No description available.

No description available.

This study investigates the adaptability of plastic paints to photographic silk screen materials and methods. The problem was to experiment with and further develop another technique for the artist, the silk screening of photographic images directly onto the painting surface with acrylic polymer paint.

Until recently, research on the silk industry in 18th century Lyon has centred round the organisation of the silk weaving guild and of business enterprise, the lives of a few well-known and well-documented individual silk designers who were fine artists in their own right, the stylistic development of silk design and the analysis of the weaves and techniques of production of surviving fabrics. No general survey or analysis of the social and economic function of designers and their role within the industry has been made since E. Leroudier's introductory article 'Les dessinateurs de la Soierie lyonnaise au XVIIIe sibcle', Revue d'Histoire de Lyon (1908, pp. 241-266). This thesis sets out to question Leroudier's presentation. It attempts to reconcile the different approaches mentioned above in order to clarify designers' place in lyonnais manufacturing and society and to establish a clearer idea of the distinctive features of design practice in Lyon. It, therefore, reassesses currently held views on the number and role of silk designers, and the influence and special characteristics of wellknown individuals. It starts from the premise that designers were not purely artists but were also involved in industry. This premise has dictated the use of sources hitherto largely neglected by art and textile historians: private documents such as marriage contracts, inventories and wills; trade and commercial papers; paper designs and fabrics; and finally the more familiar contemporary printed sources. The introductory chapters discuss the context for design in 18th century Lyon: the structure of manufacturing and business and the attention paid to art and design inside and outside manufacturing circles. The following chapters concentrate on the designers: firstly, their social background and status, indications of the status of their occupation; secondly, their training; thirdly, their work; and finally their career prospects. This research suggests that designers existed in substantial numbers in Lyon and enjoyed high status due to their crucial role as providers of designs for the high fashion brocaded silks for which Lyon was famed.

Thesis (M.A.)--California State University, Long Beach, 2007. / Adviser: Linda N. Maram. Includes bibliographical references.

Development of novel oncology therapeutics is limited by a lack of accurate pre-clinical models for testing, specifically the inability of traditional 2D culture to accurately mimic in vivo tumors. Neuroblastoma (NB) is a heterogeneous tumor, that in high-risk patients exhibits a 5-year event free survival rate of less than 50%. As such, there is a clinical need for development of novel systems that can mimic the tumor microenvironment and allow for increased understanding of critical pathways as well as be used for preclinical therapeutic testing. In this thesis, lyophilized silk fibroin scaffolds were used to develop 3D neuroblastoma models (scaffolded NB) using multiple neuroblastoma cell lines. Cells grown on scaffolds in low (1%) and ambient (21%) oxygen were compared to traditional 2D (monolayer) cell culture using oxygen-controlled incubators. We hypothesized that scaffolded growth would promote changes in gene expression, cytokine secretion, and therapeutic efficacy both dependent and independent of hypoxia. Monolayer culturing in low oxygen exhibited increased expression of hypoxia related genes such as VEGF, CAIX, and GLUT1, while scaffolded NB exhibited increased expression of hypoxia related genes under both low and ambient oxygen conditions. Pimonidazole staining (hypoxia marker) confirmed the presence of hypoxic regions in the scaffolded NB. Cytokine secretion in monolayer and scaffolded NB suggested differential secretion of cytokines due to both oxygen concentrations (e.g. VEGF, CCL3, uPAR) and 3D culture (e.g. IL-8, GM-CSF, ITAC). Additionally, treatment with etoposide, a standard chemotherapeutic, demonstrated a reduced response in scaffolded culture as compared to monolayer culture regardless of oxygen concentration. However, use of a hypoxia activated therapeutic, tirapazamine exhibited response in low oxygen monolayer culture as well as scaffolded culture in both low and ambient oxygen. To further expand this model into a single culture system capable of generating cell driven oxygen gradients, a stacked culture system was developed. NB scaffolds were stacked using a holder designed based on COMSOL modeling of oxygen tension in the medium. Post-culture, the scaffolds can be separated for analysis on a layer-by-layer basis. Analysis of scaffolds demonstrated a decrease in dsDNA and an increase in hypoxia related genes (VEGF, CAIX, and GLUT1) at the interior of the stack, comparable to that of the scaffolded low oxygen culture. Scaffolds on the periphery of the stack retained gene expression levels similar to that of scaffolded ambient oxygen culture. COMSOL modeling of stacks suggests oxygen gradients present throughout the tumor model similar to that of an in vivo tumor. Gradients of oxygen were confirmed through positive pimonidazole staining. In summary, we developed a system capable of altering critical oxygen-dependent and independent pathways through controlled oxygen levels and 3D culturing. Further, we enhanced this system through the design of a culture system capable of controlling cell driven hypoxic microenvironments to mimic that of an in vivo tumor. This system has the potential to be applied to multiple cancer types, allowing for understanding of key pathway changes and better development of therapeutics.

This document examines the works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle that feature the trumpet as a solo instrument, with extra emphasis placed on The Silk House Tattoo. This document also features a performance guide for the trumpet parts of The Silk House Tattoo. Pedagogical methods for learning the most challenging passages are evaluated, and daily exercises based on the specific demands of each excerpt are offered.

Development of novel oncology therapeutics is limited by a lack of accurate pre-clinical models for testing, specifically the inability of traditional 2D culture to accurately mimic in vivo tumors. Neuroblastoma (NB) is a heterogeneous tumor, that in high-risk patients exhibits a 5-year event free survival rate of less than 50%. As such, there is a clinical need for development of novel systems that can mimic the tumor microenvironment and allow for increased understanding of critical pathways as well as be used for preclinical therapeutic testing. In this thesis, lyophilized silk fibroin scaffolds were used to develop 3D neuroblastoma models (scaffolded NB) using multiple neuroblastoma cell lines. Cells grown on scaffolds in low (1%) and ambient (21%) oxygen were compared to traditional 2D (monolayer) cell culture using oxygen-controlled incubators. We hypothesized that scaffolded growth would promote changes in gene expression, cytokine secretion, and therapeutic efficacy both dependent and independent of hypoxia. Monolayer culturing in low oxygen exhibited increased expression of hypoxia related genes such as VEGF, CAIX, and GLUT1, while scaffolded NB exhibited increased expression of hypoxia related genes under both low and ambient oxygen conditions. Pimonidazole staining (hypoxia marker) confirmed the presence of hypoxic regions in the scaffolded NB. Cytokine secretion in monolayer and scaffolded NB suggested differential secretion of cytokines due to both oxygen concentrations (e.g. VEGF, CCL3, uPAR) and 3D culture (e.g. IL-8, GM-CSF, ITAC). Additionally, treatment with etoposide, a standard chemotherapeutic, demonstrated a reduced response in scaffolded culture as compared to monolayer culture regardless of oxygen concentration. However, use of a hypoxia activated therapeutic, tirapazamine exhibited response in low oxygen monolayer culture as well as scaffolded culture in both low and ambient oxygen. To further expand this model into a single culture system capable of generating cell driven oxygen gradients, a stacked culture system was developed. NB scaffolds were stacked using a holder designed based on COMSOL modeling of oxygen tension in the medium. Post-culture, the scaffolds can be separated for analysis on a layer-by-layer basis. Analysis of scaffolds demonstrated a decrease in dsDNA and an increase in hypoxia related genes (VEGF, CAIX, and GLUT1) at the interior of the stack, comparable to that of the scaffolded low oxygen culture. Scaffolds on the periphery of the stack retained gene expression levels similar to that of scaffolded ambient oxygen culture. COMSOL modeling of stacks suggests oxygen gradients present throughout the tumor model similar to that of an in vivo tumor. Gradients of oxygen were confirmed through positive pimonidazole staining. In summary, we developed a system capable of altering critical oxygen-dependent and independent pathways through controlled oxygen levels and 3D culturing. Further, we enhanced this system through the design of a culture system capable of controlling cell driven hypoxic microenvironments to mimic that of an in vivo tumor. This system has the potential to be applied to multiple cancer types, allowing for understanding of key pathway changes and better development of therapeutics.

No description available.

Sunyata: Transfigurations in Silk was a live-process art event featuring silk painting, costume creation and dance. The event took place in the B. Iden Payne Theatre Lobby on the University of Texas at Austin campus over the course of a week, during which I endeavored to paint 560 square feet of white silk suspended in the space. The images I painted formed a personal creation narrative, inspired by the lived experience creating and archetypical themes from creation mythology, cosmogony and human development. Throughout the event, a steady stream of visitors passed through the installation, contributing inspiration to the process in the form of images, ideas, quotes and stories, and witnessed the active creating unfold over time. On the seventh day of the event, upon the completion of the painting process, the silk was cut into pieces and transformed into costumes on live dancer’s bodies. Inspired by ritual wall painting and sand painting from Indian, Tibetan and Navaho cultures and the temporally bound work of contemporary action-based artists, the project was an assay into the transitory nature of the artistic process and an exploration of transformative properties of silk (a material that is central to my work as textile artist and costume designer). The event also explores how a personal creative process can become public, performative and participatory. / text