Bright‐Dark Rogue Waves

During the last two decades, revealing mechanisms of origin waves with anomalous amplitude (rogue waves) have been in the focus of researchers from different fields ranging from oceanography to laser physics. Mode‐locked lasers, as a test bed system, provide a unique opportunity to collect more data on rogue waves in the form of random pulses (soliton rain) and to clarify the mechanisms of rogue‐wave emergence caused by soliton–soliton and soliton–dispersive wave interactions. Here, for the first time, for an Er‐doped mode‐locked laser, a new type of vector rogue waves is demonstrated experimentally and theoretically, which is driven by desynchronization of the orthogonal linear states of polarization, so leading to output power oscillations in the form of anomalous spikes‐dips (bright‐dark rogue waves). The results can pave the way to unlocking the universal nature of the origin of rogue waves and thus can be of interest to the broad scientific community.     

Tuning protonation states of tripelennamine antihistamines by cucurbit[7]uril

The formation of host–guest complexes of cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) with the antihistamine drug tripelennamine (TRP) was studied by optical and NMR spectroscopy. The experimental and computational results are consistent with inclusion of a single TRP molecule in CB7. Addition of CB7 has tuned drug protonation states associated with (de)protonation of the ethyldimethylammonium and exocyclic nitrogens with an increase in the associated pK_a values by 1.5 and 2.5 units, respectively. The incorporation of antihistamines drugs such as TRP in cucurbiturils could be utilized for switching their capability for selective binding to histamine H₁‐receptors, in the future. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microwave photonic crystal on the slot transmission line with a ferroelectric film

A microwave electrically tunable photonic crystal based on a periodically width-modulated slot transmission line with a ferroelectric film is investigated for the first time. The dispersion and transmission characteristics of electromagnetic waves propagating in such a structure are calculated. The electric control over photonic crystal characteristics is simulated.     

Chitosan loaded with silver nanoparticles,CS‐AgNPs,using thymus syriacus,wild mint,and rosemary essential oil extracts as reducing and capping agents

The present study describes the green method for the preparation of chitosan loaded with silver nanoparticles (CS‐AgNPs) in the presence of 3 different extracted essential oils. The essential oils play dual roles as reductant and capping agents. The reducing power and DPPH (2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl) assay for the 3 essential oils—Thymus syriacus (T), wild mint (M), and rosemary (R)—have been reported. The preparation of CS‐AgNPs was performed by 2 steps. The 3 previously extracted essential oils have been used as reducing and capping agent in the first step, while in the second step, silver nanoparticles were integrated in chitosan. The integration of AgNPs in the structure of chitosan was confirmed by ultraviolet‐visible, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy techniques, and energy dispersive X‐ray. Surface plasmon resonance confirmed the formation of CS‐AgNPs with maximum absorbance at λ_max between 405 ‐ 410 and 410 ‐ 430 nm for colloidal and films of CS‐AgNPs, respectively. The intensity of bands at 3408 cm^?1 in the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements was decreased substantially and shifted slightly to lower frequency (?υ = 43 cm^?1). Scanning electron microscopy shows a spherical morphology of AgNPs with size of 62 nm for both colloidal and film samples, and energy dispersive X‐ray analysis shows peaks confirming AgNPs formation.     

1H and 13C NMR Determination of the Enantiomeric Purity of Substituted 4-Amino-3- (thien-2-Yl)-Butyric Acids and 4-Amino-3-(Benzo[b]Furan-2-yl)-Butyric Acids,Ligands of the GabaB Receptor.

The enantiomeric composition and absolute configuration of 4-Amino-3-(benzo[b]furan-2-yl)-Butanoic Acids and of 4-Amino-3-(thien-2-yl)-Butanoic Acids 1 may be accurately determined by ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the corresponding derivatives 3 prepared by reaction with chiral reagents. Correlation with HPLC is signaled.     

Cloaked near-field scanning optical microscope tip for noninvasive near-field imaging

Near-field imaging is a well-established technique in biomedical measurements, since closer to the detail of interest it is possible to resolve subwavelength details otherwise unresolved by regular lenses. A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) tip may indeed overcome the resolution limits of far-field optics, but its proximity inherently perturbs the measurement. Here, we apply the recent concept of a "cloaked sensor" to an NSOM device in collection mode, showing theoretically how a proper plasmonic cover applied to an NSOM tip may drastically improve its overall measurement capabilities.     

Deployable cryogenic cross-dispersing unit for simultaneous zJHK spectroscopy

Optical Review - A modular cryogenic cross-disperser MOBIUS for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) is being developed to produce a simultaneous zJHK spectrum with a single LUCI, the LBT Utility...     

Identification of wild collected mosquito vectors of diseases using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry in Jazan Province,Saudi Arabia

Thirty‐three species of mosquitoes have been reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Several of these mosquitoes, Anopheles gambiae Giles s.l., Anopheles stephensi Liston, Culex pipiens Linnaeus, Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles, Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus) and Aedimorphus vexans arabiensis (Patton) are known vectors of human and animal diseases. In this study, the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of eight mosquito species using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry were analyzed. Wild collected fourth‐instar larvae were reared, and single, newly emerged, unfed adult females were used for the analysis. A total of 146–160 peaks were detected from the cuticular extracts by gas chromatography. Repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey HSD Post Hoc test was used to test for quantitative differences in relative hydrocarbon quantity. In addition, a linear regression model was applied using Enter method to determine the diagnostic peaks for the eight mosquito specimens. The ANOVA test indicated that relative peaks were significant (P < 0.05) when selected pairs of peaks were compared. Also, seven compounds showed qualitative differences among the five mosquito vectors tested. The classes of constituents present were n‐alkanes, monomethylalkanes, dimethylalkanes, trimethylalkanes, alkenes, branched aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes and esters. These compounds have a carbon chain length ranging from 8 to 18 carbons. The most abundant compound in all adult mosquito specimens was n‐hexylacrylate [retention time (RT) 6.73 min], which was not detected in Cx. pipiens. In Cx. pipiens, the most abundant peak was benzaldehyde (RT 2.98 min). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is a suitable method to identify adult mosquitoes, especially from focal areas of public health concern such as Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia. This method allows a wide range of adult collected material to be identified with high accuracy. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regiospecific Phenyl Esterification to Some Organic Acids Catalyzed by Combined Lewis Acids

A new and efficient method for the preparation of various phenyl esters has been achieved by a simple reaction of an acid with phenol in the presence of anhyd. ZnCl₂ and a catalytic amount of AlCl₃. This combined Lewis acid also catalyzes the selective phenyl esterification to different dioic acids and is very simple and high yielding.     

Modelling interaction between ammonia and nitric oxide molecules and aquaporins

Aquaporin is a family of small membrane-proteins that are capable of transporting nano-sized materials. In the present paper, we investigate the structure of these channels and provide information about the mechanism of individual molecules being encapsulated into aquaglyceroporin (GlpF) and aquaporin-1 (AQP1) channels by calculating the potential energy. In particular, we presents a mathematical model to determine the total potential energy for the interaction of the ammonia and nitric oxide molecules and different aquaporin channels which we assume to have a symmetrical cylindrical structure. We propose to describe these interactions in two steps. Firstly, we model the nitrogen atom as a discrete point and secondly, we model the three hydrogen atoms on the surface of a sphere of a certain radius. Then, we find the total potential energy by summing these interactions. Next, by considering the nitric oxide molecule as two discrete atoms uniformly distributed interacting with GlpF and AQP1 channels then gathering all pairs of interaction to determine the potential energy. Our results show that the ammonia and nitric oxide molecules can be encapsulated into both GlpF and AQP1 channels.