text:
Home > Maidstone House Prices > Ellenswood Close
Sold House Prices in Ellenswood Close
This page displays sold house prices for Ellenswood Close in Maidstone.
Ellenswood Close in Downswood, Maidstone consists predominantly of semi-detached houses. Properties on Ellenswood Close typically have values around £150,000 - £200,000, ranging upwards of £200,000 for larger semi-detached houses.
3 Ellenswood Close, Downswood ME15 8SG
£65,500 Flat, Leasehold 19th September 2014
£41,500 Flat, Leasehold 28th March 2002
£62,500 Flat, Leasehold 8th November 2002
£27,000 Flat, Leasehold 27th November 1997
£70,000 Flat, Leasehold 15th August 2003
£160,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 21st October 2011
£67,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 23rd October 1998
£94,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 29th June 2001
£177,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 29th January 2014
10 Ellenswood Close, Downswood ME15 8SG
£125,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 26th July 2002
£133,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 13th December 2002
£172,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 9th October 2009
£57,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 30th May 1995
£65,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 21st March 1997
£92,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 22nd May 2000
£69,500 Semi-detached house, Freehold 6th March 1998
£129,995 Semi-detached house, Freehold 27th September 2002
£132,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 8th November 2002
£66,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 27th November 1997
£95,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 22nd December 1999
£224,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 24th October 2014
£50,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 18th December 1996
£79,000 Semi-detached house, Freehold 15th January 1999
£119,999 Semi-detached house, Freehold 5th January 2007
£214,800 Semi-detached house, Freehold 5th April 2012
Ellenswood Close
Map showing Ellenswood Close in Maidstone.


text:
You are here: Home / Football / Lana Cook NFL Jared Cook's Wife
Lana Cook NFL Jared Cook's Wife
ShareTweetSubscribeGoogleWhatsappPinterest
LinkedinRedditStumbleuponBufferPocketMail
Lana Cook
Meet the exquisite Mrs. Lana Cook, she is the stunning, loving and caring wife of NFL player Jared Cook. The 6'5″ Alabama native is a tight end for the Geen Bay Packers, he also played for the St. Lois Rams and The Tennessee Titans from 2009 to 2012. Prior to the NFL, Cook played college football at the University of South Carolina.
In my opinion, Lana Cook's story is why we are here first and foremost. However, there are a couple of interesting thigs, you all should keep in mind about her man.
First is that he was born Jared Alan Cook on April 7, 1987, in Birmingham, Alabama, but moved to Georgia afterward.
Cook graduated from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia before he attended the University of South Carolina, where he joined the South Carolina Gamecocks, while his brother Jason played at Ole Miss.
Lana's hubby was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round (89th overall) in the 2009 NFL Draft. After a couple of seasons with the Titans and switching to the wide receiver position, Cook signed a deal with the St. Louis Rams on March 12, 2013.
On March 28, 2016, he agreed to a one-year $2.75 million with another $900,000 available through incentives wit the Green Bay Packers following his released by the Rams on February 19, 2016.
There you go, that was Jared, from here on, we are with Mrs. Cook all the way!
Lana Janae Colston was born in 1979 in Michigan to Marthena Jane Colston (nee. Washington).
Lana graduated in 2005 with a B.S in criminal justice, psychology and sociology from Middle Tennesee State University, subsequently in 2007 received her cosmetology license from the Beauty Institute.
Back in 2001, Mrs. Cook was a fundraiser coordinator at Reach One Teach One, where she also served as a mentor. Nowadays, she is the co-owner of Lace Lae Salon and Boutique in addition to her wefted and clip-on human hair extension business Fabuluxe Beauty which she launched in 2015.
Jared and Lana got engaged in July 2013 and married on June 29, 2013, in Hermitage, Tennessee; the lovely couple is the proud parents of four incredible and beautiful children, Jordyn (b. 2011), Phoenix (b. 2014) and their twins Shiloh and Cross (b. 2016).
A video posted by 👑Lana C (@lanajanae) on Jun 19, 2016 at 8:52am PDT
More Breaking News:
Tina Pagano-NFL coach Chuck Pagano's wife
Melissa Uhrich Top Facts about Carson Wentz' Girlfriend
Towanda Braxton- Kordell Stewart's New Girlfriend After Divorce from Porsha??
Taylor Anderson Brown- SD Chargers Ronnie Brown's Wife
Filed Under: Football Tagged With: ages of Jared Cook children, green bay packers wags, green bay packers wives, Jared Cook daughter, Jared Cook daughters, Jared Cook family, Jared Cook instagram, Jared Cook lan Colston, Jared Cook Lana Colston, Jared Cook Lanan, Jared Cook married, Jared Cook net worth, Jared Cook son cross, Jared Cook twins, Jared Cook twitter, Jared Cook wife, lana Colston Cook, Lana Cook clip on hair extension, Lana Cook cosmetology, Lana Cook detroit, Lana Cook ethnicity, Lana Cook family, Lana Cook green bay packers, Lana Cook instagram, Lana Cook Jared cook, Lana Cook Jared cook wedding date, Lana Cook Jared Cook wedding photos, Lana Cook rams, names of Jared Cook children
Sign me up for the daily dose of gossip newsletter!
Malik Hooker's Mother Angela Dennis...
Naomi Osaka's Parents Tamaki Osaka & Le...
Meet Dejan Lovren's Pretty Wife Anita Lovren...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Due: Thursday, January 23, 2014 by noon.
What sounds are around you on a routine basis and how do you listen (or not listen) to them?
Step One: Compose a playlist of ten sounds that you hear in your daily life. What sounds do you hear regularly as you go about your day? Make a list of these sounds, and then organize them thematically (i.e. "Mornings in Keele Street traffic" or "Sounds that Remind Me of Home"). Try to also identify an overarching theme that connects all of the sounds on your playlist.
Step Two: Record all of the sounds on your playlist. As you record, keep in mind where you are recording. Is the room noisy? Are you recording in such a way that accurately depicts an everyday situation for you? Or are you altering the situation for the purposes of recording? If possible, record your audio with headphones on so you can hear what you are recording. Try to limit your recordings to 60 seconds per sound; you may include longer selections if necessary for your audiography though this must be justified in your rationale. Do not edit the sounds in any way, other than for duration (in other words, do not add a voice over narration, add effects to your recordings, or mix sounds together). You may however cut seconds from your recording.
Using Audacity, edit these into a single MP3 to be uploaded onto the class blog.
Step Three: Submit the assignment.
2. Upload the audio file into the site library by clicking on the "Add Media" button.
3. Embed the mp3 into the blog entry using the media player. Underneath, include a direct link to the media file.


text:
MR MERVYN KING, MS RACHAEL LOMAX, SIR JOHN GIEVE, MS KATE BARKER AND DR ANDREW SENTANCE
Q60 John Thurso: You mentioned the frequency of purchase and I think the ONS have undertaken some work on that. How much do you take that into account in the MPC's deliberation or is it just a `take note' factor?
Mr King: I think it is a `take note' factor because this difference is really something that has been particularly large in the last two years and I would expect that to unwind.
Q61 Mr Love: Governor, first of all, I should apologise. There is nothing worse than asking a question, getting half-way through and having to come back to it at the end, so I do apologise for following up on the question I asked you earlier on. In response to Mr Thurso on the US sub-prime market, I agree entirely that some of the exotic practices there are not being replicated over here, but there are certain trends that are going on. The proportion of sub-prime lending and totally new lending is going up and the proportion of, shall we say, riskier characteristics of the people they are lending to in the sub-prime market seems to be going up, and there is some concern about this. Is that something that you are monitoring and do we need to be taking some action to restrain that at the present time?
Mr King: Well, we do regularly monitor it in John's area and also in the markets area of the Bank. We hold meetings with the lenders to discuss what is going on and whether they have changed the degree of restriction which they impose and the conditions which they impose on lending. We are, in fact, going to start to publish before long a new survey of lenders in the credit market. I do think that they are very conscious of their risk experience and they will not have been unaware of the problems that have occurred in the US market. I think they do look very carefully at what happens here, but of course, if they were to refuse to lend altogether, I am sure that many members of your Committee would be saying, "Well, why is it that people on low incomes can't get mortgages?", so it is important that people have access to a competitive mortgage market, and I do think the lenders are very conscious of how risky that may or may not be. After all, most of those households try very, very hard to meet their mortgage obligations, the last thing they want to do is to fail to meet their mortgage obligations, and I think it is no accident that the problems we have seen in repayments of debt have occurred not in the mortgage market, but in the unsecured market, store cards, credit cards and so on.
Q62 Mr Love: I understand that, but I think it was The Economist at the weekend which was pointing out that, whilst all these problems are occurring in the US, the amount of money that is flowing into sub-prime areas in this country still continues to increase. Is there not some concern about that? I know the experience is not exactly replicated, but we do not appear to be learning the lessons.
Mr King: All I can say is that, if we look at the latest data and ask the question, "What fraction of new mortgages are bigger than 90% of the value of the house?", that figure has risen somewhat, but it is still below 30%. In the early 1990s it was over 60%, so I think we are a long way away from a situation in which mortgages are being granted on those risky terms.
Q63 Mr Love: If I can move you on to business investment, the Budget suggests that there will be a significant continuing increase in business investment and I think the Chancellor proclaimed that this was the start of the rebalancing of the economy. Do you take as optimistic a view and do you think the economy is beginning to rebalance or are we still too dependent on our consumption?
Mr King: I think we are beginning to see a rebalancing certainly between consumption and business investment. Part of the strength of business investment last year was investment in the North Sea which, because it led to times when the plant was out of action, also reduced production and revenues, but not all of it. Business investment has been growing strongly and I think we would expect that to continue, so I think I would take the broad view. I think the difficulty in judging how far the rebalancing has gone is on the trade side where we have not really seen much of a change yet, but no doubt in due course we will see some, but it is very hard to predict when that will be. Consumption is no longer growing at the rate that it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it is growing at a completely sustainable rate, and I think that business investment, after a period when we were puzzled why it had not picked up, has picked up now and is growing quite strongly, so there are certainly some genuine signs already in the data of some rebalancing. The uncertainty is as to how far it will go and whether it will actually reach the trade side.
Q64 Mr Love: If we look forward, does it not mean that, if consumption continues, government expenditure is going to decline somewhat?
Mr King: The rate of growth, not the level.
Q65 Mr Love: Does that not mean that we need to be making that up on our trade position, yet, looking out there at Europe in particular, it does not look as if trade is going to be able to fill that gap?
Mr King: I think there are two things to be said about that. The first is that the euro area is now growing much more strongly than for some while and indeed in the last few months we have seen good news on the euro area. Whereas the growth rate in the US has been revised downwards, that in the euroarea has been revised upwards. I think that area is producing more good news than for some time. The second is that in terms of our overall current account, although we have a trade deficit, what we seem to have been able to do is to pull off the trick of earning a higher rate of return on our assets abroad than we are paying on our liabilities to those who own UK assets but live abroad. We have been earning a surplus there which has helped to offset the deficit on the trade account. How far that is sustainable remains to be seen, but it has certainly helped so far. It is unlikely to change dramatically or very quickly, but in the long run I think we will need to see some rebalancing of the economy to reduce the trade deficit, I have no doubt about that, but it is very hard to know when and there seems no immediate pressure to bring that about quickly because, if there were, then I think you would see some downward movement in the exchange rate leading to the expectation of a gradual adjustment.
Q66 Mr Love: Earlier in the year, you were expressing concern about wage settlements, that real disposable incomes were not rising and RPI inflation on which most are based was quite high. Are you still concerned? Is the outlook now much more benign than it was?
Mr King: I think it is too early to judge on that and I think that was always one of the risks which we identified. There is certainly no sign of that risk materialising at this stage and nothing we have seen so far would suggest that it has materialised, but I think it is too early to draw any strong conclusion on that front.
Q67 Mr Love: What is the evidence you are getting from your people in the regions?
Mr King: That there is some modest pick-up in settlements relative to last year, although certainly less than would have provoked our concern, but, as I say, we have not seen the full results yet and, therefore, I would not want to draw a strong conclusion at this stage.
Q68 Mr Breed: I want really to go back to the regional disparities, I suppose. There is some sort of feeling that pay settlements are raising much more pressure to increase pay there. What evidence do you get? With what sort of regularity do you get the evidence from your regional agents in terms of specifically what they are seeing on the ground in different parts of the country? Obviously I am concerned very much with the south-west of England, but it is very different from here obviously and the other parts.
Mr King: I think it is very different in different sectors and industries rather than in different regions, as such. It is up to us how often we get the data from our agents. We always ask them to do a regular annual survey to coincide with the pay round, although I think we have come to the conclusion that the concept of a pay round is no longer as relevant as it was in the private sector at least. It still is relevant in the public sector, but less so in the private sector, but, as I say, our general view is that there does not seem to be very much change compared with last year.
Q69 Mr Breed: Do you have a comment on the suggestion that in the public sector people are going to get paid differentially for the same job, depending on where they live?
Mr King: I think that is a question you will have to put to those responsible for the public sector.
Q70 Chairman: We have put it to the Chancellor for the past few years! Could I ask the question about RPI because it is at its highest rate for 15 years and I wonder if I could address this to everyone, the concern about it feeding into pay settlements. Do you regard it as a temporary phenomenon and what account of the RPI do you make in your deliberations?
Ms Barker: Well, it is certainly the case that people often talk about RPI as being the index that determines pay settlements, although in fact, if you look back over history, it is by no means a one-to-one linkage and I am personally rather sceptical of the idea that it does influence pay settlements. The main influence on pay settlements almost certainly is demand and supply in the labour market, and we have talked about why migrant labour in particular has eased off skill shortages that were probably otherwise emerging in quite a number of industries. I was in the North East last week and I was very struck by the fact that, of the firms we talked to about pay settlements, the vast majority said that they were settling at, or very little different from, the rate at which they settled last year, despite the fact that RPI is so high. So, whereas RPI may very well be the starting point, particularly in a negotiation where unions are involved, it certainly is not the finish, but the finish depends on how the company is doing and it depends on demand and supply. I was always somewhat sceptical that there would be a direct feedthrough to settlements, but I did recognise that as a risk and it was indeed one of the risks I took into account in voting for higher rates in January, although I have to say so far the evidence is that it has not been realised, but we are a long way from knowing the full story about what has happened to settlements in the first half of this year.
Q71 Chairman: So you are not sure if it is temporary or not?
Ms Barker: The rise in RPI?
Q72 Chairman: Yes.
Ms Barker: Well, the rise in RPI, the rise and the other indices will be affected very much by what happens to utility bills over the next few months. The expectation is that we will see some fallback from this very high level.
Sir John Gieve: I think over the medium term these indices tend to move together. But certainly RPI is the best-known price index and, therefore, it could have an influence on people's inflation expectations, and I think more people probably look at that than of the CPI. It certainly influences what workers demand, but it does not necessarily influence what they are given. There are two factors in the labour market really. One is that the increasing importance of bonuses and discretionary pay additions means that the pay round is less important than it used to be, and the second is that, as Mervyn was saying, we cannot yet see a big increase in the level of settlements this year. So so far, so good. The big news, I think, in the labour market on the wage front, for me (and perhaps this is just from my past interest) has been the very tight grip taken on the Public Sector Review Body settlements, which was tough by anyone's standards and I think also has some feedthrough into the likely future fiscal path.
Q73 Chairman: Has it been a temporary phenomenon? What is your view?
Sir John Gieve: I am expecting all the price indices to fall when the gas price cuts come through later in the year. The gap between the CPI and RPI varies from time to time, depending on mortgages and council tax, and I have not got it in my mind how far it will narrow or widen in the next year.
Q74 Chairman: RACHAEL, is that good news for my constituents at my surgery on Friday, that gas bills are going to come down and the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England tells us that?
Ms Lomax: I think they certainly should come down, should they not? Wholesale gas prices have come right down, so there is no reason why retail gas prices should not follow them. There is not a lot to add to what my colleagues have just said, except of course that one reason why the RPI is as high as it is is because we have been putting up interest rates.
Q75 Chairman: You took account of it in your deliberations?
Ms Lomax: No, it is an unavoidable consequence and that is why we never use the RPI as a target variable because it has this perverse property that, when you put up interest rates to bring inflation down, the RPI itself rises. So, providing we do not go on raising interest rates, that will sooner or later work its way through.
Dr Sentance: I would expect the recent rise in RPI inflation to be temporary and for it to come down as inflation comes back to target. I think the issue which is reflected in the Inflation Report discussion is that there is quite a bit of uncertainty about that path of inflation and how quickly it will come back to target. I think that has a bearing on the secondary issue about how this might feed through into pay settlements and obviously the longer the measure of inflation continues at a high level, the greater is the risk that it will feed through into pay. But there are factors that we have talked about, gas and electricity prices, which cause us to be hopeful that inflation will come down reasonably quickly over the first half of this year, and we will need to monitor on a month-by-month basis the extent to which that is coming through.
Q76 Chairman: Governor, in your speech in Birmingham in January, you mentioned that the rise in CPI inflation over the last year was not anticipated by the MPC a year ago. In the light of your experience, have you taken any steps to improve the monitoring of that?
Mr King: No, because, as I said, a forecast is never a central projection; it is a set of probabilities about various outcomes. It is always interesting to go back and ask the question, "What were the things that occurred that were not present in our central projection?", and there are two main things to say about that. One was that we did not anticipate the increases in gas and electricity prices that took place in the second half of last year, it was not in the central projection and perfectly reasonably so, and the second was that there were other factors which clearly led to a pick-up of inflation that we had not anticipated, and I tried in that speech to set out arguments as to what those factors might be. It could be either pressure of demand on capacity or a rise in inflation expectations, but certainly one of the things we have seen in recent months which we had not expected is the noticeable rise in the number of firms who say they are now confident that they can make price increases stick, and that is something that has been concerning us. It is always very important to go back and ask the question, "How did the world evolve in a way which was not in our central projection?", but that is something that I would expect to happen. The chance of the central projection materialising is always, as I say at these hearings, close to zero and that is very important. I deeply regret the fact that most forecasters publish numbers for their forecasts as if they are bound to happen when the chances of that happening are close to zero. It is a fan chart or nothing, as far as I am concerned!
Q77 Chairman: I will finish on the prospects of inflation and maybe ask everyone for a final comment on that. Looking at the sensitivity of CPI forecasts in your Inflation Report, how sensitive is the current CPI forecast to the assumed future path of interest rates and what are the risks around that assumption?
Dr Sentance: I think the forecast we produced was on the expectation that was in the market at the time of the Inflation Report, which suggested that interest rates would go up a little bit further, and we showed that, if interest rates were constant, the outlook for inflation would not be to come down quite as closely to the target, but I think the risks around that are probably the more significant thing. From my perspective, as we have pointed out, we can see some factors that will mechanically help to produce lower inflation in terms of energy prices, gas and electricity prices. But of course we need to think about what are going to be the pressures on the other prices in the basket, and we have seen a pick-up in demand over the second half of last year as well as the high price expectations the Governor has referred to. So there is a risk that those factors could keep us above target perhaps for longer than the central forecast is suggesting. I voted for an interest rate rise in February, not in the March meeting, but in February partly because I was concerned about that risk and that is a risk that I am particularly focusing on.
Ms Lomax: The big debate really over the last few months has been the extent to which the pick-up in inflation has been reflecting supply shocks, like the gas and electricity prices we have been talking about or the underlying pressure of demand on capacity, and I think we have all had slightly different views on that. I think the next six to nine months is going to be really interesting in throwing light on that issue, so in a sense what happens to inflation after that, for me, will depend slightly on what the inflation outturn over the next six to nine months is. I may have been wrong, in which case I will change my mind, but, on the other hand, maybe inflation will turn out quite a bit lower than we are predicting in the Inflation Report. What one feels about inflation in two years' time is path-dependent, in that sense. As for how sensitive is the inflation outlook to interest rates, I think it depends on what happens to the exchange rate. A lot of the transmission mechanism is through the exchange rate and it is always quite difficult to call that. If the exchange rate has not moved, then interest rates can have surprisingly little effect certainly in our model and, if the exchange rate does move, they can be much more powerful. So in terms of the conditioning assumptions in the forecast: well people can get very excited about the odd 0.25%, but I would not read an awful lot into that as a statement of intent about where interest rates are going.
Ms Barker: We discussed it at length of course in the Inflation Report, as we always do, all those various risks around the path to inflation, but I think one fundamental, obvious point really is we talked about the fact that certainly in the business sector, and noticeably the manufacturing sector, price expectations at the moment are relatively strong. Certainly if you talk to companies, they are more inclined to say they are able to pass cost pressures on, and that has not been my experience most of the time while I have been on the Committee. But of course what is very difficult to tell is whether this is a temporary or permanent state of affairs because ultimately prices in these markets, as we have said, and in many other markets will be set by demand and supply, so we are sort of back to the uncertainties we all expressed earlier around exactly where the output gap is. It is a different way of saying, that I agree with RACHAEL, that we are not going to find out in the next couple of months exactly where the balance lies and all we can do is look at all the indicators we have and take our best view. My own view is that probably the output gap is, as a lot of people have said, roughly around trend, but there is an enormous amount of uncertainty and perhaps more uncertainty than typical.
Sir John Gieve: I have not a lot to add to that. I think I was with the majority in thinking that the risks to our inflation projection were slightly on the downside in the short term, but on the upside at the sort of two-year horizon. What are the risks to that and the risks I am worried about? I suppose there are two on the upside. One is that consumption growth will be stronger than we have expected, and that will be an upside pressure on the demand side. The second is the point that Kate made about expectations not so much among wage-demanders, but among price-setters among companies. Now, there is a sense that there is a little bit more pricing power in the market now and I will be watching to see whether that comes through in the next few months.
Q78 Chairman: Governor, RACHAEL has offered us the prospect of a tasty six to nine months. You had the first word, but do you want the last one?
Mr King: There is only one extra point I would make to your Committee which is that it is quite tempting to try and forecast inflation by simply adding on what we know is going to happen to gas and electricity prices, and that is a mistake. What happens to other prices is not independent of what is happening to gas and electricity prices. These big changes in relative prices do affect the short-term dynamics of inflation overall, that is true, but in the medium term they do not, and I think the big challenge for us, and what is so difficult is to know, is exactly how far the big movements in energy prices that we have seen, both up and now down at the retail level, actually influence the way in which firms set the prices for other goods and services. It is very hard to know how to judge that and that is why the next six to nine months will be very interesting and very important for monetary policy. Our job is to ensure that month by month we all keep taking decisions on interest rates, to keep our judgment as to where inflation is likely to settle, looking two years or so ahead, at the target, and that is what we will commit to do.
Q79 Chairman: Governor, can I thank you and your colleagues for your appearance this morning; it is very helpful to us. We are mindful that you are coming back in April for our inquiry into the MPC ten years on.
Mr King: Yes, and we look forward to that.
Chairman: We are grateful, we thank you for the written evidence to date and we look forward to our April meeting. Thank you very much.
Prepared 23 April 2007


In this review we will provide a clear guide on how to add Instagram app InstaShow to Bigcommerce site. We will put to use a top cloud service with ready-made solutions for sites – Elfsight Apps.
Complete several easy steps to add the plugin to the required page of your site. The likely setup time is about 1 minute.
Firstly, to access our service, please, register. If you already have an account, please, enter here.
Our platform holds several tools, which will improve your website. To install Instagram app on a BigCommerce website, you should press InstaShow.
Pick out one of 10 ready-made color patterns.
You are able to view all the advantages at the Instagram app page.
You can select the subscription in the window that you're redirected to. Subscriptions range from Free to Enterprise. Figure out your personal page's visibility and click the "Select" button.
The finishing step of the installation is to obtain the plugin script by clicking "Get" button on the gallery header.
Go to Bigcommerce admin panel and press "Storefront" in side menu.
Switch the page to HTML format and paste the plugin code to the content of the page. Save the changes.
You have successfully added the Instagram plugin!
You can rearrange the plugin appearance or the shown social media page in your account at Elfsight Apps. After you apply the improvements, they will automatically take effect in your Instagram feed.
InstaShow is a comprehensive Instagram social feed with a wide number of configurations, photos configuration, entirely changeable design and a clean setup, what makes our app one of the top among the other tools.
It is a web service with cloud solutions that will allow you to change your website and make your enterprise more lucrative. It only takes several steps to paste our products to any platform. Make your site smarter with Elfsight Apps!
Try the plugin demo for free!
Shape a custom Instagram widget for your own Bigcommerce website.


text:
In Re Hughes , 90 N.J. 32 ( 1982 )
90 N.J. 32 (1982) 446 A.2d 1208
IN THE MATTER OF JOHN E. HUGHES, JR., AN ATTORNEY AT LAW.
The Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Argued January 26, 1982. Decided June 29, 1982.
*33 David E. Johnson, Jr. argued the cause for complainant Disciplinary Review Board (Colette A. Coolbaugh, Secretary, attorney).
*34 Joseph G. Dooley, Jr., argued the cause for respondent.
Attorney John E. Hughes has pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges of bribing a public official and state charges of forging public documents. These extremely serious infractions demand professional discipline. At the same time, the highly unusual nature of the events surrounding these illegal acts prompts us to examine the factual circumstances with great care.
In the federal proceeding, Hughes pleaded guilty to a charge of violating 18 U.S.C. § 201(f). He paid $1,000 to an Internal Revenue Service agent to induce him to remain silent about possible criminal violations by Hughes. In the state proceedings, Hughes pleaded guilty to altering and falsifying records of the Essex County Register to indicate that certain federal tax liens against his parents had been released, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2A:136-1. He also pleaded guilty to uttering and publishing as true to the Essex County Register two false and forged Certificates of Release of Federal Tax Lien in the name of his parents, totalling more than $12,000, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2A:109-1.
The federal guilty plea resulted in a suspended 18 month sentence and two years probation commencing September 18, 1979. Hughes received identical sentences for each count of the state indictment to which he pleaded guilty. The state probation ran concurrent with the federal probation.
Both the federal and state matters arose from the same incidents. Hughes practiced law with his father from 1967 through February of 1976. At that time, his father pleaded guilty to failure to file and pay certain federal taxes and was suspended from the practice of law for six months. Following his father's death in November of 1976, Hughes discovered that his father had converted money from a client's estate that should have been used to pay transfer inheritance taxes. Because *35 of this conversion, the estate owed a substantial sum to the State in unpaid taxes.
Although he had no legal duty to do so, Hughes personally paid nearly $40,000 over a period of time to the State to satisfy the estate's tax liability. His alleged motive was to avoid the adverse publicity for his family that might result from claims by the estate against the Clients' Security Fund arising from his father's misappropriation.
While still making those payments to the State, Hughes learned of certain federal tax liens on real estate then owned by his mother just as she was about to close on the sale of the property. Those liens had been imposed because his father had failed to pay certain federal taxes. Although he had no legal obligation to do so, Hughes wanted to pay off the tax liens himself. His motive was to protect his mother from knowledge of the extent of his father's wrongdoing.
Since he did not have the resources to pay off both the tax lien and the estate taxes, Hughes sought to arrange with the Internal Revenue Service for either settlement of the tax liens or a schedule of payment. When he was unable to do so, he forged the Federal Tax Lien Releases. Hughes claims that it was his intent to reinstate the liens and pay them off when he was able to do so. The result of his filing the forged releases was that any purchaser from his mother would be unaware of the lien. The purchaser, however, might someday find that the title to the property was not free and clear.
Some time later, the Internal Revenue Service sent an agent equipped with a listening device to investigate the case. The agent recorded a $1,000 bribe offer by Hughes so the agent would ignore the forged releases. Hughes subsequently paid $1,000 to the agent.
On the basis of the two criminal convictions, the District V Ethics Committee (Essex County) found that Hughes had violated DR1-102(A)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), and DR7-102(A)(3), (4), (5), and (8). Upon a review of the full record, the Disciplinary *36 Review Board determined that the Committee's conclusions were supported by clear and convincing evidence.
We accept a criminal conviction as conclusive evidence of guilt in disciplinary proceedings. In re Rosen, 88 N.J. 1, 3 (1981); In re Mirabelli, 79 N.J. 597, 602 (1979). Although we will not retry the question of guilt, the underlying facts of the conviction are relevant to the determination of the appropriate discipline to be imposed. In re Rosen, 88 N.J. at 3.
Bribery of a public official and forgery of public documents are among the more serious offenses an attorney can commit. They strike at the heart of the attorney's honesty and trustworthiness as an officer of the court. Without more, these acts demonstrate unfitness to practice law. For these reasons the Disciplinary Review Board recommended that Hughes be disbarred.
In setting the appropriate discipline we are not interested in punishing the attorney. That is the province of the criminal law. The primary purpose of professional discipline is
to protect the public against members of the bar who are unworthy of the trust and confidence essential to the relationship of attorney and client. [In re Sears, 71 N.J. 175, 200 (1976)]
Accord, In re Stout, 75 N.J. 321, 325 (1978). We are careful to guard the public against attorneys likely to commit dishonest acts or to betray the trust that their positions demand.
Because our goal is protection of the public rather than punishment of the attorney, mitigating factors are relevant to determining whether the public interest requires the ultimate sanction of disbarment. Extenuating circumstances may demonstrate that there is little or no likelihood that the attorney will repeat the transgressions. In re Sears, 71 N.J. at 199-201; In re Stout, 75 N.J. at 325; In re Mirabelli, 79 N.J. at 602. In such cases, we may sometimes achieve the public interest without having to impose the harshest sanction.
However, even if it is unlikely that the attorney will repeat the misconduct, certain acts by attorneys so impugn the integrity *37 of the legal system that disbarment is the only appropriate means to restore public confidence in it. Bribery of a public official is surely one of those cases. It has devastating consequences to the bar, the bench, and the public, and especially the public's confidence in the legal system. No sanction short of disbarment will suffice to repair the damage.
We recognize that Hughes did not commit the acts to achieve any personal gain. On the contrary, he had no legal obligation, and perhaps even no generally accepted moral responsibility, to pay for his father's offenses. Yet he chose to undergo the hardship of paying almost $40,000 of his personal earnings to the State, rather than allowing the loss to lie on the defrauded client or the public. While the forgery allowed his mother to sell the property free of the tax liens, he received no immediate benefit from the forgery itself or the subsequent bribe. Both his diligence in paying back his father's tax obligations and his criminal acts were motivated by his desire to save his mother from the shock and embarrassment of further knowledge of his father's wrongdoing. While these facts in no way detract from the seriousness of the offenses, they do reflect a highly atypical backdrop to such criminal actions.
Human beings sometimes find it difficult to resist doing anything to help their family. We recognize the nobility of those sentiments. Yet we impose limits on what people can do in that regard. We do not applaud, for example, individuals who steal for their families. Many misappropriation cases come before this Court. In most of those cases, the respondent is not a vicious person at all but rather one who is the victim of difficult circumstances. Attorneys steal from their clients, often not to become rich, but simply to make ends meet. Would it be farfetched to imagine that they do it for the sake of their families? Perhaps they seek to prevent their families from being evicted; perhaps the funds are necessary to care for their husbands or wives or children. Yet we have not hesitated, in such cases, to disbar the attorney who steals from the client. *38 We do not condemn the individual who faces exigent circumstances. We do protect the public.
While mitigating circumstances might sometimes cause us to order a less drastic sanction than disbarment in a bribery case, the situation here does not warrant anything less. That the respondent ultimately paid off a lien for which he had no legal responsibility and that he paid back taxes for which he had no legal obligation are much to his credit. However, his actions did create a victim. The purchaser of his mother's home thought that the title was free and clear of any encumbrances. Yet, as a result of respondent's fraud and forgery, the purchaser actually occupied a home which had a $12,000 lien on it. While it is true that respondent ultimately paid it off out of his own pocket, it is equally true that he placed that innocent family in a position of substantial insecurity. What would have happened if respondent had not been able to pay off the lien? That innocent family might have been faced with the prospect of losing either their home or their life savings to pay off the lien. It hardly seems noble to risk the lives and fortunes of an innocent family that you have never met to prevent a member of your own family from suffering the humiliation of learning about tax evasion.
In recent years, no attorneys have been disbarred for forgery or misrepresentation to a public official when the act was committed for reasons other than personal gain. E.g., In re McNally, 81 N.J. 304 (1979); In re Silverman, 80 N.J. 489 (1979); In re Weiner, 56 N.J. 165 (1970). However, bribery of a public official has invariably resulted in disbarment. E.g., In re Sabatino, 65 N.J. 548, 549 (1974); In re Colsey, 63 N.J. 210 (1973); In re Seaman, 60 N.J. 136 (1972); In re Goode, 58 N.J. 420, 421 (1971). Cf. In re Caruso, 67 N.J. 44 (1975) (inducing client to pay money to attorney by falsely representing that money was needed to bribe a public official); In re Abrams, 65 N.J. 172 (1974) (paying an extortion demand to public officials).
*39 We recognize that the mitigating factors in this case appear substantial. Hughes did not commit these illegal acts for personal gain. Nor did he have a duty to repay the back taxes to the State. Nevertheless, under the facts of this case, these considerations are not sufficient to overcome the presumption that attorneys who bribe public officials are a threat to the public and the legal system. Hughes not only bribed an IRS official but deliberately falsified public documents. These acts severely damage public confidence in the legal system. Moreover, a person willing to resort to such means to accomplish his goals, no matter how beneficent the goals may be, is a danger to the legal system. The combination of these two offenses compels us to conclude that the public will not be adequately protected by any disposition short of disbarment. Moreover, disbarment is the only appropriate remedy here to maintain public confidence in the bar. We so order.
We further direct Hughes to reimburse the Administrative Office of the Courts for appropriate administrative costs, including production of transcripts.
SCHREIBER, J., dissenting.
Not many years ago Justice Pashman wrote in In re Sears, 71 N.J. 175, 201-02 (1976):
We observe finally that the judicial role in disciplinary matters demands our utmost sensitivity to the purpose which we serve. We have no great zeal to impose sanctions on individuals for disciplinary infractions. Our foremost concern is to guarantee that members of the bar represent the interests of their clients in keeping with the public trust. Thus, we must weigh the likelihood of future violations, as well as the seriousness of proven transgressions, in imposing discipline. Such judgments, by their very nature, rest on assessments of individual character. Therefore, we will not subscribe to a policy controlling future cases without knowledge of the facts which may arise in those cases. We previously stated that "each case must rest largely upon its own particular circumstances." In re Greenberg, 21 N.J. 213, 225 (1956). See also In re Abrams, 65 N.J. 172, 179 (1974); In re Baron, 25 N.J. 445, 449 (1957).
Compliance with those sentiments would not lead to the result reached this day. The Court today has created a disciplinary sanction rule calling for disbarment irrespective of the particular *40 circumstances of the case. See supra at 37. Yet there is no likelihood of a future transgression by this respondent and, keeping in mind the purpose of the judicial role in disciplinary matters, I believe disbarment is not warranted.
It has often been stated, and the majority agrees, that the primary purpose of professional discipline is to protect the public from irresponsible members of the bar. If that be the essential objective, then it is necessary to determine what sanction is needed to protect the public: private reprimand, public reprimand, suspension or disbarment. We therefore look to the nature of the wrongdoing to see what remedial device is appropriate.
Our jurisdiction is derived from the constitutional provision that the "Supreme Court shall have jurisdiction over the admission to the practice of law and the discipline of persons admitted." N.J.Const. (1947), Art. VI, § 2, par. 3. The core of our disciplinary authority deals with the action or inaction of the individual as an attorney, be it with a client or the court.
Analysis of the wrongdoing in this framework may properly begin then with an examination of the extent to which the misconduct demonstrates that the attorney might potentially inflict harm on a client. When the wrongdoing is directly related to and strikes at the heart of the attorney-client relationship, such as misuse of a client's funds, the connection between the attorney's transgression and the need for future protection of the public is clear. When the wrongdoing is not directly related to that relationship, however, its effect on the practice of the law and the needed public protection in that respect is more attenuated. In those circumstances we should be, and have until now been, more sensitive to the mitigating circumstances in determining the proper discipline.
Any violation of the law creates some question about the trust and confidence that the public may reasonably be expected to repose in an attorney. No matter what the violation, some discipline may be needed to deter both the attorney involved and *41 other members of the bar. Violation of the law may involve such egregious conduct or be so inimical to the integrity of the judicial system that the Court should apply the extreme sanction of disbarment.
Whether disbarment is the appropriate discipline depends on both the nature of the crime and the mitigating elements. In a close case, like this one, our major concern should be to determine whether the public may in the future trust the respondent in dealings with him as a member of the bar. Is he likely to repeat the misconduct or to commit other wrongs? Is his future conduct likely to harm any clients?
The respondent's conduct here does not suggest an unethical or criminal bent. Rather, it was aberrational. Respondent sought to preserve the memory of his father's professional reputation and to protect his mother's feelings by sparing her the mortification that would follow a revelation of his father's misdeeds. Such motives are not to be equated with ordinary venality or greed. They do not suggest a common or predictable weakness in the face of temptation. Nor do they necessarily suggest a want of professional fortitude likely to manifest itself in any other situation. Furthermore, he injured no client. Hence, the essential integrity and loyalty that the profession expects of attorneys in dealings with clients are not impugned here. If anything, the integrity of the bar was enhanced by his voluntarily reimbursing his father's clients approximately $40,000.
The Court for the first time in this case has decided that an episode involving bribery of a public official and forgery of a document, unrelated to an attorney-client matter, is an automatic cause for disbarment irrespective of mitigating factors. It does so because this act "so severely damage[s] public confidence in the legal system." See supra at 39. The majority draws heavily on the analogy of stealing a client's funds, the subject of In re Wilson, 81 N.J. 451 (1979), in which the Court prescribed practically a per se rule calling for disbarment when an attorney *42 misappropriates a client's funds. I submit that the Hughes' situation is not as egregious as that in Wilson, which involved an attorney-client relationship. Moreover, the Wilson rule has not been applied retroactively.
Numerous cases have been decided while I have been a member of this Court that had a much greater impact upon public confidence in the legal system and that have not resulted in disbarment. The majority has referred to three such cases. In re Sears, supra, involved false swearing and perjury before a grand jury, a secret $200,000 cash contribution to the Nixon campaign in return for assistance with respect to an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and improperly representing to a client that an attempt had been made to influence a judge. Justice Sullivan in his dissent summarized the situation succinctly: "To put it plainly, respondent is guilty of deliberate attempts to corrupt the processes of government." 71 N.J. at 204-05. Sears was suspended for three years. In In re Stout, 75 N.J. 321 (1978), a conversion of $40,000 of clients' funds for more than three years resulted in a one year suspension. In In re Mirabelli, 79 N.J. 597 (1979), the attorney pled guilty to bribing an Assistant Prosecutor to procure a non-custodial sentence for a client. There was a three year suspension.
High ethical standards for the bar are unquestionably salutary. Perhaps inexorable application of the extreme sanction of disbarment may help maintain those standards. Yet we must not forget that disbarment is a punishment and its effect can be devastating. In re Ruffalo, 390 U.S. 544, 550, 88 S.Ct. 1222, 1226, 20 L.Ed.2d 117, 122 reh. den. 391 U.S. 961, 88 S.Ct. 1833, 20 L.Ed.2d 874 (1968). In deciding whether to disbar, the Court should consider the whole person. Justice should be tempered with mercy. The Prophet Micah explained that human duty toward our fellow man requires us to act justly and to love mercy. Micah 6:8. I for one believe that compassion and understanding should also be brought to bear before destroying the professional life of this young attorney. He did no wrong to any client and he acted out of the highest motives for his *43 parents. His contrition is sincere and he poses no danger to the public. When is compassion appropriate if not here? Disbarment is too harsh. I dissent.
Justice O'HERN joins in this opinion.
For disbarment — Chief Justice WILENTZ and Justices PASHMAN, HANDLER and POLLOCK — 4.
Dissenting — Justices SCHREIBER and O'HERN — 2.
It is ORDERED that JOHN E. HUGHES, JR., of Cedar Grove be disbarred and that his name be stricken from the roll of attorneys of this State, effective immediately; and it is further
ORDERED that JOHN E. HUGHES, Jr., be and hereby is permanently restrained and enjoined from practicing law; and it is further
ORDERED that respondent reimburse the Administrative Office of the Courts for appropriate administrative costs, including production of transcripts; and it is further
ORDERED that respondent comply with all the regulations of the Disciplinary Review Board governing suspended, disbarred or resigned attorneys.
Citation Numbers: 90 N.J. 32, 446 A.2d 1208
Judges: Per Curiam
Filed Date: 6/29/1982
Authorities (15)
In Re Ruffalo , 390 U.S. 544 ( 1968 )
In Re Sabatino , 65 N.J. 548 ( 1974 )
In Re Stout , 75 N.J. 321 ( 1978 )
In Re Weiner , 56 N.J. 165 ( 1970 )
In Re Rosen , 88 N.J. 1 ( 1981 )
In Re Goode , 58 N.J. 420 ( 1971 )
In Re Wilson , 81 N.J. 451 ( 1979 )
In Re Abrams , 65 N.J. 172 ( 1974 )
In Re Mirabelli , 79 N.J. 597 ( 1979 )
In Re Greenberg , 21 N.J. 213 ( 1956 )
In Re Colsey , 63 N.J. 210 ( 1973 )
In Re Baron , 25 N.J. 445 ( 1957 )
In Re McNally , 81 N.J. 304 ( 1979 )
In Re Caruso , 67 N.J. 44 ( 1975 )
In Re Sears , 71 N.J. 175 ( 1976 )
Committee on Legal Ethics v. Hobbs , 439 S.E.2d 629 ( 1993 )
In Re Riva , 157 N.J. 34 ( 1999 )
Matter of Jones , 131 N.J. 505 ( 1993 )
Matter of Stier , 108 N.J. 455 ( 1987 )
Matter of Edson , 108 N.J. 464 ( 1987 )
In Re Breslin , 171 N.J. 235 ( 2002 )
MATTER OF LaROSEE , 122 N.J. 298 ( 1991 )
Matter of Yaccarino , 117 N.J. 175 ( 1989 )
Matter of Conway , 107 N.J. 168 ( 1987 )
Matter of Johnson , 102 N.J. 504 ( 1986 )
Matter of Power , 114 N.J. 540 ( 1989 )
In Re Pena , 164 N.J. 222 ( 2000 )
Matter of Coruzzi , 98 N.J. 77 ( 1984 )
In Re Frick , 694 S.W.2d 473 ( 1985 )
Matter of Mintz , 101 N.J. 527 ( 1986 )
Matter of Smith , 101 N.J. 568 ( 1986 )
Matter of Cullen , 112 N.J. 13 ( 1988 )
Matter of Goldstein , 116 N.J. 1 ( 1989 )
Matter of Templeton , 99 N.J. 365 ( 1985 )
Matter of Milita , 99 N.J. 336 ( 1985 )


text:
Minyin Li
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Psychiatry
Dr. Minyin Li is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine. His main research interests are genetic and cellular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders including autism and schizophrenia. By using iPS cell derived brain organoid technology, he anticipates novel approaches to interrogate psychiatric disorders and neurodevelopmental diseases with human disease models.
PhD, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Neuroscience (2017)
Sergiu Pasca, Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor
Academic minyin@stanford.edu
Neuronal defects in a human cellular model of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Nature medicine Khan, T. A., Revah, O., Gordon, A., Yoon, S. J., Krawisz, A. K., Goold, C., Sun, Y., Kim, C. H., Tian, Y., Li, M. Y., Schaepe, J. M., Ikeda, K., Amin, N. D., Sakai, N., Yazawa, M., Kushan, L., Nishino, S., Porteus, M. H., Rapoport, J. L., Bernstein, J. A., O'Hara, R., Bearden, C. E., Hallmayer, J. F., Huguenard, J. R., Geschwind, D. H., Dolmetsch, R. E., Paşca, S. P. 2020
22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is a highly penetrant and common genetic cause of neuropsychiatric disease. Here we generated induced pluripotent stem cells from 15 individuals with 22q11DS and 15 control individuals and differentiated them into three-dimensional (3D) cerebral cortical organoids. Transcriptional profiling across 100 days showed high reliability of differentiation and revealed changes in neuronal excitability-related genes. Using electrophysiology and live imaging, we identified defects in spontaneous neuronal activity and calcium signaling in both organoid- and 2D-derived cortical neurons. The calcium deficit was related to resting membrane potential changes that led to abnormal inactivation of voltage-gated calcium channels. Heterozygous loss of DGCR8 recapitulated the excitability and calcium phenotypes and its overexpression rescued these defects. Moreover, the 22q11DS calcium abnormality could also be restored by application of antipsychotics. Taken together, our study illustrates how stem cell derived models can be used to uncover and rescue cellular phenotypes associated with genetic forms of neuropsychiatric disease.
Retinoid X Receptor α Regulates DHA-Dependent Spinogenesis and Functional Synapse Formation In Vivo. Cell reports Cao, H., Li, M. Y., Li, G., Li, S. J., Wen, B., Lu, Y., Yu, X. 2020; 31 (7): 107649
Coordinated intracellular and extracellular signaling is critical to synapse development and functional neural circuit wiring. Here, we report that unesterified docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) regulates functional synapse formation in vivo via retinoid X receptor α (Rxra) signaling. Using Rxra conditional knockout (cKO) mice and virus-mediated transient gene expression, we show that endogenous Rxra plays important roles in regulating spinogenesis and excitatory synaptic transmission in cortical pyramidal neurons. We further show that the effects of RXRA are mediated through its DNA-binding domain in a cell-autonomous and reversible manner. Moreover, unesterified DHA increases spine formation and excitatory synaptic transmission in vivo in an Rxra-dependent fashion. Rxra cKO mice generally behave normally but show deficits in behavior tasks associated with social memory. Together, these results demonstrate that unesterified DHA signals through RXRA to regulate spinogenesis and functional synapse formation, providing insight into the mechanism through which DHA promotes brain development and cognitive function.
Generation of human striatal organoids and cortico-striatal assembloids from human pluripotent stem cells. Nature biotechnology Miura, Y., Li, M. Y., Birey, F., Ikeda, K., Revah, O., Thete, M. V., Park, J. Y., Puno, A., Lee, S. H., Porteus, M. H., Pașca, S. P. 2020; 38 (12): 1421–30
Cortico-striatal projections are critical components of forebrain circuitry that regulate motivated behaviors. To enable the study of the human cortico-striatal pathway and how its dysfunction leads to neuropsychiatric disease, we developed a method to convert human pluripotent stem cells into region-specific brain organoids that resemble the developing human striatum and include electrically active medium spiny neurons. We then assembled these organoids with cerebral cortical organoids in three-dimensional cultures to form cortico-striatal assembloids. Using viral tracing and functional assays in intact or sliced assembloids, we show that cortical neurons send axonal projections into striatal organoids and form synaptic connections. Medium spiny neurons mature electrophysiologically following assembly and display calcium activity after optogenetic stimulation of cortical neurons. Moreover, we derive cortico-striatal assembloids from patients with a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a deletion on chromosome 22q13.3 and capture disease-associated defects in calcium activity, showing that this approach will allow investigation of the development and functional assembly of cortico-striatal connectivity using patient-derived cells.
View details for DOI 10.1038/s41587-020-00763-w
A Critical Role of Presynaptic Cadherin/Catenin/p140Cap Complexes in Stabilizing Spines and Functional Synapses in the Neocortex. Neuron Li, M. Y., Miao, W. Y., Wu, Q. Z., He, S. J., Yan, G., Yang, Y., Liu, J. J., Taketo, M. M., Yu, X. 2017; 94 (6): 1155–72.e8
The formation of functional synapses requires coordinated assembly of presynaptic transmitter release machinery and postsynaptic trafficking of functional receptors and scaffolds. Here, we demonstrate a critical role of presynaptic cadherin/catenin cell adhesion complexes in stabilizing functional synapses and spines in the developing neocortex. Importantly, presynaptic expression of stabilized β-catenin in either layer (L) 4 excitatory neurons or L2/3 pyramidal neurons significantly upregulated excitatory synaptic transmission and dendritic spine density in L2/3 pyramidal neurons, while its sparse postsynaptic expression in L2/3 neurons had no such effects. In addition, presynaptic β-catenin expression enhanced release probability of glutamatergic synapses. Newly identified β-catenin-interacting protein p140Cap is required in the presynaptic locus for mediating these effects. Together, our results demonstrate that cadherin/catenin complexes stabilize functional synapses and spines through anterograde signaling in the neocortex and provide important molecular evidence for a driving role of presynaptic components in spinogenesis in the neocortex.
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.022
CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing in one blastomere of two-cell embryos reveals a novel Tet3 function in regulating neocortical development. Cell research Wang, L., Li, M. Y., Qu, C., Miao, W. Y., Yin, Q., Liao, J., Cao, H. T., Huang, M., Wang, K., Zuo, E., Peng, G., Zhang, S. X., Chen, G., Li, Q., Tang, K., Yu, Q., Li, Z., Wong, C. C., Xu, G., Jing, N., Yu, X., Li, J. 2017; 27 (6): 815–29
Studying the early function of essential genes is an important and challenging problem in developmental biology. Here, we established a method for rapidly inducing CRISPR-Cas9-mediated mutations in one blastomere of two-cell stage embryos, termed 2-cell embryo-CRISPR-Cas9 injection (2CC), to study the in vivo function of essential (or unknown) genes in founder chimeric mice. By injecting both Cre mRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 targeting the gene of interest into fluorescent reporter mice, the 2CC method can trace both wild-type and mutant cells at different developmental stages, offering internal control for phenotypic analyses of mutant cells. Using this method, we identified novel functions of the essential gene Tet3 in regulating excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in the developing mouse cerebral cortex. By generating chimeric mutant mice, the 2CC method allows for the rapid screening of gene function in multiple tissues and cell types in founder chimeric mice, significantly expanding the current armamentarium of genetic tools.
View details for DOI 10.1038/cr.2017.58
Postsynaptic spiking homeostatically induces cell-autonomous regulation of inhibitory inputs via retrograde signaling. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience Peng, Y. R., Zeng, S. Y., Song, H. L., Li, M. Y., Yamada, M. K., Yu, X. 2010; 30 (48): 16220–31
Developing neural circuits face the dual challenge of growing in an activity-induced fashion and maintaining stability through homeostatic mechanisms. Compared to our understanding of homeostatic regulation of excitatory synapses, relatively little is known about the mechanism mediating homeostatic plasticity of inhibitory synapses, especially that following activity elevation. Here, we found that elevating neuronal activity in cultured hippocampal neurons for 4 h significantly increased the frequency and amplitude of mIPSCs, before detectable change at excitatory synapses. Consistently, we observed increases in presynaptic and postsynaptic proteins of GABAergic synapses, including GAD65, vGAT, and GABA(A)Rα1. By suppressing activity-induced increase of neuronal firing with expression of the inward rectifier potassium channel Kir2.1 in individual neurons, we showed that elevation in postsynaptic spiking activity is required for activity-dependent increase in the frequency and amplitude of mIPSCs. Importantly, directly elevating spiking in individual postsynaptic neurons, by capsaicin activation of overexpressed TRPV1 channels, was sufficient to induce increased mIPSC amplitude and frequency, mimicking the effect of elevated neuronal activity. Downregulating BDNF expression in the postsynaptic neuron or its extracellular scavenging prevented activity-induced increase in mIPSC frequency, consistent with a role of BDNF-dependent retrograde signaling in this process. Finally, elevating activity in vivo by kainate injection increased both mIPSC amplitude and frequency in CA1 pyramidal neurons. Thus, spiking-induced, cell-autonomous upregulation of GABAergic synaptic inputs, through retrograde BDNF signaling, represents an early adaptive response of neural circuits to elevated network activity.
View details for DOI 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3085-10.2010


At first glance, it looks like a steaming wasteland: gurgling, sputtering, and fuming from its vents, as if to warn us of a doomsday millennia in the making.
This has to be what hell looks like, you think for a moment, until you look past the vents, to the verdant hillsides, and the multitude of wildlife that actually flock to this very smoldering basin seeking comfort in its thermal soil during harsh winters.
A coyote trots on the grounds of the Upper Geyser Basin near Old Faithful.
To our last day in the park, which I spent marveling at the sheer power that is the Yellowstone River and appreciating, fully, how the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was carved by such a formidable force.
We visited Yellowstone from July 4-8, peak season for any of America's national parks, and we managed to go through most of it, except to the northwest part near Mammoth Hot Springs. We had started a weeklong trip first in Grand Teton (a must-see in its own right, see why we love it here) and proceeded on to Yellowstone. The small excerpts you read in grade-school textbooks and the photos of colorful pools you see online don't do justice to this magical wilderness that one simply must experience in person.
View from the trail above the Upper Geyser Basin overlooking Old Faithful.
Here are some of the key places to check out in the park. And trust me, Old Faithful is just the tip of this supervolcano.
We drove into the park from Grand Teton via the South Entrance, after having crossed the Continental Divide. We knew the park would probably be a bit crowded given the July 4th holiday, so instead of rushing to Old Faithful where the throngs would undoubtedly be assembled, we took our time. We stopped at Lewis Lake, so named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
It was peaceful staring across the water and enjoying the cooler air so uncharacteristic in my home states of Florida and Georgia in the height of summer. That's one thing I loved about Yellowstone: Even with it being peak summer season, it never felt too warm, except for near the geyser basin, where the earth and steam vents radiated heat. Here at Lewis Lake, we spent a few serene moments, sinking into the calming sound of water lapping softly against driftwood on the shore.
From Lewis Lake we headed straight to the Old Faithful area, which is where there is a visitor center, dining halls and lodging. At around 4:30 p.m., we were four among a group of hundreds encircling Old Faithful, one the largest and most reliable geysers in the park, though not THE largest.
She seemed to have stage fright, spitting hesitantly out of the earth in small, short bursts at first, until finally, she was ready to put on a show, shooting more than 100 feet into the air steadily for a couple minutes.
While Old Faithful may be the most well known because of her reliability and history, the Upper Geyser Basin has about 150 geysers total, so there were still a handful of other geysers that I found to be more impressive, including Grand Geyser and Riverside Geyser, which spewed a gush of mist about 80 feet into the air and into the Firehole River for several minutes on end. We sat across the river watching the spectacle one morning, a mesmerizing show of varying degrees.
And still there are the hot pools. The bubbling pools beckon like the jets of a jacuzzi, but these are waters you don't want to get near! Ranging in temperatures above 150°F, there is no chance of survival here if you fall in. Bodies have literally dissolved in Yellowstone's hot pools when people have accidentally fallen in.
My favorite thermal feature in this geyser basin was the Morning Glory Pool at the end of the wooden walkway. This resplendent spectrum of colors is beautiful to behold to humans, but the range of hues seen is an indication that the pool has been tampered with.
The colors in Yellowstone's hot springs and pools are caused by organisms such as bacteria, that thrive at various temperatures and in different mineral consistencies. The blue is created by Cyanobacteria, and the bluer the pools, the hotter the water. But we learned that due to interference by humans, who have thrown things into the pools and thus clogged their water sources at the bottom, the pools have very slowly cooled over time, creating the range of colors we now see, caused by a variety of different kinds of microorganisms that thrive at different temperatures.
As twilight slowly began to swallow the sun and the mosquitoes emerged, Jis and I scurried to the Old Faithful Inn for dinner.
The next day, after walking the Upper Geyser Basin trail again, this time with our eyes peeled for bears, we headed to the Midway Geyser Basin where the famous Grand Prismatic Spring is located, along with two other pools and the large Excelsior Geyser.
The Grand Prismatic Spring may be one of the most photographed features at Yellowstone, and it's easy to see why. Its colors are like the Morning Glory Pool… except its size is MUCH greater. At 370 feet in diameter, this pool is larger than a football field, according to the National Park Service.
When we were there, we were not able to get an aerial view because the trail leading people up the nearby hillside was closed off due to safety concerns. Sadly, here too, you can see evidence of vandalism, as the microbial mats on the edges of the pool have been scratched up by visitors who have crudely etched words and names into the edges of the pool. It is to protect the pools that the park service has also prohibited the use of drones over these areas — too many foreign objects have fallen or been thrown into the pools, clogging up the natural plumbing system for this thermal terrain.
A large stretch of the road that runs through the east side of the park runs alongside the edges of the lake, where we saw many elk, especially around the Fishing Bridge area. This lake is the largest body of water in the park, according to the National Park Service. It also plays home to the largest population of cutthroat trout in North America, which is strange since this particular fish species is found in the Pacific Ocean. Yellowstone Lake drains into the Atlantic, as it is situated to the right of the Continental Divide. The puzzling presence of these fish at Yellowstone Lake therefore hints at the fact that the lake may have, at one time, drained into the Pacific.
With the use of a underwater robots, researchers have found that the lake bed resembles the terrain of Yellowstone's geyser basins, with canyons, rock spires and fumaroles lining its floors.
Driving past the lake towards Canyon Village, you come across Hayden Valley, and if you drive even further northeast past the village, you'll get to Lamar Valley. These are my favorite places in the park, and from my previous post, you can understand why.
Although wildlife is present throughout park, here in the valleys, it flourishes. On our second day in Yellowstone, we drove through Hayden Valley in the late afternoon and saw scores of bison herds, birds, and a few elk. But there is also a chance to see wolves and bears if you're lucky. In fact, it's in these valleys that you are have the highest likelihood of doing so.
In 1995, researchers released wolves back into the Yellowstone environment in Hayden and Lamar Valleys. Wolves had been eradicated in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Their reintroduction into this environment 60 years later completely changed the ecosystem. Now, grizzlies have competition for their food. Elk populations have come under control. Previously, during the roughly 60 years when wolves were absent, elk ran rampant, and the Yellowstone environment became overgrazed.
We didn't see any wolves when we visited the park, but we saw several photographers parked patiently on the side of the road at dusk with their scopes pointed at the various wolf dens, waiting for the packs to emerge for their evening hunt.
In fact, a stationary scope is certainly an ideal way to look for wildlife in vast valleys. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was on a rabid search to see a bear during my Yellowstone visit. On our last day in the park, we arose very early to get to Lamar Valley by sunrise. We spent hours driving through it and exploring some paths in the valley. In the end, it was only on the drive out of the valley we happened to see a black bear within about 40 yards, and a grizzly at a VERY far distance, up on a hill, with the help of friendly stranger's telescope.
Next time I visit Yellowstone, I will be taking binoculars, possibly investing in a telescope, and camping out in the valley for hours to spot these magnificent creatures in the wild.
We viewed the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone on our last day in the park as well, and it was an absolutely magnificent sight. The Yellowstone River has carved this canyon over centuries, and by looking at the photos, I did not expect it to be much. However, up close and in person, this canyon is impressive, and the waterfalls are simply spellbinding. I recommend viewing the waterfalls from the various viewpoints available because each offers a different vantage point.
Brink of the Upper Falls: This is where you can hear, see and feel the true magnitude of this waterfall up close.
Lower Falls: Here too, you experience the strength of the falls, but you also get a good view of the upper falls cascading down and picking up momentum.
Artist Point: Across from the waterfalls, this is where you can see the full view of the falls gushing into the rugged canyon, a truly picturesque sight as the surging water and greenery of the nearby woods is juxtaposed with the ruddy walls of the canyon.
Keep an eye out for wildlife such as osprey here in the canyon.
Inside the Old Faithful Inn, considered the largest log structure in the world.
This is one of the most renowned accommodations and dining spots in any of America's national parks, and it's no surprise why. This historic inn not only offers an elegant ambiance, but also trendy cocktails, and decadent desserts. It is also considered to be the largest log structure in the world.
My husband and I ate here on our first night in the park, having made reservations for our wedding anniversary. We figured, this was as nice as it was going to get at a national park and I didn't have high expectations. However, when we entered the inn, I was pretty impressed that there was a such a chic spot in the middle of the wilderness. On top of it all, I was pleasantly surprised by the menu, too, which had a diverse selection of foods to suit every dietary need.
From spaghetti squash specials to a spinach salad that I ordered EVERY night in the park, and from affordable to fancy wine, this place was THE spot to wine and dine.
Guests can make a reservation early to guarantee a spot for dinner, or you can walk in and wait to be seated, enjoying the live violin and piano music while sipping a cocktail as you wait.
We didn't stay at the Old Faithful Inn because the remaining rooms were priced outside of our budget. We knew we'd spend most of our days outdoors anyway. Instead, we booked at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge, next to the Old Faithful Inn, and these accommodations were quite nice. There are also smaller cabins available in the Old Faithful area.
On the second and third days in the park since we had driven northeast to explore Hayden and Lamar Valleys, we ate at the cafeteria at Canyon Village. On the first day, we stopped in around 3 p.m. when most of the stations in the cafeteria were closed. We got flatbreads and ice cream because the line out of the burger joint was too long.
On day two, we got noodle bowls and rice bowls at the Asian food station. Food at the cafeteria here is nothing to brag about.
These hot springs are unlike those in the other geyser basins because of their travertine terraces. Since we were eager to drive to the northeastern side of the park to view wildlife in Lamar Valley, we didn't have much time to go northwest to explore Mammoth Springs. However, I know that this is a very popular site, and like the Old Faithful area, has several lodging and dining options.
Book early!!! Summer season is peak season, so plan at least six months in advance. When we booked our accommodations for July 2017, it was January or February 2017, and already, options had become limited.
The Upper Geyser Basin and Midway Geyser Basin have some of the best thermal features for which Yellowstone is known. Some of the other sites like Painted Pots or the mud volcano, etc., are not so impressive, so spend more time the other two basins, and Mammoth.
Invest in a good camera if you want to capture wildlife photos. The photos you see online are taken with expensive zoom lenses, not by standing next to wildlife, so don't put yourself at risk of getting mauled, gored, or basically, attacked in any way.
Unlike Grand Teton, there is almost no cell service in this park, so if you're coordinating a trip with friends and family, set meeting times in advance if you're splitting off. Even between the different lodges, some places have landlines while others don't. Cell signal and Wi-Fi in rooms is spotty, and if you pay, it is expensive. Take advantage of the opportunity to disconnect, but plan accordingly.
If you're like me and love wildlife, check out my guide on where to find bears with tips on bear safety in the parks.
If you're dying to see bears and wolves in Yellowstone, you can finish your visit, as we did, at the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center in the Town of West Yellowstone, where "rescued" bears, wolves, and raptors have been taken from the wild, either because they posed a danger to humans, or because they would not be able to survive in the wild on their own.
Have you been to Yellowstone? What adventures did you go on? I want to hear from you! (Especially if you saw some cool wildlife!!) Leave a comment or message me!
Wow! This is so beautiful! Yellowstone is definitely on my bucket list, but seeing your review made me want to go there even more!
Thanks, Andrea! Yes Yellowstone was like a dream. Each scenic view better than the last, and the geographic features and wildlife are simply a marvel. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Thank you so much for posting. We are planning on visiting the park this coming September:).