Haiti, insecurity, and the politics of asylum

In this article, I seek to show how states of insecurity provoked by ongoing social, economic, and political ruptures in Haiti can disorder individual subjectivity and generate the flight of individuals seeking asylum within and across borders. Nongovernmental actors working in Haiti and with Haitians in the diaspora frequently managed the long-term psychosocial effects of insecurity. Their interventions can range from repressive to compassionate and influence the formation of identity and the embodied experiences of trauma for vulnerable Haitians. The case of a young Haitian refugee who was repatriated to Haiti from the United States in the 1990s demonstrates how insecurity is both an existential state reflecting the disordering of embodied experience, as well as a collective sociopolitical condition the effects of which cannot be managed or contained within national borders. The case is emblematic of the plight of thousands of Haitians affected by the January 12, 2010, earthquake.     

The fall migration flyways of monarch butterflies in eastern North America revealed by citizen scientists

The migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) from Canada and the United States to overwintering sites in Mexico is one of the world’s most amazing biological phenomena, although recent threats make it imperative that the resources needed by migrating monarchs be conserved. The most important first step in preserving migration resources—determining the migration flyways—is also the most challenging because of the large-scale nature of the migration. Prior attempts to determine the flyways using mark-recapture techniques with wing tags gave some clues, but this important information has never been fully obtainable until now. In 2005 the citizen-science program, Journey North, initiated a project that asked participants to record sightings of overnight roosts of monarchs during their fall migration, and this project now provides an ideal way to illustrate the flyways used by monarchs on their way to Mexico, with the assumption that roost locations indicate migration routes. We used 3 years of this data to elucidate the flyways on a continent-wide scale, that revealed two distinct flyways, but only one appears to lead directly to Mexico. This main, ‘central’ flyway begins in the American Midwest states and southern Ontario, then continues south-southwest through the states of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and finally passes through Texas and northern Mexico. These data also highlighted a separate, smaller flyway along the eastern and coastal states, but there was a noticeable lack of roost sightings in this flyway at lower latitudes. Since there are few recoveries of marked monarchs in Mexico originating from coastal areas, we compared the timing of roost formation in this ‘eastern’ flyway with the main, central flyway. Roosts in the eastern flyway lagged behind the central roosts in timing, suggesting that monarchs traveling in this flyway have a reduced chance of making it to the Mexico wintering site. Combined, our evidence indicates that locations in the central flyway should be considered priority areas for conserving migration resources.     

On What It is to Fly Can Tell Us Something About What It is to Live

The plurality of definitions of life is often perceived as an unsatisfying situation stemming from still incomplete knowledge about ‘what it is to live’ as well as from the existence of a variety of methods for reaching a definition. For many, such plurality is to be remedied and the search for a unique and fully satisfactory definition of life pursued. In this contribution on the contrary, it is argued that the existence of such a variety of definitions of life undermines the very feasibility of ever reaching a unique unambiguous definition. It is argued that focusing on the definitions of specific types of ‘living systems’—somehow in the same way that one can define specific types of ‘flying systems’—could be more fruitful from a heuristic point of view than looking for ‘the’ right definition of life, and probably more accurate in terms of carving Nature at its joints.     

Effects of NaCl stress on germination, antioxidant responses, and proline content in two rice cultivars

We investigated the physiological and biochemical bases for salt tolerance in two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars — relatively salt-tolerant ‘Dongjin’ and salt-sensitive ‘Kumnam’. Salinized hydroponic cultures were studied at the germination and seedling stages. NaCI inhibited germination more severely in ‘Kumnam’ than in ‘Dongjin’. Increasing the salt concentration also deterred growth to a larger extent in the former. Moreover, the leaves of ‘Kumnam’ exhibited greater increases in lipid peroxidation and Na⁺ accumulation than those of ‘Dongjin’ under stress. The activities of constitutive and salt-induced superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate peroxidase (AP, EC 1.11.1.11) were also higher in ‘Kumnam’, while only catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) activity was slightly higher in stressed plants of ‘Dongjin’. The positive correlation between leaf proline levels and NaCI concentration was more evident in ‘Kumnam’. However, ‘Dongjin’ seeds, which had higher germinability in the presence of NaCI, also contained more proline. These results suggest that the higher salt tolerance in ‘Dongjin’ seedlings could be ascribed to their lower NaCI accumulations in the leaves. This presumably is due to reductions in the uptake or transport rates of saline ions to the shoots from the roots. Finally, we believe that the higher germination rate by ‘Dongjin’ is caused by its higher seed proline content.     

Genetic control theory of developmental events

An earlier theory of cell differentiation and morphogenesis (Wassermann, 1972, 1973, 1978) is combined with the genetic control model of Davidson and Britten (e.g. 1979). The resulting new theory suggests how, bysystematic process algorithms, specifically enumerated combinations of batteries of structural genes can become switched on in particularly enumerated cells, via battery-specific enumerable regulator genes. The systematization is idealized. Up to a certain stage of development in each mitotically arising cell a unique cell-specific combination of structural genes called ‘marker genes’ is active. Marker genes are assumed to code for cell-specifying marker proteins (CSMPs) which permit cells carrying related markers to recognize each other, thus permitting specific cell sorting.Batteries of marker genes could ensure great developmental precision and can safeguard—via redundancies of CSMP types—against accidental loss or detrimental mutational modification of CSMPs or marker genes, respectively. This paper is much concerned with cell lineage in relation to ‘microdifferentiation’, where ‘microdifferentiation’ of a cell refers to a cell's active marker genes and its syntheses of CSMPs. A drastic distinction is made between ‘microdifferentiation’ and ‘gross’ differentiation of a cell, where the same ‘gross’ differentiation may be shared by a large number of cells that could each be uniquely ‘microdifferentiated’. Typical ‘gross’ differentiation could manifest itself in tissue specificity, whereas, up to certain stages of development, all cells of the same gross differentiation type (say tissue specificity) could each be uniquely ‘microdifferentiated’. The theory also assumes that at certain stages of the developmental process some (or in some organisms all) of the previously uniquely specified cells could give rise to small (or occasionally large) clones of equispecified cells, some of which might form clusters that represent complete ‘morphogenetic fields’ Tentative implementation mechanisms are proposed which suggest how the theory could operate in molecular biological terms. In particular, CSMPs could endow cell surface membranes with a highly specific protein network, and an associated equally specific cell surface coat. It is suggested how these highly specified cell surface coats and other systems could provide an ‘extracellular guidance network’ which could help to direct cells to attain energetically optimal locations relative to each other based on the matching of their surface specificities. In numerous experimental situations, where normally present optimal matching of cells is excluded, ‘alternative matching’ based on experiment-specific suboptimal matching could explain many data, notably in experimental development neurobiology (Wassermann, 1978).     

Tuning the cochlea: wave-mediated positive feedback between cells

Frequency analysis by the mammalian cochlea is traditionally thought to occur via a hydrodynamically coupled ‘travelling wave’ along the basilar membrane. A persistent difficulty with this picture is how sharp tuning can emerge. This paper proposes, and models, a supplementary or alternative mechanism: it supposes that the cochlea analyses sound by setting up standing waves between parallel rows of outer hair cells. In this scheme, multiple cells mutually interact through positive feedback of wave-borne energy. Analytical modelling and numerical evaluation presented here demonstrate that this can provide narrow-band frequency analysis. Graded cochlear tuning will then rely on the distance between rows becoming greater as distance from the base increases (as exhibited by the actual cochlea) and on the wave’s phase velocity becoming slower. In effect, tuning is now a case of varying the feedback delay between the rows, and a prime candidate for a wave exhibiting suitably graded phase velocity—a short-wavelength ‘squirting wave’—is identified and used in the modelling. In this way, resonance between rows could supply both amplification and high Q, characteristics underlying the ‘cochlear amplifier’—the device whose action has long been evident to auditory science but whose anatomical basis and mode of operation are still obscure.     

Critique of ‘Australopithecus afarensis’ as a single species based on dental metrics and morphology

Leonard andHegmon (1987) compare a series of dental metrics of ‘Australopithecus afarensis Johanson, White, andCoppens, 1978’ with criteria for modern apes, to test the hypothesis that ‘A. afarensis’ represents a single species. They also compare the morphology of the lower third premolar. The dental breadth of ‘A. afarensis’ shows a wide range of variation, particularly in the lower third premolar morphology which displays greater variation than in modern apes—yet the study concludes that the single species hypothesis cannot be rejected. The study is flawed by applying criteria for pongids inappropriate for a hominid. When ‘A. afarensis’ is compared with criteria for hominids, the range of variation in dental size, breadth, and third premolar morphology is greater than that in any hominid species. The single species hypothesis is, therefore, once again rejected. Moreover, the name ‘A. afarensis’ is preoccupied byPraeanthropus africanus (Weinert) and must be dropped.     

Qualitative analysis of the all-cause black-white mortality crossover

To date, despite decades of investigations and the relative abundance of mortality data, our understanding of the phenomenon of ‘mortality crossover’ remains inadequate. We propose a methodology for transforming mortality data from the ‘age-domain’ to the ‘time-domain’. We then introduce a model of selection partially offset by mobility, to simulate the dynamics of vulnerability in a population cohort that is heterogeneous in health and death. Using our model of vulnerability simulating the dynamics of mortality in the time-domain, we compare the mortality experience of the Black and White populations of the United States, identify the significance of selection and mobility as potential factors producing the crossover phenomenon, and make diagnostic use of them.     

The expanded evolutionary synthesis—a response to Godfrey-Smith,Haig, and West-Eberhard

In responding to three reviews of Evolution in Four Dimensions (Jablonka and Lamb, 2005, MIT Press), we briefly consider the historical background to the present genecentred view of evolution, especially the way in which Weismann’s theories have influenced it, and discuss the origins of the notion of epigenetic inheritance. We reaffirm our belief that all types of hereditary information—genetic, epigenetic, behavioural and cultural—have contributed to evolutionary change, and outline recent evidence, mainly from epigenetic studies, that suggests that non-DNA heritable variations are not rare and can be quite stable. We describe ways in which such variations may have influenced evolution. The approach we take leads to broader definitions of terms such as ‘units of heredity’, ‘units of evolution’, and ‘units of selection’, and we maintain that ‘information’ can be a useful concept if it is defined in terms of its effects on the receiver. Although we agree that evolutionary theory is not undergoing a Kuhnian revolution, the incorporation of new data and ideas about hereditary variation, and about the role of development in generating it, is leading to a version of Darwinism that is very different from the gene-centred one that dominated evolutionary thinking in the second half of the twentieth century.     

New combinations amongst Bolivian <Emphasis Type="Italic">Compositae</Emphasis>

Summary  New combinations are provided for nine taxa in the Bolivian Compositae — four in Dendrophorbium (Senecioneae), four in Vernonia (Vernonieae) and one in Viguiera (Heliantheae) — in advance of an on-line publication of a ‘Preliminary checklist of the Compositae of Bolivia’.     

Isobutylidene diurea and other nitrogen fertilizers for seedlings and transplants ofPicea sitchensis in two English forest nurseries

Summary Three slow-release nitrogen fertilizers — medium- and coarse-sized granules of IBDU (isobutylidene diurea) and formalized casein — were applied before sowing or transplanting to Sitka sprucePicea sitchensis, and their effects on growth compared with that on plots not given N or given four topdressings of ‘Nitro-Chalk’ (the source of N used in practice). The comparisons were made at two sites: a very sandy podsol and a sandy loam with better nutrient retention. The experiments with seedlings were continued for four years, those with transplants for three, and the same treatments were applied to the same plots each year. Responses to ‘Nitro-Chalk’ were large, especially during wet seasons. Formalized casein was always as effective as ‘Nitro-Chalk’ for transplants. IBDU (especially the coarse fraction) was almost as good as formalized casein for transplants at both sites and equalled it for seedlings on the sandy loam. For seedlings on the sandy podsol, both particle sizes of IBDU became steadily less effective in succeeding years, and no satisfactory reason can be offered for this decline.     

Fluid and particle passage in three duiker species

Ruminants are characterised by two different types of reticulorumen (RR) physiology. ‘Cattle-type’ ruminants have, amongst other features such as RR contents stratification and a heterogenous intraruminal papillation, a distinct difference between the mean retention time (MRT) of small particles and fluids (the ratio is called the selectivity factor, SF). ‘Moose-type’ ruminants have RR contents that are less stratified, a more homogenous intraruminal papillation and low SFs, indicating less difference in the MRT of small particles and fluids. To date, physiological data indicating a ‘moose-type’ physiology have only been measured in giraffids and Odocoilean cervids, raising the question whether it is limited to these taxonomic groups only. Here, we measured MRTs of fluids and particles in five duikers (Bovidae, Cephalophinae) from three species (Sylvicapra grimmia, Cephalophus monticola and Cephalophus sylvicultor) and found SFs in the RR of 1.27 ± 0.18—well within the range of these other browsers. These results are the first physiological indication that a ‘moose-type’ physiology may also occur in bovid species and thus might represent a true convergent adaptation.     

An <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> method to evaluate grapevine cultivars for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Erysiphe necator</Emphasis> susceptibility

Powdery mildew, caused by the obligate biotrophic ascomycete Erysiphe necator, is one of the most destructive grapevine diseases worldwide. Cultivars of Vitis vinifera L, for wine and table grape production, are all susceptible to E. necator, whose attacks result in severe epidemics under the warm and dry conditions of the Mediterranean basin. The aim of the present study was to compare the susceptibility of different grapevine cultivars to E. necator by an in vitro assay for assessing the potentiality of this method in breeding programs for resistance to the pathogen. Leaves of 12 grapevine cultivars were spot-inoculated in vitro with about 10 conidia from five different isolates of E. necator, using colony growth and conidiation 3 wk post-inoculation as indicators of susceptibility to the disease. A remarkable difference was observed between highly susceptible cultivars like ‘Baresana’, ‘Malvasia’, ‘Bianca’, and ‘Italia’, and the less susceptible ‘Alphonse Lavallée’ and ‘Ohanez’, in accordance with their behavior in the field. No statistically significant differences were found in the virulence of E. necator isolates.     

An ethnobiological assessment of Rumohra adiantiformis (samambaia-preta) extractivism in Southern Brazil

The fronds of Rumohra adiantiformis, also known as ‘7-weeks-fern,’ ‘leatherleaf’ or ‘samambaia-preta,’ are used worldwide as florists’ greenery. Costa Rica and the USA cultivate and export R. adiantiformis, whereas in South Africa and Brazil this trade is based on extractivism. In Brazil, R. adiantiformis is harvested in the Atlantic Forest biome; 50% of the production comes from the slopes of the ‘Serra Geral’ (state of Rio Grande do Sul), where some 2000 families harvest and trade R. adiantiformis as their main source of revenue. However, harvesting, trading and transporting wild ornamental species is illegal in the Atlantic Forest, This study evaluates R. adiantiformis extractivism in hilly areas of Rio Grande do Sul, from an ethnobotanical/ethnoecological perspective. The study reveals that emic perceptions on the sustainability of R. adiantiformis extractivism are in agreement with relevant ecological data. The regeneration areas on the slopes of the Serra Geral have the highest plant density ever reported for R. adiantiformis; its extractivism has low environment impact and generates significant income for local communities. Further studies of these areas are important in order to support neoextractivism as a suitable form of use of the state's biodiversity.     

A two-stage solar photobioreactor for cultivation of microalgae based on solar concentrators

A novel two-stage experimental photobioreactor (PBR) with a total volume of 450 L and based uniquely on solar concentrators—linear Fresnel lenses—has been constructed and tested. Daily courses of irradiance, and also its distribution inside cultivation tubes, were studied in two unit types. The supra-high irradiance units in the ‘roof’ achieved a maximum summer value above 6 mmol photon m⁻² s⁻¹, while irradiance in the vertical-facade units was lower than ‘ambient’. In model cultivations, cultures of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis were cultivated at much higher solar irradiances than those usually recorded outdoors in summer, indicating that this organism is resilient to high-irradiance (photoinhibition). Starting from a biomass density of 0.5 g L⁻¹ at optimum temperature, the cultures grew exponentially. A two-stage cultivation process of the green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis was investigated with respect to correlations between photochemical activities and astaxanthin production. The culture was first grown in low-irradiance units, and then exposed to supra-high irradiance when the rate of astaxanthin production was 30–50% higher than in the culture exposed to ‘ambient’ irradiance. Within 4 days, the astaxanthin content reached 3% of dry weight, whereas under ambient irradiance the astaxanthin content was 25% lower.     

A modern-type Kimmeridgian reef (Ota Limestone,Portugal): Implications for Jurassic reef models

Upper Jurassic reefs rich in microbial crusts generally appear in deeper (sponge—‘algal’ crust reefs) or in very shallow but protected settings (coral or coral-coralline sponge meadows with ‘algal’ crusts). Upper Jurassic high-energy reefs (coral reefs and coral-stromatoporoid reefs) normally lack major participation of microbial crusts but rather represent huge bioclastic piles with only minor framestone patches preserved. An exception to this rule is represented by the high-energy, coral-‘algal’ Ota Reef from the Kimmeridgian of the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal). The narrow Ota Reef tract rims a small intra-basinal carbonate platform exhibiting perfect facies zonation (from W to E: Reef tract, back reef sands, peritidal belt, low-energy shallow lagoon). The reef is dominated by massive corals (Thamnasteria, Microsolena, Stylina). Complete preservation of coral framework is rare: like other Upper Jurassic high-energy reefs, the Ota Reef is very rich in debris; however, this debris is largely stabilized by algal and microbial crusts, what contrasts the other examples and gives the Ota Reef the appearance of a typical modern high-energy coral-melobesioid algal reef. Further similarities to modern reefs are the likely existence of a spur-and-groove system, the perfect sheltering of inner platform areas and the occurrence of small islands, as indicated by local blackenings and early vadose and karstic features.     

The estimation of productivity and yield of linseed (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Linum usitatissimum</Emphasis> L.) using the growth analysis

In three year field experiments (2001 – 2003) the growth, yield and productivity of 8 flax cultivars were compared. Cultivars ‘AC Linora’, ‘Flanders’, ‘Linola™ 947’, ‘Norlin’ and ‘Omega’ were obtained from Canada, ‘Barbara’ and ‘Hungarian Gold’ from Hungary and ‘Opal’ from Poland. Apart from the estimation of the yield of aboveground parts dry matter and seed yield the determinations of the primary index value of growth analysis were done and on their basis the indices LAI, LAD, RGR, CGR and HI were calculated. The obtained yield results of the examined flax cultivars show significant genotypic — environmental relationships pertaining to the dynamics of dry matter accumulation and the amount of seed yield. Meteorological conditions in the successive years significantly influenced the particular phases of growth and development of cultivars and the factor which increased the amount of dry matter was the air temperature during the period of plant emergence — budding. During the vegetative season with a large amount of rainfall the average seed yield was about 40 % lower than compared with a year of average precipitation and a warm second part of the second period of flax vegetation. Among the analyzed cultivars a stable yield in all the years was characteristic for cultivars ‘Flanders’, ‘Barbara’ and ‘AC Linora’ (that cultivar, however, during a wet year yielded at a low level). The assimilation leaf surface of the linseed quickly increased during the period from budding to flowering and the accumulation of dry matter of the aboveground parts lasted up to the green maturity. In the successive years of the experiment there were observed significant (linear or logarithmic regressions) relationship between the yield of dry matter and the indices of growth analysis. The biggest values of the CGR indicator were observed for the period from budding to flowering. The maintaining of a high CGR value after plant flowering in the year with a favourable course of climatic parameters was beneficial for a better yield of all flax cultivars. The low values of the RGR index after flowering of cultivar ‘Hungarian Gold’ and ‘Opal’ strictly corresponded to their low yield of seed and straw biomass.