The Evolution of Dextrins During the Mashing and Fermentation of All‐malt Whisky Production

The production of malt whisky involves the mashing of barley malt, followed by the fermentation of the resulting wort without further treatment. While this process has many parallels to the production of an all‐malt beer, one of the main differentiating steps during substrate preparation is the inclusion of a boiling step for the wort in the production of beer. Other than the destructive action of the boiling process on microorganisms, the boiling also destroys all malt enzyme activity. Since a typical whisky wash is not boiled it carries through a certain proportion of microbial activity associated with the malt, but more importantly it retains some enzyme activity that has been activated during the malting and mashing processes. The changes in sugars and dextrins during both mashing and fermentation of the resulting wash were investigated. Evidence of the continuous amylolytic activity during an unboiled, all‐malt wash fermentation is shown; while no ongoing amylolytic activity could be deduced during the fermentation of a boiled all‐malt wort. Furthermore, the data suggests that the amylolytic activity during mashing and fermentation are different with regards to α‐amylase action linked to its multiple‐attack action pattern as a function of substrate conformation, temperature, and effectiveness of potential hydrolytic events.     

The Yeast Vacuole ‐A Scanning Electron Microscopy Study During High Gravity Wort Fermentations

The yeast vacuole has been shown to exhibit morphological responses to environmental conditions when exposed to worts of different gravity during fermentation. Marked effects of high gravity wort (20° Plato) on yeast morphology compared to more conventional wort gravity (12° Plato) were observed. High gravity worts caused vacuolar enlargement compared to conventional gravity wort. These results suggested that yeast cells experienced severe alterations with the vacuolar tonoplast when exposed to high osmotic pressure and elevated levels of ethanol.     

Data-driven glass/ceramic science research: Insights from the glass and ceramic and data science/informatics communities

Data-driven science and technology have helped achieve meaningful technological advancements in areas such as materials/drug discovery and health care, but efforts to apply high-end data science algorithms to the areas of glass and ceramics are still limited. Many glass and ceramic researchers are interested in enhancing their work by using more data and data analytics to develop better functional materials more efficiently. Simultaneously, the data science community is looking for a way to access materials data resources to test and validate their advanced computational learning algorithms. To address this issue, The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) convened a Glass and Ceramic Data Science Workshop in February 2018, sponsored by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTech) program. The workshop brought together a select group of leaders in the data science, informatics, and glass and ceramics communities, ACerS, and Nexight Group to identify the greatest opportunities and mechanisms for facilitating increased collaboration and coordination between these communities. This article summarizes workshop discussions about the current challenges that limit interactions and collaboration between the glass and ceramic and data science communities, opportunities for a coordinated approach that leverages existing knowledge in both communities, and a clear path toward the enhanced use of data science technologies for functional glass and ceramic research and development.     

Multicomponent pyrochlore solid solutions with uranium incorporation – A new perspective of materials design for nuclear applications

Multicomponent pyrochlore solid solutions with and without uranium incorporation were fabricated and their thermal-mechanical properties were characterized. Multicomponent pyrochlore solid solutions without uranium exhibit comparable thermal conductivity and higher mechanical strength compared to baseline single component rare-earth titanate pyrochlore (A₂Ti₂O₇). Uranium incorporation reduces hardness as compared with single component compositions. High entropy pyrochlore with uranium displays the highest thermal conductivity within multicomponent pyrochlore solid solutions with significantly better mechanical properties than UO₂. The measured thermal conductivity correlates well with A-site cation mixing entropy and a modified size disorder parameter, and thus the size disorder and mixing entropy could be good indicators for predicting thermal conductivity of multicomponent pyrochlore solid solutions. This work opens up the possibility of designing multicomponent oxide solid solutions by controlling their chemical disorder/mixing entropy to achieve acceptable thermal-mechanical properties, desired radiation and corrosion performance for potential nuclear waste form and inert matrix fuel applications.     

The importance of dehydration in determining ion transport in narrow pores

The transport of hydrated ions through narrow pores is important for a number of processes such as the desalination and filtration of water and the conductance of ions through biological channels. Here, molecular dynamics simulations are used to systematically examine the transport of anionic drinking water contaminants (fluoride, chloride, nitrate, and nitrite) through pores ranging in effective radius from 2.8 to 6.5 Å to elucidate the role of hydration in excluding these species during nanofiltration. Bulk hydration properties (hydrated size and coordination number) are determined for comparison with the situations inside the pores. Free energy profiles for ion transport through the pores show energy barriers depend on pore size, ion type, and membrane surface charge and that the selectivity sequence can change depending on the pore size. Ion coordination numbers along the trajectory showed that partial dehydration of the transported ion is the main contribution to the energy barriers. Ion transport is greatly hindered when the effective pore radius is smaller than the hydrated radius, as the ion has to lose some associated water molecules to enter the pore. Small energy barriers are still observed when pore sizes are larger than the hydrated radius due to re‐orientation of the hydration shell or the loss of more distant water. These results demonstrate the importance of ion dehydration in transport through narrow pores, which increases the current level of mechanistic understanding of membrane‐based desalination and transport in biological channels.     

塑造地域性的城市特色——以贵港市城市风貌规划为例

贵港城市风貌规划以地域特色的规划表达为重点,以主题演绎的设计手法为载体,对贵港地域性城市特色要素进行了演绎,以塑造“南国荷城”为核心内容,从分区规划、分项规划、风貌演绎等方面提出贵港城市风貌的控制措施和实施意向,并结合局部片区进行意向性城市设计,以使贵港的城市风貌得到较大的转变和提升。     

Volumetric analysis of rock mass instability around haulage drifts in underground mines

Haulage networks are vital to underground mining operations as they constitute the arteries through which blasted ore is transported to surface. In the sublevel stoping method and its variations, haulage drifts are excavated in advance near the ore block that will be mined out. Numerical modeling is a technique that is frequently employed to assess the redistribution of mining-induced stresses, and to compare the impact of different stope sequence scenarios on haulage network stability. In this study, typical geological settings in the Canadian Shield were replicated in a numerical model with a steeply-dipping tabular orebody striking EW. All other formations trended in the same direction except for two dykes on either side of the orebody with a WNW–ESE strike. Rock mass properties and in situ stress measurements from a case study mine were used to calibrate the model. Drifts and crosscuts were excavated in the footwall and two stope sequence scenarios – a diminishing pillar and a center-out one – were implemented in 24 mining stages. A combined volumetric-numerical analysis was conducted for two active levels by comparing the extent of unstable rock mass at each stage using shear, compressive, and tensile instability criteria. Comparisons were made between the orebody and the host rock, between the footwall and hanging wall, and between the two stope sequence scenarios. It was determined that in general, the center-out option provided a larger volume of instability with the shear criterion when compared to the diminishing pillar one (625,477 m³ compared to 586,774 m³ in the orebody; 588 m³ compared to 403 m³ in the host rock). However, the reverse was true for tensile (134,298 m³ compared to 128,834 m³ in the orebody; 91,347 m³ compared to 67,655 m³ in the host rock) instability where the diminishing pillar option had the more voluminous share.     

Over-Expression of Catalase in Myeloid Cells Confers Acute Protection Following Myocardial Infarction

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and new treatment options are greatly needed. Oxidative stress is increased following myocardial infarction and levels of antioxidants decrease, causing imbalance that leads to dysfunction. Therapy involving catalase, the endogenous scavenger of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), has been met with mixed results. When over-expressed in cardiomyocytes from birth, catalase improves function following injury. When expressed in the same cells in an inducible manner, catalase showed a time-dependent response with no acute benefit, but a chronic benefit due to altered remodeling. In myeloid cells, catalase over-expression reduced angiogenesis during hindlimb ischemia and prevented monocyte migration. In the present study, due to the large inflammatory response following infarction, we examined myeloid-specific catalase over-expression on post-infarct healing. We found a significant increase in catalase levels following infarction that led to a decrease in H₂O₂ levels, leading to improved acute function. This increase in function could be attributed to reduced infarct size and improved angiogenesis. Despite these initial improvements, there was no improvement in chronic function, likely due to increased fibrosis. These data combined with what has been previously shown underscore the need for temporal, cell-specific catalase delivery as a potential therapeutic option.     

The targeted delivery of multicomponent cargos to cancer cells by nanoporous particle-supported lipid bilayers

Encapsulation of drugs within nanocarriers that selectively target malignant cells promises to mitigate side effects of conventional chemotherapy and to enable delivery of the unique drug combinations needed for personalized medicine. To realize this potential, however, targeted nanocarriers must simultaneously overcome multiple challenges, including specificity, stability and a high capacity for disparate cargos. Here we report porous nanoparticle-supported lipid bilayers (protocells) that synergistically combine properties of liposomes and nanoporous particles. Protocells modified with a targeting peptide that binds to human hepatocellular carcinoma exhibit a 10,000-fold greater affinity for human hepatocellular carcinoma than for hepatocytes, endothelial cells or immune cells. Furthermore, protocells can be loaded with combinations of therapeutic (drugs, small interfering RNA and toxins) and diagnostic (quantum dots) agents and modified to promote endosomal escape and nuclear accumulation of selected cargos. The enormous capacity of the high-surface-area nanoporous core combined with the enhanced targeting efficacy enabled by the fluid supported lipid bilayer enable a single protocell loaded with a drug cocktail to kill a drug-resistant human hepatocellular carcinoma cell, representing a 10(6)-fold improvement over comparable liposomes.     

Electrospray deposition of in-situ UV-photoactivated polyimide films

In electrospray deposition, a precursor solution, composed of a solute material in a volatile carrier solvent, is atomized into a spray of charged microdroplets under the influence of a strong electric field. As the droplets are in-flight, the carrier solvent evaporates, leaving behind the solute material that can be delivered to a target surface to create a film. In this work, we employ electrospray deposition to create films of UV-photosensitive polyimide. Films were deposited using in-situ UV exposure, where the in-flight droplets and deposited material were exposed to UV during deposition. The characteristics of these films were compared to films exposed to UV only after deposition (referred to as post-UV exposure). The microstructure of the deposited films was notably different for the two exposure modes, in which the in-situ UV exposed films have a wavy/dimpled surface, compared to the flat and smooth surface of the post-UV exposed films. However, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the UV activation of the in-situ UV and post-UV exposed films was nearly identical. Breakdown testing was conducted to evaluate the dielectric strength of the films. Overall, the in-situ UV and post-UV exposed films exhibited similar breakdown strengths of approx. 430–450 V/μm. The use of in-situ UV exposure cuts in half the processing time for producing thin polyimide films.