Who am I to wear this? I find it crucial how an item of clothing feels when worn. Instinctively tactile, visually pleasing… but when pondering further the material confronts my skin. I wonder, whose lives are sacrificed for this garment I wear?  This paper presents the process of crafting my work together with nature, how I witness possibilities of self-sustained collaboration between organisms and human beings discovering each other and growing together in novel metabiosis. Growing my own craft through urban micro-farming - and rethinking the lifecycle of materials - I have found a path towards a “wild” mix of biodegradable methods in body- sculpted fashion. A method I call Couture Vivante, creating textiles together with non-human bodies and imagining possible futures of ethical production. Transforming natural elements into after-life craft, reforming ecosystems around symbiosis between source and wearer. The living materials are art pieces crafted as first prototypes in my research which places emphasis on wearable materials as progress-in-motion, rather than a static or finished product. This work connects to a wider context of socio-economic and ethical structural practice. My ideal is not a vision of utopia, it is a balanced flow between humans, vegetation, textile and living creatures. Here I see an expression of the importance of man's too often ignored dependency on nature and - perhaps - coming to a point where we can realise the inherent magic instead of harming it.

Spider silk displays a unique balance of high tensile strength and extensibility, making it one of the toughest materials on the planet. Dragline silk, also known as the lifeline of the spider, represents one of the best studied fiber types and many labs are attempting to produce synthetic dragline silk fibers for commercial applications. In these studies, we develop a minifibroin for expression studies in bacteria. Using recombinant DNA methodology and protein expression studies, we develop a natural minifibroin that contains the highly conserved N- and C-terminal domains, along with several internal block repeats of MaSp1. We also characterize a family of small cysteine-rich proteins (CRPs) and demonstrate that these factors are present within the spinning dope of the major ampullate gland using MS analysis. Biochemical studies and characterization of one of the family members, CRP1, demonstrate that this factor can self-polymerize into higher molecular weight complexes under oxidizing conditions, but can be converted into a monomeric species under reducing conditions. Self-polymerization of CRP1 is also shown to be independent of pH and salt concentration, two important chemical cues that help fibroin aggregation. Overall, our data demonstrate that the polymerization state of CRP1 is dependent upon redox state, suggesting that the redox environment during fiber extrusion may help regulate the oligomerization of CRP molecules during dragline silk production.

The book a comprehensive study concerning the narrative paintings in Kucha on the Northern Silk Road (today’s Province Xinjiang, an autonomous region of the Peoples Republic of China) featuring episodes surrounding the Buddha’s death. The murals, dating from approximately the 5th to the 10th century, represent entire cycles of pictures which illustrate the events starting three months before the parinirvāṇa and ending with the first council. All together, 39 “occurrences” from the parinirvāṇa cycles have been represented in Kucha. Most of these were depicted repeatedly; only a few of them, however, were shown in separate scenes, while others were shown “within” bigger pictorial units. Relying on literary sources and comparative pictorial material, the book provides descriptions and analysis of the paintings, including both those in situ in the caves and the paintings which were removed from the walls and are presently located in the Museum für Indische Kunst in Berlin and in other collections around the world. The book is illustrated with 87 figures and 81 line drawings (mostly by the author) which make the often poorly-preserved murals comprehensible.:Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Drawings Figures I. Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in South Asia: An Overview II. Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in Kucha 1. Architectural Settings for Ritual and Religious Experience 2. The Parinirvāṇa Topics Depicted in Kucha and Their Literary Sources 3. Components of the Parinirvāṇa Cycle in Kucha Paintings The Buddha’s last journey Occurrence 1: Māra, demanding that the Buddha pass into parinirvāṇa Occurrence 2: Ānanda’s grief (in connection with Occurrence 1) Occurrence 3: The Buddha, departing from Vaiśālī Occurrence 4: The episode featuring the river / the donation of the bowl to the people of Vaiśālī Occurrence 5: The episode featuring the stone of the Mallas Occurrence 6: The Buddha accompanied by Indra and Brahma At the Buddha’s deathbed Occurrence 7: Ānanda, talking to the Mallas (1st Indo-Iranian Style) Occurrence 8: The parinirvāṇa (core elements) Occurrence 9: The approach of Indra and Brahma Occurrence 10: The conversion of Subhadra Occurrence 11: The enlightenment of a monk Occurrence 12: Ānanda’s conversation with Aniruddha Occurrence 13: Ānanda’s grief (within the parinirvāṇa representation) Occurrence 14: The worship of the tree deity Occurrence 15: The worship by the gods from heaven (ceilings and lunettes) Occurrence 16: Vajrapāṇi dropping the vajra Occurrence 17: The goddess (Māyā) among the attending gods Occurrence 18: Mahākāśyapa at the Buddha’s corpse After the Buddha’s death: The corpse and the relics Occurrence 19: The earthquake Occurrence 20: Ajātaśatru learning of the Buddha’s death Occurrence 21: The transportation of the coffin (1st Indo-Iranian Style) Occurrence 22: Mahākāśyapa meeting Ājīvika Occurrence 23: The opening (or closing) of the coffin before the cremation (1st Indo-Iranian Style) Occurrence 24: The cremation Occurrence 25: Nuns at the cremation Occurrence 26: Mahākāśyapa at the cremation Occurrence 27: Ānanda at the cremation Occurrence 28: Monks bringing wood Occurrence 29: Desperate gods and humans on a balcony above the cremation Occurrence 30: The extinguishing of the fire Occurrence 31: The advance of warriors demanding their share of relics Occurrence 32: The distribution of the relics Occurrence 33: Gods and demons carrying relics Occurrence 34: The relics: rows of stūpas (replacing narrative representations) The continuity of the dharma: Monks and the first council Occurrence 35: The gods asking Mahākāśyapa to convoke the first council Occurrence 36: Mahākāśyapa beating the gaṇḍī to call the monks to assembly Occurrence 37: The selection of 500 arhats for the council / accusations against Ānanda Occurrence 38: Ānanda or Upāli preaching at the first council Occurrence 39: Scenes with monks in the parinirvāṇa cycle / the veneration of Mahā-kāśyapa? III. Descriptions of the Representations of the Parinirvāṇa Story Cycle in Kucha 1. Kizil Cave 4 (Kaminhöhle A [Chimney Cave A]) Cave 7 (Höhle mit dem Fresco-Fußboden [Cave with the Fresco Floor]) Cave 8 (Sechzehn-Schwertträger-Höhle [Cave of Sixteen Swordbearers]) Cave 13 (Fünfte Höhle neben der Sechzehn-Schwertträger-Höhle [Fifth Cave next to the Cave of Sixteen Swordbearers]) Cave 13? (= Höhle oberhalb der Größten Höhle [Cave above the Biggest Cave]) Cave 17 (Bodhisattvagewölbe-Höhle [Cave with Bodhisattvas in the Vault]) Cave 27 (Nischen-Höhle [Cave with Niches]) Cave 34 (Höhle mit dem meditierenden Sonnengott [Cave with the Meditating Sun God]) Cave 38 (Höhle mit dem Musikerchor [Cave with Choir of Musicians]) Cave 43 Cave 47 (Höhle mit dem Kolossalbuddha [Cave with the Colossal Buddha]) Cave 48 (Höhle neben dem Kolossalbuddha (östlich) [Cave to the Side of the Colossal Buddha (to the east)]) Cave 58 (Höhle der Behelmten [Cave of the Helmeted]) New Cave 1 (Xin 1) Cave 69 Cave 76 (Pfauenhöhle [Peacocks Cave]) Cave 77 (Statuenhöhle [Statues Cave]) Cave 80 (Höllentopfhöhle [Hell Pot Cave]) Cave 97 Cave 98 Cave 99 Cave 101 Cave 104 Cave 107 A Cave 110 (Treppenhöhle [Stair Cave]) Cave 114 (Gebetmühlenhöhle [Prayer Wheel Cave]) Cave 148 Cave 155 Cave 159 Cave 161 Cave 163 Cave 171 (Höhle oberhalb der Kasettenhöhle [Cave above the Coffered Ceiling Cave]) Cave 172 Cave 175 (Versuchungshöhle [Temptation Cave]) Cave 178 (Schluchthöhle [Ravine Cave]) Cave 179 (Höhle mit den Japanern [Cave with the Japanese]) Cave 186 (Mittlere Höhle, zweite Schlucht [Middle Cave of the Second Ravine]) Cave 189 (Zweite Höhle von vorn [Second Cave from the Front]) Cave 192 Cave 193 (Nāgarājahöhle [Nāgarāja Cave]) Cave 195 Cave 196 Cave 197 Cave 198 (Teufelshöhle C [Devil’s Cave C]) Cave 205 (Māyāhöhle, 2. Anlage [Māyā Cave of the 2nd Group]) Cave 206 (Fußwaschungshöhle [Feet- washing Cave]) Cave 207 (Malerhöhle [Painters’ Cave]) Cave 219 (Ajātaśatruhöhle [Ajātaśatru Cave]) Cave 224 (Māyāhöhle, 3. Anlage [Māyā Cave of the 3rd Group]) Cave 227 (Pretahöhle [Preta’s Cave]) Kizil, cave number unknown (Cave 215 A?) Kizil, cave number unknown Kizil or Kumtura, cave number unknown 2. Kumtura Cave GK 24 Cave 7 Cave 10 Cave 12 (Nirvāṇa-Höhle [Nirvāṇa Cave], Höhle 33 [Cave 33]) Cave 16 (Kinnarī-Höhle [Kinnarī Cave], Höhle 14 [Cave 14]) Cave 23 (Höhle 19 [Cave 19]) Cave 30 Cave 31 Cave 34 Cave 38 Cave 42 Cave 46 (Höhle mit der Inschrift [Cave with Inscription], Höhle in der nördlichen Schlucht [Cave in the Northern Ravine]) Cave 53 Cave 58 (Nāgarājahöhle [Nāgarāja Cave], Höhle 42 [Cave 42]) Cave 61 Cave 63 Cave 65 Cave 68 Cave 71 3. Simsim Cave 1 (Höhle mit den Kinnarīs [Cave with Kinnarīs]) Cave 5 Cave 11 (Größte Höhle [Biggest Cave]) Cave 19 Cave 20 Cave 27 Cave 30 Cave 31 Cave 32 Cave 36 Cave 40 (Ritterhöhle [Knights’ Cave]) Cave 41 (Höhle mit zwei Vajrapāṇis [Cave with Two Vajrapāṇis], Brāhmaṇahöhle [Brāhmaṇa Cave]) Cave 42 (Halle mit dem Tierfries [Hall with the Animal Frieze]) Cave 43 Cave 44 (Höhle mit den kranztragenden Tauben [Cave of the Wreath-Carrying Doves]) Cave 45 Cave 48 4. Kizilgaha Cave 11 Cave 12 Cave 13 Cave 14 Cave 16 Cave 23 Cave 30 Cave 46 Kizilgaha, cave number unknown 5. Tograk-eken (Tuohulake’aiken) Cave 15 6. Taitai’er Cave 14 Bibliography Index Figures

Skin is an organ with a complex structure which plays a crucial role in thebody’s defence against external threats and in maintaining major homeostatic functions. The need for in vitro models that mimic the in vivo milieu is therefore high and relevant with various applications including, among others, penetration, absorption, and toxicity studies. In this context, the choice of the biomaterial that will provide a 3D scaffold to the cultured cells is defining the model’s success. The FN-4RepCT silk is here suggested as a potent biomaterial for skin tissue engineering applications. This recombinantly produced spider silk protein (FN-4RepCT), which can self-assemble into fibrils, creates a robust and elastic matrice with high bioactivity, due to its functionalization with the fibronectin derived RGD-containing peptide. Hence it overcomes the drawbacks of other available biomaterials either synthetic or based on animal derived proteins. Additionally, the FN-4RepCT silk protein can be cast in various 3D formats, two of which are utilized within this project. We herein present a bilayered skin tissue equivalent supported by the FN-4RepCT silk. This is constructed by the combination of a foam format, integrated with dermal fibroblasts and endothelial cells, and a membrane format supporting epidermal keratinocytes. As a result, a vascularized dermal layer that contains ECM components (Collagen I, Collagen III, and Elastin) is constructed and attached to an epidermal layer of differentiated keratinocytes.The protocol presented in this project offers a successful method of evenly integrating cells in the FN-4RepCT silk scaffold, while preserving their ability to resume some of their major in vivo functions like proliferation, ECM secretion, construction of vascular networks, and differentiation. The obtained results were evaluated with immunofluorescence stainings of various markers of interest and further analysed, when necessary, with image processing tools. The results that ensued from the herein presented protocol strongly suggest that the FN-4RepCT silk is a promising biomaterial for skin tissue engineering applications.

In 1913, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) led a strike of silk workers in Paterson, New Jersey. Several New York intellectuals took advantage of Paterson's proximity to New York to witness and participate in the strike, eventually organizing the Paterson Pageant as a fundraiser to support the strikers. Directed by John Reed, the strikers told their own story in the dramatic form of the Pageant. The IWW and the Paterson Silk Strike inspired several writers to relate their experience of the strike and their participation in the Pageant in fictional works. Since labor and working-class experience is rarely a literary subject, the assertiveness of workers during a strike is portrayed as a catastrophic event that is difficult for middle-class writers to describe. The IWW's goal was a revolutionary restructuring of society into a worker-run co-operative and the strike was its chief weapon in achieving this end. Inspired by such a drastic challenge to the social order, writers use traditional social organizations--religion, nationality, and family--to structure their characters' or narrators' experience of the strike; but the strike also forces characters and narrators to re-examine these traditional institutions in regard to the class struggle. / English

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Conventional interpretations of WWII hold that the war brought the United States out of the Great Depression and laid the path for future economic prosperity. However, this was not the case for all businesses and industries. During WWII, unprecedented production output was required of U.S. industries to supply the great “Arsenal of Democracy.” Industrial mobilization required the creation of new agencies and commissions to manage the nation’s resources. These organizations created policies that deeply impacted U.S. industries involved in war production. Policies governing such areas as the allocation of raw materials, transportation of finished goods, and distribution of war contracts created challenges for businesses that often resulted in lost productivity and in some cases, loss of profitability. Government regulation of the labor force and labor problems such as labor shortages, high absenteeism and turnover rates, and labor disputes presented further challenges for businesses navigating the wartime economy. Most studies of WWII industrial mobilization have focused on large corporations in high priority industries, such as the aircraft, petroleum, or steel industries, which achieved great success during the war. This thesis presents a case study of The Real Silk Hosiery Mills of Indianapolis, Indiana, a company that is representative of small and mid-sized companies that produced lower priority goods. The study demonstrates that the policies created by the military and civilian wartime agencies favored large corporations and had a negative affect on some businesses like Real Silk. As such,the economic boost associated with the war did not occur across the board.

This thesis investigates the mechanisms behind natural silk spinning by integrating rheology, spectroscopy and small angle scattering to better understand this process and to guide our efforts towards mimicking Nature’s ways of producing high performance fibres. As a result of natural selection, arthropods such as spiders and moths have evolved the ability to excrete silk proteins in a highly controlled manner. Spun from liquid feedstocks, silk fibres are used ex vivo to build structures with mechanical properties currently unmatched by industrial filaments. As yet, relatively little attention has been directed to the investigation of spinning under biologically relevant conditions. To better understand how and why silk is spun, this thesis bridges the gap between liquid silk flow properties and structure development. To directly connect the two, I have developed and deployed novel experimental platforms that combine infrared spectroscopy and small angle scattering with rheology. This approach has clarified long-standing ambiguities on the structural root of silk’s apparently complex flow properties. Small angle scattering revealed the length scales involved in the flow induced solidification under a range of spinning conditions. Mo reover, infrared spectroscopy offered a unique perspective into silk’s formation process immediately after excretion. In a similar manner to the post-extrusion tuning of the properties of partly solidified spider silk filaments, this thesis has revealed that silkworm silk fibres are far from completely formed once excreted. One might describe the filaments of mulberry silkworm as seeded molten polymers that form its hydrogen bonding network and crystallises slowly on site. Consequently, it enlightens that post-spinning conditions are equally paramount for silkworm silk, giving an explanation for the relatively poorer mechanical properties. The comparison of silks from a range of species, allowed this hypothesis to be extended to wild silkworm silk. My insights into spinning had the fortuitous repercussion of facilitating silk fibre solubilisation leading to the development of better artificial silk feedstocks flowing like native silks. With these findings, I believe we are now in an improved position to conceive artificial fibres with properties rivalling those of Nature.

No description available.

This thesis studies Han Dynasty stone carved tombs in Central and Eastern China. These multi-chambered tombs were constructed from carved stone slabs, and were very popular among the Han people. However, such horizontal stone structures were entirely new, and were a result of outside stimuli rather than an independent development within China. The stone carved tombs were a result of imitating royal rock-cut tombs, while the rock-cut tombs were stimulated by foreign examples. Moreover, many details of stone carved tombs also had Western features. These exotic elements were incorporated to satisfy specific requirements of the Han people, and reflected the desire to assimilate exotica within Chinese traditions. Some details within stone carved tombs showed high level of stone working technologies with Western influences. But in general the level of stone construction of the Han period was relatively low. The methods of construction showed how unfamiliar the Western system was to the Han artisans. Han Dynasty stone carved tombs were hybrids of different techniques, including timber, brick and stone works. From these variations, Han people could choose certain types of tombs to satisfy their specific ritual and economic needs. Not only structures, but also pictorial decorations of stone carved tombs were innovations. The range of image motifs is quite limited. Similar motifs can be found in almost every tomb. Such similarities were partly due to the artisans, who worked in workshops and used repertoires for the carving of images. But these also suggest that the tombs were decorated for certain purposes with a given functional template. Together with different patterns of burial objects and their settings, such images formed a way through which the Han people gave meaning to the afterworld. After their heyday, stone carved tombs ceased being constructed in the Central Plains as the Han Empire collapsed. However, they set a model for later tombs. The idea of building horizontal stone chamber tombs spread to Han borderlands, and gradually went further east to the Korean Peninsula. The legacy and spread of the Chinese masonry tradition was closely related to the political circumstances of late Han and post-Han period. The spread of stone chamber tombs in Northeast Asia is presented as a part of a long history of interactions between different parts of Eurasia.

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer affecting women in the world today. To better understand breast cancer initiation and progression modeling biological tissue under physiological conditions is essential. Indeed, breast cancer involves complex interactions between mammary epithelial cells and the stroma, both extracellular matrix (ECM) and cells including adipocytes (fat tissue) and fibroblasts (connective tissue). Therefore, the engineering of in vitro three-dimensional (3D) systems of breast tissues allows a deeper understanding of the complex cell-cell and cell-ECM interactions involved during breast tissue development and cancer initiation and progression. Furthermore, such 3D systems may provide a viable alternative to investigate new drug or drug regimen and to model and monitor concurrent cellular processes during tumor growth and invasion. The development of suitable 3D in vitro models relies on the ability to mimic the microenvironment, the structure, and the functions of the breast tissue. Different approaches to develop a novel 3D breast model have been investigated. Most models use gel scaffolds, including Matrigel® and collagen to generate breast tissue-like structures. However, the physicochemical, mechanical, and geometrical properties of these scaffolds only partially meet the mechanical, physical, and chemical parameters of the breast tissue matrix. In the present studies, we investigated the overall hypothesis that electrospun SF-derived scaffolds promote mammary cell growth and the formation of mammary-like structures depending on the composition and/or coating of the scaffolds with ECM proteins. Through an extensive literature search (1) the importance of 3D modeling of tissues and organs in vivo, (2) 3D modeling of the mammary tissue and currently available models, (3) the properties and applications of SF in tissue modeling and regeneration were reviewed (Chapter 1). Our studies provide evidence of the effects of various concentrations (Chapter 2) of SF along with different electrospinning techniques (Chapter 3) on the structure of electrospun scaffolds and whether those scaffolds provide suitable microenvironments for mammary epithelial cells as determined by MCF10A cell attachment, viability, and structure formation. Further, we investigated the effects of the key ECM proteins collagen I (Chapter 4) and laminin (Chapter 5) used to blend or coat, respectively, SF scaffolds on the attachment, viability and structure formation of mammary epithelial cells. Our studies first highlight the mechanical and physical properties of the different SF-derived scaffolds through various SF concentrations and electrospinning techniques. Second, the biocompatibility of these SF electrospun scaffolds was defined based on MCF10A cell survival and adhesion. Third, our data indicate that scaffolds derived from blended and/or coated SF with collagen I also promoted human mammary cell survival and adhesion. Lastly, our observations suggest that on laminin-coated SF scaffolds MCF10A mammary cells, in the presence of lactogenic hormones, differentiated forming acinus-like structures. Overall, these studies provide evidence that SF electrospun scaffolds closely mimic the structure of the ECM fibers and allow many advantages such as; physical and chemical modification of the microenvironment by varying electrospinning parameters and addition of various proteins, hormones, and growth factors, respectively. Further, coating these SF scaffolds with essential ECM proteins, in particular laminin, promote cell-ECM interactions necessary for cell differentiation and formation of growth-arrested structures, through providing cell integrin binding sites and appropriate chemical cues.