The Severity and Lack of Awareness of Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis is a rare autoimmune disease that affects a very small percentage of the population, close to 10 cases per million, according to the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD). The amount of men that are diagnosed with this disease are even smaller. However, hardly anyone knows what Dermatomyositis is, let alone what its side effects are. The purpose of this research paper is to exploit the severity of Dermatomyositis for those who are unaware of its existence, characteristics and significance within the health community. In doing so, I hope to create awareness throughout society by also telling my father’s story through a narrative documentary, as he is currently living with Dermatomyositis. Through better communication and further research on Dermatomyositis, awareness will increase, more studies can be conducted, and improvements can be made toward the rehabilitation process for the affected individuals. This is why I will be creating a narrative documentary to further exemplify the details in my paper. I will go into more detail regarding my father’s story, connecting all dots to my research. Those who doubt the validity of the information provided will question my degree of membership and credibility. However, by maintaining professionalism and informative research to back up my personal connections and experiences, I will establish my reliability and validity

Influence of the 3D microenvironment on glioblastoma migration and drug response

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive brain cancer characterized by poor prognosis. Despite significant efforts by the basic and clinical research community our understanding of GBM progression and recurrence has been incremental. Improvements in therapeutic response have been dismal, and GBM continues to be the deadliest tumor of the central nervous system, with patient average survival rate of 12 months. Synergistic relationships that the tumor cells establish with the brain microenvironment have been proven fundamental for successful tumor progression and maintenance. Yet, many in vitro GBM studies are performed in formats that fail to recapitulate the most essential component of the tumor microenvironment. In this work we aim to describe the influence of multiple features of the tumor microenvironment on GBM migration characteristics and response to drug treatment. Our approach involved the development of a 3D in vitro tissue model that recapitulates the cellular, chemical and mechanical features of brain microenvironment. To assess the influence of the physical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on GBM migration we developed a matrix of hyaluronan supported by collagen with embedded microfibers to simulate the composition of brain ECM and the topographical cues of vasculature. Comparison of this model with Matrigel and collagen type-I showed that GBM exhibits different migration modes such as collective expansion, multicellular strands, and single cell migration as a response to the ECM composition and stiffness. Further incorporation of brain stromal cells as astrocytes and endothelial cells into the model showed that presence of astrocytes increased the migration of all GBM cell lines studied, however presence of endothelial cells only increased the migration of glioblastoma stem-like cells. Evaluation of the cytotoxic effect of multiple drugs on GBM was performed using our 3D model. Presence of extracellular matrix and stromal cells reduced the sensitivity of stem-like GBM cells to drug treatments. Our specific focus was on anti-STAT3 therapy and data obtained in the 3D model showed that the microenvironment regulates STAT3 activation as well as response to STAT3 drug targeting. This work supports the fundamental role of the 3D-microenvironment as a modulator of GBM behavior and provides a consistent and tunable in vitro platform to be used in GBM studies for a more realistic understanding of in vivo cancer progression and response to therapy

Beyond Skin Deep: The Traumatic Effects of Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis is a rare autoimmune disease that affects a very small percentage of the population, close to 10 cases per million, according to the National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD). The amount of men that are diagnosed with this disease are even smaller. However, hardly anyone knows what Dermatomyositis is, let alone what its side effects are. The purpose of this research paper is to exploit the severity of Dermatomyositis for those who are unaware of its existence, characteristics and significance within the health community. In doing so, I hope to create awareness throughout society by also telling my father’s story through a narrative documentary, as he is currently living with Dermatomyositis. Through better communication and further research on Dermatomyositis, awareness among society will increase, more studies can be conducted and improvements can be made toward the rehabilitation process for the affected individuals. This is why I have created a narrative documentary to further exemplify the details in my paper. I go into more detail regarding my father’s story, connecting all dots to my research. Those who doubt the validity of the information provided will question my degree of membership and credibility. However, by maintaining professionalism and informative research to back up my personal connections and experiences, I will establish my reliability and validity

The Cost of Integration: Grounding the Integration Debate in Black Experience

This thesis joins the dialogue in political philosophy about the potential necessity for residential integration of poor urban Black people in the U.S. into whiter neighborhoods to correct for injustices (historical and contemporary). Specifically, this thesis examines the disagreement between Tommie Shelby and Elizabeth Anderson over whether residential integration based on race is a requirement of justice. I contribute to their debate by grounding it in the lived experience of Black people, as filtered through a racially sensitive phenomenological framework. I do this by remembering and calling forth the voice of bell hooks, who was forced to shoulder the cost of school integration efforts as a child. I use Sara Ahmed’s phenomenological account of whiteness to illustrate that the costs of integration which bell hooks faced decades ago remain relevant and have important implications for any contemporary residential integration efforts

Methane concentration and isotopic composition (d13C-CH4) in the Nerja Cave system (South Spain)

Air in underground caves often has methane (CH4) concentrations below the atmospheric level, due to methanotrophic or other unkown CH4 consuming processes. Caves are thus considered a potential sink for atmospheric methane. If globally important, this underground CH4 oxidation should be taken into account in the atmospheric methane budget, in addition to the known soil methanotrophy and tropospheric/stratospheric sinks. A large set of data is however necessary to understand how and how much methane from external atmospheric air is consumed in the caves. While methane concentration data are available for several caves worldwide, its isotopic composition and variations in space and time are poorly documented. We measured methane concentration and stable C isotope composition (d13C) in the Nerja cave (Southern Spain) air during two surveys in March and April 2015. CH4 concentration decreases progressively from the more external cave rooms, with atmospheric levels of 1.9 ppmv, to the more internal and isolated rooms down to 0.5 ppmv. d13C increases correspondingly from -47 h to -41 h (VPDB). CH4 is systematically 13C-enriched (d13C > -45 permil) in areas of the cave where the concentration is below 1.4 ppmv. This combination of concentration decrease and 13C-enrichment towards the more internal and isolated zones of the cave confirms the importance of CH4 oxidation, likely driven by methanotrophic bacteria. Further data, including stable H isotope composition of subatmospheric CH4 concentrations, CO2 and microbial analyses, shall be acquired over time to assess the actual role of methanotrophic bacteria and seasonal controls in the CH4 consumption process.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech