Response surface methodology toward the optimization of high-energy carotenoid extraction from Aristeus antennatus shrimp

High-energy assisted extraction techniques, like ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE), are widely applied over the last years for the recovery of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, antioxidants and phenols from foods, animals and herbal natural sources. Especially for the case of xanthophylls, the main carotenoid group of crustaceans, they can be extracted in a rapid and quantitative way with the use of UAE and MAE.     

Synthesis of diisocyanides with phenolic groups and their polymerization to helically chiral poly(quinoxaline‐2,3‐diyl)s

The development of synthetic routes which lead to five new diisocyanide monomers with one or two phenolic groups is described. Their polymerization behavior is studied with Pd‐ and Ni‐based initiators, as well as under microwave irradiation. The polymerizability is mainly dominated by steric effects as is concluded from experiments using different protecting groups. Chiroptical properties of these new polymers are studied by CD‐spectroscopy. After deprotection, helically chiral poly(quinoxalin‐2,3‐diyl)s are obtained which display a Brønsted function attached to a stereolabile biaryl axis whose configuration should be influenced by the chiral polymer backbone. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1320–1329     

Lithium Insertion Mechanism in Iron-Based Oxyfluorides with Anionic Vacancies Probed by PDF Analysis

The mechanism of lithium insertion that occurs in an iron oxyfluoride sample with a hexagonal–tungsten–bronze (HTB)-type structure was investigated by the pair distribution function. This study reveals that upon lithiation, the HTB framework collapses to yield disordered rutile and rock salt phases followed by a conversion reaction of the fluoride phase toward lithium fluoride and nanometer-sized metallic iron. The occurrence of anionic vacancies in the pristine framework was shown to strongly impact the electrochemical activity, that is, the reversible capacity scales with the content of anionic vacancies. Similar to FeOF-type electrodes, upon de-lithiation, a disordered rutile phase forms, showing that the anionic chemistry dictates the atomic arrangement of the re-oxidized phase. Finally, it was shown that the nanoscaling and structural rearrangement induced by the conversion reaction allow the in situ formation of new electrode materials with enhanced electrochemical properties.     

The deformation and fracture of balloons

Inflation of balloons provides a straightforward way of achieving large biaxial deformations. Previous studies have shown that when a balloon bursts, crack propagation occurs at very high speed – much higher than would be expected from the low strain modulus and elastic wave velocity of the rubber. The present paper is concerned with studies of the deformation and fracture of cylindrical balloons. On inflation, the deformations of such a balloon pass through an unstable region but subsequently increase monotonically with pressure. In this relatively high pressure region, the ratio of the longitudinal and circumferential extension ratios is broadly in accord with expectations from high-strain elasticity theory when the ratio of the corresponding stresses is taken into account. On bursting, crack speeds up to around 300 m/s in this region. It is shown that these speeds are in accord with large increase in incremental moduli for the highly-strained rubber. Marked changes in crack tip profile observed at very high crack speeds are consistent with control of the rate of growth by inertia rather than by the viscoelastic properties of the rubber (as is believed to be the case at lower speeds). Consistent with this, various elastomers having different glass transition temperatures show similar crack growth behaviour in the very high speed region.     

Probabilism,entropies and strictly proper scoring rules

Accuracy arguments are the en vogue route in epistemic justifications of probabilism and further norms governing rational belief. These arguments often depend on the fact that the employed inaccuracy measure is strictly proper. I argue controversially that it is ill-advised to assume that the employed inaccuracy measures are strictly proper and that strictly proper statistical scoring rules are a more natural class of measures of inaccuracy. Building on work in belief elicitation I show how strictly proper statistical scoring rules can be used to give an epistemic justification of probabilism.An agent's evidence does not play any role in these justifications of probabilism. Principles demanding the maximisation of a generalised entropy depend on the agent's evidence. In the second part of the paper I show how to simultaneously justify probabilism and such a principle. I also investigate scoring rules which have traditionally been linked with entropies.