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This study aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasound (US) treatment on the quality maintenance of fresh-cut broccoli during storage. Fresh-cut broccoli was treated ultrasonically at 40 kHz and different power levels (200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 W) for 10 min and then stored at 10 ℃ for up to 96 h. The changes of appearance and microbial load were measured to determine the optimum parameters of US treatment for fresh-cut broccoli. Furthermore, the effect of the optimum US treatment on chlorophyll degradation and the changes in bioactive components in fresh-cut broccoli was studied. The obtained data indicated that US treatments at all power levels tested delayed the increase of yellowing index, L* value, total mold and yeast count and total bacterial count, and inhibited the decrease of H value, the 300 W power being the most effective in maintaining the appearance and microbial quality of fresh-cut broccoli. US treatment at 300 W effectively inhibited the activities of chlorophyllase and Mg-dechelatase, contributing to maintaining higher contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll of fresh-cut broccoli. Meanwhile, this treatment maintained higher contents of bioactive ingredients such as vitamin C, total phenols, total glucosinolates and sulforaphane, and improved the scavenging capacity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radicals. Therefore, these results indicated that US treatment could not only effectively slow down the yellowing of fresh-cut broccoli, but also maintain higher contents of bioactive compounds, thus playing a fresh-keeping role.

The challenging issues for the practical application of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are the fragile solidelectrolyte interphase (SEI) layer and uncontrollable growth of Li dendrites induced by nonuniform Li deposition. In this work, to enable homogeneous Li deposition and a stable SEI layer, a fluorinated gold (Au) doped titanium silicalite (ATSF) is prepared by a facile synthetic process to modify the Cu current collector for a stable Li metal anode. Driven by the Li affinity of Au nanoparticles and microporous properties of titanium silicalite, uniform Li nucleation and homogeneous Li deposition can be realized on the modified Cu current collector. Simultaneously, the doping of fluorine in ATSF facilitates the formation of the LiF-rich SEI layer for a more stable Li stripping/plating process. Consequently, the ATSF5/Cu current collector exhibits a high coulombic efficiency (CE) of 96.8% even after 600 cycles and a long-term cycling stability of 1100 h with remarkably low and stable overpotential. When paired with a high-mass-loading LiFePO4 cathode (∼2.3 mA h cm−2), the Li-metal full cell demonstrates an exceptional capacity retention of 97.9% with a high CE of 99.8% after 200 cycles. Furthermore, the LFP full cell with the Li@ATSF-5/Cu anode also displays superior cycling performance under harsh test conditions. This simple current collector modification through constructing a multi-functional zeolite matrix layer provides a new choice for achieving stable cycling performance of LMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the antifouling property of ceramic membrane in oil/ water separation, a high flux and antifouling polymer-ceramic composite membrane (PI/CM) was prepared by a modified method. FESEM, EDS and CA were used to characterize the morphology, surface composition, and surface characteristics of the as-prepared PI/ CM composites; and the pore size distribution was measured with bubble point porometer technique. The oil/water mixture separation and antifouling effects of the PI/CM modification membrane were evaluated by the filtration tests using edible oil as model foulant. The results showed that the polyimide (PI) with low molecular weight was grafted on the surface of CM via our modified method. The most probable pore size of the PI/CM composite membrane decreased to 542.9 nm, which was less than 849.9 nm of the raw CM. During this microfiltration of oil/water mixture at the constant applied pressure of 0.86 bar, the modified PI/CM showed a high water flux of 2430 LMH, which was comparable to the raw CM. While the edible oil rejection rate was up to 96.5% for the oil/water mixture, far higher than CM; and the PI/CM also showed a good anti-fouling property with a far higher water flux recovery of 88.8% than CM. Moreover, the special structural stability of the modified membrane profited from the strong interaction between polyimide and CM endowed it with better durability in oil/water mixture than CM during repeated filtration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Membrane grafting of methoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) provides a unique strategy in preventing the immunologic recognition in blood transfusion. mPEG-modified red blood cells (mPEG-RBCs) have acceptable in vitro properties and provide a useful solution to problems with clinical blood matching. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the physiologic normality of mPEG-RBCs in mice. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Mouse RBCs were withdrawn via cardiac bleed and modified with 1.0 mmol per L mPEG with succinimidyl propionate linker. The fluorescein-labeled mPEG-RBCs were then transfused into recipient mice for in vivo survival analysis. At the same time, the exsanguine mouse model was produced, and mice were transfused with mPEG-RBCs. The effects of mPEG-RBC transfusion on the hemoglobin (Hb) level, swimming endurance capacity, and hypoxic-ischemic injury in hippocampal pyramidal cells of exsanguine mice were investigated. RESULTS: mPEG-RBCs showed the same in vivo survival curve and t½ as those of untreated RBCs. Transfusion of mPEG-RBCs could elevate Hb level of exsanguine mice and improve their swimming endurance capacity, and histologic studies showed that mPEG-RBCs could also restore the hypoxic-ischemic injury of hippocampal pyramidal cells in exsanguine mice, which were similar with control RBCs. That is, mPEG-RBCs functioned in a similar fashion to untreated RBCs in exsanguine mice. Therefore, these results revealed that mPEG-RBCs had normal oxygen-carrying capacity. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the results confirmed that mPEG-RBCs could perform their in vivo function of carrying O2 and improve some physiologic indexes of exsanguine mice, and the physiologic normality of mPEG-RBCs provides new findings for clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]