How to Avoid "Unenlightened Sorrow": A Statistical Analysis of Plain Remarriage

This article is a basic quantitative analysis of widowhood and remarriage trends among several Plain churches. When compared to past studies of similar topics, a remarkable consistency of findings across both time and sect can be identified. Bereaved Plain spouses have largely experienced widowhood along separate gender-specific paths, in data sets ranging from 1730 to 2019 and from relatively liberal to traditional communities. Positing that much of Amish and Amish Mennonite society is designed to socialize and retain children, this article offers opportunities for deeper study of the parental roles undergirding that society. The primary research suggestions include spousal function in the context of family life, the various factors influencing the health of bereaved spouses, and the "marriage squeeze" present in many churches. The central data sets used in this study were collected from the 2019 edition of the Amish Mennonite Directory and the 2015 Church Directory of the Lancaster County Amish and Outlying Daughter Settlements. These reference books were sampled on a one-in-five and one-in-three basis, respectively. The resultant widowhood cases were contextualized by widowhood cases from studies by Elmer Lewis Smith and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Pandemic Among the Amish: A Look at the Effects of COVID-19 on Amish Communities in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the First Four Months

March 2020 will be remembered as one of the most unusual months in living memory. When COVID-19 spread across the country, its reach and impact affected every region and every person in some way. The "new normal" forced much of the world to face a new reality of stay-at-home orders, food shortages, and rising death rates. Initially, the pandemic hit congested urban centers hardest, but the effects of the coronavirus were also felt among the rural Amish communities of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This study offers a preliminary look at how the pandemic affected these communities, focusing on the following themes: sources of news and information; effects of government mandates; and impact of the virus on the day-to-day lives of the Amish during the first four months of the pandemic, from late March 2020 through late July 2020. Findings suggest that the Amish experienced a mix of fear and hope, skepticism and optimism, but also a resolve in their faith, which they felt assured would carry them through the uncertainties of the coming months.

First report: Co-infection of Sarcococca hookeriana (sweetbox) by Coccinonectria pachysandricola and Calonectria pseudonaviculata causes a foliar disease of sweetbox in Pennsylvania

Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana) are high value ornamental shrubs susceptible to disease caused by Calonectria pseudonaviculata (Cps) and Coccinonectria pachysandricola (Cpa) (Malapi-Wight et al. 2016; Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). In July 2018, 18-month old sweetbox with leaf spots and defoliation were observed in a residential landscape in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Small tan leaf spots grew to cover half of the leaf, developing a concentric banding with dark brown rings and a yellow halo (Sup. Doc. 1: Sup. Fig. 1). The symptoms agreed with those of Cpa disease of sweetbox reported from Washington D.C. (Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). Diseased plants were located ~1.5 m from Buxus sempervirens with boxwood blight. Morphological and genetic characterization of isolated fungi and pathogenicity tests followed Salgado-Salazar et al. (2019) (Sup. Doc. 2). White to salmon pink spore masses developed on the abaxial leaf surface after humid chamber incubation. Two distinct fungal cultures were recovered (JAC 18-61, JAC 18-79) on potato dextrose agar (Fisher Scientific, Pittsburg, PA). JAC 18-61 presented cultural and morphological characteristics as described for Cps (Crous et al. 2002). JAC 18-79 produced flat, filamentous, light salmon colonies with tan centers and white filiform borders containing pale pink sporodochia, verticillate and simple conidiophores (x̄: 61.8 ± 20.12 µm, N = 20) with lateral, cylindrical phialides (x̄ = 18.1 ± 5.83 x 2.4 ± 0.7 µm, N = 20), and ellipsoid, hyaline conidia without septa (x̄ = 15.2 ± 1.9 x 3.3 ± 0.7 µm, N = 20). Sexual structures and chlamydospores were not observed. The characteristics of JAC 18-79 agree with those reported for Cpa (Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). Bidirectional sequencing of the ITS, beta-TUB, and RPB1 and RPB2 regions was performed as described (Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). BLASTn comparisons against NCBI GenBank revealed JAC 18-61 sequences (MT318150 and MT328399) shared 100% identity with Cps sequences (JX535321 and JX535307 from isolate CB002). Sequences from JAC 18-79 (MT318151, MT341237 to MT341239) were 100% identical to Cpa sequences (MH892596, MH936775, MH936703 from isolate JAC 16-20 and JF832909, isolate CBS 128674). The genome of JAC 18-79 was sequenced and yielded an assembly of 26.3 Mb (204 contigs > 1000 bases, N50 = 264.3 kb, 92x coverage, JABAHV0000000000) that contained the MAT1-2 mating-type idiomorph and shared 98.9% similarity with Cpa BPI910731. Isolate JAC 18-61 (Cps) caused lesions on wounded and unwounded sweetbox and boxwood leaves (Sup. Table 1). In general, JAC 18-79 (Cpa) infected only wounded leaves of both hosts; however, in one trial, one unwounded sweetbox and two unwounded boxwood plants developed lesions, possibly due to the presence of natural wounds. Control plants did not develop symptoms. These results diverge to some degree from previous reports of Cpa infecting unwounded sweetbox and not infecting wounded boxwood (Salgado-Salazar et al. 2019). These results indicate that virulence variation among Cpa isolates might occur. Plating of symptomatic tissue and examination of spores fulfilled Koch’s postulates for both pathogens. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Cpa blight on sweetbox in Pennsylvania, and the second U.S. report of the disease. This is also the first report of co-infection of Cpa and Cps on diseased sweetbox foliage. Given the capacity of Cpa to infect both sweetbox and boxwood, inspection for Cpa on both hosts is advisable.

Prevalence, control, and treatment of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol in the Amish

BackgroundThe burden of diabetes and cardiovascular risk is not uniform across the USA, with much of this disparity tracking differences in socioeconomic status, cultural practices and lifestyle. To further evaluate disparities in these disorders, we assessed the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia in an Old Order Amish community that is characterized by distinctive sociocultural practices that include a very cohesive social structure and limited use of modern technologies and medications. We compared prevalence of these conditions with that of the overall US population.MethodWe performed a community-wide survey in 5377 Amish individuals aged 18 years and older from the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Amish settlement that included a basic physical examination and fasting blood draw during the period 2010–2018. We then compared the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, defined using standard criteria, between the Amish and the European Caucasian subsample of the 2013–2014 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).ResultsPrevalence rates for diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were 3.3%, 12.7%, and 26.2% in the Amish compared with 13.2%, 37.8% and 35.7% in NHANES (p<0.001 for all). Among individuals with these disorders, Amish were less likely to be aware that they were affected, and among those aware, were less likely to be treated with a medication for their disorder.ConclusionThere is substantially lower prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia in the Amish compared with non-Amish Caucasians in the USA. Possible factors contributing to this disparity include higher physical activity levels in the Amish or other protective sociocultural factors, a greater understanding of which could inform risk reduction interventions for these chronic diseases.

Parkinson’s disease-related motor and non-motor symptoms are not more prevalent in the Lancaster Amish

IntroductionPrevious studies have suggested that the Amish may experience a relatively high prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and/or parkinsonian-motor signs.MethodsWe assessed the frequency of PD-related motor and no-motor symptoms in a large sample from the Amish Community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania age ≥ 18 y.ResultsOf 430 participants ≥ 60 years, five (1.2%) reported a PD diagnosis, a prevalence similar to estimates in the general older adult populations. Of those without a PD diagnosis, 10.5% reported ≥ 1 and 1.2% ≥ 4 motor symptoms for the nine-item PD screening questionnaire. We also used questionnaires to assess non-motor symptoms. Constipation was reported in 0.7%, and daytime sleepiness in 8.1% of the participants. These frequencies are similar to, or lower than, corresponding frequencies reported in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.DiscussionThese data neither support a markedly higher PD prevalence in the Lancaster Amish, nor do they show that non-motor symptoms occur with prevalence different that the general US population. It is possible that the Lancaster Amish differ from other US Amish populations in genetics or environmental exposures, or that there were methodological differences between this study and prior ones.

Community Socioemotional Wealth: Preservation, Succession, and Farming in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

This study builds theory on socioemotional wealth (SEW) in family firms and, specifically, proposes a new concept, community SEW, that moves SEW beyond the organizational level of analysis to include the community level of analysis. We find that owner-managers of family farms prioritize preservation of farming on fertile land and protection of the farming community in their region over economic and, in some instances, family interests. That is, owner-managers’ SEW includes the community in which the family is embedded. We discuss implications for SEW research.