COST : action chemistry conference on supramolecular chemistry in water

Scientists and chemists from 18 countries gathered in Malta for the 3rd Scientific Meeting on Supramolecular Chemistry in Water between the 9 − 11th of November 2013 at the Old University Building on St Paul Street in Vallettapeer-reviewe

2015 researcher's mini-symposium

Postgraduate researchers from the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Medicine & Surgery and Health Sciences gathered for a forum to present their research interests. The symposium was held in the afternoon of 30 January 2015 in the Engineering Lecture Theatre. The symposium promoted multi-disciplinary networking between various university faculties. Participants were invited based on research topic diversity and gender balance.peer-reviewe

Superintegrable Calogero-type systems admit maximal number of Poisson structures

We present a general scheme for constructing the Poisson structure of super-integrable dynamical systems of which the rational Calogero-Moser system is one of the most interesting one. This dynamical system is $2N$ dimensional with $2N- 1$ first integrals and our construction yields $2N-1$ degenerate Poisson tensors that each admit $2(N-1)$ Casimirs. Our results are quite generally applicable to all super-integrable systems and form an alternative to the traditional bi-Hamiltonian approach

Medical diagnostics using designed molecules with sense and logic

Luminescent molecules responsive to cations, anions and even small molecules can be designed with the appropriate selectivity and sensitivity for monitoring physiological and pathological levels of analytes. We highlight some recent examples of designed molecules that can sense for a specific analyte or a combination of analytes in blood and in living cells. Furthermore, we demonstrate how molecules can be designed with built-in algorithms according to principles of Boolean logic to perform information processing. The potential future application of molecular systems able to perform multi-analyte sensing as `lab-on-a-molecule' systems for medical and environmental diagnostics is also presented.peer-reviewe

Separation of Coupled Systems of Schrodinger Equations by Darboux transformations

Darboux transformations in one independent variable have found numerous applications in various field of mathematics and physics. In this paper we show that the extension of these transformations to two dimensions can be used to decouple systems of Schrodinger equations and provide explicit representation for three classes of such systems. We show also that there is an elegant relationship between these transformations and analytic complex matrix functions.Comment: 14 page

Applications of Information Theory to Analysis of Neural Data

Information theory is a practical and theoretical framework developed for the study of communication over noisy channels. Its probabilistic basis and capacity to relate statistical structure to function make it ideally suited for studying information flow in the nervous system. It has a number of useful properties: it is a general measure sensitive to any relationship, not only linear effects; it has meaningful units which in many cases allow direct comparison between different experiments; and it can be used to study how much information can be gained by observing neural responses in single trials, rather than in averages over multiple trials. A variety of information theoretic quantities are commonly used in neuroscience - (see entry "Definitions of Information-Theoretic Quantities"). In this entry we review some applications of information theory in neuroscience to study encoding of information in both single neurons and neuronal populations.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Self-assembly of multi-component fluorescent molecular logic gates in micelles

A recent strategy for developing supramolecular logic gates in water is based on combinations of molecules via self-assembly with surfactants, which eliminates the need for time-consuming synthesis. The self-assembly of surfactants and lumophores and receptors can result in interesting properties providing cooperative e ffects useful for molecular information processing and other potential applications such as drug delivery systems. This article highlights some of the recent advancements in supramolecular information processing using microheterogeneous media including micelles in aqueous solution.peer-reviewe

On a class of dynamical systems both quasi-bi-Hamiltonian and bi-Hamiltonian

It is shown that a class of dynamical systems (encompassing the one recently considered by F. Calogero [J. Math. Phys. 37 (1996) 1735]) is both quasi-bi-Hamiltonian and bi-Hamiltonian. The first formulation entails the separability of these systems; the second one is obtained trough a non canonical map whose form is directly suggested by the associated Nijenhuis tensor.Comment: 11 pages, AMS-LaTex 1.

Low-frequency local field potentials and spikes in primary visual cortex convey independent visual information

Local field potentials (LFPs) reflect subthreshold integrative processes that complement spike train measures. However, little is yet known about the differences between how LFPs and spikes encode rich naturalistic sensory stimuli. We addressed this question by recording LFPs and spikes from the primary visual cortex of anesthetized macaques while presenting a color movie.Wethen determined how the power of LFPs and spikes at different frequencies represents the visual features in the movie.Wefound that the most informative LFP frequency ranges were 1– 8 and 60 –100 Hz. LFPs in the range of 12– 40 Hz carried little information about the stimulus, and may primarily reflect neuromodulatory inputs. Spike power was informative only at frequencies <12 Hz. We further quantified “signal correlations” (correlations in the trial-averaged power response to different stimuli) and “noise correlations” (trial-by-trial correlations in the fluctuations around the average) of LFPs and spikes recorded from the same electrode. We found positive signal correlation between high-gamma LFPs (60 –100 Hz) and spikes, as well as strong positive signal correlation within high-gamma LFPs, suggesting that high-gamma LFPs and spikes are generated within the same network. LFPs<24 Hz shared strong positive noise correlations, indicating that they are influenced by a common source, such as a diffuse neuromodulatory input. LFPs<40 Hz showed very little signal and noise correlations with LFPs>40Hzand with spikes, suggesting that low-frequency LFPs reflect neural processes that in natural conditions are fully decoupled from those giving rise to spikes and to high-gamma LFPs

Quasi-BiHamiltonian Systems and Separability

Two quasi--biHamiltonian systems with three and four degrees of freedom are presented. These systems are shown to be separable in terms of Nijenhuis coordinates. Moreover the most general Pfaffian quasi-biHamiltonian system with an arbitrary number of degrees of freedom is constructed (in terms of Nijenhuis coordinates) and its separability is proved.Comment: 10 pages, AMS-LaTeX 1.1, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. (May 1997