Some individuals have a greater capacity than others to carry out sophisticated information processing about emotions and emotion-relevant stimuli and to use this information as a guide to thinking and behavior. The authors have termed this set of abilities emotional intelligence (EI). Since the introduction of the concept, however, a schism has developed in which some researchers focus on EI as a distinct group of mental abilities, and other researchers instead study an eclectic mix of positive traits such as happiness, self-esteem, and optimism. Clarifying what EI is and is not can help the field by better distinguishing research that is truly pertinent to EI from research that is not. EI--conceptualized as an ability--is an important variable both conceptually and empirically, and it shows incremental validity for predicting socially relevant outcomes.

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Emotional intelligence: new ability or eclectic traits?

Reconstructing the origin and evolution of land plants and their algal relatives is a fundamental problem in plant phylogenetics, and is essential for understanding how critical adaptations arose, including the embryo, vascular tissue, seeds, and flowers. Despite advances in molecular systematics, some hypotheses of relationships remain weakly resolved. Inferring deep phylogenies with bouts of rapid diversification can be problematic; however, genome-scale data should significantly increase the number of informative characters for analyses. Recent phylogenomic reconstructions focused on the major divergences of plants have resulted in promising but inconsistent results. One limitation is sparse taxon sampling, likely resulting from the difficulty and cost of data generation. To address this limitation, transcriptome data for 92 streptophyte taxa were generated and analyzed along with 11 published plant genome sequences. Phylogenetic reconstructions were conducted using up to 852 nuclear genes and 1,701,170 aligned sites. Sixty-nine analyses were performed to test the robustness of phylogenetic inferences to permutations of the data matrix or to phylogenetic method, including supermatrix, supertree, and coalescent-based approaches, maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods, partitioned and unpartitioned analyses, and amino acid versus DNA alignments. Among other results, we find robust support for a sister-group relationship between land plants and one group of streptophyte green algae, the Zygnematophyceae. Strong and robust support for a clade comprising liverworts and mosses is inconsistent with a widely accepted view of early land plant evolution, and suggests that phylogenetic hypotheses used to understand the evolution of fundamental plant traits should be reevaluated.

/pdf/phylotranscriptomic-analysis-of-the-origin-and-early-4cs38v80rr.pdf

Phylotranscriptomic analysis of the origin and early diversification of land plants

Ghiselin, M. T . (Department of Zoology and Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, P. 0.Box 247, Bodega Bay, California 94923). 1975. A radical solution to the species problem. Syst. 2001.23:536-544.-Traditionally, species (like other taxa) have been treated as classes (universals). In fact they may be considered individuals (particular things). The logical term "individual" has been confused with a biological synonym for "organism." If species are individuals, then: 1) their names are proper, 2 ) there cannot be instances of them, 3 ) they do not have defining properties (intensions), 4 ) their constituent organisms are parts, not members. "Species" may be defined as the most extensive units in the natural economy such that reproductive competition occurs among their parts. Species are to evolutionary theory as firms are to economic theory: this analogy resolves many issues, such as the problems of "reality" and the ontological status of nomenclatorial types. [Biological species; systematics; philosophy.] It would appear that the philosophy of taxonomy is about to undergo a major upheaval. Symptomatic is its Gordian knot, the species problem. Some years ago (Ghiselin, 1966a) I attempted to cut it with the sword, casually remarking that, in the logical sense, species are individuals, not classes. So entrenched had the habit become of treating species as universals rather than as particular things, and their names as general rather than proper, that it took some time before this pronouncement was taken seriously. The position in question is hardly new. It goes back at least to Buffon, but I believe this was the first explicit use of it against what has been misleadingly called the nominalistic species concept. Even Ruse ( 1973), a philosopher who cites the foregoing work, passes the notion over in silence. On the other hand Hull (1974) has lately endorsed the idea that, from the point of view of evolutionary theory, biological species and monophyletic taxa are individuals. And Mayr (1969a), while not going so far, strongly emphasizes the point that species are more than just nominal classes. It would appear that the subject deserves further analysis and comment.

/pdf/a-radical-solution-to-the-species-problem-5ab785by65.pdf

A Radical Solution to the Species Problem

Angiosperms have dominated the Earth's vegetation since the mid-Cretaceous (90 million years ago), providing much of our food, fibre, medicine and timber, yet their origin and early evolution have remained enigmatic for over a century. One part of the enigma lies in the difficulty of identifying the earliest angiosperms; the other involves the uncertainty regarding the sister group of angiosperms among extant and fossil gymnosperms. Here we report a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences of five mitochondrial, plastid and nuclear genes (total aligned length 8,733 base pairs), from all basal angiosperm and gymnosperm lineages (105 species, 103 genera and 63 families). Our study demonstrates that Amborella, Nymphaeales and Illiciales-Trimeniaceae-Austrobaileya represent the first stage of angiosperm evolution, with Amborella being sister to all other angiosperms. We also show that Gnetales are related to the conifers and are not sister to the angiosperms, thus refuting the Anthophyte Hypothesis. These results have far-reaching implications for our understanding of diversification, adaptation, genome evolution and development of the angiosperms.

The earliest angiosperms: evidence from mitochondrial, plastid and nuclear genomes

Light signals are fundamental to the growth and development of plants. Red and far-red light are sensed using the phytochrome family of plant photoreceptors. Individual phytochromes display both unique and overlapping roles throughout the life cycle of plants, regulating a range of developmental processes from seed germination to the timing of reproductive development. The evolution of multiple phytochrome photoreceptors has enhanced plant sensitivity to fluctuating light environments, diversifying phytochrome function, and facilitating conditional cross-talk with other signalling systems. The isolation of null mutants, deficient in all individual phytochromes, has greatly advanced understanding of phytochrome functions in the model species, Arabidopsis thaliana. The creation of mutants null for multiple phytochrome combinations has enabled the dissection of redundant interactions between family members, revealing novel regulatory roles for this important photoreceptor family. In this review, current knowledge of phytochrome functions in the light-regulated development of Arabidopsis is summarised.

/pdf/phytochrome-functions-in-arabidopsis-development-2wml6zdmy7.pdf

Phytochrome functions in Arabidopsis development

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: SURPRISE—ASTONISHMENT—FEAR—HORROR

1. The spread of evolution 'Variation of Animals and Plants' 1863-1866 2. The publication of the 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication' January 1867-June 1868 3. Work on 'Man' 1864-1870 4. The publication of the 'Descent of Man', the 'Expression of the Emotions' 1871-1873 5. Miscellanea, including second editions of 'Coral Reefs', the 'Descent of Man' and the 'Variation of Animals and Plants' 1874-1875 6. Miscellaneous letters 1876-1882 7. Fertilisation on flowers 1839-1880 8. The 'Effects of Cross- and Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom' 1866-1877 9. 'Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species' 1860-1878 10. Climbing and insectivorous plants 1863-1875 11. The 'Power of Movement in Plants' 1878-1881 12. Miscellaneous botanical letters 1873-1882 13. Conclusion Appendices.

The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Including an Autobiographical Chapter

Darwin's century

/pdf/more-letters-of-charles-darwin-a-record-of-his-work-in-a-57pm5skuf8.pdf

More letters of Charles Darwin. A record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters, ed. by Francis Darwin ... and A.C. Seward ...

/pdf/the-foundations-of-the-origin-of-species-a-sketch-written-in-djxmi0xvhc.pdf

Francis Darwin

Papers

The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals: SURPRISE—ASTONISHMENT—FEAR—HORROR

The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin: Including an Autobiographical Chapter

Darwin's century

More letters of Charles Darwin. A record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters, ed. by Francis Darwin ... and A.C. Seward ...

The foundations of The origin of species, a sketch written in 1842. Edited by Francis Darwin.