Dynamics of two coupled chaotic systems driven by external signals

Setting-up a controlled or synchronized state in a space-time chaotic structure targeting an unstable periodic orbit is a key feature of many problems in high dimensional physical, electronics, biological and ecological systems (among others). Formerly, we have shown numerically and experimentally that phase synchronization [M.G. Rosenblum, A.S. Pikovsky, J. Kurths, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 4193 (1997)] can be achieved in time dependent hydrodynamic flows [D. Maza, A. Vallone, H.L. Mancini, S. Boccaletti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5567 (2000)]. In that case the flow was generated in a small container with inhomogeneous heating in order to have a single roll structure produced by a Bénard-Marangoni instability [E.L. Koshmieder, Bénard Cells and Taylor Vortices (Cambridge University Press, 1993)]. Phase synchronization was achieved by a small amplitude signal injected at a subharmonic frequency obtained from the measured Fourier temperature spectrum. In this work, we analyze numerically the effects of driving two previously synchronized chaotic oscillators by an external signal. The numerical system represents a convective experiment in a small container with square symmetry, where boundary layer instabilities are coupled by a common flow. This work is an attempt to control this situation and overcome some difficulties to select useful frequency values for the driving force, analyzing the influence of different harmonic injection signals on the synchronization in a system composed by two identical chaotic Takens-Bogdanov equations (TBA and TBB) bidirectionally coupled.     

Entanglement enhanced bit rate over multiple uses of a lossy bosonic channel with memory

We present a study of the achievable rates for classical information transmission via a lossy bosonic channel with memory, using homodyne detection. A comparison with the memoryless case shows that the presence of memory enhances the bit rate if information is encoded in collective states, i.e., states which are entangled over different uses of the channel.     

LC Analysis of Oxytetracycline and Chlortetracycline: Application for In Vitro Bio-Equivalence Study of Veterinary Medicines

A liquid chromatographic method has been applied for the analysis of two antibiotics widely used in the veterinary field, oxytetracycline dihydrate and chlortetracycline hydrochloride in premixes for medicated feeding stuffs for veterinary use. In particular, the validated method was employed to study the releasing profile of each drug from two formulations, a commercially available and a new formulation, having different excipient composition. The dissolution profiles obtained from the chromatographic analysis allowed to verify the in vitro bio-equivalence of the commercial and the new formulations for oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline.     

Halloysite nanotubes/pluronic nanocomposites for waterlogged archeological wood: thermal stability and X-ray microtomography

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Filling a polymer with halloysite nanotubes is considered a promising strategy to generate nanocomposites with tailored physicochemical properties. We...     

Noiseless amplification of images in a confocal cavity

We study the noiseless amplification of an optical image by means of a confocal cavity containing a parametric medium. We demonstrate, in the ideal situation, the possibility of preserving the signal-to-noise ratio while amplifying uniformly the entire image. Some specific effects, which may degrade the performances of the scheme, are taken into account. Received 23 March 2000     

On the first polyarsenic organic compound from nature: arsenicin A from the New Caledonian marine sponge Echinochalina bargibanti

Reported here is the first polyarsenic compound ever found in nature. Denominated arsenicin A, it was isolated along a bioassay-guided fractionation of the organic extract of the poecilosclerid sponge Echinochalina bargibanti collected from the north-eastern coast of New Caledonia. In defining an adamantine-type polyarsenic structure for this compound, deceptively simple NMR spectra were complemented by extensive mass spectral analysis. However, it was only the synthesis of a model compound that provided the basis to discriminate structure 4 from other spectrally compatible structures for arsenicin A; to this end, a comparative ab initio simulation of IR spectra for the natural and the synthetic compounds was decisive. Arsenicin A is endowed with potent bactericidal and fungicidal activities on human pathogenic strains. All this may revive pharmacological interest in arsenic compounds while prompting us to rethink the arsenic cycle in nature.     

Chromo‐Fluorogenic Detection of Nerve‐Agent Mimics Using Triggered Cyclization Reactions in Push–Pull Dyes

A family of azo and stilbene derivatives ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ) are synthesized, and their chromo‐fluorogenic behavior in the presence of nerve‐agent simulants, diethylchlorophosphate (DCP), diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP), and diethylcyanophosphate (DCNP) in acetonitrile and mixed solution of water/acetonitrile (3:1 v/v) buffered at pH 5.6 with MES, is investigated. The prepared compounds contain 2‐(2‐N,N‐dimethylaminophenyl)ethanol or 2‐[(2‐N,N‐dimethylamino)phenoxy]ethanol reactive groups, which are part of the conjugated π‐system of the dyes and are able to give acylation reactions with phosphonate substrates followed by a rapid intramolecular N‐alkylation. The nerve‐agent mimic‐triggered cyclization reaction transforms a dimethylamino group into a quaternary ammonium, inducing a change of the electronic properties of the delocalized systems that results in a hypsochromic shift of the absorption band of the dyes. Similar reactivity studies are also carried out with other “non‐toxic” organophosphorus compounds, but no changes in the UV/Vis spectra were observed. The emission behaviour of the reagents in acetonitrile and water–acetonitrile 3:1 v/v mixtures is also studied in the presence of nerve‐agent simulants and other organophosphorous derivatives. The reactivity between 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 and DCP, DCNP, or DFP in buffered water–acetonitrile 3:1 v/v solutions under pseudo first‐order kinetic conditions, using an excess of the corresponding simulant, are studied in order to determine the rate constants (k) and the half‐life times (t_1/2=ln2/k) for the reaction. The detection limits in water/acetonitrile 3:1 v/v are also determined for 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 and DCP, DCNP, and DFP. Finally, the chromogenic detection of nerve agent simulants both in solution and in gas phase are tested using silica gel containing adsorbed compounds 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , or 5 with fine results.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Gold(III) Complexes of Asymmetrically Aryl‐Substituted 1,2‐Dithiolene Ligands Featuring Potential‐Controlled Spectroscopic Properties

The tetrabutylammonium (TBA⁺) salts of square‐planar monoanionic gold complexes of the unsymmetrically substituted Ar,H‐edt^2? 1,2‐dithiolene ligands (Ar,H‐edt^2?=arylethylene‐1,2‐dithiolato; Ar=phenyl ( 1 ^?), 2‐naphthyl ( 2 ^?), and 1‐pyrenyl ( 3 ^?)) were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic and electrochemical methods and the corresponding neutral species ( 1 , 2 , and 3 , respectively) were obtained in CH₂Cl₂ solution at room temperature by diiodine oxidation. The single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction structural data collected for (TBA⁺)( 2 ^?), supported by DFT theoretical calculations, are consistent with the ene‐1,2‐dithiolate form of the ligand and the Au^III oxidation state. All complexes feature intense near‐IR absorptions (at about 1.5 μm) in their neutral states and Vis‐emitting properties in the 400–550 nm range, the energy of which is controlled by the charge of the complex in the case of the 3 ^?/ 3 couple. The spectroscopic and electrochemical features of 1 ^x? and 2 ^x? (x=0, 1), both in their cis and trans conformations, were investigated by means of DFT and time‐dependent (TD) DFT calculations.     

Chemical composition and phytotoxic effects of essential oils from four Teucrium species

The essential oils of four Teucrium species were studied and 131 components, in all, were identified. All oils were rich in sesquiterpenes (50.0-61.9%). Caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide were the main components of Teucrium arduini; germacrene D, delta-cadinene and gamma-cadinene predominated in Teucrium maghrebinum. Carvacrol and caryophyllene predominated in Teucrium polium ssp. capitatum, while carvacrol, caryophyllene oxide and caryophyllene were the most abundant components in Teucrium montbretii ssp. heliotropiifolium. The germination of radish and garden cress was less sensitive to the four essential oils. The radicle elongation, above all, of radish was significantly inhibited by all oils, in particular by the essential oil of T. arduini, at the highest doses tested. Among the main components of the oils, monoterpenes resulted the more active compounds.