Nutrient enrichment of dairy curd by incorporation of whole and ruptured microalgal cells (Nannochloropsis salina)

This work investigated incorporation of Nannochloropsis salina into renneted dairy gels and curd. Whole and ruptured microalgal cells did not impair κ-casein macropeptide cleavage by the rennet enzyme. However, insoluble components of ruptured cells impeded gelation, presumably by hindering interactions between renneted casein micelles. Confocal imaging showed that whole cells were retained and homogenously distributed within the protein network of the gels and cooked curd, whereas ruptured algae formed large aggregates that altered the protein matrix. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in the whole microalgal cells was incorporated within the curds, with considerably less EPA retained for ruptured cells. Soluble algal debris did not impair gelation, however EPA wasn't retained in the curd. The study demonstrates that nutrient enrichment of renneted dairy products is possible by incorporating whole microalgal cells to displace milk fat with protein and the beneficial long-chain omega-3 fatty acid EPA. Future research into the optimisation of product organoleptic properties is required.     

海蜇Ⅰ型胶原蛋白的提取及结构特性研究

以海蜇为原料，采用盐酸-胃蛋白酶法提取胶原蛋白，并通过聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳（SDS-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis，SDS-PAGE）、紫外光谱（UV-visible spectroscopy，UV）、氨基酸分析、红外光谱（Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy，FTIR）、圆二色谱（Circular dichroism，CD）以及扫描电镜（Scanning electron microscope，SEM）对其结构特性进行了系统全面的研究。结果显示，海蜇胶原蛋白在135 kDa左右有一条α-链，在245 kDa以上有一条β-链和γ-链，紫外吸收峰在233 nm处，符合I型胶原蛋白的特征，其亚基组成可能为[α₁(I)]₃。海蜇胶原蛋白中含量最高的氨基酸为甘氨酸，占氨基酸总量的25.99%，且含有15.94%的亚氨基酸。红外光谱和圆二色谱均表明海蜇胶原蛋白分子排布紧凑，具有主要由氢键构成的完整三螺旋结构。扫描电镜结果显示海蜇胶原蛋白具有多层聚集、以纤维为主的无规则网状结构。     

Fabrication of NixCo3-xS4 hollow nanosphere as wideband electromagnetic absorber at thin matched thickness

Nowadays, transition metal sulfide (TMS), especially for spinel crystal structure (A_xB_3-xS₄), have been proved to be a promising electromagnetic (EM) absorber if been used to deal with the severe electromagnetic pollution. However, EM performance degradation and absorption layer thickness-decreasing at present remains a big challenge, owning to the poor EM attenuation ability. To overcome this barrier, herein we reported a Ni_xCo_3-xS₄ (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0) absorber with hollow sphere structure to realize a good EM performance with a thinner matched thickness (<1.5 mm). The average sizes of these Ni_xCo_3-xS₄ distributed in 450–550 nm. The dielectric loss ability (ε'') can be boosted by tuning the molar ratio of Ni/Co, which attributes to EM performance. Additionally, hollow structure would lead to the electromagnetic multi-reflection, also benefited to EM performance. The results demonstrated that the maximum qualified absorption bandwidth (f_E) of 3.8 GHz can be achieved for the Ni_0·3Co_2·7S₄ sample when specimen thickness only equals to 1.3 mm.     

Flower-shaped ZnO nanomaterials for low-temperature operations in NOX gas sensors

In this study, we synthesized nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) by using various concentrations (0–0.05 M) of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant to optimize its morphology for gas sensor applications. The optimization process was used to elucidate the morphology effects (rod-shaped and flower-shaped morphologies). The morphologies were investigated through scanning electron microscopy, in which the assembly of nanorods leading to a spherical microstructure with a CTAB concentration of 0.005 M was observed. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller isotherm measurements revealed a surface area of 7.928 g/m² for the flower-like morphology, which was relatively higher than those of other CTAB-assisted morphologies. Such morphological features were expected to contribute toward high-performance gas-sensing. The effect of morphology variation on the resistance of ZnO microstructures was used for gas measurements. Among the varied morphologies, a sample with a spherical flower-shaped morphology exhibited a very high response at low temperatures (~29 at 25 °C) toward NO_X gas (0.75 ppm) and a high selectivity toward NO_x among ammonia (NH₃), toluene (C₆H₅CH₃), carbon monoxide (CO), acetone (CH₃COCH₃), and ethanol (C₂H₅OH). Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy analyses unraveled the presence of a high density of oxygen vacancies in the sample, thereby suggesting a close link between the defective nature of the sample and the high response of the flower-like ZnO at low temperatures.     

Dynamic thermal tomography: Recent improvements and applications

The concept of “dynamic thermal tomography” (DTT) was suggested in the 1980s. At that time, there was a wave of interest in the tomographic analysis of materials by active thermal nondestructive testing (TNDT). Unlike particles and quanta of electromagnetic radiation, thermal energy propagates in solids by diffusion. Therefore, a purely geometrical approach, that is characteristic of computed X-ray tomography, is replaced in DTT with the analysis of the evolution of temperature versus time. DTT is based on the fact that, in one-sided TNDT, deeper material layers are characterized by longer time delays of the thermal response. The DTT algorithm is relatively stable when used in the inspection of certain materials. Thermal waves experience damping by amplitude and retardation in time. This limits the detection depth and produces certain artifacts that can be suppressed by thresholding maxigrams. DTT can also be considered as a specific way of data presentation that has proven to be useful in many practical cases, including surface and volumetric thermal stimulation of both metals and non-metals. Thermal tomograms appear similar to binary maps of defects, thus enabling more reliable defect detection in comparison to conventional IR thermograms. In this paper, a “reference-free” approach to DTT is proposed being based on some mathematical manipulations with a front-surface temperature response. Also, the possibility of using the DTT principles for processing the results of ultrasonic infrared thermography is demonstrated.     

甜玉米芯多糖对胰岛素抵抗HepG2细胞糖代谢功能的影响

目的：探讨甜玉米芯多糖（sweet corncob polysaccharide，SCP）组分SCP-80-I对胰岛素抵抗HepG2（insulin resistant HepG2，IR-HepG2）细胞糖代谢功能的影响。方法：确立IR-HepG2细胞模型建立的最佳条件，并由此建立IR-HepG2细胞模型；分别以50、100、200、400 μg/mL剂量的SCP-80-I孵育细胞24 h，评价其对细胞葡萄糖消耗的影响，同时利用噻唑蓝法评价其细胞毒性；检测氧化应激标志物超氧化物歧化酶（superoxide dismutase，SOD）、丙二醛（malondialdehyde，MDA）及活性氧（reactive oxygen species，ROS）的水平，测定细胞内糖原积累水平及糖酵解关键限速酶己糖激酶（hexokinase，HK）、丙酮酸激酶（pyruvate kinase，PK）的活力。结果：确立以1×10－6 mol/L胰岛素处理24 h作为诱导IR-HepG2细胞形成的最佳条件，并成功建立IR-HepG2细胞模型；在孵育实验中，SCP-80-I能极显著增加IR-HepG2细胞的葡萄糖摄取量（P＜0.01），细胞活力随SCP-80-I质量浓度的增加呈先上升后下降的趋势；200 μg/mL SCP-80-I处理组与模型对照组相比，胞内MDA含量极显著下降，SOD活力极显著提高，ROS水平极显著下降（P＜0.01）；胞内糖原含量极显著增加（P＜0.01），HK与PK活力极显著增加（P＜0.01）。结论：推测SCP-80-I的降血糖功效与其缓解氧化应激所造成的肝脏细胞损伤，改善胰岛素抵抗肝脏细胞的糖代谢功能有关。     

Structure-design strategy of 0–3 type (Bi0.32Sr0.42Na0.20)TiO3/MgO composite to boost energy storage density,efficiency and charge-discharge performance

A novel 0–3 type (Bi_0.32Sr_0.42Na_0.20)TiO₃/MgO composite is investigated in this work, which possesses a high stored energy storage density w_s˜2.50 J/cm³, recoverable energy storage density W_R˜2.09 J/cm³ with high efficiency η˜84% under low electric field (20 kV/mm). The excellent performance is owning to the increase of breakdown strength (BDS) value and the intrinsic mechanism for enhanced BDS value by MgO incorporation is disclosed by numerical simulations (COMSOL). Moreover, the studied composite exhibits excellent charge-discharge performance, the current density (C_D) and power density (P_D) are 1671 A/cm² and 150 MW/cm³, respectively, which are much superior to that of other ceramics. Besides, most of the stored energy is discharged within ˜0.15 μs via charge-discharge tests. This work not only provides a novel technique to designing bismuth-based ceramic capacitors with simultaneously high W_d, η and excellent charge-discharge performance, but also deepens the understandings of the role for the metallic oxide in the composite.     

Infrared Image Segmentation Algorithm Based on Multi Structure Morphology—Pulse Coupled Neural Network in Application to the Inspection of Aerospace Materials

Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing - Infrared images of aerospace materials were collected by infrared camera and analyzed to evaluate debonding defects. However, it is difficult to identify...     

遗传算法结合响应面法优化番茄红素纳米结构脂质载体的制备

目的 提高脂溶性番茄红素的生物利用率和稳定性。方法 采用熔融-高速剪切法制备番茄红素纳米结构脂质载体。以包封率、平均粒径为主要评价指标，进行单因素实验，并在单因素基础上通过遗传算法结合Box-Behnken响应面法对制备工艺进行优化。结果 遗传算法和Box-Behnken响应面法优化得到的理论包封率分别为86.208 2%、86.169 5%。通过验证实验得到实际包封率为(86.267±0.44)%，平均粒径为(121.8±5.20)nm。结论 结果表明遗传算法结合Box-Behnken响应面法优化番茄红素纳米结构脂质载体模型可靠。