Temporal and spectral responses of a softening Duffing oscillator undergoing route-to-chaos

Because nonlinear responses are oftentimes transient and consist of complex amplitude and frequency modulations, linearization would inevitably obscure the temporal transition attributable to the nonlinear terms, thus also making all inherent nonlinear effects inconspicuous. It is shown that linearization of a softening Duffing oscillator underestimates the variation of the frequency response, thereby concealing the underlying evolution from bifurcation to chaos. In addition, Fourier analysis falls short of capturing the time evolution of the route-to-chaos and also misinterprets the corresponding response with fictitious frequencies. Instantaneous frequency along with the empirical mode decomposition is adopted to unravel the multi-components that underlie the bifurcation-to-chaos transition, while retaining the physical features of each component. Through considering time and frequency responses simultaneously, a better understanding of the particular Duffing oscillator is achieved.     

A novel tunable optical oscillator for broadband signals

A tunable optical oscillator that generates signals at the micro- to millimeter-wave band for wireless communication applications is suggested. It uses directly modulated semiconductor lasers, in which sideband modes and four-wave mixing (FWM) conjugate modes are injection locked by the simple control of the applied modulation power. The signals at 15 GHz with phase noise of below ?95 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 100 kHz were experimentally obtained. The frequency of the generated signal is tunable, and the maximum achievable signal frequency is limited mainly by the bandwidth of the receiver.     

Hydrogen permeation characteristics of rolled V85Al10Co5 alloys

Thin sheets of V₈₅Al₁₀Co₅ alloy were produced by a thermo-mechanical treatment consisting in successive hot rolling, cold rolling steps and annealing treatment at high temperature followed by either air cooling or water quenching. Though the values of hydrogen permeability measured for these sheets were significantly reduced as a consequence of the rolling process, the annealing treatment restored almost the hydrogen permeation properties to those of the alloy in the cast condition. EBSD analyses suggested that the post-annealing treatment performed at 1100 °C for 3 min after cold rolling induced a recrystallization of the grains resulting in a preferred orientation along the {002} planes. For the sample annealed and water quenched, the value of the hydrogen flux reached about 45 ml/cm².min, which is more than twice the value of the flux obtained for thin foils of Pd alloys tested under identical conditions.     

Latrophilin-2 is a novel receptor of LRG1 that rescues vascular and neurological abnormalities and restores diabetic erectile function

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by inappropriate hyperglycemia, which causes endothelial dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy, ultimately leading to multiple complications. One prevalent complication is diabetic erectile dysfunction (ED), which is more severe and more resistant to treatment than nondiabetic ED. The serum glycoprotein leucine-rich ɑ-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) is a modulator of TGF-β-mediated angiogenesis and has been proposed as a biomarker for a variety of diseases, including DM. Here, we found that the adhesion GPCR latrophilin-2 (LPHN2) is a TGF-β-independent receptor of LRG1. By interacting with LPHN2, LRG1 promotes both angiogenic and neurotrophic processes in mouse tissue explants under hyperglycemic conditions. Preclinical studies in a diabetic ED mouse model showed that LRG1 administration into the penile tissue, which exhibits significantly increased LPHN2 expression, fully restores erectile function by rescuing vascular and neurological abnormalities. Further investigations revealed that PI3K, AKT, and NF-κB p65 constitute the key intracellular signaling pathway of the LRG1/LPHN2 axis, providing important mechanistic insights into LRG1-mediated angiogenesis and nerve regeneration in DM. Our findings suggest that LRG1 can be a potential new therapeutic option for treating aberrant peripheral blood vessels and neuropathy associated with diabetic complications, such as diabetic ED.Subject terms: Biological therapy, Cytokines, Recombinant protein therapy, Extracellular signalling molecules     

Suppression of secondary PL emission by indirect photoexcitation

A blend of a newly synthesized polyfluorene(PDHBF) and polyvinylcarbazole(PVK) exhibits a photoluminescence(PL) emission spectrum of PDHBF without an increase in the PL intensity on photoexcitation at 340 nm, the UV-visible absorption maximum of PVK, despite of a substantial spectrum overlap. However, the indirect photoexcitation of the blend suppresses the secondary emission of the PL with the maximum at 520 nm. The chromophores generating the secondary emission are formed when the chromophores are photoexcited above the critical energy level of an excited state. The chromophores formed by the energy transfer have energy lower than the critical energy and fail to form the excimers. A low temperature PL study of the blend in a cryogenic chamber proves that the energy transfer in the system takes place mainly between the excimers of PVK generated by the partially eclipsed dimeric states of two carbazole units and the fluorophores of PDHBF.     

Generalized Killing Ricci tensor for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric

First we introduce a new notion of generalized Killing Ricci tensor which is equivalent to the notion of cyclic parallel Ricci tensor for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$. Next, in terms of $\mathfrak{A}$-principal or $\mathfrak{A}$-isotropic unit normal vector fields we give a complete classification of real hypersurfaces in $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$ with cyclic parallel Ricci tensor.     

A Useful Poly(ethylene oxide)‐poly(propylene oxide)‐poly(ethylene oxide) Triblock Crosslinker in a Diffusion‐Controlled Polymerization Method

Monodisperse micron‐sized polystyrene particles crosslinked with a novel poly(ethylene oxide)‐poly(propylene oxide)‐poly(ethylene oxide) triblock diol diacrylate (t‐BDDA) were produced via simple dispersion polymerization. It was established that the monomer‐diffusible surface characteristics of primary particles played a decisive role in producing the monodisperse crosslinked polymer particles. We named this concept a diffusion‐controlled polymerization method, DPM. Here in this study, particularly, t‐BDDA is proposed as a very useful crosslinker capable of self‐assembling and crosslinking in the process of particle formation and particle growth.     

Impact of microcellular plastics on industrial practice and academic research

Microcellular plastics (MCP) refer to any plastic with tiny bubbles of less than about 50 microns. It is made by subjecting polymers with a large amount of dissolved gas to a thermodynamic instability so as to nucleate a large number of cells instantaneously. MCP has been extruded and injection molded to make various industrial products. The fundamental theory for design of MCP and the processing methods are reviewed. It also discusses the design of equipment, including the die or mold, for MCP processing. The performance of MCP and the advantages of using MCP are presented. Some of industrial applications are also highlighted.     

Cyclic semiparallel Ricci tensor for harmonic curvature in the complex quadric

We introduce the notion of harmonic curvature for real hypersurfaces in the complex quadric $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$. First, we prove that the unit normal vector field N on real hypersurfaces in $Q^m$ with harmonic curvature is singular, that is, $\mathfrak{A}$-principal or $\mathfrak{A}$-isotropic. Next by using a new notion of cyclic semiparallel Ricci tensor, we give a new result on real hypersurfaces with harmonic curvature and constant mean curvature in $Q^m=S{O}_{m+2}/S{O}_{m}S{O}_2$.