The purpose of this dissertation work involves creation and automation of my own cloud security and stability testing techniques. The basis of this project is to explore and outline the virtual environment protection level in front of different types of security and stability networking attacks. Theoretical part of this paper consists of concepts and, together with their definitions and reference to relevant research literature, science related publications and online sources that best describes testing methodology of cloud computing, focused on security and virtualization. The practical part of the thesis demonstrate an understanding of theories and concepts that been studied. Based on the obtained research results, have been developed various automation tests that are going to be run on virtual environment in order to test their stability.

abstract: Spirometry is a type of pulmonary function test that measures the amount of air volume and the speed of air flow from a patient's breath in order to assess lung function. The goal of this project is to develop and validate a mobile spirometer technology based on a differential pressure sensor. The findings in this paper are used in a larger project that combines the features of a capnography device and a spirometer into a single mobile health unit known as the capno-spirometer. The following paper discusses the methods, experiments, and prototypes that were developed and tested in order to create a robust and accurate technology for all of the spirometry functions within the capno-spirometer. The differential pressure sensor is set up with one inlet measuring the pressure inside the spirometer tubing and the other inlet measuring the ambient pressure of the environment. The inlet measuring the inside of the tubing is very sensitive to its orientation and position with respect to the path of the air flow. It is found that taking a measurement from the center of the flow is 50% better than from the side wall. The sensor inlet is optimized at 37 mm from the mouthpiece inlet. The unit is calibrated by relating the maximum pressure sensor voltage signal to the peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) taken during a series of spirometry tests. In conclusion, this relationship is best represented as a quadratic function and a calibration equation is computed to provide a flow rate given a voltage change. The flow rates are used to calculate the four main spirometry parameters: PEF, FVC, FEV1, and FER. These methods are then referenced with the results from a commercial spirometer for validation. After validation, the pressure-based spirometry technology is proven to be both robust and accurate. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Mechanical Engineering 2013

La limitation de la production de biogaz liée aux substrats mobilisables à faible potentiel méthanogène et, les contraintes d’épandage qui conduisent au séchage du digestat, en vue de sa stabilisation ou de son transport, sont deux enjeux pour le développement du procédé de méthanisation. L’effet de la désintégration cellulaire induite par un prétraitement par Champs Électriques Pulsés (CEP) sur la production de biogaz a été évalué sur différents substrats. L’intensité de champ appliqué a varié entre 500 et 3600 V∙cm-1 et les indices de désintégration cellulaire correspondants ont été calculés. L’influence du prétraitement par CEP sur la production de méthane en réacteur batch de 500 mL a été étudiée en utilisant la méthodologie des plans d’expériences et en intégrant différents modes de préparation (taille de particules, préchauffage, hygiénisation). Les résultats obtenus montrent que le traitement CEP peut significativement intensifier la production de biogaz (+5,2 à +12,5 % de CH4). Pour le séchage des digestats, un système de séchage convectif par air chaud à température modérée (40 à 70°C) a été utilisé. D’une part, les effets de la vitesse d’air et de la température de séchage ont été étudiés. D’autre part, les effets de prétraitements par CEP, par micro-ondes, et après un cycle de congélation/décongélation ont également été testés. Nous avons identifié, en utilisant la seconde loi de Fick, les coefficients effectifs de diffusion et conclu à l’inefficacité des CEP pour le séchage des digestats et dans les conditions de séchage testées. / The limitation of the biogas production related to the accessibility of the substrates with a low biochemical methane potential, as well as the constraints of spreading which lead to the drying of the digestate, in order to stabilize or to transport the dried digestate, are two issues for the development of the methanisation process. The cellular disintegration’s effect induced by Pulsed Electrical Field (PEF) pretreatment on biogas production is evaluated on different substrates. The applied field’s strength is varied between 500 and 3600 V/cm and the corresponding cell disintegration index were calculated. The influence of PEF pretreatment on methane production was examined in a 500 mL batch reactor using the experimental design methodology and integrating different methods of preparation (size of particles, preheating, hygenisation). The obtained results show that PEF treatment can significantly increase the biogas production (+5.2 to +12.5% CH4). For the drying of the digestates, a convective drying system with hot air at a moderate temperature (40 to 70°C) is used. On the one hand, the effects of air velocity and drying temperature are evaluated. On the other hand, the effects of pre-processing by PEF, by microwaves, and after a freeze thawing cycle were also tested. Using the second Fick's law, the effective diffusion coefficients are identified and it was concluded that PEFs are ineffective for drying the digestates under the tested drying conditions.

No description available.

One of the main polluting industries in the world with high environmental impact is the construction industry which also generates a huge amount of waste. To overcome the seburdens, we need to reduce the impacts through new solutions, technologies and by injecting circular economy concept into the industry. Construction and building material industry are responsible for nearly 11% of all GHG emissions and the usage of residential/commercial buildings is contributing to 28% of all GHG emissions globally. the construction industry is also responsible for 35% of the total wastes in the European Union. Both linear economy and emissions of the construction sector are becoming more important in recent years that led to the development of many standards, frameworks and innovations. Reporting environmental burdens of the construction elements, products and construction works or construction projects is one of the ways for emissions accounting. Therefore, a report on environmental impacts of goods or services is called environmental product claims which can be based on a single criterion (like CO2 emission or % of recycled content) or based on a complete LCA study with multiple impacts. These reports have been classified by ISO 14020 series in three types, Type I (third-party certified label), Type II (self-declared claims) and Type III (the third party verified declaration based on LCA study). The third type is known as Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). To make the LCA results in EPD:s comparable, Product Category Rules (PCR) are developed. The regulations for the construction materials are defined in EN 15804 so the declarations of the building materials and construction works according to these regulations are compliant with EN 15804. Another framework for environmental declarations called, Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) is developed in Europe. Besides Business to Business declarations that are the target group for EN 15804, PEF also includes environmental labelling (type I) with consumers as the target group. The PCR:s from the updated version of EN15804:2012+A2:2019 can be regarded as the parallel methodology specification for the construction materials in the PEF system. Other product groups' rules and specifications are based on the PEF guidance document. The overall aims of this study are to compare the EN 15804 and PEF formulas concentrating on credits at the end of life and after the end of life stage and to reduce the subjectivity of two variables, energy margin, and recycling rate in the assessment of recycling alternatives after the end-of-life stage. Calculated credits can be included differently in the environmental declarations depending on the methodological approach. PEF includes the End-of-Life (EoL) credits into the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study and adds them to the product's performance results, while EN 15804 mandates to report the credits from recycling/recovery separately as supplementary information to the products environmental performance. To compare the credits that are calculated according to PEF and EN 15804, a separate indicator is virtually defined for PEF in order to calculate all the credits separately and compare the results with EN 15804 Module Dresults to give the reader an overview of the most beneficial uses of the construction waste according to PEF and EN 15804. Reducing subjectivity of choosing recycling rate has been addressed by developing more transparent and less subjective tool by integrating and using DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) and BRE (center for building research in the UK) methods. For energy margin, this has been done by integrating energy margin calculation tool by CDM (Clean Development Mechanism, United Nations) and find the contribution of different materials to the environmental benefits in and after the end of life stage of the building lifecycle. However, the DGNB and BRE methods require further development, since they are not originally developed for LCA studies and just used as the only current options available in order to make recyclability assessment methods compatible with LCA studies. Other methods, specifically for LCA, can also be developed in the future. Based on an inventory of the components and materials used in a real building, the most environmental benefits (credits) from downstream recycling/recovery considering all materials are generated for the wooden products when using the EN 15804 formula, while aluminium is in the second place. On the other hand, aluminium is in the first place and wood is second using the PEF formula. Aluminium has by far the most benefits (credits) considering the credits per kg of each material, due to the huge recycling potential that aluminium has and will replace primary aluminium in the future. Unlike PEF, EN 15804 reports all credits separately outside of the LCA system boundary. This is very beneficial since the correct verified LCA will not beaffected by the credits that are given based on current technologies when the end of life of the building components are between 40 to 120 years away from today. / En av de industrier i världen med högst miljöpåverkan är byggbranschen som också genererar en enorm mängd avfall. För att hantera detta måste vi minska effekterna genom nya lösningar, teknologier och genom att använda konceptet cirkulär ekonomi i byggbranschen. Bygg- och byggnadsmaterialindustrin är ansvarig för nästan 11% av alla växthusgasutsläpp och användningen av bostäder / kommersiella byggnader bidrar till 28% av allaväxthusgasutsläpp globalt. Byggbranschen ansvarar också för 35% av det totala avfallet i EU. Både linjär ekonomi och utsläpp från byggsektorn har blivit viktigare under de senaste åren vilket har lett till utveckling av många standarder, ramverk och innovationer. Att rapportera miljöbelastningar för byggelement, produkter och bygg- och anläggningsarbeten är ett av sätten för utsläppsredovisning. Därför kallas en rapport om miljöpåverkan av varor eller tjänster Miljömärkning som kan baseras på ett enda kriterium (som CO2-utsläpp eller procent av återvunnet innehåll) eller baserat på en fullständig LCAstudie med flera effekter. Dessa rapporter har klassificerats enligt ISO 14020-serien i tre typer, typ I (tredjepartscertifierad märkning), typ II (självdeklarerade påståenden) och typ III (tredjepart verifierad deklaration baserad på LCA-studie). Den tredje typen är känd som Miljövarudeklaration/Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). För att göra LCA-resultat i EPD:er jämförbara, utvecklas Product Category Rules (PCR) (Produktkategoriregler). Regler för byggnadsmaterialen definieras i EN 15804, så deklarationerna om byggnadsmaterial och byggnadsarbeten enligt dessa regler överensstämmer med EN 15804. Ett annat ramverk för miljödeklaration är ProductEnvironmental Footprint (PEF) som är utvecklad inom EU. Förutom Business to Businessdeklarationer som är målgruppen för EN 15804 inkluderar PEF också miljömärkning (typ I) med konsumenter som målgrupp. PCR:erna från den uppdaterade versionen av EN 15804:2012 + A2: 2019 kan betraktas som den parallella metodspecifikationen för byggmaterialen i PEF-systemet. Andra produktgruppers regler och specifikationer är baserade på PEFs vägledningsdokument. De övergripande syftena med denna studie är att jämföra formlerna EN 15804 och PEF som koncentrerar sig på krediter i slutet av livscykeln och att minska subjektiviteten för två variabler, energimarginal och återvinningsgrad vid bedömningen av återvinningsalternativ i slutet av livscykeln. Beräknade krediter kan inkluderas olika i miljödeklarationerna beroende på den valda metoden. PEF inkluderar slutet av livscykeln (EoL)-krediter i livscykelanalys (LCA) -studien och lägger dem till produktens resultat, medan EN 15804 kräver att krediterna från återvinning rapporteras separat som kompletterande information till produkternas miljöprestanda. För att jämföra krediter som beräknas enligt PEF och EN 15804, definieras en virtuell separat indikator för PEF för att beräkna alla krediter separat och jämföra resultaten med EN 15804 Modul D-resultat för att ge läsaren en översikt över de mest fördelaktiga användning av byggavfall enligt PEF och EN 15804. Olika sätt att minska subjektiviteten i valet av återvinningsgrad behandlas genom att utveckla mer transparenta och mindre subjektiva verktyg med hjälp av metoder från DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) och BRE (Center for building research, UK). Energimarginal behandlas genom att integrera ett verktyg för energimarginaler från CDM (Clean Development Mechanism, FN) och hitta bidraget från olika material till miljöfördelarna i och efter livscykeln för byggnaden. DGNB och BRE metoderna kräver emellertid ytterligare utveckling, eftersom de inte ursprungligen är utvecklade för LCA-studier och bara används som de enda tillgängliga alternativen för att göra utvärderingsmetoder för återvinningsbarhet kompatibla med LCA-studier. Andra metoder, speciellt för LCA, kan också utvecklas i framtiden. Baserat på en inventering av komponenter och material som används i en riktig byggnad, genereras de största miljömässiga fördelarna (krediter) av nedströms återvinning av träprodukter när man använder EN 15804-formeln, medan aluminium ligger på andra plats. Å andra sidan är kommer aluminium i första hand och trä kommer på andra plats med PEFformeln. Aluminium har överlägset flest fördelar (krediter) per kg av varje material, på grundav den enorma återvinningspotentialen som aluminium har och kommer att ersätta primärt aluminium i framtiden. Till skillnad från PEF rapporterar EN 15804 alla krediter separat utanför LCA-systemgränsen. Detta är mycket fördelaktigt eftersom den korrekta verifierade LCAn inte kommer att påverkas av de krediter som ges baserat på nuvarande teknik när byggnadskomponenternas livslängd är mellan 40 och 120 år från idag.

The increasing use of polymeric materials in food packaging applications is due to many factors; however, most are related to cost. While poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is currently the industry standard for soft-drink bottles, more stringent requirements on the barrier properties to oxygen are needed for PET to expand further into more demanding markets (i.e., juice, etc). The current work examines the fundamental oxygen and carbon dioxide permeation and sorption properties of amorphous, caffeine antiplasticized PET and amorphous poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF), which is a new biologically sourced polyester that exhibits significantly enhanced performance compared to petroleum-sourced PET. The fundamental transport data reported herein at 35°C illustrate that amorphous PEF exhibits significant reductions in permeability for oxygen (11X), carbon dioxide (19X), and water (2X) compared to amorphous PET. Such impressive barrier enhancements are unexpected since PEF exhibits a higher free volume compared to PET. Further investigation into the fundamental chain motional processes which contribute to penetrant diffusion, as probed via dynamic mechanical and solid-state NMR methods, reveals that the polymer ring-flipping motions in PEF are largely suppressed compared to those for PET. Such behavior allows for rationalization of the reduced transport properties compared to PET. Additional characterization techniques (i.e., thermal, mechanical, density, etc.) are used to develop a more complete understanding of PEF and caffeine antiplasticized PET, with the ultimate goal of relating these properties to penetrant transport.

Per via degli svantaggi inerenti l’uso di bentonite nella produzione di vini bianchi, la ricerca di alternative ha assunto di recente una grande importanza. Il lavoro presentato in questa tesi ha l’obiettivo di valutare l’applicabilità di tre approcci innovativi alla stabilizzazione colloidale dei vini: l’uso di chitosano, l’applicazione dei PEF e il riutilizzo di colonne di scambio cationico. L’aggiunta di chitosano è risultata nella rimozione delle chitinasi dal vino, permettendo di raggiungere un soddisfacente livello di stabilità. Gli effetti sul colore e sugli aromi, quando non significativi, non sono risultati essere peggiori rispetto ai risultati ottenuti da trattamenti con bentonite. L’applicazione dei PEF aveva lo scopo di innescare la denaturazione e l’aggregazione delle proteine tramite un sistema di trattamento-raffreddamento e filtrazione finale. I risultati suggeriscono che un buon grado di stabilità viene raggiunto solo con trattamenti particolarmente energetici ma questo a danno del colore del prodotto. Infine, lo scopo dello studio sulle resine di scambio cationico era quello di valutare la rigenerazione di questo supporto per un molteplice utilizzo operativo. La rimozione delle proteine adsorbite sul supporto è risultata essere possibile in specifiche condizioni di pH e forza ionica, con un consumo di acqua relativamente basso. / The search for fining alternatives to bentonite has assumed great importance in white winemaking due to the drawbacks of bentonite application. The research here presented aimed at observing the viability of three innovative approaches to wine stabilization, namely chitosan addition, PEF treatments and cation exchange applicability. Chitosan successfully removed chitinases from wine, allowing at the same time a sufficient degree of colloidal stability. Collateral effects on color and aroma compounds were non-significant or acceptable when compared with the effects observed for bentonite applications reported in literature. The use of PEF was aimed at accelerating protein unfolding and aggregation and was coupled to an in-line cooling and filtration system for efficient removal of colloidal aggregates. The results collected suggested that the treatment was capable of inducing a satisfactory colloidal stability only in high- energetic double-treated wine samples, with some deleterious consequences on the color. Finally, the aim of the research for cation-exchange resins application was to find environmentally friendly cleaning procedures to regenerate the resin capacity and allow reuse of the same resin for further cycles of fining. The removal of proteins bound to the resin was possible under specific pH and ionic strength conditions with relatively low consumption of water.

L’intégration croissante des procédés innovants comme les ultrasons, les champs magnétiques, et les champs électriques pulsés a pour but d’améliorer et de stabiliser le déroulement des procédés de fermentation. Le champ électrique pulsé (CEP) est un procédé athermique généralement utilisé pour l’inactivation des pathogènes (Barbosa-Cánovas et al., 2001) ainsi que pour l’extraction des composés intracellulaires d’intérêt (El Zakhem et al., 2006a; Vorobiev & Lebovka 2006). Dans ce travail de thèse, nous proposons d’évaluer l’activité microbienne des cellules soumises à un traitement électrique modéré. Un intérêt particulier est apporté à des aspects fondamentaux comme la croissance et le métabolisme des cellules. Sur le plan technologique, le but fondamentale est de mettre en place et optimiser des protocoles de stimulation de microorganismes pour intensifier les bioprocédés. La fermentation de microorganismes stimulés par CEP a montré des cinétiques plus rapides que les levures non traitées. La stimulation de l’activité fermentaire s’est révélée grâce au suivi de la masse du milieu, les solutés solubles, l’absorbance, les sucres... L’optimisation des protocoles de stimulation a permis de réveler deux comportements logarithmique et saturé. Il a été montré une dépendance importante de l’énergie spécifique sur certains aspects physiologiques notamment la taille et le nombre de colonies. / The continually increasing integration of innovative technologies such as ultrasound, magnetic fields, and pulsed electric fields aims to improve and stabilize the course of fermentation processes. The pulsed electric field (PEF) is an athermal process generally used for pathogen inactivation (Barbosa-Canovas et al., 2001) and for the extraction of intracellular compounds of interest (El Zakhem et al., 2006a; Vorobiev & Lebovka 2006). In this thesis, we propose to evaluate the microbial activity of cells subjected to a moderate electric treatment. Special consideration is given to key aspects such as growth and cell metabolism. Technologically, the fundamental purpose is to implement and optimize microorganisms’ stimulation protocols to intensify their bioprocesses. The positive impact of PEF pre-treatment on yeast cells was shown by their faster fermentation kinetics compared to the control. This was proven by monitoring the weight of the ferment, the soluble solutes, the UV absorbance, and sugar consumption profiles. Two behaviors of electrostimulation, “logarithmic” and “saturated”, were revealed by optimization of the stimulation protocols. Finally, a relationship between the growth rate, the size of the colonies and the applied specific energy is deduced.

La aplicación de nuevas tecnologías en el ámbito de la conservación de alimentos pretende dar respuesta al incremento de la demanda, por parte de los consumidores, de alimentos más parecidos a los frescos o naturales, más nutritivos y de fácil y rápida preparación (ready-to-eat meals). Las tecnologías más estudiadas en la actualidad se basan en el empleo de sistemas de destrucción o inactivación bacteriana sin necesidad de emplear un tratamiento térmico intenso. Se pretende así reducir los cambios perjudiciales en las propiedades físicas, químicas, nutricionales y sensoriales de los alimentos, pero manteniendo la vida útil. El objetivo general de este trabajo ha sido el estudio del impacto de la aplicación de nuevas tecnologías de conservación, como los Campos Eléctricos Pulsados (PEF) y las Altas Presiones de Homogeneización (HPH), sobre la estructura y los principales componentes químicos de alimentos fluidos (huevo líquido y salsas). Para ello, se ha estudiado la microestructura y se ha realizado el análisis químico de la fracción proteica y lipídica de estos alimentos. Además, se han estudiado diferentes propiedades físicas del huevo líquido tratado por PEF que determinan su calidad, como son la viscosidad, el color, y la capacidad espumante. Los experimentos se han realizado con muestras procesadas por PEF en el SIK (the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology) y por HPH en la Università di Bologna, y se han llevado a cabo también después de una semana de almacenamiento refrigerado a 4ºC. Los resultados obtenidos en este estudio muestran que los tratamientos por PEF y HPH pueden ser una buena alternativa al tratamiento térmico convencional para la conservación de huevo líquido, por su menor impacto en la microestructura y en las propiedades químicas cuando se aplican a baja intensidad, si se compara con la pasteurización. Además, el tratamiento por PEF afecta mínimamente a las propiedades funcionales del huevo líquido. / Marco Molés, R. (2012). IMPACTO DE NUEVAS TECNOLOGÍAS DE CONSERVACIÓN SOBRE LA ESTRUCTURA Y LOS PRINCIPALES COMPONENTES QUÍMICOS DE ALIMENTOS FLUIDOS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/14637 / Palancia

In this dissertation, I have verified that the striking purple color of the intermetallic compound AuAl₂, also known as purple gold, originates from surface plasmons (SPs). This contrasts to a previous assumption that this color is due to an interband absorption transition. The existence of SPs was demonstrated by launching them in thin AuAl2 films in the Kretschmann configuration, which enables us to measure the SP dispersion relation. I observed that the SP energy in thin films of purple gold is around 2.1 eV, comparable to previous work on the dielectric function of this material. Furthermore, SP sensing using AuAl₂ also shows the ability to measure the change in the refractive index of standard sucrose solution. AuAl₂ in nanoparticle form is also discussed in terms of plasmonic applications, where Mie scattering theory predicts that the particle bears nearly uniform absorption over the entire visible spectrum with an order magnitude higher than a lightabsorbing carbonaceous particle. The second topic of this dissertation focuses on plasmon enhanced fluorescence in gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Here, I investigated the distance-dependent fluorescence emission of rhodamine green 110 fluorophores from Au NPs with tunable spacers. These spacers consist of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) consisting of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(styrene sulfonate) assembled at pH 8.4. The distance between Au NPs and fluorophores was varied by changing the ambient pH from 3 to 10 and back, which causes the swelling and deswelling of PEM spacer. Maximum fluorescence intensity with 4.0-fold enhancement was observed with 7-layer coated Au NPs at ambient pH 10 referenced to pH 3. The last topic of this dissertation examines a novel approach to assemble nanoparticles, in particular, dimers of gold nanospheres (NSs). 16 nm and 60 nm diameter NSs were connected using photocleavable molecules as linkers. I showed that the orientation of the dimers can be controlled with the polarization of UV illumination that cleaves the linkers, making dipolar patches. This type of assembly provides a simple method with potential applications in multiple contexts, such as biomedicine and nanorobotics. / PHD / This dissertation covers three related topics. The first is an investigation of the optical properties of the unusually colored purple gold, which is a blend of gold and aluminum with the chemical formula is AuAl₂. This compound is interesting in that the origin of this color is different from most other metals. In the case of gold, for example, the metal gold is yellow color by absorbing the blue component from white light, leaving behind yellow color reflected light. The blue light is absorbed by electrons that change their state from a lower energy to a higher one. In purple gold, the color results from a different phenomenon known as “surface plasmons.” Surface plasmons are waves consisting of many electrons that move back and forth near an interface between a metal and an electrical insulator. The energy of surface plasmons in purple gold is low and corresponds to the purple color in this compound. Recently, published theoretical work supports the possibility of surface plasmons in purple gold. In this dissertation, I experimentally verify the presence of surface plasmons in purple gold. To launch surface plasmons, light was reflected off of a purple gold film deposited on the hypotenuse of a prism with varying angles of incidence. Surface plasmons can be observed by the sudden dimming of reflected light. From this, I was able to extract the surface plasmon dispersion relation, which is the relation between the inverse of the wavelength and the energy of the surface plasmons. In addition, I computed the light absorption properties of purple v gold when it is used in a nanoparticle form. The computational result showed that small purple gold nanoparticles absorb light very well, which may be useful in photothermal cancer therapy and solar steam generation. The second dissertation topic comprises a study of fluorescent molecules. These are compounds that reemit light with a different and redder color than the color of the light that illuminates them. In this experiment, green fluorescent molecules were placed near the surface of gold nanoparticles to observe how the brightness of the light emission is affected by the distance between the molecule and the metal. The underlying mechanism is based on localized surface plasmon resonances in gold nanoparticles. Localized surface plasmon resonances are waves consisting of many electrons that oscillate inside the particle, and they only occur when light at certain frequency illuminate the particle. On the resonance, the particle also exhibits the brighter light around the particle’s surface but the dimmer light away from the particle’s surface. The light enhancement from the particle can change the light emission of the fluorescent molecules. If the fluorescent molecules were placed in the range of localized surface plasmon resonances, the light emission is increased owing to the brighter light from the particle. However, if the fluorescent molecules were placed further away from the range of localized surface plasmon resonances, the light emission is decreased owing to the dimmer light from the particle. The distance between the surface of gold nanoparticle and the fluorescent molecules was varied by wrapping the gold particles with ultra-thin films of different plastic polymers before attaching fluorescent molecules to the surface of the films. These polymer films have the property that they swell and shrink when the acidity and basicity of the solution of gold particles changes, which allows me to vary the distance between the gold particles and fluorescent molecules. The results showed that the observed light gets dimmer when the solution is more acidic. On the other hand, the brighter light is noticed when the solution is more basic, and this observation is repeatable many times. Moreover, my work differs from other published works vi in that the particles with the polymer films are more robust and stable than the other particles. This allows more design flexibility and suggests applications in biomedical or environmental research where the particles can be used to locally measure properties, such as acidity in confined spacers such as living cells. It may be possible to use this technique for tumor cells in our body or toxic pollutants in the air or water. The last dissertation topic involves assembling nanoparticles to build them into larger structures. In this experiment, I fabricated particle dimers that consisted of two gold nanospheres of different sizes. They were attached together by using small molecules that are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light, where these molecules allow small gold nanospheres to be attached to large gold nanospheres only in those locations on the large nanospheres that have been illuminated with a sufficient amount of UV light. To achieve this alignment, UV light with a linear polarization (a specific electric field direction) was used to select the area on the large nanospheres where the UV light was particularly intense and therefore able to break the molecules, leaving positively charged surface patches on the spheres. This results in the electrostatic attraction between the positive patches on the large gold nanospheres and the negatively charged small gold nanospheres. With this method, I was able to make dimers of nanospheres in a preferred alignment by changing the polarization of UV light. The experimental results showed a good yield of dipolar patches, which allows multifunctional nanostructures with applications in nanomedicine, optical sensing, nanoelectronics, etc.