Writing as Material Practice: Substance, Surface and Medium

Writing as Material Practice grapples with the issue of writing as a form of material culture in its ancient and more recent manifestations, and in the contexts of production and consumption. Fifteen case studies explore the artefactual nature of writing — the ways in which materials, techniques, colour, scale, orientation and visibility inform the creation of inscribed objects and spaces, as well as structure subsequent engagement, perception and meaning making. Covering a temporal span of some 5000 years, from c.3200 BCE to the present day, and ranging in spatial context from the Americas to the Near East, the chapters in this volume bring a variety of perspectives which contribute to both specific and broader questions of writing materialities. The authors also aim to place past graphical systems in their social contexts so they can be understood in relation to the people who created and attributed meaning to writing and associated symbolic modes through a diverse array of individual and wider social practices

The Role of Endothelial Mechanosensing in Capillary Development and Organization.

Ischemic injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality with the most common causes being heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Therapies attempt to improve healing, in part, by promoting angiogenesis in these ischemic sites. Angiogenic invasion and maturation into a new capillary network may be affected by the altered microstructure and the mechanical properties of the ischemic tissue, in particular, the extracellular matrix (ECM). It is known that endothelial cells (EC) are mechanosensitive and reorient in response to both shear and normal stresses in vessels. Further, they generate traction forces and displacements in 2D culture to coordinate motion. However, the question of whether EC use cell-generated ECM forces to communicate in 3D culture to direct capillary organization and anastomosis is currently unresolved. Hydrogels formed from natural extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins readily support the formation of vasculature in vitro. The ECM is a highly ordered meshwork of various macromolecules. This anisotropic microstructure produces non-linear viscoelastic mechanical properties which confound attempts towards modeling the mechanical environment around cells. To overcome these issues, we developed a biosynthetic hydrogel consisting of polyethylene glycol diacrylamide conjugated to macromolecular type-I collagen. Through acrylamide-based cross-links, these materials allow for independent control of physical properties and bulk ligand concentration. Photoencapsulation of EC and fibroblasts within this hydrogel material and their subsequent co-culture led to the formation of capillary vessel-like networks with well-defined hollow lumens. Patterned hydrogel constructs were produced to assess angiogenic invasion independently of other stages of EC organization. ECM displacements were observed over time and mechanical modeling was used to compute cell-generated stresses and strains. We found that regions of strain exceeding 9% and stress exceeding 1,500 pico-Newtons per square micron co-localized with regions of capillary invasion (r=0.44). Thus, capillaries were found to generate stresses which propagated though the ECM. Through these studies, we developed an engineered ECM which enabled the magnitudes of cell-generated stresses during a complex 3D morphogenetic process to be quantified for the first time. These findings could yield a better understanding of the physical principles guiding capillary morphogenesis and provide new strategies for treating ischemic disease.PHDBiomedical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111562/1/rahsingh_1.pd

Household Narratives from a Colonial Frontier

This research uses an archaeological assemblage collected during the redevelopment of a central Whanganui carpark into the Victoria Retail Centre to highlight the potential of this type of material to provide rich and meaningful information about New Zealand’s colonial past. In order to do this a methodology was created to suit archaeological investigations without pre-determined research questions and allow for the material culture itself to direct the research. This approach incorporates traditional archaeological recording, artefact analysis and historical research with the slightly less orthodox presentation of the data as three narratives which each focus on a particular individual or household. These narratives portray the past as a set of individual experiences as interpreted through particular artefacts or types of artefacts and enable archaeological data to be presented in a way which in accessible and meaningful to a non-archaeological audience while at the same time maintaining academic integrity. The stories themselves reveal three unique vignettes of life in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Whanganui in considerable more depth than traditional archaeological interpretations. When considered together these stories also provide insights into the past at a local, national and even global scale

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites

Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary workshop held in Berlin in 2018, which brought together scholars whose work focusses on manufacturing activities identified at archaeological sites. The various approaches presented here include new excavation techniques, ethnographic research, archaeometric approaches, GIS and experimental archaeology as well as theoretical issues associated with how researchers understand production in the past. These approaches are applied to research questions related to various technological and socio-economic aspects of production, including the organisation and setting of manufacturing activities, the access to and use of raw materials, firing structures and other production-related installations. The chapters discuss production activities in various domestic and institutional contexts throughout the ancient world, together with the production and use of tools and other items made of stone, bone, ceramics, glass and faience. Since manufacturing activities are encountered at archaeological sites on a regular basis, the wide range of materials and approaches presented in this volume provides a useful reference for scholars and students studying technologies and production activities in the past

Dielectrophoretic characterization of particles and erythrocytes

Medical lab work, such as blood testing, will one day be near instantaneous and inexpensive via capabilities enabled by the fast growing world of microtechnology. In this research study, sorting and separation of different ABO blood types have been investigated by applying alternating and direct electric fields using class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoresis in microdevices. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microdevices, fabricated by standard photolithography techniques have been used. Embedded perpendicular platinum (Pt) electrodes to generate forces in AC dielectrophoresis were used to successfully distinguish positive ABO blood types, with O+ distinguishable from other blood types at \u3e95% confidence. This is an important foundation for exploring DC dielectrophoretic sorting of blood types. The expansion of red blood cell sorting employing direct current insulative class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoresis (DC-iDEP) is novel. Here Pt electrodes were remotely situated in the inlet and outlet ports of the microdevice and an insulating obstacle generates the required dielectrophoretic force. The presence of ABO antigens on the red blood cell were found to affect the class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoretic deflection around the insulating obstacle thus sorting cells by type. To optimize the placement of insulating obstacle in the microchannel, COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations were performed. Microdevice dimensions were optimized by evaluating the behaviors of fluorescent polystyrene particles of three different sizes roughly corresponding to the three main components of blood: platelets (2-4 µm), erythrocytes (6-8 µm) and leukocytes (10-15 µm). This work provided the operating conditions for successfully performing size dependent blood cell insulator based DC dielectrophoresis in PDMS microdevices. In subsequent studies, the optimized microdevice geometry was then used for continuous separation of erythrocytes. The class=SpellE\u3emicrodevice design enabled erythrocyte collection into specific channels based on the cell’s deflection from the high field density region of the obstacle. The channel with the highest concentration of cells is indicative of the ABO blood type of the sample. DC resistance measurement system for quantification of erythrocytes was developed with single PDMS class=SpellE\u3emicrochannel system to be integrated with the DC- class=SpellE\u3eiDEP device developed in this research. This lab-on-a-chip technology application could be applied to emergency situations and naturalcalamities for accurate, fast, and portable blood typing with minimal error

Dielectrophoretic characterization of particles and erythrocytes

Medical lab work, such as blood testing, will one day be near instantaneous and inexpensive via capabilities enabled by the fast growing world of microtechnology. In this research study, sorting and separation of different ABO blood types have been investigated by applying alternating and direct electric fields using class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoresis in microdevices. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microdevices, fabricated by standard photolithography techniques have been used. Embedded perpendicular platinum (Pt) electrodes to generate forces in AC dielectrophoresis were used to successfully distinguish positive ABO blood types, with O+ distinguishable from other blood types at \u3e95% confidence. This is an important foundation for exploring DC dielectrophoretic sorting of blood types. The expansion of red blood cell sorting employing direct current insulative class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoresis (DC-iDEP) is novel. Here Pt electrodes were remotely situated in the inlet and outlet ports of the microdevice and an insulating obstacle generates the required dielectrophoretic force. The presence of ABO antigens on the red blood cell were found to affect the class=SpellE\u3edielectrophoretic deflection around the insulating obstacle thus sorting cells by type. To optimize the placement of insulating obstacle in the microchannel, COMSOL Multiphysics® simulations were performed. Microdevice dimensions were optimized by evaluating the behaviors of fluorescent polystyrene particles of three different sizes roughly corresponding to the three main components of blood: platelets (2-4 µm), erythrocytes (6-8 µm) and leukocytes (10-15 µm). This work provided the operating conditions for successfully performing size dependent blood cell insulator based DC dielectrophoresis in PDMS microdevices. In subsequent studies, the optimized microdevice geometry was then used for continuous separation of erythrocytes. The class=SpellE\u3emicrodevice design enabled erythrocyte collection into specific channels based on the cell’s deflection from the high field density region of the obstacle. The channel with the highest concentration of cells is indicative of the ABO blood type of the sample. DC resistance measurement system for quantification of erythrocytes was developed with single PDMS class=SpellE\u3emicrochannel system to be integrated with the DC- class=SpellE\u3eiDEP device developed in this research. This lab-on-a-chip technology application could be applied to emergency situations and naturalcalamities for accurate, fast, and portable blood typing with minimal error

Biopharmaceutical Process – Contract Development Organization: Startup

Due to their high specificity and the wide range of treatments they can provide, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) from mammalian cell cultures have gained increasing popularity in therapeutics. As a result, treatments have become cheaper and easier to manufacture while maintaining their natural effectiveness, further increasing their appeal. Building MAb manufacturing facilities can be costly for biopharmaceutical companies, especially smaller biotech firms, and current production capacities are limited. As a result, there is an everincreasing demand for contract development organizations (CDOs). The CDO being proposed targets demand within this regime specific to MAbs entering clinical trials. It has the capability to screen clones, grow MAb-producing cells up to a 2500 L culture, and purify the MAb to clinical standards. By employing the newest technology available, the facilities will provide flexibility necessary for producing a myriad of different MAb therapeutics in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Microbioreactors can screen dozens of clones at the millileter scale, saving time and money. Disposable bioreactors in the upstream process allow for variance in the production capacity due to the range of sizes they are available in. Finally, the purification process has been designed to allow for flexibility depending on the size and needs of every client’s product to maximize value to the costumer as well as the company. The current market for MAb production has an astounding worldwide value of approximately $27.5 billion and continues to expand as the number of MAbs entering clinical trials increases (Cowen 2006). It is estimated that within the next four years that the worldwide market value will reach$50 billion (“Preclinical Development”, 2010). The profitability of this proposal is based on running 39 batches a year at 4.326 kg MAb/batch or 168.71 kg MAb/year. By charging a reasonable average of $1,125,000/kg MAb, a profitability profile can be created. Assuming a 70$111,907,800 and 52.96% respectively. However, using a 70% production capacity also leaves room for even higher profit margins. The plant design also has space allotted for future expansion within the mammalian suite as well as room for a future microbial suite

Three-dimensional geometry characterization using structured light fields

Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Mecânica. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 200