Use of heat-moisture treated maize starch to modify the properties of wheat flour and the quality of noodles

Waxy, normal and high-amylose maize starches were subjected to heat-moisture treatment (HMT) and then added to wheat flour (WF) in different ratios (1%, 5% and 10%). The properties of blends and their cooked noodles were studied to investigate the effects of HMT starches. The incorporation of HMT starch in WF led to an increase in swelling power, peak viscosity and breakdown and to a decrease in setback, thus inhibiting retrogradation, hence enhancing resultant noodle softness. Compared to the same addition ratio of native starch to WF, HMT starch led to higher tensile strength and extensibility in resultant noodles. WF with added HMT starch had higher resistant starch than with native starch. This study showed that addition of HMT maize starch has potential to bring nutritional benefits. However, it is necessary to select the proper blending ratio and amylose content of starch to add, in consideration of its effect on noodle quality.     

Influence of geosynthetic reinforcement on the stability of an embankment with rigid columns embedded in an inclined underlying stratum

Incompressible dipping substrata are commonly encountered in engineering practice. Compared to horizontal underlying strata, the inclined underlying stratum increase the risk of collapse of embankments reinforced with columns because it weakens the restraint of the column base. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of geosynthetics on improving the embankment stability when the underlying stratum is inclined. The influence of geosynthetic tensile stiffness on the ultimate surcharge and failure mechanism is studied. A deep-seated failure with column tilting occurs when the geosynthetic tensile stiffness is low, whereas a lateral sliding occurs when the geosynthetic tensile stiffness is high. To illustrate the contribution of geosynthetics, the distribution of the lateral pressures acting on the columns is analyzed.     

Low-temperature synthesis of SiC nanowires with Ni catalyst

SiC nano wires were fabricated on the silicon substrate dipped with a layer of Ni catalyst at 900 ℃ by gas pressure annealing processing. The morphologies and crystal structures were determined by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The results show that the assynthesized nanowires are β-SiC single crystalline with diameter range of 50-100 nm, and length of tens of micron by directly annealing at 900 ℃. The SiC nano wires grow along the [111] direction with highly uniform morphology. And the possible growth mechanism of SiC nano wires is proposed.The present work provides an efficient strategy for the production of high-quality SiC nano wires.     

Fabrication and characterizations of Cr3+-doped ZnGa2O4 transparent ceramics with persistent luminescence

0.5 at.% Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ precursor was synthesized by the co-precipitation method with nitrates as raw materials, using ammonium carbonate as the precipitant. Low-agglomerated Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ powders with an average particle size of 43 nm were obtained by calcining the precursor at 900℃ for 4 h. Using the powders as starting materials, 0.5 at.% Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ ceramics with an average grain size of about 515 nm were prepared by presintering at 1150℃ for 5 h in air and HIP post-treatment at 1100℃ for 3 h under 200 MPa Ar. The in-line transmittance of 0.5 at.% Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ ceramics with a thickness of 1.3 mm reaches 59.5% at the wavelength of 700 nm. The Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ ceramics can be effectively excited by visible light and produce persistent luminescence at 700 nm. For Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ transparent ceramics, the brightness of afterglow was larger than 0.32 mcd/m² after 30 min, which is far superior to that of Cr:ZnGa₂O₄ persistent luminescence powders.     

基于区块链技术的公益时间银行系统

在现有的时间银行系统中，时间币的发行功能和结算功能完全集中到一个中心节点上。这种极度中心化的功能结构，不仅存在容易发生中心节点单点失效、数据容易被篡改等信息安全问题，还存在着时间币的发行和流通缺乏透明度以及时间币的结算依赖中心化的结算机构等问题。针对这些问题，提出了一种基于区块链技术的解决方法。首先，将时间币的发行功能和结算功能从中心节点上分离出来；然后，利用具有分布式去中心化、集体维护和不可篡改等特性的区块链技术，将分离出来的发行功能逐步去中心化，将分离出来的结算功能去中心化，形成公益时间链（PWTB）；最终，PWTB利用区块链技术以去中心化的方式将时间银行系统由单个节点维护账本变成由集体维护一个分布式的共享账本，使时间币的发行和流通公开透明，时间币的结算不依赖某个中心化的节点。安全分析表明所设计的PWTB能够实现安全的信息传输与存储，以及数据的共享。     

Different hydrothermal corrosion results between two sides of sodalime float glass and the possible corrosion mechanism

Sodalime float (SF) glass is widely used in our societies and industries. Hydrothermal corrosion method is one of the effective ways to prepare a superhydrophobic glass, but there is still lack of knowledge about hydrothermal corrosion behavior and mechanism of SF glass. We have hydrothermally treated SF glass at 180 °C for different time, and tried to reveal the aqueous corrosion process of SF glass. We have characterized the morphologies and chemical compositions of samples, and found that (1) the two sides of SF glass have different corrosion resistances, and (2) a multilayer structural coating with a nanoflake layer (Mg-rich gel layer), a nanowire layer (Ca-rich gel layer), and a porous layer (etched layer) is formed on the air-side of SF glass. Based on the experimental results, we have proposed an aqueous corrosion mechanism of SF glass. The insights of the hydrothermal corrosion behaviors and mechanism provide helpful guidelines to glass surface structural control and functionalization.     

Fabrication strategies and application fields of novel 2D Ti3C2Tx (MXene) composite hydrogels: A mini-review

Ti₃C₂T_x (MXene), a new kind of 2D ceramic nanosheets, is receiving more and more attention in the fields of medicine, biology, energy, electronics, etc. However, the preparation and application of MXene in hydrogel is still in its infancy period. Here, we review the latest progress (after 2018) related to MXene hydrogels in time. Aiming at the key issue of the dispersion stability of MXene in hydrogel systems, the preparation strategy, mechanism, advantages and disadvantages of MXene hydrogels are sorted out in detail, and the potential application prospects of MXene composite hydrogel are introduced. Finally, future viewpoints are put forward for the dispersion stability challenges that need solving in the design of MXene hydrogel.     

An end-to-end denoising autoencoder-based deep neural network approach for fault diagnosis of analog circuit

Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing - Fault diagnosis of analog circuit is critical to improve safety and reliability in electrical systems and reduce losses. Traditional fault...