Search

Kelp (Laminaria japonica) is rich in resources and a variety of active substances. However, its fishy flavor, which is hard to remove, poses challenges to consumer preferences. This study investigated the removal of fishy odor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae SK1.008 fermented kelp and kelp treated with fermentation combined natural antioxidant soaking through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), odor activity values (OAVs) and gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS). A total of 79 and 72 substances were identified in kelp using GC-MS and GC-IMS analysis, respectively. There were 16 volatile compounds (VOCs) with OAV>1 which were identified as key contributors to fishy odor, including (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal, 1-octen-3-one, (E,E)-2,4-octadienal, (E,E)-2,4-decadienal and (E)-2-nonenal et al. The GC-MS analysis revealed that the removal efficiency of unsaturated aldehydes and ketones was 73.3% in kelp treated by fermentation combined soaking. The hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) constructed by GC-IMS revealed that the blank kelp, fermented kelp and kelp treated with fermentation combined soaking can be distinguished by volatile compounds. This study provides a reference for establishing a long-term effective deodorization method. • Unsaturated carbonyl compounds are the key contributors of unpleasant flavor in kelp. • The 16 key compounds were identified in kelp, based on GC-MS and OAV analysis. • Yeast fermentation contributed to generating aroma compounds with higher thresholds. • Kelp treated by composite deodorization method has less fishy flavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-boundary transport of air pollution is a difficult issue in pollution control for the North China Plain. In this study, an industrial district (Shahe City) with a large glass manufacturing sector was investigated to clarify the relative contribution of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) to the city's high levels of pollution. The Nest Air Quality Prediction Model System (NAQPMS), paired with Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), was adopted and applied with a spatial resolution of 5 km. During the study period, the mean mass concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 , and NO 2 were observed to be 132.0, 76.1, and 55.5 μg/m3, respectively. The model reproduced the variations in pollutant concentrations in Shahe at an acceptable level. The simulation of online source-tagging revealed that pollutants emitted within a 50-km radius of downtown Shahe contributed 63.4% of the city's total PM 2.5 concentration. This contribution increased to 73.9±21.2% when unfavorable meteorological conditions (high relative humidity, weak wind, and low planetary boundary layer height) were present; such conditions are more frequently associated with severe pollution (PM 2.5 ≥ 250 μg/m3). The contribution from Shahe was 52.3±21.6%. The source apportionment results showed that industry (47%), transportation (10%), power (17%), and residential (26%) sectors were the most important sources of PM 2.5 in Shahe. The glass factories (where chimney stack heights were normally < 70 m) in Shahe contributed 32.1% of the total PM 2.5 concentration in Shahe. With an increase in PM 2.5 concentration, the emissions from glass factories accumulated vertically and narrowed horizontally. At times when pollution levels were severe, the horizontally influenced area mainly covered Shahe. Furthermore, sensitivity tests indicated that reducing emissions by 20%, 40%, and 60% could lead to a decrease in the mass concentration of PM 2.5 of of 12.0%, 23.8%, and 35.5%, respectively. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the polyphenol components of flaxseed were identified, and their antibacterial effect and mechanism of action against pathogenic bacteria were studied. Results showed that 14 phenolic acids and 15 flavonoids were identified in flaxseed. Among them, 5 phenolic acids, including ferulic acid, vanillic acid, sinapic acid, gallic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, as well as 6 flavonoids, including vitexin, quercitrin, quercetin, apigenin, kaempfero1, (+)-dihydroquercetin, were the main phenolic compounds in flaxseed and have been quantitatively analyzed and determined. The content of sinapic acid and quercetin accounted for over 42.67% of flaxseed polyphenol extract. The Oxford Cup method confirmed the antibacterial effect of flaxseed polyphenol extract on Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Listeria monocytogenes , Salmonella and Pseudomonas fluorescens. The experimental data showed that flaxseed polyphenol extract had a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of both common food-borne pathogens and non-food-borne pathogens. Flaxseed polyphenols increased the permeability of microbial cell membrane, resulting in microbial protein leakage, cell membrane depolarization, and decreased intracellular ATP content, and increased cell membrane potential and cell contents leakage. The results of this study clarified the composition of flaxseed polyphenol and provided a new way for the comprehensive utilization of flaxseed. [Display omitted] • The polyphenol extract of flaxseed had inhibitory effect on the five indicator bacteria. • The extract damages the cell structure of microorganisms, thereby inhibiting their growth. • The integrity of the cell wall of P. fluorescens was damaged by the polyphenol extract of flaxseed. • Sinapic acid and quercetin were the dominant phenolics in flaxseed polyphenol extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The region along the Taihang Mountains in the North China Plain (NCP) is characterized by serious fine particle pollution. To clarify the formation mechanism and controlling factors, an observational study was conducted to investigate the physical and chemical properties of the fine particulate matter in Jiaozuo city, China. Mass concentrations of the water-soluble ions (WSIs) in PM 2.5 and gaseous pollutant precursors were measured on an hourly basis from December 1, 2017, to February 27, 2018. The positive matrix factorization (PMF) method and the FLEXible PARTicle (FLEXPART) model were employed to identify the sources of PM 2.5. The results showed that the average mass concentration of PM 2.5 was 111 μg/m3 during the observation period. Among the major WSIs, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium (SNA) constituted 62% of the total PM 2.5 mass, and NO 3 − ranked the highest with an average contribution of 24.6%. NH 4 + was abundant in most cases in Jiaozuo. According to chemical balance analysis, SO 4 2−, NO 3 −, and Cl− might be present in the form of (NH 4) 2 SO 4 , NH 4 NO 3 , NH 4 Cl, and KCl. The liquid-phase oxidation of SO 2 and NO 2 was severe during the haze period. The relative humidity and pH were the key factors influencing SO 4 2- formation. We found that NO 3 − mainly stemmed from homogeneous gas-phase reactions in the daytime and originated from the hydrolysis of N 2 O 5 in the nighttime, which was inconsistent with previous studies. The PMF model identified five sources of PM 2.5 : secondary origin (37.8%), vehicular emissions (34.7%), biomass burning (11.5%), coal combustion (9.4%), and crustal dust (6.6%). [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicle exhaust and oil fuel evaporation emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The differences in VOC compositions and their effects determined using different methods have not been addressed sufficiently. In this study, VOC samples are obtained from single gasoline and diesel vehicle exhausts using a portable emission measurement system, from a tunnel in Yichang City, and from gasoline and diesel evaporation at gas stations. A total of 107 VOCs are analysed. The calculated VOC source profiles (based on VOC source profiles of single-vehicle type and vehicle fleet composition in the tunnel) and the tested source profiles (from a tunnel test) are compared. The results show that gasoline burning can reduce alkenes from a mass fraction of 53.1% (for evaporation) to 3.6% (for burning), as well as increase the mass fraction of alkenes from 1.3% (for diesel evaporation) to 34.0% (for diesel burning). The calculated VOC source profiles differed from the tested VOC source profiles, with a coefficient of divergence of 0.6. Ethane, ethylene, n-undecane, and n-dodecane are used to distinguish VOCs in gasoline and diesel exhausts. Cis-2-butene, 2-methylpentane, m/p-xylene, o-xylene, and n-decane can be used to separate gasoline from diesel. The xylene/ethylbenzene ratios accurately reveal the photochemical age. Gasoline burning increases health risks associated with VOCs compared with gasoline evaporation. Furthermore, it modifies the main contributor to ozone formation potential. This study is expected to facilitate refined VOC source apportionment and studies pertaining to speciated emission inventories. [Display omitted] • VOC source profile of vehicles detected through various method are different. • VOC source profiles were different between fuel evaporation and fuel burning. • Gasoline burning led to an increase in health risk than its evaporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional fault diagnosis of analog circuits relies heavily on feature extraction and selection, which is ad-hoc and often needs complex signal processing and domain knowledge. This has severely limited the applications of fault diagnosis. To address this issue, this paper proposes an analog circuit fault diagnosis method based on Deep Belief Network (DBN). Our contributions include development of an intelligent diagnosis solution that does not rely on manual feature extraction and selection, and providing comprehensive comparison studies on two representative experimental circuits with different levels of complexities under soft fault modes. One significant advantage of the proposed method is that it extracts features adaptively from the raw time series signals and automatically classifies the fault mode, which significantly simplifies the design of diagnosis and increases the flexibility so that it can be applied to different diagnosis problems. The experimental comparison studies show that the proposed method has higher performance, lower requirements on data (small number of sampling points in learning instance), and more reliable performance (consistent diagnosis accuracy for different fault modes) than existing methods. Performance regarding the number of instances and the number of sampling points in instances are studied. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in analog circuit diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the implementation of the green energy development strategy, new energy vehicles and related industries have been experiencing rapid growth, leading to an expansion in the market scale of the lithium-ion battery (LIB) industry. While the high energy density of LIB is being pursued, the risk of thermal runaway (TR) cannot be underestimated. Water mist (WM) is currently considered an efficient and environmentally friendly fire extinguishing agent, highly favored for its exceptional cooling capabilities. In this study, an alternative WM control strategy is proposed that capitalizes on the distinct advantages of varying particle sizes of WM during different cooling stages and integrates them to enhance overall cooling effectiveness. The experimental results demonstrate that the utilization of WM with mixed particle sizes not only reduces the peak temperature of TR, but also significantly shortens the cooling time. Compared to using WM with a single particle size, this method greatly reduces water consumption and enhances its utilization rate. This finding can offer valuable suggestions for the future implementation of WM in battery fire suppression systems design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extended target tracker based on structural appearance and improved distribution fields is proposed in terms of current issues that there is no one general tracking algorithm to different scenarios. For extended target with specific geometric structure and pose variation in simple scenarios, in order to get stable tracking point, we construct a structural appearance model to represent target and utilize triangle and line character to obtain tracking point. In complex scenarios with certain texture information and image blurring, to reduce computational complexity and enhance the adaptivity of tracking box, an improved distribution fields is presented in which non-uniform delamination technology is proposed and the BRISK is used to detect key points in tracking box. Numerical experiments on simulation sequences and public database were provided to demonstrate the good performance of this proposed scheme. The conclusion can be drawn that triangle achieves the best stability among geometric graphics and skeleton can reflect the intrinsic geometric structure of the target in simple scenarios. Moreover, non-uniform delamination technology can reduce computational complexity and the BRISK can achieve affine transformation parameters in complex scenarios, so the tracking box can adapt to scale and rotation changes when matching is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the seasonal variation in the physicochemical properties of acid-soluble collagens (ASC) from the scales and skins of bighead carp and grass carp. The electrophoresis patterns of protein fraction and peptide hydrolysis treated by V8 protease were characterized using gel electrophoresis. Changes in thermostability were measured using differential scanning calorimetry, and collagen fibrils in vitro were observed using transmission electron microscopy. The ASC were mainly determined as type I collagens with triple helical structures. For collagens from the same tissue of the same fish species, similar protein fraction patterns and peptide hydrolysis patterns were observed, and the amino acid contents also showed no clear pattern of change with season. The thermal transition temperature of ASC showed a maximum seasonal variation of 0.5 °C, with no systematic pattern. The collagens could assemble into fibrils in vitro , and the d -periodicities of the fibrils showed no significant seasonal variation. The results suggested that the skins and swim bladders of two major freshwater species were reasonably stable as an alternative collagen source for year-round production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new optical image encryption method based on compressed sensing and Arnold transformation is proposed. First, dimensional reduction and random projection, the characteristics of compressed sensing, are utilized to compress and encrypt a digital image. Second, Arnold transformation is used to scramble the encryption image followed by compressed sensing with low data volume. Then, the encryption image is encrypted again by double random phase encoding optical encryption technique; two random phase masks generated by sequences of irrational number are been used as secret keys. In the end, the multi-encrypted information is embedded into the host image and transmitted. At the receiver, original image information is reconstructed approximately via orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm. The peak signal-to-noise ratio and the normalized cross-correlation between the original image and the decrypted one are used to calculate the quality of the decryption image. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is secure and robust. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper discusses personal protective principles of emergency rescuers which is based on the requirements of fast, accurate and effective emergency rescue in dangerous chemical accidents. Firstly, this paper analyzes the emergency plan and the preparation that we need make for personal protection of rescuers. Then, this paper uses all kinds of exposure limiting concentration of dangerous chemical to classify the initial quarantine, protective area, hot area, warmer area and cold area on the basis of the planning guide on emergency response of polluted air (American industrial hygiene association). Finally, this paper defines area operations, qualifications requirements of rescuers in area, principles of division, protective objects for different areas, so as to determine the personal protection level of emergency rescuers in various areas, which can provide reference for the personal protection of emergency rescuers in dangerous chemical accidents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hydraulic self-climbing formwork has the advantages of self-climbing, easy operation, less operating personnel, and good appearance quality, with relatively mature construction techniques and technology, and so has been widely used in many large and medium projects. Its operating platform and climbing system are as a whole, and the overall pressure-driven device can achieve even climbing, and therefore can markedly improve its safety performance. However, hydraulic self-climbing formwork with a complex and bulky structure is still the focus of construction safety control. There is a great safety risk in the process of operation and use, such as its installation and dismantling, adjustment of position, which is prone to lead to template collapse, fall from high places, and strike against objects, etc. Taizhou Bridge introduced hydraulic self-climbing formwork system during the construction of South-Tower, and achieved good results through a series of effective security control measures. This paper, South Tower of Taizhou Bridge as background, analyzed the major risk factors in the construction of hydraulic self-climbing formwork, and proposed corresponding control measures, which can play a good reference for similar projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a ubiquitously distributed environmental pollutant known to cause DNA damage, which may be repaired through nucleotide excision repair (NER). The significantly negative correlation between Hsp70 levels and the level of DNA damage in workers exposed to coke oven emission had been found. However, little is known about how Hsp70 modulate the DNA repair process. In a series of experiments using the human bronchial epithelia cells (16HBE) exposed to different concentrations of BaP for 24h, we measured expression of NER subunit xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) group A, C, F, G (XPA, XPC, XPF, XPG), excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) and Hsp70, and analyzed their possible correlations. Co-localizations of Hsp70 with NER subunit were detected by confocal microscope. We found that in vitro exposure to BaP reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner ranging from 2 to 64μM. Our results showed that levels of XPA, XPG and Hsp70 significantly increased at cells exposed to 1 or 2μM BaP. In addition, curve estimation showed there was a significant correlation between relative ratios of Hsp70 and XPA, XPG in cells exposed to different concentrations of BaP. Moreover, confocal microscopy demonstrated increased co-localization of Hsp70 with XPA, XPG in nuclei of cells exposed to BaP. These results suggested that Hsp70 might play a role in nucleotide excision repair. However, the mechanisms underlying this observation need further investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] The representative morphological features of pyroptosis are excessive cell swelling and subsequent membrane rupture. However, the mechanism underlying the cell's inherent inability to regulate volume during the progression of pyroptosis is poorly understood. In the current study, we found that both volume-activated chloride currents (I cl, vol) and the regulatory volume decrease (RVD) were markedly decreased in bone marrow–derived macrophages (BMDMs) undergoing pyroptosis induced by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and nigericin. The inhibition of I Cl, vol and RVD by the chloride channel blockers, tamoxifen or DCPIB, led to the emergence of pyroptosis-like phenotypes such as activated-caspase-1, pyroptotic-body-like bubbles, and a fried-egg–like appearance. Moreover, the expression of the volume-activated chloride channel (VRAC) constituent protein Leucine-Rich Repeat-Containing 8A (LRRC8A) was significantly down-regulated in pyroptotic BMDMs treated with LPS and nigericin. The silencing of LRRC8A expression by small interfering RNA (si)-LRRC8A transfection not only reduced I Cl, vol and RVD, but also caused BMDMs to show pyroptosis-like manifestations such as activated-caspase-1, membrane bubbles, and have a fried-egg–like appearance. These results reveal a new mechanism for the loss of volume regulation in the process of pyroptotic cell swelling and strongly suggest that a functional deficiency of VRAC/LRRC8A plays a key role in this disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a ubiquitously distributed environmental pollutant known to cause DNA damage, which may be repaired through nucleotide excision repair (NER). However, little is known about dynamic changes in levels of DNA damage and their correlations with levels of NER proteins in cells exposed to BaP. In a series of experiments using the human bronchial epithelia cells (16HBE) exposed to different concentrations of BaP for different times, we measured dynamic changes in levels of DNA damage and expression of NER subunit xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) groups A, C, F, G (XPA, XPC, XPF, XPG) and excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1), and analyzed their possible correlations. We found that in vitro exposure to BaP reduced cell viability in a dose-dependent manner ranging from 2 to 64μM and increased DNA damage in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Our results showed that levels of these NER proteins significantly increased and peaked at 12th or 24th, 8th or 12th and 4th or 8th hours in cells exposed to 2, 8 and 16μM BaP, respectively. ERCC1 expression increased by 2.4-, 4.2- and 19.3-fold for exposure to 2, 8 and 16μM BaP, respectively, compared with control group. Moreover, levels of ERCC1 in cells exposed 16μM BaP significantly higher than those in 2 and 8μM BaP from 2nd to 48th hours. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between Olive tail moments and relative ratios of ERCC1 in cells exposed to BaP. Our results suggested ERCC1 may be an important limiting factor for NER, but the mechanisms underlying this observation needs further investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Analyzes the spectroscopic calculation of asymmetric top free radicals. Machine implementation of the spectral analysis; Advantages and disadvantages of the laser magnetic resonance technique; Efficacy of the Hamiltonian theory in calculating complicated spectra.

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is the most important virus that threatens sericulture industry. At present, there is no effective treatment for BmNPV infection in silkworms, and lncRNA plays an important role in biological immune response and host-virus interaction, but there are relatively few studies in silkworms. In this study, the four midgut tissue samples of the resistance strain NB (NB) and susceptible strain 306 (306) and the NB and 306 continuously infected with BmNPV for 96 h are used for whole transcriptome sequencing to analyze the differences in the genetic background of NB and 306 and the differences after inoculation of BmNPV, and the significantly different mRNA, miRNA and lnRNA between NB and 306 after BmNPV inoculation were screened. By comparing NB and 306, 2651 significantly different mRNAs, 57 significantly different miRNAs and 198 significantly different lncRNAs were screened. By comparing NB and 306 after BmNPV inoculation, 2684 significantly different mRNAs, 39 significantly different miRNAs and 125 significantly different lncRNAs were screened. According to the significantly different mRNA, miRNA and lncRNA screened from NB and 306 and NB and 306 after virus inoculation, the mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA regulatory network was constructed before and after virus inoculation, and the BmBCAT-Bomo_chr7_8305-MSTRG.3236.2 regulatory axis was screened from them, and it was found that BmBCAT was not Bomo_chr7_8305 regulated in the genetic background, after viral infection, MSTRG.3236.2 competes for binding Bomo_chr7_8305 regulates BmBCAT. The whole transcriptome sequencing results were verified by qPCR and the time-series expression analysis was performed to prove the reliability of the regulatory network. The BmBCAT-Bomo_chr7_8305-MSTRG.3236.2 regulatory axis may play a potential role in the interaction between silkworms and BmNPV. These results provide new insights into the interaction mechanism between silkworms and BmNPV. • At present, there have been studies on small RNA regulation by using sensitive silkworm varieties, but no studies have conducted whole transcriptome analysis by comparing resistant and sensitive silkworm strans inoculated with virus. • The mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA ceRNA regulatory network was constructed, from which the BmBCAT-Bomo_chr7_8305-MSTRG.3236.2 regulatory axis was screened, and the whole transcriptome sequencing results were verified by qPCR and the time-series expression analysis was performed to prove the reliability of the regulatory network. • From the perspective of lncRNA to explain the significantly different genes, our research results may provide new clues to the molecular mechanism that reveals the interaction between silkworm and virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have more and more potential in the emergency rescue tasks under disastrous conditions. Thus, the environmental adaptability of UVAs under extreme high and low temperature levels is very important. Firstly, we built an extreme environmental testing chamber that could simulate multiple disaster conditions. Secondly, the performance of the whole machine of UVAs especially the flying performance under extreme temperature (−30–60 °C) was investigated. Thirdly, the electrical performance of lithium-ion battery used in UVAs was investigated at the same time. Main conclusions were: (1) The high temperature condition even 60 °C had little effect on the flying performance, while significantly degraded the lifetime and discharging capacity, and even damaged the lithium-ion battery. (2) The low temperature condition significantly decreased the flying performance and the battery performance. UAV could not work normally when the environmental temperature was below −25 °C. (3) The low-temperature condition played greater effect on the battery performance than that of high-temperature condition and the testing results of battery discharge experiments well explained this phenomenon. (4) The irreversible and the reversible heat took the dominant role for lower and high temperatures, respectively. • Extreme environmental experiment chamber simulated extreme disaster conditions. • Flying performance of UVA under extreme temperature. • Environmental adaptability of lithium-ion battery under extreme temperature. • Discharge performance of lithium battery under extreme temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarized a study that aims to investigate the applicability of a fracture mechanics (FM) based approach for calculating the fatigue lives of the mooring lines of a spar-based floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) in time-domain. Tension ranges of mooring lines are calculated from a time-domain hydrodynamic analysis, taking into account the effects of wind, wave and current. Mooring tension cycles with corresponding ranges are counted by a rain-flow counting method. A comparison between fatigue lives of mooring system predicted by S–N curves, T-N curves, and the FM based approaches is made and the results show that the FM based approach generally provides reasonable estimate of fatigue lives of the mooring lines of the FOWT. Parametric studies were further performed to investigate the effects of loading sequence, stress concentration factor, initial crack shape, initial crack size and critical crack depth on fatigue life prediction of the FM based approach. It was observed that the predicted fatigue life is sensitive to stress concentration factor and initial crack size. A comparative study on three kinds of mooring design with different chain diameters is also made and the applicability of each design is discussed. • A comparative study is conducted to investigate the validity of a FM based time-domain mooring fatigue analysis or a FOWT. • A comparison on time-domain mooring fatigue life prediction between S–N & T-N curves, and FM based approaches is made. • Effects of wind, wave, and current are taken into account in the time-domain mooring system fatigue analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the role and possible interrelationship between orexin B-sirtuin 1-HIF-1α signaling pathways in diabetes-mellitus induced vascular dysfunction and enhancement in myocardial injury. Streptozotocin (60 mg/kg) was employed to induce diabetes mellitus in male Wistar albino rats, which were kept for eight weeks. The vascular function was noted by assessing acetylcholine-induced relaxation in norepinephrine precontracted mesenteric arteries. The hearts were subjected to ischemia-reperfusion injury on the Langendorff apparatus. Myocardial injury was assessed by noting the release of CK-MB, cardiac troponin and measuring myocardial infarction. The levels of orexin B, sirtuin 1 and HIF-1α were measured. YNT-185 (orexin B type 2 receptor agonist), STR2104 (sirtuin 1 agonist) and EX527 (sirtuin 1 antagonist) were employed as pharmacological tools. Diabetes led to significant development of vascular dysfunction and enhanced ischemia-reperfusion injury in isolated hearts. There was a significant decrease in the levels of orexin B, sirtuin 1 and HIF-1α in diabetic animals. Treatment with YNT-185 and/or STR2104 significantly attenuated the diabetes-induced increase in myocardial injury and vascular dysfunction. Co-administration of EX527 abolished the effects of YNT-185 suggesting orexin B-mediated effects may be through activation of sirtuin 1. Moreover, YNT-185-induced increase in the expression of sirtuin 1 and HIF-1α was also abolished in the presence of EX527. Diabetes-induced significant decline in orexin B levels in the plasma along with a decrease in the expression of sirtuin 1 and HIF-1α in the heart following ischemia-reperfusion injury may possibly contribute in exacerbating the myocardial injury and vascular dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fucoxanthin (Fx) is a major carotenoid present in the chloroplasts of brown seaweeds and some kinds of microalgae. Because of the beneficial health effects of Fx, much attention has been focused on the considerable potential and promising applications of this compound in human health. Among the wide variety of biological activities of Fx, the interest has been mainly focused on its antiobesity effect, which is primarily based on the upregulation of thermogenesis through uncoupling protein 1 expression. Therefore, much effort has been made on the exploration for better Fx sources from different kinds of brown seaweeds and microalgae. The effective method to separate Fx has also attracted the interest of numerous researchers. Fx is conventionally extracted using organic solvents; however, solvents of petroleum origin are now strictly regulated worldwide. Thus, there is a growing demand for using greener, bio-based and renewable solvents for the extraction. From this viewpoint, edible oils may be promising green solvents. Edible oils can reduce the energy consumption in the extraction process and produce a barrier against Fx degradation. The edible oil extracts from brown seaweeds can be directly used as functional food materials containing Fx, without the need for purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel purified PV/T-Trombe wall based on thermal catalytic oxidation. • Higher thermal and electrical efficiency considering formaldehyde degradation. • Linear relation of air thermal efficiency with normalized temperature difference. • High utilization on the PV cells compared with other PV/T systems. On one hand, PV/T air system is in unused condition in summer while PV/T water system exists the freezing problem in winter. On the other hand, the indoor air pollution has been gotten more and more attention. Therefore, this article proposed a purified PV/T-Trombe wall, which could produce sustainable electricity and degrade gaseous formaldehyde in whole year, realize space heating in winter and supply hot water in summer. The focus in this article was the comprehensive performance investigation in winter. Firstly, continuous six full-day experiments were conducted to investigate the thermal and electrical performance. Secondly, based on the verified system heat and mass transfer model, the formaldehyde degradation performance was investigated. Thirdly, the performance comparisons of the proposed system with other PV/T systems were conducted. Main results were: (1) The average daily electrical efficiency and air thermal efficiency were 11.9% and 36.6%, respectively. (2) The dependence between the air thermal efficiency and the modified normalized temperature difference well fitted the linear relationship under natural convection condition. (3) The clean air delivery rate was in the range of 42.5–81.6 m3/h and the daily generated volume of clean air was 202.9 m3/(m2·day). (4) The thermal and electrical efficiency considering formaldehyde degradation was 50.3%, with the increase of 3.7% due to the contribution from formaldehyde degradation. (5) The ratio of the electrical efficiency considering formaldehyde degradation to the standard PV cell efficiency approached up to 98.6%, which indicated a high utilization on the PV cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • DP of fructan is one of the most crucial factors in deciding its properties. • Production of fructan with designed DP by transgenic plants is emphasized. • Biosynthesis of tailor-made fructan is a more promising approach than extraction. • Enzymes and variants used for the synthesis of different fructans are summarized. Fructan, a widespread functional polysaccharide, has been used in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and material production fields because of its versatile physicochemical properties and biological activities. Inulin from plants and levan from microorganisms are two of the most extensively studied fructans. Fructans from different plants or microorganisms have inconsistent molecular weights, and the molecular weight of fructan affects its properties, functions, and applications. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to the production and application of fructans having various molecular weights, and biotechnological processes have been explored to produce tailor-made fructans from sucrose. This review encompasses the introduction of extraction, enzymatic transformation, and fermentation production processes for fructans with diverse molecular weights. Notably, it highlights the enzymes involved in fructan biosynthesis and underscores their physiological effects, with a special emphasis on their prebiotic properties. Moreover, the applications of fructans with varying molecular weights are also emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flame-to-flame interaction in a dual-pool fire scenario is a crucial issue. However, current research on multiple fires in tunnels primarily focuses on scenarios where the fire sources are situated along the central axis of the tunnel. However, in real tunnel fires, the lateral positions of the fire sources are variable and unpredictable. Therefore, studying the flame behavior of two fire sources at different lateral positions within the tunnel is of significant importance in elucidating the interaction mechanisms between two fire sources inside the tunnel. In this investigation, a synergistic approach involving experimental inquiry and theoretical derivation was employed to systematically examine the phenomena of flame merging and tilting induced by two pool fires at diverse lateral positions within a naturally ventilated tunnel. The results indicate that flame entrainment is more likely to occur due to sidewall restrictions in tunnels, thereby increasing the probability of flame merging. A piecewise expression for determining the probability of flame merging from dual fire sources within tunnels was established. Furthermore, considering how sidewalls influence flame tilting angles, an air entrainment model for dual fire sources within tunnels was developed to derive flame tilting angles at different lateral positions and fire source spacing within tunnels. [Display omitted] • Studied flame traits of 2 heptane fires in a naturally ventilated tunnel. • Flame merging probability and tilt angle with different lateral fire positions. The maximum flame tilt angle is 24.20°. • Established dual-fire air entrainment model for predicting flame tilt angle. • Modified the velocity of flame entrains air from the region between fire sources. • Establishing the tilt angle of the flame by analyzing its geometric characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water mist (WM) is currently an important environmentally friendly fire extinguishing agent, offering a distinct advantage in efficiently cooling and inhibiting the thermal runaway (TR) behavior of lithium battery (LIB). Numerous studies have explored the additives of WM to extinguish LIB fires more efficiently. However, the inhibition mechanism of WM containing additives on TR of LIB has not been revealed clearly, and the principle of adding additives remains to be further studied. In this study, three types of non-ionic surfactants are examined and their effects on the maximum temperature during TR and the cooling time of WM are compared. The results indicate that foam induced by the additives has certain advantages in mitigating LIB TR. Further the defoamer is used to modify the foaming performance of the additive solution, and it is found that an appropriate increase in the brittleness of the foam can greatly decrease the highest temperature of the battery during TR moment. These findings can serve as a valuable reference for future applications of WM with additives in the design of battery fire suppression systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The innate immunity of insects mainly depends on the interaction between the host's PRR and PAMP. • PGRPs involve in Toll, IMD and PPO pathways. • PGRPs plays an important role in the innate immunity of insects. Abstract Insects lack an acquired immune system and rely solely on the innate immune system to combat microbial infection. The innate immunity of insects mainly depends on the interaction between the host's pattern recognition receptor (PRR) and pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP). The peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) family is the most important pattern recognition receptor (PRR) for insects. It can recognize the main component of the cell wall of the pathogenic microorganism, peptidoglycan (PGN), and plays an important role in the innate immunity of insects. In this paper, the structure, classification, and function of PGRPs is summarized, and the role of PGRPs in the innate immunity of insects is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Trombe wall with thermal catalytic blinds (TC-Blind/TW) for indoor heating/cooling, air purification and shading was proposed. In this paper, we has fully explored the advancement and feasibility of the system from thermal catalytic material preparation and performance testing, system construction and system steady state experiment testing, system heat-mass transfer model establishment and verification, and finally to the analysis of system operation strategy. The main conclusions are as follows: Firstly, thermal catalytic material MnO x -CeO 2 behaved excellent heating and purification performance, the formaldehyde degradation followed L-H model. Secondly, the thermal efficiency and formaldehyde single-through conversion of system during the daytime were between 35%-55% and 32%–42%, respectively. Thirdly, the established heat-mass transfer model had the high accuracy, with the maximum RSMD of 0.8%. Finally, the blinds turning angle has a great influence on the system performance, then the optimal annual operation angles in four cities were suggested. Take Beijing as an example, the annual generated clean air was 11355.6 m3/m2, the reduced heating and cooling loads were 341.2 and 318.3 MJ/m2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series prediction is an important part of data-driven based prognostics which are mainly based on the massive sensory data with less requirement of knowing inherent system failure mechanisms. Support Vector Regression (SVR) has achieved good performance in forecasting problems of small samples and high dimensions. However, the SVR parameters have a significant influence on forecasting performance of SVR. In our current work, a novel SCA-SVR model has been presented where sine cosine algorithm (SCA) is used to select the penalty and kernel parameters in SVR, so that the generalization performance on unknown data can be improved. To validate the proposed model, the results of the SCA-SVR algorithm were compared with those of grid search and some other meta-heuristics optimization algorithms on common used benchmark datasets. The experimental results proved that the proposed model is capable to find the optimal values of the SVR parameters and can yield promising results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) is a two-dimensional material with a unique electronic band structure. • g-C 3 N 4 can be modified via morphology design, heterostructure construction, heteroatom doping, metal loading, and defect engineering. • Modified g-C 3 N 4 nanocomposites are suitable for different photocatalytic applications. • The superior activity is related to enhanced light response, fast charge carrier separation, and increased unsaturated active sites. Semiconductor photocatalytic technology has shown great prospects in converting solar energy into chemical energy to mitigate energy crisis and solve environmental pollution problems. The key issue is the development of high-efficiency photocatalysts. Various strategies in the state-of-the-art advancements, such as heterostructure construction, heteroatom doping, metal/single atom loading, and defect engineering, have been presented for the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4)-based nanocomposite catalysts to design their surface chemical environments and internal electronic structures to make them more suitable for different photocatalytic applications. In this review, nanoarchitecture design, synthesis methods, photochemical properties, potential photocatalytic applications, and related reaction mechanisms of the modified high-efficiency carbon nitride-based photocatalysts were briefly summarized. The superior photocatalytic performance was identified to be associated with the enhanced visible-light response, fast photoinduced electron-hole separation, efficient charge migration, and increased unsaturated active sites. Moreover, the further advance of the visible-light harvesting and solar-to-energy conversions are proposed. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) have been shown to promote the metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify gene in CAFs that are associated with metastasis and to preliminarily validate its impact on the metastasis of HNSCC. Scissor analysis was utilized to process single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing datasets, identifying genes associated with the metastasis of HNSCC through differential gene expression analysis. A risk model was constructed using LASSO regression analysis. Quantitative real time-PCR and Western blot were employed to measure mRNA and protein expressions, respectively. Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) was used to assess protein expression in CAFs. siRNA was utilized to achieve gene knockdown. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were employed to evaluate the biological characteristics of HNSCC cells. Compare to the nonmetastatic primary CAFs (nmCAFs), tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP1) was founded to be overexpressed in the cells and tissues of metastatic primary CAFs (mCAFs). Knocking down TIMP1 in CAFs can signifucantly inhibit the proliferation, invasion, and migration of HNSCC cells. CAFs facilitate HNSCC cell metastasis by upregulating TIMP1, highlighting TIMP1 as a potential therapeutic target in HNSCC metastasis management. • Scissor analysis integrating single-cell and bulk RNA data from HNSCC identifies metastasis-associated CAFs. • Compared to non-metastatic primary tumors, CAFs in metastatic primary tumors exhibit higher expression of TIMP1. • Knockdown of TIMP1 inhibits proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of HNSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People pay most of time of evening at home after work. Thus, both the indoor thermal comfort and indoor air quality at nighttime have been obtained more attention. The combination application of PCMs with thermal catalytic purification technology in a Trombe wall that realizes all-day formaldehyde removal and space heating can well solve both issues. Here, an all-day purified Trombe Wall was proposed and designed. The thermal and formaldehyde removal performances were experimentally tested in two continuous days. Then the system heat and mass transfer model were established and experimentally verified. Finally, the optimization works on the type and thickness on PCMs were conducted based on the model. The main results were: (1) The experimental results showed that the thermal efficiency and average formaldehyde removal ratio were 50.8 % and 41.6 %, respectively. The total volume of clean air generated in daytime and nighttime were 249.8 m3 and 241.4 m3, respectively. (2) The RSMD values for the model verification were 5.9–9.6 %, which showed the model had a good prediction on the experimental results. (3) The selection of Butyl palmitate at 44 °C as the PCM and the thickness set to 1 cm could make the system have better energy saving and purification performance. • A novel all-day purified Trombe Wall combined PCMs with thermal catalysis. • The full thermal and purification experimental tests in two continuous days. • The optimization works on type and thickness on PCMs based on established model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]