Combination of heat treatment and chitosan coating to improve postharvest quality of wolfberry (Lycium barbarum)

The synergistic application of hot water dip at 42 °C for 30 min and 1% chitosan coating on differentiation in postharvest quality traits, microstructure as well as microbiological evolution of wolfberry fruits was investigated. Fresh wolfberry fruits were stored at 2 ± 0.5 °C and 90% relative humidity (RH) for 28 days. Results indicated the combination of prestorage heat treatment and chitosan coating maintained higher levels of ascorbic acid, total phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity as well as lower decay, compared with untreated wolfberry fruits. The possible mechanism was that the heat treatment almost sealed open stomata to limit the sites of pathogen penetration into fruits independently, followed by the biofilm formed by chitosan which controlled secondary infections as well as slowed changes in fruit respiration and metabolic activity in wolfberries. The synergistically treated fruit also exhibited a higher acceptability obtained by sensory analysis after cold storage. In this sense, the integrated application of heat treatment and chitosan coating could be regarded as an effective strategy to extend storage life and maintain the postharvest quality of wolfberry fruits.     

Interlayer Engineering of Molybdenum Trioxide toward High‐Capacity and Stable Sodium Ion Half/Full Batteries

Orthorhombic molybdenum trioxide (MoO₃) is one of the most promising anode materials for sodium‐ion batteries because of its rich chemistry associated with multiple valence states and intriguing layered structure. However, MoO₃ still suffers from the low rate capability and poor cycle induced by pulverization during de/sodiation. An ingenious two‐step synthesis strategy to fine tune the layer structure of MoO₃ targeting stable and fast sodium ionic diffusion channels is reported here. By integrating partially reduction and organic molecule intercalation methodologies, the interlayer spacing of MoO₃ is remarkably enlarged to 10.40 Å and the layer structural integration are reinforced by dimercapto groups of bismuththiol molecules. Comprehensive characterizations and density functional theory calculations prove that the intercalated bismuththiol (DMcT) molecules substantially enhanced electronic conductivity and effectively shield the electrostatic interaction between Na⁺ and the MoO₃ host by conjugated double bond, resulting in improved Na⁺ insertion/extraction kinetics. Benefiting from these features, the newly devised layered MoO₃ electrode achieves excellent long‐term cycling stability and outstanding rate performance. These achievements are of vital significance for the preparation of sodium‐ion battery anode materials with high‐rate capability and long cycling life using intercalation chemistry.     

Characteristic of polysaccharides from Flammulina velutipes in vitro digestion under salivary,simulated gastric and small intestinal conditions and fermentation by human gut microbiota

In this study, in vitro digestion and fermentation of Flammulina velutipes -derived polysaccharides (FVP) were investigated. It was found that FVP mainly consisted of 48.45% glucose, 15.40% mannose, 14.60% xylose, 11.80% fucose and 9.90% galactose. The -human saliva, simulated gastric and small intestinal juices conditions did not break down the FVP. Based on in vitro fermentation tests, FVP modulated the composition of gut microbiota by elevating the amounts of Bifidobacteriaceae and Bacteroidaceae and reducing the numbers of genera Lachnospiraceae and Enterococcaceae. Meanwhile, FVP affected the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids derived from gut microbiota.     

Assessing students' conceptual understanding using an online three‐tier diagnostic test

When solving a mathematical problem, students who do not have sufficient conceptual understanding may perform poorly and exhibit misconceptions. This study was aimed to examine students' conceptual understanding and significant misconceptions when solving number sense‐related problems. An online three‐tier diagnostic test was administered to 125 fifth‐grade students with varied socio‐economic backgrounds in Hong Kong. Only 14.40% of the students exhibited high performance with high confidence, indicating that these students had a profound conceptual understanding of number sense. In addition, the majority of the students (66.40%) did not demonstrate number sense; these students exhibited several significant misconceptions and could solve the questions only by using a rule‐based method or guessing. Accordingly, most students performed unsatisfactorily on number sense‐related problems. This study is imperative in identifying early predictors and provides information for further compatible interventions in the teaching and learning of number sense in Hong Kong in particular and worldwide in general.     

An energy-efficient cloud system with novel dynamic resource allocation methods

The Journal of Supercomputing - In the last decade, cloud computing has brought enormous changes to people’s lives. Cloud computing gives a client-driven computational model. In this case,...