Redefining Diaspora Consciousness: Musical Practices Of Moroccan Jews In Brooklyn

This dissertation examines the role of musical practices in the synagogue life of Maroka\u27im (Moroccan Jews) in Brooklyn, New York. Living in an urban setting known for its diverse and robust Jewish life, community members utilize several different types of musical expression to emblematize three distinct diasporic ethnic identities: Jewish (of ancient Israel), Sephardi (Spanish), and Maroka\u27i (Moroccan). Based upon ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2008 and 2013, this study demonstrates how Maroka\u27im in Brooklyn use musical expressions to evoke more than one sense of diaspora consciousness--Jewish, Sephardi, and Maroka\u27i--to foster what I term a layered diaspora consciousness. To illustrate this layered diaspora consciousness, three domains of communal synagogue practice are analyzed. In the first domain, the ritual of sacred text cantillation called Kriat ha-Torah, community members rely upon a select repertoire of melodic motifs for chanting the Torah. These melodic motifs are instrumental in fostering a sense of pan-Maroka\u27i identity and for establishing co-ethnic recognition in communities throughout the Maroka\u27i diaspora. Choices about text, melody, and performance opportunities for processional liturgy and honorific songs determine the nature of associations with the Jewish and Sephardi diasporas. In the second domain, of hazzanut or the art of cantorial performance, close analysis reveals ways in which Maroka\u27im compile liturgical text repertoires, employ certain melodic tropes and contrafacta as vehicles for conjuring associations with several different Moroccan musical traditions, and emphasize rhythmic, melodic, and vocal performance aesthetics to stylize liturgical chant. Liturgical texts include idiosyncrasies related to each layer of diasporic identity; performance aesthetics emphasize stylistic idiosyncrasies that evoke associations with specifically Mediterranean and Maghrebian patrimonies. In the third domain, a ritual celebration for venerating tsaddiqim (Jewish saints) called a hillula, local practices emphasize a standardized song repertoire which is recognized throughout the Maroka\u27i diaspora. This repertoire includes pieces from several different musical and poetic genres valued by community members for their historical associations with Maroka\u27i identity and modern associations with a new iteration of a Sephardi-Mizrahi identity. Foregrounded in the synagogue life of Maroka\u27im in Brooklyn, musical expression is employed by community members to consistently reinforce and reiterate a sense of belonging to multiple Jewish diasporic ethnic communities

Alien Registration- Thomas, Joseph Reuben L. (Bangor, Penobscot County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/10247/thumbnail.jp

Differential Effects of the Hormonal and Copper Intrauterine Device on the Endometrial Transcriptome.

The contraceptive effectiveness of intrauterine devices (IUDs) has been attributed in part to a foreign body reaction in the endometrium. We performed this study to better understand mechanisms of action of contraceptives of by studying their effects on endometrial and cervical transcriptomes. We collected endometrial and cervical biopsies from women using the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS, n = 11), copper intrauterine device (cu-IUD, n = 13) or levonorgestrel-containing combined oral contraceptives (COC, n = 12), and from women not using contraceptives (control group, n = 11). Transcriptional profiling was performed with Affymetrix arrays, Principal Component Analysis and the bioconductor package limma. In endometrial samples from cu-IUD users, there were no genes with statistically significant differential expression compared to controls. In LNG-IUS users, 2509 genes were differentially expressed and mapped predominantly onto immune and inflammatory pathways. The cervical samples showed no statistically significant differential gene expression compared to controls. Hormonal and copper IUDs have significantly different effects on the endometrial transcriptome, with the LNG-IUS transcriptome showing pronounced inflammation and immune activation compared to controls whereas the cu-IUD transcriptome was indistinguishable from luteal phase endometrium. These findings argue against a foreign body reaction as a common mechanism of action of IUDs

Structural and Mutational Analysis of Escherichia coli AlkB Provides Insight into Substrate Specificity and DNA Damage Searching

Background: In Escherichia coli, cytotoxic DNA methyl lesions on the N1 position of purines and N3 position of pyrimidines are primarily repaired by the 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) iron(II) dependent dioxygenase, AlkB. AlkB repairs 1-methyladenine (1meA) and 3-methylcytosine (3-meC) lesions, but it also repairs 1-methylguanine (1-meG) and 3-methylthymine (3-meT) at a much less efficient rate. How the AlkB enzyme is able to locate and identify methylated bases in ssDNA has remained an open question. Methodology/Principal Findings: We determined the crystal structures of the E. coli AlkB protein holoenzyme and the AlkBssDNA complex containing a 1-meG lesion. We coupled this to site-directed mutagenesis of amino acids in and around the active site, and tested the effects of these mutations on the ability of the protein to bind both damaged and undamaged DNA, as well as catalyze repair of a methylated substrate. Conclusions/Significance: A comparison of our substrate-bound AlkB-ssDNA complex with our unliganded holoenzyme reveals conformational changes of residues within the active site that are important for binding damaged bases. Sitedirected mutagenesis of these residues reveals novel insight into their roles in DNA damage recognition and repair. Our data support a model that the AlkB protein utilizes at least two distinct conformations in searching and binding methylated bases within DNA: a ‘‘searching’ ’ mode and ‘‘repair’ ’ mode. Moreover, we are able to functionally separate these mode

Redescription of neopolystoma liewi Du Preez and Lim, 2000 (Monogenea: Polystomatidae) from Cuora amboinensis (Testudines: Geomydidae) with notes on specimen preparation.

Neopolystoma liewi Du Preez and Lim, 2000, is redescribed on the basis of specimens collected from the type host, Cuora amboinensis, in Malaysia during 2008. Morphometric comparison of the new specimens with the original description revealed significant differences because of differences in specimen preparation. The current material was killed in hot formalin without coverglass pressure, whereas the specimens from the original description were killed and fixed with coverglass pressure. Coverglass pressure resulted in increases of 30%–70% in most measurements of body organs. Sclerotized structures (genital and haptoral hooks and eggs) or structur es with sclerotized supports (haptoral suckers) were not affected by coverglass pressure. The coefficient of variation of measurements from worms killed with hot formalin was low (,10%) for most structures. The authors recommend discontinuing the use of flattening in the preparation of monogenetic trematodes, with the exception of a small number of specimens necessary to accurately view structures not easily seen in unflattened material. Measurements from flattened specimens should not be used in species descriptions

Rv0989c encodes a novel (E)-geranyl diphosphate synthase facilitating decaprenyl diphosphate biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

AbstractMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has a highly complex cell wall, which is required for both bacterial survival and infection. Cell wall biosynthesis is dependent on decaprenyl diphosphate as a glyco-carrier, which is hence an essential metabolite in this pathogen. Previous biochemical studies indicated (E)-geranyl diphosphate (GPP) is required for the synthesis of decaprenyl diphosphate. Here we demonstrate that Rv0989c encodes the “missing” GPP synthase, representing the first such enzyme to be characterized from bacteria, and which presumably is involved in decaprenyl diphosphate biosynthesis in Mtb. Our investigation also has revealed previously unrecognized substrate plasticity of the farnesyl diphosphate synthases from Mtb, resolving previous discrepancies between biochemical and genetic studies of cell wall biosynthesis