Synthesis and evaluation of porphyrin glycoconjugates varying in linker length: preliminary effects on the photodynamic inactivation of .

Porphyrins have served as common photosensitizing agents in photomedicine due to their unique properties and broad therapeutic potential. While photodynamic therapy (PDT) offers a promising avenue for novel drug development, limitations in application due to selectivity, and the inherent hydrophobicity and poor solubility of porphyrins and other organic photosensitizers has been noted. Porphyrin glycoconjugates have recently gained attention for their potential to overcome these limitations.

Identifying air pollution source impacts in urban communities using mobile monitoring.

With increasing population, rapid urbanization, and increased migration to cities, the local impacts of increasing transportation and industrial-related air pollution are of growing concern worldwide. Elevated air pollution concentrations near these types of sources have been linked to adverse health effects including acute and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Mobile monitoring has proven to be a useful technique to characterize spatial variability of air pollution in urban areas and pollution concentration gradients from specific sources.

GCNA Preserves Genome Integrity and Fertility Across Species.

The propagation of species depends on the ability of germ cells to protect their genome from numerous exogenous and endogenous threats. While these cells employ ubiquitous repair pathways, specialized mechanisms that ensure high-fidelity replication, chromosome segregation, and repair of germ cell genomes remain incompletely understood. We identified Germ Cell Nuclear Acidic Peptidase (GCNA) as a conserved regulator of genome stability in flies, worms, zebrafish, and human germ cell tumors.

Characterization of the Fine Particle Emissions from the Use of Two Fischer-Tropsch Fuels in a CFM56-2C1 Commercial Aircraft Engine.

The fine particulate matter (PM) emissions from the use of two types of Fischer-Tropsch aviation fuels and their 50:50 blends with military JP-8 were quantified as part of the first Alternative Aviation Fuel Experiment (AAFEX). Measurements were made at 30-m downstream of a CFM56-2C1 engine for PM mass and number, particle size distribution, black carbon (BC), and volatile PM (sulfate + organics) using selected on-line instrumentation. The PM number emission index ( ) ranged from ~ 2 × 10 to 7 × 10 particles/kg fuel burned depending on fuel flow, fuel composition, and sampling temperature with the magnitude of the emissions inversely correlated to fuel flow.

The Kansas City Transportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS): Integration of Low-Cost Sensors and Reference Grade Monitoring in a Complex Metropolitan Area. Part 1: Overview of the Project.

Emissions from transportation sources can impact local air quality and contribute to adverse health effects. The Kansas City Transportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS), conducted over a 1-year period, researched emissions source characterization in the Argentine, Turner, and Armourdale, Kansas (KS) neighborhoods and the broader southeast Kansas City, KS area. This area is characterized as a near-source environment with impacts from large railyard operations, major roadways, and commercial and industrial facilities.

The effects of roadside vegetation characteristics on local, near-road air quality.

Roadside vegetation has been shown to impact downwind, near-road air quality, with some studies identifying reductions in air pollution concentrations and others indicating increases in pollutant levels when vegetation is present. These widely contradictory results have resulted in confusion regarding the capability of vegetative barriers to mitigate near-road air pollution, which numerous studies have associated with significant adverse human health effects. Roadside vegetation studies have investigated the impact of many different types and conditions of vegetation barriers and urban forests, including preserved, existing vegetation stands usually consisting of mixtures of trees and shrubs or plantings of individual trees.

A DNA repair protein and histone methyltransferase interact to promote genome stability in the Caenorhabditis elegans germ line.

Histone modifications regulate gene expression and chromosomal events, yet how histone-modifying enzymes are targeted is poorly understood. Here we report that a conserved DNA repair protein, SMRC-1, associates with MET-2, the C. elegans histone methyltransferase responsible for H3K9me1 and me2 deposition.

Comparison of measurement methods for the characterization of the black carbon emissions from a T63 turboshaft engine burning conventional and Fischer-Tropsch fuels.

Emission measurements of black carbon (BC) mass were conducted on a T63 turboshaft engine, operated at idle and cruise power with conventional and alternative fuels, using an Artium LII-300 laser-induced incandescence analyzer (LII) and AVL model 483 micro soot sensor (MSS) photoacoustic instrument using the manufacturer's calibration for both instruments. These measurements were compared with elemental carbon (EC) determined by manual and semicontinuous thermal-optical transmission analyses according to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) method 5040 as the reference method. The results indicate that both the LII and MSS instruments show good linear correlation with EC for the two fuels and two engine power conditions evaluated.

Assessment of Uinta Basin Oil and Natural Gas Well Pad Pneumatic Controller Emissions.

In the fall of 2016, a field study was conducted in the Uinta Basin Utah to improve information on oil and natural gas well pad pneumatic controllers (PCs). A total of 80 PC systems at five oil sites (supporting six wells) and three gas sites (supporting 12 wells) were surveyed, and emissions data were produced using a combination of measurements and engineering emission estimates. Ninety-six percent of the PCs surveyed were low actuation frequency intermittent vent type.