Thesis (M.S. in enviromental engineering)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan. 28, 2010). "Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-31).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-103).

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Göteborg.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. Directed by William L. Chameides. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-162).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Chemistry. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-169). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ27385.

Thesis--M. Phil., University of Hong Kong, 1987.

We study the effect of a single non-magnetic impurity and vortex core states in iron-selenide superconductors by solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations self-consistently based on a three-orbital model. Various pairing symmetry are considered in the calculation. The impurity-induced in-gap bound states are found only for attractive impurity scattering potential, as in the cases of doping of Co or Ni, which is characterized by the strong particle-hole asymmetry, in the nodeless d_(x^2-y^2 ) wave pairing state. This property may be used to probe the pairing symmetry of iron-selenide 122-type superconductors. The orbital-resolved vortex core states of different pairing symmetries manifest themselves as distinguishable structures due to different behavior of the quasiparticle wavefunctions. The obtained vortices are classified by the invariant subgroups of the symmetry group of the meanfield Hamiltonian in the presence of magnetic field as isotropic s- and s±-wave vortices have G_5 symmetry for each orbital, whereas d_(x^2-y^2 ) wave vortices show G(* )¦6 symmetry for d_xzand d_yz orbitals and G(* )¦5 symmetry for d_xy orbital. In the case of d_(x^2-y^2 ) wave vortices, hybridized-pairing between d_xzand d_yz orbitals gives rise to a relative phase difference in terms of winding structures of vortices between these two orbitals and d_xy orbital, which is essentially caused by a transformation of co-representation of G(* )¦5 and G(* )¦6 subgroup. Calculation of particle densities show common charging feature of vortices in the cases of s± and d_(x^2-y^2 ) wave pairing states where the electron-like vortices are observed for d_xz and d_yz orbitals while hole-like vortices for d_xyorbital. The phase difference of orbital-resolved d_(x^2-y^2 ) wave vortices and their charging effects can be verified by further experimental observations. / published_or_final_version / Physics / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Background: Thalassaemia is a genetic disorder disease, one of the most clinically relevant haemoglobinopathies in paediatric population. It interferes with the synthesis of haemoglobin chain. For the sake of maintaining the serum haemoglobin at a normal level, regular blood cell transfusion is required to the patients with thalassaemia. In general, patients with thalassaemia are often diagnosed at an early age and need to take a life-long iron chelating therapy to prevent the multi-organ failure caused by iron-overload. The safety issue is considered a very importance aspect in the treatment among paediatric population and young people. In the past decades, numerous randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analysis regarding the efficacy and safety of iron chelating agents including deferoxamine, deferiprone, deferasirox, in reducing iron accumulation among patients with thalassaemia had been published, yet limited meta-analysis reveal the same issue among paediatric population and young adults. Further evidence and understanding are therefore needed to confirm whether or not the iron chelating agents are safe among young patients with thalassaemia. Objective: To conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the safety of iron chelating agents in paediatric population and young adults with thalassaemia. Methods: Literature search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, BIOSIS Previews, Science Citation Index Expanded and Cochrane Library databases. This meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted following the PRISMA and MOOSE statements. Selection Criteria All prospective uncontrolled cohort studies were eligible to include. Articles were assessed according to the age range of its participants and the quality of the reported adverse effects. All enrolled studies should record countable cases of adverse effects of paediatric population and young patients up to 25 years of age, diagnosed with alpha/beta thalassaemia or sickle cell disease and under the treatment of iron chelating agents. Data Collection and analysis Two reviewers independently retrieved the data and conducted the quality assessment for each of the included studies. Agency for healthcare research and quality assessment tool was used to evaluate the general risk of bias, whilst the quality of harms was assessed with the Mcharm question criterions. Meta-analysis was carried out for detecting the entire proportion value of six adverse effects including liver abnormality, renal abnormality, rash, abdominal pain/discomfort, nausea and neutropenia, and the forest plot was generated accordingly. The I2 was estimated to assess the methodological quality of each outcome. Random or fixed model was used for the analysis. The sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robust of the result. Results A total of 8199 articles were identified in the initial database search. After removal of duplications, update from other sources and exclusion based on the exclusion criteria, 25 full articles were retrieved and 14 uncontrolled cohort studies were included in this review. Eight hundred and fifty-four patients up to 25 years of age were included in the analysis. The general quality of the studies was moderate while the quality of adverse effects was low to moderate. Out of the 14 included studies, nine were under the deferasirox treatment; five for deferiprone therapy. No study included deferoxamine. Most adverse effects were observed among the paediatric patients under deferasirox treatment. The meta-analysis of pooled proportion under deferasirox were 17.23% (95%CI, 8.78-25.68%) for liver abnormality, 11.58% (95%CI, 5.91-17.25%) for renal abnormality, 5.41% (95%CI, 3.23-7.58%) for rash, 11.03% (95%CI, 1.83-20.22%) for abdominal pain/discomfort and 5.77% (95%CI, 1,50-10.03%) for nausea. Only one study reported case of neutropenia in the patients under deferasirox, whereas more cases were recorded within the paediatric patients with deferiprone, estimated proportion of 5.98% (95%CI, 2.79-9.16%). However, the meta-analysis of estimated proportion for liver abnormality in paediatric patients with deferiprone was 10.08% (95%CI, 2.67-17.49%), abdominal pain/discomfort was 4.31% (95%CI, 1.65-6.98%). Only one study reported case of renal abnormality, rash and nausea respectively in the patients with deferasirox, which a meta-analysis could not be conducted. Conclusions Among paediatric population and young patients with thalassaemia disease, most drug-related adverse effects were liver injury among patients under both deferasirox and deferiprone. For patients under deferasirox, the proportions of the risk of abdominal pain/discomfort and renal abnormality were in a secondary high-level, whereas the proportions of the risk of rash and nausea were comparatively very low. Few adverse effects were detected among young patients with deferiprone. In addition, the proportion of liver abnormality and abdominal pain/discomfort were lower for deferiprone than deferasirox. Further investigation is needed to assess the safety and efficacy between different dosage of iron chelating agents and the risk of other adverse effects among paediatric population, which are necessary to guide the clinical practice in the treatment of paediatric patients with thalassaemia. / published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

This investigation was carried out to assess the behaviours of Cold Briquetted Iron (CBI) when exposed to increasing temperature changes up to its complete melting. High-temperature behaviours and melting characteristics of CBI were studied. Ground as-received CBI briquette and those heated to temperatures ranging from 500°C to 1000°C were sieved to maximum of 30 microns diameter size and their room-temperature x-ray diffraction (XRD) measured. CBI was found to contain among others, α-iron, cementite and silica phases. Cementite was found to commence decomposition at 500°C - 600°C and completed by 700°C with conspicuous increase in the concentration of α-iron phase. Only α-iron and silica phases were sustained in CBI at temperatures above 700°C. In an inert atmosphere, it was discovered that CBI melted over a temperature range of 1527.3°C to 1536.96°C accompanied by an irrecoverable weight loss of 9.6 wt.% of the starting material. It was concluded that melting CBI would require charging along it appropriate fluxes to take care of the unreduced iron oxide and incorporation into facility for melting CBI an effective deslagging mechanism to remove unavoidable possible voluminous slag that would be formed.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Chemistry / Master / Master of Philosophy