Broadband light generation by noncollinear parametric downconversion

Broadband light generation is demonstrated by noncollinear spontaneous parametric downconversion with a cw pump laser. By use of a suitable noncollinear phase-matching geometry and a tightly focused pump beam, downconverted signals that feature a bell-shaped spectral distribution with a bandwidth approaching 200 nm are obtained. As an application of the generated broadband light, submicrometer axial resolution in an optical coherence tomography scheme is demonstrated; a free-space resolution down to 0.8 microm was achieved.     

Protein splicing in cis and in trans

Intein-mediated protein splicing is a self-catalytic process in which the intervening intein sequence is removed from a precursor protein and the flanking extein segments are ligated with a native peptide bond. Splice junction proximal residues and internal residues within the intein direct these reactions. The identity of these residues varies in each intein, as groups of related residues populate conserved motifs. Although the basics of the four-step protein splicing pathway are known, mechanistic details are still unknown. Structural and kinetic analyses are beginning to shed some light. Several structures were reported for precursor proteins with mutations in catalytic residues, which stabilize the precursors for crystallographic study. Progress is being made despite limitations inherent in using mutated precursors. However, no uniform mechanism has emerged. Kinetic parameters were determined using conditional trans-splicing (splicing of split precursor fragments after intein reassembly). Several groups concluded that the rate of the initial acyl rearrangement step is rapid and Asn cyclization (step 3) is slow, suggesting that this latter step is rate limiting. Understanding the protein splicing pathway has allowed scientists to harness inteins for numerous applications.     

Fluorescence Enhancement of Carbendazim Fungicide in Cucurbit[6]uril

The potential increase in fluorescence of a benzimidazole-type fungicide (carbendazim) due to complexation with cucurbit[6]uril is reported. The fluorescence of the probe carbendazim in aqueous Na₂SO₄ solution (pH=7.61) at room temperature is found to increase by a maximum factor of ∼10.0 and blue-shifted up to ∼11±1 nm with the increase in cucurbit[6]uril concentration up to ∼5 mM. This fluorescence enhancement is the result of formation of a 1:1 guest-host inclusion complex, in which the guest carbendazim is incorporated inside the hydrophobic cavity of the host curbit[6]uril through the amido-ester part. Such mode of inclusion is supported by NMR spectral measurements, in which upon encapsulation, the resonance of the methyl-protons of the amido-ester moiety is shifted significantly to upfield in the ¹H NMR spectrum. Also, to assess the formation of inclusion complex, solid samples prepared by co-evaporation have been studied, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Measurement of the enhancement as a function of cucurbit[6]uril concentrations yielded a value of the equilibrium constant (K _a ) of 271±10 M⁻¹ at 25°C. From the temperature dependence of the equilibrium constants, ΔH and ΔS values have been negative in sign, indicating the dipole-dipole interactions and the steric factors associated with the formation of this inclusion complex. It might be proposed that the spectral changes due to the inclusion of carbendazim are the result of decrease in the polarity of the surrounded media rather than the loss of carbendazim rotational mobility.     

Structure and luminescence studies of tris(nitrato-O,O′)bis(2,2′-bipyridyl-N,N′)dysprosium(III) complex

The title compound, [Dy(NO₃)₃(bipy)₂], is isostructural with the La, Pr, Nd, Eu and Lu analogues where bipy=2, 2′-bipyridyl. The Dy complex was crystallized in orthorhombic with space group Pbcn. The Dy(III) ion was coordinated with the two bipy ligands and three nitrate anions giving a ten coordination number. Measurements of the molar conductance in ethanol and water solutions indicate that the complex is non-electrolyte. A comparative study of the emission of [Dy(NO₃)₃(bipy)₂] complex with those of the adduct mixture of bipy and Dy at a 1:1 ratio, has been investigated. In the solid state, photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the complex had sharp emission bands corresponding to the ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2 (476.5 and 482 nm), ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2(572.6 and 573.8 nm), ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_11/2 (661.6 nm) and ⁴H_3/2→⁶H_15/2 (961.0 nm) transitions. The hypersensitive peak of the complex has the yellow emission stronger than the blue emission in the solid state as well as in the solution. The complex has a good thermal stability due to the role of π-π interactions stacking.     

Expedient one-pot synthesis of N-aryliminoethers via mild electrophilic activation of secondary amides

Abstract  

The direct transformation of various secondary amides into N-aryliminoethers via mild electrophilic activation with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride in the presence of 2-chloropyridine is described. Low temperature amide activation followed by warming to 0 °C and subsequent treatment with phenols provides the desired products with short overall reaction times and moderate to high reaction yields.     

The nearest point problem in a polyhedral set and its extensions

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the nearest point problem in a polyhedral cone and the nearest point problem in a polyhedral set, and use this relationship to devise an effective method for solving the latter using an existing algorithm for the former. We then show that this approach can be employed to minimize any strictly convex quadratic function over a polyhedral set. Through a computational experiment we evaluate the effectiveness of this approach and show that for a collection of randomly generated instances this approach is more effective than other existing methods for solving these problems.     

Field correlations of annular beams in extremely strong turbulence

The field correlations of annular beams are formulated when the atmosphere assumes extremely strong turbulence. Thicker and larger ring sized annular beams are found to exhibit larger absolute field correlations. For the same transverse distance at the receiver plane, annular beams attain larger field correlations if the transverse distance starts from the receiver origin. Comparisons of the annular beam absolute field correlations in extremely strong turbulence with the no turbulence results show that the absolute field correlation variations follow similar trends, except that the magnitudes of the absolute field correlations are much smaller in extremely strong turbulence and the annular fields become decorrelated at very short transverse distances. When the inner scale of turbulence becomes smaller, the absolute field correlations of the annular beams in extremely strong turbulence become smaller.     

On complementary dual quasi-twisted codes

A linear complementary-dual (LCD) code C is a linear code whose dual code \(C^{\perp }\) satisfies \(C \cap C^{\perp }=\{0\}\). In this work we characterize some classes of LCD q-ary \((\lambda , l)\)-quasi-twisted (QT) codes of length \(n=ml\) with \((m,q)=1\), \(\lambda \in F_{q} \setminus \{0\}\) and \(\lambda \ne \lambda ^{-1}\). We show that every \((\lambda ,l)\)-QT code C of length \(n=ml\) with \(dim(C)<m\) or \(dim(C^{\perp })<m\) is an LCD code. A sufficient condition for r-generator QT codes is provided under which they are LCD. We show that every maximal 1-generator \((\lambda ,l)\)-QT code of length \(n=ml\) with \(l>2\) is either an LCD code or a self-orthogonal code and a sufficient condition for this family of codes is given under which such a code C is LCD. Also it is shown that every maximal 1-generator \((\lambda ,2)\)-QT code is LCD. Several good and optimal LCD QT codes are presented.     

Synthesis and anti‐HIV activity of new 2‐thiolumazine and 2‐thiouracil metal complexes

A series of new Cu(II), Pt(II), VO(II), Fe(II), and Co(II) complexes ( 1‐‐5 ) with 3‐methyl‐6,7‐diphenyllumazine are described. Similarly, complexes from 2‐thiouracil with Cu(II) ( 6,7 ) and Pt(II) ( 8 ) have been prepared and characterized by spectroscopic methods. All the complexes were assayed for their anti‐HIV‐1 and HIV‐2 activity by examination of their inhibition of HIV‐induced cytopathogenicity in MT‐4 cells. Compound 3 was found to be the most active inhibitor against HIV‐2 in cell culture (EC₅₀ = >18.9 μ g/mL, selectivity index (SI) = 3), which provided a good lead for further optimization. Compounds 6 and 7 exhibited some activity (EC₅₀ = >7.12 μ g/mL and >2.23 μ g/mL) against HIV‐1 and HIV‐2, but no selectivity was observed (SI <1). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 22:44–50, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/hc.20654     

Embedding optimization in computational science workflows

Workflows support the automation of scientific processes, providing mechanisms that underpin modern computational science. They facilitate access to remote instruments, databases and parallel and distributed computers. Importantly, they allow software pipelines that perform multiple complex simulations (leveraging distributed platforms), with one simulation driving another. Such an environment is ideal for computational science experiments that require the evaluation of a range of different scenarios “in silico” in an attempt to find ones that optimize a particular outcome. However, in general, existing workflow tools do not incorporate optimization algorithms, and thus whilst users can specify simulation pipelines, they need to invoke the workflow as a stand-alone computation within an external optimization tool. Moreover, many existing workflow engines do not leverage parallel and distributed computers, making them unsuitable for executing computational science simulations. To solve this problem, we have developed a methodology for integrating optimization algorithms directly into workflows. We implement a range of generic actors for an existing workflow system called Kepler, and discuss how they can be combined in flexible ways to support various different design strategies. We illustrate the system by applying it to an existing bio-engineering design problem running on a Grid of distributed clusters.