Performance and simulation of an on-board guided-wave optical processor for airborne SAR applications

This paper describes the performance and simulation of a compact integrated optical processor for the real-time reconstruction of two-dimensional images in airborne stripmap synthetic aperture radar applications. The functional behavior of the processor is explained in some detail. The design criteria are briefly given. The simulation step allowed the main processor characteristics and properties to be identified. A number of comparisons were obtained in airborne SAR mission scenarios between the predictions of the optical device and those achieved by the modern electronic digital approach, based on the wavefront reconstruction method by matched filtering.     

Preparation and physical characterization of forms II and III of paracetamol

The polymorphic forms II and III of paracetamol were obtained by melting the marketed form I. Under the melting and cooling conditions used, it was possible to obtain forms I, II and III. The recrystallization conditions and the physical properties of forms II and III were investigated by means of various techniques: thermomicroscopy, DSC analysis, infrared microspectrometry and X-ray powder diffraction at room temperature and as a function of temperature. Form III was found to be very unstable. However, its formation seems to be an important intermediate step in the preparation of form II.     

FT-EPR and HPLC study of the mechanism of 4-chlorophenol photolysis

The mechanism of 4-chlorophenol (4CP) photolysis was investigated with the aid of Fourier Transform Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (FT-EPR) and pulsed-laser photolysis combined with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) detection-of stable (diamagnetic) products. With FT-EPR transient free radicals produced by pulsed-laser excitation of solutions of 4CP in alcohols could be identified. Time profiles of the FT-EPR spectra provided information on reaction kinetics and Chemically Induced Dynamic, Electron Polarization (CIDEP) effects. It was found that 4CP photolysis in alcohols leads to the simultaneous formation of the phenoxyl radical and radicals produced by hydrogen abstraction from the solvent. CIDEP patterns establish that these radicals are formed in a reaction sequence involving a triplet state precursor and radical pair intermediate. Results of earlier transient optical absorption measurements indicate that the triplet precursor must be the carbene 4-oxocyclohexa-2,5-dienylidene. This assignment is supported by the finding that photolysis of quinone diazide in a hydrogen-donating solvent gives the same free radical products as those obtained from 4CP. The formation of the phenoxyl radical intermediate accounts for the finding that photolysis of deoxygenated solutions of 4CP in alcohols gives phenol as stable diamagnetic product. By contrast, photolysis of aerated and deoxygenated aqueous solutions of 4CP produces benzoquinone and hydroquinone as primary products, respectively.     

FexNi100−x nanometric films deposited by laser ablation on SiO2/Si substrates

Fe_xNi_100−x nanometric films were deposited on SiO₂/Si substrates at room temperature using the pulsed laser deposition technique. The targets were Fe-Ni amorphous magnetic foils with composition Fe₅₀Ni₅₀, Fe₃₅Ni₆₅ and Fe₂₂Ni₇₈. Morphological and structural properties of the deposited films were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, and X-ray reflectivity. Electrical and magnetic characteristics of the films were investigated by using the four-point probe and the magneto-optic Kerr effect techniques, respectively. The film properties are strictly dependent on the Fe-Ni compositional ratio.     

Metastable phase in the quantum Hall ferromagnet

Time-dependent capacitance measurements reveal an unstable phase of electrons in gallium arsenide quantum well that occurs when two Landau levels with opposite-spin are brought close to degeneracy by applying a gate voltage. This phase emerges below a critical temperature and displays a peculiar non-equilibrium dynamical evolution. The relaxation dynamics is found to follow a stretched-exponential behaviour and correlates with hysteresis loops observed by sweeping the magnetic field. These experiments indicate that metastable randomly distributed magnetic domains with peculiar excitations are involved in the relaxation process in a way that is equivalently tunable by a change in gate voltage or temperature.     

Decomposition of the Kähler equation

It is shown that the Kähler equation in a four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifold with Lorentzian signature decomposes uniquely into four uncoupled equations of Duffin type.     

Chiral recognition in aqueous solutions. Preferential configurations of α-aminoacids bearing substituted alkyl chains at 25°C

Calorimetric measurements were carried out at 25°C on binary and ternary aqueous solutions containing L and D forms fo the following -aminoacids: tryptophan, cysteine, methionine, phenylalanine, histidine, threonine, and citrulline, which contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. Differences were found between the values of the homochiral and heterochiral pairwise enthalpic interaction coefficients for tryptophan, cysteine, and methionine. To the contrary, chiral recognition was not detected for phenylalanine, histidine, citrulline, and threonine. The data were interpreted in terms of a preferential configuration model. Chiral recognition is detected only when the interactions of the side chains in the homo- and heterochiral configurations are different. Chiral recognition disappears when a competition exists between zwitterion-zwitterion interactions and side chain-side chain interactions. In some cases, such as for citrulline, compensation effects can occur due to thermal contributions from different domains which mask chiral recognition.     

Cohomology of groups with metacyclic Sylow -subgroups

We determine the cohomology algebras for all groups with a metacyclic Sylow -subgroup. The complete -local stable decomposition of the classifying space is also determined.