Electrospun polymer nanofibers: the booming cutting edge technology

Electrospinning has been recognized as a simple and efficient technique for the fabrication of ultrathin fibers from a variety of materials including polymers, composite and ceramics. Significant progress has been made throughout the past years in electrospinning and the resulting fibrous structures have been exploited in a wide range of potential applications. This article reviews the state-of-art of electrospinning to prepare fibrous electrode materials and polymer electrolytes based on electrospun membranes in the view of their physical and electrochemical properties for the application in lithium batteries. The review covers the electrospinning process, the governing parameters and their influence on fiber or membrane morphology. After a brief discussion of some potential applications associated with the remarkable features of electrospun membranes, we highlight the exploitation of this cutting edge technology in lithium batteries. Finally the article is concluded with some personal perspectives on the future directions in the fascinating field of energy storag

Dietary Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) Effects Lipid Metabolism in Broiler Chicks

Dietary CLA increased triglyceride, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol levels in plasma. The increased plasma triglyceride level could be caused by increased fatty acid synthesis in liver after CLA feeding, because the activity of fatty acid synthase in liver increased after dietary CLA treatment. Dietary CLA changed fatty acid composition of feces, but had no effect on fat content. Comparing to the linoleic and linolenic acids available in diets, ratios for their excretion into feces in CLA treated birds were significantly higher than those in control diet. Liver weight of broilers significantly increased after CLA feeding, but there was no difference in liver fat content among the different CLA treatments. CLA treatment did not influence total free fatty acid content in plasma, while there was significant difference in composition of free fatty acids. Dietary CLA reduced the content of linoleic and arachidonic acids in both plasma and liver

Volatile Production of Irradiated Normal, PSE, and DFD Pork

With both aerobic and vacuum packaging, irradiation increased the production of sulfur-containing volatiles in all three pork types (normal, PSE, DFD) at day 0, but did not increase hexanal - the major indicator volatile of lipid oxidation. PSE pork produced the lowest amount of total sulfur-containing volatiles in both aerobically and vacuum-packaged pork at day 0. Majority of sulfurcontaining volatiles produced in meat by irradiation evaporated during the 10-day storage period under aerobic packaging conditions. With vacuum packaging, however, the all the volatiles produced by irradiation remained in the packaging bag during storage. Irradiation had no relationship with lipid oxidation-related volatiles (e.g., hexanal) in both aerobic and vacuum-packaged raw pork. DFD muscle was very stable and resistant to oxidative changes in both irradiated and nonirradiated pork during storage, suggesting that irradiation can significantly increase the use of raw DFD pork and greatly benefit pork industry

Quality Characteristics of Aerobically Packaged and Irradiated Normal, PSE, and DFD Pork

Irradiation and storage increased lipid oxidation of normal and pale-soft-exudative (PSE) muscles, whereas dark-firm-dry (DFD) muscle was very stable and resistant to oxidative changes. Irradiation increased redness regardless of pork-quality type, and the increases were proportional to irradiation dose. Irradiation increased the production of sulfurcontaining volatiles, but not lipid oxidation products. The total volatiles produced in normal and PSE pork were higher than that in the DFD pork. Some volatiles produced in meat by irradiation evaporated during storage under aerobic packaging conditions. Nonirradiated normal and DFD pork had higher odor preference scores than the nonirradiated PSE, but irradiation reduced the preference scores of all three pork-quality types. This suggests that irradiation can significantly increase the use of DFD pork, and can greatly benefit pork and beef industries

Quality Characteristics of Vacuum-Packaged, Irradiated Normal, PSE, and DFD Pork

Irradiation increased the redness of vacuum-packaged pork loins regardless of meat type. Irradiation and storage time had no effect on the 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values of normal, PSE and DFD pork. Irradiation increased the production of sulfur (S)-containing volatile compounds and total volatiles in all three pork types. Normal pork had more values of total and S-containing volatile compounds on irradiation than the PSE and DFD pork. The volatiles produced by irradiation remained in the packaging bag during storage. The odor acceptance of the three meat types was not different, but panelists could distinguish irradiated meat from the nonirradiated. Irradiation and storage of meat in vacuum packaging may be desirable for long-term storage, but may reduce the acceptance of irradiated meat. Double packaging—individual packaging of meat with oxygen permeable film and repackaging multiple individual packages in large vacuum-packaging bags for irradiation and storage—and opening the outside vacuum packaging bag 1–2 days before sale, is recommended to reduce irradiation odor

Personalize Wayfinding Information for Fire Responders based on Virtual Reality Training Data

Modern buildings with increasing complexity can cause serious difficulties for first responders in emergency wayfinding. While real-time data collection and information analytics become easier in indoor wayfinding, a new challenge has arisen: cognitive overload due to information redundancy. Standardized and universal spatial information systems are still widely used in emergency wayfinding, ignoring first responders’ individual difference in information intake. This paper proposes and tests the theoretical framework of a spatial information systems for first responders, which reflects their individual difference in information preference and helps reduce the cognitive load in line of duty. The proposed method includes the use of Virtual Reality (VR) experiments to simulate real world buildings, and the modeling of first responders’ reactions to different information formats and contents in simulated wayfinding tasks. This work is expected to set a foundation of future spatial information system that correctly and effectively responds to first responders’ needs

Quality Characteristics of Irradiated Chicken Breast Rolls from Broilers Fed Different Levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Dietary CLA treatment reduced color a*- and b*-values of cooked chicken breast rolls. Sensory panels rated the color of cooked chicken rolls with CLA treatments darker than the control. The production of CO in cooked chicken rolls increased dramatically after irradiation and was correlated with the increased redness of cooked chicken rolls after irradiation. Irradiation greatly increased volatile production and induced a metallic off-flavor in chicken rolls. The hardness of chicken rolls increased and juiciness decreased as the dietary level of CLA increased, and consumer preferred the color of cooked chicken rolls after irradiation to the nonirradiated ones. Although dietary CLA was somewhat positive in reducing pinkness, but negatively influenced to the eating quality of irradiated cooked chicken rolls

Effects of Electron Beam Irradiation and Antimicrobials on the Volatiles, Color and Texture of Ready-to-Eat Turkey Breast Roll

Adding 2% SL increased the hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, chewiness, and resilience of breast rolls. The color a* and b*values of turkey rolls with 2% SL added were significantly lower than those of the control, and this difference was maintained after irradiation and during storage. Breast rolls containing antimicrobials had more lipid oxidation than control. Irradiation promoted the formation of dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide. Adding PB in breast rolls greatly increased the formation of benzene during irradiation. It also implies that certain spices or foods containing high amounts of phenolic compounds may not be suitable for irradiation. The combination of SL and SDA has a strong potential as an antimicrobial treatment for RTE meats, but low-dose irradiation (\u3c2.0 kGy) is preferred due to side effects of irradiation

Deuterium as a Stereochemically Invisible Blocking Group for Chiral Ligand Synthesis

Highly diastereoselective lithiation (s-BuLi/TMEDA ix Et2O, -78 degrees C, 2 h) of (5)-2-ferroceny1-4-(substituted)-oxazolines followed by addition of MeOH-d(4) gave up to 95% D incorporation. Subsequent application of alternative lithiation conditions (n-BuLi in THF, -78 degrees C, 2 h), followed by addition of an electrophile, resulted in a reversal of diastereoselectivity controlled primarily by the high k(H)/k(D) value for lithiation (isomer ratio typically between 10:1 and 20:1)