The classical system-organizational insights into what made Periclean Athens great

Periclean Athens represents one of the most remarkable social systems in the world's history in terms of innovative output in almost all fields of thought and endeavour. This paper presents a discussion on some of the findings of a research project analyzing the Athenian sociopolitical organization from a systems perspective. The Viable Systems Model was used by the authors as a framework for examining the reorganization of Athens' sociopolitical structure by Cleisthenes in 508/7 BC; this structure was to provide the basis for Classical Athenian democracy. The analysis provides fresh insight for those with an interest in organization theory or classical history.     

Academic interest conflicts: laxity of Californian practice

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has ordered an investigation of the University of California's enforcement of its rules on disclosure of corporate support of faculty research. A Commission review of disclosure statements filed by faculty members revealed that 53 professors had a financial interest in the companies sponsoring their research, but that in no case did university review panels disapprove the grants or impose restrictions. Several examples of reports of significant financial interests are cited.     

Data falsification: NIH decrees ten-year ban on research grants

An NIH-appointed investigatory panel has found a pattern of data fabrication in John Darsee's biomedical research at Harvard Medical School's Cardiac Research Laboratory and has recommended that Darsee be denied federal research funds for the next ten years. Holding Harvard indirectly responsible for lax supervision, NIH is seeking repayment of federal funds used for Darsee's work and government inspection of the laboratory's new supervisory procedures. Recent evidence from Emory University, Darsee's previous employer, has cast suspicion on his work there, as well.     

US bioethics: panel dies a natural death

The demise of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research is noted, and the major reports issued by the President's Commission are summarized.     

US drug regulation: Congress finds FDA wanting

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) internal documents released this month by a House subcommittee allege that Eli Lilly and Company, which recently suspended sales of the anti-arthritis drug benoxaprofen, has repeatedly failed to report adverse effects of drugs it was testing or marketing. Charges against the company include incomplete and delayed reporting of data, improper record maintenance, and failure to follow clinical protocols. The FDA memoranda mention the possibility of prosecution. An Eli Lilly statement at the subcommittee hearings denied the allegations.     

Broad phylogenomic sampling improves resolution of the animal tree of life

Long-held ideas regarding the evolutionary relationships among animals have recently been upended by sometimes controversial hypotheses based largely on insights from molecular data. These new hypotheses include a clade of moulting animals (Ecdysozoa) and the close relationship of the lophophorates to molluscs and annelids (Lophotrochozoa). Many relationships remain disputed, including those that are required to polarize key features of character evolution, and support for deep nodes is often low. Phylogenomic approaches, which use data from many genes, have shown promise for resolving deep animal relationships, but are hindered by a lack of data from many important groups. Here we report a total of 39.9 Mb of expressed sequence tags from 29 animals belonging to 21 phyla, including 11 phyla previously lacking genomic or expressed-sequence-tag data. Analysed in combination with existing sequences, our data reinforce several previously identified clades that split deeply in the animal tree (including Protostomia, Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa), unambiguously resolve multiple long-standing issues for which there was strong conflicting support in earlier studies with less data (such as velvet worms rather than tardigrades as the sister group of arthropods), and provide molecular support for the monophyly of molluscs, a group long recognized by morphologists. In addition, we find strong support for several new hypotheses. These include a clade that unites annelids (including sipunculans and echiurans) with nemerteans, phoronids and brachiopods, molluscs as sister to that assemblage, and the placement of ctenophores as the earliest diverging extant multicellular animals. A single origin of spiral cleavage (with subsequent losses) is inferred from well-supported nodes. Many relationships between a stable subset of taxa find strong support, and a diminishing number of lineages remain recalcitrant to placement on the tree.