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The purpose of this paper is to minimize on‐chip inductance effect for modern very large‐scale integration (VLSI), ultra large‐scale integration (ULSI) systems.

As operating frequency increases, parasitic inductance has become a major concern for electronic design on both delay and coupling noises. The impacts of on‐chip inductance are strongly associated with higher frequency operation, denser interconnect geometry, reductions of resistance, and capacitance of interconnects. The paper presents a novel layout technique – opposing inter‐digitating routing, to generate magnetic fields in opposing directions; consequently, effective magnetic field is minimized, or inductance effect is reduced. To prove the effectiveness of these approaches, 3D field solver FastHenry is used to extract inductance data and verify the results.

Verification shows that this proposed method gives more than ten times reduction in self‐inductance while mutual inductance reduces even faster, without incurring any area and resource penalty.

The proposed technique can be used effectively to minimize inductance effects in the design of modern interconnect structures. This technique is shown to be highly effective for inductance reduction in wide signal buses which are used frequently in global buses, critical data path or clock distribution networks of VLSI and ULSI systems.

Several new condensed carbocyclic arylazopyrazolo[1,5‐a]pyrimidine derivatives were obtained from 4‐arylazo‐3,5‐diaminopyrazoles as starting components. The application and dye characteristics for the synthesized dyes are demonstrated.

Several new methylsulfanylpyrazolopyrimidines and methylsulfanylpyrazolotriazine derivatives containing an arylazo function were obtained. The application and characteristics for the synthesised dyes are demonstrated.

Silver has been known to mankind from time immemorial. It was one of the prized possessions of kings and nobles. From earliest times, it has been known for its intimate association with (i) monetary system, (ii) use as a silverware for household purposes and (iii) beauty and elegance when shaped into ornaments. Now, an increased understanding of the properties of silver results in its application in the rapidly developing technologies, namely communications, electronics, space explorations, etc.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an environmentally friendly dyeing process using brown pigment from chestnut shells (BPFCS). This material is obtained from foodstuff residues and can make a significant contribution to reusing a reproducible biomass resource, economizing petroleum, avoiding water pollution and protecting human health.

The brown pigment is extracted from the raw material and purified with solvents containing 30 and 100 per cent EtOH. It is then used to dye flax fabric in aqueous solution with added NaCl as a dye accelerator. The effects of dyeing conditions and fastness are investigated. The pigment, and the pristine and dyed fabrics are analysed by Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and the fabric samples are observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Fastness to washing, rubbing and light are also measured.

BPFCS show promising dyeability on cellulosic fibers. White flax fabric is successfully dyed with the pigment to a yellow‐brown colour. The base dyeing conditions are as follows: pigment concentration 16 g/l, NaCl concentration 10 g/l, liquor ratio 10:1, temperature 95°C, dyeing time 40 min. The dyed fabrics have lower fastness to washing and higher fastness to rubbing and light. A total of 4 per cent Al³⁺ or Fe²⁺ treatment of dyed fabric can improve fastness to washing, but decrease fastness to rubbing. The yellowish‐brown samples are transformed to brown or dark‐green after Al³⁺ or Fe²⁺ treatment, respectively. The pigment is a mixture with abundant hydroxyl groups.

The studies of dyeing conditions and fastness are carried out in detail as BPFCS used as a dye. However, a qualitative analysis of the pigment could not be performed due to the difficulty of separating the mixture. The BPFCS used in this paper can dye cellulosic fiber and can also be used to dye other fibers such as silk, wool and PET. Dyeing conditions for these other fibers need to be investigated.

BPFCS may play an important role in the dyeing industries because of its good dyeability, lack of toxicity and resistance to water, rubbing and light. The present work offers an environmentally friendly dye and a simple dyeing method.

At present, no report exists in the literature of work on dyeing flax fabric with BPFCS. This paper represents a preliminary study to determine the relationships of dyeing conditions to fastness and the role of mordant. BPFCS appears to be a new and practically useful natural dye.

The purpose of this study is to develop a non-enzymatic based glucose-sensing platform composed of Bodipy-BBV dual system which can be monitored by a photodetector under the blue LED excitation.

The sensor has been developed from a dual system including a fluorescent dye, an aldehyde derivative of boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy) and a quencher, orto-boronic acid linked viologen (o-BBV) where their combination resulted in a ratiometric fluorescence quenching in ethanol: PBS (1:1, pH:7.4) solution under UV light excitation. By glucose addition, o-BBV has been released from the Bodipy and binded to cis-diol groups of glucose, thereby fluorescence emission of Bodipy has been regained. Furthermore, a setup consisting of a light emitting diode (LED) and a photodiode (PD) was used to prove electrical detection of glucose without the need for expensive and bulky optical equipment, enabling the development of a miniaturized and low-cost glucose-sensing platform.

The fluorescence intensity of the Bodipy derivative in the solution (2 × 10⁻⁶ M) was diminished by 93% in the presence of o-BBV solution (5 × 10⁻³ M). Upon the glucose addition, 81% of the Bodipy fluorescence intensity has been recovered after introduction of 30 mM of glucose, where the ratio of o-BBV/Bodipy was 35:1. A linear response between 10 and 30 mM glucose concentration was obtained, which covers the biologically significant range. A high correlation between the photodiode current and Bodipy fluorescence intensity was achieved.

Even though Bodipy molecules are known with their superior optical properties and applied to the fluorescence-based detection of glucose, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no work has been reported on Bodipy-BBV dual system to detect glucose molecules as a non-enzymatic based method. This design enables the dye and the quencher to independently coexist in the solution, allowing for tuning of their individual concentrations to optimize the glucose sensitivity. Furthermore, an electrical light detection scheme consisting of a LED and a photodiode has been implemented to eliminate the bulky optical equipment from the measurement setup and further this work for the development of a compact and inexpensive sensor. The results presented here demonstrate the feasibility of this system for the development of a novel glucose sensor.

The notable dyeing performance and characteristics of polyfunctional heterocyclic azo dyestuff promoted us to design a programme specifically aiming to investigate efficient synthesis of several new isoxazole azo dyes. In the present work we investigate the dyeing performance of the newly synthesized isoxazole azo dyes.

This work aims to synthesize a series of novel acyclic and/or heterocyclic systems, as precursors for dyes with potential antimicrobial activity that could be used for simultaneous dyeing and antimicrobial textile finishing. Thus, a series of novel pyridine, thiophene and pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine derivatives were synthesized, and their antimicrobial and textile finishing properties were studied and evaluated.

The synthesis, structure elucidation and antimicrobial activities of the newly synthesized compounds based on 4,4-dicyano-3-phenyl-but-3-enoic acid phenylamide (1) were demonstrated. The minimal inhibitory concentration in μg/mL of the compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity against most of the tested organisms. On the other hand, their spectral characteristics and fastness properties were measured and evaluated. Antimicrobial activities of the dyed fabrics in terms of inhibition zones (mm) were measured and evaluated.

A series of novel heterocyclic compounds (Schemes 1-3) were synthesized based on starting material (1). Compounds (1), 2, 4a, 8a and 9c exhibited comparable or even higher antibacterial activities than the selected standards (ampicillin), while compounds 2, 3c, 3d, 4a and 8b revealed higher antifungal activities than the selected standard (cycloheximide). On the other hand, some dyes showed high antimicrobial evaluation on the dyed fabrics (nylon 66, acetate and polyester) expressed as size (mm) of inhibition zones (Tables I-IV).

Results revealed that many hydrazo and azo derivatives were synthesized from some pyridines and thiophenes. The antimicrobial evaluation and textile finishing of the newly synthesized products revealed significant and potent values of antimicrobial activity.

All the synthesized compounds were novel and most of them exhibited higher antimicrobial activities than the selected standards antibiotics, thus are valuable for simultaneous dyeing and antimicrobial functional finishing of textile fabrics.

This paper aims to prepare a new donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) and acceptor–π– D–π–A (A–π–D–π–A) phenothiazine (PTZ) in conjugation with vinyl isophorone (PTZ-1 and PTZ-2) were designed and their molecular shape, electrical structures and characteristics have been explored using the density functional theory (DFT). The results satisfactorily explain that the higher conjugative effect resulted in a smaller high occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap (Eg). Both compounds show intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) transitions in the ultraviolet (UV)–visible range, with a bathochromic shift and higher absorption oscillator strength, as determined by DFT calculations.

The produced PTZ-1 and PTZ-2 sensors were characterized using various spectroscopic methods, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H/¹³CNMR). UV–visible absorbance spectra of the generated D–π–A PTZ-1 and A–π–D–π–A PTZ-2 dyes were explored in different solvents of changeable polarities to illustrate positive solvatochromism correlated to intramolecular charge transfer.

The emission spectra of PTZ-1 and PTZ-2 showed strong solvent-dependent band intensity and wavelength. Stokes shifts were monitored to increase with the increase of the solvent polarity up to 4122 cm⁻¹ for the most polar solvent. Linear energy-solvation relationship was applied to inspect solvent-dependent Stokes shifting. Quantum yield (ф) of PTZ-1 and PTZ-2 was also explored. The maximum UV–visible absorbance wavelengths were detected at 417 and 419 nm, whereas the fluorescence intensity was monitored at 586 and 588 nm.

The PTZ-1 and PTZ-2 dyes leading to colorimetric and emission spectral changes together with a color shift from yellow to red.

The purpose of this paper is to present greenhouse gas study results for biofuels produced with partial qualified utilisation of pulp wood or forest residues when integrated into kraft pulp mill systems. The impact of considering biogenic carbon on the results is also presented.

The material and energy balances of the integrated ethanol production were simulated for the study with a mill‐wide simulation model. Data for the simulation were obtained from prehydrolysis and cooking experiments. The life cycle model for greenhouse gas calculation was created based on the simulation results. In this paper, the change of forest carbon stock caused by residue removal from forest soil and carbon delay of forest growth after stand felling were also taken into consideration, to discuss the true greenhouse gas emissions of forest biomass utilisation.

The emission reduction levels achieved with these ethanol fuels derived from forest biomass ranged from 80 to 90 per cent when biogenic carbon emissions were neglected.

The findings indicate that in both cases a significant percentage of the side flows containing energy can be utilised to produce excess electricity when the ethanol plant is integrated into the pulp mill. The findings also indicate that the carbon storage impact of forest biomasses affects significantly the emission values of both studied fuels and overturns the emission savings of prehydrolysed chip based ethanol.