Race,ethnicity and disciplinary divides: what is the path forward?

We pose several questions that emerged for us from Valdez and Golash-Boza’s “U.S. Racial and Ethnic Relations in the twenty-first Century.” First, we raise questions about their framing of the problem with current scholarship – are immigration/ethnicity and race scholars talking past each other or are they having more fundamental disagreements? Second, we raise questions about their critique of the “the race literature” – do too many of us ignore questions of agency and inclusion? Finally, we raise questions about the stability and utility of the concepts they deploy (“race” and “ethnicity”) and draw on recent scholarship that has argued that we need new language or frameworks to adequately describe the reality on the ground.     

Race,class, politics,and the disappearance of work

“When Work Disappears” has shaped research agendas on poverty, racial hierarchy, and urban social and economic dynamics. That is a lot for one article, yet two issues warrant more analysis. They are the ways in which socially defined “race” – rather than or in combination with class – explains the impact of sustained joblessness, and the political behaviours that may emerge in response to work’s disappearance. I point to evidence showing that both race and class have independent associations with the loss of work in poor African-American communities, as well as interactive effects. In the political arena – too often neglected by sociologists studying poverty – sustained, community-wide joblessness or underemployment are associated both with withdrawal from political engagement and with the recent resurgence of right-wing populism. Even after several decades of intensive research, we have more to learn about the interactions of race, class, politics, and the disappearance of work.     

Exergy‐Based Population Dynamics

This article discusses whether “sustainability” has a physical meaning in applied thermodynamics. If it has, then it should be possible to derive general principles and rules for devising “sustainable systems.” If not, then other sides of the issue retain their relevance, but thermodynamic laws are not appropriate by themselves to decide whether a system or a scenario is sustainable. Here, we make use of a single axiom: that final consumption (material or immaterial) can be quantified solely in terms of equivalent primary exergy flows. On this basis, we develop a system theory that shows that if “simple” systems are based solely on the exploitation of fossil resources, they cannot be thermodynamically “sustainable.” But as renewable resources are brought into the picture and the system complexity grows, there are thresholds below or beyond which the system exhibits an ability to maintain itself (perhaps through fluctuations), in a self‐preserving (i.e., a sustainable) state. It appears that both complexity and the degree of nonlinearity of the transfer functions of the systems play a major role and—even for some of the simplest cases—lead to nontrivial solutions in phase space. Therefore, even if the examples presented in the article can be considered rather crude approximations to real, complex systems at best, the results show a trend that is worth further consideration.     

Sustainable systems as organisms?

Schrödinger [Schrödinger, E., 1944. What is Life? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge] marvelled at how the organism is able to use metabolic energy to maintain and even increase its organisation, which could not be understood in terms of classical statistical thermodynamics. Ho [Ho, M.W., 1993. The Rainbow and the Worm, The Physics of Organisms, World Scientific, Singapore; Ho, M.W., 1998a. The Rainbow and the Worm, The Physics of Organisms, 2nd (enlarged) ed., reprinted 1999, 2001, 2003 (available online from ISIS website www.i- sis.org.uk)] outlined a novel “thermodynamics of organised complexity” based on a nested dynamical structure that enables the organism to maintain its organisation and simultaneously achieve non-equilibrium and equilibrium energy transfer at maximum efficiency. This thermodynamic model of the organism is reminiscent of the dynamical structure of steady state ecosystems identified by Ulanowicz [Ulanowicz, R.E., 1983. Identifying the structure of cycling in ecosystems. Math. Biosci. 65, 210–237; Ulanowicz, R.E., 2003. Some steps towards a central theory of ecosystem dynamics. Comput. Biol. Chem. 27, 523–530].The healthy organism excels in maintaining its organisation and keeping away from thermodynamic equilibrium – death by another name – and in reproducing and providing for future generations. In those respects, it is the ideal sustainable system. We propose therefore to explore the common features between organisms and ecosystems, to see how far we can analyse sustainable systems in agriculture, ecology and economics as organisms, and to extract indicators of the system's health or sustainability.We find that looking at sustainable systems as organisms provides fresh insights on sustainability, and offers diagnostic criteria for sustainability that reflect the system's health.In the case of ecosystems, those diagnostic criteria of health translate into properties such as biodiversity and productivity, the richness of cycles, the efficiency of energy use and minimum dissipation. In the case of economic systems, they translate into space-time differentiation or organised heterogeneity, local autonomy and sufficiency at appropriate levels, reciprocity and equality of exchange, and most of all, balancing the exploitation of natural resources – real input into the system – against the ability of the ecosystem to regenerate itself.     

Dynamic Modeling of a Man–Land System in Response to Environmental Catastrophe

A compatible relationship between “man” and “land” is the essence of regional sustainable development. In this article VENSIM PLE is used to set up a system dynamics (SD) model of the regional man–land system of Xiangfan, Hubei Province, China. The model is used to simulate dynamic behaviors of society and economy in the face of environmental catastrophe, in order to explore dynamic response among subsystems in man–land systems, and to research mechanisms of regional sustainable development. The model is also used to forecast impacts from the south-to-north water transfer project in China on the environment, society, and economy within a time span of 50 years. The model is further used to verify the effects of suggested regulatory policies. The simulation results show counterintuitive outcomes. The most serious impact on Xiangfan caused by the water transfer project would be on economic growth, not on environment quality. However, if a series of regulatory policies were carried out in advance of the water project's construction, the trends of concern could be effectively eased. SD provides tools for precisely understanding complex man–land systems, which always seem counterintuitive. However, there still exist limitations and disadvantages in the model that must be overcome. It is believed that the next logical step in deriving better dynamic models of man–land systems is to integrate SD with other advanced algorithms or technologies.     

Hematopoietic thymocyte precursors. III. A population of thymocytes with the capacity to return ("home") to the thymus.

A subpopulation of thymocytes with the capacity to return (“home”) to and repopulate the thymus of an irradiated mouse has been identified. These cells differ from the majority of cortical thymocytes in that they are of a lower buoyant density and have higher cortisone and X-ray resistance. They also bear an antigen common to mouse brain but not found on the majority of cortical thymocytes. This subpopulation is derived from a hematopoietic thymocyte progenitor and provides an intrathymic reserve of thymocyte precursors. It appears to be a non self-sustaining “transit” population in the pathway of T-cell development.     

When can noise induce chaos and why does it matter: a critique

Noise‐induced chaos illustrates how small amounts of exogenous noise can have disproportionate qualitative impacts on the long term dynamics of a nonlinear system. This property is particularly clear in chaotic systems but is also important for the majority of ecological systems which are nonchaotic, and has direct implications for analyzing ecological time series and testing models against field data. Dennis et al. point out that a definition of chaos which we advocated allows a noise‐dominated system to be classified as chaotic when its Lyapunov exponent λ is positive, which misses what is really going on. As a solution, they propose to eliminate the concept of noise‐induced chaos: chaos “should retain its strictly deterministic definition”, hence “ecological populations cannot be strictly chaotic”. Instead, they suggest that ecologists ask whether ecological systems are strongly influenced by “underlying skeletons with chaotic dynamics or whatever other dynamics”– the skeleton being the hypothetical system that would result if all external and internal noise sources were eliminated. We agree with Dennis et al. about the problem – noise‐dominated systems should not be called chaotic – but not the solution. Even when an estimated skeleton predicts a system's short term dynamics with extremely high accuracy, the skeleton's long term dynamics and attractor may be very different from those of the actual noisy system. Using theoretical models and empirical data on microtine rodent cycles and laboratory populations of Tribolium, we illustrate how data analyses focusing on attributes of the skeleton and its attractor – such as the “deterministic Lyapunov exponent”λ₀ that Dennis et al. have used as their primary indicator of chaos – will frequently give misleading results. In contrast, quantitative measures of the actual noisy system, such as λ, provide useful information for characterizing observed dynamics and for testing proposed mechanistic explanations.     

Reprogramming cell fates: reconciling rarity with robustness

The stunning possibility of “reprogramming” differentiated somatic cells to express a pluripotent stem cell phenotype (iPS, induced pluripotent stem cell) and the “ground state” character of pluripotency reveal fundamental features of cell fate regulation that lie beyond existing paradigms. The rarity of reprogramming events appears to contradict the robustness with which the unfathomably complex phenotype of stem cells can reliably be generated. This apparent paradox, however, is naturally explained by the rugged “epigenetic landscape” with valleys representing “preprogrammed” attractor states that emerge from the dynamical constraints of the gene regulatory network. This article provides a pedagogical primer to the fundamental principles of gene regulatory networks as integrated dynamic systems and reviews recent insights in gene expression noise and fate determination, thereby offering a formal framework that may help us to understand why cell fate reprogramming events are inherently rare and yet so robust.     

Suitability of Molluscs as Bioindicators for Meadow‐ and Flood‐Channels of the Elbe‐Floodplains

The goals of the subproject “molluscs” within the inter‐disciplinary research project “Indicator systems for the characterisation and prediction of ecological changes in floodplain systems” were: – develop further existing mollusc‐based indicator systems of site quality and to test their transferability, – characterise grassland sites within the recent floodplains of three study areas along the Elbe River, – analyse the relationships between indicator species‐/groups and abiotic parameters, – compile and use selected species traits in the analytical process. The results clearly show several characteristic species groups related to the hydrology of the sites (i.e. inundation and desiccation regime) and on to the degree of agricultural use. These dependencies can be interpreted by the simultaneous analysis of the species traits. “Models” are proposed, that are applicable to nature protection measures at the landscape scale. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Levels or Domains of Life?

In the case of living beings – the very concept of “level” of organization becomes obscure: it suggests a value-based assessment, assigning notions like “lower” and “higher” with rather vague criteria for constructing the ladder of perfection, complexity, importance, etc. We prefer therefore the term “domain”, entities ranking equal. Domains may represent natural entities as well as purely human constructs developed in order to gain understanding of some facets of living things; living, evolved beings (e.g. viviparous animals, eukaryotic cells, etc.) as well as those abstract constructs, such as genotype and ‘niche’ which have been developed in the search for better understanding of such living things. Delimitation of such domains is sometimes a question of the dexterity of the researcher, and sometimes draws from the tradition in a given field. Such domains are not completely (canonically) translatable to each other. Rather, they interact by a process that we call here reciprocal formation. Life (including the biosphere and human cultures which are emergent within the frame of the biosphere) is unique among multi-domain systems. In contrast to purely physical systems, life is a semiotic system driven by the historical experience of lineages, interpreted and re-interpreted by the incessant turnover of both individuals and their communities. This paper provides cases of domain interrelations, and addresses two questions: (1) How do new qualities of inter-domain interaction emerge historically? (2) How do new domains (ways of understanding the world) emerge in evolution. Two approaches, physical and biosemiotic, are discussed as we seek to get a better understanding of the overarching tasks.     

Plan quality and robustness in field junction region for craniospinal irradiation with VMAT

PurposeTo propose a “staggered overlap” technique in volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for craniospinal irradiation (CSI) and compare the dose distribution and plan robustness with “overlap” technique and “gradient optimization” approach.Methods and Materials6 patients previously treated in our clinic were retrospectively selected. 9 VMAT plans of each patient were optimized with “staggered overlap”, “overlap” and “gradient optimization” in overlapping region of 3 cm, 6 cm, and 9 cm separately. For the “staggered overlap” plan, adjacent field sets were intentionally overlapped by staggering field edges in an appropriate step size to avoid sharp dose gradient. Evaluation metrics including V_95%, D_2%, D_98%, conformity number (CN) and homogeneity index (HI) were employed to evaluate the dose distribution. Moreover, shifts of the upper spinal field isocenter in each direction were performed to simulate junction errors for robustness analysis.ResultsThe CN and HI of VMAT plans with “staggered overlap” were 0.82 (0.811–0.822) and 0.113 (0.112–0.114), while they were 0.778 (0.776–0.782) and 0.131 (0.130–0.131) for plans with “gradient optimization”. In the robustness study, <3% dose deviations were found for 5 mm shifts in lateral and vertical directions with all techniques. In cranial-caudal direction, “overlap” technique created hot spots (D_2% > 170%) and cold spots (D_98% < 44%) in the junction region with 10 mm shifts. The dose deviations were decreased to 22% for plans with “staggered overlap” and 9 cm overlapping region.Conclusion“Staggered overlap” technique provides better plan quality as compared to “gradient optimization” approach and makes the plan more robust against junction errors as compared to “overlap” technique.     

Evaluation of responses of five cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) varieties to field infestation by major insect pests of cowpea

The study was conducted to evaluate yield response of five cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) varieties to field infestation and damage by major insect pests of cowpea. Three local varieties of cowpea, namely, Sokoto, Oloyin and Drum, and two International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) varieties, IT 90K-277-2 and IT90K-76, were planted on the Teaching and Research Farm of University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB), Ogun State, Nigeria in September, 2006 and repeated in September, 2007. The experiment was laid out in Randomised Complete Block Design in split plots arrangement. Insecticidal spray constitutes the main plot while variety was the sub-plot. The main plot size was 19.4 m × 19 m and each of the sub-plot was 2.4 m × 3 m. The space between sub-plots was 1 m. Data from the sprayed plots were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the unsprayed ones in the two seasons. Irrespective of season, the unsprayed plot of IT 90K-277-2 has a significantly (P < 0.05) high incidence of Ootheca mutabilis. The local variety, “Drum” has the highest incidence of flower thrip – Megalurothrips sjostedti in the two planting seasons. The highest mean number of peduncles/plant and pods/plant was in “IT 90K-277-2”. In both seasons, “IT90K-76” has a significantly (P < 0.05) lower number of damaged seeds and pods and “Oloyin” a significantly (P < 0.05) higher mean number of total pod sucking bugs. The grain yield was in the order IT90K-76 > Oloyin > IT 90K-277-2 > Sokoto > Drum.     

Reporting on Marginal Lands for Bioenergy Feedstock Production: a Modest Proposal

Growing bioenergy feedstocks can provide a long-term sustainable production system for marginal land resources and is essential for minimizing food vs. fuel competition for prime croplands. However, the term “marginal” is too often used in research reports without being defined. We here suggest that clearly specifying the biophysical factors and agroeconomic context contributing to marginality will greatly enhance the utility and comparability of published research.     

Comparison of oxygen consumption rates in minimally transformed BALB/3T3 and virus-transformed 3T3B-SV40 cells

In the recent years, bioenergetics of tumor cells and particularly cell respiration have been attracting great attention because of the involvement of mitochondria in apoptosis and growing evidence of the possibility to diagnose and treat cancer by affecting the system of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. In the present work, a comparative study of oxygen consumption in 3T3B-SV40 cells transformed with oncovirus SV40 and parental BALB/3T3 cells was conducted. Such fractions of oxygen consumption as “phosphorylating” respiration coupled to ATP synthesis, “free” respiration not coupled to ATP synthesis, and “reserve” or hidden respiration observed in the presence of protonophore were determined. Maximal respiration was shown to be only slightly decreased in 3T3B-SV40 cells as compared to BALB/3T3. However, in the case of certain fractions of cellular respiration, the changes were significant. “Phosphorylating” respiration was found to be reduced to 54% and “reserve” respiration, on the contrary, increased up to 160% in virus-transformed 3T3B-SV40 cells. The low rate of “phosphorylating” respiration and high “reserve” respiration indicate that under normal incubation conditions the larger part of mitochondrial respiratory chains of the virus-transformed cells is in the resting state (i.e. there is no electron transfer to oxygen). The high “reserve” respiration is suggested to play an important role in preventing apoptosis of 3T3B-SV40 cells.     

The green beards of language

Language transfers information on at least three levels; (1) what is said, (2) how it is said (what language is used), and, (3) that it is said (that speaker and listener both possess the ability to use language). The use of language is a form of honest cooperation on two of these levels; not necessarily on what is said, which can be deceitful, but always on how it is said and that it is said. This means that the language encoding and decoding systems had to evolve simultaneously, through mutual fitness benefits. Theoretical problems surrounding the evolution of cooperation disappear if a recognition system is present enabling cooperating individuals to identify each other – if they are equipped with “green beards”. Here, I outline how both the biological and cultural aspects of language are bestowed with such recognition systems. The biological capacities required for language signal their presence through speech and understanding. This signaling cannot be invaded by “false green beards” because the traits and the signal of their presence are one and the same. However, the real usefulness of language comes from its potential to convey an infinite number of meanings through the dynamic handling of symbols – through language itself. But any specific language also signals its presence to others through usage and understanding. Thus, languages themselves cannot be invaded by “false green beards” because, again, the trait and the signal of its presence are one and the same. These twin green beards, in both the biological and cultural realms, are unique to language.     

江西省绿色发展区划

江西省绿色发展区划研究,是江西省主动适应“绿色崛起”、“生态文明先行示范区”和“生态文明试验区”的新形势,实现从以“治山、治江、治湖、治穷”的应急抢救型为主的生态治理模式,转变为“富山、富水、富民、强生态”的减压增效型为主的可持续发展模式的前提和基础.以往的区划研究重生态保护理念、轻绿色发展.本文基于江西省地形、地貌、生态、农业、林业、草业、湿地、经济、旅游等空间数据,建立定性与定量、生态与经济、全面与重点相结合的44项指标体系,评价各研究单元的发展条件与方向,科学划分了4类一级区、17类二级区和51类三级区.首次实现以绿色发展为目标,以县域资源及其发展优势为基础,以各单元绿色发展途径为出口的区划.该区划结果有助于明确各县绿色发展方向,便于指导资源的优化利用与产业的合理布局,并可为推进江西省生态环境保护和可持续发展提供科学依据.     

Two roles for ecological surrogacy: Indicator surrogates and management surrogates

Ecological surrogacy – here defined as using a process or element (e.g., species, ecosystem, or abiotic factor) to represent another aspect of an ecological system – is a widely used concept, but many applications of the surrogate concept have been controversial. We argue that some of this controversy reflects differences among users with different goals, a distinction that can be crystalized by recognizing two basic types of surrogate. First, many ecologists and natural resource managers measure “indicator surrogates” to provide information about ecological systems. Second, and often overlooked, are “management surrogates” (e.g., umbrella species) that are primarily used to facilitate achieving management goals, especially broad goals such as “maintain biodiversity” or “increase ecosystem resilience.” We propose that distinguishing these two overarching roles for surrogacy may facilitate better communication about project goals. This is critical when evaluating the usefulness of different surrogates, especially where a potential surrogate might be useful in one role but not another. Our classification for ecological surrogacy applies to species, ecosystems, ecological processes, abiotic factors, and genetics, and thus can provide coherence across a broad range of uses.     

Conservation planning and Indigenous governance in Australia's Indigenous Protected Areas

Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) recognize that “country” constitutes land and waters that have enduring cultural, social, and economic linkages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that extend over millennia, and which are critical to sustainable Indigenous futures. Within Australia's conservation system, IPAs become part of the National Reserve System (NRS) when Indigenous peoples voluntarily announce their intention to manage “country,” in accordance with their law, custom, and culture, and consistently with national and international conservation guidelines. The NRS requirement is that land is managed “in perpetuity” which highlights a potential tension between with the conservation goals and the voluntary character of IPAs. Ecological restoration in IPAs also raises contested ideas about what is “natural,” the relevant “baseline” for restoration, and what are the objectives to be achieved—ecological or cultural sustainability? Experience from Healthy Country Planning in IPAs indicates that restoration of traditional owner decision‐making, as well as respectful use and valuing community knowledge, is central to the sustainability of outcomes. Ecological restoration is most effectively achieved by restoring governance processes that support Indigenous peoples given the inseparability of cultural, social, economic, and ecological objectives.     

Systems & Synthetic Industrial Biotechnology

Cover illustration This Special Issue on “Systems and Synthetic Approaches to Industrial Biotechnology” compiles the outcomes of the minisymposiumat the 31^st General Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS). Implementation of systems biology and synthetic biology approaches in engineering industrial microbes and processes provides a promising and straight-forward approach to linking basic and application-inspired research. The cover represents the various concepts involved in systems and synthetic biotechnology. Image: © kytalpa – Fotolia.com.     

江西省绿色发展区划

江西省绿色发展区划研究,是江西省主动适应“绿色崛起”、“生态文明先行示范区”和“生态文明试验区”的新形势,实现从以“治山、治江、治湖、治穷”的应急抢救型为主的生态治理模式,转变为“富山、富水、富民、强生态”的减压增效型为主的可持续发展模式的前提和基础.以往的区划研究重生态保护理念、轻绿色发展.本文基于江西省地形、地貌、生态、农业、林业、草业、湿地、经济、旅游等空间数据,建立定性与定量、生态与经济、全面与重点相结合的44项指标体系,评价各研究单元的发展条件与方向,科学划分了4类一级区、17类二级区和51类三级区.首次实现以绿色发展为目标,以县域资源及其发展优势为基础,以各单元绿色发展途径为出口的区划.该区划结果有助于明确各县绿色发展方向,便于指导资源的优化利用与产业的合理布局,并可为推进江西省生态环境保护和可持续发展提供科学依据.