Optimisation of the ultrasound-assisted extraction of betalains and polyphenols from Amaranthus hypochondriacus var. Nutrisol

The present study optimised the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of bioactive compounds from Amaranthus hypochondriacus var. Nutrisol. Influence of temperature (25.86–54.14 °C) and ultrasonic power densities (UPD) (76.01–273.99 mW/mL) on total betalains (BT), betacyanins (BC), betaxanthins (BX), total polyphenols (TP), antioxidant activity (AA), colour parameters (L*, a*, and b*), amaranthine (A), and isoamaranthine (IA) were evaluated using response surface methodology. Moreover, betalain extraction kinetics and mass transfer coefficients (K_La) were determined for each experimental condition. BT, BC, BX, TP, AA, b*, K_La, and A were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by temperature extraction and UPD, whereas L*, a*, and IA were only affected (p < 0.05) by temperature. All response models were significantly validated with regression coefficients (R²) ranging from 87.46 to 99.29%. BT, A, IA, and K_La in UAE were 1.38, 1.65, 1.50, and 29.93 times higher than determined using conventional extraction, respectively. Optimal UAE conditions were obtained at 41.80 °C and 188.84 mW/mL using the desired function methodology. Under these conditions, the experimental values for BC, BX, BT, TP, AA, L*, a*, b*, K_La, A, and IA were closely related to the predicted values, indicating the suitability of the developed quadratic models. This study proposes a simple and efficient UAE method to obtain betalains and polyphenols with high antioxidant activity, which can be used in several applications within the food industry.     

On input/output stabilization of singular integrodifferential systems

In this paper we consider a class of systems described by singular integrodifferential equations. This type of systems appear, for example, in the modeling of certain aeroelastic control problems. We study these systems in frequency domain framework and show the existence of finite-dimensional stabilizing controllers. An algorithmic procedure is outlined for the construction of such controllers. In order to illustrate the numerical aspects of this algorithm, we present an example involving the classical Theodorsen model of an airfoil, which fits in the class of systems considered here.This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grants DMS-8907019 and MSS-9203418.     

A theoretical analysis of acoustic microscopy with converging acoustic beams

A theoretical analysis is carried out to synthesize acoustic material signatures (AMS) of solid plates immersed in water. The distinctive feature of this analysis is that it avoids three major simplifying assumptions of the presently available techniques, which are, paraxial approximation, assumption of perfect reflection and Gaussian summation of the incident field. Presently available techniques can avoid some but not all of these simplifying assumptions for computing the AMS. In this paper the analysis is carried out for lowfrequency acoustic waves generated by a cylindrical transducer without a lens rod. Reasons for these changes in the conventional acoustic microscope geometry is given. The AMS is synthesized for an aluminium plate in presence as well as in absence of water on its one side. As expected a significant difference is observed between the signatures generated under these two situations.     

A rigorous control of logarithmic corrections in four-dimensional ϕ4 spin systems

Using Gawedzki and Kupiainen's rigorous block spin transformation method, we study critical phenomena in k15h8876801452hg/xxlarge981.gif" alt="phiv" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">⁴ spin systems in four dimensions. In Part I of this work we investigate in detail the renormalization group trajectory of the system not exactly at the critical point.     

Trace anomaly and chiral symmetry breaking scale in the Nambu and Jona-Lasinio model

Bound state pion production in⁴⁰Ca and¹²⁰Sn nuclei in (p,2p) and (n,d) reactions is investigated. The differential and total cross sections have been obtained. It is shown that the cross sections are determined by the overlap function of the bound states of the nucleon and pion, and as consequence,s-wave part of the pion-nucleus optical potential. The contributions from the nucleons and deuteron distortions are evaluated.The authors would like to express their gratitude to R.A. Eramzhyan, S.N. Gninenko, V.B. Kopeliovich, V.M. Lobashev, B.B. Matveev and E. Oset for very useful and stimulating discussions.     

Catalytic synthesis of single-crystalline gallium nitride nanobelts

Single-crystalline gallium nitride nanobelts have been synthesized through the reaction of gallium vapor with flowing ammonia using nickel as a catalyst. The as-synthesized products were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). XRD and SAED results revealed that the products are pure, single-crystalline GaN with hexagonal structure. The widths and thickness of the nanobelts ranged from 80 to 200 nm, and 10 to 30 nm, respectively. The lengths were up to several tens of micrometers. The nanobelts had smooth surface with no amorphous sheath, and a sharp-tip end. The growth mechanism of nanobelts was discussed.     

Phonon effects in tunnelling through a double quantum dot molecule

Phonon effects in tunnelling through a double quantum dot molecule are investigated by use of a recently developed technique, which is based on an exact mapping of a many-body electron-phonon interaction problem onto a multichannel one-body problem. The molecule is sandwiched between two ideal electrodes and the electron at each dot of the molecule interacts independently with Einstein phonons. Single-electron transmission rates through the molecule are computed and the nonlinear spectrum obtained shows a structure with many more satellite peaks due to the excitations of phonons. The strength of resonant peaks is found to be strongly dependent on the number of excited phonons. The effects of electron-phonon interaction on the current and shot noise, depending on the voltage bias applied at the two electrodes as well as the potential energy of the molecule, are discussed.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Cr1+x(Se1−yTey)2 compounds

The structural and magnetic properties of Cr_1+x(Se_1−yTe_y)₂ having a NiAs structure has been studied for (1+x)=1.27, 1.32 and 1.36 and y=0.75 by means of the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) band structure method. The sub-stoichiometry and the disorder on the chalcogenide sub-lattice has been treated by means of the coherent potential approximation (CPA) alloy theory. From total energy calculations a preferential site occupation on the Cr sub-lattice was found together with an antiparallel alignment of the magnetic moments on the two inequivalent Cr layers. The magnetic properties at finite temperature has been studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations on the basis of a classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian and the exchange coupling parameters calculated from first principles. This approach allowed to determine the critical temperature in good agreement with experiment.