A stochastic control approach to reciprocal diffusion processes

The problem of forcing a nondegenerate diffusion process to a given final configuration is considered. Using the logarithmic transformation approach developed by Fleming, it is shown that the perturbation of the drift suggested by Jamison solves an optimal stochastic control problem. Such perturbation happens to have minimum energy between all controls that bring the diffusion to the desired final distribution. A special property of the change of measure on the path-space that corresponds to the aforesaid perturbation of the drift is also shown.     

Fuel‐Selective Transient Activation of Nanosystems for Signal Generation

The transient activation of function using chemical fuels is common in nature, but much less in synthetic systems. Progress towards the development of systems with a complexity similar to that of natural ones requires chemical fuel selectivity. Here, we show that a self‐assembled nanosystem, composed of monolayer‐protected gold nanoparticles and a fluorogenic peptide, is activated for transient signal generation only in case the chemical fuel matches the recognition site present at the nanoparticle surface. A modification of the recognition site in the nanosystem completely changes the chemical fuel selectivity. When two nanosystems are simultaneously present, the selectivity expressed by the system depends on the concentration of nucleotide added.     

Enzyme based amperometric biosensors

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On configurational inertial forces at a phase interface

The evolution equations for a phase interface are discussed. Interfacial structure is neglected, as are thermal and compositional variations. The focus is on a new treatment of the inertial forces at the interface.     

Modelling hydrological data with and without long memory

The paper focuses on the problem of long-range dependence when analysing time series of hydrological data. Three time series are analysed: the monthly rainfall in the town of Florence, Italy; the daily minimum temperatures in the same town; and, finally, the daily water inflow to Lake Maggiore, Italy. Heuristic methods and maximum likelihood estimation of a parametric model are used to investigate the Hurst phenomena and to detect whether long-range dependence is present in any of the time series. We found that long-range dependence is not present in the first series but it is present in the last two. The daily water inflow to Lake Maggiore was modelled by a fractionally differenced arima model (farima) which contains a long-range dependence component. It is shown that the fit is much better than the one provided by more traditional arima models that do not have such a component.

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Sommario Lo studio considera il problema dell'identificazione dei fenomeni di dipendenza a lungo termine (long range dependence) nelle serie temporali di dati idrologici. Allo scopo sono state analizzate tre serie temporali, rispettivamente quella dei totali mensili di precipitazione rilevati alla stazione dell'Osservatorio Ximeniano de Firenze, quella delle temperature minime giornaliere per la stessa stazione e quella degli afflussi giornalieri al Lago Maggiore. Per identificare la presenza di fenomeni di dipendenza long range, attraverso la valutazione della consistenza del fenomeno di Hurst, sono stati utilizzati sia metodi euristici, sia la stima a massima verosimiglianza di un modello parametrico. Due delle tre serie analizzate sono risultate caratterizzate da tale dipendenza. Per la serie degli afflussi al Lago Maggiore, si è inoltre proceduto alla simulazione attraverso un modello arima a differenziazione frazionaria (farima), la cui struttura contiene una componente long-range. I risultati ottenuti, mostrano che tale modello fornisce risultati significativamente migliori dei tradizionali modelli arima, privi di tale componente.

     

Measure properties of the set of initial data yielding non uniqueness for a class of differential inclusions

We study uniqueness property for the Cauchy problemxV(x), x(0)=, whereVR ⁿR is a locally Lipschitz continuous, quasiconvex function (i.e. the sublevel sets {Vc} are convex) and V(x) is the generalized gradient ofV atx. We prove that if 0V(x) forV(x)b, then the set of initial data {V=b} yielding non uniqueness of solution in a geometric sense has (n–1)-dimensional Hausdorff measure zero in {V=b}.     

Ultrafilter translations

We develop a method for extending results about ultrafilters into a more general setting. In this paper we shall be mainly concerned with applications to cardinality logics. For example, assumingV=L, Gödel's Axiom of Constructibility, we prove that if > then the logic with the quantifier there exist many is (,)-compact if and only if either is weakly compact or is singular of cofinality<. As a corollary, for every infinite cardinals and , there exists a (,)-compact non-(,)-compact logic if and only if either < orcf<cf or < is weakly compact.Counterexamples are given showing that the above statements may fail, ifV=L is not assumed.However, without special assumptions, analogous results are obtained for the stronger notion of [,]-compactness.     

2-Naphthol-phosphatidylethanolamine: A fluorescent phospholipid analogue for excited-state proton transfer studies in membranes

The fluorescence properties of the phospholipid derivative,N-[1-(2-naphthol)]-phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPH-PE), have been studied by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques. The new probe is a naphthol adduct of phosphatidylethanolamine. The emission spectrum of the fluorescent phospholipid depends on the pH and on the proton acceptor concentration as expected for a typical two-state excited-state proton transfer reaction. In ethanol solutions at an apparent pH of 6.7 and in the presence of acetate anion (0.14M), a biexponential decay is obtained from global analysis of the data. The lifetimes, ₁=3.9 ns and ₂=6.2 ns. are constant across the spectral region 350–460 nm. The decay-associated spectra and the species-associated spectra reproduce well the profiles reported for a two-state excited-state proton transfer reaction. The fluorescent phospholipid has been incorporated into dimyristoyllecithin and dipalmitoyllecithin vesicles. Although lower proton transfer is found, the reaction appears to be dependent on the gel-to-liquid-crystalline phase transition of the lipid membrane. In addition, the steady-state anisotropy of NAPH-PE measured as a function of temperature trace the phase transition of the two vesicle systems. Thus, it is shown that the physical state of the bilayer affects a reaction which takes place at the membrane surface. In the presence of acetate ions (0.3M), global analysis, performed in terms of fluorescence decay parameters, recovers preexponential coefficients that are consistent with an excited-state proton transfer reaction. The short lifetime drops from 3.9 to 0.44 ns without significant changes of the longer-lifetime component.     

p-harmonic functions on graphs and manifolds

We show that the LiouvilleD _p -property is invariant under rough isometries between a Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry and a graph of bounded degree. The first author was supported partly by the EU HCM contract No. CHRX-CT92-0071. This article was processed by the author using the Springer-Verlag TEX P Jourlg macro package 1991.