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waste not, want not Lauren Copelan Artist Statement waste not, want not is a series of photographs exploring waste in a consumer society. The images are composed of alluring chaos and constant motion, all tied together with the low saturation of color film. In addition to creating aesthetically pleasing images from trash, waste not, want not forces the viewer to be more critical and encourages self-inquiry when it comes to their own consumption and wastefulness, as well as allowing me to acknowledge the irony in my own work. Both the process and production of the series reinforces the constant production/consumer cycle - adding an additional element for the audience to consider. The images in waste not, want not were shot using a large format camera and color film. The 4x5 negatives produced by large format photography allow for crisp detail and high resolution prints without taking away from the image. After development, the negative is scanned and ready for printing with only minor adjustments needed. Film is a purist medium, letting me to capture exactly what I am seeing with little to no interference to the image. That being said, the large format allows me to follow the conceptual footprint of Barry Rosenthal and the formal influences of Thomas Struth and Chris Jordan while producing a body of work that is encouraging both self-awareness and a critical view on the way we treat our environment. This series of discarded materials and trash not only poses a moral question, but also draws the viewer’s eye in a way that is unusual of the subject matter. While my work is usually industrial in nature, this series stemmed from an exploration of industrial waste. As I was shooting at a metal recycling plant, I came across mountains of discarded plastic and metals. As the exploration continued, I started drawing from different types of waste - the most interesting to me being consumer waste. There are six images in the series, all containing different types of trash. The far ends are composed of lateral lines, moving the viewer toward the center image, which features an elaborate pile of construction waste. Each image feature a different type of waste, all of which are common in our daily lives. The type of waste varies, as does the method of recycling. My goal was to explore multiple areas of wastefulness in our lives: industrial, consumer, household, and urban. Much like the majority of people in our society, I am a participant in this consumer cycle. waste not, want not is a series meant to challenge not only my audience, but myself as well, into taking a deeper look at exactly what it is and how much we waste on a regular basis. I hope that my viewers will begin making conscious choices in their lives while also taking the time to stop and appreciate the more unsightly things on a daily basis

Mom Made Me: Students Respond to the Flu Shot

The University of Tennessee Knoxville’s on-campus Student Health Center publicizes the opportunity for students to receive the influenza immunization for $25 during the flu season. Despite on-campus convenience, many students are still deterred from receiving the shot. Advertising and Public Relations research students used survey research to sample more than 200 students in six major colleges across the University of Tennessee’s campus. The research team gathered relevant information about student perceptions of a healthy lifestyle, flu experience (diagnosis and shot), motivations and deterrence from the flu shot, and general knowledge of the Student Health Center. Results show that 27.5% of student respondents received a flu shot in the past year; key deterrents from receiving the immunization for both genders are inconvenience and lack of experience with the virus. The survey results indicate relationships among class year in school and the influences on individual health. Through these findings, the research team developed recommendations for the Student Health Center in regards to advertising campaigns, media relations, and specific targeting associated with year in school

p53 independent epigenetic-differentiation treatment in xenotransplant models of acute myeloid leukemia

Suppression of apoptosis by TP53 mutation contributes to resistance of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to conventional cytotoxic treatment. Using differentiation to induce irreversible cell cycle exit in AML cells could be a p53-independent treatment alternative, however, this possibility requires evaluation. In vitro and in vivo regimens of the cytosine analogue decitabine that deplete the chromatin modifying enzyme DNA methyl-transferase 1 (DNMT1) without phosphorylating p53 or inducing early apoptosis were determined. These decitabine regimens but not equimolar DNA-damaging cytarabine up regulated the key late differentiation factors CEBPε and p27/CDKN1B, induced cellular differentiation, and terminated AML cell-cycle, even in cytarabine-resistant p53- and p16/CDKN2A-null AML cells. Leukemia initiation by xeno-transplanted AML cells was abrogated but normal hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) engraftment was preserved. In vivo, the low toxicity allowed frequent drug administration to increase exposure, an important consideration for S-phase specific decitabine therapy. In xeno-transplant models of p53-null and relapsed/refractory AML, the non-cytotoxic regimen significantly extended survival compared to conventional cytotoxic cytarabine. Modifying in vivo dose and schedule to emphasize this pathway of decitabine action can bypass a mechanism of resistance to standard therapy

Long-term outcome after a treosulfan-based conditioning regimen for patients with acute myeloid leukemia: A report from the Acute Leukemia Working Party of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation

BACKGROUND: Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a curative therapy for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, post-HCT relapse and regimen-related toxicity remain significant barriers to long-term survival. In recent years, new conditioning regimens have been explored to improve transplantation outcomes in patients with AML. Treosulfan combines a potent immunosuppressive and antileukemic effect with a low toxicity profile. METHODS: To investigate the role of treosulfan-based conditioning, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Acute Leukemia Working Party performed a registry analysis of 520 adult patients with AML who received treosulfan-based conditioning and underwent HCT between 2000 and 2012, including 225 patients in first complete remission, 107 in second or later complete remission, and 188 with active/advanced disease 188 (88 with primary refractory disease). The median patient age was 57 years (range, 20-73 years). Donors were human leukocyte antigen-identical siblings (n = 187), unrelated donors (n = 235), or mismatched related donors (n = 98). Conditioning regimens included treosulfan (42 g/m2 [n = 396], 36 g/m2 [n = 109], or 30 g/ m2 [n = 15]) with fludarabine or alkylating agents followed by infusion of hematopoietic stem cells (bone marrow, n = 52; peripheral blood, n = 468). RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 61 months, the 5-year overall survival, leukemia-free survival, relapse incidence, and nonrelapse mortality rates were 38%, 33%, 42%, and 25%, respectively. The incidence of grade II-IV acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease was 24% (grade III-V, 11%) and 38%, respectively. Only 11 patients (2%) developed veno-occlusive disease, with two deaths (0.4%) from veno-occlusive disease. CONCLUSIONS: Treosulfan-based conditioning regimens provide an acceptable long-term survival with favorable nonrelapse mortality and a very low risk of veno-occlusive disease. Further studies are needed to optimize the treosulfan-based conditioning regimen for patients with AML

M-theory resolution of four-dimensional cosmological singularities via U-duality

We consider cosmological solutions of string and M-theory compactified to four dimensions by giving a general prescription to construct four-dimensional modular cosmologies with two commuting Killing vectors from vacuum solutions. By lifting these solutions to higher dimensions we analyze the existence of cosmological singularities and find that, in the case of non-closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes, singularities can be removed from the higher-dimensional model when only one of the extra dimensions is time-varying. By studying the moduli space of compactifications of M-theory resulting in homogeneous cosmologies in four dimensions we show that U-duality transformations map singular cosmologies into non-singular ones.Comment: 21 pages, harvmac. No figures. Minor changes. Typos corrected, a footnote added in Sec. 3 and two words added to the title. Final version to appear in Nuclear Physics