Effect of various different pretreatment methods on infrared combined hot air impingement drying behavior and physicochemical properties of strawberry slices

In current work, the effect of freezing (F), ultrasound (U), and freeze- ultrasound (FU) pretreatment on infrared combined with hot air impingement drying kinetics, cell ultrastructure, enzyme activity, and physicochemical properties of strawberry slices were explored. Results showed that FU pretreatment enhanced cell membrane permeability via forming micropores, altered water status by transforming bound water into free water and thus promoted moisture diffusivity and decreased drying time by 50% compared to the control group. FU pretreatment also extensively decreased pectin methylesterase enzyme activity and maintained quality. The contents of total phenols, anthocyanins, vitamin C, antioxidant activity, and a* value of dried strawberries pretreated by FU were extensively increased compared to the control group. U and FU pretreatments were beneficial for retaining aromatic components and organic sulfides according to e-nose analyses. The findings indicate that FU is a promising pretreatment technique as it enhances drying process and quality of strawberry slices.

Evolution of the Magnetic Excitations in Electron-Doped La_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4}

We investigated the high energy spin excitations in electron-doped La_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4}, a cuprate superconductor, by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements. Efforts were paid to disentangle the paramagnon signal from non-spin-flip spectral weight mixing in the RIXS spectrum at Q_{∥}=(0.6π,0) and (0.9π,0) along the (1 0) direction. Our results show that, for doping level x from 0.07 to 0.185, the variation of the paramagnon excitation energy is marginal. We discuss the implication of our results in connection with the evolution of the electron correlation strength in this system.

Modified posterior fibular groove deepening procedure with repair of the superior peroneal retinaculum for peroneal tendon subluxation

PURPOSE

To evaluate the clinical results of modified peroneal sulcus deepening combined with superior peroneal retinaculum repair in peroneal tendon subluxation treatment.

METHODS

From 2016 to 2020, 18 patients with peroneal tendon subluxation were diagnosed and treated; all patients underwent modified peroneal sulcus deepening combined with superior peroneal retinaculum repair. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot (AOFAS-AH) score, and subjective patient satisfaction were evaluated before surgery and during follow-up.

RESULTS

The operative time was 66.44 ± 5.22 min. All patients' surgical incisions showed grade A healing, and there were no complications. All patients were followed up for 24-48 months; no patients were lost to follow-up. At the last follow-up, the VAS and AOFAS-AH scores were significantly improved compared with those pre-operatively (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the activity of the 18 patients between pre- and post-operatively, and all patients recovered their normal gait before injury.

CONCLUSION

Modified fibular groove deepening combined with superior peroneal retinaculum repair for treating peroneal tendon subluxation may be a simple operation with minimal trauma, rapid recovery, and good clinical efficacy.

Measurement of the toroidal radiation asymmetry during massive gas injection triggered disruptions on J-TEXT

Disruptions have the potential to cause severe damage to large tokamaks like ITER. The mitigation of disruption damage is one of the essential issues for the tokamak. Massive gas injection (MGI) is a technique in which large amounts of a noble gas are injected into the plasma in order to safely radiate the plasma energy evenly over the entire plasma-facing wall. However, the radiated energy during the disruption triggered by massive gas injection is found to be toroidally asymmetric. In order to investigate the spatial and temporal structures of the radiation asymmetry, the radiated power diagnostics for the J-TEXT tokamak have been upgraded. The multi-channel arrays of absolute extreme ultraviolet photodiodes have been upgraded at four different toroidal positions to investigate the radiation asymmetries during massive gas injection. It is found that the toroidal asymmetry is associated with plasma properties and MGI induced MHD activities.

Design of a shattered pellet injection system on J-TEXT tokamak

Disruptions have the possibility of causing severe wall damage to large tokamaks like ITER. The mitigation of disruption damage is essential to the safe operation of a large-scale tokamak. The shattered pellet injection (SPI) technique, which is regarded as the primary injection method for ITER, presents several advantages relative to massive gas injection, including more rapid particle delivery, higher total particle assimilation, and more centrally peaked particle deposition. A dedicated argon SPI system that focuses on disruption mitigation and runaway current dissipation has been designed for the Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT). A refrigerator is used to form a single argon pellet at around 64 K. The pellet will be shaped with a 5 mm diameter and a 1.5-10 mm length. Helium gas at room temperature will be used as a propellant gas for pellet acceleration. The pellet can be injected with a speed of 150-300 m/s. The time interval between injection cycles is about 8 min. The pellet will be shattered at the edge of the plasma and then injected into the core of plasma. The first experiments of SPI fast shutdown and runaway current dissipation have been performed.

Vertical fast electron bremsstrahlung diagnostic on J-TEXT tokamak

Fast electron bremsstrahlung (FEB) emission during Ohmic discharge experiments on the Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT) has been measured by a recently developed vertical multi-channel FEB diagnostic based on CdZnTe detectors. There are 5 sight lines to observe the vertical emission of fast electrons at the high-field side with a spatial resolution of 5 cm. The FEB emission in the energy range of 30-300 keV can be measured. The generation of fast electrons accelerated by loop voltage has been confirmed during the early phase of discharge by analyzing the signals of FEB emission. The runaway electron beam instabilities have been observed with the FEB diagnostic on J-TEXT.

Effect of ulinastatin on HMGB1 expression in rats with acute lung injury induced by sepsis

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of ulinastatin (UTI) on high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6 expression in acute lung injury (ALI) rats with sepsis caused by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) surgery, as well as to examine the underlying biological mechanism. Thirty rats were randomly and evenly divided into sham (control), CLP, and CLP + UTI groups. Thirty minutes after the surgery, the rats in the CLP + UTI group received UTI via the caudal vein, while normal saline was administered to rats in the other groups. Blood, lung tissues, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were collected at different time points (6, 12, 24, and 48 h) after surgery for determination of related indicators. Compared with the CLP group, rats in the CLP + UTI group exhibited higher seven day survival rates, less lung injury, and decreased HMGB1 expression in the lung tissue, serum, and BALF. In addition, the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 at 24 h in the CLP + UTI group were markedly lower than those in the CLP group. These results suggest that by deregulation, UTI might decrease the lung injury and increase the survival time of ALI rats by downregulating HMGB1 expression as well as by inhibiting TNF-α and IL-6 levels in serum and BALF.

A modified rat model for cannulation and collection of thoracic duct lymph

Difficulty in collecting lymph samples in small animals has impeded studies on lymphatic function and lymph composition. Here we report a simple and effective modified rat model for thoracic duct lymph drainage where animals remain in full consciousness and have free movement and access to water and food over 12 hours. The operative procedure required approximately 30 minutes to perform. Mean lymph drainage was 0.71 +/- 0.33 ml/h, and protein concentration did not change significantly (mean 37 +/- 2.59 mg/ml) over the 12 hours. However, the number of lymphocytes fluctuated widely between 0.08 +/- 0.03 x 10(6)/ml and 12.17 +/- 6.58 x 10(6)/ml. This modified animal model of thoracic duct lymph collection avoids influences of lipid intake, general anesthesia, or limited activity of animals on experimental outcomes, and therefore more accurately reflects lymph flow and composition under normal physiological conditions.

Strong light-induced negative optical pressure arising from kinetic energy of conduction electrons in plasmon-type cavities

We found that very strong negative optical pressure can be induced in plasmonic cavities by LC resonance. This interesting effect could be described qualitatively by a Lagrangian model which shows that the negative optical pressure is driven by the internal inductance and the kinetic energy of the conduction electrons. If the metal is replaced by perfect conductors, the optical pressure becomes much smaller and positive.

Longitudinal elliptically polarized electromagnetic waves in off-diagonal magnetoelectric split-ring composites

We study the propagation of plane electromagnetic waves through different systems consisting of arrays of split rings of different orientations. Many extraordinary EM phenomena were discovered in such systems, contributed by the off-diagonal magnetoelectric susceptibilities. We find a mode such that the electric field becomes elliptically polarized with a component in the longitudinal direction (i.e. parallel to the wavevector). Even though the group velocity [Formula: see text] and the wavevector k are parallel, in the presence of damping, the Poynting vector does not just get 'broadened', but can possess a component perpendicular to the wavevector. The speed of light can be real even when the product ϵμ is negative. Other novel properties are explored.

Probing states with macroscopic circulations in magnetic photonic crystals

We predict that when light is reflected off a magnetic photonic crystal (MPC) there is a grazing component that is parallel to the surface; the magnitude of this component can be changed by an external field. The direction of this parallel component is reversed as the direction of the magnetization is reversed. This provides a way to probe states with macroscopic circulations inside the MPC.

Manipulating electromagnetic radiation with magnetic photonic crystals

We examine manipulating electromagnetic waves in magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs) with external magnetic fields. We predict new giant magnetoreflectivity and giant magnetorefractivity effects: with an external magnetic field of a magnitude much smaller than the anisotropy field of the ferromagnet, the MPC can be changed from completely reflecting to nonreflecting with corresponding changes in the angle of refraction. Application to the storage of electromagnetic radiation is also discussed.

Multilayer structures as negative refractive and left-handed materials

We examine multilayer structures as negative refractive index and left-handed materials, and find that for one polarization there is a wide range (≈90°) of incident angle within which negative refraction will occur. This comes about because the group velocity and the Poynting vector have a large component parallel to the layers, no matter what the angle of incidence of the incoming radiation is. This behaviour in turn comes from the large anisotropy of the phase velocities. If one of the components is a ferromagnetic metal, the system can be a left-handed material above the ferromagnetic resonance frequency.

Development of quantitative structure activity relationships in toxicity prediction of complex mixtures

AIM

To predict the toxicity of mixtures of halogenated benzenes (narcotics).

METHODS

Acute toxicity test of single chemicals and mixtures was performed using Photobacterium phosphoreum. Partition coefficients of mixtures were calculated by a special equation. Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies were carried out based on results of toxicity tests, n-octanol/water partition coefficient (Kow), and partition coefficient of mixtures (Kmix).

RESULTS

1) There was a good relationship between toxicity and lgKow for single compounds. 2) QSAR analysis showed a perfect correlation between the calculated Kmix and the mixture toxicity for binary mixtures. 3) Using the QSAR model of binary mixtures, the toxicity of other related mixtures containing different composition and fraction was predicted very well.

CONCLUSION

The toxicity of halogenated benzene mixtures (narcotics) was predicted by QSAR. This kind of study is helpful for assessing the toxicity of narcotic mixtures.

Photosynthetic characteristics of Amaranthus tricolor, a C4 tropical leafy vegetable

The gas exchange characteristics are reported for Amaranthus tricolor, a C4 vegetable amaranth of southeastern Asia. Maximum photosynthetic capacity was 48.3±1.0μmol CO2 m(-2)s(-1) and the temperature optimum was 35°C. The calculated intercellular CO2 concentration at this leaf temperature and an incident photon flux (400-700 mm) of 2 mmol m(-2)s(-1) averaged 208±14 μl l(-1), abnormally high for a C4 species. The photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, and leaf conductance all decreased with an increase in water vapor pressure deficit. However, the decrease in leaf conductance which resulted in a decrease in intercellular CO2 concentration accounted for only one fourth of the observed decrease in photosynthetic rate as water vapor pressure deficit was increased. Subsequent measurements indicated that the depence of net photosynthesis on intercellular CO2 concetration changed with water vapor pressure deficit.

Protein kinases from spinach chloroplasts. I. Purification and identification of two distinct protein kinases

Two protein kinases (chloroplast protein kinases 1 and 2 (ChlPK1 and ChlPK2)) were isolated from spinach chloroplasts. After solubilization of the chloroplasts with octylglucoside and cholate, these kinases were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, sucrose gradient centrifugation, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. ChlPK1 traveled as a single band in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis corresponding to 25,000 daltons; ChlPK2 traveled as a single band corresponding to 38,000 daltons. After exposure to 8-azido-[gamma-32P]ATP, the radioactive bands appeared in the same positions revealed by Coomassie blue staining. However, a trace of ChlPK2 was detected in the ChlPK1 preparation and a faint second lower molecular weight radioactive band was seen in the ChlPK2 preparations. Both enzymes acted on casein or histone IIIS as substrate and phosphorylated a serine residue. The proteolytic peptide maps, however, were clearly distinguishable in autoradiograms, suggesting that different serine residues were phosphorylated by ChlPK1 and ChlPK2.