Absence of biologically related Raman lines in cultures of Bacillus megaterium

Cultures of Bacillus megaterium have been examined with laser-Raman spectroscopy in the 20–300 and 800–1800 cm^?1 ranges. No lines were detected in the 20–300 cm^?1 range, and evidence is presented that sporadic lines observed in the other range can be ascribed to experimental artifacts.     

Structure of sodium glycodeoxycholate micellar aggregates from small-angle X-ray scattering and light-scattering techniques

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were accomplished on sodium glycodeoxycholate (NaGDC) aqueous electrolyte solutions as a function of NaGDC and NaCl concentrations with the aim to determine with satisfactory approximation the NaGDC micellar aggregate structure at a gross molecular level, assuming monodispersity. Different conditions of interparticle interactions by varying ionic strength (NaCl concentration from 0 to 0.70 M) and NaGDC concentration (from 0.02 to 0.10 M) were studied. Smeared scattering intensities and electron pair distance distribution functions, radii of gyration, and aggregate heights are in satisfactory agreement with the corresponding functions calculated using a 2(1) helix as model. It is formed by trimers, each one composed by three NaGDC and nine H2O molecules related by a 3-fold rotation axis, and can be described by a hollow cylinder, probably filled by water molecules, characterized by a conventional radius of 23.7 A and a trimer repeat along the helical axis of 3.6 A. The helix is considerably inhomogeneous since the volume of the cylinder occupied by NaGDC molecules is less than one-third of the total. On the other hand, calculations performed with the average radial electronic density of the helix without water molecules or totally filled by water molecules (a NaGDC/H2O molecular ratio of about 1/50) or by using a three-shell average radial electronic density, independently evaluated on absolute scale, do not show significant differences, thus supporting the helical model. The aggregate size increases for all the samples by increasing either the NaCl or NaGDC concentration. The NaGDC low concentration (0.02 M) samples with NaCl within the range 0.30-0.70 M are characterized by short cylindrical aggregates that do not give rise to sensible interference effects. This assertion is supported by the satisfactory fit between the observed apparent mean hydrodynamic radii and the calculated ones by means of the method of Ortega and Garcia de la Torre (J. Chem. Phys. 2003, 119, 9914), valid for rods with a length-to-diameter ratio > or = 0.1 in dilute solution (noninteracting rods). The NaGDC moderate concentration (0.10 M) samples with NaCl within the range 0.20-0.60 M are characterized by cylindrical aggregates that, in the presence of repulsive Coulombic interactions progressively more and more screened, produce interference effects, due to the hard-body repulsion and attractive forces, but the agreement between observed and calculated SAXS data is satisfactory. The results of the low and moderate NaGDC concentration samples seem to indicate that the aggregation number increase, produced by adding 0.10 M NaCl, is constant within an ionic strength range and occurs by the addition of oligomers formed by trimers. The samples with a variable NaGDC concentration (0.02-0.10 M) at a fixed and high NaCl concentration (0.6 M) contain cylindrical aggregates that give rise to an attractive term effect prevailing on the hard-body repulsive one. The same situation seems to occur in the NaGDC moderate concentration samples.     

Nonextensive analysis of seismic sequences

By using the Tsallis-based nonextensive statistics, the analysis of the magnitude distribution of several seismic catalogues in Italy was performed. The analysis shows similar values for the q-value, in good agreement with those obtained for other seismo-tectonic settings [e.g. Silva et al. (2006) [2] and Vilar et al. (2007) [3]]. In particular, it is shown that the volcano seismicity is characterized by slightly lower values for q. The latter results could provide hints for further investigation in discriminating tectonic from volcanic seismicity.     

Coherence freeze in an optical lattice investigated via pump-probe spectroscopy

Motivated by our observation of fast echo decay and a surprising coherence freeze, we have developed a pump-probe spectroscopy technique for vibrational states of 85Rb atoms in an optical lattice to gain information about the memory dynamics of the system. We monitor the time-dependent changes of frequencies experienced by atoms and characterize the probability distribution of these frequency trajectories. We show that the inferred distribution, unlike a naive microscopic model of the lattice, correctly predicts the main features of the observed echo decay.     

A dynamic wind farm aggregate model for the simulation of power fluctuations due to wind turbulence

An important aspect related to wind energy integration into the electrical power system is the fluctuation of the generated power due to the stochastic variations of the wind speed across the area where wind turbines are installed. Simulation models are useful tools to evaluate the impact of the wind power on the power system stability and on the power quality. Aggregate models reduce the simulation time required by detailed dynamic models of multiturbine systems.In this paper, a new behavioral model representing the aggregate contribution of several variable-speed-pitch-controlled wind turbines is introduced. It is particularly suitable for the simulation of short term power fluctuations due to wind turbulence, where steady-state models are not applicable.The model relies on the output rescaling of a single turbine dynamic model. The single turbine output is divided into its steady state and dynamic components, which are then multiplied by different scaling factors. The smoothing effect due to wind incoherence at different locations inside a wind farm is taken into account by filtering the steady state power curve by means of a Gaussian filter as well as applying a proper damping on the dynamic part.The model has been developed to be one of the building-blocks of a model of a large electrical system, therefore a significant reduction of simulation time has been pursued. Comparison against a full model obtained by repeating a detailed single turbine model, shows that a proper trade-off between accuracy and computational speed has been achieved.     

Singular spectrum analysis and Fisher–Shannon analysis of spring flow time series: An application to Anjar Spring,Lebanon

In this study, the time dynamics of water flow from Anjar Spring was investigated, which is one of the major issuing springs in the central part of Lebanon. Likewise, many water sources in Lebanon, this spring has no continuous records for the discharge, and this would prevent the application of standard time series analysis tools. Furthermore, the highly nonstationary character of the series implies that suited methodologies can be employed to get insight into its dynamical features. Therefore, the Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) and Fisher–Shannon (FS) method, which are useful methods to disclose dynamical features in noisy nonstationary time series with gaps, are jointly applied to analyze the Anjar Spring water flow series. The SSA revealed that the series can be considered as the superposition of meteo-climatic periodic components, low-frequency trend and noise-like high-frequency fluctuations. The FS method allowed to extract and to identify among all the SSA reconstructed components the long-term trend of the series. The long-term trend is characterized by higher Fisher Information Measure (FIM) and lower Shannon entropy, and thus, represents the main informative component of the whole series. Generally water discharge time series presents very complex time structure, therefore the joint application of the SSA and the FS method would be very useful in disclosing the main informative part of such kind of data series in the view of existing climatic variability and/or anthropogenic challenges.     

Optical Diagnosis for Thyroid and Parathyroid Tissues—A Review

Abstract

This article presents an overview of optical methodologies to aid the diagnosis and differentiation of thyroid and parathyroid tissues. In particular, we review the several techniques and associated methodologies that allow in vivo and ex vivo optical characterization of thyroid and parathyroid tissues. Emphasis is placed on the research potential of these techniques and whether intrinsic characteristics can provide useful contrast for the diagnosis of human thyroid and parathyroid malignant lesions.     

Efficient portfolios in financial markets with proportional transaction costs

In this article, we characterize efficient portfolios, i.e. portfolios which are optimal for at least one rational agent, in a very general multi-currency financial market model with proportional transaction costs. In our setting, transaction costs may be random, time-dependent, have jumps and the preferences of the agents are modeled by multivariate expected utility functions. We provide a complete characterization of efficient portfolios, generalizing earlier results of Dybvig (Rev Financ Stud 1:67–88, 1988) and Jouini and Kallal (J Econ Theory 66: 178–197, 1995). We basically show that a portfolio is efficient if and only if it is cyclically anticomonotonic with respect to at least one consistent price system that prices it. Finally, we introduce the notion of utility price of a given contingent claim as the minimal amount of a given initial portfolio allowing any agent to reach the claim by trading, and give a dual representation of it as the largest proportion of the market price necessary for all agents to reach the same expected utility level.