Effects of Different Exogenous Substances on the Protein Conformation and in Vitro Digestion Characteristics of Low-salt Tilapia Surimi

The effects of glutamine transaminase (TGase), hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate (HDP), gellan gum and their complex (THG) on the water distribution and protein conformation of low-salt tilapia surimi gel prepared with microwave and ultrasound were analyzed. In addition, the effects of different exogenous substances on the characteristics of low-salt tilapia fish cake were explored through in vitro digestion experiment. The results showed that compared with the control group, THG increased the bound water and immovable water of surimi to 98.71% and 14.75%, respectively, and significantly decreased the free water content (P<0.05). Moreover, THG promoted the transformation of α-helix to β-folding, β-turning and random curling structures. TGase and THG (0.4%) played important roles on gastric emptying rate, protein digestibility and protein hydrolysis degree of low-salt tilapia cake. THG significantly promoted protein decomposition into aggregates with smaller particle size (P<0.05). After the digestion of stomach and duodenum, color of the THG group products was more transparent and clear. And it could be observed by the laser confocal microscope that the red fluorescence highlights of the THG group were significantly reduced, indicating that proteins had been fully digested. Hence, compared with a single exogenous substance, THG not only promoted the binding of water molecules and proteins and induced the change of protein conformation, but also facilitated the exposure of hydrophobic protein groups and the interaction between proteins, and promoted the digestion and absorption of surimi products in the stomach and duodenum. This project provided a theoretical reference for the research on the gel properties of tilapia surimi and the development and application of tilapia fish cake

An Evaluation of the Coordinated Development of Coastal Zone Systems: A Case Study of China’s Yellow Sea Coast

The coastal zone is an area of transition between land and sea, containing rich resources, and it is an important spatial unit where humans engage in production and livelihood. However, in the process of benefiting from the coastal zone, people have neglected the coordinated development of the ecological environment, the economy, and society. To investigate the coordinated development mechanisms of coastal zone systems influenced by human activities, the DEMATEL (Decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) model was applied to identify the key factors influencing a complex coastal zone system. The results were used to construct an indicator system to evaluate the developmental stages of three coastal zone subsystems (ecological environment (EE), society (SOC), and economy (ECO)). The developmental levels of these subsystems over the past ten years were evaluated in five cities along the Yellow Sea coast of China, and the degrees of coupling and coordination among the subsystems were calculated using the coupling coordination degree model. The results showed that during the past decade, the developmental levels of the EE, SOC, and ECO subsystems increased in all five coastal regions, except for Yancheng, where there was a small decrease in the EE level; the coupling degrees of all five regions were high, and the interactions between the EE, SOC, and ECO were very close; the coordination degree was relatively poor. The mean values of Qingdao and Nantong were at an ‘Intermediate coordination level’, and the other three cities were at the ‘Primary coordination’ or ‘Barely coordination level’. Three types of interactions between the subsystems emerged: (1) three subsystems have benign interactions and collaboration with each other; (2) the EE, SOC, and ECO compete with each other and have fluctuating upward development; (3) there is a focus on development in the SOC and ECO, and there is a neglect of environmental protection. Based on the development trends of the subsystems and the coupling and coordination laws, some suggestions were proposed

Evaluation method for the assessment of artificial coast ecological level: Typical coasts of Tianjin, China

Ecological problems such as coastal damage and hardening are prominent and can be influenced by human activity. It is necessary to carry out ecological restoration tailored to specific coastal ecological conditions. To obtain comparable evaluation results for coast ecological level and analyze the influencing factors, this study presented an evaluation method based on the ecological scenarios of coast sub-parts according to the structural heterogeneity of coast cross-sections. An empirical study of nine typical artificial coasts of Tianjin, China, determined that under the unified assessment guidelines, the overall ecological level of the living coasts was the highest, with fishery coasts being second highest. Meanwhile, the ecological level of the general defense coasts was poor; The load values of each principal component were obtained through principal component analysis, and the significant factors affecting the ecological level of the coast were selected. An orientation system for the ecological restoration of the typical artificial coasts of Tianjin was then established accordingly, which would be useful for guiding future ecological restoration work in coastal areas

Prophylactic laparoscopic omentopexy: a new technique for peritoneal dialysis catheter placement

Background: Prophylactic laparoscopic omentopexy is a safe technique to prevent catheter obstruction during peritoneal dialysis (PD). Here we described a technique through which the omentopexy was accomplished by Hem-o-loks before PD catheter insertion. Methods: The procedures of omentopexy were described. To evaluate the efficiency of this surgical method, a retrospective review of PD catheter insertion cases and their follow-ups were performed, covering 10 consecutive patients with end-stage renal disease. Results: All patients showed no intraoperative events. No catheter flow obstruction, migration, exit-site infection appeared during the follow-up. Conclusion: Laparoscopic PD catheter insertion using omentopexy can decrease catheter obstruction and migration

Double‐Cable Conjugated Polymers with Pendent Near‐Infrared Electron Acceptors for Single‐Component Organic Solar Cells

It has been anticipated that incorporating near-infrared (NIR) electron acceptors into double-cable conjugated polymers will propel the efficiency of single-component organic solar cells (SCOSCs) to a new level, but this kind of polymers has not been reported to date. It is a highly challenging task to develop such polymers due to the synthetic difficulty, and meanwhile realize high performance in SCOSCs owing to the unique charge transport characteristics in NIR acceptors. In this work, we are able to develop double-cable polymers with pendent NIR acceptors via judicious synthetic routes, providing a broad absorption spectrum from 300 nm to 850 nm. More importantly, the charge generation process was significantly improved when replacing two acceptors-substituted monomer by single-substitution in the new double-cable polymers, so that an efficiency over 8% with high photocurrent of 16.6 mA/cm2 could be obtained. In addition, SCOSCs also provided low voltage losses of 0.58 V that was comparable to bulk-heterojunction solar cells. All these results demonstrate the powerful design of NIR acceptors based double-cable polymers and will enable SCOSCs to enter into a new era