http://hdl.handle.net/10379/5095 2017-10-29T23:46:31Z http://hdl.handle.net/10379/5363 Signaling pathways in mouse embryo stem cell self-renewal Quinlan, Leo At the pre-implantation blastocyst stage of development, the mammalian embryo is composed of a unique collection of cells of which three major populations predominate. The outermost layer the trophectoderm (TE) gives rise to the placenta, which acts to sustain the developing fetus connecting it to the mother host. The next is a cluster of cells known as the inner cell mass (ICM) these cells are said to be pluripotent (Fig. 1). A third group of cells known as the primitive endoderm, surrounds the ICM cells at the epiblast stage. As development proceeds the ICM cells rapidly divide and eventually begin to differentiate forming the three embryonic germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm). Effectively these pluripotent ICM cells are the precursors of all adult tissues. As these pluripotent cells commit to a specific cellular lineage, they lose their pluripotency. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are euploid pluripotent cell lines isolated directly from cultured preimplantation embryos. The first stable ES cell lines were isolated by immunosurgery from the ICM of implantation- delayed, mouse blastocysts (Martin, 1981; Evans and Kaufman, 1981). Mouse ES cells are very closely related to early ICM cells in terms of their developmental potential (Beddington and Robertson, 1989). This chapter will focus on mouse ES cells (mES) unless otherwise stated. Three features characterize mES cells;  2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10379/5094 Curriculum development for sustainable civic engagement Boland, Josephine Capacity building both for students and for community partners is an explicit goal for one particular teaching and learning innovation in Irish higher education. In addition to offering the opportunity to apply discipline-specific knowledge and skills, community-engaged learning (or service learning) aims to develop students capacity for autonomy, insight and active citizenship while meeting community needs and building community capacity. A central role of the academic is to plan a curriculum for civic engagement a process which includes attending to values, outcomes, pedagogy, assessment and evaluation which captures the diverse goals of the pedagogy, while meeting the requirements of a credit-based framework and related quality assurance systems. Academics have demonstrated considerable ingenuity in their ability to do this, often with the aid of educational developers who have supported these developments.   The chapter focuses on the process by which academics design/redesign curricula to embed a civic dimension with the potential for capacity building for all partners in the process and the inherent tensions in that endeavour. A range of strategies which have been deployed in practice will be outlined as will a typology of approaches to curriculum design for the pedagogy. The implications of different curriculum design for the sustainability of the pedagogy are also examined, especially within the challenging and demanding milieu of contemporary higher education. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z