Jewish Service Learning: An Analysis of Participant Jewish Identity and Program Characterisitcs

LBJ School of Public Affair

Rhodolith Beds Are Major CaCO3 Bio-Factories in the Tropical South West Atlantic

Rhodoliths are nodules of non-geniculate coralline algae that occur in shallow waters (<150 m depth) subjected to episodic disturbance. Rhodolith beds stand with kelp beds, seagrass meadows, and coralline algal reefs as one of the world's four largest macrophyte-dominated benthic communities. Geographic distribution of rhodolith beds is discontinuous, with large concentrations off Japan, Australia and the Gulf of California, as well as in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, eastern Caribbean and Brazil. Although there are major gaps in terms of seabed habitat mapping, the largest rhodolith beds are purported to occur off Brazil, where these communities are recorded across a wide latitudinal range (2°N - 27°S). To quantify their extent, we carried out an inter-reefal seabed habitat survey on the Abrolhos Shelf (16°50′ - 19°45′S) off eastern Brazil, and confirmed the most expansive and contiguous rhodolith bed in the world, covering about 20,900 km2. Distribution, extent, composition and structure of this bed were assessed with side scan sonar, remotely operated vehicles, and SCUBA. The mean rate of CaCO3 production was estimated from in situ growth assays at 1.07 kg m−2 yr−1, with a total production rate of 0.025 Gt yr−1, comparable to those of the world's largest biogenic CaCO3 deposits. These gigantic rhodolith beds, of areal extent equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, are a critical, yet poorly understood component of the tropical South Atlantic Ocean. Based on the relatively high vulnerability of coralline algae to ocean acidification, these beds are likely to experience a profound restructuring in the coming decades

Development of Gene Expression Markers of Acute Heat-Light Stress in Reef-Building Corals of the Genus Porites

Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to increased incidence of climate-induced coral bleaching, which will have widespread biodiversity and economic impacts. A simple method to measure the sub-bleaching level of heat-light stress experienced by corals would greatly inform reef management practices by making it possible to assess the distribution of bleaching risks among individual reef sites. Gene expression analysis based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine coral condition in situ. We evaluated the expression of 13 candidate genes during heat-light stress in a common Caribbean coral Porites astreoides, and observed strong and consistent changes in gene expression in two independent experiments. Furthermore, we found that the apparent return to baseline expression levels during a recovery phase was rapid, despite visible signs of colony bleaching. We show that the response to acute heat-light stress in P. astreoides can be monitored by measuring the difference in expression of only two genes: Hsp16 and actin. We demonstrate that this assay discriminates between corals sampled from two field sites experiencing different temperatures. We also show that the assay is applicable to an Indo-Pacific congener, P. lobata, and therefore could potentially be used to diagnose acute heat-light stress on coral reefs worldwide

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for diffuse large B cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma subtype and is clinically aggressive. To identify genetic susceptibility loci for DLBCL, we conducted a meta-analysis of three new genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and one prior scan, totaling 3,857 cases and 7,666 controls of European ancestry, with additional genotyping of nine promising SNPs in 1,359 cases and 4,557 controls. In our multi-stage analysis, five independent SNPs in four loci achieved genome-wide significance marked by rs116446171 at 6p25.3 (EXOC2; $P=2.33x10^{-21}$), rs2523607 at 6p21.33 (HLA-B; $2.40x10^{-10}$), rs79480871 at 2p23.3 (NCOA1; $P=4.23x10^{-8}$), and two independent SNPs, rs13255292 and rs4733601, at 8q24.21 (PVT1; $P=9.98x10^{-13}$ and $P=3.63x10^{-11}$, respectively). These data provide substantial new evidence for genetic susceptibility to this B-cell malignancy, and point towards pathways involved in immune recognition and immune function in the pathogenesis of DLBCL

Leaving community college : do uncertain and misaligned expectations predict student departure?

American youth with aligned ambitions before college – clear occupational goals and complementary educational plans – are more likely to matriculate to college, to complete college, and to earn higher wages. Of policy interest is whether students with uncertain or misaligned expectations at the beginning of college are set up to fail or to embark on pathways through the American higher education and workforce system that unnecessarily increase the duration or cost of schooling. Extending Schneider & Stevenson’s 1999 aligned ambitions framework to the concept of student departure, this study tests five potential dimensions for expectations misalignment and uncertainty among beginning two-year college students: aligned ambitions (complementary occupational and educational goals) at the degree level, aligned ambitions at the instructional program level, aligned wage expectations, aligned high school and college ability assessments, and aligned occupational goals and market opportunities. I find that the prevalence of dropout from higher education three years after beginning college among students who began undergraduate studies at two-year colleges was one in four in a recent survey of beginning college students. I find substantive student expectation misalignment and uncertainty along the five dimensions considered. Results suggest that misaligned educational expectations, wage expectations, and ability assessments between high school and college predict departure. Findings support a reconceptualization of American students, families, schools, governments, and markets as co-producers of student success outcomes in two-year colleges with specific considerations for higher education policymakers and the research communityPublic Polic

Analysis of Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 8 (AAV8)-antibody complexes using epitope mapping by molecular imprinting leads to the identification of Fab peptides that potentially evade AAV8 neutralisation.

Gene therapy is a promising approach for treating genetic disorders by delivering therapeutic genes to replace or correct malfunctioning genes. However, the introduced gene therapy vector can trigger an immune response, leading to reduced efficacy and potential harm to the patient. To improve the efficiency and safety of gene therapy, preventing the immune response to the vector is crucial. This can be achieved through the use of immunosuppressive drugs, vector engineering to evade the immune system, or delivery methods that bypass the immune system altogether. By reducing the immune response, gene therapy can deliver therapeutic genes more effectively and potentially cure genetic diseases. In this study, a novel molecular imprinting technique, combined with mass-spectrometry and bioinformatics, was used to identify four antigen-binding fragments (Fab) sequences of Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) - neutralising antibodies capable of binding to AAV. The identified Fab peptides were shown to prevent AAV8's binding to antibodies, demonstrating their potential to improve gene therapy efficiency by preventing the immune response

Inorganic carbon and pH levels in the Rockall Trough 1991–2010

The accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 in the oceans is altering seawater carbonate chemistry. Investigation and monitoring of the carbonate parameters is therefore necessary to understand potential impacts on ocean ecosystems. Total alkalinity (AT) and dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) were sampled across the Rockall Trough in Feb 2009 (CE0903) and Feb 2010 (CE10002) as part of a baseline study of inorganic carbon chemistry in Irish shelf waters. The results have been compared with data from WOCE surveys A01E (Sept 1991), A01 (Dec 1994), AR24 (Nov 1996) and A24 (June 1997). The 2009 and 2010 datasets provide a snapshot of the biogeochemical parameters which can act as a baseline of inorganic carbon and acidity levels in surface waters of the Rockall Trough in late winter for future comparison since previous surveys in the area have been affected by biological activity. The dataset also offers the possibility to compare decadal changes in subsurface waters. The temporal evolution of anthropogenic carbon (Delta C-ant) between the 1990s and 2010 was evaluated using two separate methods; (i) a comparison of the concentrations of C-T between surveys, after correcting it for remineralisation of organic material and formation and dissolution of calcium carbonate (Delta CT-abio) and (ii) an extended Multiple Linear Regression was used to calculate the Delta C-ant (Delta C-ant(eMLR)). There was an increase in Delta CT-abio and Delta C-ant(eMLR) of 18 +/- 4 mu mol kg(-1) and 19 +/- 4 mu mol kg(-1), respectively, in the subsurface waters between 1991 and 2010, equivalent to a decrease of 0.040 +/- 0.003 pH units over the 19 year period. There was an increase in both Delta CT-abio and Delta C(ant)e(mLR) of 8 +/- 4 mu mol kg(-1) in Labrador Sea Water (LSW) in the Trough between 1991 and 2010, and LSW has acidified by 0.029 +/- 0.002 pH units over the same time period. A reduction in calcite and aragonite saturation states was observed, which may have implications for calcifying organisms in the regio