Characterization of low molecular weight hydrocarbon oligomers by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a solvent-free sample preparation method.

A new solvent-free sample preparation method using silver trifluoroacetate (AgTFA) was developed for the analysis of low molecular weight paraffins and microcrystalline waxes by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOFMS). Experiments show that spectral quality can be enhanced by dispersing AgTFA directly in liquid paraffins without the use of additional solvents. This preparation mixture is applied directly to the MALDI probe. Solid waxes could be examined by melting prior to analysis. The method also provides sufficiently reproducible spectra that peak area ratios between mono- and bicyclic alkane peaks indicated variations in the cycloalkane content of paraffin samples. Dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons observed during the desorption/ionization process was studied by analysis of alkane standards.     

Design of neutral, mono- or di-cationic water-soluble trihydrazidophosphoradamantanes

The versatile behavior of a trihydrazidophosphoradamantane allowing the synthesis of a variety of neutral, mono- or di-cationic water-soluble molecules of potential interest for biphasic catalysis is reported.     

On the geometry of infinite cyclic subgroups

In this paper we construct an example of a word metric on an infinite cyclic subgroup. This example shows that subexponential distortion does not obstruct non-trivial growth of connected radii. This answers a question of Gromov [6]. The constructed metric has other pathological properies. Specifically, its asymptotic cone depends on the choice of ultrafilter and scaling sequence. The work has been partially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

IFS attractors and Cantor sets

We build a metric space which is homeomorphic to a Cantor set but cannot be realized as the attractor of an iterated function system. We give also an example of a Cantor set K in R³ such that every homeomorphism f of R³ which preserves K coincides with the identity on K.     

Development and investigation of perovskite (ABO3)-type oxides for power generation

Critical problems of the present approach of electrolytes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) for commercialization are discussed. Major progress is expected from the development of materials based on the “SEA (Single Element Arrangement)” concept. The galvanic cell consists in this case basically of a single chemically homogeneous compound, which functions as electrodes at high and low activity and as electrolyte at intermediate activities of the electroactive component. In view of the large structural flexibility of the chemical nature of the constitutents, we explored perovskite (ABO₃)-type compounds to be used as SEAs for SOFCs. Results of studies on Pr-substituted LSGM and Fe-substituted SrSnO₃ perovskite-type oxides are presented. For instance, SrSn_1-xFe_xO_3-δ with x=0.1 exhibits p and n-type electronic conduction at the cathode and anode sides of the SOFC, respectively, while oxide ion conduction prevails at intermediate oxygen partial pressures. The SEA concept is also applicable for other devices in the field of Ionics.     

Conformal fields,restriction properties,degenerate representations and SLEChamps conformes,propriété de restriction,représentations dégénérées et SLE

We relate the Schramm–Loewner Evolution processes (SLE) to highest-weight representations of the Virasoro Algebra. The restriction properties of SLE that have been recently derived in [19] play a crucial role. In this setup, various considerations from conformal field theory can be interpreted and reformulated via SLE. This enables one to make a concrete link between the two-dimensional discrete critical systems from statistical physics and conformal field theory. To cite this article: R. Friedrich, W. Werner, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 335 (2002) 947–952.     

Integral Inequalities and Global Solutions of Semilinear Evolution Equations

A criterion for the nonexplosion of solutions to semilinear evolution equations on Banach spaces is proved. The result is obtained by applying a modification of the Bihari type inequality to the case of a weakly singular nonlinear integral inequality.