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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

When All Seems Lost: A Discussion On The Implications Of Using Medicine For Scientific Advances, Rebecca Monterusso Dec 2013

When All Seems Lost: A Discussion On The Implications Of Using Medicine For Scientific Advances, Rebecca Monterusso

Honors Theses

When All is Lost is a creative non-fiction piece following the lives of two fictional characters living during World War" and the Holocaust. It is meant to discuss the moral quandary when human experimentation is used for the purpose of scientific advancement. The two main characters lives' are depicted in a series of modified scenes that describe what happens to them throughout the war. Leo Weinstock is a Jewish man who is chosen for the high-altitude experiments at Dachau after he is imprisoned during Kristallnacht. Erich, on the other hand, is a young, successful Luftwaffe pilot defending his country. Both …


Interactions Of Zn2+ On Insulin Oligomer Formation, Stability, And Fragmentation: Analysis Using Esi-Im-Ms, Tiffany Culver May 2013

Interactions Of Zn2+ On Insulin Oligomer Formation, Stability, And Fragmentation: Analysis Using Esi-Im-Ms, Tiffany Culver

Honors Theses

Insulin is a hormone protein essential to the regulation of blood sugar levels. Although it is active as a hormone in the monomer (single insulin unit) form, it is stored in the pancreas as a hexamer – a coordination of six insulin units and zinc ions. This research analyzes the effects of zinc ions on the formation, stability, and fragmentation of the hexamer and other oligomer species in varying solution and instrument conditions, including the ability of the higher oligomers to transfer from crystallization to solution to a gas phase for analysis using electrospray ionization ion mobility mass spectrometry (ESI-IM-MS). …


Abuse Of Spice, Bath Salts, And Steroids, Rebecca Coburn May 2013

Abuse Of Spice, Bath Salts, And Steroids, Rebecca Coburn

Honors Theses

The abuse of three different drugs and whether or not they should continue to be banned in the United States is looked at. These three drugs are spice, bath salts, and steroids. In conclusion, spice and bath salts should continue to be banned in the United States due to the little knowledge known on the drugs and how they affect the body. Steroids on the other hand should only be banned in the use of sports, due to the unfair advantage that it gives users. For individuals not in sports, steroids should be legal since it is their choice to …


Synthesis Of Porphyrin And Porphyrinoid Structures For Use In Binary Cancer Therapies: Fluorinated Porphyrin-Carborane As A Candidate For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy And Tetrabenzoporphyrin With Polyamine Conjugates As A Candidate For Photodynamic Therapy, Laura A. Clesi May 2013

Synthesis Of Porphyrin And Porphyrinoid Structures For Use In Binary Cancer Therapies: Fluorinated Porphyrin-Carborane As A Candidate For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy And Tetrabenzoporphyrin With Polyamine Conjugates As A Candidate For Photodynamic Therapy, Laura A. Clesi

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


One-Pot Reactions Of Ethyl Propiolate, Ana Maria Neferu Apr 2013

One-Pot Reactions Of Ethyl Propiolate, Ana Maria Neferu

Honors Theses

Through an efficient one-pot reaction sequence, ethyl propiolate can be transformed into a complex, usefully functionalized bicyclic product. Thioconjugate addition yielding Z-selective enoates has been developed for both aromatic thiols (trialkylamine-catalyzed) and aliphatic thiols (KOt-Bu-catalyzed). The oxidation of the thioenoates thus generated is followed by Li-catalyzed oxidation to sulfones using mCPBA, and Li-catalyzed Diels–Alder addition of cyclopentadiene. These subsequent steps are performed in situ, without any purification of intermediates. The yields obtained using the described synthesis are acceptable for a one-pot three-step sequence. Preliminary conjugate addition results with alcohols and amines as nucleophiles are also presented.


A Density Functional Theory Study Of The Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals On Zinc Oxide Clusters, Charles Halliburton Apr 2013

A Density Functional Theory Study Of The Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals On Zinc Oxide Clusters, Charles Halliburton

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Effects Of Micro-Solvation On Room Temperature Ionic Liquids, Joseph Wellington Golden Jan 2013

Effects Of Micro-Solvation On Room Temperature Ionic Liquids, Joseph Wellington Golden

Honors Theses

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) have received much attention lately. These compounds are made completely of ions and are liquid at or near room temperature. These liquid salts have a number of unique properties that make them an interesting system to study. These properties include almost zero vapor pressure, thermal stability, large liquidus range, etc. Due to these properties and others, ionic liquids (ILs) have attracted much attention in the emerging field of green chemistry as potentially new solvents for many of the hazardous and volatile solvents currently in use. Moreover, the complex interactions of the anion and cation systems …


Investigating The Interaction Of Zinc-Finger Peptides And Nicked Dna Using Phage Display, Rachel Maria Guerra Jan 2013

Investigating The Interaction Of Zinc-Finger Peptides And Nicked Dna Using Phage Display, Rachel Maria Guerra

Honors Theses

Recognition of structural features of DNA such as gaps, nicks and abasic sites is critical for many DNA-binding proteins, such as those involved in DNA damage repair. This study explores a novel strategy to model these protein-DNA interactions using phage display. Phage display has been commonly used to identity zinc fingers that bind to DNA sequences, but selection of peptides that binding to specific DNA structures has not been reported in the literature. A phage library of 109 variants was created based on one of three zinc finger domains of the DNA repair protein poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase I. The library, …


A Raman Spectroscopic Study Of The Effects Of Hydrogen Bonding On 1,2,3-Triazole, Anna Craig Jan 2013

A Raman Spectroscopic Study Of The Effects Of Hydrogen Bonding On 1,2,3-Triazole, Anna Craig

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to analyze the effects of hydrogen bonding on liquid 1H- 1,2,3-triazole. Spectra of neat 1H-1,2,3-triazole are compared to simulated spectra and are found to differ greatly. The experimental spectrum, however, matches the simulated spectra of 1H-1,2,3-triazole dimers very well. This suggests that dimers play a large role in the liquid structure of 1H-1,2,3-triazole. Though tautomerism is thought to play a large role in the vibrational behavior of 1,2,3- triazole, the Raman spectra obtained here suggest that molecular dimers dominate the liquid state much more so than tautomerism. Even in aqueous solution, the simulated spectra …


Spectroscopic Study Of Charge Transfer Induced Blue Shifting Of Pyrimidine/Water Mixtures On Silver Substrate, Annie Katherine Mcclellan Jan 2013

Spectroscopic Study Of Charge Transfer Induced Blue Shifting Of Pyrimidine/Water Mixtures On Silver Substrate, Annie Katherine Mcclellan

Honors Theses

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a chemical method gaining much popularity in recent years. With the use of a roughened metal surface or metal nanoparticles, surface plasmon resonances enhance the electromagnetic field allowing for increased Raman signal. Pyrimidine, having two lone pairs of electrons, is capable of charge transfer interactions contributing to a SERS chemical enhancement factor as well. It has recently been reported that hydrogen bonding with water results in the blue-shifting of certain normal modes of pyrimidine. By comparing experimental polarized Raman spectra with the results of electronic structure calculations, the origin of this blue-shifting was found …


Ph Dependent Proteolysis Of Neural Cadherin, Candice Ashton Walters Jan 2013

Ph Dependent Proteolysis Of Neural Cadherin, Candice Ashton Walters

Honors Theses

Cadherins are the primary calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule and are essential to vertebrates. They ensure the integrity of epithelial barriers that allow for maintenance of homeostasis in humans and protection against invading microorganisms. A common invader capable of forging past this line of defense is the fungus Candida albicans. The main virulence mechanism of C. alibans in acidic environments is its secreted aspartyl proteinases (SAPs), which are hydrolytic enzymes that degrade cadherin-mediated cell adhesion leading to infection of the underlying tissues. Cadherin is normally resistant to cleavage by proteases due to stabilization of the protein structure by bound calcium and …


My Experience Exploring The Effects Of Lead (Pb +2) Toxicity In Drosophila Melanogaster Using Sociability Interaction Testing And Microarrays At The University Of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charlton Diaz Jan 2013

My Experience Exploring The Effects Of Lead (Pb +2) Toxicity In Drosophila Melanogaster Using Sociability Interaction Testing And Microarrays At The University Of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charlton Diaz

Honors Theses

Lead is an environmental contaminant widely dispersed throughout the world. Exposure to lead causes neurological damage in humans and may be linked to neurodevelopmental pathologies such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, antisocial behavior, and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies) have been used to understand the behavioral, synaptic, and molecular changes that occur after developmental exposure to lead and to study ASD-associated pathology. Flies were exposed through the mother and until eclosion to either a lead-laced medium or a control corn-based medium and were isolated until the beginning for the behavioral studies. Sociability testing was done using a …