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EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND (ESF) PROJECT “FORMATION OF
INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH GROUP FOR WORKING OUT AND IMPLEMENTING NEW
FLUORESCENT MATERIALS AND METHODS”
PROJECT EXECUTOR:
Daugavpils University (DU) in cooperation with The Institute of Microbiology and
Biotechnology of the University of Latvia (LU)
PROJECT EXECUTION PERIOD:
01.12.2009 – 30.11.2012
PROJECT TOTAL COSTS:
720 000 Ls.
ESF financing 85% – 612 000 Ls,
State budget financing 15% – 108 000 Ls
PROJECT GOAL:
Facilitating additional human resources involvement in science by creating a new
interdisciplinary group of scientists for the elaboration and implementation of
new fluorescent materials and methods.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Fluorescent dyestuffs are nowadays growing in popularity in many branches of
science and spheres of human life. They are applicable in medicine, analytical
chemistry, biology, geology, cinema industry, decoration as well as everyday
life, and are widely investigated. However, it is worth continuing their
synthesizing as each sphere of their application needs particular unique
qualities of these dyestuffs. At the moment, there is a demand for new stuffs
with marked luminescent and special qualities (solubility, stability, toxicity
etc.), hence, the project envisages synthesizing new fluorophores and
investigating their features. The involvement of additional human resources in
science has contributed to the formation of a new interdisciplinary group of 21
scientists who carry out extensive research in the spheres of chemistry (organic
chemistry, chemical technologies), physics (physics of solid states, optics,
microscopy), and biology (microbiology, biotechnology, molecular biology)
creating knowledge that is impossible to acquire within a single branch of
science.
PROJECT OUTCOME:: The project is aimed at the elaboration of new methods
and materials for the development of science and technology, therefore its
implementation will facilitate innovative fluorescent technology development in
several branches of science and industry in Latvia. New fluorescent methods and
materials will be elaborated, practically approbated, and patented and they will
be used as the base for working out and testing new methods of fluorescent
research of biological systems. The range of existing fluorescent substances
will be supplemented by a number of new fluorophores with advanced functional
qualities – more intense luminescence, greater photo stability, lower
cytotoxicity, etc. The comparison of spectral parameters of the acquired
compounds with those of the existing fluorescent probes and selection of more
perspective dyestuffs provides an opportunity to optimize the created methods of
fluorescence. The acquired outcomes and research literature data will contribute
to the investigation of fluorescence regularities by using quantum chemical
calculations and mathematical modeling. The spectral investigations of
biological objects dyed with fluorescent probes will facilitate the
understanding of their structural peculiarities and changes under the impact of
diverse external factors. The results will provide for working out different
methods of fluorescence analysis for the evaluation of the cell functional state
of plants, micro-organisms, and human organism. Application of efficient methods
of fluorescent probes will facilitate the ecology and biotechnology problems.
Doctoral dissertations and Master theses will be elaborated within the given
research. Since ancient times, people have been observing luminescent phenomena,
e.g. aurora borealis, lightening, sea luminescence, gleam of glow-worms and some
other insects as well as minerals in the dark, yet systematic research of
luminescence started only in the 19th century. Over recent 50 years, the range
of application of diverse luminescent appliances is growing, e.g. fluorescent
lamps, television screens, etc. Luminescence is radiation the afterglow duration
of which significantly exceeds the period of light fluctuation; it is the cold
light as luminescent substances – luminophores – shine without heating. Optic
radiation is caused by working on the substance by diverse factors: light
(photoluminescence), electrons (cathode luminescence), γ-rays, protons, α and
β-particles (radioluminescence), X-rays (X-ray luminescence), electric field
(electric luminescence), as a result of chemical and biological processes
(chemiluminescence and bioluminescence). By interrupting the process of
excitation, luminescence continues for a while. According to the duration of
afterglow, luminescence is divided into fluorescence and phosphorescence.
Fluorescent substances stop emitting light very soon after interrupting
excitation (approximately 10-9 – 10-6s). In the case of phosphorescence, it
continues for a longer while after interrupting excitation, it may continue for
several minutes or even hours. Examples of phosphorescence are stickers and
watch dials that glow in the dark. Fluorescent materials are used to produce
diverse protecting elements, e.g. fluorescent print that is invisible in the
ordinary light but fluoresces (i.e. becomes visible) in the ultraviolet light;
diverse fluorescent protecting fibres that are mixed into the paper mass (their
fluorescence may be multi-coloured). Fluorescence is used in traffic signs that
begin emitting light under the visible light. A number of luminophores are used
for acquiring colour effects. Luminescent analysis is used for investigating the
composition and state of different objects in chemistry, ecology, archeology,
biology, medicine, etc. as well as oil search. According to the quantity of oil
products in the upper layer of the soil, the direction of boring is determined.
This method is used in food industry to test the freshness of foodstuffs, e.g.
luminescence of fresh lemons is in yellow colour, while that of a lemon affected
by fungus disease is in dark blue colour in the damaged spot. If milk is kept in
light, vitamin B disappears and milk luminescence colour changes from yellow to
blue. In this way good quality milk may be told from poor quality milk. Meat,
flour, eggs, fish and other products are also prone to luminescence. In
forensics luminescent analysis is used to track forging of signature, text,
securities, etc. due to the different luminescence of each brand of paper and
ink. It is also possible to determine the exact age of antiquities or their
forging; in medicine this method is used for diagnosing diseases. Already in
1941, fluorescently marked anti-bodies were used to locate antigens in cells;
nowadays they are widely used in medical examinations.
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