Applied Theater: Giving Voice to Low-income Teenage Immigrants Through Theater

In the United States, immigration is feared, criticized, and highly misunderstood. The current immigration debate relies on, and reinforces, anti-immigrant myths. This rhetoric negatively impacts the lives of immigrants, especially that of the 11.7 million undocumented immigrants who currently live in the United States. The first chapter of this paper talks about some of the myths associated with immigration, the situation of many immigrants, and some of the root causes of immigration, including the role of the United States. The second chapter describes Augusto Boal’s life and his Theater of the Oppressed. The third chapter describes the process, challenges, and outcome of the use of Theater of the Oppressed with low-income teenage immigrants at the Hope Community Center. These teens are negatively impacted by the current immigration rhetoric. They suffer the consequences of racism, discrimination, and internalized oppression. Through Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed, the teens have been able to find their own voice and have used it to express themselves, talk about their own issues, and discuss the oppression they experience. The creative process and theatrical activities promoted self-reflection and personal growth, and the teens learned valuable life skills. This process has had a profound and positive impact on the individuals and will certainly, in turn, influence and better their communities

Stellar density distribution in the NIR on the Galactic plane at longitudes 15-27 deg. Clues for the Galactic bar ?

12 pages, 15 figures, accepted by A&AGarzon et al. (1997), Lopez-Corredoira et al. (1999) and Hammersley et al. (2000)have identified in TMGS and DENIS data a large excess of stars at l=27 deg andb=0 deg which might correspond to an in-plane bar. We compared near infraredCAIN star counts and simulations from the Besancon Model of Galaxy on 15 fieldsbetween 15 deg and 45 deg in longitude and -2 deg and 2 deg in latitude.Comparisons confirm the existence of an overdensity at longitudes lower than 27deg which is inhomogeneous and decreases very steeply off the Galactic plane.The observed excess in the star distribution over the predicted density is evenhigher than 100%. Its distance from the sun is estimated to be lower than 6kpc. If this overdensity corresponds to the stellar population of the bar, weestimate its half-length to 3.9 +/ -0.4 kpc and its angle from the Sun-centerdirection to 45 +/- 9 degrees

Pilgrims’ Progress: Faculty and University Factors in Graduate Student Integration of Faith and Learning

Graduate students\u27 perspectives on integration of faith and profession were investigated using item response to identify underlying constructs. Students (N = 595) from various professions and four universities were sampled. Three factors were supported as separate and important constructs for students. The first two factors were drawn from Sorenson\u27s research on attachment theory, faculty as bulwark of the faith versus fellow sojourner and faculty as emotionally transparent versus emotionally distant. A new domain of integration, environmental factors such as class Scripture reading, was supported as a unique factor. An examination of diversity variables gave preliminary evidence that females and students of color may see emotional transparency and environmental factors as more important in Christian integration than other students

A comparison of sacral neuromodulation vs. transvaginal electrical stimulation for the treatment of refractory overactive bladder: The impact on quality of life, body image, sexual function, and emotional well-being

Overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) is defined by the presence of urinary urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually accompanied by an increase in urinary frequency and nocturia in the absence of urinary tract infections (UTI) or other diseases. The overall prevalence of OAB symptoms in the female population is reported to be 16.6% and increases with advancing age and menopause. The aetiology of OAB is not fully understood and is likely to affect a heterogeneous population of patients due to changes to their central and peripheral nervous systems. Although OAB is frequently associated with female sexual dysfunction (FSD), its real impact on sexual function in women has been evaluated only in a few studies. The first line of treatment for OAB includes behavioural modification and physical therapy, either as monotherapies or in combination. Many patients who have not had success in managing their symptoms with more conservative therapies may decide to resort to third-line treatments for refractory OAB. These treatments include neuromodulation therapies, particularly transvaginal electrical stimulation (TES) and sacral neuromodulation (SN). The aim of this short commentary is to provide an overview of the effectiveness of these treatments and of their impact on quality of life, body image, sexual function, and emotional well-being

NRF2-driven miR-125B1 and miR-29B1 transcriptional regulation controls a novel anti-apoptotic miRNA regulatory network for AML survival

Transcription factor NRF2 is an important regulator of oxidative stress. It is involved in cancer progression, and has abnormal constitutive expression in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Posttranscriptional regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs) can affect the malignant phenotype of AML cells. In this study, we identified and characterised NRF2-regulated miRNAs in AML. An miRNA array identified miRNA expression level changes in response to NRF2 knockdown in AML cells. Further analysis of miRNAs concomitantly regulated by knockdown of the NRF2 inhibitor KEAP1 revealed the major candidate NRF2-mediated miRNAs in AML. We identified miR-125B to be upregulated and miR-29B to be downregulated by NRF2 in AML. Subsequent bioinformatic analysis identified putative NRF2 binding sites upstream of the miR-125B1 coding region and downstream of the mir-29B1 coding region. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses showed that NRF2 binds to these antioxidant response elements (AREs) located in the 5′ untranslated regions of miR-125B and miR-29B. Finally, primary AML samples transfected with anti-miR-125B antagomiR or miR-29B mimic showed increased cell death responsiveness either alone or co-treated with standard AML chemotherapy. In summary, we find that NRF2 regulation of miR-125B and miR-29B acts to promote leukaemic cell survival, and their manipulation enhances AML responsiveness towards cytotoxic chemotherapeutics

An update on treatment options for interstitial cystitis

Interstitial cystitis or bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic pelvic pain syndrome related to the urinary bladder. The ideal treatment should match as much as possible with the pathophysiologic causes of the IC/BPS, but the scarcely available evidence limits this approach, with the majority of available treatments that are primarily targeted to the control of symptoms. The treatment strategies have traditionally focused on the bladder, which is considered the primary end-organ and source of pain. Nevertheless, the growing body of evidence suggests a multifaceted nature of the disease with systemic components. In general, guidelines recommend the personalized and progressive approach, that starts from the more conservative options and then advances toward more invasive and combined treatments. The behavioral changes represent the first and most conservative steps. They can be combined with oral medications or progressively with intravesical instillation of drugs, up to more invasive techniques in a combined way. Despite the multiple available options, the optimal treatment is not easy to be found. Only further investigation on the etiopathogenetic mechanisms, taking into account the differences among subgroups, and the interaction between central and peripherical factors may allow providing a real improvement in the treatment and management of these patients

PrePPI: a structure-informed database of protein–protein interactions

PrePPI (http://bhapp.c2b2.columbia.edu/PrePPI) is a database that combines predicted and experimentally determined protein–protein interactions (PPIs) using a Bayesian framework. Predicted interactions are assigned probabilities of being correct, which are derived from calculated likelihood ratios (LRs) by combining structural, functional, evolutionary and expression information, with the most important contribution coming from structure. Experimentally determined interactions are compiled from a set of public databases that manually collect PPIs from the literature and are also assigned LRs. A final probability is then assigned to every interaction by combining the LRs for both predicted and experimentally determined interactions. The current version of PrePPI contains ∼2 million PPIs that have a probability more than ∼0.1 of which ∼60 000 PPIs for yeast and ∼370 000 PPIs for human are considered high confidence (probability greater than 0.5). The PrePPI database constitutes an integrated resource that enables users to examine aggregate information on PPIs, including both known and potentially novel interactions, and that provides structural models for many of the PPIs