Dynamical mechanism of anticipating synchronization in excitable systems

We analyze the phenomenon of anticipating synchronization of two excitable systems with unidirectional delayed coupling which are subject to the same external forcing. We demonstrate for different paradigms of excitable system that, due to the coupling, the excitability threshold for the slave system is always lower than that for the master. As a consequence the two systems respond to a common external forcing with different response times. This allows us to explain in a simple way the mechanism behind the phenomenon of anticipating synchronization in excitable systems.     

S(3)E-E.COSY methods for the measurement of (19)F associated scalar and dipolar coupling constants

A (1)H-(19)F spin state selective excitation (S(3)E) pulse sequence element has been applied in combination with (1)H homonuclear mixing to create E.COSY-type experiments designed to measure scalar J(HF2') and J(HH2') and residual dipolar D(HF2') and D(HH2') couplings in 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-sugars. The (1)H-(19)F S(3)E pulse sequence element, which resembles a simple INEPT sequence, achieves spin-state-selective correlation between geminal (1)H-(19)F spin pairs by linear combination of in-phase (19)F magnetization and anti-phase magnetization evolved from (1)H. Since the S(3)E sequence converts both (19)F and (1)H steady-state polarization into observable coherences, an approximately twofold signal increase is observed for fully relaxed (1)H-(19)F spin pairs with respect to a standard (1)H coupled (19)F 1D experiment. The improved sensitivity and resolution afforded by the use of (1)H-(19)F S(3)E E.COSY-type experiments for measuring couplings is demonstrated on the nucleoside 9-(2',3'-dideoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-threo-pentofuranosyl)adenine (beta-FddA) and on a selectively 2'-fluorine labeled 21mer RNA oligonucleotide.     

A generalized model of elastic foundation based on long-range interactions: Integral and fractional model

The common models of elastic foundations are provided by supposing that they are composed by elastic columns with some interactions between them, such as contact forces that yield a differential equation involving gradients of the displacement field. In this paper, a new model of elastic foundation is proposed introducing into the constitutive equation of the foundation body forces depending on the relative vertical displacements and on a distance-decaying function ruling the amount of interactions. Different choices of the distance-decaying function correspond to different kind of interactions and foundation behavior. The use of an exponential distance-decaying function yields an integro-differential model while a fractional power-law decay of the distance-decaying function yields a fractional model of elastic foundation ruled by a fractional differential equation. It is shown that in the case of exponential-decaying function the integral equation represents a model in which all the gradients of the displacement function appear, while the fractional model is an intermediate model between integral and gradient approaches. A fully equivalent discrete point-spring model of long-range interactions that may be used for the numerical solution of both integral and fractional differential equation is also introduced. Some Green’s functions of the proposed model have been included in the paper and several numerical results have been also reported to highlight the effects of long-range forces and the governing parameters of the linear elastic foundation proposed.     

Statistical analyses of repolarisation current of a PZT film deposited on ITO electrode with different thermal treatments

In the vast application fields of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films, of particular interest are the interaction effects occurring at the ferroelectric–substrate interface [E. Bruno, M.P. De Santo, M. Castriota, S. Marino, G. Strangi, E. Cazzanelli and N. Scaramuzza, J. Appl. Phys. 103 (2008) p.064103; S. Dunn and R.W. Whatmore, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 22 (2002) p.825]. Relevant for this purpose are polarity-sensitive liquid crystals (LC) cells and micro- and nanoelectronic applications [S. Marino, M. Castriota, G. Strangi, E. Cazzanelli and N. Scaramuzza, J. Appl. Phys. 102, selected for Virtual Journal of Nanoscale Science & Technology, 30 July 2007 (2007) p.013002]. The polarisation current was investigated of a PZT film (PbZr_0.47Ti_0.53O₃) obtained by sol–gel synthesis and deposited by spin coating on an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. The different behaviour exhibited by such a system when the support electrode was previously submitted to a thermal treatment was attributed to the change of the electrical properties of the ITO layer. In particular, a higher negative charge in the conductive band of the ITO electrode seems to be responsible for a higher order in the ferroelectric film.     

Materials and technological aspects of gilded buckles from a North Eastern Medieval Italian context

This study concerns the archaeometric characterization of two artefacts from the medieval site of San Rocco (Castelfranco Veneto, Italy). Both of them belong to a larger set of metallic objects, some being part of tomb ornaments belonging to two very well distinct periods of frequentation of the site. Both items are buckles and they have been selected as representative of two very well-known and established typologies. The older one, at the end of the sixth—beginning of the seventh century AD, is made of silver, although relicts of gold have been found. A number of relevant counterparts of this item have been found in different sites of the Longobard Italy. The main body of the second artefact (second half of the fourteenth century AD) consists of a bent strip of a copper rich alloy, coated on one side with a nearly continuous, decorated, gold layer. This is a so-called lyre-buckle, with a widespread diffusion not only in Italian, but also North European contexts. From the results of the analyses carried out using low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffractometry, information on manufacturing, gilding technology and materials have been obtained that will be an useful benchmark for the archaeometric characterization of similar items from selected collections. In this way, the already established typological affinity of these two classes of items will be extended to technological and materials aspects, also.     

Heterotrimetallic Coordination Polymers: {CuIILnIIIFeIII} Chains and {NiIILnIIIFeIII} Layers: Synthesis,Crystal Structures,and Magnetic Properties

The use of the [Fe^III(AA)(CN)₄]^? complex anion as metalloligand towards the preformed [Cu^II(valpn)Ln^III]³⁺ or [Ni^II(valpn)Ln^III]³⁺ heterometallic complex cations (AA=2,2′‐bipyridine (bipy) and 1,10‐phenathroline (phen); H₂valpn=1,3‐propanediyl‐bis(2‐iminomethylene‐6‐methoxyphenol)) allowed the preparation of two families of heterotrimetallic complexes: three isostructural 1D coordination polymers of general formula {[Cu^II(valpn)Ln^III(H₂O)₃(μ‐NC)₂Fe^III(phen)(CN)₂ {(μ‐NC)Fe^III(phen)(CN)₃}]NO₃ ? 7 H₂O}_n (Ln=Gd ( 1 ), Tb ( 2 ), and Dy ( 3 )) and the trinuclear complex [Cu^II(valpn)La^III(OH₂)₃(O₂NO)(μ‐NC)Fe^III(phen)(CN)₃] ? NO₃ ? H₂O ? CH₃CN ( 4 ) were obtained with the [Cu^II(valpn)Ln^III]³⁺ assembling unit, whereas three isostructural heterotrimetallic 2D networks, {[Ni^II(valpn)Ln^III(ONO₂)₂(H₂O)(μ‐NC)₃Fe^III(bipy)(CN)] ? 2 H₂O ? 2 CH₃CN}_n (Ln=Gd ( 5 ), Tb ( 6 ), and Dy ( 7 )) resulted with the related [Ni^II(valpn)Ln^III]³⁺ precursor. The crystal structure of compound 4 consists of discrete heterotrimetallic complex cations, [Cu^II(valpn)La^III(OH₂)₃(O₂NO)(μ‐NC)Fe^III(phen)(CN)₃]⁺, nitrate counterions, and non‐coordinate water and acetonitrile molecules. The heteroleptic {Fe^III(bipy)(CN)₄} moiety in 5 – 7 acts as a tris‐monodentate ligand towards three {Ni^II(valpn)Ln^III} binuclear nodes leading to heterotrimetallic 2D networks. The ferromagnetic interaction through the diphenoxo bridge in the Cu^II?Ln^III ( 1 – 3 ) and Ni^II?Ln^III ( 5 – 7 ) units, as well as through the single cyanide bridge between the Fe^III and either Ni^II ( 5 – 7 ) or Cu^II ( 4 ) account for the overall ferromagnetic behavior observed in 1 – 7 . DFT‐type calculations were performed to substantiate the magnetic interactions in 1 , 4 , and 5 . Interestingly, compound 6 exhibits slow relaxation of the magnetization with maxima of the out‐of‐phase ac signals below 4.0 K in the lack of a dc field, the values of the pre‐exponential factor (τ_o) and energy barrier (E_a) through the Arrhenius equation being 2.0×10^?12 s and 29.1 cm^?1, respectively. In the case of 7 , the ferromagnetic interactions through the double phenoxo (Ni^II–Dy^III) and single cyanide (Fe^III–Ni^II) pathways are masked by the depopulation of the Stark levels of the Dy^III ion, this feature most likely accounting for the continuous decrease of χ_M T upon cooling observed for this last compound.     

Equivalent definitions of BV space and of total variation on metric measure spaces

In this paper we introduce a new definition of BV   based on measure upper gradients and prove the equivalence of this definition, and the coincidence of the corresponding notions of total variation, with the definitions based on relaxation of L¹$L^1$ norm of the slope of Lipschitz functions or upper gradients. As in the previous work by the first author with Gigli and Savaré in the Sobolev case, the proof requires neither local compactness nor doubling and Poincaré.     

The Cuboid Lemma and Mal’tsev Categories

We prove that a regular category ? is a Mal’tsev category if and only if a strong form of the denormalised 3 × 3 Lemma holds true in ?. In this version of the 3 × 3 Lemma, the vertical exact forks are replaced by pullbacks of regular epimorphisms along arbitrary morphisms. The shape of the diagram it determines suggests to call it the Cuboid Lemma. This new characterisation of regular categories that are Mal’tsev categories (= 2-permutable) is similar to the one previously obtained for Goursat categories (= 3-permutable). We also analyse the “relative” version of the Cuboid Lemma and extend our results to that context.     

Multiple state transition interface sampling of alanine dipeptide in explicit solvent

We have applied the recently developed multiple state transition interface sampling approach to alanine dipeptide in explicit water. We extract the rate constant matrix for configurational changes between each pair of metastable states. The results are comparable with values from previous literature and show that the method is applicable to biomolecular systems.