Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Biodegradable, edible wheat gluten films offer a renewable alternative to plastic food packaging or can be incorporated directly in the food product. Wheat gluten is a good option because it forms a fibrous network, lending strength and elasticity to films. The goal of this research project was to produce, with a water-based film formulation and methodology, smooth, homogeneous wheat gluten films with low water vapour permeability (WVP). The water-based film formulation also served to compare the FT Wonder wheat cultivar, grown in Ontario, to commercially produced wheat gluten and determine the effect of wheat source on the film properties, surface morphology, surface hydrophobicity, WVP, and film swelling in water for different pH, temperature and casting surface conditions. Fluorescence, SPR, and casting formulation viscosity provided preliminary information on the mechanism of film formation and on gluten protein structure induced by modifying the film formulation. This research provides an alternate use for some Ontario wheat cultivars based on their properties in films compared to commercial sources of gluten. As a result, using Ontario cultivars to prepare gluten film packaging material has potential as an alternate source of income for Ontario farmers. This research also defines the film properties for gluten films produced from aqueous solutions, helping to identify processing parameters that could bring gluten films on par with plastic packaging and make gluten films a viable alternative food packaging material. Finally, it was determined that the water vapour permeability of wheat gluten films was not correlated to film surface contact angle.

This work presents the development of a laser-induced fluorescence technique to measure atmospheric formaldehyde. In conjunction with the technique, the design of a compact, narrow linewidth, etalon-tuned titanium:sapphire laser cavity which is pumped by the second harmonic of a kilohertz Nd:YAG laser is also presented. The fundamental tunable range is from 690-1100 nm depending on mirror reflectivities and optics kit used. The conversion efficiency is at least 25% for the fundamental, and 2-3% for intracavity frequency doubling from 3.5-4W 532 nm pump power. The linewidth is < 0.1 cm-1, and the pulsewidth is 18 nsec. Also presented are observations of gas-phase sulfuric acid from the NEAQS-ITCT 2K4 (New England Air Quality Study Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation) field campaign in July and August 2004. Sulfuric acid values are reported for a polluted environment and possible nucleation events as well as particle growth within the boundary layer are explored. Sulfate production rates via gas phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide are also reported. This analysis allows an important test of our ability to predict sulfuric acid concentration and probe its use as a fast time response photochemical tracer for the hydroxyl radical, OH. In comparison, the NASA time-dependent photochemical box model is used to calculate OH concentration. Nighttime H2SO4 values are examined to test our understanding of nocturnal OH levels and oxidation processes. In comparison, sulfuric acid from a large ground based mission in Tecámac, México (near the northern boundary of Mexico City) during MIRAGE-Mex field campaign (March 2006) is presented. The observations in conjunction with the NASA LARc Photochemical box model are used to explore ozone production, nitrate and sulfate formation, and radical levels and radical production rates during the day. The one minute observations of sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, and aerosol surface area were again used to calculate OH levels assuming steady state, and are in good agreement with observations of OH (R2 = 0.7). Photochemical activity is found to be a maximum during the morning hours, as seen in ozone and nitrate formation.

Fluorescence spectroscopy was examined as a potential technique for identifying aerosol particles like bacterial spores. This technique was used for laboratory measurements on some common biological agent simulants. We have measured the intrinsic steady-state fluorescence emission spectra as a function of the excitation wavelength for several bacterial spores (washed and unwashed) in dry and aqueous suspensions at room temperature using excitation wavelengths from 200 to 600 nm. These measurements were compared to those of common, naturally occurring biological components like fungal spores and pollen and non spore samples like ovalbumin. The spectra of samples were combined into fluorescence profiles or fluorescence fingerprints. Different substrates were used for collection and detection of spores. Each bacterium produces a unique in vitro fluorescence profile when measured in dried and aqueous suspension and exhibits a strong maximum in its fluorescence emission spectrum near 330-340 nm. The fluorescence profiles were reproducible. The complexity of microorganisms made the interpretation of their spectral signature a difficult task. Principal components analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were done as a data reduction technique for detection and identification from different backgrounds. PCA illustrates that linear combination of detected fluorescence intensities, which are present in different ratios in each of samples studied, can be used to discriminate biological agent simulants from other biological samples. The hydration effects, washing effects and the role of tryptophan on spore fluorescence were also investigated. The emission spectra of the dried spores showed a maximum near 330 nm, suggesting a hydrophobic environment for its tryptophan residues. The aqueous solution of tryptophan showed fluorescence shifted to 360 nm and in ethanol solution the maximum was shifted to 340 nm, suggesting a rather more polar average location of the tryptophan. To find the limit of detection we measured the quantum efficiency (QE) of a few samples. We concluded that spectroscopy techniques coupled with effective interpretation models are applicable to biological simulants agents. Index Heading: Bacteria; Spores; Identification; Fluorescence; Fluorescence Quantum Efficiency; Principal Components Analysis; Cluster Analysis.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Physics and Astronomy. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-64).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-02-16Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:31:07Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 estebanflorez_fl_me_arafo.pdf: 4818126 bytes, checksum: 136867861dfe8fc2d361248949270525 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O clareamento dental é uma técnica que surgiu no inicio do século XIX. Desde então, e em função dos resultados obtidos ao longo do tempo, esta foi sendo alterada de maneira a reduzir os riscos do procedimento e ao mesmo tempo melhorar o resultado estético obtido. Com o aparecimento das fontes de luz para uso odontológico, novas e interessantes possibilidades surgiram e permitiram a utilização de métodos de aceleração que respeitem a fisiologia pulpar, que diminuam o tempo de exposição do paciente aos agentes peróxidos e promovam ainda a obtenção de bons resultados estéticos. Nos dias de hoje, pode-se observar na literatura importantes questionamentos acerca da contribuição efetiva da luz visível no processo e, os efeitos dos agentes peróxidos nas estruturas cristalinas dos dentes, materiais restauradores em geral e tecidos moles. Estas preocupações foram o cerne da motivação para a realização desta pesquisa, sendo assim, este trabalho vem propor uma série de metodologias inovadoras que avaliem através de tecnologias modernas os mecanismos básicos de interação da luz visível com o peróxido de hidrogênio e com os pigmentos orgânicos. Os experimentos aqui demonstrados abordam os fatores críticos relacionados com a eficiência do processo em diferentes substratos por meio de análise de transmitância, de fluorescência e imagens digitais. Com estes estudos pretendemos responder de maneira objetiva algumas das questões que foram observadas serem de fundamental importância no esclarecimento da real eficiência e eficácia da luz no clareamento dental. / The dental bleaching is a technique that appeared in the beginning of the XIX century. Since then, and in function of the obtained results a long the time, this has been altered in way to reduce the procedure risks and at the same time improve the aesthetic results. With the rise of light sources to be used in dentistry, new and exciting possibilities appeared and allowed the use of catalytic methods that respect the pulpal physiology, which diminishes the exposure time of the patients to the bleaching agents and provides good aesthetic results. In nowadays, it is possible to observe in the literature important questionings over the real contribution of light in the process and, the effects of the peroxide over the crystalline structure of the teeth, restorative materials and soft tissues. These concerning were the major motivation to the realization of this research, in this way, this work proposes a new series of methods that asses by the use of new technologies the basic mechanisms of visible light interaction with the hydrogen peroxide and with the organic pigments. The experiments here demonstrated study the critical factors related with the process efficiency in different substrates by digital images, transmittance and fluorescence. With these studies we pretend to respond in objective way some questions that were observed to be of fundamental importance in the understanding of the light efficiency and efficacy to the dental bleaching.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:28:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:04:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Orientador: Osmir Batista de Oliveira Júnior / Banca: Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato / Banca: Carlos EduardoFrancci / Resumo: O clareamento dental é uma técnica que surgiu no inicio do século XIX. Desde então, e em função dos resultados obtidos ao longo do tempo, esta foi sendo alterada de maneira a reduzir os riscos do procedimento e ao mesmo tempo melhorar o resultado estético obtido. Com o aparecimento das fontes de luz para uso odontológico, novas e interessantes possibilidades surgiram e permitiram a utilização de métodos de aceleração que respeitem a fisiologia pulpar, que diminuam o tempo de exposição do paciente aos agentes peróxidos e promovam ainda a obtenção de bons resultados estéticos. Nos dias de hoje, pode-se observar na literatura importantes questionamentos acerca da contribuição efetiva da luz visível no processo e, os efeitos dos agentes peróxidos nas estruturas cristalinas dos dentes, materiais restauradores em geral e tecidos moles. Estas preocupações foram o cerne da motivação para a realização desta pesquisa, sendo assim, este trabalho vem propor uma série de metodologias inovadoras que avaliem através de tecnologias modernas os mecanismos básicos de interação da luz visível com o peróxido de hidrogênio e com os pigmentos orgânicos. Os experimentos aqui demonstrados abordam os fatores críticos relacionados com a eficiência do processo em diferentes substratos por meio de análise de transmitância, de fluorescência e imagens digitais. Com estes estudos pretendemos responder de maneira objetiva algumas das questões que foram observadas serem de fundamental importância no esclarecimento da real eficiência e eficácia da luz no clareamento dental. / Abstract: The dental bleaching is a technique that appeared in the beginning of the XIX century. Since then, and in function of the obtained results a long the time, this has been altered in way to reduce the procedure risks and at the same time improve the aesthetic results. With the rise of light sources to be used in dentistry, new and exciting possibilities appeared and allowed the use of catalytic methods that respect the pulpal physiology, which diminishes the exposure time of the patients to the bleaching agents and provides good aesthetic results. In nowadays, it is possible to observe in the literature important questionings over the real contribution of light in the process and, the effects of the peroxide over the crystalline structure of the teeth, restorative materials and soft tissues. These concerning were the major motivation to the realization of this research, in this way, this work proposes a new series of methods that asses by the use of new technologies the basic mechanisms of visible light interaction with the hydrogen peroxide and with the organic pigments. The experiments here demonstrated study the critical factors related with the process efficiency in different substrates by digital images, transmittance and fluorescence. With these studies we pretend to respond in objective way some questions that were observed to be of fundamental importance in the understanding of the light efficiency and efficacy to the dental bleaching. / Mestre

O cancro cítrico é uma das doenças mais temidas da citricultura devido ao seu poder de proli-feração nas fazendas, aos danos causados às plantas e aos frutos e à forma de combate adota-da pelos órgãos responsáveis através da erradicação das plantas contaminadas e de outras em sua vizinhança. No Brasil, um dos principais motivos que minimiza a eficiência da erradicação do cancro cítrico é a confirmação do diagnóstico, que necessita ser realizada em alguns laboratórios credenciados. A análise de muitas amostras em conjunto com o tempo gasto com o transporte aumenta a chance de proliferação da doença no campo. Neste trabalho aplicamos técnicas de espectroscopia da fluorescência em folhas de culturas cítricas na intenção de pro-por um método de diagnóstico do cancro cítrico a ser realizado na fazenda e com resposta em tempo real. As amostras experimentais são folhas de variedades cítricas sadias e contaminadas com cancro ou outras doenças. Iniciamos o trabalho aplicando espectroscopia da fluorescência no laboratório. Os resultados provaram a viabilidade do método, mas revelou uma enorme sobreposição de dados ao tentar discriminar o cancro de outra doença. Análises com-plementares nos revelaram que os experimentos deveriam ser feitos no campo, identificando plantas contaminadas e tomando a fluorescência de folhas sadias como referência. A espec-troscopia da fluorescência no campo foi feita com um espectrômetro portátil. O resultado nos possibilitou propor critérios de discriminação do cancro baseado em figuras de mérito. O melhor critério apresentou 79% de acertos, com 88% de sensibilidade e 68% de especificidade. Concluímos que os valores poderiam ser melhores se a espectroscopia fosse realizada com imagens, pois as variações do espectro ocorrem devido ao posicionamento da fibra na lesão do cancro. Passamos a estudar a espectroscopia das imagens da fluorescência com um sistema baseado em um espectrógrafo. Os resultados provaram a viabilidade do estudo e revelaram particularidades espaciais e espectrais das doenças. Infelizmente essa instrumentação só pode ser usada no laboratório, por isso optamos por desenvolver outro sistema mais simples e robusto, a base de uma roda de filtros com filtros passa-banda. Os re-sultados revelaram novas particularidades espaciais e espectrais das amostras, porém nos revelou a necessidade de um processamento de imagem para obter análises quantitativas. O sistema de imagens com filtro ainda foi usado em outro experimento complementar onde as imagens forneceram resultados quantitativos, provando a funcionalidade da técnica. / Citrus canker is one of the most feared diseases of citrus due to its dissemination in the farms, the damage caused to plants and fruits and how to combat adopted by national government through the eradication of infected plants and others in your neighborhood. In Brazil, one of the main reasons that minimizes the effectiveness of citrus canker`s eradication is the confir-mation of the diagnosis by specialized laboratories. The time spent to transport and to analyses many samples increases the chance of canker spreading in the field. In our work we apply spectroscopic techniques of fluorescence in leaves of citrus crops with the aim to propose a method for diagnosis of citrus canker to be held on the farm and real-time response. The expe-rimental samples are leaves of healthy citrus varieties and contaminated with canker or other diseases. We began the work by applying fluorescence spectroscopy in the laboratory. The results proved the feasibility of the method, but showed a huge overlap of data to try to dis-criminate cancer from other diseases. Further analysis revealed that those experiments should be done in the field, focusing to identify infected plants and taking the fluorescence of healthy leaves as a reference. Fluorescence spectroscopy in the field was made with a portable spectrometer. The result allowed us to propose some criteria for canker discrimination based on figures of merit. The best criteria presents 79% correct tests, with 88% sensitivity and 68% specificity. We conclude that these values could be better if the spectroscopy was performed with images, because the variations of the spectrum are due to the positioning of the fiber over the canker lesion. We study the spectroscopy of fluorescence images with a system based on a spectrograph. The results proved its feasibility and revealed spatial and spectral particular features of the diseases. Unfortunately, this instrumentation can only be used in the laborato-ry, so we decided to develop another system more simple and robust. The new system is based on a filter wheel with band-pass filters. The results revealed new spatial and spectral characteristics of the samples, but revealed the need for an image processing for quantitative analysis. This imaging system was still used in another supplementary experiment where the images have provided quantitative results, proving the functionality of the technique.