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In this dissertation, we construct a temperature controlled sample stage that is compatible with high numerical aperture objective optical microscope, and perform single molecule experiments under the system. Mixing dilute fluorophore (CdSe/ZnS quantum dot, DiI, Rhodamine B) into the liquid crystal matrix (5CB), we monitor the fluorescence dynamics of the individual fluorophore at various temperature. Different from the thermodynamic states of conventional materials, those specific class of materials which we called ¡§liquid crystals¡¨ are attracted for their existence of unique liquid crystal phase, which exhibits a solid-state like higher orientation ordering, and a liquid-state like liquidity. Probe individual fluorophore allows us to monitor the nanometer length scale local structural and dynamic heterogeneity in the solid, liquid crystal and liquid phases. The operating temperature of the platform covers more than 20 oC to 40 oC range with stability much better than 0.1 oC. Quantum dot in PMMA exhibits a clear on-off blinking behavior, and the single exponential fluorescence lifetime relaxation. While in the solid phase of the liquid crystal matrix, quantum dot exhibits similar behavior, which indicates the quantum dot is confined in the matrix. However, there exists slightly difference in decay lifetime. On the contrary, in the liquid crystalline phase as well as the liquid phase, quantum dot exhibits bi-exponential relaxation behavior. Besides a similar time scale relaxation dynamics, there exists additional fast decay behavior, which is from the feasible rotational rotation in the non-rigid matrix. In particular, the anisotropic decay dynamics in the liquid crystalline phase indicates the orientation preference of the liquid crystal molecules. Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) provides the information of local dynamics of various time scales. FCS results exhibit an unclear transition that crossovers several decades in time scale, which indicates the highly heterogeneity of the liquid crystal. The results of DiI exhibits different rising time in the fluorescence lifetime measurement, which implies the forming of aggregation due to the limited solubility of the DiI molecules in the liquid crystal matrix. Results of Rhodamine B exhibit a clear rotational diffusion dynamics at ~ microsecond scale and the corresponding translational diffusion dynamics at ~ mini-second scale. Moreover, the transition time scale of translational diffusion exhibits a temperature dependence. At higher temperature, it shifts to a shorter time scale.

Chronic liver disease is an important disease which affects national healthy in Taiwan. Hepatitis B or C virus infection is strongly relative to chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the early effective treatment can decrease the progression of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and increase the recovery rate. In order to promote the health care quality for the patients with hepatitis, Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) implemented the ¡§Enhance Hepatitis B or C Health Care Program¡¨ in October of 2003. The new policy sets up the standard treatment models and pay medical costs to encourage the patients to participate this program and fit cost-effectiveness. Therefore, aims of the study are to estimate the effects of the new policy on health care utilization and expenditures for the patients with hepatitis B or C. The study used the database from Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) in 2002 and 2004. The study sample is the patients with hepatitis B or C who enrolled the program from January to June in 2004. We compared the differences of health care utilization and expenditures with these statistics in 2002. Besides, we also analyzed the difference in the characteristics of the patients and hospitals. In health care utilization, we found that number of visits was increased but interval between visits was decreased. Total costs, costs of treatments, prescriptions, total claim amount, and averages of prescription costs in health care expenditures were all increased significantly after the new policy implemented. Otherwise, there were not different on health care utilization and expenditures between different gender and level of the hospitals. On the other hand, there were significantly correlation of ages and number of comorbility. It means that the patients¡¦ ages are older, and their number of visits and total costs are higher but interval between visits is shorter than younger. Furthermore, number of comorbility increases and then interval between visits become short. The new policy certainly affects the health care utilization and expenditures of patients with hepatitis B or C. Implementing the new program can encourage patients adopt treatment actively and physicians have standard treatment protocols to follow. Understanding the changes on health care utilization and expenditures can give a health care guideline of cost-effectiveness. In conclusion, the results can provide the information about payments on patients with hepatitis to BNHI and then use it to be a basis after the new program implemented. Moreover, other countries also can evaluate the implementation of the new policy based on our results.

1. 2-[2-(2vinylphenyl)ethenyl]thiophene ( 30 ) and 2,2-(o-phenylenedivinylene)dithiophene ( 31 ) were studied under pyrolytic and photolytic conditions, photolytic of 30 gave upon bicyclic product 35, whereas photolytic of 31 gave products 37 and 39, FVP of 30 and 31 gave 34 and 37, respectively,which all include naphthalene nucleus. 2. 2-methoxystilbene ( 17 ) and 3-methoxystilbene ( 18 ) were studied under pyrolytic conditions, FVP of 17 gave single product 2-Phenylbenzo[b]furan ( 23 ), FVP of 18 gave 2-phenanthrol ( 27 ), ( 4-phenanthrol ) ( 28 ), trans-3- hydroxystilbene ( 29 ), Fluoren 9 -one ( 30 ) and a pair of isomer 1H-benz[e]indene ( 11a ) and 3H-benz[e]indene (11b).

The motion of dye molecules in the solution is highly influenced by the Brownian motion caused by the stochastic collisions with the solvents, and it results the fluorescence intensity fluctuation. The thesis study the fluorescence intensity fluctuation of dilute dye molecule (Rhodamine B) in methanol solution ( - ), under confocal and total internal reflection (TIR) microscopy configurations. Five parameters are used to probe the fluorescence characteristics: (1) the difference between confocal and the TIR configurations. The configuration influences the laser focusing area and consequently the intensity distribution. The effective focusing area in confocal configuration is an ellipsoid shape, while that of TIR configuration is a disk shape around the interface with depth 100-200 nm. It results the TIR configuration less background and higher concentration capability. (2) concentration. We control the concentration from much less than one molecule to more than one molecule in the effective focusing area, and we observe the change of burst intensity distribution. (3) the focus position. By changing the focusing position, we study the effective focusing region changes. (4) excited intensity, and (5) fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Our results indicate that TIR configuration exhibits lower background, and is suitable to higher concentration solution. In addition, when the dye concentration in the focusing area is much less than 1, the FCS amplitude is no longer follow 1/N, but rather be proportional to N, where N is the concentration.

Family Pinguipedidae belong to the class Actinopterygii, subclass Neopterygii, order Perciformes, suborder Trachinoidei. Currently the interrelationships of the genera within this family and among the families in the Trachinoidei remain unequivocal. Also, whether the Cheimarrichthys should be included in the family Pinguipedidae has also been a controversial issue. This study aimed to reconstruct phylogenetic hypotheses in order to resolve these questions. Species of the Parapercis and Kochichtys in the family Pinguipedidae occur Taiwan. This study used osteological characters, 16S rRNA and Cyt b sequences to conduct phylogenetic analysis such that hypotheses can be proposed. The results revealed the monophyly of Parapercis, a taxonomic view consistent to the prevailary classification. Summarizing all the results, the 17 Parapercis species analysed can be divided into 4 groups. They are (1) Parapercis aurantiaca¡BP. decemfasciata¡BP. mimaseana¡BP. multifasciata¡BP. muronis¡Btwo morphotypes of P. sexfasciata¡F(2) P. cephalopunctata¡BP. clathrata¡BP. hexophthalma¡BP. kamoharai¡BP. tetracantha¡BP. xanthozona¡F(3) P. cylindrica and P. snyderi¡F(4) P. maculata¡BP. ommatura and P. somaliensis. Two color morphotypes have been shown for Parapercis sexfasciata. Data of the present study revealed that the ¡§ autapomorphic¡¨ osteological character known only in Kochichtys also occurred in three Parapercis species. This result supports a close relationship between these species. However, it also challenges the validity of the generic status of Kochichtys. About the dabate of the phylogenetic position of Cheimarrichthys, it should be put into its own family, Cheimarichthyide, rather than placed in the Pinguipedidae. The hypothesis for the sister group of Pinguipedidae to the Cheimarichthyide is not supported by all the data in this study completely. Morphological and molecular evidences are incongruence for closest phylogenetic relationship. Similar results were also obtained when the molecular sequences were analysed using different methods. More data analyses are needed for complete and reliable results. The present study suggests that the Trachinoidei is not a monophyletic group.

The argument that the encapsulation of perceptual modules provides secure bases for the reliability of observation in scientific disputes is strongly rejected by Churchland. While this debate was carried around the illusions, it reached to a fruitless point because the notion of illusion, the meaning of illusions and its place in the cognitive system is ambiguous. In order to come to a meaningful conclusion, the debate should be enriched by some other and clear evidence.

A given qualitative mental experience possesses qualitative aspects, or qualia, that identify and distinguish it from other qualitative mental states. While some philosophers explained the mental phenomena by positing nonphysical kinds of entities, some others propose wholly physical explanations. Even if those physicalistic explanations of the mental shed some light on the issue of body-mind relation, Joseph Levine claims that there still exists an explanatory gap between a qualitative mental state and the physical state supposedly responsible for it, since there is no explanation of how and why a certain kind of physical state gives rise to a specific kind of quale.This thesis is an exploration of this problem and evaluation of some of the views that interpret the gap as either ontological or epistemological in order to find out whether the gap is compatible with physicalism or not. The focus is on the Phenomenal Concept Strategy that proposes a physicalistic account for the existence of the gap that is based on the character of phenomenal concepts. I examine whether this strategy is satisfactory or not and propose a possible physicalist account to the special character of phenomenal concepts.

My thesis is an attempt to develop a naturalistic account of mental representation based on the notion of causation. The thesis consists of two main parts. The first part (chapters II and III) develops an understanding of naturalization. According to my proposal, naturalization is a two-step process: in the first step a set of conditions is specified which are thought to be the essential aspects of the notion under study and in the second step a naturalistic system is proposed which is claimed to satisfy these conditions. In accordance with this understanding of naturalization, the second part (chapters IV and V) of the thesis sets out the conditions which a successful naturalization of mental representation has to satisfy and then develops a new naturalistic account of mental representation based on the causal connections between environmental properties and the brain.

This thesis is the analysis of B&uuml / lent Ecevit&rsquo / s conception of nationalism. It also involves a review of contemporary theories of nationalism and academic works on nationalism in Turkey. The thesis is organised as analysis of Ecevit&rsquo / s nationalism within time intervals in order to elaborate on the consistency of his conception nationalism along his long political life. The major source for analysis is Ecevit&rsquo / s speeches in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, his books, articles and declarations. In this sense, Ecevit&rsquo / s meaning giving process to nationalism is researched.