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Abstract not available

Abstract not available

Molecules of anthocyanins and quinones possess distinctive electrophilic character, which is demonstrated by their facile reactions with nucleophiles such as sulfite, thiols, amines and water. In food systems, one of their likely targets would be nucleophilic centers in the side chains of amino acids. Our experiments revealed that on a short-term exposure (1 72 h) to free amino acids in solutions with pH < 7 glycosides of cyanidin and quinones of phenolic acids did not yield nucleophilic addition products with most of the amino acids. A notable exception was cysteine, which reacted with oxidized phenolic acids and caused anthocyanin bleaching at elevated temperature. Thermodynamic aspects of the nucleophilic addition reactions were investigated with the aid of computational chemistry. We have also found that enzymatic browning in apricot puree does not lead to trans-cis -carotene isomerization, contrary to some previous reports. Increased availability of -carotene for extraction was recorded for browned apple- and pear-apricot purees in comparison with the non-browned purees. / Food Science and Technology

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

This research was conducted to test the hypothesis that parenteralarginine supplementation is effective in enhancing birth weights of intrauterinegrowth restricted (IUGR) fetuses. Underfed and prolific ewes were used asexperimental models. The first study characterized the pharmacokinetics ofarginine and citrulline and assessed the potential of citrulline to serve as aprecursor for enhancing arginine availability in fetal and maternal plasma. Sixlate pregnant ewes and their fetuses were instrumented to access arterial andvenous circulations. Intravenous boluses of 155 mol of L-arginine-HCl or Lcitrullineper kg body weight were administered to each ewe. Administration ofcitrulline was more effective than arginine in achieving a sustained increase inconcentrations of arginine in maternal and fetal blood. Accordingly, theclearance rate of citrulline was lower and its biological half-life in maternal bloodgreater, when compared with arginine. The second experiment determined ifadministration of arginine to underfed ewes is effective in ameliorating orpreventing IUGR. Ewes were fed either 100% or 50% of the National ResearchCouncil recommended nutrient requirements for pregnant sheep. Between Day60 of pregnancy and parturition control-fed ewes received saline solution and underfed ewes received either saline solution or L-arginine-HCl solution (155mol of arginine/kg body weight) intravenously three times daily (n=5 / treatmentgroup). Birth weights of lambs were lower in saline-infused underfed ewes.There was no difference in birth weights of lambs from control-fed and argininetreatedunderfed ewes. The third experiment determined whether administrationof arginine could improve survival rates of lambs and enhance fetal growth inewes carrying multiple fetuses. Between Days 100 and 121 of pregnancy, ewesreceived an intravenous infusion of either saline solution (n= 14) or L-arginine-HCl solution (345 mol of arginine/kg body weight, n=20) three times daily.Parenteral administration of arginine increased the percentage of lambs bornalive and enhanced the birth weights of quadruplets. Collectively, these resultsindicate that 1) parenteral administration of arginine improves pregnancyoutcomes in underfed and prolific ewes; and 2) the use of arginine or citrullinemay have important implications for the design of an effective treatment forpreventing or ameliorating IUGR in mammals.

Since the discovery of the buckyball in 1985, researchers have imagined its potential in fields ranging from materials science to medicinal chemistry. The unique size, shape and hydrophobicity of C 60 fullerene endow it with the ability to interact with biological superstructures such as enzymes and membranes making it attractive as a potential pharmacophore. In this regard, we have developed a new, simple route to water soluble fullerene amino acids, both alkyl and aryl, through the dipolar addition of azido starting materials. The synthesis of our phenylalanine derivative, including the chromatographic purification, requires only one day for its completion. We have subsequently used our C 60 phenylalanine derivative in the synthesis of a series of C 60 peptides for the purposes of enzyme inhibition, specifically human immunodeficiency virus Type 1 protease, a critical viral enzyme responsible for the maturation of the virus and a popular target of medicinal chemists. We have demonstrated the ability of our C 60 amino acids and peptides to inhibit HIV-1 PR in a cell-free fluorescence based assay at low nanomolar concentrations. Graphite, or specifically graphene, has recently come to the forefront of nanomaterials research due to it similar scale, properties, and reaction pathways as other more costly carbon nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes. We have demonstrated the high yield functionalization of graphitic starting materials through the thermal decomposition of azido amino acids to their corresponding nitrene. The result is an inexpensive, highly functionalized, carbon based scaffold.

Ball State University LibrariesLibrary services and resources for knowledge buildingMasters ThesesThere is no abstract available for this thesis.

This research was conducted to test the hypothesis that parenteralarginine supplementation is effective in enhancing birth weights of intrauterinegrowth restricted (IUGR) fetuses. Underfed and prolific ewes were used asexperimental models. The first study characterized the pharmacokinetics ofarginine and citrulline and assessed the potential of citrulline to serve as aprecursor for enhancing arginine availability in fetal and maternal plasma. Sixlate pregnant ewes and their fetuses were instrumented to access arterial andvenous circulations. Intravenous boluses of 155 mol of L-arginine-HCl or Lcitrullineper kg body weight were administered to each ewe. Administration ofcitrulline was more effective than arginine in achieving a sustained increase inconcentrations of arginine in maternal and fetal blood. Accordingly, theclearance rate of citrulline was lower and its biological half-life in maternal bloodgreater, when compared with arginine. The second experiment determined ifadministration of arginine to underfed ewes is effective in ameliorating orpreventing IUGR. Ewes were fed either 100% or 50% of the National ResearchCouncil recommended nutrient requirements for pregnant sheep. Between Day60 of pregnancy and parturition control-fed ewes received saline solution and underfed ewes received either saline solution or L-arginine-HCl solution (155mol of arginine/kg body weight) intravenously three times daily (n=5 / treatmentgroup). Birth weights of lambs were lower in saline-infused underfed ewes.There was no difference in birth weights of lambs from control-fed and argininetreatedunderfed ewes. The third experiment determined whether administrationof arginine could improve survival rates of lambs and enhance fetal growth inewes carrying multiple fetuses. Between Days 100 and 121 of pregnancy, ewesreceived an intravenous infusion of either saline solution (n= 14) or L-arginine-HCl solution (345 mol of arginine/kg body weight, n=20) three times daily.Parenteral administration of arginine increased the percentage of lambs bornalive and enhanced the birth weights of quadruplets. Collectively, these resultsindicate that 1) parenteral administration of arginine improves pregnancyoutcomes in underfed and prolific ewes; and 2) the use of arginine or citrullinemay have important implications for the design of an effective treatment forpreventing or ameliorating IUGR in mammals.

The fabrication and characterization of boron-doped diamond microelectrodes for use in electrochemical detection coupled with capillary electrophoresis (CE-EC) is discussed. They exhibited low and stable background currents and sigmoidally shaped voltammetric curves for cysteine, cystine and Fe(CN)63-/4- . Evaluation of the CE-EC system and the electrode performance were accomplished using a 10 mM borate buffer, pH 8.8, run buffer, and a 70-cm-long fused-silica capillary (10-mm i.d.) with seven sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine, cysteine, cystine, homocysyeine, homocystine, glutathionine, glutathionine disulfide) as test analytes. Reproducible separation (elution time) and detection (peak current) of seven sulfur-containing amino acids were observed with response precisions of 5% or less.