An example of a -minimal group which is not abelian-by-finite

In 1996 D. Macpherson and C. Steinhorn introduced -minimality as an analogue, for valued fields and some groups with a definable chain of normal subgroups with trivial intersection, of the notion of o-minimality. One of the open questions of that paper was the existence of a non abelian-by-finite -minimal group. We give here the first example of such a group.

     

Gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium exchange of adenine nucleotides

Gas-phase hydrogen/deuterium exchange reactions of (de)protonated (sodiated) adenosine-5'-mono-, di- and triphosphate ions with CD(3)OD, CD(3)CO(2)D and ND(3) were achieved using a combination of electrospray ionization and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The reaction kinetics are dependent on factors such as the charge state, the phosphate chain length, the properties of the exchange reactants and the sodium content. The results indicate that the overall H/D exchange may involve specific sites even if endowed with high energetic barriers. The enhanced reactivity exhibited by adenosine polyphosphate ions compared with adenosine-5'-monophosphate suggests a critical role of the polyphosphate chain in rendering conformationally accessible remote H-donor sites. Low-energy collision-induced dissociation of (sodiated) adenine nucleotides anions supports the aptitude of the (poly)phosphate chain in probing distant sites via the intermediacy of a cyclic structure.     

A survey of product form queueing networks with blocking and their equivalences

Queueing network models have been extensively used to represent and analyze resource sharing systems, such as production, communication and information systems. Queueing networks with blocking are used to represent systems with finite capacity resources and with resource constraints. Different blocking mechanisms have been defined and analyzed in the literature to represent distinct behaviors of real systems with limited resources. Exact product form solutions of queueing networks with blocking have been derived, under special constraints, for different blocking mechanisms. In this paper we present a survey of product form solutions of queueing networks with blocking and equivalence properties among different blocking network models. By using such equivalences we can extend product form solutions to queueing network models with different blocking mechanisms. The equivalence properties include relationships between open and closed product form queueing networks with different blocking mechanisms.This work has been partially supported by CNR Project Research Funds Progetto Finalizzato Sistemi Informatici e Calcolo Parallelo and by MURST Project Research Funds Performability hw/sw di sistemi distribuiti e paralleli.     

Post-adiabatic approach to atomic and molecular processes: The van der Waals interactions of some open shell systems

Summary Various properties of post-adiabatic representations of multichannel Schrödinger equations are described in the general context of adiabatic and classical path approximations as used in atomic and molecular physics. The van der Waals interactions of fluorine, chlorine, and oxygen atoms with rare gases, hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen halides are considered: it is found that in some of these systems, the first-order post-adiabatic scheme exhibits a smaller coupling than the adiabatic representation, thus providing an appropriate choice of the basis functions for a decoupling approximation.     

Electrochemical Organic Synthesis of Electron-Rich Biaryl Scaffolds: An Update

Biaryl scaffolds are widely spread in biologically important natural products, in numerous therapeutic agents, but they are also considered a privileged class of ligands and (organo)catalysts; therefore, the development of efficient alternative methodologies to prepare such compounds is always attracting much attention. The present review discusses the organic electrosynthesis of biaryls starting from phenols, anilines, naphthols, and naphthylamines. The most significant examples of the works reported in the last decade are presented and classified according to the single class of molecules: after the introduction, the first three sections relate to the reactions of phenols, naphthols, and anilines, respectively; the other two sections refer to cross-coupling and miscellaneous reactions.     

Diffuse optical harmonic generation in SiC nanopowder films: hunting scattered photons

Second- and third-harmonic generation in polymer films doped with silicon carbide nanopowders is experimentally studied in the regime of weak scattering, with the size of nanoparticles a, the elastic scattering length l, the radiation wavelength , and the film thickness L meeting the relations alL. The strong wavelength dependence of diffuse second- and third-harmonic generation observed under these conditions indicates a significant role of scattering effects in nonlinear optical interactions in nanopowder materials, which allows diffuse harmonic generation to be controlled by varying the ratio of the characteristic size of the nanoparticles to the wavelength of the pump radiation. The contribution of scattering-delayed pump photons to diffuse third-harmonic generation in a SiC nanopowder film is visualized by measuring the third-harmonic intensity as a function of the delay time between two pump pulses. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.25.Dd; 61.46.+w