Creating Interdisciplinary Faculty Connections Through Community as a Precursor to Enhancing Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship on University Campuses

The growth of cross-disciplinary diffusion of innovation, creativity and the entrepreneurial mindset has been significant. While many institutions have focused on curriculum and courses, this study examines the use of faculty communities through communities of practice and faculty learning communities to build a campus culture independent of size of the institution, or stage of program development. The analysis examines two distinctly dissimilar academic settings. One Rowan University, a large (16,000 student) public university with a developed program and a second, John Carroll University, a smaller (3,100) private religiously affiliated university with a newly developing program. Authors share suggestions for implementation

Management by boundaries : Insights into the role of boundary objects in a community-based tourism development project

Community-based tourism development typically assumes co-operation between different stakeholder groups at the local level, and thus combines different types of knowledge. However, this does not imply that a consensus exists between the stakeholders in the first place. In this article, we present a potential conceptual tool, namely boundary objects that could support stakeholders from different knowledge communities in working jointly towards a common goal and generate commitment towards it. The literature concerning knowledge communities and boundary objects is used as a theoretical framework. A three-year community-based tourism development project comprises the data of the article, and is used as a case study to illustrate the role of different knowledge communities, and to analyse the selected boundary objects. The results illustrate the importance of proper design of boundary objects in community-based tourism development processes, and highlight the features of a successful boundary object in generating ownership feelings towards development activities. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Characterizing Long COVID: Deep Phenotype of a Complex Condition.

BACKGROUND: Numerous publications describe the clinical manifestations of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC or long COVID ), but they are difficult to integrate because of heterogeneous methods and the lack of a standard for denoting the many phenotypic manifestations. Patient-led studies are of particular importance for understanding the natural history of COVID-19, but integration is hampered because they often use different terms to describe the same symptom or condition. This significant disparity in patient versus clinical characterization motivated the proposed ontological approach to specifying manifestations, which will improve capture and integration of future long COVID studies. METHODS: The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used standard for exchange and analysis of phenotypic abnormalities in human disease but has not yet been applied to the analysis of COVID-19. FINDINGS: We identified 303 articles published before April 29, 2021, curated 59 relevant manuscripts that described clinical manifestations in 81 cohorts three weeks or more following acute COVID-19, and mapped 287 unique clinical findings to HPO terms. We present layperson synonyms and definitions that can be used to link patient self-report questionnaires to standard medical terminology. Long COVID clinical manifestations are not assessed consistently across studies, and most manifestations have been reported with a wide range of synonyms by different authors. Across at least 10 cohorts, authors reported 31 unique clinical features corresponding to HPO terms; the most commonly reported feature was Fatigue (median 45.1%) and the least commonly reported was Nausea (median 3.9%), but the reported percentages varied widely between studies. INTERPRETATION: Translating long COVID manifestations into computable HPO terms will improve analysis, data capture, and classification of long COVID patients. If researchers, clinicians, and patients share a common language, then studies can be compared/pooled more effectively. Furthermore, mapping lay terminology to HPO will help patients assist clinicians and researchers in creating phenotypic characterizations that are computationally accessible, thereby improving the stratification, diagnosis, and treatment of long COVID. FUNDING: U24TR002306; UL1TR001439; P30AG024832; GBMF4552; R01HG010067; UL1TR002535; K23HL128909; UL1TR002389; K99GM145411

A DTC niche plexus surrounds the germline stem cell pool in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The mesenchymal distal tip cell (DTC) provides the niche for Caenorhabditis elegans germline stem cells (GSCs). The DTC has a complex cellular architecture: its cell body caps the distal gonadal end and contacts germ cells extensively, but it also includes multiple cellular processes that extend along the germline tube and intercalate between germ cells. Here we use the lag-2 DTC promoter to drive expression of myristoylated GFP, which highlights DTC membranes and permits a more detailed view of DTC architecture. We find that short processes intercalating between germ cells contact more germ cells than seen previously. We define this region of extensive niche contact with germ cells as the DTC plexus. The extent of the DTC plexus corresponds well with the previously determined extent of the GSC pool. Moreover, expression of a differentiation marker increases as germ cells move out of the plexus. Maintenance of this DTC plexus depends on the presence of undifferentiated germ cells, suggesting that germ cell state can influence niche architecture. The roles of this DTC architecture remain an open question. One idea is that the DTC plexus delivers Notch signaling to the cluster of germ cells comprising the GSC pool; another idea is that the plexus anchors GSCs at the distal end

mig-38, a novel gene that regulates distal tip cell turning during gonadogenesis in C. elegans hermaphrodites

In Caenorhabditis elegans gonad morphogenesis, the final U-shapes of the two hermaphrodite gonad arms are determined by migration of the distal tip cells (DTCs). These somatic cells migrate in opposite directions on the ventral basement membrane until specific extracellular cues induce turning from ventral to dorsal and then centripetally toward the midbody region on the dorsal basement membrane. To dissect the mechanism of DTC turning, we examined the role of a novel gene, F40F11.2/mig-38, whose depletion by RNAi results in failure of DTC turning so that DTCs continue their migration away from the midbody region. mig-38 is expressed in the gonad primordium, and expression continues throughout DTC migration where it acts cell-autonomously to control DTC turning. RNAi depletion of both mig-38 and ina-1, which encodes an integrin adhesion receptor, enhanced the loss of turning phenotype indicating a genetic interaction between these genes. Furthermore, the integrin-associated protein MIG-15/Nck-interacting kinase (NIK) works with MIG-38 to direct DTC turning as shown by mig-38 RNAi with the mig-15(rh80) hypomorph. These results indicate that MIG-38 enhances the role of MIG-15 in integrindependent DTC turning. Knockdown of talin, a protein that is important for integrin activation, causes the DTCs to stop migration prematurely. When both talin and MIG-38 were depleted by RNAi treatment, the premature stop phenotype was suppressed. This suppression effect was reversed upon additional depletion of MIG-15 or its binding partner NCK-1. These results suggest that both talin and the MIG-15/NCK-1 complex promote DTC motility and that MIG-38 may act as a negative regulator of the complex. We propose a model to explain the dual role of MIG-38 in motility and turning

The DTC plexus forms in adults and is maintained through the reproductive period.

<p>(A–C) Extruded gonads from animals expressing myr-GFP. (A) L4. Pre-reproductive larva. These animals make only sperm; they do not produce embryos. The DTC has both leader and niche function at this stage and germ cell number is increasing. DTC architecture includes the cap and a few SIPs found associated with the cap. LEPs are not observed. (B) Reproductive adult, 24 hours after L4. The DTC functions as a stem cell niche <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088372#pone.0088372-Morgan1" target="_blank">[7]</a>. Germ cell number is maintained. DTC architecture includes cap, extensive plexus and LEPs. (C) Post-reproductive adult, 96 hours after L4. Germ cell number is maintained and DTC architecture is similar to that seen in reproductive adults. Scale bar = 10 µm.</p

DTC architecture and the plexus region.

<p>(A) The distal gonad includes the DTC niche (red) and the mitotic zone. Yellow circles represent germ cells in the mitotic cell cycle; green circles are germ cells in meiotic S-phase; green crescents are germ cells in early meiotic prophase when chromosomes have begun to pair. Germ cells are connected by a cytoplasmic core. The mitotic zone consists of a distal stem cell pool (GSC pool) adjacent to the niche. As germ cells leave the GSC pool and progress proximally through the mitotic zone they mature. At the proximal edge of the mitotic zone, germ cells progress into early meiotic prophase as they move into the transition zone (TZ). (B) Germ cell position is scored in Hoechst-stained extruded gonads as number of germ cell diameters (gcd) from the distal end. The DTC nucleus (DTC) is oval (red oval); germ cell nuclei are round (white circles). (C) P<i>_lag-2::myr-GFP</i> (myr-GFP, green) allows visualization of DTC membranes. This view through the central region of the gonad shows the DTC capping the distal end (cap) and short intercalating processes (SIPs; red arrowheads) on either side of germ cell nuclei (Hoechst, blue). <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088372#pone-0088372-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1C</a> modified from Byrd and Kimble <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0088372#pone.0088372-Byrd1" target="_blank">[9]</a>. (D) This “core” projection of central sections (10 µm) of a confocal z-series shows the DTC plexus, which includes the cap, short intercalating processes (SIPs; red arrowheads), long external processes (distal LEPs; green arrowheads) and internal fragments (white arrowheads). (E) The DTC cap and LEPs are best visualized in a full projection of a z-series. The cap and LEPs are detected quantitatively using Plot profile. The graph below shows pixel intensity (y-axis) along the distal-proximal axis (x-axis). Dotted lines mark the distal end of the gonad and the proximal boundary of the cap (end of initial peak of GFP fluorescence) or LEPs (first position where pixel intensity reaches background). (F) The DTC plexus is best visualized in a “core” projection of the central ten 1 µm slices of a z-series. The plexus is detected quantitatively using Plot profile. The graph below shows pixel intensity (y-axis) along the distal-proximal axis (x-axis). Dotted lines mark the distal end of the gonad and the proximal boundary (first position where the pixel intensity reaches background) of the plexus. (B–F) Scale bars = 10 µm. (G) DTC features measured by three different methods give similar results. First, live animals were scored by eye using wide-field fluorescent microscopy. Second, dissected gonads were scored by eye using wide-field fluorescent microscopy. Third, dissected gonads were scored quantitatively using confocal microscopy and Plot profile. Bar graphs show average lengths of DTC features. Error bars indicate standard deviation.</p