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In the context of climate change and urbanization, urban floods have been one of the major issues around the world, causing significant impacts on the society and environment. To effectively handle these floods, an appropriate design of the urban drainage system (UDS) is highly important as its function can significantly influence the flooding severity and distribution. In recent years, evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been increasingly used to design UDS due to their great ability in identifying optimal solutions. However, low computational efficiency and low solution practicality (i.e. the final solutions do not satisfy the design criteria) are major challenges for the majority of EA-based methods. To this end, this paper proposes an improved ant colony optimization (ACO, a typical type of EAs) based method to enhance the UDS design effectiveness, where the optimization efficiency is enhanced by initializing the ACO using an approximate design solution identified by the engineering design method, and the solution practicality is improved by explicitly accounting for the design criteria within the optimization using a proposed sampling method. The utility of the proposed method is demonstrated using two real-world UDSs with different system complexities. Results show that the proposed method can identify design solutions with significantly improved efficiency and solution practicality compared to the traditional design approach, with advantages being more prominent for larger UDS design problems. The proposed method can be used by researchers/ practitioners to explore and develop better understanding of the UDS design alternatives under various challenges of climate change and rapid urbanization.

A popular food in China, soybean seeds and sprouts contained many biologically active substances which are beneficial to the human body, such as flavonoids. Northeast of China is the main producing area of soybean. The experimental materials came from the main soybean producing areas in Northeast China, this study compared flavonoids of two China cultivars of soybeans, Heinong52(HN52) and Heinong71(HN71). Here, we also considered the effects of germination on the chemical profile of flavonoids. Using a LC–ESI–MS/MS system, 114 differential flavonoid metabolites were identified. A total of 18 metabolites were significantly different between the two soybean varieties before germination, of which 14 were up-regulated and 4 were down-regulated. After germination, 33 significantly different metabolites were found in the two soybean sprouts, of which 19 were up-regulated and 14 were down-regulated. These experimental results revealed significant up-regulation of metabolites in soybean sprouts compared with soybean seeds, thus suggesting that soybean germination may increase content of flavonoid metabolites. There are six main pathways for the synthesis of flavonoids: isoflavonoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, flavone and flavonol biosynthesis, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids. Soybean seeds lack flavone and flavanol biosynthesis and develop the capacity for this biosynthetic pathway after germination as sprouts. Isoflavonoid biosynthesis is the most abundantly utilized pathway.

Soybean Mosaic Virus (SMV) is one of the most important soybean diseases in the world, and it seriously affects soybean yield and quality. In this paper, 405 SSR molecular markers were used in genome-wide scan to analysis 327 soybean varieties in the North of China. The purpose was to search the genetic loci and excellent resistance genes related to SMV1 and SMV3, and to reveal the differences between the genetic models of varieties. The results confirmed that the genetic differences among the tested varieties were large. Through the association analysis of the population genome-wide association (GWA) and linkage group association (LGA), 14 highly significant sites related to SN1 and SN3 were found. There are three sites related to SN1 (Sat-297, sat-296, sat-154) which are coincident with or adjacent to the resistance sites found by predecessors; while there are two at SN3 (Sat-154 and sat-726) which are coincident with previous studies, and sat-154 is a resistance site shared by SN1 and SN3. 7 genes related to resistance were obtained, of which Glyma13g25420 and Glycma13g25440, Glyma14g08700 and Glyma14g08710 has resistance genes on the NBS-LRR domain; Glyma14g08900, Glyma14g08910, and Glyma14g08920 have PLP2 (Patation-like Protein) resistance genes. This study provides an important reference for SMV resistance research and technical support for soybean resistance breeding.

Shewanella baltica is a typical specific spoilage organism causing the deterioration of seafood, but the exact regulation of its adaptive and competitive dominance in diverse environments remains undefined. In this study, the regulatory function of two sigma factors, RpoS and RpoN, in environmental adaptation and spoilage potential were evaluated in S. baltica SB02. Two in-frame deletion mutants, ΔrpoS and ΔrpoN, were constructed to explore the roles in their motility, biofilm formation, stress response and spoilage potential, as well as antibiotics by comparing the phenotypes and transcription with those of wild type (WT) strain. Compared with WT strain, the ΔrpoN showed the slower growth and weaker motility due to loss of flagella, while swimming of the ΔrpoS was increased. Deletion of rpoN significantly decreased biofilm biomass, and production of exopolysaccharide and pellicle, resulting in a thinner biofilm structure, while ΔrpoS formed the looser aggregation in biofilm. Resistance of S. baltica to NaCl, heat, ethanol and three oxidizing disinfectants apparently declined in the two mutants compared to WT strain. The ΔrpoN mutant decreased sensory score, accumulation of trimethylamine, putrescine and TVB-N and protease activity, while a weaker effect was observed in ΔrpoS. The two mutants had significantly higher susceptibility to antibiotics than WT strain, especially ΔrpoN. Deficiency of rpoN and rpoS significantly repressed the activities of two diketopiperazines related to quorum sensing (QS). Furthermore, transcriptome analyses revealed that RpoN was involved in the regulation of the expression of 143 genes, mostly including flagellar assembly, nitrogen and amino acid metabolism, ABC transporters. Transcript changes of seven differentially expressed coding sequences were in agreement with the phenotypes observed in the two mutants. Our findings reveal that RpoN, as a central regulator, controls the fitness and bacterial spoilage in S. baltica, while RpoS is a key regulatory factor of stress response. Characterization of these two sigma regulons in Shewanella has expanded current understanding of a possible co-regulatory mechanism with QS for adaptation and spoilage potential.

In recent years, multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) have been widely used to handle various water resources problems. One challenge within MOEAs’ applications is a lack of understanding on how various operators alter a MOEA’s behavior to achieve its final performance (i.e., MOEAs are black-boxes to practitioners), and hence it is difficult to select the most appropriate operators to ensure the MOEA’s best performance for a given real-world problem. To address this issue, this study proposes the use of the run-time measure metrics to reveal the underlying searching behavior of the MOEA’s operators. The proposed methodology is demonstrated by the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II, a widely used MOEA in water resources) with five commonly used crossover operators applied to six water distribution system design problems. Results show that the simulated binary crossover (SBX) and the simplex crossover (SPX) operators possess great ability in extending the front and finding Pareto-front solutions, respectively, while the naive crossover (NVX) strategy exhibits the overall worst performance in identifying optimal fronts. The obtained understanding on the operators’ searching behavior not only offers guidance for selecting appropriate operators for real-world water resources problems, but also builds fundamental knowledge for developing more advanced MOEAs in future.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus (L. rhamnosus) was microencapsulated with Maillard reaction products of whey protein and isomaltooligosaccharide (WIMRPs) through cold gelation within emulsification system and its survival was evaluated after exposure to simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The Maillard reaction of whey protein and isomaltooligosaccharide (4:1) occurred in wet heating conditions (90 °C, 4 h) forming high molecular weight conjugate. The WIMRPs microspheres showed the highest encapsulation yield (88.88%) after cold gelation within emulsification system compared with the microcapsules produced with the mixture of whey protein and isomaltooligosaccharide (WIMIX). The shape of WIMRPs microparticles was more spherical and smooth. The microparticles WIMRPs and WIMIX had mean diameter of 183 μm and 201 μm, respectively. WIMRPs provided better protection of probiotics after exposure of the microparticles to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, with the count of 7.48 and 7.17 log10 cfu/g respectively after 90 min incubation in Simulated Gastric Fluid (SGF) and 3% bile salt solution. The microspheres could be completely released in 60 min.

Data are essential in all areas of geophysics. They are used to better understand and manage systems, either directly or via models. Given the complexity and spatiotemporal variability of geophysical systems (e.g., precipitation), a lack of sufficient data is a perennial problem, which is exacerbated by various drivers, such as climate change and urbanization. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become increasingly prominent as a means of supplementing data obtained from more traditional sources, particularly due to its relatively low implementation cost and ability to increase the spatial and/or temporal resolution of data significantly. Given the proliferation of different crowdsourcing methods in geophysics and the promise they have shown, it is timely to assess the state of the art in this field, to identify potential issues and map out a way forward. In this paper, crowdsourcing-based data acquisition methods that have been used in seven domains of geophysics, including weather, precipitation, air pollution, geography, ecology, surface water, and natural hazard management, are discussed based on a review of 162 papers. In addition, a novel framework for categorizing these methods is introduced and applied to the methods used in the seven domains of geophysics considered in this review. This paper also features a review of 93 papers dealing with issues that are common to data acquisition methods in different domains of geophysics, including the management of crowdsourcing projects, data quality, data processing, and data privacy. In each of these areas, the current status is discussed and challenges and future directions are outlined.

The effect of two fat replacers (inulin and resistant starch) on functional properties and microstructure of imitation Mozzarella cheeses was evaluated. Three groups of imitation Mozzarella cheeses were manufactured by adding 0, 2.4, 4.8, 7.2, 9.6, and 12% (w/w) inulin or resistant starch instead of the fat, respectively. Inclusion of the inulin up to 7.2% in cheese, fat content of it was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased and the moisture and pH values of it were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different. Inclusion of resistant starch up to 9.6% in cheese, fat content of it was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) decreased and the moisture and pH values of it were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) different. The physical properties of these cheeses were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) among them. The textural properties were determined by instrumental texture profile. With increased levels of inulin or resistant starch from 2.4 to 12% (w/w), the hardness of the resultant imitation cheeses were significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05),...

Over the last two decades, evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have become a popular approach for solving water resources optimization problems. However, the issue of low computational efficiency limits their application to large, realistic problems. This paper uses the optimal design of water distribution systems (WDSs) as an example to illustrate how the efficiency of genetic algorithms (GAs) can be improved by using heuristic domain knowledge in the sampling of the initial population. A new heuristic procedure called the Prescreened Heuristic Sampling Method (PHSM) is proposed and tested on seven WDS cases studies of varying size. The EPANet input files for these case studies are provided as supplementary material. The performance of the PHSM is compared with that of another heuristic sampling method and two non-heuristic sampling methods. The results show that PHSM clearly performs best overall, both in terms of computational efficiency and the ability to find near-optimal solutions. In addition, the relative advantage of using the PHSM increases with network size. A new heuristic sampling method is introduced for the optimization of WDSs using GAs.The proposed PHSM performs better than three other sampling methods.The advantages are both in efficiency and the ability to find near-optimal solutions.The relative advantage of using the PHSM increases with network size and complexity.

Summary The effect of glycosylation treatment coupled with microwave heating (MH) on gel properties and structure change of casein were investigated. Conjugation was confirmed by electrophoresis. Protein disulphide bonds were broken by microwave irradiation to create an increase first and a decrease later in free sulfhydryl contents with time, thereby inducing subunit disaggregation. Also, the exposure of hydrophobic core residues was increased in MH-treated casein, which brings about protein disaggregation and unfolding. It showed that graft reactions by MH had much faster than those by water bath heating (WH). The content of disulphide bonds is 7.2% and 6.0% in the casein–glucose and casein–β-cyclodextrin, respectively, treated by MH which was reduced significantly than that of treated by WH. Moreover, MH can increase the hardness of the gel. Consequently, MH could improve the efficiency of the reaction and gel properties.

Five batches of Cheddar cheese were manufactured containing different levels of isomaltooligosaccharide (IMO) and a probiotic strain of Lactobacillus rhamnosus to study the effect of IMO on the survival of starter lactococci and probiotic micro-organisms, on proteolytic patterns, cheese composition and sensory properties. The cheese was exposed to conditions simulating those found in the gastrointestinal tract to evaluate the survival of Lb. rhamnosus. Results demonstrated that the addition of Lb. rhamnosus and IMO did not affect the main compositional variables of Cheddar cheese. The counts of starter culture and probiotic organisms increased in cheese which contained Isomaltooligosaccharide (Batches 3, 4 and 5) more than in the control (Batches 1 and 2) during the fermentation. The probiotic counts in fresh cheese (B-4) was 9.23 log10 cfu/g which was more than one log cycle greater than in the control (B-2). The probiotic counts remained above 8 log10 cfu/g at the end of the manufacturing process. Primary proteolysis was not affected by the addition of probiotic bacteria and IMO, but the level of secondary proteolysis was slightly higher compared with the control group. The addition of IMO improved the texture and sensory quality of the cheese and the probiotic bacterium had the same effect. Under conditions that simulated the gastrointestinal tract, the probiotic bacteria in cheese (B-4) exhibited good survival and remained above the recommended 6–7 log10 cfu/g.

The relationship between membrane damage, leakage of intracellular compounds, and inactivation of Escherichia coli treated by pressurized CO2 was investigated by assessing the inactivation, bacterial cell membrane permeability, the leakage of protein, nucleic acid, and K(+) and Mg(2+) of E. coli. The results indicated that pressurized CO2 treatment induced the leakage of protein in E. coli, but the time of leakage was lagged behind the time of 99% E. coli inactivation, so it was only the secondary phenomenon of inactivation. The inactivation of E. coli was related to the leakage of nucleic acid, K(+) , Mg(2+) induced by the pressurized CO2 treatment. There was direct relationship between the inactivation of E. coli and the damaging effect of pressurized CO2 treatment on the cell membrane of E. coli.

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been used extensively for the optimization of water distribution systems (WDSs) over the last two decades. However, computational efficiency can be a problem, especially when EAs are applied to complex problems that have multiple competing objectives. In order to address this issue, there has been a move toward developing EAs that identify near-optimal solutions within acceptable computational budgets, rather than necessarily identifying globally optimal solutions. This paper contributes to this work by developing and testing a method for identifying high-quality initial populations for multiobjective EAs (MOEAs) for WDS design problems aimed at minimizing cost and maximizing network resilience. This is achieved by considering the relationship between pipe size and distance to the source(s) of water, as well as the relationship between flow velocities and network resilience. The benefit of using the proposed approach compared with randomly generating initial popu...

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) have been used extensively to find globally optimal solutions for water distribution system (WDS) optimization problems. However, as these algorithms are being applied to increasingly complex systems, computational efficiency is becoming an issue, and hence approaches that enable near-optimal solutions to be identified within reasonable computational budgets have received increasing attention. One of these approaches is the initialization of EAs in a manner that accounts for domain knowledge of WDS design problems. Although the effectiveness of these initialization approaches has been studied previously, the impact of algorithm searching behavior on the speed with which near-optimal solutions can be found has not yet been examined. To this end, this study aims to investigate the relative impact of different algorithm initialization methods and searching mechanisms on the speed with which near-optimal solutions can be identified for large WDS optimization problems. Fit...

This paper proposes the use of online retrained metamodels for the optimization of water distribution system (WDS) design. In these metamodels, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used to replace the full hydraulic and water quality simulation models and differential evolution (DE) is utilized to carry out the optimization. The ANNs in the proposed online DE-ANN model are retrained periodically during the optimization in order to improve their approximation to the appropriate portion of the search space. In addition, a local search strategy is used to further polish the final solution obtained by the online DE-ANN model. Three case studies are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed online retrained DE-ANN model for which both hydraulic and water quality constraints are considered. In order to enable a performance comparison, a model in which a DE is combined with a full hydraulic and water quality simulation model (DE-EPANET2.0) and an offline DE-ANN model (ANNs are trained only once a...

Caseins are the predominant proteins in milk. The Maillard reaction is a non-enzymatic reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids. This work investigated the impact of ultrasound pretreatment on the Maillard reaction and functional properties of glycated casein. Casein solution was treated with ultrasound for 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 min prior to Maillard reaction. Results revealed that the absorbance at 294 nm reached maximum after 20 min of ultrasound pretreatment. Moreover, glycated casein obtained by Maillard reaction coupled with 20 min ultrasound pretreatment had the highest water holding capacity 67.81% ± 1.72%, gel strength 165.05 ± 2.72 g, the emulsifying activity index 91.76 m2/g, the emulsion stability index 20.67 min, reducing power 0.682 compared with other samples. The results of SEM confirmed microstructure of gel improved. Consequently, ultrasonic pretreatment could improve the efficiency of the reaction. Moreover, ultrasonic pretreatment had certain impact on the functional properties of Maillard reaction products. Practical applications Casein solution was treated with ultrasonic pretreatment prior to Maillard reaction. Ultrasonic pretreatment can increase the reaction rate of casein and glucose. Ultrasonic pretreatment had improved functional properties of glycated casein. Therefore, it pointed out the usefulness of ultrasound as an effective method of pretreatment to promote the formation of functional ingredients by Maillard reaction.

Pipeline protection retaining wall, as a main type of hydraulic protection projects, is sometimes destroyed by flood scour, causing local or overall deformation and the acceleration of destruction of hydraulic retaining wall along river bend. It poses a great threat to the normal operation of pipeline. Based on the structure characteristics and the damage form of hydraulic retaining wall in long distance transportation pipeline along river bend under flood scouring, this article presents a numerical model of the retaining wall and analyzes the deformation characteristics in flood period, especially the influence of riverbed lateral widening depth, the water level changing and the flow rate of flood. The results of the study show that the silt shears failure when the flood scouring forced is greater than silt shear force, causing the basal silt incision and scouring. There is a positive correlation between the deformation characteristics of retaining wall and the dropping amplitude of flood water level. Compared with the rising flood period, the retaining wall is more likely to overturn. Lateral widening depth and the falling amplitude of flood are the main parameters to the anti-overturning stability of wall. Improving the retaining wall drainage ability and strengthening the foundation protection of retaining wall are effective measures to alleviate the deformation of hydraulic retaining wall.

The relationship between membrane damage, leakage of intracellular compounds, and inactivation of Escherichia coli treated by pressurized CO2 was investigated by assessing the inactivation, bacterial cell membrane permeability, the leakage of protein, nucleic acid, and K(+) and Mg(2+) of E. coli. The results indicated that pressurized CO2 treatment induced the leakage of protein in E. coli, but the time of leakage was lagged behind the time of 99% E. coli inactivation, so it was only the secondary phenomenon of inactivation. The inactivation of E. coli was related to the leakage of nucleic acid, K(+) , Mg(2+) induced by the pressurized CO2 treatment. There was direct relationship between the inactivation of E. coli and the damaging effect of pressurized CO2 treatment on the cell membrane of E. coli.

The aim is to investigate differences of thermal texture mapping (TTM) between benign and malignant breast diseases. After receiving TTM, 100 patients were categorized into three groups in normal patient, benign change and malignant lesion. TTM demonstrated that the malignant lesion mostly appeared thermal features and deeper layer position with surrounding or penetrating vessels, and irregular thermal spread pattern with spinal margin in breast; there also appeared deeper layer abnormal thermal source in axilla and abnormal thermal pattern with circular, asteroid and agaric-like shape fixed near the left side of Angle of Louise of the sternum, which was irrelative to abnormal thermoradiation and lesion position in breast. Therefore, the difference of TTM appearance definitely exists between benign and malignant breast diseases.