Gender Equity Workshops for STEMM Departments at IUPUI: Interim Report

The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate hybrid online + live department workshops to address issues regarding gender bias and gender equity in STEMM academic departments in an effort to create a welcoming campus climate for both female and male faculty and staff in these disciplines.IUPUI Welcoming Campus Initiativ

Beyond Representation of Women in I-O to Producing Gender-Inclusive Knowledge

Gardner, Ryan, and Snoeyink (2018) provided an excellent and much-needed analysis of the status of women in industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. Although others have produced overall assessments of the status of women in psychology (Eagly & Riger, 2014; Kite et al., 2001), these are not sufficient to identify conditions within the subfields of psychology. As shown by statistics on the divisions of the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/about/division/officers/services/profiles.aspx), the subfields differ greatly in their gender balance, with some being male dominated (e.g., experimental and cognitive science), others female dominated (e.g., developmental psychology), and still others representing women and men more equally (e.g., social and personality psychology). I-O psychology is among the more gender-balanced fields, with an increasing proportion of women over time. It would seem that I-O's gradual inclusion of more women should have changed aspects of research and discourse in this field. In this comment, we argue that these women have produced impressive changes

N, P and K budgets for crop rotations on nine organic farms in the UK

On organic farms, where the importation of materials to build/maintain soil fertility is restricted, it is important that a balance between inputs and outputs of nutrients is achieved to ensure both short-term productivity and long-term sustainability. This paper considers different approaches to nutrient budgeting on organic farms and evaluates the sources of bias in the measurements and/or estimates of the nutrient inputs and outputs. The paper collates 88 nutrient budgets compiled at the farm scale in 9 temperate countries. All the nitrogen (N) budgets showed an N surplus (average 83.2 kg N ha-1 year-1). The efficiency of N use, defined as outputs/inputs, was highest (0.9) and lowest (0.2) in arable and beef systems respectively. The phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) budgets showed both surpluses and deficits (average 3.6 kg P ha-1 year-1, 14.2 kg K ha-1 year-1) with horticultural systems showing large surpluses resulting from purchased manure. The estimation of N fixation and quantities of nutrients in purchased manures may introduce significant errors in nutrient budgets. Overall, the data illustrate the diversity of management systems in place on organic farms, and suggest that used together with soil analysis, nutrient budgets are a useful tool for improving the long-term sustainability of organic systems

23 GHz VLBI Observations of SN 2008ax

We report on phase-referenced 23 GHz Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry (VLBI) observations of the type IIb supernova SN 2008ax, made with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) on 2 April 2008 (33 days after explosion). These observations resulted in a marginal detection of the supernova. The total flux density recovered from our VLBI image is 0.8$\pm$0.3 mJy (one standard deviation). As it appears, the structure may be interpreted as either a core-jet or a double source. However, the supernova structure could be somewhat confused with a possible close by noise peak. In such a case, the recovered flux density would decrease to 0.48$\pm$0.12 mJy, compatible with the flux densities measured with the VLA at epochs close in time to our VLBI observations. The lowest average expansion velocities derived from our observations are $(1.90 \pm 0.30) \times 10^5$ km s$^{-1}$ (case of a double source) and $(5.2 \pm 1.3) \times 10^4$ km s$^{-1}$ (taking the weaker source component as a spurious, close by, noise peak, which is the more likely interpretation). These velocities are 7.3 and 2 times higher, respectively, than the maximum ejecta velocity inferred from optical-line observations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted in A&A on 24/03/200

The impact of LEEP margin status on subsequent abnormal cervical cytology

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP) margin status and subsequent cytology results to determine the significance of margin status as a predictor for recurrent cervical disease. Methods: A retrospective cohort of women who underwent LEEP for treatment of cervical dysplasia from 1995 to 2006 with subsequent follow-up to 2009 at a single academic institution. Data extracted consisted of information routinely collected during clinic visits including demographic information, LEEP histology results, and cytology results. Results: The analysis was limited to 144 women with documented LEEP margin status and subsequent cytologic follow-up. The women were predominantly white, non-Hispanic, with a mean age of 27 years (range 14 – 62 years). Of the 144 LEEP specimens, 77 had negative margins, and 67 had positive margins (44 ecto-cervical, 16 endo-cervical, 7 both ecto-cervical and endo-cervical margins involved). Twenty-three women required subsequent colposcopy during the follow-up period: 7 with negative margin status and 16 with positive margin status on their initial LEEP. There was no association between LEEP margin status, grade of dysplasia, or depth of excision, and subsequent abnormal cytology (P>0.05 for each). There was no association between positive ecto-cervical or endo-cervical margin status and subsequent abnormal cytology (P>0.05 for each). Conclusion: We were unable to identify factors related to LEEP margin status to predict recurrent abnormal cytology. Thus, we recommend surveillance of all women following LEEP for cervical dysplasia regardless of margin status

Adaption of the ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assay for use with murine lung cells.

In the absence of a correlate(s) of protection against human tuberculosis and a validated animal model of the disease, tools to facilitate vaccine development must be identified. We present an optimised ex vivo mycobacterial growth inhibition assay (MGIA) to assess the ability of host cells within the lung to inhibit mycobacterial growth, including Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Erdman. Growth of BCG was reduced by 0.39, 0.96 and 0.73 log10 CFU following subcutaneous (s.c.) BCG, intranasal (i.n.) BCG, or BCG s.c. + mucosal boost, respectively, versus naïve mice. Comparatively, a 0.49 (s.c.), 0.60 (i.n.) and 0.81 (s.c. + mucosal boost) log10 reduction in MTB CFU was found. A BCG growth inhibitor, 2-thiophenecarboxylic acid hydrazide (TCH), was used to prevent quantification of residual BCG from i.n. immunisation and allow accurate MTB quantification. Using TCH, a further 0.58 log10 reduction in MTB CFU was revealed in the i.n. group. In combination with existing methods, the ex vivo lung MGIA may represent an important tool for analysis of vaccine efficacy and the immune mechanisms associated with vaccination in the organ primarily affected by MTB disease

The effect of ocean acidification on organic and inorganic speciation of trace metals

Rising concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing acidification of the oceans. 20 This results in changes to the concentrations of key chemical species such as hydroxide, 21 carbonate and bicarbonate ions. These changes will affect the distribution of different forms 22 of trace metals. Using IPCC data for pCO2 and pH under four future emissions scenarios (to 23 the year 2100) we use a chemical speciation model to predict changes in the distribution of 24 organic and inorganic forms of trace metals. Under a scenario where emissions peak after 25 the year 2100, predicted free ion Al, Fe, Cu and Pb concentrations increase by factors of up 26 to approximately 21, 2.4, 1.5 and 2.0 respectively. Concentrations of organically complexed 27 metal typically have a lower sensitivity to ocean acidification induced changes. 28 Concentrations of organically-complexed Mn, Cu, Zn and Cd fall by up to 10%, while those 29 of organically-complexed Fe, Co and Ni rise by up to 14%. Although modest, these changes 30 may have significance for the biological availability of metals given the close adaptation of 31 marine microorganisms to their environment