Pax7 lineage contributions to the mammalian neural crest.

BackgroundNeural crest cells are vertebrate-specific multipotent cells that contribute to a variety of tissues including the peripheral nervous system, melanocytes, and craniofacial bones and cartilage. Abnormal development of the neural crest is associated with several human maladies including cleft/lip palate, aggressive cancers such as melanoma and neuroblastoma, and rare syndromes, like Waardenburg syndrome, a complex disorder involving hearing loss and pigment defects. We previously identified the transcription factor Pax7 as an early marker, and required component for neural crest development in chick embryos. In mammals, Pax7 is also thought to play a role in neural crest development, yet the precise contribution of Pax7 progenitors to the neural crest lineage has not been determined.Methodology/principal findingsHere we use Cre/loxP technology in double transgenic mice to fate map the Pax7 lineage in neural crest derivates. We find that Pax7 descendants contribute to multiple tissues including the cranial, cardiac and trunk neural crest, which in the cranial cartilage form a distinct regional pattern. The Pax7 lineage, like the Pax3 lineage, is additionally detected in some non-neural crest tissues, including a subset of the epithelial cells in specific organs.Conclusions/significanceThese results demonstrate a previously unappreciated widespread distribution of Pax7 descendants within and beyond the neural crest. They shed light regarding the regionally distinct phenotypes observed in Pax3 and Pax7 mutants, and provide a unique perspective into the potential roles of Pax7 during disease and development

Place Vibrancy and its Measurement: Construct Development, Scale Development, and Field Study of its Relationship to Planning Interventions for Three Villages in the Town of Montague, Massachusetts

The process of using arts and culture to change the physical and social character of places has been defined as ‘creative placemaking’. Creative placemaking granting agencies originally considered constructing ‘livability’ and ‘vibrancy’ indicators to characterize the outcomes of their programs. However, the research community critiqued these indicators, which were considered too nebulous, and efforts to develop them were halted. Other researchers have sought to measure place vibrancy in other contexts. This study revives the initial line of inquiry for using ‘vibrancy’ as a measure of creative placemaking effectiveness and of revitalization efforts more generally. Here, place vibrancy is proposed as a construct that can be measured through creation, review, and testing of scales regarding resident and visitor attitudes toward vibrancy. Literature searches, expert reviews, focus groups, and interviews have been conducted to define the construct of place vibrancy, and results were coded in relation to seventeen themes: forward-looking governance, local ownership of media, education, infrastructure, natural beauty, social capital, well-being, arts and culture, gathering places, pedestrians, unique and historic architecture, cleanliness, strong economy, safety, diversity, buzz, and moderate tourism. Scales were constructed for each theme. With the scales, baseline place vibrancy was measured in three villages in the town of Montague, Massachusetts, which are undergoing varying degrees of cultural intervention: Turners Falls (TF), Millers Falls (MF), and Montague Center (MC). Turners Falls has received cultural funding over the last 10 years, MF is about to received planning attention, including cultural interventions, and MC will not receive any new planning or funding in the near future. The hypotheses were that baseline place vibrancy levels would be higher for TF than MF or MC, and that MF will show the greatest increase over time. The scales were administered as a hand‑delivered paper survey to a census-based sample of households in each village. Baseline place vibrancy was found to be statistically significantly higher in TF than in MF but not in MC, thus problematizing the first hypothesis. Later assessments will be made yearly for the next three years to test changes in place vibrancy for MF relative to TF and MC

Place Vibrancy and Its Measurement: Construct Development, Scale Development, and Relationship to Tourism

Arts and culture (AC) serve multiple roles in society. Over the last 10 to 15 years, the process of using AC to achieve community development goals has been labelled as creative placemaking. Creative placemaking programmers originally considered the broad concepts of livability and vibrancy to the goals of the programs and began developing indicators to measure them. However, thought leaders considered these endpoints to be too nebulous, and grantmakers responded to the criticisms by halting efforts to develop overall indicators. Other researchers have begun to use place vibrancy as a variable in other contexts. This set of studies is an extension of the initial line of inquiry for using vibrancy as a measure of creative placemaking. I propose that place vibrancy is a construct that can be measured through a psychometric scale, which might serve as an indicator for economic development efforts, such as tourism

Who Chooses? Which Hartford students are likely to apply to a different public school operated by the City?

Hartford has the lowest student achievement test scores in the State of Connecticut, which is also the state with the highest achievement gap. Since 2008 Hartford students have had the choice to apply to a variety of schools, including Hartford public neighborhood schools, Hartford public interdistrict magnet schools, and suburban Open Choice schools. The rationale for open choice is primarily to allow parents to choose better performing schools, driving out the lower performing schools, thus improving the achievement level of Hartford students. In our research we attempt to answer: “Which Hartford students were more likely to exercise choice?” We use data on all Hartford Public School students grades 3-8. We expect to find students making applications to higher performing schools. We found, however, that very few students who are currently attending a HPS apply to another HP neighborhood school. Of these applications, 30% was to Achievement First, the only HP district school with a high achievement score. Movement to this high performing school was almost exclusively from the north end, where the school is located. Virtually no applications came from the south end of Hartford

Who Chooses? A Preliminary Analysis of Hartford Public Schools

In this preliminary analysis of Hartford Public School district choice applications from Spring 2010, the authors examine which Hartford students were more likely to voluntarily apply to another district school operated by the city. Among the 6,591 potential voluntary choosers in grades 3-7, only 227 (3%) submitted voluntary district choice applications, and among these, the highest percentage (43%) were willing to travel farther for a higher-scoring school. But when excluding about one-third of these students who listed the city\u27s high-scoring district school (Achievement First) as their first choice, a large percentage (35%) were willing to travel farther for a lower-scoring school

Taking a Lesson From Patients' Recovery Strategies to Optimize Training During Robot-Aided Rehabilitation

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Robot-aided neurorehabilitation in sub-acute and chronic stroke: Does spontaneous recovery have a limited impact on outcome?

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