Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States

Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States. Carlos Vélez-Ib´ñez. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996. 360 pp.     

Two trends in middle-class birth in the United States

This discussion focuses on two important trends in American childbirth that have emerged in the past 30 years, the demand for a perfect baby and the desire for a perfect birth. These two trends are particularly important in the subgroup of middle-class women who have decided on delayed childbearing. Tremendous technological innovations, such as ultra-sound, prenatal genetic analysis, and fetal monitoring, have promoted the perception that physicians can control the prenatal environment and predict the pregnancy outcome. This expectation may lead to bitterness and anger in the event of an adverse pregnancy outcome. In contrast, women and their families have also come to desire more control over the birth experience. If the parents’ birth plan is not achieved and their expectations not fulfilled, many parents feel they have not performed well. When the physician acts as a guide in the birth process, parents and physicians together may transcend the conflict to achieve a more satisfactory birth experience.     

Estimation of animal intelligence by university students in Japan and the United States

Abstract

Japanese and American university students rated the intelligence of 56 animals relative to that of humans. In general, American students (n=104) rated animal intelligence higher than did Japanese students (n=235), and females rated intelligence higher than did males. In spite of these differences among groups, the general patterns of ratings were almost identical: The correlation coefficients of the male–female comparisons were 0.99 in both countries, and the coefficients of Japan–US comparisons in male and female groups were 0.95 and 0.96, respectively The intelligence ratings generally corresponded to the so-called “phylogenetic scale” from amoeba to chimpanzee, with several exceptions. The implications of these findings for the cross-cultural analysis of perceptions of animal mentality are discussed.     

Social Support in Two Cultures: Everyday Transactions in the U.S. and Empathic Assurance in Japan

We studied received social support using the cross-cultural method of situation sampling. College students from the US and Japan described and rated recent examples of received social support, both everyday support as well as support in response to stress. Middle class, European-American (EuA) students’ situations fit a model in which support is frequent and offered freely in interactions, even for relatively minor issues. Even when it’s unrequested, EuA support makes recipients feel in control, and support-givers are perceived to have acted by free choice. In contrast, results suggest that middle-class Japanese (Jpn) contexts favor support that is empathic and responsive to the recipients’ degree of need. Japanese support was experienced positively when it was emotional support, when it was in more serious situations and when the support was rated as needed by the recipient. In Japan, although problem-based support is most common, it is not particularly positive, apparently because it is less likely to be perceived as needed.     

Dragma Hippomanicum V: Two new Astragali from Intermountain United States

Astragalus (sect.Argophylli subsect.Pseudargophylli)holmgreniorum, from the Virgin valley along the Utah-Arizona border, and A. (sect.Reventi-Arrecti subsect. Orcuttiani)ackermanii, from S Nevada, are described, figured and discussed.     

Geomicrobiological Changes in Two Ephemeral Desert Playa Lakes in the Western United States

The geochemistry and microbiology of two ephemeral playa lakes in the Western United States, Surprise Valley Alkali Lake (SVAL) and Eldorado Playa (EP), were examined over one wetting cycle, revealing dramatic temporal changes in suspended mineralogy, aqueous chemistry, and bacterial populations. In SVAL the predominant suspended mineral changed from smectite to vermiculite and clinoptilolite, which led to a depletion of soluble Mg²⁺. Nitrate became depleted in both playas as a result of biological nitrogen demand imparted by unusually dense microbial communities reaching ～1 × 10⁸ cultivable heterotrophs per ml of water. One hundred eighty eight bacterial isolates were obtained, representing sixty phylotypes and four phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the microbial communities reflected different phases of succession, with SVAL changing from a diverse community with abundant Yonghaparkia to a less diverse late summer community with abundant Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria such as Loktanella, Rhodobaca, Saccharospirillum, Flexibacter, and phylogenetically novel members of the Flexibacteriaceae. In EP, a diverse assemblage of bacteria often associated with soils was replaced very quickly by a much less even community dominated by Yonghaparkia, Sandarakinorhabdus, and relatives of Belliella baltica. Strikingly, the early summer microbial community from SVAL was not significantly different from the EP community that developed within one week of flooding, even though these playas are almost 1000 km apart, whereas sympatric communities in different phases of succession were different. To our knowledge, this is one of the first geomicrobiological studies of a recharge playa, the dominant playa type worldwide.     

Breast-feeding as cultural or personal decision: sources of information and actual success in Japan and the United States

The impact of sources of information about breastfeeding used by Japanese and American primiparous women during pregnancy is examined in relation to subsequent maternal behavior and success in breast feeding infants during the 1st week, 1st month, and 3rd month after birth. Culture differences were found in the sources of information used. Japanese mothers used more sources reflecting a formal, impersonal, group-oriented learning context, while American mothers used a greater variety of sources, reflecting both an informal, private, personalized approach and a formal approach. Hospital classes taught by nurses were significantly negatively correlated with success in breastfeeding in both cultures (r=0.78, P0.01). Private consultations with health professionals and reading materials (books, magazines, pamphlets) were found to have little or no correlation with success in breastfeeding. The findings indicate that present sources of information on breastfeeding are not achieving the desired result--assisting women in learning to breast feed their infants successfully. Sources of information need to be reevaluated in terms of content, tenor, and the culture learning context in which information is being disseminated.     

Two new species of Gomphidius from the Western United States and Eastern Siberia

Study of the genus Gomphidius from recent material from Asia and North America has been carried out using traditional taxonomy combined with molecular systematics. Two new species of Gomphidius (G. borealis and G. pseudoflavipes) are described, one from Eastern Siberia and a second from rarely collected habitats in the Western United States. One taxon has the longest spores reported for the genus and the second species appears to be associated with a Siberian larch.     

Imagined States: Nationalism, Utopia and Longing in the Oral Cultures

Imagined States: Nationalism, Utopia and Longing in the Oral Cultures. Luisa Del Giudice and Gerald Porter. eds. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2001. 217 pp.