Control of dynamical instability in semiconductor quantum nanostructures diode lasers: role of phase-amplitude coupling

We numerically investigate the complex nonlinear dynamics for two independently coupled laser systems consisting of (i) mutually delay-coupled edge emitting diode lasers and (ii) injection-locked quantum nano-structures lasers. A comparative study in dependence on the dynamical role of alpha parameter, which determine the phase-amplitude coupling of the optical field, in both the cases is probed. The variation of alpha lead to conspicuous changes in the dynamics of both the systems, which are characterized and investigated as a function of optical injection strength for the fixed coupled-cavity delay time. Our analysis is based on the observation that the cross-correlation and bifurcation measures unveil the signature of enhancement of amplitude-death islands in which the coupled lasers mutually stay in stable phase-locked states. In addition, we provide a qualitative understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying the observed dynamical behavior and its dependence on alpha. The amplitude death and the existence of multiple amplitude death islands could be implemented for applications including diode lasers stabilization.Comment: 9 Pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1111.2439 by other author

PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights: PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights

Authors and publishers have long negotiated the ownership of copyright in scholarly works. However, with the rise of electronic publishing and a growing trend towards open and public access models, traditional authorpublisher agreements are changing. One of many forces bringing about this change is the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) recently revised Public Access Policy, requiring authors of NIH-funded articles to submit their works to PubMed Central. As a result of this policy, authors of funded works are looking closely at their publication agreements and scientific, technical, and medical journal publishers are re-examining their author agreements to accommodate the author’s needs. This paper, in an effort to help authors make informed choices about their rights, compares and contrasts how the agreements of 12 publishers permit authors to meet the requirements of the NIH Public Access Policy and share their works while they are under embargo

Development of an innovative method for the evaluation of fungal contamination of surfaces

The objective of this technical report is to compare the ability to capture fungal spores through samples performed with three different methods: Rodac contact plates, cotton pad and a pad prepared with a dusting cloth (DC pads) selected from those available on the market. The tests were conducted using a suspension of Aspergillus niger conidia equal to 0.5 MacFarland diluted 1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/100. With each of these dilutions 3 sterile tiles of stainless steel were contaminated, each divided into 16 small squares, in the center of which 0.1 ml of the dilution chosen was placed and left to dry (for a total of 12 sheets). In addition, we have used other 6 tiles to repeat the experience with dilutions 1/40 and 1/50. A total of 288 squared surfaces were contaminated: 96 of these were sampled with Rodac contact plates, 96 with cotton pads and 96 with DC and then inseminated in Petri plates. Sabouraud dextrose agar was used as culture medium for the first 12 plates, while, for the other 6 plates Sabouraud dextrose agar added with lecithin and polysorbate 80 was used. All plates were incubated at 37 degrees for 18 hours. To estimate the differences among the sampling methods and the dilutions tested, multiple linear regression was used. The analysis showed that the number of colonies harvested at dilution 1/40 is 13% higher (P = 0.09) than the number harvested at dilution 1/50 and the number of colonies harvested at dilution 1/30 is 6% higher than dilution 1/50 (P = 0.52). With regard to the comparison between the number of colonies harvested with Rodac contact plates, with cotton pads and DC pads, regression analysis shows that cotton pads harvest a number of fungal cfu 5 times higher than those detected with Rodac plates, while DC pads harvest a number of fungal ufc 6 times higher than those detected with Rodac plates (P < 0.00005). These results, although preliminary, indicate that DC pads are a sensitive and simple approach for the environmental control of fungal contamination

PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights: PubMed Central Deposit and Author Rights

Authors and publishers have long negotiated the ownership of copyright in scholarly works. However, with the rise of electronic publishing and a growing trend towards open and public access models, traditional authorpublisher agreements are changing. One of many forces bringing about this change is the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) recently revised Public Access Policy, requiring authors of NIH-funded articles to submit their works to PubMed Central. As a result of this policy, authors of funded works are looking closely at their publication agreements and scientific, technical, and medical journal publishers are re-examining their author agreements to accommodate the author’s needs. This paper, in an effort to help authors make informed choices about their rights, compares and contrasts how the agreements of 12 publishers permit authors to meet the requirements of the NIH Public Access Policy and share their works while they are under embargo

Hormonal and morphological predictors of women's body attractiveness

Does women’s body attractiveness predict indices of reproductive capacity? Prior research has provided evidence that large breast size and low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are positively associated with women’s estrogen and progesterone concentrations, but no previous studies appear to have directly tested whether ratings of women's body attractiveness are predicted by higher concentrations of ovarian hormones measured across broad regions of the menstrual cycle. Here, we collected daily saliva samples across 1-2 menstrual cycles from a sample of young women; assayed the samples for estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone; obtained anthropometric measurements of the women’s bodies; and also obtained attractiveness ratings of the women’s bodies from photographs of them taken in standardized clothing with faces obscured. Contrary to previous research, mean hormone concentrations were uncorrelated with breast size and WHR. Body mass index (BMI) was a very strong negative predictor of body attractiveness ratings, similar to previous findings. Zero-order associations between women’s mean hormone concentrations and mean attractiveness ratings were not significant; however, after controlling for BMI, attractiveness ratings were independently and positively associated with both estradiol and testosterone concentrations. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for whether attractiveness assessment mechanisms are specialized for the detection of cues of differential fecundity in young women’s bodies