Texas, Mobile, and Wilson’s Raid

Civil wars in both the United States and Mexico during the 1850s–1860s fostered the most serious challenge to the Monroe Doctrine in American history. Taking advantage of Mexico’s internal troubles, Emperor Napoleon III of France installed a Hapsburg prince as the new emperor of Mexico. Although invited to intervene by Mexican conservatives, no one liked the prince who remained on the throne only at the point of thirty thousand French Army bayonets. The U.S. government tried to intimidate Napoleon to withdraw his troops by placing a small force in the lower Rio Grande Valley, but it failed to have an effect. Two campaigns closed the war in the West by capturing Mobile, Alabama, and destroying Confederate war industries in Alabama and Georgia before the Federals could shift large numbers of troops to Texas and finally bring an end to the French intervention in Mexico.

Development of a Cyberinfrastructure for Assessment of the Lower Rio Grande Valley North and Central Watersheds Characteristics

Lower Laguna Madre (LLM) is designated as an impaired waterway for high concentrations of bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. The main freshwater sources to the LLM flow from the North and Central waterways which are composed of three main waterways: Hidalgo/Willacy Main Drain (HWMD), Raymondville Drain (RVD), and International Boundary & Water Commission North Floodway (IBWCNF) that are not fully characterized. The objective of this study is to perform a watershed characterization to determine the potential pollution sources of each watershed. The watershed characterization was achieved by developing a cyberinfrastructure, and it collects a wide inventory of data to identify which one of the three waterways has a major contribution to the LLM. Cyberinfrastructure development using the Geographic Information System (GIS) database helped to comprehend the major characteristics of each area contributing to the watershed supported by the analysis of the data collected. The watershed characterization process started with delineating the boundaries of each watershed. Then, geospatial and non-geospatial data were added to the cyberinfrastructure from numerous sources including point and nonpoint sources of pollution. Results showed that HWMD and IBWCNF watersheds were found to have a higher contribution to the water impairments to the LLM. HWMD and IBWCNF comprise the potential major sources of water quality impairments such as cultivated crops, urbanized areas, on-site sewage facilities, colonias, and wastewater effluents.

Cissus verticillata (possum grape vine).

Cissus verticillata is a large, climbing species cultivated as an ornamental and medicinal plant around the world. It is native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Once established, C. verticillata grows climbing over the top of the canopy and supporting itself by means of coiled tendrils, or scrambling over the ground. It is common to find this species engulfing entire trees. If the plant is cut, the remaining branches and stems can develop aerial roots that will find their way to the ground, regenerating new. C. verticillata is regarded as a weed in areas within and outside its native distribution range. It was reported in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas in 2003 and may pose a potential weed problem in the citrus groves there and in Florida.

Cissus verticillata (possum grape vine).

Cissus verticillata is a large, climbing species cultivated as an ornamental and medicinal plant around the world. It is native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Once established, C. verticillata grows climbing over the top of the canopy and supporting itself by means of coiled tendrils, or scrambling over the ground. It is common to find this species engulfing entire trees. If the plant is cut, the remaining branches and stems can develop aerial roots that will find their way to the ground, regenerating new. C. verticillata is regarded as a weed in areas within and outside its native distribution range. It was reported in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas in 2003 and may pose a potential weed problem in the citrus groves there and in Florida.

Addressing Neurocognitive Disorders, Dementias, and Alzheimer’s Disease in Colonias of the Lower Rio Grande Valley: Establishing a Research Foundation Using Promotores

Several Texas communities along the Mexi­can border, including the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), are home to low-income Hispanic populations, many of whom live in underserved communities known as colonias. These areas have high incidences of neurocognitive disorders, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD); health care strate­gies that are culturally and linguistically ap­propriate for the area are needed. We aim to build capacity to reduce risk, facilitate treatment, and provide caregiver support for affected individuals. However, gaining trust of communities and presenting information about research studies in a way that is cul­turally appropriate is critical for engagement of underserved communities.This brief report examines our work with local community health workers (CHWs), promotores in Spanish, to establish contact with, engage, mobilize, and educate the Hispanic communities of the LGRV. Lessons from the succesful experience of training promotores in autism spectrum disorder in the LRGV highlight the importance of specifically addressing outreach in health fairs, clinic vists and referral as well as adequate selection, training, management, and support of the promotores as critical aspects. To initiate and sustain recruitment of older adults and care partners in research studies of AD and other dementias in the RGV, we have incorporated these aspects as components of the promotores training and engagement model, which has been developed and implemented by researchers and their colleagues at the School of Medi­cine at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.Ethn Dis. 2020;30(Suppl 2):775-780; doi:10.18865/ed.30.S2.775

Incidence, Severity, and Characterization of Phytophthora Foot Rot of Citrus in Texas and Implications for Disease Management

Phytophthora-induced foot rot, also known as gummosis, is an important disease affecting citrus production worldwide. In Texas, the third-largest citrus-producing state in the United States, limited information is available on the etiology and epidemiology of foot rot in commercial orchards. This study comprises a survey of foot rot incidence and severity in Texas and the characterization of Phytophthora isolates associated with the disease. Surveys in 2015 and 2017 of 30 orchards in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) region where commercial citrus production is concentrated in the state revealed that foot rot occurred in 97% of the orchards assessed. Overall, foot rot symptoms were observed on 33.7% of the trees evaluated and the disease severity index in the region was rated at 14.2 and 16.5% in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Lesions were mostly present on the scion, while the rootstock (sour orange) was not affected. Phytophthora nicotianae was the only Phytophthora sp. isolated from the surveyed orchards and from five additional residential sites on the Texas Coastal Bend (TCB). Sporangia and chlamydospores from 34 representative LRGV isolates of P. nicotianae were larger than those of TCB isolates. In both LRGV and TCB, A1 and A2 mating types were present in the same location, albeit the A2 mating type was more prevalent. All isolates were sensitive to mefenoxam (50% inhibition in the presence of mefenoxam [EC50] < 0.5 µg/ml), except for one TCB isolate (EC50 = 143.6 µg/ml). Our research indicates that treatment for Phytophthora foot rot in the region is necessary and, although mefenoxam is still useful, alternating chemistries for resistance management are required.