Designing a social space for co-creation of multimedia contents

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, February 2013."February 2013." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-87).People can have more insights and social experiences when they collaborate on collecting, revisiting, and utilizing their contents, such as images and videos; however, designing a social space that offers rich co-creation and exploration of multimedia contents remains a challenge. I propose a new system, SparkInfo, which enables users to create, exchange and augment their multimedia elements in ways that are personally unique and sociable. SparkInfo is designed for a group of people, who have created multimedia elements for the same purpose or at the same event, to collect their elements in one place and have a meaningful experience of their co-created media resources. SparkInfo provides a social space for the co-creation of multimedia resources. In the process of exploring and embellishing their materials, SparkInfo users can create new ideas, stories, and information. By utilizing this process, the users are able to experience how SparkInfo can embody the cycle of knowledge building, re-mixing, and sharing.by Jee Yeon Hwang.S.M

Epigenetic regulation of autophagy in neuroinflammation and synaptic plasticity

Autophagy is a conserved cellular mechanism that enables the degradation and recycling of cellular organelles and proteins via the lysosomal pathway. In neurodevelopment and maintenance of neuronal homeostasis, autophagy is required to regulate presynaptic functions, synapse remodeling, and synaptic plasticity. Deficiency of autophagy has been shown to underlie the synaptic and behavioral deficits of many neurological diseases such as autism, psychiatric diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. Recent evidence reveals that dysregulated autophagy plays an important role in the initiation and progression of neuroinflammation, a common pathological feature in many neurological disorders leading to defective synaptic morphology and plasticity. In this review, we will discuss the regulation of autophagy and its effects on synapses and neuroinflammation, with emphasis on how autophagy is regulated by epigenetic mechanisms under healthy and diseased conditions

Gadd45b Acts as Neuroprotective Effector in Global Ischemia-Induced Neuronal Death

Purpose Transient global ischemia arising in human due to cardiac arrest causes selective, delayed neuronal death in hippocampal CA1 and cognitive impairment. Growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible protein 45 beta (Gadd45b) is a wellknown molecule in both DNA damage-related pathogenesis and therapies. Emerging evidence suggests that Gadd45b is an anti-apoptotic factor in nonneuronal cells and is an intrinsic neuroprotective molecule in neurons. However, the mechanism of Gadd45b pathway is not fully examined in neurodegeneration associated with global ischemia. Methods Rats were subjected to transient global ischemia by the 4-vessel occlusion or sham operation. The animals were sacrificed at 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days after ischemia. The hippocampal CA1 was microdissected and processed to examine mRNA and protein level. To assess neuronal death, tissue sections were cut and processed for Fluoro-Jade and Nissl staining. Results Here we show that ischemic insults increase abundance of Gadd45b and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a known target of Gadd45 mediated demethylation, in selectively-vulnerable hippocampal CA1 neurons. We further show that knockdown of Gadd45b increases abundance of a pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bax while decreasing the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, which together promote neuronal death. Conclusions These findings document a protective role of Gadd45b against neuronal insults associated with global ischemia and identify Gadd45b as a potential therapeutic target for the amelioration of hippocampal neurodegeneration

Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer after liver transplantation

A case report described a 72-year-old man with a history of a deceased-donor liver transplantation (due to hepatitis B-associated end-stage liver cirrhosis) performed in 1994. The patient was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma and pulmonary metastasis in 1997 and was successfully treated with radiofrequency ablation and thoracoscopic superior segmentectomy. There was no evidence of newly diagnosed metastatic lesions or recurrence until the 19th post-operative month. Gastric cancer was identified by endoscopy during a routine follow-up examination; the pre-pyloric antral lesion measured 1.5 cm in size and was histologically well-differentiated and confined to the submucosal layers on endoscopic ultrasound. Laparoscopic gastrectomy and lymph node dissection (D1 + β) was successfully performed in March 2009, and the patient was discharged on the 5th post-operative day without complications. This suggests that laparoscopic surgery is one of the feasible methods for resection of gastric cancer in liver transplant patients

Genome-Wide Association Meta-analysis Identifies Novel Variants Associated With Fasting Plasma Glucose in East Asians

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) has been recognized as an important indicator for the overall glycemic state preceding the onset of metabolic diseases. So far, most indentified genome-wide association loci for FPG were derived from populations with European ancestry, with a few exceptions. To extend a thorough catalog for FPG loci, we conducted meta-analyses of 13 genome-wide association studies in up to 24,740 nondiabetic subjects with East Asian ancestry. Follow-up replication analyses in up to an additional 21,345 participants identified three new FPG loci reaching genome-wide significance in or near PDK1-RAPGEF4, KANK1, and IGF1R. Our results could provide additional insight into the genetic variation implicated in fasting glucose regulation

Precessing jet nozzle connecting to a spinning black hole in M87

The nearby radio galaxy M87 offers a unique opportunity to explore the connections between the central supermassive black hole and relativistic jets. Previous studies of the inner region of M87 revealed a wide opening angle for the jet originating near the black hole. The Event Horizon Telescope resolved the central radio source and found an asymmetric ring structure consistent with expectations from General Relativity. With a baseline of 17 years of observations, there was a shift in the jet's transverse position, possibly arising from an eight to ten-year quasi-periodicity. However, the origin of this sideways shift remains unclear. Here we report an analysis of radio observations over 22 years that suggests a period of about 11 years in the position angle variation of the jet. We infer that we are seeing a spinning black hole that induces the Lense-Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk. Similar jet precession may commonly occur in other active galactic nuclei but has been challenging to detect owing to the small magnitude and long period of the variation.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures, 7 table