Irony's architecture: Reflections on a photographic research project

This paper presents a research approach based on irony, rather than certainty. Using Richard Rorty's conception of irony, we contend that much traditional research in management presents a final language which is implicit in both the construction of a research method and its final presentation as findings. This paper suggests we should take irony more seriously, and deliberately construct research to allow and encourage re-description by our research's final arbiters - its readers, and even its subjects. Further, we advocate that by inviting irony into our work, we encourage greater identification between ourselves, our audience of readers, and the subjects of our work. We illustrate our argument by reflecting on a recent photographic research project which was a collaborative effort between management researchers and an artist. We show how the simple architecture of this project was built from doubt and how irony is communicated through the pictures. We then show how photography can be a useful technique that encourages readers to engage in re-description of petit récits (small stories), told through images. We discuss our reflections by focusing on the implications of our research for management education

Ontogeny and thermogenic role for sternal fat in female sheep

Brown adipose tissue acting through a unique uncoupling protein (UCP1) has a critical role in preventing hypothermia in new-born sheep but is then considered to rapidly disappear during postnatal life. The extent to which the anatomical location of fat influences postnatal development and thermogenic function, particularly following feeding, in adulthood, are not known and were both examined in our study. Changes in gene expression of functionally important pathways (i.e. thermogenesis, development, adipogenesis and metabolism) were compared between sternal and retroperitoneal fat depots together with a representative skeletal muscle over the first month of postnatal life, coincident with the loss of brown fat and accumulation of white fat. In adult sheep, implanted temperature probes were used to characterise the thermogenic response of fat and muscle to feeding and the effects of reduced or increased adiposity. UCP1 was more abundant within sternal than retroperitoneal fat and was only retained in the sternal depot of adults. Distinct differences in the abundance of gene pathway markers were apparent between tissues, with sternal fat exhibiting some similarities with muscle that were not apparent in the retroperitoneal depot. In adults, the post-prandial rise in temperature was greater and more prolonged in sternal than retroperitoneal fat and muscle, a difference that was maintained with altered adiposity. In conclusion, sternal adipose tissue retains UCP1 into adulthood when it shows a greater thermogenic response to feeding than muscle and retroperitoneal fat. Sternal fat may be more amenable to targeted interventions that promote thermogenesis in large mammals

A tool for assessing the climate change mitigation and health impacts of environmental policies: the Cities Rapid Assessment Framework for Transformation (CRAFT).

Background: A growing number of cities, including Greater London, have set ambitious targets, including detailed policies and implementation plans, to reach global goals on sustainability, health, and climate change. Here we present a tool for a rapid assessment of the magnitude of impact of specific policy initiatives to reach these targets. The decision-support tool simultaneously quantifies the environmental and health impacts of specified selected policies. Methods: The 'Cities Rapid Assessment Framework for Transformation (CRAFT)' tool was applied to Greater London. CRAFT quantifies the effects of ten environmental policies on changes in (1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, (2) exposures to environmental hazards, (3) travel-related physical activity, and (4) mortality (the number of attributable deaths avoided in one typical year). Publicly available data and epidemiological evidence were used to make rapid quantitative estimates of these effects based on proportional reductions in GHG emissions and environmental exposures from current baseline levels and to compute the mortality impacts. Results: The CRAFT tool estimates that, of roughly 50,000 annual deaths in Greater London, the modelled hazards (PM 2.5 (from indoor and outdoor sources), outdoor NO 2, indoor radon, cold, overheating) and low travel-related physical activity are responsible for approximately 10,000 premature environment-related deaths. Implementing the selected polices could reduce the annual mortality number by about 20% (~1,900 deaths) by 2050. The majority of these deaths (1,700) may be avoided through increased uptake in active travel. Thus, out of ten environmental policies, the 'active travel' policy provides the greatest health benefit. Also, implementing the ten policies results in a GHG reduction of around 90%. Conclusions: The CRAFT tool quantifies the effects of city policies on reducing GHG emissions, decreasing environmental health hazards, and improving public health. The tool has potential value for policy makers through providing quantitative estimates of health impacts to support and prioritise policy options

A quantitative PCR (TaqMan) assay for pathogenic Leptospira spp

BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is an emerging infectious disease. The differential diagnosis of leptospirosis is difficult due to the varied and often "flu like" symptoms which may result in a missed or delayed diagnosis. There are over 230 known serovars in the genus Leptospira. Confirmatory serological diagnosis of leptospirosis is usually made using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) which relies on the use of live cultures as the source of antigen, often performed using a panel of antigens representative of local serovars. Other techniques, such as the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and slide agglutination test (SAT), can detect different classes of antibody but may be subject to false positive reactions and require confirmation of these results by the MAT. METHODS: The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to detect a large number of microorganisms, including those of clinical significance. The sensitivity of PCR often precludes the need for isolation and culture, thus making it ideal for the rapid detection of organisms involved in acute infections. We employed real-time (quantitative) PCR using TaqMan chemistry to detect leptospires in clinical and environmental samples. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The PCR assay can be applied to either blood or urine samples and does not rely on the isolation and culture of the organism. Capability exists for automation and high throughput testing in a clinical laboratory. It is specific for Leptospira and may discriminate pathogenic and non-pathogenic species. The limit of detection is as low as two cells

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Transcriptional analysis of adipose tissue during development reveals depot-specific responsiveness to maternal dietary supplementation

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) undergoes pronounced changes after birth coincident with the loss of the BAT-specifc uncoupling protein (UCP)1 and rapid fat growth. The extent to which this adaptation may vary between anatomical locations remains unknown, or whether the process is sensitive to maternal dietary supplementation. We, therefore, conducted a data mining based study on the major fat depots (i.e. epicardial, perirenal, sternal (which possess UCP1 at 7 days), subcutaneous and omental) (that do not possess UCP1) of young sheep during the frst month of life. Initially we determined what effect adding 3% canola oil to the maternal diet has on mitochondrial protein abundance in those depots which possessed UCP1. This demonstrated that maternal dietary supplementation delayed the loss of mitochondrial proteins, with the amount of cytochrome C actually being increased. Using machine learning algorithms followed by weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we demonstrated that each depot could be segregated into a unique and concise set of modules containing co-expressed genes involved in adipose function. Finally using lipidomic analysis following the maternal dietary intervention, we confrmed the perirenal depot to be most responsive. These insights point at new research avenues for examining interventions to modulate fat development in early life

The Maternally Expressed WRKY Transcription Factor TTG2 Controls Lethality in Interploidy Crosses of Arabidopsis

The molecular mechanisms underlying lethality of F1 hybrids between diverged parents are one target of speciation research. Crosses between diploid and tetraploid individuals of the same genotype can result in F1 lethality, and this dosage-sensitive incompatibility plays a role in polyploid speciation. We have identified variation in F1 lethality in interploidy crosses of Arabidopsis thaliana and determined the genetic architecture of the maternally expressed variation via QTL mapping. A single large-effect QTL, DR. STRANGELOVE 1 (DSL1), was identified as well as two QTL with epistatic relationships to DSL1. DSL1 affects the rate of postzygotic lethality via expression in the maternal sporophyte. Fine mapping placed DSL1 in an interval encoding the maternal effect transcription factor TTG2. Maternal parents carrying loss-of-function mutations in TTG2 suppressed the F1 lethality caused by paternal excess interploidy crosses. The frequency of cellularization in the endosperm was similarly affected by both natural variation and ttg2 loss-of-function mutants. The simple genetic basis of the natural variation and effects of single-gene mutations suggests that F1 lethality in polyploids could evolve rapidly. Furthermore, the role of the sporophytically active TTG2 gene in interploidy crosses indicates that the developmental programming of the mother regulates the viability of interploidy hybrid offspring

Variations on a theme: diversification of cuticular hydrocarbons in a clade of cactophilic Drosophila

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We characterized variation and chemical composition of epicuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in the seven species of the <it>Drosophila buzzatii </it>cluster with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Despite the critical role of CHCs in providing resistance to desiccation and involvement in communication, such as courtship behavior, mating, and aggregation, few studies have investigated how CHC profiles evolve within and between species in a phylogenetic context. We analyzed quantitative differences in CHC profiles in populations of the <it>D. buzzatii </it>species cluster in order to assess the concordance of CHC differentiation with species divergence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-six CHC components were scored in single fly extracts with carbon chain lengths ranging from C₂₉to C₃₉, including methyl-branched alkanes, <it>n</it>-alkenes, and alkadienes. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that CHC amounts were significantly different among all species and canonical discriminant function (CDF) analysis resolved all species into distinct, non-overlapping groups. Significant intraspecific variation was found in different populations of <it>D. serido </it>suggesting that this taxon is comprised of at least two species. We summarized CHC variation using CDF analysis and mapped the first five CHC canonical variates (CVs) onto an independently derived <it>period </it>(<it>per</it>) gene + chromosome inversion + mtDNA COI gene for each sex. We found that the COI sequences were not phylogenetically informative due to introgression between some species, so only <it>per </it>+ inversion data were used. Positive phylogenetic signal was observed mainly for CV1 when parsimony methods and the test for serial independence (TFSI) were used. These results changed when no outgroup species were included in the analysis and phylogenetic signal was then observed for female CV3 and/or CV4 and male CV4 and CV5. Finally, removal of divergent populations of <it>D. serido </it>significantly increased the amount of phylogenetic signal as up to four out of five CVs then displayed positive phylogenetic signal.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CHCs were conserved among species while quantitative differences in CHC profiles between populations and species were statistically significant. Most CHCs were species-, population-, and sex-specific. Mapping CHCs onto an independently derived phylogeny revealed that a significant portion of CHC variation was explained by species' systematic affinities indicating phylogenetic conservatism in the evolution of these hydrocarbon arrays, presumptive waterproofing compounds and courtship signals as in many other drosophilid species.</p

Effect of acute pesticide exposure on bee spatial working memory using an analogue of the radial-arm maze

Pesticides, including neonicotinoids, typically target pest insects by being neurotoxic. Inadvertent exposure to foraging insect pollinators is usually sub-lethal, but may affect cognition. One cognitive trait, spatial working memory, may be important in avoiding previously-visited flowers and other spatial tasks such as navigation. To test this, we investigated the effect of acute thiamethoxam exposure on spatial working memory in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, using an adaptation of the radial-arm maze (RAM). We first demonstrated that bumblebees use spatial working memory to solve the RAM by showing that untreated bees performed significantly better than would be expected if choices were random or governed by stereotyped visitation rules. We then exposed bees to either a high sub-lethal positive control thiamethoxam dose (2.5ng-1 bee), or one of two low doses (0.377 or 0.091ng-1) based on estimated field-realistic exposure. The high dose caused bees to make more and earlier spatial memory errors and take longer to complete the task than unexposed bees. For the low doses, the negative effects were smaller but statistically significant, and dependent on bee size. The spatial working memory impairment shown here has the potential to harm bees exposed to thiamethoxam, through possible impacts on foraging efficiency or homing

Psychology and aggression

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68264/2/10.1177_002200275900300301.pd