ix, 125 leaves : tables, graphs ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1977

No description available.

The work described in this dissertation focused on chemistry related to the use of aqueous sodium hydroxide as a treatment in the processing of wheat straw. A major emphasis was the comprehensive evaluation of straw component partitioning due to sodium hydroxide (NaOH) processing. This was evaluated over a range of NaOH concentrations (0­‐10%, w/v), all at 50°C, 5 h treatment period, and 3% solid loading. Solid and liquid phases resulting from NaOH treatments were evaluated. Total solids recovered in the NaOH­‐treated solid phase ranged from 47.4­‐88.0%. Overall carbohydrate recovery in the combined solid and liquid phases was negatively correlated with the alkali concentration of the treatment liquor. The glucan content of the NaOH‐treated solid phase ranged from 37.2­‐67.4%. Glucan recovery in the solid phase was relatively high in all cases, the minimum value being ~98%. Increasing amounts of xylan partitioned into the liquid phase as sodium hydroxide concentrations increased – it ranged from 31­‐83% of the xylan being recovered in the soluble phase. Carbohydrate analyses of the pretreated liquor revealed that the majority of carbohydrate loss from the solid fraction could be recovered in the liquid phase in form of oligomers and monomers due to alkaline degradation. The interconversion of glucose, fructose, and mannose under the alkaline condition played an important role in the presence of those sugars. Increase in NaOH concentration contributed to increase in amount of cellulose­‐derived and hemicellulose‐derived oligomers in the pretreated liquor. All oligomers except fructooligomers in NaOH pretreated liquor were higher than those found in water extraction at 50°C, 5 h. Total carbohydrate recovery from the solid and liquid fractions was as high as 99% for glucose and glucan in 5% NaOH treatment and 80‐95% for xylose and xylan in 1-­10% NaOH treatment. The presence of NaOH as extraction reagent dramatically induced lignin and ash removal from the pretreated solid with up to 63% acid insoluble lignin (AIL) and 87% ash extraction. Solid fractions resulting from NaOH pretreatments (up to 5% NaOH) were tested for their susceptibility to enzymatic saccharification using cellulase and cellulase/xylanase enzyme preparations. The cellulase/xylanase enzyme preparation was found to be more effective at cellulose saccharification than the cellulase enzyme preparation alone. Maximum glucose yield, which corresponded to the 5% NaOH treatment, was 82% over the standard 48 h saccharification period. Extended saccharifications times to 120 h showed that the conversion yield approached 90%. Sequential treatments of the straw (i.e. initial alkali treatment – first enzyme saccharification – second alkali treatment ‐ second enzyme treatment) revealed the NaOH treatment has the potential to render essentially all (~99%) of the straw glucan susceptible to enzyme saccharification. This suggests that the layered molecular arrangement of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in the cell wall impacts biomass recalcitrance and glucan conversion yield. The other major focus of this dissertation research was the characterization of alkali neutralization, which occurs during the aqueous alkali processing of wheat straw. The approach taken was to evaluate the time course of alkali uptake and to determine the underlying nature of alkali uptake. The knowledge generated from this study is useful for understanding the nature of the alkali‐induced chemistry that is at the heart of alkali processing of agricultural byproducts, foods, and forest products. Alkali uptake/acid generation measurements were monitored for wheat straw suspensions at pH 11 and 30°C. The first phase of alkali uptake corresponded to the 30‐second time period over which the pH of the wheat straw suspension was adjusted from its original pH (~6.6) to pH 11. Alkali neutralization during this period was attributed to the instantaneous ionization of solvent accessible Bronstad acids. Following pH adjustment to 11.0, the time course of subsequent alkali uptake was recorded. The time course appeared biphasic. The early phase, which corresponded to the relatively rapid uptake of alkali, was evident during the first 24 hours. The later phase, which was characterized by the relatively slow uptake of alkali, was maintained for the length of the study (up to 96 hours). Alkali uptake during the early phase of the time course appears to be determined by the rate of hydrolysis of readily accessible esters – primarily acetic acid esters (acetyl groups). Alkali uptake during the later phase of the time course appears to be impacted by the rate of alkali penetration into the straw and the rate of production of alkali‐induced acid degradation products. The uptake of alkali in the pH adjustment phase was ~ 120 μEq per gram wheat straw, the uptake of alkali in the early phase of time course was ~ 1,064 μEq per gram wheat straw, and the rate of uptake in the later phase of the time course 6.10 μEq per gram wheat straw per hour. Amount of acetyl groups, ferulic acid, and p-­coumaric acid generated during 96-­h pretreatment revealed that they are major esters being hydrolyzed under the studied condition. Combined, these ester-­derived acids contributed up to ~ 28% of overall alkali uptake. In addition, alkaline degradation products quantified in this study showed additional ~ 28% contribution to the overall alkali uptake. / Graduation date: 2012

<p>U&nbsp; radu&nbsp; su&nbsp; ostvarene&nbsp; vi&scaron;efazne&nbsp; sinteze&nbsp; većeg&nbsp; broja&nbsp; analoga&nbsp; prirodnih&nbsp; stiril-laktona&nbsp; (+)-goniofufurona&nbsp; i&nbsp; 7-epi-(+)-goniofufurona&nbsp; polazeći&nbsp; iz&nbsp; D-glukoze.<br />Ispitana&nbsp; je&nbsp; in&nbsp; vitro&nbsp; citotoksičnost&nbsp; sintetizovanih&nbsp; analoga&nbsp; prema&nbsp; devet<br />malignih&nbsp; i&nbsp; jednoj&nbsp; zdravoj&nbsp; ćelijskoj&nbsp; liniji.&nbsp; Uspostavljeni&nbsp; su&nbsp; korelacioni&nbsp; odnosi<br />izmedju&nbsp; strukture&nbsp; i&nbsp; antiproliferati vne&nbsp; aktivnosti&nbsp; sintetizovanih&nbsp; proizvoda, pored&nbsp; toga&nbsp; uradjeni&nbsp; su&nbsp; i&nbsp; dodatni&nbsp; biolo&scaron;ki&nbsp; testovi&nbsp; koji&nbsp; se&nbsp; odnose&nbsp; na dokazivanje&nbsp; mehanizma&nbsp; citotoksičnog&nbsp; dejstva&nbsp; pomenutih&nbsp; stiril-laktona&nbsp; i analoga.</p> / <p>Multistep&nbsp; synthesis&nbsp; of&nbsp;&nbsp; a&nbsp; number&nbsp; of&nbsp; natural&nbsp; styryl&nbsp; lactones&nbsp;goniofufurone&nbsp; and&nbsp; 7-epi-goniofufurone&nbsp; analogues&nbsp; was&nbsp; achieved&nbsp;starting&nbsp; f rom&nbsp; D-glucose.&nbsp; In&nbsp; vitro&nbsp; cytotoxicity&nbsp; of&nbsp; newly&nbsp; synthetized analogues&nbsp; against&nbsp; nine&nbsp; human&nbsp; tumour&nbsp; cell&nbsp; lines&nbsp; and&nbsp; against&nbsp; a single normal cell line was evaluated. Structure-activity relationships were&nbsp; established&nbsp; for&nbsp; both&nbsp; natural&nbsp; products&nbsp; and&nbsp; analogues.&nbsp; Some additional&nbsp; biological&nbsp; tests&nbsp; related&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; cell mechanisms&nbsp; underlying the&nbsp; cytotoxicity&nbsp; of&nbsp;&nbsp; the&nbsp; mentioned&nbsp; styryl&nbsp; lactones&nbsp; and&nbsp; analogues, were also carried out.</p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Glucose homeostasis is maintained through the coordinated actions of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells and insulin action in peripheral tissues. Dysfunction of insulin action yields insulin resistance, and when coupled with altered insulin secretion, results in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Exocytosis of intracellular vesicles, such as insulin granules and glucose transporter (GLUT4) vesicles is carried out by similar SNARE (soluble NSF attachment receptor) protein isoforms and Munc18 proteins. An additional regulatory protein, Doc2b, was implicated in the regulation of these particular exocytosis events in clonal cell lines, but relevance of Doc2b in the maintenance of whole body glucose homeostasis in vivo remained unknown. The objective of my doctoral work was to delineate the mechanisms underlying regulation of insulin secretion and glucose uptake by Doc2b in effort to identify new therapeutic targets within these processes for the prevention and/or treatment of T2D. Towards this, mice deficient in Doc2b (Doc2b-/- knockout mice) were assessed for in vivo alterations in glucose homeostasis. Doc2b knockout mice were highly susceptible to preclinical T2D, exhibiting significant whole-body glucose intolerance related to insulin secretion insufficiency as well as peripheral insulin resistance. These phenotypic defects were accounted for by defects in assembly of SNARE complexes. Having determined that Doc2b was required in the control over whole body glycemia in vivo, whether Doc2b is also limiting for these mechanisms in vivo was examined. To study this, novel Doc2b transgenic (Tg) mice were engineered to express ~3 fold more Doc2b exclusively in pancreas, skeletal muscle and fat tissues. Compared to normal littermate mice, Doc2b Tg mice had improved glucose tolerance, related to concurrent enhancements in insulin mumsecretion from beta cells and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in the skeletal muscle. At the molecular level, Doc2b overexpression promoted SNARE complex assembly, increasing exocytotic capacities in both cellular processes. These results unveiled the concept that intentional elevation of Doc2b could provide a means of mitigating two primary aberrations underlying T2D development.

<p>U radu je ostvarena enantiodivergentna totalna sinteza oba enantiomera goniofufurona, 7-epi-goniofufurona i krasalaktona C polazeći iz D-glukoze. Ključne faze u sintezi 7-epi-(+)-goniofufurona bile su stereoselektivna adicija fenilmagnezijum bromida na aldehidnu grupu pogodno za&scaron;tićene dialdoze, i stereospecifično formiranje furano-laktonskog prstena ciklokondenzacijom odabranog hemiacetalnog derivata sa Meldrum-ovom kiselinom. Sinteza (+)-goniofufurona i (+)-krasalaktona C zahtevala je inverziju konfiguracije na C-5<br />u zajedničkom intermedijeru, koja je efikasno ostvarena u uslovima Mitsunobu-ove reakcije, ili alternativno oksidacijom benzilne hidroksilne grupe u prohiralni keton, uz naknadnu stereoselektivnu redukcijom sa borohidridom. Sličan pristup je zatim primenjen za sintezu neprirodnih (&minus;)-enantiomera goniofufurona, 7-epi-goniofufurona i krasalaktona C, dva nova konformaciono ograničena analoga (+)- i (&minus;)-goniofufurona (oksetani 36 i ent-36), kao i odgovarajućih 7-deoksigenovanih derivata (31 i ent-31). Takodje je razvijena i prva totalna sinteza prirodnog (+)-krasalaktona B (3) i alternativna sinteza (+)-krasalaktona C (4) polazeći iz D-glukoze. Selektivni pristup molekulima 3, odnosno 4 omogućen je promenom uslova za TBDPS deprotekciju u finalnom intermedijeru 53. Osnovna karakteristika pomenutih pristupa je njihova generalnost i fleksibilnost. Na taj način je omogućena sinteza serije analoga i derivata (+)-goniofufurona, ili 7-epi-goniofufurona, uključujući i do sada nepoznate 7-epi-(+)-krasalaktone B (6) i C (7), 5,7-di-O-cinamoil derivate 8 i 9, 5,7-di-O-izopropilidenske derivate 5 i 10, kao i vi&scaron;e lipofilnih derivata (jedinjenja 26, 30, 33, 65, ent-30 i ent-33). Konačno, u drugom delu rada, ispitan je uticaj sintetizovanih stiril-laktona na rast odabranih tumorskih ćelijskih linija in vitro.</p> / <p> Enantiodivergent total syntheses of both (+)- and (&minus;)-enantiomers of goniofufurone, 7-epi-goniofufurone and crassalactone C have been accomplished starting from D-glucose. The key steps of the synthe-sis of 7-epi-(+)-goniofufurone were a stereo-selective addition of&nbsp;<br /> phenyl magnesium bromide to a protected dialdose, followed by a stereospecific furano-lactone ring formation by condensation of a partially protected lactole with Meldrum&rsquo;s acid. The synthesis of (+)-goniofufurone and (+)-crassalactone C required a configurational inversion at C-5 in the common intermediate that was efficiently achieved under the standard Mitsunobu conditions, or alternatively through a sequential oxidation of the benzylic hydroxyl group followed by a stereo-selective reduction with borohydride. A similar approach was applied to the synthesis of the unnatural enantiomers of goniofufurone, 7-epi-goniofufurone and crassalactone C, two novel, conformationally constrained analogues of both (+)- and (&minus;)-goniofufurone (oxetanes 34 and ent-34). as well as the corresponding 7-deoxygenated derivatives (31 and ent-31). We have also developed the first total synthesis of (+)-crassalactone B (2) and an alternative synthesis of (+)-crassalactone C (3) starting from D-glucose. Finally, the synthesized styryl-lactones were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against a panel of human tumor cell lines.</p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Recent advancements in the management of systemic glucose regulation in obesity/T2DM include drug therapies designed to utilize components of the incretin system specifically related to glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). More recently, GLP-1 has been investigated for potential cardioprotective effects. Several investigations have revealed that acute/sub-acute intravenous administration of GLP-1 significantly reduces myocardial infarct size following ischemia/reperfusion injury and improves cardiac contractile function in the settings of coronary artery disease, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, and heart failure. Despite an abundance of data indicating that intravenous infusion of GLP-1 is cardioprotective, information has been lacking on the cardiac effects of iv GLP-1 in the MetS or T2DM population. Some important questions this study aimed to address are 1) what are the direct, dose-dependent cardiac effects of GLP-1 in-vivo 2) are the cardiac effects influenced by cardiac demand (MVO2) and/or ischemia, 3) does GLP-1 effect myocardial blood flow, glucose uptake or total oxidative metabolism in human subjects, and 4) are the cardiac effects of GLP-1 treatment impaired in the settings of obesity/MetS and T2DM. Initial studies conducted in canines demonstrated that GLP-1 had no direct effect on coronary blood flow in-vivo or vasomotor tone in-vitro, but preferentially increased myocardial glucose uptake in ischemic myocardium independent of effects on cardiac contractile function or coronary blood flow. Parallel translational studies conducted in the humans and Ossabaw swine demonstrate that iv GLP-1 significantly increases myocardial glucose uptake at rest and in response to increases in cardiac demand (MVO2) in lean subjects, but not in the settings of obesity/MetS and T2DM. Further investigation in isolated cardiac tissue from lean and obese/MetS swine indicate that this impairment in GLP-1 responsiveness is related to attenuated activation of p38-MAPK, independent of alterations in GLP-1 receptor expression or PKA-dependent signaling. Our results indicate that the affects of GLP-1 to reduce cardiac damage and increase left ventricular performance may be impaired by obesity/MetS and T2DM.