Arresting wave collapse by wave self-rectification

We put forward a mechanism for tailoring, and even arresting, the collapse of wave packets in nonlinear media, whose dynamics is governed by nonlocal two-dimensional nonlinear Schr?dinger-like equations. The key ingredient of the scheme is the self-generation of nonlocal nonlinearities mediated by wave rectification.     

Stable vortex tori in the three-dimensional cubic-quintic Ginzburg-Landau equation

We demonstrate the existence of stable toroidal dissipative solitons with the inner phase field in the form of rotating spirals, corresponding to vorticity S=0, 1, and 2, in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity. The stable solitons easily self-trap from pulses with embedded vorticity. The stability is corroborated by accurate computation of growth rates for perturbation eigenmodes. The results provide the first example of stable vortex tori in a 3D dissipative medium, as well as the first example of higher-order tori (with S=2) in any nonlinear medium. It is found that all stable vortical solitons coexist in a large domain of the parameter space; in smaller regions, there coexist stable solitons with either S=0 and S=1, or S=1 and S=2.     

Identification of a set of genes showing regionally enriched expression in the mouse brain

Background

We have recorded responses from single neurons in murine visual cortex to determine the effectiveness of the input from the two murine cone photoreceptor mechanisms and whether there is any unique selectivity for cone inputs at this higher region of the visual system that would support the possibility of colour vision in mice. Each eye was stimulated by diffuse light, either 370 (strong stimulus for the ultra-violet (UV) cone opsin) or 505 nm (exclusively stimulating the middle wavelength sensitive (M) cone opsin), obtained from light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the presence of a strong adapting light that suppressed the responses of rods.

Results

Single cells responded to these diffuse stimuli in all areas of striate cortex. Two types of responsive cells were encountered. One type (135/323 – 42%) had little to no spontaneous activity and responded at either the on and/or the off phase of the light stimulus with a few impulses often of relatively large amplitude. A second type (166/323 – 51%) had spontaneous activity and responded tonically to light stimuli with impulses often of small amplitude. Most of the cells responded similarly to both spectral stimuli. A few (18/323 – 6%) responded strongly or exclusively to one or the other spectral stimulus and rarely in a spectrally opponent manner.

Conclusion

Most cells in murine striate cortex receive excitatory inputs from both UV- and M-cones. A small fraction shows either strong selectivity for one or the other cone mechanism and occasionally cone opponent responses. Cells that could underlie chromatic contrast detection are present but extremely rare in murine striate cortex.     

Spinning solitons in cubic-quintic nonlinear media

We review recent theoretical results concerning the existence, stability and unique features of families of bright vortex solitons (doughnuts, or ‘spinning’ solitons) in both conservative and dissipative cubic-quintic nonlinear media.     

Stable spinning optical solitons in three dimensions

We introduce spatiotemporal spinning solitons (vortex tori) of the three-dimensional nonlinear Schr?dinger equation with focusing cubic and defocusing quintic nonlinearities. The first ever found completely stable spatiotemporal vortex solitons are demonstrated. A general conclusion is that stable spinning solitons are possible as a result of competition between focusing and defocusing nonlinearities.     

Effect of substrate temperature on electrical and magnetic properties of epitaxial La1−x Pb x MnO3 films

Epitaxial La_1−x Pb _x MnO₃ (LPMO) thin films, grown on (100) SrTiO₃ substrates by laser ablation technique at different temperatures between 600 and 850°C, have been characterized for electrical and magnetic properties. The temperature dependence of resistivity showed that the metal-insulator transition temperature (T _MI) decreases with increasing substrate temperature, which has been attributed to decrease in Pb content in the filsm. The YBa₂Cu₃O _x /La_1−x MnO₃ heterostructures, exhibiting both superconductivity and ferromagnetism, have been fabricated.