A class-wide phylogenetic assessment of Dothideomycetes

We present a comprehensive phylogeny derived from 5 genes, nucSSU, nucLSU rDNA, TEF1, RPB1 and RPB2, for 356 isolates and 41 families (six newly described in this volume) in Dothideomycetes. All currently accepted orders in the class are represented for the first time in addition to numerous previously unplaced lineages. Subclass Pleosporomycetidae is expanded to include the aquatic order Jahnulales. An ancestral reconstruction of basic nutritional modes supports numerous transitions from saprobic life histories to plant associated and lichenised modes and a transition from terrestrial to aquatic habitats are confirmed. Finally, a genomic comparison of 6 dothideomycete genomes with other fungi finds a high level of unique protein associated with the class, supporting its delineation as a separate taxon

Vote buying or (political) business (cycles) as usual?

We study the short-run effect of elections on monetary aggregates in a sample of 85 low and middle income democracies (1975-2009). We find an increase in the growth rate of M1 during election months of about one tenth of a standard deviation. A similar effect can neither be detected in established OECD democracies nor in other months. The effect is larger in democracies with many poor and uneducated voters, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and in East-Asia and the Pacific. We argue that the election month monetary expansion is related to systemic vote buying which requires significant amounts of cash to be disbursed right before elections. The finely timed increase in M1 is consistent with this; is inconsistent with a monetary cycle aimed at creating an election time boom; and it cannot be, fully, accounted for by alternative explanations

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">Diversity and antimicrobial activity of endophytic fungi isolated from <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: bold" lang="EN-US">the seagrass <i>Enhalus acoroides</i> </span></span>

785-797Endophytic fungi were isolated from the seagrass, Enhalus acoroides, collected from Trang province, Thailand. Forty-seven endophytic isolates cultured were classified into 17 phylogenetically diverse genera based on their morphology and molecular analysis of the ITS regions of the rDNA. Most common species were Penicillium (6 isolates), Nigrospora (5), and Fusarium (4) and 2 with unknown taxonomic affinity. Crude extracts including culture media and cells of all isolates were tested for their antimicrobial activities using a colorimetric broth microdilution method against ten potential human pathogens. Extracts from 38 isolates (80.85%) showed antimicrobial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 4 to 200 μg mL-1. Nigrospora sp. PSU-ES5 produced the most active extracts against Microsporum gypseum (MIC 4 to 8 μg mL-1). Endophytic fungi from seagrasses such as E. acoroides could therefore be a good source for obtaining antimicrobial natural products

Examining Agency in Thai Argumentative Political Science Texts

This chapter explores the representation of agency in two Thai argumentative political science texts on the 2006 military coup d’état. It draws on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to ascertain how writers of two texts written shortly after the coup (Khien in Thai World, 2006; Pitch in Faa Diaw Kan—Same Sky, 2007) construe agency or the lack of agency in the exercise and contestation of power. Specifically, this chapter explores the system of TRANSITIVITY and the complementary systems of AGENCY and PROCESS TYPE. The degree of agency or dynamism is compared across texts by plotting the realisations of participant roles on a “cline of dynamism” (Hasan, 1985). Identifying patterns of processes and participant roles in terms of whether the process extends from one participant to another participant (transitivity) or whether the process is actualised through a Medium which may or may not be impacted by an external causer (ergativity) provides insights into the construal of agency in the texts and the manner in which some actors, events or ideas are valorised over others. The chapter argues that the two writers attribute agency to social actors to convey their position on the legitimacy of staging the coup and associated events. Their choices offer insights into the existence of unequal relations of power in a highly contested political context