Moving away from zero tolerance policies : examination of Illinois educator preparedness in addressing student behavior

In August 2016, Illinois Senate Bill 100 (SB 100) restricted the use of zero tolerance disciplinary practices within public schools when addressing student behavior. In efforts to make school discipline less exclusionary and more effective, SB 100 mandated educators exhaust all means of interventions prior to suspending or expelling a student. Additionally, SB 100 recommended faculty professional development on effective classroom management, which is critical considering the majority of exclusionary discipline cases resulted from referrals by classroom educators for subjective deportment concerns and not from student possession of contraband. Using an online survey instrument, a sample of licensed educators in northeastern Illinois were asked to self-rate their preparedness in classroom management and indicate their awareness of zero tolerance policies. Results demonstrated significant difference of self-rated preparedness between general and special educators when addressing classroom deportment behaviors, while there was no difference in more intense behaviors (e.g., verbal threats, possession of contraband). Discussion on results and suggestions for future research are offered.peer-reviewe

Evaluating environmental and ecological landscape characteristics relevant to urban resilience across gradients of land-sharing-sparing and urbanity

Within urban landscape planning, debate continues around the relative merits of land-sparing (compaction) and land-sharing (sprawl) scenarios. Using part of Greater Manchester (UK) as a case-study, we present a landscape approach to mapping green infrastructure and variation in social-ecological-environmental conditions as a function of land sparing and sharing. We do so for the landscape as a whole as well as for areas of high and low urbanity. Results imply potential trade-offs between land-sparing-sharing scenarios relevant to characteristics critical to urban resilience such as landscape connectivity and diversity, air quality, surface temperature, and access to green space. These trade-offs may be particularly complex due to the parallel influence of patch attributes such as land-cover and size and imply that both ecological restoration and spatial planning have a role to play in reconciling tensions between land-sparing and sharing strategies

Plasticity of fetal cartilaginous cells.

Tissue-specific stem cells found in adult tissues can participate in the repair process following injury. However, adult tissues, such as articular cartilage and intervertebral disc, have low regeneration capacity, whereas fetal tissues, such as articular cartilage, show high regeneration ability. The presence of fetal stem cells in fetal cartilaginous tissues and their involvement in the regeneration of fetal cartilage is unknown. The aim of the study was to assess the chondrogenic differentiation and the plasticity of fetal cartilaginous cells. We compared the TGF-β3-induced chondrogenic differentiation of human fetal cells isolated from spine and cartilage tissues to that of human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). Stem cell surface markers and adipogenic and osteogenic plasticity of the two fetal cell types were also assessed. TGF-β3 stimulation of fetal cells cultured in high cell density led to the production of aggrecan, type I and II collagens, and variable levels of type X collagen. Although fetal cells showed the same pattern of surface stem cell markers as BMSCs, both type of fetal cells had lower adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation capacity than BMSCs. Fetal cells from femoral head showed higher adipogenic differentiation than fetal cells from spine. These results show that fetal cells are already differentiated cells and may be a good compromise between stem cells and adult tissue cells for a cell-based therapy

Human Fetal Progenitor Tenocytes for Regenerative Medicine.

Tendon injuries are very frequent and affect a wide and heterogeneous population. Unfortunately, the healing process is long with outcomes that are not often satisfactory due to fibrotic tissue appearance, which leads to scar and adhesion development. Tissue engineering and cell therapies emerge as interesting alternatives to classical treatments. In this study, we evaluated human fetal progenitor tenocytes (hFPTs) as a potential cell source for treatment of tendon afflictions, as fetal cells are known to promote healing in a scarless regenerative process. hFPTs presented a rapid and stable growth up to passage 9, allowing to create a large cell bank for off-the-shelf availability. hFPTs showed a strong tenogenic phenotype with an excellent stability, even when placed in conditions normally inducing cells to differentiate. The karyotype also indicated a good stability up to passage 12, which is far beyond that necessary for clinical application (passage 6). When placed in coculture, hFPTs had the capacity to stimulate human adult tenocytes (hATs), which are responsible for the deposition of a new extracellular matrix during tendon healing. Finally, it was possible to distribute cells in porous or gel scaffolds with an excellent survival, thus permitting a large variety of applications (from simple injections to grafts acting as filling material). All of these results are encouraging in the development of an off-the-shelf cell source capable of stimulating tendon regeneration for the treatment of tendon injuries

Human muscular fetal cells: a potential cell source for muscular therapies

Myoblast transfer therapy has been extensively studied for a wide range of clinical applications, such as tissue engineering for muscular loss, cardiac surgery or Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy treatment. However, this approach has been hindered by numerous limitations, including early myoblast death after injection and specific immune response after transplantation with allogenic cells. Different cell sources have been analyzed to overcome some of these limitations. The object of our study was to investigate the growth potential, characterization and integration in vivo of human primary fetal skeletal muscle cells. These data together show the potential for the creation of a cell bank to be used as a cell source for muscle cell therapy and tissue engineering. For this purpose, we developed primary muscular cell cultures from biopsies of human male thigh muscle from a 16-week-old fetus and from donors of 13 and 30years old. We show that fetal myogenic cells can be successfully isolated and expanded in vitro from human fetal muscle biopsies, and that fetal cells have higher growth capacities when compared to young and adult cells. We confirm lineage specificity by comparing fetal muscle cells to fetal skin and bone cells in vitro by immunohistochemistry with desmin and 5.1H11 antibodies. For the feasibility of the cell bank, we ensured that fetal muscle cells retained intrinsic characteristics after 5years cryopreservation. Finally, human fetal muscle cells marked with PKH26 were injected in normal C57BL/6 mice and were found to be present up to 4days. In conclusion we estimate that a human fetal skeletal muscle cell bank can be created for potential muscle cell therapy and tissue engineerin

Stability Enhancement Using Hyaluronic Acid Gels for Delivery of Human Fetal Progenitor Tenocytes.

Tendon afflictions are very common, and their negative impact is high both at the workplace and in leisure activities. Tendinopathies are increasing in prevalence and can lead to tendon ruptures, where healing is a long process with outcomes that are often disappointing. Human fetal progenitor tenocytes (hFPTs) have been recently tested in vitro as a potential cell source to stimulate tendon regeneration. The aim of the present study was to compare different commercial hyaluronic acid (HA) gels, which could be used to resuspend hFPTs in a formulation that would allow for good delivery of the cells. No medium or growth supplement was used in the formulation in order to make it therapeutically dispensable. These conditions are stringent for cells, but surprisingly, we found that different formulations could allow a good survival for up to 3 days when stored at 4°C (refrigerator stable). The gels must allow a good survival of the cells in parallel with a good stability of the preparation over time and sufficient viscosity to remain in place if deposited on a wounded location. Moreover, the cells must conserve their ability to attach and to proliferate. hFPTs were able to survive and to recover from all of the tested gels, but some products showed some advantages over others in terms of survival and viscosity. Finally, the Ostenil Tendon HA gel fulfilled all of the requirements and presented the best compromise between a good survival and sufficient rheological characteristics to create an interesting cell delivery system

Development, characterization, and use of a fetal skin cell bank for tissue engineering in wound healing.

Wound healing in fetal skin is characterized by the absence of scar tissue formation, which is not dependent on the intrauterine environment and amniotic fluid. Fetal cells have the capacity of extraordinary expansion and we describe herein the development of a fetal skin cell bank where from one organ donation (2-4 cm2) it is possible to produce several hundred million fetal skin constructs of 9 x 12 cm2. Fetal cells grow three to four times more rapidly than older skin cells cultured in the same manner and these banked fetal cells are very resistant against physical and oxidative stress when compared to adult skin cells under the same culture conditions. They are up to three times more resistant to UVA radiation and two times more resistant towards hydrogen peroxide treatment. This mechanism may be of major importance for fetal cells when they are delivered to hostile wound environments. For fetal cell delivery to patients, cells were associated with a collagen matrix to form a three-dimensional construct in order to analyze the capacity of these cells for treating various wounds. We have seen that fetal cells can modify the repair response of skin wounds by accelerating the repair process and reducing scarring in severe bums and wounds of various nature in children. Hundreds of thousands of patients could potentially be treated for acute and chronic wounds from one standardized and controlled cell bank

Comparative study between steel-free and steel reinforced concrete bridge deck slabs subjected to fatigue loading

This experimental program was designed to provide increasing evidence that second generation steel-free concrete bridge decks are a practical alternative to conventional steel reinforced concrete bridge decks. The bridge deck in this experiment was cast monolithically with one half consisting of a second generation steel-free concrete bridge deck and the second half a conventional steel reinforced concrete bridge deck. A constant cyclic load was applied to each segment at an identical magnitude to compare the two bridge decks in terms of endurance, durability, deflection, crack width, reinforcement strain, concrete strain, and overall performance. The test results obtained in this experimental program confirm the notion that second generation steel-free concrete bridge decks are a safe and reliable alternative to conventional steel reinforced concrete bridge decks, and furthermore should become more widely accepted and practiced in the field of bridge engineering. The mode of failure for both segments was punching shear failure.May 201