Multivariate optimization and comparison between conventional extraction (CE) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) of carotenoid extraction from cashew apple

Carotenoids are an essential component of cashew and can be used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, natural pigment, food additives, among other applications. The present work focuses on optimizing and comparing conventional and ultrasound-assisted extraction methods. Every optimization step took place with a 1:1 (w:w) mixture of yellow and red cashew apples lyophilized and ground in a cryogenic mill. A Simplex-centroid design was applied for both methods, and the solvents acetone, methanol, ethanol, and petroleum ether were evaluated. After choosing the extractor solvent, a central composite design was applied to optimize the sample mass (59–201 mg) and extraction time (6–34 min). The optimum conditions for the extractor solvent were 38% acetone, 30% ethanol, and 32% petroleum ether for CE and a mixture of 44% acetone and 56% methanol for UAE. The best experimental conditions for UAE were a sonication time of 19 min and a sample mass of 153 mg, while the CE was 23 min and 136 mg. Comparing red and yellow cashews, red cashews showed a higher carotenoid content in both methodologies. The UAE methodology was ca. 21% faster, presented a more straightforward composition of extracting solution, showed an average yield of superior carotenoid content in all samples compared to CE. Therefore, UAE has demonstrated a simple, efficient, fast, low-cost adjustment methodology and a reliable alternative for other applications involving these bioactive compounds in the studied or similar matrix.     

A lightweight cell switching and traffic offloading scheme for energy optimization in ultra-dense heterogeneous networks

One of the major capacity boosters for 5G networks is the deployment of ultra-dense heterogeneous networks (UDHNs). However, this deployment results in a tremendous increase in the energy consumption of the network due to the large number of base stations (BSs) involved. In addition to enhanced capacity, 5G networks must also be energy efficient for it to be economically viable and environmentally friendly. Dynamic cell switching is a very common way of reducing the total energy consumption of the network, but most of the proposed methods are computationally demanding, which makes them unsuitable for application in ultra-dense network deployment with massive number of BSs. To tackle this problem, we propose a lightweight cell switching scheme also known as Threshold-based Hybrid cEll swItching Scheme (THESIS) for energy optimization in UDHNs. The developed approach combines the benefits of clustering and exhaustive search (ES) algorithm to produce a solution whose optimality is close to that of the ES (which is guaranteed to be optimal), but is computationally more efficient than ES and as such can be applied for cell switching in real networks even when their dimension is large. The performance evaluation shows that THESIS significantly reduces the energy consumption of the UDHN and can reduce the complexity of finding a near-optimal solution from exponential to polynomial complexity.     

在对比情境中走进真实的化学科学*——高一化学绪言课教学

绪言课的教学效果对于学生后续学习起着举足轻重的作用,基于对高一化学绪言课教学意蕴的分析,选取了历史与现代、生活与科研、国内与国外等多种情境素材,并设计成对比的教学情境,竭力将学生带进真实的化学科学,引领高中化学学习的方向,打开学生的国际视野,培养学生的家国情怀。并结合问卷调查对本节课教学效果进行了反思。     

微流控纸芯片的加工及其分析应用的实验设计*

设计了一个使用喷墨打印法加工微流控纸芯片的实验,在经烷基烯酮二聚体(AKD)的正己烷溶液浸泡过的滤纸上,以三乙醇胺溶液为打印墨水,用喷墨打印机打印出设计好的芯片图案。滤纸加热后,打印区域呈现亲水性,非打印区域为疏水性,从而制备出纸芯片,用该纸芯片通过数字比色法实现了亚硝酸根离子的定量测定。该实验不使用昂贵仪器设备,易普及。通过实验,促使学生了解微流控芯片这一前沿科学技术,锻炼学生细致、灵巧的动手能力,激发学生科技创新活力。     

Effect of oxygen on regulation of properties of moderately boron-doped diamond films

Regulation of oxygen on properties of moderately boron-doped diamond films is fully investigated. Results show that, with adding a small amount of oxygen (oxygen-to-carbon ratio < 5.0%), the crystal quality of diamond is improved, and a suppression effect of residual nitrogen is observed. With increasing ratio of O/C from 2.5% to 20.0%, the hole concentration is firstly increased then reduced. This change of hole concentration is also explained. Moreover, the results of Hall effect measurement with temperatures from 300 K to 825 K show that, with adding a small amount of oxygen, boron and oxygen complex structures (especially B₃O and B₄O) are formed and exhibit as shallow donor in diamond, which results in increase of donor concentration. With further increase of ratio of O/C, the inhibitory behaviors of oxygen on boron leads to decrease of acceptor concentration (the optical emission spectroscopy has shown that it is decreased with ratio of O/C more than 10.0%). This work demonstrates that oxygen-doping induced increasement of the crystalline and surface quality could be restored by the co-doping with oxygen. The technique could achieve boron-doped diamond films with both high quality and acceptable hole concentration, which is applicable to electronic level of usage.     

Diffusion Model of a Non-Integer Order PIγ Controller with TCP/UDP Streams

In this article, a way to employ the diffusion approximation to model interplay between TCP and UDP flows is presented. In order to control traffic congestion, an environment of IP routers applying AQM (Active Queue Management) algorithms has been introduced. Furthermore, the impact of the fractional controller PIγ and its parameters on the transport protocols is investigated. The controller has been elaborated in accordance with the control theory. The TCP and UDP flows are transmitted simultaneously and are mutually independent. Only the TCP is controlled by the AQM algorithm. Our diffusion model allows a single TCP or UDP flow to start or end at any time, which distinguishes it from those previously described in the literature.     

PSO-LSSVM对LIBS定量分析精度的提高

针对土壤定量分析受基体效应影响大，LIBS定量分析精度不佳等问题，采用粒子群算法对LSSVM进行优化，提高模型的精确度。选取Pb Ⅰ 405.78 nm和Cr Ⅰ 425.44 nm作为分析谱线进行分析。采集十二个不同浓度样品的特征光谱，每个浓度样品在不同点采集20组数据，将其中17组数据设为训练集，3组数据设为预测集，用LSSVM和PSO-LSSVM两种方法建立定标模型。对比两种模型的拟合相关系数（R2）、训练集均方根误差（RMSEC）和预测集均方根误差(RMSEP)。由于自吸收效应的影响，随着浓度的增加，预测值逐渐低于实际值，LSSVM定标模型的拟合程度较低，无法达到实验要求，模型性能有待提高。利用粒子群算法对LSSVM的模型参数惩罚系数和核函数参数进行优化，得到最佳的参数组合，Pb元素为(8 096.8, 138.865 7)，Cr元素为(4 908.6, 393.563 5)，用最佳的参数组合构建LSSVM的定标模型。相比于LSSVM，PSO-LSSVM定标模型的精确度更高，Pb和Cr元素的R2提高到了0.982 8和0.985 0，拟合效果明显提升。Pb和Cr元素的训练集均方根误差由0.026 0 Wt%和0.027 2 Wt%下降到0.022 4 Wt%和0.019 1 Wt%，预测集均方根误差由0.101 8 Wt%和0.078 8 Wt% 下降到0.045 8 Wt%和0.042 0 Wt%，模型的稳定性进一步提高。说明PSO-LSSVM算法能够更好地降低土壤基体效应和自吸收效应带来的影响，提高分析结果的精确度与稳定性。     

Negative thermal expansion in NbF_3 and NbOF_2:A comparative theoretical study

Thermal expansion control is always an obstructive factor and challenging in high precision engineering field. Here,the negative thermal expansion of Nb F_3 and Nb OF_2 was predicted by first-principles calculation with density functional theory and the quasi-harmonic approximation(QHA). We studied the total charge density, thermal vibration, and lattice dynamic to investigate the thermal expansion mechanism. We found that the presence of O induced the relatively strong covalent bond in Nb OF_2, thus weakening the transverse vibration of F and O in Nb OF_2, compared with the case of Nb F_3.In this study, we proposed a way to tailor negative thermal expansion of metal fluorides by introducing the oxygen atoms.The present work not only predicts two NTE compounds, but also provides an insight on thermal expansion control by designing chemical bond type.