The Master of the Senate and the Presidential Hidden Hand: Eisenhower, Johnson, and Power Dynamics in the 1950s

In March of 2010, renowned architect Frank Gehry unveiled his design for a memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, D.C. Centered around an elaborate layout of stone blocks running along a city-block of Maryland Avenue is the featured aspect of Gehry‘s design: a narrative tapestry of scenes from Eisenhower‘s life. Over seven stories tall, the tapestry will impede the view of the building located directly behind it. That building is the Department of Education, named for Lyndon Johnson.1 Decades after two of the greatest political titans of the twentieth century had passed away, their legacies were still in competition. In many ways, then, it is fitting that, as a great monument will be laid for Dwight Eisenhower in the nation’s capitol, scholars have begun reassessing him as a leader and a president. One aspect of his presidency that has needed to be reevaluated is his fascinating relationship with Johnson. They came from different political parties and had different visions for America, yet there was a time when circumstances bound them in a meaningful, though unstable, political dynamic. For six years of his presidency, the moderate Republican Eisenhower had to work constructively with a Congress dominated by Democrats in order to get his agenda passed. As Majority Leader of the United States Senate during this period, Johnson saw an opportunity to raise the standing of the Democratic Party and his own ambitions for the presidency by aligning himself with, and occasionally undermining, President Eisenhower. Although neither man fully achieved his goals in this partnership, it nevertheless proved fruitful for both. Their interaction sheds light on them as individuals and leaders. Further, a closer inspection of many legislative triumphs previously credited to Johnson actually contained the artful influence of President Eisenhower, proving his political prowess applied to Johnson and the legislative process

Evolutionary rates and gene dispensability associate with replication timing in the Archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus

In bacterial chromosomes, the position of a gene relative to the single origin of replication generally reflects its replication timing, how often it is expressed, and consequently, its rate of evolution. However, because some archaeal genomes contain multiple origins of replication, bias in gene dosage caused by delayed replication should be minimized and hence the substitution rate of genes should associate less with chromosome position. To test this hypothesis, six archaeal genomes from the genus Sulfolobus containing three origins of replication were selected, conserved orthologs were identified, and the evolutionary rates (dN and dS) of these orthologs were quantified. Ortholog families were grouped by their consensus position and designated by their proximity to one of the three origins (O1, O2, O3). Conserved orthologs were concentrated near the origins and most variation in genome content occurred distant from the origins. Linear regressions of both synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution rates on distance from replication origins were significantly positive, the rates being greatest in the region furthest from any of the origins and slowest among genes near the origins. Genes near O1 also evolved faster than those near O2 and O3, which suggest that this origin may fire later in the cell cycle. Increased evolutionary rates and gene dispensability are strongly associated with reduced gene expression caused in part by reduced gene dosage during the cell cycle. Therefore, in this genus of Archaea as well as in many Bacteria, evolutionary rates and variation in genome content associate with replication timing

Why genes evolve faster on secondary chromosomes in bacteria

In bacterial genomes composed of more than one chromosome, one replicon is typically larger, harbors more essential genes than the others, and is considered primary. The greater variability of secondary chromosomes among related taxa has led to the theory that they serve as an accessory genome for specific niches or conditions. By this rationale, purifying selection should be weaker on genes on secondary chromosomes because of their reduced necessity or usage. To test this hypothesis we selected bacterial genomes composed of multiple chromosomes from two genera, Burkholderia and Vibrio, and quantified the evolutionary rates (dN and dS) of all orthologs within each genus. Both evolutionary rate parameters were faster among orthologs found on secondary chromosomes than those on the primary chromosome. Further, in every bacterial genome with multiple chromosomes that we studied, genes on secondary chromosomes exhibited significantly weaker codon usage bias than those on primary chromosomes. Faster evolution and reduced codon bias could in turn result from global effects of chromosome position, as genes on secondary chromosomes experience reduced dosage and expression due to their delayed replication, or selection on specific gene attributes. These alternatives were evaluated using orthologs common to genomes with multiple chromosomes and genomes with single chromosomes. Analysis of these ortholog sets suggested that inherently fast-evolving genes tend to be sorted to secondary chromosomes when they arise; however, prolonged evolution on a secondary chromosome further accelerated substitution rates. In summary, secondary chromosomes in bacteria are evolutionary test beds where genes are weakly preserved and evolve more rapidly, likely because they are used less frequently

The Evergreen Forests of Liberia: A Report on Investigations made in the West African Republic of Liberia by the Yale University School of Forestry in Cooperation with the Firestone Plantations Company

Liberia is a forested country and a large proportion of it is covered with what is popularly known as jungle. This is the region of abundant rainfall and the forests are evergreen. The term \u27evergreen\u27 refers to the fact that the forest appears in full leaf the year round and does not signify conifers, for in all the country there is not a Pine or Fir or Hemlock or Cedar, such as constitute the evergreen forests of the North. The West African forests are composed of broadleaf trees and palms

Challenges and pitfalls of antipsychotic prescribing in people with learning disability

No abstract available

Interstitial literatures: contemporary North American writing and uneven development 1990-2015

This thesis is an intervention into the burgeoning field of geocritical literary studies. It uses Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space to develop socio-spatial readings of contemporary poetry and novels and argues that these texts present a distinctly neoliberal spatiality. The thesis follows Michel Foucault in conceiving of neoliberalism as an order of normative reason, and suggests that it applies economic values and metrics to every aspect of life. It argues that uneven development is the socio-spatial manifestation of the economic logic of competition that lies at the heart of neoliberalism. These neoliberal spaces act to reveal inequality rather than conceal it as capitalism hitherto tended to. Unevenness comes to represent functional competition. The interstitial literatures under study in this thesis self-reflexively register uneven development in their form and content to explore the implications of, and possibilities of resistance to, a world made increasingly economic

Why Genes Evolve Faster on Secondary Chromosomes in Bacteria

In bacterial genomes composed of more than one chromosome, one replicon is typically larger, harbors more essential genes than the others, and is considered primary. The greater variability of secondary chromosomes among related taxa has led to the theory that they serve as an accessory genome for specific niches or conditions. By this rationale, purifying selection should be weaker on genes on secondary chromosomes because of their reduced necessity or usage. To test this hypothesis we selected bacterial genomes composed of multiple chromosomes from two genera, Burkholderia and Vibrio, and quantified the evolutionary rates (dN and dS) of all orthologs within each genus. Both evolutionary rate parameters were faster among orthologs found on secondary chromosomes than those on the primary chromosome. Further, in every bacterial genome with multiple chromosomes that we studied, genes on secondary chromosomes exhibited significantly weaker codon usage bias than those on primary chromosomes. Faster evolution and reduced codon bias could in turn result from global effects of chromosome position, as genes on secondary chromosomes experience reduced dosage and expression due to their delayed replication, or selection on specific gene attributes. These alternatives were evaluated using orthologs common to genomes with multiple chromosomes and genomes with single chromosomes. Analysis of these ortholog sets suggested that inherently fast-evolving genes tend to be sorted to secondary chromosomes when they arise; however, prolonged evolution on a secondary chromosome further accelerated substitution rates. In summary, secondary chromosomes in bacteria are evolutionary test beds where genes are weakly preserved and evolve more rapidly, likely because they are used less frequently

Evolutionary Rates and Gene Dispensability Associate with Replication Timing in the Archaeon Sulfolobus islandicus

In bacterial chromosomes, the position of a gene relative to the single origin of replication generally reflects its replication timing, how often it is expressed, and consequently, its rate of evolution. However, because some archaeal genomes contain multiple origins of replication, bias in gene dosage caused by delayed replication should be minimized and hence the substitution rate of genes should associate less with chromosome position. To test this hypothesis, six archaeal genomes from the genus Sulfolobus containing three origins of replication were selected, conserved orthologs were identified, and the evolutionary rates (dN and dS) of these orthologs were quantified. Ortholog families were grouped by their consensus position and designated by their proximity to one of the three origins (O1, O2, O3). Conserved orthologs were concentrated near the origins and most variation in genome content occurred distant from the origins. Linear regressions of both synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution rates on distance from replication origins were significantly positive, the rates being greatest in the region furthest from any of the origins and slowest among genes near the origins. Genes near O1 also evolved faster than those near O2 and O3, which suggest that this origin may fire later in the cell cycle. Increased evolutionary rates and gene dispensability are strongly associated with reduced gene expression caused in part by reduced gene dosage during the cell cycle. Therefore, in this genus of Archaea as well as in many Bacteria, evolutionary rates and variation in genome content associate with replication timing