Novel Regression Methods For Spectral Data

Singular Value Decomposition (SVD), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) are some of the mathematical pre- liminaries that are discussed prior to explaining PLS and PCR models. Both PLS and PCR are applied to real spectral data and their di erences and similarities are discussed in this thesis. The challenge lies in establishing the optimum number of components to be included in either of the models but this has been overcome by using various diagnostic tools suggested in this thesis. Correspondence analysis (CA) and PLS were applied to ecological data. The idea of CA was to correlate the macrophytes species and lakes. The di erences between PLS model for ecological data and PLS for spectral data are noted and explained in this thesis. i

Novel Cellular Luminescence Probes for Immunological and Toxicological Assessments

Escherichia coli K-12 (pEGFPluxABCDEAmp) (E. coli-lux), constitutively emitting bioluminescence (BL), was constructed and its BL emitting properties tested in different growth and killing conditions. The BL emission directly correlated with the number of viable E. coli-lux cells, and when subjected to the antimicrobial agent, the diminishment of the BL signal was linked directly to the number of killed bacterial cells. The method provided a very convenient application, especially when compared to conventional plate counting assays. This novel real-time based method was utilized in both immunological and toxicological assessments. The parameters such as the activation phase, the lytic phase and the capacity of the killing of the serum complement system were specified not only in humans but also in other species. E. coli-lux was also successfully used to study the antimicrobial activities of insect haemolymph. The mechanisms of neutrophil activity, like that of a myeloperoxidase (MPO)-H2O2-halide system, were studied using the E. coli-lux approach. The fundamental role of MPO was challenged, since during the actual killing in described circumstances in phagolysosome the MPO system was inactivated and chlorination halted. The toxicological test system, assessing indoor air total toxicity, particularly suitable for suspected mold damages, was designed based on the E. coli-lux method. Susceptibility to the vast number of various toxins, both pure chemicals and dust samples from the buildings and extracts from molds, were investigated. The E. coli-lux application was found to possess high sensitivity and specificity attributes. Alongside the analysis system, the sampling kit for indoor dust was engineered based on the swipe stick and the container. The combination of practical specimen collector and convenient analysis system provided accurate toxic data from the dust sample within hours. Neutrophils are good indicators of the pathophysiological state of the individual, and they can be utilized as a toxicological probe due to their ability to emit chemiluminescence (CL). Neutrophils can either be used as probe cells, directly exposed to the agent studied, or they can act as indicators of the whole biological system exposed to the agent. Human neutrophils were exposed to the same toxins as tested with the E. coli-lux system and measured as luminol amplified CL emission. The influence of the toxins on the individuals was investigated by exposing rats with moniliniformin, the mycotoxin commonly present in Finnish grains. The activity of the rat neutrophils was found to decrease significantly during the 28 days of exposure.