Harris–Stowe State University

ABSTRACTCarryover effects broadly influence adult performance and population persistence. Although variation in developmental environments can have contrasting effects on survival and reproduction, current predictive models of vulnerability to environmental change typically ignore simultaneous changes in both fitness components. We tested how developmental temperatures shape survival and multiple aspects of reproduction in a plant‐living insect (Enchenopa binotata treehoppers) and used population dynamic models to examine the cumulative impact of these complex effects on population growth. We show that elevated developmental temperatures increase adult fertility, offsetting reduced juvenile survival and potentially forestalling population declines following global warming. Moreover, pairing mates from different developmental temperatures exacerbated morphological mismatches between sexes, reducing mating success and sperm transfer. Our findings thereby provide novel evidence that thermal carryover effects can generate assortative mating and selection on adult reproductive morphology, in addition to shaping the relative importance of survival and reproduction for persistence in warming climates.

This book examines the life and work of Mazisi Kunene, the only recognized poet laureate of Africa, a Nobel Prize nominee, and a key symbol of African cultural independence. Kunene is widely recognized for his epic poems that assert cultural identity and condemn the disruption of the growth and development of African culture through colonialism/postcolonialism. This book explores how ‘oraliterature’ and cultural traditions informed Kunene’s poetry, how Kunene’s poetry highlights African women and mothers, and how activism, mythology and transnational identities are depicted in his verse to promote cultural and generational continuities from Africa to the Diasporic Africans. Drawing on a range of interviews and comparative studies, the book situates Kunene’s work in a wider conversation about South African social struggles. This book is an important contribution to our understanding of one of the giants of African literary history. As such, it will be of interest to researchers across African literary and postcolonial studies.

Nader Sakhaee1,2*, Sahar Sakhaee3, Akbar Mobaraki4 and Ahmad Takallou5 Author Affiliations 1Department of mathematics and Natural Sciences, Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, MO, 63108, universal 2Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62025, USA 3Islamic Azad University, Mashhad Branch, Mashhad, Iran 4Department of Chemistry, Tarbiat Modarres University, P.O. Box. 14115-175, Tehran, Iran 5Department of Chemistry, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran Received: January 18, 2020 | Published: February 03, 2020 Corresponding author: Nader Sakhaee, Department of mathematics and Natural Sciences, Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA and Department of Chemistry, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62025, USA DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2020.25.004170

In contrast to efforts focusing on improving inclusion in STEM classrooms from kindergarten through undergraduate (K–16), efforts to improve inclusion in scientific meetings and conferences, important hubs of STEM culture, are more recent. Markers of inclusion that are sometimes overlooked at these events can include the composition of panels, how workshops are run, the affordability of conferences, and various other mechanisms that maintain pre-existing hierarchies and norms that limit the participation of early-career researchers and individuals of minoritized cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. The Inclusive Environments and Metrics in Biology Education and Research (iEMBER) network coordinates efforts of researchers from many fields interested in diversity and inclusion in biology education. Given the concerns regarding inclusion at professional meetings, iEMBER has developed and implemented several practices in planning and executing our meetings to make them more inclusive. In this report, we share our experiences developing inclusive meetings on biology education research and discuss the outcomes of such efforts. Specifically, we present our approach to planning and executing the iEMBER 2019 conference and the National Association of Biology Teachers iEMBER 2019 workshop. This report adds to the growing body of resources on inclusive meetings, provides readers with an account of how such an attempt at implementation might unfold, and complements existing theories and work relating to the importance and functioning of such meetings in terms of representation in STEM.

Hoffmann et al. [1] asked the pivotal question of whether natures is deliberately dictating conformational patterns for natural products or not. He suggested that cyclic compounds containing oxygen can attain conformational preferences that are of prime importance to bio activity Still et al. [2].

The purpose of the chapter is to evaluate the desirability of integration as the end goal of desegregation. The research of Mallach (Inclusionary Housing Programs: Policies and Practices. Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1984), Patterson (The Ordeal of Integration: Progress and Resentment in America’s “Racial” Crisis. Civitas Books, New York, 1998), Ogbar (Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity (Reconfiguring American Political History). The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2004), Bloom and Martin (Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party. University of California Press, Oakland, CA, 2012), Ivery and Bassett (Reclaiming Integration and the Language of Race in the “Post-Racial Era.” Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2015), Jabobus (Inclusionary Housing: Creating and Maintaining Equitable Communities (Policy Focus Reports). Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA, 2015) and Stanley (An Impossible Dream? Racial Integration in the United States, Oxford University Press, New York, 2017) informed this focus group agenda. The topic was also shaped by primary source material that included the writings of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. The conversation had five main themes. One, while the civil rights legislation of the 1960s has been beneficial to individual African Americans, it has been detrimental to many black communities. Two, the nature of community life is changing for both whites and blacks. Three, the impact of design in bringing about segregation is limited. Four, while there are also constrains on what policy can accomplish, it is the optimal tool in achieving desegregation. Five, true integration is still the desired ultimate goal, yet America lacks the commitment to realize it. In the accompanying essay, “Unity of Research and Social Action: Models for Praxis in St. Louis,” Kenneth Jolly examines the black-nationalist writings in Proud, a St. Louis Black Studies journal published in the 1970s, to showcase the complex relationship between the concept of integration and black self-determination.

In subgenus Decaloba (DC.) Rchb. of Passiflora L., the section Xerogona (Raf.) Killip (Passifloraceae) is a group of herbaceous vines found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas. Primarily distributed in Central America, with a few also found in the West Indies and South America, the species of Passiflora sect. Xerogona are recognized by their unusual dehiscent capsular fruit, the absence of bracts and laminar nectaries, and their transversely grooved seeds. Passiflora tenella Killip is the only species included in Passiflora sect. Xerogona with a fruit that does not appear to be a capsule, but the shape of the leaves and the absence of floral bracts and laminar nectaries suggest affiliation with this section. Fifteen species, including two subspecies, are recognized within Passiflora sect. Xerogona. Passiflora cobanensis Killip is distinguished as two subspecies, P. cobanensis subsp. cobanensis and P. cobanensis subsp. brevipes (Killip) T. Boza, with the latter subspecies transferred from P. brevipes Killip. From previous species circumscriptions, this section contains two problematic species complexes for P. capsularis L. and P. rubra L. The morphological variation between and within these two species complexes was examined in this study, using Principal Component Analysis and correlation matrices of morphological characters, and this variation was studied throughout their distributional ranges. Passiflora capsularis is recognized as a single variable species. Two species are recognized within the P. rubra complex, based primarily on floral characters, as P. cisnana Harms and P. rubra. Passiflora cisnana is lectotypified.

Names within Passiflora section Dysosmia (Passifloraceae) were evaluated for proper typification and nomenclatural clarity. Because several names lacked type material, 13 lectotypes, two neotypes, and four epitypes are here designated to maintain nomenclatural stability. Many more names suffered from other nomenclatural discrepancies and thus four orthographic errors, six author citations, and 12 type designations are here corrected to comply with the International Code of Nomenclature (ICN). Seven names in Dysosmia are treated as ambiguous and 12 names are identified as either invalid or illegitimate.

An understanding of human health implications from atmosphere exposure is a priority in both the geographic and the public health domains. The unique properties of geographic tools for remote sensing of the atmosphere offer a distinct ability to characterize and model aerosols in the urban atmosphere for evaluation of impacts on health. Asthma, as a manifestation of upper respiratory disease prevalence, is a good example of the potential interface of geographic and public health interests. The current study focused on Athens, Greece during the year of 2004 and (1) demonstrates a systemized process for aligning data obtained from satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) with geographic location and time, (2) evaluates the ability to apply imputation methods to censored data, and (3) explores whether AOD data can be used satisfactorily to investigate the association between AOD and health impacts using an example of hospital admission for childhood asthma. This work demonstrates the ability to apply remote sensing data in the evaluation of health outcomes, that the alignment process for remote sensing data is readily feasible, and that missing data can be imputed with a sufficient degree of reliability to develop complete datasets. Individual variables demonstrated small but significant effect levels on hospital admission of children for AOD, nitrogen oxides (NOx), relative humidity (rH), temperature, smoke, and inversely for ozone. However, when applying a multivari-able model, an association with asthma hospital admissions and air quality could not be demonstrated. This work is promising and will be expanded to include additional years.