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This post-print has been archived on the author's personal website (macc.mcmaster.ca) and/or the author's institutional repository (macsphere.mcmaster.ca) Abstract An electric field (EF) generator device was fabricated and applied to the treatment of Chlorella vulgaris ISC33 at three distinct concentrations before cultivation. The EF of moderate intensity (2.7 kVcm -1 ) has a hormetic effect on algal growth. The highest growth stimulation of 51% was observed after 50 min treatment of 0.4 g L -1 algal suspension. The influence of EF on the system was then studied from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. The growth rate increased with treatment time up to a maximum because of improved membrane permeability, and then declined afterwards due to peroxide accumulation in the medium. The contents of chlorophylls, carotenoids, soluble carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins were also measured to understand possible changes on algal metabolism. The EF treatment of algal suspension has no observable effect on the cell metabolism while both algal growth and metabolism was significantly affected by the inoculum size.

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a b s t r a c tThe stability of diphenylalanine (FF) microwires and microtubes in phosphate buffer solution was investigated and a novel strategy was developed for their chemical stabilization. This stability investigation was carried out by optical microscopy and by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These microstructures dissolve in the solution depending upon their degree of FF saturation. The dissolution mechanisms of the structures in kinetically limited processes were found by accurately fitting the experimental dissolution data to a theoretical kinetic equation. The dissolution data were well fitted to the particular Avrami-Erofe'ev kinetic expression (R 2 > 0.98). These findings suggest that the structures can be stabilized by a decrease in the hydration of the constituent molecules thorough a chemical conformational induced transition upon heat treatment. The stable microtubes were fabricated in a novel three step procedure consisting of the reduction of silver ions in unstable FF microtubes by a citrate reductant, the stabilization by chemical conformational induced transition upon heat treatment, and the consequent oxidation of the reduced silver by a persulfate oxidant. These materials were characterized by electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction techniques. The long-term stability of both structures was also confirmed by optical microscopy and HPLC.