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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Analysis Of A Wound-Induced Gene Family In Glycine Max, Gena Robertson
Analysis Of A Wound-Induced Gene Family In Glycine Max, Gena Robertson
Masters Theses
Gene families in plants are important in understanding genome evolution indicating when and where genome duplications and segmental duplications occurred as well as subsequent divergence and subfunctionalization. A gene family in Glycine max that encodes a WI12 protein, wound-induced protein, was found to consist of ten genes on five chromosomes. Wound-induced proteins are activated in response to wounding in plants, and the WI12 protein in particular is thought to be involved in cell wall modifications at the wound site. A variety of bioinformatics tools have been used to analyze the expansion of this family in soybean as well as identify …
Physiochemical Characteristics Contributing To The Cytotoxicity Of Transition Metal Oxides, Chi-Heng Wu
Physiochemical Characteristics Contributing To The Cytotoxicity Of Transition Metal Oxides, Chi-Heng Wu
Masters Theses
"In the past ten years nanotechnology has not only evolved to play a prominent role in our economy but also increased the concern over potential adverse effects caused by nanomaterials to human health and the environment. Nanotoxicity is to understand the nature and origin of the toxicity imposed by nanomaterials. Studies from our laboratory have shown that nanoparticle induces oxidative stress, perturbs calcium homeostasis, alter gene expression, and produces pro-inflammatory responses. We also identified a trend of toxicity: TiO₂ < Cr₂O₃ < Fe₂O₃ < Mn₂O₃ < NiO < ZnO < CuO. We then asked a question: what are physiochemical factors of transition metal nanoparticles that contributed to this increasing cytotoxicity. In this thesis I investigated the correlation between physicochemical properties and toxicity of the transition metal oxides in the 4th Period of the Periodic Table of Elements. Particle size, BET surface area, point of zero charge, metal dissolution, and degree of surface adsorption of transition metal oxide nanoparticles were measured. There were no increasing trends in both particle size and specific surface area. The point of zero charge showed an increasing trend as TiO₂ < Cr₂O₃ < Fe₂O₃ < NiO < CuO = ZnO < Mn₂O₃. The number of available binding sites of nanoparticle showed an increasing trend as Cr₂O₃ > ZnO > CuO > NiO > Fe₂O₃ > Mn₂O₃ > TiO₂. The degree of adsorption on the surface of nanoparticles showed an increasing trend with atomic …