Fluorogenic ferrocenyl Schiff base for Zn2+ and Cd2+ detection

Research on Chemical Intermediates - A novel sensor based on acetylferrocene-containing Schiff base (ASB) was synthesized by reaction of α-chloroacetylferrocene and...     

Organometallic chiral Schiff base for enantio-selective fluorescent recognition of methionine

Herein, the synthesis and characterization of a novel chiral Schiff bases derived from ferrocene, coded as 3, have been reported. The sensing behavior of the synthesized compound has been examined towards the enantiomers of some amino acids (methionine, alanine, serine, histidine, and threonine) by spectrofluorimetric method. The fluorescence response of compound 3 showed noticeable enhancement upon addition of d-methionine compared to l-methionine and kept nearly linear correlation with the concentration of d-methionine. The value of enantiomeric fluorescence difference ratio (ef) has been determined to be 1.54 when d - and l- methionine amount is 100 times more than compound 3. The results showed that the compound 3 can be used as a sensor for enantio-selective recognition of d-methionine.     

Sequential Linear-Quadratic Method for Differential Games with Air Combat Applications

We present a numerical method for computing a local Nash (saddle-point) solution to a zero-sum differential game for a nonlinear system. Given a solution estimate to the game, we define a subproblem, which is obtained from the original problem by linearizing its system dynamics around the solution estimate and expanding its payoff function to quadratic terms around the same solution estimate. We then apply the standard Riccati equation method to the linear-quadratic subproblem and compute its saddle solution. We then update the current solution estimate by adding the computed saddle solution of the subproblem multiplied by a small positive constant (a step size) to the current solution estimate for the original game. We repeat this process and successively generate better solution estimates. Our applications of this sequential method to air combat simulations demonstrate experimentally that the solution estimates converge to a local Nash (saddle) solution of the original game.     

Ultra wide-field lens-free monitoring of cells on-chip

We experimentally and theoretically demonstrate the proof-of-principle of a new lens-free cell monitoring platform that involves using an opto-electronic sensor array to record the shadow image of cells onto the sensor plane. This technology can monitor/count cells over a field-of-view that is more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of a conventional light microscope. Furthermore, it does not require any mechanical scanning or optical elements, such as microscope objectives or lenses. We also show that this optical approach can conveniently be combined with microfluidic channels, enabling parallel on-chip monitoring of various different cell types, e.g., blood cells, NIH-3T3 fibroblasts, murine embryonic stem cells, AML-12 hepatocytes. An important application of this approach could be a miniaturized point-of-care technology to obtain CD4 T lymphocyte counts of HIV infected patients in resource limited settings.     

Superfluid density in a highly underdoped YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+y} superconductor

The superfluid density rho_{s}(T) identical with1/lambda;{2}(T) has been measured at 2.64 GHz in highly underdoped YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+y}, at 37 dopings with T_{c} between 3 and 17 K. Within limits set by the transition width DeltaT_{c} approximately 0.4 K, rho_{s}(T) shows no evidence of critical fluctuations as T-->T_{c}, with a mean-field-like transition and no indication of vortex unbinding. Instead, we propose that rho_{s} displays the behavior expected for a quantum phase transition in the (3+1)-dimensional XY universality class, with rho_{s0} proportional, variant(p-p_{c}), T_{c} proportional, variant(p-p_{c});{1/2}, and rho_{s}(T) proportional, variant(T_{c}-T);{1} as T-->T_{c}.     

Performance of interventions with manipulator-driven real-time MR guidance: implementation and initial in vitro tests

The purpose of this work was to implement and assess the performance of interventions inside a cylindrical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner with an MR-compatible manipulator system and manipulator-driven real-time MR guidance. The interventional system is based on a seven degree-of-freedom MR-compatible manipulator, which offers man-in-the-loop control either with a graphical user interface or with a master/slave device. The position and the orientation of the interventional tool are sent to an MR scanner for a manipulator-driven dynamic update of the imaging plane to track, visualize and guide the motion of an end-effector. Studies on phantoms were performed with a cylindrical 1.5-T scanner using an operator-managed triggered gradient-recalled echo (GRE) or a computer-managed dynamic True Fast Imaging with Steady Precession (TrueFISP). Targets were acquired with an accuracy of 3.2 mm and with an in-plane path orientation of 2.5 degrees relative to the prescribed one. Path planning, including negotiation of obstacles and needle bending, was successfully performed. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of TrueFISP was 25.3+/-2.1 when the manipulator was idle and was 18.6+/-2.4 during its operation. The SNR of triggered GRE (acquired only when the manipulator was idle) was 61.3+/-1.8. In conclusion, this study shows the feasibility of performing manually directed interventions inside cylindrical MR scanners with real-time MRI.     

From the LHC to future colliders

Discoveries at the LHC will soon set the physics agenda for future colliders. This report of a CERN Theory Institute includes the summaries of Working Groups that reviewed the physics goals and prospects of LHC running with 10 to 300 fb^?1 of integrated luminosity, of the proposed sLHC luminosity upgrade, of the ILC, of CLIC, of the LHeC and of a muon collider. The four Working Groups considered possible scenarios for the first 10 fb^?1 of data at the LHC in which (i) a state with properties that are compatible with a Higgs boson is discovered, (ii) no such state is discovered either because the Higgs properties are such that it is difficult to detect or because no Higgs boson exists, (iii) a missing-energy signal beyond the Standard Model is discovered as in some supersymmetric models, and (iv) some other exotic signature of new physics is discovered. In the contexts of these scenarios, the Working Groups reviewed the capabilities of the future colliders to study in more detail whatever new physics may be discovered by the LHC. Their reports provide the particle physics community with some tools for reviewing the scientific priorities for future colliders after the LHC produces its first harvest of new physics from multi-TeV collisions.