Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-09Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:54:20Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 cunha_fp_me_rcla.pdf: 2839508 bytes, checksum: 97928093c5d18d9ee0ea47cf2c1a067b (MD5) / O presente trabalho realizou o mapeamento de Sensibilidade Ambiental a derramamentos de óleo da região costeira do município de Bertioga-SP. Foram mapeados os ambientes do estuário do Canal de Bertioga e do Rio Itapanhau, além da área costeira marinha compreendida entre a foz do Canal de Bertioga e a Ponta do Itaguá, na praia da Boracéia, em São Sebastião. Para tanto, foi aplicada a metodologia indicada pelo Ministério do Meio Ambiente, atualmente utilizada no Brasil. Foram mapeados e identificados em campo e na literatura três tipos de informações principais: recursos biológicos; caracterização física do meio e usos humanos dos espaços e recursos (atividades sócio-econômicas). Como produto final, os ecossistemas costeiros e marinhos presentes na linha de costa foram classificados de acordo com o índice de sensibilidade ambiental. Foi desenvolvido um banco de dados geográfico e elaborado um Atlas da região contendo as cartas de sensibilidade ambiental (Cartas SAO), sendo 03 de nível tático (1:70.000) e 11 de nível operacional (1:20.000), informações descritivas dos segmentos da linha de costa, com recursos visuais, além de uma listagem de espécies. A região costeira de Bertioga apresentou significativa heterogeneidade ambiental, em sua maior parte representados por manguezal, com alta sensibilidade ao óleo, localizada em áreas do estuário. Estes ambientes apresentam baixo hidrodinamismo, sedimentos lamosos inconsolidados, de baixa declividade, abrigando grande diversidade de fauna, resultando em grande persistência do óleo no ambiente e dificultando as ações de combate. O ambiente praial demonstrou baixa variação morfodinâmica (ângulo de declividade e granulometria) sazonal, e conseqüentemente, não houve variação sazonal na classificação no índice de sensibilidade ambiental (ISL). Foi possível identificar uma lacuna na literatura científica... / This present study performed the environmental sensitivity mapping for oil spills of the coast side of Bertioga City. It has been mapped the estuary of Bertioga´s Channel and Itapanhau River, besides the marine coast side between the Bertioga´s Channel mouth and Ponta do Itaguá, at Boracéia beach, at São Sebastião City. To perform the present study it was applied the methodology indicated by the Ministry of the Environment, currently used in Brazil. It has been mapped and identified in field and literature three types of main information: biological resources, physical environment characterization and human land use and resources (socio-economic activities). As a final product it was developed a geographic database and an atlas of the surroundings containing ESI maps, including 03 tactical (1:70.000) and 11 operational maps (1:10.000), which show coast line descriptive information, visual resources and a list of biological species. The seashore of Bertioga City presents significant environmental diversity, the most part represented by mangrove ecosystem, with high sensitivity to oil, located at estuary. These environments present low hydrodynamism, mud sediment, low declivity, sheltering biodiversity, resulting in high oil persistence in environment difficulting actions to combat. The beach environment showed low seasonal morfodynamic variation, consequently, there was no seasonal variation at environmental sensitivity index. It was possible to identify a blank at scientific literature about biodiversity information for the studied area, despite being an exuberant environment. The study area has potential sources of pollution, as OSBAT pipeline and state highways. The building of a geographic database, directed to detailded ESI maps associated with an environmental atlas, showed to be an instrument for to guide actions in oil spills sceneries, while they are instruments... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / South African Carpobrotus species have been found to contain hydrolysable tannins,various flavonoids e.g. rutin and hyperoside, phytosterols and aromatic acids which have a diverse range of pharmacological properties including antimicrobial and, antioxidant activities. The main aim of the thesis was to determine the natural products in C. mellei and C. quadrifidus using chromatographic techniques and electrochemical analysis. The antioxidant activity of both Carpobrotus species was determined by using a superoxide dismutase (SOD) biosensor. ESI-LC-MS was used to separate and determine flavonoids in C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. 8 flavonoid compounds: catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin-epicatechin, coumarylquinic acid, isorhamnetin, quercetin-hexose (hyperoside), rutin and myricetin-deoxyhexose were identified. Cyclic and square wave voltammetry were used to detect flavonoids from C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. Catechin was detected in the ethyl acetate extract of C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. The oxidation potential of the plant extracts were observed at +150.6 mV to +1072.6 mV. The oxidation mechanism proceeds in sequential steps, related to the catechol moiety, -OH groups in C ring and the resorcinol group. The oxidation process of the catechol moiety involves a two electron - two proton reversible reaction and forms o-quinone. This occurs first at low potential and is a reversible reaction. The hydroxyl group in the C ring and resorcinol group oxidise there after and undergo an irreversible reaction. UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy were used to confirm the presence of catechin in the ethyl acetate extract of both plants.UV-visible spectroelectrochemistry confirmed the oxidation process of catechin at constant potential. Since C. mellei and C. quadrifidus were confirmed to contain flavonoids by ESI-LC-MS and electrochemical analysis, the antioxidant activity was further investigated using a SOD biosensor. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme was immobilised with 1% Nafion on a platinum electrode. Detection limit and sensitivity of the SOD biosensor were found to be 0.03918 μmol L-1 and 1.44 μA(μmol L-1)-1, respectively. The results showed that C. mellei and C. quadrifidus have antioxidant activity, with relative antioxidant capacity (RAC) of 24% and 42%, respectively. May 2009

De nombreuses études dans la seconde moitié du 20ème siècle, ont mis en évidence que des génotoxiques cancérogènes réagissent avec l'ADN pour former par liaison covalente des adduits qui sont impliqués dans le processus cancérigène. Bien qu’il existe des preuves convaincantes de la présence de multiples adduits à l'ADN dans les poumons de sujets exposés au tabagisme ou en milieu professionnel à un aldéhyde donné, il est évident que c'est un domaine dans lequel des recherches supplémentaires ont été nécessaires. L’objectif de ce travail de thèse est d’établir des profils d’adduits exocycliques à l'ADN induits par le mélange d’aldéhydes, qui pourraient à terme être considérés comme un marqueur génotoxique de l’exposition aux aldéhydes, tant endogène qu’environnemental. Pour cette raison, nous avons validé une méthode en UHPLC-MS/MS rapide, sensible et précise en utilisant la dilution isotopique, pour la quantification à l’état de trace de 9 adduits exocycliques à l’ADN dérivés de 8 principaux aldéhydes exogènes et endogènes, notamment le formaldéhyde, l’acétaldéhyde, l’acroléine, le crotonaldéhyde, le malondialdéhyde, le 4-hydroxy-2-nonénal, le glyoxal et le méthylglyoxal. Ces adduits ont été synthétisés et purifiés ainsi que leurs homologues marqués au 13C10, 15N5, identifiés et quantifiés par le biais des courbes d'étalonnage allant de 0,25 à 250 ng/mL d'adduits dans l'eau et l'ADN afin de décrire les effets matrice. Des échantillons de contrôle qualité ont été préparés et analysés afin de vérifier l'exactitude et la précision de la méthode dans des situations de répétabilité et de fidélité intermédiaire. L'absence de contamination croisée a également été démontrée. La méthode est capable de différencier les 9 analytes d'intérêt et leurs étalons internes en utilisant pour chaque analyte une transition de quantification et une seconde de confirmation. Cette méthode a été validée selon les recommandations de l'Agence Européenne des Médicaments concernant les méthodes bioanalytiques. Elle répond à tous les critères essentiels pour garantir l'acceptabilité des performances et la fiabilité des résultats d'analyse. Cette méthode est la toute première validée et peut être utilisée en adductomique dans le cadre d'études sur l'exposome. En plus, nous avons simultanément mesuré par une approche in vitro les 9 adduits exocycliques dans de l’ADN de thymus de veau exposé à de différentes concentrations de chaque aldéhyde seul ou en mélanges équimolaires. Cette approche nous a permis d’établir des relations dose-dépendantes pour tous les aldéhydes à l’exception du malondialdéhyde et du méthylglyoxal. Une relation dose-réponse a également été observée avec les mélanges équimolaires d’aldéhydes. Elle a permis de définir des réactivités différentes des aldéhydes en mélange vis-à-vis de l’ADN. Les profils de ces adduits exocycliques ont été également déterminés dans l'ADN de sang de fumeurs et de non-fumeurs. La fumée de cigarette contient plusieurs aldéhydes connus de se lier par covalence aux bases de l’ADN, ainsi l’adduit à l’ADN peut être considéré comme biomarqueur d’exposition au tabac. Des différences significatives dans les niveaux d’adduits ont été obtenues entre l’ADN des fumeurs et celui des non-fumeurs à l’exception de l’adduit induit par le malondialdéhyde. Des corrélations ont été établies entre chaque adduit et les marqueurs de la consommation tabagique sans aucune corrélation significative de la totalité des adduits avec un marqueur spécifique. Par ailleurs, nous avons montré que l’exposition au formaldéhyde, au butanal et au benzaldéhyde a eu un effet sur les concentrations du MDA urinaire mesurées chez les policiers libanais stationnés au carrefour pendant 7 h par jour et après exposition de 5 jours aux émissions du trafic routier. Une augmentation du MDA plasmatique a été décrite ; les années de travail avaient une incidence sur les concentrations de ce biomarqueur. / Many studies in the second half of the 20th century have shown that genotoxic carcinogens, either directly or after metabolic activation, react with DNA to form covalently bonded adducts that are absolutely central in the carcinogenic process. Although there is compelling evidence of the presence of multiple DNA adducts in the lungs of subjects exposed to smoking or occupational exposure to a given aldehyde, it is clear that this is an area in which further research has been necessary. The aim of this thesis is to establish exocyclic DNA adducts profiles induced by the mixture of aldehydes, which could eventually be considered as a genotoxic marker of aldehyde exposure, both endogenous environmental. For this reason, we have validated a fast, sensitive and precise method on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in tandem mode (UHPLC-MS/MS) using isotopic dilution, for trace quantification of 9 exocyclic DNA adducts derived from 8 major exogenous and endogenous aldehydes, including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, crotonaldehyde, malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, glyoxal and methylglyoxal. These adducts were synthesized and purified as well as their labeled homologues, identified and quantified through standard curves ranging from 0.25 (LLOQ) to 250 ng/mL (ULOQ) adducts in water and in DNA to describe the matrix effects. Quality control (QC) samples were prepared and analyzed to verify the accuracy and precision of the method in repeatability and intermediate fidelity situations. The absence of cross-contamination has also been demonstrated. The method is able to differentiate the 9 analytes of interest and their internal standards using for each analyte a quantification transition and a confirmation transition. This method has been validated according to the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concerning bioanalytical methods. It meets all the essential criteria to guarantee the acceptability of the performances and the reliability of the analysis results. This method is the very first validated and can be used in adductomics in the context of studies on the exposome. In addition, the exocyclic adducts were simultaneously measured by an in vitro approach in calf thymus DNA exposed to different concentrations of each aldehyde apart or in equimolar mixtures. This approach allowed us to establish dose-dependent relationships for all aldehydes with the exception of malondialdehyde and methylglyoxal. A dose-response relationship was also observed with equimolar mixtures of aldehydes. It made it possible to define different reactivities of aldehydes in mixture versus DNA. The profiles of these exocyclic adducts were also determined in the blood DNA of smokers and non-smokers. Cigarette smoke contains several aldehydes known to covalently bind to DNA bases, so the DNA adduct may be considered as biomarker of tobacco exposure. Significant differences in adducts levels were obtained between smokers and non-smokers DNA with the exception of malondialdehyde-induced DNA adduct. Correlations were established between each adduct and smoking-related markers without any significant correlation of all adducts with a specific marker. Furthermore, we have shown that exposure to formaldehyde, butanal and benzaldehyde had an effect on the concentrations of urinary MDA measured in Lebanese police stationed at the intersection for 7 hours a day and after 5-day exposure to road traffic. An increase in plasma MDA has been described; years of work had an impact on the concentrations of this biomarker. These results are promising and it would be interesting to validate in population the profile of 9 exocyclic adducts as biomarkers of exposure to both exogenous and endogenous aldehydes as part of an adductomic approach to understand the carcinogenic risk in relation to aldehydes exposures in urban areas.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / South African Carpobrotus species have been found to contain hydrolysable tannins, various tlavonoids e.g. rutin and hyperoside, phytosterols and aromatic acids which have a diverse range of pharmacological properties including antimicrobial and, antioxidant activities. The main aim of the thesis was to determine the natural products in C. mellei and C. quadrifidus using chromatographic techniques and electrochemical analysis. The antioxidant activity of both Carpobrotus species was determined by using a superoxide dismutase (SOD) biosensor. ESI-LC-MS was used to separate and determine tlavonoids in C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. 8 tlavonoid compounds: catechin, epicatechin, epicatechin-epicatechin, coumarylquinic acid, isorhamnetin, quercetin-hexose (hyperoside), rutin and myricetin-deoxyhexose were identified. Cyclic and square wave voltammetry were used to detect tlavonoids from C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. Catechin was detected in the ethyl acetate extract of C. mellei and C. quadrifidus. The oxidation potential of the plant extracts were observed at +150.6 mV to +1072.6 mV. The oxidation mechanism proceeds in sequential steps, related to the catechol moiety, -OH groups in C ring and the resorcinol group. The oxidation process of the catechol moiety involves a two electron - two proton reversible reaction and forms o-quinone. This occurs first at low potential and is a reversible reaction. The hydroxyl group in the C ring and resorcinol group oxidise there after and undergo an irreversible reaction. UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy were used to confirm the presence of catechin in the ethyl acetate extract of both plants. UV -visible spectroelectrochemistry confirmed the oxidation process of catechin at constant potential. Since C. mellei and C. quadrifidus were confirmed to contain flavonoids by ESI-LC-MS and electrochemical analysis, the antioxidant activity was further investigated using a SOD biosensor. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme was immobilised with 1% Nafion on a platinum electrode. Detection limit and sensitivity of the SOD biosensor were found to be 0.03918 umol L-' and 1.44 !lA (umol i.'):', respectively. The results showed that C. mellei and C. quadrifidus have antioxidant activity, with relative antioxidant capacity (RAC) of 24% and 42%, respectively.

The growing resistance of bacteria to traditional antibiotics promotes the interest in finding new substances for their production. Antimicrobial peptides have comparable effect to conventional antibiotics, but a different mechanism of action and they do not provoke bacterial resistance. These peptides were characterized in all forms of multicellular organisms. Hymenoptera venom contains many biologically active substances including antimicrobial peptides. For this reason, this thesis focuses on the acquisition of antimicrobial peptide sequences from selected species of bumblebees (Bombus terrestris, B. hortorum, B. hypnorum, B. pratorum, B. lucorum, B. lapidarius, B. humilis and B. bohemicus). The isolation from the venom glands was performed by high performance liquid chromatography with reversed phases. Subsequent analysis was performed using the methods of mass spectrometry, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization with time of flight analyzer and electrospray ionization connected with hybrid linear ion trap analyzer with orbitrap. The sequences for the found peptides were determined by tandem mass spectrometry methods "de novo" and Edman degradation. In this work we characterized 17 sequences of peptides extracted from bumblebee venom glands for which antimicrobial activity was determined...

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is highly efficient separation method based on the different migration velocity of ions in liquid media in electric field. It is commonly used in analytical laboratories and due to the different separation principle it is applied as a complementary method to the chromatographic methods (HPLC and UHPLC). Beside the applicability of CE for quantitative/qualitative analysis, the method can be used also for physico-chemical characterization of compounds (e.g. determination of acid dissociation constants of weak electrolytes or stability constants of complexes). This work is focused on the applicability of CE methods for determination of physico- chemical characteristic of compounds (acid dissociation constants of triazole fungicides and stability constants of dibenzo-18-crown-6, benzo-18-crown-6 and 18-crown-6 ether complexes with metal ions in hydro-organic solvent mixtures) and on the possibility to use affinity CE (ACE) with electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric detection (ACE- ESI/MS) for the study of non-covalent interactions of compounds. For the online hyphenation of CE and ESI/MS, two highly sensitive CE-ESI/MS interfaces were tested: i) porous tip and ii) nano-sheath liquid flow. The ability of the CE-ESI/MS interfaces to effectively decouple spray and...

Um Proteine und Peptide ohne Verluste in der Trennleistung mit Hilfe der Kapillarelektrophorese zu analysieren, wurde der Innenkanal von fused silica Kapillaren mit 2-Hydroxyethylmethacrylat (HEMA) nach dem Prinzip der radikalischen Atomtransferpolymerisation beschichtet. Durch die Variation einiger Reaktionsparameter konnten dabei vier HEMA-Beschichtungen erhalten werden. Mit diesen wurden dann nach den Methoden der Kapillarzonenelektrophorese bei pH 3 und pH 9 und der isoelektrischen Fokussierung Vergleichsmessungen durchgeführt. Die Detektion erfolgte dabei teilweise mit einem Elektrosprayionisations-Flugzeit-Massenspektrometer. Es stellte sich heraus, dass sich die entwickelten Kapillarbeschichtungen im Bezug auf Trenneffizienz wie auch Stabilität im basischen Bereich teilweise stark voneinander unterschieden. Die Betrachtung der Polymerschichten mit Hilfe der Atomkraftmikroskopie zeigte, dass die Morphologie der HEMA-Beschichtung stark vom gewählten Reaktionsmedium abhängig ist.

No description available.

In this thesis the fabrication and analytical evaluation of two new electrospray emitters utilized for mass spectrometry analysis is presented. The emitters are based on a new concept, where the spray orifice can be varied in size. The thesis is based on two papers. All present-day nanoelectrospray emitters have fixed dimensions. The range of the applicable flow rate for such an emitter is therefore rather limited and exchange of emitters may be necessary from one experiment to another. Optimization of the signal of the analyte ions is also limited to adjustments of the applied voltage or the distance between the emitter and the mass spectrometer inlet. Furthermore, clogging can occur in emitters with fixed dimensions of narrow orifice sizes. In this thesis, electrospray emitters with a variable size of the spray orifice are proposed. An open gap between two thin substrates is filled with sample solution via a liquid bridge from a capillary. Electrospray is generated at the end point of the gap, which can be varied in width. In Paper I, electrospray emitters fabricated in polyethylene terephthalate have been evaluated. Triangular tips are manually cut from the polymer film. The tips are mounted to form a gap between the edges of the tips. The gap wall surfaces are subjected to a hydrophilic surface treatment to increase the wetting of the gap walls. In Paper II, silicon electrospray chips with high precision are fabricated and evaluated. A thin beam, elevated from the bulk silicon chip is fabricated by means of deep reactive ion etching. The top surfaces of the beams of two chips act as a sample conduit when mounted in the electrospray setup. An anisotropic etching step with KOH of the intersecting <100> crystal planes results in a very sharp spray point. The emitters were given a hydrophobic surface treatment except for the hydrophilic gap walls. For both emitter designs, the gap width has been adjusted during the experiments without any interruption of the electrospray. For a continuously applied peptide mixture, a shift towards higher charge states and increased signal to noise ratios could be observed when decreasing the gap width. The limit of detection has been investigated and the silicon chips have been interfaced with capillary electrophoresis. / QC 20101108

Mass spectrometry has enjoyed enormous popularity over the years for studying biological systems. The theme of this dissertation was to develop and use mass spectrometry based tools to solve five biologically oriented problems associated with protein architecture and extend the utility of these tools to study protein polymer conjugation. The first problem involved elucidating the false negatives of how proteins with few basic residues, forms highly charged ions in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS). This study showed that the unfolding of polypeptide chains in solution leads to the emergence of highly charged protein ions in ESI MS mass spectra, even if the polypeptide chains lack a sufficient number of basic sites. In the second problem, a new technique was developed that can monitor small-scale conformational transitions that triggers protein activity and inactivity using porcine pepsin as a model protein. This work allowed us to revise a commonly accepted scenario of pepsin inactivation and denaturation. The physiological relevance of an enzyme-substrate complex was probed in our third problem. We observed by ESI MS that pepsin forms a facile complex with a substrate protein, N-lobe transferrin under mildly acidic pH. The observed complex could either be a true enzyme-substrate complex or may likely results from an electrostatically driven association. Our investigation suggested that the enzyme binds nonspecifically to substrate proteins under mild acidic pH conditions. The fourth problem dealt with the investigation of conformational heterogeneity of natively unstructured proteins using a combination of spectroscopic techniques and ESI MS as tools. It was observed that four different conformations of alpha-synuclein coexist in equilibrium. One of these conformations appeared to be tightly folded. Conclusions regarding the nature of these states were made by correlating the abundance evolution of the conformers as a function of pH with earlier spectroscopic measurements. The final problem was aimed at monitoring conformational transitions in polypeptide and polymer segments of PEGylated proteins using PEGylated ubiquitin as a model system. This studies suggested that for a PEGylated protein, polypeptides maintain their folded conformation to a greater extent whiles the polymer segments are bound freely to the protein.