Experimental investigation on a MnCl2–CaCl2–NH3 thermal energy storage system

Thermal energy storage (TES) is regarded as one promising technology for renewable energy and waste heat recovery. Among TES technologies, sorption thermal energy storage (STES) has drawn burgeoning attention due to high energy storage density, long-term heat storage capability and flexible working modes. Originating from STES system, resorption thermal energy storage (RTES) system is established and investigated for recovering the heat in this paper. The system is mainly composed of three high temperature salt (HTS) unit beds; three low temperature salt (LTS) unit beds, valves and heat exchange pipes. Working pair of MnCl₂–CaCl₂–NH₃ is selected for the RTES system. 4.8 kg and 3.9 kg MnCl₂ and CaCl₂ composite adsorbents are filled in the adsorption bed. Results indicate that the highest thermal storage density is about 1836 kJ/kg when the heat charging and discharging temperature is 155 °C and 55 °C, respectively. Volume density of heat storage ranges from 144 to 304 kWh/m³. The highest ratio of latent heat to sensible heat is about 1.145 when the discharging temperature is 55 °C. The energy efficiency decreases from 97% to 73% when the discharging temperature increases from 55 to 75 °C.     

Effects of different osmo‐dehydrofreezing treatments on the volatile compounds,phenolic compounds and physicochemical properties in mango (Mangifera indica L.)

The influences of different osmotic solution pretreatments (sucrose, glucose and maltose with concentration of 45%) on the volatile compounds, phenolic compounds and other physicochemical parameters in frozen mangoes were studied. Volatile and phenolic compounds were measured using SPME/GC‐MS and HPLC method, respectively. The results revealed that compared with untreated frozen mango, some volatile compounds (e.g. alcohols, aldehydes and some terpenes and esters) increased significantly and there were more compounds identified in osmo‐dehydrofrozen samples. These changes positively affected mango aroma and resulted in higher sensory scores for osmo‐dehydrofrozen samples. In addition, data on phenolic compounds showed that dehydrofrozen samples pretreated in glucose and sucrose had higher ρ‐hydroxybenzoic acid and quercetin contents, respectively, while samples pretreated in maltose showed higher ρ‐coumaric acid and sinapic acid contents compared with untreated frozen samples. The current work indicates that osmo‐dehydrofreezing can improve the retention of phenolic and aromatic compounds in frozen mango.     

Synthesis and spark plasma sintering of the α-Si3N4 nanopowder

A two-step process (milling and then heat treatment) was used for the preparation of α-Si₃N₄ nanopowder. The influence of the milling time and heat treatment temperature as processing parameters were investigated on the formation of α-Si₃N₄. Silicon nitride ceramic was produced by spark plasma sintering at 1700 °C for 15 min, using MgSiN₂ additive. The optimum sample was produced in a 30 h milling time, heat treatment at 1300 °C, and a 22 °C/min heating rate conditions. X-ray fluorescence analysis showed that the purity of the final product is above 98%. Nanoindentation hardness and Young’s modulus of the SPS-ed sample were measured as 17±2.0 GPa and 290±11.0 GPa, respectively.     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure treatment on structural,allergenicity, and functional properties of proteins from ginkgo seeds

The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment on the structural, allergenicity and functional properties of ginkgo seed protein (GSP) were investigated. GSP was treated under pressures of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 MPa. Western blotting and ELISA assay revealed that HHP treatment at pressure ranges from 300 up to 700 MPa can significantly reduce the allergenicity of GSP. Meanwhile, SDS-PAGE, MALDI-TOF-MS, CD spectra, fluorescence spectra and UV absorption spectra analysis revealed that, after HHP treatment, the GSP disintegrated into proteins with small molecular weights ranging from 4 to 30 kDa; the secondary structures of α-helices and β-sheet were largely destroyed and turned into random coil; and the UV absorption intensity, surface hydrophobicity and sulfhydryl group (SH) content of GSP were significantly increased. Moreover, the HHP-treated GSP showed markedly improved heat stability and emulsifying properties compared to the untreated GSP.Industrial relevanceAs a traditional food and medicine source, the seeds of Ginkgo biloba were used in china for several thousand years. Ginkgo seeds could be added to desserts, glazed fruit, beverages and tipple, also ginkgo seeds, as a traditional Chinese medicinal material, have been recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medical. Research shows that ginkgo seeds have a relatively high content (10%–15%) of proteins, which possess rich and reasonable composition of amino acids, and much higher content of essential amino acids than the recommended FAO/WHO standard, belonging to the high-quality protein. Ginkgo seeds proteins (GSP) have many biological activities, including anti-oxidation, anti-aging, anti-tumor, and anti-bacterial, so it has high value of nutrition and medicine. However, eating GSP could result in allergic reaction to humans, infant, or children are more sensitive to GSP, the clinical symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, bellyache, diarrhea, dysphoria, exanimation, convulsions, dyspnea, and mydriasis, and sometimes even death can occur.In the study, we used the method of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments, which can significantly improve the functional properties and reduce the antigenicity of GSP. After the HHP treatment, GSP can be transformed into proteins with small molecular weights ranging from 4 to 30 kDa, the antigenicity of GSP can be reduced by more than 95%, and the heat stability and emulsifying properties of GSP can be markedly improved. Thus, this study is very helpful for designing the hypoallergenic and improved functional GSP, which could have a relevant practical application for their use as base ingredients of food.     

Acquisition of amino acids by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus 2038 when grown in the presence of casein

The acquisition of amino acids by Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus 2038 (Lb. bulgaricus 2038) when grown in the presence of bovine casein, the major protein in bovine milk, was investigated by examining the expression of genes related to proteolysis and amino acid biosynthesis. To support the growth on bovine casein, Lb. bulgaricus 2038 has to synthesise five kinds of amino acids de novo, as proteolysis from casein does not provide these. The incomplete hydrolysis in combination with amino acids biosynthesis may explain the slow growth of Lb. bulgaricus 2038 in a casein environment. Meanwhile, it was determined that Lb. bulgaricus 2038 uses different intracellular peptidases when grown in casein or whey medium, and initially yields the important amino acid glutamate from the C-terminal or N-terminal end of peptides imported into the cell.     

Effects of freeze-thaw cycles of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) subjected to radio frequency tempering on melanosis and quality

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different tempering methods and freeze-thaw cycles on melanosis and quality parameters of pacific white shrimp. Frozen pacific white shrimps tempered with radio frequency tempering (RFT) were compared to that in water tempering (WT) and refrigerator tempering (RT) in terms of temper loss, total volatile base nitrogen (TVBN), polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, melanosis, total sulfhydryl contents, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and texture properties after 0, 1, 3, 5 freeze-thaw cycles. Results showed that crushed ice was effective as an effective surrounding medium for six layers of frozen shrimp reaching −2 °C within 6 min in RFT. For quality attributes, the temper loss of samples tempered with radio frequency is lower than that of RT and WT after all freeze-thaw cycles, and RFT resulted in the lowest TVBN value (9.17 mgN/100 g) of shrimps after the 5th freeze-thaw cycle. The PPO activity and melanosis of samples increased as the number of freeze-thaw cycles increased, and RFT effectively inhibited the development of melanosis. After the 3rd freeze-thaw cycle, the enthalpy change (△H) and the sulfhydryl content (0.16 mmol/gprot) of radio frequency tempered samples was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of WT and RT. RFT retained the hardness and chewiness of shrimp samples in all freeze-thaw cycles. Therefore, RFT effectively inhibited melanosis and reduce protein oxidation in Pacific white shrimp during freeze-thaw cycles with its fast and uniform heating characteristics.     

Effect of repeated freezing-thawing on structural,physicochemical and digestible properties of normal and waxy starch gels

The normal and waxy corn starch gels were subjected to repeated freeze–thaw treatment at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,5 and 6 cycles with an interval of 24 h, and the effects on structural, physicochemical and digestible properties were investigated. The normal starch gels formed a honeycomb structure while waxy starch gels exhibited a lamellar structure, and the number of holes and lamellas increased with increasing cycles. The X-ray analysis showed that the A-type pattern of starches was converted into the B-type after treatment, and their relative crystallinity increased with the number of increased freeze–thaw cycles. The hardness increased in both normal and waxy starch. The solubility and pasting breakdown viscosity decreased in normal starch while they increased in waxy starch. The pasting peak time, peak viscosity, and setback viscosity increased in normal starch but decreased in waxy starch. The rapidly digested starch (RDS) and slowly digested starch (SDS) content in normal starch increased and non-digestible starch (RS) content decreased whereas the RDS, SDS and RS content in waxy starch was almost unchanged as the freeze–thaw cycles increased. In the meantime, the molecular weight of both normal and waxy starch decreased with freeze–thaw treatment. Therefore, the repeated freeze–thaw treatment can change the physicochemical and digestible properties which could be a basis for starch-based food processing.     

Studying the adsorption of DNA nanostructures on graphene in the aqueous phase using molecular dynamic simulations

DNA nanostructures can undergo large structural fluctuations and deviate from their intended configurations. In this work, two model DNA nanostructures (i.e., Nan and Kai) were designed based on the shape of the two Chinese characters of the name of Nankai University, and additional single-stranded DNA fragments were added to interact with graphene. During four 50-ns molecular dynamic simulations in aqueous solution, the DNA nanostructures adsorbed onto graphene demonstrated more stable conformations with lower root mean square deviations and smaller coordinate changes in the z-axis direction than the DNA nanostructures that were not adsorbed onto graphene. The interaction analyses and energetic calculations show that π-π interactions between single-stranded DNA and graphene are necessary for adsorption of the DNA nanostructures. Overall, this work examined the interactions between DNA and graphene at a large spatial scale with the hope that it provides a new strategy to stabilize DNA nanostructures.     

Optimal Control of a Stochastic Delay Partial Differential Equation with Boundary-Noise and Boundary-Control

We consider a controlled stochastic delay partial differential equation withNeumann boundary conditions in which the derivative of the unknown is equal to the sum of the control and of a white noise in time. We study the optimal control problem by means of the associated backward stochastic differential equations.     

A splitting method for total least squares color image restoration problem

Color image restoration is an important problem in image processing. Using the structured total least squares (STLS) for fidelity term of the restoration process gives better results in comparison with the least squares (LS) approach. The main drawback of the STLS approach is its complexity. To overcome this issue, in this paper by an appropriate transformation the color image restoration is substituted with two smaller subproblems corresponding to smooth and oscillatory parts of the image. The first and second subproblems are modeled via STLS and LS approaches, respectively. We show that the proposed method is faster than STLS and gives competitive solutions with it. Also, we demonstrate that Haar wavelet perseveres the structure of the blurring operator, which causes a considerable reduction in computational and storage complexity of the proposed method.