The "Bracero Program," a series of bi-lateral agreements enacted between the Republic of Mexico and the United States of America beginning in 1942, changed how the United States interacts with what falls under the scope of the word, Chicano. “Chicano” meaning Mexican-American, defines not only a person and group of people, but also a dialect of Spanish, a culture, a set of politics, and specific ideas about labor, while “bracero” loosely translates to “one who works with their hands”. Braceros changed American agriculture; to what degree this labor and political exchange changed American business and defined a group of people has yet to be defined. No common experience lies within the scope of the agricultural laborers in the California Valleys- working, social, and living conditions differ vastly from farm to farm, family to family, and person to person. The Bracero Program does not represent a common experience between workers, but rather, the building of common definitions of environment, race, and immigration between the United States and Mexico- definitions that change the way these policies and relations are currently instituted. Through comparison of California State Senate Committee records and the personal accounts of the workers themselves, the origins of the word Chicano and the development of a dynamic identity are better understood. By understanding the experiences of braceros through the point of view of the workers as compared to the point of view of the state, the transforming Chicano identity is evident; continuing effects of the Bracero Program define modern ideas of Chicano, redefining language, education, religion, and politics in the California Valleys and nationally. The word bracero developed ideas of Chicano, setting precedents for labor and demographics of California and United States Agriculture that continue in 2015.

HIV-2 is an endemic strain of HIV in West Africa where antiretroviral (ARV) treatment regimens are determined by programmatic regimens due to cost and accessibility rather than individual patient needs. No genotypic resistance testing and few data exist to guide second-line therapy for HIV-2, and the effects of newer drugs on ARV-treated patients are not entirely known. This project aims to address these issues by developing a novel HIV-2 genotypic resistance testing methodology and examining the utility and potential resistance mutations to integrase inhibitor ARV agents. We are developing a rapid and inexpensive HIV-2 resistance testing by utilizing dried blood spots (DBS), which are easy to prepare and require no specialized shipping precautions. Using uninfected whole blood spiked with purified virus or plasmid DNA, we have optimized the Qiagen DNA Blood Mini extraction protocol and amplification procedures. We are able to obtain sequence-ready PCR products from as few as 2000 copies/ml. Next, we will test and further optimize this protocol using DBS from HIV-2 infected patients. In addition, though new ARV are becoming available in resource-limited settings, the utility of these against HIV-2 are poorly understood. We are studying the effects of a new drug, dolutegravir, on HIV-1 and HIV-2 integrase, the enzyme responsible for DNA integration into the host cell. We have built structural models with known drug-resistant mutations with proximity to the active site and catalytic domain. This analysis provides novel insight into the spatial relationships among mutations, active site residues, and areas that are believed to be important for drug binding and activity, and helps predict areas of integrase that are at increased risk of mutation. The results of this study will determine the sensitivity of DBS for resistance genotypic testing and examine novel resistance mutations that arise due to exposure to dolutegravir.

Hot flashes affect 75% of menopausal women, leaving them with recurring vasomotor symptoms such as temperature fluctuations, flushing, sweating, skin blotching, anxiety, heart palpitations, and sleep disturbances. Nearly 20% of these women describe their symptoms as “intolerable,” but unfortunately there are few safe options when treating hot flashes. Although hot flashes are associated with a decrease in circulating levels of sex hormones caused by ovarian aging and its effects on the brain, we do not understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the brain that actually trigger a hot flash. We hypothesize that the vasomotor symptoms of hot flashes originate from circuits in the hypothalamus that become hyper-activated by the abrupt decline in sex steroid production that typically occurs at menopause. As mice do not undergo menopause, our goal has been to develop a mouse model for hot flashes. To this end, we administered acyline, a GnRH antagonist that simulates menopause by suppressing sex steroid production. Concurrently, we measured core body temperature (CBT) with a tiny implantable recording device that recorded CBT every 30 seconds. This allowed us to look for changes in CBT that resembled menopausal hot flashes by comparing CBT patterns of experimental mice (acyline-treated) and controls (vehicle-treated). In hopes of identifying a CBT response to acyline, I developed computer software to analyze CBT data over time, isolate periods of interest, and compare temperature profiles between the experimental and control groups. My analysis revealed no clear effect of the GnRH antagonist on CBT in the mice, but did demonstrate clear diurnal changes in CBT reflecting normal activity patterns in rodents. Nevertheless, we remain optimistic that refinement of our experimental approach will yield an improved experimental model that simulates menopausal hot flashes.

Small Satellites are an emerging technology of interest to universities, governments, and private corporations alike. They provide cheap access to space for research or equipment testing. A popular form for small satellites is the CubeSat platform, defined as stacks of 10x10x10cm cubes. To increase the capabilities of a CubeSat, the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory is developing an extremely small pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) suitable for use on a CubeSat. A PPT on a CubeSat could provide thrust for orbital maneuvers as well as help with precise pointing for optimal data collection. On a CubeSat the power budget is low and space is at a premium, so a PPT for a CubeSat must maximize efficiency while staying as small as possible. Development of a small PPT is not necessarily focused on making a smaller nozzle, but rather on miniaturizing the circuitry required to run the PPT. There are two major components to the PPT circuitry, a 1,000 volt main discharge capacitor and a 20,000 volt ignition transformer. The first step in building both systems was researching components that could withstand the high voltages, operate fast enough to provide short delays between PPT firings, and that were small enough to fit on a CubeSat while leaving room for other instruments. Circuitry to insulate the rest of the CubeSat's electrical systems from the high voltages and currents generated by operating the PPT must also be added. To reduce the footprint of the cirucuits breadboards were abandoned for custom printed circuit boards designed using the Eagle software tool. Currently components are being shipped to test the seventh version of the circuit board layout. The final size goal for the PPT electronics is 10x10x5cm, while maintinaing operating frequencies of approximately 200 Hz.

 Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (PPT) represent a simple, lightweight, cost effective solution for in-space propulsion onboard small, power-limited spacecraft. PPTs operate by electromagnetic and electrothermal acceleration of a solid propellant, creating a high velocity, low mass exhaust plume. A thruster’s impulse bit is the product of the ablated mass and its velocity. To increase the impulse bit, and therefore the thrust efficiency (exhaust power / input power) of the PPT, an axial magnetic field was added around the discharge chamber region. The addition of a 0.1-1kG field to the thruster will increase the gyromotion of the electrons in the discharge region, which in turn will increase the mass ablation and ionization rate of the thruster, both of which will increase the impulse bit. The field should better confine the expanding gas to prevent perpendicular thermal expansion. Initial perpendicular gyromotion will be converted to parallel axial velocity as the particles travel downstream and into a weaker magnetic field. Current testing with Langmuir probes and a high speed camera will compare varying magnetic field configurations and determine if the applied field adds to the thrusters total thrust efficiency. An electromagnet was chosen over a permanent magnet for laboratory testing to allow for variations to the fields strength and shape.

Current uses for quad copter drones in scientific research is typically limited by its battery capacity and therefore the time it is capable of spending collecting data before the batteries are depleted. By reducing the energy required achieving a set altitude, operators could either spend greater amounts of battery charge on instrumentation or reduce the battery size to allow for heavier instrumentation. The use of amateur sized solid fuel rockets as a delivery system for drones at a predetermined altitude can solve this problem. We modified a drone design with spring assisted collapsible arms that compacted it enough for loading into a payload bay for ejection at apogee using a black powder charge. To support the drone inside the payload bay, we designed and built a sled to allow for a smooth deployment. The drone was preprogrammed with “return to home” functionality in order to allow the drone to orient and fly autonomously. This will allow the drone to operate beyond typical radio controlled signal distances and eliminate pilot error. The significance of this research can lead to increased capabilities and usage of drones for atmospheric and geological purposes such as ground mapping, volcanic monitoring, and atmospheric sampling.

The Advanced Propulsion Laboratory is designing a 3U CubeSAT to be launched on NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to perform magnetic field readings of the Jovian moon Europa. The main issue with surviving in Jupiter’s orbit is withstanding the high energy and high density radiation fields that exist around the planet, with beta particles being in highest flux. Typically, satellites on Jovian missions are spot shielded with high proton density metals to protect sensitive electronics from radiation induced damage. This study will analyze and test a number of existing graded-z shield compositions and new hybrid thermoplastic graded-z shields. A graded-z shield is a type of passive radiation protection in which layers of material are placed in a gradient from low to high proton density, with a thin final layer of low proton density material. Preliminary calculations show that substituting the aluminum portion of the graded-z shield with crystalline polypropylene will both increase shielding capabilities and lower total shield mass. This new z-shield designed at the UW Advanced Propulsion Lab will have an approximate thickness of 18 mm and is composed of a 12 mm layer of polypropylene, 2 mm of copper, 2 mm of lead, and a final 3 mm of polypropylene. The test itself will be conducted by exposing a custom built, Arduino-based Geiger counter to a beta particle source (Sr-90 or Th-204) and assessing five test articles: a typical low proton density monolithic shield, two versions of current z-shield designs, a typical high proton density dilithic shield, and the new hybrid thermoplastic z-shield. Due to the non-linearity and complexity of radiation interactions with matter, different shields may be more effective at blocking different particle energies. The results of this study will provide the guidelines for shielding on future CubeSAT missions.

For the past 60 years, chemical propulsion has been the standard for in-space missions and is the most common method of in space propulsion. While chemical thrusters have proved reliable, disadvantages include low exhaust velocities (2-5 km/s) and poor mass utilization, both resulting in unfeasibly long mission timelines for destinations far from Earth. The Advanced Propulsion Lab (APL) strives to develop techniques that can provide substantial reductions in cost and duration by increasing the exhaust velocities and mass efficiency of in-space thrusters. Specifically, the APL researches electric propulsion systems that utilize electric and magnetic fields to ionize and accelerate plasma to velocities more than an order of magnitude higher than chemical thrusters. Currently, two variations of the High Power Helicon thruster are being tested. The Solid Fuel High Power Helicon uses a 100J Pulsed Plasma thruster as the propellant source and a 125kW antenna to ionize and accelerate the exhaust. The Double Gun Configuration of the High Power Helicon uses Argon gas propellant and two 35kW thrusters firing simultaneously. Both thrusters are design for long duration, high thrust missions. These could include a manned mission to Mars or the asteroid belt, or transporting cargo to the outer solar system. A pendulum thrust stand was designed and built to measure the impulse-bit and total thrust output of these thrusters. The thrust stand uses a metallic target placed downstream of the thruster, and a displacement sensor to measure the deflection angle of the pendulum. The angle vs. time graph can be modeled by a 2nd order differential equation, resulting in a measurement of the thrusters impulse. Results will be shown comparing the performance of both systems at varying configurations to determine the operating regime for maximum efficiency.

Sample return missions have historically relied on a “soft-landing” approach, returning little samples at high cost. With a “hard-impact” approach, the required fuel mass decreases, creating a drastically cheaper mission capable of returning a higher mass of samples. The proposed “hard-landing” requires a rocket to impact the surface at high speeds of 500 m/s and survive intact. This impact could potentially damage the onboard electronics and other key components of the sample retention due to the forces (~3-4MN) exerted by the surface. By testing the impact strength of varying composite materials, the rocket can be designed such that the forces to the electronics can be reduced to survivable levels. To simulate the impact, a large pneumatic launcher was designed and built to send sample materials into a concrete surface. Parallel to the mechanics of a potato cannon, the launcher builds up high air pressure then releases the pressure through a solenoid valve. This pressure exerts a force onto the test material located inside the launcher barrel. Varying materials will be tested to determine their impact strength parameters. Key properties that will be observed are mass, ultimate strength, toughness, and fracture stress.

Traditional manufacturing processes for high altitude rockets are time consuming and vulnerable to a high degree of human error. Currently, in Professor Robert Winglee's Rockets and Instrumentations lab, a rocket and its scientific payload can be built in ten weeks but without a guarantee that the system will have a successful flight. Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to create a 3D model (i.e. 3D Printing). With the rise of 3D printing in the public conscience, and the variety of new printer filaments coming on to market, incorporating additive manufacturing processes into our build cycles could benefit high altitude rocketry research. With 3D printing, we are able to build multiple rocket frames and internal components in a fraction of the time as traditional processes and with fewer labor hours. For this research project, we tested the viability of Polyactic Acid (PLA) filament printed rocket airframes for transonic flights. We used Kilo print, a large format 3D printer built by the WOOf 3D printing club on the University of Washington campus. The airframe has embedded sensors to record data on stress, strain, flex, and temperature. This data, combined with a flight post-mortem has helped us determine if PLA printed rocket components are viable for future flights. The rocket, nicknamed Ctrl+P, was launched in late April from the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. 

This project seeks to produce a cheap and reliable design for high-powered amateur rocket motors. A series of tests were performed over the past year, culminating in the successful launch of a motor during October 2014. In 2015, three motors, two of which are currently in production, are being tested for reusability, safety and performance. They employ a 3 layered gas containment system and are expected to produce roughly 500 pounds of thrust for two to three seconds. Challenges include optimizing designs for given propellant geometry, cost/weight reduction, and ease of manufacture. Another ongoing challenge is the reliable production of fuel using tools ranging from old kitchen appliances to custom 3D-printed molds. All components and fuel are being designed and manufactured by students. The fuel and two nozzles are currently complete. Results from March 2015 live firings in Black Rock Desert, Nevada will be shared.

This project aims to use a variety of techniques to create a high performance system for relatively low cost, on a short build schedule. Taking inspiration from several different sounding rocket configurations, the Super Dart aims to achieve an altitude of 32 km, and a maximum velocity of 900 m/s. Early design inspiration primarily comes from the Loki Super Dart. Designed in the early 1960’s, the Loki sounding rocket consists of a 4.5 in diameter booster, which burns out at 5000 ft, moving at Mach 5, after which an unpowered 2 in dart separates and coasts to 340,000 ft due to low drag, high inertia and extreme velocity. Applying the techniques that streamlined the Loki, the Super Dart is a multistage powered dart. Using two boost stages takes advantage of the exponentially decreasing atmosphere to improve output from the motors, and avoids the difficulty and cost of larger engines. Powering the dart adds more thrust and inertia. To decrease cost from individual components and ensure reliable performance, we use off-the-shelf motors and components. Despite using pre-made components, a significant portion of constructions was left, from fabricating carbon-fiber and Kevlar enforced fins, to integrating motors and building custom electronics. The boost portion of the rocket will deliver 22 kN-s of impulse to the rocket, and boost it to 8500 m and 600 m/s, where the dart will separate. After separation and a brief coast, the dart motor will ignite, providing a final 1000 N-s of impulse, coasting to apogee 60 s after final burn-out, and 90 s after lift-off. To control the flight events, a custom flight computer was designed and implemented. Additional functions acquiring and relaying flight and GPS data in real-time. The Super Dart aims to be the highest and fastest rocket ever launched by the UW, and will be tested at Black Rock, NV. in March 2015.

Myocardial infarction (MI), more commonly known as a heart attack, results in a temporary loss of blood flow to the heart which leads to tissue ischemia and necrosis. An event such as this commonly leads to further complications such as heart failure and arrhythmias that can severely affect quality of life or cause death. An MI occurs most commonly due to an occlusion of vascular branches that supply oxygen and nutrients to various parts of the heart, causing tissue death and adverse remolding. Current methods of regenerating cardiac tissue using stem cells lack proper vascularization. Improving this aspect of stem cell treatment has important clinical implications that can lead to a more sustainable solution. Here, we developed a novel in vitro microvascular platform that mimics luminal vascular architecture and function. This platform is generated from a biocompatible polymer, polydimethylsiloxane, using a soft lithographic method. A single perfusable channel is formed by first placing an acupuncture needle through the well of the platform and subsequently lining the well with type I collagen, an extracellular matrix component. Optimization was performed to provide consistent cell seeding of the channel by controlling flow rate and improving the design of the apparatus. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded in the channel and cultured for 3 days. We observed retention of structural integrity of the channel and cell survival. On-going studies include evaluating the robustness of the HUVEC lined channel with a cardiomyocyte embedded extracellular matrix, as well as cell-cell interaction under flow. The study is expected to not only provide a base platform to develop preventative or therapeutic medicine for those affected by MI, but also as a tool for disease modeling of other pathologic phenomena.

Gas chromatography (GC) is a powerful analytical tool that can be used in a wide range of fields to analyze a myriad of different volatile compounds. However, it generally requires 10-60 minutes to obtain a suitable chromatogram using conventional GC, which can be impractical if a large number of samples are to be analyzed. Using high speed gas chromatography, specifically Low Thermal Mass Gas Chromatography (LTM-GC) with valve-based injection, chromatograms with suitable information content can be obtained in a fraction of the time required using conventional GC. With LTM-GC, chromatographic separations that may take 10-60 min using conventional GC may only require 0.5-2 min. By obtaining and critically examining the data from chromatograms of standard mixtures and essential oils using both conventional GC and high speed LTM-GC, this study demonstrates the advantages and potential for the LTM-GC technology for enabling high throughput experimentation.

Contamination of the local environment is often a byproduct of industrialization. Although steps have been taken to prevent future contamination, there remains a need to address a legacy of industrial negligence. Phytoremediation offers a natural, affordable method of remediating these sites by taking advantage of the ability of certain plants to tolerate and accumulate environmentally harmful agents as biomass. Endophytes, non-pathogenic microbes that live within plants, maintain a mutualistic symbiosis with their host. We are investigating whether this relationship allows the host to endure a wider range of conditions that would otherwise be toxic; including habitats containing elevated concentrations of toxic heavy metals. We isolated individual endophytes from the microbiome of plants living in arsenic contaminated soil, then selected for arsenic tolerance from among these microbes. Arabidopsis thaliana seeds inoculated with a pure culture of Pseudomonas spp., designated PD9R, were grown on solid media supplemented with either 50 uM or 100 uM sodium arsenate (AsV). The inoculated plants showed higher germination rates, increased dry biomass and longer root length compared to the uninoculated controls. This increased resilience suggests promising applications in the use of endophytes for the phytoremediation of polluted soils.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are defined as “an appreciably harmful or unpleasant reaction, resulting from an intervention related to the use of a medication”. They can cause harm to the patient and are also responsible for increases in medical cost. Many ADRs are a consequence of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) that promote alterations in drug metabolism. In fact, evidence suggests that the majority of DDIs are mediated through induction or inhibition of Cytochrome P450 enzymes isoforms (P450). Therefore, understanding P450 mediated DDI and their impact on drug metabolism is critical in preventing ADRs in humans. Proper tools are needed to identify potential DDIs and investigate particular CYP isoforms’ metabolism. Chloromethiazole (CMT) is a FDA acceptable inhibitor of CYP2E1 for in vitro studies; however, little is known about its utility as probe inhibitor. We are interested in determining the mechanism and selectivity of CYP2E1 inhibition by CMT; we also seek to demonstrate its utility as an inhibitor of acetaminophen bioactivation by CYP2E1, which is relevant to treatment of overdose.
To understand CMT’s inhibitory mechanism, we will synthesize deuterated analogs of CMT and to elucidate its mechanism of irreversible enzyme inactivation via thiazole bioactivation. Replacement of selected hydrogen atoms with deuterium should help to identify metabolic sites that are responsible for inactivation due to changes in the inactivation rate arising from kinetic isotope effects at these metabolic sites. Further, selectivity of inhibition will be assessed for irreversible and reversible inhibition of major P450s by experiments with accepted probe substrate and LC/MS/MS analysis. If the data support these hypotheses, we can test the drug with cryopreserved human hepatocytes as a model system to assess acetaminophen toxicity. The completion of this project will help characterize CMT as a selective CYP2E1 inhibitor and as a potentially beneficial drug to treat CYP2E1-mediated acetaminophen toxicity.