May I have this dance? Teaching, Performing, and Transforming in a University-Community Mixed-Ability Dance Theatre Project

Combining disability and dance may not be new, yet enacting inclusive dance/drama education in a university remains rare. This article reflects on the integration of people with developmental disabilities in dance theatre, particularly in institutions of higher education, and shares insights that emerged in the context of an inclusive dance-theatre project. Over two years, the project progressed from a community-based art for social change partnership, to a post-secondary drama course, to a large-scale, university-produced theatrical production. Drawing on qualitative, embodied, and quantitative data the authors critically reflect on the potential for integrated dance theatre work to contribute to training future professional artists with disabilities, to enrich curriculum for students without disabilities, to inform theory and practice in the field of art for social change, and to positively affect the perceptions and experiences of people living with disabilities.Allier le handicap et la danse n’est peut-être pas nouveau, mais instituer des cours inclusifs de dansethéâtre dans un milieu universitaire demeure un événement rare. Cet article traite de l’inclusion de personnes ayant une déficience développementale dans une initiative de danse-théâtre en milieu universitaire et des réflexions qui en ont surgi. En deux ans, un projet de partenariat communautaire dans le domaine des arts pour le changement social a mené à la création d’un cours de théâtre postsecondaire et à une production théâtrale de grande envergure à l’université. À partir de données qualitatives, quantitatives, et incorporées, les auteurs livrent une réflexion critique sur l’apport de la danse-théâtre intégrée à la formation de futurs artistes professionnels ayant un handicap, à l’enrichissement du curriculum des étudiants sans handicap, au développement de la théorie et de la pratique dans le domaine des arts pour le changement social ainsi qu’à une meilleure perception et expérience des personnes vivant avec un handicap

Pedagogy as influencing nursing students’ essentialized understanding of culture

Sherpa Romeo yellow journal. Permission to deposit published version.In this qualitative study, we explored how students understood “culture.” Participants defined culture and wrote narratives regarding specific cultural encounters. The sample comprised both nursing (n=14) and non-nursing (n=8) students to allow for comparison groups. Content analysis of the narratives revealed two broad paradigms of cultural understanding: essentialist and constructivist. Essentialist narratives comprised four themes: determinism (culture defied individual resistance); relativism (the possibility of making value judgments disappeared); Othering (culture was equated to exotica, and emphasized difference); and reductionism (personhood was eclipsed by culture). In contrast, the constructivist narratives were characterized by influence (non-determinism); dynamism (culture was dynamic and evolutionary); and relationship-building. The unintended negative consequences of essentialist notions of culture were revealed in the nursing students’ narratives. Pedagogy is implicated in nursing students’ essentialized understanding of culture.University of Lethbridge Research FundYe

Rac1 GTPase activates the WAVE regulatory complex through two distinct binding sites

The Rho GTPase Rac1 activates the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC) to drive Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization, which underpins diverse cellular processes. Here we report the structure of a WRC-Rac1 complex determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Surprisingly, Rac1 is not located at the binding site on the Sra1 subunit of the WRC previously identified by mutagenesis and biochemical data. Rather, it binds to a distinct, conserved site on the opposite end of Sra1. Biophysical and biochemical data on WRC mutants confirm that Rac1 binds to both sites, with the newly identified site having higher affinity and both sites required for WRC activation. Our data reveal that the WRC is activated by simultaneous engagement of two Rac1 molecules, suggesting a mechanism by which cells may sense the density of active Rac1 at membranes to precisely control actin assembly

Mutation of Rubie, a Novel Long Non-Coding RNA Located Upstream of Bmp4, Causes Vestibular Malformation in Mice

Background: The vestibular apparatus of the vertebrate inner ear uses three fluid-filled semicircular canals to sense angular acceleration of the head. Malformation of these canals disrupts the sense of balance and frequently causes circling behavior in mice. The Epistatic circler (Ecl) is a complex mutant derived from wildtype SWR/J and C57L/J mice. Ecl circling has been shown to result from the epistatic interaction of an SWR-derived locus on chromosome 14 and a C57L-derived locus on chromosome 4, but the causative genes have not been previously identified. Methodology/Principal Findings: We developed a mouse chromosome substitution strain (CSS-14) that carries an SWR/J chromosome 14 on a C57BL/10J genetic background and, like Ecl, exhibits circling behavior due to lateral semicircular canal malformation. We utilized CSS-14 to identify the chromosome 14 Ecl gene by positional cloning. Our candidate interval is located upstream of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (Bmp4) and contains an inner ear-specific, long non-coding RNA that we have designated Rubie (RNA upstream of Bmp4 expressed in inner ear). Rubie is spliced and polyadenylated, and is expressed in developing semicircular canals. However, we discovered that the SWR/J allele of Rubie is disrupted by an intronic endogenous retrovirus that causes aberrant splicing and premature polyadenylation of the transcript. Rubie lies in the conserved gene desert upstream of Bmp4, within a region previously shown to be important for inner ear expression of Bmp4. We found that the expression patterns of Bmp4 and Rubie are nearly identical in developing inner ears

Rac1 GTPase activates the WAVE regulatory complex through two distinct binding sites

The Rho GTPase Rac1 activates the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC) to drive Arp2/3 complex-mediated actin polymerization, which underpins diverse cellular processes. Here we report the structure of a WRC-Rac1 complex determined by cryo-electron microscopy. Surprisingly, Rac1 is not located at the binding site on the Sra1 subunit of the WRC previously identified by mutagenesis and biochemical data. Rather, it binds to a distinct, conserved site on the opposite end of Sra1. Biophysical and biochemical data on WRC mutants confirm that Rac1 binds to both sites, with the newly identified site having higher affinity and both sites required for WRC activation. Our data reveal that the WRC is activated by simultaneous engagement of two Rac1 molecules, suggesting a mechanism by which cells may sense the density of active Rac1 at membranes to precisely control actin assembly.This article is published as Chen, Baoyu, Hui-Ting Chou, Chad A. Brautigam, Wenmin Xing, Sheng Yang, Lisa Henry, Lynda K. Doolittle, Thomas Walz, and Michael K. Rosen. "Rac1 GTPase activates the WAVE regulatory complex through two distinct binding sites." Elife 6 (2017): e29795. doi: 10.7554/eLife.29795.</p