Influence of Radial Change in Gas Density on Nonlinear Hydrodynamic Effects in Its Flow Over a Rotating Disk

Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics - A laminar boundary layer in a gas flow near a disk rotating at a constant angular velocity under the conditions of a significant radial...     

Anthocyanin-fortified konjac glucomannan/sodium alginate composite edible boba: characteristics of texture,microstructure, in vitro release behaviour and antioxidant capacity

Konjac glucomannan/sodium alginate composite edible boba (KGM/SA-boba) with good taste is very popular in China, and it is an outstanding carrier for health potential ingredients. In this work, KGM/SA-boba were fortified with 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% purple sweet potato anthocyanin (PSPA), then characterised by the water distribution, texture, microstructure, in vitro release property of PSPA and antioxidant capacity. LF-NMR analysis demonstrated that the free water of KGM/SA-boba could transfer to tightly bound water with the addition of PSPA that made it with better water-binding ability, higher springiness and lower hardness. And the results of SEM and rheology showed that PSPA could stabilise the microstructure of KGM/SA-boba by forming more amorphous regions and hydrogen bonds proved by the results of DSC and FT-IR. Furthermore, 50% of PSPA in PSPA-fortified KGM/SA-boba can be released at the first hour in a simulated gastrointestinal environment. And the scavenging capacity of DPPH and ABTS of the PSPA-fortified KGM/SA-boba after digestion was higher than that of PSPA alone. Generally, PSPA could improve the texture while KGM/SA-boba in turn would make PSPA more stable in the gastrointestinal digestive system.     

Digestive protection of probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus in Ricotta cheese by monoglyceride structured emulsions

This research aimed at studying the potential use of monoglyceride (MG) structured emulsions (MSEs) as delivery and protective systems for probiotic bacteria in Ricotta cheese. To this purpose, a low-fat commercial Ricotta cheese was added with MSEs formulated with milk, as water phase, and sunflower oil (MSE-SO) or anhydrous milk fat (MSE-AMF), as lipid phase. A commercial whole milk Ricotta cheese (W-RC) was considered as reference. A probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strain was inoculated as free cells in W-RC or embedded into the MSEs and added to the low-fat Ricotta at the same reference fat content. After physico-chemical characterisation, L. rhamnosus viability and sample destructuring behaviour upon in vitro digestion were evaluated. At the end of in vitro digestion, both W-RC and sample containing MSE-SO were unable to protect cells. By contrast, sample with AMF ensured a sufficient probiotic viability, even after 14 days of storage at 4 °C. This result was attributed to system composition and structure. During the gastric phase, the presence of caseins and MG-AMF mixed structures induced the formation of clots, entrapping and protecting cells against the acidic pH of the stomach, as confirmed by confocal micrographs and particle size. During the intestinal phase, cell viability was guaranteed by the formation of mixed micelles promoted by MG. It was demonstrated that microbial cells located near MG structures where they found protection.     

Effect of microwave heating time on the gel properties of chicken myofibrillar proteins and their formation mechanism

The present work was conducted to illustrate the mechanism of gel formation of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) under different microwave heating times. The results showed that the denaturation enthalpy (ΔH) of the MPs significantly decreased when the heating time increased from 3 to 9 s and then completely disappeared as the heating time progressed, indicating that the MPs gradually denatured and subsequently aggregated with increasing heating time, which was further verified by the changes in the secondary structure, electrophoretic bands, and gel properties (e.g., water holding capacity and textural profiles) of the MPs. Microstructural images indicated that the MP gel formed under 12 s had the most compact network, indicating that extended microwave heating time could induce quality deterioration of MP gels. Moreover, the hydrophobic forces, electrostatic forces, and disulphide bonds of the MPs gradually intensified with increasing microwave heating time, suggesting that both non-covalent and covalent bonds could promote molecular denaturation and subsequent aggregation of MPs. In addition, correlation analysis revealed that the changes in the molecular conformation of MPs induced by different microwave heating times could effectively regulate the formation of MP gels and their related properties.     

泸县6.0级地震文化遗产震害调查与分析

2021年9月16日，四川省泸县发生6.0级地震，对当地的文化遗产造成了不同程度的损坏。为掌握文化遗产在此次地震中的破坏情况，对古建筑、古桥、渡槽、摩崖造像、古遗址以及可移动文物进行震害调查，分析破坏原因，提出不同文化遗产的震害等级，并统计其在此次地震中破坏占比。研究结果表明：古建筑中木结构的震害较轻，砖木结构和石木结构的损伤较为严重，表现为墙体开裂、倾斜、倒塌和屋面损毁等破坏；古桥的桥面板产生裂缝和起壳，桥头堡基石发生移位；摩崖造像发生开裂、石像脱落，部分岩石发生坠落；古遗址的原有缝隙增大，石砌墙歪闪或倾斜；可移动文物与陈列台连接的金属卡件在地震下崩落。根据震害调查结果，将文化遗产的震害划分为4个等级，并对古建筑的维修与加固、摩崖造像的一体化监测、古桥的维护与应急抢险、可移动文物的隔震保护提出几点建议，为我国文化遗产的抗震保护提供参考。     

Cloning,sequencing and structural analysis of membrane-bound polyphenol oxidase from Granny Smith apples (Malus × domestica Borkh)

The gene sequence coding for the membrane-bound polyphenol oxidase (mPPO) with a length of 1761 bp was cloned by PCR method and shown to contain one highly conserved sequence encoding a di-copper-binding region. The predicted three-dimensional structure of mPPO indicated that the active site was located near two copper ions and composed of a typical bundle of four α-helices. Each of the two catalytic copper ions was coordinated with three histidine residues in the hydrophobic pocket, yielding His 180, His 201, His 210, His 332, His 336 and His 366. Docking studies showed that 4-methylcatechol and chlorogenic acid have different binding models due to different ligand sizes and binding sites in the active centre, and it was found that the smaller compound exhibited a higher affinity for mPPO. Molecular dynamic simulation results indicated that Phe 353 is important in controlling enzymatic activity through influencing substrate coordination in the active site.     

Reaction Mechanism of Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Extinguishing Agent-Perfluorinated Hexanone Oxidizes Metal-Al

Fire Technology - The use of perfluorinated hexanone as a fire extinguishing agent for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been steadily increasing in China in recent years. It successfully handles...     

Impression creep behavior of different zones in friction stir welded Mg–Zn–Mn wrought alloy

The friction stir welded joint of wrought ZM21 alloy was divided into five parts, and their localized creep behavior was studied via the impression method. The tests were carried out in the stress range of 300–450 MPa (σ_imp/G ≈ 0.02–0.03) and in the temperature range of 448–523 K. Optical and SEM micrographs and EDS taken before and after the impression tests were used to study the microstructure of various zones of the FS welded joint. Power law was found to satisfactorily relate the stress and strain rates. The steady-state impression velocity was found to vary significantly between the advancing and retreating sides of TMAZ and HAZ. For TMAZ, the creep exponent on the AS was 4.8, and on the RS, it was 7.8. The activation energy on the AS was ~?133 kJ/mol, and on the RS, it was ~?101 kJ/mol. Similarly, for HAZ, the creep exponent on the AS was found to be 5.5 and on the RS, it was 4.9. The activation energy on the AS was ~?86 kJ/mol and on the RS, it was ~?232 kJ/mol. The cross-over of steady-state impression velocity of different zones indicates that the weak zone was temperature and stress dependent. Within the stresses and temperatures studied, the weld zone's creep resistance (i.e., lower minimum impression velocity) was found to be better than the base material. As it is with most magnesium alloys, dislocation climb was found to be the operative mechanism in the FS weldments of ZM21 alloy. The rate-controlling mechanism remains to be identified because the wide variation in n and Q values suggests that different creep mechanisms are in operation in different zones.

Graphical abstract

     

On the Growth of Thin-Film AlGaN/GaN Epitaxial Heterostructures on Hybrid Substrates Containing Layers of Silicon Carbide and Porous Silicon

Semiconductors - Abstract—In our work, we carry out a structural-spectroscopic study of AlGaN/GaN epitaxial layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy with nitrogen-plasma activation on a hybrid...