No description available.

Mikroplastik (Kunststoff-Partikel < 5 mm) wurde in den vergangenen Jahren vermehrt in verschiedenen marinen Ökosystemen nachgewiesen und erreicht regelmäßig wissenschaftliche und öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit. Es wird als potentielle Gefahr für die marine Umwelt angesehen. Aufgrund der geringen Größe kann Mikroplastik von marinen Organismen mit der Nahrung verwechselt werden und infolge dessen in den Magen-Darm-Trakt gelangen. Ob die so aufgenommenen Partikel zu einer Schädigung der Organismen führen und welche Wirkungsmechanismen dabei eine Rolle spielen, ist derzeit noch nicht umfassend geklärt. In diesem Zusammenhang wird Mikroplastik beispielsweise als Transportvehikel für enthaltene Kunststoffadditive, für adsorbierte persistente organische Schadstoffe sowie für potentiell pathogene Mikroorganismen diskutiert. Für eine Risikobewertung sind in erster Linie zuverlässige Daten über die Mikroplastik-Gehalte in verschiedenen Umweltkompartimenten nötig. Dazu werden geeignete und sichere analytische Verfahren zur Identifizierung und Quantifizierung von Mikroplastik in Umweltproben benötigt. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es bestehende Wissenslücken im Bereich der Mikroplastik-Analytik zu schließen und Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der FTIR- und Raman-Spektroskopie für die analytische Untersuchung von marinen Mikroplastik-Proben aufzuzeigen. Dazu wurde zunächst ein Filtersubstrat entwickelt, das für eine umfassende Untersuchung von filtrierten Mikroplastik-Proben sowohl mittels Transmission FTIR- als auch mittels Raman-Mikroskopie geeignet ist. Des Weiteren wurde Raman Imaging als neuartige Methode zur Identifizierung von Mikroplastik etabliert und hinsichtlich verschiedener Messparameter optimiert. Die Anwendbarkeit dieses neuen Analyseansatzes wurde an realen Umweltproben gezeigt. Beide spektroskopische Verfahren (IR und Raman) wurden anhand von Modellproben und realen Umweltproben miteinander verglichen und validiert. Zusätzlich dazu wurden die spektroskopischen Ergebnisse an ausgewählten Proben mit der thermoanalytischen py-GC/MS-Methode verglichen und beurteilt. Im dritten Teil der Arbeit wurden die Mikroplastik-Gehalte in Sedimentproben aus dem Mündungsbereich der Warnow, einem bedeutenden Zufluss zur Ostsee, bestimmt. Dabei wurden lokale Eintragspfade abgeschätzt sowie Senke von Mikroplastik identifiziert.:1 Motivation und Zielstellung 2 Wissenschaftlicher Hintergrund 3 Experimenteller Teil 4 Ergebnisse und Diskussion 5 Zusammenfassung und Ausblick Anhang Literaturverzeichnis Abbildungsverzeichnis Tabellenverzeichnis Danksagung Publikationsliste Versicherung

Sodium dithionite (Na2S2O4) is a powerful reducing agent. It has therefore been suggested to be used as an additive in kraft pulping to improve the yield. However, sodium dithionite easily decomposes and it is thus important to determine the effect of different conditions. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate the thermal stability of sodium dithionite under anaerobic conditions using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy under different conditions, such as heating temperature, concentration of the solution, heating time and pH. The stability of sodium dithionite was found to decrease with increasing heating temperature, concentration of sodium dithionite, heating time and pH. Sodium dithionite was found to be relatively stable at moderate alkaline pH:s 11.5 and 12.5, while a rapid decrease in stability with time was noted at higher heating temperatures and concentrations of sodium dithionite. Based on this study on the thermal stability of sodium dithionite, the following conditions are suggested as the most promising, when adding sodium dithionite to the kraft cooking as an additive; pH 12.5, with 0.4 M concentration of the solution, at a heating temperature of 100 °C.

Cholera toxin (CT) moves from the cell surface to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where the catalytic CTA1 subunit separates from the holotoxin and unfolds due to its intrinsic thermal instability. Unfolded CTA1 then moves through an ER translocon pore to reach its cytosolic target. Due to the instability of CTA1, it must be actively refolded in the cytosol to achieve the proper conformation for modification of its G protein target. The cytosolic heat shock protein Hsp90 is involved with the ER-to-cytosol translocation of CTA1, yet the mechanistic role of Hsp90 in CTA1 translocation remains unknown. Potential post-translocation roles for Hsp90 in modulating the activity of cytosolic CTA1 are also unknown. Here, we show by isotope-edited Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy that Hsp90 induces a gain-of-structure in disordered CTA1 at physiological temperature. Only the ATP-bound form of Hsp90 interacts with disordered CTA1, and its refolding of CTA1 is dependent upon ATP hydrolysis. In vitro reconstitution of the CTA1 translocation event likewise required ATP hydrolysis by Hsp90. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments found that Hsp90 does not release CTA1, even after ATP hydrolysis and the return of CTA1 to a folded conformation. The interaction with Hsp90 allowed disordered CTA1 to attain an active state and did not prevent further stimulation of toxin activity by ADP-ribosylation factor 6, a host cofactor for CTA1. This activity is consistent with its role as a chaperone that refolds endogenous cytosolic proteins as part of a foldosome complex consisting of Hsp90, Hop, Hsp40, p23, and Hsc70. A role for Hsc70 in CT intoxication has not yet been established. Here, biophysical, biochemical, and cell-based assays demonstrate Hsp90 and Hsc70 play overlapping roles in the processing of CTA1. Using SPR we determined that Hsp90 and Hsc70 could bind independently to CTA1 at distinct locations with high affinity, even in the absence of the Hop linker. Studies using isotope-edited FTIR spectroscopy found that, like Hsp90, Hsc70 induces a gain-of-structure in unfolded CTA1. The interaction between CTA1 and Hsc70 is essential for intoxication, as an RNAi-induced loss of the Hsc70 protein generates a toxin-resistant phenotype. Further analysis using isotope-edited FTIR spectroscopy demonstrated that the addition of both Hsc70 and Hsp90 to unfolded CTA1 produced a gain-of-structure above that of the individual chaperones. Our data suggest that CTA1 translocation involves a ratchet mechanism which couples the Hsp90-mediated refolding of CTA1 with extraction from the ER. The subsequent binding of Hsc70 further refolds CTA1 in a manner not previously observed in foldosome complex formation. The interaction of CTA1 with these chaperones is essential to intoxication and this work elucidates details of the intoxication process not previously known.

No description available.

The stable free radical polymerization methodology for production of controlled macromolecules was investigated using a novel monomer, 2-vinylnaphthalene. Initial polymerizations resulted in molecular weight distributions typical of conventional free radical polymerization techniques (>2.0). Manipulation of the initiator concentration and the molar ratio of initiator to nitroxide demonstrated no significant control over the resulting polymer products. Analysis of the polymerization kinetics for a 2-vinylnaphthalene polymerization performed in the presence and absence of the free radical initiator revealed identical monomer consumption profiles as well as pseudo first order kinetics indicating a significant degree of the thermal polymerization was occurring at the polymerization temperature (130°C). Comparison of the thermal polymerization propensity of 2-vinylnaphthalene and styrene revealed an increased tendency for 2-vinylnapthahlene to undergo thermal polymerization. Styrene is considered highly active in its propensity to thermally polymerize. However, an Arhenius analysis using in situ FTIR was employed to determine the activation energy for the thermal polymerization of styrene and 2-vinylnaphthalene. The 2-vinylnaphthalene activation energy for thermal polymerization was determined for the first time to be almost 30 kJ/mol less than styrene. A novel modified Mayo mechanism was proposed for the 2-vinylnaphthalene thermal initiation mechanism. Moreover, this thermal initiation was employed to initiate nitroxide mediated polymerizations of styrene. This first use of a 2-vinylnaphthalene initiating system resulted in polystyrene with a large macrocyclic initiating fragment. The presence of the initiating moiety was studied using both UV-Vis spectroscopy and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The extension of stable free radical polymerization to the acrylate monomer family was examined using a novel nitroxide mediator, N-tert-butyl-N-[1-diethylphosphono-(2,2-dimethylpropyl)] nitroxide (DEPN). The synthesis of DEPN was monitored using in situ FTIR spectroscopy to determine optimum reaction conditions. The purified nitroxide was subsequently employed in the synthesis of various block and random acrylate copolymers. The production of a unique amphiphilic block copolymer consisting of acrylic sequences was achieved. Poly(t-butyl acrylate-b-2ethylhexyl acrylate-b-t-butyl acrylate) was synthesized using the SFRP process. The t-butyl functionalities were subsequently removed in a post-polymerization acid catalyzed hydrolysis. The effect of steric bulk and electronic factors on the resulting SFRP process was also investigated and revealed similar polymerization kinetics for various alkyl acrylates. However, addition of a hydroxyl containing monomer, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, resulted in an increase in the polymerization rate up to 2 times. The rate enhancement was attributed to hydrogen bonding effects and this was confirmed using the unprecedented addition of dodecanol, which also demonstrated a significant rate enhancement. Block copolymers were also achieved using a novel difunctional nitroxide synthesized from 4-hydroxy TEMPO and 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate. The identity of the nitroxide was confirmed using mass spectrometry and 1H NMR. The dinitroxide was used in the polymerization of styrene and subsequently used to produce symmetric ABA triblock copolymers with t-butyl styrene using a unique two-step polymerization route. In addition, the dinitroxide demonstrated an increased tendency for decomposition due to the complex mediation equilibrium. The decomposition was studied using GPC to evaluate the decomposition effects on the polymerization. Results of the research efforts presented herein are written as individual research reports with contributing authors and pertinent literature reviews presented at the beginning of each chapter. / Ph. D.

BACKGROUND:In a globalized word, prevention of infectious diseases is a major challenge. Rapid detection of viable virus particles in water and other environmental samples is essential to public health risk assessment, homeland security and environmental protection. Current virus detection methods, especially assessing viral infectivity, are complex and time-consuming, making point-of-care detection a challenge. Faster, more sensitive, highly specific methods are needed to quantify potentially hazardous viral pathogens and to determine if suspected materials contain viable viral particles. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with cellular-based sensing, may offer a precise way to detect specific viruses. This approach utilizes infrared light to monitor changes in molecular components of cells by tracking changes in absorbance patterns produced following virus infection. In this work poliovirus (PV1) was used to evaluate the utility of FTIR spectroscopy with cell culture for rapid detection of infective virus particles.RESULTS:Buffalo green monkey kidney (BGMK) cells infected with different virus titers were studied at 1 - 12 hours post-infection (h.p.i.). A partial least squares (PLS) regression method was used to analyze and model cellular responses to different infection titers and times post-infection. The model performs best at 8 h.p.i., resulting in an estimated root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 17 plaque forming units (PFU)/ml when using low titers of infection of 10 and 100 PFU/ml. Higher titers, from 103 to 106 PFU/ml, could also be reliably detected.CONCLUSIONS:This approach to poliovirus detection and quantification using FTIR spectroscopy and cell culture could potentially be extended to compare biochemical cell responses to infection with different viruses. This virus detection method could feasibly be adapted to an automated scheme for use in areas such as water safety monitoring and medical diagnostics.

This thesis presents the study of a selection of gas phase chemical processes using time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) emission spectroscopy. Such processes include molecular energy transfer, chemical reaction and photodissociation. The major focus of this thesis was the investigation of collisional energy transfer from the electronically excited states of NO and OH, with particular attention paid to the fate of the electronic energy. NO A²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) is prepared by laser excitation, pumping the overlapped Q₁ and P₂₁ band heads of the NO A-X (0,0) transition at 226.257 nm. The quenching of this state by O₂ and CO₂ was studied. Experiments were performed to investigate what channels contribute to the quenching process, the branching ratio of these different channels and the partitioning of energy among the various products. Quenching by O₂ was found to proceed mostly through non-reactive channels. High vibrational excitation of NO X ²&Pi; was observed, with population detected in v = 22, representing 79% of the available energy. The O₂ product was found to be formed in more than one electronic state: the ground state, X ³&Sigma;^-<sub style='position: relative; left: -.3em;'>g</sub>, and a high-lying electronically excited state, such as the A ³&Sigma;⁺<sub style='position: relative; left: -.5em;'>u</sub>, A' ³&Delta;_u or c ¹&Sigma;^-<sub style='position: relative; left: -.5em;'>u</sub> states. A reactive channel producing vibrationally excited NO₂ was observed, but was found to be a minor process with an upper limit of 18% for the branching ratio. In contrast the quenching of NO A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) by CO₂ was found to proceed predominately by reaction, with a branching ratio of 76 %. While emission from NO₂ was observed, it was weak, and therefore it was concluded that the main reaction products were CO, O(³P) and NO X ²&Pi;(v = 0). The nascent strong CO₂ v3 emission band from the non-reactive channel exhibited a large red-shift from its fundamental position. This indicates that the CO₂ vibrational distribution is significantly hotter than statistical. Investigations were then performed studying the quenching of NO A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 1) by NO and CO₂, with both systems exhibiting similar characteristics to the quenching of the ground vibrational level of NO A ²&Sigma;⁺. From comparison of the emission intensity of the CO fundamental and CO₂ v3 mode following quenching of the v = 0 and 1 levels of the NO A ²&Sigma;⁺ state, it was concluded that the branching ratio for reactive quenching was larger in the latter case. Secondly, experiments were performed to measure the rate constants for the quenching of NO A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) by the noble gases. The noble gases are inefficient quenchers of electronically excited NO and therefore careful experimental design was required to minimise the influence of impurities on the results. All the rate constants were found to be of the order of 10^-14 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1. The value for Xe was 50 times smaller than reported previously in the literature. In light of this new measurement, a re-analysis of experiments, performed previously in the group, on the electronic quenching of NO A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) by Xe was performed. A very hot vibrational distribution of NO X ²&Pi; was obtained. Next, the collisional quenching of OH A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) by H₂ was investigated. OH radicals were generated in situ by the photolysis of HNO₃ at 193 nm, which were excited to the A ²&Sigma;⁺(v = 0) state on the overlapped Q₁(1) and P₂₁(1) rotational lines at 307.935 nm. Reactive quenching was found to be the major pathway, in agreement with the literature. Copious emission from vibrationally excited water was observed. Comparison of this emission with theoretical calculations revealed a hotter distribution than predicted. It was concluded that the energy channelled into the vibrational modes of H₂O is in excess of 60% of the available energy. Experiments performed with D₂ allowed the non-reactive channel to be studied; a cold vibrational distribution of the OH X ²&Pi; was observed. Finally the reaction between CN radicals and cyclohexane was studied. CN was generated by the photolysis of ICN at 266 nm. Prompt emission from HCN in the C-H stretching region was observed meaning the new bond was formed in a vibrationally excited state. Analysis of the emission revealed HCN was populated up to v3 = 2. Excellent agreement with the results of a theoretical study of the system was found.

M. Tech. (Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Applied and Computer Science), Vaal University of Technology / Cadmium and cobalt complexes of urea and thiourea were synthesized using ethanol as a solvent. All complexes were refluxed at 70 - 80 °C, left to cool at room temperature, washed with methanol and acetone to remove impurities and dried at an open environment. The characterization of complexes was done using FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and TGA. The complexes were found to coordination with the ligands through sulphur and oxygen atoms to the metal, instead of nitrogen. These were as results of wavelength shifting from high to low frequency from spectra of the complexes as compare to their free ligands. These observations make these complexes good candidates for the possible use in synthesis of metal sulphides or oxides nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analyses of all the complexes were conducted to check the stability of use as precursors for nanoparticles at low and high temperature. A number of thiourea and urea complexes with cadmium and cobalt have been prepared and used in the preparation of metal sulphides/oxides nanoparticles. Complexes start to decompose at low temperature about 100°C and the last decomposition step was at about 800-900°C, which is convenient to thermal decomposition of precursors in the high boiling solvents or capping agent to prepare surface capped metal sulphides/oxides nanoparticles. The complexes were easy to synthesize, low cost and stable in air and were obtained in reasonable yields. All the complexes reported in this study have been used as single source molecular precursor in the preparation of cadmium oxide, cadmium sulphide, cobalt oxide, cobalt sulphide nanoparticles (normal) and as mixture of any two complexes to form core-shells nanoparticles. Quality nanoparticles synthesis requires three components: precursors, organic surfactants and solvents. The synthesis of the nanoparticles can be thought of as a nucleation event, followed by a subsequent growth period. Both the nucleation and growth rates were found to be dependent upon factors such as temperature, growth time, and precursor concentration. For a continuous flow system the residence time (at nucleation and growth conditions) was also found to be important. In order to separate the nucleation and growth events, injection techniques were employed to achieve rapid nucleation of nanoparticles with final size dictated by the growth temperature and/or residence time through the growth zone of the reaction system. Good crystalline normal nanoparticles were obtained from thermolysis of the precursors in hexadecylamine (HDA) as the capping agent at fixed concentrations, temperature and time. All nanoparticles showed a blue-shift in band edges with good photoluminescence behaviour which is red-shifted from their respective band edges and XRD patterns, the crystal structure are in hexagonal phase. The particles showed rods, spheres and hexagonal shapes. Nucleation and growth mechanism brings new avenue in nanostructures called core-shells, which have been reported to have improved luminescence, quantum yields, decreased fluorescence lifetimes, and benefits related to the tailoring of the relative band-gap positions between the two materials. In this study cadmium and cobalt complexes of urea and thiourea were separately dispersed in TOP and injected separately (allowing nucleation/core to occur, followed by the shell) in hot HDA at 180ºC for 1hour to yield core-shell nanoparticles. Parameters, such as concentration, temperature and capping molecule as factor affecting nucleation and growth of the core-shells were monitored. The core-shell nanoparticles were characterized by UV/Vis spectroscopy, XRD and TEM. We observed spherical, tripod, bipods, hexagonal and irregular shaped nanoparticle as the concentration of the precursors was increasing, however we were able to form core-shells nanoparticles in one set of experiment 1:3 CdS-CdO, which are assumed to be a reverse type I coreshells nanoparticles. Exciton absorption peaks at higher energy than the fundamental absorption edge of bulk indicate quantum confinement effect in nanoparticles as a consequence of their small size. XRD patterns, crystals range from hexagonal, cubic and mixture of hexagonal and orthorhombic. A low temperature studies were also conducted a mixture of hexagonal and sphererical shapes with sheets like onion morphology were observed. / NRF HUB & SPOKES (VUT)

Le sujet de cette thèse concerne le développement et la caractérisation de résines photosensibles pour le prototypage rapide. L'étude a tout d'abord consisté à optimiser des systèmes photoréticulables commerciaux : systèmes hybrides acrylates/époxydes. La réactivité des différentes formulations préparées ainsi que leurs propriétés thermomécaniques ont pu être évaluées grâce à la spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier résolue dans le temps (RT-FTIR) et par analyse mécanique dynamique (DMA). En parallèle, une étude plus fondamentale visant à mieux comprendre et à contrôler la formation de réseaux polymères interpénétrés simultanés méthacrylate/époxyde a été menée. L'influence de paramètres physico-chimiques tels que l'intensité lumineuse, la concentration en photoamorceur sur les propriétés finales du matériau a notamment été abordée. Ensuite, des résines dont la chimie est moins conventionnelle ont été considérées. Comme très peu de ces monomères sont disponibles commercialement, certains d'entre eux ont dû être synthétisés. Certaines formulations ont démontré non seulement une bonne réactivité mais aussi d'intéressantes propriétés thermomécaniques et une limitation du retrait de polymérisation. Finalement, une méthode de mesure du retrait linéaire simple et facile à mettre en œuvre a été mise en place afin de comparer les différents systèmes chimiques proposés au cours de la thèse. L'utilisation de cet outil est très appréciable car il pourrait permettre de choisir le type de formulations induisant le moins de retrait possible lors de la réalisation d'un objet couche par couche. / The aim of this thesis is to develop and characterize UV curable resins for rapid prototyping application. The study started with the optimization of commercially available hybrid acrylate/epoxide systems (IPNs) commonly used in this industrial field. The reactivity of the different tested formulations in conjunction with their thermomechanical properties have been assessed by means of Real time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (RT FTIR) and Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). In the meantime, a more academic study has been performed on an epoxide/methacrylate mixture in order to get a better understanding and a control of the IPN formation. The influence of the light intensity and the photoinitiator concentration on the final properties has been examined. Then, UV curable resins whose chemistry is less conventional have been considered. Owing to the lack of commercial availability of some monomers, time has been spent to synthesize them. Some formulations display promising features especially in terms of reactivity, thermomechanical properties and linear shrinkage. Finally, a simple method to measure linear shrinkage has been set up to compare the different systems proposed during the thesis and thus evidences the less shrinkable UV curable system.