The study of the binding between estrogen receptors (ER) and their ligands in vitro has long been of interest mainly because of its application in anti-estrogen drug discovery for breast cancer treatment as well as in the screening of environmental contaminants for endocrine disruptors. Binding strength was conventionally quantified in terms of equilibrium dissociation constant (KD). Recently, emphasis is shifting towards kinetics rate constants, and off-rate (koff) in particular. This thesis reported a novel method to measure such binding kinetics based on fluorescence polarization complemented with total internal reflection fluorescence (FP-TIRF). It used tethered receptors in a flow cell format. For the first time, the kinetics rate constants of the binding of full-length human recombinant ERα with its standard ligands were measured. koff was found to range from 1.3 10-3 to 2.3 10-3 s-1. kon ranged from 0.3 105 to 11 105 M-1 s-1. The method could also be used to screen potential ligands. Motivated by recent findings that ginsenosides might be functional ligands of nuclear receptors, eleven ginsenosides were scanned for binding with ER and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR). None of the ginsenosides showed significant binding to ER, but Rb1 and 20(S)-Rg3 exhibited significant specific binding with PPAR.

No description available.

No description available.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are important environmental pollutants generally formed during incomplete combustion of organic matter containing carbon and hydrogen. Introduced into the human body by adsorption through the skin, ingestion or inhalation, the biotransformation processes of PAH lead to the formation of multiple metabolites. Due to the short elimination lifetime from the body, the quantitative determination of monohydroxy-PAH (OH-PAH) in urine samples provides accurate information on recent exposure to environmental PAH. Urine analysis of OH-PAH with established methodology relies on sample clean-up and pre-concentration followed by chromatographic separation and quantification. Although chromatographic techniques provide reliable results in the analysis of OH-PAH, their experimental procedures are time consuming and expensive. Additional problems arise when laboratory procedures are scaled up to handle thousands of samples under mass screening conditions. Under the prospective of a sustainable environment, the large usage of organic solvents is one of the main limitations of current chromatographic methodology. It is within this context that new analytical approaches based on easy-to-use and cost-effective methodology become extremely relevant. This dissertation focuses on the development of screening methodology for the routine analysis of PAH metabolites in numerous samples. It explores the room-temperature fluorescence properties of six metabolites originating from parent PAH included in the Environmental Protection Agency priority pollutants list. 1- hydroxyfluorene, 1-hydroxypyrene, 6-hydroxychrysene, 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3- hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene and 4-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene are used as model biomarkers to investigate the analytical potential of new methods based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) and iii room-temperature fluorescence (RTF) spectroscopy. Quantitative determination of metabolites is carried out either in the eluent extract[1, 2] or on the surface of extraction membranes[3, 4] . The direct determination – i.e., no chromatographic separation - of the six metabolites is based on the collection of excitation-emission matrices and synchronous fluorescence spectra.

Yes / Wastewater treatment is an energy-intensive operation. Energy consumption is forecast to increase by 60% in the forthcoming decade due to tightened legislation surrounding the discharge of final effluent to watercourses. Treatment plants rely on the time-consuming and unreliable biochemical oxygen demand to assess the quality of final effluent, leading to process inefficiencies. Here, the authors show that fluorescence spectroscopy is a robust technique for real-time monitoring of changes in effluent quality. Three portable fluorimeters were installed for one month at the final effluent discharge point of a large municipal wastewater treatment plant. The authors show that organic matter composition of the wastewater varies diurnally depending on the flow rate and antecedent rainfall. High fluorescence intensity and ammonia are attributed to sewage sludge liquor, which is regularly discharged to the treatment plant. Moreover, elevated fluorescence intensities were recorded as a result of process failure following a power outage. The study shows that online fluorescence analysis is capable of detecting both minor changes in effluent quality and issues with treatment process performance. / European Commission Framework Programme 7, Marie Curie IEF (PIEF-GA-2012-329962) and the Core Program, ANCS (PN 16.40.01.01).

No description available.

Rapid advances in computer technology over the last few years and their integration into analytical instruments have led to tremendous increases in data collection rates. The need for tools to assist analytical chemists, and especially spectroscopists, in their task of interpreting such vast quantities of data is immediate. This work focuses on the development of an algorithm based on an alternative to the Fourier transform, the Hartley transform, for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of multi-component mixtures using Excitation Emission Matrices. The algorithm involves the reverse search of a compressed reference spectral library for the identification of possible components of the mixture and the method of Non-Negative Least Squares for the quantification of the components. A number of techniques for pre-processing of three dimensional fluorescence spectra along with several spectral encoding methods for the compression of the spectra were investigated. Both simulated and real data collected with a fluorescence spectrophotometer were used in this study. The algorithm proved capable of analyzing mixtures of five components with relative concentrations ratio of about 100:1 and significant spectral overlap. At the same time a compression ratio of about 10:1 for the spectra in the reference library was achieved. Finally, a library of three dimensional fluorescence spectra of some aromatic and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons was developed to be used with the algorithm. Such a library, along with the algorithm, provides a tool for the quick and simple qualitative and quantitative determination of mixtures of aromatic and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons. / Ph. D.

We have investigated the use of deep UV laser induced fluorescence for the sensitive detection and spectroscopic lifetime studies of terbium doped dipicolinic acid (DPA-Tb) and used this to study the optical characteristics of DPA which is a chemical surrounding most bacterial spores. Background absorption spectra, fluorescence spectra, and Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) spectra were made of the DPA-Tb complex, using both fixed 266 nm wavelength and tunable (220 nm -- 280 nm) UV laser excitations. Of importance, the fluorescence lifetimes of the four main fluorescence peaks (488 nm, 543 nm, 581 nm, and 618 nm) of the DPA-Tb complex have been measured for the first time to our knowledge. The lifetimes of all the fluorescing lines have been measured as a function of DPA-Tb concentration, solvent pH, and solvent composition, including that for the weakest fluorescing line of DPA-Tb at 618 nm. In addition, a new spectroscopic lifetime measurement technique, which we call "Transient Fluorescence Spectroscopy" was developed. In this technique, a weak, quasi-CW, amplitude modulated UV laser (8.5 kHz) was used to measure the lifetimes of the fluorescence lines, and yields insight into energy transfer and excitation lifetimes within the system. This technique is especially useful when a high power laser is not either available or not suitable. In the latter case, this would be when a high power pulsed deep-UV laser could produce bleaching or destruction of the biological specimen. In addition, this technique simulated the excitation and fluorescence emission of the DPA-Tb using a 4-level energy model, and solved the dynamic transient rate equations to predict the temporal behavior of the DPA-Tb emitted fluorescence. Excellent agreement between the experiments and the simulation were found. This technique has the potential to provide a more accurate value for the fluorescence lifetime values. In addition, with the use of asymmetric excitation waveforms, the dynamic transient rate equation analysis may allow for detailed studies of selected transfer mechanisms in a wide range of other spectroscopic applications including rare-earth solid-state lasing materials and biological samples.

No description available.

Thesis (MSc (Physics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Imaging and spectroscopy of laser induced chlorophyll fluorescence (LICF) are emerging as useful tools in plant physiology and agriculture since these methods allow an early detection of plant stress and transformation of plant tissue, before visual symptoms appear. Chlorophyll fluorescence is governed by photosynthetic efficiency and it depends on the plant species and physiological state. In addition, the laser induced fluorescence of chlorophyll molecules in the red and far red spectral range is also used to study basic processes and phenomena in photo-excited molecules. In the work reported here experimental setups used for laser induced chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy techniques were developed to investigate chlorophyll fluorescence under constant illumination and also to detect green-fluorescent protein (GFP) by looking at the chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum and image. He-Ne (wavelength 632 nm), tunable argon ion (wavelength 455 nm), and excimer (wavelength 308 nm) lasers were used as excitation sources. An Ocean Optics spectrometer was used to record the spectrum of the chlorophyll fluorescence and the variation of the chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum with time. The chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum of tobacco leaves expressing GFP was compared to that of control leaves. A charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was used to image the fluorescence from GFP expressing and control tobacco leaves to investigate the effect of GFP genes on chlorophyll fluorescence in relation to the state of the plant material. The spectral analysis technique and image processing procedures were elaborated in order to obtain better information on chlorophyll fluorescence. The results of this work show that the experimental setups and analytical procedures that were devised and used are suitable for laser induced chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. Fluorescence bleaching could be obtained from the time variation of the fluorescence spectrum, and plant expressing GFP can be distinguished from control plants by differences in the laser induced chlorophyll fluorescence.