Exponential Reproduction: Coaching Small Group Leaders to Mentor, Motivate, and Move on at Woodside Church

To begin transforming Woodside Church into a disciple-making movement, this project focuses on exponentially reproducing small groups. A pilot program of coaches will train small group leaders to mentor apprentice leaders, motivate members to invite new members, and move on to start new groups. The project is divided into three parts. The first part studies the community and Woodside’s unique ministry. An examination of demographic, financial, religious, and extracurricular data reveals the successful, stretched, and stressed culture of Lower Makefield. To share the Gospel with this community, Woodside evolved from a traditional congregation with committees to a community of small groups and teams. The church’s responses to the U.S. Congregational Life Survey in 2001 and 2008 document the effects of this change. The review concludes by examining the barriers it must break to become a reproducing church. The second part explores the biblical and theological foundations for reproducing small groups by studying the spontaneous expansion of the Apostolic, Reformed, and Missional movements. These principles are applied to a decentralized small group network. A theology of the Church reveals that a network of communities, mirroring the inner life of the Trinity, is a preferred ecclesial paradigm to a clergy-dominated institution. This section concludes with a theology of reproducing small groups, which focuses on the way Jesus, Paul, and twenty-first-century churches apprentice and deploy leaders to reproduce Spirit-led communities. As a catalyst for an exponential network of small groups, the third part presents a pilot program of coaches who supervise small group leaders. The goal is for leaders to embrace the biblical call to reproduce small groups. Leaders will be coached to multiply groups by raising up leaders. Observations, interviews, and questionnaires will assess what facilitates or inhibits reproduction, so these discoveries may be used to coach other small group leaders. Content Reader: Randy Rowland, DMi

Perspective from a Younger Generation -- The Astro-Spectroscopy of Gisbert Winnewisser

Gisbert Winnewisser's astronomical career was practically coextensive with the whole development of molecular radio astronomy. Here I would like to pick out a few of his many contributions, which I, personally, find particularly interesting and put them in the context of newer results.Comment: 14 pages. (Co)authored by members of the MPIfR (Sub)millimeter Astronomy Group. To appear in the Proceedings of the 4th Cologne-Bonn-Zermatt-Symposium "The Dense Interstellar Medium in Galaxies" eds. S. Pfalzner, C. Kramer, C. Straubmeier, & A. Heithausen (Springer: Berlin

Chromosomal Instability in Near-Diploid Colorectal Cancer: A Link between Numbers and Structure

Chromosomal instability (CIN) plays a crucial role in tumor development and occurs mainly as the consequence of either missegregation of normal chromosomes (MSG) or structural rearrangement (SR). However, little is known about the respective chromosomal targets of MSG and SR and the way these processes combined within tumors to generate CIN. To address these questions, we karyotyped a consecutive series of 96 near-diploid colorectal cancers (CRCs) and distinguished chromosomal changes generated by either MSG or SR in tumor cells. Eighty-three tumors (86%) presented with chromosomal abnormalities that contained both MSGs and SRs to varying degrees whereas all 13 others (14%) showed normal karyotype. Using a maximum likelihood statistical method, chromosomes affected by MSG or SR and likely to represent changes that are selected for during tumor progression were found to be different and mostly mutually exclusive. MSGs and SRs were not randomly associated within tumors, delineating two major pathways of chromosome alterations that consisted of either chromosome gains by MSG or chromosomal losses by both MSG and SR. CRCs showing microsatellite instability (MSI) presented with either normal karyotype or chromosome gains whereas MSS (microsatellite stable) CRCs exhibited a combination of the two pathways. Taken together, these data provide new insights into the respective involvement of MSG and SR in near-diploid colorectal cancers, showing how these processes target distinct portions of the genome and result in specific patterns of chromosomal changes according to MSI status

Mutation analysis of the NSD1 gene in patients with autism spectrum disorders and macrocephaly

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sotos syndrome is an overgrowth syndrome characterized by macrocephaly, advanced bone age, characteristic facial features, and learning disabilities, caused by mutations or deletions of the <it>NSD1 </it>gene, located at 5q35. Sotos syndrome has been described in a number of patients with autism spectrum disorders, suggesting that <it>NSD1 </it>could be involved in other cases of autism and macrocephaly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We screened the <it>NSD1 </it>gene for mutations and deletions in 88 patients with autism spectrum disorders and macrocephaly (head circumference 2 standard deviations or more above the mean). Mutation analysis was performed by direct sequencing of all exons and flanking regions. Dosage analysis of <it>NSD1 </it>was carried out using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified three missense variants (R604L, S822C and E1499G) in one patient each, but none is within a functional domain. In addition, segregation analysis showed that all variants were inherited from healthy parents and in two cases were also present in unaffected siblings, indicating that they are probably nonpathogenic. No partial or whole gene deletions/duplications were observed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest that Sotos syndrome is a rare cause of autism spectrum disorders and that screening for <it>NSD1 </it>mutations and deletions in patients with autism and macrocephaly is not warranted in the absence of other features of Sotos syndrome.</p

Longitudinal plasma amyloid beta in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the utility of plasma Aβ in clinical trials of Alzheimer’s disease. METHODS: We analyzed longitudinal plasma samples from two large multicenter clinical trials: (1) donezepil and vitamin E in mild cognitive impairment (n=405, 24 months) and (2) simvastatin in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s (n=225, 18 months). RESULTS: Baseline plasma Aβ was not related to cognitive or clinical progression. We observed a decrease in plasma Aβ40 and 42 among APOE-ε4 carriers relative to noncarriers in the mild cognitive impairment trial. Patients treated with simvastatin showed a significant increase in Aβ compared to placebo. We found significant storage time effects and considerable plate-to-plate variation. CONCLUSIONS: We found no support for the utility of plasma Aβ as a prognostic factor or correlate of cognitive change. Analysis of stored specimens requires careful standardization and experimental design, but plasma Aβ may prove useful in pharmacodynamic studies of anti-amyloid drugs

Molecular-assisted immunohistochemical optimization

10.1016/j.acthis.2009.05.010Acta Histochemica1126519-528AHIS

Airborne seafood allergens as a cause of occupational allergy and asthma

Occupational allergy and asthma is a serious adverse health outcome affecting seafood-processing workers. Allergic reactions are directed to two major seafood groups: fish and shellfish, with the latter group comprising crustaceans and molluscs. Several allergenic proteins have been identified in these different groups, but few have been characterised on a molecular level. Parvalbumin appears to be the major fish allergen, while tropomyosin the major crustacean allergen. Other IgE-binding proteins have also been identified in molluscs and other seafood-associated agents (e.g. Anisakis sp), although their molecular nature has not been characterised. Aerosolised allergens can be identified and quantified using immunological and chemical approaches, detecting levels as low as 10 ng/m³. This contemporary review discusses interesting and recent findings in the area of occupational seafood allergy including high-risk occupations, environmental risk factors for airborne exposures, major and minor allergens implicated and innovative approaches in diagnosing and managing occupational allergy and asthma associated with seafood processing