Applications of ATR-FTIR Spectroscopic Imaging to Proteins

Protein aggregation and crystallisation play an important role in the development of biopharmaceuticals and for structural proteomics but both processes are still poorly understood. There is a demand for new methods to screen the extensive range of conditions that promote crystallisation and aggregation as well as provide insight into the behaviour of the proteins. Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) – Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging is a powerful analytical tool which can be applied to study proteins. This technique combines ATR-FTIR spectroscopy with an infrared array detector allowing for both spatial and chemical information to be obtained from the sample. There are a range of imaging fields of view and spatial resolution possible with ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging and this presents multiple opportunities for the study of proteins. The purpose of this research was to further develop the application of ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging within the field of protein studies. ATR-FTIR imaging has been applied to study the effects of different conditions for microbatch protein crystallisation in a high throughput manner, where many samples can be analysed at the same time on the surface of a Macro ATR crystal by building a wax grid with multiple wells for different samples. Additionally, Micro ATR-FTIR imaging was combined with hanging drop protein crystallisation for high spatial resolution imaging of the growth of protein crystals. The surface properties of Silicon ATR crystals were modified to create a gradient of hydrophobicity allowing the effect of different surface properties on protein adsorption and crystallisation to be studied in situ. The development of these approaches will advance the use of spectroscopic imaging within the field of biopharmaceuticals, where it is has the potential to help the optimisation of both biopharmaceutical drug discovery processes and structural proteomics studies.Open Acces

THE APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES IN HYDROLOGY

REMOTE SENSING, which may be simplistically defined as ’the collection and interpretation of emitted or reflected radiation from a body’, offers the potential for accurate interpolation of surface data and even for its direct measurement on scales ranging from local to world wide. This dissertation has been written primarily for the hydrologist, engineer, environmentalist or student who needs to measure changes either in space or time of hydrological variables such as water quality, but who has little practical knowledge of remote sensing or how it may be of assistance to him. It may be regarded as a reference document which, as a result of internal cross referencing and comprehensive external subject referencing, should enable the reader to acquire a background knowledge of remote sensing theory which is relevant to his interests, to understand the advantages and difficulties of applying remote sensing techniques to his measurement problem and to obtain further information about remote sensing applications which have already been undertaken within his field of interest. The dissertation centres on the hydrological situation in England and Wales by initially outlining the structure of their water industries. The main hydrological measurement objectives in terms of water resources, water supply, effluent disposal and flood prediction and warning are identified and some advantages of incorporating remote sensing into hydrological measurement programmes are suggested. The physical theory of remote sensing is described and the main methods of collecting and analysing remotely sensed data are given. A topic by topic analysis of the most suitable ways of tackling specific hydrological measurement problems through the use of remote sensing is made and the dissertation concludes with an assessment of the likely future use of remote sensing in hydrological measurement programmes in genera

Mesoporous Thin-film Materials Studied by Optical Waveguide Spectroscopy

A method was developed to access the interior of light-guiding structures in order to exploit the enhanced sensing potential of the highly confined electromagnetic field distributions, located within the core of a waveguide. The work presented in this thesis explores therefore the possibilities of optical waveguide spectroscopy utilising transparent mesoporous thin-film waveguides deposited on top of athin gold layer. These multi-layer assemblies are employed in a prism-coupling attenuated total internal reflection (ATR) configuration. The angular read-out of the reflected light intensity allows label-free detection schemes with high sensitivity to changes of the dielectric environment in the case of the presence of analyte molecules within the probing region. This optical waveguide spectroscopy technique has been used to study the real-timediffusion of Ruthenium 535-bisTBA (N-719) dye into mesoporous nanocrystalline titaniumdioxide films. The porous films were prepared on top of gold substrates and prism coupling was used to create a guided wave in the nanocrystalline film. Dying was carried out by bring the film into contact with a 3 x 10-4 moldm-3 dye solution and using optical waveguide spectroscopy to monitor the change in both the refractive index and theextinction coefficient of the nanoporous layer as dye diffused into the porous network. Dyeuptake in a 1.27 μm film was slow with the refractive index of the film still increasing after 22 hours.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Examining the taphonomic challenges to the 3D digitisation of fragmented bone

The utilisation of 3D digitisation and visualisation has grown considerably since 2008 and is becoming an increasingly useful tool for the digital documentation and metric analysis of archaeological artefacts and skeletal remains. It provides public access to rare and fragile specimens of palaeontological and palaeopathological importance whilst reducing the physical impact on these remains. Research in engineering and computer vision provides some insight into the impact of surface properties such as colour, specularity, reflectance and shape on the quality of the recorded 3D image, but within the archaeological and palaeontological disciplines comparable work has not yet been developed. If archaeology and anthropology are to provide long term reliable data from archaeological and palaeontological specimens in a way that doesn’t require repeated re-digitisation, we need to understand the impacts that the taphonomic histories of such samples have on our ability to 3D record them. Understanding the relationship of these taphonomic histories and the surface and optical properties will promote informed choices about the suitability of recording techniques. This thesis considers the taphonomic processes that affect the preservation of bone over archaeological, forensic and palaeontological timescales and the effect this has on the quality of 3D digital models. The digital refit of fragmentary bone samples is considered in relation to the effect of taphonomic alterations to bone. Conclusions regarding the key taphonomic factors and 3D digital model quality are drawn and areas of further work are identified.Arts and Humanities Research Counci

Video thermography: complex regional pain syndrome in the picture

In this thesis videothermography is developed and evaluated as a diagnostic and monitoring tool in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1 (CRPS1). This work is conducted within four pre- set developmental phases: namely, the initial, potential, monitoring and diagnostic phases. Two main methods of measurement were developed and evaluated, namely: i) static videothermography: recording of a thermographic image of an extremity without application of any disturbing factors on temperature regulation and ii) dynamic videothermography: recordings of a sequence of thermographic images during application of various disturbing effects on temperature regulation of the human body. The recorded thermographic images were analysed by means of various mathematical methods and their additive value in the assessment of CRPS1 was studied

Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995)

The files on this record represent the various databases that originally composed the CD-ROM issue of "Abstracts on Radio Direction Finding" database, which is now part of the Dudley Knox Library's Abstracts and Selected Full Text Documents on Radio Direction Finding (1899 - 1995) Collection. (See Calhoun record https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/57364 for further information on this collection and the bibliography). Due to issues of technological obsolescence preventing current and future audiences from accessing the bibliography, DKL exported and converted into the three files on this record the various databases contained in the CD-ROM. The contents of these files are: 1) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_xls.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.xls: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format; RDFA_Glossary.xls: Glossary of terms, in Excel 97-2003 Workbookformat; RDFA_Biographies.xls: Biographies of leading figures, in Excel 97-2003 Workbook format]; 2) RDFA_CompleteBibliography_csv.zip [RDFA_CompleteBibliography.TXT: Metadata for the complete bibliography, in CSV format; RDFA_Glossary.TXT: Glossary of terms, in CSV format; RDFA_Biographies.TXT: Biographies of leading figures, in CSV format]; 3) RDFA_CompleteBibliography.pdf: A human readable display of the bibliographic data, as a means of double-checking any possible deviations due to conversion

Earth resources, a continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 541 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

ICCG-10: Tenth International Conference on Crystal Growth. Poster presentation abstracts

Poster presentation abstracts from the tenth International Conference on Crystal Growth (ICCG) (Aug. 16-21, 1992) are provided. Topics discussed at the conference include crystal growth mechanisms, superconductors, semiconductors, laser materials, optical materials, and biomaterials. Organizing committees, ICCG advisory board and officers, and sponsors of the conference are also included

Quantitative comparison of the aerosol optical properties over Durban using ground and satellite based instrumentation.

Master of Science in Environmental Science. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2017.Aerosols are ubiquitous constituents in the atmosphere and are important for atmospheric processes. This is due to their ability to scatter and absorb solar radiation and influence cloud microphysics. This study will focus on discerning trends in aerosol optical properties in Durban (29.8587° S, 31.0218° E), a coastal city on the east coast of South Africa, using the preliminary results from the sun-photometer located at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. These results will also be compared to the well-established Skukuza sun-photometer. Skukuza is a rural agricultural area in the north eastern parts of South Africa. The Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), Angstrom Exponent (α440–870), Columnar Water Vapour (CWV), Volume Size Distribution (VSD), Single Scattering Albedo (SSA), Asymmetry parameter (ASP), Real and Imaginary parts of the complex refractive index were studied for Durban and Skukuza. Analysis of the aerosol optical properties suggested that various sources of aerosols were identified for Durban, such as biomass burning, urban industrial aerosols and marine aerosols. Biomass burning aerosols impacted Skukuza during spring. There was a high extent of fine mode aerosols present throughout the year for Skukuza, indicating that urban industrial emissions from the South African Highveld region can also contribute to aerosol loads in the region. Preliminary results from the ground-based Durban sun-photometer was used to compare aerosol optical depth at 550 nm (AOD) to the satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the Aqua, Terra and Aqua and Terra combined (average of both) datasets for the dark target (DT) and deep blue (DB) retrieval algorithms to validate satellite retrievals. The results gave way to moderate correlations between MODIS Terra and the Durban sun-photometer for both DB (R2 = 0.70) and DT (R2 = 0.60), and between MODIS Aqua and the Durban sun-photometer for DB (0.68). Good correlations were observed for MODIS Terra and Aqua merged for both DB (0.79) and DT (0.74). The ability of MODIS to predict AOD was noted as dependent on the season and location. HYSPLIT 720 hour–backward trajectory analysis, AOD and α440–870 from the Durban sun-photometer, a Lidar profile and satellite imagery were used to determine if air mass from the Calbuco volcanic eruption in Chile in April 2015 reached Durban. Trajectory analysis found that only during May 2015, was air masses arriving from South America, within the 20 km altitude. This led to the assumption that stratospheric aerosols from the Calbuco volcano, travelled to Durban. Analysis of the AOD found that only during 2015 was a constant phenomenon driving AOD in Durban and this was attributed to the eruption. Lidar observations coupled with the backward trajectory analysis allowed for the identification of air masses in Durban arriving from the Calbuco volcano in Chile