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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton May 2018

Genetically Engineered Peptides For Light Harvesting And Folding Kinetics Studies, Aileen M. Eagleton

Chemistry

The preparation and characterization of β-sheet forming polypeptides for use in light harvesting applications is described. The Higashiya genetic cassette strategy (HGCS) was employed in order to make DNA libraries of repetitive DNA sequences. These DNA libraries contained gene cassettes coding for proteins designed to fold into the desired secondary motif. The conditions required for peptide expression, folding and formation of micron length fibrils was determined for the purpose of photophysical characterization, such as fluorescence lifetimes and acceptor dye quantum yields. Of special interest was the investigation of an “antenna effect” under FRET illumination, the intensity of acceptor dye emission …


Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon May 2018

Forensic Identification Of Condom Lubricants By Advanced Statistical Analysis Processing Of Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometric Data – Towards Development Of A Condom Residue Database For Forensic Science Practitioners, Allix M. Coon

Chemistry

The ability to identify condom derived trace evidence is gaining importance because of the increasing frequency with which perpetrators of sexual assault use condoms in order to avoid leaving behind incriminating DNA evidence that might link them to the crime. Although DNA remains the gold standard for sexual assault evidence, other forms of trace evidence are needed in its absence. When condoms are used, the lubricants associated with them are the trace evidence. For the lubricant residue to be useful in a forensics context, a database of chemical signatures of lubricants against which acquired evidence can be screened is required, …


A Consideration Of Ancient Residues And Their Analysis, Jennifer A. Cardinal Jan 2018

A Consideration Of Ancient Residues And Their Analysis, Jennifer A. Cardinal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Identification of specific use(s) of ancient pottery vessels through empirical verification is currently very limited for archaeological investigations. Although we can postulate a range of purposes or functions for certain vessels, empirical confirmation of actual use has been determined only for a minuscule portion of the available vessels. This thesis will provide a broad review of organic analyses as applied to foodstuff residues left on ancient artifacts as well as discuss several considerations for such analysis that are unique to their application to archaeological specimens.


A Family Of Cyclooctatetraenyl Lanthanide(Iii) Chloridebridged Dimers : Synthesis, Characterization, And Magnetic Properties, Joshua Sky Greenough Jan 2018

A Family Of Cyclooctatetraenyl Lanthanide(Iii) Chloridebridged Dimers : Synthesis, Characterization, And Magnetic Properties, Joshua Sky Greenough

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Historically, the 10π-aromatic ligand, cyclooctatetraene (COT), has played a pivotal role


Carborane Functionalized Cysteine : Synthesis, Structural Characterization, And Biological Evaluation For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Tianyu He Jan 2018

Carborane Functionalized Cysteine : Synthesis, Structural Characterization, And Biological Evaluation For Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Tianyu He

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Carbon-containing boranes, also known as carboranes, have attracted immense interest since their discovery in the 1950’s. Characterization of carboranes revealed their highly symmetrical polyhedral structures, which make them chemically and thermally stable. Their unique chemical properties, hydrophobicity and aromaticity also make them ideal candidates for a variety of applications. Prominent among these are the applications in materials and medicinal chemistry. On the materials chemistry front, carboranes have been investigated as self-assembly building blocks, liquid crystals and gas storage and separation materials. In the medicinal chemistry field, carborane derivatives have been extensively investigated as potential drugs, with a lot of attention …


The Development Of Bioaffinity-Based Concepts For On-Site Forensic Analyses : Blood, Sweat, And ... Fingerprints?, Crystal Huynh Jan 2018

The Development Of Bioaffinity-Based Concepts For On-Site Forensic Analyses : Blood, Sweat, And ... Fingerprints?, Crystal Huynh

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There have been many advances in forensic science over the recent years, but a majority of the tests currently preformed are still heavily reliant upon laboratory-based processes. This means that valuable pieces of information are left unexamined until a crime scene has been completely processed and evidence is moved to a crime lab. In some cases, the evidence may even be left in a queue due to backlogs from previous cases. The delay resulting from the time necessary for crime scene processing and transportation, as well as additional time spent waiting on lab equipment availability, hinders an investigator’s ability to …


Dna Functionalized Nanoparticles In Nanobiosensor And Sensor Array Development For Molecular Diagnostics And In Vitro Identification Of Biomolecules, Mustafa Salih Hizir Jan 2018

Dna Functionalized Nanoparticles In Nanobiosensor And Sensor Array Development For Molecular Diagnostics And In Vitro Identification Of Biomolecules, Mustafa Salih Hizir

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Nucleic acid technology along with vast variety of nanomaterials has demonstrated a great potential in many applications from biosensing studies to molecular diagnostics, from biomedical and bioanalytical research to environmental analysis. Especially short single stranded (ss) DNA molecules, called oligonucleotides, are extraordinary biopolymers featuring diverse functionality on the nanoparticles thanks to their high degree of programmability, target-specific binding or cleavage, molecular recognition ability, structure-switching capability, and unique interactions at the bio-nano interfaces. Among those, there have been many biosensing applications utilizing ss DNAs and numerous nanomaterials through various detection techniques such as fluorometric, colorimetric or electrochemical methods. Although many groundbreaking …


Field Evaluation Of Portable Air Quality Monitors And Evaluation Of Short-Lived Plume Events Of Atmospheric Pollutants, Joseph Peter Marto Jan 2018

Field Evaluation Of Portable Air Quality Monitors And Evaluation Of Short-Lived Plume Events Of Atmospheric Pollutants, Joseph Peter Marto

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Availability of low cost optical sensors has allowed for the supplementation of existing air quality infrastructure with portable, adaptive monitors. While these sensors generally cannot offer the same accuracy and precision as established analysis methods, they can still reliably detect changes in pollutant concentration. This study evaluates the performance of two portable air quality enclosures deployed at collocated research sites to determine their accuracy and usefulness in field deployments. One system deployed collocated sensors for measurement of particulate matter mass concentration (Thermo pDR 1500 and TSI DustTrak DRX for PM2.5) and the second system deployed sensors for measurement of black …


Stargazin And Gamma-4 Slow The Rate Of Channel Opening And Closing Of Glua4 Ampa Receptors, Vincen David Pierce Jan 2018

Stargazin And Gamma-4 Slow The Rate Of Channel Opening And Closing Of Glua4 Ampa Receptors, Vincen David Pierce

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The ionotropic glutamate receptors are localized in the pre- and postsynaptic membrane of neurons, and they mediate the majority of the fast excitatory synaptic transmission. These receptors are divided into three subtypes: α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA), kainic acid, and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors. AMPA receptor properties are critically dependent on the presence of auxiliary transmembrane proteins, such as transmembrane AMPA receptors regulatory proteins (TARPs). TARPs are the most widespread and well-studied family of auxiliary proteins. For example, the co-assembly of TARPs with AMPA receptors increases the affinity for glutamate, and reduces voltage-dependent blockade by cytoplasmic polyamines in AMPA receptors that lack …


Chemically And Biologically Responsive Nanoparticle Systems For Biomarker Detection And Combination Cancer Therapy, Neil M. Robertson Jan 2018

Chemically And Biologically Responsive Nanoparticle Systems For Biomarker Detection And Combination Cancer Therapy, Neil M. Robertson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The uniqueness and expression of miRNAs as biomarkers in certain cancers has the potential to radically alter the detection, and therefore the treatment, of the disease. Not only are current detection methods time consuming, and not sensitive enough for biomedical applications, but these small RNAs have yet to be fully utilized in treatment. By utilizing different nanomaterials we aimed to create novel nanodevices for the early, sensitive and specific detection of these biomarkers in a minimally invasive way and develop dual drug releasing nanoparticles, which are entirely controllable, to aid in the treatment of resistant cancer phenotypes.


Genetically Engineered Polypeptides As Biomimetic Light Harvesting Optical Antenna, Jason P. Seeley Jan 2018

Genetically Engineered Polypeptides As Biomimetic Light Harvesting Optical Antenna, Jason P. Seeley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Natural resources useful for the generation of energy are limited. The development of efficient materials capable of utilizing the abundant free solar radiation is of considerable interest. Utilization of otherwise wasted energy sources, including solar radiation, is a progressive step in the quest for sustainable energy. Solar radiation incident upon the earth’s surface exceeds current energy requirements and motivates scientists to investigate and develop functional devices and nanomaterials including light harvesting complexes (LHC) capable of capturing solar radiation for energy conversion and storage.


Synthesis And Base Pairing Studies Of 5-Cyanomethyl Uridine (Cnm⁵U) And 5-Cyano Uridine (Cn⁵U) In Rna Duplex, Hsu-Chun Tsai Jan 2018

Synthesis And Base Pairing Studies Of 5-Cyanomethyl Uridine (Cnm⁵U) And 5-Cyano Uridine (Cn⁵U) In Rna Duplex, Hsu-Chun Tsai

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

RNA plays an essential role in many biological processes by acting as both genetic information carriers, catalyst and regulator. Natural RNAs usually contain nucleoside analogs from the four common ribonucleosides. There are over 150 chemical modification have been discovered in natural RNA molecules. 5-cyanomethyl uridine is a native modification that has been discovered in total tRNAs from Haloarcula marismortui. This modification in the anticodon wobble position affects the codon recognition, and leads the mutant tRNA to bind not only to AUA but also to AUU and AUG. We synthesized 5-cyanomethyl uridine (cnm5U) and its derivative 5-cyanouridine (cn5U), which has the …


Chemical Reduction Of Polycyclic Aromatic Ligands With Heavy Group 2 Metals, Andrew Robert Uresk Jan 2018

Chemical Reduction Of Polycyclic Aromatic Ligands With Heavy Group 2 Metals, Andrew Robert Uresk

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The chemistry of the alkaline earth metals has received a renewed interest in the last decades. The lighter Group 2 metal, magnesium, has gathered the most attention, as it is a key component of Grignard reagents, while the heavier metals have been less studied. The early alkaline earth metals are known to exhibit some similarity with both the alkali and lanthanide metals in π-complexation reactions with planar aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the products of heavier Group 2 elements such as strontium and barium were found to be more difficult to synthesize and isolate, thus requiring the development of new synthetic …


The Detection Of Cocaine In Oral Fluid Using Ultraviolet Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, Yasmine Ahmed Jan 2018

The Detection Of Cocaine In Oral Fluid Using Ultraviolet Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, Yasmine Ahmed

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Drug abuse has become a worldwide epidemic and is correlated to various serious health problems as well as increased rates of crime; thus, detecting and quantifying cocaine in oral fluid is of significant importance for practical forensics. To date, mainly destructive methods or biochemical tests have been used, while spectroscopic methods were only applied to pretreated samples. In this study, the possibility of using Raman spectroscopy to detect cocaine in oral fluid without pretreatment of samples was investigated. It was found that normal Raman spectroscopy at an excitation wavelength of 407 nm produced no cocaine signal while use of Raman …


Technology Development For Detection Of Circulating Disease Biomarkers From Liquid Biopsies Using Multifunctional Nanomaterials, Mustafa Balcioglu Jan 2018

Technology Development For Detection Of Circulating Disease Biomarkers From Liquid Biopsies Using Multifunctional Nanomaterials, Mustafa Balcioglu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Despite the advance health care, devastating health conditions such as cancer and infectious diseases that affect populations worldwide are too often not diagnosed until morbid symptoms become apparent in the late phase. Obtaining an early and accurate diagnosis that reveal a hidden lethal threat before the disease becomes complicated may dramatically reduce the severity of its impact on the patient’s life and increase the probability of survival. For example, in the case of ovarian cancer, which is the fifth most common malignancy and the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality in women in the US, the 5-year relative survival is …


Exploring Heterometallic Beta-Diketonates For The Low Temperature Synthesis Of Energy-Related Oxide And Fluoride Materials, Matthew Christopher Barry Jan 2018

Exploring Heterometallic Beta-Diketonates For The Low Temperature Synthesis Of Energy-Related Oxide And Fluoride Materials, Matthew Christopher Barry

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In order to circumvent the issues associated with traditional ceramic methods such as


Differentiation Of Potential False Positives From Human Saliva Using Raman Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Selina Casadei Jan 2018

Differentiation Of Potential False Positives From Human Saliva Using Raman Spectroscopy For Forensic Purposes, Selina Casadei

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Traces of body fluids can be found at a crime scene. Being able to identify and differentiate the body fluids while preserving DNA is fundamentally important for forensic applications. Saliva is an important body fluid that can be found on bite marks, cigarette butts, and more, being an excellent source for DNA extraction. Current tests for saliva and other body fluids are destructive and body fluid specific, and are prone to false positives. Our laboratory has developed a universal method for identification of all main body fluids; saliva, semen, sweat, peripheral blood, and vaginal fluid, using Raman spectroscopy combined with …


Synthesis And Characterization Of Mpims : Metallopolymers Of Intrinsic Microporosity, Kelly Walter Jan 2018

Synthesis And Characterization Of Mpims : Metallopolymers Of Intrinsic Microporosity, Kelly Walter

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) are class of polymers known for high surface areas arising from their contorted and rigid backbone structures. While high surface area compounds are applicable in many fields, simultaneous solubility and conductivity in PIMs is still lacking. In general, the monomeric units that form the backbone, necessary to yield inefficient polymer strand packing and contortion, also break conjugation in the along the polymer backbone and therefore limit conductivity. It has been previously noted that extended conjugation and the addition of metal atoms (along the backbone) increases conductivity. We therefore sought to use a strategy whereby the …