Ces dernières années, la physique de la matière condensée a connu une profonde révolution de concepts par la découverte de nombreuses phases de la matière qui ne sont pas classifiables à la Landau, c’est à dire par leur groupe de symétrie. Si les premiers travaux remontent à ceux des effets Hall quantiques (entier et fractionnaire), ce n’est que récemment, avec l’avènement du graphène et des isolants topologiques que les physiciens ont réalisé que ces phases de la matière ne nécessitent, dans l’absolu, ni champ magnétique, ni basse température, par opposition aux effets Hall quantiques précédemment cités. Ces nouveaux états de la matière sont caractérisés non pas par la géométrie du problème mais plutôt par la topologie. Ici donc, la forme précise du spectre électronique n’est pas importante, seules certaines caractéristiques, comme la présence ou l’absence d’un gap, le sont. De manière similaire à la classification de Landau des groupes de symétries, il est possible de classifier ces nouveaux systèmes par l’intermédiaire de groupes topologiques. La branche mathématique invoquée est celle de la topologie algébrique. A travers les invariants qu’elle génère, il est possible de classer les états topologiquement non-triviaux. De plus, les transitions entre des états à topologies distinctes sont aussi accessibles par cette théorie. Les travaux réalisés dans le cadre de cette thèse s’intéressent aux effets topologiques dans la structure de bandes de matériaux bi-dimensionnels. Après une présentation du formalisme mathématique général, un premier chapitre s’intéressera à la topologie locale, c’est à dire pour une portion restreinte de la première zone de Brillouin, des points de croisements de bandes, dits points de Dirac. Un effort sera porté vers la classification de ces systèmes et des transitions associées. Le chapitre suivant mettra en lumière un moyen efficace de mesurer les effets de la topologie des électrons en deux dimensions. Il s’agit de l’étude des niveaux de Landau qui résultent de l’application d’un champ magnétique 5transverse au plan des électrons. Les points de Dirac se transmutent alors en niveaux à énergie nulle topologiquement stables, c’est à dire peu ou pas influencés par les diverses perturbations. L’étude des différents modèles justifiera la discrimination entre la physique à champ magnétique faible et celle à champ magnétique fort, faible ou fort étant très dépendant du système étudié. Enfin, dans un dernier chapitre plus prospectif on s’intéressera à la topologie globale, c’est à dire pour l’ensemble de la première zone de Brillouin. Ce type d’étude est surtout caractérisé par l’existence d’états de bords robustes. On en fera l’expérience d’une double manière. D’abord par l’étude un modèle à un électron, puis par celle d’un système en forte interaction de N électrons. A travers les différents exemples étudiés, on s’attachera à démontrer la puissance de l’outil topologique pour les problèmes de la matière condensée, phénomène qui devrait s’accentuer les prochaines années. / During the last few decades, condensed matter physics has witnessed a deep refoundation of its paradigms, through the discovery of many systems that the usual symmety classification à la Landau cannot handle properly. Although the first major breaktroughs were realized at the time of discovery of integer and fractional quantum Hall effects, only recently physicists have agreed that these peculiar phases of matter require neither a magnetic field nor low temperature. Those new states of matter cannot be caracterized by the geometric aspects of the model but rather by topological ones. The precise shape of the electronic spectrum is no longer relevant, but only particular features are, such as the presence or the absence of a gap. Similarly to the Landau classification scheme, one can achieve a construction through extensive use of topological groups. This is the realm of algebraic topology. Related generated topological invariants can hold a classification of non-trivial topological states, as well as of the accompanying transitions. This thesis focusses on peculiar topological features of two-dimesnsional electronic band structures. After a technical introduction to the underlying formalism, the first chapter is devoted to local topology, that is for a restricted piece of the first Brillouin zone, of band crossing points, also known as Dirac points. Special care is taken to classify these points and related transitions. The next chapter sheds some light on a particularly efficent way of measuring topology for two-dimensional electrons. This is achieved through measurements of Landau levels that are generated by a magnetic field applied perpendicular to a plane. Dirac points then generate zero Landau levels that are topologically stable, i.e. almost not influenced by perturbations at all. Distinctions between low and high magnetic fields will prove to be relevant, although very system-dependant. Through the several models studied, we particularly stress out the importance of the topological tool for condensed matter physics, past present... and future.

We are accustomed to think the phase of single particle states does not matter. After all, the phase cancels out when calculating physical observables. However, the geometric phase can cause interference even in single particle states and can be measured. Berry’s phase is a geometric phase the system accumulates as its time-dependent Hamiltonian is subjected to closed adiabatic excursion in parameter space. In this report, we explore how Berry’s phase manifests itself in various fields of physics, both classical and quantum mechanical. The Hannay angle is a classical analogue to Berry’s phase and they are related by a derivative. The Aharonov-Bohm effect is a manifestation of Berry’s phase. Net rotation of deformable bodies in the language of gauge theory can be translated as a Berry phase. The well-known BornOppenheimer approximation is a molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect and is another manifestation of Berry’s Phase.

Au cours des dernières décennies, l’industrie de la micro-électronique a connu une large démocratisation de l’utilisation des applications de télécommunication. L’amélioration des procédés de conception et de fabrication ont permis de produire des circuits analogiques, mixtes et radiofréquences complexes et hautes performances pour ces applications. Toutefois, le coût de test de ces circuits intégrés représente encore une large part du coût de fabrication. En effet, très souvent, tester des fonctions analogiques ne se résume pas à un test fonctionnel mais signifie mesurer les spécifications du circuit. Ces mesures nécessitent l’utilisation d’instruments dédiés bien plus couteux que les ressources numériques disponibles sur un équipement de test industriel standard. Une des spécifications essentielle mais couteuse à caractériser pour les circuits RF est le niveau de bruit de phase. La technique actuellement utilisée en industrie consiste à capturer le signal à l’aide d’un canal testeur analogique équipé d’un convertisseur analogique-numérique hautes performances ; une transformée de Fourier est alors appliquée sur le signal numérisé et le bruit de phase est mesuré sur le spectre résultant. L’approche proposée dans cette thèse consiste à réaliser la mesure de bruit de phase en n’utilisant que des ressources digitales faible coût. L’idée fondamentale consiste à réaliser la capture 1-bit du signal analogique avec un canal numérique standard et à développer des algorithmes de post-traitement dédiés permettant de retrouver l’information relative au bruit de phase à partir d’une évaluation des temps de passages à zéro du signal. Deux méthodes sont présentées. La première méthode est basée sur une estimation de la fréquence instantanée du signal et une analyse de la dispersion induite par le bruit de phase. Cette méthode impose une contrainte forte quant à la fréquence d’échantillonnage à utiliser et s’est révélée sensible au bruit d’amplitude, limitant la gamme de mesures possibles. Une seconde méthode est alors proposée afin de s’affranchir de ces limitations. A partir de la capture binaire du signal analogique, une reconstruction de la phase instantanée du signal est réalisée, puis filtrée puis caractérisée grâce à un outil usuel d’évaluation de stabilité fréquentielle : la variance d’Allan. Cette technique, robuste au bruit d’amplitude et au jitter, peut être paramétrée et permet une caractérisation efficace du bruit de phase sans contrainte fondamentale. En plus des simulations, ces techniques font l‘objet d’une étude stochastique et sont validées expérimentalement sur différents types de signaux à mesurer – générés artificiellement ou provenant de puces sur le marché – et avec différentes conditions mesures – sur oscilloscope ou sur testeur industriel, en laboratoire et en production –. Une implémentation sur puce est aussi proposée et validée avec un prototype sur FPGA. / In recent decades, the microelectronics industry has experienced a wide democratization of the use of telecommunication applications. The improved process design and manufacturing have produced complex and high performance analog, mixed and radio frequency circuits for these applications. However, the test cost of these integrated circuits still represents a large part of the manufacturing cost. Indeed, very often, analog testing is not just a functional test but needs measurements for specification validations. These measurements require the use of dedicated instruments expensive resources on standard industrial test equipment.One of the essential but costly specifications to validate in RF circuitry is the phase noise level. The currently used industrial technique consists in capturing the signal from the circuit under test using an RF tester channel equipped with a high performance analog to digital converter; a Fourier transform is then applied to the digitized signal and the phase noise is measured on the resulting spectrum.The approach proposed in this thesis is to achieve the phase noise measurement using solely digital low-cost resources. The basic idea is to perform 1-bit capture of the analog signal with a standard digital channel and develop post-processing algorithms dedicated for phase noise evaluation from the zero-crossings of the signal.Two methods are presented. The first method is based on an estimate of the instantaneous signal frequency and an analysis of their dispersion induced by phase noise. This method imposes a strong constraint on the sampling frequency to be used and proved to be sensitive to noise amplitude, limiting the range of possible measures. A second method is then proposed to overcome these limitations. From the binary capture of the analog signal, a reconstruction of the instantaneous phase of the signal is carried out, then filtered and characterized by a common tool of frequency stability assessment: the Allan variance. This technique, robust to amplitude noise and jitter, can be parametrized and enables efficient characterization of phase noise without fundamental constraint.In addition to the simulations, these techniques are subject to a stochastic study and are validated experimentally on different types of signals to be measured - artificially generated or from chips on the market - and with different measuring instruments - on oscilloscope or industrial tester, in laboratory and on a production line-. An On-chip implementation is also proposed and validated with a FPGA prototype.

L'héparine (Hp) est un polysaccharide sulfaté appartenant à la famille des glycosaminoglycanes (GAGs), et est constitué d'unités de répétition disaccharidiques composées d’un acide hexauronique lié par une liaison α1→4 à un résidu hexosamine. La sulfatation de ce polysaccharide peut avoir lieu sur les positions 6-O ou N du glucosamine, mais également sur la position 2-O de l'acide hexauronique. En général, les GAGs sont O-liés aux chaînes latérales des protéoglycanes, et sont associés à un nombre important d'activités physiologiques, généralement reliées à leur interaction avec diverses protéines. Dans certains cas, cette interaction peut-être influencée par la liaison à ces complexes Hp/protéine d'ions métalliques naturels. Ceux-ci influencent l'affinité, la spécificité et la stabilité de ces complexes. En dépit de sa pertinence, le mécanisme par lequel un cation métallique module l'activité de l'héparine au sein des complexes Hp-protéine, reste largement méconnu.Un éventail de stratégies et d'outils ont été développés afin de faciliter la détermination des structures primaires des biomolécules par spectrométrie de masse en tandem (MS/MS). En effet, la caractérisation structurale de l'héparine sulfatée et de ses complexes métalliques a été soutenue par le développement de techniques de spectrométrie de masse. Dans certains cas, il a été observé que lors de l'activation par dissociation induite par collision (CID), certains de ces isomères d'héparine partageaient à peu près les mêmes schémas de fragmentation, compliquant de ce fait le processus d'identification de ces composés. Néanmoins, des études réalisées au LAMBE ont montré que la réactivité en phase gazeuse des ions métalliques pouvait aider à la différenciation d'isomères saccharidiques. Ces études peuvent être utiles non seulement du point de vue purement analytique, mais également parce que le comportement différent des isomères envers un métal donnée conduit à informations sur le processus d'interaction Hp/Métal mis en jeu. Cela peut s’avérer important pour interpréter les mécanismes biologiques mentionnées auparavant.Dugourd et al ont récemment rapporté les spectres optiques et les motifs de photodissociation de différents oligosaccharides sous irradiation UV. En terme de chemins de fragmentation, il a été observé que les spectres de photodissociation Ultraviolet (UVPD) apparaissaient être plus informatifs que la CID en raison de clivages à travers les cycles supplémentaires, qui fournissent une information sur la position du groupe sulfate. Le spectre optique des disaccharides sulfatés est caractérisé par une bande large et intense centrée vers 240 nm. Suite à ces résultats, nous nous sommes intéressés au couplage de la spectroscopie optique et des calculs théoriques pour les disaccharides d'héparine, et avons employé la spectroscopie UVPD afin d’obtenir des informations complémentaires sur les interactions de ces sucres avec les métaux.Comme décrit auparavant, les processus CID représentent un outil très précieux pour la caractérisation structurale des biomolécules. Motivés par des travaux antérieurs publiés par W. Hase et K. Song, nous avons collaboré avec les groupe de R. Spezia et T. Riera afin de parvenir à une meilleure compréhension du processus MS/MS des sucres et des peptides protonés. Les mécanismes CID de modèles simples, N-Formylalanylamide (HCO-Ala-NH2) et Galactose-6-Sulfate, ont été étudiés par des simulations de dynamique moléculaire QM+MM et des expériences MS/MS. Les objectifs de cette thèse étaient les suivants: i) explorer la possibilité d'utiliser le calcium métallique à des fins analytiques ii) fournir de nouvelles données sur la nature de l’interaction Hp/Ca2+ en utilisant une stratégie multi-approches combinant plusieurs techniques expérimentales et de calculs quantiques iii) étudier le processus CID de différents systèmes par des simulations de dynamique moléculaire. / Heparin (Hp) is a sulfated polysaccharide composed of repeating dissacharide units of hexauronic acid linked (α1→4) to an hexosamine residue that belongs to the family of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Sulfation can occur at the 6-O and/or N-positions of the gluscosamine, as well as the 2-O position of the hexauronic acid. GAGs usually exist as the O-linked side-chains of proteoglycans, associated with numerous important physiological activities, generally related to their interaction with diverse proteins. In some cases, this interaction can be influenced by the binding of natural metal ions to these Hp/protein complexes. Their role is usually pertained to the affinity, specificity and stability of these complexes. Despite its relevance, the mechanism by which the cation modulates heparin activity in Hp-protein complexes is largely unknown. A range of strategies and tools has been developed to facilitate the determination of primary structures of analyte molecules of interest via tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). In fact, structural characterization of heparin sulfated and its metal complexes has been sustained by the development of mass spectrometry techniques. In some cases, it was observed that upon collision-induced dissociation (CID) activation, some of these heparin-like isomers share nearly the same fragmentation patterns, turning the identification process into a complicated step. Nevertheless, a few years ago, our group showed that the gas-phase reactivity of metal ions can shed light into differentiating isomeric saccharides. These studies can be useful for two reasons: just for purely analytical purposes and also because the different behavior of the isomers towards the metal gives information about the Hp/Metal interaction. This might be important to explain the biological considerations mentioned before. Moreover, Dugourd et al recently reported the optical spectra and photodissociation patterns of different Hp oligosaccharides under UV irradiation. In terms of fragmentation pathways, it was observed that Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) spectra appear to be more informative than CID due to additional cross-ring cleavages that provide information about the sulfate group location. Remarkably, the optical spectrum is characterized by an intense broad band centered at 240 nm for sulfated disaccharides. Following these findings, we became interested in coupling optical spectroscopy and theoretical calculations in heparin disaccharides and developing an alternative strategy to characterize these metal interactions. As described before, CID processes are commonly used in several fields and represent a very valuable tool in protein or carbohydrate characterization. Motivated by previous work published by W. Hase and K. Song, we collaborated with R.Spezia and T. Riera’s group in order to achieve a better understanding of the MS/MS process of protonated peptides and sugars. CID mechanisms of simple models, N-Formylalanylamide (HCO-Ala-NH2) and Galactose-6-Sulfate, were studied by QM+MM chemical dynamics simulations and MS/MS experiments.

Over the last 100 Years, the cyanidation process has been the most popular method for recovering gold from its ores. Despite this, there are still efforts to improve the efficiency of the process, particularly as ores become more difficult to treat. Many investigators have studied the cyanidation process, although a large proportion of these studies have obtained contradictory results. This thesis presents a kinetic and electrochemical study of the leaching of gold in cyanide solutions, and emphasis is placed on rationalising the conflicting results which have been published in the past.The leaching rate of gold was measured using a rotating electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, an instrument which allows the simultaneous measurement of electrochemical data and mass changes at the solid-solution interface in real time. A proportion of this project was devoted to the on-going design of this instrument, and a number of modifications are discussed in detail. Initially, the leaching of gold in cyanide solutions was investigated under conditions of high purity. Under these conditions, it was found that the gold surface is blocked by a passive film, presumably AuCN. The presence of such a film results in the reaction being chemically controlled, and under typical cyanidation conditions (4 mM cyanide, pH 10.0), the rate of dissolution is very low. These kinetic results were supported by complimentary electrochemical studies, which showed that gold is passive in the potential region where cyanidation occurs.The second part of this thesis presents a study of the effect of system purity on the leaching of gold in cyanide solutions. Solution phase purity was investigated by adding controlled amounts of lead or silver to the leach solutions. It was found that in the presence of low concentrations of lead, the dissolution of gold in 20 mM cyanide solutions was oxygen ++ / diffusion controlled (as compared to chemical control for gold in the absence of lead). However, high concentrations of lead were found to be detrimental to the leaching process. It is believed that the role of lead is to modify the surface by cementation, hence reducing the effect of the passive film. Silver was also found to be effective at reducing passivation, and the role of silver believed to be similar to that of lead. It was found that unlike lead, high concentrations of silver are not detrimental to the dissolution of gold in cyanide solutions.Solid phase purity was also found to be important in the leaching of gold, and it was found that the leaching of a gold sample which contains 1 % silver is diffusion controlled. This finding is important from an industrial viewpoint, as most native gold contains some silver. Consequently, attempts were made to rationalise the leaching of gold/silver with current plant practice. Discussion on the effect of cyanide and oxygen concentrations, temperature and lead addition is presented.

Graduation date: 1997

Solid-phase syntheses of two 14-membered ring peptidomimetics were done to determine whether or not a beta-turn structure can facilitate macrocyclization. NMR methods, together with CD and QMD calculations, do not fully support this assumption. However, cyclizations of more ordered structures like those of compounds 2 were more efficient than those for highly strained ring systems like 1. A small library of 18-membered ring peptidomimetics that accommodate an extra amino acid residue was synthesized on resin. Their syntheses were not complicated by head-to-tail dimer impurity, unlike those for previously synthesized 14-membered systems. These larger macrocycles exhibit beta-turn structures as verified by NMR, CD and QMD techniques. Moreover, two compounds in this series (3a and 3g) were shown to have agonistic properties for TrkC in cell survival assays. Dimerization of monovalent mimics was achieved first by modifying the organic template so that monovalent mimics with requisite functional groups can be synthesized. Second, the monovalent units were dimerized using sequential nucleophilic substitutions on fluorescently labeled dichlorotriazine. Our rationale to make bivalent compounds out of monovalent ones was justified when compound 4 was shown to bind TrkA with a 20 nM affinity. Reactions of amino acids with NH4SCN under acylating conditions produced 2-thiohydantoins in which the nitrogen of the amino acid (N1) was acylated. This was proven by 2-D NMR which showed no cross-peak between the NH signal observed and the Cα±-H of the amino acid. When the compound was deacylated, a new NH signal appeared and the corresponding cross-peak with the Cα±-H was observed. Solution-phase syntheses of non-peptidic mimics were achieved by doing a double substitution on a dihalogenated nitrobenzene scaffold. Sonogashira and SNAr reactions were done to install the required side-chains to give the desired compounds. These non-peptidic compounds can be easily adapted to our DTAF-Inp dimerization protocol since the nitro groups can be easily reduced. Attempts to make a spirotetracyclic peptidomimetic with three side chain mimics were done by synthesizing the spirocyclic diketopiperazine precursor. The synthesis of the DKP was achieved by making the cyclic quaternary amino acid that was coupled to another amino acid via the HOAt-EDC method. This protocol gave dipeptides in high yields. These dipeptides were deprotected and cyclized to the DKP under mildly acidic conditions in toluene.

As the operating conditions of the pressurized water reactor (PWR) have been increased towards the thermal limits of the core for economics, the subcooled boiling heat transfer performance of the rod bundles under normal operating conditions has become an increasingly important design focus. Effective field models such as two-fluid model, on which most previous numerical studies in the nuclear fields have focused, cannot predict detailed phenomenon of subcooled boiling because it involves complex multiphase dynamics, such as nucleation, growth, detachment bubbles from a wall, deformation, break-up, coalescence, and condensation. It also requires numerous, additional closure relations. On the other hand, direct numerical simulations with interfacial tracking enable us to capture specific two-phase flow and do not require additional empirical closure relations. In this thesis, we simulate isothermal, two-dimensional bubble dynamics as a starting point toward direct simulation of the subcooled boiling. We adopt a lattice Boltzmann method with the phase-field model. The lattice Boltzmann method is a mesoscopic approach well-adapted to the simulation of complex fluids and is simple to implement. The phase field model can capture complex topological deformation, such as coalescence and break-up, with better numerical stability than other interfacial tracking methods like Volume of Fluid (VOF) and level set methods. We validate the present method for stationary and moving two-phase interfaces by comparing with theoretical solutions for a single static bubble in a stationary liquid and a capillary wave, respectively. In addition, the capability of the current method to simulate the coalescence of two bubbles and droplets is validated by comparing with experimental data. To see the applicability of the method to problems involving complex bubble behaviors and interactions with a high-density ratio as in subcooled boiling water, we simulate rising single and double bubbles in a viscous fluid. For a single bubble problem, the bubble shapes and terminal velocity agreed well with the experimental results for different fluid dynamic conditions. For a double bubble case, the current method can capture the interaction and dynamics of the bubbles. Thus, it is expected that this study can serve as a stepping-stone extension to convective subcooled boiling heat transfer in the nuclear reactor core.

Inflammatory diseases such as hypertension are associated with high levels of oxidative stress. Characteristic of oxidative stress is the inflammatory acute phase protein response. Oxidative stress and its accompanied inflammation can be reduced via phase 2 enzyme induction. Broccoli sprouts, a rich source of phase 2 enzyme inducers such as isothiocyanates, can be incorporated into the diet to increase phase 2 enzymes. <p> The hypothesis of this study is that, the dietary intake of dried broccoli sprouts, by inducing liver phase 2 enzymes, will decrease oxidative stress and the acute phase response in the blood of spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. <p> Spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRsp) and Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were placed either on a control diet of modified AIN-93G or an experimental diet of modified AIN-93G supplemented with dried broccoli sprouts. The following parameters were examined: 1. Isothiocyanate absorption (an increased level of dithiocarbamates is reflective of ITC absorption), 2. Oxidative stress (a reduction in oxidative stress is evidenced by an increase in plasma protein thiols and blood glutathione (GSH)), 3. Acute phase proteins (a decreased APR is reflected by an increase in plasma albumin and a decrease in ceruloplasmin), 4. Activity of phase 2 enzymes (increased phase 2 enzyme induction results in higher activities of liver quinone reductase (QR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR)). <p> My experimental results demonstrated that broccoli sprout feeding results in higher protein thiol levels in female SHRsp and higher blood GSH levels in males but no acute phase protein changes were observed in either male or female SHRsp. Broccoli sprout feeding caused higher QR and lower GST activities in female SHRsp but did not affect the activities of phase 2 enzymes in male SHRsp. The activities of GST and QR were higher in SD rats than in SHRsp. Levels of dithiocarbamates were higher in the broccoli fed group than in the control fed group. <p> The results from this study do not present a clear pattern to support the hypothesis that dietary intake of broccoli sprouts by inducing phase 2 enzymes will decrease parameters of oxidative stress and the acute phase response. <p> In conclusion, there is an interactive role played by animal gender and the induction of phase 2 enzymes by dried broccoli sprouts.

Inflammatory diseases such as hypertension are associated with high levels of oxidative stress. Characteristic of oxidative stress is the inflammatory acute phase protein response. Oxidative stress and its accompanied inflammation can be reduced via phase 2 enzyme induction. Broccoli sprouts, a rich source of phase 2 enzyme inducers such as isothiocyanates, can be incorporated into the diet to increase phase 2 enzymes. <p> The hypothesis of this study is that, the dietary intake of dried broccoli sprouts, by inducing liver phase 2 enzymes, will decrease oxidative stress and the acute phase response in the blood of spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats. <p> Spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRsp) and Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were placed either on a control diet of modified AIN-93G or an experimental diet of modified AIN-93G supplemented with dried broccoli sprouts. The following parameters were examined: 1. Isothiocyanate absorption (an increased level of dithiocarbamates is reflective of ITC absorption), 2. Oxidative stress (a reduction in oxidative stress is evidenced by an increase in plasma protein thiols and blood glutathione (GSH)), 3. Acute phase proteins (a decreased APR is reflected by an increase in plasma albumin and a decrease in ceruloplasmin), 4. Activity of phase 2 enzymes (increased phase 2 enzyme induction results in higher activities of liver quinone reductase (QR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR)). <p> My experimental results demonstrated that broccoli sprout feeding results in higher protein thiol levels in female SHRsp and higher blood GSH levels in males but no acute phase protein changes were observed in either male or female SHRsp. Broccoli sprout feeding caused higher QR and lower GST activities in female SHRsp but did not affect the activities of phase 2 enzymes in male SHRsp. The activities of GST and QR were higher in SD rats than in SHRsp. Levels of dithiocarbamates were higher in the broccoli fed group than in the control fed group. <p> The results from this study do not present a clear pattern to support the hypothesis that dietary intake of broccoli sprouts by inducing phase 2 enzymes will decrease parameters of oxidative stress and the acute phase response. <p> In conclusion, there is an interactive role played by animal gender and the induction of phase 2 enzymes by dried broccoli sprouts.