How are you? I have been trying to obtain new data, but the samples are giving me some problems. We have tried to measure their fluorescence decays using a home-built time-resolved fluorometer, but the signal-to-noise ratio of the decays is extremely low, even for the most luminescent samples. In light of this fact, obtaining fluorescence decays at particular points within the sample seems extremely unlikely. Regarding the confocal images, the signal-to-noise ratio is also quite low. Right now I am using a lock-in amplifier to try and improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the images. I am sure that the low signal-to-noise ratios are not related to some sort of degradation in the samples, since I have kept the samples under nitrogen the whole time. I will see how much I can improve the data by using the lock-in-amplifier. Have you obtain the fluorescence images of these samples in your laboratory? If so, what excitation wavelength have you used? We can only work with the 405- and 448-nm laser lines. Thanks!