Preparation of Low-Diacylglycerol Cocoa Butter Equivalents by Hexane Fractionation of Palm Stearin and Shea Butter

Herein, we prepared 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-oleoyl glycerol (POP)-rich fats with reduced levels of diacylglycerols (DAGs), adversely affecting the tempering of chocolate, via two-step hexane fractionation of palm stearin. DAG content in the as-prepared fats was lower than that in POP-rich fats obtained by previously reported conventional two-step acetone fractionation. Cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) were fabricated by blending the as-prepared fats with 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoyl glycerol (SOS)-rich fats obtained by hexane fractionation of degummed shea butter. POP-rich fats achieved under the best conditions for the fractionation of palm stearin had a significantly lower DAG content (1.6 w/w%) than that in the counterpart (4.6 w/w%) prepared by the previously reported method. The CBEs fabricated by blending the POP- and SOS-rich fats in a weight ratio of 40:60 contained 63.7 w/w% total symmetric monounsaturated triacylglycerols, including 22.0 w/w% POP, 8.6 w/w% palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-stearoyl-rac-glycerol, 33.1 w/w% SOS, and 1.3 w/w% DAGs, which was not substantially different from the DAG content in cocoa butter (1.1 w/w%). Based on the solid-fat content results, it was concluded that, when these CBEs were used for chocolate manufacture, they blended with cocoa butter at levels up to 40 w/w%, without distinctively altering the hardness and melting behavior of cocoa butter.     

A probabilistic model of quantum states for classical data security

The phenomenal progress of quantum information theory over the last decade has substantially broadened the potential to simulate the superposition of states for exponential speedup of quantum algorithms over their classical peers. Therefore, the conventional and modern cryptographic standards (encryption and authentication) are susceptible to Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms on quantum computers. The significant improvement in technology permits consummate levels of data protection by encoding classical data into small quantum states that can only be utilized once by leveraging the capabilities of quantum-assisted classical computations. Considering the frequent data breaches and increasingly stringent privacy legislation, we introduce a hybrid quantum-classical model to transform classical data into unclonable states, and we experimentally demonstrate perfect state transfer to exemplify the classical data. To alleviate implementation complexity, we propose an arbitrary quantum signature scheme that does not require the establishment of entangled states to authenticate users in order to transmit and receive arbitrated states to retrieve classical data. The consequences of the probabilistic model indicate that the quantum-assisted classical framework substantially enhances the performance and security of digital data, and paves the way toward real-world applications.     

Alternative formulation and dynamic process for the efficient Banzhaf–Owen index

We adopt excess functions to propose alternative formulation and dynamic process for the efficient Banzhaf–Owen index.     

Deboronation-induced ratiometric emission sensing of fluoride by 1,3,5-tris-(o-carboranyl-methyl)benzene

1,3,5-Tris-(o-carboranyl-methyl)benzene (closo-1) and its nido-form (nido-1) were synthesized and fully characterized. The solid-state molecular structure of closo-1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound closo-1 exhibited an intense single emission in various organic solvents that was red-shifted with increasing solvent polarity. The positive solvatochromic effect and theoretical calculation results at the first excited (S₁) optimized structure of closo-1 strongly suggest that this emissive band can be assigned to an intramolecular charge transfer. Meanwhile, nido-1 showed a pronounced red-shift of the emissive band compared to that of closo-1 and aroused low-energy emission. The specific emissive features of nido-1 were attributed to the elevation of its HOMO level, estimated by cyclic voltammetry. The photophysical changes by conversion from closo-1 to nido-1 allowed the emissive color-tunable sensing of fluoride. Thus, the tris-o-carboranyl compound showed great potential as a chemodosimeter for fluoride anion sensing, detectable by the naked-eye.     

A new type of soluble pentacene precursor for organic thin-film transistors

A new type of soluble pentacene precursor is synthesized, which extrudes a unit of CO upon heating at 150 degrees C, to produce pentacene in nearly quantitative yield.     

Structural transformations in dinuclear zinc complexes involving Zn-Zn bonds

Reduction of Zn(2)(mu-eta(2)-Me(2)Si(NDipp)(2))(2) with 4 equiv. of KC(8) resulted in a dramatic structural transformation into [(eta(2)-Me(2)Si(NDipp)(2))ZnZn(eta(2)-Me(2)Si(NDipp)(2))](2-) featuring a Zn-Zn bond instead of [Zn(2)(micro-eta(2)-Me(2)Si(NDipp)(2))(2)](2-); the mechanism of the observed structural transformations arising from the Zn-Zn bond formation involving the intermediate of [Zn(2)(mu-eta(2)-Me(2)Si(NDipp)(2))(2)](-) was elucidated by elaborate computations.     

Rhodamine-based Hg2+-selective chemodosimeter in aqueous solution: fluorescent OFF-ON

[reaction: see text] N-(Rhodamine-6G)lactam-N'-phenylthiourea-ethylenediamine (1) was developed as a fluorescent and colorimetric chemodosimeter in aqueous solution with a broad pH span (5 approximately 10) and high selectivity toward Hg2+ but no significant response toward other competitive cations, such as Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, etc. The Hg2+-promoted ring opening of spirolactam of the rhodamine moiety induced cyclic guanylation of the thiourea moiety, which resulted in the dual chromo- and fluorogenic observation (OFF-ON).     

Measurement of scattering rate and minimum conductivity in graphene

The conductivity of graphene samples with various levels of disorder is investigated for a set of specimens with mobility in the range of 1-20x10(3) cm2/V sec. Comparing the experimental data with the theoretical transport calculations based on charged impurity scattering, we estimate that the impurity concentration in the samples varies from 2-15x10(11) cm(-2). In the low carrier density limit, the conductivity exhibits values in the range of 2-12e2/h, which can be related to the residual density induced by the inhomogeneous charge distribution in the samples. The shape of the conductivity curves indicates that high mobility samples contain some short-range disorder whereas low mobility samples are dominated by long-range scatterers.     

Limits on interactions between weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons obtained with CsI(Tl) crystal detectors

The Korea Invisible Mass Search (KIMS) experiment presents new limits on the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-nucleon cross section using data from an exposure of 3409 kg.d taken with low-background CsI(Tl) crystals at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory. The most stringent limit on the spin-dependent interaction for a pure proton case is obtained. The DAMA signal region for both spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions for the WIMP masses greater than 20 GeV/c2 is excluded by the single experiment with crystal scintillators.