Filters
Availability
Publication Year
Resource Type
Faculty
School/Institute
Publication Search Results
Sort
Results per page
1 - 10 of 35
-
(2018)ThesisIntroduction: Skin disease is common in immunosuppressed solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs) and skin cancer, in particular, is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. This study aims to determine the rates and risk factors for skin cancer in Australian heart and lung transplant recipients (HLTRs). It also aims to examine the spectrum of skin diseases encountered in HLTRs and their effect on quality of life (QOL). Methods: Ninety-four participants were recruited from the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic at St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney between March and December 2016. Retrospective skin cancer diagnoses were obtained from medical records and participants were also examined prospectively for malignant and non-malignant skin disease. A questionnaire and the Dermatology Life Quality Index were administered to all participants. The probabilities of developing non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. The association of risk factors with skin cancer development were examined using the Cox proportional hazards model. The association of examined variables with DLQI score were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Retrospectively, there were 801 post-transplant skin cancers in 61% of participants. At 5 and 10 years post-transplantation the probabilities were 41% and 67% for developing NMSC, 27% and 53% for developing BCC, and 33% and 62% for developing SCC, respectively. A prospective dermatological diagnosis was made in 87% of the participants over the study period. Actinic keratosis was the most common diagnosis, affecting 53% of participants, followed by skin cancer in 44% and warts in 15% of participants. Other non-malignant skin diseases were less common. Risk factors significantly associated with skin cancer included older age at transplantation, history of pre-transplant skin cancer, and history of ≥5 post-transplant skin cancers. Fitzpatrick skin type 3-6 was associated with a decreased risk of NMSC. Skin disease had a negative effect on the QOL of a minority of HLTRs. The use of tacrolimus was associated with better QOL scores on multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Australian HLTRs have high rates of skin cancer that exceed the rates reported for other SOTRs.
-
(2020)ThesisDNA cytosine methylation is an important epigenetic modification that plays a key role in gene expression. DNA methylation has been shown to be involved in numerous processes, including X-chromosome inactivation in mammals, retrotransposon silencing, genomic imprinting, carcinogenesis and the regulation of tissue specific gene expression during development. Gene expression is tightly regulated via DNA methylation (5mC) and the aberrant expression of meiotic genes in mitotic cells via CpG promoter hypomethylation has been proposed to cause cancer. Cancer/Testis Antigens (CTAs) are a group of genes that encode tumour specific antigens and are expressed in the testis, certain cancers but not in normal post-natal somatic tissues. CpG island methylation and histone modifications appear to play a role in the epigenetic regulation of CTA expression, however, very little is known about their functions in vivo. A widely studied but poorly understood question to date is the mechanisms behind aberrant CTA reactivation in cancer. Given that 5mC mediated gene repression has been found to exist in vertebrate genomes and CTAs have also been identified to be a subset of highly evolutionarily conserved genes, it is critical to understand the role of 5mC mediated CTA silencing in vertebrates. By gaining a deeper understanding into the mechanisms behind this highly conserved pattern of gene repression on a specific subset of genes, we would be able to identify methods to prevent aberrant gene expression. In this study, I analysed publicly available whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), RNA-seq and chromatin immuno-precipitation followed by massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-seq) data of developing embryonic and adult somatic tissue of 3 vertebrate species to elucidate the evolutionary epigenetic regulation of CTAs in vertebrate genomes. Integrative WGBS, RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analysis revealed that CTAs are evolutionarily conserved in zebrafish, mice and humans and mechanisms of their epigenetic regulation are also conserved. I observed that histone modifications could potentially serve as an indicator of the methylation status of CTA gene promoters and that the expression of CTAs was inversely related to gene promoter 5mC levels. I demonstrate that CTAs when over-expressed cause embryonic lethality in zebrafish and the same genes are aberrantly hypomethylated at their CpG islands in a subset of human cancers. Overall, my work shows that CTAs are epigenetically regulated in an evolutionarily conserved manner and possibly via a conserved transcription factor, ETS1, that is expressed both in embryonic and cancerous tissue.
-
(2022)Thesis3D computer generated biomedical animations can help audiences understand and contextualise scientific information that can be challenging to communicate due to resolution and complexity. Biomedical animators bring together multiple sources of authentic scientific data, to translate abstract information into a visual form through storytelling and visualisation. The field of biomedical animation has emerged from a long history of science visualisation and science-art endeavours, and despite there being rich discourse in the fields of data visualisation and science communication, the academic literature in the field of biomedical animation is limited, and focussed on the technical methods for visualisation, or the role these animations play in scientific research, rather than the processes through which they are created. However, as the field matures, there is a need for a deeper understanding of the creative process, and the field is now poised to expose and characterise these aspects, particularly from the perspective of the practitioner. This practice-based research project aims to expose and characterise both the visible and invisible factors that influence my personal process of creating a biomedical animation, and the tacit dimensions that influence orchestrated design choices. This research project employs a multi-method and reflective practice approach with disciplined capture and documentation of critical moments of self-reflection, that ultimately comprise the data for analysis. Thematic analysis was then used to analyse the data, and to identify themes that could contribute to frameworks that represent my personal process(es) in creating 3D biomedical animations. This has allowed me to identify and contextualise my creative process both in terms of my personal and professional position as well as within the field more broadly. I am now able to better advocate for the intangible and often undervalued aspects of my creative practice, and can articulate how a hierarchical decision matrix that considers multiple inputs contributes to my creative process. These insights will also be relevant to others in the field of biomedical animation and in the field of design more broadly, who may gain a deeper insight into their own processes of working and ways of exploring creative practice.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-