Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T14:57:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana_Preczevski.pdf: 2136735 bytes, checksum: d34f455a2a3b656d28ec2723f79079ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-14 / The main purpose of Restorative Dentistry is, through an appropriate treatment, to protect and restore the pulp function, thereby maintaining the dental vitality. The pulp capping is defined as a treatment of an exposed vital pulp exposure with a sealing material to facilitate the formation of reparative dentin and maintain their vitality. The aim of this study was to compare the capacity of three capping materials on the induction of reaparadora dentin. 54 Wistar rats were used, between 21-24 days old, were randomly divided into 3 groups, using as capping materials calcium hydroxide, MTA and Biodentine®. Circular cavities on the first molars were performed in order to make the pulp exposure and the corresponding capping material used for each group. After a period of 7, 14 and 21 days, animals were euthanized, the jaws were removed and fixed for subsequent slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin for histological analysis of the pulp inflammatory response and formation of mineralized barrier. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Kruskal-Wallis test, followed by Dunn's test with 95% significance level. All materials studied were able to induce the formation of mineralized tissue; however the MTA and Biodentine® materials responded better in mineralized structure formation and decreased pulp inflammatory response. / A principal finalidade da Odontologia Restauradora é, por meio de um adequado tratamento, proteger e restabelecer a função pulpar, mantendo assim, a vitalidade dental. O capeamento pulpar é definido como um tratamento de uma polpa vital exposta, selando a exposição com um material, para facilitar a formação de dentina reparadora e manter a vitalidade pulpar. O objetivo neste estudo foi comparar a capacidade de três materiais capeadores sobre a indução de dentina reaparadora. Foram utilizados 54 ratos Wistar, entre 21 a 24 dias de vida, separados aleatoriamente em 3 grupos, usando como materiais capeadores o hidróxido de cálcio, MTA e Biodentine®. Foram realizadas cavidades circulares nos primeiros molares, com a finalidade de se fazer a exposição pulpar, e utilizado o material capeador correspondente a cada grupo. Após o período de 7, 14 e 21 dias, os animais foram eutanaziados, as maxilas foram removidas e fixadas para posterior confecção de lâminas coradas com hematoxilina e eosina para análise histológica da resposta inflamatória pulpar e formação da barreira mineralizada. Os dados foram submetidos à análise estatística utilizando o teste de Kruskal-Wallis, seguido do teste de Dunn para a comparação das médias, com nível de significância de 95%. Todos os materiais estudados foram capazes de induzir a formação de tecido mineralizado, porém os materiais MTA e Biodentine® apresentaram melhores respostas na formação de estrutura mineralizada e na diminuição da resposta inflamatória pulpar.

In humans, RNA polymerase II is the sole source of messenger RNAs that are ultimately translated into proteins and its transcriptional activity is highly regulated. Mechanisms have evolved to control which, when, and to what degree genes are transcribed. Because most cells have the same genome, control of transcription is essential in maintaining cellular identity. Misregulation of Pol II transcription is a hallmark of both cancer and retroviral infection. This research investigates the regulation of Pol II transcription and related co-transcriptional mRNA capping. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments were used to characterize the composition of nucleosomes and Pol II, DSIF and NELF occupancies at bidirectional promoters and enhancers. In collaboration with Alberto Bosque and Vicente Planelles, sequencing experiments were performed in a primary T cell model of HIV latency and a role for sequence-specific recruitment of STAT5 was established in HIV reactivation. In contrast, analysis of Myc binding in vitro and in cells demonstrated that transcription machinery played a major role in recruiting Myc to genomic sites. A precise method was also developed to detect polymerase-associated nascent transcripts in nuclei. The roles of Cdk7, a subunit of TFIIH that phosphorylates Pol II during initiation, were characterized by treatment of nuclear extracts and cells with THZ1, a recently developed covalent inhibitor with anti-cancer properties. Inhibition of Cdk7 was demonstrated to cause defects in Pol II phosphorylation, co-transcriptional capping, promoter proximal pausing, and productive elongation. Capping of nascent RNAs was found to be spatially and temporally regulated in part by a previously undescribed THZ1-sensitive factor present in nuclear extract. THZ1 impacted pausing through a capping-independent block of DSIF and NELF loading. The P-TEFb-dependent transition into productive elongation was also inhibited by THZ1, likely due to misloading of DSIF. In vitro and sequencing methods were used to describe an extremely rapid and global transcriptional response to hydrogen peroxide. During periods of oxidative stress, termination was likely inhibited and Pol II accumulated at promoters and enhancers after as few as two minutes, and clearance of these polymerases required P-TEFb. In the presence of flavopiridol, a potent P-TEFb inhibitor, non-productive elongation was observed and a potential role for P-TEFb in termination was proposed.

Catalisadores de ouro tem despertado bastante interesse nos últimos anos devido à elevada seletividade apresentada na hidrogenação de moléculas multifuncionais, proporcionando assim uma síntese química mais limpa. No entanto, esses catalisadores exibem uma atividade muito menor do que os metais do grupo VIII, devido à sua capacidade limitada de dissociar H2. O paládio tem sido frequentemente combinado ao ouro para atuar em reações de hidrogenações catalíticas, devido à sua elevada capacidade de adsorver e dissociar o hidrogênio molecular, resultando em catalisadores bimetálicos AuPd que muitas vezes apresentam desempenhos catalíticos superiores aos seus homólogos monometálicos. Neste trabalho, foi estudada a ativação de nanopartículas de ouro para reações de hidrogenação pela adição de paládio, considerando a influência de ligantes estabilizantes presentes na superfície do ouro. Os catalisadores monometálicos Auw/TiO2 e Au/TiO2 foram sintetizados através da imobilização de nanopartículas pré-formadas na ausência e presença de excesso de estabilizantes (oleilamina ou hexilamina) provenientes da síntese, respectivamente. Seguindo o mesmo princípio também foram obtidos monometálicos Pd/TiO2. Catalisadores bimetálicos Auw@Pdx/TiO2 e Au@Pdx/TiO2 foram obtidos através da adição de quantidades crescentes de Pd sobre os monometálicos de ouro. Os catalisadores monometálicos apresentaram desempenhos catalíticos inferiores aos respectivos bimetálicos. Estudos iniciais na reação de hidrogenação de ciclohexeno foram fundamentais para compreender a influência da composição e do estabilizantes nas diferentes reações de hidrogenação nas quais os materiais foram aplicados. Os catalisadores livres de ligantes se mostraram ativos nesta reação, Auw@Pdx/TiO2, sendo observado um aumento da atividade à medida que a quantidade de paládio se tornava crescente, alcançando um máximo com 20% de Pd (Auw@Pd0,2/TiO2), seguida de uma diminuição da atividade com a adição de porcentagens maiores. Assim, concluiu-se que a presença de sítios de Au e Pd, além da ausência de excesso de ligantes na superfície, são significativamente importantes para tornar ativos os catalisadores Auw@Pdx/TiO2. Os catalisadores bimetálicos com ligantes na superfície, que apresentaram pior desempenho na hidrogenação de alquenos, mostraram-se promissores na semi-hidrogenação de alquinos. O catalisador contendo 1% de Pd (Au@Pd0,01/TiO2), ao ser empregado na hidrogenação de fenilacetileno, apresentou 100% de conversão e seletividades a estireno > 90%. Ao serem adicionadas porcentagens de Pd ≥ 3%, a seletividade a estireno diminui significativamente. Esta também foi alterada ao variar a quantidade de ligante (alquilamina) na superfície do catalisador bimetálico e independe do tamanho da cadeia orgânica do ligante empregado. Finalmente, podemos concluir que sistemas catalíticos altamente ativos e seletivos podem ser obtidos controlando a quantidade de paládio adicionado ao ouro, mas a presença de ligantes estabilizantes também tem influência e não pode ser negligenciada. / Over the past few years, gold catalysts have aroused great interest among researchers due to an enhanced selectivity exhibited in the hydrogenation of multifunctional molecules, enabling greener chemical synthesis. Nevertheless, since gold has a very limited ability to dissociate molecular hydrogen, these catalysts show lower activity compared to group VIII metals. Palladium has been widely used in combination with gold in catalytic hydrogenations; due to its high ability to adsorb and dissociate molecular hydrogen, the resulting bimetallic AuPd systems often show superior performance over their monometallic counterparts. The present work embodies studies on the activation of gold nanoparticles for hydrogenation reactions by adding increasing amount of palladium, considering the influence of capping ligands on the activity and selectivity exhibited by the bimetallic Au@Pd catalysts. The monometallic Auw/TiO2 and Au/TiO2 catalysts were prepared via immobilization of preformed nanoparticles in the absence and presence of excess stabilizers (oleylamine and hexylamine) used in the synthesis, respectively. Monometallic Pd/TiO2 was also synthesized following the same principle. Bimetallic catalysts Auw@Pdx/TiO2 e Au@Pdx/TiO2 were obtained by the addition of increasing amounts of Pd on the gold monometallic catalyst. The monometallic catalysts presented lower catalytic performances than the respective bimetallics. Initial studies of cyclohexene hydrogenation were instrumental to understand the influence of the composition and the presence of stabilizers in different hydrogenation reactions where the material were applied. Ligand-free catalysts were active in this reaction, Auw@Pdx/ TiO2, and an increase in activity was observed as the amount of palladium increased, reaching a maximum at 20% Pd (Auw@Pd0.2/TiO2), followed by a decrease in activity with the addition of larger percentages. Thus, it was concluded that the presence of Au and Pd sites, in addition to the absence of excess capping ligands, are significantly important in making the catalysts active. Bimetallic catalysts containing capping ligands, which presented worse performance in the hydrogenation of alkenes, showed promising results in the semi-hydrogenation of alkynes. The catalyst containing 1 wt% Pd (Au@Pd0.01/TiO2), when used in the hydrogenation of phenylacetylene, reached 100% conversion and > 90% selectivity to styrene. When percentages of Pd ≥ 3 wt% were added, the selectivity to styrene decreases significantly. Selectivity was also altered by varying the amount of ligand (alkylamine) on the surface of the bimetallic catalyst and regardless the size of the organic chain. Finally, we can conclude that highly active and selective catalytic systems can be obtained by controlling the amount of added palladium on gold, but the presence of capping ligands is also importante and can not be neglected.

The cyanide ligand has frequently been used to prepare clusters with novel magnetic properties due to its ability to provide an efficient pathway for superexchange between metal centers that are bound in an end-to-end fashion. One of the common synthetic approaches in this chemistry is to design suitable cyanide containing precursors and then to react such building blocks with metal complexes consisting of accessible sites. The triphos ligand (triphos: 1,1,1-tris(diphenylphosphinomethyl)ethane) has been employed in this vein to prepare metal complexes, one of which is a five coordinate paramagnetic complex (S = 1/2) with a square pyramidal metal center, [CoII(triphos)(CN)2]. A family of molecular squares, [{MIICl2}2{CoII(triphos)(CN)2}2] (M= Mn (2), Fe (3), Co (4), Ni (5), and Zn (6)), has been synthesized by the reaction of CoII(triphos)(CN)2 and MCl2 (M= Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) or Fe4Cl8(THF)6 in CH2Cl2/EtOH mixture. A series of cyanide-bridged trinuclear complexes, {[Co(triphos)(CN)2]2 [M(MeOH)4]}(ClO4)2 ( M = Mn (7), Fe (8), Co (9), and Ni (10)) and tetranuclear complexes, {[Co(triphos)(CN)2]2[M(MeOH)4]2}(ClO4)4 ([Co2M2] M = Mn (11) and Ni (12)) have been synthesized in a similar fashion by the reaction of CoII(triphos)(CN)2 and M(ClO4)2.6H2O (M= Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in methanol. The trinuclear compounds (7-9), and tetranuclear complexes (2-6, 11, 12), are characterized by antiferromagnetic coupling between metal centers while magnetic behavior of 10 indicates the presence of ferromagnetic interactions between the paramagnetic metal centers. Interactions between magnetic orbitals of Co(II) and M(II) ions were also investigated by means of the density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations. Another triphos containing building block, [(triphos)Re(CN)3] anion (13), has been employed to prepare derivatives of a cubic SMM cluster with four octahedral Re(II) ions and four tetrahedral Mn(II) sites bridging through cyanide ligand. The reactions of Re(II) precursor with MnI2 and solvated Mn(II) ions resulting in derivatives of Re4Mn4 cube with different ligands attached to the Mn center other than the chloride atom were reported. Our efforts on linking these cubes using organo cyanide ligands such as dicyanamide (dca) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) to form extended networks were also discussed.

Telomeres are the physical ends of linear chromosomes in eukaryotes. Telomeres not only protect chromosome ends from being recognized as double-strand breaks but also maintain the chromosome terminal sequences. These processes involve a number of telomere-related proteins. A major challenge in the field is to elucidate the full constitution of telomere-associated proteins and to understand how different protein complexes are regulated at chromosome termini. Here, I report the identification and characterization of STN1 (Suppressor of cdc thirteen, 1), CTC1 (Conserved Telomere maintenance Component 1) and TEN1 (Telomeric pathways in association with Stn1, 1) in Arabidopsis. CTC1/STN1/TEN1 (CST) forms a trimeric complex that specifically associates with telomeres. Loss of any component of the CST induces catastrophic telomere loss, disrupted telomere end architecture, and massive chromosome end-to-end fusions. Thus, CST plays an essential role in chromosome end protection. I also show that CST function at telomeres is independent of a previously characterized capping complex KU70/KU80, and that ATR is responsible for a checkpoint response in plants lacking CTC1/STN1. Additionally, I present data showing that Arabidopsis POT1a (Protection Of Telomere 1, a) has evolved as a telomerase recruitment factor. Unlike POT1 in other eukaryotes which binds and protects ss telomeric DNA, AtPOT1a interacts with telomerase RNA (TER). Based on an evolutionary analysis, we found that the POT1a lineage is under positive selection in the Brassicaceae family in which Arabidopsis belongs. Mutations of two positive selection sites significantly reduce POT1a?s activity in vivo. These data suggest POT1a is under pressure to evolve from a telomeric DNA binding protein to a TER binding protein. I also discovered that POT1a interacts with the novel telomere capping protein CTC1 in vitro and in vivo. Thus, I hypothesize that POT1a acts as a telomerase recruitment factor linking this enzyme to the chromosome termini via interacting with TER and CTC1. Finally, I dissected the functional domains of POT1a and demonstrated that both the N-terminus and the C-terminus of POT1a are required for its function in vivo. In summary, my work has uncovered several new and essential telomereassociated proteins that provide new insight into mechanisms of chromosome end protection and maintenance.

This study was aimed to synthesize low molecular weight hydroxyl terminated polyurethane acrylate polymers that can be used in biomedical applications. Acrylate end capping via inter-esterification reaction was successfully achieved with the methacryloyl chloride addition to the hydroxyl ends of the polyurethane at low temperatures. Isocyanate terminated polyurethane acrylates were also synthesized for the sake of comparison. TDI, HDI and MDI were used as diisocyanates for urethane synthesis and they were end capped with MMA and HEMA. Nature of the monomers used had an effect on thermal, morphological, and rheological properties that were interpreted in terms of the level of hydrogen bonding and degree of phase separation. Synthesized polymers were characterized by NMR, FTIR-ATR, DSC, TGA, GPC, Mass Spectroscopy, SEM and rheometry. In the literature, polyurethane acrylate polymers have been synthesized from the isocyanate terminated polyurethanes in which the urethane chains were ended with isocyanate groups. However, the toxicity of the isocyanate groups limited their biomedical applications especially in prosthetic dentistry as a soft lining material. Therefore, it is inevitable to explore the cytotoxicity of polyurethane acrylate polymers. For this purpose, silver nanoparticles that have an average particle size of 40 nm, were incorporated to the synthesized polymers. This addition, which intends to improve the degree of cytotoxicity, was successful to a certain extent.

No description available.

The overall objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a variety of hydrophobic biopolymers and hydrophobic biopolymer-coated sands as technically and economically feasible in-situ sediment amendments or alternative capping materials on a laboratory scale. Cutin from tomato peels, cellulolytic enzyme lignin from sitka spruce chips, and keratin azure from commercially dyed sheeps wool were isolated, prepared, tested, and evaluated as feasible hydrophobic biopolymers for the removal of selected Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Testing included chemical and physical characterization, as well as the measurement of kinetics and equilibrium sorption parameters for the sorbates naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene as model hydrophobic organic contaminants. Tomato peel cutin exhibited the largest overall affinity for PAHs, however, keratin azure was selected for further evaluation as the most feasible material due to its low preparation cost. Amendment of industrial sand with a stable, uniform, cross-linked keratin azure derivative was achieved to produce hydrophobic biopolymer-coated sand products containing zero, moderate, and high mass fractions of sand. Chemical and physical material parameters, as well as kinetics and equilibrium sorption parameters for the sorbates naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene, were then obtained for the coated sand products. This allowed simple finite difference modeling of PAH fate and transport through a thin cap comprised of the same, insight into the specific sorption mechanisms involved, and information which could prove useful in predicting potential of keratin products to provide a suitable capping material. Conclusions and recommendations for future research focus on the technical and economical feasibility of the prepared hydrophobic biopolymers and hydrophobic biopolymer-coated sand products as capping or in-situ sediment amendments. / text

Contaminated aquatic sediments pose health risks to fish, wildlife, and humans and can limit recreational and economic uses of surface waters. Technical and cost effective in situ approaches for sediment management and remediation have been identified as a research need. Subaqueous in situ capping is a promising remedial approach; however, little is known regarding its impact on underlying sedimentary processes and the feasibility of bioaugmented caps at sites subject to contaminated groundwater seepage. This work specifically addresses (1) the impact of capping on biogeochemical processes at the sediment-water interface, (2) the ability and degree to which indigenous sediment microorganisms colonize an overlying cap, (3) the effect of advective flow direction on redox conditions within a cap, (4) natural contaminant bioattenuation processes within capped sediment, and (5) limitations toward a functional bioreactive in situ cap. Laboratory-scale experiments with capped sediment columns demonstrated that emplacement of a sand-based in situ cap induced an upward, vertical shift of terminal electron accepting processes into the overlying cap while simultaneously conserving redox stratification. Upflow conditions simulating a groundwater seep compressed anaerobic processes towards the cap-water interface. Microorganisms indigenous to the underlying sediment colonized cap material and spatial population differences generally reflected redox stratification. Downflow of oxic surface water through the cap, simulating tidally-induced recharge, created fully oxic conditions within the cap, demonstrating that flow direction strongly contributes to redox conditions. Experiments simulating capped sediment subject to contaminated groundwater seepage revealed a reduction of natural bioattenuation processes with time, stemming from the elimination of labile organic matter deposition to the sediment and a subsequent lack of electron donor. Thus, parent contaminants within groundwater seeps will be subject to minimal biotransformations within the sediment before entering a reducing cap. A bioreactive cap, inoculated with microorganisms capable of reductive dehalogenation, was established to reductively dechlorinate tetrachloroethene present in the groundwater; however electron donor amendments to sediment effluent were required to achieve complete dechlorination of tetrachloroethene to non-toxic ethene. Results from this work improve understanding of biogeochemical and bioattenuation processes within capped aquatic sediments and should aid in the development of active capping technologies.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1982.