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Traditional methods for evaluating the edibility of lipids involve the use of organic reagents and complex operations, which limit their routine use. In this study, nanocellulose was prepared from bamboo, and a colorimetric reading strategy based on nanocellulose composite hydrogels was explored to monitor the freshness of edible oils. The hydrogels acted as carriers for peroxide dyes that changed color according to the freshness of the oil, and color information was digitized using UV-vis and RGB analysis. The sensitivity and accuracy of the hydrogel were verified using H2O2, which showed a linear relationship between absorbance and H2O2 content in the range of 0–0.5 and 0.5–11 mmol/kg with R2 of 0.9769 and 0.9899, respectively, while the chromatic parameter showed an exponential relationship with R2 of 0.9626. Surprisingly, the freshness of all seven edible oil samples was correctly identified by the hydrogel, with linear correlation coefficients greater than 0.95 in the UV-vis method and exponential correlation coefficients greater than 0.92 in the RGB method. Additionally, a peroxide value color card was established, with an accuracy rate of 91.67%. This functional hydrogel is expected to be used as a household-type oil freshness indicator to meet the needs of general consumers.

Some plant essential oils were reported to have antimicrobial activity and have the potential to replace chemical preservatives in food industry. In this study, the antibacterial activity and possible mechanism of Perilla frutescens essential oil (PEO) were evaluated using Enterococcus faecalis R612-Z1 as the target strain. The minimum inhibition concentration of PEO against E. faecalis was 0.5 μL/mL. The PEO solutions at the concentrations higher than minimum inhibition concentration had varying degrees of bactericidal effects against E. faecalis. With the addition of PEO, the cell membrane integrity was destroyed, the cell membrane potential was decreased, and the intracellular adenosine triphosphate loss was increased. By testing the bacterial counts and total volatile basic nitrogen contents in chicken breast meat, PEO can significantly inhibit the growth of E. faecalis. The results showed that PEO can be used as an effective natural food preservative during food storage.

Hybridization is very common in flowering plants and it plays a significant role in plant evolution and adaptation. Melastoma L. (Melastomataceae) comprises about 80–90 species in tropical Asia and Oceania, among which 41 species occur in Borneo. Natural hybridization is frequently reported in Melastoma in China, but so far there have been no confirmed cases of hybridization in Southeast Asia (including Borneo), where most species occur. Here, we identified a case of natural hybridization between Melastoma malabathricum L. and Melastoma beccarianum Cogn. in Sarawak, Malaysia, by using sequence data of three nuclear genes and one chloroplast intergenic spacer. Melastoma malabathricum is the most widespread species of this genus, occurring in almost the whole range of this genus, while M. beccarianum is a local species endemic to northern Borneo. Our results showed that natural hybridization and introgression occur between M. malabathricum and M. beccarianum, and the introgression was asymmetrical, mainly from M. malabathricum to M. beccarianum. As adaptive traits can be transferred by introgression, our study suggests that natural hybridization should be a significant mechanism for the evolution and adaptation of Melastoma in Southeast Asia. However, introgression from the common species M. malabathricum to the relatively rare species M. beccarianum may cause the decline of M. beccarianum, incurring conservation concern. With a large number of species of Melastoma and almost year‐around flowering in Southeast Asia, more cases of natural hybridization are expected to be found and identified in near future.

Some plant essential oils were reported to have antimicrobial activity and have the potential to replace chemical preservatives in food industry. In this study, the antibacterial activity and possible mechanism of

Perilla frutescens essential oil (PEO) has been widely used as a food preservative. This study aimed to clarify the mechanism of PEO against Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) at the protein level by using TMT proteomics. Marked changes in polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids of A. flavus were observed after treatment with PEO. Disordered energy metabolism and damaged defense function occurred in PEO-treated A. flavus. Proteomic analysis further manifested that PEO inhibited the growth of A. flavus by blocking the antioxidative defense process and glycolysis pathway. Moreover, additional energy-producing pathways of A. flavus were activated to compensate for the unbalanced glycolysis after PEO treatment. Meanwhile, the upregulation of enzymes related to RNA transcription and translation might be a protective response to the decreased content of proteins caused by PEO. These results suggest that PEO could potentially be developed as an alternative agent to prevent fungal and aflatoxin contaminations of cereals caused by A. flavus.

Hybridization has been found as a prevalent circumstance in nature, and it plays important roles in organismal evolution, speciation and even extinction. In this study, we focus on two species of the plant genus Melastoma, which has gone through a rapid species radiation during the last one million years. We successfully detected the hybridization signal between M. malabathricum and M. laevifolium in a suspected hybrid zone in Borneo, Malaysia, by sequencing five nuclear genes and two chloroplast fragments. Most individuals of the suspected hybrids were considered as first generation hybrids, while five individuals corresponded to advanced, early generations of hybrids. Although we did not find any introgression signal between M. malabathricum and M. laevifolium, it is necessary to pay more attention to assess the extinction risk of the species with restricted distribution, here M. laevifolium. This study is the first case of natural hybridization between Melastoma species in Southeast Asia, and more cases are waiting to be found in the field.

The trend of reducing the use of chemical fungicides in the food industry has prompted antimicrobial volatile substances of plants as an appropriate substitute for food preservatives. In this study, the potential of antifungal activity of Perilla frutescens essential oil (PEO) on Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) was observed by a series of phenotypic changes. Further research found the destructive effect of PEO on A. flavus growth, as indicated by the leakage of intracellular biological macromolecules, the inhibition of ATPase activity, and the intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Based on the current work, transcriptomic was applied to study the gene expression level of A. flavus and transcriptomic analysis demonstrated significant changes in spore development, oxidative stress, membrane permeability, and amino acid metabolism of PEO-treated A. flavus. This study provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying the molecular response in A. flavus by the treatment of PEO, indicating that PEO has the potential to be used as a novel antifungal agent.

Eriocaulaceae, a family of herbaceous plants in the order Poales, includes some well-known species used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. The phylogenetic position of Eriocaulaceae in Poales ...

Ixonanthes chinensis (Ixonanthaceae) is an endangered tree species distributed in South China and Vietnam. The phylogenetic position of Ixonanthes in the order Malpighiales remains controversial. H...

CBM extraction through horizontally connected wells realizes the connection of two wells by controlling well trajectory in coal seam, can effectively increase CBM flowing area, and improve CBM recovery of single well. It involves guiding while drilling, cavity making in seam, distant accurate connection, reservoir protection and other advanced technologies. The horizontal connected well engineering carried out by Xi’an Research Institute of China Coal Technology & Engineering Group Corp in Panzhuang block of Qinshui basin, which has successfully realized the distant connection of two wells by using wireless MWD, rotary magnetic distance and other tools as well as reasonable drilling technology, subsequent drainage and extraction effect was remarkable. The paper presents in detail the design, construction, drilling and development result of the connected wells.

The extended-reach horizontally-intersected well used to extract coalbed methane (CBM)can increase reservoir contact area, extend the influence scope of drainage-pressure drop and the district of CBM desorption. Furthermore, the extended-reach horizontally-intersected well can enhance unit well output and create favorable conditions for future workover. With the support of Major Projects of National Science and Technology, the research on key technologies of extended-reach horizontally-intersected well is done through theoretical analysis and experiment, the concrete research content includes selection of target formation and design of casing program, choice of survey instruments, research on the bottom hole assembly design and technique of steering wellpath, research on drilling fluid and extended-reach horizontally-intersected technology. As engineering examples of popularization and application of extended-reach horizontally-intersected well, a “U” shape well group located in Sihe mine field of Qinshui Basin and a “V” shape cluster well group located in Dafosi coal mine of Binchang mining area have been constructed successfully by using the integrated technologies.

By introducing the structure character and working principle of PDM, borehole technologies of PDM directional drilling were studied in this text, including borehole technology principle, directional method, technology flow, drilling technology parameters, branch borehole technology etc. Shaanxi Tingnan Coal .Ltd field application was taken as an example to do a simple introduction on PDM matching equipment and technology promotion. The borehole technology and related result can be used as reference for horizontal directional drilling research and construction.

Using GPS trajectories to recommend pick-up points for taxi driver comes to be a promising approach of increasing profits and decreasing pollutions. In the existing methods, nearly all the GPS data of a city are computed for recommendation. However, it is time-consuming and not accurate enough owing to too much spatio-temporal noise. Therefore, we propose a novel method of recommending pick-up for taxi driver based on spatio-temporal clustering. It is made up of data preprocessing and real-time recommendation. Firstly, we capture the historical pick-up points by analyzing their intervals. These points are clustered at different time and different regions to create candidate pick-up points. Secondly, after ranking the candidate pick-up points around the taxi, the top-5 valuable pick-up points are recommended for taxi drivers. The experimental results, whose data come from Microsoft Research Asia, show that our method can effectively recommend pick-up points for taxi drivers.