Vortex formation by merging of multiple trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

We report observations of vortex formation by merging and interfering multiple (87)Rb Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in a confining potential. In this experiment, a single harmonic potential well is partitioned into three sections by a barrier, enabling the simultaneous formation of three independent, uncorrelated BECs. The BECs may either automatically merge together during their growth, or for high-energy barriers, the BECs can be merged together by barrier removal after their formation. Either process may instigate vortex formation in the resulting BEC, depending on the initially indeterminate relative phases of the condensates and the merging rate.     

A new functionalization strategy for pentacene

Functionalization of the pro-cata positions of pentacene with groups held perpendicular to the aromatic plane, in this case through a rigid 1,3-dioxole unit, yields pentacene derivatives that are stable and soluble, and still maintain edge-to-face interactions in the solid state.     

A Simple and Efficient Procedure for Oxidation of Sulfides to Sulfoxides on Hydrated Silica Gel with Ceric Ammonium Nitrate (Can) In Methylene Chloride

A simple, fast and efficient procedure for oxidation of sulfides to the corresponding sulfoxides with CAN mediated by hydrated silica gel in methylene chloride has been developed. To our knowledge, this is the first example of oxidation of sulfides with CAN in a non-aqueous media.     

Electroanalytical Device for Cadmium Speciation in Waters. Part 2: Automated System Development and Cadmium Semicontinuous Monitoring

A full‐automated electroanalytical device is presented here. It is composed of an electrochemically adapted automation module and a competitive screen‐printed sensor modified ex situ by a very low quantity of mercury. The contribution of this automated apparatus to analyses is described in detail. Coupled with an UV‐photolysis unit, it has permitted the rapid detection of both total and electrochemically accessible cadmium in solutions containing 10 mg L^?1 of humic substances without addition of reagents. Semicontinuous monitoring of tap water doped with 5.3 μg L^?1 of cadmium, in presence of traces of lead and copper, has been successfully achieved for 7 days.     

Optics-less smart sensors and a possible mechanism of cutaneous vision in nature

Although optics-less cutaneous (“skin”) vision is not uncommon among living organisms, its mechanisms and capabilities have not been thoroughly investigated. This paper demonstrates, using methods from statistical parameter estimation theory and numerical simulations, that arrays of bare radiation detectors arranged on a planar or curved surface have the ability to perform imaging tasks without any optics at all. The working principle of this type of optics-less sensors and the model developed here for determining their performance may be used to shed light on possible mechanisms, capabilities and evolution of cutaneous vision in nature.     

Nanopod formation through gold nanoparticle templated and catalyzed cross-linking of polymers bearing pendant propargyl ethers

A novel method for synthesizing polymer nanopods from a linear polymer bearing pendant propargyl ether groups, using gold nanoparticles as both the template and the catalyst for the cross-linking reaction, is reported. The transformations involved in the cross-linking process are unprecedented on the surface of a gold particle. A tentative cross-linking mechanism is proposed.