Effects of high-pressure-modified soy 11S globulin on the gel properties and water-holding capacity of pork batter

The effects of high-pressure-modified soy 11S globulin (0.1, 200, and 400 MPa) on the gel properties, water-holding capacity, and water mobility of pork batter were investigated. The high-pressure-modified soy 11S globulin significantly increased (P < 0.05) the emulsion stability, cooking yield, hardness, springiness, chewiness, resilience, cohesiveness, the a^* and b^* values, and the G′ and G′′ values of pork batter at 80 °C, compared with those of 0.1 MPa-modified globulin. In contrast, the centrifugal loss and initial relaxation time of T_2b, T₂₁, and T₂₂ significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the microstructure was denser, and the voids were smaller and more uniform compared with those of 0.1 MPa-modified globulin. In addition, the sample with 11S globulin modified at 400 MPa had the best water-holding capacity, gel structure, and gel properties among the samples. Overall, the use of high-pressure-modified soy 11S globulin improved the gel properties and water-holding capacity of pork batter, especially under 400 MPa.     

Characteristic tryptic peptides and gelling properties of porcine skin gelatin affected by thermal action

Thermal action in extraction process had effects on characteristic tryptic peptides identification and gelling properties of porcine gelatin. SDS-PAGE, HPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry, texture analyser and rheometer were used to evaluate collagen depolymerisation degree, characteristic tryptic peptides and gelling properties of gelatins prepared in various thermal actions. Results showed that with increasing temperature and time, depolymerisation degree enlarged, while gel strength, gelling and melting temperature decreased. Mass spectra showed that 47 and 49 common characteristic tryptic peptides were identified in gelatins extracted at 50 °C and 100 °C with various times, respectively. Moreover, 34 common characteristic tryptic peptides were identified in all gelatin samples. Further comparison between this work and our previous investigations yielded 20 common characteristic tryptic peptides, which stably exist in various thermal actions. These common characteristic tryptic peptides may be very helpful for the accurate authentication of porcine gelatin.     

Authenticity green coffee bean species and geographical origin using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics

To prevent the adulteration of agricultural resources and provide a solution to enhance the green coffee bean supply chain, authentication using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique was investigated. Partial least square with discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) models combined with various preprocessing methods were built from NIR spectra of 153 Vietnamese green coffee samples. The model combined with the standard normal variate and the first order of derivative yielded excellent performance in predicting coffee species with the error cross-validation of 0.0261. PLS-DA model of mean centre and first-order derivative spectra also yielded good performance in verifying geographical indication of green coffee with the error of 0.0656. By contrast, the predicting abilities of post-harvest methods were poor. The overall results showed a high potential of the NIRS in online authentication practices.     

Colossal dielectric response and relaxation behavior in novel system of Zr4+ and Nb5+ co-substituted CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

In this work, we developed a novel system of isovalent Zr⁴⁺ and donor Nb⁵⁺ co-doped CaCu₃Ti₄O₁₂ (CCTO) ceramics to enhance dielectric response. The influences of Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ co-substituting on the colossal dielectric response and relaxation behavior of the CCTO ceramics fabricated by a conventional solid-phase synthesis method were investigated methodically. Co-doping of Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions leads to a significant reduction in grain size for the CCTO ceramics sintered at 1060 °C for 10 h. XRD and Raman results of the CaCu₃Ti_3.8-xZr_xNb_0.2O₁₂ (CCTZNO) ceramics show a cubic perovskite structure with space group Im-3. The first principle calculation result exhibits a better thermodynamic stability of the CCTO structure co-doped with Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions than that of single-doped with Zr⁴⁺ or Nb⁵⁺ ion. Interestingly, the CCTZNO ceramics exhibit greatly improved dielectric constant (~10⁵) at a frequency range of 10²–10⁵ Hz and at a temperature range of 20–210 °C, indicating a giant dielectric response within broader frequency and temperature ranges. The dielectric properties of CCTZNO ceramics were analyzed from the viewpoints of defect-dipole effect and internal barrier layer capacitance (IBLC) model. Accordingly, the immensely enhanced dielectric response is primarily ascribed to the complex defect dipoles associated with oxygen vacancies by co-doping Zr⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ ions into CCTO structure. In addition, the obvious dielectric relaxation behavior has been found in CCTZNO ceramics, and the relaxation process in middle frequency regions is attributed to the grain boundary response confirmed by complex impedance spectroscopy and electric modulus.     

Relationships of tensile strength with crosslink density for the high-carbon black-filled EPDM compounds with various softeners

Equilibrium swelling and rheological tests were adopted to systematically investigate the effects of softener type and dosage on the crosslink densities. The results turned out that the chemical crosslink density could be distinguished from the physical crosslink density by comparing the results of equilibrium swelling and rheological tests. The liquid butadiene (LB) as a softener leads to the greatest reduction in crosslink density, followed by polyethylene wax (PW) and paraffinic oil (PO). The tensile strength decreases with increasing PO content while shows peak values with increase of LB and PW contents. The dependencies of chemical crosslink density on the aging time under 150°C are quite different for the three softeners, which can be expected from the double crosslinking networks consisting of small softener and large main crosslinking networks. Further investigation has been performed to correlate the tensile strength with chemical crosslink density of ethylene propylene diene monomer elastomer vulcanizates. Three different linear relationships can be obtained for the softeners independent of the aging time. It can now be expected from this study that the role of some new softeners in rubber compounds is not only confined to plasticization but also forms crosslinking networks in the peroxide-cured rubbers.     

Nanocrystallization and optical properties of CsPbBr3−xIx perovskites in chalcogenide glasses

The confinement of CsPbX₃ (X = Cl, Br, and I) perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) in a stabilized inorganic glass matrix is a new strategy for improving their long-term stability and promoting their applications in the optoelectronic field. Here, in situ nanocrystallization strategy is developed to precipitate CsPbBr_3?xI_x NCs with arbitrary I/Br ratio among an elaborately designed GeS₂–Sb₂S₃-based chalcogenide glass matrix. Spherical CsPbBr_3?xI_x NCs are homogeneously distributed in the glass matrix after thermal treatment. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra show that the emission peaks of CsPbBr_3?xI_x NCs can be tuned from 570 nm to 722 nm with the replacement of Br by I. The fs transient absorption (TA) spectra reveal that there exists some structural defects in the NCs, leading to short PL decay life. This work would shed light on confining CsPbX₃ NCs into glassy matrices, facilitating their future applications in photoelectronic fields.     

Preparation and flocculation properties of biodegradable konjac glucomannan-grafted poly(trimethyl allyl ammonium chloride)

Polymer Bulletin - Preparation of konjac glucomannan-grafted poly(trimethyl allyl ammonium chloride) (KGM-g-PTMAAC) was carried out using KGM as polysaccharide matrix and TMAAC as cationic...     

Effect of garbage collection in iterative algorithms on Spark: an experimental analysis

The Journal of Supercomputing - Spark is one of the most widely used systems for the distributed processing of big data. Its performance bottlenecks are mainly due to the network I/O, disk I/O, and...     

A Cloud-Based Wireless Radio Intensity Recording System

Wireless Personal Communications - In recent years, many wireless communication services have become indispensable for our daily life, such as voice telephoning and the internet surfing. However,...     

Novel Bi-Doped Amorphous SnOx Nanoshells for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction into Formate at Low Overpotentials

Engineering novel Sn-based bimetallic materials could provide intriguing catalytic properties to boost the electrochemical CO₂ reduction. Herein, the first synthesis of homogeneous Sn_1−xBi_x alloy nanoparticles (x up to 0.20) with native Bi-doped amorphous SnO_x shells for efficient CO₂ reduction is reported. The Bi-SnO_x nanoshells boost the production of formate with high Faradaic efficiencies (>90%) over a wide potential window (−0.67 to −0.92 V vs RHE) with low overpotentials, outperforming current tin oxide catalysts. The state-of-the-art Bi-SnO_x nanoshells derived from Sn_0.80Bi_0.20 alloy nanoparticles exhibit a great partial current density of 74.6 mA cm⁻² and high Faradaic efficiency of 95.8%. The detailed electrocatalytic analyses and corresponding density functional theory calculations simultaneously reveal that the incorporation of Bi atoms into Sn species facilitates formate production by suppressing the formation of H₂ and CO.