Metal contents in tench otoliths: relationships to the aquatic environment

A monitoring of the quality of waters was attempted determining metal accumulation in target organs as otoliths of freshwater fish. Tenchs of age ranging between 2 and 10 years were sampled in three different canals receiving wastewater from industrial, agricultural and urban activities. Metal contents were determined in both lapilli and asterisci otoliths, using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Analytical data are reported for minor metals and for some trace metals. Al, Fe and Zn have contents depending on the environment where the fish has lived, while Na, K, Ca and Sr contents are insensitive to the different aquatic habitat. Considering the two types of otolith separately, lapilli display a different affinity for trace metals (Al, Fe and Zn), while in asterisci this affinity is matched only for zinc. The high affinity of zinc for both types of otoliths suggests using this metal for discriminating the fresh waters by checking its accumulation in otoliths, as well as correlating this accumulation with age of the fish: a negative power curve equation is proposed. Since highest concentrations are found in individuals of 2-3 yr., it is advisable to use this fish for such environmental studies.     

Vibrational Structure of the B—X System of Isotopic Ago Molecules

Spectra of ¹⁰⁷Ag¹⁸O and ¹⁰⁷Ag¹⁶O molecules have been obtained in a low-pressure arc in oxygen atmosphere, and recorded with medium dispersion. Vibrational assignments for the bands of B ²π —X²π system were verified by the study of the oxygen isotope effect, and the vibrational constants were obtained for the states involved in transitions.     

Brane-induced-gravity shock waves

We construct exact gravitational field solutions for a relativistic particle localized on a tensional brane in brane-induced gravity. They are a generalization of gravitational shock waves in 4D de Sitter space. We provide the metrics for both the normal branch and the self-inflating branch Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati brane worlds, and compare them to the 4D Einstein gravity solution and to the case when gravity resides only in the 5D bulk, without any brane-localized curvature terms. At short distances the wave profile looks the same as in four dimensions. The corrections appear only far from the source, where they differ from the long distance corrections in 4D de Sitter space. We also discover a new nonperturbative channel for energy emission into the bulk from the self-inflating [corrected] branch, when gravity is modified at the de Sitter radius.     

Methods and evaluation of frequency aging in distributed-feedback laser diodes for rubidium atomic clocks

Distributed-feedback laser diodes emitting at 780?nm have been evaluated, with respect to the aging of the injection current required for reaching the rubidium D2 resonance line. Results obtained for lasers operating in air and in vacuum for 9 months are reported. When operated at constant temperature, the laser current required for emission at the wavelength of the desired atomic resonance is found to decrease by 50 to 80?μA per month. The impact of this result on the lifetime and long-term performances of laser-pumped rubidium atomic clocks is discussed.     

Diode laser frequency stabilisation for water-vapour differential absorption sensing

We describe a low-power continuous-wave laser system for water-vapour sensing applications in the 935-nm region. The system is based on extended-cavity diode lasers and distributed-feedback lasers and delivers four single-mode frequency-stabilised optical signals. Three lasers are locked to three water-vapour absorption lines of different strengths, whereas the fourth lies outside any absorption line. On-line stabilisation is performed by wavelength-modulation spectroscopy using compact water-vapour reference cells. An offset-locking technique implemented around an electrical filter is applied for the stabilisation of the off-line slave laser to an on-line master laser at a frequency detuning of 18.8 GHz. Stabilities in the order of 15 MHz over one day were observed for the strongest lines, at the detection limit of the measurement instrumentation. The developed techniques and schemes can be applied to other wavelength ranges and molecular species. Differential absorption lidar instrumentation can in particular benefit from such a system when the stabilised lasers serve as injection seeders to pulsed power oscillators. PACS 42.62.Fi; 42.72.-g; 42.68.Wt     

Powers of Hamilton cycles in random graphs and tight Hamilton cycles in random hypergraphs

We show that for every there exists C > 0 such that if then asymptotically almost surely the random graph contains the k^th power of a Hamilton cycle. This determines the threshold for appearance of the square of a Hamilton cycle up to the logarithmic factor, improving a result of Kühn and Osthus. Moreover, our proof provides a randomized quasi‐polynomial algorithm for finding such powers of cycles. Using similar ideas, we also give a randomized quasi‐polynomial algorithm for finding a tight Hamilton cycle in the random k‐uniform hypergraph for . The proofs are based on the absorbing method and follow the strategy of Kühn and Osthus, and Allen et al. The new ingredient is a general Connecting Lemma which allows us to connect tuples of vertices using arbitrary structures at a nearly optimal value of p. Both the Connecting Lemma and its proof, which is based on Janson's inequality and a greedy embedding strategy, might be of independent interest.     

Relationships between structure, retention and biological activity of some Schiff base ligands and their complexes

The lipophilicity of a series of Schiff base ligands and their complexes with nickel(II) and copper(II) has been determined by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography using binary dioxane-water mobile phase. Chelate ligands were prepared by condensation of diamine and the corresponding beta-diketone. Copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes with chelate ligands containing ethane-1,2-diamine or propane-1,2-diamine as the amine part and pentane-2,4-dione and/or 1-phenylbutane-1,3-dione, pentane-2,4-dione and/or 1,1,1-trifluoropentane-2,4-dione, or 1,1,1-trifluoropentane-2,4-dione and/or 1-phenylbutane-1,3-dione as the beta-diketone part were synthesized. Some of investigated compounds were screened for their in vitro antifungal activity against Sacharomyces cerevisiae and antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli. Chromatographically obtained lipophilicity parameters were correlated both with calculated n-octanol-water partition coefficient C log P and antimicrobial activities. Satisfactory correlations were obtained. Chromatographic data proved to be reliable parameters for describing the lipophilic properties of the investigated compounds. Additionally, the principal components analysis was performed on the data chromatographically obtained. This statistical method was useful for distinguishing compounds and objective comparison of their lipophilicity parameters.     

Solvent Effects on the Structure-Activity Relationship of Phenytoin-like Anticonvulsant Drugs

The absorption spectra of nine compounds structurally related to phenytoin (5,5-diphenylhydantoin) were recorded in twelve solvents over the range of 200 to 400 nm. The effects of solvent dipolarity/polarizability and solvent/solute hydrogen bonding interactions were analyzed by means of the linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) concept proposed by Kamlet and Taft. The lipophilic activity of the investigated hydantoins was estimated by calculation of their log ₁₀ P values. The calculated values of log ₁₀ P were correlated with the ratio of the contributions of specific and non-specific solute/solvent interactions. The correlation equations were combined with the corresponding ED₅₀ values to generate new equations that demonstrate exact relationship between solute/solvent interactions and the structure-activity parameters.     

Multiband processing of multimode light: combining 3D photonic lanterns with waveguide Bragg gratings

The first demonstration of narrowband spectral filtering of multimode light on a 3D integrated photonic chip using photonic lanterns and waveguide Bragg gratings is reported. The photonic lanterns with multi‐notch waveguide Bragg gratings were fabricated using the femtosecond direct‐write technique in boro‐aluminosilicate glass (Corning, Eagle 2000). Transmission dips of up to 5 dB were measured in both photonic lanterns and reference single‐mode waveguides with 10.4‐mm‐long gratings. The result demonstrates efficient and symmetrical performance of each of the gratings in the photonic lantern. Such devices will be beneficial to space‐division multiplexed communication systems as well as for units for astronomical instrumentation for suppression of the atmospheric telluric emission from OH lines.