We present a simple argument which proves a general version of the scaling phenomenon recently observed in donor-recipient games by Tanimoto [Tanimoto, J., 2009. A simple scaling of the effectiveness of supporting mutual cooperation in donor-recipient games by various reciprocity mechanisms. BioSystems 96, 29-34].

Master Thesis Abstract Institute of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences Charles University in Prague Author: Pavithra Ramesh Supervisor: Janusz Salamon, Ph.D. E-mail: Pavithra.ramesh14@gmail.co m E-mail: janusz.salamon@univ- oxford.com Phone: +420774960096 Phone: +420731816202 Specialisation: IEPS Defense Planned: June 2017 Topic: Bioethics is the study concerned with the implications of medical procedures, technologies and treatments from the perspective of ethics, philosophy, law and its implementation. It encompasses a wide range of ethical concerns in relation to organ transplants, genetic engineering, artificial reproduction, euthanasia etc. My thesis is an attempt to probe into certain ethical nuances amidst the technological advances in the field of medicine. Particularly, with respect to organ trade in India. Since the origin of medicine the primal goals have followed the Hippocratic Oath of "Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always." (Adams 1891). The questions this perception of early medicine leaves us with are: Have we withdrawn from the compassion and ethics prescribed with the advent of advanced lab technology? What are the issues around organ trade in India? What causes these issues? And how can this be dealt with? The approach to pursue the answers for the above, revolves around...

BACKGROUND: The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is a nonprofit association that standardizes and facilitates the establishment and operation of donor human milk banks in North America. No study has characterized the demographics, characteristics, and geographic distribution of its donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Donors were eligible for inclusion if they were donors at MMBNE, provided a gestational age for their infant, and donated between 1/1/2011-9/1/2019. Data collected from donor surveys and milk collection procedures were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t tests of independence and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Data were analyzed from 3767 donors. On average, donors were 32.5 years old (range 17-52) and donated more than once (mean 2.8; median 2; IQR 1-3; range 1-41). The majority of donors gave birth to term infants, lived in New England, and were not bereaved. Massachusetts had the largest proportion of donors (40.9%), however donors were located in 39 states and four countries. The median total volume donated per donor was 21904mL (741Oz). The average volume of donation per donor increased over time. Mothers who had preterm births were more likely to be bereaved (66% vs. 13%; p<0.01) and the volume of donation (mL) was associated with term versus preterm birth status respectively (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Donors to MMBNE were generally older, repeat donors with term infants, and broadly geographically distributed. Further research is warranted to understand additional characteristics associated with milk donation and any characteristics of mothers who are and are not able to donate milk in accordance with milk bank protocols.

Photoinduced electron transfer in self-assembled via axial coordination porphyrin-fullerene dyads is investigated. Fullerene functionalized with imidazole and fullerenes functionalized with pyridine are chosen as electron acceptors, while zinc pophyrin derivatives are utilized as electron donors. The electron withdrawing ability of halogen atoms make the porphyrin ring electrophilic, which explained the binding of (F20TPP)Zn with fullerene derivatives having the highest binding constant around 105M-1. Another important observation is that the fullerene imidazole binding to zinc pophyrin had higher stability than fullerene pyridine-porphyrin dyad. Computational DFT B3LYP-21G(*) calculations are used to study the geometric and electronic structures. The HOMO and LUMO was found to be located on the porphyrin and fullerene entities, respectively. Photoinduced electron transfer is investigated by the steady-state absorption and emission, differential pulse voltammetry, and nanosecond and femtosecond transient absorption studies. The measurements provided the same conclusion that the increasing number of the halogen atoms on the porphyrin ring leads to the higher binding of porphyrin-fullerene supramolecular dyads and efficient charge separation and charge recombination processes.

A fundamental understanding of interfacial charge transfer at donor-acceptor interfaces is very crucial as it is considered among the most important dynamical processes for optimizing performance in many light harvesting systems, including photovoltaics and photo-catalysis. In general, the photo-generated singlet excitons in photoactive materials exhibit very short lifetimes because of their dipole-allowed spin radiative decay and short diffusion lengths. In contrast, the radiative decay of triplet excitons is dipole forbidden; therefore, their lifetimes are considerably longer. The discussion in this thesis primarily focuses on the relevant parameters that are involved in charge separation (CS), charge transfer (CT), intersystem crossing (ISC) rate, triplet state lifetime, and carrier recombination (CR) at silver nanocluster (NCs) molecular-acceptors interfaces. A combination of steady-state and femto- and nanosecond broadband transient absorption spectroscopies were used to investigate the charge carrier dynamics in various donor-acceptor systems. Additionally, this thesis was prolonged to investigate some important factors that influence the charge carrier dynamics in Ag29 silver NCs donor-acceptor systems, such as the metal doping and chemical structure of the nanocluster and molecular acceptors. Interestingly, clear correlations between the steady-state measurements and timeresolved spectroscopy results are found. In the first study, we have investigated the interfacial charge transfer dynamics in positively charged meso units of 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra (1- methyl-4-pyridino)-porphyrin tetra (p-toluene sulfonate) (TMPyP) and neutral charged 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra (4-pyridyl)-porphyrin (TPyP), with negatively charged undoped and gold (Au)- doped silver Ag29 NCs. Moreover, this study showed the impact of Au doping on the charge carrier dynamics of the system. In the second study, we have investigated the interfacial charge transfer dynamics in [Pt2 Ag23 Cl7 (PPh3)10] silver NCs doped with platinum (Pt), with neutral charged 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra (4-pyridyl)-porphyrin (TPyP). Here, we evaluated the effects of Pt (II) doping on the interfacial charge-transfer dynamics between TPyP and silver NCs.

Microbial electrochemical technologies (MET) exploit the bioelectrocatalytic activity of microorganisms, with a main focus on waste-to-resource recovery. Electromethanogenesis, a type of MET, describes the process of CO2 reduction specifically to methane, catalyzed by methanogens that utilize the cathode directly as an electron donor or through H2 evolving from the cathode surface. Applications are mainly in the direction of bioelectrochemical power-to-gas, as well as biogas upgrading and carbon capture and utilization. As the cathode and its associated microbial consortia are key to the process, larger scale applications require improvements especially in terms of optimal operational parameters, cathode materials and the dynamics of the effect of electron transfer within the cathodic biofilm. The focus of this dissertation is to improve the understanding of the dynamics and function of methaneproducing biofilms grown on cathodes in electromethanogenic reactors in the presence of two different electron donors: the cathode and the H2 evolving from the cathode surface. The spatial homogeneity of the microbial communities across the area of the cathode was demonstrated, which is relevant for large scale applications where reproducibility is required for predictable engineered systems. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic methods were applied to elucidate the short-term changes in the actively transcribed methanogenesis and central carbon assimilation pathways in response to varying the availability of electrons by changing the set cathode potential in a novel Methanobacterium species enriched from electromethanogenic biocathodes. Although changes in functional performance were evident with varying potential, no significant differential expression was observed and genes from the methanogenesis and carbon assimilation pathways were highly expressed throughout. Indium tin oxide (ITO) as a potentially hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) – inert cathode material was evaluated using the mixotrophic Methanosarcina barkeri in an attempt to develop a simplified material-science driven approach to future electron transfer studies. It was found to be electrochemically unstable under the tested conditions, losing its conductivity over time. Overall, the findings from these studies provide new knowledge on the effects of electron donor availability on the functional performance and the biocathode community dynamics. The understandings derived from the study are relevant to methanogenic processes and should aid in system scaleup design.

Through the recruitment of immunologic mechanisms, allogeneic hematopoeitic cell transplantation (HCT) has been establiched as a curative treatment for various hematologic diseases. The most convenient source to obtain hematopoietic progenitor cells are peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) which are harvested from the donor via leukapheresis after mobilization with granulocyte-colony stimulating factors. With the introduction of reduced intensity condition (RIC), the curative potential of allogeneic HCT became accessible to older and/or frail patients otherwise ineligible for HCT. However, new challenges arise as the increasing age of patients is inevitably accompanied by a comparable increase in the age of donors. Safety considerations of collecting PBSCs might attain new dimensions. Data to potential risks in elderly donors are lacking. Moreover, the impact of donor’s age on the feasibility of PBSCs collection and on the quality of the harvest in terms of stem cells (CD34+) and natural killer (NK)-cells has not been studied. It is also unknown whether PBSCs obtained from donors above 50 years would negatively influence engraftment or the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in the recipient. These questions were explored in a retrospective study including 167 recipients of an allogeneic HCT (52.7% after RIC) from a matched related sibling. Median donors’ age was 47 years [67 (40%) donors were > 50 years including 34 donors > 60 years]. Safety of mobilization and leukapheresis was age independent. Adequate PBSCs were collected from all donors though a higher CD34+-cell count was seen in donors < 50 years (p<0.0005), whereas harvests from donors > 60 years contained a higher NK-cell count (p=0.003). Engraftment in the recipient occurred after a median of 12 days and was not affected by an advanced donor age. Similarly, a higher incidence of GVHD was not seen in recipients of harvests from older donors. For the first time, we show that donor’s age, even beyond 60 years, does not preclude successful collection of PBSCs from siblings, does not jeopardize the short-term safety of the donor, and is not associated with deleterious sequels for the recipient in terms of engraftment or GVHD. As NK-cells have been implicated in the suppression of GVHD, and the mediation of a graft versus leukemia effect, the impact of the higher number of NK-cells in harvests from elderly donors on relapse of hematologic malignancies in the recipient warrants further studies.

Since 2016 there are world-wide more mobile phone contracts than people on the planet, and in all these devices critical raw materials (CRMs) are incorporated.[1] For instance, commonly used silicon-based transistors are limited in their chemical modularity. Inorganic materials for solar cells and photocatalysis suffer from critical raw elements content, low apparent quantum efficiencies and photodegradation. Hence, considerable research interest in recent years is focused on development of new high-performance devices for optical and electronic applications that avoid CRMs entirely. To address all these problems materials chemists are exploring for new pathways towards making more sustainable and reliable materials. In that respect, porous organic π- conjugated polymers (POPs) are among the most promising candidates and have gained tremendous attention in materials research over the last decade, especially in the fields of photocatalysis, opto- and electrochemical sensorics, and microelectronics. Synthetic diversity, chemical and physical stability, as well as comparatively low production costs and scalability enable POPs to overcome the drawbacks of inorganic materials. Moreover, the absence of rare earth elements in the purely organic structure of POPs makes these materials more environmentally...

For most of human history, breastfeeding has been the optimal source of nutrition for infants. Human milk contains a variety of important nutritional sources including vitamins, fats, proteins, and immunological components. With the rise of artificial infant formulas, however, breastfeeding as a whole has decreased around the world. Preterm infants are especially susceptible to diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis in the first few weeks of life. Therefore, they have the most to gain from the extra immunological and nutritional support that is present in human milk. Within the last few decades, donor human milk has been viewed as the next best option if mothers own milk is not available. Donor human milk contains many of the same beneficial milk properties as regular human milk including immunoglobulins and human milk oligosaccharides. Studies have shown decreases in preterm cases of NEC and fewer deaths in infants who received DHM. One argument against the use of DHM is that pasteurization can reduce the beneficial enzymes and immunoglobulins present in samples. However, the increased use of human milk fortifiers has been able to significantly decrease the nutrient gap between regular human milk and donor milk. Overall, DHM along with proper fortification serves as the best and most cost effective way to feed preterm infants if mother’s milk is unavailable.

The state of Maryland has been unsuccessful in achieving its goal of registering all of its population as organ donors. The purpose of this correlational study was to understand if allowing registered donors to remain anonymous would increase donor registration rates. The theoretical foundation of this study was the theory of planned behavior. Data were collected from the Motor Vehicle Administration of Maryland and the Division of Motor Vehicle of Virginia. The data were analyzed using regression displacement, interrupted time series analysis, auto correlation analysis, and Arima Box Jenkins methodology. According to the study findings, offering the option to remain anonymous and registering to be an organ donor with no heart icon on the driver's license did not have the immediate effect of encouraging more people to register as an organ donor. Parameter estimates from an Arima autoregression analysis did suggest that the impact of the removal of the heart icon may have a delayed impact, although data availability limited attempts at further investigation.