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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Gas-Phase Proton Affinities For Twenty Of The Proline-Containing Dipeptides, Henry Cardwell
Gas-Phase Proton Affinities For Twenty Of The Proline-Containing Dipeptides, Henry Cardwell
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Peptide fragmentation plays a crucial role in the analysis of proteins through mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Most proteomics experiments take place in the low-energy regime and are governed by the mobile proton model which predicts random cleavages along the peptide backbone; however, there sometimes arise circumstances where the mobile proton model fails causing sequencing algorithms to misidentify peptides. One such example is noted in the “proline effect” wherein proline-containing peptides preferentially fragment N-terminal. While it has been established that the “proline effect” is due to the rigidity and basicity of the proline N-terminus, a further understanding of the factors influencing the …
Chemical Analysis Of Organic Compounds In Dew Water, Monica Dibley
Chemical Analysis Of Organic Compounds In Dew Water, Monica Dibley
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Water films on outdoor surfaces, such as dew, can act as a reservoir for organic molecules deposited from the atmosphere and they present a potential reactive medium for chemical transformations. To better understand the flux of volatile organic compounds from evaporating films, the composition and reactivity of the complex mixture of dissolved organic material (DOM) found in these films need to be characterized. Previous studies have measured the salts and the small organic molecules in dew collected on clean Teflon surfaces or condensers. Here, we expand on this by probing the organic chemicals found on natural outdoor surfaces covered in …
Differential Protein Expression In Bacteriophages Crimd And Larva, Daria Moody
Differential Protein Expression In Bacteriophages Crimd And Larva, Daria Moody
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Proteomics studies allow us to answer questions about differential protein expression across different systems. Mass spectrometry is a powerful tool in these studies due to the distinct masses of the amino acids that compose proteins. In our experiment, we used a bottom-up approach and focused on two bacteriophages found on the William & Mary campus, CrimD and Larva. The infection of Mycobacterium smegmatis, a nonpathogenic model for tuberculosis, by these two bacteriophages was frozen at five different timepoints, and our goal was to compare the differential protein expression across the samples in order to gain a greater understanding of …
Honey As A Biomonitor For Air Pollutant Deposition In The Eastern United States Using Ion Chromatography And Scanning Electron Microscopy, Cole Cochran
Undergraduate Honors Theses
Anthropogenic activities generate metal, acid, and particulate air pollutants which negatively impact human and ecological health. In the United States, power plant, industrial, and vehicle emissions are leading causes of air pollution, however, the measurement of air pollution at high-resolution spatial regimes remains a challenge. Honey has emerged as a powerful biomonitoring tool to effectively quantify contaminants without the need for a large array of monitoring instruments. I hypothesized that honey could be used to effectively measure and map modern air pollutant spatiotemporal relationships over the Eastern U.S. Using ion chromatography with sulfate as an indicator for air pollution and …
Geologic Controls On 137cs Cycling By Terrestrial Vegetation In The Eastern U.S., Kathleen Chellman
Geologic Controls On 137cs Cycling By Terrestrial Vegetation In The Eastern U.S., Kathleen Chellman
Undergraduate Honors Theses
137Cs is a radioactive trace metal (T1/2 = 30 y) that was dispersed globally by nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s-1960s. Prevailing winds and precipitation systems caused some areas far from the test sites to receive significant fallout, which is still easily measured in soils, sediments and even some vegetation in the Eastern United States. Recent work near Chernobyl and Fukushima indicates that trace levels of 137Cs can harm insects, pollination services, and other ecological functions. In areas with low soil potassium, 137Cs is cycled in vegetation; however, soil potassium alone doesn't consistently predict the 137 …