Primary Results of New Rare Earth Materials for Hongti Grape

New rare earth (RE) materials including RE phosphate as base fertilizer, bioactive RE micro-fertilizer and RE entire plant nutrition agent as topdressing fertilizer are treated on Hongti grope.The result showes that the plant leaves become thicker, the color is dark green, the plant disease index is lower, and the sugar content significantly increases.     

Physicochemical property changes in germinated brown rice flour from different storage periods of paddy rice

This study revealed that the storage duration (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months) of paddy rice and pH (3 and 6.8) of steeping water during germination were significantly influenced the physicochemical properties of germinated brown rice flour (GBRF). GBRF obtained at pH 3 vs. 6.8 provided the highest both reducing sugar content and free gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) content (99.8 vs. 54.2 mg per 100 g flour respectively) as the paddy rice was stored for 8 months. The peak viscosity of GBRF obtained at pH 3 and 6.8 exhibited the lower values than that of non‐GBRF throughout the storage. From the principal component analysis, reducing sugar had a positive correlation with α‐amylase activity whereas a negative correlation was found with peak viscosity. GBRF from paddy rice stored for 8 months and germinated at pH 3 possessed the highest free GABA content, 50 times of the non‐GBRF, which can be further utilised in functional and healthy foods.     

Sugar-Pucker Force-Induced Transition in Single-Stranded DNA

The accurate knowledge of the elastic properties of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) is key to characterize the thermodynamics of molecular reactions that are studied by force spectroscopy methods where DNA is mechanically unfolded. Examples range from DNA hybridization, DNA ligand binding, DNA unwinding by helicases, etc. To date, ssDNA elasticity has been studied with different methods in molecules of varying sequence and contour length. A dispersion of results has been reported and the value of the persistence length has been found to be larger for shorter ssDNA molecules. We carried out pulling experiments with optical tweezers to characterize the elastic response of ssDNA over three orders of magnitude in length (60–14 k bases). By fitting the force-extension curves (FECs) to the Worm-Like Chain model we confirmed the above trend:the persistence length nearly doubles for the shortest molecule (60 b) with respect to the longest one (14 kb). We demonstrate that the observed trend is due to the different force regimes fitted for long and short molecules, which translates into two distinct elastic regimes at low and high forces. We interpret this behavior in terms of a force-induced sugar pucker conformational transition (C3′-endo to C2′-endo) upon pulling ssDNA.     

Enhanced saccharification of corn straw pretreated by alkali combining crude ligninolytic enzymes

BACKGROUND: This work investigated the monokaryogenesis of dikaryon strains of Trametes hirsuta by protoplasts regeneration for extracellular ligninolytic enzyme production. Saccharification of corn straw was enhanced by alkali pretreatment combining crude ligninolytic enzymes. RESULTS: Effectiveness of alkali pretreatment of corn straw on delignification was evaluated under different concentrations. About 45% lignin loss was achieved at the concentration of 1.5% NaOH. In addition, 79.0% sugar yield was obtained after combined pretreatment with NaOH and crude ligninolytic enzyme produced from monokaryotic strains of Trametes hirsuta. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the porosity and surface area increased significantly after combined pretreatment. The FTIR spectra indicated that great intensity changes occurred at the 890–900 cm^?1, 1509–1513 cm^?1 and 1595 cm^?1 bands. CONCLUSION: The proposed combined pretreatment removes lignin and enhances saccharification of corn straw effectively. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Impact of compression,physical aging,and freezing rate on the crystallization characteristics of an amorphous sugar matrix

Amorphous matrices made up of sugar molecules, are frequently used in food and pharmaceutical industries. A drawback to their use is that they are susceptible to collapse, as a result of water uptake and an increase in temperature and subsequently crystallize. Herein, the crystallization characteristics of amorphous sugar (sucrose and α-lactose) preparations were analyzed, with the purpose of obtaining knowledge that could lead to the prediction of how long the amorphous state is retained under various conditions. The impact of compression, physical aging and freezing rate on the induction period (t_ind) for crystallization were examined. Freeze-dried sugar samples were compressed at 74 or 443 MPa (5 min) and then rehumidified at specified RHs. Some freeze-dried sucrose samples were physically aged, and alternatively freeze-drying was conducted under different conditions. The isothermal crystallization of the prepared samples at different temperatures (T), the glass transition and the crystallization temperature (T_cry) were measured, using differential scanning calorimetry. The compression markedly decreased the t_ind, while significantly lowered the hygroscopicity. Physical aging and slower-freezing also shortened the t_ind. The t_ind was found to be correlated exclusively with (T_cry–T), regardless of rehumidification, compression, sugar type, physical aging and freezing rate in the freeze-drying process.     

3D ECT reconstruction by an improved Landweber iteration algorithm

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is a relatively mature non-invasive imaging technique that attempts to map dielectric permittivity of materials. Recently, 3D ECT has gained interest because of its potential to generate volumetric images. The study of a fast and accurate image reconstruction algorithm is a challenge task, especially for 3D reconstruction. In this paper, we propose an improved Landweber iteration algorithm. We incorporate an additional acceleration term into the cost function and apply an adaptive threshold operation to the image obtained in each iteration for reducing artefacts. The algorithm proposed is tested by the noise-free and noise-contaminated capacitance data. Sensitivity matrixes and capacitance data of a 3D ECT sensor are obtained by using the finite element (FE) method. Extensive simulations in 3D reconstruction are carried out. The results verify the effectiveness of these improvements. Both the reconstruction time and the artefacts in the reconstructed image are reduced obviously. The experimental results of 3D reconstruction of objects in the shape of letters U and L confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm further.     

Study on the erosion mechanism of acid coal slag interactions with silicon carbide materials in the simulated atmosphere of a coal gasifier

In this paper, the dynamic erosion of silicon carbide interaction with acid coal slag was studied in an improved rotary drum furnace under the simulated conditions of a slagging gasifier at temperature of 1500 °C. Microstructures of corroded samples were observed by SEM, and the erosion mechanism was investigated by thermodynamic simulation based on SEM analysis. This revealed that SiC reacted with FeO to form a Si-Fe-C alloy on the sample surface, and the active oxidation of SiC was conducted in the experimental atmosphere. Furthermore, SiO₂(s), SiO(g), CO(g), and CO₂(g) were formed. Finally, SiO₂ dissolved in the molten slag, and SiO(g), CO(g), and CO₂(g) spread continuously. The pore structures on were altered by the oxidation reaction, which facilitated slag penetration into the samples through the pores to form a thin reaction layer.     

Influence of different sugar sources,nitrogen sources and inocula on the quality characteristics of apple tea wine

An infusion of tea leaves was prepared using 4 g tea/100 mL of the apple juice, ameliorated with different sugar sources, supplemented with different nitrogen sources and inoculated with 5% incola (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus , consortia 1 and consortia 2). The highest rate of fermentation and ethanol were found in the apple tea wine having sucrose as a sugar source, while apple juice concentrate as a sugar source gave the highest total phenols, caffeine content and overall acceptability. Higher alcohols, volatile acidity and antioxidant activity were the highest in honey as a sugar source. Apple tea wine having DAHP as a nitrogen source documented the highest ethanol, caffeine content and overall acceptability, lowest higher alcohols, whereas peptone as a nitrogen source had the highest total phenols. Among the different types of inocula, for most of the parameters there were non‐significant differences. However, must inoculated with S. cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus for the preparation of apple tea wine resulted in the highest fermentation efficiency, ethanol and overall acceptability but the lowest volatile acidity. Apple tea wine prepared by ameliorating the apple tea must with apple juice concentrate, DAHP and inoculated with S. cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus was rated as the best. Copyright © 2017 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Effects of light exposure on chlorophyll,sugars and vitamin C content of fresh‐cut celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) petioles

Effects of light exposure (24 μmol m^?2 s^?1) on fresh‐cut celery nutritional quality were evaluated during 8‐day storage at 7 °C using darkness as control. Light exposure preserved 47% chlorophyll a and 48% chlorophyll b contents more than darkness at the end of storage. Sucrose, reducing sugar and glucose contents in light‐stored petioles were 17%, 25% and 67% higher than those in dark‐stored petioles after 8‐day storage, respectively, thus resulting in higher total soluble solids content in light condition. Moreover, l ‐ascorbic acid content increased at 2‐day storage in light condition and was 46% more than in darkness at the end of storage. The fresh weight loss significantly increased in all petioles, and this increase was markedly accelerated by light exposure with a maximum of 1.43% at the end of storage. Dry matter content was induced more by light exposure than by darkness at 2‐day storage.     

Investigation of the piezoelectric and anti-reduction properties of (Ba,Ca) (Ti,Sn, Hf) textured ceramics prepared under low oxygen partial pressure conditions at low sintering temperatures

Multilayer piezoelectric ceramics must be sintered in a reducing atmosphere, preventing oxidation of the inner base metal. Plate-like textured (Ba, Ca)(Ti, Sn, Hf)O₃ ceramics with a <001> preferred orientation were successfully developed at a low oxygen partial pressure (PO₂:10^?8 atm) using a BaTiO₃ (BT) template with sintering temperatures < 1300 °C, which is beneficial for multilayer applications using base metal co-firing with ceramics. When adding the 3 wt% BT template, the proposed samples had a Lottgering factor of 84 %, piezoelectric coefficients d₃₃ = 324 pC/N, -d₃₁ = 122 (pC/N), and Q_m = 452, and the strain values increased from 0.07 % for the randomly oriented ceramics to 0.115 % at 20 kV/cm for the textured ceramics, confirming that the texturing behavior assisted the grain growth and improved both the soft and hard behaviors and insulation resistance of the proposed lead-free ceramics. These findings make a significant contribution to the production of high-power piezoelectric components.