Is bisexuality invisible? A review of sexualities scholarship 1970–2015

This article provides a review of sexualities scholarship within the social sciences between 1970 and 2015. It takes an innovative approach by focusing on the way in which bisexuality is addressed in this body of literature. The article reveals the marginalisation, under-representation and invisibility of bisexuality within and across the social sciences in relation to both bisexual experience and identity. Reasons for this varied across the different eras, including the heterosexist nature of the literature, the impact of gay and lesbian-focused identity politics, and queer deconstructionism. In addition, patterns of bisexual erasure and invisibility were uneven, with some scholarship taking inclusive approaches or criticising prejudice against bisexuality. The initial findings of the review were enriched by critical commentary from key relevant sociologists and political scientists. The article concludes that future sexualities scholarship could be enhanced by greater consideration of bisexuality

Efflux in Fungi: La Pièce de Résistance

Pathogens must be able to overcome both host defenses and antimicrobial treatment in order to successfully infect and maintain colonization of the host. One way fungi accomplish this feat and overcome intercellular toxin accumulation is efflux pumps, in particular ATP-binding cassette transporters and transporters of the major facilitator superfamily. Members of these two superfamilies remove many toxic compounds by coupling transport with ATP hydrolysis or a proton gradient, respectively. Fungal genomes encode a plethora of members of these families of transporters compared to other organisms. In this review we discuss the role these two fungal superfamilies of transporters play in virulence and resistance to antifungal agents. These efflux transporters are responsible not only for export of compounds involved in pathogenesis such as secondary metabolites, but also export of host-derived antimicrobial compounds. In addition, we examine the current knowledge of these transporters in resistance of pathogens to clinically relevant antifungal agents

The evolutionary psychology of leadership trait perception

Knowles, Kristen K. - ORCID 0000-0001-9664-9055 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9664-9055Many researchers now approach the understanding of how facial characteristics shape the perception of leadership ability through the lens of human evolution. This approach considers what skills and characteristics would have been valuable for leaders to possess in our evolutionary history, including dominance, masculinity, and trustworthiness. Moreover, it gives an understanding about why rapid categorisation of these social cues from faces is adaptive. In this chapter, I present evolutionary arguments for social inferences based on faces, and discuss how our understanding of this categorisation has shifted away from purely associative phenomena towards evolved, innate processes. I explain how the perception of leadership ability in faces is linked to variance in facial morphology, and how these morphologies tell us something about the individuals who carry them. Specific facial cues relating to leadership-relevant traits are discussed, as well as the underlying biological systems that accompany these traits. I also explain the importance of context and individual differences on the prioritisation of seemingly disparate facial cues to leadership: dominance and trustworthiness. I also discuss recent findings in this area which further extend these concepts to examine cues to leadership in women’s faces, generally overlooked by evolutionary psychologists, and how political ideology can interact with these effects.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94535-4_5pubpu