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 note on the finite fractal dimension of the global attractors for dissipative nonlinear Schrödinger‐type equations

In this article, we present, throughout two basic models of damped nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS)–type equations, a new idea to bound from above the fractal dimension of the global attractors for NLS‐type equations. This could answer the following open issue: consider, for instance, the classical one‐dimensional cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation $$u_t+i{u}_{xx}+i|u{|}^{2}u+\gamma u=f,f\in {\mathrm{??}}^2(?).$$ “How can we bound the fractal dimension of the associate global attractor without the need to assume that the external forcing term f has some decay at infinity (that is belonging to some weighted Lebesgue space)?”     

Simultaneous analysis of tropane alkaloids in teas and herbal teas by liquid chromatography coupled to high‐resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap)

A new method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 13 tropane alkaloids in tea and herbal teas using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to an Exactive‐Orbitrap analyzer. A mixture of methanol, water, and formic acid was used for the extraction of the target compounds followed by a solid‐phase extraction step. The validated method provided recoveries from 75 to 128% with intra‐ and interday precision lower than or equal to 24% (except for apoatropine). Limits of quantification ranged from 5 to 20 μg/kg. Eleven tea and herbal tea samples and two contaminated samples with Datura stramonium seeds were analyzed. Tropane alkaloids were detected in six samples with concentrations from 5 (apoatropine) to 4340 μg/kg (sum of physoperuvine, pseudotropine, and tropine), whereas concentrations from 5 (apoatropine) to 1725 μg/kg (sum of physoperuvine, pseudotropine, and tropine) were found in the contaminated samples.     

Characterization and gas adsorption of a novel three‐dimensional metal–organic framework (MOF) generated from a new polydentate fluorene‐bridged ligand

A polydentate ligand bridged by a fluorene group, namely 9,9‐bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐2,7‐bis(pyridin‐4‐yl)fluorene (L), has been prepared under solvothermal conditions in acetonitrile. Crystals of the three‐dimensional metal–organic framework (MOF) poly[[[μ₃‐9,9‐bis(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐2,7‐bis(pyridin‐4‐yl)fluorene‐κ³N:N′:O]bis(methanol‐κO)(μ‐sulfato‐κ²O:O′)nickel(II)] methanol disolvate], {[Ni(SO₄)(C₂₇H₂₄N₂O₂)(CH₃OH)]·2CH₃OH}_n, (I), were obtained by the solvothermal reaction of L and NiSO₄ in methanol. The ligand L forms a two‐dimensional network in the crystallographic bc plane via two groups of O—H…N hydrogen bonds and neighbouring two‐dimensional planes are completely parallel and stack to form a three‐dimensional structure. In (I), the Ni^II ions are linked by sulfate ions through Ni—O bonds to form inorganic chains and these Ni‐containing chains are linked into a three‐dimensional framework via Ni—O and Ni—N bonds involving the polydentate ligand L. With one of the hydroxy groups of L coordinating to the Ni^II atom, the torsion angle of the hydroxyethyl group changes from that of the uncoordinated molecule. In addition, the adsorption properties of (I) with carbon dioxide were investigated.     

A simple three‐wave approximate Riemann solver for the Saint‐Venant‐Exner equations

Erosion and sediments transport processes have a great impact on industrial structures and on water quality. Despite its limitations, the Saint‐Venant‐Exner system is still (and for sure for some years) widely used in industrial codes to model the bedload sediment transport. In practice, its numerical resolution is mostly handled by a splitting technique that allows a weak coupling between hydraulic and morphodynamic distinct softwares but may suffer from important stability issues. In recent works, many authors proposed alternative methods based on a strong coupling that cure this problem but are not so trivial to implement in an industrial context. In this work, we then pursue 2 objectives. First, we propose a very simple scheme based on an approximate Riemann solver, respecting the strong coupling framework, and we demonstrate its stability and accuracy through a number of numerical test cases. However, second, we reinterpret our scheme as a splitting technique and we extend the purpose to propose what should be the minimal coupling that ensures the stability of the global numerical process in industrial codes, at least, when dealing with collocated finite volume method. The resulting splitting method is, up to our knowledge, the only one for which stability properties are fully demonstrated.     

Nonionic Dendritic and Carbohydrate Based Amphiphiles: Self‐Assembly and Transport Behavior

Herein, a new series of non‐ionic dendritic and carbohydrate based amphiphiles is synthesized employing biocompatible starting materials and studied for supramolecular aggregate formation in aqueous solution. The dendritic amphiphiles 12 and 13 possessing poly(glycerol) [G2.0] as hydrophilic unit and C‐10 and C‐18 hydrophobic alkyl chains, respectively, exhibit low critical aggregation concentration (CAC) in the order of 10⁻⁵m and hydrodynamic diameters in the 8–10 nm range and supplemented by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. Ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐Vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy suggests the effective solubilization of hydrophobic guests by the self‐assembled architectures, with the nanotransporters 12 and 13 possessing the highest encapsulation efficiency of 80.74 and 98.03% for curcumin. Efficient uptake of encapsulated curcumin in adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial (A549) cells is observed by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Amphiphiles 12 and 13 are non‐cytotoxic at the concentrations studied, however, curcumin encapsulated samples efficiently reduce the viability of A549 cells in vitro. Experimental studies indicate the ability of amphiphile 13 to encapsulate 1‐anilinonaphthalene‐8‐sulfonic acid (ANS) and curcumin with binding constant of 1.16 × 105⁵m ⁻¹ and 1.43 × 10⁶m ⁻¹, respectively. Overall, our findings demonstrate the potential of these dendritic amphiphiles for the development of prospective nanocarriers for the solubilization of hydrophobic drugs.     

A Closed‐Loop Control Strategy for Producing Nitrile Rubber of Uniform Chemical Composition in a Semibatch Reactor: A Simulation Study

To improve the quality of industrial nitrile rubbers, the copolymer chemical composition, p_A(t), should ideally be kept constant along the reaction. This work proposes a closed‐loop control strategy for the semibatch operation of the reactor with the aim of regulating p_A(t) within a reduced range of variability. The proposed strategy is evaluated by simulating a mathematical model of the process. To this effect, a simplified mathematical model of the reaction is first derived and then utilized to obtain a suboptimal control law and a soft‐sensor that estimates the polymerization rates. The suboptimal control law is compensated by adding a term proportional to errors in p_A(t). The simulated example considers the production of the low‐composition AJLT grade, with the copolymerization reaction represented by a detailed mathematical model adjusted to an industrial plant. Due to the high performance of the soft‐sensor, the simulation results suggest that the proposed closed‐loop strategy is efficient to adequately regulate p_A(t) in spite of structural and parametric uncertainties, while other quality variables remained practically unaffected.     

Interface‐fitted moving mesh method for axisymmetric two‐phase flow in microchannels

A boundary‐fitted moving mesh scheme is presented for the simulation of two‐phase flow in two‐dimensional and axisymmetric geometries. The incompressible Navier‐Stokes equations are solved using the finite element method, and the mini element is used to satisfy the inf‐sup condition. The interface between the phases is represented explicitly by an interface adapted mesh, thus allowing a sharp transition of the fluid properties. Surface tension is modelled as a volume force and is discretized in a consistent manner, thus allowing to obtain exact equilibrium (up to rounding errors) with the pressure gradient. This is demonstrated for a spherical droplet moving in a constant flow field. The curvature of the interface, required for the surface tension term, is efficiently computed with simple but very accurate geometric formulas. An adaptive moving mesh technique, where smoothing mesh velocities and remeshing are used to preserve the mesh quality, is developed and presented. Mesh refinement strategies, allowing tailoring of the refinement of the computational mesh, are also discussed. Accuracy and robustness of the present method are demonstrated on several validation test cases. The method is developed with the prospect of being applied to microfluidic flows and the simulation of microchannel evaporators used for electronics cooling. Therefore, the simulation results for the flow of a bubble in a microchannel are presented and compared to experimental data.     

Oscillation and non‐oscillation results for solutions of perturbed half‐linear equations

The purpose of this paper is to describe the oscillatory properties of second‐order Euler‐type half‐linear differential equations with perturbations in both terms. All but one perturbations in each term are considered to be given by finite sums of periodic continuous functions, while coefficients in the last perturbations are considered to be general continuous functions. Since the periodic behavior of the coefficients enables us to solve the oscillation and non‐oscillation of the considered equations, including the so‐called critical case, we determine the oscillatory properties of the equations with the last general perturbations. As the main result, we prove that the studied equations are conditionally oscillatory in the considered very general setting. The novelty of our results is illustrated by many examples, and we give concrete new corollaries as well. Note that the obtained results are new even in the case of linear equations.     

Coupling nanoliter high‐performance liquid chromatography to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for arsenic speciation

Nanoliter high‐performance liquid chromatography shows low consumption of solvents and samples, offering one of the best choices for arsenic speciation in precious samples in combination with inuctively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. A systematic investigation on coupling nanoliter high‐performance liquid chromatography to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry from instrument design to injected sample volume and mobile phase was performed in this study. Nanoflow mobile phase was delivered by flow splitting using a conventional high‐pressure pump with reuse of mobile phase waste. Dead volume was minimized to 60 nL for the sheathless interface based on the previously developed nanonebulizer. Capillary columns for nanoliter high‐performance liquid chromatography were found to be sensitive to sample loading volume. An apparent difference was also found between the mobile phases for nanoliter and conventional high‐performance liquid chromatography. Baseline separation of arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsenic, and dimethylarsenic was achieved within 11 min on a 15 cm C₁₈ capillary column and within 12 min on a 25 cm strong anion exchange column. Detection limits of 0.9–1.8 μg/L were obtained with precisions variable in the range of 1.6–4.2%. A good agreement between determined and certified values of a certified reference material of human urine (GBW 09115) validated its accuracy along with good recoveries (87–102%).