Low-threshold spatial solitons in reverse-proton-exchanged periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides

Combining reverse proton exchange and uniform periodic poling in LiNbO3 planar waveguides, we demonstrate low-energy spatial optical solitons by second-harmonic generation at room temperature, with a threshold as low as 23 pJ/microm at 1.5 microm.     

Octopamine increases the excitability of neurons in the snail feeding system by modulation of inward sodium current but not outward potassium currents

Background  

Although octopamine has long been known to have major roles as both transmitter and modulator in arthropods, it has only recently been shown to be functionally important in molluscs, playing a role as a neurotransmitter in the feeding network of the snail Lymnaea stagnalis. The synaptic potentials cannot explain all the effects of octopamine-containing neurons on the feeding network, and here we test the hypothesis that octopamine is also a neuromodulator.     

Efficient Bioconversion of High Concentration Phytosterol Microdispersion to 4-Androstene-3,17-Dione (AD) by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mycobacterium</Emphasis> sp. B3805

Low solubility of sterols in aqueous media limits efficient steroid production mediated by biocatalytic microorganisms such as Mycobacterium. Sterol emulsion technologies have been developed with low success rates, largely due to the complexity of generating stable and bioavailable particles. In this study, several aqueous dispersions of sterols in-water of different particle sizes were bioconverted to 4-androstene-3,17-dione (AD) in a solvent-free environment, using a classic microorganism Mycobacterium sp. B3805 as a model system. According to our results, the high concentration (20 g/L) phytosterol dispersions with the smallest particle size tested (370 nm) achieved up to 54% (7.4 g/L) AD production yield in 11 days. Moreover, the use of 0.1 biomass/sterols ratio in a complex bioconversion media containing yeast extract, and a 1:1 glucose/microdispersion ratio in the presence of the surfactant DK-Ester P-160 (HLB16), allowed homogenization and increased microdispersion stability, thus achieving the best results using emulsion technologies to date.     

Synthesis of novel (NHC)Pd(acac)Cl complexes (acac=acetylacetonate) and their activity in cross-coupling reactions

The synthesis and characterization of two new complexes (IPr)Pd(acac)₂ (1) and (IPr)Pd(acac)Cl (2) (IPr=(N,N'-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol)-2-ylidene, acac=acetylacetonate) are described. Complex 2 can be prepared in a one-pot protocol in high yield. A study detailing the versatility of 2 to effectively catalyze a series of cross-coupling reactions is discussed.     

Pinwheel motifs: formation of unusual homo- and hetero-nuclear aggregates via bridging thiolates

The homohexanuclear complexes [Ni2[Ni(L1)]4](BF4)4 x MeCN, 1, [Pd2(Pd(L2)]4](BF4)4, 2, and the heteropentanuclear aggregate [Cu2[Ni(L3)]3](PF6)2, 3, all adopt a 'pinwheel' type structural motif via thiolate bridging between square-planar Ni(II) or Pd(II) and between trigonal planar Cu(I) centres, respectively.     

Resilience in reaction-diffusion systems

Reaction-diffusion systems with zero-flux Neumann boundariesare widely used to model various kinds of interaction in, forexample, the scientific fields of ecology, biology, chemistry,medicine and industry. The physical systems within these fieldsare often known to be (conditionally or unconditionally) resilientwith respect to shocks, disturbances or catastrophies in theimmediate environment. In order to be good mathematical modelsof such situations the reaction-diffusion systems must havethe same resilient or asymptotic behaviour as that of the physicalsituation. Three fundamentally different kinds of reaction termsare usually distinguished according to the entry signs of thereaction Jacobian: mutualism, mixed (predator-prey) interactionand competition. The asymptotic stability (in the Poincarésense) of mutualistic systems has already been studied extensively,but the results cannot be generalized (globally) to the othertwo fundamental types, which are not order-preserving. A partial(local) generalization is, however given here for these twotypes, involving simple Jacobian inequalities and knowledge(often prompted by the underlying physical situation) of invariantsets in solution space. The return time of resilient systemsand the approach rate of asymptotically stable solutions arealso estimated.