2 research outputs found
Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans (CAC): Past, Present, and a Vision Towards the Future
Today’s arts nonprofits are navigating a challenging landscape where competition for funding and audiences is on the rise. To intensify this issue, rates of participation in the arts have declined and funders have raised the bar requiring that nonprofits demonstrate higher levels of accountability concerning results and mission achievement. These conditions have caused nonprofits to assess their leadership, community relevancy, program effectiveness, and management practices. Consequently, audience engagement has become a prominent topic in the field, with a growing body of research and varying perspectives. Arts nonprofits are experimenting with an array of strategies and activities to increase participation. New Orleans’ Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) developed a new Strategic Framework Plan and eliminated its larger debt in 2012, and is appointing a new Executive Director. This report examines the CAC’s history and current situation, and explores ways the organization can further its institutional growth and cement its place within the community
Comparative Metagenomics and Population Dynamics of the Gut Microbiota in Mother and Infant
Colonization of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of human infants with a suitable
microbial community is essential for numerous aspects of health, but the
progression of events by which this microbiota becomes established is poorly
understood. Here, we investigate two previously unexplored areas of microbiota
development in infants: the deployment of functional capabilities at the
community level and the population genetics of its most abundant genera. To
assess the progression of the infant microbiota toward an adult-like state and
to evaluate the contribution of maternal GIT bacteria to the infant gut, we
compare the infant’s microbiota with that of the mother at 1 and 11
months after delivery. These comparisons reveal that the infant’s
microbiota rapidly acquires and maintains the range of gene functions present in
the mother, without replicating the phylogenetic composition of her microbiota.
Microdiversity analyses for Bacteroides and
Bifidobacterium, two of the main microbiota constituents,
reveal that by 11 months, the phylotypes detected in the infant are distinct
from those in the mother, although the maternal Bacteroides
phylotypes were transiently present at 1 month of age. The configuration of
genetic variants within these genera reveals populations far from equilibrium
and likely to be undergoing rapid growth, consistent with recent population
turnovers. Such compositional turnovers and the associated loss of maternal
phylotypes should limit the potential for long-term coadaptation between
specific bacterial and host genotypes