Origin and petrophysical log response of overpressures in the Baram Delta province, Brunei.

The ‘window’ of safe mud weights between pore pressure and fracture pressure is narrower in overpressured sediments than in normally pressured sediments. This ‘window’ also controls the maximum buoyancy pressure, and hence the maximum height of hydrocarbon columns. Therefore, accurate pore pressure prediction is of critical importance for hydrocarbon exploration. Accurate pore pressure prediction is especially important in the rapidly depositing (3000 m/Ma) Tertiary Baram Delta Province where all economic fields exhibit overpressures, often of high magnitude and with narrow transition zones. A database of pore pressure information was compiled for 157 wells in 61 fields throughout Brunei. Overpressures are observed in 54 fields both in the inner shelf deltaic sequences and the underlying pro-delta shales. Porosity-vertical effective stress plots from 31 fields reveal that overpressures are primarily generated by disequilibrium compaction in the pro-delta shales, but have been vertically transferred into the inner shelf deltaic sequences.Sediments overpressured by disequilibrium compaction exhibit different physical properties to those overpressured by vertical transfer and hence, different pore pressure prediction strategies need to be applied in the prodelta shales and inner shelf deltaic sequences. Sonic and density log data detects overpressures generated by disequilibrium compaction and pore pressures are accurately predicted using an Eaton exponent of 3.0. Sonic log data detects vertically transferred overpressures, even in the absence of a porosity anomaly, and pore pressures are reasonably predicted using an Eaton exponent of 6.5

Integral membrane protein structure determination using pseudocontact shifts.

Obtaining enough experimental restraints can be a limiting factor in the NMR structure determination of larger proteins. This is particularly the case for large assemblies such as membrane proteins that have been solubilized in a membrane-mimicking environment. Whilst in such cases extensive deuteration strategies are regularly utilised with the aim to improve the spectral quality, these schemes often limit the number of NOEs obtainable, making complementary strategies highly beneficial for successful structure elucidation. Recently, lanthanide-induced pseudocontact shifts (PCSs) have been established as a structural tool for globular proteins. Here, we demonstrate that a PCS-based approach can be successfully applied for the structure determination of integral membrane proteins. Using the 7TM α-helical microbial receptor pSRII, we show that PCS-derived restraints from lanthanide binding tags attached to four different positions of the protein facilitate the backbone structure determination when combined with a limited set of NOEs. In contrast, the same set of NOEs fails to determine the correct 3D fold. The latter situation is frequently encountered in polytopical α-helical membrane proteins and a PCS approach is thus suitable even for this particularly challenging class of membrane proteins. The ease of measuring PCSs makes this an attractive route for structure determination of large membrane proteins in general.This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBSRC [BB/K01983X/1].This paper was originally published in the Journal of Bimolecular NMR (Crick DJ, Wang JX, Graham B, Swarbrick JD, Mott HR, Nietlispach D, Journal of Biomolecular NMR 2015, doi:10.1007/s10858-015-9899-6)

Re-thinking and re-positioning ‘being in the moment’ within a continuum of moments : introducing a new conceptual framework for dementia studies

This article draws upon six social research studies completed by members of the Dementia and Ageing Research Team at The University of Manchester and their associated networks over an eight-year period [2011-2019] with the aim of constructing a definition of ‘being in the moment’ and situating it within a continuum of moments that could be used to contextualise and frame the lived experience of dementia. Using the approach formulated by Pound et al.(2005) to synthesising qualitative studies, we identified this continuum of moments as comprising four sequential and inter-linked steps: i) ‘Creating the moment’, defined as the processes and procedures necessary to enable being in the moment to take place. The time necessary for this to occur can range from fleeting to prolonged; ii) ‘Being in the moment’, which refers to the multi-sensory processes involved in a personal or relational interaction and embodied engagement. Being in the moment can be sustained through creativity and flow; iii) ‘Ending the moment’, defined as when a specific moment is disengaged. This can be triggered by the person(s) involved consciously or subconsciously, or caused by a distraction in the environment or suchlike; and iv) ‘Reliving the moment’, which refers to the opportunity for the experience(s) involved in ‘being in the moment’ to be later remembered and shared, however fragmentary, supported or full the recall

Microbial decomposition of organic matter and wetting–drying promotes aggregation in artificial soil but porosity increases only in wet-dry condition

Aggregation is one of the key properties influencing the function of soils, including the soil’s potential to stabilise organic carbon and create habitats for micro-organisms. The mechanisms by which organic matter influences aggregation and alters the pore geometry remain largely unknown. We hypothesised that rapid microbial processing of organic matter and wetting and drying of soil promotes aggregation and changes in pore geometry. Using microcosms of silicate clays and sand with either rapidly decomposable glucose or slowly decomposable cellulose, the degree of aggregation (P < 0.001), was greater in glucose treatments than controls that did not receive added carbon or microbial inoculum. We link this to microbial activity through measurements in soil respiration, phospholipids and microbially derived carbon. Our results demonstrate that rapid microbial decomposition of organic matter and microbially derived carbon promote aggregation and the aggregation process was particularly strong in the wet-dry condition (alternating between 30 % and 15 % water content) with significant modification of porosity (P < 0.05) of the aggregates

Structure of S. aureus HPPK and discovery of a new inhibitor

The first structural and biophysical data on the folate pathway enzyme and drug target, 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase (HPPK), from the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is presented. HPPK is the second essential enzyme in the folate biosynthesis pathway, responsible for catalysing pyrophosphoryl transfer from cofactor (ATP) to the substrate (6-hydroxymethyl- 7,8-dihydropterin, HMDP). In-silico screening led to the discovery of a substrate competitive inhibitor, San1, which was subsequently co-crystallised with HPPK. A 1.65 Å resolution x-ray structure showed this to bind at the pterin site sharing many of the key intermolecular interactions of the substrate. ITC and SPR measurements yielded an equilibrium binding constant, Kd, of ~13 μM for San1. An IC50 of ~12 μM was determined by means of a new convenient tri-enzyme-coupled spectrophotometric assay. ITC and SPR further showed that the San1 inhibitor has no requirement for magnesium or ATP cofactor for competitive binding to the substrate site. According to 15N heteronuclear NMR measurements, the fast motion of the pterin loop (L2) is partially dampened in the ternary complex between SaHPPK, HMDP and , -methylene adenosine 5-triphosphate (AMPCPP), but the ATP loop (L3) remains mobile on the μs timescale. In contrast, for the SaHPPK/San1/AMPCPP ternary complex, loop L2 becomes rigid on the fast timescale and loop L3 becomes more ordered which are supported by a large entropic penalty associated with San1 binding as revealed by ITC. Backbone assignments and chemical shift perturbations implicate the sulphur in San1 as a likely important loop L2/L3 stabilizing mediato

An ultracold molecular beam for testing fundamental physics

We use two-dimensional transverse laser cooling to produce an ultracold beam of YbF molecules. Through experiments and numerical simulations, we study how the cooling is influenced by the polarization configuration, laser intensity, laser detuning and applied magnetic field. The ultracold part of the beam contains more than $2 \times 10^5$ molecules per shot and has a temperature below 200 $\mu$K, and the cooling yields a 300-fold increase in the brightness of the beam. The method can improve the precision of experiments that use molecules to test fundamental physics. In particular, the beam is suitable for measuring the electron electric dipole moment with a statistical precision better than $10^{-30}$ e cm.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures. Trajectory simulations added and results compared to experiment; other minor revision

Redefining the Expression and Function of the Inhibitor of Differentiation 1 in Mammary Gland Development

The accumulation of poorly differentiated cells is a hallmark of breast neoplasia and progression. Thus an understanding of the factors controlling mammary differentiation is critical to a proper understanding of breast tumourigenesis. The Inhibitor of Differentiation 1 (Id1) protein has well documented roles in the control of mammary epithelial differentiation and proliferation in vitro and breast cancer progression in vivo. However, it has not been determined whether Id1 expression is sufficient for the inhibition of mammary epithelial differentiation or the promotion of neoplastic transformation in vivo. We now show that Id1 is not commonly expressed by the luminal mammary epithelia, as previously reported. Generation and analysis of a transgenic mouse model of Id1 overexpression in the mammary gland reveals that Id1 is insufficient for neoplastic progression in virgin animals or to prevent terminal differentiation of the luminal epithelia during pregnancy and lactation. Together, these data demonstrate that there is no luminal cell-autonomous role for Id1 in mammary epithelial cell fate determination, ductal morphogenesis and terminal differentiation

Neighbourhoods and dementia in the health and social care context: A realist review of the literature and implications for UK policy development

The National Dementia Strategy in England has performed an essential role in transforming health and social care services and improving the commissioning architecture. However, to date, little attention has been paid to understanding the ways in which the outdoor and built environment impacts and intersects with the lives of people with dementia and their carers. One way of better understanding the outdoor and built environment is through a focus on the 'neighbourhood' as this is an area of public policy where attempts are being made across disciplines to unpack its meanings, significance and identity. This paper adopts a realist review method to detail the key findings and messages from the body of work that links the experience of living with dementia to the neighbourhood. Our findings from this review are assimilated and defined/presented under three headings, namely: outdoor spaces, built environment, and everyday technologies. These headings and our definitions are not discrete properties and there is some overlap in content. We found no research that sets out to enquire about how people with dementia might define their neighbourhood or that explores everyday neighbourhood practices for those living with the condition. Emerging concepts such as citizenship and, in the UK, the Coalition Government advancement of the 'Big Society', promote a vision of civic responsibilities and networked, dementia-capable communities, but evaluation of such initiatives are virtually absent from the literature. The review did uncover some interesting and innovative research methods that extend neighbourhood working, such as the 'walking interview'. In order to develop a neighbourhood model for dementia, future research should examine the relationship and interaction between the neighbourhood as a social space and as a physical space alongside the active role of people with dementia as 'place-makers'. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012