Effect of preheating temperature on the microstructure of walleye pollack surimi gels under the inhibition of the polymerisation and degradation of myosin heavy chain

BACKGROUND: The physical attribute of heat‐induced gel texture is highly dependent on the microstructure of the gel. In this study the microstructures of walleye pollack surimi gels preheated at various temperatures with and without inhibitors (ethylenediamine‐N,N,N′,N′‐tetraacetic acid, iodoacetamide and leupeptin) were observed with a natural scanning electron microscope. RESULTS: Without inhibitors, gels preheated at 30 °C showed a fine and uniform network structure together with the highest polymerisation of myosin heavy chain (MHC) and the highest gel strength. At 60 °C, gels exhibited a broken, disrupted and loose cluster‐like structure together with the highest degradation of MHC and the lowest gel strength. Under the inhibition of polymerisation and degradation of MHC a fine network was observed up to 40 °C during preheating. However, after a second step of heating at 80 °C the microstructures were disrupted and resembled each other regardless of the preheating temperature. CONCLUSION: Heat‐induced gel formation is related to the polymerisation and degradation of MHC and the microstructure of the gel during preheating. Gelation occurred during setting even under the inhibitory condition, and the formation of covalent bonding by transglutaminase is not essential to the formation of a three‐dimensional network during setting but is essential to the gel strength enhancement effect of setting by subsequent heating at 80 °C. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Experimental Investigation on Noise Suppression in Supersonic Jets from Convergent-Divergent Nozzles with Baffles

The acoustic properties of supersonic jet noise from a convergent-divergent nozzle with a baffle have been studied experimentally over the range of nozzle pressure ratios from 2.0 to 8.0. Acoustic measurements were conducted in a carefully designed anechoic room providing a free-field environment. A new approach for screech noise suppression by a cross-wire is proposed. Schlieren photographs were taken to visualize the shock wave patterns in the supersonic jet with and without the cross-wire. The effects of the baffle and the cross-wire on acoustic properties are discussed. It is shown that the baffle has little effect on the screech frequency for the underexpanded supersonic jet without the cross-wire. Also, the cross-wire introduced in supersonic jets is found to lead to a significant reduction in overall sound pressure level.     

Additive effect of CF3Cl on OH, CH, and C2 emissions: Shock tube study with C2H4---O2---CF3Cl and CH4---O2---CF3Cl mixtures

Mixtures of C₂H₄---O₂---CF₃Cl and CH₄---O₂---CF₃Cl, highly diluted with argon, were heated to the temperature range 1350–2200K behind reflected shock waves, and the additive effects of CF₃Cl on OH^*, CH^*, and C₂^* emissions in the ethylene and methane combustion processes were examined by observing the delay time, and the intensities of OH^*, CH^*, and C₂^* emissions. It was found that, in ethylene combustion, the addition of CF₃Cl prolonged the delay times to the maximum intensities, decreased the intensities of OH^* and CH^* emissions, and had little influence on that of C₂^* emission. However, in methane combustion, it was found that the addition of CF₃Cl shortened the delay times to the maximum intensities and to the onset of ignition, increased the intensities of CH^* and C₂^* emissions, and had little influence on that of OH^* emission.     

Participation of cysteine protease cathepsin L in the gel disintegration of red bulleye (Priacanthus macracanthus) surimi gel paste

BACKGROUND: Endogenous proteases, among them cysteine‐type proteases, are reported to contribute to gel disintegration, resulting in kamaboko of poor quality. Severe gel disintegration occurs in red bulleye surimi gel paste. The objective of this study was to clarify the participation of cysteine protease cathepsin L in the gel disintegration of red bulleye surimi. The surimi was made into kamaboko with and without cathepsin L inhibitors. To confirm its hydrolysis action, crude cathepsin L was also extracted and added to the surimi to make kamaboko. RESULTS: The gel strength of kamaboko obtained by both one‐step (50 °C, 2 h) and two‐step (50 °C, 2 h + 80 °C, 20 min) heating was very low in the absence of inhibitors. Protease inhibitors E‐64 and leupeptin were found to enhance the gel strength considerably. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the hydrolysis of kamaboko was promoted by crude cathepsin L and inhibited by E‐64 and leupeptin. The gel strength of two‐step heated kamaboko was increased from 12 to 110 and 130 g cm^?2 by E‐64 and leupeptin respectively at a concentration of 0.2 g kg^?1 surimi. CONCLUSION: Endogenous cathepsin L of red bulleye surimi participates in gel disintegration during kamaboko processing. It does so by degrading the myosin heavy chain of actomyosin and consequently hindering the gelation of red bulleye surimi. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Production-scale purification of the recombinant major house dust mite allergen Der f 2 mutant C8/119S

A WHO position paper states that allergen immunotherapy is an effective treatment for allergic diseases, and well characterized allergens should be used in immunotherapy. The house dust mite is a major cause of allergic disease. However, the biological activity of the mite extracts currently used cannot be clearly determined, since these extracts contain various impurities. The use of recombinant allergens can avoid this problem. However, there remains a risk of contamination by other impurities, such as host cell-derived proteins (HCPs). Advanced purification techniques are thus required to remove these contaminants. C8/119S is a mutant of the major house dust mite allergen Der f 2, and is expressed and accumulated as an inclusion body in Escherichia coli. The C8/119S was refolded and purified through three column chromatography steps. Using this method, we could obtain about 2 g of the purified C8/119S in one purification batch. This amount is equivalent to 100,000 of the maintenance doses required for immunotherapy based on the WHO position paper. The purity of the C8/119S was 99% or more. The antigenicity of HCPs in the C8/119S was examined by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis assays. When the C8/119S was administered at 40 μg/kg, no local anaphylaxis was observed. C8/119S was thus highly purified with an extremely low level of impurities, and our procedure was shown to be an effective advanced production-scale purification process for this Der f 2 mutant. In this study, we established an advanced purification processes for C8/119S, then characterized the purified C8/119S and evaluated its purity.     

不同超声波频率下熔体处理方法对Al-1.65%Si铸锭除气的影响

研究了不同超声波频率下熔体处理方法对Al-1.65%Si铸锭除气的影响, 如: 没有添加除气剂和超声波处理、只添加除气剂不进行超声波处理、铸锭底部强冷情况下既添加除气剂又进行超声波处理的情况。分析了超声波除气的原因。研究结果表明, 采用适时的超声波振动处理与铸锭底部强制冷却相结合的方法, 可显著地降低铸锭内的含气量, 提高铸锭密度。     

超声波探针水平位置变化对Al-1.0%Cu铸锭凝固组织的影响

本文通过使用Al-1.0%Cu合金进行了一系列试验,研究了超声波探针水平位置变化对铸锭凝固组织的影响,并且使用铝粉-水的混合物进行了模拟试验,观察了探针水平位置变化对透明容器内物质流动的影响,最后,探讨了超声波的晶粒细化机理。结果表明:(1)在探针固定于水平方向不同位置的条件下,当探针位于铸型中心线浸入熔体时,得到的细等轴晶区最大,且呈对称分布。(2)当探针的固定位置贴近铸型壁时,细等轴晶区向探针端面附近集中并缩减,柱状晶区进一步扩大。(3)根据克劳修斯-克拉柏龙方程,细等轴晶是由于超声波引起压力脉冲而导致金属的熔点上升,生成稳定的固相而形成的。(4)强声流起着分散金属熔体内刚形成的固相的作用。     

Ligand‐Free and Heterogeneous Palladium on Carbon‐Catalyzed Hetero‐Suzuki–Miyaura Cross‐Coupling

A ligand‐free and heterogeneous palladium on carbon (Pd/C)‐catalyzed hetero‐Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction has been developed. The protocol enables the construction of both heterocyclic‐alicyclic and heterocyclic‐heterocyclic biaryl derivatives in good to excellent yields. Furthermore, Pd/C could be reused. The time‐course study clarified that palladium was leached into the reaction media as the reaction proceeded and then completely deposited on the carbon support.     

GaAs solar cells grown on Si substrates for space use

GaAs single‐junction and InGaP/GaAs multi‐junction thin‐film solar cells fabricated on Si substrates have great potential for high‐efficiency, low‐cost, lightweight and large‐area space solar cells. Heteroepitaxy of GaAs thin films on Si substrates has been examined and high‐efficiency GaAs thin‐film solar cells with total‐area efficiencies of 18·3% at AM0 and 20·0% at AM 1·5 on Si substrates (GaAs‐on‐Si solar cells) have been fabricated. In addition, 1‐MeV electron irradiation damage to GaAs‐on‐Si cells has been studied. The GaAs‐on‐Si cells are found to show higher end‐of‐life efficiency than the conventional GaAs cells fabricated on GaAs substrates (GaAs‐ on‐GaAs cells) under high‐fluence 1‐MeV electron irradiation of more than 1 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻². The first space flight to make use of them has been carried out. Forty‐eight 2 × 2 cm GaAs‐on‐Si cells with an average AM0 total‐area efficiency of 16·9% have been evaluated in the Engineering Test Satellite No.6 (ETS‐VI). The GaAs‐on‐Si cells have been demonstrated to be more radiation‐resistant in space than GaAs‐on‐GaAs cells and 50, 100 and 200‐μm‐thick Si cells. These results show that the GaAs‐on‐Si single‐junction and InGaP/GaAs‐on‐Si multi‐junction cells have great potential for space applications. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.