Analysis of primary aromatic amines using precolumn derivatization by HPLC fluorescence detection and online MS identification

2-(2-Phenyl-1H-phenanthro-[9,10-d]imidazole-1-yl)-acetic acid (PPIA) and 2-(9-acridone)-acetic acid (AAA), two novel precolumn fluorescent derivatization reagents, have been developed and compared for analysis of primary aromatic amines by high performance liquid chromatographic fluorescence detection coupled with online mass spectrometric identification. PPIA and AAA react rapidly and smoothly with the aromatic amines on the basis of a condensation reaction using 1-ethyl-3-(3dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) as dehydrating catalyst to form stable derivatives with emission wavelengths at 380 and 440 nm, respectively. Taking six primary aromatic amines (aniline, 2-methylaniline, 2-methoxyaniline, 4-methylaniline, 4-chloroaniline, and 4-bromoaniline) as testing compounds, derivatization conditions such as coupling reagent, basic catalyst, reaction temperature and time, reaction solvent, and fluorescent labeling reagent concentration have also been investigated. With the better PPIA method, chromatographic separation of derivatized aromatic amines exhibited a good baseline resolution on an RP column. At the same time, by online mass spectrometric identification with atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source in positive ion mode, the PPIA-labeled derivatives were characterized by easy-to-interpret mass spectra due to the prominent protonated molecular ion m/z [M + H](+) and specific fragment ions (MS/MS) m/z 335 and 295. The linear range is 24.41 fmol-200.0 pmol with correlation coefficients in the range of 0.9996-0.9999, and detection limits of PPIA-labeled aromatic amines are 0.12-0.21 nmol/L (S/N = 3). Method repeatability, precision, and recovery were evaluated and the results were excellent for the efficient HPLC analysis. The most important argument, however, was the high sensitivity and ease-of-handling of the PPIA method. Preliminary experiments with wastewater samples collected from the waterspout of a paper mill and its nearby soil where pollution with aromatic amines may be expected show that the method is highly validated with little interference in the chromatogram.

Net primary productivity and spatial distribution of vegetation in an alpine wetland, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

To initially describe vegetation structure and spatial variation in plant biomass in a typical alpine wetland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, net primary productivity and vegetation in relationship to environmental factors were investigated. In 2002, the wetland remained flooded to an average water depth of 25 cm during the growing season, from July to mid-September. We mapped the floodline and vegetation distribution using GPS (global positioning system). Coverage of vegetation in the wetland was 100%, and the vegetation was zonally distributed along a water depth gradient, with three emergent plant zones (Hippuris vulgaris-dominated zone, Scirpus distigmaticus-dominated zone, and Carex allivescers-dominated zone) and one submerged plant zone (Potamogeton pectinatus-dominated zone). Both aboveground and belowground biomass varied temporally within and among the vegetation zones. Further, net primary productivity (NPP) as estimated by peak biomass also differed among the vegetation zones; aboveground NPP was highest in the Carex-dominated zone with shallowest water and lowest in the Potamogeton zone with deepest water. The area occupied by each zone was 73.5% for P. pectinatus, 2.6% for H. vulgaris, 20.5% for S. distigmaticus, and 3.4% for C. allivescers. Morphological features in relationship to gas-transport efficiency of the aerial part differed among the emergent plants. Of the three emergent plants, H. vulgaris, which dominated in the deeper water, showed greater morphological adaptability to deep water than the other two emergent plants.

Modeling gross primary production of alpine ecosystems in the Tibetan Plateau using MODIS images and climate data

The eddy covariance technique provides measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) Of CO2 between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, which is widely used to estimate ecosystem respiration and gross primary production (GPP) at a number Of CO2 eddy flux tower sites. In this paper, canopy-level maximum light use efficiency, a key parameter in the satellite-based Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM), was estimated by using the observed CO2 flux data and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data from eddy flux tower sites in an alpine swamp ecosystem, an alpine shrub ecosystem and an alpine meadow ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The VPM model uses two improved vegetation indices (Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI)) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectral radiometer (MODIS) data and climate data at the flux tower sites, and estimated the seasonal dynamics of GPP of the three alpine grassland ecosystems in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted by the VPM model agreed well with estimated GPP from eddy flux towers. These results demonstrated the potential of the satellite-driven VPM model for scaling-up GPP of alpine grassland ecosystems, a key component for the study of the carbon cycle at regional and global scales. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seasonal patterns of gross primary production and ecosystem respiration in an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

We measured the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in an alpine meadow ecosystem (latitude 37degrees29'-45'N, longitude 101degrees12'-23'E, 3250 m above sea level) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau throughout 2002 by the eddy covariance method to examine the carbon dynamics and budget on this unique plateau. Diurnal changes in gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R-e) showed that an afternoon increase of NEE was highly associated with an increase of R-e. Seasonal changes in GPP corresponded well to changes in the leaf area index and daily photosynthetic photon flux density. The ratio of GPP/R-e was high and reached about 2.0 during the peak growing season, which indicates that mainly autotrophic respiration controlled the carbon dynamics of the ecosystem. Seasonal changes in mean GPP and R-e showed compensatory behavior as reported for temperate and Mediterranean ecosystems, but those of GPP(max) and R-emax were poorly synchronized. The alpine ecosystem exhibited lower GPP (575 g C m(-2) y(-1)) than, but net ecosystem production (78.5 g C m(-2) y(-1)) similar to, that of subalpine forest ecosystems. The results suggest that the alpine meadow behaved as a CO2 sink during the 1-year measurement period but apparently sequestered a rather small amount of C in comparison with similar alpine ecosystems.

Syntax-Based Analytic Reading of Musical Scores

As part of a larger research project in musical structure, a program has been written which "reads" scores encoded in an input language isomorphic to music notation. The program is believed to be the first of its kind. From a small number of parsing rules the program derives complex configurations, each of which is associated with a set of reference points in a numerical representation of a time-continuum. The logical structure of the program is such that all and only the defined classes of events are represented in the output. Because the basis of the program is syntactic (in the sense that parsing operations are performed on formal structures in the input string), many extensions and refinements can be made without excessive difficulty. The program can be applied to any music which can be represented in the input language. At present, however, it constitutes the first stage in the development of a set of analytic tools for the study of so-called atonal music, the revolutionary and little understood music which has exerted a decisive influence upon contemporary practice of the art. The program and the approach to automatic data-structuring may be of interest to linguists and scholars in other fields concerned with basic studies of complex structures produced by human beings.

Formulation of a basal medium for primary cell culture of the marine sponge Hymeniacidon perleve

Marine sponge cell culture is a potential route for the sustainable production of sponge-derived bioproducts. Development of a basal culture medium is a prerequisite for the attachment, spreading, and growth of sponge cells in vitro. With the limited knowledge available on nutrient requirements for sponge cells, a series of statistical experimental designs has been employed to screen and optimize the critical nutrient components including inorganic salts (ferric ion, zinc ion, silicate, and NaCl), amino acids (glycine, glutamine, and aspartic acid), sugars (glucose, sorbitol, and sodium pyruvate), vitamin C, and mammalian cell medium (DMEM and RPMI 1640) using MTT assay in 96-well plates. The marine sponge Hymeniacidon perleve was used as a model system. Plackett-Burman design was used for the initial screening, which identified the significant factors of ferric ion, NaCl, and vitamin C. These three factors were selected for further optimization by Uniform Design and Response Surface Methodology (RSM), respectively. A basal medium was finally established, which supported an over 100% increase in viability of sponge cells.

Reading the rhetoric of nationhood in two Reformation pamphlets by Richard Morison and Nicholas Bodrugan

Mottram, S. (2005). Reading the rhetoric of nationhood in two Reformation pamphlets by Richard Morison and Nicholas Bodrugan. Renaissance Studies. 19(4), pp.523-540. RAE2008

Obraz stosunków językowych polsko-niemieckich w historii języka polskiego. Księga sądu wójtowskiego m. Opola z lat 1698-1721 jako językowy wyraz kontaktów międzyetnicznych

Wydział Filologii Polskiej i Klasycznej: Instytut Filologii Polskiej

El retorno de la diáspora artística latinoamericana/La acción diferida del desplazamiento

Tendemos ha hablar del término diáspora como el lugar del desprendimiento, del desplazamiento hacia otros territorios de existencia, sin embargo la realización de ello indica la contaminación y generación de nuevos lenguajes, que en el arte latinoamericano manifiestan un continuo retorno. Un ir y venir que puede ser inscrito por medio de la acción diferida establecida en el momento en el cual el hecho diaspórico es registrado por otro capacitado de recodificarlo al historizar la realidad fundante del desplazamiento artístico como perturbación del orden simbólico y a su vez enunciar la relectura de las diásporas artísticas latinoamericanas, desde las vanguardias hasta la contemporaneidad como medio de reinscripción del movimiento en cuanto a espacio primordial de sus representaciones. La premisa central de este estudio es la de visualizar cómo el desplazamiento de distintas diásporas artísticas latinoamericanas han trasformado el lenguaje del arte de nuestro territorio, dentro del permanente ir y venir de una acción diferida que las hace eficaces a través de nuestro posicionamiento al releer el presente de nuestras diásporas y cómo los actos del desplazamiento sólo pueden aparecer en la historización de su continuo retorno. There is a tendency to treat the term diaspora as the place of detachment, of the displacement toward other territories of existence; however, its fulfilment implies the contamination and the generation of other languages which in Latin American Art involves a continuous return. A Come and Go inscribed by means of the deferred action, established in the moment in which the diasporic fact is registered by another one capable of recoding through history-making in the funding reality of the artistic displacement as a disturbance of the symbolic order and simultaneously enunciating the re-reading of the Latin American artistic diaporas, from the vanguards to contemporaneity as the means of re-inscription of the movement as the primary space of its representations. The central premise of this study is that of visualising how the displacement of different Latin American artistic disporas have transformed the art language of our territories, within the permanent Come and Go of a deferred action that works efficiently through our positioning in re-reading the present of our diasporas and how the displacement acts only can appear in the history-making of its continuous return.

As práticas pedagógicas nas séries iniciais do ensino fundamental e a interlocução com o curso de pedagogia

Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Docência e Gestão da Educação, especialização em Administração Escolar e Administração Educacional

Tratamento do traumatismo dentário em dentição primária

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

Reading Scripture in Conflicts

sermon text; MS Word document

A Christian Reading of History

This recording is part of the Marsh Chapel Audio Collection.

Reading Between the Lines: The Potential of Popular Young Adult Fiction in Adolescent Spiritual Formation

Popular culture is a powerful, shaping force in the lives of teenagers between the ages of fourteen through eighteen in the United States today. This dissertation argues the importance of popular fiction for adolescent spiritual formation and it investigates that importance by exploring the significance of narrative for theology and moral formation. The dissertation employs mythic and archetypal criticism as a tool for informing the selection and critique of narratives for use in adolescent spiritual development and it also incorporates insights gained from developmental psychology to lay the groundwork for the development of a curriculum that uses young adult fiction in a program of spiritual formation for teenagers in a local church setting. The dissertation defends the power of narrative in Christian theology and concludes that narrative shapes the imagination in ways that alter perception and are important for the faith life of teenagers in particular. I go on to argue that not all narratives are created equal. In using literary myth criticism in concert with theology, I use the two disciplines’ different aims and methods to fully flesh out the potential of theologies intrinsic to works meant for a largely secular audience. The dissertation compares various works of young adult fiction (M.T. Anderson’s Feed and Terry Pratchett’s Nation in dialogue with a theology of creation; Marcus Zusak’s I am the Messenger and Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl in dialogue with salvation and saviors; and the four novels of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga in dialogue with a theology of hope (eschatology). The dissertation explores how each theme surfaces (even if only implicitly) from both literary and theological standpoints. The dissertation concludes with a sample four-week lesson plan that demonstrates one way the theological and literary critique can be formed into a practical curriculum for use in an adolescent spiritual development setting. Ultimately, this dissertation provides a framework for how practitioners of young adult formation can select, analyze, and develop materials for their teenagers using new works of popular young adult fiction. The dissertation comes to the conclusion that popular fiction contains a wealth of material that can challenge and shape young readers’ own emerging theology.