Regulation of Hemocytes in Drosophila Requires dappled Cytochrome b5

A major category of mutant hematopoietic phenotypes in Drosophila is melanotic tumors or nodules, which consist of abnormal and overproliferated blood cells, similar to granulomas. Our analyses of the melanotic mutant dappled have revealed a novel type of gene involved in blood cell regulation. The dappled gene is an essential gene that encodes cytochrome b5, a conserved hemoprotein that participates in electron transfer in multiple biochemical reactions and pathways. Viable mutations of dappled cause melanotic nodules and hemocyte misregulation during both hematopoietic waves of development. The sexes are similarly affected, but hemocyte number is different in females and males of both mutants and wild type. Additionally, initial tests show that curcumin enhances the dappled melanotic phenotype and establish screening of endogenous and xenobiotic compounds as a route for analysis of cytochrome b5 function. Overall, dappled provides a tractable genetic model for cytochrome b5, which has been difficult to study in higher organisms

Comparative Analysis of Serine/Arginine-Rich Proteins across 27 Eukaryotes: Insights into Sub-Family Classification and Extent of Alternative Splicing

Alternative splicing (AS) of pre-mRNA is a fundamental molecular process that generates diversity in the transcriptome and proteome of eukaryotic organisms. SR proteins, a family of splicing regulators with one or two RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) at the N-terminus and an arg/ser-rich domain at the C-terminus, function in both constitutive and alternative splicing. We identified SR proteins in 27 eukaryotic species, which include plants, animals, fungi and “basal” eukaryotes that lie outside of these lineages. Using RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) as a phylogenetic marker, we classified 272 SR genes into robust sub-families. The SR gene family can be split into five major groupings, which can be further separated into 11 distinct sub-families. Most flowering plants have double or nearly double the number of SR genes found in vertebrates. The majority of plant SR genes are under purifying selection. Moreover, in all paralogous SR genes in Arabidopsis, rice, soybean and maize, one of the two paralogs is preferentially expressed throughout plant development. We also assessed the extent of AS in SR genes based on a splice graph approach (http://combi.cs.colostate.edu/as/gmap_SRgenes). AS of SR genes is a widespread phenomenon throughout multiple lineages, with alternative 3′ or 5′ splicing events being the most prominent type of event. However, plant-enriched sub-families have 57%–88% of their SR genes experiencing some type of AS compared to the 40%–54% seen in other sub-families. The SR gene family is pervasive throughout multiple eukaryotic lineages, conserved in sequence and domain organization, but differs in gene number across lineages with an abundance of SR genes in flowering plants. The higher number of alternatively spliced SR genes in plants emphasizes the importance of AS in generating splice variants in these organisms

Precarious work and Australian labour norms

Casual employment in Australia is more prevalent than temporary work in most European nations, and casual employees have fewer rights and entitlements than comparable temporary employment categories in Europe. Yet, despite Australia's long history of industrial activism and political representation of labour, there are fewer examples of social or political movements in Australia resisting precarious work than in Europe. This article provides a partial explanation of this puzzling lack of social resistance to casual employment. It begins from the idea, developed by the Frankfurt School tradition of critical social theory, that economic systems can create or sustain norms that conceal their more harmful social effects from public view. It then uses conceptual categories drawn from critical social theory to show how individual and social costs of casual employment have been overlooked or 'reified' in the workplace and in public political discourse. The study is based on existing qualitative research and on a new analysis of attitudes to work and economic organisation in Australian public discourse.19 page(s

Making sense of insecurity : a defence of Richard Sennett’s sociology of work

This article defends Richard Sennett’s sociology of work under ‘new capitalism’ against claims that his analysis lacks empirical foundation and methodological rigour. While studies of aggregate labour market trends in recent criticisms imply that predictions of an ‘end of work’ or ‘age of insecurity’ are premature, the article demonstrates that Sennett’s sociology is not committed to these predictions. Instead, his research provides a targeted critique of specific management practices and of those social transformations that share the same ethos. More constructively, Sennett’s sociology articulates a unique concept of workplace insecurity and raises pressing issues in contemporary experiences of work and citizenship, rather than – as critics presuppose - in workers’ contractual conditions as such.11 page(s

Economics in social policy : a philosophical analysis

Recent years have seen a substantial expansion of the role of neo-classical economics in providing analysis of, and advice on, social policy issues. Yet relative to the burgeoning role of neo-classical economic theory in social policy, there has been little philosophical inquiry into the social dimensions of this mode of economic thought. The paper below develops this inquiry from a diagnostic perspective. It outlines the aims and methods of neo-classical economics in social policy, and examines how these aims and methods are justified. The paper then identifies theoretical and practical problems with economics so conceived, and demonstrates how these problems affect contemporary social policy issues.10 page(s

Recognising skills and capacities

13 page(s

Not for profit accountability : addressing potential barriers

19 page(s

A Critical assessment of orthodox economic conceptions of work

20 page(s

Is call centre surveillance self-developing? Capacities and recognition at work

This paper analyses call centre work in light of two philosophical approaches to self-development at work. The first approach stems from James Muphy's (re)reading of Aristotle; it argues that working can develop technical, social and moral capacities that are constitutive of human flourishing. The second approach is derived from Axel Honneth's and Christophe Dejour's theories of recognition, in which institutional and interpersonal recognition at work can develop the practical self-relations that are necessary for autonomous action. From both theoretical perspectives the contribution of work to self-development is Janus-faced, because work can either create or destroy pre-conditions of workers' well-being. The experiences of call centre workers under intense workplace surveillance illustrate both these possibilities.18 page(s