Team creativity/innovation in culturally diverse teams: A meta‐analysis

This meta-analysis investigates the direction and strength of the relationship between diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation. We distinguish the effects of two diversity levels (i.e., surface- versus deep-level) in culturally diverse teams and examine the moderators suggested by the socio-technical systems framework (i.e., team virtuality and task characteristics in terms of task interdependence, complexity, and intellectiveness). Surface-level diversity in culturally diverse teams is not related to team creativity/innovation, while deep-level diversity in culturally diverse teams is positively related to team creativity/innovation. Moreover, surface-level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation are negatively related for simple tasks, but unrelated for complex tasks. Deep-level diversity in culturally diverse teams and team creativity/innovation are positively related for collocated teams and interdependent tasks, but unrelated for non-collocated teams and independent tasks. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications

Ethnic Minority–Majority Unions in Estonia

Ethnic minority–majority unions—also referred to as mixed ethnic unions—are often seen as the ultimate evidence of the integration of ethnic minorities into their host societies. We investigated minority–majority unions in Estonia, where ethnic minorities account for one-third of the total population (Russians 26%, followed by Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Finns and other smaller groups). Using data from the 2000 Estonian census and regression models, we found that Slavic women are less likely to be in minority–majority unions than are members of other minority groups, with Russians being the least likely. Finns, who are culturally most similar to the Estonian majority population, are the most likely to form a union with an Estonian. For ethnic minority women, the likelihood of being in minority–majority unions is highest in rural areas and increases over generations, with third-generation immigrants being the most likely. Estonian women are most likely to have a minority partner when they or their parents were born abroad and when they live in urban areas. Our findings suggest that both the opportunity to meet potential partners and openness to other ethnic groups are important factors for understanding the dynamics of minority–majority unions

Listeria pathogenesis and molecular virulence determinants

The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a highly fatal opportunistic foodborne infection. Pregnant women, neonates, the elderly, and debilitated or immunocompromised patients in general are predominantly affected, although the disease can also develop in normal individuals. Clinical manifestations of invasive listeriosis are usually severe and include abortion, sepsis, and meningoencephalitis. Listeriosis can also manifest as a febrile gastroenteritis syndrome. In addition to humans, L. monocytogenes affects many vertebrate species, including birds. Listeria ivanovii, a second pathogenic species of the genus, is specific for ruminants. Our current view of the pathophysiology of listeriosis derives largely from studies with the mouse infection model. Pathogenic listeriae enter the host primarily through the intestine. The liver is thought to be their first target organ after intestinal translocation. In the liver, listeriae actively multiply until the infection is controlled by a cell-mediated immune response. This initial, subclinical step of listeriosis is thought to be common due to the frequent presence of pathogenic L. monocytogenes in food. In normal indivuals, the continual exposure to listerial antigens probably contributes to the maintenance of anti-Listeria memory T cells. However, in debilitated and immunocompromised patients, the unrestricted proliferation of listeriae in the liver may result in prolonged low-level bacteremia, leading to invasion of the preferred secondary target organs (the brain and the gravid uterus) and to overt clinical disease. L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are facultative intracellular parasites able to survive in macrophages and to invade a variety of normally nonphagocytic cells, such as epithelial cells, hepatocytes, and endothelial cells. In all these cell types, pathogenic listeriae go through an intracellular life cycle involving early escape from the phagocytic vacuole, rapid intracytoplasmic multiplication, bacterially induced actin-based motility, and direct spread to neighboring cells, in which they reinitiate the cycle. In this way, listeriae disseminate in host tissues sheltered from the humoral arm of the immune system. Over the last 15 years, a number of virulence factors involved in key steps of this intracellular life cycle have been identified. This review describes in detail the molecular determinants of Listeria virulence and their mechanism of action and summarizes the current knowledge on the pathophysiology of listeriosis and the cell biology and host cell responses to Listeria infection. This article provides an updated perspective of the development of our understanding of Listeria pathogenesis from the first molecular genetic analyses of virulence mechanisms reported in 1985 until the start of the genomic era of Listeria research

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Textual Transmission as Textual Participation: The Case of Materialism in S.Y. Agnon’s Perception of Language

One of the most fundamental notions of rabbinic Judaism is that concerning textual transmission. The Jewish text is always on the move— sometimes back and forth—from God to humanity, from generation to generation, from teacher to students. Textual transmission encompasses and even necessitates another idea, that of textual participation. A text does not simply change hands; it is always transformed in the process, and the agents of this process, by the very act of transmission, are those who reshape the text. This essay seeks to show the ways in which such notions are incorporated in the belletristic work of Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Textual transmission, in the context of the present essay, is part and parcel of the broader notion of “linguistic materialism.” The material aspect of language is everything that reveals language to our senses. Linguistic materialism is perceived here as the idea that meaning is to be found, not only in words, but also in the concrete material of which language is made. Thus, in order for a text to be transmitted, one or more objects need to be exchanged. Sounds, ink, paper, parchment, letters, books: all are materialistic manifestations of language that enable the act of textual transmission. Agnon was a conscious agent in the process of textual transmission. This is apparent, for instance, in his work as an anthologist. The anthologies compiled by Agnon are not merely a summing up of Jewish discourse on language and its derivatives. They are also doors, textual stations, as it were, through which one can traverse and evaluate the whole of his oeuvre. They serve, as will be seen, as a depository for relevant sources in the analysis of Agnon’s work. In addition, they are the very embodiment of his notion of textual transmission. Agnon was born in 1887 in Buczacz, Polish Galicia (now Buchach, Ukraine). When he was only 16, he published poems and short prose in various Jewish journals, in both Yiddish and Hebrew. In 1908, he emigrated to Ottoman Palestine, where he published several short stories in Hebrew; for his livelihood, he worked alongside Arthur Ruppin at the Palestinian office of the Zionist Organization. In 1912, both Agnon and Ruppin went to Germany. Although Ruppin returned after a while to Palestine, Agnon remained in Germany for 12 years. In the first years of his stay, he worked as an editor at the Jüdischer Verlag.1 He was not particularly interested in the “special occasion” anthologies produced by this publishing house.2 However, once he turned to subjects close to his heart, such as the High Holy Days, language (Hebrew) and books (Torah and everything emanating from it), he became a dedicated compiler of anthologies— as Gershon Scholem noted, anthology compilation was “much more than a mere sideline in his creative work as a writer.”3 According to Baruch Kurzweil, Agnon felt obliged to persevere in what he regarded as a sacred endeavor even though this necessitated a substantial amount of time and effort on his part; Kurzweil himself was “astounded by the enormous compromise and sacrifice evident in Agnon’s self- abnegation.”4 Following his return to Mandate Palestine, Agnon published three anthologies, Yamim noraim (Days of Awe; 1938, 1947) Sefer sofer vesipur (Book, Writer, and Story; 1938) and Atem reitem (You Yourselves Have Seen; 1959).5 In a response that was perhaps intended to assuage his own conscience or else to respond to a critic who might accuse him of wasting his artistic energy,6 Agnon told David Kena’ani: “There is power in the act of dissemination, as in the making of encyclopedias [and the anthologies].”7 Whereas Days of Awe is an anthology of sources concerning Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the other two tell the story of Jewish textual transmission: they are texts about texts. Agnon continued working on the latter two anthologies over the course of his career; after his death, updated versions of Sefer sofer vesipur and Atem reitem were published (in 1978 and in 1995, respectively). The new editions of the books encompassed a substantially greater number of sources and themes. Nevertheless, language remained the meta- subject of each. Concerning Sefer sofer vesipur, Agnon noted that it was “an assemblage of legends about books and authors,”8 whereas Atem reitem concerned itself with the gathering and Revelation at Sinai.9 One of the dominant themes in these anthologies is a materialistic notion of the Hebrew language, as described above. Indeed, this notion permeates not only the anthologies but Agnon’s work as a whole; it is so inherent in his worldview and literary practices that one cannot imagine the Agnonian universe without it. And yet, like gravity, its very omnipresence may cause it to go unnoticed, such that readers are likely to overlook the force it exerts on Agnon’s literary mechanisms

Without mercy: The immediate impact of group size on lynch mob atrocity

Two independent research traditions have focused on social contributions to lynching. The sociological power threat hypothesis has argued that lynching atrocity will increase as a function of the relative number of African Americans. The psychological self-attention theory has argued that lynching atrocity will increase as a function of the relative number of mob members. Two series of analyses (one using newspaper reports and the second using photographic records) using different and nonoverlapping samples of lynching events rendered a consistent pattern of results: Lynch mob atrocity did not increase as a function of the relative numbers of African Americans in the county population but it did increase as a function of the relative numbers of mob members in the lynch mob. Discussion considers the implications of these results