Resurrecting a Nation Through Silk and Diplomacy: American Material Culture and Foreign Relations During the Reconstruction Era

The Reconstruction Era, a time of immense change in American culture and society, is often conceptualized as a wholly domestic affair; however, a closer analysis of the work of American diplomats scattered throughout the world reveals the impact of foreign policies and relationships on the development of the nation state, as well as cultural values. With this broadened perspective, Reconstruction becomes a more complicated period of entangled international concerns and influences in a globally connected world. This thesis argues that intricate international relations and complex foreign policies helped shape American identity and values at home. Diplomats abroad in countries such as Japan, Italy, and Switzerland became extensively involved with silk, a commodity of particular significance in global commerce. Correspondence between diplomats stationed abroad and the Department of State is juxtaposed with material culture to serve as the main complimentary primary sources for this study. Objects such as silk dresses, vests and jackets, parasols, folding fans, and quilts, are examined in order to underscore some of the major themes of Reconstruction. Such matters include the rise of the nation state, industrialization, and the democratization of luxury goods that were once exclusive to the upper class. Therefore, the effects of foreign affairs on American material culture are reconsidered as quintessential to the advancement of the burgeoning nation state at home. This thesis ultimately contends that in order to highlight and fully understand the complexities of Reconstruction, it is essential to contextualize progress at home with the intricacies of diplomacy and gauge the formation of national identity through material culture

Does Living Near a Superfund Site Contribute to Higher Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Exposure?

We assessed determinants of cord serum polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels among 720 infants born between 1993 and 1998 to mothers living near a PCB-contaminated Superfund site in Massachusetts, measuring the sum of 51 PCB congeners (∑PCB) and ascertaining maternal address, diet, sociodemographics, and exposure risk factors. Addresses were geocoded to obtain distance to the Superfund site and neighborhood characteristics. We modeled log(10)(∑PCB) as a function of potential individual and neighborhood risk factors, mapping model residuals to assess spatial correlates of PCB exposure. Similar analyses were performed for light (mono–tetra) and heavy (penta–deca) PCBs to assess potential differences in exposure pathways as a function of relative volatility. PCB-118 (relatively prevalent in site sediments and cord serum) was assessed separately. The geometric mean of ∑PCB levels was 0.40 (range, 0.068–18.14) ng/g serum. Maternal age and birthplace were the strongest predictors of ∑PCB levels. Maternal consumption of organ meat and local dairy products was associated with higher and smoking and previous lactation with lower ∑PCB levels. Infants born later in the study had lower ∑PCB levels, likely due to temporal declines in exposure and site remediation in 1994–1995. No association was found between ∑PCB levels and residential distance from the Superfund site. Similar results were found with light and heavy PCBs and PCB-118. Previously reported demographic (age) and other (lactation, smoking, diet) correlates of PCB exposure, as well as local factors (consumption of local dairy products and Superfund site dredging) but not residential proximity to the site, were important determinants of cord serum PCB levels in the study community

Cotton Rats and House Sparrows as Hosts for North and South American Strains of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus

TOC summary: Wild rodents and wild birds can serve as amplification hosts

Genetic Characterization of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru: Identification of a New Subtype ID Lineage

Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) has been responsible for hundreds of thousands of human and equine cases of severe disease in the Americas. A passive surveillance study was conducted in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador to determine the arboviral etiology of febrile illness. Patients with suspected viral-associated, acute, undifferentiated febrile illness of <7 days duration were enrolled in the study and blood samples were obtained from each patient and assayed by virus isolation. Demographic and clinical information from each patient was also obtained at the time of voluntary enrollment. In 2005–2007, cases of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) were diagnosed for the first time in residents of Bolivia; the patients did not report traveling, suggesting endemic circulation of VEEV in Bolivia. In 2001 and 2003, VEE cases were also identified in Ecuador. Since 1993, VEEV has been continuously isolated from patients in Loreto, Peru, and more recently (2005), in Madre de Dios, Peru. We performed phylogenetic analyses with VEEV from Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru and compared their relationships to strains from other parts of South America. We found that VEEV subtype ID Panama/Peru genotype is the predominant one circulating in Peru. We also demonstrated that VEEV subtype ID strains circulating in Ecuador belong to the Colombia/Venezuela genotype and VEEV from Madre de Dios, Peru and Cochabamba, Bolivia belong to a new ID genotype. In summary, we identified a new major lineage of enzootic VEEV subtype ID, information that could aid in the understanding of the emergence and evolution of VEEV in South America

A Layered History: Interpreting Cultural Resources at Sesquicentennial State Park

Sesquicentennial State Park is one of the most popular state parks in South Carolina and is well-known in the Columbia metropolitan area as a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the urban scene. Driving through its entrance gates from busy Two Notch Road, visitors find themselves immediately in the midst of a pine forest. Past the ranger’s kiosk a winding road follows the contours of the gently rolling terrain, offering occasional glimpses of a mysterious fire tower, an evocative two-story log house, and eventually the open vista of a large lake with white concrete buildings and lawns along the shore. This beguiling patch of nature in the midst of the city has long been a place for recreation and for learning natural history in an “outdoor classroom.” Although an historical plaque notes that the park was established by the Sesquicentennial Commission, there is little at the modern park to help visitors see that the site has both natural history and a deep human history. (A couple of recently placed waysides now explain the role of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and a civil rights challenge in the 1960s.) This report presents some preliminary findings on the human history of the park – as well as the history of the site before it became a park. The report is divided into seven sections. The first section is the park’s current mission statement. Sections two and three present a set of “statements of significance” and “primary interpretive themes” which seek to identify important patterns of history at the site as ways to make the past meaningful to public audiences. The fourth and largest section offers fresh research on the history of Sesquicentennial State Park by “periodizing” it into five eras: the pre-park history, the role of the Sesquicentennial Commission of 1936 in creating the park, the management of the South Carolina Commission of Forestry, the ten-year struggle to desegregate South Carolina’s state parks, and the management of the South Carolina State Park Service, the current steward of the park. Section five offers ideas for how this history might be communicated to visitors in a cost-effective manner, using strategically placed QR codes in public areas and along existing walking trails. Because this is a preliminary report on park history, section six contains suggestions for further research to help guide future researchers, within or beyond the South Carolina State Park Service. The research team discovered much new information but much more can be uncovered. Lastly, section seven is an appendix with an historical timeline, bibliographies, additional information on individuals significant in the pre-park era, and a list of people who worked to establish a museum on the history of Columbia as one legacy of the Sesquicentennial commemoration.https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/pubhist_books/1004/thumbnail.jp

Genetic and Anatomic Determinants of Enzootic Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Infection of Culex (Melanoconion) taeniopus

Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) is a re-emerging, mosquito-borne viral disease with the potential to cause fatal encephalitis in both humans and equids. Recently, detection of endemic VEE caused by enzootic strains has escalated in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, emphasizing the importance of understanding the enzootic transmission cycle of the etiologic agent, VEE virus (VEEV). The majority of work examining the viral determinants of vector infection has been performed in the epizootic mosquito vector, Aedes (Ochlerotatus) taeniorhynchus. Based on the fundamental differences between the epizootic and enzootic cycles, we hypothesized that the virus-vector interaction of the enzootic cycle is fundamentally different from that of the epizootic model. We therefore examined the determinants for VEEV IE infection in the enzootic vector, Culex (Melanoconion) taeniopus, and determined the number and susceptibility of midgut epithelial cells initially infected and their distribution compared to the epizootic virus-vector interaction. Using chimeric viruses, we demonstrated that the determinants of infection for the enzootic vector are different than those observed for the epizootic vector. Similarly, we showed that, unlike A. taeniorhynchus infection with subtype IC VEEV, C. taeniopus does not have a limited subpopulation of midgut cells susceptible to subtype IE VEEV. These findings support the hypothesis that the enzootic VEEV relationship with C. taeniopus differs from the epizootic virus-vector interaction in that the determinants appear to be found in both the nonstructural and structural regions, and initial midgut infection is not limited to a small population of susceptible cells

Concert recording 2018-02-09

[Track 1]. Marche á huit instrumens á vent / Nannette Streicher -- [Track 2]. Dixtuor pour instruments á vent. I. Allegro moderato II. Moderato [Track 3]. III. Andante - Allegro scherzando [Track 4]. IV. Cantabile [Track 5]. V. Allegro risoluto / Claude Arrieu, née Louise Marie Simon -- [Track 6]. Octet for windinstruments / Tera de Marez Oyens -- [Track 7]. The unfortunate traveller, suite for brass band. I. Introduction II. Scherzo [Track 8]. III. Interlude [Track 9]. IV. March / Imogen Holst

Assessing the Value of Recreational Divers for Censusing Elasmobranchs

BACKGROUND: Around the world, researchers are using the observations and experiences of citizens to describe patterns in animal populations. This data is often collected via ongoing sampling or by synthesizing past experiences. Since elasmobranchs are relatively rare, obtaining data for broad-scale trend analysis requires high sampling effort. Elasmobranchs are also relatively large and conspicuous and therefore it may be possible to enlist recreational divers to collect data on their occurrence and relative abundance from daily dive activities. For this, however, a good understanding of the value of data collected by recreational divers is essential. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we explore the value of recreational divers for censusing elasmobranchs using a diverse set of data sources. First, we use a simulation experiment to explore detection rates of the roving diver technique, used by recreational divers, across a range of fish densities and speeds. Next, using a field survey, we show that inexperienced recreational divers detect and count elasmobranchs as well as experienced recreational divers. Finally, we use semi-structured interviews of recreational dive instructors to demonstrate the value of their recollections in terms of effort and their descriptions of spatial and temporal distributions of sharks in Thailand. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, this study provides initial ground-work for using recreational divers for monitoring elasmobranch populations. If used appropriately, citizen-collected data may provide additional information that can be used to complement more standardized surveys and to describe population trends across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Due to the non-extractive nature of this data, recreational divers may also provide important insight into the success of conservation initiatives, such as shark sanctuaries and no-take zones