Environmental and Genetic Determinants of Colony Morphology in Yeast

Nutrient stresses trigger a variety of developmental switches in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of the least understood of such responses is the development of complex colony morphology, characterized by intricate, organized, and strain-specific patterns of colony growth and architecture. The genetic bases of this phenotype and the key environmental signals involved in its induction have heretofore remained poorly understood. By surveying multiple strain backgrounds and a large number of growth conditions, we show that limitation for fermentable carbon sources coupled with a rich nitrogen source is the primary trigger for the colony morphology response in budding yeast. Using knockout mutants and transposon-mediated mutagenesis, we demonstrate that two key signaling networks regulating this response are the filamentous growth MAP kinase cascade and the Ras-cAMP-PKA pathway. We further show synergistic epistasis between Rim15, a kinase involved in integration of nutrient signals, and other genes in these pathways. Ploidy, mating-type, and genotype-by-environment interactions also appear to play a role in the controlling colony morphology. Our study highlights the high degree of network reuse in this model eukaryote; yeast use the same core signaling pathways in multiple contexts to integrate information about environmental and physiological states and generate diverse developmental outputs

Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness

Subscribing to a techno-utopian discourse replacing institutions and experts with “trust in code,” digital alternative currency Bitcoin is pitched as a “math-based money” governed by incorruptible code rather than human regulators. In three cases, which occurred between 2013 and 2015, we examine this system at moments of breakdown. In contrast to the discourse, we find that power is concentrated to critical sites and individuals who manage the system through ad hoc negotiations, and who users must therefore implicitly trust—a contrast we call Bitcoin’s “promissory gap.” But even in the face of such contradictions between premise and reality, the discourse is maintained. We identify four authorizing strategies used in this work: conflating people with devices, assuming actors conform to notions of economic rationality, appealing to technical expertise, and explaining contradictions as temporary bugs. We contend that these strategies are mobilized widely to legitimize a variety of applications of algorithmic regulation and peer production projects

Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness

Subscribing to a techno-utopian discourse replacing institutions and experts with “trust in code,” digital alternative currency Bitcoin is pitched as a “math-based money” governed by incorruptible code rather than human regulators. In three cases, which occurred between 2013 and 2015, we examine this system at moments of breakdown. In contrast to the discourse, we find that power is concentrated to critical sites and individuals who manage the system through ad hoc negotiations, and who users must therefore implicitly trust—a contrast we call Bitcoin’s “promissory gap.” But even in the face of such contradictions between premise and reality, the discourse is maintained. We identify four authorizing strategies used in this work: conflating people with devices, assuming actors conform to notions of economic rationality, appealing to technical expertise, and explaining contradictions as temporary bugs. We contend that these strategies are mobilized widely to legitimize a variety of applications of algorithmic regulation and peer production projects

A new HLA-C*05 allele, HLA-C*05:156, characterized by full-length hemizygous sequencing

HLA-C*05:156 allele differs from C*05:01:01:02 by a nucleotide change in exon 2 at codon 9

Editor's Choice - Frailty and the management of patients with acute cardiovascular disease:A position paper from the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association

Frailty is increasingly seen among patients with acute cardiovascular disease. A combination of an ageing population, improved disease survival, treatable long-term conditions as well as a greater recognition of the syndrome has accelerated the prevalence of frailty in the modern world. Yet, this has not been matched by an expansion of research. National and international bodies have identified acute cardiovascular disease in the frail as a priority area for care and an entity that requires careful clinical decisions, but there remains a paucity of guidance on treatment efficacy and safety, and how to manage this complex group. This position paper from the Acute Cardiovascular Care Association presents the latest evidence about frailty and the management of frail patients with acute cardiovascular disease, and suggests avenues for future research. </jats:p

Power factor improvement in a solid–liquid thermoelectric system formed by Sb:SnO₂ in contact with a chromium complex solution

Thermoelectric (TE) materials can convert heat into electricity. Good TE materials should have high power factors (PF) and low thermal conductivities. PF = S2σ is governed by the Seebeck coefficient S and the electrical conductivity σ. Most recent improvements in TE materials performance have been achieved by the reduction of the thermal conductivity, and strategies to improve the PF have been minor. Recently, an innovative concept to significantly increase the PF, based on the combination of a porous TE solid with an electrolyte, has been reported. Here, we make use of this new approach but using an electroactive salt (redox molecule) solution as electrolyte, rather than the non-electroactive electrolytes and ionic liquids previously employed. A system formed by a nanostructured and porous Sb:SnO2 film in contact with Cr(III) acetylacetonate dissolved in 3-methoxypropionitrile was prepared. Using this electrolyte, an average PF enhancement of 3.4 times was achieved, due to an average decrease of 23.2% and 82.8% in the absolute value of the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical resistivity of the solid, respectively. An impedance spectroscopy analysis, after checking by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy that no changes take place in the Sb:SnO2 film due to the presence of electrolytes, revealed that the improvements come from the donation of electrons from the electrolyte to the solid, which increases its electrical conductivity and the usual drop in the Seebeck coefficient. The remarkable PF improvement obtained is among the highest reported and opens a new way of significantly enhancing this parameter

Fathers and sons: Loss and truth in war films from Bosnia and Sri Lanka

Item does not contain fulltextIn their chapter on cinematic - fictional - representations of fatherhood in postwar Bosnia and Sri Lanka the authors analyze cinematic representation of the protagonist Fathers' sense of loss, and their search for the truth about their soldier-Sons' deaths. They argue that Prasanna Vithanage's Death on a Full Moon Day (1997) and Pjer Zalica's Fuse (2003) engage in a rare but beautifully executed construction of alternative masculinities. This is done by stressing three characteristics of the Father figures: their physical and mental impairments and capacities; their position vis-à-vis their communities; and their relation to the state. The non-heroic, anti-ideological aspects of the Sons' soldiering further help the Fathers to resist appropriation of their war-suffering and loss, and to stubbornly insist on their specific understanding of the truth about the war and its devastating effects