Fashionable curiosities: extreme footwear as wearable fantasies

This paper considers an aspect of the material culture fashion, focusing on shoes. Like clothes, shoes are used every day: they are essential objects that primarily allow people to perform daily and socially accepted activities, walk comfortably and adorn the body in a fashionable way. Furthermore, shoes are associated with the idea of individuality and can be highly practical or decorative, depending on their design and fashion style. With regard to their style, one phenomenon emerging in high fashion is that of the “impossible-to-wear shoes”: exhibitions and fashion shows staging designers’ bizarre shoes are becoming more frequent. During these shows, the spectators are presented with an unusual variety of footwear (e.g. heelless shoes; shoes without soles; fish-shaped shoes). These shoes are not made to fit the individual. On the contrary, their shape and forms are imposed on the individuals. This paper explores the extreme, impossible-to-wear shoes and considers the visual statements they make about contemporary society, women and femininity. I will argue that impossible-to-wear shoes are puzzling yet charming objects, epitomizing a spectacle-centered society: they are part of unexpected and personal performances, which blend the boundaries of fashion and art and allow the wearers to shift from an ordinary “self” to the extraordinary “other”

Immune system deregulation in hypertensive patients chronically RAS suppressed developing albuminuria

Albuminuria development in hypertensive patients is an indicator of higher cardiovascular (CV) risk and renal damage. Chronic renin-angiotensin system (RAS) suppression facilitates blood pressure control but it does not prevent from albuminuria development. We pursued the identification of protein indicators in urine behind albuminuria development in hypertensive patients under RAS suppression. Urine was collected from 100 patients classified in three groups according to albuminuria development: (a) patients with persistent normoalbuminuria; (b) patients developing de novo albuminuria; (c) patients with maintained albuminuria. Quantitative analysis was performed in a first discovery cohort by isobaric labeling methodology. Alterations of proteins of interest were confirmed by target mass spectrometry analysis in an independent cohort. A total of 2416 proteins and 1223 functional categories (coordinated protein responses) were identified. Immune response, adhesion of immune and blood cells, and phagocytosis were found significantly altered in patients with albuminuria compared to normoalbuminuric individuals. The complement system C3 increases, while Annexin A1, CD44, S100A8 and S100A9 proteins showed significant diminishment in their urinary levels when albuminuria is present. This study reveals specific links between immune response and controlled hypertension in patients who develop albuminuria, pointing to potential protein targets for novel and future therapeutic interventions.Sin financiación4.122 JCR (2017) Q1, 12/64 Multidisciplinary Sciences0.809 SJR (2017) Q2, 4/10 OptometryNo data IDR 2017UE

Evidence for predilection of macrophage infiltration patterns in the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures of the brain uniquely in patients with HIV-associated dementia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV-1 penetrates the central nervous system, which is vital for HIV-associated dementia (HAD). But the role of cellular infiltration and activation together with HIV in the development of HAD is poorly understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To study activation and infiltration patterns of macrophages, CD8+ T cells in relation to HIV in diverse CNS areas of patients with and without dementia. 46 brain regions from two rapidly progressing severely demented patients and 53 regions from 4 HIV+ non-dementia patients were analyzed. Macrophage and CD8+ T cell infiltration of the CNS in relation to HIV was assessed using immuno-histochemical analysis with anti-HIV (P24), anti-CD8 and anti-CD68, anti-S-100A8 and granzyme B antibodies (cellular activation). Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 12.0 with Student's t test and ANOVA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, the patterns of infiltration of macrophages and CD8+ T cells were indiscernible between patients with and without dementia, but the co-localization of macrophages and CD8+ T cells along with HIV P24 antigen in the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures of the brain segregated the two groups. This predilection of infected macrophages and CD8+ T cells to the middle part of the brain was unique to both HAD patients, along with unique nature of provirus gag gene sequences derived from macrophages in the midline and mesial temporal structures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Strong predilection of infected macrophages and CD8+ T cells was typical of the deeper midline and mesial temporal structures uniquely in HAD patients, which has some influence on neurocognitive impairment during HIV infection.</p

Differential Expression of Chemokine and Matrix Re-Modelling Genes Is Associated with Contrasting Schistosome-Induced Hepatopathology in Murine Models

The pathological outcomes of schistosomiasis are largely dependent on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the host immune response. In this study, we investigated the contribution of variations in host gene expression to the contrasting hepatic pathology observed between two inbred mouse strains following Schistosoma japonicum infection. Whole genome microarray analysis was employed in conjunction with histological and immunohistochemical analysis to define and compare the hepatic gene expression profiles and cellular composition associated with the hepatopathology observed in S. japonicum-infected BALB/c and CBA mice. We show that the transcriptional profiles differ significantly between the two mouse strains with high statistical confidence. We identified specific genes correlating with the more severe pathology associated with CBA mice, as well as genes which may confer the milder degree of pathology associated with BALB/c mice. In BALB/c mice, neutrophil genes exhibited striking increases in expression, which coincided with the significantly greater accumulation of neutrophils at granulomatous regions seen in histological sections of hepatic tissue. In contrast, up-regulated expression of the eosinophil chemokine CCL24 in CBA mice paralleled the cellular influx of eosinophils to the hepatic granulomas. Additionally, there was greater down-regulation of genes involved in metabolic processes in CBA mice, reflecting the more pronounced hepatic damage in these mice. Profibrotic genes showed similar levels of expression in both mouse strains, as did genes associated with Th1 and Th2 responses. However, imbalances in expression of matrix metalloproteinases (e.g. MMP12, MMP13) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP1) may contribute to the contrasting pathology observed in the two strains. Overall, these results provide a more complete picture of the molecular and cellular mechanisms which govern the pathological outcome of hepatic schistosomiasis. This improved understanding of the immunopathogenesis in the murine model schistosomiasis provides the basis for a better appreciation of the complexities associated with chronic human schistosomiasis

Guinea Pig Macrophage Agglutination Factor Is Antigenically Distinct From Migration Inhibition Factor and Immunoglobulin

Lymph node cells from guinea pigs with specific delayed hypersensitivity release macrophage agglutination (MAggF) and migration inhibition factors (MIF) upon exposure to antigen or concanavalin A in serum-free medium. MAggF in culture supernatants was absorbed neither by immunoabsorbents made with a rabbit anti-guinea pig lymphokine serum that removed MIF, nor by immunoabsorbents made with rabbit anti-guinea pig Ig. These results suggest that MAggF is antigenically distinct from MIF and Ig