Theory of Laser-Controlled Competing Superconducting and Charge Orders.

We investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of competing coexisting superconducting (SC) and charge-density wave (CDW) orders in an attractive Hubbard model. A time-periodic laser field A[over →](t) lifts the SC-CDW degeneracy, since the CDW couples linearly to the field (A[over →]), whereas SC couples in second order (A[over →]^{2}) due to gauge invariance. This leads to a striking resonance: When the photon energy is red detuned compared to the equilibrium single-particle energy gap, CDW is enhanced and SC is suppressed, while this behavior is reversed for blue detuning. Both orders oscillate with an emergent slow frequency, which is controlled by the small amplitude of a third induced order, namely η pairing, given by the commutator of the two primary orders. The induced η pairing is shown to control the enhancement and suppression of the dominant orders. Finally, we demonstrate that light-induced superconductivity is possible starting from a predominantly CDW initial state.

Various cooking methods and the flavonoid content in onion.

Onion is a major source of flavonoids and is cooked in various ways in the world. The major flavonoids in onion are two quercetin glycosides, quercetin 4'-O-beta-glucoside (Q4'G) and quercetin 3,4'-O-beta-diglucosides (Q3,4'G), which are recognized as bioactive substances that are good for our health. We have investigated the effect of cooking procedures on the content of antioxidants. We selected quercetin conjugates, total phenol compounds, and ascorbic acid to estimate the amount of flavonoid ingestion from onion. We examined the following cooking methods: boiling, frying with oil and butter, and microwave cooking. Various cooking methods do not consider the degradation of quercetin conjugates when cooking onion. Microwave cooking without water better retains flavonoids and ascorbic acid. Frying does not affect flavonoid intake. The boiling of onion leads to about 30% loss of quercetin glycosides, which transfers to the boiling water. At that time, the effect of additives on the quercetin conjugates is different according to the compounds. The hydrolysis of quercetin glycosides for daily cooking might occur with the addition of seasonings such as glutamic acid. Additional ferrous ions accelerated the loss of flavonoids.