An easily inspected shaft assembly is provided and includes a shaft, a sleeve receptive of a portion of the shaft and an optically activatable layer including first and second sections disposed on respective exterior surfaces of the shaft and the sleeve, respectively, such that the first and second sections move relative to one another as the shaft and the sleeve move relative to one another.

The present disclosure provides methods for visualizing a soiling substance on a fabric and, in some aspects, methods of quantifying the efficacy of a composition for removal of a soiling substance from a fabric. In some aspects, the disclosure provides methods for visualizing a soiling substance on a fabric which include providing a fabric that includes at least one soiling substance, applying a signaling agent to an area of the fabric that includes the at least one soiling substance, illuminating at least a portion of the area of the fabric that includes the at least one soiling substance and the signaling agent with light of a wavelength or wavelength band that is one or both of absorbed by the signaling agent or effective to cause fluorescent emission from the signaling agent, detecting one or both of an absorbance signal and an emission signal from the signaling agent when illuminated.

Fluorescing compositions are disclosed for monitoring cleaning of a surface. The fluorescing compositions are stable, fluoresce under UV light, and do not leave a mark after drying and removal. The compositions include an optical brightener solubilized with cyclodextrin.

Composite materials comprising a mesoflower structure, methods of preparing the composite material, and methods of detecting heavy metal ion using the composite material are described herein. In some embodiments, a silica-coated gold mesoflower with a layer of silver quantum clusters may be capable of detecting Hg.sup.2+ ions in a sample at zeptomolar concentrations.

Chemical probes and methods for detecting and/or quantifying hydrogen sulfide are disclosed. More particularly, this application discloses chemical probes and methods for their use for detecting and/or quantifying hydrogen sulfide in industrial and environmental samples and effluents, including samples of crude oil and sour water produced by petrochemical and other industrial processes.

A contaminant detection system for a portable computer with the computer having a camera, an integral screen and central processing unit (CPU; a. an enclosure having at least one grasper disposed for coupling the system to the portable computer; b. a light emitter capable of generating light of with least one excitation wavelength for a contaminant present in its output spectrum with output of the emitter oriented into the field of view of the camera; c. electronic communication between the computer and the emitter; c. software loaded onto the computer capable of (1) activating the emitter, (2) comparing a scene recorded by the camera to at least one emission wavelength for the specific contaminant corresponding to the excitation wavelength, and (3) displaying an output on the computer's screen corresponding to the areas within the camera's field of view where the contaminant is present in amounts greater than a detection threshold.

A laser-assisted method embeds luminescent taggant particles in the surface of a substrate to provide a covert method of evaluating the authenticity of articles so treated.

Disclosed are fluorescent water-soluble water treatment polymers suitable for use in scale inhibition in industrial water systems, the water treatment polymers comprising non-quaternized fluorescent naphthalimide derivative monomers. Also disclosed are methods of making the monomers, methods of making the polymers, methods of inhibiting scale in an industrial water system, and methods of using the polymers in coagulation and flocculation, and in cleaning applications.

Disclosed are methods for detecting a presence or absence of an antimicrobial surface coating including applying at least one detectable fluorophoric dye compound to a substrate, irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet radiation in the 100-415 nm wavelength range to excite the detectable fluorophoric dye compound, observing fluorescence of the excited fluorophoric dye compound, and determining the presence or absence of the antimicrobial surface coating based on the observed fluorescence. Further disclosed are antimicrobial surface coating solutions, methods for their application, and methods for confirming the presence and coverage of antimicrobial surface coatings.

Disclosed are methods for detecting an antimicrobial surface coating on a substrate including the steps of applying an anionic agent to a surface of the substrate, allowing the anionic agent to bond to antimicrobial surface coating present on the substrate, removing unbonded anionic agent, subjecting the surface of the substrate to a predetermined process to effect a change in the bonded anionic agent, observing the change, and verifying, based on the observed change, the presence of antimicrobial surface coating on the substrate. Further disclosed are antimicrobial surface coating solutions, methods for their application, and methods for reactivated antimicrobial surface coatings.