Improving gelling properties of myofibrillar proteins incorporating with cellulose micro/nanofibres

The effects of cellulose microfibres (CMFs, Average size: 100 ± 5 μm) and cellulose nanofibres (CNFs, Average size: 60 ± 3 nm) on the properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels from duck breast meat were studied. The results demonstrated that CMFs and CNFs were mostly connected to MP by non-covalent bonds, the diffusion and cross-linking of MP molecules was promoted, and a denser and more complete gel network was formed. With the increases of CMFs and CNFs concentration (0–10%), the hardness was increased by 13.15% and 19.78% for CMFs10% and CNFs10% gels, respectively, and the elasticity was increased by 40% and 80%, respectively. At the same concentration (0–10%), the increase in gel hardness, viscoelasticity and immobilised water content was greater in the CNFs-MP group than in the CMFs-MP group. The CNFs-MP group had a tighter gel network, and CNFs had a better potential to improve the gelation performance of MP.     

液相色谱-串联质谱技术在临床检验中的应用研究进展

液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）技术具有高灵敏度、高特异性、高分辨率和高效率的优点。近年来随着仪器灵敏度的提高，LC-MS/MS在常规临床检验中显示出极大的潜力，并在疾病早期预防和诊断中发挥着不可替代的作用。本文对LC-MS/MS在新生儿疾病筛查、维生素D检测、内分泌激素检测、肽类和蛋白质定量分析等临床检验方面的研究进展进行综述，并讨论了未来面临的挑战。     

Improved aqueous solubility,bioaccessibility and cellular uptake of quercetin following pH-driven encapsulation in whey protein isolate

The purpose of this study was to increase the water solubility and potential bioavailability of quercetin by encapsulation in whey protein isolate (WPI) based on a green, efficient pH-driven method. According to the results, the water solubility of quercetin increased by 346.9: times after loading into WPI nanoparticles. When the initial quercetin concentration was 0.25 mg mL⁻¹ and WPI was 2% w/v, the encapsulation efficiency reached 94.1%, the Z-average diameter was 36.63 nm, and the zeta potential was −36.4 mV at pH 7.0. The fluorescence spectroscopy assay suggested the molecular complexation of quercetin and WPI at pH 12.0. X-ray diffraction assay indicated the enclosure of amorphous quercetin in WPI. Correspondingly, the bioaccessibility increased from 2.76% to 31.23% and the Caco-2 cell monolayer uptake increased from 0% to 2.12% after nanoencapsulation. This work confirmed that the pH-driven method is an effective approach to prepare WPI–quercetin nanocapsules to improve physical and potentially biological properties of quercetin.     

Fabrication of crescent-shaped ceramic microparticles based on single emulsion microfluidics

Ceramic microparticles have great potentials in various fields such as materials engineering, biotechnology, microelectromechanical systems, etc. Morphology of the microparticle performs an important role on their application. To date, it remains difficult to find an effective and controllable way for fabricating nonspherical ceramic microparticles with 3D features. This work demonstrates a method that combines UV light lithography and single emulsion opaque-droplet-templated microfluidic molding to prepare the crescent-shaped ceramic microparticles. By tailoring the intensity of UV light and flow rate of fluid, the shapes of microparticles are accordingly tuned. Therefore, varieties of crescent-shaped microparticles and their variations have been fabricated. After sintering, the crescent-shaped alumina ceramic microparticles were obtained. Benefitting from the light absorption and scattering behavior of most ceramic nanoparticles, this system can serve as a general platform to produce crescent-shaped microparticles made from different materials, and hold great potentials for applications in microrobotics, structural materials in MEMS, and biotechnology.     

基于全U网络的混凝土路面裂缝检测算法

针对现有的混凝土裂缝检测算法在各种复杂环境中检测精度不够、鲁棒性不强的问题,根据深度学习理论和U-net模型,提出一种全U型网络的裂缝检测算法。首先,依照原U-net模型路线构建网络;然后,在每个池化层后都进行一次上采样,恢复其在池化层之前的特征图规格,并将其与池化之前的卷积层进行融合,将融合之后的特征图作为新的融合层与原U-net网络上采样之后的网络层进行融合;最后,为了验证算法的有效性,在测试集中进行实验。结果表明,所提算法的平均精确率可达到83.48%,召回率为85.08%,F1为84.11%,相较于原U-net分别提升了1.48%,4.68%和3.29%,在复杂环境中也能提取完整裂缝,保证了裂缝检测的鲁棒性。     

0–1膨胀几何分布的客观贝叶斯分析

在医疗卫生、金融证券等应用领域，经常会同时出现零观测值、一观测值较多的情况. 为更好地拟合这类数据，提出0–1膨胀几何分布模型并进行客观贝叶斯分析. 通过参数变换，得到Jeffreys先验和reference先验. 设计后验分布的抽样算法，设置不同的样本量和参数真值，采用数值模拟方法对不同客观先验下的估计效果进行评估.     

Synthesis and performance evaluation of a new drag reducer based on acrylamide/12-allyloxydodecyl acid sodium

Hydraulic fracturing with slickwater is a field-proven stimulation technology used in tight reservoirs. Because of the high pumping rate associated with slickwater fracturing, drag reduction (DR) is critical in minimizing pressure drop and the success of oilfield operations. In this paper, a new type of drag reducer (SPR) was synthesized with acrylamide and 12-allyloxydodecyl acid sodium, and its drag reduction performance was evaluated. The results showed that the new drag reducer features low molecular weight, fast-dissolving rate and low interfacial tension. The algorithm of estimating the drag reduction rate of non-Newtonian fluid SPR was proposed and validated. Empirical or semianalytical models for estimating the friction ratio (σ) or friction factor (λ or f) were used to simulate the turbulence behavior of the SPR drag reducer under different Reynolds numbers (Re). The modified Virk's correlation could accurately model the turbulent behavior of the SPR drag reducer. A unified calculation formula was established in this study for different pipe diameters.     

Solution-Synthesized Multifunctional Janus Nanotree Microswimmer

Synthetic active matters are perfect model systems for non-equilibrium thermodynamics and of great potential for novel biomedical and environmental applications. However, most applications are limited by the complicated and low-yield preparation, while a scalable synthesis for highly functional microswimmers is highly desired. In this paper, an all-solution synthesis method is developed where the gold-loaded titania-silica nanotree can be produced as a multi-functional self-propulsion microswimmer. By applying light, heat, and electric field, the Janus nanotree demonstrated multi-mode self-propulsion, including photochemical self-electrophoresis by UV and visible light radiation, thermophoresis by near-infrared light radiation, and induced-charge electrophoresis under AC electric field. Due to the scalable synthesis, the Janus nanotree is further demonstrated as a high-efficiency, low-cost, active adsorbent for water decontamination, where the toxic mercury ions can be reclaimed with enhanced efficiency.