Universiẗat, Diss., 2000--Heidelberg.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--Heidelberg.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--München.

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2003--Aachen.

Antergan is one of the ethylenediamine type of antihistamines; in this work ten analogues of it were prepared. That pπ conjugation is essential to antergan's antihistaminic activity has already been established. Six of these analogues (A-l a-d, and B-l and 2, illustrated in Fig. 2 , p. 4 ) were synthesized in order that the significance of pπ conjugation in the antihistaminic properties of antergan molecule may at some future time be investigated. The problem is to find in what way alteration (i. e. , increase or decrease in) electronic density of the pπ -conjugated moiety of the molecule affects antihistaminic activity. The analogues A-l a-d involved ortho-, meta-, and para-methyl, and para-bromo substitution to the aromatic ring which gives rise to pπ conjugation in the antergan molecule; while the ring which gives rise to homo conjugation was replaced by a cyclohexyl moiety to eliminate any possible contribution of homoconjugation to antihistaminic activity. In analogue B-l, the antergan structure was modified so that the aromatic ring which gives rise to pπ, conjugation was removed from the rest of the molecule by a methylene group, i.e. , the phenyl group was replaced by a benzyl moiety. The other ring was left unmodified. Another compound (B-2) relocated the aromatic ring giving rise to pπ conjugation to the adjacent methylene carbon, so that pπ conjugation was eliminated; this compound is the nitrogen analogue of diphenhydramine and thiodiphenhydramine. In order that the importance of homo conjugation to antergan's antihistaminic activity may be established, the aromatic ring which gives rise to pπ, conjugation was replaced by a cyclohexyl moiety (A-3). Two compounds were synthesized in which the aromatic ring giving rise to homoconjugation were replaced by 3-cyclohexyl moieties (A-2a and b); while the aromatic ring which gives rise to pπ, conjugation was left unaltered in one of the compounds (b) and replaced by a cyclohexyl moeity in the other (a). In the tenth compound (A-1 e), both aromatic rings giving rise to both homo- and pπ - conjugation were removed and replaced by cyclohexyl moieties. The resulting analogue of antergan has already been demonstrated to have a very low antihistaminic activity compared to diphenhydramine, but it was felt that it would provide a useful comparison for the antihistaminic activities of the other antergan analogues prepared in this work. Two final intermediates in the synthesis of other analogues of antergan were prepared. In these analogues (C-2a and b) the aromatic ring giving rise to homoconjugation would have been replaced by the 1-cyclohexenyl moiety, while the other aromatic ring which gives rise to pπ conjugation would have been the same in one of the analogues, and replaced by a cyclohexyl moiety in the other. In intermediates of analogues D-l and 2, the ring giving rise to homoconjugation would have been replaced by 2, 5- and 1,4-cyclohexadiene respectively, while the aromatic ring giving rise to Pπ conjugation was replaced by the cyclohexyl moiety. In intermediates D-3 and 4, the aromatic ring giving rise to homoconjugation would have been replaced by cyclohexyl, while the aromatic ring giving rise to pπ, conjugation would have been replaced by 2, 6-dimethylphenyl and 3-cyclohexenyl moieties. / Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of / Graduate

The myogenic cell line, BC₃H1, upon cell-to-cell contact or serum starvation differentiates as monitored by the appearance of muscle-specific markers, actin, myosin light chain 1 (MLC 1) and tropomyosin (Tm) and morphological changes. The detection of MLC 1 and five Tm isoforms in this cell line is novel. To assess the role of protein kinase C (pk C)-and protein kinase A (pk A) signal transduction pathways in controlling BC₃H1 cell differentiation, activators of pk C (TPA) and pk A (cAMP analogues, dibutyryl-cAMP and 8-Br-cAMP) were used. TPA (500nM) addition caused no deviation from the normal expression patterns of actin, Tm and MLC 1. Addition of cAMP analogues (500μM) delayed the appearance of MLC 1 and muscle-specific isoforms of Tm, as well as α-actin while β- and γ-actin levels remained unchanged. However, α-actin mRNA levels were not affected by cAMP analogues yet the typical β- and γ-actin mRNA downregulation was blocked. cAMP appears to be operating at multiple levels to regulate BC₃H1 cell myogenesis such as post-transcriptional and translational. In addition, given the similarity in mechanisms through which cAMP and adenovirus early region 1A (AdE1A) mediate gene activation, the effect of AdE1A on BC₃H1 cell differentiation was investigated. A stable transfected AdE1A clonal cell line, BC₃E7, was characterized. Together with altered morphology, BC₃E7 cells failed to show the characteristic expression of muscle-specific markers actin, Tm and MLC 1. AdE1A transfection disrupted the synchronous expression of muscle-specific proteins during BC₃H1 cell differentiation. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

The thesis explores the relationship between politics of state and environmental governance in North-Eastern India.Foucault's idea of art of governmentality has been appled to understand the environmental conservation practices in India. / environmental governance in North-Eastern India

The purpose of this thesis is to identify patents invented by researchers at Lund University, to describe the university inventors, and to understand the main factors that influence their patenting activities. The analysis focuses on inventors in relation to their environment. A number of factors influence scientists’ decisions to patent. Internal factors related to individuals such as solving the research puzzle, demonstrating the quality and novelty of the research, and enhancing professional reputation are the main internal factors that trigger researchers to patent. Although external factors such as TTOs and the Third Task are relatively more important for some inventors, internal factors are still the predominant factors. The thesis has also suggested a typology of inventors to show the differences in the level of patenting and in the way they applied for patent and commercialized. This nuanced heterogeneity among inventors emphasizes the need for caution in generalizations, especially regarding the roles and influences of patent legislation and TTOs in university patenting. Adaptive and flexible institutions and organizations may enable scientists to patent by providing them with the necessary resources and skills they may need for patenting rather than applying standard solutions to different cases. This study has made empirical and theoretical contributions to the literature by developing a focus on individual inventors and by emphasizing the characteristics of these inventors and of their external environments. Hence, this dissertation may provide both theoretical insights and empirical evidence to scholars investigating university patenting and inventors. It may also provide insights to policy makers and university administrators on the appropriate roles of institutions and organizations in promoting and assisting patenting activities of university researchers.

Juvenile hormone (JH) plays pivotal roles in the development and reproduction of insects. Efforts to characterize the mechanisms of JH regulation are complicated due to JH pathways often being intertwined with those of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E). Upon adult emergence, female Aedes aegypti enter a period of development during which they gain competence for mating, bloodfeeding, and egg production. JH levels rise dramatically and peak during the first 2-3 days post-emergence and remain relatively high until a bloodmeal is consumed, while 20E titers remain very low throughout the entire stage. Thus, post-emergence development offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of JH in the absence of 20E. In this study, four potential JH response genes were identified in newly emerged females. One such gene, AaKr-h1, is a homologue of Kr-h1, a zinc-finger transcription factor which has been characterized in Manduca sexta, Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum, and Apis mellifera, and is involved in a diverse range of JH-regulated pathways. AaKr-h1 demonstrated a dose-dependent transcriptional response to JHIII as well as two JH mimics in abdominal ligation assays. The findings of this study indicate that Kr-h1 may be regulated by JH independently of any 20E regulation and suggests a fundamental, conserved role for Kr-h1 in JH-regulated pathways. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Em um dos estágios do processamento visual da mosca - a placa lobular, uma para cada hemisfério da cabeça da mosca - nós encontramos neurônios dedicados à detecção e processamento do auto-movimento. Um destes neurônios, chamado HI, detecta o movi-mento de trás para frente na horizontal e os dois neurônios de cada lado da cabeça interagem, melhorando a extração da informação sobre o estímulo gerado pelo ambiente. Neste trabalho nós apresentamos uma instalação experimental de registro simultâneo dos dois neurônios HI, discutimos as dificuldades associadas com este esforço e os dados preliminares obtidos. Os spikes gerados pelos neurônios HI são registrados extracelularmente com elétrodos de tungstênio, alimentam um head-stage, um pré-amplificador e um discriminador, todos dispositivos eletrônicos analógicos, para serem processados em um digital, a fim de registar os tempos de chegada dos spikes com precisão de microssegundos. O hardware analógico e o digital são controlados pelo software Linux RealTime, baseados em RTLinux. O sistema de aquisição dos spike- times possui três canais de entrada e um de saída: uma entrada para cada HI e um para sincronização e uma saída para o envio\' do estímulo com 16 bits de resolução, que consiste no movimento horizontal de uma tela fixa. Nós discutiremos as dificuldades encontradas durante os testes/eliminação dos erros do equipamento. Estas têm sua origem em ter que controlar o \"wetware\" biológico e no hard/software eletrônicos. / In one of the fiy\'s optical processing stages - the lobula plate, one for each hemisphere of he fly\'s head -, we find neurons dedicated to the detection and processing of self-¬motion. One of these neurons, called H1, detects horizontal back-to-front motion and the two neurons of each side of the head interact, improving the extraction of information about the stimulus generated by the environment. In this work we present an experimental setup to record simultaneously from the two H1 neurons, discuss the difficulties associated with this endeavour and preliminary data obtained. The spikes generated by the H1 neurons are picked up extracellularly with Tungsten electrodes, are feed via a head-stage, a preamplifier and a discriminator, all electronic analog devices, to be processed from here on digitally, in arder to register the spike arrival times with microsecond precision. The analog and the digital hardware, based on RTLinux, are controlled by Linux RealTime software. The spike-time acquisition system has three input and one output channel: one input for each H1 and one for sinchronization and one output for delivering the stimulus with 16 bits resolution, consisting of the horizontal positions of a rigidly moving picture. We discuss the difficulties encountered during the testing/debugging of the equipment. These have their origin both having to control the biological \"wetware\" and the electric hard/soft-ware.