Preparation of Protein-Stabilized β-Carotene Nanodispersions by Emulsification–Evaporation Method

This work was initiated to prepare protein-stabilized β-carotene nanodispersions using emulsification–evaporation. A pre-mix of the aqueous phase composed of a protein and hexane containing β-carotene was subjected to high-pressure homogenization using a microfluidizer. Hexane in the resulting emulsion was evaporated under reduced pressures, causing crystallization and precipitation of β-carotene inside the droplets and formation of β-carotene nanoparticles. Sodium caseinate (SC) was the most effective emulsifier among selected proteins in preparing the nanodispersion, with a monomodal β-carotene particle-size distribution and a 17-nm mean particle size. The results were confirmed by transmission-electron microscopy analysis. SC-stabilized nanodispersion also had considerably high ζ-potential (−27 mV at pH 7), suggesting that the nanodispersion was stable against particle aggregation. Increasing the SC concentration decreased the mean particle size and improved the polydispersity of the nanodispersions. Nanodispersions prepared with higher β-carotene concentrations and higher organic-phase ratios resulted in larger β-carotene particles. Although increased microfluidization pressure did not decrease particle size, it did improve the polydispersity of the nanodispersions. Repeating the microfluidization process at 140 MPa caused the nanodispersions to become polydisperse, indicating the loss of emulsifying capacity of SC due to protein denaturation.     

Effects of enzymes and gamma irradiation on the tensile strength and morphology of poly(p-dioxanone) fibers

The objective of this study was to examine how and to what extent a new degradable polymeric fiber, poly(p-dioxanone), used as a surgical suture material, degrades in the presence of enzymes and after γ-irradiation. The degradation of the fiber was studied mechanically using an Instron and morphologically by SEM. Both esterase and trypsin enzymes and their corresponding buffer controls were used. The fibers were γ-irradiated at the dosages ranging from 0 to 20 Mrad, immersed in the solution for up to 70 days, and then removed for tensile strength and morphological examinations. It was found that γ-irradiation alone lowered the tensile strength of PDS fibers and made them more susceptible to hydrolysis. Esterase and trypsin did not accelerate the hydrolytic degradtion of this fiber to any significant level. Both γ-irradiation and enzymes influenced the gross morphological characteristic of PDS fibers when they were subjected to hydrolysis. The most important morphological observations were the formation of surface cracks and chips on the fibers and the subsequent peeling of the chips. Enzyme-treated PDS fibers exhibited similar morphological findings but the size of the chips was smaller. The morphological observations of PDS fibers were consistent with the tensile strength data.     

The mechanism of color reversion in soybean salad oil

An enzymatic reaction might be the major cause of color reversion in soybean oil. During the soybean flaking process, enzymatic reactions take place to convertγ-tocopherol to 5-(tocopheryloxy)-γ-tocopherol (γ-TED), and then further convertγ-TED to the precursors which are the cause of color reversion. The variations ofγ-tocopherol andγ-TED contents in soybean oil are accompanied by an inverse change in the precursors’ concentration. Therefore, the contents ofγ-tocopherol orγ-TED in crude soybean oil could be used as an index for predicting the color quality (color reversion) of soybean salad oil. Almost all the precursors (such as tocored) were converted to color-reverted substances under catalysis after bleaching treatment, and they were converted back to the precursors during deodorization. Those precursors might be gradually reconverted into the color reverted substances during storage to cause the color reversion in soybean salad oil.     

Hydrolytic degradation of polyglycolic acid: Tensile strength and crystallinity study

The hydrolytic degradation of polyglycolic acid (PGA) was studied by examining the changes of tensile strength and the level of crystallinity of the suture material. It was found that the breaking stress decreased from 6.369 × 10^?1 at 0 day to 3.97 × 10^?3 Newton/Tex at 49 days. The sigmodial shape of the stress–strain curves gradually disappeared with increase in the duration of in vitra degradation. The endpoint titration method used to assess the degree of degradation beyond the period of measurable tensile strength showed that the percent of PGA degraded were 42, 56, and 70% at 49, 60, and 90 days, respectively. The level of crystallinity of PGA at various durations of degradation exhibited an initial increase in the degree of crystallinity from 40% at 0 day to an upper limit of 52% at 21 days, then gradual decrease to 23% at 90 days. This observation is essentially parallel to hydrolysis of cellulose and polyethylene terephthalate. The concept of microfibrillar structure of fibers provides the basis for the proposed degradation mechanism of PGA in vitro. It is believed that degradation proceeds through two main stages which are different in rate of degradation.     

A rheological model for iron oxide suspensions

We have examined the rheological properties of a Co-adsorbed γ-Fe₂O₃ magnetic suspension with polyurethane (PU) as a binder and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) or cyclohexanone (CH) as a solvent. A Haake RV20 viscometer was used to measure the suspension viscosity and the vane method was adopted to determine the fluid yield stress. A rheological model which can be viewed as a combination of the Casson model and the Bingham model is proposed to describe the suspension viscosity. The effects of temperature, particle content, and binder concentration are included in the model.     

甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯的合成

在季铵盐催化作用下 ,甲基丙烯酸与环氧氯丙烷反应生成甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯。实验结果表明 ,二步法可获得较高的产率     

Packed bed electrodes. I. The electrochemical extraction of copper ions from dilute aqueous solutions

A study has been made of the cathodic deposition of copper ions from flowing dilute aqueous solutions onto a packed bed of graphite. The electrodeposition reaction is mass transfer controlled and expressions are presented for the cathodic current as a function of time, solution flow rate and bed characteristics. These have been verified from potentiostatic experiments. The cathode current efficiency is shown to approach 100% and packed bed electrodes are shown to be an effective means of extracting or removing metal ions from dilute solutions.     

An evaluation of commercial nickel catalysts during hydrogenation of soybean oil

The activities of several commercial nickel catalysts were determined by measuring their activation energies. Among these catalysts, G95E, Resan 22, Nysosel 222 and 325, all with low activation energy, were more active than DM3 and G95H, which had higher activation energy. However, the less active catalysts increased the linoleate selectivity of soybean oil during hydrogenation. The yields of bothtrans isomers and winterized oil were higher for the more selectively hydrogenated oil catalyzed by the less active catalysts. In the sensory evaluation, the fractionated solid fat that contained moretrans isomers was lower in flavor scores than the fractionated liquid oil after hydrogenation and winterization of soybean oil.     

An accelerated algorithm for full band electron–phonon scattering rate computation

Computing scattering rates of electrons and phonons stands at the core of studies of electron transport properties. In the high field regime, the interactions between all electron bands with all phonon bands need to be considered. This full band interaction implies a huge computational burden in calculating scattering rates. In this study, a new accelerated algorithm is presented for this task, which speeds up the computation by two orders of magnitude (100 times) and dramatically simplifies the coding. At the same time, it visually demonstrates the physical process of scattering more clearly.     

相位测量定位法在焦炉车辆上的应用与研究

文中通过测量载波相位进行定位的方法来解决焦炉车辆的定位问题，以达到无线定位的目的。并对定位的数学模型进行了详细的分析与论述。