The Effect of Race and Gender on Attributions of Stalking

© 2020 by the Southwestern Social Science Association Objective: This study is concerned with examining the impact of the extralegal factors of race and gender in attributions of stalking and motivation in examples of heterosexual, low-level stalking behavior. Methods: A 4 (race pairing of protagonist and target) × 2 (gender pairing of protagonist and target) between- participants design, using a vignette incorporating faces of the protagonist and target, asked participants to identify the extent to which they considered the behavior stalking, the motivation for that behavior, and provide responses to measures of racism and sexism. Results: The results identify that intraracial behavior is considered more like stalking than interracial behavior, that female-to-male behavior is considered more like stalking than male-to-female, and that gender and race do not impact on the attributed motivations for the behavior. Both racism and sexism do contribute to attributions of stalking. Conclusion: The influence of race on attributions of stalking mirrors that of findings in other areas of crime and is important in understanding decision making

Evolutionary Genetics of a New Pathogenic \u3ci\u3eEscherichia\u3c/i\u3e Species: \u3ci\u3eEscherichia albertii\u3c/i\u3e and Related \u3ci\u3eShigella boydii\u3c/i\u3e Strains

A bacterium originally described as Hafnia alvei induces diarrhea in rabbits and causes epithelial damage similar to the attachment and effacement associated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subsequent studies identified similar H. alvei-like strains that are positive for an intimin gene (eae) probe and, based on DNA relatedness, are classified as a distinct Escherichia species, Escherichia albertii. We determined sequences for multiple housekeeping genes in five E. albertii strains and compared these sequences to those of strains representing the major groups of pathogenic E. coli and Shigella. A comparison of 2,484 codon positions in 14 genes revealed that E. albertii strains differ, on average, at ~7.4% of the nucleotide sites from pathogenic E. coli strains and at 15.7% from Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. Interestingly, E. albertii strains were found to be closely related to strains of Shigella boydii serotype 13 (Shigella B13), a distant relative of E. coli representing a divergent lineage in the genus Escherichia. Analysis of homologues of intimin (eae) revealed that the central conserved domains are similar in E. albertii and Shigella B13 and distinct from those of eae variants found in pathogenic E. coli. Sequence analysis of the cytolethal distending toxin gene cluster (cdt) also disclosed three allelic groups corresponding to E. albertii, Shigella B13, and a nontypeable isolate serologically related to S. boydii serotype 7. Based on the synonymous substitution rate, the E. albertii-Shigella B13 lineage is estimated to have split from an E. coli-like ancestor ~28 million years ago and formed a distinct evolutionary branch of enteric pathogens that has radiated into groups with distinct virulence properties

Evolutionary Genetics of a New Pathogenic Escherichia Species: Escherichia albertii and Related Shigella boydii Strains

A bacterium originally described as Hafnia alvei induces diarrhea in rabbits and causes epithelial damage similar to the attachment and effacement associated with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Subsequent studies identified similar H. alvei-like strains that are positive for an intimin gene (eae) probe and, based on DNA relatedness, are classified as a distinct Escherichia species, Escherichia albertii. We determined sequences for multiple housekeeping genes in five E. albertii strains and compared these sequences to those of strains representing the major groups of pathogenic E. coli and Shigella. A comparison of 2,484 codon positions in 14 genes revealed that E. albertii strains differ, on average, at ∼7.4% of the nucleotide sites from pathogenic E. coli strains and at 15.7% from Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. Interestingly, E. albertii strains were found to be closely related to strains of Shigella boydii serotype 13 (Shigella B13), a distant relative of E. coli representing a divergent lineage in the genus Escherichia. Analysis of homologues of intimin (eae) revealed that the central conserved domains are similar in E. albertii and Shigella B13 and distinct from those of eae variants found in pathogenic E. coli. Sequence analysis of the cytolethal distending toxin gene cluster (cdt) also disclosed three allelic groups corresponding to E. albertii, Shigella B13, and a nontypeable isolate serologically related to S. boydii serotype 7. Based on the synonymous substitution rate, the E. albertii-Shigella B13 lineage is estimated to have split from an E. coli-like ancestor ∼28 million years ago and formed a distinct evolutionary branch of enteric pathogens that has radiated into groups with distinct virulence properties