Search

We investigated the changes of gel characteristics and structure of ultrasonically treated corn starch during freeze-thaw cycles, with a view to providing theoretical guidance for improving the quality of quick-frozen starch-based foods. The effects of the number of freeze-thaw cycles on the dynamic rheological and textural properties of ultrasonically modified corn starch gels were analyzed and their structures were characterized by using a rheometer, a texture analyzer, a low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer, a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and an X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The results showed that compared with native corn starch, the water separation rate of ultrasonically modified corn starch gels significantly decreased by 5.19% (P < 0.05) at the 4th freeze-thaw cycle, indicating improved freeze-thaw stability; the storage modulus and loss modulus of ultrasonically modified corn starch gels decreased, and the gel strength was weaker; the hardness significantly decreased by 10.83% (P < 0.05), and the amylose content decreased 0.15%. Moreover, the iodine binding force was weakened, the transverse relaxation time distribution curve was shifted to the left, the short-range ordered structure was weakened, and the relative crystallinity was reduced. The gel properties and the structural characterization results indicate that ultrasonic treatment can inhibit water migration and double helix structure formation in the corn starch gel system during freeze-thaw cycles and consequently improve its freeze-thaw stability.

The integration of atom clusters and single atoms into a unified system represents a desirable approach for attaining enhanced catalytic performance. Nonetheless, the controllable synthesis of a single‐atom and nanocluster integrated system (SA‐NC) faces considerable challenges, and the mechanisms underlying the catalytic activity remain poorly understood. In this research, a cobalt‐based catalyst containing both coordinatively unsaturated single‐atom (CoN3) and small nanoclusters (Co@SA‐NC) is synthesized. The Co@SA‐NC not only facilitates charge and mass transfer due to the interconnected long‐range micromorphology, thus endowing efficient oxygen electrocatalytic reaction (ORR/OER), but also undergoes surface reconfiguration upon OH adsorption at high potentials in alkaline ORR/OER conditions. More appealingly, this OH‐involved reconfigured adaptive structure promotes optimization of energy barriers owing to the dynamic regulation from the bridged OH between Co single‐atom and cluster in the whole reaction process. Specific to the application metrics, a zinc–air battery assembled using the Co@SA‐NC catalyst exhibit targeted power density enhancement with 270 mW cm−2 in an alkaline medium. This work offers an effective insight into the study of SA‐NC catalytic reaction pathways for efficient ORR/OER catalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an effective material delivery algorithm to address the challenges associated with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) material transportation and delivery, which include complex route planning, low detection precision, and hardware limitations. This novel approach integrates the Whale-Swarm Hybrid Algorithm (WSHA) with the APCR-YOLOv8 model to enhance efficiency and accuracy. For path planning, the placement paths are transformed into a Generalized Traveling Salesman Problem (GTSP) to be able to compute solutions. The Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is improved for balanced global and local searches, combined with an Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm and adaptive weight adjustment to quicken convergence and reduce path costs. For precise placement, the YOLOv8 model is first enhanced by adding the SimAM attention mechanism to the C2f module in the detection head, focusing on target features. Secondly, GhoHGNetv2 using GhostConv is the backbone of YOLOv8 to ensure accuracy while reducing model Params and FLOPs. Finally, a Lightweight Shared Convolutional Detection Head (LSCDHead) further reduces Params and FLOPs through shared convolution. Experimental results show that WSHA reduces path costs by 9.69% and narrows the gap between the best and worst paths by about 34.39%, compared to the Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA). APCR-YOLOv8 reduces Params and FLOPs by 44.33% and 34.57%, respectively, with mAP@0.5 increasing from 88.5 to 92.4 and FPS reaching 151.3. This approach can satisfy the requirements for real-time responsiveness while effectively preventing missed, false, and duplicate detections during the inspection of emergency airdrop stations. In conclusion, combining bionic optimization algorithms and image processing significantly enhances the efficiency and precision of material placement in emergency management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-component blend of highly volatile ethanol with low volatile hydrogenated biodiesel and diesel is the subject of study. The internal vapor bubble dynamics and evaporation characteristics of individual droplets at high temperatures were investigated. The evaporation characteristics of droplet normalized square diameter and droplet lifetime of the blends of hydrogenated biodiesel, ethanol, and diesel were captured by means of the hanging droplet method and high-speed microscopic imaging in a constant temperature heating furnace. It is revealed that the rise in ambient temperature contributes to increasing the evaporation rate of fuel droplets and intensifies the micro explosion during evaporation and shortens the evaporation of droplets to a certain extent; Compared to diesel, the inhibition effect of evaporation is stronger with the increase of hydrogenated biodiesel in binary fuels and compared with binary fuels, ethanol in ternary fuels promotes micro explosions and shortens droplet evaporation; The droplet evaporation of binary fuels shows three typical phases of ethanol domination, ethanol, and diesel co-domination and co-evaporation of all three in sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ni was selected as a transition layer and sublayer in the diamondlike carbon-based multilayered film with varied bilayer periods (from 228 to 970 nm) prepared by magnetron sputtering. The reaction between Ni- and C-containing particles was discussed, and the influences of bilayer periods on the structure and morphology, accompanied with the frictional behaviors at different loading forces (2 and 5 N), as well as the field emission properties were investigated. The results showed that Ni grew in the (111) plane, and there was no Ni–C bond or graphene formed in the film because of the relatively lower energy during deposition. Moreover, the content of sp2C in the film, the hardness, and the field emission performance exhibited an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease with increasing bilayer periods. However, the frictional coefficient decreased owing to more graphitization with an increase of the applied load. Particularly noteworthy was that the film possessed a bilayer period of 710 nm, displayed a compact structure with a smaller grain size, and showed reduced sp2C content in the role of Ni. This resulted in sustained lower surface roughness, heightened hardness, decreased coefficient of friction, and a smaller opening electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the eco-geological environment quality of Hunjiang District, Baishan City, Jilin Province. Fifteen indicators were selected from geological, ecological, and social aspects to make the eco-geological environmental quality assessment more comprehensive. On the basis of improved game theory, two weighting methods of FAHP-CV (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Coefficient of Variation) were used to calculate the weight, and finally ArcGIS was used to intuitively understand the eco-geological environment quality of the study area. According to a threshold value, the eco-geological environment quality of the study area was divided into five types: better, good, medium, bad, and worse, and the results show that the overall eco-geological environment quality of the study area is in the middle and upper levels. The eco-geological environment quality of a small part of the area is poor. The classification of the eco-geological environment quality of Hunjiang District provides a scientific basis for the establishment of reasonable eco-geological environment protection and urban planning in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the cognitive structure of death and long-term changes of death cognition after catastrophes for Chinese college students. Two months before Wenchuan earthquake, a week after, a year after, and ten years after, a total of 1507 participants' associated words of death were collected, after clustering high-frequency words' similarity coefficients, results showed that death was represented by four advanced clusters: death contact, death anxiety and its reminders, deathafter, and defense mechanism; a week after earthquake, death anxiety and its reminders, defense mechanism were activated; a year after, death contact, afterdeath were appreciated, death anxiety and its reminders, defense mechanism were underappreciated, this phenomenon still existed even ten years later, which suggests that the earthquake permanently changed their death cognition, and this change stabilized one year later. In addition, this paper provides an effective method to uncover cognitive structure of one certain concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Erdaojiang and Dongchang District of Tonghua City, Jilin Province as examples, this paper studies the ecological environment restoration and governance model of their mining areas. In this paper, the vegetation cover (NDVI) data in the past ten years were selected from the study area. The Theil–Sen median and Mann–Kendall (MK) methods were used to analyze the time series of NDVI, and the vegetation cover change trend map of the study area was obtained. Then, the land use data of the study area for 4 years were selected, and the transfer matrix method was used to analyze the land use conversion between the years. Finally, according to the characteristics of the distribution of mines in the study area, for the mining area in different natural geographical locations, it was concluded that the restoration of cultivated land and the restoration of forest land and ecological reconstruction were adopted. Among them, the restoration of forest land includes natural restoration and artificial intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous researches showed that offspring can function as a distal defense, we presented seven studies to further explore the role of offspring in terror management for Chinese people based on their unique fertility culture. Both Studies 1a and 1b found that mortality salience increased desire for children. Study 2 showed that offspring salience reduced the effect of mortality salience on social transgressions judgments. Study 3 revealed that disruption of procreation strivings increased death-thought accessibility. Study 4 demonstrated that conscious responses to worldview threats overwhelmed the unconscious compensation effect of worldview threats on desire for children. Study 5a and Study 5b found that offspring salience decreased death anxiety for parents and nonparents. Taken together, these findings expand terror management theory, emphasizing descendent continuity not only as a related yet separate distal defense from the cultural worldviews, self-esteem, and close relationship but also as a proximal defense, especially for Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, two districts, Erdaojiang District and Dongchang District, in Tonghua City, Jilin Province, were evaluated for their geological environment carrying capacity. A total of 14 evaluation indicators were selected from the three aspects of the geological environment, ecological environment, and social environment to make it more comprehensive to evaluate the carrying capacity of the geological environment. Using the AHP and CRITIC methods, the subjective weight and objective weight of each evaluation index are obtained, and the combined weight is calculated by game theory. When combined with the GIS and combined weights, the distribution map of the geological environment carrying capacity is obtained, and it is classified into four grades: excellent, good, medium, and poor. A comprehensive evaluation of the carrying capacity of the geological environment is carried out. The following conclusions are drawn: the overall carrying capacity of the geological environment in the study area is good, and the carrying capacity of individual areas is poor. The comparative analysis of the good and poor areas provides a scientific basis for future environmental governance and urban planning and provides a scientific basis for geological disasters and mines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The urbanization rate in China has been increasing in recent years, and along with the increasing intensity of human engineering activities, ecological and geological (eco-geological) degradation have become key factors impeding sustainable urban development. Taking the concentrated mineral exploitation area of Tonghua City as an example, the distribution of mines in the area is concentrated and the spatial heterogeneity is significant. This paper includes 14 evaluation indicators in three aspects: eco-geological environment background, anthropogenic and mining engineering activities, and environmental pollution. Then, based on game theory combined with ANP-CV (Analytic Network Process and Coefficient of Variation), two empowerment methods, GIS spatial calculation is used to evaluate the eco-geological environment quality (EEQ). The results showed that the EEQ was divided into grades I–V from high to low, with areas of 21.13%, 30.35%, 27.00%, 14.30%, and 7.22%, respectively; the EEQ of the Hun River basin has a high spatial autocorrelation and low EEQ, and the EEQ grade of mines was divided on this basis; the hot spot analysis is useful for determining the EEQ, as well as for allocating mine restoration resources in a sensible manner. Finally, we propose countermeasures to improve EEQ, and this study can provide a scientific basis for ecological construction and geological environmental protection in Tonghua City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyanion-type Na3V2(PO4)2F3 (NVPF) represents a new potential cathode material due to its sodium super ionic conductor (NASICON) structure. However, unmodified Na3V2(PO4)2F3 is restricted by its intrinsic properties, and its limitation of poor conductivity make it an unsatisfactory cathode material. Herein, a zwitterionic polymer is used as a new nitrogen and sulfur source to successfully synthesize nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon-coated Na3V2(PO4)2F3 (NVPF-NSC) through a sol–gel method combined with freeze-drying technology. The obtained three-dimensional framework both alleviates agglomeration between particles and improves the electrical conductivity and electrochemical performance of the material. Based on these advantages, NVPF-NSC-2 (the zwitterionic polymer was added at 25% of NVPF mass) exhibits a high specific discharge capacity (109 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C) and excellent cycle performance (with a capacity retention ratio of 92.1% after 500 cycles at 5 C and a capacity retention ratio of 87.6% after 500 cycles at 10 C with a retained capacity of 83 mA h g−1). Ex situ X-ray diffraction (ex-XRD) tests were performed to explore the charge/discharge deintercalation mechanism of Na+, with the results demonstrating the excellent cycle stability of the material. The results reported herein demonstrate that using zwitterionic polymers as a new heteroatom source is feasible and effective, providing a new idea for the future large-scale application of sodium ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pattern recognition, also called "array sensing," is a recognition strategy with a wide and expandable analysis range, based on high-throughput analysis data. In this work, we constructed a sensor array for the identification of targets including bacterial pathogens and proteins by using FAM-labeled DNA probes and 2D nanosheet materials. We designed an ordered and extendible DNA library for the collection of recognition probes. Unlike traditional DNA probes with random and massive sequences, our DNA library was constructed following a 5-digit binary number (00000–11111, 0 = CCC, and 1 = TTT), and especially, 8 special symmetry sequences were chosen from the library. Two different nanosheet materials were used as the quencher. When targets were added, the interaction between DNA and the nanosheets was competitively affected, and as a result, the fluorescence signal changed accordingly. Finally, by using our fluorescent sensor array, 17 bacteria and 8 proteins were precisely recognized. We believe that our work has provided a simple and valuable strategy for the improvement of the recognition range and discrimination precision for the development of pattern recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the application of RNA interference (RNAi) is rapidly developing in GMO technology, accurate and sensitive detection of functional RNA molecules was urgently needed, for the safety and functional assessment of RNAi crops. In this work, we developed an electrochemical biosensor for transgene-derived long RNA based on a poly-adenine (polyA) DNA capture probe. The polyA self-assembling monolayer (SAM) provided enhanced interface stability and optimized surface density for the subsequent hybridization of the long RNA molecule. A multiple reporter probe system (MRP) containing 12 reporter probes (RPs) and 2 spacers was applied to open the complex molecular secondary structure and hybridize with the long RNA, with the critical assistance of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). By using 3 addressable RPs, structural recognition was performed among long stem-loop RNA, long dsRNA (no loop), and siRNA. Excellent selectivity was achieved when the extracted total RNA samples were directly analyzed. When reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) technology was combined, the sensitivity was improved to 10 aM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first electrochemical biosensor with the excellent capability of quantification and structural analysis of the long RNA of the RNAi GMO. Our work shows great potential in a wide range of RNAi GMO samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of exendin-4 on orthodontic tooth movement distance, root resorption, and expression levels of osteoclast-related cytokines in a mouse model. A 10-g NiTi coil spring was placed between the anterior alveolar bone and upper left first molar of 8-week-old male C57BL/6 mice. Twenty microliters of exendin-4 solution (containing 0.2 μg, 4 μg, or 20 μg exendin-4) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were injected on the buccal side of the upper left first molar at 2-day intervals (4 mice per group). Mice were sacrificed on day 12; silicone impressions were taken to record tooth movement distance. The left maxillae of the PBS and 20 μg exendin-4 groups were also excised for histological analysis and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Orthodontic tooth movement distance was smaller in the 20 μg exendin-4 group than in the PBS group (P <.01). Compared with the PBS group, the 20 μg exendin-4 group showed lower osteoclast number (P <.05), odontoclast number (P <.05), and root resorption surface percentage (P <.05). Relative to maxillae with PBS injections, maxillae with 20 μg exendin-4 injections had lower receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) mRNA expression (P <.05), TNF-α mRNA expression (P <.05), and RANKL/osteoprotegerin (OPG) ratio (P <.01). There were no differences in the expression of OPG mRNA. Exendin-4 inhibits orthodontic tooth movement. Therefore, additional attention is needed for orthodontic patients who receive exendin-4 for diabetes treatment. GLP-1 receptor may be a treatment target for patients with severe root resorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors are used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus and have also recently been applied to enhance bone quality and density, and increase the expression of bone markers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a DPP-4 inhibitor on orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) and related root resorption in a mouse model. Materials and Methods. Mice were randomly divided into three groups: those undergoing OTM with the addition of a DPP-4 inhibitor (30 μg), those undergoing OTM and receiving phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and those without force loading (control group). OTM was achieved by means of a nickel–titanium closed coil spring that moved the first molar in a mesial direction for 12 days. The distance of OTM was measured using silicone impression. Maxillae were removed for histological analysis or real-time PCR analysis. Results. The distance of OTM and the number of osteoclasts were significantly decreased after administration of the DPP-4 inhibitor, which also significantly suppressed the number of odontoclasts and root resorption after OTM. Furthermore, the mRNA expression of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL) were decreased in DPP-4 inhibitor-treated mice compared with those receiving PBS and control animals. Conclusion. The DPP-4 inhibitor inhibited tooth movement and associated root resorption by blocking the formation of osteoclasts and odontoclasts, respectively. It also appeared to inhibit osteoclastogenesis and odontoclastogenesis by suppressing the expression of TNF-α and/or RANKL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional kapok fibre-derived carbon microtubes (KCMT) were synthesized via the dual potassium salt-assisted lyophilization of biochar. The optimal KCMT not only possessed a well-developed porous, microtubular architecture with a large specific surface area, but also presented a high production yield (55.3%) owing to the moderate effect of the molten potassium salts. The optimum material exhibited excellent capacitive performances, including a high mass specific capacitance (380.1 F g−1 in alkaline electrolyte), high energy density (25.0 W h kg−1 in neutral electrolyte) and good cycling stability (capacitance retention of 90.1% after 8000 cycles). This synthetic strategy can also be extended to the preparation of analogous CMT made from other natural fibres, as exemplified by the use of poplar catkin and cotton wool. Further, the metal-free carbon-based electrocatalyst obtained via the post-nitrogen doping of KCMT exhibited high catalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Our synthetic approach demonstrates good potential for the synthesis of microtubular carbon-based materials for application in electrochemical energy-related technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]