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Water-Soluble Deep-Cavity Cavitands: Synthesis, Molecular Recognition, And Interactions With Phospholipid Membranes, Sarah E. Ioup

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Water-soluble deep-cavity cavitands provide a rare opportunity to study self-assembly driven by the hydrophobic effect. These molecular hosts dimerize in the presence of certain guest molecules to form water-soluble molecular capsules. These systems have given rise to numerous novel chemical phenomena and have potential use in drug delivery. The host octaacid (OA) has been particularly well-characterized, but studies are limited to basic pH because of limited host solubility.

Herein we report an improved synthesis of OA and the syntheses of three new water-soluble deep-cavity cavitands. The new hosts are soluble at neutral pH, increasing relevance for biological studies. The new …

Preparation, Study And Theortical Treatment Of Co(Ii) Ni(Ii) Cu(Ii) And Zn(Ii) Schiff Base Coplexes With Sodium [N-(Hydroxyl Naphtholidine) Glycine Imino]., Basim Ibrahim Mehdi, Ghazi Mohamed Abd

Baghdad Science Journal

Anew Schiff base (NaHL) has been prepared from the reaction between the salt of amino acid glycine with 2-hydroxy naphthaldehyde. By tridentate Schiff base of (ONO), donors were characterized by using U.V and spectrophotometer techniques. Complexes of Co(II) Ni(II) Cu(II) and Zn(II) ion with the ligand have been prepared, these complexes were identified by infrared, electronic spectral data, elemental analysis, magnetic moments, and molar conductivity measurements. It is concluded from the elemental analysis that all the complexes have (1:2) [metal:ligand] molar ratios, octahedral, with the exception to Zn(II) complex which have (1:1)[metal:ligand] molar ratio.

Force-Feedback High-Speed Atomic Force Microscope For Studying Large Biological Systems, Byung I. Kim, Ryan Boehm

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We designed and developed a high-speed atomic force microscope (HSAFM) utilizing a force-feedback scheme for imaging large biological samples. The system collects three simultaneous images: a deflection image, a topographic image, and a force image. We demonstrated that this force-feedback HSAFM is capable of acquiring large topographic images of Escherichia coli biofilms at approximately one frame per second in air. We discuss how the self-actuating cantilever and the piezo tube follow those larger biological topographic features during the HSAFM imaging process.

O-Glcnac Transferase Invokes Nucleotide Sugar Pyrophosphate Participation In Catalysis, Marianne Schimpl, Xiaowei Zheng, Vladimir S. Borodkin, David E. Blair, Andrew T. Ferenbach, Alexander W. Schüttelkopf, Iva Navratilova, Tonia Aristotelous, Osama Albarbarawi, David A. Robinson, Megan A. Macnaughtan, Daan M.F. Van Aalten

Faculty Publications

Protein O-GlcNAcylation is an essential post-translational modification on hundreds of intracellular proteins in metazoa, catalyzed by O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) using unknown mechanisms of transfer and substrate recognition. Through crystallographic snapshots and mechanism-inspired chemical probes, we define how human OGT recognizes the sugar donor and acceptor peptide and uses a new catalytic mechanism of glycosyl transfer, involving the sugar donor α-phosphate as the catalytic base as well as an essential lysine. This mechanism seems to be a unique evolutionary solution to the spatial constraints imposed by a bulky protein acceptor substrate and explains the unexpected specificity of a recently …

Synthesis, Design, And Biological Evaluation Of Inhibitors And Activators Of Src Homology 2 Domain-Containing Inositol Phosphatase (Ship) And Synthetic Studies Of Apicularen A And Maoecrystal V, Dennis Racca Viernes

Chemistry - Dissertations

This dissertation involves work both on the syntheses of small molecules with potential therapeutic applications and synthetic studies on natural products with unusual core skeletons.

The first part of this work involves the synthesis, design, and biological evaluation of aminosteroids as inhibitors for the SH2-containing inositol phosphatase 1 (SHIP1). SHIP1, a 145 kDa protein, is involved in regulating the formation of new blood cells. High- throughput screening identified several SHIP inhibitors including NSC23922, a mixture of 3a- and 3β-aminocholestane. Both 3a- and 3β-aminocholestane were synthesized from dihdyrocholesterol and the 3a- form was verified as …

Spinal Tuberculosis: Diagnosis And Management., Mohammad R Rasouli, Maryam Mirkoohi, Alexander R Vaccaro, Kourosh Karimi Yarandi, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

The spinal column is involved in less than 1% of all cases of tuberculosis (TB). Spinal TB is a very dangerous type of skeletal TB as it can be associated with neurologic deficit due to compression of adjacent neural structures and significant spinal deformity. Therefore, early diagnosis and management of spinal TB has special importance in preventing these serious complications. In order to extract current trends in diagnosis and medical or surgical treatment of spinal TB we performed a narrative review with analysis of all the articles available for us which were published between 1990 and 2011. Althoug h the …

Assessing The Impacts Of Dams On Nutrient And Sediment Loading In The Kalamazoo River Using The Soil And Water Assessment Tool (Swat), Daniel Henry Serfas

Masters Theses

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was applied to the Kalamazoo River Watershed in order to evaluate the impacts that several dams within a superfund site "Area of Concern" have on the sediment, nutrients, and streamflow of the system. It was hypothesized that the SWAT model could be used to recreate the watershed in hopes of estimating the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment that would result from the removal of the dams. The model would then be used to evaluate dam removal scenarios to come up with a best management practice (BMP).

The model was calibrated, however, during …

The Dynamic Equilibrium Of Human Telomeric G-Quadruplexes., Robert Buscaglia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

G-quadruplexes are thought to have biological importance, with studies based on small molecule interactions and quadruplex-interactive antibodies demonstrating their potential for formation in vivo. One potential biological function of quadruplex structures is the regulation and maintenance of telomeres. Telomeres are nucleoprotein complexes involved in chromosome stability. Human telomeres are composed of the repeated DNA sequence, 5'- d(TIAGGG), that terminates in a 3' single-stranded overhang. DNA sequences with homology to the human telomere are capable of quadruplex formation in vitro. Specifically, sequences containing four-guanine stretches (e.g. 5'-d(AGGG(TIAGGGb)) are capable of forming at least five distinct unimolecular structures. Which structure is favored …

Understanding Adolescent Perceptions Of Science Education, Ellen Kress Ebert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study used the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey (Sjoberg & Schreiner, 2004) to examine topics of interest and perspectives of secondary science students in a large school district in the southwestern U.S. A situated learning perspective was used to frame the project. The research questions of this study focused on (a) perceptions students have about themselves and their science classroom and how these beliefs may influence their participation in the community of practice of science; (b) consideration of how a future science classroom where the curriculum is framed by the Next Generation Science Standards might foster students' beliefs …

Ecology And Invasive Properties Of Musk Thistle (Carduus Nutans) In The Central Prairies Of Nebraska, Chengchou Han

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Musk thistle (Carduus nutans) is an herbaceous monocarpic herb introduced to the U. S. from Eurasia. The invasion of musk thistle can reduce forage area, soil stability, and reduce recreation and open areas for humans and wildlife.

Resistance of warm season and cool season perennial grass communities to musk thistle invasion is important for land managers to consider, especially where disturbance has made an area particularly susceptible. Our results show that disturbances, such as overgrazing can open up niches in canopies of warm season grass communities and facilitate invasion but not in cool season grass communities. The mechanism …

Genetic Admixture And Tooth Size In An Enslaved Population From Newton Plantation, Barbados, Susannah Munson

Theses

This study examined the amount of European genetic admixture in the enslaved African population from Newton Plantation, Barbados. Newton Plantation was a British sugar plantation from the 17th to 19th centuries. Approximately 150 individuals were recovered from an unmarked slave cemetery during archaeological investigations in the 1970s and 1990s. Using maximum mesiodistal and buccolingual tooth measurements of the available teeth from the individuals in the cemetery, Newton was compared to nineteen comparative samples of African, European, African American and European American populations that date from the time of British colonization to the 20th century. Previous European admixture estimations in the …

Sinusoidal Endothelial Dysfunction In Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease., Sandhya Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an asymptomatic increasingly common disorder that affects liver metabolism and is often the precursor for liver pathologies such as fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepato-cellular carcinoma. The liver sinusoidal endothelial cells act as a liver sieve by allowing macromolecules and chylomicrons to traverse through their fenestrations (sieve plates) to hepatocytes. Since liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC) regulate serum derived macromolecular exposure to hepatocytes, we asked what role LSEC could play in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. To investigate the early events of NAFLD we used a rat model (Sprague-Dawley) in which animals were maintained on standard and …

Nonlinear Dynamic Field Embedding: On Hyperspectral Scene Visualization, Dalton Lunga, Okan Erosy

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

In many areas of research, complex signals are commonly represented by high dimensional feature vectors. However, high dimensional vectors are difficult to analyze and interpret due to the curse of dimensionality. Ongoing research efforts simplify this problem by seeking data representations on a low dimensional space. Traditional dimensionality reduction methods spend little effort toward formulating unifying platforms and very few approaches provide intuitive insights that enable the design of local topology preserving algorithms. This study introduces a new localized bilateral kernel function for computing the high dimensional neighborhood graph of image data. The kernel function injects spatial sensitivity details that …

Anabolic And Androgenic Effects Of Certain Atriplex Species Grown In Egypt, Dina M. El-Kersh, Fatma S. El-Sakhawy, Dina R. Abou-Hussein, Amany A. Sleem

Pharmacy

20-Hydroxyecdysone (20-HE) was detected by TLC in the ethyl acetate fraction of two Atriplex species grown in Egypt: A. lindleyi subsp. inflata and A. leucoclada. EIA quantification of 20-HE proved its presence in a concentration of 9.15 and 7.3 μg/g dried aerial parts in each of the two species, respectively. Significant anabolic and androgenic activities were demonstrated for 20-HE comparing to testosterone; the study also revealed that the total alcohol extract and the ethyl acetate fraction of A. lindleyi subsp. inflata exhibited greater activities than their analogues in A. leucoclada. Column chromatographic fractionation of the ethyl acetate fraction of the …

The Good 5 Cent Cigar (10/25/2012), University Of Rhode Island

The Good 5 Cent Cigar (Student Newspaper Archives)

This is a digitized, downloadable version of the University of Rhode Island school newspaper.

Three-Dimensional Ex Vivo System, Karen J. L. Burg, Chih-Chao Yang

Clemson Patents

Disclosed are three-dimensional (3D) systems as may be utilized for ex vivo tissue or cell growth and development. A system generally includes a base material and at least one wicking fiber embedded therein through which a liquid can be spontaneously drawn by capillary action. Wicking fibers can define a plurality of colinear channels along the exterior surface of the axial length of the fiber. Wicking fibers can be present in disclosed systems as individual fibers or in bundles. Disclosed systems can be useful in various scientific studies, including, but not limited to, drug discovery, vaccine development, cell biology studies, and …

Euler Science Complex (2012), Taylor University

Buildings and Grounds of Taylor University

The program for the 2012 Euler Science Complex dedication.

Science Literacy: Exploring Middle-Level Science Curriculum Structure And Student Achievement, Sarah F. Faulkner

NERA Conference Proceedings 2012

Although national and state science curriculum standards are based on an integrated model, there is little quantitative data supporting integration. This study explored and described the relationship between middle-level science curriculum structure and student science literacy. Specifically, it compared Connecticut science curriculum specialists’ characterizations of the degree to which their school districts’ middle-level science curriculum was integrated with their school districts’ mean scale-scores on the standardized Middle School Science CMT. An Internet-based survey was developed specifically for use in this study. Overall, participants reported a moderate level of science curriculum integration, as well as significant inconsistencies in the planning, design, …

Cephalopod Genomics: A Plan Of Strategies And Organization, Caroline B. Albertin, Laure Bonnaud, C. Titus Brown, Wendy J. Crookes-Goodson, Rute R. Da Fonseca, Carlo Di Cristo, Brian P. Dilkes, Eric Edsinger-Gonzales, Robert M. Freeman Jr., Roger T. Hanlon, Kristen M. Koenig, Annie R. Lindgren, Mark Q. Martindale, Patrick Minx, Leonid L. Moroz, Marie-Therese Nödl, Spencer V. Nyholm, Atsushi Ogura, Judit R. Pungor, Joshua J. C. Rosenthal, Erich M. Schwarz, Shuichi Shigeno, Jan M. Strugnell, Tim Wollesen, Guojie Zhang, Clifton W. Ragsdale

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Cephalopod Sequencing Consortium (CephSeq Consortium) was established at a NESCent Catalysis Group Meeting, “Paths to Cephalopod Genomics- Strategies, Choices, Organization,” held in Durham, North Carolina, USA on May 24-27, 2012. Twenty-eight participants representing nine countries (Austria, Australia, China, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Spain and the USA) met to address the pressing need for genome sequencing of cephalopod mollusks. This group, drawn from cephalopod biologists, neuroscientists, developmental and evolutionary biologists, materials scientists, bioinformaticians and researchers active in sequencing, assembling and annotating genomes, agreed on a set of cephalopod species of particular importance for initial sequencing and developed strategies and an …

A Novel Microfluidic Enrichment Technique For Carbonylated Proteins, Bryant C. Hollins

Doctoral Dissertations

Proteins are the building blocks of cells in living organisms, and are composed of amino acids. The expression of proteins is regulated by the processes of transcription and translation. Proteins undergo post-translational modifications in order to dictate their role physiologically within a cell.

Not all post-translational modifications are beneficial for the protein or the cell. One type of post-translational modification, called carbonylation, irreversibly places a carbonyl group onto an amino acid residue, most commonly proline, lysine, arginine, and threonine. This modification can have severe consequences physiologically, including loss of solubility, loss of function, and protein aggregation.

Carbonylated proteins have commonly …

Lifetime Of Combustion-Generated Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals On Zn(Ii)O And Other Transition Metal Oxides, Eric Vejerano, Slawo Lomnicki, Barry Dellinger

Faculty Publications

Previous studies indicated that Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (EPFRs) are formed in the post-flame, cool zone of combustion. They result from the chemisorption of gas-phase products of incomplete combustion (particularly hydroxyl- and chlorine-substituted aromatics) on Cu(ii)O, Fe(iii) 2O3, and Ni(ii)O domains of particulate matter (fly ash or soot particles). This study reports our detailed laboratory investigation on the lifetime of EPFRs on Zn(ii)O/silica surface. Similarly, as in the case of other transition metals, chemisorption of the adsorbate on the Zn(ii)O surface and subsequent transfer of electron from the adsorbate to the metal forms a surface-bound EPFR and a reduced metal …

Flowersontime: A Computer Decision-Support Tool For Floriculture Crop Producers, Paul R. Fisher, Erik S. Runkle, Matthew G. Blanchard, John E. Erwin, Bruce Mackay

Journal of Extension

A computer decision-support tool was developed as an Extension outcome of the Floriculture Research Alliance to help commercial plant growers and educators estimate the effect of changing average air temperature on production time of over 60 species and cultivars of herbaceous ornamental crop plants. Cropping time predictions are based on research data from 16 sources. This information can help growers determine appropriate greenhouse temperature settings so that their plants are in flower on time to meet pre-determined market dates. The target audiences are growers, Extension professionals, and crop consultants.

Photochemical Eilmination Reactions Via Zwitterionic Intermediates Generated By Electrocyclic Ring Closures, Majher Ibna Mannan Sarker

Dissertations (1934 -)

The research focuses on the design of photoremovable protecting groups that can be used to deprotect biological substrates of an organic compound by photolysis. The deprotection of the protecting group via photolysis requires heterolysis of a bond to the substrate. Heterolysis of a C-O or C-S σ-bonds in a zwitterionic intermediate is proposed. The photochemical electrocyclic reactions studied involve acrylanilides, benzothiophene carboxanilides, and N-(9-oxothioxanthenyl) benzothiophene carboxamides. α,β-Unsaturated anilides bearing leaving groups at the allylic position of the α-methylacrylamide group undergo photochemical electrocyclic ring closure with release of leaving group which could occur directly from a photochemically produced zwitterionic intermediate or …

Life History Of Stranded Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Virginia, Margaret Cook Lynott

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Little is known about the life history and overall ecology of bottlenose dolphins that strand in Virginia. In this study, I examined archived life history samples and stranding data from bottlenose dolphins found in Virginia waters to (1) develop growth curves based on ages from sectioned teeth, (2) document characteristics of male and female reproductive organs, and (3) define the relationship between age/length and presence of neonatal characteristics during the first year of life. The Gompertz growth model provided the best fit of growth data for stranded T. truncatus in Virginia. Length at birth and asymptotic length for males were …

Characterization Of The Stem Cell Niche In Drosophila Testes, Vittorio Mena Jr.

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Subnanosecond Exposure Systems For Biological Studies, Jongbong Nah

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The research of bioelectrics has expanded to subnanosecond pulse region and entered a new domain of biophysics of cell interaction with ultra-short and intense electric fields. As subnanosecond pulses may be delivered by antennas to the human body and is very attractive to the medical community, the study of subnanosecond pulse effects calls for exposure systems for both cells and tissues. Two systems were designed in the scope of this thesis, used for cells and tissues respectively. The exposure system designed for cell exposure is a cuvette consisting of two parallel aluminum gaps. This cuvette is placed in a coaxial …

Method For Arsenic Detection In Mine Samples From The Upper Peninsula Of Michigan, Vinay Babu Yalamanchili

All Capstone Projects

Arsenic is the 20th abundant element in the earth crust. High concentrations of Arsenic is seen in mine operating countries which can affect public health and biological environment. This may reach to drinking water through ground or surface run-off water. Long term exposure to arsenic causes cancer of bladder, skin, and lungs. So detecting the amount of arsenic in soil and drinking has been an analytical challenge. Arsenic is found in variety of chemical forms in organic and inorganic compounds which results in chemical and physical interferences in the analysis. Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (GFAAS) was used to measure …

Literature Search On Using Dendrimer Nanoparticles As Drug Delivery Vehicles, Sivateja Kasaraneni

All Capstone Projects

The architectural design of dendrimers, multivalency, well-defined molecular weight and higher degree of branching differentiates them as unique and excellent nanocarriers in therapeutic applications such as drug delivery, gene transfection, tumor therapy, imaging and diagnostics. Nanoparticle drug-delivery systems are well known to increase the stability and selectivity of therapeutic agents. However immunogenicity, reticuloendothelial system uptake, drug leakage, cytotoxicity, hemolytic toxicity, poor aqueous solubility restrict the use of these drug delivery systems. These defects are overcame by surface engineering of the dendrimer molecule.

Drug molecule can be efficiently conjugated or encapsulated into the interior of the dendrimer or physically adsorbed onto …

Soft Microenvironments Promote The Early Neurogenic Differentiation But Not Self-Renewal Of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Albert Keung, Prashanth Asuri, Sanjay Kumar, David Schaffer

Bioengineering

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are of great interest in biology and medicine due to their ability to self-renew and differentiate into any adult or fetal cell type. Important efforts have identified biochemical factors, signaling pathways, and transcriptional networks that regulate hPSC biology. However, recent work investigating the effect of biophysical cues on mammalian cells and adult stem cells suggests that the mechanical properties of the microenvironment, such as stiffness, may also regulate hPSC behavior. While several studies have explored this mechanoregulation in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), it has been challenging to extrapolate these findings and thereby explore their …

Arabidopsis Bhlh100 And Bhlh101 Control Iron Homeostasis Via A Fit-Independent Pathway, Alicia B. Sivitz, Victor Hermand, Catherine Curie, Grégory Vert

Dartmouth Scholarship

Iron deficiency induces a complex set of responses in plants, including developmental and physiological changes, to increase iron uptake from soil. In Arabidopsis, many transporters involved in the absorption and distribution of iron have been identified over the past decade. However, little is known about the signaling pathways and networks driving the various responses to low iron. Only the basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factor FIT has been shown to control the expression of the root iron uptake machinery genes FRO2 and IRT1. Here, we characterize the biological role of two other iron-regulated transcription factors, bHLH100 and bHLH101, in iron homeostasis. …