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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (83 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2010)
Viral infections of the pediatric central nervous system (CNS) encompass a broad spectrum of both perinatally and postnatally acquired diseases with potentially devastating effects on the developing brain. In children, viral infections have been associated with chronic encephalopathy, encephalitis, demyelinating disease, tumors, and epilepsy. Older diagnostic techniques of biopsy, viral culture, electron microscopy, gel-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and viral titer quantification are being replaced with more rapid, sensitive, and specific real-time and microarray-based PCR technologies. Advances in neuroimaging technologies have provided for earlier recognition of CNS injury without elucidation of specific viral etiology. Although the mainstay therapy of many pediatric neurovirologic diseases, aside from HIV, includes intravenous acyclovir, much work is being done to develop novel antiviral immunotherapies aimed at both treating and preventing pediatric CNS viral disease.
    Cover page: Advances in Pediatric Neurovirology
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2015)
    We present a case of a 19-year-old man with cervical lymphadenopathy diagnosed with classical Hodgkins lymphoma 9 years after gross total resection of a third ventricular juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA). Chemotherapy or radiation therapy was not a part of his initial JPA treatment. Owing to his two primary neoplasms, genetic testing was performed, which revealed heterozygous polymorphisms of unknown significance for CDH1 and p53, and negative BRAF mutation analysis. Our case reports development of classical Hodgkins lymphoma after JPA in the absence of antecedent radiation and/or chemotherapy, and identifiable genetic predisposition.
      Cover page: Hodgkins lymphoma in an adolescent previously treated with surgical resection of third ventricular juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma.
      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2017)

      ABSTRACT

      Feature Film and Dance Film: A Match Made in Movement

      By

      Alexandra Thomsen

      Master of Fine Arts in Dance

      University of California, Irvine, 2017

      Professor John Crawford, Chair

      This study identifies correlations and mutually beneficial approaches in film making styles and techniques in the works of selected feature films, experimental films, and dance films. Key compositional elements in the signature styles of film directors can be applied to dance film. Feature film directors Terrence Malick, Alfred Hitchcock, and Wes Anderson, as well as dance film artist Maya Deren, provide diverse materials for this study. Deren, a pivotal figure in experimental filmmaking and an artist highly regarded in the dance film field, is central to this analysis because of the role of human movement and bodily forms in her aesthetics.

      Studying film directors can inform the creation of dance film by relating techniques in filmmaking to dance and movement as well as by developing a deeper understanding of signature styles in cinema. For this thesis I created one dance film to represent the techniques I studied based on the signature style elements of Terrence Malick. In the broadest sense, this study investigates how applying the methodology of one artist to another might guide the development of one’s own signature style.

        Cover page: Feature Film and Dance Film: A Match Made in Movement
        • Thesis
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2015)

        This thesis project is comprised of a written paper and a choreographic work. The choreographic component was presented in the Experimental Media Lab in the Contemporary Arts Center of the University of California- Irvine on May 15 and 16, 2015. The work was presented in the form of an interactive performance exhibition, where the audience was invited to participate in certain aspects of the performance. The installation explored the blurring of the line between audience and performer through a linear development. The exhibition started with the space divided by curtains, showcasing live dancers as well as screendance and video projections. The second half of the exhibition opened up into one large floor, which the audience and performers shared.

        The supporting paper attempts to find a model for showcasing screendance works that provides an embodied experience, such as an interactive performance exhibition. After a brief historical overview of the development screendance and the development of curation, the paper looks at the ways that screendance curatorial practice can function to diversify the exhibition of screendance works. This thesis includes a survey of current screendance festivals, as well as ideas from interviews with current screendance practitioners to paint a cohesive picture of the current practices in the field. It then proposes that the interactive performance exhibition can be an alternative model to present screendance through an analysis of how exhibition space, live performance, and video projection can create a hybrid performance installation.

          Cover page: The Current and Future Role of Screendance CurationCreative Commons 'BY-NC-ND' version 4.0 license
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2019)

          Introduction

          The object of this review is to describe the choroid plexus tumors (CPTs) occurring in the fetus and neonate with regard to clinical presentation, location, pathology, treatment, and outcome.

          Materials and methods

          Case histories and clinical outcomes were reviewed from 93 cases of fetal and neonatal tumors obtained from the literature and our own institutional experience from 1980 to 2016.

          Results

          Choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) is the most common tumor followed by choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC) and atypical choroid plexus papilloma (ACPP). Hydrocephalus and macrocephaly are the presenting features for all three tumors. The lateral ventricles are the main site of tumor origin followed by the third and fourth ventricles, respectively. CPTs of the fetus are detected most often near the end of the third trimester of pregnancy by fetal ultrasound. The extent of surgical resection plays an important role in the treatment and outcome. In spite of excellent survival, which is especially true in the case of CPP, surgical resection may carry significant risks in an immature baby. Given the neonatal low blood volume and increased vascularity of the tumors, there is potential risk for hemorrhage. Although advances in neurosurgical techniques have led to a greater degree of complete surgical resections, survival for the perinatal CPC group remains low even with multimodality therapies.

          Conclusion

          Perinatal CPTs have variable overall survivals depending on degree of surgical resection and tumor biology. An increased understanding of the molecular features of these tumors may lead to improved therapies and ultimately survival.
            Cover page: Perinatal (fetal and neonatal) choroid plexus tumors: a review
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2018)
              Cover page: Pineoblastoma in a child with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2018)
                Cover page: Novel KRIT1/CCM1 heterozygous nonsense mutation (c.715 C>T) associated with cerebral and cerebellar cavernous malformations in a paediatric patient
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2014)
                A 10-year-old boy with newly diagnosed metastatic medulloblastoma was placed on high dose dexamethasone and ranitidine prior to surgery. The child underwent subtotal resection and was discharged 5 days postoperatively with an uneventful hospital course on a tapering dose of dexamethasone and ranitidine. Over the next 2 days the patient complained of mild abdominal distension with flatulence, without pain, vomiting, or dysmotility. On follow-up in clinic 5 days after discharge, he had normal vital signs when he suddenly became pale and had loss of consciousness. Emergent computerized tomography of the head showed no acute hemorrhage and complete blood count revealed hemoglobin of 4.2 gm/dL. In spite of maximum resuscitation with copious blood products the patient died. Autopsy revealed evidence of duodenal perforation with intraluminal hemorrhage. This case demonstrates a rare fatal complication of high dose dexamethasone therapy even with concurrent gastrointestinal prophylactic therapy. We provide a review of the limited literature on steroid use in pediatric neurooncology with regard to gastrointestinal bleeding.
                  Cover page: Fatal gastrointestinal hemorrhage in a young boy with newly diagnosed metastatic medulloblastoma on high dose dexamethasone.Creative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2010)
                  Primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors cause significant morbidity and mortality in both adults and children. While some of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of neuro-oncogenesis are known, much less is known about possible epigenetic contributions to disease pathophysiology. Over the last several decades, chronic viral infections have been associated with a number of human malignancies. In primary CNS malignancies, two families of viruses, namely polyomavirus and herpesvirus, have been detected with varied frequencies in a number of pediatric and adult histological tumor subtypes. However, establishing a link between chronic viral infection and primary CNS malignancy has been an area of considerable controversy, due in part to variations in detection frequencies and methodologies used among researchers. Since a latent viral neurotropism can be seen with a variety of viruses and a widespread seropositivity exists among the population, it has been difficult to establish an association between viral infection and CNS malignancy based on epidemiology alone. While direct evidence of a role of viruses in neuro-oncogenesis in humans is lacking, a more plausible hypothesis of neuro-oncomodulation has been proposed. The overall goals of this review are to summarize the many human investigations that have studied viral infection in primary CNS tumors, discuss potential neuro-oncomodulatory mechanisms of viral-associated CNS disease and propose future research directions to establish a more firm association between chronic viral infections and primary CNS malignancies.
                    Cover page: Chronic Viral Infection and Primary Central Nervous System Malignancy
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2017)
                    Severe neuropathy is a known adverse effect of vincristine in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). We present the case of a 16-year-old girl with anaplastic medulloblastoma treated with gross total resection and high-dose craniospinal radiation with adjuvant vincristine chemotherapy who developed acute-onset severe quadriplegia and vocal cord paralysis. Vincristine and radiation therapy were discontinued. Although her neuropathy slowly improved over several weeks, she developed metastatic extraneural medulloblastoma and died 5 months after diagnosis. Subsequent genetic testing revealed previously asymptomatic and undiagnosed CMT1A. Our case highlights the importance of early recognition of acute vincristine neurotoxicity that should raise suspicion of an underlying hereditary neuropathy.
                      Cover page: Severe vincristine-induced polyneuropathy in a teenager with anaplastic medulloblastoma and undiagnosed Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
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