Stabilization of bimodal colloidal systems via nanoparticle haloing in microgravity.

Colloidal suspensions typically contain a multi-phase system of solid particles suspended in a liquid medium. Colloids are widely used in industrial applications such as inks, paints, motor oils, foods, cosmetics, and many more. Colloidal systems are typically formed by the interaction of the attractive van der Waals forces and one or more repulsive forces. These repulsive forces include electrostatic repulsion, steric hindrance, and nanoparticle haloing. Nanoparticle Haloing (NPH) is a phenomenon discovered in 2001 as a viable method to stabilize colloidal systems of uncharged silica microparticles using highly charged zirconia nanoparticles. For this thesis the effects of NPH were tested and compared between ground-based experiments and experiments conducted in microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This study found that for the same bimodal sample of 0.055 vol% nanoparticles and 1 vol% microparticles, the time for the system to reach steady state was 30 minutes in gravity settling conditions versus less than three minutes in a microgravity environment. This indicated that the ground experiments were better mixed due to sonication than the microgravity samples, which used magnetic stir bar mixing. The data presented herein illustrates the effects of microgravity on the NPH system and the viability of nanoparticle haloing as a stabilization mechanism for future applications such as high performance quantum-dot solar cells (QDSS). This study notes key factors for colloidal systems in microgravity and lays the groundwork for future nanoparticle haloing experiments. During the experiment potential issues were noted such as illumination, image capture rate, and the mixing iv apparatus. For each issue a recommendation is made for future work in nanoparticle haloing colloidal systems in a microgravity environment

Two Genetic Effects at the IRF5/ TNPO3 Locus are Independently Associated with the Development of Specific Lupus Symptoms

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disorder that can affect every tissue in the body. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IRF5 and TNPO3 genes are statistically associated with the development of SLE. My research identified correlations between IRF5/TNPO3 SNPs and specific lupus symptoms. Logistic regression analyses were conducted using 101 genetic variants in the IRF5/TNPO3 region that were genotyped in over 6,000 lupus patients of different ethnicities, with admixture covariates applied. Three clinical phenotypes displayed significant correlation (p \u3c 1.6x10-5) in subjects of European ancestry. For each of these phenotypes, a step-wise conditional analysis was conducted using two lupus associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at this genetic loci. In Europeans, lupus disease onset (p-valueEU=2.44x10-16, OR=0.67*) and the presence of anti-Ro (p-valueEU=2.09x10-7, OR=0.67) and anti-dsDNA (p-valueEU=4.15x10-7, OR=0.75) antibodies were associated with SNPs in the IRF5/TNPO3 genes. SNPs in the IRF5 promoter and those spanning IRF5 and TNPO3 were both associated with disease onset. The presence of anti-Ro and anti-dsDNA antibodies is only associated with SNPs in the IRF5 promoter. Genetic variants at the IRF5/TNPO3 locus are associated with lupus disease onset and production of anti-dsDNA and anti-Ro antibodies in lupus patients. SNPs in the promoter region of iii IRF5 (associated with rs4728142) and SNPs spanning the IRF5 and TNPO3 genes (associated with rs12534421) contribute independently to these symptoms

The Sedimentology Of The Boss Point Formation (pennsylvanian), Eastern New Brunswick And Northern Nova Scotia (volumes I And Ii)

The Westphalian A (Pennsylvanian) Boss Point Formation consists of sandstone and mudrock units which developed within an active pull-apart basin (the Cumberland subbasin) in Maritime Canada. The bulk of the formation comprises trough cross-bedded sandstones interpreted as braided river deposits. The rivers flowed from largely felsic igneous provenance areas in the west, toward the region of the present-day Bay of Fundy. Paleocurrents indicate a dominant northeast-directed drainage system, which deviated toward the southeast in the vicinity of Cape Maringouin, about a paleogeographic high related to the penecontemporaneous Harvey-Hopewell Fault.;Intercalated with the sand-dominated fluvial rocks, are fine-grained sandstones, ostracod-bearing limestones and coaly shales deposited in a variety of fluvio-lacustrine settings, including distributary channel, crevasse-splay, deltaic and open lacustrine environments. Rootlet horizons, pedogenic features and rills associated with many of the interbedded sandstones indicate that lake depths were probably shallow, and that lake levels fluctuated frequently.;Paleosols occur widely and formed in areas that were starved of sediment for appreciable periods of time. Paleosol geochemistry indicates a high Al content in all pedogenic materials, consistent with extensive in situ weathering. The abundance of calcrete nodules, suggests a semi-arid climate during the time of sedimentation. Calcrete morphologies include ferroan calcite, crystic plasmic ped material, siltstone aggregates, fragmentary nodules and Mn-rich spherulitic siderites. The paleosols are considered to represent ancient aridisols and vertisols.;At least 8 repetitions of sandstones and mudrocks are recognised through the formation, these defining megacycles as much as 170 m thick. Although faulting may account for the megacycles, it is considered more likely that eustasy was the principal cause for their development. Sandstones were largely deposited during periods of relative eustatic fall, whereas the mudrocks formed during transgressive or high stand periods. Observed stratal relationships are counter to existing published models for fluvial deposition in response to relative sea level change, and modifications are presented based on the Boss Point Formation. The existence of glaciations during the Permo-Carboniferous is well established, suggesting a glacio-eustatic control of the observed stratal geometries, the major glaciation occurring during the Early Pennsylvanian, synchronous with Boss Point Formation sedimentation

Investigation Parallels at University Hospitals: 1950-1975: The Departments of Urology and Obstetrics and Gynecology

The 1950’s was a period of notable intellectual growth and collaboration. During that period new isotopic elements evolved to new treatments for cancer patients, both women and men. The University of Iowa proved to be a fertile intellectual community where Gold 198 colloid successfully advanced survival for both ovarian and prostate cancer. Other collaboration expanded the fields of male and female infertility. Both departments benefit from this early pioneering work to the present day

On the Atrophy of Moral Reasoning in the Global Financial Crisis

The Global Financial Crisis - and its human toll - can be attributed to an atypical pandemic of morally sourced market failure. This paper develops a ‘moral bubble’ understanding of the sub-prime crisis, in which ethical decision-making by economic actors is marked by expediency and crowd effects. The paper revisits Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments and shows Smith’s theory offers a helpful corrective to the ethical atrophy behind the recent credit crisis. The need to safeguard the \u27soft\u27 (moral) infrastructure of markets has significant implications for business decision-makers, for public policy, and for the role of Christian belief in society

Hawtreyan 'credit deadlock' or Keynesian 'liquidity trap'? Lessons for Japan from the great depression

This paper outlines the ideas of Ralph Hawtrey and Lauchlin Currie on the need for monetised fiscal deficit spending in 1930s USA to combat the deep depression into which the economy had been allowed to sink. In such exceptional circumstances of 'credit deadlock' in which banks were afraid to lend and households and business afraid to borrow, the deadlock could best be broken through the spending of new money into circulation via large fiscal deficits. This complementarity of fiscal and monetary policy was shown to be essential, and as such indicates the potential power of monetary policy - in contrast to the Keynesian "liquidity trap" view that it is powerless This lesson was not learned by the Japanese authorities in their response to the asset price collapse of 1991-92, resulting in a lost decade as ballooning fiscal deficits were neutralised throughout the 1990s by unhelpfully tight monetary policy with the Bank of Japan refusing to monetise the deficits