Evaluation of Vetiver Volatile Compound Production under Aeroponic-Grown Conditions for the Perfume Industry

Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a major tropical perfume crop. Access to its essential oil (EO)-filled roots is nevertheless cumbersome and land-damaging. This study, therefore, evaluated the potential of vetiver cultivation under soilless high-pressure aeroponics (HPA) for volatile organic compound (VOC) production. The VOC accumulation in the roots was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, and the composition of these VOCs was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after sampling by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The HPA-grown plants were compared to plants that had been grown in potting soil and under axenic conditions. The HPA-grown plants were stunted, demonstrating less root biomass than the plants that had been grown in potting soil. The roots were slender, thinner, more tapered, and lacked the typical vetiver fragrance. HPA cultivation massively impaired the accumulation of the less-volatile hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes that normally form most of the VOCs. The axenic, tissue-cultured plants followed a similar and more exacerbated trend. Ultrastructural analyses revealed that the HPA conditions altered root ontogeny, whereby the roots contained fewer EO-accumulating cells and hosted fewer and more immature intracellular EO droplets. These preliminary results allowed to conclude that HPA-cultivated vetiver suffers from altered development and root ontology disorders that prevent EO accumulation.     

Molecular view of copper deposition chemistry: (Hexafluoroacetylacetonate)Cu(vinyltrimethylsilane) on a Si(1 0 0)-2 × 1 surface

The chemistry of a common copper deposition precursor, (hexafluoroacetylacetonate)Cu(vinyltrimethylsilane), (hfac)Cu(VTMS), on a single crystal Si(1 0 0)-2 × 1 surface is described at the molecular level using a combination of experimental surface analytical techniques under ultra-high vacuum conditions with computational analysis. At a cryogenic temperature of 100 K, (hfac)Cu(VTMS) adsorbs on this surface molecularly, without noticeable decomposition. Upon surface annealing, VTMS is easily released into the gas phase below the room temperature, while the hfac ligand is bound to the surface through the copper atom. When (hfac)Cu(VTMS) is adsorbed at room temperature, VTMS is released into the gas phase immediately, leaving surface adsorbate analogous in structure to the one formed by adsorption at cryogenic temperature and a brief annealing to room temperature. Upon surface annealing, the hfac ligand decomposes and constitutes the main source of impurities in copper deposition process.     

Space averaging of vibration level differences measured in lightweight building structures

This paper examines space averaging methods applied to structural level differences measured in lightweight building structures (two beam junction and single plate and beam junction). The methods studied include the averaging assuming a constant input force, the averaging based on a constant vibration level across the source element, and the arithmetic averaging of level differences. Tests indicate that a fairly steady input force can be easily produced when using an impulsive source such as a hammer; the constant input force method is then appropriate and can be used to space average level differences (the two beam structure showing a standard deviation of 0.1 dB from the averaging based on levels normalised to the force). On the other hand, acceleration levels can exhibit significant variations with position due to the low mode count and modal overlap of some lightweight elements such as timber beams. Variations in the vibration level across the source element can then be responsible for large inaccuracies in the level difference calculated from the constant level assumption, the two beams’ results showing errors greater than 5 dB at several 1/3 octave band frequencies. The latter averaging method is then inappropriate and should not be used.     

Detection of susceptibility effects using simultaneous T(2)* and magnetic field mapping

Tracking susceptibility effects is a convenient way to detect small inclusions in a bulk tissue matrix by MRI. We propose a quantitative assessment of these susceptibility effects by simultaneously mapping T(2)* and magnetic field from the time course of magnitude and phase using a multiple GE sequence at 4.7 T. A high-pass scheme is also introduced to highlight the mesoscopic magnetic field variations due to local susceptibility differences specifically in the magnetic field map. Applying this method to muscle tissue, we demonstrate that connective tissue generates detectable susceptibility effects through concomitant local magnetic field variation and T(2)* shortening.     

Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles and positive enhancement for myocardial perfusion studies assessed by subsecond T1-weighted MRI

Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIOs) are usually referred to as T₂ MR contrast agents, reducing signal intensity (SI) on T₂-weighted MR images (negative enhancement). This study reports the original use of SPIOs as T₁-enhancing contrast agents, primarily assessed in vitro, and then applied to an in vivo investigation of a myocardial perfusion defect. Using a strongly T₁-weighted subsecond MR sequence with SPIOs intravenous (IV) bolus injection, MR imaging of myocardial vascularization after reperfusion was performed, on a dog model of coronary occlusion followed by reperfusion. Immediately after the intravenous bolus injection of 20 μmol/kg of SPIOs, a positive signal intensity enhancement was observed respectively, in the right and left ventricular cavity and in the nonischemic left myocardium. Moreover, compared to normal myocardium, the remaining ischemic myocardial region (anterior wall of the left ventricle) appeared as a lower and delayed SI enhancing area (cold spot). Mean peak SIE in the nonischemic myocardium (posterior wall) was significantly higher than in the ischemic myocardium (anterior wall) (110 ± 23% vs. 74 ± 22%, Mann-Whitney test < 1%, n₁ = 6, n₂ − n₁ = 0, U > 2). In conclusion, the T₁ effect of SPIOs at low dose, during their first intravascular distribution, suggests their potential use as positive markers to investigate the regional myocardial blood flow and some perfusion defects such as the “no-reflow phenomenon”.     

Irrationalité de Valeurs Associées a l'Exponentielle de Carlitz

Lete and be the Carlitz-module analogues of their usual counterparts. We have proved in [4]-that these elements of are algebraically independent over whenq3. We study here the remaining caseq=2 and prove among other things that 1,e, are linearly independent over .

     

Facets for the cut cone I

We study facets of the cut coneC _n , i.e., the cone of dimension 1/2n(n – 1) generated by the cuts of the complete graph onn vertices. Actually, the study of the facets of the cut cone is equivalent in some sense to the study of the facets of the cut polytope. We present several operations on facets and, in particular, a lifting procedure for constructing facets ofC _n+1 from given facets of the lower dimensional coneC _n . After reviewing hypermetric valid inequalities, we describe the new class of cycle inequalities and prove the facet property for several subclasses. The new class of parachute facets is developed and other known facets and valid inequalities are presented.     

Analysis of several subcycling schemes in partitioned simulations of a strongly coupled fluid-structure interaction

Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations are used extensively to calculate the vibration of structures subjected to an internal or external flow. In the case of partitioned FSI simulations, separate flow and structure solvers are used, which requires some kind of coupling between both. The time step in both solvers is typically taken the same, but this unnecessarily leads to long calculation times when the time step is small due to stability reasons in one of the two solvers. Subcycling, the procedure where the time step of one solver is chosen smaller than the time step used in the other solver, may reduce the computational cost of the FSI simulation. The subcycling procedure can be either explicit or implicit, the latter implying the use of coupling iterations in each time step. Contrary to explicit subcycling, no stability analyses of implicit subcycling schemes are found in the literature. In this paper, the temporal stability of the implicit subcycling procedure is investigated. The one-dimensional flow in an elastic cylindrical tube is studied analytically. The results of this analysis are subsequently compared to a partitioned two-dimensional axisymmetric FSI calculation with implicit coupling between the flow and structure solvers.     

An analysis of over-relaxation in a kinetic approximation of systems of conservation laws

The over-relaxation approach is an alternative to the Jin–Xin relaxation method in order to apply the equilibrium source term in a more precise way. This is also a key ingredient of the lattice Boltzmann method for achieving second-order accuracy. In this work, we provide an analysis of the over-relaxation kinetic scheme. We compute its equivalent equation, which is particularly useful for devising stable boundary conditions for the hidden kinetic variables.