The Effect of Acetaminophen (Analgesic) and Diphenhydramine (Antihistamine) on Nociception Response of Caenorhabditis elegans, Heart Rate of Eisenia fetida, and Mortality of Both E. fetida and C. elegans

Pharmaceutical pollution continues to increase each year but its adverse effects on the environment are still largely unknown. Pharmaceuticals can enter the terrestrial ecosystem when animal manure and sewage sludge are applied to land as a fertilizer or when irrigated with contaminated water. To understand the extent to which common drugs impact the ecosystem, two commonly polluting pharmaceuticals, acetaminophen and diphenhydramine, which have been found in many cities such as Chicago, Dallas, and most notably The Great Lakes, were studied. Various concentrations were tested on E. fetida and C. elegans. Indicators such as heart rate were observed for E. fetida, nociception response for C. elegans, and mortality for both. It was hypothesized that when acetaminophen and diphenhydramine were introduced, all indicators would be negatively affected. Thirty trials were conducted for each test. The results indicated the pharmaceuticals had a significant impact on heart rate, nociception response, and mortality of both E. fetida and C. elegans respectively: (F(6,48)=262.33, pE. fetida in some cases and nociception response decreasing by over 46% for C. elegans, it was concluded that both populations were negatively affected by acetaminophen and diphenhydramine. Based on experimentation, even small concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the environment can have detrimental effects to certain organisms, severely impacting the ecosystem

Secure Split Test for Preventing IC Piracy by Un-Trusted Foundry and Assembly

In the era of globalization, integrated circuit design and manufacturing is spread across different continents. This has posed several hardware intrinsic security issues. The issues are related to overproduction of chips without knowledge of designer or OEM, insertion of hardware Trojans at design and fabrication phase, faulty chips getting into markets from test centers, etc. In this thesis work, we have addressed the problem of counterfeit IC‟s getting into the market through test centers. The problem of counterfeit IC has different dimensions. Each problem related to counterfeiting has different solutions. Overbuilding of chips at overseas foundry can be addressed using passive or active metering. The solution to avoid faulty chips getting into open markets from overseas test centers is secure split test (SST). The further improvement to SST is also proposed by other researchers and is known as Connecticut Secure Split Test (CSST). In this work, we focus on improvements to CSST techniques in terms of security, test time and area. In this direction, we have designed all the required sub-blocks required for CSST architecture, namely, RSA, TRNG, Scrambler block, study of benchmark circuits like S38417, adding scan chains to benchmarks is done. Further, as a security measure, we add, XOR gate at the output of the scan chains to obfuscate the signal coming out of the scan chains. Further, we have improved the security of the design by using the PUF circuit instead of TRNG and avoid the use of the memory circuits. This use of PUF not only eliminates the use of memory circuits, but also it provides the way for functional testing also. We have carried out the hamming distance analysis for introduced security measure and results show that security design is reasonably good.Further, as a future work we can focus on: • Developing the circuit which is secuered for the whole semiconductor supply chain with reasonable hamming distance and less area overhead

Cyberbullying Detection System with Multiple Server Configurations

Due to the proliferation of online networking, friendships and relationships - social communications have reached a whole new level. As a result of this scenario, there is an increasing evidence that social applications are frequently used for bullying. State-of-the-art studies in cyberbullying detection have mainly focused on the content of the conversations while largely ignoring the users involved in cyberbullying. To encounter this problem, we have designed a distributed cyberbullying detection system that will detect bullying messages and drop them before they are sent to the intended receiver. A prototype has been created using the principles of NLP, Machine Learning and Distributed Systems. Preliminary studies conducted with it, indicate a strong promise of our approach

High-level fed-batch fermentative expression of an engineered Staphylococcal protein A based ligand in E. coli: purification and characterization

The major platform for high level recombinant protein production is based on genetically modified microorganisms like Escherichia coli (E. coli) due to its short dividing time, ability to use inexpensive substrates and additionally, its genetics is comparatively simple, well characterized and can be manipulated easily. Here, we investigated the possibilities of finding the best media for high cell density fermentation, by analyzing different media samples, focusing on improving fermentation techniques and recombinant protein production. Initial fermentation of E. coli BL21 DE3:pAV01 in baffled flasks showed that high cell density was achieved when using complex media, Luria–Bertani (LB) and Terrific medium broth (TB) (10 and 14 g/L wet weight, respectively), as compared to mineral media M9, modified minimal medium (MMM) and Riesenberg mineral medium (RM) (7, 8 and 7 g/L, respectively). However, in fed-batch fermentation processes when using MMM after 25 h cultivation, it was possible to yield an optical density (OD600) of 139 corresponding to 172 g/L of wet biomass was produced in a 30 L TV Techfors-S Infors HT fermenter, with a computer controlled nutrient supply (glucose as a carbon source) delivery system, indicating nearly 1.5 times that obtained from TB. Upon purification, a total of 1.65 mg/g of protein per gram cell biomass was obtained and the purified AviPure showed affinity for immunoglobulin. High cell density fed batch fermentation was achieved by selecting the best media and growth conditions, by utilizing a number of fermentation parameters like media, fermentation conditions, chemical concentrations, pO2 level, stirrer speed, pH level and feed media addition. It is possible to reach cell densities higher than shake flasks and stirred tank reactors with the improved oxygen transfer rate and feed.Fil: Kangwa, Martin. Jacobs University; AlemaniaFil: Yelemane, Vikas. Jacobs University; AlemaniaFil: Polat, Ayse Nur. Jacobs University; AlemaniaFil: Gorrepati, Kanaka Durga Devi. Jacobs University; AlemaniaFil: Grasselli, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Lahore, Marcelo. Jacobs University; Alemani

Silica Precipitation from Analcime Dissolution.

Pure monosilicic acid solutions mimic the precipitation of silica dissolved from analcime in HCl. Thus, mineral dissolution and silica precipitation are decoupled and pure monosilicic acid solutions were used to study the precipitation of silicon dissolved from minerals. Monosilicic acid solutions were used to study silicon precipitation using UV-Vis and DLS. UV-Vis results showed that under very acidic conditions monosilicic acid disappears rapidly from solution and follows second-order disappearance kinetics. Then, from DLS, it is shown that within the first few minutes, monosilicic acid polymerized to form primary particles ~5nm in diameter, which then flocculate, with mean floc diameter increasing exponentially with time. Both the monomer disappearance and flocculation rate increase with increasing HCl concentration. The flocculation was computer-simulated using a Smoluchowski equation modified for a geometric population balance with a reaction-limited aggregation (RLA) kernel. DLS-measured mean silica particle size agreed well with the simulated mean particle sizes. Salt experiments indicate that 1M salt added to HCl can increase monosilicic acid disappearance rate and silica particle growth rate in the order: AlCl3 > CaCl2 > MgCl2 > NaCl > CsCl > no salt. UV-Vis results showed that monosilicic acid disappears rapidly and follows a third-order kinetic rate law in contrast to second-order when no salt is present. DLS results showed that silica particle size also increases exponentially with time when salt is present. It was also found that specific reaction rate constants: monosilicic acid disappearance rate constant, particle growth rate constant and computer-simulation aggregation rate constant, increase exponentially for all salts as a function of solution ionic strength. Finally, initial dissolution rate of analcime in the strong acids HCl, HBr, and HNO3 are very similar and follow a Michaelis-Menten mechanism. At proton concentrations less than 0.055M, initial dissolution rate in citric acid was faster than initial dissolution rate in the strong acids. The observed plateau in AAS/ICP-MS silicon concentration during analcime dissolution exists because of a recondensation reaction between silanol groups within dissolving analcime. The recondensation rate varies in strong acids corresponding to the order: H2SO4 > HI > HBr > HCl > HNO3Ph.D.Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62244/1/eawang_1.pd

Loss of Deubiquitinase USP1 Blocks Pancreatic β-Cell Apoptosis by Inhibiting DNA Damage Response

Impaired pancreatic β-cell survival contributes to the reduced β-cell mass in diabetes, but underlying regulatory mechanisms and key players in this process remain incompletely understood. Here, we identified the deubiquitinase ubiquitin-specific protease 1 (USP1) as an important player in the regulation of β-cell apoptosis under diabetic conditions. Genetic silencing and pharmacological suppression of USP1 blocked β-cell death in several experimental models of diabetes in vitro and ex vivo without compromising insulin content and secretion and without impairing β-cell maturation/identity genes in human islets. Our further analyses showed that USP1 inhibition attenuated DNA damage response (DDR) signals, which were highly elevated in diabetic β-cells, suggesting a USP1-dependent regulation of DDR in stressed β-cells. Our findings highlight a novel function of USP1 in the control of β-cell survival, and its inhibition may have a potential therapeutic relevance for the suppression of β-cell death in diabetes. Biochemical Mechanism; Endocrinology; Cell Biolog