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BACKGROUND: Heterocyclic amines (HAs) and N‐nitrosamines (NAs) are formed easily during the thermal processing of food, and epidemiological studies have demonstrated that consuming HAs and NAs increases the risk of cancer. However, there are few studies on the application of back propagation artificial neural network (BP‐ANN) models to simultaneously predict the content of HAs and NAs in sausages. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cooking time and temperature, smoking time and temperature, and fat‐to‐lean ratio on the formation of HAs and NAs in smoked sausages, and to predict their total content based on the BP‐ANN model. RESULTS: With an increase in processing time, processing temperature and fat ratio, the content of HAs and NAs in smoked sausages increased significantly, while the content of HA precursors and nitrite residues decreased significantly. The optimal network topology of the BP‐ANN model was 5–11–2, the correlation coefficient values for training, validation, testing and all datasets were 0.99228, 0.99785, 0.99520 and 0.99369, respectively, and the mean squared error value of the best validation performance was 0.11326. The bias factor and the accuracy factor were within acceptable limits, and the predicted values approximated the true values, indicating that the model has good predictive performance. CONCLUSION: The contents of HAs and NAs in smoked sausages were significantly influenced by the cooking conditions, smoking conditions and fat ratio. The BP‐ANN model has high application value in predicting the contents of HAs and NAs in sausages, which provides a theoretical basis for the suppression of carcinogen formation. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND RESULTS CONCLUSION Complex phosphates (CP) can improve the physicochemical properties and gelation properties of myofibrillar fibrous protein (MP) in mixed meat products, but an excessive intake of phosphates over a long period of time is harmful to health. The present study investigated the effects of partial or complete substitution of CP with sodium bicarbonate (SB) on the physicochemical properties and gel properties of beef‐pork‐chicken mixed myofibrillar protein (BPC‐MP), aiming to evaluate the feasibility of this method in reducing the amount of phosphate in mixed meat products.Under the optimal substitution conditions, the turbidity of BPC‐MP was reduced by 37.8%, the net negative potential was increased by 28.9% and the modulus of elasticity (G') was increased. The tertiary structure indexes of protein (including fluorescence intensity, surface hydrophobicity and active thiol content) were significantly changed, whereas the α‐helix and β‐turn angle contents in the secondary structure of protein were significantly increased. In addition, the water retention ability and strength of gel were also improved, which were increased by 20.7% and 42.6%, respectively. The results of scanning electron microscopy showed that the SB substitution group had a more compact and ordered microstructure.The results showed that partial substitution of CP with SB reduced the amount of phosphate added to BPC‐MP and had a positive effect on the physicochemical and gel properties of BPC‐MP. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuum freeze drying (VFD) has been widely used for drying berries, by combining with pretreatment technology, energy consumption and cost can be effectively reduced as well as product quality improved. However, the effect of cold plasma pretreatment (CPP) on the drying efficiency and quality characteristics of VFD haskap has not been investigated. In this study, an innovative drying technology, cold plasma pretreatment–assisted vacuum freeze drying, was applied to process haskap. The purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of different times of CPP (0–75 s) on VFD haskap performance. The results indicated that the application of CPP enhanced the effective diffusion rate and drying rate (27.68%) owing to pretreatment etching larger and more cracks in the microstructure, increasing cell membrane permeability (15.59%), and altering cell wall pectin composition. Midilli is the most recommended model for drying kinetics. CPP contributed to increased hydrophilicity (25.33%) and degraded enzymatic activity, thereby prompting the enhancement of polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity. Besides, the physico-chemical properties were ameliorated, the possible mechanism for the enhanced drying rate and quality properties of VFD haskap by CPP was explained by chemometrics. Overall, CPP is a promising pretreatment technology for haskap VFD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Haskap berries (Lonicera caerulea L.) are rich in anthocyanins. Cold plasma‐assisted enzyme method (CPEM) is an innovative method for green extraction of anthocyanins, which was optimized by an artificial neural network‐genetic algorithm (ANN‐GA) to maximize the yield. In this study, seven factors were screened using by Plackett–Burman design based on single‐factor experiments and optimized by ANN‐GA. RESULTS: The results showed that the maximum total anthocyanin content (TAC, 42.45 ± 0.25 g cyanidin‐3‐glucoside equivalent (C3G) kg−1 dry weight, DW) was obtained under optimal pretreatment power of 192 W, pretreatment time of 29 s and liquid‐to‐solid ratio of 39 mL g−1. Cleavage and porosity appeared on the surface of the treated sample. The active ingredients and antioxidant capacity of the CPEM extracts were identified by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS). Compared with other extraction technologies, CPEM presents the advantages of shortening the extraction time, reducing the solvent volume, and significantly increasing active ingredients and antioxidant activity. CONCLUSION: The ANN‐GA has better predictive and higher accuracy than the response surface methodology (RSM) model and is more suitable for optimizing the CPEM by greatly improving the process yield and the utilization of biomass, thus contributing to the sustainability of the agri‐food chain. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 continues to impact our lives and has led to unprecedented damage to global health and the economy. This highlights the need for an efficient approach to rapidly develop therapeutics and prophylactics against SARS-CoV-2. We modified a single-domain antibody, SARS-CoV-2 VHH, to the surface of the liposomes. These immunoliposomes demonstrated a good neutralizing ability, but could also carry therapeutic compounds. Furthermore, we used the 2019-nCoV RBD-SD1 protein as an antigen with Lip/cGAMP as the adjuvant to immunize mice. Lip/cGAMP enhanced the immunity well. It was demonstrated that the combination of RBD-SD1 and Lip/cGAMP was an effective preventive vaccine. This work presented potent therapeutic anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs and an effective vaccine to prevent the spread of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrible morbidity and mortality of malignant tumors urgently require innovative therapeutics, especially for apoptosis‐resistant tumors. Pyroptosis, a pro‐inflammatory form of programmed cell death (PCD), is featured with pore formation in plasma membrane, cell swelling with giant bubbles, and leakage of cytoplasmic pro‐inflammatory cytokines, which can remodel the tumor immune microenvironment by stimulating a "cold" tumor microenvironment to be an immunogenic "hot" tumor microenvironment, and consequently augment the therapeutic efficiency of malignant tumors. Benefiting from current advances in nanotechnology, nanomedicine is extensively applied to potentiate, enable, and augment pyroptosis for enhancing cancer‐therapeutic efficacy and specificity. This review provides a concentrated summary and discussion of the most recent progress achieved in this emerging field, highlighting the nanomedicine‐enabled/augmented specific pyroptosis strategy for favoring the construction of next‐generation nanomedicines to efficiently induce PCD. It is highly expected that the further clinical translation of nanomedicine can be accelerated by inducing pyroptotic cell death based on bioactive nanomedicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrically adjustable multibeam lens antenna with high gain and directivity is proposed for imaging applications. The proposed antenna adopts two methods to narrow beamwidth and enhance gain. The 9‐element planar Yagi antenna array is used as the feed source. Compared with single antenna, the proposed antenna array has narrower beamwidth in H‐plane, and the beam scanning can be realized in the H‐plane through electrical adjustment. In addition, five‐layers planar lens is designed to enhance radiation gain and directivity in the E‐plane. The multibeam lens antenna can achieve a beam scanning range of ±31° with a gain tolerance of 3 dB and the maximum gain of 21.2 dBi with 2.8 ~ 3.2 GHz. The proposed antenna features the merits of higher gain, lower cost, small size, which is suitable for radar and microwave imaging field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct wave between the transceiver antenna negatively affects the dynamic range and imaging quality of ground penetrating radar (GPR). Suppressing this direct wave is a vital problem in enhancing the performance of the whole GPR system. In this paper, a Minkowski-fractal metamaterial absorber (MMA) with the resistive film is proposed in the GPR transceiver antenna to reduce the mutual coupling. The simulated and measured results indicate that this MMA has an effective wideband absorption in 1.0-8.0 GHz. And the thickness of MMA is only 0.007 λ 0 (with respect to 2.0 GHz). This wideband MMA can reduce the mutual coupling of the proposed GPR transceiver antenna by an average of 10 dB. And it also mitigates the time-domain ringing problem of the transmit antenna. Real-world experiments demonstrate that the direct wave from the transmitting antenna can be reduced and the target echo arriving at the receiving antenna can be increased if this MMA is placed in the proposed transceiver antenna. This resistive film-based MMA offers great promise in realizing low-cost, compact, and lightweight GPR antennas, which can also be extended to high-frequency microwave imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Spices and phenols reduced the heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in roasted beef. • The HOMO/LUMO and ESP were analyzed by density functional theory (DFT). • Intermediates of HAAs exhibited intermolecular interactions with phenols. • The imino and hydroxyl group of capsaicin captured HAAs-related free radicals. • This study provided a reference for the development of DFT in the control of HAAs. The ability of spices (bay leaf, star anise, and red pepper) and their characteristic phenolic compounds (quercetin, kaempferol, and capsaicin) to inhibit Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in roasted beef patties were compared. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to reveal phenolic compounds interacting with HAAs-related intermediates and free radicals to explore possible inhibitory mechanisms for HAAs. 3 % red chili and 0.03 % capsaicin reduced the total HAAs content by 57.09 % and 68.79 %, respectively. DFT demonstrated that this was due to the stronger interaction between capsaicin and the β-carboline HAAs intermediate (E bind = –32.95 kcal/mol). The interaction between quercetin and phenylacetaldehyde was found to be the strongest (E bind = −17.47 kcal/mol). Additionally, DFT indicated that capsaicin reduced the carbonyl content by transferring hydrogen atoms (HAT) to eliminate HO·, HOO·, and carbon-centered alkyl radicals. This study provided a reference for the development of DFT in the control of HAAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) is a heme-containing metalloprotein in NO-sGC-cGMP signaling. In this work, fluorescent proteins were employed to study the NO-induced sGC molecular mechanism via mutagenesis at the catalytic domain. The conformational change of sGC by mutant α 1 C595 was investigated in living cells through fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). The results indicated that the NO-induced conformational change of the catalytic domain of sGC from "open to "closed" upon GTP-binding was regulated by the hydrogen (H)-bonding network of the catalytic domain. The mutation of C595 caused a big conformational change of catalytic domain with H-bond variation, which not only demonstrates the key role of the C595 site in the process of conformational change of the catalytic domain, but also reveals the regulatory mechanism of sGC at the catalytic domain. This finding would guide the design of small-molecule drugs targeting the catalytic domain to modulate sGC activity. • Mutagenesis of sGC at catalytic domain investigated in living cells through FLIM. • sGC conformational change regulated by H-bonding network of the catalytic domain. • The key site mutation at C595 revealed the regulatory mechanism of sGC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synchronous genetic regulatory networks model includes the drive system and response system, and the drive-response system is symmetric. From a biological point of view, this model illustrates the dynamic behaviors in gene-to-protein processes, in terms of transcription and translation. This paper introduces a model of genetic regulatory networks with time delay. The fixed-time synchronization control problem of the proposed model is studied based on fixed-time stability theory and the Lyapunov method. Concretely, the authors first propose a way to switch from the given model to matrix form. Then, two types of novel controllers are designed and the corresponding sufficient conditions are investigated respectively to ensure the fixed-time synchronization goal. Moreover, the settling times of fixed-time synchronization are estimated for the addressed discontinuous controllers, which are not dependent on the initial or delayed states of the model. Finally, numerical simulations are presented and compared to illustrate the benefits of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We characterize the meaning of words with language-independent numerical fingerprints, through a mathematical analysis of recurring patterns in texts. Approximating texts by Markov processes on a long-range time scale, we are able to extract topics, discover synonyms, and sketch semantic fields from a particular document of moderate length, without consulting external knowledge-base or thesaurus. Our Markov semantic model allows us to represent each topical concept by a low-dimensional vector, interpretable as algebraic invariants in succinct statistical operations on the document, targeting local environments of individual words. These language-independent semantic representations enable a robot reader to both understand short texts in a given language (automated question-answering) and match medium-length texts across different languages (automated word translation). Our semantic fingerprints quantify local meaning of words in 14 representative languages across five major language families, suggesting a universal and cost-effective mechanism by which human languages are processed at the semantic level. Our protocols and source codes are publicly available on https://github.com/yajun-zhou/linguae-naturalis-principia-mathematica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different plant extracts (lotus leaf, chrysanthemum, and lemon) on the quality, lipid oxidation, fatty acid composition, and volatile compounds in the fat layer of spiced pork trotters were studied. The obtained results showed that the lotus leaf presented the highest antioxidant activities of all different plant extracts. Changes in the pH, color, and sensory analysis showed that plant extracts had a positive effect on the quality of spiced pork trotters (p <.05). During the processing and storage of spiced pork trotters, the content of unsaturated fatty acids and the types of volatile compounds both presented an obvious increase (p <.05). Inversely, the pH value and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of pork trotters all showed a significant decreasing trend (p <.05). This study provided a theoretical basis for natural antioxidants to inhibit the oxidation of fatty meat products. Novelty impact statement: The plant extracts can effectively inhibit the lipid oxidation of trotters. The addition of plant extracts increased the variety of volatile flavor substances in trotters. The addition of plant extracts increased the content of unsaturated fatty acids in trotters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Mey) has become widely recognized as a medicinal and food plant. Nevertheless, there has been minimal research on the impact of ginseng extract (GE) on the development of hazardous chemicals during meat preparation. In the present study, red GE (RGE) and white GE (WGE) were prepared and their active components were identified. The effects of RGE and WGE on heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs), precursors and physicochemical properties in roasted chicken were investigated, as well as the interaction among them. In chicken meat, 1% RGE effectively inhibited IQ and PhIP production by 100%, and 1% WGE inhibited harman and norharman by 0.73% and 24.83%, respectively. In chicken skin, 0.5% RGE effectively inhibited PhIP production by 94.52%, and 1% RGE inhibited IQ, harman and norharman by 78.43%, 68.15% and 83.15%, respectively. Therefore, GE can inhibit HAAs in roasted chicken. This could be because GE contains active compounds that scavenge intermediates/free radicals in the synthesis of HAAs or increase the creatine and glucose levels. PCA revealed that GE suppressed HAAs better in roasted chicken. Therefore, GE could be used in the roasted chicken manufacturing process to reduce HAA output while increasing its nutritional characteristics. • A novel route was developed to inhibit HAAs in roasted chicken by adding ginseng extract. • Ginseng extract may improve the nutritional characteristics of roasted chicken. • Variation of precursors revealed the involved HAA inhibition mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of climate change and human activities, the problem of grassland degradation is becoming increasingly severe. Detection of changes in vegetation cover is crucial for a better understanding of the interaction between humans and ecosystems. This study maps changes in vegetation cover using the Google Earth Engine (GEE). We used 36 years of Landsat satellite imagery (1985–2020) in the Xilin River Basin, China, to classify grassland conditions and validated the results with field observation data. The overall classification of the model accuracy assessment was 83.3%. The Dynamic Reference Vegetation Cover Method (DRCM) was adopted to remove the effect of interannual variation of rainfall, allowing to focus on the impact of human activities on vegetation cover changes. The results identify five categories of vegetation cover changes: significantly increased , potentially increased , stable , potentially decreased , and significantly decreased. The reference level is derived from the most persistent land surface coverage across different grassland types and all years. Overall, 9.3% of the study area had a significant increase in vegetation cover, 14.2% a potential increase , 48.6% of the area showed a stable vegetation condition, 9.8% showed a potential decrease , and 18.1% a significant decrease in vegetation cover. The largest proportion of combined potential and significant reduction was 35.2% for desert grassland, where the vegetation faced the most severe reduction. This study will provide a basis for identifying grassland degradation and developing scientific management policies. • Dynamic Reference Vegetation Cover Method (DRCM) is applied for monitoring grasslands. • The impact of interannual changes in rainfall was eliminated. • The model simulation accuracy after improving the reference pixels is 83.3%. • 18.1% of grasslands show a significant decrease in vegetation cover. • The maximum reduction of vegetation cover of 35.2% is in desert grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a selected starter culture of Staphylococcus xylosus, Pediococcus acidilactici, and Debaryomyces hansenii was used to produce fermented beef jerky. The influence of inoculating compound starter on the basic nutrition composition, physical and chemical properties, and texture characteristics of jerkies were investigated. The study results demonstrated that the addition of compound starter quickly reduced the beef pH (from 6.46 to 4.42) and increased the total free amino acids and free fatty acids contents. The nitrite residues and histamine content in the fermentation group were significantly lower than that in the control group. The gel electrophoresis pattern showed that part of the macromolecular protein in inoculated samples was gradually degraded into small molecule protein, and some bands disappeared. It can be seen that inoculation of starter can improve the quality, safety, and texture characteristics of fermented beef jerky. Practical applications: Microbial fermentation is a unique and long‐standing way of meat processing and preservation. This study found that the inoculation of compound starters can increase the nutritional value and improve texture, flavor, safety of beef jerky. These results suggest that Staphylococcus xylosus, Pediococcus acidilactici, and Debaryomyces hansenii could be considered as mixed bacterial starters in fermented beef jerky to improve product quality and safety, which provides a theoretical basis for the strain screening and processing of fermented beef products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taurine is an amino acid, and product rich in taurine is widely used in the field of functional foods and medicines. There are many wild mussel resources which is inexpensive in the Songhua River Basin of Jilin Province. The wild mussel contains abundant taurine, but its processing utilization rate is low. In this paper, taurine was extracted by using a pulsed electric field (PEF) assisted enzymatic from mussel meat, and the single‐factor test and response surface methodology were used to optimize the extraction process by using a central composite design (CCD). When a PEF assisted enzymatic was applied to the mussel meat, the cells ruptured, and substances such as taurine flowed out. A three‐dimensional graphical surface and a two‐dimensional contour map were constructed based on the RSM test results, which could intuitively reflect the influence of various factors and their interaction on the extraction of taurine. We could see that the results were consistent with the initial single‐factor experiment. The optimal extraction conditions were the electric field strength of 25 kV/cm, the number of pulses of 10, and the enzymolysis time of 2.95 hr. The maximum taurine yield was achieved of 13.77 mg/g. Compared with enzymatic method; the taurine yield was significantly increased by 28.21% with the PEF‐assisted enzymatic extraction process. Taurine could be effectively separated and purified by cation exchange and crystallization and recrystallization. Novelty impact statement: PEF‐assisted enzymatic method was used to extract taurine from mussel meat, and the taurine yield was 13.77 mg/g under the best conditions. The single‐factor test and response surface methodology were used to optimize the extraction process by using a central composite design. Taurine could be effectively separated and purified by cation exchange chromatography and crystallization and recrystallization to obtain better purity and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of rosemary and ginger on the storage quality of western‐style sausage were investigated. Both the additives, the rosemary had the higher total phenol content (31.36 mg GAE/g DW) and the better scavenging capacity (88.12%). Rosemary and ginger increased the a* values of sausage significantly (p <.05). They all decreased the pH values, TBARS values, and volatile basic nitrogen values of sausage significantly (p <.05). With the extension of time, the inhibition effect was more significant (p <.05), which ensured the quality of the sausage. Rosemary increased the hardness, springiness, and chewiness of sausage (p <.05). Ginger reduced the hardness and chewiness (p <.05), but it increased the springiness of sausage (p <.05). Rosemary and ginger could inhibit the growth and reproduction of spoilage microorganisms and extend the shelf life of the products. Shelf life is extended by 4 days when ginger was added, while it was prolonged by 5 days when rosemary was added. Above them, the additives had good antioxidant ability and could improve the quality of the western‐style smoked sausage. Compared with ginger, rosemary had the better effect. Practical applications: Rosemary and ginger have attracted a lot of attention because of their great antioxidant and antibacterial properties. This paper studies the effects of rosemary and ginger on the storage quality of the western‐style smoked sausage. It has shown that rosemary and ginger can improve texture characteristics of the products and keep the color of the product to some extent. Furthermore, they have high total phenol content and good ability to scavenge DPPH and ABTS free radicals. So they can inhibit the growth and reproduction of spoilage microorganisms and extend the shelf life of the products. Shelf life is extended by 4 days when ginger was added, while it was prolonged by 5 days when rosemary was added, which can provide references for the theoretical research on the combination of natural preservatives and air‐conditioned packaging. However, the effect of the combination of rosemary and ginger needs further study. Moreover, the two additives all have a unique taste, which can influence the taste of the products. This problem needs to be solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of different paprikas on the sensory properties and the physicochemical properties of spiced beef were studied. Headspace solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry were used to identify the flavor substances in the samples. The results showed that the protein and fat content of the samples with paprika were higher compared to the blank group, which were 24.10–25.60 g/100 g and 3.40–3.70 g/100g, respectively. The scores of flavor and color in the blank group were 6.50 and 6.56, respectively, which were lower than the paprikas treatment group. Among the five paprika treatment groups, the color and taste scores of the samples treated with qixing paprika were higher, which were 8.00 and 8.07, respectively. A total of 145 volatile flavor substances were detected, compared with the control group, there were more volatile flavor substances in the paprika additive groups, indicated that paprika additive could enrich the flavor of spiced beef. Practical applications: Paprika not only has a unique flavor, but also has good antioxidant properties. Spiced beef is popular among consumers. However, the surface color of the product is easy to change due to oxidation, which affects the color of the product, resulting in a decline in product sales and economic losses to the enterprise. In addition, the protein and fat of the product will be lost due to oxidation during processing. Therefore, the effects of different paprika on the color, nutritional value, and volatile flavors of spiced beef were studied. The purpose was to slow down the oxidation of products, improve the color of products, retain the nutritional value, and reduce the loss of enterprises by adding different capsicum. In addition, the volatile flavor of products will directly affect the sensory evaluation of consumers, so it is very important to understand the influence of pepper on volatile flavor compounds and consumption preference for volatile components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ultrasound and carrageenan jointly improves the myofibrillar protein gel properties. • Ultrasound combined with carrageenan leads to heated rearrangement aggregation. • Carrageenan acts on protein by crosslinking and insertion. • Carrageenan competes with proteins for binding to water molecules in heating. To improve the limitation of transglutaminase on the quality of myofibrillar protein (MP) gel, this study investigated the synergistic effect of ultrasonic pretreatment in combination with carrageenan on the gel properties of transglutaminase-mediated MP gels. The synergistic effect generated gel with lower surface hydrophobicity and fluorescence intensity. Combined with the secondary structure results, it can be hypothesized that the synergistic effect caused the rearrangement of the proteins and the formation of aggregates wrapping hydrophobic groups, which changed the structure and phase behavior of the proteins. The synergistic effect also improved the formation of dense and interpenetrating gel networks, which reduced cooking loss and produced composite MP gels with optimal gel strength. Moreover, FTIR spectroscopy revealed the presence of electrostatic interactions in the hybrid gel system. This study provides a theoretical basis and experimental foundation for the effective use of high-tech composite functional components to improve the quality of gel products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A challenging task for an electroencephalography (EEG)-based asynchronous brain-computer interface (BCI) is to effectively distinguish between the idle state and the control state while maintaining a short response time and a high accuracy when commands are issued in the control state. This study proposes a novel hybrid asynchronous BCI system based on a combination of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) in the EEG signal and blink-related electrooculography (EOG) signals. Methods: Twelve buttons corresponding to 12 characters are included in the graphical user interface (GUI). These buttons flicker at different fixed frequencies and phases to evoke SSVEPs and are simultaneously highlighted by changing their sizes. The user can select a character by focusing on its frequency-phase stimulus and simultaneously blinking his/her eyes in accordance with its highlighting as his/her EEG and EOG signals are recorded. A multifrequency band-based canonical correlation analysis (CCA) method is applied to the EEG data to detect the evoked SSVEPs, whereas the EOG data are analyzed to identify the user's blinks. Finally, the target character is identified based on the SSVEP and blink detection results. Results: Ten healthy subjects participated in our experiments and achieved an average information transfer rate (ITR) of 105.52 bits/min, an average accuracy of 95.42%, an average response time of 1.34 s and an average false-positive rate (FPR) of 0.8%. Conclusion: The proposed BCI generates multiple commands with a high ITR and low FPR. Significance: The hybrid asynchronous BCI has great potential for practical applications in communication and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of rosemary extract, grape seed extract (GSE) and green tea polyphenol (GTP) on the physicochemical properties and N‐nitrosamines content of western‐style smoked sausage were investigated. Among the additives, GTP had the highest total phenol content (109.82 mg GAE/g DW) and the best scavenging capacity on ABTS (IC50 = 0.16 g/ml). Rosemary extract and GTP reduced the hardness of sausage (p <.05). Rosemary extract, GSE and GTP reduced the gumminess and chewiness of sausage (p <.05), but had little effects on the cohesiveness and springiness (p >.05). Rosemary extract increased the a* and b* values of sausage significantly (p <.05), GSE and GTP had little effects on color (p >.05). The additives all decreased the pH values, TBARs values of sausage (p <.05) and increased the moisture content in sausage (p <.05). The additives can significantly reduce the residual nitrite and N‐nitrosamines content of western‐style smoked sausage. GTP showed the best effect on TBARs (48.29%), residual nitrite (68.87%) and N‐nitrosamines (61.29%). Above all, the additives had good antioxidant ability and could inhibit the formation of N‐nitrosamines. Compared with other additives, GTP had the best effect. Practical applications: Rosemary extract, GSE and GTP have attracted much attention due to their great antibacterial and antioxidant properties. This paper studies the effects of rosemary extract, GSE and GTP on the quality and N‐nitrosamines concent of western‐style smoked sausage. It has shown that rosemary extract and GTP can increase the moisture content of the products and improve their hardness. Rosemary extract and GSE can improve the color of the product to some extent. Because the three additives have good antioxidant properties, they can be used to extend the shelf life of products. Moreover, the three additives can reduce residual nitrite and inhibit N‐nitrosamine formation, which can provide certain theoretical basis for the development of low nitrate products and cancer prevention. However, the inhibition mechanism of the three additives on N‐nitrosamine formation needs further study. In addition, the three additives all have specific flavor, which can affect the flavor of the products. This problem also needs to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let $p_{n}(x)=\int _{0}^{\infty }J_{0}(xt)[J_{0}(t)]^{n}xt\,dt$ be Kluyver's probability density for $n$ -step uniform random walks in the Euclidean plane. Through connection to a similar problem in two-dimensional quantum field theory, we evaluate the third-order derivative $p_{5}^{\prime \prime \prime }(0^{+})$ in closed form, thereby giving a new proof for a conjecture of J. M. Borwein. By further analogies to Feynman diagrams in quantum field theory, we demonstrate that $p_{n}(x),0\leq x\leq 1$ admits a uniformly convergent Maclaurin expansion for all odd integers $n\geq 5$ , thus settling another conjecture of Borwein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A simple and direct low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis approach (100 °C) has been developed to encapsulate Pd nanoparticles (ca. 2.3 nm) within nano-sized mesoporous TS-1 zeolite by utilizing dichloro(ethylenediamine)palladium (DEAP) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as palladium source and mesoporogen, respectively. It's demonstrated that the aging process of the mother liquid and low-temperature hydrothermal treatment can effectively inhibit the premature precipitation of metal precursor and thus the successful encapsulation of Pd nanoparticles into mesoporous TS-1 nanocrystals, so that the frequently occurring of Pd nanoparticle aggregation at high temperature was expectedly avoided. Consequently, the as-synthesized catalysts with highly thermal stability and mesoporous channels exhibit excellent catalytic activity and recyclability in the oxidation of CO with relatively low Pd content (0.53 wt% Pd) and catalytic wet air oxidation of phenol (66.2% of phenol conversion, 100 °C). Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • We report a direct synthesis of Pd encapsulated mesoporous TS-1 zeolite via low-temperature hydrothermal treatment. • The optimized synthesis condition (mesoporogen amount, temperature and time of hydrothermal treatment) are studied. • The small-sized Pd nanoparticles (2.3 nm) in mesoporous TS-1 show high stability at 600 °C under air/N 2 /H 2 atomsphere. • The hierarchical micro/mesoporous stucture endow the nano-sized TS-1 zeolite high mass transportation efficiency. • Excellent catalytic activities and recyclabilities of catalyst in the CO oxidation and wet air oxidation of phenol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of bismuth modified bismuth iodide flower-like microspheres with rich oxygen vacancies were prepared by solvothermal method. Herein, a mixed solution of propylene glycol and ethylene glycol was used as the solvent. By adjusting the ratio of these two solutions in the solvent, it is not only possible to prepare Bi 4 O 5 I 2 microspheres containing different concentrations of oxygen vacancies, but also to control the content of Bi. The Bi/ Bi 4 O 5 I 2 photocatalyst prepared when the ratio of propylene glycol to ethylene glycol was 5:1 in solvent showed excellent optical properties, and more than 99% of E. coli could be inactivated within 30 min under visible light irradiation. The antibacterial mechanism experiment showed that reactive oxygen species were the main substances affecting the antibacterial effect of Bi/ Bi 4 O 5 I 2 , and the scavenging experiment of reactive oxygen showed that •O 2 - was the key active substance in the antibacterial process. Finally, it was verified that reactive oxygen species can act on the interior and exterior of bacteria, indicating a more effective antibacterial pathway. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Herein, we report a one-step hydrothermal approach to synthesize hierarchical manganese-containing TS-1 zeolite (HMTS) with mesopores of 2–4 nm in diameter and uniform crystal size of 150–200 nm by employing manganese (III)-acetylacetonate and tetrabutyl titanate as manganese and titanium sources, respectively. It is demonstrated that Mn and Ti species in designed ratios have been successfully incorporated into the framework of HMTS zeolites during the hydrothermal treating processes. Moreover, the physicochemical and textural properties of HMTS can be easily tailored by simply altering the amounts of the template agents. The as-synthesized HMTS catalyst exhibits superior catalytic activity, excellent structural stability and recyclability on the selective oxidation of cyclohexanone to adipic acid under mild solvent-free conditions via a non-nitric acid route, which avoids the high energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gas (N 2 O). This work demonstrates a facile route to the direct synthesis of Mn-containing, hierarchical meso/microporous TS-1 with economized energy and time, presenting potential prospects in the field of aerobic oxidations of bulky organic compounds. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • One-step synthesis of Mn-containing hierarchical TS-1 (HMTS) zeolite with uniform crystal size of 150-200 nm. • Effective incorporation of titanium and manganese species into the framework of zeolite. • The HMTS possesses high BET surface and adjustable hierarchically meso- and microporous structures. • The HMTS exhibits superior catalytic capacity and recyclability in the oxidation of cyclohexanone to adipic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease prevalent in aged people, clinically characterized by progressive memory loss, behavioral and learning dysfunction, and cognitive deficits. The pathogenesis of AD is hallmarked by formation of amyloid-β peptide aggregates (Aβ) and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are induced by hyperphosphorylation of amyloid-β protein precursor and tau protein, respectively. The hyperphosphorylation is controlled by cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (CDK5), the aberrant activation of which is mediated by calpain (CAPN)-induced cleavage of p35 into p25. However, the regulation of CAPN in AD remains largely unknown. Here, we studied the post-transcriptional control of CAPN1 by microRNAs (miRNAs) in the setting of AD. We found that miR-124-3p, previously reported as a miRNA that was downregulated in AD, was a CAPN1-targeting miRNA that functionally inhibited the protein translation of CAPN1 in a human neural cell line, HCN-2. In vitro, transfection with miR-124-3p reduced the levels of CAPN1 protein, the cleavage of p35 into p25, and cell apoptosis dose-dependently in HCN-2 cells. Moreover, a significant inverse correlation was detected between the levels of miR-124-3p and CAPN1 in AD specimens. Furthermore, intracranial injection of adeno-associated virus expressing miR-124-3p into APP/PS1-AD mice significantly reduced Aβ deposition and significantly improved the AD-mouse behavior in the social recognition test and plus-maze discriminative avoidance task. Together, our data suggest that post-transcriptional control of calpain by miR-124-3p plays an essential role in the development of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand cavitation nucleation and crack initiation in 35CrMo steel during high-temperature tensile processing and the effect of stress triaxiality on its fracture behaviors, uniaxial and notch high-temperature tensile tests were performed. The microstructure, fracture morphology, fracture strain, and stress triaxiality of the tested 35CrMo steel were then characterized and discussed. The results showed that crack formation in 35CrMo steel included stages of nucleation, growth, and microcavity aggregation. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy demonstrated that crack formation was closely related to the presence of steel inclusions. High-temperature tensile testing of samples with different notch radii showed that the fracture strain of 35CrMo steel was decreased with increasing stress triaxiality, that is, increased stress levels corresponded to decreased material plasticity. In addition, the recrystallization degree was decreased with increased stress triaxiality, and the grain size growth was slowed. The failure of 35CrMo steel occurred via ductile fracture, and low stress triaxiality, and high temperature conditions induced large and deep dimples on the fracture surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate transfer demand prediction at bike stations is the key to develop balancing solutions to address the overutilization or underutilization problem often occurring in bike sharing system. At the same time, station transfer demand prediction is helpful to bike station layout and optimization of the number of public bikes within the station. Traditional traffic demand prediction methods, such as gravity model, cannot be easily adapted to the problem of forecasting bike station transfer demand due to the difficulty in defining impedance and distinct characteristics of bike stations (Xu et al. 2013). Therefore, this paper proposes a prediction method based on Markov chain model. The proposed model is evaluated based on field data collected from Zhongshan City bike sharing system. The daily production and attraction of stations are forecasted. The experimental results show that the model of this paper performs higher forecasting accuracy and better generalization ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report a novel one-pot approach to synthesize MoCx catalysts at much lowered temperature for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic solution. A room-temperature co-precipitation reaction among Ni2+, MoO42− and 2-methylimidazole in an aqueous solution produced a Mo−Ni−imidazole complex, which was used as the precursor to fabricate MoCx. The morphological and chemical properties of the obtained MoCx affected by calcination and other additive metal sources (like Fe, Co, Cu) were investigated in detail. We demonstrated that Ni−Mo alloying took place prior to MoCx formation during heating, which catalyzed the crystallization of MoCx at relatively low temperature. The MoCx/Ni-650 catalyst exhibited a quite low overpotential of 172 mV at 20 mA cm−2. The high performance originates from the synergistic effect between MoCx and Ni−Mo alloy, high ratio of Mo3+/Mo2+, as well as high electrochemically active surface area and low charge-transfer resistance. This work would open a new way to the design and fabrication of other transition-metal carbide catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, fermented solid beef inoculated with two starter cultures ( Lactobacillus curvatus and Pediococcus pentosaceus) in different inoculums concentration, fermentation time, and fermentation temperature was evaluated for change of protein composition (water-soluble proteins, insoluble protein, and salt-soluble proteins) and nonprotein nitrogen during fermentation and the relevance with textural properties was also investigated. The amount of water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins decreased while nonprotein and insoluble proteins increased as fermentation progressed. With the increase of inoculums concentration from 0.5% to 2.5%, the amount of water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins decreased from 23.8 to 19.6 mg/g and 51.2 to 33.5 mg/g, respectively, and the amount of nonprotein and insoluble proteins increased from 17.8 to 24.4 mg/g and 20.3 to 49.5 mg/g, respectively. During 0 to 32 hr of fermentation, the water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins decreased from 24.4 to16.0 mg/g and 54.0 to 22.0 mg/g, respectively, and the amount of nonprotein and insoluble proteins increased from 16.3 to 30.8 mg/g and 19.6 to 70.5 mg/g, respectively. With the fermentation temperature increased from 20°C to 40°C, the water-soluble decreased from 34.6 to 21.8 mg/g; the amount of salt-soluble proteins decreased from 60.0 to 21.2 mg/g; the nonprotein and insoluble proteins increased from 16.2 to 24.3 mg/g and 29.7 to 70.4 mg/g, respectively. From SDS-PAGE analysis of water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins, solid beef protein tended to degrade to smaller protein, peptide, and amino acid with protease and peptidases enzymes, and partially form large polymers. Hardness, elasticity, gumminess, and chewiness were significantly negatively correlated with water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins, and were significantly positively correlated with insoluble proteins. The optimum inoculum population, fermentation time, and fermentation temperature were 2%, 32 hr, and 35°C, respectively. Practical applications Our paper studied the effects of fermentation conditions including inoculums concentration, fermentation temperature, and fermentation time on the change of protein composition of fermented solid beef and nonprotein nitrogen. Meanwhile, explored the relationship between the protein composition and texture properties. Fermentation degrades proteins into smaller protein, peptides, and free amino acids. It is beneficial for absorption and good for health. And now the fermentation meat products become more and more popular. However, the quality of beef products is related to muscle proteins that the changes of protein molecules can be effectively affected the properties of products. Our preliminary observation provides a theoretical basis for further researches on quality evaluation of fermentation meat products, and hope to improve the quality of fermentation meat products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an UV-Vis method for monitoring the hydrolysis of the β-lactam antibiotics inside living bacterial cells. Cell-based studies demonstrated that the hydrolysis of cefazolin was inhibited by three known NDM-1 inhibitors. This approach can be applied to the monitoring of reactions in a complex biological system, for instance in medical testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Roasted chicken contained IQ, MeIQ, MeIQx, 4,8-DiMeIQx, PhIP, harman, and noharman. • Transportation of precursors may contribute greatly to the high HAA contents in skin. • PCA shows HAAs change significantly with the increase of temperature and time. • A HAA prediction model was built using backpropagation-artificial neural network. • This study facilitates the development of intelligent real-time HAA detection. The effects of chicken roasting temperature and time on the production of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) were investigated and an HAA prediction model based on heating conditions was established. Generally, the HAA content was significantly affected by the heating conditions in the roast chicken. Transportation of precursors from meat to skin, exposure of skin to high temperatures, and fat oxidation in the skin may result in higher HAAs than meat. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the effect of relatively high temperatures and long roasting times on HAAs was stronger than that of lower temperatures and shorter roasting times. In the prediction of HAA production, all regression correlation coefficient (R) values were close to one. The errors of 15 samples of experimental and predictive data were close to zero. Based on the results, backpropagation-artificial neural network (BP-ANN) has a high potential for predicting the production of HAAs under heating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• FSDAF can better predict biomass changes. • Mapping the spatiotemporal distribution of grassland biomass(30 m, 8 days). • Biomass is closely related to altitude and water supply in the Xilin River Basin. • Biomass responds more to temperature changes than precipitation. Accurate estimation of aboveground biomass of grasslands is key to sustainable grassland utilization. However, most satellites cannot provide high temporal and spatial resolution data. Patterns of grassland dynamics associated with variability in climate conditions across spatiotemporal scales are yet to be adequately quantified. A spatiotemporal fusion model offers the opportunity to combine the resolution advantages of different remote sensing data to achieve a high frequency and high precision monitoring of vegetation. We test a flexible spatiotemporal data fusion (FSDAF) methodology to generate synthetic normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat data sets. The methodology is tested for the semi-arid grassland of the Xilin River Basin, China. Based on NDVI data fusion and field measured aboveground biomass an aboveground biomass estimation model is established for the watershed. Exploring the temporal and spatial changes of biomass and its relationship with environmental factors. The results show that: (1) The FSDAF model performs well (R2 = 0.75) and has clear textural features. (2) The established Support Vector Machine Aboveground Biomass model not only ensured the accuracy of estimation (R2 = 0.78, RMSE = 15.43 g/m2), but also generated spatiotemporal maps of biomass with higher spatial (30 m) and temporal resolution (8 days). (3) The grassland aboveground biomass in this area decreases from southeast to northwest, and the grassland biomass reaches its peak at the end of July. The average biomass of different grasslands decreases in the order of meadow grassland > typical grassland > desert grassland. (4) Aboveground biomass increased linearly with increasing water content, organic carbon and total nitrogen, and was most sensitive to soil water content. During the early growing and rapid growing period, aboveground biomass is mainly affected by both air temperature and precipitation, while the effects of temperature and human activities gradually dominate in the middle and late growing periods. This study helps to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of dynamic monitoring of grassland biomass, and provides a scientific basis for grassland protection and management in arid and semi-arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-intensity pulsed electric field (PEF) was used to extract protein from mussel. Results show that PEF extraction speed is much faster, and the extraction yield of protein is higher compared with traditional methods. Variation of PEF parameters and the extraction yield of protein were determined by single-factor experiments. The processing conditions were optimized by response surface methodology. The maximum extraction yield of protein of 77.08% was achieved under the following conditions: electric field intensity of 20 kV/cm, pulse number of 8 and enzymolysis time of 2 h. PEF can be widely used to extract protein with high speed and low pollution. Practical Applications Freshwater mussel is widely cultured in China and plays a very important role in aquaculture business. Recently, thanks to the nutritional value, advantages for human diets and edibleness as other shellfish such as shrimp, clam, lobster, scallop, abalone and crab, mussel is in growing value. It is valuable to exploit it. This study of PEF method to extract protein from mussel is important to utilize the mussel meat. PEF, with advantages of non-thermal performance, speediness, efficiency, low power and low pollution, is currently used for non-thermal pasteurization of food and extraction of value components from different natural sources. The results of this study are helpful to the further research of PEF method of protein extraction of mussel and, as such, are of practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High intensity pulsed electric fields (PEF) combined with distillation was used to extract essential oil from rose. Three main parameters, namely electric field intensity, pulse number and distillation times, which can affect the efficiency of extraction, were optimized. Then, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the method, oil obtained under optimal conditions was compared quantitatively and qualitatively with that obtained by conventional hydro distillation. Considering the extraction yield, the optimal parameters combination was obtained with electric field intensity of 20 kV/cm, pulse number of 8 and distillation time of 2 h. PEF treatment had no significant influence on the quality of essential oils. However, there was an increase in methyl eugenol percentage, which is a disadvantage from qualitative point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report a redox-anchoring strategy for synthesizing a non-noble metal carbide (MoCx) nanocomposite electrocatalyst for water electrolysis in acidic media, using glucose and ammonium heptamolybdate as carbon and Mo precursors, respectively, without the need of gaseous carbon sources such as CH4. Specifically, the aldehyde groups of glucose are capable of reducing Mo6+ to Mo4+ (MoO2), and thus molybdenum species can be well anchored by a redox reaction onto a carbon matrix to prevent the aggregation of MoCx nanoparticles during the following carbonization process. The morphology and chemical composition of the electrocatalysts were well characterized by BSE-SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS. The obtained MoCx−2 sample showed a reasonably high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and excellent stability in an acidic electrolyte, and its overpotential required for a current density output of 20 mA cm−2 is as low as 193 mV. Such a prominent performance is ascribed to the excellent dispersity and nano-size, and the large reactive surface area of MoCx particles. This work may open a new way to the design and fabrication of other non-noble metal carbide nanocatalysts for various electrochemical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of different curing methods on black pork were comparatively studied. • Ultrasonic-assisted curing effectively improved the tenderness and taste of black pork. • Ultrasonic-assisted curing was beneficial to increase the degree of protein denaturation. • Ultrasonic-assisted curing could significantly destroy the structure of muscle fiber. This study aimed to investigate the effects of standing curing (SC), tumbling curing (TC), vacuum tumbling curing (VTC) and ultrasonic-assisted curing (UAC) on the edible quality of black pork and property of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) extracted from black pork. The results showed that all curing methods could improve the marinating absorptivity and the gel water retention of black pork, the solubility and surface hydrophobicity of myofibrillar proteins, and reduce the cooking loss and shear force of black pork, the hydrogen bond content of myofibrillar proteins and the gel whiteness compared with the control group (SC). The result of sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that the concentration of protein bands by VTC treatment was decreased obviously. In addition, the result of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) presented that tumbling and ultrasound treatment would destroy the structure of muscle fibers and make them loose and disordered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Described herein is a facile one-pot strategy to synthesize N-doped graphitic carbon-incorporated g-C 3 N 4 by adding slight amount of citric acid into urea as the precursor during thermal polymerization. The obtained materials retained the original framework of g-C 3 N 4 and show remarkably enhanced visible light harvesting and promoted photo-excited charge carrier separation and transfer. The high-resolution N 1s spectrum of XPS showed a graphitic N peak, which could be attributed to N-doped graphitic carbon. In addition to the common-recognized light harvesting enhancement and charge carrier recombination inhibition, the incorporation of N-doped graphitic carbon into the planar framework of g-C 3 N 4 is suggested to result in extended and delocalized π-conjugated system of this copolymer, thus greatly elevating the photocatalytic performance for H 2 evolution by water splitting under visible light. The H 2 evolution rate on N-doped graphitic carbon-incorporated g-C 3 N 4 reached 64 μmol h −1 , which is almost 4.3 times the rate on pure g-C 3 N 4 . This approach may provide a promising route for rational design of high performance, cost-effective and metal-free photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of experiments were performed to investigate the relationship between syngas composition (H 2 /CO/CO 2 /N 2 /O 2 ) and NO formation. Laser-saturated fluorescence measurements of NO in a premixed syngas flat flame from a heat flux burner were recorded for various fuel compositions, dilution ratios and equivalence ratios. Quantitative measurements were compared with the predictions from CHEMKIN software using four different chemical mechanisms, i.e., GRI mech 3.0, Chemical Reaction Engineering and Chemical Kinetics 1407, GDF-Kin 3.0, and the Mendiara and Glarborg mechanism; each mechanism included reaction subsets for NO x formation. These models were validated against a CH 4 flame; the GDF-Kin 3.0 mechanism produced the best agreement with measurements. NO measurements for CO/H 2 syngas fuel with 50% CO 2 dilution at various equivalence ratios found the maximum NO production near stoichiometry. The majority of NO produced for these conditions is predicted to come from the combination of the NNH and N 2 O pathways. Investigation of NO production during combustion of different CO/H 2 ratio syngas diluted with 60% N 2 showed that increasing the H 2 fraction decreased the total NO concentration. However, normalizing the NO production rate by the fuel mass consumption rate showed H 2 produces more NO per gram of fuel consumed. Predictions of temperature and NO rate of production along the flame axis showed that the syngas with high H 2 content had a flame front closer to the burner exit and NO production rate greater than the high CO case. Dilution of CO/H 2 syngas fuel with N 2 and CO 2 showed that CO 2 has a stronger reduction in NO emission than N 2 . GDF-Kin 3.0 predicted that dilution with CO 2 caused a greater reduction in flame temperature than the same volume of N 2 . Predicted NO rate of production and reaction sensitivity analysis predicted that the Zel’dovich pathway was dominant for undiluted syngas. However, as the flame temperature reduced, the Zel’dovich pathway was inhibited to a greater extent than the N 2 O and NNH pathways so that, at high dilution, NO production was driven by the N 2 O and NNH pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impaired glucose uptake is involved in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and glucose transporter 3 (Glut3) is the major neuronal glucose transporter. Estrogens contribute its theorized protective role against AD. The present studies aimed to examine the effect of 17β-estradiol (E2, the natural estrogen) on Glut3 expression and the underlying mechanisms by using human SH-SY5Y cell line. The results demonstrated that E2 increased Glut3 expression. E2 could stimulate the activation of Akt signaling pathway and the subsequent phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB). Akt/CREB pathway mediated E2-induced increase in Glut3 expression. These results suggested the mechanisms underlying E2-induced increase in Glut3 expression in human SH-SY5Y cell line and might provide the new data for elucidating the neuroprotective role of E2 against AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The main HAAs found in spiced pork shoulder was β-carboline. • HAAs increased with the increase of temperature, time and number of soup cycles. • Recycling soup may contribute greatly to the contents of HAAs in spiced pork shoulders. • HAAs in products were mainly from the adsorption and penetration of HAAs from soup. Spiced pork shoulder is a traditional Chinese meat product that is produced by long-term stewing in recycled soup. This study investigated the effects of cooking temperature, cooking time and number of soup cycles on the formation of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in spiced pork shoulder. The main HAAs found in spiced pork shoulder was β-carboline. When the cooking temperature rose from 70 °C to 100 °C, the total HAAs increased from 27.17 ± 1.76 ng/g to 42.37 ± 0.91 ng/g. When the cooking time was extended from 1 h to 4 h, the total HAAs increased by 50.23 %. When the number of soup cycles was 15, the total HAAs in the meat and soup were 40.69 ± 0.28 ng/g and 55.84 ± 1.51 ng/g, respectively. Recycling soup may contribute greatly to the contents of HAAs in spiced pork shoulders. The high levels of HAAs in spiced pork shoulders were mainly from the adsorption of the HAAs in the soup onto the surface of the meat and their penetration into the meat. We recommend lowering the cooking temperature and shortening the cooking time to reduce the formation of HAAs in spiced pork shoulder. In addition, it is necessary to study effective methods to inhibit the formation of HAAs in soup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Designing tumor microenvironment-responsive and sono-responsive two-dimensional heterojunction nanostructure. • Achieving chemoreactive and sonocatalytic cancer nanotherapy triggered by tumor microenvironment and ultrasound. • Superior performance of anti-tumor effect with high biosafety enabled by chemoreactive and sonocatalytic nanotherapy. Ultrasound (US)-activated sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has been extensively explored as an effective therapeutic modality for cancer treatment due to its noninvasiveness, physical targeting and deep tissue penetration. However, the inorganic semiconductor sonosensitizer-enabled SDT still suffers from the low therapeutic efficacy because of tumor hypoxia and low separation efficiency of electrons (e−) and holes (h+) from the energy-band structure of these inorganic sonosensitizers. Herein, the two-dimensional (2D) TiO 2 @MnO 2-x heterojunction nanostructure was rationally designed and engineered for simultaneously modulating the tumor hypoxic microenvironment and augmenting the therapeutic efficacy of SDT against tumor. The MnO 2-x component was heterogeneously grown onto the surface of initially synthesized 2D TiO 2 nanosheets (NSs), which not only acted as the catalysts for converting tumor-overexpressed hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and subsequently modulating the tumor hypoxia, but also catalyzed the Fenton reaction for the production of hydroxyl radicals. The heterojunction design of TiO 2 @MnO 2-x nanostructure effectively augmented the SDT efficacy of TiO 2 -based sonosensitizers under ultrasound activation by facilitating the separation of e−/h+ pairs. The simultaneously endowed tumor-hypoxia alleviation and synergistic sono/chemodynamic tumor nanotherapy achieved the high tumor cell-killing effect and tumor-suppression efficiency, as systematically demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. This work provides a distinct paradigm of the heterojunction semiconductor nanostructure design for improving the ultrasound-based nanotherapy and achieving high tumor-treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nid site coordination microenvironment of a truncated acetyl-coenzyme A synthase has been designed systematically for functional conversion to a Ni-SOD-like enzyme. To this end, the first strategy is to introduce an axial histidine ligand, using mutations F598H, S594H and S594H-GP individually. The resulting three mutants obtained Ni-SOD-like activity successfully, although the catalytic activity was about 10-fold lower than in native Ni-SOD. The second strategy is to mimic the H-bond network in the second sphere coordination microenvironment of the native Ni-SOD. Two mutations based on F598H (EFG-F598H and YGP-F598H) were designed. The successful EFG-F598H exhibited ~3-fold Ni-SOD-like activity of F598H. These designed Ni-SOD-like metalloproteins were characterized by UV/Vis, EPR and Cyclic voltammetry while F598H was also characterized by X-ray protein crystallography. The pH titrations were performed to reveal the source of the two protons required for forming H2O2 in the SOD catalytic reaction. Based on all of the results, a proposed catalytic mechanism for the Ni-SOD-like metalloproteins is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hot compression tests were performed with strain rates (0.01–10 s−1) and temperatures (850–1150 °C). The power law relationship between the critical stress and critical strain and Zener–Hollomon parameters was determined by θ-σ curves. Microstructure was investigated by electron backscattered diffraction. The results showed that the flow behavior and microstructure of 35CrMo steel was affected by ultrasonic-assisted casting. The activation energy of non-ultrasonic and ultrasonic-assisted 35CrMo steel were 410 ± 9.9 and 386 ± 9.4 kJ/mol, respectively, and the activation energy of ultrasonic-assisted specimens was reduced by 6%. In addition, the ultrasonic-assisted treatment refines the grains to some extent and makes the softening process of ultrasonic-assisted samples progress faster, which promoted the development of dynamic recrystallization and the production of Σ3 boundaries. The discontinuous dynamic recrystallization was the main DRX nucleation mechanism of the 35CrMo steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Spiced pork shoulder is a traditional Chinese meat product that is loved by consumers. However, heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) formed by spiced pork shoulder during processing endanger human health. The present study determined the HAA contents of seven kinds of spiced pork shoulder, and examined the effects of soy sauce, cooking wine and sugar on the formation of HAAs. The total HAAs of the seven samples were between 0.10 ng/g and 56.82 ng/g. There were Harman (0.03–39.77 ng/g) and Norharman (0.06–18.76 ng/g) correlations in all samples. Not all samples had higher HAAs levels in the skin than the whole shoulder. Creatine and creatinine were more actively involved in the formation of HAAs than glucose. Soy sauce contributed the most to the formation of HAAs, followed by cooking wine and sugar. Compared to spiced pork shoulder, the soup contained more HAAs. Exogenous contamination of HAAs in soy sauce, cooking wine and soup was an important source of HAAs in spiced pork shoulder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the defect physics of ZnO is crucial in controlling its properties for various applications. We report the observation of an interesting 1.64 eV near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence from ZnO and its evolution with annealing temperature. Based on a recent calculation on the transition levels of native point defects of ZnO [A. Janotti and C. G. Van de Walle, Phys. Rev. B 76, 165202 (2007)], the NIR emission can be successfully explained by the donor-acceptor transition between VO and VZn and/or the radiative recombination of shallowly trapped electrons with deeply trapped holes at Oi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation is a key cellular event in the development of liver fibrosis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) has been shown to function as a key transcription regulator linked to suppressing HSC activation. Compelling evidence indicates that leptin plays a unique role in the development of liver fibrosis. The aim of this study is to investigate the in vivo impact of leptin on PPARγ expression in HSCs in the model of TAA-induced liver damage. The results of the present study provide the first in vivo evidence that leptin might exert an inhibitory effect on PPARγ protein expression in HSCs, which is mediated at least through leptin-induced ERK1/2 activation. Long-form leptin receptor is involved in leptin-induced ERK1/2 activation and the subsequent decline in PPARγ expression in HSCs in the model. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of leptin on PPARγ protein expression enhances HSC activation and proliferation in this model. The in vivo findings from this report might provide additional insights into the mechanisms underlying the profibrogenic action of leptin in liver. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aims: Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation is a key step in the hepatic fibrogenic process. Increasing evidence demonstrates the pro-fibrogenic action of leptin in rodent liver. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) is a potential molecular target for inhibition of HSC activation. Our previous study suggested that leptin markedly down-regulated PPARγ gene expression in HSCs. The aim of this study is to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of leptin on PPARγ expression in rat HSCs in vitro. Main methods: The effects of leptin on the expression and trans-activation activity of early growth response-1 (Egr-1) are examined by using real-time PCR, Western blotting analysis, transient transfection, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The role of Egr-1 in PPARγ gene expression is demonstrated by co-transfection approach, Western blotting analysis and real-time PCR. Key findings: We document that leptin increases Egr-1 expression at protein and mRNA levels, and significantly stimulates Egr-1 trans-activation activity. Moreover, leptin induces the expression and activity of Egr-1 through activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT signaling (PI-3K/AKT) pathway. Further investigation reveals that Egr-1 exerts a clear inhibitory effect on the promoter activity and expression of PPARγ gene and demonstrates that Egr-1 increases the expression of HSC activation markers and promotes HSC growth. Taken together, these findings suggest that Egr-1 is involved in the inhibitory effect of leptin on PPARγ expression in rat HSCs in vitro. Significance: Our results provide novel insights into the mechanisms of leptin-induced inhibition of PPARγ expression in HSCs in vitro. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A high‐gain antenna with multi‐layer phase‐gradient metasurface (PGMS) lens is proposed. It consists of three parts, feed antenna, PGMS lens and back cavity. The proposed PGMS can transform quasi‐spherical electromagnetic wave to plane wave within the frequency band 5.5–6.5 GHz. The half‐power beamwidth of the feed antenna is reduced by up to 83.1°, and the gain is increased by up to 8.7 dB. Because the loading of the lens increases the back lobe, this article also introduces an antenna back cavity, which reflects the energy radiated from the antenna back to the front, thereby improving the radiation performance of the feed antenna. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulation results, verifying that the loading of the lens and the back cavity can achieve the purpose of increasing the gain and reducing the back lobe. The cavity‐backed lens antenna provides potential application for microwave imaging and wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]