Becoming Emma Hamilton: portraiture and self-fashioning in late enlightenment Europe

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityHow Emy Lyon became Emma Hamilton (1765-1815) through the creation, display, and circulation of painted portraits, portrait prints, letters, and architectural imagery is the focus of this dissertation. In it, I make four main claims. First, Emma's introduction to the rituals and rewards of genteel female behavior began in George Romney's studio, and sitting for portraits was an educational process that continued throughout her life. Second, Emma's education continued during her residency in Naples under the care and direction of Sir William Hamilton, and the imagery from this period participates in Emma's transformation from Sir William's mistress to his wife. Portraits and letters after the 1791 marriage advertised traits that Sir William's social circle would find desirable and helped to justify her elevated position. Third, Emma's relationships with powerful women were as essential to her self-fashioning as her relationships with men. Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Angelica Kauffman, and Queen Maria Carolina of Naples served as important role models for Emma, and opportunities for fame and power resulted from her association with them. Finally, upon her return to England in 1800, Emma sought to manipulate the architecture, decoration, and visual representations of Nelson's country home to showcase her virtuous conduct. Throughout the dissertation, I aim to suggest that Emma contributed to the fashioning of her identity and show the ways in which her involvement increased during her lifetime. The other people who contributed to such fashioning of her identity--from artists to lovers to royalty--necessarily play a part in this study. How Emma adapted and responded to the situations that others created is central to my analysis and understanding of self-fashioning. The dissertation ultimately proposes that becoming Emma Hamilton was a complex, life-long process with both constructive and destructive consequences

Dental Hygiene Students\u27 Matching Accuracy When Comparing Antemortem Dental Radiographs and Oral Photographs to Simulated Postmortem WinID3\u3csup\u3e®\u3c/sup\u3e Odontograms

Matching dental antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) data for human identification is especially challenging when the workforce is limited. Dental hygienists have served mass fatality incidents (MFIs) due to dental-related expertise. However, forensics within dental hygiene education and research on transferable skills is limited. This qualitative balance design study assessed senior dental hygiene students\u27 match accuracy of simulated cases varying in dental identifiers based on AM full mouth series (FMS) radiographs and oral photographs to PM WinID3® odontograms to demonstrate possible disaster victim identification (DVI) transferable skills gained during formal education. A convenience sample of senior dental hygiene students (n = 31) was presented information on WinID3® interpretation, then presented with 5 mismatched cases and asked to visually interpret each to make 10 total matches; five based on AM FMS with simulated PM WinID3® odontograms and five based on AM photographs with PM WinID3® odontograms. Match accuracy scores ranged from 41.9% to 58.1% for cases with 1–10 identifiers, and 77.4% to 93.5% for cases with 11–40 identifiers. Accuracy when matching AM radiographs to PM odontograms versus AM photographs to PM odontograms was compared and revealed no statistical differences in match accuracy depending on image type (p = 0.388 to 1.000). Results of this pilot study suggests transferable match accuracy skills resulted from the participants\u27 dental hygiene formal education. These baseline skills with additional specialized training support the rationale for dental hygienists serving on DVI teams. More research is needed in education and practice when preparing dental hygienists for forensic-based service

Oakland Cemetery Comfort Station Buildings

This Historic Structure Report attempts to define the historical context and physical condition of the women\u27s and men\u27s comfort stations at Oakland Cemetery. The comfort stations were constructed in 1908, fifty-eight years after the opening of Oakland, in order to provide adequate public restroom facilities for the large crowds who visited the cemetery during its early history. A group effort has been made to research and document the history of the two comfort buildings, assess their current status, and make recommendations for treatment.https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_heritagepreservation/1053/thumbnail.jp

Metabolic biomarkers assessed with PET/CT predict sex-specific longitudinal outcomes in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

In many cancers, including lymphoma, males have higher incidence and mortality than females. Emerging evidence demonstrates that one mechanism underlying this phenomenon is sex differences in metabolism, both with respect to tumor nutrient consumption and systemic alterations in metabolism, i.e., obesity. We wanted to determine if visceral fat and tumor glucose uptake with fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) could predict sex-dependent outcomes in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We conducted a retrospective analysis of 160 patients (84 males; 76 females) with DLBCL who had imaging at initial staging and after completion of therapy. CT-based relative visceral fat area (rVFA), PET-based SUVmax normalized to lean body mass (SULmax), and end-of-treatment FDG-PET 5PS score were calculated. Increased rVFA at initial staging was an independent predictor of poor OS only in females. At the end of therapy, increase in visceral fat was a significant predictor of poor survival only in females. Combining the change in rVFA and 5PS scores identified a subgroup of females with visceral fat gain and high 5PS with exceptionally poor outcomes. These data suggest that visceral fat and tumor FDG uptake can predict outcomes in DLBCL patients in a sex-specific fashion

C-type lectin receptor expression is a hallmark of neutrophils infiltrating the skin in epidermolysis bullosa acquisita

IntroductionInflammatory epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is characterized by a neutrophilic response to anti-type VII collagen (COL7) antibodies resulting in the development of skin inflammation and blistering. The antibody transfer model of EBA closely mirrors this EBA phenotype.MethodsTo better understand the changes induced in neutrophils upon recruitment from peripheral blood into lesional skin in EBA, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing of whole blood and skin dissociate to capture minimally perturbed neutrophils and characterize their transcriptome.ResultsThrough this approach, we identified clear distinctions between circulating activated neutrophils and intradermal neutrophils. Most strikingly, the gene expression of multiple C-type lectin receptors, which have previously been reported to orchestrate host defense against fungi and select bacteria, were markedly dysregulated. After confirming the upregulation of Clec4n, Clec4d, and Clec4e in experimental EBA as well as in lesional skin from patients with inflammatory EBA, we performed functional studies in globally deficient Clec4e−/− and Clec4d−/− mice as well as in neutrophil-specific Clec4n−/− mice. Deficiency in these genes did not reduce disease in the EBA model.DiscussionCollectively, our results suggest that while the upregulation of Clec4n, Clec4d, and Clec4e is a hallmark of activated dermal neutrophil populations, their individual contribution to the pathogenesis of EBA is dispensable

Pericytes Favor Oligodendrocyte Fate Choice in Adult Neural Stem Cells

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Upon demyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are activated and they proliferate, migrate and differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. Besides OPCs, neural stem cells (NSCs) may respond to demyelination and generate oligodendrocytes. We have recently shown that CNS-resident pericytes (PCs) respond to demyelination, proliferate and secrete Laminin alpha2 (Lama2) that, in turn, enhances OPC differentiation. Here, we aimed to evaluate whether PCs influence the fate choice of NSCs in vitro, towards the production of new myelin-producing cells. Indeed, upon exposure to conditioned medium derived from PCs (PC-CM), the majority of NSCs gave rise to GalC- and myelin basic protein (MBP)-expressing oligodendrocytes at the expense of the generation of GFAP-positive astrocytes. Consistent with these findings, PC-CM induces an increase in the expression of the oligodendrocyte fate determinant Olig2, while the expression level of the astrocyte determinant ID2 is decreased. Finally, pre-incubation of PC-CM with an anti-Lama2 antibody prevented the generation of oligodendrocytes. Our findings indicate that PCs-derived Lama2 instructs NSCs to an oligodendrocyte fate choice favoring the generation of myelin-producing cells at the expense of astrocytes in vitro. Further studies aiming to reveal the role of PCs during remyelination may pave the way for the development of new therapies for the treatment of MS

Pericytes Favor Oligodendrocyte Fate Choice in Adult Neural Stem Cells.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Upon demyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are activated and they proliferate, migrate and differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. Besides OPCs, neural stem cells (NSCs) may respond to demyelination and generate oligodendrocytes. We have recently shown that CNS-resident pericytes (PCs) respond to demyelination, proliferate and secrete Laminin alpha2 (Lama2) that, in turn, enhances OPC differentiation. Here, we aimed to evaluate whether PCs influence the fate choice of NSCs in vitro, towards the production of new myelin-producing cells. Indeed, upon exposure to conditioned medium derived from PCs (PC-CM), the majority of NSCs gave rise to GalC- and myelin basic protein (MBP)-expressing oligodendrocytes at the expense of the generation of GFAP-positive astrocytes. Consistent with these findings, PC-CM induces an increase in the expression of the oligodendrocyte fate determinant Olig2, while the expression level of the astrocyte determinant ID2 is decreased. Finally, pre-incubation of PC-CM with an anti-Lama2 antibody prevented the generation of oligodendrocytes. Our findings indicate that PCs-derived Lama2 instructs NSCs to an oligodendrocyte fate choice favoring the generation of myelin-producing cells at the expense of astrocytes in vitro. Further studies aiming to reveal the role of PCs during remyelination may pave the way for the development of new therapies for the treatment of MS.The authors would like to thank the following funding agencies for their support: Paracelsus Medical University PMU-FFF Long-Term Fellowship L-12/01/001-RIV (to and Stand-Alone Grant E-12/15/077-RIT (both to F.J.R.); Chilean FONDECYT Program CONICYT Grant Nº 1161787 (F.J.R.), Grant Nº 1141015 (L.F.B); Chilean PCI Program CONICYT Grant Nº REDES170233, Grant Nº REDES180139 and Grant Nº REDI170037 (all to F.J.R); Chilean FONDEF-IDeA Program Grant Nº ID17AM0043 (M.E.S. and F.J.R.); the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts (ForNeuroCell grant) (L.A.); the Germany Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF grants #0312134, #01GG0706 and #01GN0505); European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements n° HEALTH-F2-2011-278850 (INMiND) and HEALTH-F2-2011-279288 (IDEA). The work in the Franklin laboratory was supported by a programme grant from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society and Adelson Medical Research Foundation and a core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. In addition, the present work was supported by the state of Salzburg (to L.A.)

Melanoma is associated with an increased risk of bullous pemphigoid: a large population-based longitudinal study

The association between bullous pemphigoid (BP) and melanoma is yet to be investigated. We aimed to assess assess the bidirectional association between BP and melanoma and to delineate the epidemiological features of patients with both diagnoses. A population-based cohort study was performed comparing BP patients (n = 3924) with age-, sex- and ethnicity-matched control subjects (n = 19,280) with regard to incident cases of melanoma. A case-control design was additionally adopted to estimate the risk of BP in individuals with a preexisting diagnosis of melanoma. The prevalence of preexisting melanoma was higher in patients with BP than in control subjects (1.5% vs. 1.0%, respectively; P = 0.004). A history of melanoma confers a 50% increase in the risk of subsequent BP (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.14-2.06). This risk was higher among males (OR 1.66; 95% CI 1.09-2.54) and individuals older than 80 years (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.11-2.38), and persisted after adjustment for multiple putative confounders including PD-1/PDL-1 antagonists (adjusted OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.14-2.06). Conversely, the risk of melanoma among patients with BP was slightly elevated, but did not reach the level of statistical significance (adjusted HR 1.13; 95% CI 0.73-1.74). Patients with a dual diagnosis of BP and melanoma were older at the onset of BP and had lower body mass index. A history of melanoma is associated with a 50% increase in the incidence of subsequent BP. Physicians managing patients with both conditions should be aware of this association. Further research is warranted to reveal the underlying mechanism of these findings