Agronomic performance of high oleic,low linolenic soybean in Tennessee

Soybean oil hydrogenation alters the linolenic acid molecule to prevent the oil from becoming rancid, however, health reports have indicated trans-fat caused by hydrogenation, is not generally regarded as safe. Typical soybeans contain approximately 80 g kg⁻¹ to 120 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid and 240 g kg⁻¹ of oleic acid. In an effort to accommodate the need for high-quality oil, the United Soybean Board introduced an industry standard for a high oleic acid greater than 750 g kg⁻¹ and linolenic acid less than 30 g kg⁻¹ oil. By combing mutations in the soybean plant at four loci, FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B, oleate desaturase genes and FAD3A and FAD3C, linoleate desaturase genes, and seed oil will not require hydrogenation to prevent oxidation and produce high-quality oil. In 2017 and 2018, a study comparing four near-isogenic lines across multiple Tennessee locations was performed to identify agronomic traits associated with mutations in FAD3A and FAD3C loci, while holding FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B constant in the mutant (high oleic) state. Soybean lines were assessed for yield and oil quality based on mutations at FAD2-1 and FAD3 loci. Variations of wild-type and mutant genotypes were compared at FAD3A and FAD3C loci. Analysis using a generalized linear mixed model in SAS 9.4, indicated no yield drag or other negative agronomic traits associated with the high oleic and low linolenic acid genotype. All four mutations of fad2-1A, fad2-1B, fad3A, and fad3C were determined as necessary to produce a soybean with the new industry standard (>750 g kg⁻¹ oleic and <30 g kg⁻¹ linolenic acid) in a maturity group-IV-Late cultivar for Tennessee growers.     

Effect of heat treatment on structural,morphological, dielectric and magnetic properties of Mg–Zn ferrite nanoparticles

Green combustion was used to prepare a ferrite composition of Mg_0.4Zn_0.6Fe₂O₄ using a blend of fresh lemon juice as a natural fuel-reductant. Effect of heat treatment on phase, morphological, dielectric, and humidity sensor properties is discussed. The formation of a cubic spinel ferrite has been established by XRD-diffraction and vibrational spectroscopic studies. The experimental lattice parameter ranges from 8.3721 to 8.3631 Å. The broadening of octahedral band (υ₂) in the vibrational spectra is an identification for the existence of ferrite nanoparticles in various sizes. The typical crystallite size ranges from 10.2 to 36.9 nm. Using micrographs obtained from field-effect scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), researchers observed a spherical-shaped microstructure with agglomerated nanoparticles. Dielectric investigations have shown that the current ferrite composition has typical dielectric dispersion. The highest reported value for saturation magnetization (M_s) in the present study is 33 emu/g. Magnetic behaviour is primarily influenced by magnetocrystalline anisotropy, cation distribution, and crystallite size. The existence of void spaces in the sintered samples, as well as their porous nature, rendered them suitable for humidity sensor applications. Sintered samples have good sensing capability at 900 °C. The current findings are integrated in terms of cation distribution and magnetocrystalline anisotropy, assuming fine size effects of ferrite nanoparticles.     

Automatic design for shop scheduling strategies based on hyper-heuristics: A systematic review

Against the background of smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0, how to achieve real-time scheduling has become a problem to be solved. In this regard, automatic design for shop scheduling based on hyper-heuristics has been widely studied, and a number of reviews and scheduling algorithms have been presented. Few studies, however, have specifically discussed the technical points involved in algorithm development. This study, therefore, constructs a general framework for automatic design for shop scheduling strategies based on hyper-heuristics, and various state-of-the-art technical points in the development process are summarized. First, we summarize the existing types of shop scheduling strategies and classify them using a new classification method. Second, we summarize an automatic design algorithm for shop scheduling. Then, we investigate surrogate-assisted methods that are popular in the current algorithm field. Finally, current problems and challenges are discussed, and potential directions for future research are proposed.     

微波辅助孵育法富集麦胚多肽的工艺优化

目的 麦胚孵育过程中蛋白酶将蛋白质水解成肽和氨基酸，多肽具有明确的生理活性和营养调节作用。本研究以麦胚为试验原料，采用微波辅助预处理的方法，研究孵育的温度、时间、pH及料液比4种因素对孵育后的蛋白酶活力及多肽含量的影响。 方法 通过单因素和响应曲面试验进行工艺条件优化。 结果 与未进行微波辅助预处理的样品相比，微波辅助处理（600 W, 10 s）能显著提高孵育后样品中的蛋白酶酶活力（约9.4倍）和肽含量（约3.1倍）。经过微波辅助处理后，孵育温度为51.5℃、pH为4.0、时间为6.33 h、料液比为1:7时，蛋白酶活力达最高为3826.24 U/g；孵育温度为45.0 ℃、pH为4.8、时间为8 h、料液比为1:7时，肽含量达最高为262.63 mg/g。 结论 微波辅助处理能有效的激活麦胚孵育液中的内源性蛋白酶活性，促进蛋白水解反应，显著提高孵育后的肽含量。该研究结果为麦胚多肽的制备新工艺开发提供了研究基础。     

Digital Microfluidics for Manipulation and Analysis of a Single Cell

The basic structural and functional unit of a living organism is a single cell. To understand the variability and to improve the biomedical requirement of a single cell, its analysis has become a key technique in biological and biomedical research. With a physical boundary of microchannels and microstructures, single cells are efficiently captured and analyzed, whereas electric forces sort and position single cells. Various microfluidic techniques have been exploited to manipulate single cells through hydrodynamic and electric forces. Digital microfluidics (DMF), the manipulation of individual droplets holding minute reagents and cells of interest by electric forces, has received more attention recently. Because of ease of fabrication, compactness and prospective automation, DMF has become a powerful approach for biological application. We review recent developments of various microfluidic chips for analysis of a single cell and for efficient genetic screening. In addition, perspectives to develop analysis of single cells based on DMF and emerging functionality with high throughput are discussed.     

A novel combination of precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering and rapid sintering for construction of multi-composition coatings to improve ablation resistance of SiOC ceramic modified carbon fiber needled felt preform composites

A double-layer coating composed of MoSi₂–SiO₂–SiC/ZrB₂–MoSi₂–SiC was designed and successfully constructed by a novel combination of precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering and rapid sintering to improve the ablation resistance of SiOC ceramic modified carbon fiber needled felt preform composites (CSs). The ZrB₂–MoSi₂–SiC inner layer coating was in relatively uniform distribution in the zone of 0–3 mm from the surface of CSs through the slurry/precursor infiltration in vacuum and SiOC precursor pyrolysis assisted sintering, which played a predominant role in improving oxidation and ablation resistance and maintaining the morphology of CSs. The MoSi₂–SiO₂–SiC outer layer coating was prepared by the spray and rapid sintering to further protect CSs from high-temperature oxidation. The ablation resistance of CSs coated with double-layer coating was evaluated by an oxygen-acetylene ablation test under the temperature of 1600–1800 °C with different ablation time of 1000 and 1500 s. The results revealed that the mass recession rates increased with the rise of ablation temperature and extension of ablation time, ranging from 0.47 g/(m²·s) to 0.98 g/(m²·s) at 1600–1800 °C for 1000 s and from 0.72 g/(m²·s) to 0.86 g/(m²·s) for 1000–1500 s at 1700 °C, while the linear recession rates showed negative values at 1700 °C due to the formation of oxides, such as SiO₂ and ZrO₂. The ablation mechanism of the double-layer coating was analyzed and found that a SiO₂–ZrO₂–Mo_4.8Si₃C_0.6 oxidation protection barrier would be formed during the ablation process to prevent the oxygen diffusion into the interior CSs, and this study provided a novel and effective way to fabricate high-temperature oxidation protective and ablation resistant coating.     

Study of metal assisted anisotropic chemical etching of silicon for high aspect ratio in crystalline silicon solar cells

Textured surface is commonly used to enhance the efficiency of silicon solar cells by reducing the overall reflectance and improving the light scattering. In this study, a comparison between isotropic and anisotropic etching methods was investigated. The deep funnel shaped structures with high aspect ratio are proposed for better light trapping with low reflectance in crystalline silicon solar cells. The anisotropic metal assisted chemical etching (MACE) was used to form the funnel shaped structures with various aspect ratios. The funnel shaped structures showed an average reflectance of 14.75% while it was 15.77% for the pillar shaped structures. The average reflectance was further reduced to 9.49% using deep funnel shaped structures with an aspect ratio of 1:1.18. The deep funnel shaped structures with high aspect ratios can be employed for high performance of crystalline silicon solar cells.     

Thermodynamic analysis of ethanol synthesis from hydration of ethylene coupled with a sequential reaction

Coal-based ethanol production by hydration of ethylene is limited by the low equilibrium ethylene conversion at elevated temperature. To improve ethylene conversion, coupling hydration of ethylene with a potential ethanol consumption reaction was analyzed thermodynamically. Five reactions have been attempted and compared: (1) dehydration of ethanol to ethyl ether ({\mathrm{2C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}\mathrm{OH}\iff{\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{OC}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{+H}}_{\mathrm{2}}\mathrm{O}), (2) dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde ({\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}\mathrm{OH}\iff {\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{CHO+H}}_{\mathrm{2}}), (3) esterification of acetic acid with ethanol ({\mathrm{C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{OH+CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}\mathrm{COOH}\iff {\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{COOC}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{+H}}_{\mathrm{2}}\mathrm{O}), (4) dehydrogenation of ethanol to ethyl acetate ({\mathrm{2C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}\mathrm{OH}\iff {\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{COOC}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{+2H}}_{\mathrm{2}}), and (5) oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol to ethyl acetate ({\mathrm{2C}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{OH+O}}_{\mathrm{2}}\iff {\mathrm{CH}}_{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{COOC}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{H}}_{\mathrm{5}}{\mathrm{+2H}}_{\mathrm{2}}\mathrm{O}). The equilibrium constants and equilibrium distributions of the coupled reactions were calculated and the effects of feed composition, temperature and pressure upon the ethylene equilibrium conversion were examined. The results show that dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde has little effect on ethylene conversion, whereas for dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate, ethylene conversion can be improved from 8% to 12.8% and 18.5%, respectively, under conditions of H₂O/C₂H₄ = 2, 10 atm and 300°C. The esterification of acetic acid with ethanol can greatly enhance the ethylene conversion to 22.5%; in particular, ethylene can be actually completely converted to ethyl acetate by coupling oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol.     

脉冲电流对6016-T4铝合金板材力学性能的影响

为研究在电流辅助成形时脉冲电流的电流密度、占空比和脉冲频率3个因素对6016-T4铝合金板材力学性能的影响规律,设计了3因素5水平的正交实验。实验表明,对6016-T4铝合金力学性能影响的主次因素是:电流密度>占空比>脉冲频率。在此基础上,选用主次2个因素,即电流密度和脉冲频率,使用控制变量法进行进一步的实验研究。实验结果表明,电流密度对6016-T4铝合金力学性能影响较大,改变电流密度的同时带来了明显的焦耳热效应,该效应对材料有明显的软化作用,降低了材料的流动应力,但是,同时也降低了铝合金板的伸长率,这是因为过大的电流密度加剧了试样的主应变演化,进而促进了试样的断裂。而脉冲频率的变化对6016-T4铝合金板材的力学性能影响很小,这也印证了正交实验的结论。