Improved extractability of carotenoids from tomato peels as side benefits of PEF treatment of tomato fruit for more energy-efficient steam-assisted peeling

Abstract The combination of steam blanching (SB) with Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) treatments of whole tomatoes, in addition to reducing the energy required for tomato peeling, can significantly contribute to the recovery of carotenoids from the peels. In this work, PEF (0.25-0-75 kV/cm, 1 kJ/kg) and SB (1 min at 50–70 °C), as pre-treatment prior to hand peeling, were investigated to assess their ability, separately and in combination, to induce the cell permeabilization of tomato peels, and hence to improve the carotenoids extraction in acetone (4 h at 25 °C). PEF and SB, by inducing significant damages at the cuticular level, caused the increase of the yield in total carotenoids (up to 188% for PEF and 189% for SB) and antioxidant power (up to 372% for PEF and 305% for SB) with respect to the peels from untreated tomatoes. The application of a combined treatment (PEF + SB) significantly increased the carotenoid content and the antioxidant power of the extracts, with a synergistic effect observed already at 60 °C (37.9 mg/100 g fresh weight tomato peels). HPLC analyses revealed that lycopene was the main carotenoid extracted and that neither PEF nor SB caused any selective release or degradation of lycopene. Results obtained from this study demonstrate that the integration of PEF in the processing line of tomato fruits prior to SB contributes to the valorization of tomato processing by-products

Adaptive Mixed-Integer Linear Programming-Based Energy Management System of Fast Charging Station with Nuclear–Renewable Hybrid Energy System

The concept of transportation electrification is proliferating due to its high impact on emission reduction. However, the increased usage of electric vehicles strains the power grid’s charging infrastructure. As a result, to reduce demand on the power grid, lower the emissions, and solve the intermittency problem of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs), a Nuclear–renewable Hybrid Energy System (N-R HES) is proposed in this research to support the load demand of a Fast Charging Station (FCS). Fulfilling the power demand of the FCS while reducing the generation cost and waste of energy is a vital issue, and hence, energy management with optimization is a must for the hybrid energy system. To address this issue, a model reference adaptive control with a mixed-integer linear programming-based energy management method was modelled to accomplish the charging station’s extensive performance. MATLAB/Simulink software has been used to model and simulate the proposed system, and the results are analyzed. The assessment shows that the proposed energy management system offers an optimized performance of the fast charging station integrating with nuclear and renewable energy

Design of Fast Charging Station with Energy Management for eBuses

The popularity of the eBus has been increasing rapidly in recent years due to its low greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and its low dependence on fossil fuels. This incremental use of the eBus increases the burden to the power grid for its charging. Charging eBus requires a high amount of power for a feasible amount of time. Therefore, developing a fast-charging station (FCS) integrated with Micro Energy Grid (MEG) and hybrid energy storage is crucial for charging eBuses. This paper presents a design of FCS for eBus that integrates MEG with hybrid energy storage with the energy management system. To reduce the dependency on the main utility grid, a hybrid micro energy grid based on a renewable source (i.e., PV) have been included. In addition, hybrid energy storage of batteries and flywheels has also been developed to mitigate the power demand of the fast-charging station during peak time. Furthermore, a multiple-input DC-DC converter has been developed for managing the DC power transfer between the common DC bus and the multiple energy sources. Finally, an energy management system and the controller has been designed to achieve an extensive performance from the fast charging station. MATLAB Simulink has been used for the simulation work of the overall design. Different test case scenarios are tested for evaluating the performance parameters of the proposed FCS and also for evaluating its performance

Design of Fast Charging Station with Energy Management for eBuses

The popularity of the eBus has been increasing rapidly in recent years due to its low greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and its low dependence on fossil fuels. This incremental use of the eBus increases the burden to the power grid for its charging. Charging eBus requires a high amount of power for a feasible amount of time. Therefore, developing a fast-charging station (FCS) integrated with Micro Energy Grid (MEG) and hybrid energy storage is crucial for charging eBuses. This paper presents a design of FCS for eBus that integrates MEG with hybrid energy storage with the energy management system. To reduce the dependency on the main utility grid, a hybrid micro energy grid based on a renewable source (i.e., PV) have been included. In addition, hybrid energy storage of batteries and flywheels has also been developed to mitigate the power demand of the fast-charging station during peak time. Furthermore, a multiple-input DC-DC converter has been developed for managing the DC power transfer between the common DC bus and the multiple energy sources. Finally, an energy management system and the controller has been designed to achieve an extensive performance from the fast charging station. MATLAB Simulink has been used for the simulation work of the overall design. Different test case scenarios are tested for evaluating the performance parameters of the proposed FCS and also for evaluating its performance

The Maxi-K (BK) Channel Antagonist Penitrem A as a Novel Breast Cancer-Targeted Therapeutic

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease with different molecular subtypes. The high conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (BK, Maxi-K channels) play an important role in the survival of some BC phenotypes, via membrane hyperpolarization and regulation of cell cycle. BK channels have been implicated in BC cell proliferation and invasion. Penitrems are indole diterpene alkaloids produced by various terrestrial and marine Penicillium species. Penitrem A (1) is a selective BK channel antagonist with reported antiproliferative and anti-invasive activities against multiple malignancies, including BC. This study reports the high expression of BK channel in different BC subtypes. In silico BK channel binding affinity correlates with the antiproliferative activities of selected penitrem analogs. 1 showed the best binding fitting at multiple BK channel crystal structures, targeting the calcium-sensing aspartic acid moieties at the calcium bowel and calcium binding sites. Further, 1 reduced the levels of BK channel expression and increased expression of TNF-α in different BC cell types. Penitrem A (1) induced G1 cell cycle arrest of BC cells, and induced upregulation of the arrest protein p27. Combination treatment of 1 with targeted anti-HER drugs resulted in synergistic antiproliferative activity, which was associated with reduced EGFR and HER2 receptor activation, as well as reduced active forms of AKT and STAT3. Collectively, the BK channel antagonists represented by penitrem A can be novel sensitizing, chemotherapeutics synergizing, and therapeutic agents for targeted BC therapy

High intensity pulsed light as pre-treatment for enzymatic hydrolysis to modify whey protein

Introduction. Food allergies are hypersensitivity reactions mediated by immune mechanisms triggered by the presence of antigens –generally proteins- in food, such as those found in cows‘ milk. International guidelines recommend the use of extensively hydrolyzed formulas as alternative for children with Cow milk allergy. Strategies to reduce allergenicity of food proteins comprise treatments such as heating and hydrolysis. Non-thermal treatments are able to induce protein modifications similarly to thermal treatments; however less damage is produced by these innovative processing methods. Thus, high intensity pulsed light (HIPL) technology can be proposed alternatively to thermal treatments to assist on the reduction of food allergenicity. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of the use of HIPL treatment previous to enzymatic hydrolysis, applied to modify the antigenicity of target proteins, such as whey proteins. Materials and Methods. Experiments were carried out to verify the effectiveness of HIPL technology to accelerate protein hydrolysis reaction with a selected enzyme. The combined treatments are an alternative to induce further modification of proteins structure in order to affect their allergenic power. For this purpose, samples of whey solution were submitted to different HIPL-energy doses (0, 1, 3, 5, 8 and 12 J/cm2) at a fixed distance from the light source. Untreated sample was used as control. For the combined treatment, bromelain was added to HIPL pre-treated samples at an enzyme/ substrate ratio of 1/10 (w/w). Hydrolysis was carried out for 0, 5, 10, 20, or 30 min. Results. Concerning the efficiency of HIPL treatment to induce protein unfolding, the highest exposure of free SH groups took place upon the highest energy doses. When HIPL treatment was combined with enzymatic hydrolysis, a raise in the degree of hydrolysis was observed, particularly at the highest energy levels tested. Conclusions. Results obtained in the present work suggest that, even if an increased antigenicity potentially occurs due to the exposure of hidden linear epitopes upon the unfolding induced by the non-thermal treatment assayed, further peptide bonds cleavage also take place after hydrolysis. This effect could change whey proteins antigens, and thus its antigenic power. Although further studies are required these preliminary result is promising

(−)-Oleocanthal Prevents Breast Cancer Locoregional Recurrence After Primary Tumor Surgical Excision and Neoadjuvant Targeted Therapy in Orthotopic Nude Mouse Models

Breast cancer (BC) recurrence represents a challenge for survivors who have had their primary tumors surgically excised, and/or have completed radiation, neoadjuvant, or adjuvant therapeutic regimens. Current BC treatments mostly lack the ability to reduce the risk of disease recurrence. About 70% of BC patients will subsequently suffer disease relapse, manifesting as local, regional, or distant tumor recurrence, which clearly underscores the urgent need to discover novel recurrence inhibitors. (−)-Oleocanthal (OC) is a natural phenolic, found so far exclusively in extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO). OC exerts documented bioactivities against diverse cancer types, inflammation, and neurodegenerative diseases. Herein we report the novel activity of daily oral treatment with OC (10 mg/kg) in preventing BC locoregional recurrence in a nude mouse xenograft model generated by orthotopic inoculation with BT-474 cells as a luminal type B model. We further report inhibition of tumor recurrence by OC after completion of a lapatinib neoadjuvant regimen. However, in a recurrence model of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), OC treatment (10 mg/kg) did not effectively prevent tumor recurrence, but rather, was seen to significantly reduce the growth of recurrent tumors as compared to vehicle control-treated animals. Inhibition of tumor recurrence was associated with significant serum level reductions of the human BC recurrence marker CA 15-3 at the study end in animals treated with OC. OC treatment upregulated the expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and downregulated the levels of the mesenchymal marker vimentin in recurrent tumors vs. untreated control animals. OC treatment also reduced the activation of MET and HER2 receptors, as indicated by reduced phosphorylation levels of these proteins in recurrent tumors vs. controls. Collectively, the results of our studies provide the first evidence for suppression of BC tumor recurrence by oral OC treatment in an animal model for such recurrence, and furthermore, highlight favorable prospects for this natural product to emerge as a first-in-class BC recurrence inhibitor

Demonstration of Resilient Microgrid with Real-Time Co-Simulation and Programmable Loads

In recent years, the foment for sustainable and reliable micro energy grid (MEG) systems has increased significantly, aiming mainly to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, provide low-cost clean energy, lighten the burden, and increase the stability and reliability of the regional electrical grid by having interconnected and centralized clean energy sources, and ensure energy resilience for the population. A resilient energy system typically consists of a system able to control the energy flow effectively by backing up the intermittent output of renewable sources, reducing the effects of the peak demand on the grid side, considering the impact on dispatch and reliability, and providing resilient features to ensure minimum operation interruptions. This paper aims to demonstrate a real-time simulation of a microgrid capable of predicting and ensuring energy lines run correctly to prevent or shorten outages on the grid when it is subject to different disturbances by using energy management with a fail-safe operation and redundant control. In addition, it presents optimized energy solutions to enhance the situational awareness of energy grid operators based on a graphical and interactive user interface. To expand the MEG’s capability, the setup integrates real implemented hardware components with the emulated components based on real-time simulation using OPAL-RT OP4510. Most hardware components are implemented in the lab to be modular, expandable, and flexible for various test scenarios, including fault imitation. They include but are not limited to the power converter, inverter, battery charger controller, relay drivers, programmable AC and DC loads, PLC, and microcontroller-based controller. In addition, the real-time simulation offers a great variety of power sources and energy storage such as wind turbine emulators and flywheels in addition to the physical sources such as solar panels, supercapacitors, and battery packs