Significant attention from the medicinal and pharmaceutical communities has been pushed towards the design and development of natural products for defence against many forms of illnesses. The Amaryllidaceae plant family has shown their prevalence over time aiding towards our needs and becoming viable sources of alkaloids due to their wide variety of bioactivities presented. The low availability towards these often-complex structures with at times comprising up to six contiguous chiral centers have made practical testing scarce. More dominantly the isocarbostyrils are well recognized, being hydroxylated phenanthridones providing increased activities making them model targets to test and develop new synthetic strategies towards. These compounds represent a subset of the Amaryllidaceae alkaloids that lack a basic nitrogen center. This thesis describes the total synthesis of four derivatives of the antiviral natural product (+)-trans-dihydronarciclasine from α-azidoacetone and m-anisaldehyde. Herein we demonstrate constructive routes towards ring-A modified, fully functionalized rings-B/C derivatives synthesized via asymmetric chemical syntheses providing further insight into SAR studies. This thesis expands on the organocatalytic [3+3]-cycloaddition sequence to produce aminocyclitol cores providing effective routes towards the development of five stereogenic centers in all targeted ring-C structures. Such studies were attributed to the enal adducts isolated from the Wittig reaction towards four natural product derivatives gaining knowledge related to the targeted molecules mode of action. One additional (+)-transdihydrolycoricidine analogue will be communicated, that enables the imaging while inside live cells with use of alkyne-tag Raman imaging. Limitations of the alkaloids include the toxicity that accompanies these agents and the poor aqueous solubilities they provide, eliciting an increased need for new antiviral agents. The syntheses communicated provide effective routes towards unnatural alkaloids and can be pushed towards alternative chiral aminocyclitol targets for future studies. All compounds have been sent away for screening including against coronavirus at Johns Hopkins. / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc) / This thesis is primarily driven towards the development of four antiviral lycorane structural type alkaloids, and an analogue synthesized via a copper-cocatalyzed Sonogashira reaction, utilizing a labile phenol-derived sulfonated hydroxyl group in its coupling towards an alkyne tagged structure. This method provides easy access for a variety of compounds without a fluorescent tag, taking steps forward in elucidating how the Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are delivering their biological effects. The densely substituted ring-C was obtained via an asymmetric organocatalytic [3+3] sequence for the assembly of the aminocyclitol core and is described. This sequence has provided effective regio, diastereo, and enantioselective access to five unnatural products. Preparation of the precursors were prepared using a Wittig methodology previous reported by the McNulty group that has been used in many syntheses for various Amaryllidaceae alkaloids

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Freshwater mussels have played an important role in the history of human culture and also in ecosystem functioning. But during the past several decades, the abundance and diversity of mussel species has declined all over the world. To address the urgent need to maintain and restore populations of endangered freshwater mussels, quantitative population dynamics modeling is needed to evaluate population status and guide the management of endangered freshwater mussels. One endangered mussel species, the oyster mussel (Epioblasma capsaeformis), was selected to study its population dynamics for my research. The analysis was based on two datasets, length frequency data from annual surveys conducted at three sites in Clinch River: Wallen Bend (Clinch River Mile 192) from 2004-2010, Frost Ford (CRM 182) from 2005 to 2010 and Swan Island (CRM 172) from 2005 to 2010, and age-length data based on shell thin-sections. Three hypothetical scenarios were assumed in model estimations: (1) constant natural mortality; (2) one constant natural mortality rate for young mussels and another one for adult mussels; (3) age-specific natural mortality. A Bayesian approach was used to analyze the age-structured models and a Bayesian model averaging approach was applied to average the results by weighting each model using the deviance information criterion (DIC). A risk assessment was conducted to evaluate alternative restoration strategies for E. capsaeformis. The results indicated that releasing adult mussels was the quickest way to increase mussel population size and increasing survival and fertility of young mussels was a suitable way to restore mussel populations in the long term. The population of E. capsaeformis at Frost Ford had a lower risk of decline compared with the populations at Wallen Bend and Swan Island. Passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags were applied in my fieldwork to monitor the translocation efficiency of E. capsaeformis and Actinonaias pectorosa at Cleveland Islands (CRM 270.8). Hierarchical Bayesian models were developed to address the individual variability and sex-related differences in growth. In model selection, the model considering individual variability and sex-related differences (if a species has sexual dimorphism) yielded the lowest DIC value. The results from the best model showed that the mean asymptotic length and mean growth rate of female E. capsaeformis were 45.34 mm and 0.279, which were higher than values estimated for males (42.09 mm and 0.216). The mean asymptotic length and mean growth rate for A. pectorosa were 104.2 mm and 0.063, respectively. To test for the existence of individual and sex-related variability in survival and recapture rates, Bayesian models were developed to address the variability in the analysis of the mark-recapture data of E. capsaeformis and A. pectorosa. DIC was used to compare different models. The median survival rates of male E. capsaeformis, female E. capsaeformis and A. pectorosa were high (>87%, >74% and >91%), indicating that the habitat at Cleveland Islands was suitable for these two mussel species within this survey duration. In addition, the median recapture rates for E. capsaeformis and A. pectorosa were >93% and >96%, indicating that the PIT tag technique provided an efficient monitoring approach. According to model comparison results, the non-hierarchical model or the model with sex--related differences (if a species is sexually dimorphic) in survival rate was suggested for analyzing mark-recapture data when sample sizes are small. / Master of Science

No / Abstract: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems has gained increasing popularity with multiple deployments to existing wireless sensors in a view to achieve energy and overall operational efficiency at a much lower cost. This paper presents the design and analysis of a UHF (860-868MHZ) passive tag using HFSS (High Frequency Structural Simulator) platform. It explores specific tag geometry characteristics that affect overall tag antenna performance and presents the optimised result. The simulation results and parametric analysis are compared. Further simulations on HFSS platform is carried out to theoretically demonstrate the reflections of the tag when deployed as sensors to multiple levels of a cistern.

Von den frühen Tagen der Logfile-Analysen bis hin zur heutigen Verwendung von fortschrittlichen Tracking-Systemen wie Google Analytics hat sich die Nutzerverfolgung im Netz stetig weiterentwickelt. Doch während sie Websitebetreibern und Werbedienstleistern wertvolle Informationen liefert, wirft sie auch Fragen hinsichtlich des Privatsphäre- und Datenschutzes auf. Das Sammeln von persönlichen Daten und deren anschließende Verwendung ruft bei vielen Menschen Besorgnis hervor. Die Gesetzgeber reagieren darauf mit immer strengeren Datenschutzgesetzen, die das Aggregieren, Verarbeiten und Speichern von personenbezogenen Daten in der Webanalyse einschränken. Viele Unternehmen stehen daher vor der Herausforderung, ihre Tracking-Infrastruktur zu überdenken und an die Vorgaben anzupassen. Spätestens mit der bevorstehenden Abschaffung der sogenannten Third-Party-Cookies sind Websitebetreiber gezwungen, aktiv zu werden. Diese Arbeit zielt darauf ab, Tracking-Technologien und -Strategien hinsichtlich ihrer Zukunftssicherheit zu analysieren, um einen Kompromiss zwischen den Interessen der Gesetzgebung und den Anbietern sowie Nutzern von Tracking-Tools zu finden.:Inhaltsverzeichnis Abkürzungsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 2. Datenschutzrechtliche Rahmenbedingungen 2.1 Geschichte des Datenschutzrechts 2.2 Die DSGVO: Auswirkungen und Grundsätze 2.3 Rechtliche Einordnung von Tracking-Technologien 3. Grundlagen des Webtrackings 3.1 Cookies 3.1.1 Funktionsweise 3.1.2 Unterscheidung nach Lebensdauer 3.1.3 Unterscheidung nach Quelle 3.1.4 Unterscheidung nach Nutzungsart 3.1.5 Third-Party-Cookies in der Kritik 3.2 Tracking-Pixel 3.3 Device Fingerprinting 3.4 Datenqualität in der Krise 4. Tracking-Strategien in der Praxis 4.1 CNAME-Cloaking 4.1.1 Implementierung 4.1.2 Risiken 4.1.3 Datenschutzrechtliche Einordnung 4.2 Server Side Tracking 4.2.1 Tagging mit dem Google Tag Manager 4.2.2 Risiken 4.2.3 Datenschutzrechtliche Einordnung 4.3 Shynet 4.3.1 Implementierung und Quellcode-Analyse 4.3.2 Risiken 4.3.3 Datenschutzrechtliche Einordnung 5. Status Quo und Ausblick 5.1 Google Consent Mode v2 5.2 Browseranbieter 5.3 Cookie Pledge 5.4 E-Privacy-Verordnung 6. Fazit Literaturverzeichnis Abbildungsverzeichnis Eigenständigkeitserklärung

Aim of this diploma thesis was to prepare two protein antigens and two monoclonal antibodies, all based on VP2 minor protein of human polyomaviruses BK virus and Merkel Cell Polyomavirus. One monoclonal antibody was being prepared against unique part of VP2 protein (N-terminal epitope, not present in VP3 protein). A cell line producing such monoclonal antibody has never been established before due to low immunogenicity of the epitope. Our approach was successful in terms of mouse immunization, however, serious problems with hybridoma line stability appeared later during the preparation process. Preparation of antibody targeted to the sequence of VP2 protein of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus was another aim of this thesis. Mouse immunization and hybridoma fusion were performed successfully. After four rounds of cloning in order to purify an established clone, nine clones were cultivated in larger scale. This cultivation probably led to diminished antibody specificity and loss of production ability in most of the hybridoma cells. One more cloning should give rise to an established clone with sufficient production. Two preparations of protein antigens were performed in two expression systems. DNA encoding C-terminally truncated protein VP2 of BK virus fused with His-tag was cloned into a vector suitable for...

Ce mémoire de thèse traite de la modélisation du discours dans le cadre grammatical des Grammaires Catégorielles Abstraites (Abstract Categorial Grammars, ACGs). Les ACGs offrent un cadre unifié pour la modélisation de la syntaxe et de la sémantique. Nous nous intéressons en particulier aux formalismes discursifs qui utilisent une approche grammaticale pour rendre compte des régularités des structures discursives. Nous proposons en particulier un encodage à l'aide des ACGs de deux formalismes discursifs : G-TAG et D-STAG. Ces encodages permettent d'éclairer le problème des connecteurs discursifs médiaux que les formalismes s'appuyant sur TAG ne traitent pas, du moins pas par un mécanisme grammatical. En effet, pour prendre en compte ces connecteurs, G-TAG et D-STAG utilisent une étape extra-grammaticale. Notre encodage offre au contraire une approche purement grammaticale de la prise en compte de ces connecteurs discursifs. Ces encodages se font à l'aide d'ACGs de second ordre. Les grammaires de cette classe ont des propriétés de réversibilité qui nous permettent d'utiliser les mêmes algorithmes polynômiaux aussi bien pour l'analyse discursive que pour la génération de discours. / This dissertation addresses the questions of discourse modeling within a grammatical framework called Abstract Categorial Grammars (ACGs). ACGs provide a unified framework for both syntax and semantics. We focus on the discourse formalisms that make use of a grammatical approach to capture the discourse structure regularities. In particular, we propose ACG encodings of two discourse formalisms: G-TAG and D-STAG. These ACG encodings shed light on the problem of clause-medial connectives that the G-TAG and D-STAG grammars leave out of account. Both G-TAG and D-STAG make use of an extra-grammatical processing to deal with discourse connectives that appear at clause-medial positions. In contrast, the ACG encodings of G-TAG and D-STAG offer a purely grammatical approach to clause-medial connectives. Each of these ACG encodings are second-order. Grammars of this class have reversibility properties that allow us to use the same polynomial algorithmes both for the discourse parsing and generation tasks.