Effects of transglutaminase pre-crosslinking on salt-induced gelation of soy protein isolate emulsion

peer-reviewedThe salt-induced gelation behavior of soy protein isolate (SPI) emulsions was markedly influenced by microbial transglutaminase (TGase) pre-crosslinking. Rheological data showed that when SPI emulsions were incubated with TGase at low concentrations (1 and 3 U/g protein) at 50 °C for 30 min prior to gelation, no change in storage modulus (G′), but enhanced resistance to deformation of the gels was observed. Extensive crosslinking by TGase (5 U/g protein) resulted in severe decreases in gel firmness and fracture properties (yielding stress and strain), likely due to the impairment of hydrophobic bonds and the formation of coarse networks. The water-holding capacity of the gels was significantly enhanced by increased concentrations of TGase. Interactive force analysis indicated that non-covalent interactions and disulfide bonds are the primary forces involved in CaSO4-induced SPI emulsion gel, but TGase treatment may limit hydrophobic interactions within the gel network. These results are of great potential value for the application of TGase in the food industry

Genetic dissection of rice grain shape using a recombinant inbred line population derived from two contrasting parents and fine mapping a pleiotropic quantitative trait locus qGL7

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The three-dimensional shape of grain, measured as grain length, width, and thickness (GL, GW, and GT), is one of the most important components of grain appearance in rice. Determining the genetic basis of variations in grain shape could facilitate efficient improvements in grain appearance. In this study, an F_7:8recombinant inbred line population (RIL) derived from a cross between <it>indica </it>and <it>japonica </it>cultivars (Nanyangzhan and Chuan7) contrasting in grain size was used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. A genetic linkage map was constructed with 164 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The major aim of this study was to detect a QTL for grain shape and to fine map a minor QTL, <it>qGL7</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four QTLs for GL were detected on chromosomes 3 and 7, and 10 QTLs for GW and 9 QTLs for GT were identified on chromosomes 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10, respectively. A total of 28 QTLs were identified, of which several are reported for the first time; four major QTLs and six minor QTLs for grain shape were also commonly detected in both years. The minor QTL, <it>qGL7</it>, exhibited pleiotropic effects on GL, GW, GT, 1000-grain weight (TGW), and spikelets per panicle (SPP) and was further validated in a near isogenic F₂population (NIL-F₂). Finally, <it>qGL7 </it>was narrowed down to an interval between InDel marker RID711 and SSR marker RM6389, covering a 258-kb region in the Nipponbare genome, and cosegregated with InDel markers RID710 and RID76.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Materials with very different phenotypes were used to develop mapping populations to detect QTLs because of their complex genetic background. Progeny tests proved that the minor QTL, <it>qGL7</it>, could display a single mendelian characteristic. Therefore, we suggested that minor QTLs for traits with high heritability could be isolated using a map-based cloning strategy in a large NIL-F₂population. In addition, combinations of different QTLs produced diverse grain shapes, which provide the ability to breed more varieties of rice to satisfy consumer preferences.</p

MicroRNA-96 Promotes Schistosomiasis Hepatic Fibrosis in Mice by Suppressing Smad7

Infection with Schistosoma causes aberrant expression of host microRNAs (miRNAs), and normalizing the levels of dysregulated miRNAs can attenuate pathology. Here, we show that the host miRNA, miR-96, is markedly upregulated during the progression of hepatic schistosomiasis. We demonstrate that elevation of miR-96 induces hepatic fibrosis in infected mice by suppressing the expression of its target gene, Smad7. We show that infection with Schistosoma induces the expression of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), which in turn upregulates the expression of miR-96 through SMAD2/3-DROSHA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, inhibition of miR-96 with recombinant adeno-associated virus 8 (rAAV8)-mediated delivery of Tough Decoy RNAs in mice attenuated hepatic fibrosis and prevented lethality following schistosome infection. Taken together, our data highlight the potential for rAAV8-mediated inhibition of miR-96 as a therapeutic strategy to treat hepatic schistosomiasis

Exploration of the Diversified Path of Energy Economic Transformation Based on the Perspective of Hydrogen Energy Industry Innovation

This analysis explores the usage of hydrogen as oil in the vehicle part with the goal of promoting economic decarbonization. Hydrogen vapor is a powerful means of pollutant emissions reduction, environmentally friendly technology support, and international accords compliment, such as the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow resolutions. The whole hydrogen manufacturing process is presented from generation to vehicle fuel consumption at 100% pure by renewable energy sources like solar and wind, forecasting hydrogen use, considering new and current infrastructure for distribution, storage, and production, necessary to expect in future energy demands. The study provides a reference for stakeholders to develop effective designs for the phased integration of hydrogen fuel cell cars for hydrogen generation. Wind energy generates 6 MWh per unit/year, generating 45,139.70 GWh/year, and involves 7,523,282.6 components. This strategy tackles the optimization challenge by reducing manufacturing costs and environmental effects, while the EU framework for economic decarbonization and the automotive industry's shift adheres to a fleet of non-polluting vehicles

The Iterative Solution for Electromagnetic Field Coupling to Buried Wires

By integrating the electric field integral equation and the transmission line equation, an iterative solution for the electromagnetic field coupling to buried wires is obtained. At first we establish the integral equation which the difference between solutions of the integral equation and the telegraph equation satisfies. Then the solution of the telegraph equation is used to approximate the solution of this integral equation. Every following step of iteration is an improvement on the transmission line solution, and with several iterations, a well approximation to the solution of electric field integral equation can be obtained

Investigations on the mechanical behavior of composite pipes considering process-induced residual stress

Hydrogen, as a clean energy source, has gained worldwide attention due to its high energy density and diverse manufacturing methods. Pipeline transportation is the most important way for long-distance transportation of hydrogen. However, hydrogen embrittlement due to hydride formation in metals will induce cracking in the pipeline structures. Composites pipes are good alternatives to metals as their excellent compatibility with hydrogen. This paper aims to carry out the preliminary design of composite hydrogen transportation pipelines. Firstly, the Thermo-Consolidation/Curing-mechanical analysis models for the thermosetting composites (T700/3501-6) and thermoplastic composites (T700/HDPE) were established, respectively. The process-induced residual stress of the composite pipelines was predicted by the models. Subsequently, a criterion of hydrogen leakage for the composite pipelines was proposed, and the load-bearing capacity analysis of the composite pipelines was carried out based on the progressive damage model. The simulation results emphasize that the predicted leakage pressure would be overestimated without considering the process-induced residual stress. The leakage pressures of composite pipelines with and without liner are calculated and compared, the results showed that the thermoplastic composite pipes with liner are the most suitable for hydrogen transportation.This work was supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Foundation of Dalian (No. 2020JJ25CY011)

Large-Sized Few-Layer Graphene Enables an Ultrafast and Long-Life Aluminum-Ion Battery

To develop high-power and high-energy batteries with a long life remains a great challenge, even combining the benefits of metal (fast kinetics and high capacity) and carbon materials (robust structure). Among them, Al-ion batteries based on aluminum anode and graphite carbon cathode have gained lots of interests as one of the most promising technologies. Here, it is demonstrated that the size of graphitic material in ab plane and c direction plays an important role in anion intercalation chemistry. Sharply decreasing the size of vertical dimension (c direction) strongly facilitates the kinetics and charge transfer of anions (de)intercalation. On the other hand, increasing the size of horizontal dimension (ab plane) contributes to improving the flexibility of graphitic materials, which results in raising the cycling stability. Meanwhile, chloroaluminate anions are reversibly intercalated into the interlayer of graphite materials, leading to the staging behaviors. In the end, an ultrafast Al-ion battery with exceptional long life is achieved based on large-sized few-layer graphene as a cathode and aluminum metal as an anode

Free Reprocessability of Tough and Self-Healing Hydrogels Based on Polyion Complex

Tough hydrogels with facile processability to reform into various shapes are required in many practical applications. In this work, we reported that a novel, tough, and self-healing physical hydrogel based on polyion complex (PIC) can be dissolved in 4 M NaCl solution to form a PIC solution. The PIC solution can be easily reprocessed into various shapes, such as thin films, sheets, fibers, and capsules, by using simple methods, such as casting and injection, while maintaining excellent mechanical properties comparable to, or even better than, the original hydrogel. The reprocessability and robust mechanical properties of PIC hydrogels are promising for practical applications in soft materials, especially in 3D/4D printing technology

Bidirectional Angle-Tolerant Polarization-Tuned Filtering and Wide-Range Refractive Index Sensing Based on Metal Film Coated Nanograting

The miniaturization and integration of photonic devices are new requirements in the fast-growing optics field. In this paper, we focus on a feature-rich sub-wavelength nanograting-coated single-layer metal film. The numerical results show that the reflection behaviors of this proposed structure can realize bidirectional dual-channel ultra-narrowband polarized filtering and bidirectional wavelength-modulated sensing in a wide refractive index (RI) range from 1.0 to 1.4 for incident angle of 10° with transverse-magnetic (TM) polarized illumination at wavelengths between 550 nm to 1500 nm. Moreover, the bidirectional properties of filtering and sensing are not obviously decreased when increasing incident angle from 10° to 30°, and decreasing incident angle from 10° to 0°. The calculated RI sensitivity can be up to 592 nm/RIU with a high figure of merit (FOM) of 179.4 RIU−1. More to the point, this nanograting has a simple structure and is less sensitive to the height and shape of grating ridge, which provides great convenience for the fabrication of devices. The other thing that is going on is that this structure can also realize synchronously tunable color filtering, including green to red, with high color purity in the visible band by choosing the period. The underlying physical mechanism is analyzed in detail, and is primarily attributed to surface plasmon polariton (SPP) resonance and dipole resonance at double plasmon resonance wavelengths. This work has tremendous potential in developing multipurpose and high-performance integrated optical devices such as spectral filters, colored displays and plasmon biomedical sensors

Identification of quantitative trait loci for growth traits in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)

Genetic breeding is an important approach to improve the economic traits of aquaculture animals. Unfortunately, the genetic basis for important economic traits of red swamp crayfish, including growth-related traits, has not yet been reported. In the present study, two full-sib families and two natural populations were employed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for growth-related traits of red swamp crayfish. In total, 28 QTLs for five growth-related traits, including body weight, body length, carapace length, carapace width, and abdomen length, were repeatedly identified in more than two families/populations, by means of association analysis; nine of these displayed a heterosis effect. The phenotypic variations of the five investigated traits explained by the 28 QTLs ranged from 4.2% to 19.0%. Eight additive and three heterosis QTLs were further successfully validated using comparative analysis of favoured alleles between the small and big size crayfish groups in the natural population. In conclusion, this study investigated the genetic basis of growth-related traits in red swamp crayfish, which is of great significance for their application in the future molecular breeding of the species