Electrochemical potentials of a series of anthraquinone derivatives were studied in both aqueous solution and acetonitrile. The long term goal of this work was to find derivatives which could be reduced easily for studies of photoinduced electron transfer in DNA. Our immediate goal was to find the substitution group that gave the least negative redox potential value. Of all derivatives studied, the anthraquinone imides as a class had the least negative redox potentials, in the range of -0.600 to -0.550 V vs. SCE. One of the anthraquinones studied, one derivative (deoxyadenosine conjugated with an ethynyl linker to an anthraquinone with two ester substituents) was also in this range. A study of a series of anthraquinones conjugated with ethynyl and ethanyl linkers showed that the ethynyl linker was more effective than the ethanyl linker in lowering the redox potential of anthraquinone.

The photo-oxygenation of 2-methylpropane and cyclohexane using visible light in aqueous acidic uranyl ion solutions at ambient temperature and pressure has been undertaken. For 2-methylpropane in the absence of oxygen, the main product (≈90%) is 2-methyl-2-propanol with a quantum yield of 0.021 ± 0.001. In the presence of molecular oxygen, both 2-methyl-2-propanol and 2-propanone (acetone) are found. Based on this, and results of gamma radiolysis of aqueous 2-methylpropane to give 'tert'-butyl radical by electronically excited uranyl ion is proposed. In the absence of oxygen, the quantum yield of 2-methyl-2-propanol shows a sigmoidal dependence on the concentration of perchloric acid. A two-species kinetic model involving an acid-base dissociation of the uranyl ion in the excited state accounts for the observed features. The addition of sodium perchlorate to the 2-methylpropane system has an inhibitory effect on the quantum yield. Excited-state ion pairing between the uranyl ion and perchlorate anion is proposed. Consequently, the two-species acid-base model is expanded upon to yield a three-species acid-base-perchlorate model that seems to account for the results from 0.01-0.4 M perchloric acid concentration. Potassium peroxydisulfate is proven effective to increase the quantum yield of 2-methyl-2-propanol from 0.021 ± 0.001 to greater than unity (1.5 ± 0.1) indicating the existence and importance of thermal chain reactions involving sulfate radical anion. The quantum yield of 2-methyl-2-propanol is found to be dependent on the concentrations of 2-methylpropane, perchloric acid and potassium peroxydisulfate, and inversely dependent on the light intensity. The net consumption of uranyl ion is zero in the presence of potassium peroxydisulfate meaning that the uranyl ion is regenerated, making this a catalytic cycle in terms of uranyl ion. The oxygenation of cyclohexane using photo-excited aqueous uranyl ion gives cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone as the two main isolated products (54%). The overall mechanism is expected to be similar to that for the 2-methylpropane system. Refluxing of this substrate with a reducing agent (CaH2 or LiAlH4) is required prior to photolysis to achieve consistent quantum yields of both products due to thermal autoxidation reactions. The presence of molecular oxygen is found to be important in determining the ratio of alcohol to ketone in the product distribution. Potassium peroxydisulfate significantly enhances the quantum yield of cyclohexanone, leaving the quantum yield of cyclohexanol relatively unchanged (as compared to without added potassium peroxydisulfate), while uranyl ion is not consumed. Possible reactions involving cyclohexyl and cyclohexyl peroxyl radicals are given to account for the experimental results.

Capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) underground for thousands of years is one way to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, often associated with global warming. Leakage of CO2 through wells is one of the major concerns when storing CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoirs. CO2-injection candidates could be new wells, or old wells that are active, closed or abandoned. To prevent the leakage, the possible leakage paths and the mechanisms triggering these paths must be examined and identified. It is known that the leakage paths can occur due to CO2-rock interaction and CO2-water-cement interaction. Interaction between well cement and carbon dioxide has attracted much renewed interest because of its implication in geological storage of carbon dioxide. The diffusion of CO2-water through well cement is a long-term phenomenon which can take many thousand years. Partial pressure, porosity, permeability, cement type, moisture content and temperature are the factors that affect the carbonation of well cement. The objective of this research is to investigate the chemical reactions of the dissolved CO2 in the synthetic formation water with the plugs of well cement. Cement specimens were left in contact with CO2 saturated brine at 1100 psi and 65

Up-to-date methods of numerical modelling of random fields were applied to investigate some features of solute transport in saturated porous media with stochastic hydraulic conductivity. The paper describes numerical experiments which were performed and presents the first results.

This work is devoted to the numerical analysis of saturated porous media, taking into accountthe damage phenomenon on the solid skeleton. The porous media is taken into poroelasticframework, in full-saturated condition, based on the Biot's Theory. A scalar damage model isassumed for this analysis. An implicit Boundary element Method (BEM) formulation, basedon time-independent fundamental solutions, is developed and implemented to couple thefluid flow and the elasto-damage problems. The integration over boundary elements isevaluated by using a numerical Gauss procedure. A semi-analytical scheme for the case oftriangular domain cells is followed to carry out the relevant domain integrals. The non-linearsystem is solved by a Newton-Raphson procedure. Numerical examples are presented, inorder to validate the implemented formulation and to illustrate its efficiency.

Background One of the challenges to public health in Sweden is the consumption of excessive saturated fat and too little unsaturated fat. The National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW), the Swedish National Food Agency (SNFA) and the health sector work together to tackle such challenges, through educating the public on healthy dietary habits. The SNFA provides guidelines for all nutritional information but some of the guidelines have often been questioned leading to uncertainty and differing attitudes towards the consumption of fat in particular. Aims The study’s aim was to compare healthcare professionals’ attitudes to dietary fat and fat consumption to those of non-health professionals. A further aim was to assess if the named two groups gave advice on dietary habits. Method An online questionnaire survey was carried out with the participation of 260 adults recruited through convenience sampling. The questionnaire comprised 13 questions and the data collected were compiled in Microsoft Excel then imported to IBM SPSS 20.0., for processing and analysis. Results were analyzed using chi-square tests with p<0.05. Results A total of 73 healthcare professionals and 187 non-health professionals took part in the study.  Significantly more healthcare professionals than non-health professionals knew and were positive to established dietary advice regarding fat. There were however no differences between the two groups in the consumption of hard dietary fats. Both groups gave advice on dietary habits. Conclusions Healthcare professionals can be perceived as more knowledgeable than non-health professionals on fat consumption. The sharing of dietary advice by healthcare professionals may therefore lead to positive developments regarding those dietary guidelines that have often been questioned. This however requires that the healthcare professionals act professionally and separate what they do in private from what they advise their patients. / Bakgrund En av utmaningarna för folkhälsan i Sverige är konsumtion av för mycket mättat fett och för lite omättat fett.  Socialstyrelsen, det svenska Livsmedelsverket (SLV) och hälsosektorn arbeta tillsammans för att hantera utmaningen genom att utbilda allmänheten om goda matvanor. SLV ger riktlinjer för all näringsinformation men vissa av dessa har ifrågasatts vilket leder till osäkerhet och varierande inställning till just fett och dess konsumtion. Syfte Studiens syfte var att studera attityder till fett och fettkonsumtion bland hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal och icke-vårdpersonal.  Ytterligare syfte var att se om de två grupperna gav råd om matvanor. Metod En webbaserad enkätundersökning genomfördes med deltagandet av 260 vuxna som rekryterades genom bekvämlighetsurval. Enkäten bestod av 13 frågor.  Data som samlades in sammanställdes i Microsoft Excel och fördes sedan över till IBM SPSS 20.0 för bearbetning och analys. Resultaten analyserades genom att använda chi-två test med p < 0,05. Resultat Totalt deltog 73 hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal och 187 icke-vårdpersonal i studien. Betydligt fler hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal än icke-vårdpersonal visste om och var positiva till etablerade kostråd om fett. Det fanns dock inga skillnader mellan de två grupperna i konsumtionen av hårda fetter i kosten. Båda grupperna gav råd om matvanor. Slutsatser Hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal kan upplevas som mer kunniga än icke-vårdpersonal angående fettkonsumtion. Råden om matvanor från hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal kan därför leda till positiv utveckling när det gäller de kostråd som ofta ifrågasätts. Detta kräver dock att hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalen agerar professionellt och separerar vad de gör privat och råd de ger till patienter.

Brassica napus is known to contain an endogenous and soluble stearoyl-acyl carrier protein (^918:0-ACP) desaturase, but does not express a palmitic (16:0)-ACP desaturase. Levels of 16:0 are low in canola oil and are associated with enhanced cholesterol biosynthesis in humans. In an attempt to further reduce the saturated fatty acid (SFA) content of canola oil, B. Napus L. cv Westar was transformed with a cDNA encoding a ^916:0-ACP desaturase from cat's claw (Doxantha unguis-cati L.). Arabidopsis thaliana was also transformed with this cDNA. Transformation of both oilseeds resulted in increased production of palmitoleic acid (^16:1) and many other effects of fatty acid composition. Overall, the SFA content did not decrease in either oilseed and investigation to why this effect occurred was examined using transgenic B. napus. Molecular genetic testing on second generation B. napus also determined the plants contained the cDNA of interest and were transcribing the cDNA. / xxi, 155 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm.

No description available.

Junipers and pines exhibit contrasting patterns of growth decline and mortality with climate change-type warming and drought; yet, the underlying physiological mechanisms are not fully understood. Does warming exacerbate the effects of drought on gas exchange physiology and growth? Do the combined effects of drought and warming differ for pines and junipers? To what extent do isohydric vs. anisohydric responses to water limitation in pines and junipers constrain net leaf CO2 exchange and plant growth response to drought and warming? To address these questions, we compared responses of leaf gas exchange and growth in seedlings of juniper (Juniperus scopulorum, J. virginiana) and pine (Pinus edulis, P. taeda) species of contrasting arid and mesic origin in a study of combined warming (ambient, +1.8 °C) and enhanced summer drought (long-term mean, -40%). Warming and enhanced summer drought each reduced photosynthesis and growth and effects were largely independent, suggesting that warming exacerbates drought effects on growth. Enhanced summer drought and warming had distinct impacts on photosynthetic carbon gain that were differentially revealed depending upon soil water content. Warming reduced light-saturated net photosynthesis (Asat) under low soil water contents, whereas carry-over effects of drought treatment were evident under well-watered conditions. Short-term soil drying led to greater reduction of Asat in pines (-51%) rather than junipers (-30%). Under short-term water-limited conditions, Asat and gs were about two-times higher for junipers compared to pines. Relative growth rate of junipers declined with warming (-28%) and drought (-50%) treatments. In contrast, pine growth and Asat declined more with warming than drought. Only P. edulis exhibited increased mortality in response to warming and drought, reaching 75% in the combined warming and drought treatment. Diminished sensitivity of R to water limitations, coupled with steeper reductions in Asat with decreasing soil water content in isohydric pines compared to anisohydric junipers could account for the greater sensitivity of pines to warming and drought under climate change.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is native to the regions between 20oN and 20oS of the Equator, where it plays a significant socioeconomic role in the local communities. There it is referred to as ’The Tree of Life’, a eulogistic epithet describing its versatile use - more than 100 edible and non-edible products can be produced from it. Therefore the coconut palm is grown in about 90 tropical countries on more than 10 millions ha of land (Hamon et al., 1999). Although coconut has a high local socioeconomic reputation, its production is experiencing many problems and consequently the area planted with this crop is declining. The conventional breeding approach using seed to replant land is very expensive due to the low production of seed for planting, and even when elite germplasm is available it takes decades to multiply up enough planting material for new areas (Adkins et al., 1999). Hence over the past 40 years research has been directed towards developing a new technique for the micropropagation of coconut using somatic embryogenic approach. Throughout this time however one conclusion is repeatedly made – coconut is very recalcitrant to somatic embryogenesis. And although the many obstacles to this are slowly being reduced, in order to successfully micropropagate coconut on a large scale bottlenecks in the protocol still exist, and those include inconsistency of the embryogenic response by explanted tissues, poor somatic embryo maturation and germination, low regeneration rate of the new plantlets and long time required to produce plants (1.5 years) (Samosir et al., 1998). These bottlenecks and other problems were researched in the present study with the aim of trying to speed up the efficiency of coconut somatic embryogenesis process. Hence this thesis had the objectives to identify a starting protocol for coconut somatic embryogenesis; to select an appropriate for aim that explant; to optimize the production of embryogenic callus; to increase the rate of initiating coconut somatic embryos; to improve the maturation of somatic embryos and their germination efficiency; and to optimize the regeneration rate of the new plantlets. In order to identify a starting protocol, preliminary work was conducted, where existing protocols for coconut somatic embryogenesis were compared in their efficiency to induce somatic embryos. The protocol that stood out as the best in producing most embryogenic callus and subsequently embryos, as well as having the least dead (in culture) explants, was that of Nikmatullah (2001). Therefore the latter was chosen to be used as a starting protocol for this study. New sources of explants were investigated during the current work as well, using tissues from different parts of in vitro derived 8 months old coconut plantlets. Those however have shown to be unsuitable for somatic embryogenesis, since only non-embryogenic callus was developed by some of the inoculated tissues. The immature inflorescence explants were superior in producing embryogenic callus and somatic embryos; therefore they were selected as the preferred explant source to use in the next steps of the current study. Optimizing the production of embryogenic callus was the first issue to address during the core work of this project. As a result of that the culture conditions were considerably improved by using vessels with larger headspace-medium ratio (3:1), as well as by selecting younger immature inflorescences and transversely segmenting the top half of the inflorescence spikes into smaller size (1 mm) sections. Further improvement was possible by studying the make up of the callus growth media. Amongst the administered for that purpose substances the applied together polyamines spermine (0.10 µM) and putrescine (7.5 mM) have proven to play a notably positive role in the induction of callus from coconut immature inflorescence explants. Thidiazuron (TDZ, 10 µM) too has shown a potential to improve the efficiency of the initial stage of coconut somatic embryogenesis, but only when applied in conjunction with other cytokinins (eg. BAP and 2iP). Smoke-saturated-water (SSW, 10 %) could only slightly diminish the amount of necrotising cultured explants, and high 2,4-D concentrations could not support the induction of callus from immature coconut inflorescences. Collectively taken, as a result of this current study the production of callus was improved by 300 %. The rate of coconut somatic embryos formation was as well significantly increased (over 300 %), by the simultaneous application of suspension culture step, spermine (0.01 µM), SSW (10 %) and high auxin concentration (500 µM). Nevertheless the presence of TDZ and other cytokinins in the medium, as well as the absence of activated charcoal, were found to be unable to positively influence the somatic embryogenesis process. Despite the considerable improvements made in the efficiency of inducing callus and initiating embryos, the poor maturation and germination (eg. 5 %, Verdeil et. al., 1999) of somatic embryos still remained a bottleneck to the whole somatic embryogenesis procedure. Therefore further work was conducted in that direction and discovered that embryo maturation and germination rate can be elevated to 55 % by administering ancymidol (30 µM) to the somatic embryo maturation medium. This plant retardant has exhibited here three potential modes of action towards the cultured coconut somatic embryos: a) as a promoter of somatic embryo maturation and germination; b) as a preventor of pre-germination death of the somatic embryos; and c) as a preserver of non-germinating somatic embryos, that still can possess the potential to germinate in the future. The work during the next step of the process – regeneration of the new plantlets – has shown that the omission of plant growth regulators from the media was crucial for the development of germinated embryos into new plantlets, where otherwise no plant regeneration occurred at all. The achieved here plantlet regeneration rate in the PGR-free medim was 56 %, which is higher than the previously reported 20 % regeneration rate (Verdeil et al., 1994) for coconut plantlets produced from immature inflorescences explants. As a result of this current work a new method was developed for somatic embryogenesis of coconut from immature inflorescences explants (Fig. 9.2). The overall efficiency of this protocol is over three times higher than that of the starting protocol (Nikmatullah, 2001) selected during the preliminary work. Furthermore, when using this new method the entire duration for regenerating clonal coconut plantlets (up to the stage of first root and shoot emerging) takes up to 8 months, which is the shortest reported time for producing coconut plantlets via somatic embryogenesis (eg. 36 months from inflorescences explants (Verdeil et. al., 1999) and 18 months from sliced zygotic explants (Samosir, 1999, Fig. 9.2), presenting an additional valuable advantage of this newly developed method, from the perspective of the potential to micropropagate coconut on a commercial scale.