Developing a Vision and Strategy for Multicultural Ministry: Woodburn Community Seventh-day Adventist Church

Problem The City of Woodburn, OR is home to a population of 24,223. Over half of the residents are Hispanic, while 1/4 to 1/3 are Russian Orthodox Old Believers. Adding to its diversity, 35.4% of the total population of Woodburn is foreign born. Started as a church plant 30 years ago, the mostly White, non-Hispanic Woodburn Community Seventh-day Adventist Church has traditionally kept a membership of around a 100, with a current membership of 101 and an average attendance of 38 in 2011. Despite an ideal, central location in town, an ability to embrace and support new members and attendees, as well as yearly outreach programs, the church has not seen significant growth. Woodburn Community Seventh-day Adventist Church does not intentionally reflect the makeup of our community due to lack of vision for multicultural ministry, therefore its mission and ministry impact is minimal. Method A vision and a strategy for meaningful multicultural ministry will be created by: (a) gathering data about the makeup of our community; (b) assessment of church members’ perception of the current situation; (c) creating opportunities for visioning and dialogue on multicultural issues; (d) developing a strategy for member training, outreach and improvement of church ministries. The following implementation steps will be taken: (a) creating a population profile for the City of Woodburn; (b) initial administration of the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale to assess members’ ability and readiness for multicultural interaction; (c) developing and presenting a training seminar focusing on cross-cultural ministry that includes diversity and intercultural communication exercises; (d) conducting and facilitating four church-wide meetings for visioning and dialogue; (e) involving the Church in identifying or creating new opportunities for cross-cultural ministry and community service, and engaging members in intentional multicultural ministry; and (f) biannual celebration of diversity and growth. The IES will be administered again 12 months into the project, after the implementation steps have been taken, to assess any change in overall vision and readiness for multicultural interaction, followed up by a church-wide review of progress. This project will be completed by December 2012. Results Woodburn Community Seventh-day Adventist Church members engaged in cross-cultural activities throughout the duration of the project. The church created a vision statement as well as a mission statement as a result of church-wide visioning meetings and person-to-person interaction. The church also made changes in church structure, order of service, and the church’s name upon developing a vision for multicultural ministry. Various ministry teams experimented with new ways of reaching out to the different other in the context of applying the directions of the new mission statement. The members participated in large numbers in celebratory events scheduled around major yearly holidays, which included the different others from the community. The Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) profile however remained virtually unchanged with no significant improvements of members’ soft competencies for crosscultural interactions. Conclusions Developing a vision and a strategy for multicultural ministry in the local church is a moral imperative in the 21st century as the United States is becoming more diverse without a White majority by 2050. This task involves systemic change and soft competencies for cross-cultural interaction are essential. Even though the Woodburn Community Seventh-day Adventist Church members did not register significant score improvements for the IES over the course of this project as reported, the church was willing to experiment and reached out to the different other in its community, which indicates that while multicultural ministry takes time to become reality, it is attainable in the local church

Rapid communication: Mapping of the \u3ci\u3eCa\u3csup\u3e2+\u3c/sup\u3e ATPase of fast twitch 1 skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (ATP2A1)\u3c/i\u3e gene to porcine chromosome 3

Locus Name. Ca2+ ATPase of fast twitch 1 skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. Species. Sus scrofa. Locus Symbol. ATP2A1. Source of Primers. Two sets of PCR primers were designed based on human ATP2A1 sequences (Gen- Bank accession numbers U96773 and U96777) available in the GenBank database. Using pig genomic DNA as a template we used set A primers to amplify approximately 1,100 bp spanning exon 1 to exon 2 and set B primers to amplify 1,200 bp gene segment covering some of exon 8 through part of exon 9. These sequences were deposited in GenBank, accession number AY027797-AY027799

Functional and evolutionary analysis of host Synaptogyrin-2 in porcine circovirus type 2 susceptibility

Mammalian evolution has been influenced by viruses for millions of years, leaving signatures of adaptive evolution within genes encoding for viral interacting proteins. Synaptogyrin- 2 (SYNGR2) is a transmembrane protein implicated in promoting bacterial and viral infections. A genome-wide association study of pigs experimentally infected with porcine circovirus type 2b (PCV2b) uncovered a missense mutation (SYNGR2 p.Arg63Cys) associated with viral load. In this study, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing of the porcine kidney 15 (PK15, wtSYNGR2+p.63Arg) cell line generated clones homozygous for the favorable SYNGR2 p.63Cys allele (emSYNGR2+p.63Cys). Infection of edited clones resulted in decreased PCV2 replication compared to wildtype PK15 (P\u3c0.05), with consistent effects across genetically distinct PCV2b and PCV2d isolates. Sequence analyses of wild and domestic pigs (n\u3e700) revealed the favorable SYNGR2 p.63Cys allele is unique to domestic pigs and more predominant in European than Asian breeds. A haplotype defined by the SYNGR2 p.63Cys allele was likely derived from an ancestral haplotype nearly fixed within European (0.977) but absent from Asian wild boar. We hypothesize that the SYNGR2 p.63Cys allele arose post-domestication in ancestral European swine. Decreased genetic diversity in homozygotes for the SYNGR2 p.63Cys allele compared to SYNGR2 p.63Arg, corroborates a rapid increase in frequency of SYGNR2 p.63Cys via positive selection. Signatures of adaptive evolution across mammalian species were also identified within SYNGR2 intraluminal loop domains, coinciding with the location of SYNGR2 p.Arg63Cys. Therefore, SYNGR2 may reflect a novel component of the host-virus evolutionary arms race across mammals with SYNGR2 p.Arg63Cys representing a species-specific example of putative adaptive evolution

BIOMARKERS FOR RESISTANCE TO PORCINE CIRCOVIRUS 2 ASSOCIATED DISEASE

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for increasing resistance to PCV2 infection in pigs. The increased resistance may be the result of siRNA or genetic modification through CRISPR or a vectored virus targeting SNPs that are resistant to PCV2 infection

A Survey on the Application of Evolutionary Algorithms for Mobile Multihop Ad Hoc Network Optimization Problems

Evolutionary algorithms are metaheuristic algorithms that provide quasioptimal solutions in a reasonable time. They have been applied to many optimization problems in a high number of scientific areas. In this survey paper, we focus on the application of evolutionary algorithms to solve optimization problems related to a type of complex network likemobilemultihop ad hoc networks. Since its origin, mobile multihop ad hoc network has evolved causing new types of multihop networks to appear such as vehicular ad hoc networks and delay tolerant networks, leading to the solution of new issues and optimization problems. In this survey, we review the main work presented for each type of mobile multihop ad hoc network and we also present some innovative ideas and open challenges to guide further research in this topic

Genetic variation in two conserved local Romanian pig breeds using type 1 DNA markers

Analysis of the genetic variation of an endangered population is an important component for the success of conservation. Animals from two local Romanian pig breeds, the Mangalitsa and Bazna, were analysed for variation at a number of genetic loci using PCR-based DNA tests. Polymorphism was assessed at loci which 1) are known to cause phenotypic variation, 2) are potentially involved in trait differences or 3) are putative candidate genes. The traits considered are disease resistance, growth, coat colour, meat quality and prolificacy. Even though the populations are small and the markers are limited to specific genes, we found significant differences in five of the ten characterised loci. In some cases the observed allele frequencies were interesting in relation to gene function and the phenotype of the breed. These breeds are part of a conservation programme in Romania and marker information may be useful in preserving a representative gene pool in the populations. The use of polymorphisms in type 1 (gene) markers may be a useful complement to analysis based on anonymous markers

Diet modulates cecum bacterial diversity and physiological phenotypes across the BXD mouse genetic reference population.

The BXD family has become one of the preeminent genetic reference populations to understand the genetic and environmental control of phenotypic variation. Here we evaluate the responses to different levels of fat in the diet using both chow diet (CD, 13-18% fat) and a high-fat diet (HFD, 45-60% fat). We studied cohorts of BXD strains, both inbred parents C57BL/6J and DBA/2J (commonly known as B6 and D2, respectively), as well as B6D2 and D2B6 reciprocal F1 hybrids. The comparative impact of genetic and dietary factors was analyzed by profiling a range of phenotypes, most prominently their cecum bacterial composition. The parents of the BXDs and F1 hybrids express limited differences in terms of weight and body fat gain on CD. In contrast, the strain differences on HFD are substantial for percent body fat, with DBA/2J accumulating 12.5% more fat than C57BL/6J (P < 0.0001). The F1 hybrids born to DBA/2J dams (D2B6F1) have 10.6% more body fat (P < 0.001) than those born to C57BL/6J dams. Sequence analysis of the cecum microbiota reveals important differences in bacterial composition among BXD family members with a substantial shift in composition caused by HFD. Relative to CD, the HFD induces a decline in diversity at the phylum level with a substantial increase in Firmicutes (+13.8%) and a reduction in Actinobacteria (-7.9%). In the majority of BXD strains, the HFD also increases cecal sIgA (P < 0.0001)-an important component of the adaptive immunity response against microbial pathogens. Host genetics modulates variation in cecum bacterial composition at the genus level in CD, with significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for Oscillibacter mapped to Chr 3 (18.7-19.2 Mb, LRS = 21.4) and for Bifidobacterium mapped to Chr 6 (89.21-89.37 Mb, LRS = 19.4). Introduction of HFD served as an environmental suppressor of these QTLs due to a reduction in the contribution of both genera (P < 0.001). Relations among liver metabolites and cecum bacterial composition were predominant in CD cohort, but these correlations do not persist following the shift to HFD. Overall, these findings demonstrate the important impact of environmental/dietary manipulation on the relationships between host genetics, gastrointestinal bacterial composition, immunological parameters, and metabolites-knowledge that will help in the understanding of the causal sources of metabolic disorders