Ethanol determination in frozen fruit pulps: an application of quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance

This study reports the chemical composition of five types of industrial frozen fruit pulps (acerola, cashew, grape, passion fruit and pineapple fruit pulps) and compares them with homemade pulps at two different stages of ripening. The fruit pulps were characterized by analyzing their metabolic profiles and determining their ethanol content using quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (qNMR). In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to extract more information from the NMR data. We detected ethanol in all industrial and homemade pulps; and acetic acid in cashew, grape and passion fruit industrial and homemade pulps. The ethanol content in some industrial pulps is above the level recommended by regulatory agencies and is near the levels of some post‐ripened homemade pulps. This study demonstrates that qNMR can be used to rapidly detect ethanol content in frozen fruit pulps and food derivatives. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Metal Oxide Assisted Preparation of Core–Shell Beads with Dense Metal–Organic Framework Coatings for the Enhanced Extraction of Organic Pollutants

Dense and homogeneous metal–organic framework (MOF) coatings on functional bead surfaces are easily prepared by using intermediate sacrificial metal oxide coatings containing the metal precursor of the MOF. Polystyrene (PS) beads are coated with a ZnO layer to give ZnO@PS core–shell beads. The ZnO@PS beads are reactive in the presence of 2‐methylimidazole to transform part of the ZnO coating into a porous zeolitic imidazolate framework‐8 (ZIF‐8) external shell positioned above the internal ZnO precursor shell. The obtained ZIF‐8@ZnO@PS beads can be easily packed in column format for flow‐through applications, such as the solid‐phase extraction of trace priority‐listed environmental pollutants. The prepared material shows an excellent permeance to flow when packed as a column to give high enrichment factors, facile regeneration, and excellent reusability for the extraction of the pollutant bisphenol A. It also shows an outstanding performance for the simultaneous enrichment of mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals (bisphenol A, 4‐tert‐octylphenol and 4‐n‐nonylphenol), facilitating their analysis when present at very low levels (<1 μg L^?1) in drinking waters. For the extraction of the pollutant bisphenol A, the prepared ZIF‐8@ZnO@PS beads also show a superior extraction and preconcentration capacity to that of the PS beads used as precursors and the composite materials obtained by the direct growth of ZIF‐8 on the surface of the PS beads in the absence of metal oxide intermediate coatings.     

Crystal structure,physical properties and bond valence analysis of NaLuP2O7

Single crystals of a diphosphate NaLuP₂O₇ have been synthesized by the flux method and characterized by single-crystal X-Ray diffraction. NaLuP₂O₇ crystallizes in the monoclinic system with P2₁/n space group with cell parameters: a = 8.9985(8) Å, b = 5.3473(5) Å, c = 12.756(1) Å, β = 103.174° (1), V = 597.67 (9) Å³, Z = 4. Its structure consists of a three-dimensional framework of P₂O₇ units that are corner-shared by LuO₆ octahedra, forming tunnels running parallel to [010] which are occupied by Na atoms. NaLuP₂O₇ powder was characterized by XRD, SEM, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The activation energy of (1.49 eV) obtained by electrical measurements suggests the charge carriers to be the sodium cations. The activation energies obtained from impedance and loss spectra were analyzed in order to explain the mechanism of conduction. The correlation between ionic conductivity of NaLuP₂O₇ and its crystallographic structure was investigated and the most probable transport pathway model was determined.     

A fixed‐grid b‐spline finite element technique for fluid–structure interaction

We present a fixed‐grid finite element technique for fluid–structure interaction problems involving incompressible viscous flows and thin structures. The flow equations are discretised with isoparametric b‐spline basis functions defined on a logically Cartesian grid. In addition, the previously proposed subdivision‐stabilisation technique is used to ensure inf–sup stability. The beam equations are discretised with b‐splines and the shell equations with subdivision basis functions, both leading to a rotation‐free formulation. The interface conditions between the fluid and the structure are enforced with the Nitsche technique. The resulting coupled system of equations is solved with a Dirichlet–Robin partitioning scheme, and the fluid equations are solved with a pressure–correction method. Auxiliary techniques employed for improving numerical robustness include the level‐set based implicit representation of the structure interface on the fluid grid, a cut‐cell integration algorithm based on marching tetrahedra and the conservative data transfer between the fluid and structure discretisations. A number of verification and validation examples, primarily motivated by animal locomotion in air or water, demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of our approach. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

杰出人物论微积分

摘编14位杰出人物对微积分的精辟论述。     

Vibrational spectroscopy in the development of surface hydrophilic elastomer latex (SHEL)

An illustrative example is given to show how various vibrational spectroscopy techniques coupled with two-dimensional (2D) correlation analysis can be effectively utilized in the development of a novel and functional material. Surface-hydrophilic elastomer latex (SHEL) is a material exhibiting rather unusual permanently water-wettable surface feature despite having a soft and rubbery bulk property, which can be successfully analyzed with vibrational spectroscopy. 2D photoacoustic (PAS) IR spectra of a SHEL film indicate the localized surface segregation of long-chain ethoxylate moiety of the oligomeric surfactant used in the preparation of this material. The accumulation of the hydrophilic long-chain ethoxylate produces the high energy polar surface over the hydrophobic bulk phase of SBR copolymer. The persistence of very low water contact angle, even after repeated washing of a SHEL film with an excess amount of water, indicates permanent covalent attachment of long-chain ethoxylate group to the SBR copolymer. 2D Raman spectra generated from the process monitoring of the emulsion copolymerization of SHEL reveal the mechanism of the covalent attachment of long-chain ethoxylate. The reaction involves a separate step of oleyl moiety of the block surfactant reacting with 1,3-butadiene prior to the onset of copolymerization to produce the SBR latex product.     

Supplier quality improvement: The value of information under uncertainty

We consider supplier development decisions for prime manufacturers with extensive supply bases producing complex, highly engineered products. We propose a novel modelling approach to support supply chain managers decide the optimal level of investment to improve quality performance under uncertainty. We develop a Poisson–Gamma model within a Bayesian framework, representing both the epistemic and aleatory uncertainties in non-conformance rates. Estimates are obtained to value a supplier quality improvement activity and assess if it is worth gaining more information to reduce epistemic uncertainty. The theoretical properties of our model provide new insights about the relationship between the degree of epistemic uncertainty, the effectiveness of development programmes, and the levels of investment. We find that the optimal level of investment does not have a monotonic relationship with the rate of effectiveness. If investment is deferred until epistemic uncertainty is removed then the expected optimal investment monotonically decreases as prior variance increases but only if the prior mean is above a critical threshold. We develop methods to facilitate practical application of the model to industrial decisions by a) enabling use of the model with typical data available to major companies and b) developing computationally efficient approximations that can be implemented easily. Application to a real industry context illustrates the use of the model to support practical planning decisions to learn more about supplier quality and to invest in improving supplier capability.     

多元统计分析方法的理论研究及应用分析

多元统计分析在多指标实际问题的研究中起着重要的作用.以往文献中,一般采用某一种多元统计方法对一个多指标实际问题进行研究,但其结果存在一定的偏差性.采用四种典型的多元统计方法:主成分分析法、因子分析法、分层聚类和K-均值聚类方法对同一个多指标银行问题进行研究,并对四种方法的不同结果进行比较综合分析,这样可以避免单一方法的偏差性,以便得到的结果更合理、更具有说服力.     

Application of Anodic Stripping Differential Alternative Pulses Voltammetry for Simultaneous Species Quantification

The second order voltammetric technique Differential Alternative Pulses Voltammetry (DAPV) was applied in anodic stripping mode for simultaneous quantification of traces of species having close E_1/2. The potential‐time waveform and the signal processing allowing the DAPV application in stripping mode are presented. The pulses widths and amplitudes were optimized to obtain maximal sensitivity and resolution at traces of In³⁺ and Cd²⁺ (having E_1/2 difference of 45 mV) simultaneous quantification in presence of excess of Pb²⁺. Precise results for both species concentrations were obtained up to In³⁺ to Cd²⁺ concentration ratio as high as 1 to 10 without any sample pre‐treatment in purified industrial waste waters using 0.1 mol L⁻¹ HCl as supporting electrolyte.