 μM) were required to produce a comparative reduction in cell viability in vitro, when used in combination with γδ T cells. Significant inhibition of tumour growth was observed after treatment with both L-ALD and γδ T cells in pseudo-metastatic lung melanoma tumour-bearing mice after tail vein injection of both treatments, suggesting that therapeutically relevant concentrations of L-ALD and γδ T cell could be achieved in the tumour sites, resulting in significant delay in tumour growth

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departmental bulletin pape

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling as Revealed in Ground and Space-Based Observations of Total Electron Content

No abstract availabl