Masters thesis

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a visual language inspired by microscopic organic life forms. I will do this by creating and viewing slides underneath a microscope. From the microscope I will visually record what inspires me from that microscopic world. I will then use those drawings for inspiration and create paintings based on those life forms. Ultimately creating for myself a visual language of forms that I use to communicate artistically. Along with the scientific research of creating and viewing slides on the microscope, I will research abstract expressionists and color field artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Georgia O\u27Keeffe, the early works of Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. will use this research to determine how I use color and form as part of my visual language and how I express myself through it. In this body of work my first goal was to look at microscopic living things. To do this, I purchased a basic microscope and began to utilize the pre-made slides as well as ones that I made myself of living things. My goal in doing this was to try to make the connection between different living things and the basic building blocks of life. I began noticing that there were some basic organic forms that were consistent among living organisms. These were the forms I began to draw and paint. I had three other goals in doing this body of research. The second goal was to work in acrylic paint. I chose acrylic paint because it is less toxic than other paints and it is a fast drying medium which would allow for easy transport to and from my off campus studio and school. And lastly, acrylic is a medium I hadn\u27t used much and I wanted to see what I could do with it and how far I could push the medium. The third goal I had was to work in a style that was different yet related to what I had done in the past. The fourth goal I had set out to explore was the issue of space in my work and how I should address it

Purification and Characterization of a \u3ci\u3eShigella dysenteriae\u3c/i\u3e 1- Like Toxin Produced by \u3ci\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e

A toxin from an enteropathogenic strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli H30) was purified to apparent homogeneity from cell lysates. The steps used to isolate the E. coli H30 toxin included French pressure-cell disruption of bacteria grown in iron-depleted media, Affi-Gel Blue chromatography, chromatofocusing, and anti- Shiga toxin affinity chromatography. The mobilities of the subunits of radioiodinated E. coli H30 toxin and Shiga toxin observed after the two toxins were subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were identical. In the absence of 2-mercaptoethanol, a narrow band was seen at Mr 31,500 (±1,000), and a wide heavy band was observed between Mr 4,000 and 15,000. In the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol, bands were seen at Mr 31,500 (±1,000), 27,000, and 4,000 to 15,000. Other similarities between purified E. coli H30 and Shiga 60R toxins included identical isoelectric points (7.03 ± 0.02); comparable biological activities, i.e., cytotoxicity, lethality for mice, and enterotoxicity; and the same relative heat stabilities (up to 65°C for 30 min). Nevertheless, the two toxins had apparently different molecular weights as determined by sucrose gradient analysis, by gel filtration, and by cross-linking experiments with dimethyl suberimidate. The Mr of native E. coli H30 toxin estimated from crosslinking studies was 48,000, whereas the estimated Mr of Shiga 60R toxin was 58,000. These results suggest that like the cholera-E. coli-heat-labile toxin family, a family of Shiga-like toxins exists

Production of \u3ci\u3eShigella dysenteriae\u3c/i\u3e Type 1-Like Cytotoxin by \u3ci\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e

Strains of Escherichia coli previously implicated or proven to be causes of diarrhea were examined for production of a toxin similar to that of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 (Shiga). Organisms grown in an iron-depleted broth were lysed by pressure disruption followed by ultracentrifugation. Saline-dialyzed extracts were tested for cytotoxic effects on HeLa cells that were neutralizable with antiserum to Shiga toxin. Among the 13 E. coli strains so analyzed, 11 made a Shiga-like cytotoxin in levels ranging from trace (two avirulent isolates) to amounts equivalent to S. dysenteriae type 1 (two noninvasive strains that did not make E. coli heat-labile or -stable enterotoxins but were isolated from infants with diarrhea). As with extracts of Shiga toxin, lysates of these E. coli strains that produced high levels of Shiga-like toxin were enterotoxic for rabbits, paralytic and lethal for mice, and inhibited protein synthesis in HeLa cells. Thus, these data suggest that Shiga-like toxin may be another heretofore undiscovered factor in the pathogenesis of diarrhea caused by some E. coli strains