Urea and ammonium nitrate were applied to leaves of maize plants growing in growth chambers on nutrient solutions containing three different concentrations of ammonium nitrate. Dry weights, and the soluble protein contents of leaves, sterns and roots we remeasured. Both urea and ammonium nitrate did increase the dry weights of leaves and stems when ammonium nitrate was used in the nutrient solutions (0.5 and 2.5 mM/ liter). When nitrogen was not used in the nutrient solutions, no increments of dry weight occurred. The protein contents of leaves were increased for plants in the same nutrient solutions that produced increases in the dry weights, except that urea did not increase protein contents of stems. The dry weights of roots were increased by foliar applied urea when ammonium nitrate was used in the nutrient solutions but not when the nutrient solutions were without nitrogen. Ammonium nitrate applied to the foliage did not increase the dry weights of roots. The protein contents of roots were not increased by urea or ammonium nitrate applied to the leaves. The increments in the dry weights and protein contents given by foliar applied urea were superior to those of foliar applied ammonium nitrate, with the exception of the protein content of stems.

Due to the increasing cost of soybean meal and concerns of excess N being excreted into the environment, new protein supplements have been developed. Two products that have shown potential in increasing N utilization efficiency are slow release urea (SRU; Optigen) and ruminal escape protein derived from yeast (YMP; DEMP). The objective of this study was to assess the effects of feeding these 2 supplements in high-forage [(54% of total dietary dry matter (DM)] dairy diets on nutrient utilization, feed efficiency, lactational performance of dairy cows, and their impacts on income-over feed costs. Twelve multiparous dairy cows were used in a triple 4 × 4 Latin square design with one square consisting of ruminally cannulated cows. Treatments included: 1) control, 2) SRU-supplemented total mixed ration (TMR, SRUT), 3) YMP-supplemented TMR (YMPT), and 4) SRU and YMP-supplemented TMR (SYT). The control consisted only of a mixture of soybean meal and canola meal (SBMCM) in a 50:50 ratio. The SRU and the YMP were supplemented at 0.49% and 1.15% DM, respectively. The experiment consisted of 4 periods lasting 28 d each (21 d of adaptation and 7 d of sampling). Cows fed YMPT and SYT had decreased intake of DM, and all supplemented treatments had lower crude protein intake compared to those fed the control. Milk yield tended to have the greatest increase in YMPT compared with the control (41.1 vs. 39.7 kg/d) as well as a tendency for increased milk fat and protein yields. Feed efficiencies based on yields of milk, 3.5% fat-corrected milk, and energy-corrected milk increased at 10-16% due to protein supplementation. Cows fed with protein supplements partitioned less energy toward body weight gain, but tended to partition more energy toward milk production. Efficiency of use of feed N to milk N increased by feeding SRUT and YMPT, and milk N-to-manure N ratio increased in YMPT. Cows fed SRUT or YMPT tended to improve income-over feed costs. Overall results from this experiment indicate that replacing SBMCM with SRU and YMP in high-forage dairy diets can be a good approach to enhance dairy profitability through improved nutrient utilization efficiencies by lactating dairy cows.

Studies were conducted under greenhouse conditions to investigate the relative efficiency of urea absorption by 1-month-old peach and apple leaves. A 4 percent solution of urea containing .1 percent Colloidal X-77 was applied to the leaves in the form of a fine spray. To aid in this procedure, an improved micros prayer with a l milliliter capacity was developed. Accuracy of the sprayer was ± l percent. Under greenhouse conditions, the upper and lower surface of peach and apple leaves absorbed urea. More urea was absorbed through the lower than the upper surface. Peach lower surface absorbed nearly as much as apples after 48 hours. In another experiment using a controlled environmental growth chamber, the effect of temperature, humidity and surfactant (Colloidal X-77) on absorption of 1 percent 14C urea solution by apple and peach leaves were studied. Uptake was again much greater from the lower surface of the leaves as compared to the upper surface. Low relative humidity (25 percent) reduced absorption substantially. High temperature (24 centigrade) under low humidity (25 percent) decreased absorption. Uptake was increased substantially with the high temperature (24 centigrade) and relative humidity (85 percent). Peach leaves were more sensitive to temperature than apple, in regard to the amount of absorption that occurred. In peach, a 5 to 10 fold decrease in absorption was observed when the temperature was lowered from 24 to 10 centigrade. Surfactant increased absorption through the lower surface within a short period after application but decreased it afterwards. Urea absorption through 45-day-old leaves at 85 percent relative humidity and 24 centigrade indicated that within 48 hours over 90 percent of the urea applied to lower surfaces was absorbed by both species of leaves. A cuticular permeability experiment indicated that upper cuticles from both species of leaves were permeable to urea. It seemed that permeability of peach cuticle increased with time at the higher temperature. After 48 hours, the amount of urea, which penetrated through the peach cuticle at 24 centigrade, was 2.7 fold as much as at 10 centigrade. Urea absorption within 1 hour and translocation after 4 hours were observed under favorable conditions (24 centigrade and 85 percent relative humidity). Radioautograms of 14C urea treated apple and peach leaves indicated that the 14C urea and/ or its metabolites had been translocated within a large portion of the leaf within 8 hours after application. Studies were also performed on these species utilizing microradioautography and histochemistry techniques. Microradioautograms prepared from treated leaf sections demonstrated that adsorption and absorption of radioactive urea occurred on the epidermal hairs of apple leaves. Urea entry occurred in both apple and peach leaves as evidenced by high activity of 14C compounds within the leaf tissue. Microscopic observations of freshly sectioned leaves of both apple and peach demonstrated a relatively high amount of pectinaceous substances between the cell walls and especially the bundle sheath and bundle-sheath extension cells. Pectinaceous substances were present more in apple cuticle than in peach cuticle.

Elastin-like peptide (ELP) fusions promote therapeutic delivery and efficacy. Recombinant proteins, like neurotrophins, lack bioavailability, have short in vivo half-lives, and require high manufacturing costs. Fusing recombinant proteins with genetically encodable ELPs will increase bioavailability, enhance in vivo solubilization, as well as provide a cost-effective method for purification without the need for chromatography. During expression of neurotrophin-ELP (N-ELP) fusions, dense water-insoluble aggregates known as inclusion bodies (IBs) are formed. Inclusion bodies are partially and misfolded proteins that usually require denaturants like Urea for solubilization. Strong denaturants arrest ELPs stimuli-responsive property and increase unwanted aggregation, making purification difficult, yet possible. The current field of study exhibit issues with protein recovery due to solubility issues and aggregation. This study examines the solubility challenges of inclusion body proteins and the role ELP fusion tags play on IBs solubility. Elastin-like peptides are a class of stimuli-responsive biopolymers whose biocompatibility and limited toxicity are attractive for biological applications. ELPs are tunable polymers, which consist of peptide repeat units (VPGXG), where X is any amino acid except Proline while the guest residue or length of the sequence can be chosen. ELPs have uniquely tunable phase transitioning properties that allow the protein to undergo molecular self-assemblies into different nanostructures in response to the changes in their environment (e.g. pH or temperature). Optimizing the purification process via suppressing aggregation during the refolding process has increased protein recovery slightly however, more work is needed to attain 90 percent recovery. Usage of ELPs has increased the solubility of N-ELP fusions, specifically for brain-derived neurotrophic factor ELP fusions.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to improve the control of urea injection at the combined power and heating plant Framtidens Gärstad (FTG). Tekniska Verken i Linköping AB is the owner of the plant.</p><p>The FTG plant consists of a boiler where garbage combustion is done. From the combustion nitrogen oxides are emitted. These nitrogen oxides are hazardous to the environment. To reduce the nitrogen oxides, injection of urea into the boiler is used. Urea is an organic compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. When urea reacts with nitrogen oxides they transform into harmless nitrogen gas and water. In the plant the urea is injected by six lances.</p><p>The control of the urea injection at FTG could be improved which would save some money for the company. This is the main reason for the aim of this thesis. It is the control of the total flow of urea to the lances that is studied in this work.</p><p>Some literature about reduction of nitrogen oxides is studied, especially reduction using urea injection. There are a lot of factors that affect how good the reduction becomes. The most important factors are the amount of urea being used and the temperature of the flue gases where the reaction with urea takes place. A model with these two factors as inputs and the content of nitrogen oxides as output is derived. This is done with experiments in the boiler and system identification. The system is modelled as a linear system.</p><p>The proposal about the improved control uses the temperature from a temperature measurement just below the urea injection in the boiler. This is a parameter that the existing control does not use. The temperature is divided into three intervals. For each interval different parameters for the function of the system and the nitrogen oxide controller are used. The nitrogen oxide controller in the proposed control is derived with help from a new method of controldesign called AMIGO.</p><p>The identification models gave good results in two of the temperature intervals. The result for the third interval was not so good. This is probably due to lack of good data.</p><p>The proposed control structure could for practical reasons not be tested online but preliminary tests using measurement data gave qualitatively reasonable results.</p><p>In order to improve the results temperature dependence has to be treated more systematically.</p>

<p>A large amount of non-protein nitrogen, in the form of urea and ammonium, is present in human breastmilk; however its physiological role in the infant is as yet not fully understood. It has been hypothesized that an insufficient enteric metabolism of urea could play a role in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This thesis was undertaken to study the enteric metabolism of non- protein nitrogen in healthy infants, in comparison with those who had succumbed to SIDS.</p><p>Aerobic and anaerobic faecal microflora, were studied in healthy infants from birth to 6 months of age. They were found to appear in faeces within 3 days of birth and were present throughout the first 6 months of life. The effect of nitrate, nitrite and nitric oxide on faecal urease activity was investigated and found to be inhibitory in action. The sigmoid faecal urease activity and sigmoid faecal urea content of SIDS infants were compared to those of control infants; significantly lower sigmoid faecal urease activity and greater sigmoid faecal urea content were found in the SIDS infants. The total number of SIDS cases occurring in Sweden during the period 1990 through 1996 was analysed regarding geographical and seasonal distribution, in relation to the nitrate concentration in drinking water and changes in the groundwater level. The northernmost parts of the country had its highest incidence when the rest of the country had its lowest incidence, and the occurrence of individual deaths was associated with the recharge of groundwater, which is known to increase its nitrate content. The effect of ingested ammonium on carbon dioxide production was determined in healthy infants using the doubly labelled water technique. No change in carbon dioxide production was observed.</p><p>An insufficient enteric metabolism of urea in infants and peak or greatly varying nitrate concentrations in drinking water are associated with the occurrence of SIDS. Ingested ammonium supplements in the given doses did not influence carbon dioxide production in healthy infants.</p>

<p>A novel strategy for synthesising segmented poly(urethane urea) (PUU) without using a chain extender but nevertheless with the opportunity to vary the hard segment content has been developed. The strategy is based on amine formation from isocyanate upon reaction with water. By adding a dissolved soft segment to an excess of diisocyanate followed by the addition of water in the gas phase, amines are formed <i>in situ</i>. Urea linkages are then formed when these amines react with the excess of isocyanate groups. The gas phase addition facilitates addition in a slow and continuous manner. The hard segment content can easily altered by varying the diisocyanate/soft segment ratio. Even though the strategy is shown to be applicable to different diisocyanates, the focus has been on the potentially biodegradable methyl-2,6-diisocyanatehexanoate (LDI) and 1.4-butanediisocyanate (BDI) and various well known biodegradable polyesters and polycarbonates. </p><p>All the synthesised materials exhibited pronounced phase separation and hydrogen bonding within the hard domains. However, a major increase in hydrogen bonding strength was seen when a symmetric diisocyanate was used instead of an asymmetric. Based on FTIR measurements, PUUs with BDI and a polydisperse hard segment can exhibit the same degree of phase separation and hydrogen bonding as the monodisperse product.</p><p>The elastic properties of this new group of PUUs were exceptional with an elongation at break from 1600% to almost 5000% and the elastic modulus could be varied from a few MPa up to a couple of hundreds. </p><p>Hydrolytic degradation was greater in the polyester-based than in the polycarbonate-based PUUs due to the more reactive ester bonds. Low mass loss but a considerable loss in molecular weight was seen in the polyester PUUs. The tensile strength decreased dramatically due to the loss of strain hardening.</p><p>An MTT seeding assay using human fibroblasts and an in vivo biocompatibility study were performed and no signs of cytotoxicity were seen and the inflammatory response was comparable to other inert polymers.</p><p>A biodegradable PUU with properties that can be tailored through an easy synthesis is here presented. </p>

A large amount of non-protein nitrogen, in the form of urea and ammonium, is present in human breastmilk; however its physiological role in the infant is as yet not fully understood. It has been hypothesized that an insufficient enteric metabolism of urea could play a role in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This thesis was undertaken to study the enteric metabolism of non- protein nitrogen in healthy infants, in comparison with those who had succumbed to SIDS. Aerobic and anaerobic faecal microflora, were studied in healthy infants from birth to 6 months of age. They were found to appear in faeces within 3 days of birth and were present throughout the first 6 months of life. The effect of nitrate, nitrite and nitric oxide on faecal urease activity was investigated and found to be inhibitory in action. The sigmoid faecal urease activity and sigmoid faecal urea content of SIDS infants were compared to those of control infants; significantly lower sigmoid faecal urease activity and greater sigmoid faecal urea content were found in the SIDS infants. The total number of SIDS cases occurring in Sweden during the period 1990 through 1996 was analysed regarding geographical and seasonal distribution, in relation to the nitrate concentration in drinking water and changes in the groundwater level. The northernmost parts of the country had its highest incidence when the rest of the country had its lowest incidence, and the occurrence of individual deaths was associated with the recharge of groundwater, which is known to increase its nitrate content. The effect of ingested ammonium on carbon dioxide production was determined in healthy infants using the doubly labelled water technique. No change in carbon dioxide production was observed. An insufficient enteric metabolism of urea in infants and peak or greatly varying nitrate concentrations in drinking water are associated with the occurrence of SIDS. Ingested ammonium supplements in the given doses did not influence carbon dioxide production in healthy infants.

A novel strategy for synthesising segmented poly(urethane urea) (PUU) without using a chain extender but nevertheless with the opportunity to vary the hard segment content has been developed. The strategy is based on amine formation from isocyanate upon reaction with water. By adding a dissolved soft segment to an excess of diisocyanate followed by the addition of water in the gas phase, amines are formed in situ. Urea linkages are then formed when these amines react with the excess of isocyanate groups. The gas phase addition facilitates addition in a slow and continuous manner. The hard segment content can easily altered by varying the diisocyanate/soft segment ratio. Even though the strategy is shown to be applicable to different diisocyanates, the focus has been on the potentially biodegradable methyl-2,6-diisocyanatehexanoate (LDI) and 1.4-butanediisocyanate (BDI) and various well known biodegradable polyesters and polycarbonates. All the synthesised materials exhibited pronounced phase separation and hydrogen bonding within the hard domains. However, a major increase in hydrogen bonding strength was seen when a symmetric diisocyanate was used instead of an asymmetric. Based on FTIR measurements, PUUs with BDI and a polydisperse hard segment can exhibit the same degree of phase separation and hydrogen bonding as the monodisperse product. The elastic properties of this new group of PUUs were exceptional with an elongation at break from 1600% to almost 5000% and the elastic modulus could be varied from a few MPa up to a couple of hundreds. Hydrolytic degradation was greater in the polyester-based than in the polycarbonate-based PUUs due to the more reactive ester bonds. Low mass loss but a considerable loss in molecular weight was seen in the polyester PUUs. The tensile strength decreased dramatically due to the loss of strain hardening. An MTT seeding assay using human fibroblasts and an in vivo biocompatibility study were performed and no signs of cytotoxicity were seen and the inflammatory response was comparable to other inert polymers. A biodegradable PUU with properties that can be tailored through an easy synthesis is here presented.

This thesis describes and evaluates an optical method utilizing ultra violet (UV) absorbance for on-line monitoring of haemodialysis treatment. Increased efficiency of haemodialysis treatment is considered to correlate to decreased morbidity and mortality when urea clearance (Kt/V) is elevated. However, further improvements have not been achieved at a higher Kt/V. The mortally rate in the haemodialysis population is still high (27% in Sweden). Urea as the clinical marker is under discussion, partly due to urea being non-toxic, but also that the uraemic syndrom is the result of a cumulative retention of innumerable involved compounds. On-line monitoring systems based on urea determination for improved dialysis efficiency have been suggested and developed in different settings over the last two decades, but have not achieved worldwide utilisation as routine clinical equipment. This thesis demonstrates that the UV-technique utilising 280, 285 and 297 nm is capable of estimating dialysis efficiency in therms of Kt/V, nutritional status in terms of protein catabolic rate (PCR), with the same characteristics as existing methods. One novel finding using UV-absorbance with high sampling rates is the on-line visualisation of the clearance process for following variations in clearance caused by clinical events and disturbances as well as during and after adjustments. The fact that the UV-absorbance technique does not measure urea directly but has high correlation to several other both UV-absorbing and not-absorbing solutes makes it suitable to reflect a more overall solute retention process. Finally, a new efficiency parameter based on the calculation of the area under UV- curve (clearance curve), is suggested to reflect the total removal of some solutes. In summary the UV-technique has the potential to be an additional tool to evaluate improvements of dialysis efficiency, which may result in decreased morbidity, longer life span and enhanced quality of life for the haemodialysis patients.