This project was aimed at helping UW Recycling identify inefficiencies in waste disposal and provide them with information that will assist in ascertaining their optimized waste diversion rate of 70% by 2020. Having a 70% diversion rate means that the UW would be sending 70% of its waste to recycling or compost facilities instead of a landfill. In turn, this means the University has less monetary investment in waste disposal practices while simultaneously making a beneficial and a substantial reduction in its environmental footprint. We hypothesized that individuals were not properly utilizing the trash, recycle and compost bins, and that upon evaluation of these bins we would find contamination that would allow us to identity inefficiencies. To test if waste was indeed being deposited incorrectly we chose to sort and examine trash, recycling, and compost from two locations over a five week period. During this time we documented the weights of pre-defined categories of waste and observed common trends in the waste stream. This revealed that compost was the main source of contamination in both the recycling and trash bins. The average trash and recycle bin compost contamination was 72% and 36%, respectively. However, the composition of the compost container showed that 93% of the materials in the bin were indeed compostable. These results align with our initial hypotheses. Furthermore, our study allowed us to identify possible causes for this behavior and to propose a series of measures to help mitigate it. We hope to expand this work with future efforts, including: educational outreach through trash sorts, implementing programs that engage the community and further divert waste, experimenting with new bin labeling systems, using Geographic Information System for mapping of campus compost bins for better tracking, and introducing more compost bins throughout campus buildings.

Everist Genomics reports, "If ~20% of Americans currently diagnosed with hypertension reduced their systolic blood pressure by 12.5 points it would reduce heart disease risk by 21%, stroke risk by 37%, and risk of death from heart disease or stroke by 25%, and generate >$75 billion in annual cost savings for healthcare payers and employers." Current procedure for health monitoring requires that patient be monitored by an in hospital or out-patient basis. Monitoring the daily variations involved with everyday activity can produce a more complete and exacting type of diagnosis and prognosis for health care professionals, as well as providing important information to the health compromised, regular, or health conscience individual. Real Time Health Monitoring System (RTHMS) is a conceptual idea that would benefit people of all ages and health categories. The interface would be worn against the skin and reports encrypted real time health information to a secure on-line database through a cellular data network. The user would have administrative abilities to personal health records and has the only authority to grant access to suitable parties. Depending on the application, monitoring scenarios could include detecting patterns in pre-seizure activity, and monitoring of blood chemistry and distribution of medication. Real time monitoring may give physicians information for earlier diagnoses prior to the onset of illness. Patients suffering from addiction difficulties may be presented with the monitoring option as a way to avoid incarceration and remain productive. The concept is sound, the finance required for implementation is tricky, but could be done creatively through mass markets and stylized design. The benefits that could be achieved by the Real Time Health Monitoring System are obvious and realized through the saving of time and money in the treatment of health issues, and also could provide significant health safeguards and embellishments for the individual as well as an individual’s interactions with society.

The fear of being unimportant, being erased, and of being finite, grips humans and motivates us to prove that we matter, that we exist. In an attempt to create truth and authentic understandings, our society seeks evidence, proof, and facts, even while acknowledging (and often ignoring) that these “facts” may be hard to establish. In my paper I explore how post-modern novels, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald, utilize multi-modal textual souvenirs to function as lodestones and guide readers through fictionalized versions of real historical traumas. These novels can be read as scrapbooks of memory which investigate the social importance and definition of “truth” in the face of traumatic events. My project questions whether or not truth can be found in fiction, non-fiction or even photographs as it looks at the way modern technologies have impacted how authors choose to create historical fiction. The multi-modal nature of these novels forces readers to reflect upon authorial intent and authority in the construction of memory and post memory. Furthermore, by looking at the narratives the authors create about traumatic events such as the Holocaust, the bombing of Dresden, Hiroshima, and the attacks of 9-11, my paper reveals the ways in which collective memories and national narratives can arise from trauma and how these events in turn create social identity for individuals within and across groups. An analysis of the postmodern methods the authors use in an attempt to create this authenticity, along with the expectations society holds concerning their construction, and the impact of individual and cultural desires on the creation of these narratives, uncovers the many fallacies and complexities that come with testimony and the social construction of authentic truth.

Skeletal muscle myosin can use a variety of nucleotides to varying effectiveness as substrates for contraction. We previously demonstrated that complete replacement of ATP with 2 deoxy-ATP (dATP) in activation solutions increases contraction of demembranated rabbit skeletal muscle and that enhanced performance results from increased myosin binding and cycling kinetics, especially during sub-maximal calcium activation. Here we report on a transgenic mouse (Tg-RR) that overexpresses the enzyme, ribonucleotide reductase, which converts ADP to dADP, which is rapidly phosphorylated to dATP. This results in a 10-fold increase in dATP content of skeletal muscle, which still constitutes less than 2% of the adenosine triphosphate nucleotide pool. We are examining the contractile and metabolic properties of skeletal muscle in this transgenic model. Preliminary data indicates the phosphocreatine to ATP (PCr:ATP) ratio of Tg-RR mice is significantly elevated relative to wild type mice, suggesting the Tg-RR mice may have an energetic advantage due to increased high energy phosphate reserves. Furthermore, the Tg-RR mice ran for a longer period of time at increased speed and for longer distances in a graded exercise test. Direct in situ stimulation of the gastrocnemius muscle indicates improved resistance to fatigue, consistent with both the exercise and the metabolic (PCr:ATP) findings. Interestingly, our preliminary experiments suggest the Tg-RR mice produce significantly less peak force and show signs of atrophy. Ongoing experiments are examining changes in mitochondrial content and function as well as contractile properties of isolated muscles to determine the mechanisms underlying the increased fatigue resistance of the Tg-RR mice. These results suggest a new direction for developing interventions to improve exercise tolerance in human patients.

Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide extracted from the cuticles of insects and crustaceans. Chitin is known for its biocompatibility and superior mechanical strength. Silk fibroin is produced by the Bombyx mori silkworm and is known for its biocompatibility and superior toughness. Composites of chitin and silk fibroin would possess each biomaterial's unmatched mechanical strength and toughness, making them ideal candidates for biomedical applications requiring such mechanical properties. Here, squid pen β-chitin and Bombyx mori silkworm cocoon silk were blended in Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) solution in specified ratios to synthesize the nanocomposites. As a result, chitin/silk hybrid nanocomposite thin films were produced to test the mechanical properties. Studies of both X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform-Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy revealed a successful effective interaction between the chitin nanofibers and the silk proteins matrix, which was most likely caused by hydrogen bonding. Results of the self-assembled chitin nanofibers embedded in the silk matrix showed a noticeable enhancement in mechanical properties. The tensile strength, flexibility, and toughness of the biomaterial nanocomposites were enhanced compared to just pure chitin or pure silk fibroin. Due to the improvement in mechanical properties, these chitin/silk engineered nanocomposites can be utilized in biomedical applications such as hybrid scaffolds for bone tissue engineering or microneedles to serve as a new methodology for drug delivery systems.