BA in Photographic Media Graduate Show 2016

The work seen in this book relates to the students’ major final photographic project of 20 Credits, consisting of: Book/Folio, Written Visual Diary to support the project + Exhibition. Contributors: Alexksandra Isats, Charlotte Herron, Claudia Verdecchia, David Fogarty, Declan Kelly, Deirdre Fallon, Giselle Sanguino Romero, Hannah Tiernan, Joseph Chatham, John Carroll, Jozsef Kukola, Justina Brazauskalte, Lauren Gaynor, Pablo Jean, Paul Quigley, Simon Walsh, Sunniva Lervik, Tetyana Voloshyn

Mitochondrial Lactate Dehydrogenase Is Involved in Oxidative-Energy Metabolism in Human Astrocytoma Cells (CCF-STTG1)

Lactate has long been regarded as an end product of anaerobic energy production and its fate in cerebral metabolism has not been precisely delineated. In this report, we demonstrate, for the first time, the ability of a human astrocytic cell line (CCF-STTG1) to consume lactate and to generate ATP via oxidative phosphorylation. 13C-NMR and HPLC analyses aided in the identification of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cyle metabolites and ATP in the astrocytic mitochondria incubated with lactate. Oxamate, an inhibitor of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), abolished mitochondrial lactate consumption. Electrophoretic and fluorescence microscopic analyses helped localize LDH in the mitochondria. Taken together, this study implicates lactate as an important contributor to ATP metabolism in the brain, a finding that may significantly change our notion of how this important organ manipulates its energy budget

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Safety and Efficacy of Belimumab Plus Standard Therapy for Up to Thirteen Years in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149757/1/art40861_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149757/2/art40861.pd

Interleukin-1 Receptor Blockade Is Associated With Reduced Mortality in Sepsis Patients With Features of Macrophage Activation Syndrome: Reanalysis of a Prior Phase III Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of anakinra (recombinant interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) in improving 28-day survival in sepsis patients with features of macrophage activation syndrome (MAS). Despite equivocal results in sepsis trials, anakinra is effective in treating MAS, a similar entity with fever, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), hepatobiliary dysfunction (HBD), cytopenias, and hyperferritinemia. Hence, sepsis patients with MAS features may benefit from IL-1 receptor blockade. DESIGN: Re-analysis of de-identified data from the phase III randomized interleukin-1 receptor antagonist trial in severe sepsis (Opal, et. al. Crit Care Med. 1997 Jul;25(7):1115–24). SETTING: Multi-center study recruiting through 91 centers from 11 countries in Europe and North America. PARTICIPANTS: Sepsis patients with MODS and/or shock (original study) were re-grouped based on presence or absence of concurrent HBD and DIC as features of MAS (HBD/DIC group). The “non-HBD/DIC” group included patients with only HBD, only DIC or neither. INTERVENTION: Treatment with anakinra or placebo. MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S): 28-day mortality. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: descriptive statistics, chi-square, ANOVA, logistic and Cox regression. RESULTS: Data were available for 763 adults from the original study cohort, randomized to receive either anakinra or placebo. Concurrent HBD/DIC was noted in 43 patients (5.6% of total, ages 18–75; 47% women). The 28-day survival was similar in both anakinra and placebo-treated non-HBD/DIC patients (71.4% vs. 70.8%, p=.88). Treatment with anakinra was associated with significant improvement in the 28-day survival rate in HBD/DIC patients (65.4% anakinra vs. 35.3% placebo), with HR for death 0.28 (0.11–0.71, p = 0.0071) for the treatment group in Cox regression. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this subgroup analysis, IL-1 receptor blockade was associated with significant improvement in survival of patients with sepsis and concurrent HBD/DIC. A prospective randomized trial using features of MAS for mortality risk stratification should be undertaken to confirm the role of IL-1 blockage