Detecting anomalous phase synchronization from time series

Modeling approaches are presented for detecting an anomalous route to phase synchronization from time series of two interacting nonlinear oscillators. The anomalous transition is characterized by an enlargement of the mean frequency difference between the oscillators with an initial increase in the coupling strength. Although such a structure is common in a large class of coupled nonisochronous oscillators, prediction of the anomalous transition is nontrivial for experimental systems, whose dynamical properties are unknown. Two approaches are examined; one is a phase equational modeling of coupled limit cycle oscillators and the other is a nonlinear predictive modeling of coupled chaotic oscillators. Application to prototypical models such as two interacting predator-prey systems in both limit cycle and chaotic regimes demonstrates the capability of detecting the anomalous structure from only a few sets of time series. Experimental data from two coupled Chua circuits shows its applicability to real experimental system.     

Mammalian laryngseal air sacs add variability to the vocal tract impedance: physical and computational modeling

Cavities branching off the main vocal tract are ubiquitous in nonhumans. Mammalian air sacs exist in human relatives, including all four great apes, but only a substantially reduced version exists in humans. The present paper focuses on acoustical functions of the air sacs. The hypotheses are investigated on whether the air sacs affect amplitude of utterances and/or position of formants. A multilayer synthetic model of the vocal folds coupled with a vocal tract model was utilized. As an air sac model, four configurations were considered: open and closed uniform tube-like side branches, a rigid cavity, and an inflatable cavity. Results suggest that some air sac configurations can enhance the sound level. Furthermore, an air sac model introduces one or more additional resonance frequencies, shifting formants of the main vocal tract to some extent but not as strongly as previously suggested. In addition, dynamic range of vocalization can be extended by the air sacs. A new finding is also an increased variability of the vocal tract impedance, leading to strong nonlinear source-filter interaction effects. The experiments demonstrated that air-sac-like structures can destabilize the sound source. The results were validated by a transmission line computational model.     

Nitrogen stable isotopes reveal age-dependent dietary shift in the Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis

Ontogenetic niche shifts in diet are a consequence of changes in body size or resource partitioning between age classes. To better resolve the feeding patterns of the Japanese scallop Mizuhopecten yessoensis, we examined the relative importance of age and size in the diet of this species using stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) from 2006 to 2009. Contribution of food sources was quantified using an isotope mixing model by comparing the muscle tissue isotope ratios to those of suspended particulate organic matter (SPOM) and their zooplankton prey (e.g. micro- and meso-zooplankton). Unlike the δ¹³C values, which remained constant with age and size, muscle δ¹⁵N values were more positively correlated with age accounting for 69?% of variations than size with only 46?%. Increasing ¹⁵N values with age suggested that shifts in diet from SPOM to micro- and meso-zooplankton occurred during ontogeny in M. yessoensis. Results of the isotope mixing model indicated that SPOM contribution to scallop’s diet decreased from 68 to 8?% while those of zooplankton increased from 15 to 50?% with increasing age. This study concludes that age-related dietary shift explains the enrichment of ¹⁵N, as a result of predation on zooplankton by M. yessoensis.     

Synthesis of hydroxyoligophenylenes containing electron‐donating,electron‐accepting groups,or π‐deficient aromatic ring and their solvatochromic behavior

We have reported oligo(p‐phenylene)s (OPPs) with an OH group located at one end, namely, OPP(n)‐OHs (where n is the number of benzene rings). The OPPs exhibited significant solvatochromism; the deprotonation of the OH groups of OPP(n)‐OHs , when treated with NaH, caused a bathochromic shift of absorption maxima (λ_max) that increased with the donor numbers (DNs) of the solvents. We assumed that the solvatochromism exhibited by OPP(n)‐ONa was attributed to an intramolecular charge shift from the sodium phenoxy group(s) to the adjacent rings. In this study, to investigate the assumption, hydroxyoligophenylenes ( R‐OPP(n)‐OH ) with an electron‐donating dimethylamino group (n = 3, R = NMe₂), an electron‐accepting nitro group (n = 3, R = NO₂), and a π‐deficient pyridine ring (n = 2, R = Py) were synthesized by the Suzuki coupling reaction. The deprotonation of the OH group of by treatment with NaH caused a bathochromic shift (Δλ) of λ_max of R‐OPP(m)‐ONa . The Δλ of the deprotonated species increased with the DNs of the solvents. The emission peak positions of R‐OPP(m)‐ONa depended on the DNs of the solvents; therefore, the emission color could be tuned by changing the solvent. R‐OPP(m)‐OH received an electrochemical oxidation of the OH group and OPP unit. The data related to the remarkable solvatochromic behavior of R‐OPP(n)‐ONa will be useful information for the development of new luminescent materials.     

Application of Fractional Differential Equations for Modeling the Anomalous Diffusion of Contaminant from Fracture into Porous Rock Matrix with Bordering Alteration Zone

Solute diffusion from a fracture into a porous rock with an altered zone bordering the fracture is modeled by a system of two diffusion equations (one for the altered zone and another for the intact porous matrix) with different coefficients of effective diffusivity. Since experimental studies of diffusion into rock samples with altered zones indicate that mathematical models of diffusion based on Fick’s law do not adequately describe the concentration field in a sample, fractional order diffusion equations are chosen in this study for modeling the anomalous mass transport in the rocks. In the case of significantly higher porosity of the altered zone (e.g., this is typical for carbonates) the effective diffusivity here can be much higher than the effective diffusivity of non-altered rocks. By introducing a small parameter that is the ratio of effective diffusivities in the non-altered and altered regions and applying the technique of perturbations, approximate analytical solutions for concentrations in the altered zone bordering the fracture and in the intact surrounding rocks are obtained. Based on these solutions, different regimes of diffusion into the rocks with different physical properties are modeled and analyzed. It is shown that, using experimentally obtained data, the orders of the fractional derivatives in the differential equations can be readily calibrated for the every specific rock.     

Sub-10-fs Ti:sapphire Kerr-lens Mode Locked Oscillator

Assembly of a sub-10-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator using only optical components commercially available in catalogues is reported. It was demonstrated that stable sub-10-fs optical pulses near 800 nm can be generated from a Kerr-lens mode locked oscillator equipped with a pair of prisms to compensate group delay dispersions (GDD) in the cavity. For the GDD control in a 10fs-pulse oscillator it was concluded that chirped mirrors are not always necessary, and a pair of prisms is still available.     

Synthesis and binding properties of a noncovalent molecularly imprinted testosterone-specific polymer

In this study, molecular imprinting was used to develop a method based on noncovalent interactions for synthesis of a testosterone-specific polymer. The effect of the different template–monomer ratios, the particle sizes of polymers, and chromatographic mobile phases on steroid–polymer interactions are discussed. The polymer obtained was found to interact specifically with testosterone, while other steroids under study were eluted close to the void volume in the HPLC experiments. Batch rebinding studies in acetonitrile were undertaken to quantitatively evaluate the affinity of the polymer for testosterone. During this experiment, the testosterone concentration was measured in two ways: spectrophotometrically and by HPLC on a column with testosterone-specific imprinted polymer synthesized by us. Both methods resulted in similar values of association constants and the number of binding sites. However, the second method has obvious advantages when the analyzed solution contains a mixture of optically dense compounds. The results obtained focus on the two-point binding nature of the imprinted polymer–testosterone interaction and the significant role of hydrogen bonds between the OH group of testosterone and carboxy group of methacrylic acid residues inside specific recognition sites of the imprinted polymer. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 1725–1732, 1998