Zipped Magazine

For my capstone project, I chose to do something that fell within the creative category. Being a magazine journalism major, most of my coursework has to do with editing, writing, and layout so I wanted to use the skills I learned in the classroom to create and find a new publication on the S.U. campus. Zipped magazine is S.U.’s only fashion publication and it allows students with an interest in this area, the opportunity to further develop their skills through writing, photography, graphics and design. Furthermore, readers are able to learn about issues that the fashion industry faces in the media. Zipped includes articles that not only apply to students interested in fashion, but rather the critical issues that are faced in this industry such as shape diversity, size diversity, race diversity, etc. Each of theses issues has a section that touches upon the lives and feelings of many SU students. Zipped provides readers with entertainment, but it also makes them more knowledgeable and helps them gain perspective on issues in the fashion industry and how they relate to everyone. In creating Zipped, we formed an executive board of students who had strengths in different areas. We knew that in order for our layouts to be strong we needed a graphic specialist. The same went for photography, we needed someone who knew how to edit and photoshop pictures to make them just right to put into the layouts. Zipped also showcases the talents of many students who are writers and artists. We think it is important to highlight the S.U. students and community so we try to put as much student work into the magazine as possible. At this point, we publish 1,500 issues a semester and produce a 24-page magazine. Zipped had its’ third issue published in the spring of 2009 and we hope that the magazine continues to grow and thrive on the S.U. campus in the years to come

AUDIT: MONITORING OF SIDE EFFECTS USING GASS (GLASGOW ANTIPSYCHOTIC SIDE-EFFECT SCALE)

Background: Anti-psychotics are often prescribed off-licence for personality and affective disorders. The aim of this audit was to identify patients on specific wards within St Andrews Hospital and to determine how many of the Glasgow Antipsychotic Side- Effect Scale (GASS) forms had been completed as per policy. Methods: Thirteen patients of Dr Boris Iankov, Consultant Psychiatrist within the adolescent service at St Andrews, were identified. Their records were subsequently reviewed in order to determine how many had completed GASS forms. Results: It was found only 31% of patients had completed the GASS forms. The remaining patients were supported to do so. As a result 92% of patients are compliant with the policy. Recommendations: The suitability of the form for adolescents was brought into question due to the sensitive nature of certain side effects. Furthermore the form should be completed routinely on admission and at regular intervals

Burden of anxiety in Adolescent: A community-based study in Western Uttar Pradesh

Background: Anxiety is a prevalent issue among adolescents and can adversely affect their academic performance and everyday functioning. Aims & Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of anxiety among adolescents in urban and rural areas and to study the socio-demographic correlates of anxiety among adolescents in urban and rural areas. Methods: A comprehensive survey was conducted in the field practice area of Department of Community Medicine of a Medical College in western district of Uttar Pradesh. The survey was aimed at young people between the ages of 10 and 19 who lived in the practice area of the medical college. Result: The burden of anxiety was observed to be 19.6 % (n=92). Female gender, urban residence, early adolescent age-group (10-13 yr), nuclear family, day-time somnolence and family history of mental illness were factors having statistical significance. Poor education level of parents was also statistically significant. Physical activity and substance abuse did not have significant contribution in burden of anxiety. Conclusion: Anxiety in adolescents is a significant issue influenced by various factors. Early intervention and support are crucial

Stochastic Model of Tsc1 Lesions in Mouse Brain

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder due to mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2 that affects many organs with hamartomas and tumors. TSC-associated brain lesions include subependymal nodules, subependymal giant cell astrocytomas and tubers. Neurologic manifestations in TSC comprise a high frequency of mental retardation and developmental disorders including autism, as well as epilepsy. Here, we describe a new mouse model of TSC brain lesions in which complete loss of Tsc1 is achieved in multiple brain cell types in a stochastic pattern. Injection of an adeno-associated virus vector encoding Cre recombinase into the cerebral ventricles of mice homozygous for a Tsc1 conditional allele on the day of birth led to reduced survival, and pathologic findings of enlarged neurons, cortical heterotopias, subependymal nodules, and hydrocephalus. The severity of clinical and pathologic findings as well as survival was shown to be dependent upon the dose and serotype of Cre virus injected. Although several other models of TSC brain disease exist, this model is unique in that the pathology reflects a variety of TSC-associated lesions involving different numbers and types of cells. This model provides a valuable and unique addition for therapeutic assessment

Glioblastoma hijacks microglial gene expression to support tumor growth

Background: Glioblastomas are the most common and lethal primary brain tumors. Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, survey their environment and respond to pathogens, toxins, and tumors. Glioblastoma cells communicate with microglia, in part by releasing extracellular vesicles (EVs). Despite the presence of large numbers of microglia in glioblastoma, the tumors continue to grow, and these neuroimmune cells appear incapable of keeping the tumor in check. To understand this process, we analyzed gene expression in microglia interacting with glioblastoma cells. Methods: We used RNASeq of isolated microglia to analyze the expression patterns of genes involved in key microglial functions in mice with glioblastoma. We focused on microglia that had taken up tumor-derived EVs and therefore were within and immediately adjacent to the tumor. Results: We show that these microglia have downregulated expression of genes involved in sensing tumor cells and tumor-derived danger signals, as well as genes used for tumor killing. In contrast, expression of genes involved in facilitating tumor spread was upregulated. These changes appear to be in part EV-mediated, since intracranial injection of EVs in normal mice led to similar transcriptional changes in microglia. We observed a similar microglial transcriptomic signature when we analyzed datasets from human patients with glioblastoma. Conclusion: Our data define a microgliaGlioblastoma specific phenotype, whereby glioblastomas have hijacked gene expression in the neuroimmune system to favor avoiding tumor sensing, suppressing the immune response, clearing a path for invasion, and enhancing tumor propagation. For further exploration, we developed an interactive online tool at http://www.glioma-microglia.com with all expression data and additional functional and pathway information for each gene

An Epidemiological study on Depression among Rural & Urban Adolescent of Moradabad District

Introduction: Adolescence is a stressful period due to physical, psychological, sexual changes, and the presence of psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress at this stage of life is a matter of concern. Objectives: The objectives of our study were to study the prevalence of depression among adolescents in urban and rural areas and to study the socio-demographic correlates of depression among adolescents in urban and rural areas.. Materials and methods: The PSU in the field practise area incorporates of all villages and mohallas. There were 29 villages in the rural PSU and 23 mohallas with in urban PSU. Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre, Moradabad's Community Medicine Department annually conducts a census to determine the population of all the PSUs. The required number of villages and mohallas, i.e., 10 each, were chosen using the basic random procedure, wherein each village and mohalla has been assigned a unique serial number.  Results: that participant whose mother had primary education reported maximum burden (70%) and this was statistically significant. Adolescent having father who completed primary and high school were observed to be depressed in 33.3%. Employment of parent was not found to be statistically significant in occurrence of depression in the study participants. Adolescents from the upper middle socioeconomic class (42.9%) and those from the lower middle socioeconomic class (33.3%) experienced the most depression. Depression was more common (32.6%) among adolescents who did not engage in enough physical activity. Conclusion: The present cross-sectional community based study involved 400 adolescents aged 10–19 years, residing in the urban and rural areas of Moradabad. We observed significant burden of depression in adolescent with poor maternal education, living in nuclear families, leading poor lifestyle and were affected by any chronic illness at the time of the interview. A positive family history of any kind of mental illness was also an important risk factor. &nbsp