Sumter County Research Articles

First report of Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum theobromicola on Cyclamen persicum in South Carolina, USA.

Florist's cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) is an herbaceous perennial native to the Mediterranean region and has become an increasingly popular plant around the world. Leaves of these plants are cordate-shaped with varying green and silver patterns. Flowers vary in color from white through different shades of pink, lavender, and red. In September 2022, symptoms of anthracnose including leaf spots and chlorosis, wilting, dieback, and crown and bulb rot were observed on 20 to 30% of approximately 1,000 cyclamen plants in an ornamental production nursery in Sumter County, SC. Tissue samples surrounding the necrotic crowns were excised and sterilized in 10% bleach for 1 min, rinsed in sterile water, placed onto acidified potato dextrose agar (APDA), and incubated at 25°C with 24-h photoperiod. A total of five Colletotrichum isolates, 22-0729-A, 22-0729-B, 22-0729-C, 22-0729-D, and 22-0729-E were obtained by transferring hyphal tips to new plates. The morphology of these five isolates was identical, observed as gray and black with aerial gray-white mycelia and orange-colored spore masses. Conidia (n=50) measured 19.4 ± 5.1 mm (11.7 to 27.1 mm) in length and 5.1 ± 0.8 mm (3.7 to 7.9 mm) in width. Conidia were tapered with rounded ends. Setae and irregular appressoria were infrequently observed in aged cultures (> 60-day-old). These morphological features resembled those of members of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex (Rojas et al. 2010; Weir et al. 2012). Sequence of the internal transcript spacer (ITS) region of a representative isolate 22-0729-E (GenBank accession No. OQ413075) is 99.8% (532 / 533 nt) and 100% (533 / 533 nt) identical to those of the ex-neotype of Co. theobromicola CBS124945 (JX010294) and the ex-epitype of Co. fragariae (= Co. theobromicola) CBS 142.31 (JX010286), respectively. Its glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene sequence is 99.6% (272 / 273 nt) identical to those of CBS124945 (JX010006) and CBS 142.31 (JX010024). Its actin (ACT) gene sequence shares 99.7% (281 / 282 nt) and 100% (282 / 282 nt) identities with those of CBS124945 (JX009444) and CBS 142.31 (JX009516), respectively. Lastly, its beta-tubulin 2 (TUB2) gene sequence is 99.6% (704 / 707 nt) and 100% (707 / 707 nt) identical to those of CBS124945 (JX010447) and CBS 142.31 (JX010373), respectively. The causal agent causing anthracnose on cyclamen in SC was identified as Co. theobromicola. To confirm the pathogenicity, cyclamen 'Verano Red' plants grown in 2.5-inch pots were used in two pathogenicity assays using different inoculation methods. In the first assay, three plants were inoculated by spraying a conidial suspension (1 × 106 conidia per ml; 30 ml per plant) of isolate 22-0729-E onto the foliage. Three non-inoculated control plants were sprayed with distilled water. All six plants were placed in a plastic tray with wet paper towels. The tray was placed at 22°C for an 8-h photoperiod and covered for 7 days to maintain humidity. Early symptoms including small spots, marginal necrosis, and chlorosis were observed on leaves and flowers 8 days after inoculation (DAI) and the entire aboveground tissues of inoculated plants were blighted 13 to 21 DAI. Non-inoculated plants remained asymptomatic. In the second assay, sterile toothpicks were used to slightly wound the crown and bulb surface of three plants and secure a mycelial APDA plug of isolate 22-0729-E (5×5 mm2) onto each wound (three wounds per plant). Three control plants were wounded in the same manner, while sterile APDA plugs were used in place of mycelial plugs. All six plants were maintained in the same manner as in the first assay. Apparent leaf yellowing and wilting symptoms appeared as early as 13 DAI. On 21 to 28 DAI, severe crown rot on inoculated plants caused the entire foliage to collapse. At least one third of the inner crown and bulb tissues of each inoculated plant were rotten, while those of non-inoculated plants appeared healthy. Each assay was repeated once. Colletotrichum isolates resembling morphological characters of 22-0729-E were recovered from leaves and inner crown tissues of all inoculated plants in both assays, respectively, but not from non-inoculated control plants. Anthracnose diseases on Cyclamen persicum caused by Co. theobromicola (syn. Co. fragariae) have been reported in NC, USA (Lui et al. 2011) and Israel (Sharma et al. 2016). This is the first report of anthracnose on cyclamen in SC, USA. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (teleomorph Glomerella cingulate) species complex on cyclamen has also been reported in Argentina (Wright et al. 2006), South Africa, and several other U.S. states (Farr and Rossman 2022). However, it remains unknown whether these previous reports in fact attributed to Co. theobromicola due to lack of molecular identification (Weir et al. 2012). Colletotrichum theobromicola can cause diseases on at least 30 other agricultural and horticultural crops such as strawberry, cacao, and boxwood (Farr and Rossman 2022). It may pose a threat to cyclamen in greenhouse and nursery productions. Therefore, management strategies are warranted in the future.

Alabama's Crayfish Species Count Reaches Century Mark: Confirmation of Procambarus barbiger Occurring in Alabama

Beginning in 2005, several projects were conducted to update our knowledge of the understudied crayfish fauna in Alabama. Numerous new crayfish records were secured that narrowed collection coverage gaps statewide and boosted records from under-sampled habitat types. The culmination of this work eventually led to publication of the comprehensive book Crayfishes of Alabama. Most of the material secured was identifiable and included numerous new state, drainage, and physiographic records. However, without Form I males, some material could not be verified to species. Specimens of 2 females that resembled Procambarus barbiger (Jackson Prairie Crayfish) were collected during those efforts, 1 each from 2 locations in Sumter County, AL, near the Mississippi state line. That species was unknown in the state at the time and was included in the book as a species that hypothetically could occur in the state. Post-publication, we collected a Form I male incidental to insect trapping at a third Sumter County location that verified the identification, bringing the state total to 100 known species.

Mary McLeod Bethune: Village of God by Yahya Jongintaba

Reviewed by: Mary McLeod Bethune: Village of God by Yahya Jongintaba Ida E. Jones Mary McLeod Bethune: Village of God. By Yahya Jongintaba. ( Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. xxii, 327. $60.00, ISBN 978-1-62190-621-6.) The life, legacy, vision, and reach of Mary McLeod Bethune indelibly marked the twentieth century. Known as Mrs. Bethune, Dr. Bethune, Mother Bethune, or Sister Bethune, she lived a selfless life shaped by the cultural, emotional, and spiritual deposits made by her grandmother, mother, and father. She was born with a birth caul, which in folklore was purported to mean that she would see possibilities and potentialities beyond the average person. Her parents cultivated her innate talent and encouraged her quest for education. Clearly, these prophecies manifested over her nearly eighty years of life. During her retirement years, she sought to pen an autobiography. In her essay "How God Has Helped Me," she wrote, "I am conscious of the increasing power of God all through the years. He is today a sustaining power, comforting and controlling the way I take" ("How God Has Helped Me," in Chiazam Ugo Okoye, ed., Mary McLeod Bethune: Words of Wisdom [Bloomington, Ind., 2008], p. 63). In this essay, she recounted her life from the little village school in South Carolina to the campus of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida. This essay is the foundational document Yahya Jongintaba uses to situate Mary McLeod Bethune: Village of God. Jongintaba employs the idea of a village as a scene, story, place, being, language, idiom, and mission through which the life of Bethune is infused with divinely ordered steps. This biography of Bethune deviates from the chronological structure, preferring a religious structure in five parts: Freedom, Creativity, Integrity, Discipline, and Love. Jongintaba posits, "Who knows but that the foregoing five virtues are the framework by which God enables Mary to read into deeper and deeper layers of books over the course of her years" (p. 25). Chapters 1 and 2 provide an exegesis of Rackham Holt's Mary McLeod Bethune: A Biography (Garden City, N.Y., 1964) filtered through ideals of Christian freedom and creativity. Here Jongintaba shares that Bethune's initial desire was to become a missionary sent to Africa. Her longing for Africa was fulfilled in 1952 when she traveled to Liberia at the age of seventy-six. Africa, nature, and closeness to God were interconnected and contributed to her sense of purpose and her worldview. "Africa is a blessed place to Mary but so is the nature and history of the land with its African retentions into which she was born in rural Sumter County, South Carolina," Jongintaba writes (p. 47). Chapter 3 examines integrity: Jongintaba writes, "Woman is the custodian of the future. If she fails in the home, she fails forever … because the home is the link between the womb and the further forms of [the] village" (p. 136). Chapters 4 and 5 feature the demonstrative elements of Bethune's spiritual ideals, discipline, and love. These traits were infused throughout her institutional and organizational affiliations as essential building blocks for faith-led women. In closing, Jongintaba provides an exhaustive presentation of Bethune's writings, which allow Bethune to speak directly to the reader. The use of her diaries, lectures, and speeches demonstrates the divine intervention in her life. However, the spiritual filter used is esoteric at times, making the larger work [End Page 186] hard to follow. Other distractions were the use of Mary in lieu of Bethune and citing her birthday as May 10, not July 10, throughout the book until page 266. Lastly, the foundational essay, "How God Has Helped Me," should have been included for reference. The best audiences for this book are Bethune scholars, womanist theologians, historians, and sociologists. Ida E. Jones Morgan State University Copyright © 2022 The Southern Historical Association

Design and Rationale for the Deep South Interactive Voice Response System-Supported Active Lifestyle Study: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundThe rates of physical inactivity and related cancer incidence and mortality are disproportionately high in the Deep South region in the United States, a rural, medically underserved region with a large African American population compared with the rest of the nation. Given this region’s lower rates of literacy and internet access, interactive voice response (IVR) system–automated telephone-based interventions have the potential to help overcome physical activity intervention barriers (literacy, internet access, costs, and transportation) but have yet to be extended to rural, underserved populations, such as in the Deep South. Thus, extensive formative research is being conducted to develop and beta test the Deep South IVR System–Supported Active Lifestyle intervention in preparation for dissemination in rural Alabama counties.ObjectiveThis paper aims to describe the design and rationale of an ongoing efficacy trial of the Deep South IVR System–Supported Active Lifestyle intervention.MethodsA two-arm randomized controlled trial will be conducted to compare a 12-month physical activity intervention versus a wait-list control condition in 240 underactive adults from 6 rural Alabama counties. The Deep South IVR System–Supported Active Lifestyle intervention is based on the Social Cognitive Theory and includes IVR-automated physical activity–related phone counseling (daily in months 0-3, twice weekly in months 4-6, and weekly in months 7-12) and support from local rural county coordinators with the University of Alabama O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Outreach and Engagement Office. The primary outcome is weekly minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (7-day physical activity recall; accelerometry) at baseline, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months. Rural Active Living Assessments will be conducted in each rural county to assess walkability, assess recreational amenities, and inform future environment and policy efforts.ResultsThis study was funded in March 2019 and approved by the institutional review board of the University of Alabama at Birmingham in April 2019. As of February 2020, start-up activities (hiring and training staff and purchasing supplies) were completed. Study recruitment and assessments began in September 2020 and are ongoing. As of February 2021, a total of 43 participants have been enrolled in Dallas County, 42 in Sumter County, and 51 in Greene County.ConclusionsIVR-supported phone counseling has great potential for addressing physical activity barriers (eg, culture, literacy, cost, or transportation) and reducing related rural health disparities in this region.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03903874; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03903874.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/29245

Chilli Thrips on Blueberries in Florida


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chilli thrips, (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood; Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is an economically important pest of vegetable, fruit, and ornamental crops throughout Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Caribbean, and some parts of South America and is an invasive pest in several US states. Chilli thrips were first observed in Florida in 1991. It was first recorded in blueberries in Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties in July of 2008. This 4-page fact sheet written by Oscar E. Liburd, Babu R. Panthi, and Douglas A. Phillips and published by the UF/IFAS Entomology and Nematology Department discusses the life cycle of the chilli thrips, plant damage it causes, and management recommendations for chilli thrips in blueberries in Florida.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1298
 
 
 
 
 
 

First Report of Fusarium poae Causing Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat in Georgia, USA.

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most troublesome fungal diseases challenging US wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production (Savary et al. 2019). Harmful mycotoxin contamination, primarily due to deoxynivalenol (DON) in the Fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK), can negatively impact human and livestock health (McMullen et al. 1997). Although Fusarium graminearum is the primary causal agent of FHB, several other species including F. poae could pose a risk by producing dangerous mycotoxins such as nivalenol, DON, HT-2, and T-2 (Stenglein 2009). Severe FHB epidemics on wheat have occurred in recent years along with increased corn acreage across the southeast US specifically in Georgia (Ghimire et al. 2020). Five symptomatic wheat heads displaying bleaching symptoms were randomly collected from 19 different fields across 13 counties of Georgia in late spring of 2018. Infected kernels were dipped in 6% sodium hypochlorite for 10 min and rinsed three times with sterilized water. Blot dried kernels were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated for 7 days at 25°C under 12-h photoperiod. Three isolates (GA18W-2.1.6, GA18W-6.1.4, and GA18W-10.2.3) from Terrell, Peach, and Sumter counties exhibited dense, whitish mycelium colony typical of F. poae (Leslie and Summerell 2006). When grown in carboxymethylcellulose broth, isolates produced globose to piriform microconidia (5.1 to 12.4 µm by 4.4 to 11.2 µm) that were aseptate or had a single septation. The morphological identification was further confirmed by DNA sequencing. Single hyphal tip isolates were grown on cellophane overlain on PDA for 10 days. Fungal DNA was extracted using a Qiagen DNeasy Plant Mini Kit. Genomic DNA was sequenced using TEF1 and TEF2 primer pairs that target the translation elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α) locus (O'Donnell et al. 1998). BLASTn query of the obtained sequences of GA18W-2.1.6 (accession no. MT856907) and GA18W-10.2.3 (accession no. MT856909) were identified as F. poae with a 99% sequence homology with GenBank reference accession MK629641, while GA18W-6.1.4 (accession no. MT856908) displayed 100% similarity with F. poae accession KJ947343. Koch's postulates were performed under greenhouse conditions. Three seeds of the FHB susceptible wheat cultivar 'SS8641' were planted in individual cone-tainers with three replications (two cone-tainers/replicate). Wheat plants were vernalized for six weeks and then moved back to the greenhouse. Each F. poae isolate was spray inoculated (50,000 spores/ml) at the flowering stage onto 18-24 wheat heads. A field isolate of F. graminearum was included as a positive control whereas heads mock-inoculated with water were used as a negative control. Inoculated wheat heads were incubated in black plastic bags for 48 hours. Disease severity and FDK were recorded three weeks post inoculation. Disease severities were 6.7% (GA18W-2.1.6), 8.3% (GA18W-10.2.3), and 15.2% (GA18W-6.1.4) compared to 90.0% in the positive control similar to Arrúa et al (2019). No symptoms were observed in the negative control. FDK was 18% (GA18W-2.1.6), 28% (GA18W-10.2.3) and 44% (GA18W-6.1.4). F. poae was re-isolated from the infected heads and found to be morphologically identical to the isolates used for inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. poae associated with FHB of wheat in the state of Georgia, USA. F. poae isolates from Georgia might produce mycotoxins in addition to reducing grain yield which needs further study.

First Report of Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus in Cotton Fields of South Carolina

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV, family Luteoviridae, genus Polerovirus) was recently reported in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants affected by cotton leafroll dwarf disease (CLRDD) in the United States (Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, and Texas) (Aboughanem-Sabanadzovic et al. 2019; Alabi et al. 2020; Ali and Mokhtari 2020; Avelar et al. 2019; Tabassum et al. 2019). From July to September 2019, a CLRDV survey was conducted in 10 counties (Aiken, Anderson, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chester, Clarendon, Darlington, Florence, Sumter, and York) representing the cotton-growing areas in South Carolina. The CLRDD-like symptoms observed in the fields included pronounced rugosity, curling, and distortion of leaves, reddening of the petioles and leaves, brittle leaves when handled, shortened internodes and stunting, and a reduction in boll set. The disease incidence across 17 fields was estimated to range from 5 to 25% based on visual assessment of symptoms. From each county, leaf/petiole samples from two to four cotton plants showing CLRDD-like symptoms were collected from one to two fields and tested in the lab for the presence of CLRDV by RT-PCR. RNA was extracted from each plant sample using Qiagen RNeasy Plant Mini kits (Qiagen, Germantown, MD) following the manufacturer’s recommendations. The cDNA was synthesized using a SuperScript IV first-strand synthesis system (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA) and amplified with CLRDV-specific PCR primers CLRDV3675F/Pol3982R (Sharman et al. 2015) targeting a 310-bp segment of ORF3 to ORF5. Positive (cDNA of CLRDV, Elmore County, AL) and negative (nontemplate) controls were included in each run, and PCR products were examined by gel electrophoresis. Twenty-six samples (78.8%) out of 33 tested produced the expected PCR bands. The positive samples were derived from cultivars DeltaPine 1646 B2XF and Phytogen 430 W3FE, and they spanned all 10 surveyed counties. All positive samples were further amplified with three additional primer pairs specifically designed to detect CLRDV: CLRDV-RdRpF2/CLRDV-RdRpR1 (Aboughanem-Sabanadzovic et al. 2019), amplifying a 770-bp region of ORF1 to ORF2; AL674F/AL1407R (Avelar et al. 2019), amplifying a 733-bp portion of ORF0 to ORF1; and CLPOF/CLPOR (Cascardo et al. 2015), amplifying a 783-bp fragment spanning ORF0. DNA bands of the expected sizes were obtained with each primer pair as examined by agarose gel electrophoresis. The PCR products for one Barnwell County sample (all four primer pairs) and the CLPOF/CLPOR-specific products from one sample each from Anderson and Sumter Counties were directly sequenced. After removing the primer sequences, the partial CLRDV sequences from the three samples were deposited in GenBank (MN651102 to MN651107). All six sequences showed very high nucleotide identities (98.9 to 100%; 98 to 100% query coverage) to corresponding sequences of CLRDV isolates from Alabama (MN071395 and MN883237) based on BLASTn analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of CLRDV infecting cotton in South Carolina. CLRDD could negatively impact the cotton industry in South Carolina and other cotton-producing states due to its potential to reduce yield. Future research is needed to quantify the impact of the virus on cotton production in the United States and to identify strategies for minimizing the potential economic losses.

Analysis of death and disability due to golf cart crashes in The Villages, Florida: 2011-2019

Objective More than 18 000 Golf Cart (GC)-related injuries occur in the United States (US) annually. However, very few studies have analyzed the causes of such crashes. This study represents the largest single-center analysis of GC crashes performed within the largest GC community in the US, a community in which they are used extensively for local transportation. We examine the nature of these crashes and present potential preventative measures. Methods All GC crashes reported in The Villages, Florida, from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2019 were analyzed in this study. Data were obtained from multiple sources to create a comprehensive collection of all recorded GC crashes in the area of study. Sources included The Villages Property Owners’ Association (POA), The Villages Sun Daily Newspaper, The Villages Public Safety Department (VPSD), Police Dispatch records, and the Sumter County Police data base. Results and conclusions During the observation period, a total of 875 GC-related crashes occurred, representing an average of 136 crashes, 65 hospitalizations, and 9 dead or disabled annually. Of all crashes, 48% resulted in hospitalization, severe trauma, or death. Of these, ejection occurred in 27%, hospitalization in 55%, and death or disability in 15% of crashes. Virtually all death and disability occurred within the setting of GC used on streets or road pathways. Death and disability, particularly due to ejection during GC crashes, occur at an alarming rate when GCs are used for local transportation. We believe public awareness and the use of 3-point seatbelts in these vehicles would significantly reduce death and disability caused by these crashes.

INTEREST GROUP SESSION—PATIENT/PERSON ENGAGEMENT IN RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP (PPER-IG): STRENGTH IN AGE: ENGAGING OLDER ADULTS AS HEALTH RESEARCHERS THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNERSHIPS

The lack of clear translation of health research to improving older under-served patients’ lives presents a serious problem. Studies of aging rarely include the older adults themselves in the process of conceptualizing questions, implementing the research, and applying and evaluating the results. Lack of input particularly from marginalized and minority older adults may compromise the relevance and accuracy of health research findings. In this symposium, we present the design and evaluation of two projects funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), in which older adults are trained to understand research language, culture, and methods, and are subsequently incorporated into research projects in a variety of roles. Silvia Sörensen will describe the “Engaging Older Adult Learners as Health Researchers” (ENGOAL) in Rochester, NY. This program provides six months of weekly classes and 4-6 months of research apprenticeships for older adults. Dorine Otieno and Kate Kondolf will describe evaluation results from both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Rebecca Allen will describe the design and implementation of “Sharing Opinions and Advice about Research (SOAR) in the Deep South,” a partnership of The University of Alabama with community stakeholders from Sumter and Holt County to recruit and train community members to assist in the formulation of research questions based on the needs of their communities. Allen and Dragan will present the evaluation results from this project with regard to implementation and graduate education. Reza Yousefi-Nooraie will synthesize the insights from these projects and add the perspective of a social network analyst.

Range Extension of Megachile Lanata (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae), A Non-Native Sunn Hemp Pollinator, in Florida

Megachile lanata, a pollinator of multiple Crotalaria species, spread from North Africa to the Antilles during the 16th to 18th centuries, and is assumed to have entered Florida from Cuba in the late 1950s. This nonnative species has spread over 260 km (about 160 mi) north of previously published locations in Florida, and is now present in 12 counties. Its current northernmost record was in Sumter County during Apr 2017 at 28.935°N.

Sumter County on the Move! Evaluation of a Walking Group Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Within Existing Social Networks.

Social network-driven approaches have promise for promoting physical activity in community settings. Yet, there have been few direct investigations of such interventions. This study tested the effectiveness of a social network-driven, group-based walking intervention in a medically underserved community. This study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with 3 measurement time points to examine the effectiveness of Sumter County on the Move! in communities in Sumter County, SC. A total of 293 individuals participated in 59 walking groups formed from existing social networks. Participants were 86% females, 67% black, and 31% white, with a mean age of 49.5 years. Measures included perceptions of the walking groups; psychosocial factors such as self-regulation, self-efficacy, and social support; and both self-reported and objectively measured physical activity. The intervention produced significant increases in goal setting and social support for physical activity from multiple sources, and these intervention effects were sustained through the final measurement point 6months after completion of the intervention. Nonetheless, few of the desired changes in physical activity were observed. Our mixed results underscore the importance of future research to better understand the dose and duration of intervention implementation required to effect and sustain behavior change.

Political Mobilization and Empowerment in the Rural Alabama Black Belt: A Comparative Analysis of Sumter and Greene Counties

This study examines the process of political change in the rural Alabama Black Belt counties of Greene and Sumter, located in the southwestern region of the state. Focusing on the period from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s, this study compares the processes of political mobilization and empowerment in these counties to account for divergent rates of political change. The nature and pattern of leadership, organizations, and the strategies and tactics employed to achieve mobilization and empowerment are discussed. Moreover, the utility of Aldon Morris’ indigenous perspective is assessed for understanding the dynamics of mobilization and empowerment in the rural Black Belt. The results reveal that leadership monopolization in the social change process at the local level has its benefits as indicated by the relatively rapid pace with which black majority rule was instituted in Greene County. In contrast, in Sumter County where leadership monopolization was far less pronounced, the empowerment process was more arduous and delayed. However, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, established in 1967, evolved into a local movement center proxy, thereby leveling the playing field to help propel to power by 1986 a black majority to the Sumter County government.

Clarence Jordan: A Radical Pilgrimage in Scorn of the Consequences by Frederick L. Downing

Reviewed by: Clarence Jordan: A Radical Pilgrimage in Scorn of the Consequences by Frederick L. Downing David Stricklin Clarence Jordan: A Radical Pilgrimage in Scorn of the Consequences. By Frederick L. Downing. Foreword by Walter Brueggemann. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2017. Pp. xviii, 310. $35.00, ISBN 978-0-88146-632-4.) Frederick L. Downing answers two questions in this book, one he articulates and one he does not. The one he does not articulate is the one of greater interest to historians of the American South: How did an ordained Southern Baptist minister who studied agriculture in college, got a Ph.D. in New Testament Greek, and became best known during his lifetime for translating the Gospels and the book of Acts into the folk dialect of the rural American South end up with an FBI file? The answer to that unarticulated question is found in the evidence Downing uses to answer the question he asks more overtly: What about this twentieth-century southern white minister caused him to depart from the behavior of so many of his contemporaries and spend his entire adult life opposing segregation and bigotry? [End Page 1054] The minister was Clarence Jordan, and the quick answer to the question about the FBI file, with myriad implications and spinoffs, is that Jordan (rhymes with burden)—along with his wife, Florence Kroeger Jordan, and some friends, Martin England and Mabel Orr England—founded Koinonia Farm in rural Sumter County, Georgia, in 1942. That act set Jordan on a path of direct and constant confrontation with the white southern racist power structure that kept him occupied until his death in 1969. Koinonia Farm was the manifestation of a dream Jordan and Martin England shared, an interracial, agricultural intentional community in the South. Its purpose was to demonstrate the practical but transformative effects of living in accordance with Jesus's requirements in the Gospels and to point out that segregation was incompatible with those requirements. From Koinonia's beginnings, African Americans and white people worked together, took their meals together, studied the Bible together, and, in many other ways, overturned the racial and class hierarchies that prevailed in the region. They took a great deal of abuse, survived firebombings, and attracted the attention of both the Ku Klux Klan and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. The longer answer to the question about how that happened and what it means for Jordan's place in the roll call of southern religious figures leads Downing into Jordan's religious development and forms the heart of this welcome biography. Jordan's upbringing in Georgia, his Baptist training, his growing awareness of the hypocrisy of church members who tormented African Americans, and his dawning commitment to racial justice and reconciliation as a student occupy almost half of the book. Downing is a professor in philosophy and religious studies, and his expertise is in religious biography. He draws much methodologically from developmental theory, especially the works of Erik Erikson and James Fowler. To a great extent, this book harks back to the days of narrative theology, when writers such as James William McClendon Jr. used life stories to find theological meaning in post-biblical experience, and it must be acknowledged that Downing seems mainly interested in using and celebrating Jordan's courageous behavior to find the saving action of Jesus at work in an often-benighted South. The book is marred by an almost unusable index, and the notes include embarrassing errors. But Downing has found enough previously underused primary material on Jordan and used the secondary literature wisely enough that details of Jordan's life and context emerge that will be of benefit to those who wish to understand the religious and racial landscapes of the South during the middle decades of the twentieth century. David Stricklin Butler Center for Arkansas Studies Copyright © 2018 The Southern Historical Association

Use of formative research and social network theory to develop a group walking intervention: Sumter County on the Move!

Although social support is a frequently cited enabler of physical activity, few studies have examined how to harness social support in interventions. This paper describes community-based formative research to design a walking program for mobilizing naturally occurring social networks to support increases in walking behavior. Focus group methods were used to engage community members in discussions about desired walking program features. The research was conducted with underserved communities in Sumter County, South Carolina. The majority of focus group participants were women (76%) and African American (92%). Several important themes emerged from the focus group results regarding attitudes toward walking, facilitators of and barriers to walking, ideal walking program characteristics, and strategies for encouraging community members to walk. Most noteably, the role of existing social networks as a supportive influence on physical activity was a recurring theme in our formative research and a gap in the existing evidence base. The resulting walking program focused on strategies for mobilizing, supporting and reinforcing existing social networks as mechanisms for increasing walking. Our approach to linking theory, empirical evidence and community-based formative research for the development of a walking intervention offers an example for practitioners developing intervention strategies for a wide range of behaviors.

“Politics Is Mighty Uncertain”: Charles Hays Goes to Congress

“Politics Is Mighty Uncertain”: Charles Hays Goes to Congress William Warren Rogers Correction: This digital version of volume 69, issue no. 1 of the Alabama Review differs from the print edition. Pages 34, 50, 63, 65, and 67 in this digital version reflect corrections made to the previously-distributed print edition. Charles Hays led white and black Republicans in Greene County and most of the Black Belt during Reconstruction in Alabama. Born in the county in 1834, Hays was the son of a wealthy planter who had migrated from South Carolina in the late 1820s. Educated at the University of Georgia and the University of Virginia, Hays became a planter in his own right. Nominally a Democrat, Hays was not active in politics, and while not an outright Union man, he was not a secessionist. During the Civil War he married Cornelia Ormand, daughter of a judge of the Alabama Supreme Court. Hays served as a major in the Confederate army. Later he returned to planting and in 1867 confounded his friends by declaring himself a Republican. That fall he was elected and served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention. In February 1868 Hays was elected to the state senate.1 Hays directed Republican strategy from his large plantation, Hays Mount, near the Greene County village of Boligee, eight miles west of the county seat at Eutaw. At the constitutional convention and in the state senate Hays attempted to obtain the removal of all political disabilities from former Confederates. In the fall of 1868 Republican Hays helped carry the state for the national Republican ticket. Adding to his reputation [End Page 26] by playing a conservative but forceful role in the state senate, Hays was plainly marked for higher office as a Republican, although the stigma as a scalawag made him an anathema to most Black Belt whites. The winter elections of 1868, confirmed by the congressional act of June 12, 1868, had determined local and state offices and decided seats in the national House of Representatives. The congressmen elected sat for only a partial term, the remainder of the Fortieth Congress, which ended March 4, 1869. Republican Governor William H. Smith called a special congressional election for Tuesday, August 3, 1869.2 Fully identified with the Republican party and already vilified and ostracized, Hays had nothing to lose by entering the congressional race. If nominated and elected he would represent the newly created Fourth District, formed along with five other districts by the legislature in February 1867.3 The Fourth District was a large sprawling area containing a major portion of the Black Belt and a few white counties. Heavy black majorities resided in Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, and Sumter counties. Pickens in the northwest, Choctaw in the Southwest, and Autauga in the northeast were slightly more than fifty percent black. Six counties—Baker, Bibb, Fayette, Sanford, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa—had more whites than blacks, but even in these counties blacks constituted sizeable minorities. For that matter, Tuscaloosa strongly resembled and identified with the Black Belt counties. The county’s intransigence was largely due to the presence of Ryland Randolph, native-born descendant of Virginia aristocrats, outspoken critic of congressional Reconstruction, and editor of a leading Democratic newspaper, the Independent Monitor. Tuscaloosa County became the scene [End Page 27] of much Ku Klux Klan activity with Randolph the local leader. The incumbent congressman for the district was the little-known carpetbagger, Charles Wilson Pierce, a native New Yorker and Union veteran who came to Alabama to command the Freedmen’s Bureau subdistrict of Demopolis. In the spring of 1869 he accepted the post of Assessor of Internal Revenue of the First District and so did not seek renomination to congress.4 The Fourth District represented a potentially solid Republican bastion. Yet the Conservative Democrats were both resentful and resourceful, and maintaining a Republican majority was more difficult than establishing one. Looking ahead to the August elections, one Republican editor believed they would “be attended by scarcely less important results than any political contest since Lee’s surrender.”5 Selecting the right man to replace Pierce would be important. One possibility was the native-born William...

Childhood Brain Cancer in Florida: A Bayesian Clustering Approach

In this article, we focus on geocoded data for pediatric brain cancer in Florida. Specifically, we examine zip code level pediatric brain cancer counts from the Florida Association of Pediatric Tumor Programs (FAPTP) childhood cancer registry from 2000–2010 and assess the degree of spatial clustering in these data. We assume Bayesian models for relative risk and examine a variety of posterior measures that indicate excess risk (exceedence probability of relative risk or positive residual). We assume a standard Poisson convolution model and examine a zero-inflated (ZI) model with a factored intercept. We conclude that there is evidence of excess risk in a number of relatively dispersed zip codes across the state but there appears to be some concentration of high excess risk in Polk, Lake, and Sumter counties (west of Orlando and north east of Tampa). These excesses are confirmed across the models.

Community survey of rabies knowledge and exposure to bats in homes - Sumter County, South Carolina, USA.

Subsequent to a human rabies death in Sumter County, South Carolina, we assessed the frequency of exposures to bats in homes and citizens' rabies knowledge. A self-administered survey was mailed to 6033 randomly selected Sumter County addresses. The survey inquired about household exposures to bats and respondents' rabies knowledge. Surveys were returned by mail for descriptive analysis. Of 597 respondents, 3.5% (21/597) reported having bats living in (2.8% or 17/597) or entering their homes (2.5% or 15/597) during 2010-2012. Respondents generally understood that mammals transmit rabies virus through bites, but were less aware of the severity of rabies illness and modern post-exposure vaccine administration. Respondents were unsure about how to exclude bats from homes and ranked highly both healthcare and non-healthcare entities as preferred resources for obtaining assistance with bat-related concerns. We found potential for human exposures to bats in Sumter County households and gaps in citizen knowledge of rabies and bat exclusion. Public health officials should engage non-healthcare partners in assistance disseminating rabies educational materials and for providing appropriate referral for persons potentially exposed to bats.

Business continuity after catastrophic medical events: The Joplin Medical Business Continuity Report

On May 22, 2011, The St Johns Mercy Medical Center in Joplin, MO, was destroyed by an F-5 tornado. There were 183 patients in the building at that time in this 367-bed Medical Center. The preparation and response were superbly done and resulted in many lives saved. This report is focused on the reconstitution phase of this disaster response, which includes how to restore business continuity. As 95 percent of our medical capacity resides in the private sector in the United States, we must have a proper plan for how to restore business continuity or face the reality of the medical business failing and not providing critical medical services to the community. A tornado in 2007 destroyed a medical center in Sumter County, GA, and it took more than 365 days to restore business continuity at a cost of $18M. The plan executed by the Mercy Medical System after the disaster in Joplin restored business continuity in 88 days and cost a total of $6.6M, with all assets being reusable. The recommendation from these lessons learned is that every county, state, and Federal Emergency Management Agency region has a plan on the shelf to restore business continuity and the means to be able to do so. The hard work that the State of Missouri and the Mercy Medical System did after this disaster can serve as a model for the nation in how to quickly recover from any loss of medical capability.

Identification ofPeromyscus gossypinusat Poinsett State Park, South Carolina

The overlap of external morphometric measurements between Peromyscus leucopus (White-footed Mouse) and P. gossypinus (Cotton Mouse) makes species determination challenging. Peromyscus were live-trapped at Poinsett State Park, Sumter County, SC, and identified using field and laboratory techniques. Our measurements for hind-foot length, total length, and tail length overlapped with published values for both species. Body mass, as measured in the field, was a good criterion that identified our animals as Cotton Mice (n = 29). This identification was confirmed by digital radiography, microsatellite DNA markers, and glucose phosphate isomerase analysis. Our results indicated that a combination of field and laboratory techniques is a valuable approach for positively identifying morphologically similar species.

Biological Control of Tropical Soda Apple (Solanaceae) in Florida: Post-Release Evaluation

Foreign exploration to search for natural enemies of the invasive plant tropical soda apple, Solarium viarum Dunal (Solanaceae) were conducted initially in 1994 by University of Florida researchers in collaboration with Universidade Estadual Paulista, Jaboticabal campus, Brazil. Sixteen species of insects were found associated with tropical soda apple in Brazil and Paraguay (Medal et al. 1996). A biological control program was initiated by the University of Florida in 1997 with funds provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Explorations in the place of origin (southern Brazil, northeast Argentina, south Paraguay, and Uruguay) of the target weed were conducted in collaboration with Brazilian university researchers, and the USDAAgriculture Research Service Biological Control Laboratory in Hurlingham, Argentina. During exploratory surveys, the leaf beetle Gratiana boliviana Spaeth (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was found on tropical soda apple plants in southern Brazil. A high level of specificity and significant defoliation of tropical soda apple were demonstrated in host-specificity tests conducted at the Florida Biological Control Laboratory quarantine facilities in Gainesville, the USDA-ARS (Agriculture Research Service) South American Biological Control Laboratory in Argentina, and the USDAARS quarantine facilities in Stoneville, Mississippi, as well as in extensive field surveys and open-field tests conducted in South America. After five years of intensive plant feeding and oviposition tests, the South-American leaf beetle G.boliviana was the first biological control agent approved for field release (7 May 2003) by the USDA-APHIS-PPQ in the southeastern United States to join the battle against tropical soda apple also known by the nickname the 'plant from heir (Coile 1993). This exotic weed has invaded over half a million hectares of grasslands and natural areas in at least 6 states (Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas). Intensive host-specificity tests including 126 plant species in 35 families were conducted with G. boliviana from 1998 to 2001 (Medal et al. 2002, 2003, 2004). Initial releases of G boliviana in Florida began in summer 2003, and currently approximately 200,000 G. boliviana immature and adults have been released in 37 Florida counties, 14,000 in 2 counties in Georgia, 18,000 in 3 counties in Alabama, and 825 in 1 county in Texas. In th s article we report the establishment, post-release monitoring, and initial impacts of G. boliviana on tropical soda apple plants in Sumter County, Florida. A field release of G. boliviana was made in a