If you want to sell design, don’t sell design - A qualitative study on effectively communicating the value of design to investors and business managers

Effectively communicating the value of design has been a long-standing challenge for designers, design managers and design consultants. The need to understand and measure how design can create value in organizations is also increasing in the management domain. Multiple studies have been conducted both from design and business, for effectively communicating design value with varying results from, tools and indexes built on existing business frameworks, to positioning design to distinct roles according to the cultures and practices of business managers. Even though a plethora of research exists, design agencies are still in need of finding new and more effective ways to communicate this value. This study aims to find ways to effectively communicate the value of design to investors and business managers. The perspective of taking investors and business managers as the stakeholders comes from Pentagon Design, Helsinki as the partner for this thesis. In Pentagon’s view a new investment in a company can act as a catalyst for bringing in new services, this period of change can accelerate the implementation of design at an early stage of the investment by effectively communicating design value to investors and business managers. Further, this thesis, through its approach and findings, argues that limiting the stakeholders to investors and business managers produces a more valid outcome than attempting to communicate the value of design universally. This is due to the impact of professional role, practices and culture of investors and business managers on their perception of design, and its implications on effectively communicating the value of design. The thesis draws upon literature on why the value of design should be measured and the challenges faced in implementing design, further through the literature, the study shows the impact of cultures, attitudes and perceptions of management professionals and their impact on communicating design, and a few studies done on communicating the understandable value of design. For data collection two rounds of interviews were conducted, first round of open-structured interviews to gain understanding of the world of investing and management with six participants, and then second round of semi –structured interviews with ten participants from investors with different investment strategies and board managers. Based on the findings the thesis abductively and deductively proposes three core themes 1) the current perceptions of design and design value for investors and business managers, built on the discrepancies due to their professional roles and practices, (2) what investors and business managers value during an investment, and how positioning design as a value creator in these practices can improve its perception and understanding, and finally (3) methods and best practices that can be used to communicate the value of design to investors and business managers. The thesis identifies challenges and enablers associated with the professional practices and preferences of investors and business managers and their implications on communicating the value of design: Ambiguity of design terms, lack of measurability and granularity, lack of understanding and participation from the board, need for relevant references, positioning as a value creator, translating design terms and processes to understandable business terms, aligning design as part of the investment criteria, honesty through activity, and storytelling as a method to communicate a service. Thus, the thesis proposes a story-telling framework for effectively communicating the value of design, which acts as an integrator of the enablers and navigates the hindrances by aligning them according to a script. The script compromises of 1) Foundational elements that act as background and create guidelines for the story telling framework, (2) Actionable insights that align the script according to the interests of the investors and business managers based on relevant references from the industry, and (3) The Premeditated outcomes and implications that are intended from the storytelling script. Through the framework, the thesis aims to educate the investors and business managers by creating their own conviction of the role, function, and value of design

Weathered granites and soils harbour microbes with lanthanide-dependent methylotrophic enzymes

Background: Prior to soil formation, phosphate liberated by rock weathering is often sequestered into highly insoluble lanthanide phosphate minerals. Dissolution of these minerals releases phosphate and lanthanides to the biosphere. Currently, the microorganisms involved in phosphate mineral dissolution and the role of lanthanides in microbial metabolism are poorly understood. Results: Although there have been many studies of soil microbiology, very little research has investigated microbiomes of weathered rock. Here, we sampled weathered granite and associated soil to identify the zones of lanthanide phosphate mineral solubilisation and genomically define the organisms implicated in lanthanide utilisation. We reconstructed 136 genomes from 11 bacterial phyla and found that gene clusters implicated in lanthanide-based metabolism of methanol (primarily xoxF3 and xoxF5) are surprisingly common in microbial communities in moderately weathered granite. Notably, xoxF3 systems were found in Verrucomicrobia for the first time, and in Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes and Alphaproteobacteria. The xoxF-containing gene clusters are shared by diverse Acidobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes, and include conserved hypothetical proteins and transporters not associated with the few well studied xoxF systems. Given that siderophore-like molecules that strongly bind lanthanides may be required to solubilise lanthanide phosphates, it is notable that candidate metallophore biosynthesis systems were most prevalent in bacteria in moderately weathered rock, especially in Acidobacteria with lanthanide-based systems. Conclusions: Phosphate mineral dissolution, putative metallophore production and lanthanide utilisation by enzymes involved in methanol oxidation linked to carbonic acid production co-occur in the zone of moderate granite weathering. In combination, these microbial processes likely accelerate the conversion of granitic rock to soil

Marine bacterial, archaeal and protistan association networks reveal ecological linkages

Microbes have central roles in ocean food webs and global biogeochemical processes, yet specific ecological relationships among these taxa are largely unknown. This is in part due to the dilute, microscopic nature of the planktonic microbial community, which prevents direct observation of their interactions. Here, we use a holistic (that is, microbial system-wide) approach to investigate time-dependent variations among taxa from all three domains of life in a marine microbial community. We investigated the community composition of bacteria, archaea and protists through cultivation-independent methods, along with total bacterial and viral abundance, and physico-chemical observations. Samples and observations were collected monthly over 3 years at a well-described ocean time-series site of southern California. To find associations among these organisms, we calculated time-dependent rank correlations (that is, local similarity correlations) among relative abundances of bacteria, archaea, protists, total abundance of bacteria and viruses and physico-chemical parameters. We used a network generated from these statistical correlations to visualize and identify time-dependent associations among ecologically important taxa, for example, the SAR11 cluster, stramenopiles, alveolates, cyanobacteria and ammonia-oxidizing archaea. Negative correlations, perhaps suggesting competition or predation, were also common. The analysis revealed a progression of microbial communities through time, and also a group of unknown eukaryotes that were highly correlated with dinoflagellates, indicating possible symbioses or parasitism. Possible ‘keystone’ species were evident. The network has statistical features similar to previously described ecological networks, and in network parlance has non-random, small world properties (that is, highly interconnected nodes). This approach provides new insights into the natural history of microbes

Clades of huge phages from across Earth's ecosystems.

Bacteriophages typically have small genomes1 and depend on their bacterial hosts for replication2. Here we sequenced DNA from diverse ecosystems and found hundreds of phage genomes with lengths of more than 200 kilobases (kb), including a genome of 735 kb, which is-to our knowledge-the largest phage genome to be described to date. Thirty-five genomes were manually curated to completion (circular and no gaps). Expanded genetic repertoires include diverse and previously undescribed CRISPR-Cas systems, transfer RNAs (tRNAs), tRNA synthetases, tRNA-modification enzymes, translation-initiation and elongation factors, and ribosomal proteins. The CRISPR-Cas systems of phages have the capacity to silence host transcription factors and translational genes, potentially as part of a larger interaction network that intercepts translation to redirect biosynthesis to phage-encoded functions. In addition, some phages may repurpose bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems to eliminate competing phages. We phylogenetically define the major clades of huge phages from human and other animal microbiomes, as well as from oceans, lakes, sediments, soils and the built environment. We conclude that the large gene inventories of huge phages reflect a conserved biological strategy, and that the phages are distributed across a broad bacterial host range and across Earth's ecosystems

Closely related Lak megaphages replicate in the microbiomes of diverse animals.

Lak phages with alternatively coded ∼540 kbp genomes were recently reported to replicate in Prevotella in microbiomes of humans that consume a non-Western diet, baboons, and pigs. Here, we explore Lak phage diversity and broader distribution using diagnostic polymerase chain reaction and genome-resolved metagenomics. Lak phages were detected in 13 animal types, including reptiles, and are particularly prevalent in pigs. Tracking Lak through the pig gastrointestinal tract revealed significant enrichment in the hindgut compared to the foregut. We reconstructed 34 new Lak genomes, including six curated complete genomes, all of which are alternatively coded. An anomalously large (∼660 kbp) complete genome reconstructed for the most deeply branched Lak from a horse microbiome is also alternatively coded. From the Lak genomes, we identified proteins associated with specific animal species; notably, most have no functional predictions. The presence of closely related Lak phages in diverse animals indicates facile distribution coupled to host-specific adaptation

290 metagenome-assembled genomes from the Mediterranean Sea: a resource for marine microbiology

The Tara Oceans Expedition has provided large, publicly-accessible microbial metagenomic datasets from a circumnavigation of the globe. Utilizing several size fractions from the samples originating in the Mediterranean Sea, we have used current assembly and binning techniques to reconstruct 290 putative draft metagenome-assembled bacterial and archaeal genomes, with an estimated completion of ≥50%, and an additional 2,786 bins, with estimated completion of 0–50%. We have submitted our results, including initial taxonomic and phylogenetic assignments, for the putative draft genomes to open-access repositories for the scientific community to use in ongoing research

Tandem repeats in giant archaeal Borg elements undergo rapid evolution and create new intrinsically disordered regions in proteins.

Borgs are huge, linear extrachromosomal elements associated with anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea. Striking features of Borg genomes are pervasive tandem direct repeat (TR) regions. Here, we present six new Borg genomes and investigate the characteristics of TRs in all ten complete Borg genomes. We find that TR regions are rapidly evolving, recently formed, arise independently, and are virtually absent in host Methanoperedens genomes. Flanking partial repeats and A-enriched character constrain the TR formation mechanism. TRs can be in intergenic regions, where they might serve as regulatory RNAs, or in open reading frames (ORFs). TRs in ORFs are under very strong selective pressure, leading to perfect amino acid TRs (aaTRs) that are commonly intrinsically disordered regions. Proteins with aaTRs are often extracellular or membrane proteins, and functionally similar or homologous proteins often have aaTRs composed of the same amino acids. We propose that Borg aaTR-proteins functionally diversify Methanoperedens and all TRs are crucial for specific Borg-host associations and possibly cospeciation

Tandem repeats in giant archaeal Borg elements undergo rapid evolution and create new intrinsically disordered regions in proteins

Borgs are huge, linear extrachromosomal elements associated with anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea. Striking features of Borg genomes are pervasive tandem direct repeat (TR) regions. Here, we present six new Borg genomes and investigate the characteristics of TRs in all ten complete Borg genomes. We find that TR regions are rapidly evolving, recently formed, arise independently, and are virtually absent in host Methanoperedens genomes. Flanking partial repeats and A-enriched character constrain the TR formation mechanism. TRs can be in intergenic regions, where they might serve as regulatory RNAs, or in open reading frames (ORFs). TRs in ORFs are under very strong selective pressure, leading to perfect amino acid TRs (aaTRs) that are commonly intrinsically disordered regions. Proteins with aaTRs are often extracellular or membrane proteins, and functionally similar or homologous proteins often have aaTRs composed of the same amino acids. We propose that Borg aaTR-proteins functionally diversify Methanoperedens and all TRs are crucial for specific Borg-host associations and possibly cospeciation

290 Genomes from the Mediterranean Sea: Supplemental Data

<div>This dataset has been updated which you can read about here: https://bjtully.github.io/posts/2018/10/re-visiting-tmed-mags/ !!!! To accommodate that update, there is a new set of files added to this page:</div><div>TMED.UpdatedRecords.xlsx - compares original genome completion statistics with new versions and identified source of change</div><div>TMED.UpdatedContigs.tar.gz - which contains the new genome contigs for the updated genomes</div><div><br></div>A series of data files for the tentatively titled "290 Metagenome-assembled Genomes from the Mediterranean Sea: a resource for marine microbiology" by Benjamin Tully, Elaina Graham, Rohan Sachdeva, and John Heidelberg at the University of Southern California. Data files include, all contigs from Minimus2 + Megahit output used for binning and community assessment, ≥2kb and ≥7.5kb; contig read counts per sample; the putative genome contigs and Prodigal-predicted nucleotide and protein putative CDS FASTA files; the ribosomal marker HMM profiles; reference genome markers; high quality genome markers; low completion bins, and contigs without a bin

Thiocyanate and Organic Carbon Inputs Drive Convergent Selection for Specific Autotrophic Afipia and Thiobacillus Strains Within Complex Microbiomes.

Thiocyanate (SCN-) contamination threatens aquatic ecosystems and pollutes vital freshwater supplies. SCN--degrading microbial consortia are commercially adapted for remediation, but the impact of organic amendments on selection within SCN--degrading microbial communities has not been investigated. Here, we tested whether specific strains capable of degrading SCN- could be reproducibly selected for based on SCN- loading and the presence or absence of added organic carbon. Complex microbial communities derived from those used to treat SCN--contaminated water were exposed to systematically increased input SCN concentrations in molasses-amended and -unamended reactors and in reactors switched to unamended conditions after establishing the active SCN--degrading consortium. Five experiments were conducted over 790 days, and genome-resolved metagenomics was used to resolve community composition at the strain level. A single Thiobacillus strain proliferated in all reactors at high loadings. Despite the presence of many Rhizobiales strains, a single Afipia variant dominated the molasses-free reactor at moderately high loadings. This strain is predicted to break down SCN- using a novel thiocyanate desulfurase, oxidize resulting reduced sulfur, degrade product cyanate to ammonia and CO2 via cyanate hydratase, and fix CO2 via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. Removal of molasses from input feed solutions reproducibly led to dominance of this strain. Although sustained by autotrophy, reactors without molasses did not stably degrade SCN- at high loading rates, perhaps due to loss of biofilm-associated niche diversity. Overall, convergence in environmental conditions led to convergence in the strain composition, although reactor history also impacted the trajectory of community compositional change