No description available.

Le couplage oxydant du méthane (OCM) est une réaction complexe de catalyse hétérogène, permettant la conversion directe du méthane en éthylène, pour un coût énergétique moindre par rapport aux procédés industriels indirects actuels. L’OCM nécessite une température supérieure à 700°C, à pression atmosphérique. Il y a donc compétition avec l’oxydation totale. Dans les nombreuses études rapportées dans la littérature, la limite de 25 % de rendement en C2 (éthane + éthylène) n’a pas été franchie. Les mécanismes proposés ne sont pas applicables à tous les catalyseurs actifs ou valables pour un large domaine de conditions opératoires. Une nouvelle manière d’aborder cette réaction est de prendre en compte la plus large diversité possible des paramètres intervenant dans ce procédé, de la formulation aux réacteurs en vue d'optimiser les performances. La présente étude a permis d’extraire des descripteurs pertinents du processus de l’OCM à partir de données expérimentales et d’établir certaines corrélations entre descripteurs et performances. Des catalyseurs LaSrCaO ont été sélectionnés après tests à haut débit en réacteur parallèle à lit fixe et un modèle micro-cinétique de l’OCM dans ce réacteur a été validé grâce aux données obtenues. D’autres expériences ont été menées avec succès en réacteur à membrane dense pour améliorer la productivité en éthylène. Le rôle joué par la composition de surface des catalyseurs a été identifié et une analyse critique de la méthode générale mise en œuvre conclut ce travail / The oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a complex heterogeneous catalytic reaction allowing the direct conversion of methane to ethylene, at a lower energetic cost than the current industrial processes. OCM requires a temperature higher than 700°C at atmospheric pressure. Hence, there is competition with total oxidation. In the numerous studies reported in literature, the limit of 25% C2 (ethane + ethylene) yield could not be overtaken. Proposed mechanisms are not relevant for all active materials or on all operating condition ranges. A new way to approach the reaction would be to take into account the wider possible panel of parameters involved in this process, from formulation to reactors targeting at process optimisation. The present study permitted to extract relevant descriptors of OCM process from experimental data and establish relationships between descriptors and performances. LaSrCaO catalysts were selected and tested in a parallel fixed-bed reactor and the data obtained were used to validate a micro-kinetic model in this reactor. Experiments were also performed successfully in a dense membrane reactor to improve ethylene productivity. The role played catalyst surface composition was also identified and a critical analysis of the global method implemented concludes this work

L'objectif de ces travaux était de synthétiser, caractériser et étudier le potentiel d'une sélection de liquides ioniques, pour la séparation de l'éthane et de l'éthène. L'influence dans l'absorption de l'éthène de la présence de trois cations métalliques, le lithium (I), le nickel (II) et le cuivre (II) dans un liquide ionique était également étudiée. Les liquides ioniques sélectionnés sont basés sur le cation imidazolium contenant des groupes fonctionnels au niveau de la chaine alkyle latérale. Les anions choisis sont le bis(trifluorométhylsulfonyl)imide, [NTf2], la dicyanamide, [DCA] et le méthylphosphite, [C1HPO3]. Sachant qu'un solvant de séparation idéale doit avoir une capacité d'absorption et une sélectivité de séparation élevées, une faible viscosité, une haute stabilité thermique et une cinétique d'absorption rapide pour le gaz sélectionné. Pour évaluer ces propriétés pour les milieux sélectionnés, plusieurs paramètres ont été déterminés la densité et la viscosité des liquides ioniques ainsi que l'absorption de chaque gaz dans les liquides ioniques. L'absorption de l'éthane et de l'éthène dans les liquides ioniques purs ainsi que dans les solutions de liquide ionique + sel métallique a été mesurée dans une gamme de températures comprises entre 303.15 K et 353.15 K et pour des pressions proches de l'atmosphérique. La sélectivité idéale des liquides ioniques pour l'absorption de l'éthane par rapport à l'éthène a ainsi pu être déterminée. La détermination de l'absorption en fonction de la température a permis d'accéder aux propriétés thermodynamiques de solvatation de ces gaz dans des liquides ioniques et à comprendre la manière dont les liquides ioniques interagissent avec ces solutés comment les liquides ioniques se structurent autour de ces molécules / The goal of this research was to synthesize, characterize and study the potential of selected ionic liquids as solvents for the separation of ethane and ethene. The influence on ethene absorption of the presence of three different metallic cations, lithium (I), nickel (II) and copper (II) in an ionic liquid was also studied. The selected ionic liquids are based in the imidazolium cation containing a functionalization in the alkyl side chain. The chosen anions were the bis(trifluorosulfonyl)imide, [NTf2], the dicyanamide, [DCA] and the methylphosphite, [C1HPO3]. Several parameters were taken into account for this primary evaluation, such as measurements of density, viscosity and absorption of each gas in the ionic liquids, since an ideal separation solvent should have a high absorption capacity and gas selectivity, low viscosity, high thermal stability and fast absorption kinetics for the selected gas. The absorption of the 2 gases in the pure ionic liquids and ionic liquid + metallic salt solutions was measured in the temperature range between 303.15 K and 353.15 K and for pressures close to atmospheric. The ideal selectivity of the ionic liquid for the absorption of ethane compared to ethene was determined. The determination of the gas solubility in function of the temperature allowed access to the thermodynamic properties of solvation of the gases in the ionic liquids, and a deeper understanding of the gas-ionic liquid interactions and the structure of the solution

La myopathie de Duchenne est une maladie génétique qui se caractérise principalement par une dégénérescence progressive des muscles squelettiques dont la cause est l’absence de dystrophine fonctionnelle dans les muscles. A ce jour, il n’existe toujours pas de traitement efficace contre ces maladies. Comme le plus grand gène connu chez l’Homme, la dystrophine code pour une protéine de 427kDa. La protéine connecte l’actine avec le DAPC (Dystrophin Associated Protein Complex) dans les muscles striés. Pour l’instant, il y a 3 hypothèses concernant le mécanisme du DMD. L’absence de la dystrophine peut supprimer le lien physique entre les protéines structurales de la membrane basale (laminines) et les protéines structurales du cytosquelette (filaments intermédiaires et actine), ou la distribution et la fonction des canaux ioniques, ou des voies de signalisation nécessaires à la survie du muscle. Caenorhabditis elegans ne possède qu’un homologue du gène de la dystrophine humaine, le gène dys-1. La protéine DYS-1 présente 37% d’homologie avec la dystrophine humaine. Le double mutant dys-1(cx18) ; hlh-1(cc561) présente une forte dégénérescence musculaire. Comme le sarcomère de C. elegans ressemble au sarcomère de mammifère, C. elegans est modèle pertinent d’étude la maladie. En vue de comprendre la raison du DMD chez les mammifères et chez les vers, le groupe L. SEGALAT a effectué des cribles pour identifier les molécules et les gènes qui peuvent supprimer la dégénérescence musculaire. On a trouvé un gène pkc-2 qui est capable de supprimer la dégénérescence musculaire chez C. elegans. La protéine PKC-2 est l’orthologue de la Protein Kinase C Alpha (PKC) humaine et appartient à la famille du serine/threonine protéine kinase. Afin d’étudier la fonction du gène pkc-2, on a analysé l’expression du gène avec les construits différents in vivo et a utilisé la technique de double-hybride dans la levure. De plus, le crible par EMS (éthane méthyle sulfonâtes) a identifié une molécule sérotonine (5-HT) qui est un neuromédiateur, et supprime partiellement la dégénérescence musculaire des doubles mutants dys-1; hlh-1. La sérotonine a aussi un effet fort sur le mutant pkc-2(ok328), puisqu’elle provoque un phénotype blister. Ça nous permet de rechercher le lien entre la signalisation sérotoninergique et pkc-2. Le crible génétique peut contribuer à la connaissance du rôle pkc-2. […]. Elle sert aussi de plate-forme de voie de signalisation intracellulaire. L’identification de Y59A8A.3 propose la possibilité que pkc-2 modifie la filamin A par l’intermédiaire de la filamin A interacting protéine 1. Le crible génétique par EMS pour rechercher des suppresseurs de l’effet blister de la sérotonine sur les mutants pkc-2(ok328) a donné 8 candidats sur 5000 F1s : cx253, cx254, cx259, cx263, cx267, cx268, cx270, cx276. Les mutations ont été localisées sur les chromosomes par SNP mapping avec une souche de C. elegans très polymorphe, mais le temps a manqué pour leur identification exacte. L’expérience valide notre approche à étudier le lien entre la signalisation sérotoninergique et pkc-2. En résumé, le but de la thèse était de rechercher la fonction du gène pkc-2 dans les mécanismes moléculaires conduisant à la nécrose musculaire en absence de dystrophine. Les résultats présentés dans la thèse apportent des réponses aux questions fondamentales sur pkc-2 et aussi demandent des expériences supplémentaires afin de élucider plus avant les mécanismes de la dégénérescence musculaire dystrophine-dépendante. / Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked progressive muscle disease which is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Until now, there is no effective therapy for DMD. As the largest gene in human beings, it produces a 427-kDa cytoskeleton protein: Dystrophin. Dystrophin links actin and dystrophin associated protein complex (DAPC) in muscles. Currently, there are 3 hypotheses to explain the mechanisms of DMD. They suggest that the absence of dystrophin could lead to periodic muscle cell membrane ruptures, or affect the distribution and function of ion channels, or perturb signal transduction pathways. In Caenorhabditis elegans, there is only one homologue of mammalian dystrophin gene named dys-1, and the nematode protein DYS-1 presents 37% similar to the human one. The double mutant dys-1; hlh-1 exhibits a severe progressive muscle degeneration. The protein composition of the sarcomere has been studied and it has revealed a high degree of similarity with mammalian sarcomere. These allow C. elegans be a relevant animal model to study DMD.To understand why the lack of dystrophin induces muscle degeneration in mammals and worms, and to find new drugs that might help in reducing muscle degeneration, L. Ségalat and his coworkers performed several screens for drugs and genes suppressing muscle degeneration. An interesting gene pkc-2 came out and was considered as a possible regulator in the process of muscle degeneration in C. elegans. The protein that is encoded by this gene in C. elegans is an orthologous of the human gene Protein Kinase C Alpha (PKC), which belongs to the family of serine/threonine specific protein kinases. To study the function of pkc-2, we generated different recombinant constructs, analyzed the expression pattern of pkc-2 with immunocytochemistry, and performed yeast two-hybrid to search for PKC-2 binding partners. In addition, a neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) was found by drug screening to be an active blocker of striated muscle degeneration. As C. elegans lacking PKC-2 displays a severe blister phenotype in exogenous 5-HT, studying the correlation between PKC-2 and 5-HT therefore seems to be an opportunity to explore the reasons of muscle degeneration. A genetic screen with EMS (ethane methyl sulfonate) to search serotonin resistant mutant in strain pkc-2 (ok328) would help us study further about the role of pkc-2.In this thesis, different clones myo3::pkc-2 and pkc-2::gfp were made to inject into wild-type animals. The results revealed that pkc-2 expressed intensely in neurons and pharynx, but was not found in body-wall muscles. Mutants dys-1;hlh-1 fed with pkc-2 RNAi did not reduce muscle degeneration statistically comparing to triple mutant pkc-2;dys-1;hlh-1. This indicated that PKC-2 may be dominantly acting in neurons. A yeast two-hybrid screen identified the gene Y59A8A.3, which is a homologue to mammalian filamin A interacting protein 1 isoform 3, as a binding partner of PKC-2. Filamin A is a cytoskeleton protein, anchoring various trans-membrane proteins to the actin cytoskeleton and may also function as an important signaling scaffold. The result suggested that PKC-2 may therefore modulate filamin A activity through the filamin interacting protein 1. Genetic screen by EMS presented 8 candidates named cx253, cx254, cx259, cx263, cx267, cx268, cx270, cx276, which were mapped on chromosomes by SNP mapping using a polymorphic C. elegans strain, but time was too short to identify these genes formally. The experiment also offered possibilities of searching links between PKC-2 and serotonin pathways.In summary, this work studied the gene pkc-2 in order to reveal the function of PKC-2 and its involvement in muscle degeneration. The present results answered some questions about pkc-2, and needed further researches to elucidate the in vivo role of PKC-2 protein and its interaction with other proteins in the mechanism of muscle dystrophy in C. elegans.

The theory of the abyssal abiotic petroleum origin considers oil and natural gas to begenerated in the Earth’s upper mantle. Hydrocarbons migrate further through the deep faults into the Earth’s crust, where they can form oil and gas deposits in any kind of rock in any kind of structural position. Until recently one of the main obstacles for further development of this theory has been the lack of the data covering processes of generation and transformations of hydrocarbons. Experimental data, presented in this thesis, confirms the possibility of hydrocarbons formation from mantle inorganic compounds (water, Fe, CaCO3 or graphite) at temperature and pressure of the upper mantle (1500 K and 5 GPa). Experiments were carried out in CONAC high pressure device and multianvil apparatus BARS. Compositions of received gas mixtures were similar to natural gas. Quantity of hydrocarbons depended on the cooling regime of reaction mixture under pressure. Slow cooling favored higher quantity. We found that donor of carbon (CaCO3 or graphite) determines formation of “dry” (methane-rich) gas or “wet” (light hydrocarbons-rich) gas. Experiments in laser-heated diamond anvil cells showed that methane and ethane partially react under upper mantle thermobaric conditions (2-5 GPa, 1000-1500 K) to form mixture of hydrocarbons: methane, ethane, propane and n-butane – main compounds of natural gas. Similarity of final product mixture obtained from methane and ethane means thermodynamic stability of hydrocarbons in the thermobaric conditions of the upper mantle and equilibrium character of the observed processes. / QC 20101203

Microtransplantation of mammalian neurolemma into Xenopus laevis oocytes has been used to study ion channels in terms of their structure and function in the central nervous system. Use of microtransplanted neurolemma is advantageous in that tissue can be obtained from various sources, ion channels and receptors are present in their native configuration and they can be used to evaluate numerous channelpathies caused by environmental toxicants. Here we show that Xenopus oocytes injected with fragments of rat brain neurolemma successfully express functional native ion channels that are assembled in their own plasma membrane. Using a high throughput two electrode voltage clamp (TEVC) electrophysiological system, currents that were sensitive to tetrodotoxin (TTX), omega-conotoxin MVIIC, and tetraethylammonium (TEA) were detected, indicating the presence of multiple voltage-sensitive ion channels (voltage-sensitive sodium, calcium and potassium channels, respectively). In this current research, a “proof-of-principle” experiment was conducted where TTX-sensitive voltage-sensitive sodium channel (VSSC) currents were measured. VSSCs are a well-established site of action for 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-di(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) but not for its non-toxic metabolite 1,1-bis-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2-dichloroethene (DDE). A differential sensitivity of DDT versus DDE on TTX-sensitive sodium current in neurolemma-injected oocytes was determined. DDT elicited an increase in depolarization-dependent, TTX-sensitive sodium current while DDE had no significant effect. Additionally, DDT resulted in a slowing of sodium channel inactivation kinetics whereas DDE has no similar effect. These results are consistent with the findings obtained using heterologous expression of single isoforms of rat brain VSSCs by injecting cRNA into Xenopus oocytes. By demonstrating the classic structural activity relationship of DDT and DDE on mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels isolated in rat brain neurolemma, this study supports the use of automated high-throughput electrophysiology to study the effects of various environmental toxicants on multiple mammalian cellular targets. More importantly, using rat brain neurolemma ensures that the proteins of interest have been transcribed and have undergone all the necessary post-translational modifications before they were injected and expressed in the Xenopus oocytes which is not the case for traditional heterologous expression.

No description available.

The discovery of M (II)-α-diimine (M = Ni, Pd) catalysts has been promoting a revolution in industrial production of polyolefins, once these can produce polymers with different topologies only varying the reaction conditions, using only ethylene as monomer. This ability has been explored by many researchers in recent decades, experimental and theoretical levels. In this study, we developed theoretical calculations on the behavior of different catalytic systems in ethylene polymerization and dimerization reactions. In the first study, we employ the Hartree-Fock (HF) Method to evaluate energies and structures involved in steps representing the ethylene dimerization by Ni (II)-bis [(pyrazolyl) ethyl] amine cationic bulky complex, discussing the behavior of complex through the dimerization steps, π-complex formation, isomerization and low probability for trimerization during dimerization process. In the last two papers we describe a theoretical investigation of ethylene polymerization reaction catalyzed by cationic complexes bulky Ni (II)-α-diimine. We employ a combination of Density Functional Theory (DFT) and molecular mechanics (MM) contained in the ONIOM approach to evaluate structures and energies of representing steps of ethylene polymerization mechanism catalyzed by Brookhart and Guan systems, discussing electronic influences and stereo environment imposed by ligands around the active site in each stage of the process, highlighting the olefin coordination angles and isomerization process of growing polymer chain. / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / A descoberta de catalisadores do tipo M(II)-α-diimina (M=Ni, Pd) vem promovendo uma revolução na produção industrial de poliolefinas, pois estes podem produzir polímeros com diferentes topologias variando apenas as condições reacionais, usando apenas o eteno como monômero. Esta habilidade foi explorada por diversos pesquisadores nas últimas décadas, em nível experimental e teórico. Neste estudo, desenvolvemos cálculos teóricos sobre o comportamento de diferentes sistemas catalíticos nas reações de polimerização e dimerização do eteno. No primeiro estudo, empregamos o Método Hartree-Fock (HF) para avaliar energias e estruturas envolvidas nos passos representativos da dimerização do eteno via complexo catiônico volumoso do tipo Ni(II)-bis[(pirazolil)etil]amina, discutindo o comportamento do complexo ao longo dos passos da dimerização, formação de complexos-π, isomerização da cadeia e baixa probabilidade para trimerização durante o processo de imerização.Nos dois últimos trabalhos descrevemos uma investigação teórica da reação de polimerização do eteno catalisada por complexos catiônicos volumosos Ni(II)-α-diimina. Empregamos a combinação da Teoria do Funcional de Densidade (DFT) e Mecânica Molecular (MM), contida na aproximação ONIOM, para avaliar estruturas e energias dos passos representativos do mecanismo de polimerização do eteno catalisado pelos sistemas de Brookhart e Guan discutindo as influências eletrônicas e do ambiente estéreo imposto pelos ligantes em torno do sítio ativo em cada estágio do processo, enfatizando principalmente ângulos de coordenação da olefina e processo de isomerização da cadeia polimérica em crescimento.