Fabrication of hierarchical ZnSAPO-34 by alkali treatment with improved catalytic performance in the methanol-to-olefin reaction

A series of hierarchical ZnSAPO-34 zeolites were synthesized by treatment with different concentrations of tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) solutions. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), temperature-programmed desorption, Fourier transform infrared, and N₂ adsorption and desorption techniques and studied as catalysts for the methanol to olefin reaction. The characterization results reveal that the crystal size of ZnSAPO-34 is greatly reduced compared with the parent SAPO-34 owing to the incorporation of Zn. Hierarchical pores with the sizes up to the macropore level in the ZnSAPO-34 zeolites are created with the post-treatment of TEAOH. The acid strength and the amounts of the strong acid of the hierarchical ZnSAPO-34 zeolites decrease after the post-treatment because TEAOH preferentially extracts Si species from the zeolite. The hierarchical ZnSAPO-34 zeolites exhibit superior catalytic performance than that of the parent ZnSAPO-34, owing to the shortened transportation distance and the appropriate acidity of the treated samples.     

The hierarchical and social decision making procedure for bi-objective optimization problems by using the simple majority decision rule

Multi-objective optimization has been successfully applied to problems of industrial design, problems of quality control and production management, and problems of finance. The theme of these applications is how to choose the best solution for the decision makers out of a set of non-inferior solutions to a multi-objective optimization problem. For this purpose, an optimization model with hierarchical structure, whose lower problem is a multi-objective optimization problem and the upper problem is a preference optimization problem on a set of non-inferior solutions, must be constructed. This kind of hierarchical problems have been previously analyzed only with regard to linear programming problems by Benson[6]. In this paper, an algorithm is derived that provides a solution as a social choice, obtained by aggregating plural decision-makers' preferences. In the case of the simple majority rule, the bi-objective problem is transformed into an -parameter choice problem, and the golden section method is applied. The availability of the approach is demonstrated with the means of an illustrative example.Technische Universität BerlinFaculty of Science and Technology, Keio University     

Chemotaxonomy of aromatic plants of the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Origanum</Emphasis> via vibrational spectroscopy

Fourier transformed-Raman (FT-Raman) and attenuated total reflection-infrared (ATR-IR) spectra of essential oils obtained from marjoram and oregano plants by hydrodistillation are presented. It is shown that the main components of the essential oils can be ascertained through both of these complementary techniques, using spectral information from the pure terpenoids. Spectroscopic analysis is based on the characteristic key bands of the individual volatile substances and therefore, in principle, these techniques allow us to discriminate between different essential oil profiles from individual oil plants of the same species (chemotypes). The combination of vibrational spectroscopy and hierarchical cluster analysis provides a fast, easy and reliable method for chemotaxonomy characterisation. The spectroscopic data presented here correlate very well with those found by gas chromatography (GC) analysis.     

Classification of edible and lampante virgin olive oil based on synchronous fluorescence and total luminescence spectroscopy

Total luminescence and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopies were tested as regards their ability to differentiate edible from lampante virgin olive oils. Total luminescence spectra were recorded by measuring the emission spectra in the range 350-720 nm at excitation wavelengths from 320 to 535 nm. The synchronous fluorescence spectra of 41 edible and 32 lampante virgin olive oils were acquired by synchronous scanning the excitation and emission monochromator maintained at an offset value of 80 nm. Classification of virgin olive oils based on their synchronous fluorescence spectra was performed by hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis using the spectral range of 429-545 nm. Principal component analysis provided better discrimination between the two classes, without any classification error, while hierarchical cluster analysis allowed 97.3% correct classification. These results indicate the capability of fluorescence techniques to differentiate virgin olive oils according to their quality.     

Cell-imprinted polydimethylsiloxane for the selective cell adhesion

A cell-patterned substrate with aptamer functionalization was prepared, which holds promise in selective cell isolation fields such as the isolation of the circulating tumor cells.     

Feature selection for hierarchical clustering

Feature selection is a valuable technique in data analysis for information-preserving data reduction. This paper describes a feature selection approach for hierarchical clustering based on genetic algorithms using a fitness function that tries to minimize the difference between the dissimilarity matrix of the original feature set and the one of the reduced feature sets. Clustering trees based on reduced feature sets are comparable with those based on the complete feature set. Special measures to favor small reduced feature sets are discussed.     

From interpenetrating polymer networks to hierarchical porous carbons for advanced supercapacitor electrodes

A novel and effective strategy to fabricate hierarchical porous carbons for supercapacitors is developed via in-situ activation of interpenetrating polymer networks obtained from simultaneous polymerization of the monomers for two polymeric networks.     

Extraction and analysis of different Cannabis samples by headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with GC-MS method was developed for the extraction and analysis of cannabinoids from Cannabis samples. Different commercially available fibres were evaluated; polydimethylsiloxane 100 microm was selected as the most efficient one. In order to enhance sensitivity and reduce analysis time, the sampling temperature was studied and it showed that extraction should be performed at a high temperature (150 degrees C). In relation with the high lipophilicity of cannabinoids, a relatively long desorption time (3 min) was necessary to ensure a total transfer from the fibre into the injection port of the gas chromatograph. The method was finally applied to the extraction of Swiss marijuana samples from different regions. Data treatment by principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis allowed a discrimination of the different batches.     

Fast and Accurate Approximation of the Full Conditional for Gamma Shape Parameters

The gamma distribution arises frequently in Bayesian models, but there is not an easy-to-use conjugate prior for the shape parameter of a gamma. This inconvenience is usually dealt with by using either Metropolis–Hastings moves, rejection sampling methods, or numerical integration. However, in models with a large number of shape parameters, these existing methods are slower or more complicated than one would like, making them burdensome in practice. It turns out that the full conditional distribution of the gamma shape parameter is well approximated by a gamma distribution, even for small sample sizes, when the prior on the shape parameter is also a gamma distribution. This article introduces a quick and easy algorithm for finding a gamma distribution that approximates the full conditional distribution of the shape parameter. We empirically demonstrate the speed and accuracy of the approximation across a wide range of conditions. If exactness is required, the approximation can be used as a proposal distribution for Metropolis–Hastings. Supplementary material for this article is available online.     

Hierarchical management scheme by local fields

In the present paper we propose a new hierarchical management scheme within suitable extensions of 2-adic numbers, in which the subfields are treated as classes, and the communications are realized by computation on elliptic curves. The security of our system is much stronger than that of the traditional public key cryptographic systems.