The ability to monitor the presence of analytes is of great importance both in industrial applications and physiological systems. Since the crucial recognition events of chemistry, biology, and materials science occur in a much smaller world, it is very difficult to gather this kind of information. Therefore much effort has been devoted to the detection of chosen molecules selectively and signalling this presence. This thesis highlighted the uniqueness and utility of both fluorescent sensor and electrochemical sensor to investigate biologically important species. The determination of copper(II) ion is very crucial to both environment and human health. To utilise the fluorescent sensors for recognition has plenty of advantages, such as high sensitivity, “on-off” switch ability and submillisecond temporal resolution. Naphthalimide based probes has always been the key point of the chemosensors due to its excellent photophysical properties. Therefore, the aim of the project is to investigate boronic acid receptor linked to the naphthalimide fluorophore for copper(II) detection. And the utility of boronic acid as binding site is one of the rare examples of fluorescent chemosensors for Cu2+ detection. Neutral molecules such as glutathione (GSH) play a crucial role in maintaining appropriate redox homeostasis in biological systems. We creatively use the chromophore of dicyanomethylene-4H-pyran(DCM) for the design of probe, due to its emission located at the red or near infra-red (NIR) region, which is particularly suitable for application in biological samples. GSH, the most abundant cellular thiol, is of great importance in cellular defence against toxins and free radicals. Therefore we developed a colorimetric and NIR fluorescence turn-on thiol probe containing DCM as the fluorophore and DNBS as the fluorescence quencher and recognition moiety. The interaction of ferrocene-boronic acid with fructose is investigated in aqueous 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7, 8, and 9. Two voltammetric methods, (i) based on a dual-plate generator-collector micro-trench electrode (steady state) and (ii) based on square-wave voltammetry (transient), are applied and compared in terms of mechanistic resolution. A combination of experimental data is employed to obtain new insights into the binding rates and the cumulative binding constants for both the reduced ferrocene-boronic acid (pH dependent and weakly binding) and for the oxidised ferrocene-boronic acid (pH independent and strongly binding). Finally, a redox-activated fluorescence switch based on a ferrocene - fluorophore - boronic ester conjugate was investigated. The development of multifunctional systems that can integrate individual basic logic gates into combinational circuits has drawn much attention to smart materials. A novel electrochemically and fluorescence active boronic ester sensor molecule has been developed containing ferrocence and naphthalimide as the redox and fluorophore units. The solid state electrochemical characterisation of the compound was investigated in aqueous media and it indicates a direct interaction with fluoride anions. The fluorescence can also be modulated through photoinduced electron transfer (PET) by a redox process. An OFF-ON fluorescence response occurs when the ferrocene is oxidised by Fe3+. While in the presence of F-, the fluorescence enhancement was offset. Therefore, the combinations of iron (Fe3+ ) ions, sodium L-ascorbate, and fluoride (F-) ions can be used to produce a molecular system displaying INHIBIT logic gate, due to indirect fluorescence quenching.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Not available / text

Incandescent lamps are now being gradually replaced by Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) as CFLs consume less power to produce the same light output and its lifetime is much longer than that of an incandescent lamp. However, current CFLs have the following drawbacks: (1) the line current drawn from the CFL produce a large amount of unwanted harmonics that results in very poor input power factor; (2) the dimming performance of a CFL with conventional incandescent lamp dimmers is very poor. The performance of the CFL depends on the design of the electronic ballast circuit that is located at the base of each CFL. For a CFL electronic ballast to be practical, its size and cost is of utmost importance. Thus, the main challenge in the design of practical dimmable CFL ballasts is to solve the aforementioned CFL performance issues while minimizing its size and cost. In the first part of this dissertation, two novel high power factor single-stage electronic ballast topologies are proposed to solve the poor power factor issue of the CFLs that are currently on the market. Both proposed circuits have the following advantages: (1) only one switch is required in the power circuit; (2) the switch has both lower current and voltage stress than other conventional circuits; (3) the built-in power factor correction (PFC) circuit allows incandescent phase-cut dimmer to be used for dimming the CFL; (4) the circuit design is simple and it requires less system space compared to other conventional high PF electronic ballast topologies. The second part of this dissertation proposes a new control circuit that enables the lamp to maintain high power factor throughout the majority of the dimming range. In the proposed control scheme, the dimmer phase-cut angle is fed-forward to the control circuit. The controller then determines the proper duty cycle based on the phase-cut angle to facilitate the desired dimming operation. This novel control circuit was first implemented using analog circuitry. After assessing the performance of the analog version of the proposed controller, it was then digitally implemented through the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technique. The feasibility and performance of both the proposed electronic ballasts and control concept have been verified through theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental results on a 13W 4-pin D/E CFL from Osram Sylvania. / Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-30 12:51:59.682

Distribution, cytological organization and development of laticifers In some latex bearing plants were studied by the use of optical and electron microscopy. Seven species from five different families were used In a comparative study, which were Meconopsis cambrica & Papaver rhoeas (Papaveraceae), Hevea brasiliensis & Euphorbia wulfenii (Euphorbiaceae), Musa acuminata (Musaceae), Mandevilla splendens (Apocyanaceae) & Taraxacum officinale (Compositae/Asteraceae). Several preparation procedures have been compared and optimised for the structural preservation of the laticifers and for examination of their distribution in these taxa. Methods of fixation have been studied. Fresh unfixed samples showed good structural information and laticifer distribution in the tissue. This technique was also very fast and convenient to use. In practice this protocol can be applied in monitoring and screening bulk samples in a breeding program, where speed and convenience are very important. Samples fixed with aldehyde fixative gave reasonably good results for histology study but not at the electron microscope level. The samples fixed with this fixative however, were highly suited to Immunohistochemical work. This information is invaluable and will be used and adapted for Hevea study in Malaysia. Both osmium and a combination of osmium tetroxide and zinc iodide were superior in term of ultrastructural preservation. Embedding media for laticifers were compared. For histological and immunohistochemical studies, Paraplast wax was used. The preparation procedure was easy and convenient, and overall structural information of laticifers was good. Spurr resin and araldite are both epoxy resins, but samples embedded in araldite gave better, more acceptable results. The carcinogenic nature of Spun- resin means that it must be handled with extreme caution, making it a less convenient embedding medium. The only acrylic resin was LR White, which was initially Intended for an immunocytochemistry study where the priority was to retain antigenic sites. Samples embedded with this resin did not show good structural information. The final set of procedures evaluated was staining methods. The staining procedure has to be fast, must differentially stain laticifers and must be reliable. These stains can be grouped into two categories; standard histological stains such as Toluidine Blue and Safranin O with Astra Blue, and fluorescent stains such as Calcofluor, ANS and Acridine Orange. However almost all stains tested failed to differentially stain latex or laticifers. They however did assist in clarifying for identification the location and distribution of laticifers in the tissues. Using Toluidine Blue was very fast and easy, but all the fluorescent stains are faster and easier to use. Laticifers in all species examined, exhibited a similar pattern of distribution. They were located in the cambial regions of stems, petioles, leaves and roots, or closely located within the vascular bundle.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Chemistry, 1999. / Errata pasted onto front end-paper. Bibliography: leaves 173-188.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Chemistry. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/28). Includes bibliographical references.