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.     

Hamiltonian and long paths in bipartite graphs with connectivity

Let G be a graph, $\nu (G)$ the order of G, $\kappa (G)$ the connectivity of G and k a positive integer such that $k\le (\nu (G)?2)/2$. Then G is said to be k-extendable if it has a matching of size k and every matching of size k extends to a perfect matching of G. A Hamiltonian path of a graph G is a spanning path of G. A bipartite graph G with vertex sets $V_1$ and $V_2$ is defined to be Hamiltonian-laceable if such that $|V_1|=|V_2|$ and for every pair of vertices $p\in V_1$ and $q\in V_2$, there exists a Hamiltonian path in G with endpoints p and q, or $|V_1|=|V_2|+1$ and for every pair of vertices $p,q\in V_1,p\ne q$, there exists a Hamiltonian path in G with endpoints p and q. Let G be a bipartite graph with bipartition $(X,Y)$. Define $bn(G)$ to be a maximum integer such that $0\le bn(G)<min\{|X|,|Y|\}$ and (1) for each non-empty subset S of X, if $|S|\le |X|?bn(G)$, then $|N(S)|\ge |S|+bn(G)$, and if $|X|?bn(G)<|S|\le |X|$, then $N(S)=Y$; and (2) for each non-empty subset S of Y, if $|S|\le |Y|?bn(G)$, then $|N(S)|\ge |S|+bn(G)$, and if $|Y|?bn(G)<|S|\le |Y|$, then $N(S)=X$; and (3) $bn(G)=0$ if there is no non-negative integer satisfying (1) and (2).Let G be a bipartite graph with bipartition $(X,Y)$ such that $|X|=|Y|$ and $bn(G)>0$. In this paper, we show that if $\nu (G)\le 2\kappa (G)+4bn(G)?4$, then G is Hamiltonian-laceable; or if $\nu (G)>6bn(G)?2$, then for every pair of vertices $x\in X$ and $y\in Y$, there is an $(x,y)$-path P in G with $|V(P)|\ge 6bn(G)?2$. We show some of its corollaries in k-extendable, bipartite graphs and a conjecture in k-extendable graphs.     

Normal approximation and fourth moment theorems for monochromatic triangles

Given a graph sequence denote by T₃(G_n) the number of monochromatic triangles in a uniformly random coloring of the vertices of G_n with colors. In this paper we prove a central limit theorem (CLT) for T₃(G_n) with explicit error rates, using a quantitative version of the martingale CLT. We then relate this error term to the well-known fourth-moment phenomenon, which, interestingly, holds only when the number of colors satisfies . We also show that the convergence of the fourth moment is necessary to obtain a Gaussian limit for any , which, together with the above result, implies that the fourth-moment condition characterizes the limiting normal distribution of T₃(G_n), whenever . Finally, to illustrate the promise of our approach, we include an alternative proof of the CLT for the number of monochromatic edges, which provides quantitative rates for the results obtained in [7].     

介观电路中量子纠缠的经典对应

从量子力学诞生日起,它的经典对应(或类比)一直是物理学家关心的话题.本文以介观电路量子化的框架中,带有互感的两个介观电容-电感(LC)电路为例,首次讨论了量子纠缠的经典类比(或对应)问题.先用有序算符内的积分理论证明其互感是产生量子纠缠的源头;再推导出求解特征频率的公式,就发现它与一个经典系统的小振动频率的表达式有相似之处,该经典系统组成如下:两个墙壁各连一个相同的弹簧,两个弹簧之间接着一个滑动小车可以在光滑的桌面上运动,小车挂有一根单摆.用分析力学求此系统的小振动频率,发现与上述介观电路的特征频率形式类似,单摆的摆动会造成小车来回振动,摆、小车和弹簧的互相牵制效应反映了小车和摆的"纠缠".