The Crescent and the Bible Belt: Islam in the U.S. Southeast

The Jacksonville Islamic Center is uncommon; its unique qualities are illustrative of the social and cultural issues that accompany a minority status in terms of both religion and nationality or ethnicity. Over the course of the past year (2005-2006), I have conducted ethnographic research within the Muslim community of Jacksonville. My research focuses primarily around the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida (ICNEF) which serves as both mosque and community center, yet my research extended into wider circles of the American Muslim experience, including a conference in Washington D.C. that dealt with issues surrounding Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism in the media hosted by CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations). I have conducted formal interviews as well as participant observations while staying abreast of the current scholarship regarding Islam in American. It is my proposal that my data will demonstrate that the experience of Muslims in Jacksonville who attend the ICNEF is unique, both in context of the larger Muslim world and in contrast to other American Muslim communities. This is in larger measure due to Jacksonville’s Muslim population being large enough to warrant a strong community center and a thriving mosque, but not sizeable enough where there are separate mosques for separate groups of people who might otherwise be divided along such variables as ethnicity, theological/sectarian differences, language, etc. Instead, there is a veritable cornucopia of diversity within the ICNEF, a diversity worthy of examination. This research and subsequent article will present the ways I which this diversity presents itself, navigates through the larger needs and requirements of the community, and participates in interface with the larger, non-Muslim Jacksonville community

Uncovering the genomic heterogeneity of multifocal breast cancer.

Multifocal breast cancer (MFBC), defined as multiple synchronous unilateral lesions of invasive breast cancer, is relatively frequent and has been associated with more aggressive features than unifocal cancer. Here, we aimed to investigate the genomic heterogeneity between MFBC lesions sharing similar histopathological parameters. Characterization of different lesions from 36 patients with ductal MFBC involved the identification of non-silent coding mutations in 360 protein-coding genes (171 tumour and 36 matched normal samples). We selected only patients with lesions presenting the same grade, ER, and HER2 status. Mutations were classified as 'oncogenic' in the case of recurrent substitutions reported in COSMIC or truncating mutations affecting tumour suppressor genes. All mutations identified in a given patient were further interrogated in all samples from that patient through deep resequencing using an orthogonal platform. Whole-genome rearrangement screen was further conducted in 8/36 patients. Twenty-four patients (67%) had substitutions/indels shared by all their lesions, of which 11 carried the same mutations in all lesions, and 13 had lesions with both common and private mutations. Three-quarters of those 24 patients shared oncogenic variants. The remaining 12 patients (33%) did not share any substitution/indels, with inter-lesion heterogeneity observed for oncogenic mutation(s) in genes such as PIK3CA, TP53, GATA3, and PTEN. Genomically heterogeneous lesions tended to be further apart in the mammary gland than homogeneous lesions. Genome-wide analyses of a limited number of patients identified a common somatic background in all studied MFBCs, including those with no mutation in common between the lesions. To conclude, as the number of molecular targeted therapies increases and trials driven by genomic screening are ongoing, our findings highlight the presence of genomic inter-lesion heterogeneity in one-third, despite similar pathological features. This implies that deeper molecular characterization of all MFBC lesions is warranted for the adequate management of those cancers

Nuclear Medicine in Pediatric Nephro-Urology: An Overview.

In the context of ante-natally diagnosed hydronephrosis, the vast majority of children with a dilated renal pelvis do not need any surgical treatment, as the dilatation resolves spontaneously with time. Slow drainage demonstrated at Tc-99m-mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG3) renography does not necessarily mean obstruction. Obstruction is defined as resistance to urinary outflow with urinary stasis at the level of the pelvic-ureteric junction (PUJ) which, if left untreated, will damage the kidney. Unfortunately this definition is retrospective and not clinically helpful. Therefore, the identification of the kidney at risk of losing function in an asymptomatic patient is a major research goal. In the context of renovascular hypertension a DMSA scan can be useful before and after revascularisation procedures (angioplasty or surgery) to assess for gain in kidney function. Renal calculi are increasingly frequent in children. Whilst the vast majority of patients with renal stones do not need functional imaging, DMSA scans with SPECT and a low dose limited CT can be very helpful in the case of complex renal calculi. Congenital renal anomalies such as duplex kidneys, horseshoe kidneys, crossed-fused kidneys and multi-cystic dysplastic kidneys greatly benefit from functional imaging to identify regional parenchymal function, thus directing further management. Positron emission tomography (PET) is being actively tested in genito-urinary malignancies. Encouraging initial reports suggest that F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET is more sensitive than CT in the assessment of lymph nodal metastases in patients with genito-urinary sarcomas; an increased sensitivity in comparison to isotope bone scans for skeletal metastatic disease has also been reported. Further evaluation is necessary, especially with the promising advent of PET/MRI scanners. Nuclear Medicine in paediatric nephro-urology has stood the test of time and is opening up to new exciting developments

Perspectives and challenges of student affairs graduate assistants in residence life: understanding experiences to enhance professional practice

Master of ScienceDepartment of Counseling and Student DevelopmentChristy Moran CraftGraduate assistants in residence life face many different challenges that are unique to their positions, and their wellness is critical to ensuring their place as competent professionals ready to serve students on university campuses. For the continued success and relevance of graduate assistantship positions in housing departments, it is critical that an effort be made to understand these student employees’ experiences as they complete graduate study and are employed under various expectations that may be directly impactful to the manner in which they work with students. This report serves to understand the experiences of residence life graduate assistants to better prepare full-time professionals in supervising and supporting these individuals

The Electoral Campaign as a Social Movement Organization: Temporary Paradigm Shifts

Occasionally, the best way to begin to approach a large and complicated topic is through personal experience. This particular work is, metaphysically speaking, an exploration of how we as a society can redefine the personal as the political; as someone who believes strongly in the essentiality of this practice for recognizing the true form of human interaction, I believe it is fitting to utilize my own individual story throughout the duration of this work. As Francesca Polletta states, "A story captures the particularity of a unique set of events while conveying the general point or pattern of which those events are an instance."} My hope is that my personal story will supplement this piece by serving as a point of elucidation. I also hope that sharing my experience within this academic medium will follow the tradition of the Lourey campaign's challenge of the institutionally imposed boundary between personal and formalized epistemologies

Mandatory Firm Rotation : A qualitative study of audit firms preparations for the upcoming reform

Syfte: Syftet med det här arbetet är att få en bild av hur revisionsbyråerna förbereder sig inför den kommande lagförändringen, samt undersöka om de är medvetna kring olika scenarion som denna lagförändring kan komma att föra med sig. Metod: Vid framställning av analys samt slutsats, har material hämtats från litteratur och kvalitativa telefonintervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med 5 revisorer representerade från 4 olika revisionsbyråer. Litteraturen bestod av vetenskapliga publikationer, facklitteratur, remissvar, uppslagsverk och elektroniska källor. Empiri: Underlaget för empirin presenteras genom en sammanställning av respondenternas svar vid telefonintervjun. Slutsats: Utifrån respondenternas svar ser vi att det råder en medvetenhet kring de olika aspekterna som kan komma av ett införande av byrårotation; ökad arbetsbörda, revisorns oberoende samt ökade kostnader. Respondenterna har i sina organisationer diverse åtgärder samt planer för att hantera dessa aspekter i framtiden. Av studien ser vi också att revisionsbyråerna är väl förberedda inför den kommande lagförändringen, då de arbetar i linje med teorier kopplade till scenarioplanering

Microbiome Taxonomic and Functional Differences in C3H/HeJ Mice Fed a Long-Term High-Fat Diet with Beef Protein ± Ammonium Hydroxide Supplementation

Studies have suggested that alkalinized foods may reduce the effects of the acidogenic Western diet in promoting obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and coronary heart disease. Indeed, a recent study in mice fed a high-fat diet containing dietary beef supplemented with ammonium hydroxide showed improvement in a suite of metabolic outcomes. However, the effects of dietary protein ammonium supplementation on the microbiome remain unknown. In this study, the effects of ammonium supplementation on beef protein towards microbiome taxa and function in a high-fat diet were analyzed. Fecal microbiomes were characterized using a shotgun metagenomic approach for 16-month-old male and female mice after long-term diet treatments. The results for ammoniated diets showed that several bacteria known to be associated with health benefits increased significantly, including Romboutsia, Oscillospiraceae, and Lactococcus cremoris. The beneficial mucin-degrader Akkermansia was especially abundant, with a high prevalence (~86%) in females. Concurrently, the phyla Actinomycetota (Actinobacteria) and Bacteroidota (Bacteroidetes) were significantly reduced. While sex was a confounding factor affecting microbiome responses to ammonium supplementation in dietary protein, it is worth noting that several putatively beneficial microbiome functions increased with ammonium supplementation, such as glycine betaine transport, xenobiotic detoxification, enhanced defense, and others. Conversely, many disease-associated microbiome functions reduced. Importantly, modifying protein pH alone via ammonium supplementation induced beneficial microbiota changes. Taken together, these results suggest that ammonium-supplemented proteins may mediate some negative microbiome-associated effects of high-fat/Western diets