Missouri Synod Undertakes Foreign Missions

It was 1893, a depression year economically. But it was a great year within the Missouri Synod. At its triennial convention, Synod resolved to open two educational institutions, Concordia College of St. Paul, Minn., and a teachers\u27 college in Nebraska. These were the first schools sponsored by Synod from their very inception. A consecrated Lutheran layman, J. P. Baden of Winfield, Kans., appropriated $50,000 toward the establishing of a college in the West. This became St. John\u27s English Lutheran College of Winfield. Concordia Publishing House dedicated a new building on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Miami Street. This had cost$23,570. Mr. Ed. J. Pahl of Michigan City, Ind., wrote the letter which, under God, launched Synod into work among the deaf. Two men who later were to take a prominent place in the history of Synod accepted calls to the St. Louis Seminary- L. Fuerbringer and F. Bente. From May 20 to 23 twelve young people\u27s groups met in Buffalo, N. Y., and organized the International Walther League. And-for us the most important item - the convention, assembled in Holy Cross Church, St. Louis, April 26 to May 6 of that same year, voted to undertake a mission of its own in some heathen country

Understanding the rhetorical engineer

The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the development of the Purdue School of Mechanical Engineering Writing Enhancement Program and its definition of good engineering writing. Based on the work with the Mechanical Engineering Faculty and the Writing Enhancement Program, it was determined that good engineering writing is aware of its need to address specific rhetorical contexts and expectations. The Writing Enhancement Program was created to provide additional writing instruction to undergraduate mechanical engineering students Purdue University. Its development did not follow standard writing across the curriculum methods; it was developed following a modified writing center methodology. The modifications stressed collaboration between the Mechanical Engineering Faculty and the coordinator; they also stressed the need for the coordinator to learn how to write like an engineer so he could better understand and describe good engineering writing. This unique development method resulted in a number of important discoveries, specifically that good engineering writing is sensitive to the rhetorical contexts and expectations of not only engineering writing but also engineering practices. It is recommended that the Writing Enhancement Program and its definition of good engineering writing be used as a template to build custom writing programs for engineering schools and departments

Trophic relationships of zooplankton in the eastern Mediterranean based on stable isotope measurements

Abundance and stable isotope composition of large and small mesozooplankton were analyzed in samples taken with 333 and 100 μm nets, respectively, at four sites in the eastern Mediterranean down to 4200 m depth in October 2001. Large mesozooplankton (333 μm nets) was sieved into five size fractions, and the δ13C and δ15N values of the fractions were measured as well as the δ15N values of total small mesozooplankton (100 μm nets) and specific mesozooplankton taxa. These measurements allow insights into the source of the diet and the trophic level relative to sinking and suspended particulate organic matter. Overall, biomass and abundance of zooplankton was low, reflecting the oligotrophic character of the eastern Mediterranean. Stable nitrogen isotope values of mesozooplankton were low (1–4‰) and close to zero in suspended particles at the surface. This indicates that the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen probably contributes to the N-pool in the eastern Mediterranean. Such low values were also found in sinking particles in deep waters and in most zooplankton size classes. However, suspended particles and mesozooplankton in the size class 0.5–1 mm, which was primarily composed of the deep-sea species Lucicutia longiserrata, showed higher values at depths below 1000 m. There is some indication that L. longiserrata was able to utilize the suspended particle pool in the deep eastern Mediterranean

Organizational Learning In Higher Education: Building Staff Capacity

Organizational learning has been studied and researched as a construct for organizational improvement. Although its definitions are varied, scholars continue to integrate its use through various disciplinary approaches. It has been studied at the organizational level, but not as much research has taken place at the individual level where day-to-day activities and tasks of the university take place. The goal of this study was therefore to understand the organizational learning processes individuals use in their day-to-day work. This phenomenological study sought to understand the specific activities or tasks individuals perform to acquire, share, and use knowledge throughout the organization. The research question that guided the study was, how do university administrative staff learn how to do their jobs? To answer this question, I generated data from 10 administrative staff by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews. Their collective experience revealed that they learn how to do their jobs primarily by trial and error. Additionally, they learn through informal networks they have developed with colleagues in similar roles. Use of prior work experience to inform their new roles and access different types of training to acquire new skills. In summary, these findings offer strong support for this study’s organizational learning and workplace learning conceptual framework. The study also fills a gap in the literature on organizational learning among university staff that offers policy makers, institutional leadership, and management and educational researcher’s insight into how knowledge is acquired, shared, and used among university staff

Organic carbon losses measured by heterotrophic activity of mesozooplankton and CaCO3 flux in the bathypelagic zone of the Arabian Sea

Organic carbon requirements for metabolisms of mesozooplankton in the bathypelagic zone were calculated for two stations (Western Arabian Sea Sediment Trap, WAST, 16°N 60°E, and Central Arabian Sea Sediment Trap, CAST, 14°N 64°E) and two different intermonsoonal periods (October 1995 and April 1997) in the Arabian Sea. These requirements were compared with inputs of particulate organic carbon (POC) measured from sediment traps. The temporal variability of POC flux is compared to the CaCO3 flux made up by planktic foraminiferans and coccolithophorids. The potential oxygen requirement of mesozooplankton was measured by the electron transport system (ETS) activity and the organic carbon demand calculated using conversion factors from the literature. Particulate CaCO3 flux was calculated from multinet hauls and sediment trap samples. Mesozooplankton organic carbon demand in the zone between 1050 and 3000 m differed locally and seasonally. At WAST, the mesozooplankton required 1778 μg C m−2 d−1 in October and only 484 μg C m−2 d−1 in April. At CAST, the respective values were 997 and 211 μg C m−2 d−1. No differences between the stations and time periods were discernible for the zone between 3000 and 3900 m at CAST and between 3000 and 4000 m at WAST; the values ranged between 73 and 98 μg C m−2 d−1. The input measured by sediment traps was sufficient to cover the calculated requirements of the mesozooplankton. The flux of calcareous particles and the mesozooplankton carbon requirements showed a similar pattern of temporal variability. At CAST the planktic foraminiferal shell flux was 33.2 mg CaCO3 m−2 d−1 in October and only 5.9 mg CaCO3 m−2 d−1 at 3000 m depth in April. Flux data derived from multinet hauls are of the same order of magnitude as the sediment trap data and, as multinet data yield a high temporal and spatial resolution, they could serve as a measure for open-ocean particulate flux

First evidence for zooplankton feeding sustaining key physiological processes in a scleractinian cold-water coral

Scleractinian cold-water corals (CWC) represent key taxa controlling deep-sea reef ecosystem functioning by providing structurally complex habitats to a high associated biodiversity, and by fuelling biogeochemical cycles via the release of organic matter. Nevertheless, our current knowledge on basic CWC properties, such as feeding ecology and key physiological processes (i.e. respiration, calcification and organic matter release), is still very limited. Here, we show evidence for the trophic significance of zooplankton, essentially sustaining levels of the investigated key physiological processes in the cosmopolitan CWC Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper 1794). Our results from laboratory studies reveal that withdrawal (for up to 3 weeks) of zooplankton food (i.e. Artemia salina) caused a significant decline in respiration (51%) and calcification (69%) rates compared with zooplankton-fed specimens. Likewise, organic matter release, in terms of total organic carbon (TOC), decreased significantly and eventually indicated TOC net uptake after prolonged zooplankton exclusion. In fed corals, zooplankton provided 1.6 times the daily metabolic C demand, while TOC release represented 7% of zooplankton-derived organic C. These findings highlight zooplankton as a nutritional source for D. dianthus, importantly sustaining respiratory metabolism, growth and organic matter release, with further implications for the role of CWC as deep-sea reef ecosystem engineersPublicado

Potential contribution of surface-dwelling Sargassum algae to deep-sea ecosystems in the southern North Atlantic

Deep-sea ecosystems, limited by their inability to use primary production as a source of carbon, rely on other sources to maintain life. Sedimentation of organic carbon into the deep sea has been previously studied, however, the high biomass of sedimented Sargassum algae discovered during the VEMA Transit expedition in 2014/2015 to the southern North Atlantic, and its potential as a regular carbon input, has been an underestimated phenomenon. To determine the potential for this carbon flux, a literature survey of previous studies that estimated the abundance of surface water Sargassum was conducted. We compared these estimates with quantitative analyses of sedimented Sargassum appearing on photos taken with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) directly above the abyssal sediment during the expedition. Organismal communities associated to Sargassum fluitans from surface waters were investigated and Sargassum samples collected from surface waters and the deep sea were biochemically analyzed (fatty acids, stable isotopes, C:N ratios) to determine degradation potential and the trophic significance within deep-sea communities. The estimated Sargassum biomass (fresh weight) in the deep sea (0.07 − 3.75 g/m2) was several times higher than that estimated from surface waters in the North Atlantic (0.024 – 0.84 g/m2). Biochemical analysis showed degradation of Sargassum occurring during sedimentation or in the deep sea, however, fatty acid and stable isotope analysis did not indicate direct trophic interactions between the algae and benthic organisms. Thus, it is assumed that components of the deep-sea microbial food web form an important link between the macroalgae and larger benthic organisms. Evaluation of the epifauna showed a diverse nano- micro-, meio, and macrofauna on surface Sargassum and maybe transported across the Atlantic, but we had no evidence for a vertical exchange of fauna components. The large-scale sedimentation of Sargassum forms an important trophic link between surface and benthic production and has to be further considered in the future as a regular carbon input to the deep-sea floor in the North Atlantic

Bridging the gap between marine biogeochemical and fisheries sciences; configuring the zooplankton link

Exploring climate and anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems requires an understanding of how trophic components interact. However, integrative end-to-end ecosystem studies (experimental and/or modelling) are rare. Experimental investigations often concentrate on a particular group or individual species within a trophic level, while tropho-dynamic field studies typically employ either a bottom-up approach concentrating on the phytoplankton community or a top-down approach concentrating on the fish community. Likewise the emphasis within modelling studies is usually placed upon phytoplankton-dominated biogeochemistry or on aspects of fisheries regulation. In consequence the roles of zooplankton communities (protists and metazoans) linking phytoplankton and fish communities are typically under-represented if not (especially in fisheries models) ignored. Where represented in ecosystem models, zooplankton are usually incorporated in an extremely simplistic fashion, using empirical descriptions merging various interacting physiological functions governing zooplankton growth and development, and thence ignoring physiological feedback mechanisms. Here we demonstrate, within a modelled plankton food-web system, how trophic dynamics are sensitive to small changes in parameter values describing zooplankton vital rates and thus the importance of using appropriate zooplankton descriptors. Through a comprehensive review, we reveal the mismatch between empirical understanding and modelling activities identifying important issues that warrant further experimental and modelling investigation. These include: food selectivity, kinetics of prey consumption and interactions with assimilation and growth, form of voided material, mortality rates at different age-stages relative to prior nutrient history. In particular there is a need for dynamic data series in which predator and prey of known nutrient history are studied interacting under varied pH and temperature regimes

Medin aggregation causes cerebrovascular dysfunction in aging wild-type mice

Medin is the most common amyloid known in humans, as it can be found in blood vessels of the upper body in virtually everybody over 50 years of age. However, it remains unknown whether deposition of Medin plays a causal role in age-related vascular dysfunction. We now report that aggregates of Medin also develop in the aorta and brain vasculature of wild-type mice in an age-dependent manner. Strikingly, genetic deficiency of the Medin precursor protein, MFG-E8, eliminates not only vascular aggregates but also prevents age-associated decline of cerebrovascular function in mice. Given the prevalence of Medin aggregates in the general population and its role in vascular dysfunction with aging, targeting Medin may become a novel approach to sustain healthy aging

Dietary L-arginine supplementation reduces Methotrexate-induced intestinal mucosal injury in rat

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Arginine (ARG) and nitric oxide maintain the mucosal integrity of the intestine in various intestinal disorders. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of oral ARG supplementation on intestinal structural changes, enterocyte proliferation and apoptosis following methotrexate (MTX)-induced intestinal damage in a rat.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male rats were divided into four experimental groups: Control rats, CONTR-ARG rats, were treated with oral ARG given in drinking water 72 hours before and 72 hours following vehicle injection, MTX rats were treated with a single dose of methotrexate, and MTX-ARG rats were treated with oral ARG following injection of MTX. Intestinal mucosal damage, mucosal structural changes, enterocyte proliferation and enterocyte apoptosis were determined 72 hours following MTX injection. RT-PCR was used to determine bax and bcl-2 mRNA expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MTX-ARG rats demonstrated greater jejunal and ileal bowel weight, greater ileal mucosal weight, greater ileal mucosal DNA and protein levels, greater villus height in jejunum and ileum and crypt depth in ileum, compared to MTX animals. A significant decrease in enterocyte apoptosis in the ileum of MTX-ARG rats (vs MTX) was accompanied by decreased bax mRNA and protein expression and increased bcl-2 protein levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Treatment with oral ARG prevents mucosal injury and improves intestinal recovery following MTX- injury in the rat.</p