Plastic consumption has reached astronomical amounts. The issue is the single-use plastics that continue to harm the environment, degrading into microplastics that find their way into our environment. Finding sustainable, reliable, and safe methods to break down plastics is a complex but valuable endeavor. This research aims to assess the viability of using biochar as a catalyst to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics under hydrothermal liquefaction conditions. PET is most commonly found in single-use plastic water bottles. Using glycolysis as the reaction, biochar is added and assessed based on yield and time duration of the reaction. This research suggests that temperatures of 300℃ and relatively short experimental times were enough to see the complete conversion of PET through glycolysis. Further research is necessary to determine the effectiveness of biochar as a catalyst and the potential of process industrialization to begin reducing plastic overflow.

The photodissociation of 1-bromobutane is explored using pump-probe spectroscopy and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Fragments of bromobutane are constructed computationally and theoretical energies are calculated using Gaussian 16 software. It is determined that the dissociation of bromine from the parent molecule is the most observed fragmentation pathway arising from the excitation of the ground state parent molecule to a dissociative A state using two 400 nm, 3.1 eV pump photons. The dissociation energy of this pathway is 2.91 eV, leaving 3.3 eV of energy that is redistributed into the product fragments as vibrational energy. C4H9 has the highest relative intensity in the mass spectrum with a relative intensity of 1.00. It is followed by C2H5 and C2H4 at relative intensities of 0.73 and 0.29 respectively. Because of the negative correlation between C4H9 and these two fragments at positive time delays, it is concluded that most of these smaller molecules are formed from the further dissociation of the fragment C4H9 rather than any alternative pathways from the parent molecule. Thermodynamic analysis of these pathways has displayed the power of thermodynamic prediction as well as its limitations as it fails to consider kinetic limitations in dissociation reactions.

DNA is useful for electronic applications due to its self-assembly and electronic properties. It can be improved for this purpose through the addition of metal ions. In this experiment, DNA was modified with silver ions and carbon nanotubes were attached to both ends. The DNA-CNTs were connected over a 300 nm gap between gold electrodes using cysteamine. The conductance was found to be 1.28*10-4 G0, which is similar to literature values for unmodified DNA. Therefore, modifying DNA with silver ions was not found to significantly improve the conductance. It was also found that smaller applied voltages need to be used because of electrochemistry happening above 1 V.

With an estimated 19.3 million cases and nearly 10 million deaths from cancer in a year worldwide, immunotherapies, which stimulate the immune system so that it can attack and kill cancer cells, are of interest. Tumors are produced from the uncontrolled and rapid proliferation of cells in the body. Cancer cells rely heavily on glutamine for proliferation due to its contribution of nitrogen for nucleotides and amino acids. Glutamine enters the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle as α-ketoglutarate via glutaminolysis, in which glutamine is converted into glutamate by the enzyme glutaminase (GLS). Cancer cell proliferation may be limited by using glutaminase inhibitor CB-839. However, immune cells also rely on these metabolic pathways. Thus, a method for restarting the metabolic pathways in the presence of inhibitors is attractive. Succinate, a key metabolite in the TCA cycle, has been shown to stimulate the immune system despite the presence of metabolic inhibitors, such as CB-839. A delivery method of succinate is through microparticles (MPs) or nanoparticles (NPs) which may be coated in polyethylene glycol (PEG) for improved hydrophilicity. Polyethylene glycol succinate (PEGS) MPs were generated and tested in vivo and were shown to reduce tumor growth and prolong mouse survival. With the success in stimulating the immune system with MPs, NPs were investigated for an improved immune response due to their smaller size. These PES NPs were generated in this study. For clinical settings, it is necessary to scale-up the production of particles. Two methods of scale-up were proposed: (1) a combination of multiple small batches into a mixed batch, and (2) a singular, big batch. Size and release properties were compared to a small batch of PES NPs, and it was concluded that the big batch more closely resembled the small batch compared to the mixed batch. Thus, it was concluded that batch-to-batch variability plays a larger role than volume changes when scaling-up. In clinical settings, it is recommended to produce the particles in a big batch rather than a mixed batch.

Polyketides are a wide ranging class of natural microbial products highly relevant to the pharmacological industry. As chemical synthesis of polyketides is quite challenging, significant effort has been made to understand the polyketide synthases (PKSs) responsible for their natural production. Native to Streptomyces, the aln biosynthetic gene cluster was recently characterized and encodes for an iterative type I polyketide synthase (iT1PKS). This iT1PKS produces both , and ,-double bond polyketides named allenomycins; however, the basis in which one bond is chosen over the other is not yet clear. The dehydratase domain, AlnB_DH, is thought to be solely responsible for catalyzing double bond formation. Elucidation of enzyme programming is the first step towards reprogramming AlnB_DH to produce novel industrially relevant products. The Nannenga lab has worked as collaborators to the Zhao lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to unravel AlnB_DH’s structure and mechanism. Here, mutant constructs of AlnB_DH are developed to elucidate enzyme structure and provide insight into active site machinery. The primary focus of this work is on the development of the mutant constructs themselves rather than the methods used for structural or mechanistic determination. Truncated constructs were successfully developed for crystallization and upon x-ray diffraction, a 2.45 Å resolution structure was determined. Point-mutated constructs were then developed based on structural insights, which identified H49, P58, and H62 as critical residues in active site machinery.

This project aims to develop a new technology and technique that will aid in the relatively automated detection of respiratory-related changes that are exacerbated by air pollutants (e.g. lung function/respiratory changes due to air-pollution-induced asthma). This work involves understanding air transport in the human respiratory system (including the chemical and physiological impacts of air pollutants), advancing the state of the art in sensing, acoustic signal processing, and machine learning to enhance automation.

Speculative fiction and fantasy media have abundant power to portray alternative realities or imagined futures for minority groups. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the late 1990s-early 2000s, and Wynonna Earp, from the late 2010s, are two fantasy television shows that produce this often-progressive, impactful representation, particularly for lesbians and bisexual people. Drawing on Queer and Monster Theories from Susan Stryker, Marilee Lindemann, Harry Benshoff, and Alexis Lothian, this thesis examines queer representation in these TV shows and how it contributes to the normalization of LGBTQ+ individuals whilst simultaneously honoring the shows’ queer fans. Normalizing non-cishetero genders and sexualities helps rewrite the narrative of LGBTQ+ people being considered “deviant” and threatening societal order; and holding true to queer roots of challenging social norms prevents the power of the queer community from being influenced by the pressures of compulsory heterosexuality.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of the generation. Both faith organizations and scientific research are striving to solve problems related to climate change. Both show significant motivations to act on the effects that global warming is predicted to have. Combining the motivations and finding common ground could be the key to changing the fundamental issues that lead to climate change and both sides need each other to carry out the goal of preventing climate change. Some potential outcomes of cooperation are explored and the impact that these measures could have are described. These effects will be synthesized from previous research on the subjects, compiling qualitative data on the motivations and effects of both religion and science on climate change.