Chaotic dynamics of semiconductor microring lasers

The complexity and dynamics of chaotic attractors generated in an InGaAsP-InP microring laser are calculated and evaluated by using a multimode rate equation model. Chaos originates from the continuous mutual injections from each mode to the other because of the bus waveguide's residual reflectivity at high values of the injection current. The data analysis of the filtered output power reveals high-dimensional chaos, and phase-dependent behavior is demonstrated.     

Evaluation of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Origanum dictamnus extracts before and after encapsulation in liposomes

The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of methanol or dichloromethane extracts of O. dictamnus, produced from wild and organic cultivated specimens, were determined. The Rancimat and malondialdehyde (MDA) by HPLC methods were used to measure the antioxidant action, in comparison with that of the common commercial antioxidants butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and alpha-tocopherol. The extracts that presented high antioxidant activity were encapsulated in liposomes and their antioxidant action was again estimated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermaloxidative decomposition of the samples (pure liposomes and encapsulated extracts) and the modification of the main transition temperature for the lipid mixture and the splitting of the calorimetric peak in the presence of the antioxidants were also studied by the DSC method. All extracts showed antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Their action proved superior to alpha-tocopherol. The methanol extract of organic cultivated O. dictamnus (240 ppm) showed higher activity than butylated hydroxytoluene. After encapsulation in liposomes the antioxidant as well as antimicrobial activities proved to be higher than those of the same extracts in pure form.     

Experimental evidence for a highly reversible excited state equilibrium between s-cis and s-trans rotational isomers of 2-methoxynaphthalene in solution

Detailed studies on the kinetics and the thermodynamics of the excited-state torsional isomerization of the title molecule (1) relative to exocyclic C2-O bond, when dissolved in 3-methylpentane, are reported by means of nontime- and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Over the broad temperature range studied, 1 exists in spectrally distinct, thermally equilibrated s-cis and s-trans conformations in the ground state (S(0)). In the lowest excited singlet state (S(1)) and above 260 K a pure adiabatic interconversion channel is activated that interconverts s-cis* and s-trans* conformers through a nearly fully reversible isomerization pathway with an activation energy of about 29 kJ/mol. The excited-state equilibrium constant is found to be remarkably temperature-independent just barely exceeding 1 above 260 K. Contrary to the predominantly irreversible photoisomerization mechanism generally observed in related compounds, this work provides insights into the high reversibility of an excited-state rotameric equilibration in solution.     

Interactive bicriterion decision support for a large scale industrial scheduling system

In this paper we develop an interactive decision analysis approach to treat a large scale bicriterion integer programming problem, addressing a real world assembly line scheduling problem of a manufacturing company. This company receives periodically a set of orders for the production of specific items (jobs) through a number of specialised production (assembly) lines. The paper presents a non compensatory approach based on an interactive implementation of the ε-constraint method that enables the decision maker to achieve a satisfactory goal for each objective separately. In fact, the method generates and evaluates a large number of non dominated solutions that constitute a representative sample of the criteria ranges. The experience with a specific numerical example shows the efficiency and usefulness of the proposed model in solving large scale bicriterion industrial integer programming problems, highlighting at the same time the modelling limitations.     

QoS-aware service evaluation and selection

Making the provision of services QoS-aware is to the advantage of both clients and providers in the e-business domain. This paper studies the problem of providers that receive multiple concurrent requests for services demonstrating different QoS properties. It introduces the “Selective Multiple Choice Knapsack Problem” that aims to identify the services, which should be delivered in order to maximise the provider’s profit, subject to maximum bandwidth constraints. This problem is solved by a proposed algorithm that has been empirically evaluated via numerous experiments.     

Electrochemical DNA Biosensors Applicable to the Study of Interactions Between DNA and DNA Intercalators

Electrochemical DNA biosensors, based either on carbon paste electrode (CPE) or hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) were prepared. These biosensors were used in the study of interaction between double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and single stranded DNA (ssDNA) and acridine orange, a well known DNA intercalator. The different electrochemical behaviors were compared in the article.     

Nine enzymes are required for assembly of the pacidamycin group of peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics

Pacidamycins are a family of uridyl peptide antibiotics that inhibit the translocase MraY, an essential enzyme in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis that to date has not been clinically targeted. The pacidamycin structural skeleton contains a doubly inverted peptidyl chain with a β-peptide and a ureido linkage as well as a 3'-deoxyuridine nucleoside attached to DABA(3) of the peptidyl chain via an enamide linkage. Although the biosynthetic gene cluster for pacidamycins was identified recently, the assembly line of this group of peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics remained poorly understood because of the highly dissociated nature of the encoded nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) domains and modules. This work has identified a minimum set of enzymes needed for generation of the pacidamycin scaffold from amino acid and nucleoside monomers, highlighting a freestanding thiolation (T) domain (PacH) as a key carrier component in the peptidyl chain assembly as well as a freestanding condensation (C) domain (PacI) catalyzing the release of the assembled peptide by a nucleoside moiety. On the basis of the substrate promiscuity of this enzymatic assembly line, several pacidamycin analogues were produced using in vitro total biosynthesis.     

The first measurable cardinal can be the first uncountable regular cardinal at any successor height

We use techniques due to Moti Gitik to construct models in which for an arbitrary ordinal ?, is both the least measurable and least regular uncountable cardinal.     

A robust two-dimensional separation for top-down tandem mass spectrometry of the low-mass proteome

For fractionation of intact proteins by molecular weight (MW), a sharply improved two-dimensional (2D) separation is presented to drive reproducible and robust fractionation before top-down mass spectrometry of complex mixtures. The “GELFrEE” (i.e., gel-eluted liquid fraction entrapment electrophoresis) approach is implemented by use of Tris-glycine and Tris-tricine gel systems applied to human cytosolic and nuclear extracts from HeLa S3 cells, to achieve a MW-based fractionation of proteins from 5 to >100 kDa in 1 h. For top-down tandem mass spectroscopy (MS/MS) of the low-mass proteome (5–25 kDa), between 5 and 8 gel-elution (GE) fractions are sampled by nanocapillary-LC-MS/MS with 12 or 14.5 tesla Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometers. Single injections give about 40 detectable proteins, about half of which yield automated ProSight identifications. Reproducibility metrics of the system are presented, along with comparative analysis of protein targets in mitotic versus asynchronous cells. We forward this basic 2D approach to facilitate wider implementation of top-down mass spectrometry and a variety of other protein separation and/or characterization approaches.     

Novel Brønsted acidic ionic liquids and their use as dual solvent-catalysts

The reaction of triphenylphosphine or N-butylimidazole with cyclic sultones gives zwitterions that are subsequently converted into ionic liquids by reaction with trifluoromethane sulfonic acid or p-toluenesulfonic acid. The resulting ionic liquids have cations to which are tethered alkane sulfonic acid groups. These Br?nsted acidic ionic liquids are useful solvent/catalysts for several organic reactions, including Fischer esterification, alcohol dehydrodimerization and the pinacol rearrangement. The new ionic liquids combine the low volatility and ease of separation from product normally associated with solid acid catalysts, with the higher activity and yields normally found using conventional liquid acids.