Thermal Stability of Modified i‐Motif Oligonucleotides with Naphthalimide Intercalating Nucleic Acids

In continuation of our investigation of characteristics and thermodynamic properties of the i‐motif 5′‐d[(CCCTAA)₃CCCT)] upon insertion of intercalating nucleotides into the cytosine‐rich oligonucleotide, this article evaluates the stabilities of i‐motif oligonucleotides upon insertion of naphthalimide (1H‐benzo[de]isoquinoline‐1,3(2H)‐dione) as the intercalating nucleic acid. The stabilities of i‐motif structures with inserted naphthalimide intercalating nucleotides were studied using UV melting temperatures (T_m) and circular dichroism spectra at different pH values and conditions (crowding and non‐crowding). This study indicated a positive effect of the naphthalimide intercalating nucleotides on the stabilities of the i‐motif structures compared to the wild‐type structure which is in contrast to a previous observation for a pyrene‐intercalating nucleotide showing a decrease in T_m values.     

Synthesis,Antiviral, and Antimicrobial Activity of N‐ and S‐Alkylated Phthalazine Derivatives

A series of N‐alkylphthalazinone were synthesized by the reaction of phthalazin‐1(2H)‐one derivatives 1a , 1b , 1c with alkylating agents namely, propargyl, allyl bromide, epichlorohydrin, 1,3‐dichloro‐2‐propanol, 4‐bromobutylacetate, and 1‐(bromomethoxy)ethyl acetate to give the corresponding N‐alkylphthalazinone 2a , 2b , 2c , 3a , 3b , 3c , 5a , 5b , 5c , 6a , 6b , 6c , 7a , 7b , 7c , and 9a , 9b , 9c . Alkylation of phthalazin‐1(2H)‐thione to give a series from S‐alkylphthalazine 12 , 13 , 14 and thioglycosides 15 and 17 was performed. Deprotection of compounds 7a , 7b , 7c , 9a , 9b , 9c , 15 , and 17 resulted in the formation of the corresponding products 8a , 8b , 8c , 10a , 10b , 10c , 16 , and 18 . The structure of newly synthesized compounds was assigned by IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR, and elemental analysis. Some of these compounds were screened for antiviral and antimicrobial activity.     

Mode-competition noise associated with microwave modulation of multimode semiconductor lasers

We analyze the mode-competition (MC) phenomenon and the associated noise in multimode semiconductor lasers at microwave modulation. The study is based on the multimode rate-equation model, which takes into account the mechanisms of modal gain suppression. The MC is evaluated by the correlation coefficients between oscillating modes in the laser cavity. We show that an increase in the modulation depth changes the mode coupling from anticorrelation to positive correlation and then to complete coupling, which corresponds to emission of periodic pulses. The frequency spectra of relative intensity noise (RIN) exhibit sharp peaks at the modulation frequency and higher harmonics. The increase in the modulation depth is associated with suppression of the total and modal RIN under high-frequency modulation and with noise enhancement under low-frequency modulation.     

Performance evaluation of a WDM/OCDM based hybrid optical switch utilizing efficient resource allocation

A hybrid optical switch （HOS） with physical layer of wavelength division multiplexing and optical code division multiplexing （WDM/OCDM） scheme is proposed. An additional feature to the HOS than optical cross connect （OXC） is that the controller can process requests for both circuit establishment and burst scheduling. In our study, the measurement criteria of HOS are the blocking probability, probability of error, and probability of outage. To simplify the analysis, no distinction is made between a circuit in progress and a burst in progress. Moreover, a minimum fit （MinF） resource allocation strategy is applied in order to increase the bandwidth efficiency and control the multiplexing interference of the OCDM. A 2D Markov model for the HOS is presented using the MinF strategy. Numerical results reveal that the code parameters and the resource allocation strategy greatly affect the performance. Certain periority can be achieved by assigning shorter codes to high periority users and longer codes to low periority users. Also, the probability of error and outage are reduced bv aonling the MinF strategy.     

Space time fractional KdV Burgers equation for dust acoustic shock waves in dusty plasma with non-thermal ions

The KdV–Burgers equation for dust acoustic waves in unmagnetized plasma having electrons, singly charged nonthermal ions, and hot and cold dust species is derived using the reductive perturbation method. The Boltzmann distribution is used for electrons in the presence of the cold(hot) dust viscosity coefficients. The semi-inverse method and Agrawal variational technique are applied to formulate the space–time fractional KdV–Burgers equation which is solved using the fractional sub-equation method. The effect of the fractional parameter on the behavior of the dust acoustic shock waves in the dusty plasma is investigated.     

First steps toward the construction of a hyperphase diagram that covers different classes of short polymer chains

We present the results of a multicanonical Monte Carlo study of flexible and wormlike polymer chains, where we investigate how the polymer structures observed during the simulations, mainly coil, liquid, and crystalline structures, can help to construct a hyperphase diagram that covers different polymer classes according to their thermodynamic behavior.     

Best candidate materials for fast speed response and high transmission performance efficiency of acousto optic modulators

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM), also called a Bragg cell, uses the acousto-optic effect to diffract and shift the frequency of light using sound waves (usually at radio frequency). They are used in lasers for quality switching, telecommunications for signal modulation, and in spectroscopy for frequency control. This paper has presented the best candidate selected acousto optic materials based AOM for upgrading speed response and transmission performance characteristics. These materials are common materials for acousto-optic devices such as silica glass (SiO₂), tellurium dioxide TeO₂), gallium phosphide, and gallium arsenide. As well as we have deeply investigated the important transmission characteristics of acousto optic modulators such as transmission performance efficiency, transmission bit rate, diffraction angle and efficiency, transient speed response, signal transmission quality, bit error rate and modulation bandwidth under wide range of the affecting parameters for different selected acousto optic materials to be the major of interest.     

Irregular elliptical plasmonic rings for engineering near-field and phase

Metallic glasses find wide applications in nanotechnology and micro electro-mechanical systems because of their unique physical properties due to their amorphous structures. The material removal mechanism in nanometric cutting of Cu₅₀Zr₅₀, a typical metallic glass, is studied using molecular dynamics method. The chip formation, workpiece deformation and scratching forces under various scratching depths, scratching velocities and temperatures are investigated. The effect of void defect on the cutting behaviors of metallic glass is also explored. The results show that the material removal in nanometric cutting process is based on extrusion instead of shearing, achieving a good understanding of material removal at the nanoscale.     

A broadband grating-coupled silicon nitride waveguide for the mid-IR: characterization and sensitive measurements using an external cavity quantum cascade laser

We present the design and fabrication of a single-mode slab waveguide structure for mid-infrared spectroscopy optimized for broadband coupling. The sensor uses grating couplers for robust off-axis coupling and a silicon nitride guiding layer for mechanical robustness. An external cavity quantum cascade laser-based transmission method is introduced for characterizing the structure’s broadband coupling behavior. Light from an external cavity quantum cascade laser with a spectral range of 0.5 μm around 6 μm was coupled into the waveguide without the need for moving parts. First spectra taken with this sensor are presented.     

The role of metal contacts in the stability of n-type organic field effect transistors

We are presenting a long-time bias stress stability of C₆₀-based n-type organic field effect transistors (OFETs), in bottom gate, top contacts configuration, with aluminium (Al), silver (Ag) and gold (Au) source–drain contacts. The results clearly shows that the bias stress effects in C₆₀-based n-type OFETs is similar to p-type OFETs and it can be reduced by using an appropriate metal for the source–drain contacts. During the bias stress time, the threshold voltage shift and an increase in the contacts resistance have also been measured. On the basis of the stability of the device parameters, it is proposed that the Al source–drain contact-based devices gives better stability as compared to the devices with Ag and Au source–drain contacts. Our results show that the bias stress-induced threshold voltage shift is due to the trapping of charges in the channel region and in the vicinity of the source–drain contacts.