Adaptive response and tolerance to weak acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii: a metabolomics approach

Weak acids inhibit the growth of probiotics, such as Saccharomyces boulardii. We explored the tolerance of S. boulardii to different weak acids. S. boulardii had better fermentation ability under lactic acid conditions compared with acetic and butyric acid conditions; however, the budding of S. boulardii was significantly stronger than that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under acetic acid conditions. Although the surface structure of S. boulardii was destroyed, it produced more daughter cells. S. boulardii metabolites were also significantly different from S. cerevisiae under acidic stress. The growth of S. boulardii under weak acid conditions differed significantly from that of S. cerevisiae. S. boulardii-mediated fingerprints under weak acid conditions were identified as latent biomarkers, related to fructose and mannose metabolism, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and the glycolysis pathway. Identified biomarkers will aid in the genetic engineering of S. boulardii and other Saccharomyces strains for improved acid resistance and biomass yield.     

The physicochemical and fire extinguishing performance of aqueous film-forming foams based on a class of short-chain fluorinated surfactants

Aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs) are an important for fire extinguishing, and their key ingredient is fluorinated surfactant. In recent years, traditional long-chain fluorinated surfactants have been banned by most countries because of their persistence, bio-accumulation and toxicity. Therefore, increased attention has been paid to the research and development of short-chain fluorinated surfactants. As is well known, the introduction of hydrophilic or hydrophobic groups in a surfactant affects its surface activity, and therefore, the fire extinguishing performance of AFFFs. In this work, a series of short-chain fluorosurfactant-based AFFFs with different hydrophobic chain lengths were prepared. The physicochemical performance of mixed systems (fluorinated surfactant plus sodium hexanesulfonate), including surface activity, spreading ability, foam expansion, drainage time, and the fire extinguishing and burn-back performance of AFFFs were studied. The results show that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the surface tension (γ_CMC) at the CMC of mixed systems at 25°C are lower than 7.68 mmol/L and 16.51 mN/m, respectively. For mixed systems, the average spreading rate is more than 1.09 cm/s, the foam expansion is over 7.1, and the drainage time is greater than 3.28 min. The fire extinguishing time of AFFFs on fuels is less than 51 s while the burn-back time is more than 15.18 min. The results imply a potential application prospect of the short-chain fluorinated surfactants in AFFFs.     

High-surface-area mesoporous silica-yttria-zirconia ceramic materials prepared by coprecipitation method ― the role of silicon

A high surface area is one of desired properties for yttria-zirconia (Y₂O₃–ZrO₂) ceramic materials given their catalytic applications. The objective of this study is to develop high-surface-area Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ materials by silicon (Si) modification and investigate the role of Si. Si-modified yttrium-zirconium hydroxides were prepared via a one-step precipitation process and calcined at 800 or 950 °C to form Si-modified Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ (denoted as SiO₂–Y₂O₃–ZrO₂) materials containing 0-20 wt% Si as SiO₂. These hydroxides or materials were characterized by ²⁹Si NMR, XPS, TG-DSC, XRD, UV Raman, TEM, and N₂ physisorption measurements. Si species uniformly distributed in the hydroxides tended to be enriched on the material surface at high temperatures. These Si species dominated by the silicates blocked the migration of Y and Zr atoms, which resisted the crystallite growth of Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ components and reduced their crystallite size. Therefore, the SiO₂–Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ possessed a surface area of 59-112 m²/g after calcination at 950 °C for 9 h, which was significantly higher than that of the Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ (23 m²/g). This study may stimulate ideas for developing high-surface-area crystalline ceramic materials calcined at high temperatures.     

雪菊精油对希氏肠球菌产酪胺及相关基因表达的影响

探讨不同质量浓度雪菊精油对希氏肠球菌（Enterococcus hirae）N47产酪胺的影响机制。利用反转录实时定量聚合酶链式反应分析E. hirae在雪菊精油作用下酪氨酸脱羧途径相关基因的表达情况；利用高效液相色谱法检测不同质量浓度雪菊精油对E. hirae产酪胺的影响。并将E. hirae接入到含不同质量浓度雪菊精油的熏马肠中发酵，评估香肠pH值、菌落总数和酪胺积累量。结果表明：在E. hirae纯培养体系和熏马肠体系中，雪菊精油通过抑制微生物的生长和酪氨酸脱羧途径中tyr DC、tyr P基因的表达，降低酪胺的积累量（P＜0.05）。当雪菊精油添加量为1/2最小抑菌浓度（minimal inhibitory concentration，MIC）和MIC时，熏马肠中酪胺的含量分别为78.52 mg/kg和45.83 mg/kg，较对照组分别减少了64.72%和79.41%。     

基于乙酰胆碱酯酶和氧化应激研究海胆酮对阿尔茨海默症的作用机制

海胆酮是一种酮式类胡萝卜素，主要从海胆及藻类等海洋生物中提取。本文研究海胆酮对乙酰胆碱酯酶（acetylcholinesterase，AChE）的抑制作用，应用酶动力学、荧光光谱、圆二色光谱和分子对接技术研究海胆酮对AChE的抑制机理，并用淀粉样β蛋白片段25～35（amyloid beta-peptide 25-35，Aβ25-35）诱导大鼠肾上腺嗜铬细胞瘤细胞（PC12细胞）建立阿尔茨海默症（Alzheimer’s disease，AD）模型，研究海胆酮对AD细胞模型氧化应激损伤的作用。结果表明，海胆酮有很强的AChE抑制活性，其半抑制质量浓度为（16.29±0.97）μg/mL，抑制常数Ki为3.82 μg/mL，表现为竞争性抑制；海胆酮可诱导AChE二级结构改变，更容易与AChE活性中心氨基酸Ser200、His440、Trp84和Tyr121结合，阻碍底物碘代硫代乙酰胆碱（acetylthiocholine iodide，ATCI）与酶结合，从而引起酶活力降低。海胆酮能有效抑制Aβ25-35诱导PC12细胞的AChE活力，降低丙二醛含量，增加超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活力，减轻Aβ25-35诱导的PC12细胞氧化应激损伤。本研究基于AChE和氧化应激阐明了海胆酮对AD的潜在作用机制，为海胆酮在功能食品、生物医药等领域的应用提供了数据支持和理论根据。     

Deterministic and probabilistic ship pitch prediction using a multi-predictor integration model based on hybrid data preprocessing,reinforcement learning and improved QRNN

The deterministic and probabilistic prediction of ship motion is important for safe navigation and stable real-time operational control of ships at sea. However, the volatility and randomness of ship motion, the non-adaptive nature of single predictors and the poor coverage of quantile regression pose serious challenges to uncertainty prediction, making research in this field limited. In this paper, a multi-predictor integration model based on hybrid data preprocessing, reinforcement learning and improved quantile regression neural network (QRNN) is proposed to explore the deterministic and probabilistic prediction of ship pitch motion. To validate the performance of the proposed multi-predictor integrated prediction model, an experimental study is conducted with three sets of actual ship longitudinal motions during sea trials in the South China Sea. The experimental results indicate that the root mean square errors (RMSEs) of the proposed model of deterministic prediction are 0.0254°, 0.0359°, and 0.0188°, respectively. Taking series #2 as an example, the prediction interval coverage probabilities (PICPs) of the proposed model of probability predictions at 90%, 95%, and 99% confidence levels (CLs) are 0.9400, 0.9800, and 1.0000, respectively. This study signifies that the proposed model can provide trusted deterministic predictions and can effectively quantify the uncertainty of ship pitch motion, which has the potential to provide practical support for ship early warning systems.     

Differences between internal and external hydrogen effects on slow strain rate tensile test of iron-based superalloy A286

To investigate the evaluation method of hydrogen compatibility of A286 superalloy in high pressure hydrogen gas, SSRT tests of hydrogen-charged specimens were conducted at ambient temperature at various strain rates. The relative reduction in area (RRA), one of the ductility parameters, was determined. The hydrogen content in the hydrogen-charged specimen was the same as the equilibrium hydrogen content on the specimen surface at 150 °C in 70 MPa hydrogen gas. The strain rate dependence of RRA was smaller than that of RRA obtained in 70 MPa hydrogen gas at 150 °C. All the hydrogen-charged specimens showed slip-plane fractures in the grains in their cores. However, the specimens in 70 MPa hydrogen gas at 150 °C showed fracture surfaces morphology ranging from dimples to quasi-cleavages and intergranular fractures with decreasing strain rate. These dissimilarities are expected to arise from differences in the hydrogen concentration behaviors of the specimens during the deformation process.     

基于纸浆纤维的贵重物品内包装塑造系统研究

为解决贵重物品与其内包装“契合度”不高的问题，提出基于纸浆纤维的贵重物品内包装塑造系统。系统通过三维扫描获取待包装物品的点云信息，经主控计算机进行数据处理，以下位机为执行中枢，辅之其他外部设备，利用纸浆纤维为贵重物品塑造“量身定制”的内包装，提升内包装契合度，增强保护效果，绿色环保，安全稳定。     

Cubic B-splines method for Hall and ion slip impacts on unsteady MHD rotating flow past a vertical moving porous plate

The heat and mass transfer of unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of Newtonian fluid with Hall current and ion-slip currents due to vast possible engineering applications is very important in areas like power generators, MHD accelerators, refrigeration coils, electric transformers, and heating elements. A quality-based research on Hall and ion-slip consequences on the rotating unsteady MHD flow past an infinite perpendicular moving absorbent plate have not been performed. Therefore, the Hall and ion-slip consequences on rotating unsteady MHD flow past an infinite perpendicular moving absorbent plate have not been performed. The similarity transformations are engaged to transfer the governing partial differential equations within favor of the scheme of nonlinear ordinary differential equations and elucidated numerically making use of cubic B-splines collocation mechanism. The influences of felicitous parameters on basic equations are remarked on through graphical profiles. Even though the computational estimations of frictional forces, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number for various parameters are distributed in tabular format and exchanged of views comparatively.     

大豆蛋白纳米纤维对铁纳米颗粒的稳态化作用

为明确大豆蛋白纳米纤维的结构形成和扩宽铁强化剂的食品工业应用，以大豆分离蛋白（soy protein isolate，SPI）为原料，通过5 h的酸热处理制备纳米纤维（soy protein isolate fibrils，Fib SPI），系统研究纤维形成前后蛋白结构的变化，并进一步制备铁纳米颗粒（iron nanoparticles，Fe NPs），探究Fib SPI对铁的稳态化作用。研究结果表明：在酸热处理过程中，SPI产生大量的β-折叠结构，其与硫磺素T结合，显示出增强的荧光强度；此外，7S组分先发生降解，利于纤维成核形成，随后11S逐渐被水解，促进纤维生长；同时水解产生大量的小肽组分，提高了产物的还原力。研究进一步利用Fib SPI递送铁纳米颗粒（Fe NPs），发现与原始SPI相比，铁纳米颗粒可在Fib SPI原位形成胶体稳定的铁-大豆蛋白纳米纤维复合物（Fe FibSPI），并以Fe（II）形式存在，其对乳液体系色泽及稳定性的影响较硫酸亚铁或氯化铁小。该研究可为构建新型植物基铁强化剂递送体系提供理论和方法指导。