Factors affecting yield and gelling properties of agar

Agar, a gelatinous polysaccharide in the cell wall of many red algal species, is widely used as a gelling, thickening and stabilizing agent. The commercial value of seaweed is judged by their agar content and gel quality. Seaweed materials with higher agar yield and better gelling properties are desired due to the growing demand for agar in the global market. Agar biosynthesis in seaweeds is affected by genetic variations, developmental stages and environmental conditions, while different agar extraction techniques can also affect the yield and quality of agar. In this paper, the effects of different physiological states of seaweed, abiotic and biotic factors, seaweed storage and agar extraction techniques on the agar yield and gelling characteristics, are reviewed. This information is important as a guide for marine aquaculture of potential agarophytes and the possible effects of climate change on the stock of this natural resource

ALICE A Large Ion Collider Experiment

POLAR-2 is a follow-up GRB mission of POLAR, which has observed low levels of polarization degree and a temporal evolution of the polarization angle, indicating that time resolved studies of $\gamma$ photons polarization are required to constrain theoretical emission models of GRB’s. POLAR-2 detector aim to put in space a detector with one order of magnitude sensitivity improvement versus POLAR. POLAR-2 will be the most sensitive GRB detector covering half of the sky. The instrument, proposed by an international collaboration, was selected to be launched in 2024 to the China Space Station and operate for at least 2 years. POLAR-2 will use same plastic bar concept then POLAR but will be readout by SiPMT. The payload will also feature a spectrometer. The instrument is foreseen to perform detailed polarization measurements of at least 100 GRBs