POLYPLOIDY AND GENOMIC VARIATION IN NORTHERN FLORIDA AND COASTAL GEORGIA POPULATIONS OF RHEXIA, A SMALL GENUS OF FLOWERING WETLAND PLANTS ENDEMIC TO THE NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL PLAIN**

Rhexia, a small genus of flowering plants with 13 species commonly known as meadow beauties, occurs primarily in the North American Coastal Plain (NACP), a region identified in 2016 as the world\u27s 36th global biodiversity hotspot. The evolutionary history of these wetland plants is complicated by repeated hybridization and allopolyploidy events, as evidenced by differing phylogenies of maternal vs. bi-parentally inherited molecular markers. Genome duplication (autopolyploidization) is also common in Rhexia, with a third of the species occurring as polyploid complexes (e.g. in R. nashii n=22 or 33). Thus, this small yet genomically complex group of flowering plants can serve as a model for the study of evolutionary processes in plants of regions with high biodiversity coupled with habitat instability, such as the NACP. Our main goal was to determine cytotypes of differeng ploidy levels from specimens representing various species of Rhexia by counting chromosomes in root tip meristem cells, to provide calibration standards for efficient genome size estimation using flow cytometry for future, more extensive studies. Living specimens of 143 Rhexia plants comprising five Rhexia species and two putative hybrids were collected from 21 populations in northern Florida and coastal Georgia, and reared in greenhouses. Root tips were harvested during the growing season, immediately pretreated with 8-hydroxyquinoline to enhance spreading of mitotic chromosomes, fixed in 3:1 ethanol-glacial acetic acid, and stored in 70% ethanol. Root tip meristem cells were isolated and squashed on glass slides, stained with aceto-orcein or DAPI, and examined via light and fluorescent microscopy. Discrete cells with well-defined chromosomes were imaged and counted. We expect to establish cytotypes for multiple specimens of each represented species for varying ploidy levels, thus providing reliable standards to later be used for cytotyping via flow cytometry

Power and the Construction of Independence in ICTD Organizations

How do powerful vested interests continue to influence ICT for development (ICTD) projects? In this paper, instead of adopting a macro-level analysis, I take an in-depth, ethnographic approach to focus on work practices at one NGO involved in producing information and communication technologies for use in developing countries. Staff decisions at this NGO were influenced by particular powerful organizations, and I draw on theoretical insights from organization studies in order to understand this. The approach yields surprising results. Staff members appeared able topeer-reviewe

Work as affective experience: the contribution of Christophe Dejours' 'psychodynamics of work'

Psychoanalytic perspectives (such as the Kleinian/Bionian and Lacanian literature) have made significant contributions to the study of affect in organizations. While some have pointed out the affects involved in work tasks, most of this literature generally focuses on the affects linked to organizational life (such as learning, leadership, motivation, power or change). The center of attention is not on affects associated with the work process itself. We draw from the French psychodynamic theory of Christophe Dejours – who is yet to be known in English language organization studies – to make the following contributions. First, we show the relationship between affect and working by discussing Dejours’ notions of affective suffering, the real of work, the significance of the body and ‘ordinary sublimation’. Second, we advance critical research in organization studies by demonstrating the centrality of work in the affective life of the subject. Third, the paper reinterprets Menzies’ (1960) well-known hospital case study to illustrate how Dejours’ theory extends existing psychoanalytical approaches, and especially to point to the significant role of the work collective in supporting workers to work well. We conclude by suggesting that if the centrality of work in the affective life of the subject is acknowledged, it follows that resistance strategies, and work collectives’ struggle for emancipation, should focus on reclaiming work