Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis And Characterization Of Uranyl Dipyrrin Complexes For Environmental Applications, Duer Bolotaulo Bolotaulo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that adversely affect the health of human populations as well as the environment. The need to develop remediation methods and materials as well as understand the mechanisms in which they can degrade POPs is necessary. Furthermore, heterogeneous phase metal based catalysts in place today do not fully understand the chemistry underlying degradation processes. The proposed research seeks to synthesize and characterize uranyl dipyrrin complexes to assess and understand the reactivity of uranyl dipyrrins with pollutants. Photophysical and electrochemical techniques will be used to characterize and determine the viability of utilizing the uranyl complexes …

Removal Of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds From Water And Wastewater Using Ecofriendly Materials, Alma Lili Loya Posada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds considered pollutants of emerging concern. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines emerging pollutants as new chemicals without regulatory status and with an impact on the environment and human health that is poorly understood. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been considered an EDC and found to be ubiquitous in the environment because of its presence in a multitude of products including food and beverage packaging, flame retardants, adhesives, building materials, electronic components, and paper coatings Currently, BPA is not regulated by the federal government in the US and waste water treatment plants are not …

Two-Photon Excitation Based Photochemistry And Neural Imaging, Kevin Andrew Hatch

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Two-photon microscopy is a fluorescence imaging technique which provides distinct advantages in three-dimensional cellular and molecular imaging. The benefits of this technology may extend beyond imaging capabilities through exploitation of the quantum processes responsible for fluorescent events. This study utilized a two-photon microscope to investigate a synthetic photoreactive collagen peptidomimetic, which may serve as a potential material for tissue engineering using the techniques of two-photon photolysis and two-photon polymerization. The combination of these techniques could potentially be used to produce a scaffold for the vascularization of engineered three-dimensional tissues in vitro to address the current limitations of tissue engineering. Additionally, …

Synthesis Of Neoglycoproteins/Neoglycopeptides And Their Immunological Evaluation In The Context Of Chagas Disease, Nathaniel Scott Schocker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (ChD), has a cell surface covered by immunogenic glycoconjugates. A synthetic glycoarray containing non-reducing α-galactopyranosyl moieties related to mucin O-glycans of the parasite T. cruzi was evaluated by a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CL-ELISA) with sera from patients with chronic ChD, revealing the disaccharide Galα(1,3)Galβ as the immunodominant glycotope (Chapter 2). This disaccharide comprises the two terminal sugars of the known immunodominant glycotope Galα(1,3)Galβ(1,4)GlcNAcα, which is expressed on glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mucins of the infective trypomastigote stage of T. cruzi and triggers high levels of protective anti-α-Gal antibodies (Abs) in infected …

Modulation Of The Physiological And Biochemical Effects Of Copper Nanoparticles In Kidney Beans (Phaseouls Vulgaris) Treated By Kinetin, Suzanne Annette Apodaca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is imperative to not only understand the impact of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in edible plants, but also the interactions they have with various additives used in agriculture. In this study, kidney bean plants were grown in potting soil treated with nano copper (nCu), bulk copper (bCu), and copper chloride (CuCl2) at concentrations of 0, 50, and 100 mg/kg for 55 and 90 days. At 15 days of growth, 0, 10, and 100 μm of kinetin (KN) were applied to plants. Plant tissue samples were harvested at 55 days and seeds were reaped at 90 days. Physiological and biochemical parameters …

Paper/Polymer Hybrid Microfluidic Biochips For Infectious Disease Diagnosis, Maowei Dou

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Infectious diseases frequently cause public health concerns and they often occur in high-poverty regions. Hence, a simple and low-cost method is in great need for immediate and early diagnosis of infectious diseases. Recently, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip offers a unique opportunity for various biomedical applications. Since different chip substrates have different advantages and limitations, hybrid devices can draw more benefits from different substrates. Therefore, we have developed three paper/polymer hybrid microfluidic biochips integrated with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) for high-sensitivity infectious disease diagnosis.

We for the first time developed a low-cost paper/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) hybrid microfluidic biochip for rapid, sensitive and instrument-free detection …

Improving The Engineering Properties Of Pla For 3d Printing And Beyond, Carmen R. Rocha

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM), now more commonly known as 3D printing, has been classified as efficient, fast, and practical in the prototyping sector of product development. In the work presented here, we will use one of the AM techniques known as Material extrusion 3D printing (ME3DP), which has all the advantages of AM. However, one of the biggest challenges facing ME3DP technologies is the limitation of the range of materials used by this technique. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and poly-lactic acid (PLA) are currently the most common thermoplastics materials used in ME3DP because of their ability to melt and be reprocessed. …

Identifying Non-Classical Active Sites As A Tool For Enzyme Inhibition, Marisol Serrano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is an endemic life-threatening disease that affects mainly the heart. It remains the leading cause of heart failure in Latin American countries. Since current treatments against this parasite are highly toxic and somewhat ineffective, novel and more efficacious types of interventions are desired. Cruzain, identified as the major cathepsin for T. cruzi, plays a major role in the parasite's life cycle; making this enzyme very attractive for potential trypanocidal drugs discovery. The recombinant cruzain is synthesized as a zymogenic pro-protein (PCZN) which possesses a pro domain and a catalytic domain. In this …

Study Of No2 Photolysis Rate Coefficients For The Paso Del Norte Region, Pema Wangchuk

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The photolysis of nitrogen dioxide is one of the most influential chemical processes in the formation of photochemical air pollution. In this study, we compared simulated and measured nitrogen dioxide photolysis rate coefficients (J_(NO_2 )) for the Paso Del Norte (PdN) region. The Tropospheric Ultraviolet-Visible (TUV) radiation transfer model was used to calculate J_(NO_2 ) values. The measurements of hemi-spherically integrated, spectrally resolved solar photon flux between the wavelengths 400 and 700 nm were used to obtain the photolysis rate coefficients for ã??NOã??_2. Results are presented for a selected episode on July, 2015. The work investigated the use of measured …

Effects Of Citric Acid Coated And Uncoated Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants, Ana Cecilia Barrios

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research was performed to examine the physiological and biochemical effects of bare (nCeO2) and citric acid coated (nCeO2+CA) cerium oxide nanoparticles in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Plants were germinated and grown to full maturity in soil amended with 0-500 mg/kg and periodically analyzed using ICP-OES/MS and other spectroscopic and biochemical techniques. Although Ce in tissues increased as the external nCeO2 increased, there were no visible signs of toxicity. In mature plants, nCeO2 induced developmental changes and altered nutritional quality (essential elements) in fruits. On the other hand, nCeO2+CA affected fruit carbohydrate composition (sugars and starch). This study gives insights on …

Gravimetrically Characterizable Common Alkali Reducing Agents And Ligand Design Of A New Electron Rich Guanidinate, Efrain Maximiliano Castillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

SynThesis, isolation and characterization of 12 new alkali arenides was performed by the addition of the chelating base 18-crown-6. Electrochemistry, UV-vis/NIR spectroscopy and XRD studies were performed.

The incoorporation of an imidazolin-2-iminato group to the background of a guanidinate showed that this kind of ligand is electronically flexible and metal dependent. It was found that is more electron donating than some previously reported guanidinates and ketimine guanidinates.

Synthesis, Characterization, And Functional Evaluation Of Nanocomposites For Water Purification, Julio Eduardo Padilla

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United Nations estimate that around 780 million people do not have access to clean and safe water and around 2.5 billion people do not have proper water sanitation. As a result, around 6-8 million people die each year due to water related diseases, such as cholera and dysentery, and disasters. As population increases the water problem will become more difficult to solve. Furthermore, climate change threatens to intensify water scarcity. The design of functional materials at the nanoscale offer unique solutions in molecular sorbents and catalytic systems that can develop into cost-effective solutions in water treatment by reducing the …

New Organosilicon Chemistry, Paulina Elena Gonzalez Navarro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The formation of siloxymethylamine intermediates R3SiOCH 2NMe2, 1, as initial products of the reduction of DMF by hydrosilanes catalyzed by Mo(CO)5NMe3 has been reported. These siloxymethylamines can react with R’3SiH to form trimethylamine and disiloxanes, and with chlorosilanes to form disiloxanes and ClCH 2NMe2, Eschenmoser’s salt. I shall illustrate, in Chapter 1, how attempts to react 1, formed in situ in the presence of chlorosilanes R’3SiCl in the hope producing heterosilyl disiloxanes, R3SiOSiR’3, was not successful but led to a newly discovered activation of the Si-Cl bond by DMF.

In Chapter 2, we surmised that 1 acts as a transient …

The Characterization Of A Recombinant Virophage Integrase, Martin Christopher Chacon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Virophages are satellite-like dsDNA viruses that parasitize giant viruses of the family Mimiviridae. Mavirus is the second virophage discovered that associates with its host virus Cafeteria roenbergensis Virus (CroV). When co-infecting their common host cell Cafeteria roenbergensis, a marine zooplankton that is widely spread throughout the oceans, mavirus will inhibit CroV's replication. In addition, mavirus was shown to share high similarities to the Maverick/Polinton eukaryotic DNA transposons. A coding sequence in mavirus genome (MV02) reveals high homology to retroviral integrases such as those found in HIVs. The putative integrase MV02 is predicted to integrate mavirus DNA into the host genome. …