Search

Robustly manipulating waves on subwavelength scales can be achieved by, first, designing a structure with a subwavelength band gap and, second, introducing a defect so that eigenfrequencies fall within the band gap. Such frequencies are well known to correspond to localized modes. We study a one-dimensional array of subwavelength resonators, prove that there is a subwavelength band gap, and show that by introducing a dislocation we can place localized modes at any point within the band gap. We complement this analysis by studying the stability properties of the corresponding finite array of resonators, demonstrating the value of being able to customize the position of eigenvalues within the band gap., Journal of the London Mathematical Society, 106 (3), ISSN:0024-6107, ISSN:1469-7750

Avocados are considered very healthy due to the high content mono-unsaturated lipid, essential vitamins and minerals, minimal sugar and no cholesterol and are therefore sometimes referred to as “the perfect fruits”. Avocados, mainly grown in Latin-America, are harvested unripe and sent overseas. However, the ripening process is very difficult to assess visually and tactilely. A tool for precise noninvasive judgment of the status would be valuable as the fruit is too expensive to be cut open unripe or overdue. A white-light source and a light-emitting diode unit with four excitation wavelengths (365, 385, 395, and 405 nm) were used for reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy in a fiber-coupled set-up for noninvasive monitoring. Twelve non-ripe avocados, with approximately the same size and appearance, were studied and divided into three groups and kept at three different storage conditions; at room temperature, in a refrigerator and a combination of the two. We showed that fluorescence was useful for following the ripening process. A method, which compensates for the spatial variations in spectral properties around a fruit, is described. Remote fluorescence monitoring, intended for orchard use, was also demonstrated. A low-cost device based on fluorescence for avocado ripeness assessment is proposed. (Less)

Spectral properties and fluorogenic behaviors of five novel thiophene variants of Malachite Green (MG), termed MGTs, were determined. Appreciable changes as a function of homologation and substitution pattern, including absorption band positions and intensities and fluorescence quantum yields were observed. In particular, the shorter wavelength y-band absorption was found to shift over a nearly 200 nm range based on aryl group variation, allowing fine-tuning of the excitation wavelength for these dyes. In addition, the fluorescence intensity of some MGTs increased significantly (up to 4,600-fold) when the dye was bound to a cognate protein partner, which is potentially useful for cell imaging studies.

Herein, we present a small and versatile optode system with integrated battery and logger for monitoring of O-2, pH, and pCO(2) in seawater. Three sensing materials designed for seawater measurements are optimized with respect to dynamic measurement range and long-term stability. The spectral properties of the sensing materials were tailored to be compatible with a commercially available laboratory oxygen logger that was fitted into a pressure housing. Interchangeable sensor caps with appropriate "sensing chemistry" are conveniently attached to the end of the optical fiber. This approach allows using the same instrument for multiple analytes, which offers great flexibility and minimizes hardware costs. Applications of the new optode system were demonstrated by recording depth profiles for the three parameters during a research cruise in the Baltic Sea and by measuring surface water transects of pH. The optode was furthermore used to monitor the concentration of dissolved oxygen in a seagrass meadow in the Limfjord, Denmark, and sensor packages consisting of pO(2), pH, and pCO(2) were deployed in the harbors of Kiel, Germany, and Southampton, England, for 6 d. The measurements revealed that the system can resolve typical patterns in seawater chemistry related to spatial heterogeneities as well as temporal changes caused by biological and tidal activity.

The ability to recover from drought stress after re‐watering is an important feature that will enable plants to cope with the predicted increase in episodic drought. The effects of pre‐drought and re‐watering conditions on leaf spectral properties and their relationships with the biochemical processes that underlie the recovery from pre‐drought conditions should be better understood. The reflectance spectra, 10 spectral reflectance indices (SRIs) and biochemical characteristics of maize (Zea mays) leaves were monitored 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after the initiation of soil drought stress during two successive cycles of drought and re‐watering periods. The leaf reflectance of the two inbred maize lines increased under the drought stress, especially in the visible spectral range. In addition, an obvious recovery of the leaf reflectance was only observed in the first re‐watering period, and its value remained higher than that of the control plants during the second recovery period. A recovery lag in the pigment contents was also observed during the second cycle. The recovery variations in the pattern and magnitude of the SRIs and the total contents of C, N and P that were measured in response to the re‐watering during both cycles were diverse and complex; both full and partial recoveries were observed. The SRIs representing different physiological attributes of plant growth, including the water index, red edge position, photochemical reflectance index and near‐infrared reflectance at 800 nm, showed strong linear relationships (P < 0.01 or 0.05) with the growth and biochemical traits across the successive drought and re‐watering cycles. The results suggest that maize plants can adjust their leaf reflectance properties and employ growth and biochemical strategies to adapt to cyclic drought stress and recover from drought stress after re‐watering.

Acridines possess two characteristics that have led many researchers to consider the agents interesting targets for future development as potential farmacophores: the planar acridine skeleton, which is able to intercalate into DNA, and the intense fluorescence of the agents. This review offers a study of the multifunctional character of acridines and the synthesis of novel acridine derivatives, with particular focus being placed on isothiocyanates and their congeners, e.g. thioureas, isothioureas, quaternary ammonium salts and platinum/gold conjugates. The review provides an overview of the structure, spectral properties, DNA binding and biological activity of acridinylthiourea congeners. These acridinylthiourea derivatives display significant cytotoxic activities against different types of cancer cell lines at micromolar concentrations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ALTURK, SUMEYYE/0000-0002-8177-2365; kurt, belma zengin/0000-0002-4663-5402 WOS: 000508542800001 A series of mixed-ligand M(II) complexes containing 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 3-methylpyridine-2-carboxylic acid (3-mpaH) or 6-methylpyridine-2-carboxylic acid (6-mpaH), namely [Co(3-mpa)(2)(phen)]center dot 3H(2)O (1), [Hg(6-mpa)(2)(phen)]center dot 2H(2)O (2), [Mn(6-mpa)(2)(phen)]center dot 2H(2)O (3), [Co(6-mpa)(2)(phen)]center dot H2O (4) and [Ni(6-mpa)(2)(phen)]center dot H2O (5), were synthesized for the first time. Among them, 1 was obtained as single crystals. The structural characterization for 1 was conducted using X-ray diffraction and that for 2-5 using mass spectrometry. The IC50 values for alpha-glucosidase inhibition of 1-5 were obtained as 0.161 to >600 mu M. The spectral properties were also investigated using Fourier transform infrared and UV-visible spectra. Furthermore, to investigate the geometrical parameters, spectral and electronic properties and second- and third-order nonlinear optical parameters for 1-5, density functional calculations were applied. Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [MFAG-117F235] Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Grant/Award Number: MFAG-117F235

Images from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission of lacustrine sedimentary rocks of Vera Rubin ridge on “Mt. Sharp” in Gale crater, Mars, have shown stark color variations from red to purple to gray. These color differences crosscut stratigraphy and are likely due to diagenetic alteration of the sediments after deposition. However, the chemistry and timing of these fluid interactions is unclear. Determining how diagenetic processes may have modified chemical and mineralogical signatures of ancient Martian environments is critical for understanding the past habitability of Mars and achieving the goals of the MSL mission. Here we use visible/near‐infrared spectra from Mastcam and ChemCam to determine the mineralogical origins of color variations in the ridge. Color variations are consistent with changes in spectral properties related to the crystallinity, grain size, and texture of hematite. Coarse‐grained gray hematite spectrally dominates in the gray patches and is present in the purple areas, while nanophase and fine‐grained red crystalline hematite are present and spectrally dominate in the red and purple areas. We hypothesize that these differences were caused by grain‐size coarsening of hematite by diagenetic fluids, as observed in terrestrial analogs. In this model, early primary reddening by oxidizing fluids near the surface was followed during or after burial by bleaching to form the gray patches, possibly with limited secondary reddening after exhumation. Diagenetic alteration may have diminished the preservation of biosignatures and changed the composition of the sediments, making it more difficult to interpret how conditions evolved in the paleolake over time., Key Points Vera Rubin ridge exhibits strong color differences that crosscut stratigraphy, consistent with postdepositional alteration (diagenesis)Color differences correspond to variations in spectral signatures of nanophase, fine‐grained, and coarse‐grained hematiteBased on terrestrial analogs, these variations can be explained by early oxidation and later coarsening of hematite by diagenetic fluids

Species communicating acoustically may develop behavioral responses that aid them to transmit information and overcome signal masking in habitats disturbed by anthropogenic noise. Although many studies have concentrated on road traffic noise, very few studies mentioned effects of low flying airplane flyby noise on the vocal behavior of frogs. We studied the Critically Endangered Pickersgill’s Reed frog (Hyperolius pickersgilli) native to the eastern coastal regions of South Africa as a case study. In order to evaluate the call of H. pickersgilli, we compared a site with high levels of airplane flyby noise to a reference site without any airplane activity. Our results show that H. pickersgilli males made changes in both temporal and spectral properties of their call. Males call significantly more during and after an airplane flyby in relation to the call rate before the noise stimulus, but resumed normal call rhythms when measurements were taken 15 min after overflight. We found that males call at higher mean dominant frequencies (df difference = 161.4 Hz, P

We introduce a notion of $(S+N)$-triangular operators in the Hilbert space using some basic ideas from triangular representation theory. Our notion generalizes the well-known notion of the spectral operators so that many properties of the $(S+N)$-triangular operators coincide with those of spectral operators. At the same time we show that wide classes of operators are $(S+N)$-triangular.

Here, we study multivariable versions of a generalization of Jacobson's lemma and give common spectral properties for n-tuples that satisfy generalized criss-cross or near commutativity.

Since its introduction in the cultural heritage field, nearly 30 years ago, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a promising analytical technique that is particularly suitable for the detection and identification of organic colorants. Its great molecular selectivity and specificity, and unparalleled sensitivity compared to other instrumental methods, have allowed researchers to successfully characterize a wide number of natural dyes and a few synthetic ones in microscopic samples from objects of artistic, historical, and archaeological significance. Continued research over the course of the past decade has led to the construction of comprehensive databases of dyes, whose adsorption and spectral properties have been investigated at length; to the comparative study of the efficiency and performance of various metal substrates; and to the evaluation of several sample treatment methods and ad-hoc analytical protocols. In addition, recent literature in the field of SERS for art and archaeology has described instrumentation and technique advancements aimed at solving the unique challenges posed by the analysis of irreplaceable objects, namely, quasi non-destructive sampling, spatial resolution improvement, examination of insoluble compounds, and resolution of dye mixtures. Reviewing the most salient methodological and technological milestones that have traced the history of SERS for cultural heritage to date, the present article is intended as a practical resource for those researchers who would like to undertake systematic characterization of organic colorants from artworks using this powerful technique. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recent advances of the performance of GaN based devices with semipolar quantum wells have been realized homoepitaxially on pseudo bulk substrates which are typically small in size and high in cost. These limitations fuel the search for cheap and large area alternatives. Heteroepitaxial growth on sapphire substrates is well established with excellent results for polar GaN structures - the growth of semipolar gallium nitride on sapphire, however, presents unique challenges. In order to profit from our expertise in c-plane samples, our semipolar gallium nitride growth experiments are based on growth in c-direction. Using selective area epitaxy (SAE) on c-oriented templates, we can grow 3D structures with semipolar side facets. These structures are typically several μm in size which constitutes further challenges for device processing. Reducing the size of the structures to a sub-μm scale, we are able to bury our semipolar QWs within planar layers resulting in flat samples with c-plane surfaces. In this contribution, we present our results concerning the structural quality and spectral properties of quantum wells emitting in the blue and green spectral range as well as light emitting diodes. (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Summary Such filters are widespread in all vertebrates groups, most notably fish. Several species have pigmented corneas, whose density may alter with illumination. Filters within lenses are common, occurring in animals that inhabit well-lit environments as well as the deep-sea. Pigmented humours are rare but have been reported in a few species. Various layers within the retina also contain pigments, including the primate macular pigment, that absorb short wavelength light and the inner segments of many animals, such as birds, contain coloured oil droplets. While many of these filters are various carotenoids, other substances such as mycosporine-like amino acids, are common. The variety of filtering pigments indicates pigmentation has evolved independently on a number of occasions; a clear testament to its importance. Most pigments serve to reduce short wavelength light and have a variety of functions including; protection of the eye by removing the most damaging photons, acting as antioxidants, and improving image quality by reducing scatter. In deep-sea fish they enhance the visibility of bioluminescence and in animals with oil droplets they refine the spectral properties of photoreceptors.

Summary The evolution of vocal signals can be constrained by a host of factors including habitat effects on sound propagation, morphology of sound-producing structures and phylogenetic relationships among species. Here, we asked whether auditory sensitivity over a broad range of frequencies correlates with the spectral content of conspecific vocalizations, or whether it is constrained by the overall structure of vocalizations, habitat effects on sound propagation or relatedness among species. We studied nine New World sparrows (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) including three open-habitat species, three scrub-like habitat species and three forest species. For each habitat, one species had pure-trilled songs, another had tonal songs and another had complex songs with tones, trills and amplitude-modulated buzzes. As predicted by the acoustic adaptation hypothesis, song spectral properties (specifically frequency and entropy) had the highest values in open-habitat species and the lowest values in forest species. Based on our results from song analyses, and the sender–receiver matching hypothesis, we predicted that open-habitat species would be more sensitive to high-frequency sounds compared to forest species. Contrary to this prediction, habitat and high-frequency song content had little effect on audiogram shape. Song type, however, had a strong effect, with species that produce complex songs showing higher sensitivity to high-frequency sounds than all other species. Our results suggest that the use of song frequency by receivers depends on song structure and not necessarily on song spectral content. Therefore, our current understanding of how signal-processing mechanisms should match signal properties appears to be too simple. When thinking about the evolution of signal-processing mechanisms, the multidimensionality of signals, and how the different dimensions can interact, should be considered.

Effects resulting from the use of reclaimed waters on mandarins and grapefruits are evaluated by measuring the spectral responses of their canopies and the anatomy and the chlorophyll content of their leaves against control trees irrigated with waters provided by an interbasin transfer. Spectral responses from the red (R) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength bands, and its normalized ratio (NDVI), were acquired from a hyperspatial flight conducted after a low-moderate exposition to reclaimed waters. Chlorophyll and leaf and palisade/spongy ratio thicknesses were analyzed after a moderate-high exposition. Significant differences between controls and treatments were detected in mandarins in R and leaf chlorophyll, but not in grapefruits, likely because of their higher tolerance to saline waters. Reused waters did not affect either NIR-NDVI or anatomy traits. Hyperspatial sensing techniques are suitable for detecting chlorophyll dynamics, but NIR information and related vegetation indices may mask the detection of periods of saline stress in citrus orchards.

Summary Short and unified proofs of spectral properties of major preconditioners for saddle point problems are presented. The need to sufficiently accurately construct approximations of the pivot block and Schur complement matrices to obtain real eigenvalues or eigenvalues with positive real parts and non-dominating imaginary parts are pointed out. The use of augmented Lagrangian methods for more ill-conditioned problems are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

To meet the challenge of procuring new sources of natural polymers without affecting the demands for food crops, a thermoplastic unripe banana flour (TPF) was produced, characterized, and blended with metallocene-catalyzed polyethylene (mPE). Both the pulp and peels of unripe banana were used to produce flour, whose stability and thermoplastic properties allowed blending with mPE in high proportions, that is, 50, 60, 70, and 80%. The blends were injection molded, and the thermal, mechanical, microstructural, and infrared spectral properties of the resulting samples were characterized. The blend containing 50% TPF yielded a robust, elastic, and nonbrittle material. Maleic anhydride grafting on mPE (mPE-g-MA) promoted interphase adhesion of the polymers and homogeneity in the blends. Grafting also influenced the mechanical, thermal, and microstructural properties of the blends. The characteristics of the blends make them ideal for designing biodegradable plastics while exploiting banana peels, which are usually considered agricultural waste. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:866–876, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers

The condensation reactions of tetrachloro mono (1 and 2) and bisferrocenyl spirocyclotriphosphazenes (3–5) with morpholine in tetrahydrofuran gave the partly morpholino-substituted ferrocenylphosphazenes. When the reactions were carried out with equal amounts of 1–5 and morpholine, the mono-substituted ferrocenylphosphazenes (1a, 3a–5a) formed as the major product. While the reactions were made with 1 equiv of 1–5 and 2 equiv of morpholine, the corresponding geminal–phosphazenes (1b–5b) were isolated. In addition, the condensation reactions of 1 equiv of 1–5 and 3 equiv of morpholine resulted in the formation of di-(1b–5b), tri-(2c–5c), and tetra-substituted phosphazenes. The tri-substituted compounds were isolated as major products. Some new phosphazenes have stereogenic P center(s). The stereogenic properties of 1a and 2c were investigated using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in the presence of the chiral solvating agent; (S)-(+)-2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(9′-anthryl)ethanol. The structures of all the phosphazenes were characterized by one-dimensional 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR, and two-dimensional heteronuclear single quantum coherence spectral data. The salient spectral properties of the phosphazenes were presented.

Vibrational communication is important for successful mating in various stink bugs species. The vibrational signals from males and females of Dichelops melacanthus Dallas (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are recorded from a nonresonant substrate (i.e. a loudspeaker membrane) to characterize the temporal and spectral properties of these vibrational signals, as well as on a resonant substrate (i.e. bean plants) to obtain information about how these signals are altered when they are transmitted through the plants. On the loudspeaker membrane, D. melacanthus males and females emit only one male or one female song, respectively. However, when the insects are placed on bean leaves, a more complex repertoire is recorded, with three different songs for each sex. The first female and male songs appear to have calling functions and the third male and female songs are emitted during courtship. The second female and male songs are emitted after the first song, although their functions in mating behaviour are not clear. The identified repertoire is similar to those of other Neotropical stink bugs, starting with songs 1 and 2 and developing into song 3. Frequency modulation is observed in the female songs recorded from the loudspeaker membrane and the plants. The signals recorded from plants present higher harmonic peaks compared with the signals recorded from the loudspeaker membrane. The presence of species and sex-specific songs during mating confirms the important role of vibrational communication in mate location and recognition. The temporal and spectral characteristic signals are influenced by the substrate used to record the songs emitted by D. melacanthus.

Organotin complexes 1–6 of the general formula [SnR2L] and [(SnR3)2L] (L=phenanthrenequinone dioximato – a bidentate ligand, R=Me, Bu, and Ph) were synthesized by the reaction of the sodium salt of the ligand H2L (prepared in situ with MeONa) and SnR2Cl2/SnR3Cl in 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 molar ratios. The physical and spectral properties of the newly synthesized complexes 1–6 are described. DFT and HF Calculations were performed to confirm the proposed structures.

Otsuki tori form a countable family of immersed minimal two-dimensional tori in the unitary three-dimensional sphere. According to the El Soufi-Ilias theorem, the metrics on the Otsuki tori are extremal for some unknown eigenvalues of the Laplace-Beltrami operator. Despite the fact that the Otsuki tori are defined in quite an implicit way, we find explicitly the numbers of the corresponding extremal eigenvalues. In particular we provide an extremal metric for the third eigenvalue of the torus.

In this contribution, a new naphthalimide dimer with A-π -D-π -A framework was synthesized efficiently and well characterized. Its spectral properties were investigated. Significant features, such as strong solid and liquid fluorescence, usual large Stokes shift were discussed in terms of its electronic structures. In addition, it is soluble in common organic solvent and stable at ambient conditions. Optimized molecular structure shows the twisted molecular conformation, which leads to its narrow solid emission. Frontier orbital calculation indicates effective excited-state intramolecular charge transfer (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Several 2-phenylamino-1,4-naphthoquinone-based dyes and two related benzo[2,3-b]–phenazines were synthesised and characterised by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron ionisation mass spectrometry. The electrochemical and spectral properties of these compounds were investigated. The synthesised dyes were found to be capable photosensitisers for radical (reducible/oxidisable) and cationic polymerisations, respectively. In radical polymerization, better results in the oxidisable process were achieved.

Three series of phenylazo disperse dyes were prepared by coupling diazotised 4-aniline dyes with 5-indol-2-one dyes. The structures of these dyes were determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier Transform–infrared and elemental analysis. The effects of solvent on the ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra of these dyes were studied. The dyes displayed a λmax shift of between 399 and 438 nm. The dyes were finally applied in the dyeing of polyester fibres in order to investigate their colour range and dyeing properties. Most of the dyes displayed high rubbing fastness and good washing and sublimation fastnesses on polyester fibres.

Nitrogen heterocyclic fluorescent compounds and their possible dyeing pathway on acrylic fabrics was investigated. Their chemical spectral properties, including fluorescence and ultraviolet–visibility, were evaluated in this work. The colour fastness properties of these dyes attributable to light reflection and washing were examined. The CIE L*, a* and b* values after the dyeing process were studied and the colour fastness properties were also determined. Two quinoline derivatives showed stronger fluorescence properties and were also demonstrated to be non-cytotoxic towards human HaCaT skin keratinocytes at a reasonable dose. These results led to speculation that these two compounds could be further used as dyes in various textile applications.

This paper reports on the growth and spectroscopic properties of Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 and Ce3+/Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 crystals. Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 and Ce3+/Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 crystals were grown by the Czochralski method. The investigated polarized spectroscopic properties of both crystals revealed that when the Ce3+ ion was introduced into Ce3+/Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 crystal, it could enhance the 1.5 µm fluorescence intensity and decrease the fluorescence lifetime of Ce3+/Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 crystal. To sum up the spectral properties of Ce3+/Er3+/Yb3+:NaGd(MoO4)2 crystal, it may be regarded as a potential 1.5 µm Er3+ laser crystal material.

A large number of studies have been devoted to the development of chromic textile materials because of their wide applicability as sensor systems. More recently, pH-sensitive chromic textiles have also been investigated to a considerable extent, as the pH value is an important parameter in various circumstances. This review therefore elaborates on pH-sensitive textile materials. The outcome of this review process demonstrates that halochromic dyes can be successfully incorporated into textile materials, leading to flexible sensors. Various textile materials and different application methods have both been shown to be effective. Yet the textile material in which the pH-sensitive agent is present affects its halochromic behaviour and this factor should thus always be considered. Finally, this review establishes the major potential of pH-sensitive textile materials.

The polarization dependent photoluminescence at low temperatures of strained semipolar and nonpolar InGaN quantum wells was studied as a function of the emission wavelength. We found for semipolar QWs that the maximum of the spectral resolved optical polarization is either red- or blue-shifted with respect to the maximum of the emission. In contrast, the nonpolar emission exhibits no clear maximum. We assign all effects to an inhomogeneous broad- ening of the emission caused by indium fluctuations and explain this behavior here in the light of the optical polarization switching. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

On the line of a previous work on the spectral properties of some of heteroaryl chalcone, the effect of medium acidity and photoreactivity of 3-(4-dimethylamino-phenyl)-1-(2,5-dimethyl-thiophen-3-yl)-propenone (DDTP) has been investigated in dimethylformamide and in chloromethane solvents such as methylenechloride, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride. The dye solution (ca. 5×10 －4

This paper reviews recent efforts to realize a high- efficiency memory for optical pulses using slow and stored light based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in ensembles of warm atoms in vapor cells. After a brief summary of basic continuous-wave and dynamic EIT properties, studies using weak classical signal pulses in optically dense coherent media are discussed, including optimization strategies for stored light efficiency and pulse-shape control, and modification of EIT and slow/stored light spectral properties due to atomic motion. Quantum memory demonstrations using both single photons and pulses of squeezed light are then reviewed. Finally a brief comparison with other approaches is presented.

The spectral dependence of the colorimetric characterisation of a typical scanner was investigated. Different colour sets, including ColorChecker SG, Kodak Q-60 colour input target, a set of plain woven coloured fabrics with a large colour gamut, and randomly selected samples of the Munsell Book of Color were used as training and testing sets in the colorimetric characterisation of a scanner by employing a non-linear regression method. The coefficient matrices were optimised for each particular media in the training stage and used to predict the device-independent colorimetric data, i.e. CIELab values of other media from their corresponding RGB values measured by the scanner. In order to extract the differences between the applied sets and determine the actual dimensions of their reflectance spectra, the principal component analysis technique was employed. As expected, it was observed that the different sets benefit from diverse dimensional properties and, in some cases, the spectral behaviours of the first few eigenvectors were apparently different. It was demonstrated that scanner colorimetric characterisation depended on the spectral properties of the applied colour set in the training stage and, consequently, the testing errors increased with increasing the spectral dissimilarity between the sets that were used in training and testing sequences. It was concluded that, to achieve better colour reproduction results, the scanner should be characterised for each media with specific spectral properties.

Two novel water-soluble indocyanine dyes were synthesized. Their chemical structures were confirmed by 1H NMR, IR, MS and UV-vis techniques. The absorptions of the prepared dyes in different solvents were measured. Two dyes exhibited negative solvatochromism, with a blue shift of the absorption and an emission maximum in (bovine serum albumin) protonic solvent relative to non protonic solvent. The fluorescence properties of the dyes in both free state and BSA were investigated. Significant enhancement of the fluorescence intensity for the Dye2 was observed in the presence of BSA. Dye2 could be proposed as fluorescent dyes for BSA detection in aqueous solution.