Recent studies suggest that lymphocyte apoptosis serves to regulate pulmonary inflammation. Equine COPD, an allergic disease of the lower airway, is likely due to dysregulation of the pulmonary immune response. In this study, the hypothesis tested was COPD affected horses would have less apoptotic airway lymphocytes than control horses during clinical disease. To achieve this, 3 methods of measuring apoptosis, Vindelov's propidium iodide with Triton-X (PI/Triton-X), 7-aminoactinomycin D (7-AAD), and Annexin V with propidium iodide (Annexin/PI) were evaluated in equine airway lymphocytes. A significant linear relationship was found for equine bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) lymphocytes stained with 7-AAD and Annexin/PI . No relationship was identified with cells stained with PI/Triton-X and Annexin/PI, and 7-AAD and PI/Triton-X indicating that methods which preserve cell membrane characteristics are more comparable when measuring BAL lymphocytes apoptosis in a heterogeneous population of cells. Additionally, all stains appear to perform the same in COPD and normal horses in remission and disease. Comparison of predominately BAL lymphocyte apoptosis using the above methods were performed at baseline, after natural challenge, and after dexamethasone administration in nine horses, five of which were affected with COPD. No differences in bronchoalveolar lavage lymphocyte apoptosis between COPD and control horses were detected either before or after dexamethasone administration, although numerical trends in COPD horses identified less apoptosis after natural challenge indicating that defective apoptosis may play a role in equine COPD pathogenesis. Dexamethasone administration was associated with trends of improvement in the pulmonary gas exchange and increased apoptosis toward baseline in the COPD horses. / Master of Science

Magister Scientiae - MSc / In this research, novel hybrid perovskite materials were synthesized, characterized and applied in photovoltaic cells (PVCs) to enhance the performance of PVCs. Mixed-organic-cations tin halide perovskites (MOCTPs) were successfully synthesized using sol-gel method. These MOCTPs include guanidinium dimethylammonium tin iodide ([GA][(CH3)2NH2]SnI3) and guanidinium ethylmmonium tin iodide ([GA][CH3CH2NH3]SnI3). The MOCTPs were studied in comparison to their single-organic-cation tin perovskites (SOCTPs), which include guanidinium tin iodide (GASnI3), ethylammonium tin iodide ([CH3CH2NH3]SnI3) and dimethylammonium tin iodide [(CH3)2NH2]SnI3. High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HR SEM) of the five perovskite materials showed good crystallinity and tetragonal and hexagonal cubic shapes, characteristic of perovskites. These shapes were also confirmed from High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR TEM), and the internal structure of the perovskites gave similar zone axes (ZAs) with those obtained from X-ray Diffraction (XRD). XRD showed tetragonal lattice shape for these perovskite materials. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) demonstrated similar functional groups for both the SOCTPs and MOCTPs. FTIR bands that were observed are; N-H, C-H sp3, C-H aldehyde, N-H bend, C-N sp3 and N-H wag. From the 13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) results, the carbon atom of guanidinium iodide precursor shifts from downfield to upfield position, e.g. from 110.57 ppm to 38.49 ppm in GASnI3 SOCTP. This confirms a shift upfield of the carbon atom in guanidinium iodide precursor as it bonded to Sn metal in the perovskite chemical structure. Similar behavior was also observed for the NMR spectra of [GA][CH3CH2NH3]SnI3 MOCTP, where C-2 and C-3 atoms of ethylammonium iodide precursor shifted upfield from 37.03 ppm to 15.69 ppm and 16.06 ppm to 14.39 ppm respectively.

129I is of major concern because of its biophilic nature, excessive inventory, long half-life (~16 million yrs), and high mobility in the natural environment that depends on its chemical speciation. Iodide (I-) has the highest mobility than iodate (IO3-) and is the predominant species in the terrestrial environment due to prevailing pH and Eh conditions. In order to transform I- to less mobile organo-iodine (OI), strong oxidants are necessary to activate the first electron transfer step from I- to reactive intermediates. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of naturally occurring aerobic bacteria isolated from an 129I contaminated aquifer (F-area of the Savannah River Site, SC) on I- oxidation and OI formation. It was demonstrated that 3 of 136 strains accumulated I- (0.2~2%) in the presence of H2O2, when incubated in the presence of an environmentally relevant concentration of I- (0.1 microM). The accumulation was likely through electrophilic substitution resulting in the iodination of cellular constituents. The results indicated that culturable I--accumulating bacteria are not directly responsible for the high fraction of oxidized iodine species (IO3- and OI, >50% of total I) present in the SRS F-area. Several bacterial strains were found to be capable of stimulating I- oxidation through excretion of oxidants and enzymes. Organic acids in spent liquid medium from 27 of 84 aerobic bacterial cultures enhanced H2O2-dependent I- oxidation 2-10 fold. Organic acids enhanced I- oxidation by (1) lowering the pH of the spent medium and (2) reacting with H2O2 to form peroxy carboxylic acids, which are strong oxidizing agents. In the absence of H2O2, spent medium from 44 of 84 bacteria cultures showed I- oxidizing capacities. One I- oxidizing bacterium was studied to characterize its extracellular I- oxidizing component(s). The I- oxidizing capability from the spent medium was inactive by treatments with heat and H2O2 and absent under anaerobic conditions. Conversely, NADH, NADPH and FMN additions stimulated I- oxidation in the spend medium. These results indicate an oxidase(s) catalyzed I- oxidation. Understanding the bacterial activities involved with I- oxidation and OI formation is expected to help reduce 129I mobility in water-soil systems.

We investigated the reactivity and bonding of perfluoroethyl groups (C2F5) on Cu(111) under ultra high vacuum conditions. Perfluoroethyl moieties bonded to the surface were generated by the dissociative adsorption of perfluoroethyl iodide. Temperature-programmed reaction/desorption (TPR/D) and reflection- adsorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) revealed abounding reaction pathways, and a variety of intermediates were either identified or inferred. The major desorption products, hexafluoro-2-butyne and hexafluorocyclobutene, were detected at 360K and 440K, and some octafluorobutene was observed at 320K at higher coverages, implicating that two fluorine atoms were abstracted step-by-step from the C2F5 on Cu(111). Two sets of signature IR bands were recognized. One set (2054cm-1, 1409cm-1, 1210cm-1) was found to correlate with the surface-bound trifluorovinyl moieties which were also confirmed by directly generating this species from trifluorovinyl iodide. The other set of vibrational features (1322cm-1, 1224cm-1, 950cm-1) presumably implied the trifluoro- ethylidyne intermediate on the surface. Hence, C2F5(ad) underwent the £\-F and £]-F elimination reactions in sequence to yield trifluorovinyl which eventually led to hexafluoro-2-butyne. The alternative route was that C2F5(ad) proceeded via the £\-F elimination reaction twice to render trifluoroethylidyne which ultimately resulted in hexafluorocyclobutene. To our knowledge, the occurrence of the sequential £\-F and£]-F elimination pathway, or the double £\-F elimination reaction has never been observed in any single system.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-154).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.113-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1958. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-139).

<p>Iodine is considered an essential nutrient as lack can cause severe metabolic and neurological issues in adults, with the added consequence of permanent developmental damage in children and infants. However, excessive iodine intake can result in similar symptoms, with a wide variance in adverse health outcomes. The safe range of iodine intake may be relatively low, with some studies suggesting the possibility of a high frequency of subclinical cases of iodine poisoning going unnoticed or misdiagnosed. </p> <p>In this study, the zebrafish model was tested as an integrative whole animal model to demonstrate behavioral, morphological, and genetic responses to overt and subclinical iodine poisoning in developing humans. Zebrafish embryos were treated with sodium iodide (NaI) immediately after fertilization. Survivability was monitored every 24 hours until 120 hours post fertilization (hpf). Concentrations with no statistical significance on survival, plus the smallest dose of significant lethality were then examined using behavioral analysis at 120 hpf to compare both overt and subclinical outcomes. Morphology measurements of body length, head length, head width, brain length, swim bladder volume, jaw length, and ventral dissension were also recorded at 120 hpf. Gene expression of <i>slc5a5</i>, <i>tpo</i>, and <i>tshba</i> at 72 hpf was also measured using quantitative PCR (qPCR). </p> <p>A significant decrease in survival rates were observed at 24 hpf for 25, 37.5, and 50 mM NaI treatments (p<0.0001). Morphological measurements taken at 120 hpf showed a significant increase in body length, head length, head width, jaw length, and swim bladder volume in the 10 mM NaI treatment group (p<0.0001) and a significant decrease in body length, head length, jaw length, and swim bladder volume in the 25 mM treatment group (p<0.0001). A ventral distension also developed near the location of the thyroid gland exclusively in the 25 mM group. </p> <p>Behavioral analysis showed significant increases in movement for both the 10 mM and 25 mM treatment groups during dark phases (p<0.0001). The 25 mM treatment group had an increase in movement during dark phases for standard well environments (p<0.0001), but this did not hold true for larger well environments, instead trending towards a non-significant decrease (p>0.05). The 10 mM group had a significant decrease during the first light phase in standard wells (p=0.002), with a significant increase in the second light phase for large wells (p=0.005). There were no significant changes in the expression of selected genes associated with the thyroid pathway (<i>slc5a5</i>, <i>tpo</i>, or <i>tshba</i>) across all treatment groups (p>0.05). </p><p><br></p> <p>Overall, the results suggest zebrafish larvae exhibit both overt and subclinical symptoms of excess iodine intake. Future studies are needed to determine internalization, biodistribution, clearance, and further characterization of adverse outcomes along the thyroid pathway for additional exploration into subclinical thyrotoxicosis due to excess iodine intake. Researchers should express caution with time points, as the Wolff-Chaikoff effect may influence exposure windows in zebrafish. </p>

A new spectrometric technique for measuring diffusion coefficients of Ordovician Queenston Formation shale from the Michigan Basin of southwest Ontario, Canada is presented; in this case pore diffusion coefficients (Dp) were determined for the conservative (iodide, I^-) and reactive (cesium, Cs^+) tracers in porous media. Furthermore, diffusion-reaction parameters such as Cation exchange capacity (CEC) were obtained for the reactive tracer, Cs^+ by the reactive-transport modeling. The principle of X-ray absorption spectrometry (XAS) is based on the attenuation of high atomic number of diffusive species (e.g. Cs^+and I^-) in porous media, allowing for the quantification of the resulting spatial changes. The technique employs a 1.1 mm collimated X-ray beam to resolve the tracer presence in a slice; small region of a rotating sample for a fixed time. The x-ray beam is incident on a sample of porous rock while the transmitted beam is detected on the opposite side of the sample, allowing acquisition of a transmitted X-ray energy spectrum vs intensity (counts). Additional analyses such as mineralogical studies by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) were conducted to improve the understanding of solute transport. The comparison of the data obtained by the XAS method indicating a good agreement with established radiography and other conventional diffusion methods provide an alternate approach for quantifying the diffusion coefficient of porous media.

No description available.