Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Greensboro published in 2015"

Default and Executive Network Coupling Supports Creative Idea Production

Abstract: The role of attention in creative cognition remains controversial. Neuroimaging studies have reported activation of brain regions linked to both cognitive control and spontaneous imaginative processes, raising questions about how these regions interact to support creative thought. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we explored this question by examining dynamic interactions between brain regions during a divergent thinking task. Multivariate pattern analysis revealed a distributed network associated with divergent thinking, including several core hubs of the default (posterior cingulate) and executive (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) networks. The resting-state network affiliation of these regions was confirmed using data from an independent sample of participants. Graph theory analysis assessed global efficiency of the divergent thinking network, and network efficiency was found to increase as a function of individual differences in divergent thinking ability. Moreover, temporal connectivity analysis revealed increased coupling between default and salience network regions (bilateral insula) at the beginning of the task, followed by increased coupling between default and executive network regions at later stages. Such dynamic coupling suggests that divergent thinking involves cooperation between brain networks linked to cognitive control and spontaneous thought, which may reflect focused internal attention and the top-down control of spontaneous cognition during creative idea production.

Black Feminist Thought

Abstract: Black feminist thought is a term used to describe a collection of ideas, writings, and art that articulates a standpoint of, for, and by African American women in the United States. Black feminist thought positions African American women as a group that is socially situated in a unique status due to simultaneous interlocking processes of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexual orientation. This theoretical framework posits that the politics of location and the intrapersonal and interpersonal negotiation of intersecting social identities shape African American women's individual and collective consciousness, self-definitions, and actions. The history of black feminist thought as expressed through activism and seminal scholarship are presented. Keywords: African American; feminism; gender; identity politics; nationalism

The genomes of two key bumblebee species with primitive eusocial organization

Abstract: The shift from solitary to social behavior is one of the major evolutionary transitions Primitively eusocial bumblebees are uniquely placed to illuminate the evolution of highly eusocial insect societies Bumblebees are also invaluable natural and agricultural pollinators, and there is widespread concern over recent population declines in some species High-quality genomic data will inform key aspects of bumblebee biology, including susceptibility to implicated population viability threats We report the high quality draft genome sequences of Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens, two ecologically dominant bumblebees and widely utilized study species Comparing these new genomes to those of the highly eusocial honeybee Apis mellifera and other Hymenoptera, we identify deeply conserved similarities, as well as novelties key to the biology of these organisms Some honeybee genome features thought to underpin advanced eusociality are also present in bumblebees, indicating an earlier evolution in the bee lineage Xenobiotic detoxification and immune genes are similarly depauperate in bumblebees and honeybees, and multiple categories of genes linked to social organization, including development and behavior, show high conservation Key differences identified include a bias in bumblebee chemoreception towards gustation from olfaction, and striking differences in microRNAs, potentially responsible for gene regulation underlying social and other traits These two bumblebee genomes provide a foundation for post-genomic research on these key pollinators and insect societies Overall, gene repertoires suggest that the route to advanced eusociality in bees was mediated by many small changes in many genes and processes, and not by notable expansion or depauperation

Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis.

Abstract: Despite the common lay assumption that males and females are profoundly different, Hyde (2005) used data from 46 meta-analyses to demonstrate that males and females are highly similar. Nonetheless, the gender similarities hypothesis has remained controversial. Since Hyde's provocative report, there has been an explosion of meta-analytic interest in psychological gender differences. We utilized this enormous collection of 106 meta-analyses and 386 individual meta-analytic effects to reevaluate the gender similarities hypothesis. Furthermore, we employed a novel data-analytic approach called metasynthesis (Zell & Krizan, 2014) to estimate the average difference between males and females and to explore moderators of gender differences. The average, absolute difference between males and females across domains was relatively small (d = 0.21, SD = 0.14), with the majority of effects being either small (46%) or very small (39%). Magnitude of differences fluctuated somewhat as a function of the psychological domain (e.g., cognitive variables, social and personality variables, well-being), but remained largely constant across age, culture, and generations. These findings provide compelling support for the gender similarities hypothesis, but also underscore conditions under which gender differences are most pronounced.

Professional capital: transforming teaching in every school

Abstract: By placing Professional Capital into this educational policy landscape, its aims can be more carefully examined. The book can be read as a reaction to social and political forces that Hargreaves an...

Schizotypy: Looking Back and Moving Forward

Abstract: This article introduces and reviews the history of the construct of schizotypy for the special section appearing in the journal. Schizotypy offers a useful construct for understanding the etiology, development, and expression of schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology and a unifying construct for linking a broad continuum of clinical and subclinical manifestations. The article reviews the descriptive psychopathology roots of schizotypy, Meehl and Claridge’s classical formulations of the construct (including the debate about dimensional vs taxonic structure), and the need for a comprehensive, multidimensional model of schizotypy. The article briefly reviews the wide empirical literature supporting schizotypy and also examines several criticisms and misconceptions about the construct and research methods used to assess it. Finally, the article offers several suggested goals for future schizotypy research.

Rule-Governed Behavior: A Potential Theoretical Framework for Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy

Abstract: The emergence and increasingly wide acceptance of cognitively based treat-ments are major developments in behavior therapy. In recent years there has been the formation of a new journal, Cognitive Therapy and Research, and a special interest group within the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy devoted to cognitive-behavioral therapy (Dowd, 1978), as well as the appearance of several major books in the area (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979; Kendall & Hollon, 1979, 1981; Mahoney, 1974; Meichenbaum, 1977).

The Role of Schizotypy in the Study of the Etiology of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Abstract: Schizotypy provides a useful construct for understanding the development of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. As research on the epidemiology of psychotic symptoms and clinical risk for psychosis has expanded, conceptual challenges have emerged to comprehend the nature and borders of the space comprised between personality variation and psychosis. Schizotypy is considered in light of these more recent constructs. It is suggested that rather than being superseded by them due to their higher specificity and predictive power for transition to psychosis, schizotypy integrates them as it constitutes a dynamic continuum ranging from personality to psychosis. The advantages of schizotypy for studying schizophrenia etiology are discussed (eg, it facilitates a developmental approach and the identification of causal, resilience, and compensating factors and offers a multidimensional structure that captures etiological heterogeneity). An overview of putative genetic, biological, and psychosocial risk factors is presented, focusing on communalities and differences between schizotypy and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The found notable overlap supports etiological continuity, and, simultaneously, differential findings appear that are critical to understanding resilience to schizophrenia. For example, discrepant findings in genetic studies might be interpreted as suggestive of sets of independent genetic factors playing a differential role in schizotypy and schizophrenia: some would influence variation specifically on schizotypy dimensions (ie, high vs low schizotypy, thereby increasing proneness to psychosis), some would confer unspecific liability to disease by impacting neural properties and susceptibility to environmental factors (ie, high vs low resilience to disorder) and some might contribute to disease–specific characteristics. Finally, schizotypy’s promise for studying gene-environment interactions is considered.

Racial Identity and Well-Being among African Americans:

Abstract: How racial identity influences self-esteem and psychological well-being among African Americans remains unresolved due to unexplained inconsistencies in theoretical predictions and empirical findings. Using data from the National Survey of American Life (N = 3,570), we tested hypotheses derived from social identity theory and the internalized racism perspective. Findings support social identity theory in showing that African Americans strongly identify with their group and view it very positively. In addition, those who identify more with their group and evaluate it more positively have greater self-esteem, greater mastery, and fewer depressive symptoms. However, findings also support the internalized racism perspective by showing that when group evaluation is relatively negative, racial identification is related to lower mastery and higher depressive symptoms. We conclude that both social identity theory and the internalized racism perspective are necessary for understanding how racial identity is related to self-attitudes and mental health among African Americans.

Intelligence and Creativity Are Pretty Similar After All

Abstract: This article reviews the history of thought on how intelligence and creativity, two individual differences important to teaching and learning, are connected. For decades, intelligence and creativity have been seen as essentially unrelated abilities. Recently, however, new theories, assessment methods, and statistical tools have caused a shift in the field’s consensus. New lines of work on creative thinking strategies, executive cognitive processes and abilities, and cognitive neuroscience have revealed that intelligence and creativity are much more closely linked than the field has thought. The deep connections between these concepts offer opportunities for a more fertile conception of both intelligence and creativity, one that emphasizes similarities between solving problems with right answers and thinking flexibly, critically, and playfully.

Parenting Stress, Parental Reactions, and Externalizing Behavior From Ages 4 to 10

Abstract: The association between parenting stress and child externalizing behavior, and the mediating role of parenting, has yielded inconsistent findings; however, the literature has typically been cross-sectional and unidirectional. In the current study the authors examined the longitudinal transactions among parenting stress, perceived negative parental reactions, and child externalizing at 4, 5, 7, and 10 years old. Models examining parent effects (parenting stress to child behavior), child effects (externalizing to parental reactions and stress), indirect effects of parental reactions, and the transactional associations among all variables, were compared. The transactional model best fit the data, and longitudinal reciprocal effects emerged between parenting stress and externalizing behavior. The mediating role of parental reactions was not supported; however, indirect effects suggest that parenting stress both is affected by and affects parent and child behavior. The complex associations among parent and child variables indicate the importance of interventions to improve the parent-child relationship and reducing parenting stress.

Mesoporous nanocrystalline TiO2 supported metal (Cu, Co, Ni, Pd, Zn, and Sn) catalysts: Effect of metal-support interactions on steam reforming of methanol

Abstract: Mesoporous TiO2 supported Cu, Co, Ni, Pd, Sn and Zn catalysts (M-TiO2) were synthesized using facile one-step synthesis method and were characterized using BET, XRD, TGA-DSC, TEM, SEM-EDX, ICP-OES, and H2-TPR studies The catalysts were further tested for steam reforming of methanol (SRM) to investigate their comparative catalytic performance Depending on the nature of the metal component, the catalysts exhibited surface area, pore sizes, and TiO2 crystallite sizes in the range of 99–309 m2/g, 263–469 nm and 68–172 nm, respectively N2-physorption, TGA-DSC and XRD analysis demonstrated that the presence of metal in the TiO2 matrix stabilized the mesoporous structure by hindering the crystal growth during heat treatment and thereby preventing the collapse of porous structure Furthermore, the characterization of 5–20% Zn-TiO2 catalysts indicated that there exist an optimum Zn loading to obtain highest surface area which was found to be 15% in the present study giving a high surface area of ∼258 m2/g This was consistent with the SRM studies where the activity increased up to 15% and then decreased significantly with further increase in Zn loading to 20% The results of the SRM studies coupled with extensive TPR analysis of different M-TiO2 catalysts suggest that the specific metal-support interactions play a crucial role in controlling its performance on H2 production The SRM activity order for different metals incorporated in mesoporous TiO2 was observed to be: Pd > Ni > Zn > Co >> Cu >> Sn The Zn-TiO2 catalyst showed the lowest CO selectivity among the different catalysts studied

Openness to experience and awe in response to nature and music: Personality and profound aesthetic experiences.

Abstract: Profound aesthetic experiences associated with awe—often described as a sense of wonder, amazement, fascination, or being moved and touched—have received less attention than milder states like pleasure, liking, and interest. Who tends to experience these powerful states? We suggest that openness to experience, although not normally seen as an emotional trait, is a propensity for awe-like experiences that stretch one’s normal ways of thinking about oneself and the world. A sample of 103 adults took part in a two-phase study that examined the role of openness to experience in two domains: nature and music. In the first phase, people viewed 14 images of the sky and space and rated their experience of each on items related to awe, wonder, and fascination. In the second phase, people listened to a song with qualities known to evoke awe (“Hoppípolla” by Sigur Rós) and rated their experience of it afterward. Openness to experience predicted the experience of awe for both space images (r = .48) and music (r = .35), and the experience of awe was correlated across the domains (r = .35). The other four factors of personality had much smaller effects, and extraversion’s effects were consistently near zero, indicating that awe-like experience differs from the activated positive affectivity typical of extraversion. Overall, the results support the view of openness to experience as an essentially aesthetic trait and extend it to deeper aesthetic states.

The Impact of Small- and Medium-Sized Family Firms on Economic Growth

Abstract: Drawing on family business studies and the knowledge-based view of economic growth, we develop and test a model of how the prevalence of small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) under family control affects economic growth. Specifically, we propose there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between family SMEs' proportional representation and economic growth owing to their relative strengths and limitations vis-a`-vis non-family SMEs. Using state-level data from the US between 2004 and 2010, we find support for our hypothesis and the underlying contention that economic growth is maximized when an economy includes a balanced mix of family and non-family SMEs.

Is Playing Video Games Related to Cognitive Abilities

Abstract: The relations between video-game experience and cognitive abilities were examined in the current study. In two experiments, subjects performed a number of working memory, fluid intelligence, and attention-control measures and filled out a questionnaire about their video-game experience. In Experiment 1, an extreme-groups analysis indicated that experienced video-game players outperformed nonplayers on several cognitive-ability measures. However, in Experiments 1 and 2, when analyses examined the full range of subjects at both the task level and the latent-construct level, nearly all of the relations between video-game experience and cognitive abilities were near zero. These results cast doubt on recent claims that playing video games leads to enhanced cognitive abilities. Statistical and methodological issues with prior studies of video-game experience are discussed along with recommendations for future studies.

The Role of Strategic Agility in Acquisitions

Abstract: The aim of the present study is to examine the role of strategic agility as a component of the acquisition process by investigating its constituent elements and effects on knowledge transfer in the context of acquisitions. The study also elaborates on the relationship between knowledge transfer and performance in acquisitions. We test our theoretical model on a quantitative data set of acquisitions conducted by Finnish companies.

Adhesion-dependent rupturing of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on biological antimicrobial nanostructured surfaces.

Abstract: Recent studies have shown that some nanostructured surfaces (NSS), many of which are derived from surfaces found on insect cuticles, rupture and kill adhered prokaryotic microbes. Most important, the nanoscale topography is directly responsible for this effect. Although parameters such as cell adhesion and cell wall rigidity have been suggested to play significant roles in this process, there is little experimental evidence regarding the underlying mechanisms involving NSS-induced microbial rupture. In this work, we report the NSS-induced rupturing of a eukaryotic microorganism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that the amount of NSS-induced rupture of S. cerevisiae is dependent on both the adhesive qualities of the yeast cell and the nanostructure geometry of the NSS. Thus, we are providing the first empirical evidence that these parameters play a direct role in the rupturing of microbes on NSS. Our observations of this phenomenon with S. cerevisiae, particularly the morphological changes, are strikingly similar to that reported for bacteria despite the differences in the yeast cell wall structure. Consequently, NSS provide a novel approach for the control of microbial growth and development of broad-spectrum microbicidal surfaces.

Luteolin protects against vascular inflammation in mice and TNF-alpha-induced monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells via suppressing IΚBα/NF-κB signaling pathway

Abstract: Vascular inflammation plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Luteolin, a naturally occurring flavonoid present in many medicinal plants and some commonly consumed fruits and vegetables, has received wide attention for its potential to improve vascular function in vitro. However, its effect in vivo and the molecular mechanism of luteolin at physiological concentrations remain unclear. Here, we report that luteolin as low as 0.5 μM significantly inhibited tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α-induced adhesion of monocytes to human EA.hy 926 endothelial cells, a key event in triggering vascular inflammation. Luteolin potently suppressed TNF-α-induced expression of the chemokine monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), key mediators involved in enhancing endothelial cell-monocyte interaction. Furthermore, luteolin inhibited TNF-α-induced nuclear factor (NF)-κB transcriptional activity, IκBα degradation, expression of IκB kinase β and subsequent NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation in endothelial cells, suggesting that luteolin can inhibit inflammation by suppressing NF-κB signaling. In an animal study, C57BL/6 mice were fed a diet containing 0% or 0.6% luteolin for 3 weeks, and luteolin supplementation greatly suppressed TNF-α-induced increase in circulating levels of MCP-1/JE, CXCL1/KC and sICAM-1 in C57BL/6 mice. Consistently, dietary intake of luteolin significantly reduced TNF-α-stimulated adhesion of monocytes to aortic endothelial cells ex vivo. Histology shows that luteolin treatment prevented the eruption of endothelial lining in the intima layer of the aorta and preserved elastin fibers' delicate organization as shown by Verhoeff-Van Gieson staining. Immunohistochemistry studies further show that luteolin treatment also reduced VCAM-1 and monocyte-derived F4/80-positive macrophages in the aorta of TNF-α-treated mice. In conclusion, luteolin protects against TNF-α-induced vascular inflammation in both in vitro and in vivo models. This anti-inflammatory effect of luteolin may be mediated via inhibition of the NF-κB-mediated pathway.

Guest Editors’ Introduction: The Role of Human Resources and Organizational Factors in Ambidexterity

Abstract: Ambidexterity is a growing field of management research. However, the role of human resources (HR) and organizational factors needs further exploration because of the fragmented nature of prior work and the subsequent lack of a unifying framework. Our review of 41 empirical studies identifies distinct research streams that relate to the effects of employee characteristics, leader characteristics, organizational structure, culture, social relationships, and organizational environment on ambidexterity. We discuss the most important findings within each stream, which contributes to the HR and ambidexterity literature by addressing the current state of our knowledge. To move forward research in this area, we identify important, yet underexplored areas in each stream. This contributes to the literature by highlighting specific gaps in our current knowledge that represent new avenues for future research. We also identify important interrelationships between different streams that need further clarification. We summarize our findings into an integrative model that elucidates the role of HR and organizational factors in ambidexterity. This contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of ambidexterity from the HR and organizational perspectives. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Protective Role of Familism in the Lives of Latino Adolescents

Abstract: Familism, a Latino value that promotes loyalty, cohesiveness, and obedience within the family, predicts improved outcomes for Latino adolescents. However, few studies have tested whether familism serves a protective role when adolescents are facing stress. We examined whether familism predicted psychosocial outcomes in the context of stress, and whether familism moderated the relationship between peer discrimination, acculturative stress, and economic stress predicting these outcomes in a sample of 173 Latino adolescents. Familism was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater school attachment, but it did not moderate the relationship between any of the stressors and outcomes. Discrimination was associated with greater depressive symptoms, worse school attachment, and greater perceived barriers to college, but socioeconomic stress and acculturation stress did not uniquely predict these outcomes once taking into account discrimination. Thus, although familial culture values lead to improved out...

Early Parenting and the Development of Externalizing Behavior Problems: Longitudinal Mediation Through Children's Executive Function.

Abstract: Path analysis was used to investigate the longitudinal associations among parenting and children's executive function and externalizing behavior problems from 36 to 90 months of age in the Family Life Project (N = 1,115), a study of child development in the context of rural poverty. While controlling for stability in the constructs, semistructured observations of parenting prospectively predicted performance on a battery of executive function tasks and primary caregivers' reports of externalizing behavior. Furthermore, the association between early parenting and later externalizing behavior was longitudinally mediated by executive function, providing support for a process model in which sensitive parenting promotes children's self-regulation, which in turn reduces children's externalizing behavior.

Creative days: A daily diary study of emotion, personality, and everyday creativity.

Abstract: Each day presents an opportunity to engage in small acts of creativity. The present study aimed to understand the ecology of everyday creativity: how certain emotions may help or hinder creative pursuits and who behaves more creatively on a daily basis. We recruited a large sample of 658 young adults (17 to 25 year old; M = 19.8 years) who rated their creativity and their experience of eighteen positive and negative emotion states each day for 13 days using an Internet daily diary method. High activation positive emotions like feeling excited, energetic, and enthusiastic were the most favourable to everyday creativity. Young adults higher in these states reported the most creativity overall, and, on days when people experienced these states, creativity was higher than normal. Medium and low activation positive emotion states like happiness and relaxation were also beneficial to creativity, although not as strongly. Negative emotion states were unrelated to, or antagonistic with creativity. People higher in openness reported the most creativity, which was more strongly yoked to their emotions: They were more creative on emotionally positive days and less creative on emotionally negative days. These findings suggest that creative days are characterised by greater emotional zest and engagement, that open people are creative people, and that personality modulates the emotioncreativity link. Fostering feelings of engagement, zest, and greater openness to new experiences may be the keys to everyday creativity.

Making sense of the elusive paradigm of entrepreneurship

Abstract: The term “entrepreneurship” apparently means different things to different people including scholars and thought leaders Because entrepreneurship is multifaceted, it is studied from many different perspectives, yet, that has fostered a multitude of definitions Even the scholarly literature (where normally the deepest understanding would be found) is rife with disparities and even contradictions about what is and is not entrepreneurship Some have suggested a narrower and more defined focus on entrepreneurship where only bona fide entrepreneurship research theories would explain entrepreneurial phenomena We believe that constricting the field may the wrong approach Our purpose then is to try and make sense of the disparate meanings and views of entrepreneurship prevalent in both the scholarly literature as well as among thought leaders in business and policy We reconcile the seemingly chaotic and contradictory literature by proposing a coherent approach to structure the disparate ways that entrepreneurship is used and referred to in the scholarly literature We examine three coherent strands of the entrepreneurship literature and identify an emerging eclectic view of entrepreneurship, which combines several of the views prevalent in the main approaches discussed

Dose-response relation between exercise duration and cognition.

Abstract: Purpose: The study aimed to provide evidence-based recommendations for the prescription of a single session of exercise to improve cognitive performance. In particular, the purpose was to determine the dose–response relation between exercise duration and cognitive performance for a moderate-intensity session of aerobic exercise. Methods: Twenty-six healthy young men participated in a reading control treatment and three exercise treatments presented in a random order. The exercise treatments were designed on the basis of the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines and consisted of a 5-min warm-up, a 5-min cooldown, and cycling at moderate intensity (approximately 65% HR reserve) for 10, 20, or 45 min. The Stroop test was administrated after completion of each assigned treatment. Results: Exercise at moderate intensity for 20 min resulted in significantly better cognitive performance, as assessed by shorter response time and higher accuracy. This result was found regardless of the type of cognitive function assessed. In addition, a curvilinear dose–response relation between exercise duration and cognitive performance was observed. Conclusions: An exercise session consisting of a 5-min warm-up, 20 min of moderate-intensity exercise, and a 5-min cooldown improves cognition, whereas shorter or longer durations of moderate exercise have negligible benefits. This study provides the foundation for the prescription of a single session of moderate exercise to facilitate cognitive function in healthy younger adults.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention programme training components: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Background Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevention programmes have shown mixed results, which may be due to differing emphasis on training components. The purpose of this study was to (1) quantify the overall and relative duration of each training component encompassed within these programmes and (2) examine the effect of these durations on ACL injury rates. Methods A systematic review was completed and meta-analyses performed on eligible studies to produce a pooled OR estimate of the effectiveness of these programmes. Meta-regression was used to detect any relationship that programme duration and the duration of individual training components had on ACL injury rates. Results 13 studies were included for review. Results of the meta-analyses revealed a significant reduction of injuries after preventative training programmes for all ACL injuries (pooled OR estimate of 0.612, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.85; p=0.004) and for non-contact ACL injuries (OR 0.351, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.54; p<0.001). Results of meta-regression analysis revealed that a greater duration of balance training was associated with a higher injury risk for ACL injury (p=0.04), while greater durations of static stretching was associated with a lower injury risk for non-contact ACL injuries (p=0.04). Conclusions While ACL prevention programmes are successful in reducing the risk of ACL injury, the ideal combination and emphasis of training components within these programmes remains unclear. Evidence indicates that greater emphases on balance training and static stretching may be associated with an increase and decrease in injury risk, respectively.

Fungal Planet Description Sheets: 371-399

Abstract: Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Australia: Neoseptorioides eucalypti gen. & sp. nov. from Eucalyptus radiata leaves, Phytophthora gondwanensis from soil, Diaporthe tulliensis from rotted stem ends of Theobroma cacao fruit, Diaporthe vawdreyi from fruit rot of Psidium guajava, Magnaporthiopsis agrostidis from rotted roots of Agrostis stolonifera and Semifissispora natalis from Eucalyptus leaf litter. Furthermore, Neopestalotiopsis egyptiaca is described from Mangifera indica leaves (Egypt), Roussoella mexicana from Coffea arabica leaves (Mexico), Calonectria monticola from soil (Thailand), Hygrocybe jackmanii from littoral sand dunes (Canada), Lindgomyces madisonensis from submerged decorticated wood (USA), Neofabraea brasiliensis from Malus domestica (Brazil), Geastrum diosiae from litter (Argentina), Ganoderma wiiroense on angiosperms (Ghana), Arthrinium gutiae from the gut of a grasshopper (India), Pyrenochaeta telephoni from the screen of a mobile phone (India) and Xenoleptographium phialoconidium gen. & sp. nov. on exposed xylem tissues of Gmelina arborea (Indonesia). Several novelties are introduced from Spain, namely Psathyrella complutensis on loamy soil, Chlorophyllum lusitanicum on nitrified grasslands (incl. Chlorophyllum arizonicum comb. nov.), Aspergillus citocrescens from cave sediment and Lotinia verna gen. & sp. nov. from muddy soil. Novel foliicolous taxa from South Africa include Phyllosticta carissicola from Carissa macrocarpa, Pseudopyricularia hagahagae from Cyperaceae and Zeloasperisporium searsiae from Searsia chirindensis. Furthermore, Neophaeococcomyces is introduced as a novel genus, with two new combinations, N. aloes and N. catenatus. Several foliicolous novelties are recorded from La Reunion, France, namely Ochroconis pandanicola from Pandanus utilis, Neosulcatispora agaves gen. & sp. nov. from Agave vera-cruz, Pilidium eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus robusta, Strelitziana syzygii from Syzygium jambos (incl. Strelitzianaceae fam. nov.) and Pseudobeltrania ocoteae from Ocotea obtusata (Beltraniaceae emend.). Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.