Functional rearrangement of 3-Cl or 3,3-diCl-γ-lactams bearing a secondary 1-chloroalkyl substituent at C-4

The study of the reaction with MeONa/MeOH of chlorinated γ-lactams, prepared from the atom transfer radical cyclization of N-allyl-α-perchloroamides, has been extended to the case of substrates carrying an exo halogen atom on a branched carbon. Only with secondary exo C-Cl groups, that are not located on a fused ring, does the functional rearrangement follow the typical transformation route, which with trichloro-lactams can proceed further to give 4-alkylidene derivatives. From a practical point of view, the outcome of the reaction with di- or trichloro N-cinnamylamides is synthetically valuable, affording the 5-methoxy-1H-pyrrol-2(5H)-one or 3-benzylidenepyrrolidine-2,5-dione, respectively, in good to excellent yield.     

Localization of Bose-Einstein condensates in optical lattices

The dynamics of repulsive bosons condensed in an optical lattice is effectively described by the Bose-Hubbard model. The classical limit of this model, reproduces the dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates, in a periodic potential, and in the superfluid regime. Such dynamics is governed by a discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Several papers, addressing the study of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger dynamics, have predicted the spontaneous generation of (classical) breathers in coupled condensates. In the present contribute, we shall focus on localized solutions (quantum breathers) of the full Bose-Hubbard model. We will show that solutions exponentially localized in space and periodic in time exist also in absence of randomness. Thus, this kind of states, reproduce a novel quantum localization phenomenon due to the interplay between bounded energy spectrum and non-linearity.     

A decentralized kinematic control architecture for collaborative and cooperative multi-arm systems

In this paper a two-layer decentralized framework for kinematic control of cooperative and collaborative multi-robot systems is developed. The motion of the system is specified at the workpiece level, by adopting a task-oriented formulation for cooperative tasks. The first layer computes the motion of the single arms in the system. In detail, the control unit of each robot computes the end-effector motion references in a decentralized fashion on the basis of the knowledge of the assigned cooperative task and the motion references computed by its neighbors. Then, in the second layer, each control unit computes the reference joint motion of the corresponding manipulator from the end-effector reference motion. The approach is, then, tested in simulation on a work-cell composed by several manipulators, and experimentally on a dual-arm kinematically redundant work-cell composed by industrial manipulators.     

On the motion of a phase interface by surface diffusion

Mullins, in a series of papers, developed a surface dynamics for phase interfaces whose evolution is controlled by mass diffusion within the interface. It is our purpose here to embed Mullins's theory within a general framework based on balance laws for mass and capillary forces in conjunction with a version of the second law, appropriate to a purely mechanical theory, which asserts that the rate at which the free energy increases cannot be greater than the energy inflow plus the power supplied. We develop an appropriate constitutive theory, and deduce general and approximate equations for the evolution of the interface.

---

Sommario Mullins, in una serie di articoli inerenti la morfologia delle superfici di interfaccia tra fasi, ha sviluppato una dinamica delle superfici la cui evoluzione è governata dal fenomeno di diffusione di massa all'interno dell'interfaccia. Scopo di questo articolo è inscrire la teoria di Mullins in uno schema più generale basato su leggi di bilancio della massa e delle azioni capillari nonchè su una formulazione puramente meccanica del secondo principio della termodinamica, asserente ehe l'incremento di energia libera non possa essere superiore al flusso di energia ed alla potenza fornite all'interfaccia. Viene successivamente sviluppata una appropriata teoria costitutiva, e vengono dedotte le equazioni di evoluzione sia in forma generale che approssimata.

     

A version of Stöber synthesis enabling the facile prediction of silica nanospheres size for the fabrication of opal photonic crystals

A sol-gel synthesis procedure based on the method proposed by Stöber et al. (J Colloid Interface Sci 26:302–315, 1968) has been adopted for the one-step preparation of mono-dispersed silica nanospheres. An excellent control of the particle diameter over a wide range is obtained by varying the amount of silicon alkoxide only, while the concentration of all other components is kept fixed: this allows the fabrication of artificial opals with a finely tuned and precisely predictable lattice parameter.     

Expeditious synthesis of β-cycloacetalic sulfoxides. Introducing 1-phenylsulfinyl-2-phenylsulfanylethylene (SOSE), a promising new alkenylsulfur reagent

In similarity with the strongly electrophilic BPSEs and despite its more electron-rich character, 1-phenylsulfinyl-2-phenylsulfanylethylene (SOSE) reacts with nucleophiles with displacement of the phenylthio moiety. Specifically it reacts with diols under basic conditions to produce β-cycloacetalic sulfoxides. The reaction has been amply developed in carbohydrate chemistry.     

SVD-Based Techniques for Zero-Padded Block Transmission Over Fading Channels

In this paper, the performance of filter bank transceivers in the presence of a dispersive time-variant channel is investigated. It is well known that filter bank transceivers can be adapted to the channel transfer function to yield intersymbol interference (ISI) cancellation. When the channel is time variant, several problems arise, since the transceiver should be changed whenever the channel evolves. In this paper, we will allow both the transmitter and the receiver to change and satisfy the interference-free condition, under the assumption of a zero-padded block transmission. In this case, the optimum transmitter-receiver pair can be computed by using a singular value decomposition (SVD) of the channel matrix. A fast receiver adaptation based on SVD tracking is presented. Simulation results show that minimum performance loss with respect to the optimum receiver can be achieved for our reduced complexity receiver     

Spectrophotometric determination of advanced products of non-enzymatic glycosylation of lysine by means of their reaction with diazonium salts

A typical product (glycosyl lysine) formed by reaction of lysine with glyceraldehyde is measured at 490 nm after coupling with diazotized sulfanilic acid. Reaction with 4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde was less satisfactory.