Communication: Vibrational spectroscopy of atmospherically relevant acid cluster anions: bisulfate versus nitrate core structures

Infrared multiple photon dissociation spectra for the smallest atmospherically relevant anions of sulfuric and nitric acid allow us to characterize structures and distinguish between clusters with a bisulfate or a nitrate core. We find that bisulfate is the main charge carrier for HSO(4)(-)·H(2)SO(4)·HNO(3) but not for NO(3)(-)·H(2)SO(4)·HNO(3). For the mixed dimer anion, we find evidence for the presence of two isomers: HSO(4)(-)·HNO(3) and NO(3)(-)·H(2)SO(4). Density functional calculations accompany the experimental results and provide support for these observations.     

Purity and entanglement of two-photon polarization states generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion

We elucidate the dependence of purity and entanglement of two-photon states generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion on the parameters of the source, such as crystal length, pump beam divergence, frequency bandwidth, and detectors angular aperture. The effect of crystal anisotropy is taken into account. Numerical simulations are presented for two types of commonly used source configurations.     

Controlled Grafting Expansion Microscopy

Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a recently developed technique that allows for the resolution of structures below the diffraction limit by physically enlarging a hydrogel-embedded facsimile of the biological sample. The target structure is labeled and this label must be retained in a relative position true to the original, smaller state before expansion by linking it into the gel. However, gel formation and digestion lead to a significant loss in target-delivered label, resulting in weak signal. To overcome this problem, we have here developed an agent combining targeting, fluorescent labeling and gel linkage in a single small molecule. Similar approaches in the past have still suffered from significant loss of label. Here we show that this loss is due to insufficient surface grafting of fluorophores into the hydrogel and develop a solution by increasing the amount of target-bound monomers. Overall, we obtain a significant improvement in fluorescence signal retention and our new dye allows the resolution of nuclear pores as ring-like structures, similar to STED microscopy. We furthermore provide mechanistic insight into dye retention in ExM.     

Nitroaniline Derivatives of 2-Oxo-1-naphthylideneamines—Molecular Self-Assembling <Emphasis Type="Italic">via</Emphasis> C—H⋯O Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonds and Stabilization of O—H⋯N and N—H⋯O Tautomers in Solution and Solid State

Three Schiff-bases of the Ar—CH—N—Ar type were synthesized from 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and o- (1), m- (2), and p-nitroaniline (3) in order to investigate the shift of the keto-amine/enol-imine tautomeric equilibrium that arises by the introduction of the electron-withdrawal nitro group. The compounds have been investigated experimentally, in the solid state and in the solution, by IR, NMR, UV spectroscopy, and X-ray single crystal analysis, and theoretically by using density functional theory (DFT). The tautomeric equilibrium is strongly shifted towards the keto-amine form despite of the nitro group position at N-phenyl ring in the solid state of molecular structures of 1, 2, and 3 (especially indicated by C—O and C—N bond distances). The keto-amine tautomeric form of the compounds is characterized by a strong, resonance assisted hydrogen bond (RAHB) of the N—H O type (the N O distances are 2.530(8), 2.554(2) and 2.555(5) Å in 1, 2, and 3, respectively). The molecules are assembled in the crystalline state into a 3D HB network (1), centrosymmetrical dimers (2) or infinite chains (3) by the C—H O intermolecular hydrogen bonds. In contrast, UV/VIS spectra of the chloroform solution of the title compounds reveal predominance of the enol-imine form. The molecular geometries and relative stabilities of the compounds determined by using DFT find good agreement with the experimental data.     

Noise-induced amplitude and chirp jitter in dispersion-managed soliton communications

An analytic theory is presented that demonstrates that noise-induced amplitude and quadratic chirp jitter in a dispersion-managed soliton system can impose a fundamental transmission limit. Using a variational method, we show that the nonlinear amplitude and chirp dynamics are well approximated by a two-dimensional random-walk process.     

1 + 1 = 3: Coupling μ-XRD<Superscript>2</Superscript> and DTA New insights in temperature-dependent phase transitions

The article shows how additional information can be obtained from coupling a self constructed DTA-system with a commercially available BRUKER D8 DISCOVER GADDS XRD²-microdiffractometer. The dehydration process of gypsum to anhydrite in the temperature range from room temperature up to 723 K is used as an example. Due to the short measurement times of 10 s for each diffraction pattern the three phase transformations from gypsum to anhydrite (anhydrite II) via the hemihydrate bassanite, a water-free bassanite structure (γ-anhydrite, anhydrite III) were resolved in detail by recording the thermal signal and the diffraction pattern simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first observation of a completely reversible dehydration/rehydration process of the bassanite/γ-anhydrite-structure around 373 K which is studied by coupled XRD and differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements.     

Pyrethroid and Etofenprox Resistance in Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii from Vegetable Farms in Yaoundé, Cameroon: Dynamics,Intensity and Molecular Basis

Previous studies have indicated widespread insecticide resistance in malaria vector populations from Cameroon. However, the intensity of this resistance and underlying mechanisms are poorly known. Therefore, we conducted three cross-sectional resistance surveys between April 2018 and October 2019, using the revised World Health Organization protocol, which includes resistance incidences and intensity assessments. Field-collected Anopheles gambiae s.l. populations from Nkolondom, Nkolbisson and Ekié vegetable farms in the city of Yaoundé were tested with deltamethrin, permethrin, alpha-cypermethrin and etofenprox, using 1× insecticide diagnostic concentrations for resistance incidence, then 5× and 10× concentrations for resistance intensity. Subsamples were analyzed for species identification and the detection of resistance-associated molecular markers using TaqMan® qPCR assays. In Nkolbisson, both An. coluzzii (96%) and An. gambiae s.s. (4%) were found together, whereas only An. gambiae s.s. was present in Nkolondom, and only An. coluzzii was present in Ekié. All three populations were resistant to the four insecticides (<75% mortality rates―MR1×), with intensity generally fluctuating over the time between mod-erate (<98%―MR5×; ≥98%―MR10×) and high (76–97%―MR10×). The kdr L995F, L995S, and N1570Y, and the Ace-1 G280S-resistant alleles were found in An. gambiae from Nkolondom, at 73%, 1%, 16% and 13% frequencies, respectively, whereas only the kdr L995F was found in An. gambiae s.s. from Nkolbisson at a 50% frequency. In An. coluzzii from Nkolbisson and Ekié, we detected only the kdr L995F allele at 65% and 60% frequencies, respectively. Furthermore, expression levels of Cyp6m2, Cyp9k1, and Gste2 metabolic genes were highly upregulated (over fivefold) in Nkolondom and Nkolbisson. Pyrethroid and etofenprox-based vector control interventions may be jeopardized in the prospected areas, due to high resistance intensity, with multiple mechanisms in An. gambiae s.s. and An. coluzzii.     

Experiments on data reduction for optimal domination in networks

We present empirical results on computing optimal dominating sets in networks by means of data reduction through efficient preprocessing rules. Thus, we demonstrate the usefulness of so far only theoretically considered data reduction techniques for practically solving one of the most important network problems in combinatorial optimization.