American Members Research Articles

Vector competence of human-biting ticks Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis for Powassan virus

BackgroundPowassan virus (POWV; genus Flavivirus) is the sole North American member of the tick-borne encephalitis sero-complex and an increasing public health threat in the USA. Maintained in nature by Ixodes spp. ticks, POWV has also been isolated from species of other hard tick genera, yet it is unclear if these species can serve as vectors. Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma americanum share geographic and ecologic overlap with Ixodes spp. ticks and POWV transmission foci, raising the possibility that POWV could become established in these tick species and leading to range expansion and increased human risk. Therefore, we assessed the competency of Ixodes scapularis, D. variabilis and A. americanum for POWV lineage II (POWV II).MethodsLarvae from all three species were co-infested on POWV-infected Balb/c mice. The engorged larvae were allowed to molt to nymphs and screened for the presence of POWV II RNA by reverse transcription-qPCR. Eight infected nymphs from each species were allowed to individually feed on a naïve mouse. Mice were screened for the presence of POWV II RNA to determine infection status.ResultsThe results demonstrated that larvae from all three tick species were able to efficiently acquire POWV II via feeding on viremic mice, maintain infection through molting and successively transmit POWV to naïve mice at the nymphal stage at comparable rates across all three species.ConclusionsOur findings reveal that non-Ixodes tick species can serve as competent vectors for POWV and highlight the potential role of these species in the ecology and epidemiology of POWV. Future studies examining the possible implications of these findings on POWV epidemiology and the adaptability of POWV in these new vectors are warranted.Graphical abstract

“The truth is memory has not forgotten us”: Memory, Identity, and Storytelling in Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

This article examines the intersection of memory, identity, and storytelling in the highly acclaimed Vietnamese American novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. The novel challenges the American myths of inclusion and equal opportunity for all by critiquing United States’ historical amnesia and imperialistic historiography. To Vietnamese American members of the 1.5 generations, memory can never be a choice because only through historical remembrance and self-narrativity can they construct their diasporic identity and establish alliance with the previous generations.

Termination, Trauma and Star Wars: The Collapse of the Therapeutic Frame During a National Health Crisis, Political Uprising, and a Racial Injustice Movement

ABSTRACT Clinical examples of four patients highlight the way my work has evolved as a result of the shift in personal and professional frames during the early stages of the coronavirus and after the murder of George Floyd. Psychological regression as consequence of a worldwide pandemic opened my mind to the racism in myself, my work and my culture. While the field of psychoanalysis has been challenged by its African American members for years to examine how the White I have chosen to capitalize White and Black for this paper. While there are varying points of view about this seemingly simple matter, my current position is that claiming my Whiteness racializes me in a way to which I am unaccustomed, although racializing African Americans IS the custom. By capitalizing both, I am giving equal weight to the words that currently signify the White and Black races Eurocentric ethos upholds systemic and structural racism, we have not “taken heed.” This paper aims to revisit the work of African American writers on the subject of racism in our field, and to investigate the psychopathology of racism, as well as address its effects on me as a clinician and my work with White patients. Written from the vantage point of a White therapist working with White patients, I aim to add something new to the literature by discussing the value of working therapeutically with White people on White identity and unconscious racism.

The American Barbecue Showdown (2020)

In the original Netflix competition reality TV series The American Barbecue Showdown, “eight of the country's best backyard smokers and pit masters vie for the title of American Barbecue Champion in a fierce but friendly face off.” A voiceover during the introductory episode proclaims that barbecue in America is “all about history and personal style.” That may be so, but this food competition show is light on the history of the foundations of cooking with smoke and fire. Netflix's entry in the judged cooking competition pantheon does have its enjoyable elements—especially for carnivorous barbecue enthusiasts—and showcases some serious talent, but it ultimately serves up a menu of meat-centric entrees with limited historical and cultural context, thus replicating tired culinary gender tropes and conforming to the majority of reality food television programming. Showdown continues the early twenty-first-century tradition of the “sportification” of cooking seen across streaming and cable platforms with series like Tailgate Warriors, Top Chef, and Chopped. These shows present timed, judged individual and team competitions that infuse a sense of drama and spectacle into mediated cooking culture. Showdown sprinkles in a dash of public barbecue history to this formula, thus making it of potential interest to JSH readers.The series opens with the promise that “eight of the boldest smokers in America are here to throw down the best barbecue of their lives.” The contestants are tasked with challenges such as creating animal-protein-laden combo plates, constructing towering smoked-meat sandwiches, puzzling out how to cook unfamiliar wild game, and devising complementary side dishes for scrutiny by two judges over the course of eight episodes of timed competitions. At the end of each episode, one barbecue chef is crowned “Star Pitmaster,” while the one who served the least appetizing dishes is “smoked out” of the competition.The talent starts with the judges, two award-winning, renowned pit masters: Kevin Bludso and Melissa Cookston. The eight title challengers range from barbecue champions to novice competitors, with the majority hailing from the American South or Midwest. Two largely superfluous hosts round out the cast of characters. Unlike many cooking-themed reality television series, the cast of American Barbecue Showdown is a fairly diverse one, with three women and four Black American members among the contestants. The episodes were all filmed in an event space in rural Georgia that features a cavernous barn outfitted with professional kitchens, full pantries, and a well-stocked meat locker. State-of-the-art grilling and smoking equipment and supplies are set up in the area outside the barn. Showdown hews closely to the formula of successful cooking competition shows like Tailgate Warriors and The Great British Bake-Off; Bludso and Cookston visit contestants to inquire about techniques and cooking choices as the competitors prepare their menus, the cooks reflect on their ingredients and share personal stories in individual interviews, and the judges and hosts offer a running commentary on the action in the lead-up to tasting the final dishes.As in the Food Network's Tailgate Warriors, when the judges speak with contestants, meat is at the center of the discussion. The judges are primarily concerned with what protein the cook is going to showcase for a particular challenge, whether he or she will have enough time to prepare the meat to the judges’ satisfaction, and if the contestant is maintaining hot enough grills and running clean or dirty smoke. Comparatively little consideration is given to vegetarian sides or desserts. In one exchange during episode two, the hosts and judges remark on one challenger's decision to serve a simple garden salad, with Cookston declaring, “Well, let me tell you, it better be the best damn garden salad I've ever had. It better come out of forty-two gardens. . . . I'm worried.” Indeed, the catch phrase the hosts employ to signal that cooking time is up is “Show me the meat!”The “Cooking It Old School” episode begins with an acknowledgment that barbecue has a deep and complicated history, then whitewashes that history into two eras: precolonization and antebellum. The precolonization time period is marked simply by Indigenous cooking methods, while the antebellum era is euphemistically described by Bludso as the time when “our ancestors cooked farm animals over oven pits.” The broader cultural context and the effects of colonization and enslavement on cooking practices during those decades of U.S. history go unremarked upon. Historical awareness in Showdown is perhaps best summed up by Cookston when she declares, “If you're a true barbecuer, you love being in the fire, in the smoke. We have always paid homage to that primal instinct of cooking meat with fire.”

Clinical trials participation is directly influenced by the information received by cancer patients (pts) and caregivers: Real-world evidence with the use of a specialized digital health platform.

e18779 Background: Clinical trials (CT) participation is both crucial for medical advancement and an important treatment option, at times the only one, for oncological pts. However, only an estimate of ̃3% of cancer pts worldwide enrolls into such trials. Different factors have been implicated in underlying this low participation rate, with little current data on patients’ own perspective. In this study, pts & caregivers’ perception, knowledge and experience with CT were assessed via a unique digital health platform. Methods: 290 American and Israeli members of Belong.life cancer application (app) anonymously & voluntarily replied to a 10 questions survey detailing their demographics, diagnosis, and experience with CT as a treatment option. Results: 234 participants were pts (81%) and 56 (19%) caregivers. 73% of participants were US based. 35 participants (12%) were < 50 years of age (yoa), 94 (32%) were 50-59 yoa, 117 (40%) were 60-69 and 44 (15%) were > 70 yoa. There were 79 males and 211 females.The most common diagnosis was breast cancer in 74 (26%), hematologic in 36 (12%), lung in 35 (12%), colorectal in 26 (9%) and ovarian in 26 (9%). Stages were 4 in 117 (40%) and 3 in 52 (18%), early (1&2) in 73 (25%). 134 (46%) have not heard about CT participation as a treatment option. Among 125 participants of the 134 who were not familiar with CT as a treatment option, 115 (92%) stated they would like to learn more about it. Among the 156 participants who were acquainted with this option, 52 (33%) heard about it from medical staff, 41(26%) from multiple online resources, and 39 (25%) only through the Belong.life app. Only 23 participants (8%) previously participated in a CT. The most common reason for not participating was not being offered this treatment option (55, 49%) followed by lack of suitable trials for their condition (26, 23%). The most common reason for considering it was to receive an innovative treatment (60, 44%). Conclusions: Almost half of the pts and caregivers were not aware of CT participation as a valid treatment option. Among them, nearly all have expressed an interest to be better informed. This significant dissonance was also evident among those aware but who were not offered to participate, while expressing a favorable perception regarding participation. While the medical staff is a key source for CT awareness, and whilst patients are exposed to multiple online sources of information, this survey confirmed that 25% of Belong.life members received information about CT availability and participation singly from the app and 8% of them actively participated in a clinical trial. In sum, emphasis should be placed on providing personally tailored CT information to all cancer patients and caregivers. Digital health platforms are an important source for patients CT awareness.

Diversity and Inclusion in an Orthopaedic Surgical Society: A Longitudinal Study.

Diversity and inclusion are critical to providing the best possible health care. Previous studies have shown that diversity among physicians increases cultural competency, which in turn enhances the quality of care provided and increases minoritized patients' participation in decisions regarding their health care. However, physician diversity in both race and sex is lacking in orthopaedic surgery. This study seeks to determine the sex and racial diversity in the membership and leadership of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA). POSNA membership and leadership were reviewed for the years 2010, 2015, and 2020. This data was gathered from membership directories and committee reference books. All North American Active Members' race/ethnicity and sex were recorded for each year. The categories for race/ethnicity are Caucasian, East/South/Middle Eastern Asian American (Asian), Hispanic/Latin/South American (HLSA), and African American. From 2010 to 2020, Active Members of POSNA increased from 608 to 818, and the percentage of female (14.6% to 23.7%), Asian (7.4% to 11.2%), HLSA (2.5% to 2.9%), and African American membership (1.6% to 1.8%) increased. Male (85.4% to 76.3%) and Caucasian (88.5% to 84.0%) membership decreased. From 2010 to 2020, male leadership decreased on both the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs (89.5% to 81.8% and 86.4% to 64.7%, respectively), as did Caucasians (94.7% to 81.8% and 90.9% to 88.2%, respectively). The number of Asian members holding positions on both the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs increased (0% to 18.2% and 4.5% to 11.8%, respectively) as did the number of females (10.5% to 18.2% and 13.6% to 35.3%, respectively). HLSA and African American members were proportionally represented in leadership for the years 2010 and 2015. Membership in POSNA has increased between 2010 to 2020 for every diversity category examined and POSNA membership exhibits significantly more diversity than the orthopaedic specialty as a whole. Leadership as a whole is more diverse in 2020 than it was in 2010. Level II-retrospective.

Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy after Reconstruction, by David Bateman, Ira Katznelson, and John S. Lapinski

Reviewed by: Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy after Reconstruction ed. by David Bateman, Ira Katznelson and John S. Lapinsk Evan C. Rothera (bio) DAVID BATEMAN, IRA KATZNELSON, & JOHN S. LAPINSK (Eds.), Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy after Reconstruction. Russell Sage Foundation and Princeton University Press, 2018. x + 468 pp. ISBN 9780691126494. Southern Nation analyzes the period between 1877 (the end of Reconstruction) and 1933 (the start of the New Deal). The authors examine what White southern [End Page 147] Democrats did after they regained control of their congressional delegations and investigate “when and how the states that had practiced chattel slavery on the eve of the Civil War conducted themselves inside the national polity” (p. 3). Their particular focus is Congress because this branch of the government “became the chief arena within which southern delegations could seek to shape their region’s— and the country’s—character” (p. 4). Southern behavior was never consistent. Members of Congress often behaved in complex, idiosyncratic, and often puzzling ways. However, one important consistency ran through the struggles of the White southern members: an inflexible commitment “to safeguard the ability of their state and local governments to shape and police the region’s racial order after slavery” (p. 6). The goal of the volume is to explore how the US became a “southern nation” in policy, partisan, and institutional terms. Over the course of eight chapters, the authors offer a number of fascinating discussions. As they note, one of the book’s contributions is “demonstrating not only the means used in Congress to protect southern states as they fashioned segregated white hegemony, but the quite profound price this victory entailed” (p. 75). Anyone familiar with the history of Jim Crow already knows one price of this behavior—African Americans locked into second-class citizenship for generations. Importantly, White southern commitment to White supremacy frequently led members of Congress to cut deals that hurt or went against their region’s interests. For example, White southern members of Congress compromised on the tariff in order to avoid the Lodge Bill that would have undermined White supremacy. The White South had to “weigh their desire to restrain the corporate power of the railroads against the cause of white supremacy” (p. 131). In addition, White southerners repeatedly “set aside central economic priorities in order to preserve southern autonomy in matters of race and maintain a national coalition that would sustain home rule” (p. 155). Thus, White southern members of Congress “failed to reconfigure or substantially modify an economic order that reinforced a dependent, even colonized region” (p. 103). However, as the authors discuss, the failure to modify the economic order contrasts sharply with White southern successes in the arenas of race and home rule, driven by an iron commitment to White supremacy. The White South, therefore, could win victories and achieve successes, but the victories and successes came at a high price. Still, despite the high price of their victories, White southern Democrats made Congress into “an institution that would facilitate the considerable range and variety of their preferences to be represented without imperiling their ability to act as a cohesive and determined bloc to defend white supremacy” (p. 221). Woodrow Wilson’s presidency demonstrated that the White South shaped [End Page 148] progressive reforms while, at the same time, embedding White supremacy inside a transformed US state. The authors also explore how African American members of Congress from the southern states reacted to these White southern strategies. Black members of Congress protested vociferously and fought back. For example, in 1884, when Congress considered a commerce bill brought forward by John H. Reagan of Texas, James O’Hara, an African American representative from North Carolina, introduced an amendment that prohibited railroad companies from separating passengers by race. Reagan “had to concede that Congress had the power to prohibit discrimination or the segregation of passengers” (p. 128). Most other White southern Democrats refused to make this concession. Charles Crisp of Georgia, a future speaker of the House, proposed an amendment protecting railroad companies offering separate accommodations. O’Hara’s amendment was not a cynical effort to kill the bill, as some scholars have argued, but rather, “a...

At the Intersection of Institutional Identity and Type

Positive public perceptions of academic quality and professional ethics are critical to the long-term legitimacy of American colleges and universities. Faculty codes of conduct are one mechanism whereby the professoriate can define acceptable practice, exercise social control, and maintain public confidence in higher education, yet the drivers of their adoption are not well understood. Building upon previous research into such organizational behavior by institutional type, this study examined the prevalence and content of publicly posted faculty codes of conduct within an organizational field of institutions that share a common religious identity but differ in their institutional types and employment structures. Faculty handbooks from American member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), an international association of faith-based institutions, were gathered and analyzed. Although only 27% of CCCU member institutions in the U.S. (36/135) publicly posted faculty codes of conduct, the average number of tenets present in each code (n = 7.5) was higher than suggested by previous research. Study findings also revealed that membership category, institutional type, and employment structures influence the content of faculty codes of conduct, indicating that isomorphic pressures operate within this particular organizational field. The piece concludes by commending publicly posted codes of conduct as an affirmation of the personal responsibility, fairness, and care exercised by ethical professionals in the academy.

“These People Never Give Up”: American Debates on the Return of the People’s Republic of China to the Olympic Movement

Abstract On January 1, 1979, the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exchanged diplomatic recognition. This action coincided with the withdrawal of American support for the Taiwan-based Republic of China (ROC) and provided the PRC ammunition in its attempts to rejoin the Olympic Movement. In opposition to his government’s policy, Julian K. Roosevelt, an American member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), pushed for a different outcome. He called upon the IOC to maintain the status quo and allow the Republic of China Olympic Committee (ROCOC) to continue using its name, flag, and anthem. Only ten months after the United States recognized the PRC, however, the IOC published the Nagoya Resolution, which forced the ROCOC to change its name and compete as Chinese Taipei. Roosevelt’s hopes were dashed. This incident, barely acknowledged in academic scholarship, highlights the symbiotic relationship between sport and politics and provides an interesting and useful case study in how an IOC member directly contradicted their government’s foreign policy.

Home Snack Environments in the United States: Latent Class Analysis Findings From a Home Food Environment Survey.

Snacking occasions have increased in frequency and energy density in recent decades, with considerable implications for diet. Studies have linked presence of foods in the home with intake of those foods. This study examines home snack food inventories among a large sample of U.S. adults using latent class analysis findings to present latent classes of home snack food inventories and multinomial regression to model classes as correlates of percent of calories from fat. Participants (n = 4,896) completed an online household food environment survey including presence of 23 snack foods in the home and demographics. Less healthy snack foods were more commonly reported than healthier snack foods (M = 4.3 vs. M = 3.5). Among White and Latinx participants, high-income households reported greater numbers of both healthier and less healthy snack foods than lower income households, with larger income-based differences in inventory sizes for healthier snack foods. Latent class analysis revealed three classes by inventory size (Small, Medium, and Large) and three classes by inventory content (Healthy Snacks, Standard American, and Limited Standard American). Compared with the Small Inventory class, the Healthy Snacks class had lower caloric intake from fat (p = .002), the Large and Medium Inventory classes had much higher caloric intake from fat (p < .0001), and Standard American and Limited Standard American class members had somewhat higher caloric intake from fat (p < .0001, and p = .0001, respectively). Future research should explore the role of snacks in Americans' diets, their impact on diet quality and health, and how interventions can support healthy home food and snack food environments to foster healthy eating.

Principles to Advance Energy Justice for Native Americans

On many Native American reservations, lack of energy access reduces economic, health, and educational opportunities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in 2000 that 14% of households on Native American reservations had no access to electricity, compared to 1.4% nationally. Neither the EIA, nor the U.S. Census Bureau have published reliable updates on the status of the Native American Reservation electricity gap. While several projects led by Native American tribes have narrowed the Native American reservation electricity gap, thousands of households and institutions serving tribal members in the United States remain without electric grid access in 2020. The electric grid’s absence fuels lack of access to infrastructure interconnected with electricity including water, water treatment, telephone, and Internet facilities and services. Enabling electricity access will improve fire safety, water and wastewater access and treatment, telecommunications access, health, educational, economic, and civic opportunity. This article proposes six principles to advance energy justice for Native Americans: Principle 1: Respect Tribal Sovereignty; Principle 2: Energy Access is Foundational to Energy Justice; Principle 3: Foster Tribal Energy Ownership and Clean Energy Opportunities; Principle 4: Support Native American Energy Contracting, Employment, and Entrepreneurial Opportunities; Principle 5: Promote Access to Energy Efficiency and Energy Affordability Programs; Principle 6: Assess and Address the Impact of Climate Change on Native American Reservations, Tribal Lands, and Native American Tribal Members. This article concludes that fostering energy justice for Native Americans will improve prospects for all Americans, advance our economy, protect the environment, and promote equity.

A systematic study of North American Angelica species (Apiaceae) based on nrDNA ITS and cpDNA sequences and fruit morphology

Abstract Angelica is a taxonomically complex genus widespread throughout the North Temperate Zone. Previous phylogenetic studies of the genus have focused primarily on its East Asian species. The relationships among its North American members, the monophyly of these species, and the value of fruit morphology in circumscribing its taxa have yet to be examined. This study represents the most comprehensive sampling of Angelica to date (100 species) and includes all 26 species in North America. Relationships are inferred using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, and maximum parsimony analyses of ITS sequences and, for multiple accessions of each North American species, cpDNA ndhF‐rpl32, rpl32‐trnL, and psbM‐psbD sequences. The fruit morphological characters examined were those considered phylogenetically important in East Asian Angelica. The results revealed that the North American species fell into three major clades: North American Angelica clade, Archangelica clade, and the Eurasian Angelica clade. Angelica dawsonii has affinities with Lomatium brandegeei. Fourteen species within the North American Angelica clade were strongly supported as monophyletic. Two paraphyletic species resulted in new combinations in A. lineariloba and A. venenosa. Conflict between the ITS‐derived and cpDNA‐derived phylogenies and the lack of resolution in portions of the trees may be due to chloroplast capture and rapid species radiation. Fruit morphology supported some interspecific relationships based on molecular data, and relationships revealed by ITS and cpDNA data were roughly in accordance with fruit classification type and geographic distribution region, respectively. A diagnostic key based on fruit morphology is provided for the identification of the North American Angelica taxa.

Historical Theoretical Perspectives to Consider in the Application of Community-Based Interventions for African Americans and Communities of Color.

Using theory as a framework for community-based interventions in African American members provides the principles and guidance needed to generate nursing knowledge. However, choosing an appropriate theoretical framework to guide community-based interventions can be challenging. The aim of this manuscript is to examine the use of three historical models or theories (the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory), which are still being used today, to better understand their applications in community-based interventions.

Liberty call at sunset: U.S. military retiree bars and the outsourced reproduction of ageing masculinities in Subic Bay, Philippines

This article examines the gendered service economy of bars and restaurants catering to ageing US military retirees in Olongapo City, Philippines. During the Cold War, Olongapo housed Subic Bay Naval Base, one of the largest overseas US military installations, and today thousands of former American service members have retired here. A focus on retiree bars reveals how Filipina bartenders and waitresses facilitate an ageing masculinity for these expatriates wherein men’s internalized senses of social, economic, and sexual marginality in the US are seemingly suspended or deferred in the Philippines. Geopolitical histories of US militarism in Asia-Pacific, unequal military basing agreements, and Subic’s so-called hospitality industry endure decades later to naturalize the hierarchies of accommodation between local hostesses and foreign customers. Drawing on – and further developing – geographic scholarship on ageing and masculinities and focusing on the so-called hospitality industry’s shift over time reveals the expectations placed on service workers to accommodate men’s changing needs and desires. Years after Subic’s closure, interviews with bartenders and customers illuminate how decades of entanglement with US militarism have outsourced some of the reproductive labor that sustains this population of ageing retirees in Subic. More than mere bodies sustaining and serving the outsourced needs of ageing service members, however, through bar work Filipina hostesses experience changes to their own geographies of belonging and leverage opportunities to realize their own dreams and desires. The relations in Subic’s retiree bars attest to US militarism’s intimate afterlives and its enduring dependence on the gendered and racialized labor of local populations.

Evaluating Social Media Use Among Active American Members of the Cervical Spine Research Society.

Observational study. The objectives of this study are (1) to quantify social media use among active American Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS) members; (2) to determine if there is an association between practice setting, region, or years of active membership and social media use. Many patients now seek health and physician information online, including on social media. Indeed, social media use by orthopedic surgeons has been shown to be associated with more and improved ratings on physician review websites. Further, social media can provide a means for improved doctor-patient relationships, educational endeavors, and professional networking. However, there is a paucity of literature examining social media use among spine surgeons. In January 2019, the CSRS membership directory was used to identify all active American spine surgeon members. Through a Google search, social media use of each spine surgeon on the following platforms was identified: provider page/official website; Facebook; Twitter; Instagram; LinkedIn; and YouTube. In addition, surgeon characteristics were recorded. The percentage of spine surgeons using each social media platform was reported. Bivariate analysis was used to compare social media use by practice setting, region, and years of active CSRS membership. Nearly all spine surgeons have a provider page/official website (98%) and over half (56%) have a LinkedIn presence. Less than one third of spine surgeons are on any of the remaining social media platforms analyzed. The least frequently used social media platform was Instagram (3.2%). There was no difference in any social media platform use by practice setting, region, and years of active CSRS membership. As social media becomes even more common place and the role of it in medical care continues to be better defined, there is notable room for increased social media use among active American members of the CSRS. Level IV-observational study.

New Medievalism: Byzantine Motifs in Contemporary Serbian Poetry

New Medievalism: Byzantine Motifs in Contemporary Serbian Poetry Milan Gromović, Guest Editor Click for larger view View full resolution The papers in this special issue of Serbian Studies were first delivered at a Roundtable, organized at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, in May 2020. The participants are all young scholars from Serbia and Republika Srpska. The young scholars are here presenting their research to a wider international readership in the hope that this will help showcase Serbian scholarship and Serbian culture in the Anglophone world. The papers were all translated with the financial support of NASSS and edited by the Serbian Studies editorial team. The topic of Byzantium has gained prominence in Serbian letters, outside the confines of pure historical research: it has entered the cultural sphere where it is seen as a general context for Serbian medieval culture, whose echoes in contemporary Serbian poetry and other creative outputs are being traced in this special issue. I wish to thank the Editorial Board of Serbian Studies for giving me and my team of colleagues the opportunity to share our work with American members of NASSS and the international readership of the journal. [End Page i] Milan Gromović, Guest Editor University of Novi Sad Copyright © 2021 Serbian Studies

The longirostrine crocodyliforms from Bolivia and their evolution through the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary

AbstractNumerous aquatic crocodyliforms have been found during the last four decades of fieldwork in the Maastrichtian El Molino and Palaeocene Santa Lucía Formations in Bolivia. We describe new material in detail and review previously described specimens. This work enables identification of at least three new Palaeocene dyrosaurid species and the reassignement of the Maastrichtian crocodylian Dolichochampsa minima to Gavialoidea. Dolichochampsa minima is thus the oldest known South American member of this clade; previously, gavialoids were known from this continent only since the late Eocene. A new phylogenetic analysis suggests that Vectisuchus leptognathus and Elosuchus are more closely related to Dyrosauridae, and a new name, Dyrosauroidea, is proposed for this clade. Several characters previously considered as typical for dyrosaurids are present in Elosuchus. Comparison of this phylogenetic analysis with geographical and temporal distributions helps to reveal a new scenario for dyrosaurid dispersal. A high number of intercontinental interchanges occurred during the Maastrichtian, whereas higher intracontinental diversification occurred during the lower Palaeocene.

Biatora akompsa is revealed as a disjunct North American species of Pentagenella (Opegraphaceae) through molecular phylogenetic analysis and phenotype-based binning

Historical and recent material of Bacidia akompsa (basionym: Biatora akompsa) was studied to determine the taxonomic position of this crustose lichen, prompted by the appearance of the provisional name “Lecanactis akompsa (Tuck.) ined.” in multiple online lichen databases and checklists. Initial morphological assessment of verified material confirmed B. akompsa as a member of Arthoniales but distinct from Lecanactis by having epruinose ascomata with a thin exciple open below the hymenium; a pale, K/I+ violet to deep blue hypothecium; and ascospores with a gelatinous sheath. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of specimens recently collected near the type locality revealed B. akompsa to be nested within the genus Pentagenella in Opegraphaceae. The same placement was found using phenotype-based phylogenetic binning with 37 morphological, anatomical and chemical characters. The new combination Pentagenella akompsa is proposed and the species represents the first North American member of this genus, otherwise known only from Chile and Peru. Therefore, our results reveal the genus Pentagenella to have a remarkably disjunct distribution between North and South America. Several specimens previously labeled as Bacidia, Biatora, or Lecanactis akompsa were found to be misidentifications, narrowing the range of P. akompsa to coastal California, where it is found on two coastal conifer species that are (like P. akompsa itself) narrowly endemic and of conservation concern.

Collaborative Remembering in Ethnically Uniform and Diverse Group Settings

In collaborative memory research, effects of ethnic diversity have not been reported despite the prevalence of ethnically diverse versus uniform groups in everyday collaborations. We compared these groups to examine three key phenomena: the counterintuitive effect known as collaborative inhibition, the more intuitive downstream memory benefits of collaborative recall, and emergence of collective memory. We also examined source memory of former collaborators. Collaborative inhibition and collective memory were comparable between ethnically Diverse triads (one Asian, Black/African American, White each) and Uniform triads (three White members). At the same time, in diverse groups Black/African American members contributed less during collaboration and did not show post-collaborative recall benefits. Ethnicity differences did not emerge within nominal diverse groups, demonstrating for the first time the negative impact of stereotype threat in collaborative remembering. Uniform groups exhibited better source memory, suggesting homophily. Our findings have applied relevance for groups in academic and workplace settings.

Genomic and transcriptomic insights into Raffaelea lauricola pathogenesis

BackgroundLaurel wilt caused by Raffaelea lauricola is a lethal vascular disease of North American members of the Lauraceae plant family. This fungus and its primary ambrosia beetle vector Xyleborus glabratus originated from Asia; however, there is no report of laurel wilt causing widespread mortality on native Lauraceae trees in Asia. To gain insight into why R. lauricola is a tree-killing plant pathogen in North America, we generated and compared high quality draft genome assemblies of R. lauricola and its closely related non-pathogenic species R. aguacate.ResultsRelative to R. aguacate, the R. lauricola genome uniquely encodes several small-secreted proteins that are associated with virulence in other pathogens and is enriched in secondary metabolite biosynthetic clusters, particularly polyketide synthase (PKS), non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and PKS-NRPS anchored gene clusters. The two species also exhibit significant differences in secreted proteins including CAZymes that are associated with polysaccharide binding including the chitin binding CBM50 (LysM) domain. Transcriptomic comparisons of inoculated redbay trees and in vitro-grown fungal cultures further revealed a number of secreted protein genes, secondary metabolite clusters and alternative sulfur uptake and assimilation pathways that are coordinately up-regulated during infection.ConclusionsThrough these comparative analyses we have identified potential adaptations of R. lauricola that may enable it to colonize and cause disease on susceptible hosts. How these adaptations have interacted with co-evolved hosts in Asia, where little to no disease occurs, and non-co-evolved hosts in North America, where lethal wilt occurs, requires additional functional analysis of genes and pathways.