“Excellence R Us”: university research and the fetishisation of excellence

The rhetoric of “excellence” is pervasive across the academy. It is used to refer to research outputs as well as researchers, theory and education, individuals and organisations, from art history to zoology. But does “excellence” actually mean anything? Does this pervasive narrative of “excellence” do any good? Drawing on a range of sources we interrogate “excellence” as a concept and find that it has no intrinsic meaning in academia. Rather it functions as a linguistic interchange mechanism. To investigate whether this linguistic function is useful we examine how the rhetoric of excellence combines with narratives of scarcity and competition to show that the hypercompetition that arises from the performance of “excellence” is completely at odds with the qualities of good research. We trace the roots of issues in reproducibility, fraud, and homophily to this rhetoric. But we also show that this rhetoric is an internal, and not primarily an external, imposition. We conclude by proposing an alternative rhetoric based on soundness and capacity-building. In the final analysis, it turns out that that “excellence” is not excellent. Used in its current unqualified form it is a pernicious and dangerous rhetoric that undermines the very foundations of good research and scholarship

Multiple publications: The main reason for the retraction of papers in computer science

This paper intends to review the reasons for the retraction over the last decade. The paper particularly aims at reviewing these reasons with reference to computer science field to assist authors in comprehending the style of writing. To do that, a total of thirty-six retracted papers found on the Web of Science within Jan 2007 through July 2017 are explored. Given the retraction notices which are based on ten common reasons, this paper classifies the two main categories, namely random and nonrandom retraction. Retraction due to the duplication of publications scored the highest proportion of all other reasons reviewed

Auxin transport through non-hair cells sustains root-hair development.

The plant hormone auxin controls root epidermal cell development in a concentration-dependent manner. Root hairs are produced on a subset of epidermal cells as they increase in distance from the root tip. Auxin is required for their initiation and continued growth, but little is known about its distribution in this region of the root. Contrary to the expectation that hair cells might require active auxin influx to ensure auxin supply, we did not detect the auxin-influx transporter AUX1 in root-hair cells. A high level of AUX1 expression was detected in adjacent non-hair cell files. Non-hair cells were necessary to achieve wild-type root-hair length, although an auxin response was not required in these cells. Three-dimensional modelling of auxin flow in the root tip suggests that AUX1-dependent transport through non-hair cells maintains an auxin supply to developing hair cells as they increase in distance from the root tip, and sustains root-hair outgrowth. Experimental data support the hypothesis that instead of moving uniformly though the epidermal cell layer, auxin is mainly transported through canals that extend longitudinally into the tissue

Modelling Cell Polarization Driven by Synthetic Spatially Graded Rac Activation

The small GTPase Rac is known to be an important regulator of cell polarization, cytoskeletal reorganization, and motility of mammalian cells. In recent microfluidic experiments, HeLa cells endowed with appropriate constructs were subjected to gradients of the small molecule rapamycin leading to synthetic membrane recruitment of a Rac activator and direct graded activation of membrane-associated Rac. Rac activation could thus be triggered independent of upstream signaling mechanisms otherwise responsible for transducing activating gradient signals. The response of the cells to such stimulation depended on exceeding a threshold of activated Rac. Here we develop a minimal reaction-diffusion model for the GTPase network alone and for GTPase-phosphoinositide crosstalk that is consistent with experimental observations for the polarization of the cells. The modeling suggests that mutual inhibition is a more likely mode of cell polarization than positive feedback of Rac onto its own activation. We use a new analytical tool, Local Perturbation Analysis, to approximate the partial differential equations by ordinary differential equations for local and global variables. This method helps to analyze the parameter space and behaviour of the proposed models. The models and experiments suggest that (1) spatially uniform stimulation serves to sensitize a cell to applied gradients. (2) Feedback between phosphoinositides and Rho GTPases sensitizes a cell. (3) Cell lengthening/flattening accompanying polarization can increase the sensitivity of a cell and stabilize an otherwise unstable polarization

A Rho Scaffold Integrates the Secretory System with Feedback Mechanisms in Regulation of Auxin Distribution

In plants, auxin distribution and tissue patterning are coordinated via a feedback loop involving the auxin-regulated cell polarity factor ICR1 and the secretory machinery

Plant roots use a patterning mechanism to position lateral root branches toward available water

[EN] The architecture of the branched root system of plants is a major determinant of vigor. Water availability is known to impact root physiology and growth; however, the spatial scale at which this stimulus influences root architecture is poorly understood. Here we reveal that differences in the availability of water across the circumferential axis of the root create spatial cues that determine the position of lateral root branches. We show that roots of several plant species can distinguish between a wet surface and air environments and that this also impacts the patterning of root hairs, anthocyanins, and aerenchyma in a phenomenon we describe as hydropatterning. This environmental response is distinct from a touch response and requires available water to induce lateral roots along a contacted surface. X-ray microscale computed tomography and 3D reconstruction of soil-grown root systems demonstrate that such responses also occur under physiologically relevant conditions. Using early-stage lateral root markers, we show that hydropatterning acts before the initiation stage and likely determines the circumferential position at which lateral root founder cells are specified. Hydro-patterning is independent of endogenous abscisic acid signaling, distinguishing it from a classic water-stress response. Higher water availability induces the biosynthesis and transport of the lateral root-inductive signal auxin through local regulation of TRYPTOPHAN AMINOTRANSFERASE OF ARABIDOPSIS 1 and PIN-FORMED 3, both of which are necessary for normal hydropatterning. Our work suggests that water availability is sensed and interpreted at the suborgan level and locally patterns a wide variety of developmental processes in the root.We thank Jose Alonso, Fred Berger, Eva Benkova, Matt Evans, Annemarie Meijer, Ben Scheres, and Jian Xu for providing materials, and the J.R.D. laboratory for comments on the manuscript. Funding was provided by a Carnegie Institution for Science endowment, the National Research Foundation of Singapore, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant DGE-1147470 (to N.E.R.), European Research Council FUTUREROOTS (C.J.S., M.C.T., S.J.M., and M.J.B.), and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (C.J.S., S.J.M., and M.J.B.).Bao, Y.; Aggarwal, P.; Robbins, NEI.; Sturrock, CJ.; Thompson, MC.; Tan, HQ.; Tham, C.... (2014). Plant roots use a patterning mechanism to position lateral root branches toward available water. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111(25):9319-9324. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1400966111S931993241112

Frequent Arousal from Hibernation Linked to Severity of Infection and Mortality in Bats with White-Nose Syndrome

White-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging infectious disease that has killed over 5.5 million hibernating bats, is named for the causative agent, a white fungus (Geomyces destructans (Gd)) that invades the skin of torpid bats. During hibernation, arousals to warm (euthermic) body temperatures are normal but deplete fat stores. Temperature-sensitive dataloggers were attached to the backs of 504 free-ranging little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in hibernacula located throughout the northeastern USA. Dataloggers were retrieved at the end of the hibernation season and complete profiles of skin temperature data were available from 83 bats, which were categorized as: (1) unaffected, (2) WNS-affected but alive at time of datalogger removal, or (3) WNS-affected but found dead at time of datalogger removal. Histological confirmation of WNS severity (as indexed by degree of fungal infection) as well as confirmation of presence/absence of DNA from Gd by PCR was determined for 26 animals. We demonstrated that WNS-affected bats aroused to euthermic body temperatures more frequently than unaffected bats, likely contributing to subsequent mortality. Within the subset of WNS-affected bats that were found dead at the time of datalogger removal, the number of arousal bouts since datalogger attachment significantly predicted date of death. Additionally, the severity of cutaneous Gd infection correlated with the number of arousal episodes from torpor during hibernation. Thus, increased frequency of arousal from torpor likely contributes to WNS-associated mortality, but the question of how Gd infection induces increased arousals remains unanswered

Multiscale modelling of auxin transport in the plant-root elongation zone

In the root elongation zone of a plant, the hormone auxin moves in a polar manner due to active transport facilitated by spatially distributed influx and efflux carriers present on the cell membranes. To understand how the cell-scale active transport and passive diffusion combine to produce the effective tissue-scale flux, we apply asymptotic methods to a cell-based model of auxin transport to derive systematically a continuum description from the spatially discrete one. Using biologically relevant parameter values, we show how the carriers drive the dominant tissue-scale auxin flux and we predict how the overall auxin dynamics are affected by perturbations to these carriers, for example, in knockout mutants. The analysis shows how the dominant behaviour depends on the cells' lengths, and enables us to assess the relative importance of the diffusive auxin flux through the cell wall. Other distinguished limits are also identified and their potential roles discussed. As well as providing insight into auxin transport, the study illustrates the use of multiscale (cell to tissue) methods in deriving simplified models that retain the essential biology and provide understanding of the underlying dynamics

Twenty important research questions in microbial exposure and social equity

Social and political policy, human activities, and environmental change affect the ways in which microbial communities assemble and interact with people. These factors determine how different social groups are exposed to beneficial and/or harmful microorganisms, meaning microbial exposure has an important socioecological justice context. Therefore, greater consideration of microbial exposure and social equity in research, planning, and policy is imperative. Here, we identify 20 research questions considered fundamentally important to promoting equitable exposure to beneficial microorganisms, along with safeguarding resilient societies and ecosystems. The 20 research questions we identified span seven broad themes, including the following: (i) sociocultural interactions; (ii) Indigenous community health and well-being; (iii) humans, urban ecosystems, and environmental processes; (iv) human psychology and mental health; (v) microbiomes and infectious diseases; (vi) human health and food security; and (vii) microbiome-related planning, policy, and outreach. Our goal was to summarize this growing field and to stimulate impactful research avenues while providing focus for funders and policymakers