Book Review

Review of: JOHN HARRIS, WONDERWOMAN AND SUPERMAN: THE ETHICS OF HUMAN BIOTECHNOLOGY. (Oxford University Press 1992) [271 pp.] Acknowledgements, further reading, index, introduction, notes. LC 91-23939; ISBN 0-19-2177540-0. [$22.95 cloth. 200 Madison Avenue; New York NY 10016.

Book Review

BIOTECHNOLOGY: ASSESSING SOCIAL IMPACTS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS. (David J. Webber, ed., Greenwood Press 1990) [239 pp.] Bibliography, contributor data, index, notes, preface, tables. LC: 90-2935; ISBN: 0-313-27454-1. [Cloth. $42.95. P.O.B. 5007, Westport, CT 06881

Book Review

Review of the following: THE CODE OF CODES: SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT. (Daniel J. Kevles & Leroy Hood, eds., Harvard University Press 1992) [397 pp.] Contributors, figures, index, notes, preface, selected bibliography, tables. LC 91-38477, ISBN 0- 674-13645-4. [Cloth $29.95. 79 Garden Street, Cambridge MA 02138.

Fungi and algae co-occur in snow: an issue of shared habitat or algal facilitation of heterotrophs?

Citation: Brown, S. P., Olson, B., & Jumpponen, A. (2015). Fungi and algae co-occur in snow: an issue of shared habitat or algal facilitation of heterotrophs? Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research, 47(4), 729-749. doi:10.1657/aaar0014-071Late season alpine snows are often colonized by psychrophilic snow algae that may provide a source of nutrients for microbes. Such late season snows are a harsh environment, but support a diverse and complex fungal community. We used culture independent methods (Illumina MiSeq) to test if the presence of snow algae influences fungal communities. We compared algae-colonized snows to adjacent (3 m distant) noncolonized snows in a paired experimental design. Our data indicate that several fungi are locally enriched in algae colonized snows. Although many such fungi were basidiomycetous yeasts, our analyses identified a large number of snow-borne members of phylum Chytridiomycota. While the ecology and function of these Chytridiomycetes remain unclear, we hypothesize that their enrichment in the algal patches suggests that they depend on algae for nutrition. We propose that these chytrids are important components in snow ecosystems, highlighting the underestimation of their diversity and importance. Taken together, our data strongly indicate that fungal communities are heterogeneous in snow even among adjacent samples. Further, fungal and algal communities may be influenced by similar environmental drivers resulting in their co-occurrence in snow

A new class of cyclin dependent kinase in chlamydomonas is required for coupling cell size to cell division

Citation: Li, Y., Liu, D., López-Paz, C., Olson, B. J. S. C., & Umen, J. G. (2016). A new class of cyclin dependent kinase in chlamydomonas is required for coupling cell size to cell division. eLife, 5(MARCH2016). doi:10.7554/eLife.10767Proliferating cells actively control their size by mechanisms that are poorly understood. The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii divides by multiple fission, wherein a ‘counting’ mechanism couples mother cell-size to cell division number allowing production of uniform-sized daughters. We identified a sizer protein, CDKG1, that acts through the retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor pathway as a D-cyclin-dependent RB kinase to regulate mitotic counting. Loss of CDKG1 leads to fewer mitotic divisions and large daughters, while mis-expression of CDKG1 causes supernumerous mitotic divisions and small daughters. The concentration of nuclear-localized CDKG1 in pre-mitotic cells is set by mother cell size, and its progressive dilution and degradation with each round of cell division may provide a link between mother cell-size and mitotic division number. Cell-size-dependent accumulation of limiting cell cycle regulators such as CDKG1 is a potentially general mechanism for size control. © Li et al

CEO anger: a catalyst for error recognition and learning

This paper elucidates the role of anger in error management (EM) and organizational learning behaviors. The study explores how anger can catalyze learning, emphasizing its strategic implications. A double-layered moderated-mediated model was developed and tested using data from 744 Chinese CEOs. The psychometric properties of the survey instrument were rigorously examined through structural equation modeling, and hypotheses were tested using Hayes's PROCESS macros. The findings reveal that anger is a precursor for recognizing the value of significant errors, leading to a positive association with learning behavior among top management team members. Additionally, the study uncovers a triple interaction effect of anger, EM culture and supply chain disruptions on the value of learning from errors. Extensive experience and positive grieving strengthen the relationship between recognizing value from errors and learning behavior. This study uniquely integrates affect-cognitive theory and organizational learning theory, examining anger in EM and learning. The authors provide empirical evidence that anger can drive error value recognition and learning. The authors incorporate a more fine-grained approach to leadership when including executive anger as a trigger to learning behavior. Factors like experience and positive grieving are explored, deepening the understanding of emotions in learning. The authors consider both negative and positive emotions to contribute to the complexity of organizational learning

Do cladistic and morphometric data capture common patterns of morphological disparity?

The distinctly non-random diversity of organismal form manifests itself in discrete clusters of taxa that share a common body plan. As a result, analyses of disparity require a scalable comparative framework. The difficulties of applying geometric morphometrics to disparity analyses of groups with vastly divergent body plans are overcome partly by the use of cladistic characters. Character-based disparity analyses have become increasingly popular, but it is not clear how they are affected by character coding strategies or revisions of primary homology statements. Indeed, whether cladistic and morphometric data capture similar patterns of morphological variation remains a moot point. To address this issue, we employ both cladistic and geometric morphometric data in an exploratory study of disparity focussing on caecilian amphibians. Our results show no impact on relative intertaxon distances when different coding strategies for cladistic characters were used or when revised concepts of homology were considered. In all instances, we found no statistically significant difference between pairwise Euclidean and Procrustes distances, although the strength of the correlation among distance matrices varied. This suggests that cladistic and geometric morphometric data appear to summarize morphological variation in comparable ways. Our results support the use of cladistic data for characterizing organismal disparity

Sex-specific post-translational regulation of the gamete fusogen GCS1 in the isogamous volvocine alga Gonium pectorale

Male and female, generally defined based on differences in gamete size and motility, likely have multiple independent origins, appearing to have evolved from isogamous organisms in various eukaryotic lineages. Recent studies of the gamete fusogen GCS1/HAP2 indicate that this protein is deeply conserved across eukaryotes, and its exclusive and/or functional expression generally resides in males or in male homologues. However, little is known regarding the conserved or primitive molecular traits of males and females within eukaryotes. Here, using morphologically indistinguishable isogametes of the colonial volvocine Gonium pectorale, we demonstrated that GCS1 is differently regulated between the sexes. G. pectorale GCS1 molecules in one sex (homologous to “male”) are transported from the gamete cytoplasm to the protruded fusion site, whereas those of the other sex (“females”) are quickly degraded within the cytoplasm upon gamete activation. This molecular trait difference might be conserved across various eukaryotic lineages and may represent male and female prototypes originating from a common eukaryotic ancestor

The political identities of neighbourhood planning in England

The rise of neighbourhood planning has been characterised as another step in a remorseless de-politicisation of the public sphere. A policy initiated by the Coalition Government in England to create the conditions for local communities to support housing growth, neighbourhood planning appears to evidence a continuing retreat from political debate and contestation. Clear boundaries are established for the holistic integration of participatory democracy into the strategic plan-making of the local authority. These boundaries seek to take politics out of development decisions and exclude all issues of contention from discussion. They achieve this goal at the cost of arming participatory democracy with a collective identity around which new antagonisms may develop. Drawing on the post-political theories of Chantal Mouffe this paper identifies the return of antagonism and conflict to participation in spatial planning. Key to its argument is the concept of the boundary or frontier that in Mouffe’s theoretical framework institutionalises conflict between political entities. Drawing on primary research with neighbourhood development plans in England the paper explores how boundary conditions and boundary designations generate antagonism and necessitate political action. The paper charts the development of the collective identities that result from these boundary lines and argues for the potential for neighbourhood planning to restore political conflict to the politics of housing development