Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brigham Young University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: Todd D. Royer, Dept. of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / TryptoPhan and its metabolites have been implicated in various mental disorders including schizopnrenia. This serious disease of unknown etiology has become an increasingly important subject of biochemical investigation. In order to understand more fully the metabolism of tryptopnan in schizophrenia, an investigation of urinary metabolites was undertaken, utilizing radioactivity as a marker. Bats were studied to perfect the techniques and to provide possible indications of the metabolites to be looked for in man. TryptoPhan was administered to humans orally, to duplicate the normal route of intake, and intravenously, to obtain indications of tissue activity without the tryptopnan having been acted on by intestinal bacteria. The techniques employed were a combination of two-dimensional ascending paper chromatography and radioautography. The latter was useful in the visual identification of the urinary metabolites of radioactive C14-labelled tryptophan. Through the use of extraction procedures with various solvents, selective separation and identification were made possible. Concentration of the extracts provided for the detection of substances present in only minute quantities [TRUNCATED]

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Three purified human plasma proteins, albumin, CK1-glycoprotein (prepared according to Schmid) and 96 per cent clottable fibrinogen (prepared according to Blomback, fraction I4) were found to react with 1 M hydrazine at pH 9.0 under conditions similar to those used by Gallop, et al. for determining the ester-like bonds in collagen. The moles of "heat-labile" hydrazine per mole of each human plasma protein studied were approximately: 0.2 for albumin, 0.3 for alpha1-glycoprotein, and 3.4 for fibrinogen. The spectral absorption curves of the "heat-labile" hydrazine derived from the treated proteins were comparable with those obtained for the hydrazine standards. The kinetics of reaction time and the pH optimum for the formation of fibrinogen-hydrazide were studied. The small amounts of hydrazine reacted with alpha1-glycoprotein would suggest that the hydroxyl groups of the carbohydrate moiety of glycoproteins are not involved in the hydrazine reaction used in these experiments. The amounts of hydrazine reacted with albumin would suggest that the hydrazine reaction with the plasma proteins used in this investigation is unique for fibrinogen. [TRUNCATED]

A radioimmunoassay has been developed for the major metabolite of melatonin, 6-suIphatoxymelatonin (aMT6s). The assay is specific, sensitive and is direct for both urine and plasma samples. Classical validation procedures have been employed and the urinary assay has been compared with an established gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric assay. A number of physiological studies have been carried out. A marked diurnal rhythm in both urinary and plasma aMT6s excretion was found which correlated closely with plasma melatonin values. There were large inter-individual variations in aMT6s excretion but its production was consistent for any one volunteer over a four-day period. No evidence was obtained for the episodic secretion of melatonin or aMT6s when blood samples were taken every thirty seconds for ten minutes. Administration of a peripheral B-blocker to volunteers, resulted in the abolition of the night-time rise in aMT6s excretion. In a seasonal study, a small but highly significant change in the acrophase of the aMT6s rhythm was found during the year with a phase advance in summer compared to winter. Changes in aMT6s excretion with age were also investigated. Total urinary aMT6s excretion was relatively constant in forty children aged 2-20 years. However, when aMT6s excretion was expressed as a function of body weight highly significant age-related changes were observed. In ninety adult volunteers aged 20-80 years there was a significant decline in total 24h aMT6s excretion with age, with significantly lower excretion in elderly subjects. No relationships were found between total 24h aMT6s excretion and body weight, height or pineal calcification. In addition to the above physiological studies, the pharmacokinetics of melatonin and aMT6s were investigated following the oral administration of melatonin to normal volunteers.

The question of whether within chimera research certain human/nonhuman animal chimeras should not be created has received significant attention in the philosophical community. In this thesis I examine, from a philosophical perspective, four questions related to this topic. These are: (i) Can ‘human’ dignity be invoked as an argument against the creation of human/nonhuman animal chimeras? (ii) Is it morally permissible to kill human/great-ape chimeras in order to solve the human organ shortage crisis? (iii) Is there something inherently wrong with creating human/nonhuman animal chimeras capable of human gamete production and human pregnancy? (iv) Can classic animal ethics issues concerning animal welfare throw light on the issue of killing human/pig chimeras for their human organs. These four questions, in turn, fall within what have been regarded as the three main problematic cases within chimera ethics: (1) the creation of human/nonhuman animal chimeras that could have brains predominantly constituted by human brain cells; (2) the creation of human/nonhuman animal chimeras that could look human-like; (3) the creation of human/nonhuman animal chimeras capable of human gamete production and human pregnancy. In the introduction I do four things. First, I define what chimeras are and point out some problems with some of the definitions that have been proposed. Secondly, I briefly investigate if there is a sound principled objection against the intentional creation of all intraspecific and interspecific chimeras. Thirdly, I present in a detailed fashion the four questions that this thesis poses in response. Finally, I explain how the four papers that are the main body of the thesis form a coherent body of work. In the fifth section of this thesis I present the abstracts of four papers. In the sixth section I make a comprehensive exploration of the dignity-based arguments that have been advanced against the creation of human/nonhuman animal chimeras that could possess human-like mental capacities, or that could possess certain cognitive capacities that we would not be able to properly classify. In the seventh section I examine the morality of killing human/great ape chimeras for their human organs. This paper is a detailed response to Shaw et al.’s (2014) ‘Using Non-Human Primates to Benefit Humans: Research and Organ Transplantation’. The eight section covers two topics. First I discuss the moral problems related to the creation of mainly nonhuman human/nonhuman animal chimeras capable of human gamete production. Secondly, I discuss the moral problems that would be generated by the fact that a sentient nonperson human/nonhuman animal chimera, that is predominantly nonhuman, was pregnant with a human conceptus. In the ninth section I further examine the chimera welfare issues that have emerged from assessing the morality of using human/pig chimeras as human organ sources. In the conclusion of the thesis I present a summary of the main points I have explored, and proceed to present how my dissertation adds to the academic literature on chimera ethics. Finally, I present some areas for further research.

A thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg / IT2018

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There have been numerous studies of pain perception in humans using a variety of brain imaging methods. The majority of the past research has focused on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) as the primary imaging method. The present study examines the cortical mechanisms of pain perception in humans using a recently developed imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The primary interest in this study concerns how behavioural aspects of pain are reflected by cerebral cortical activity during noxious stimulation. As pain involves a combination of sensory, emotional, and cognitive responses, the extent and degree of activation in cortical areas associated with these responses can be affected. To address this issue, a behavioural experiment was first performed to assess the sensory, emotional, and cognitive components of tonic pain induced by a cold foam-pack (0°C). Subsequently, three subjects from the behavioural study pool participated in the imaging study of pain. In the imaging experiment, a cold foam-pack (0°C) and a non-cold foam-pack were applied to the left hands of these subjects. Activation produced by the noxious stimulus was compared with that produced by the innocuous stimulus. The results revealed inconsistencies in cortical activation among the three subjects and this could be related to each subject's behavioural measures. Individual and experimental variables may also account for the differences in results. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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