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The primary impediments impeding the implementation of high-order methods in simulating viscous flow over complex configurations are robustness and convergence. These challenges impose significant constraints on computational efficiency, particularly in the domain of engineering applications. To address these concerns, this paper proposes a robust implicit high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for solving compressible Navier-Stokes (NS) equations on arbitrary grids. The method achieves a favorable equilibrium between computational stability and efficiency. To solve the linear system, an exact Jacobian matrix solving strategy is employed for preconditioning and matrix-vector generation in the generalized minimal residual (GMRES) method. This approach mitigates numerical errors in Jacobian solution during implicit calculations and facilitates the implementation of an adaptive Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) number increasing strategy, with the aim of improving convergence and robustness. To further enhance the applicability of the proposed method for intricate grid distortions, all simulations are performed in the reference domain. This practice significantly improves the reversibility of the mass matrix in implicit calculations. A comprehensive analysis of various parameters influencing computational stability and efficiency is conducted, including CFL number, Krylov subspace size, and GMRES convergence criteria. The computed results from a series of numerical test cases demonstrate the promising results achieved by combining the DG method, GMRES solver, exact Jacobian matrix, adaptive CFL number, and reference domain calculations in terms of robustness, convergence, and accuracy. These analysis results can serve as a reference for implicit computation in high-order calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flow across the blade tip clearance in turbomachinery is simplified as pressure-driven tip leakage flow (TLF) by isolating it from the mainstream. Based on schlieren visualization and numerical simulations, several common features of TLF are achieved. Consequently, a diffusion model is proposed to evaluate the mean flow and shock motions within the clearance. It takes into consideration the effects of relative wall motion by superposing a fully developed Couette flow. In addition, the over-tip shock waves are treated as repeated sawtooth wave to model the propagation. This approach enables quick and accurate evaluations of the meanflow and shock motions under configurations of stationery and moving casing wall. Given the flow variables at boundaries of the shock region, the meanflow and the evolution of the over-tip shock waves can be achieved instantly with an error less than 2%. Another advantage of this model is it can be non-intrusive. Hence, the challenges, arising from spatial constraints in direct measuring of TLF within the clearance, are surmounted. This is beneficial for locating the tip flow loss and the shock-induced heat load. Two flow mechanisms are unveiled from the predictions: (1) The strongest shock–boundary interaction accompanied by strong momentum exchange occurs above the separation bubble. (2) The oscillation of over-tip shock waves is self-sustained by a feedback loop formed by the pressure-side vortex shedding, shock generation, and shock–boundary interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to young people and adults, there are differences in the ability of elderly people to resist diseases or injuries, with some noticeable features being gender-dependent. However, gender differences in age-related viscera alterations are not clear. To evaluate a potential possibility of gender differences during the natural aging process, we used three age groups to investigate the impact on spleens, kidneys, and adrenal glands. The immunofluorescence results showed that male-specific p21 proteins were concentrated in the renal tubule epithelial cells of the kidney. Histological staining revealed an increase in the frequencies of fat vacuoles located in the renal tubule epithelial cells of the cortex, under the renal capsule in the kidneys of male mice with age. In female mice, we found that the width of the globular zone in the adrenal gland cortex was unchanged with age. On the contrary, the male displayed a reduction in width. Compared to females, the content of epinephrine in adrenal gland tissue according to ELISA analysis was higher in adults, and a greater decline was observed in aged males particularly. These data confirmed the age-dependent differences between female and male mice; therefore, gender should be considered one of the major factors for personalized treatment in clinical diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the key scientific problems of strengthening cooling and heat dissipation of turbine blades, a new type of corrugated channel cooling structure was proposed in this work. Refined numerical simulation was carried out in six different corrugated channels, and the physical mechanism of flow and heat transfer was analyzed in detail. The results show that the corrugated channel has smaller flow resistance than the ribbed channel. Among the corrugated channels, the heat transfer effects of sinusoidal, triangular, and sawtooth2 corrugated channels are stronger than rib corrugated channel at the high Reynolds number, and these effects are distributed evenly. Within the six kinds of corrugated channels, the sinusoidal corrugated channel has the best comprehensive heat transfer effect. The blades with sinusoidal corrugated channels have better cooling effect due to the significant increase in heat transfer coefficient on the inner channel surface, and the channel contraction area plays a decisive role in the enhancement of the cooling effect. The heat transfer capacity of the sinusoidal corrugated channel is closely related to the shape of the corrugation, and the heat transfer effect reaches for the best near the waveform H/L = 0.115. The physical mechanism of heat transfer enhancement of the corrugated channel is revealed in this paper, which can provide a reference for the design of the cooling structure of aeroengine blades in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cells are the basic unit of human organs that are not fully understood. The revolutionary advancements of optical imaging allowed us to observe single cells in whole organs, revealing the complicated composition of cells with spatial information. Therefore, in this review, we revisit the principles of optical contrast related to those biomolecules and the optical techniques that transform optical contrast into detectable optical signals. Then, we describe optical imaging to achieve three-dimensional spatial discrimination for biological tissues. Due to the milky appearance of tissues, the spatial information blurred deep in the whole organ. Fortunately, strategies developed in the last decade could circumvent this issue and lead us into a new era of investigation of the cells with their original spatial information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generation of noise caused by the flow around a cylinder and its control are important in various engineering applications. Based on computational fluid dynamics with acoustic analogy and the vortex dynamics theory analysis, this study aims at investigating the ability of the wavy cylinder in improving aerodynamic performance and reducing aerodynamic noise. Noise control mechanisms with different Reynolds numbers are analyzed. The results show that the wavy cylinder is helpful for the reduction of the average drag coefficient and is efficient in suppressing fluctuation of the lift coefficient; consequently, the overall noise of the wavy cylinder is reduced. Specifically, the tonal noise is significantly suppressed or even eliminated under proper configurations. To explore the underlying noise suppression mechanisms, the process of vorticity generation around the wavy cylinder surface is examined in detail. The vorticity distribution on the surface of the wavy cylinder is profoundly improved, and the distribution of the boundary vorticity flux and boundary enstrophy flux is also remarkably weakened. As a result, the generation of vorticity near the wavy cylinder wall is diminished. These directly lead to a significant contraction of the vortex structure distribution in the wavy cylinder wake, especially for some large-scale vortex structures. Moreover, periodic vortex shedding is significantly suppressed in the case with high Reynolds numbers, which might be the main reasons for noise reduction. The interaction area of the positive and negative Lamb vector divergence, which is closely related to the noise generation, is decreased. This contributes to drag reduction and noise attenuation. This indicates that drag reduction and noise suppression are closely bounded in the wavy cylinder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] To decipher the organizational logic of complex brain circuits, it is important to chart long-distance pathways while preserving micron-level accuracy of local network. However, mapping the neuronal projections with individual-axon resolution in the large and complex primate brain is still challenging. Herein, we describe a highly efficient pipeline for three-dimensional mapping of the entire macaque brain with subcellular resolution. The pipeline includes a novel poly-N-acryloyl glycinamide (PNAGA)-based embedding method for long-term structure and fluorescence preservation, high-resolution and rapid whole-brain optical imaging, and image post-processing. The cytoarchitectonic information of the entire macaque brain was acquired with a voxel size of 0.32 μm × 0.32 μm × 10 μm, showing its anatomical structure with cell distribution, density, and shape. Furthermore, thanks to viral labeling, individual long-distance projection axons from the frontal cortex were for the first time reconstructed across the entire brain hemisphere with a voxel size of 0.65 μm × 0.65 μm × 3 μm. Our results show that individual cortical axons originating from the prefrontal cortex simultaneously target multiple brain regions, including the visual cortex, striatum, thalamus, and midbrain. This pipeline provides an efficient method for cellular and circuitry investigation of the whole macaque brain with individual-axon resolution, and can shed light on brain function and disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The citrus fiber based high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) containing 75 wt% sunflower oil with high heat stability, good freeze-thawing recovery and ultralow tribological property are developed in this study. The corn peptides particles and corn peptides functionalized soluble fiber facilitate to construct interfacial architecture and insoluble fiber filled in continuous phase to prevent creaming, resulting stable HIPEs at acidic condition (pH3.0). The HIPEs exhibit excellent thixotropic recovery (above 90%), good heat stability (95 °C for 20 min) and freeze-thawing (−40 °C for 24 h/25 °C for 5 h) recovery properties. The emulsion with high citrus fiber concentration shows ultralow friction property in comparison with the egg-based commercial mayonnaise, which means that these products might provide more creaminess and smoothness sensory attribute than egg-based mayonnaise. The citrus fiber based HIPEs could find potential applications in the development of plant-based egg alternatives with interesting oral sensation. Image 109381 • Citrus fibers and corn peptides based high internal phase emulsions is constructed. • HIPEs exhibit excellent thixotropic recovery and good heat stability. • HIPEs show ultralow friction properties in comparison with egg-based mayonnaise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor growth and expansion, which makes it one of the most critical subjects in oncologic research. Angiogenesis can be imaged with photoacoustic microscopy (PAM), however the lateral resolution deteriorates significantly out of focus. Virtual-point-detector-based synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) combined with the coherence weighting factor (CF) can alleviate the blurring, at a cost of anisotropy of resolution. In this study, a two-dimensional SAFT with CF was investigated to improve resolution and yield lateral resolution isotropy simultaneously. In a phantom study, two carbon fibers with a diameter of 6 μm fixed perpendicularly to each other were imaged with PAM developed in our laboratory. In the depth range of 0.6 mm near the focal spot, the best resolution processed with one-dimensional (1D) SAFT is 40 μm better than that processed with two-dimensional (2D) SAFT. However, the maximum difference in lateral resolution between the z-x and z-y planes is about 15 μm processed with 2D SAFT, while it is 145 μm processed with 1D SAFT. Furthermore, the 2D SAFT increased the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by up to 8 dB higher than 1D SAFT at an imaging depth of 700 μm below the focal spot. Finally, in vivo imaging of the dorsal subcutaneous microvasculature of a mouse was used to validate the improved performance of 2D SAFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the present work, we studied the influence of particle size and charge density on the structure formation and rheological property of high internal phase emulsion gels (HIPE-gels) stabilized with zein/tannic acid complex particles (ZTPs). The size (68 and 108 nm) and charge density (+38, +20, and +1 mV) of ZTPs were controlled by adjusting the pH during the preparation of the particles and in the respective particle suspensions. Extensive centrifugation of the emulsions stabilized by those ZTPs resulted in stable HIPE-gels with an oil content ranging between 72 and 87% (w/w) and a particle concentration of 0.7–1.4% (w/w) only. Microscopy showed that even at these high oil volume fractions, limited coalescence between the oil droplets occurred. A decrease in the particle size resulted in a decrease in the oil content in the HIPE-gels, due to a more efficient particle network in the continuous phase. This increased the storage modulus of the HIPE gels, indicating that this particle network plays an important role for the gel strength. When increasing the interactions between the particles (by lowering the charge density), the gel strength increased even further. It was noted that the gel strength was independent of the oil content, suggesting that the oil droplets do not contribute a lot to the gel strength. These HIPE-gels with tunable rheological property may have various applications in industry. Graphical abstract The structure formation and rheological behavior of the high internal phase emulsion gels stabilized with zein/tannic acid complex particles (ZTPs) can be tuned by changing the particle size and charge density. Image 1 Highlights • Zein particles were used to stabilize high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs). • The HIPEs had an oil volume fraction of 72–87% and a protein content of 0.7–1.4%. • The storage moduli of these HIPEs were between 13000 and 27000 Pa. • The rheological behavior of HIPEs can be tuned by changing the particle properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a robust and accurate implicit direct discontinuous Galerkin (DDG) method for simulating laminar and turbulent flows. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations coupled with negative Spalart-Allmaras (SA) turbulence model are solved by using GMRES method with LU-SGS preconditioner to improve the convergence and efficiency. A distinguished feature of this implicit method is that the exact Jacobian matrix, derived analytically from the Harten-Lax-van Leer-Contact convective flux accompanied with DDG viscous flux and negative SA turbulence source term with no approximation and simplification, is used for the linear system of equations resulted by the implicit temporal discretization. The robustness of the implicit method is greatly enhanced due to using the exact Jacobian matrix. A number of benchmark test cases are selected to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method for simulating laminar and complex turbulent flows. Through the numerical experiments, the implicit DDG method clearly demonstrates its robustness for solving complex turbulent flows with highly stretched and curved grids and thus indicates its potential for real engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcumin, a yellow pigment present in the spice turmeric ( Curcuma longa ), has been linked with various bioactivities, but its optimum potential is limited by its lack of dispersibility in aqueous solvents and poor oral bioavailability. Here, we employed a protein-based nanoparticle approach to improve bioactivity and bioavailability. Curcumin was encapsulated with 95.94% efficiency in biodegradable nanoparticulate formulation based on rice bran albumin (RBA). The mean particle diameter and ζ -potential of curcumin-loaded RBA nanoparticles (Cur-RBA-NPs) were 120 nm and −36.3 mV, respectively. The in vitro bioactivity and in vivo bioavailability of Cur-RBA-NPs were evaluated. The results indicated that the in vitro bioactivities (antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and anti-proliferative activity on tumor cells) of Cur-RBA-NPs were superior to those of free curcumin, respectively. Moreover, Cur-RBA-NPs significantly enhanced the bioavailability of curcumin in rats as compared with free curcumin. Besides, the results clearly indicated the promise of RBA-based nanoparticles for oral delivery of poorly bioavailable molecules like curcumin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the structure formation and rheological properties of Pickering emulsions stabilized with zein/tannic acid complex particles (ZTPs) over a wide range of particle concentration (1–5%, w/v) and oil content (5–60%, v/v). Microscopy shows that the ZTPs provide stabilization at the droplet interfaces, and that excess ZTPs provide a particle network in the continuous phase to give a solid-like structure to the ZTPs-stabilized emulsions (ZTPEs). The low frequency dependency of G′ and low values for tan δ imply that ZTPEs have very elastic networks. The storage modulus (G′) of ZTPEs increases in a power-law manner with increasing particle concentration ( c p ) and oil content ( φ ), which can be scaled as G’ ∼  c p n and G’ ∼  φ m , respectively. The exponent n decreases with an increase of oil content, and m decreases with increase of particle concentration. This indicates that the structure of the network depends on both the particle concentration and the oil content. The difference in the network structure is also seen in the critical strain γ co , since three regimes are observed: for φ  ≤ 20%, γ co decreases with an increase in particle concentration; for 30% ≤ φ  ≤ 50%, γ co increases with increasing particle concentration; and for φ  = 60%, γ co is almost independent on the particle concentration. The results show that the microstructure and rheological properties of ZTPEs can be tuned by changing both the particle concentration and oil content, which may provide interesting features for various applications in industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Direct Discontinuous Galerkin (DDG) method is developed for solving the compressible Navier–Stokes equations on arbitrary grids in the framework of DG methods. The DDG method, originally introduced for scalar diffusion problems on structured grids, is extended to discretize viscous and heat fluxes in the Navier–Stokes equations. Two approaches of implementing the DDG method to compute numerical diffusive fluxes for the Navier–Stokes equations are presented: one is based on the conservative variables, and the other is based on the primitive variables. The importance of the characteristic cell size used in the DDG formulation on unstructured grids is examined. The numerical fluxes on the boundary by the DDG method are discussed. A number of test cases are presented to assess the performance of the DDG method for solving the compressible Navier–Stokes equations. Based on our numerical results, we observe that DDG method can achieve the designed order of accuracy and is able to deliver the same accuracy as the widely used BR2 method at a significantly reduced cost, clearly demonstrating that the DDG method provides an attractive alternative for solving the compressible Navier–Stokes equations on arbitrary grids owning to its simplicity in implementation and its efficiency in computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) degrades due to the turbidity of the skull that introduces attenuation and distortion of both laser and stimulated ultrasound. In this manuscript, we demonstrated that a newly developed skull optical clearing solution (SOCS) could enhance not only the transmittance of light, but also that of ultrasound in the skull in vitro. Thus the photoacoustic signal was effectively elevated, and the relative strength of the artifacts induced by the skull could be suppressed. Furthermore in vivo studies demonstrated that SOCS could drastically enhance the performance of photoacoustic microscopy for cerebral microvasculature imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cell-centered spatiotemporal coupled method is developed to solve the compressible Euler equations. The spatial discretization is performed using an improved weighted essentially non-oscillation scheme, where the Harten–Lax–van Leer–contact approximate Riemann solver is used for computing the numerical fluxes. A two-stage fourth-order scheme is adopted to carry out time advancement for unsteady problems. The proposed method is featured by spatiotemporal coupling time-stepping that can be generalized without using the case-dependent generalized Riemann problem solver. A number of one- and two-dimensional test cases are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method for solving the compressible Euler equations on structured grids. The numerical results indicate that the novel method can achieve relatively large Courant–Friedrichs–Lewy (CFL) number compared to other studies that implement the two-stage fourth-order scheme, and that it is more capable of capturing small-scale flow structures than the Runge–Kutta (RK) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buzz-saw noise is a main component of the noise measured in the forward-arc of transonic fans during the take-off and climbing of aircraft. Full resolving of this noise component is computationally expensive because it is very sensitive to random blade variations, such as manufacturing tolerance, deformations or defects. To avoid this, artificially-synthesized irregular buzz-saw noise source is widely used for the prediction and further study. However, the irregularities of the synthesized source are hardly linked to the blade geometry and the so-induced flow structures. In this study, it is found that blade stagger, axial and azimuth variations maintain a quasi-linear relation with the so-induced static pressure perturbations. Based on this quasi-linear relation, the disturbances induced by blade variations are represented by a set of acoustic modal perturbations generated by several pairs of "basic" rotors. By superposing such modal perturbations, the buzz-saw noise source and the static pressure field generated by a fan with multiple arbitrary blade variations can be achieved instantly. This method is programmed to develop a code package named the Mode-based Fast Reconstruction (MFR). It is validated from simple to complex application scenarios based NASA rotor 67. An accuracy level of 0.9 dB is achieved for the multiple pure tones generated by rotors with multiple blade variations that satisfy the quasi-linear assumptions. This enables high-accuracy fast reconstruction of buzz-saw noise source and pressure field in more real transonic fans. Additionally, the impact of blade variations on buzz-saw noise is much stronger than the influence on rotor aerodynamic performances. So, the effects of small blade variations should be considered during the design and optimization of transonic fan rotors, even though the aerodynamic performances may not benefit much from this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the published works related to noise generation in high-lift devices only consider clean idealized geometries, whereas real aircraft wings contain important parts called the slat tracks that connect the slat and the main wing. To investigate the effects of slat tracks on the ambient flow and noise, simulations are performed for wings based on the 30P30N airfoil. Two configurations are considered, i.e., the 30P30N wing with and without a slat track. Improved detached-eddy simulation is carried out to compute the unsteady near-field flow. The far-field noise propagation is calculated using the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equation. The results show that the installation of the slat track has observable effects on the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performances of the high-lift devices. The maximum lift coefficient of the high-lift device and the stall angle of attack is reduced. Low-frequency broadband noise radiated from the main wing is significantly increased and the directivity of the overall sound pressure level is changed due to the slat track. The far-field noise from the configuration with the slat track displays noticeable sensitivity to the angle of attack. The slat track has an amplification effect on the high-pressure fluctuation on the main wing, especially at a small angle of attack. This leads to nearly 10 dB in the far-field noise based on the discussed wing section. To reveal the relative noise mechanism, vortical structures near the slat track, large-scale spanwise flows above the main wing, and the vortex dynamics are investigated. A spiral vortex pair is captured as the most important flow structure. It is generated in the spanwise direction by the interaction of slat wakes with the boundary layer on the upper surface of the main wing. The pressure fluctuations on the main wing are highly correlated with this flow structure, which cannot be ignored for the study of noise in a real aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water soluble curcumin nanoparticles (Cur-Ps) were prepared by the simple anti-solvent nanoprecipitation method, using soluble soybean polysaccharide (SSPS) and zein hydrolysate (ZH) as carriers, and the synergistic effect of SSPS and ZH in prepration of Cur-Ps was studied. We expect to provide a new carrier for preparation of Cur-Ps with excellent colloid and oxidation stability. Attributed to poor water solubility of curcumin, the solution of curcumin monomers in deionized water was very turbid. However, the existence of ZH or ZH-SSPS solubilized the curcumin tremendously. The solutions of ZH and ZH-SSPS containing curcumin were yellow and highly transparent. The solubilization results shown that the water solubility of curcumin in ZH solution could reach up to 135, üg/mL when the concentration of ZH was above 2.5 mg/mL, and the addition of SSPS had no effect on the water solubility of curcumin at this concentration. But, when the concentration of ZH was below 2.5 mg/mL, the water solubility of curcumin was enhanced slightly with the addition of SSPS. In pure SSPS solution with a concentration of 3 mg/mL, the solubility of curcumin was only 90, üg/mL, obviously lower than that in ZH solution with the same concentration. These results suggested that ZH plays a leading role in curcumin solubilization in the ZH-SSPS mixture system and this solubiliazation should attributed to the non-covalent interactions between ZH and curcumin, which leading to the formation of ZH-curcumin nanocomplex. Colloidal stability results indicated that at low ionic strength (< 50 mmol/L) or under neutral condition (pH value 7.0), the existence of SSPS had no influence on the particle size distribution of Cur-Ps. However, since SSPS can increase the stability of the protein under acidic and salt-containing solutions, compared with Cur-Ps prepared by ZH only, Cur-Ps fabricated by ZH-SSPS had better colloid stability in solutions with low pH value (4.5 or 2.0) or high ionic strength (>200 mmol/L). Hence, due to the synergistic effect of ZH and SSPS, the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles with small size (< 100 nm) and good colloidal stability can be fabricated. The vitro release study in ethanol-water two-phase system indicated that both Cur-Ps prepared by ZH only and ZH-SSPS solutions had controlled-release effect on curcumin. However, Cur-Ps prepared by ZH-SSPS had better controlled-release effect, and its cumulative release ratio was below 80% in 6 h. The counterpart prepared by ZH only was above 85%. The study on the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical oxidation stability of curcumin nanoparticles indicated that the stability of the curcumin was significantly (P<0.05) improved after the nano-capsulation by ZH or ZH-SSPS. This result is mainly due to the shielding effect for curcumin nano-canpsulation as well as the strong antioxidant effect of ZH. The lyophilized Cur-Ps powder prepared by ZH-SSPS had a multihole spongy structure in field emission images by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which resulted in its redispersibility as high as 90%, showing a significant (P<0.05) improvement compared with the Cur-Ps fabricated by ZH only. Besides, using ZH-SSPS to prepare Cur-Ps powder had a more curcumin content compared with the counterpart. In conclusion, owing to the synergistic effect between ZH and SSPS, ZH-SSPS is expected to be a new material for the preparation of water soluble Cur-Ps. Due to the transparent appearance of the Cur-Ps solution, it has a good prospect in preparation of curcumin-enriched functional drinks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual-modality systems combined fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) can provide molecular and anatomical information of small animals simultaneously. Except for anatomic localization, micro-CT should also offer boundary of different organs as reconstruction priors for FMT, which is more challenging than acquisition of structural information. In this paper, we propose a framework to extract structural priors of a living mouse with micro-CT. The iodinated lipid emulsion contrast agent was adopted to enhance the contrast of the soft tissues of the mouse. Then organs in thorax and abdomen were segmented with different approaches depending on the characteristics of the organs. Bone, lung, heart, liver, spleen, and muscles were separately segmented. And the results were compared with that manually segmented. The Tanimoto coefficient and the relative volume difference of segmented slices were measured to be 91.28 ± 5.78 and 0.27 ± 3.15, respectively. In our simulation study of FMT reconstruction, the errors of measured position and concentration of the fluorophore with priors declined by 89.7% and 79.6% in thorax, as well as 80.8% and 78.3% in abdomen, respectively, compared with the results without priors. The proposed scheme will make FMT reconstruction much more reliable and practical in small animal study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combined system of micro-CT and fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) offers a new tool to provide anatomical and functional information of small animals in a single study. To take advantages of the combined system, a data preprocessing method is proposed to extract the valid data for FMT reconstruction algorithms using a priori information provided by CT. The boundary information of the animal and animal holder is extracted from reconstructed CT volume data. A ray tracing method is used to trace the path of the excitation beam, calculate the locations and directions of the optional sources and determine whether the optional sources are valid. To accurately calculate the projections of the detectors on optical images and judge their validity, a combination of perspective projection and inverse ray tracing method are adopted to offer optimal performance. The imaging performance of the combined system with the presented method is validated through experimental rat imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fluorescent proteins (FPs) have been widely adopted in cell research for protein trafficking and reporter gene expression studies, as well as to study other biological processes. However, biological tissue has high light scattering and high absorption coefficients of visible light; hence, using FPs in small animal imaging remains a challenge, especially when the FPs are located deep in the tissue. In small animals, fluorescence molecular imaging could potentially address this difficulty. We constructed fluorescence molecular imaging systems that have two modes: a planner mode (projection imaging) and a multimodality mode (fluorescence molecular tomography and micro-CT). The planner mode can provide projection images of a fluorophore in the whole body of a small animal, whereas three-dimensional information can be offered by multimodality mode. The planner imaging system works in the reflection mode and is designed to provide fast imaging. The multimodality imaging system is designed to allow quantification and three-dimensional localization of fluorophores. A nude mouse with a tumour targeted with a far-red FP, which is appropriate for in vivo imaging, was adopted to validate the two systems. The results indicate that the planner imaging system is probably suitable for high throughput molecular imaging, whereas the multimodality imaging system is fit for quantitative research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose: A combined system of fluorescence molecular tomography and microcomputed tomography (FMT&mCT) can provide molecular and anatomical information of small animals in a single study with intrinsically coregistered images. The anatomical information provided by the mCT subsystem is commonly used as a reference to locate the fluorophore distribution or as a priori structural information to improve the performance of FMT. Therefore, the transformation between the coordinate systems of the subsystem needs to be determined in advanced. Methods: A cocalibration method for the combined system of FMT&mCT is proposed. First, linear models are adopted to describe the galvano mirrors and the charge-coupled device (CCD) camera in the FMT subsystem. Second, the position and orientation of the galvano mirrors are determined with the input voltages of the galvano mirrors and the markers, whose positions are predetermined. The position, orientation and normalized pixel size of the CCD camera are obtained by analysing the projections of a point-like marker at different positions. Finally, the orientation and position of sources and the corresponding relationship between the detectors and their projections on the image plane are predicted. Because the positions of the markers are acquired with mCT, the registration of the FMT and mCT could be realized by direct image fusion. Results: The accuracy and consistency of this method in the presence of noise is evaluated by computer simulation. Next, a practical implementation for an experimental FMT&mCT system is carried out and validated. The maximum prediction error of the source positions on the surface of a cylindrical phantom is within 0.375 mm and that of the projections of a point-like marker is within 0.629 pixel. Finally, imaging experiments of the fluorophore distribution in a cylindrical phantom and a phantom with a complex shape demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Conclusions: This method is universal in FMT&mCT, which could be performed with no restriction on the system geometry, calibration phantoms or imaging objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this work, soy protein isolates (SPIs) were subjected to microparticulation, turning soy protein ingredients into microparticles with improved thermal stability which could be used in high‐protein foods. The pH is a critical determinant in microparticulation. Our work is mainly to investigate the effect of pH on the formation and properties of protein microparticles. To clarify the effects of pH conditions on the properties of the resulting particles, microparticulation was performed at different pH conditions (7.0, 6.0 and 5.0). Aggregation behaviours described by the parameters calculated from the protein dispersion viscosity combined with the observation of the morphology change were used to analyse the particle formation process. For the microparticles prepared at pH 5.0, soy proteins were more inclined to aggregate into clusters on a micro‐scale which had a flexible conformation. After spray drying, This powder could be easily dispersed in water, creating a dispersion with a protein concentration of 10 wt%. At this concentration, the thermal gelation capacity of the proteins was observed to decrease. Conversely, the tendency of protein aggregation was largely restricted when soy protein microparticulation was carried out at pH 7.0. As these soy protein particles in nano‐scale were dispersed in water, a decrease rather than an increase was recorded in the viscosity of this dispersion after it was heated, suggesting that these particles had improved thermal stability. This work has demonstrated that implementing appropriate pH conditions during microparticulation can prepare soy protein particles with different sizes and rheological properties, which might meet the demands of various food processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 700 nm-thick PDMS/PTFE composite membrane without defects was fabricated. • Amorphous properties of the membrane did not change with the thickness. • High flux and separation factor were obtained for ethanol-water separation. The cost of polymer membranes significantly affects their industrial applications, which is inversely proportional to their thickness. Hence, to economically realize the industrial applications of polymer membranes, their thickness should be reduced. In this work, a facile and scalable coating method was used to fabricate thin pervaporation composite membranes. The viscosity of the membrane solution and the hydrodynamic diameter of the polymer coil in heptane were optimized. Polydimethylsiloxane/polytetrafluoroethylene composite membranes with thickness as low as 700 nm could be obtained. The composite membranes showed an amorphous structure with almost constant surface hydrophobicity, and a flux as high as 2.4 kg/(m2·h) can be obtained while the separation factor sustains 8.6 at 40 °C for the separation of 5 wt% ethanol-water solution. The effects of the feed pressure, feed temperature, and vapor permeation and substrates on their performance were investigated. Results showed that too low or too high viscosity of membrane solution is not suitable for the formation of the membrane without defects. This also indicated that the coating method developed in this study, using an optimum membrane solution viscosity, is an efficient approach for the large-scale fabrication of sub-micron-thick membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise of slat in the high-lift device of large aircraft is one of the main noise sources of large aircraft during take-off and landing. This paper investigates a noise reduction measure which consists in droop nose for high-lift device of three-dimensional sweep wing instead of leading-edge slat. The unsteady flow field and the far-field noise are predicted by a hybrid SA-IDDES method coupled with the integration of the Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings equation (FW-H). Based on the optimal droop nose configuration from 2D airfoil, the results of the 3D swept wing model with the droop nose on the leading edge of the inner wing are given. Numerical results show that the droop nose configuration can reduce the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) of the intermediate frequency noise, and the peak noise can be reduced by 15 dB, and the sound pressure level of the broadband noise at low and high frequencies is also partially suppressed. The maximum lift-to-drag ratio of the droop nose configuration increased by 2.7 %. In addition, the noise reduction mechanism of leading-edge droop is analyzed by combining the vortex sound theory and the generation and evolution process of the vortex structure. The leading-edge droop nose configuration fundamentally not only eliminates the vortex structure of the slat cove of the leading-edge slat configuration, but also avoids the interaction between the slat slot flow and the upper surface of the main wing. These directly lead to a thinner boundary layer vortex near the top of the main wing, and the wall pressure pulsation is smaller than that of the leading-edge slat high-lift device, thereby reducing noise. The reduction of the BEF distribution on the upper surface boundary shows again that the droop nose inhibits the vortex on the upper surface of the main wing. The change of the Lamb vector divergence reveals the noise reduction mechanism of the drooping leading edge configuration directly from the sound source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable water in water (W/W) emulsions of guar rich droplets dispersed in an amylopectin rich continuous phase (G/A) and the inverse (A/G) can be achieved by adding gelatin and inducing microphase separation of the latter by cooling. In this research, the effect of gelatin on the emulsion stability was further studied by storing the emulsions at 10, 20 and 25 °C. The visual aspect, the microstructure, and the viscosity of the emulsions were investigated at different times during storage at different temperatures and pH. It was found that depending on the conditions, the gelatin phase wetted the interface or formed small discrete microdomains that adsorbed at the interface and dispersed in the bulk phases. The observed differences in morphology and stability are related to the interplay of the rates of aggregation, phase separation of gelatin, which itself depend on the gelatin concentration, temperature and pH. Emulsions could be prepared in this manner that were stable for at least one week and remained visually homogeneous. We believe that this is a promising method to stabilize W/W emulsions as long as the components of the emulsion are incompatible with aggregated gelatin. • Water in water (W/W) emulsions were stabilized by adding gelatin. • Microphase separation of gelatin in the W/W emulsions was induced by cooling. • Either a gelatin layer or discrete gelatin domains formed at the W/W interface. • The stability is related to the rates of gelatin aggregation and phase separation. • The stability could be tuned by gelatin concentration, temperature and pH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to test the ability of DNA barcoding to identify the herbal raw trade of Tibetan medicine Dida in China. A reference database for plant-material DNA barcodes was successfully constructed and used to identify 36 commercially samples of Dida collected from Southwest China. The ITS sequence was amplified from these samples and the efficiency of the PCR amplification of ITS was 100%. The DNA sequencing results revealed that 3 samples (8.3%) were authenticated as Swertia chirayita, 2 sequences (5.6%) were authenticated as Swertia mussotii, 3 sequences (8.3%) were authenticated as Swertia ciliata, as recorded in the Tibetan Pharmacopeia. The other samples were authenticated as adulterants and all of them originated from common plants belonging to Saxifraga, Swertia and Halenia. This result indicates Dida pieces that are available in the market have complex origins and may indicate a potential safety issue and DNA barcoding is a convenient tool for market supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the effect of addition of citrus fiber (CF; 5% and 10%, which consists mainly of soluble pectin and insoluble cellulose) on physical properties and microstructure of meat analogs based on soy protein isolate and wheat gluten using high‐moisture extrusion. Layered structure or microstructure of meat analogs was observed by scanning electron microscope and confocal laser scanning microscope. Compared to the control (without CF), meat analogs with CF addition showed disorder layered microstructure, which was interconnected with smaller fibers. Rheological measurements (strain sweep and frequency sweep) show that the incorporation of CF resulted in meat analogs with softer texture. The moisture content of meat analogs increased significantly upon the addition of CF, which was also correlated with juiciness. Sensory evaluation and dynamic salt release results confirm that the saltiness of meat analogs with CF addition was enhanced due to the structural changes of phase‐separated structures, achieving salt reduction by 20% and showing a saltiness similar to the control sample. This research provides a novel approach to modulate the saltiness perception of meat analogs by modifying the phase separation of protein/polysaccharides. Practical Application: Citrus fiber is added to the plant protein matrix to prepare meat analogs with high moisture content and enhanced saltiness perception via modifying the phase separation of protein/polysaccharides. This work provided a potential target for the meat industry to produce the meat analogs with less salt intake. Further research can be conducted using modified fibrous or inner structure of meat analogs to improve its quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the effect of oil type and solvent quality on the structure formation and rheological properties of zein-stabilized oil-in-glycerol emulsion gels. To change the interactions within the system, four types of oil (medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, sunflower oil, extra virgin olive (EVO) oil, and castor oil) with different polarity were used, and the solvent quality was modified by temperature and water addition. In all cases, emulsion gels were obtained with G' > G''. At each protein concentration and oil content, the gel strength and crossover strain γ co increased with an increase in oil polarity, indicating the formation of a stronger gel structure and higher stability against structure breakdown. These results are related to the fact that a higher oil polarity decreases the oil-protein hydrophobic interactions and thereby increasing the interactions between the proteins to form a strong network in the continuous phase. In addition, water addition to the continuous phase enhanced the gel strength and the resistance against structure breakdown for more apolar MCT oil, while the opposite results were observed for the more polar castor oil. The zein-based emulsion gels showed a thermo-responsive behavior, and different responses in structure collapse and rearrangements during heating and cooling were found for different oils. These simple approaches form an interesting route to tune the rheological properties of zein-based emulsion gels. Graphical abstract The structure formation and rheological behavior of the zein stabilized oil-in-glycerol emulsion gels can be tuned by changing the interplay between the different interactions within the system. Image 101 Highlights • Zein self assembles to form oil-in-glycerol emulsions gels. • Gel strength and crossover strain increase with an increase in oil polarity. • Water addition enhances the gel strength and crossover strain for more apolar oil. • Water addition decreases the gel strength and crossover strain for more polar oil. • The thermo-responsive behavior can be tuned by the oil type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient prediction and evaluation of noise performance are crucial to the design and the optimization of landing gear noise. A systematic method is developed to predict and evaluate landing gear noise in the present study, termed as noise spectrum deep learning model (NSDL). In this algorithm, the encoder and decoder are designed to extract noise features and reconstruct noise data. Specifically, a loss function that takes the identification of both broadband noise and tone noise into account is utilized to guide the training direction of the model, aiming to improve the training efficiency and prediction results of the model. Afterward, the mapping relationship between landing gear experimental parameters and noise features is established by multi-layer perceptron. In this study, the detail of the algorithm is analyzed and discussed based on the results of wind tunnel noise experiment and numerical simulation. The results show that the proposed model can effectively and precisely predict landing gear noise under various conditions, including different flow speeds, angles of attack, number of wheels, and heights of the main strut. For the inflow velocity range of 34–75 m/s, the average error of the overall sound pressure level is restricted below 0.83% (0.6 dB). In case only the angle of attack is changed, the average error is reduced to be less than 0.36% (0.3 dB). The prediction results show that the landing gear noise is mainly broadband noise and tone noise mainly appears in the low frequency and intermediate frequency. With the increase in the inflow speed, the broadband noise increases gradually, and the frequency of tone noise gradually shifts to the high frequency band. Additionally, it is found that, for landing gear with four or six wheels, noise is very sensitive to angles of attack and wheel angles of attack. Consequently, the NSDL method shows significant potential in predicting the sound pressure level of landing gears and is expected to improve the efficiency of evaluation and optimization design for noise reduction of landing gear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, the influence of hydrophobicity of zein/tannic acid complex particles (ZTPs) on the rheological behavior of ZTP-stabilized emulsion gels is described. The hydrophobicity of the particles was controlled by the incorporation of different amounts of hydrophilic tannic acid, while retaining a similar particle size. The resulting ZTPs with varying hydrophobicity were successfully used to form emulsion gels with similar oil droplet size. With a decrease in the hydrophobicity of ZTPs, the storage modulus (G′) of emulsion gels increased, while tan δ and the frequency dependence decreased, indicating the formation of a stronger gel network. The crossover strain, γ co , increased with a decrease in the hydrophobicity of ZTPs, indicating the gel network becomes more resistance against breakdown. In all cases, G′ increased in a power-law manner with an increase in protein concentration (G' ∼  c p n ) and oil content (G' ∼  φ m ). The exponent n and m decreased with decreasing particle hydrophobicity, indicating that hydrophobic interactions between particles within the particle network in the continuous phase and the oil droplets provide a relatively larger contribution to the gel strength for emulsion gels stabilized by ZTPs with higher hydrophobicity. Increasing the oil polarity provided a lower gel strength for emulsions stabilized by particles with high hydrophobicity, while it increased the gel strength for particles with low hydrophobicity. The results show that the rheological behavior of ZTP-stabilized emulsion gels can be tuned by changing the particle hydrophobicity and oil polarity, which provide interesting features for various applications in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissection of the anatomical information at the single-cell level is crucial for understanding the organization rule and pathological mechanism of biological tissues. Mapping the whole organ in numerous groups with multiple conditions brings the challenges in imaging and analysis. Here, we describe an approach, named array fluorescent micro-optical sectioning tomography (array-fMOST), to identify the three-dimensional information at single-cell resolution from multi-samples. The pipeline contains array embedding, large-scale imaging, post-imaging staining and data analysis, which could image over 24 mouse brains simultaneously and collect the slices for further analysis. With transgenic mice, we acquired the distribution information of neuropeptide somatostatin neurons during natural aging and compared the changes in the microenvironments by multi-component labeling of serial sections with precise co-registration of serial datasets quantitatively. With viral labeling, we also analyzed the input circuits of the medial prefrontal cortex in the whole brain of Alzheimer's disease and autism model mice. This pipeline is highly scalable to be applied to anatomical alterations screening and identification. It provides new opportunities for combining multi-sample whole-organ imaging and molecular phenotypes identification analysis together. Such integrated high-dimensional information acquisition method may accelerate our understanding of pathogenesis and progression of disease in situ at multiple levels. A new method, named array fluorescent micro-optical sectioning tomography (array-fMOST), is developed for identifying the three-dimensional information at single-cell resolution from multi-samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we developed multilayer bacterial cellulose (BC)-zein films based on the strong BC film as the outer layers and the electrospun zein fibers as the inner layer, to improve the water resistance properties of hydrophilic BC films. The water resistance properties were evaluated by dynamic water absorption measurement and mung beans storage test. The obtained results showed that the incorporation of electrospun zein fibers made the relatively thin and flexible multilayer films become stiffer, while the zein interlayer did not markedly affect the thermal stability and surface properties of films. Compared to pure BC films, the BC-zein films exhibited significantly better water resistance properties, especially under longer zein deposition time (90 and 120 min). This improvement could be mainly due to the inherent hydrophobicity of zein protein. These findings provide the possibility of adopting a multilayer film strategy for the development of BC packaging films with enhanced water resistance properties by incorporating a high barrier interlayer of electrospun zein fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small molecular prodrug-based nanomedicines with high drug-loading efficiency and tumor selectivity have attracted great attention for cancer therapy against solid tumors, including triple negative breast cancers (TNBC). However, abnormal tumor mechanical microenvironment (TMME) severely restricts antitumor efficacy of prodrug nanomedicines by limiting drug delivery and fostering cancer stem cells (CSCs). Herein, we employed carbamate disulfide bridged doxorubicin dimeric prodrug as pharmaceutical ingredient, marketed IR780 iodide as photothermal agent, and biocompatible hydroxyethyl starch-folic acid conjugates as amphiphilic surfactant to prepare a theranostic nanomedicine (FDINs), which could actively target at TNBC 4T1 tumor tissues and achieve reduction-responsive drug release with high glutathione concentration in cancer cells and CSCs. Importantly, in addition to directly causing damage to cancer cells and sensitizing chemotherapy, FDINs-mediated photothermal effect regulates aberrant TMME via reducing cancer associated fibroblasts and depleting extracellular matrix proteins, thereby normalizing intratumor vessel structure and function to facilitate drug and oxygen delivery. Furthermore, FDINs potently eliminate CSCs by disrupting unique CSCs niche and consuming intracellular GSH in CSCs. As a result, FDINs significantly suppress tumor growth in both subcutaneous and orthotopic 4T1 tumors. This study provides novel insights on rational design of prodrug nanomedicines for superior therapeutic effect against stroma- and CSCs-rich solid malignancies. A disulfide linked DOX dimeric prodrug-based tumor active targeting nanomedicine was prepared to modulate tumor mechanical microenvironment and eliminate cancer stem cells for potent cancer therapy. [Display omitted] • DOX-SS-DOX could self-assemble with IR780 into uniform nanoparticles (DINs) with a high drug-loading capacity. • Hydroxyethyl starch-folic acid stabilized nanoparticles (FDINs) showed higher tumor accumulation in vivo than DINs. • FDINs modulated the tumor mechanical microenvironment, depleted cancer stem cells and achieved potent cancer therapy. • This study provides novel insights on cancer therapies against stroma- and CSCs-rich solid malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that the consumption of soybean foods can reduce the incidence rate of bone fractures in women after menopause. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different complex of soy β‐conglycinin (7S) and isoflavones (7S‐ISO) on osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats. All treatments were administrated intragastrically to the groups every afternoon for 3 months. The treatments were administrated at 1 mL·(100 g)−1, the animals were given 50 mg·kg−1·d−1 ISO, and the concentration of protein was about 2 wt. %. The bone mineral density (BMD) and the bone biomechanics results of left tibia' maximum load in the 7S‐ISO group is significantly higher than in the ovariectomized group and the 7S group (p <.05). Otherwise, the serum tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase (s‐TRACP), serum osteocalcin (s‐BGP), and serum estradiol (s‐E2) levels in 7S‐ISO were all significantly different from the OVX, OVX + casein, and the OVX + 7S group (p <.05). The serum calcium (s‐Ca) level was not significantly different among all the groups. 7S‐ISO may exhibit moderate estrogenic activities and as compared to 7S and ISO in osteoporosis (OP) of ovariectomized rats. Practical applications: The effects of soy proteins on the health of females have always been a concern. It has been extensively reported soy 7S globulin (7S) as a type of trimer glycoprotein can depress blood fats. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different complex of soy β‐conglycinin and isoflavones (ISO), the main storage proteins and polyphenols in soy, on osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responsive dual-structured emulsions and gel emulsions have attracted more and more attention due to their complex microstructures, on-demand responsive properties, and controlled release of active cargoes. In this work, the effect of monoglyceride (MG)-based oil phase structuring on the formation and stability, structural properties, and thermoresponsive and cargo release behavior of gel emulsions stabilized by glycyrrhizic acid (GA) nanofibrils were investigated. Owing to the formation of GA fibrillar networks in the aqueous phase and MG crystalline networks in the oil phase, a stable dual-structured gel emulsion can be successfully developed. The microstructure of the dual-structured gel emulsions largely depended on the concentration of MG in the oil phase. At low MG concentrations (1–2 wt%), the larger formed and lamellar MG crystals may pierce the interfacial fibrillar film, inducing the formation of partially coalesced droplets. In contrast, at high MG concentrations (4 wt% or above), the smaller MG crystals with enhanced interfacial activity can lead to the formation of a bilayer shell of GA nanofibrils and MG crystals, thus efficiently inhibiting the interfacial film damage and forming a jamming structure with homogeneously distributed small droplets. Compared to pure GA nanofibril gel emulsions, the GA−MG dual-structured gel emulsions showed significantly improved mechanical performance as well as good thermoresponsive behavior. Moreover, these stable GA−MG gel emulsions can be used as food-grade delivery vehicles for encapsulating and protecting hydrophobic and hydrophilic bioactive cargoes. They also have great potential as novel and efficient aroma delivery systems showing highly controlled volatile release. The dual-structured emulsion strategy is expected to broaden the applications of natural saponin GA-based gel emulsions in the food, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch granule oleogels were prepared and their rheological properties were precisely tuned using the capillary bridging phenomenon. The addition of a small amount of water to an oily suspension of starch granules can lead to starch granule bridging and network formation, transitioning it from a fluid-like to a gel-like state. Small-granule starches with high specific surface area and interfacial area exhibited a greater number of liquid bridges and stronger starch granules interactions, making them more prone to forming structurally stable oleogel systems. By increasing the content of water and starch granule, the starch oleogels exhibited three distinct structural states: pendular state (water ≤ 3.28 %, starch ≤ 17.85 %), pendular bridging network (water: 4.92 %, starch: 24.59 %), and capillary aggregates (water ≥ 6.56 %, starch > 24.59 %). Furthermore, the influence of starch granule surface lipids on the lubrication performance of the oleogel system was investigated. Surface roughness increased after extraction of surface lipids, and the friction coefficient also showed a significant increase. Overall, capillary suspension system can potentially be used to design novel fat food products, and our findings have established the correlation between starch granule surface properties and sensory perception in food, providing valuable insights for adjusting the oral processing characteristics of food. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D printing has extremely high requirements for the design of food matrices with suitable rheological properties. Starch exhibits considerable potential as a material for 3D printing. However, there is limited research available on the direct fabrication of oleogels using starch granules as building blocks. In this study, we developed a simple approach to fabricate plant-based oleogels as edible 3D printable materials by exploiting capillary forces between starch granules. When a small amount of water (less than 5 wt%) was added to starch granules dispersed in an oil phase, a pendular bridging network was formed between the starch granules. The rheological properties of the starch-oil suspension were significantly changed, transitioning it from a fluid-like to a gel-like state. The rheological properties of the oleogel could be altered by varying the starch granule volume fraction, the amount of water added, the structure of starch granules, and the oil-water interfacial tension. Confocal laser microscopy imaging demonstrated that starch granule oleogels exhibit three distinct structural states: pendular state, pendular bridge network, and capillary aggregation. Furthermore, the presence of water was identified as a liquid bridge between starch granules. Additionally, starch granule oleogels exhibited excellent thermal stability and freeze-thaw stability. Overall, this approach enhances the feasibility of preparing starch oleogels and provides valuable insights for the personalized 3D printing of oleogels. [Display omitted] • Starch granule based oleogels were successfully prepared through capillary attraction. • Untreated native starch granules were firstly used in the preparation of oleogels. • The oleogel network was formed by granules connected through meniscus bridges. • Modulating rheological properties of the oleogel via added water or starch content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focused on the effect of glycosylation on the gelation ability of β-conglycinin induced by microbial transglutaminase ( MTGase). Rheological results indicated that the gels of β-conglycinin-dextran conjugate products exhibited higher G′ value (172.2 ± 8.6 Pa) compared with those of dry-heated β-conglycinin (75.2 ± 5.1 Pa), β-conglycinin (53.3 ± 4.0 Pa) and β-conglycinin-dextran mixture (38.6 ± 2.6 Pa) after 4 h incubation with MTGase. The gels prepared from β-conglycinin-dextran conjugate products had higher hardness, fracturability, springiness and cohesiveness values determined by textural profile analysis. The turbidity of β-conglycinin-dextran conjugate products solution incubated with MTGase increased faster than those of the other three protein samples. The conjugated dextran in β-conglycinin-dextran conjugate products could inhibit extensive protein-protein interactions which might result in the formation of more ordered and stronger gel network structures during MTGase cross-linking process. A compact and homogeneous gel networks in β-conglycinin-dextran conjugate products gels were also observed by scanning electron microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Plant-based meat analogs with different internal structures were prepared. • Digestion behavior of the plant-based meat analogs was investigated. • Both particle disintegration and swelling occurred in the early digestion stage. • Plant-based meat analogs with fibrous structure exhibited slow gastric digestion. • Plant-based meat analogs could be a desired nutritional food for people on diet. Plant-based meat analogs have increasingly attracted the attention of the food industry in recent years. However, the digestion behavior of this innovative solid food in human stomach is poorly understood. In this study, plant-based meat analogs with different internal structures were prepared with/without high-moisture extrusion technology and at different temperatures. A semi-dynamic gastric digestion system which involves the mimic processes of the secretion of gastric juice and the gastric emptying was applied. After extrusion treatment at high temperature (150 ℃), the EHT had the highest anisotropic index (H ⊥ /H ∥ =1.90) and an ideal meat-like structure. It was found that particle disintegration and swelling simultaneously occurred in the bolus of the EHT but not in the sample without extrusion treatment (the HLT) in the early stage of gastric digestion. This difference might be attributed to the compact and well-arranged anisotropic structure of the EHT resulting from the extrusion, and leads to difficult enzymatic hydrolyzation unless the particles swell and unfold the polymer chains. The difficulty in particle disintegration in the EHT during gastric digestion is the consequence of the relatively slow gastric emptying rate and the decrease of protein degradation. As a result, the EHT which underwent extrusion treatment at high temperature and possessed the best anisotropic fibrous structure exhibited the slowest gastric digestion. This novel solid food shows good potential as a desired nutritional food for people on diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Effect of operation parameters on membrane performance under permeate pressure was studied. • Saturated vapor pressure was found to be very important in the gas/vapor separation. • The reason for descending performance with increasing permeate pressure was discussed. • Simulation of energy consumption in gas/vapor separation was conducted. Transmembrane driving force, which can be produced by permeate pressure, is a significant element in the design of VOC/nitrogen separation processes. Studies on the impart of the pressure on the membrane performance and the separation mechanism can provide important information for the design of new membranes and separation processes. In this work, the effect of permeate pressure on membrane performance was studied for the separation of a cyclohexane/nitrogen mixture using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polyamide (PA) composite membrane. The changing trends of the separation performance for the separation of VOCs with different saturated vapor pressures under different permeate pressures were analyzed. The variation in the transmembrane driving force for cyclohexane and nitrogen with different parameters, such as membrane thickness, were also investigated under various permeate pressures. The reason for the decrease in selectivity with increasing permeate pressure was discussed. It was demonstrated that permeate pressure affects the membrane performance mainly by weakening the cyclohexane flux, while having little influence on the nitrogen flux in the studied range due to their different saturated vapor pressures. Lastly, the energy consumption for the VOC/nitrogen separation, which provides fundamental insight for industrial membrane-based VOC recovery, was simulated keeping in consideration all the obtained experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Gliadin-shielded AgNPs nanoparticles (Gliadin@AgNPs) were developed successfully. • Gliadin@AgNPs have potent, last-term, and broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. • Gliadin@AgNPs could eliminate 6.7-log MRSA at ultralow Ag content (0.125 ppm). • Gliadin@AgNPs were used to design antimicrobial protein porous materials for the first time. • Antimicrobial protein porous materials promoted HaCaT cell adhesion and proliferation. The accelerated rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains presents a significant challenge to both global health and the economy. Although silver-based materials have already been successfully developed in dealing with the infections of drug-resistant bacteria, there has been much controversy over the applications of them because the waste silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are potentially harmful to humanity and the environment. To address this issue, gliadin@AgNPs hybrid nanoparticles with ultralow minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were designed via growing AgNPs on amphiphilic gliadin molecule, followed by co-assembly-induced nanoencapsulation of AgNPs. The highly monodispersed gliadin nanoparticles (∼120 nm) infused with ultrasmall AgNPs (2–3 nm) were synthesized successfully. This strategy protected AgNPs from aggregation and fast oxidation, exerted programmed release profiles. In vitro antibacterial experiments demonstrate the hybrids could kill a broad-spectrum bacteria at an ultralow Ag equivalent, with MBCs of 0.0312 and 0.125 μg/mL for E. coli and MRSA, respectively. More importantly, its MBC against E. coli below the safety threshold established by the WHO for drinking water (0.1 ppm). Using the hybrid nanostructure as building blocks, we fabricated unprecedented protein-based antimicrobial porous materials for the first time through Pickering HIPEs templates, which was characterized by the formation of gliadin@AgNPs-decorated nanostructures on the pore wall of porous materials. They have a complex interlaced tubular porous structure with over 96 % porosity, presenting programmed release behavior of Ag+, and were able to inhibit the growth of tested bacteria at concentrations that did not affect the viability of HaCaT human cells, confirming that hierarchical nanomaterials possess valid antibacterial activity within the cellular viability concentration range. Particularly, the antimicrobial protein porous material promoted HaCaT cell adhesion and proliferation within its hierarchical nanostructure. This work provides new insights into the rational design of advanced gliadin@AgNPs as a potent antibacterial nanoplatform with a much smaller environmental impact and health concerns and a building block for constructing protein-based porous materials with outstanding antimicrobial performance and biocompatibility for emerging applications in catalysis, tissue engineering, and environmental engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of sodium intake without affecting saltiness perception is still a huge challenge. The acid method (pH 2.0, 85 °C, 90min) and subcritical water treatment (SW, pH 6.3–2.0, 120 °C, 30min) were used to prepare saltiness-enhanced polysaccharides from soy hull. Structural and physicochemical properties of soy hull polysaccharides (SHP) and their relationship to the salivary diffusion and mucosal retention of Na+ were analyzed. Compared to acid-extracted SHP (ASHP), SW-extracted SHP (SW6.3, SW5.0, and SW4.0) exhibited a higher saltiness-enhanced effect, accompanied by an accelerated diffusion of Na+ in the saliva and enhanced adhesive retention of Na+ on the porcine tongue. These phenomena may be attributed to different fractions extracted by two methods. ASHP mainly consists of pectic polysaccharides with a higher galacturonic acid content, while RG-I enriched pectic and hemicellulosic polysaccharides were speculated for SW6.3, SW5.0 and SW4.0, which exhibited highly branched conformation with higher M w and lower charge. The SHP-induced disruption of the salivary mucin network probably accelerates the Na+ permeation and the adhesion of Na+ on the porcine tongue. SW3.0 and SW2.0 showed lower apparent viscosity and M w due to excessive degradation of the backbone and side chain, weakening the diffusion and adhesion of Na+, and salt taste. These results would be useful to reveal the regulatory mechanism of polysaccharides on saltiness perception, which provided a technology to prepare a saltiness-enhanced ingredient from a by-product of soybean processing for low-sodium foods. [Display omitted] • The salivary penetration and mucosal retention of Na + strongly affect salty taste. • The saltiness-enhanced effect of SW-extracted SHP was higher than that of ASHP. • SW-extracted SHP exhibit higher salivary penetration and retention of Na+. • SW extracted high-branched RG-I enriched SHP with higher M w and lower charge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levetiracetam is an antiepileptic drug that is primarily approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of focal and generalized seizures. This study describes the development and validation of a highly selective and sensitive liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry method with triple‐stage fragmentation to determine levetiracetam in epileptic patient serum. After simple protein precipitation, the analytes were separated on a short reversed‐phase column (Agilent Poroshell 120 SB‐C18 column, 4.6 × 50 mm, 2.7 μm) using isocratic elution with 25% 0.1% formic acid in water (solvent A) and 75% methanol (solvent B) at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min. The linear range is 0.5–50 μg/mL (R2 > 0.99). All the validation data, such as lower limit of quantification, linearity, specificity, recoveries, matrix effects, and other parameters, fit the request of biological method validation guidance. Passing–Bablok regression coefficients demonstrated that there is no constant bias and no proportional bias between the liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry methods with triple‐stage fragmentation and liquid multiple reaction monitoring. Bland–Altman plot showed that the developed liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry method with triple‐stage fragmentation method is reliable and accurate to determine levetiracetam in human serum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel online method based on the symmetry property of the sum of projections (SOP) is proposed to obtain the geometric parameters in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). This method requires no calibration phantom and can be used in circular trajectory CBCT with arbitrary cone angles. An objective function is deduced to illustrate the dependence of the symmetry of SOP on geometric parameters, which will converge to its minimum when the geometric parameters achieve their true values. Thus, by minimizing the objective function, we can obtain the geometric parameters for image reconstruction. To validate this method, numerical phantom studies with different noise levels are simulated. The results show that our method is insensitive to the noise and can determine the skew (in-plane rotation angle of the detector), the roll (rotation angle around the projection of the rotation axis on the detector), and the rotation axis with high accuracy, while the mid-plane and source-to-detector distance will be obtained with slightly lower accuracy. However, our simulation studies validate that the errors of the latter two parameters brought by our method will hardly degrade the quality of reconstructed images. The small animal studies show that our method is able to deal with arbitrary imaging objects. In addition, the results of the reconstructed images in different slices demonstrate that we have achieved comparable image quality in the reconstructions as some offline methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Hydrothermal cooking (HTC) combined with amylase pretreatment (AP) was used to improve protein extraction from heat-stabilized rice bran. The physicochemical and emulsifying properties of rice bran protein isolate (RPI) were evaluated. Depending on HTC temperature (120 and 150°C), HTC alone significantly increased extraction yield, while protein purity was decreased. In contrast, HTC combined with AP significantly improved both extraction yield and protein purity (about 45–50% and 72–74%, respectively). The AP avoided the co-precipitation of gelatinized starch during the acidic precipitation. Electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography profiles indicated that HTC led to the dissociation of insoluble protein aggregates in rice bran, with subsequent increase of soluble aggregates in RPI, linked by non-covalent (e.g., hydrophobic interaction) and covalent bonds (disulfide bond). This result was evidenced by the increased disulfide bond contents and surface hydrophobicity of RPI. In addition, HTC-prepared RPI exhibited excellent emulsifying property. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The naturally occurring saponins exhibit remarkable interfacial activity and also possess many biological activities linking to human health benefits, which make them particularly attractive as bifunctional building blocks for formulation of colloidal multiphase food systems. This review focuses on two commonly used food-grade saponins, Quillaja saponins (QS) and glycyrrhizic acid (GA), with the aim of clarifying the relationship between the structural features of saponin molecules and their subsequent self-assembly and interfacial properties. The recent applications of these two saponins in various colloidal multiphase systems, including liquid emulsions, gel emulsions, aqueous foams and complex emulsion foams, are then discussed. A particular emphasis is on the unique use of GA and GA nanofibrils as sole stabilizers for fabricating various multiphase food systems with many advanced qualities including simplicity, ultrastability, stimulability, structural viscoelasticity and processability. These natural saponin and saponin-based colloids are expected to be used as sustainable, plant-based ingredients for designing future foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-in-water emulsions were formed by mixing aqueous solutions of the neutral polysaccharides guar and amylopectin. The effect of adding gelatin B on emulsions, both of a dispersed guar rich phase in a continuous amylopectin phase and the inverse, were investigated using confocal scanning laser microscopy as a function of the gelatin concentration between 0.25 and 1.5 wt% and the pH between pH 4 and pH 6. Gelatin was found to phase separate upon cooling below about 25 °C in a narrow pH range around pH 5 both in the pure guar phase and in the pure amylopectin phase forming distinct spherical domains. The phase diagram was established as a function of the gelatin concentration and the pH. In the emulsions, the gelatin phase separated first at the interface between the two phases forming a continuous layer at the droplet surface. In some conditions the layer persisted, but in others it broke up into distinct domains. Excess gelatin phase separated in the bulk amylopectin phase, particularly when it was the continuous phase. The gelatin redispersed into the bulk phases when the emulsions were heated to 30 °C. [Display omitted] • Gelatin phase separates during cooling in guar and amylopectin solutions. • Phase separation depends on the pH and is favored by aggregation of gelatin. • W/W/W emulsions can be formed in-situ using guar/amylopectin/gelatin. • Gelatin forms distinct domains or a continuous layer around dispersed droplets. • The formation of the gelatin layer on cooling is reversed by heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]