Critical thickness and stress relaxation in YBaCuO (123) strained epitaxial layers and YBaCuO based strained superlattices

An energy model has been used to calculate the critical thickness h _c of YBaCuO thin films and YBaCuO based superlattices within an isotropic or anisotropic approximation. The critical thickness of single layers calculated from the anisotropic model (16 nm) is in good agreement with the previously published experimental values which are spread out from 4 to 20 nm. In the case of superlattices, relaxation appears to be governed by the critical thickness of the elementary sub-layers and is then better evaluated through the calculation performed for YBaCuO single layers. XRD measurements on YBa₂Cu₃O₇/PrBa₂Cu_3?xGa_xO₇ superlattices grown on {100{ SrTiO₃ have evidenced a tetragonal stress in the YBaCuO ab plane which remains expanded when the YBaCuO elementary layer thickness is lower than 4.8 nm (4 YBaCuO cells). However the critical temperature of the shortest period superlattices is only slightly affected by this expanded stress in contrast to the effect of an elastic stress externally applied along the ab plane of YBaCuO thin films.     

Symmetric Groups as Products of Abelian Subgroups

A proof is given that the full symmetric group over any infiniteset is the product of finitely many Abelian subgroups. In fact,289 subgroups suffice. Sharp bounds are also obtained on theminimal number k, such that the finite symmetric group S_n isthe product of k Abelian subgroups. Using this, S_n is provedto be the product of 72n^1/2(log n)^3/2 cyclic subgroups. 2000Mathematics Subject Classification 20B30, 20D40.     

Simple and rapid method for cis- and trans-resveratrol and piceid isomers determination in wine by high-performance liquid chromatography using chromolith columns

A simple and rapid HPLC method has been developed for simultaneous determination of the four resveratrol forms (aglycon and glycosidic) in a Grenache wine from Chateauneuf du Pape (Vaucluse). These analyses were achieved by using two commercial monolith HPLC columns and diode array detection. The method provided reliable separations at low pressure with a short analysis time. The limit of detection (LD) and limit of quantification (LQ) were calculated for each standard. The molecules were separated and quantified in a single run without any purification of the sample.     

Improved microwave steam distillation apparatus for isolation of essential oils. Comparison with conventional steam distillation

Steam distillation (SD) is routinely used by analysts for the isolation of essential oils from herbs, flowers and spices prior to gas chromatographic analysis. In this work, a new process design and operation for an improved microwave steam distillation (MSD) of essential oils from aromatic natural products was developed. To demonstrate its feasibility, MSD was compared with the conventional technique, SD, for the analysis of volatile compounds from dry lavender flowers (Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Lamiaceae). Essential oils isolated by MSD were quantitatively (yield) and qualitatively (aromatic profile) similar to those obtained by SD, but MSD was better than SD in terms of rapidity (6 min versus 30 min for lavender flowers), thereby allowing substantial savings of costs in terms of time and energy. Lavender flowers treated by MSD and SD were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Micrographs provide evidence of more rapid opening of essential oil glands treated by MSD, in contrast to conventional SD.     

On the growth of Betti numbers of locally symmetric spaces

We announce new results concerning the asymptotic behavior of the Betti numbers of higher rank locally symmetric spaces as their volumes tend to infinity. Our main theorem is a uniform version of the Lück Approximation Theorem (Lück, 1994 [10]) which is much stronger than the linear upper bounds on Betti numbers given by Gromov in Ballmann et al. (1985) [3].The basic idea is to adapt the theory of local convergence, originally introduced for sequences of graphs of bounded degree by Benjamini and Schramm, to sequences of Riemannian manifolds. Using rigidity theory we are able to show that when the volume tends to infinity, the manifolds locally converge to the universal cover in a sufficiently strong manner that allows us to derive the convergence of the normalized Betti numbers.     

Microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity, a new technique for extraction of essential oils

A new process design and operation for the extraction of essential oils was developed. Microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (MHG) is a combination of microwaves for hydrodiffusion of essential oils from the inside to the exterior of biological material and earth gravity to collect and separate. MHG is performed at atmospheric pressure without adding any solvent or water. MHG has been compared with a conventional technique, hydrodistillation (HD), for the extraction of essential oil from two aromatic herbs: spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) and pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.) belonging to the Labiatae family. The essential oils extracted by MHG for 15 min were quantitatively (yield) and qualitatively (aromatic profile) similar to those obtained by conventional hydrodistillation for 90 min. MHG also prevents pollution through potential 90% of energy saved which can lead to greenhouse gas emission benefits.     

Clean recovery of antioxidant flavonoids from onions: Optimising solvent free microwave extraction method

A solvent free microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity extraction (MHG) of flavonol content from onion (Allium cepa L.) was studied. Effectiveness of this innovative method in extraction of onion total phenolic content, total quercetin (TQ), quercetin aglycon (QA), quercetin-3,4′-diglucoside (QDG), quercetin-4′-monoglucoside (Q4G), quercetin-3-monoglucoside (Q3G), kaempferol (KMF) and myricetin (MRT) have been evaluated and compared with conventional solvent extraction. Microwave extraction offers important advantages like shorter extraction time (23 min), cleaner feature (no solvent or water used) and extraction of valuable onion crude juice retaining fresh organoleptic properties with higher phenolic content (58.29 mg GAE/g DW) at optimized power (500 W). Microwave extraction resulted significant yield (81.5%) with 41.9% of flavonol contents, with better retain of remaining flavonoids (55.9%) in residues of onions. QDG (239.7 mg/100 g DW) and Q4G (82.55 mg/100 g DW) have been reported the main flavonol in this study. Minor quantities of QA (traces), Q3G (4.22 mg/100 g DW) and KMF (3.99 mg/100 g DW) were also detected in microwave onion extracts.     

Terpenes as green solvents for extraction of oil from microalgae

Herein is described a green and original alternative procedure for the extraction of oil from microalgae. Extractions were carried out using terpenes obtained from renewable feedstocks as alternative solvents instead of hazardous petroleum solvents such as n-hexane. The described method is achieved in two steps using Soxhlet extraction followed by the elimination of the solvent from the medium using Clevenger distillation in the second step. Oils extracted from microalgae were compared in terms of qualitative and quantitative determination. No significant difference was obtained between each extract, allowing us to conclude that the proposed method is green, clean and efficient.     

Group Laws and Free Subgroups in Topological Groups

A proof is given that a permutation group in which differentfinite sets have different stabilizers cannot satisfy any grouplaw. For locally compact topological groups with this property,almost all finite subsets of the group are shown to generatefree subgroups. Consequences of these theorems are derived for:Thompson's group F, weakly branch groups, automorphism groupsof regular trees, and profinite groups with alternating compositionfactors of unbounded degree. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20B07, 20E10, 20E18, 20P05.