•The combined effects of pH and high temperature on two anthocyanins were revealed.•The antioxidant capacity under the above conditions was evaluated.•pH 5.0/6.0 was a transition range where the loss ...of anthocyanins was accelerated.•Results can be used in quantifying the stability of individual anthocyanins.
The stability of two cyanidin-based anthocyanins from black rice in an aqueous system containing them with a pH range of 2.2–6.0 was investigated at temperatures ranging from 100 to 165°C. Within these pH and temperature ranges, the stability of the two anthocyanins was found to decrease gradually with increasing pH. The lowest (8.99×10−4s−1) and highest (0.120s−1) degradation rate constants for cyanidin-3-glucoside were obtained at pH 2.2 & 100°C and pH 6.0 & 165°C, respectively, whereas those for cyanidin-3-rutinoside were 5.33×10−4s−1 at pH 2.2 & 100°C and 7.39×10−2s−1 at pH 5.0 & 165°C, respectively. Antioxidant capacity analysis was conducted on thermally processed anthocyanin solutions to further evaluate the effects of pH and thermal treatment on the anthocyanins. The total antioxidant capacity of samples after thermal treatments under various pHs was found to remain at a similar level.
Magnetoelectric materials with a large magnetoelectric response, a low operating magnetic (or electric) field, and a room‐temperature (or higher) operating temperature are of key importance for ...practical applications. However, such materials are extremely rare because a large magnetoelectric response often requires strong coupling between spins and electric dipoles. Herein, an example of a magnetoelectric composite is prepared by using a room‐temperature multiaxial molecular–ionic ferroelectric, tetramethylammonium tetrachlorogallate(III) (1). Investigation of the magnetoelectric effect of the magnetoelectric laminate composite indicates that its room‐temperature magnetoelectric voltage coefficient (αME) is as high as 186 mV cm−1 Oe−1 at HDC = 275 Oe and at the HAC frequency of ≈39 kHz, providing a valid approach for the preparation of magnetoelectric materials and adding a new member to the magnetoelectric material family.
A magnetoelectric composite is prepared by using a room‐temperature multiaxial molecular–ionic tetramethylammonium tetrachlorogallate(III) ferroelectric. The room‐temperature magnetoelectric voltage coefficient is up to 186 mV cm−1 Oe−1 at HDC = 275 Oe and the HAC frequency is ≈39 kHz. This work demonstrates that multiaxial molecular–ionic ferroelectrics are new excellent candidates for the preparation of magnetoelectric composites.
► Model cargo routing and empty container repositioning at operational level. ► Develop an integer programming model for the joint routing and repositioning problem. ► Propose two solution methods to ...solve the optimisation problem. ► Illustrate the relative merits of two solution methods using case studies.
This paper considers the problem of joint cargo routing and empty container repositioning at the operational level for a shipping network with multiple service routes, multiple deployed vessels and multiple regular voyages. The objective is to minimize the total relevant costs in the planning horizon including: container lifting on/off costs at ports, customer demand backlog costs, the demurrage (or waiting) costs at the transhipment ports for temporarily storing laden containers, the empty container inventory costs at ports, and the empty container transportation costs. The laden container routing from the original port to the destination port is limited with at most three service routes. Two solution methods are proposed to solve the optimization problem. The first is a two-stage shortest-path based integer programming method, which combines a cargo routing algorithm with an integer programming of the dynamic system. The second is a two-stage heuristic-rules based integer programming method, which combines an integer programming of the static system with a heuristic implementation algorithm in dynamic system. The two solution methods are applied to two case studies with 30 different scenarios and compared with a practical policy. The results show that two solution methods perform substantially better than the practical policy. The shortest-path based method is preferable for relatively small-scale problems as it yields slightly better solution than the heuristic-rules based method. However, the heuristic-rules based method has advantages in its applicability to large-scale realistic systems while producing good performance, to which the shortest-path based method may be computationally inapplicable. Moreover, the heuristic-rules based method can also be applied to stochastic situations because its second stage is rule-based and dynamical.
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) constitute a large population of glioblastoma and facilitate tumor growth and invasion of tumor cells, but the underlying mechanism remains undefined. In this ...study, we demonstrate that chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 8 (CCL8) is highly expressed by TAMs and contributes to pseudopodia formation by GBM cells. The presence of CCL8 in the glioma microenvironment promotes progression of tumor cells. Moreover, CCL8 induces invasion and stem-like traits of GBM cells, and CCR1 and CCR5 are the main receptors that mediate CCL8-induced biological behavior. Finally, CCL8 dramatically activates ERK1/2 phosphorylation in GBM cells, and blocking TAM-secreted CCL8 by neutralized antibody significantly decreases invasion of glioma cells. Taken together, our data reveal that CCL8 is a TAM-associated factor to mediate invasion and stemness of GBM, and targeting CCL8 may provide an insight strategy for GBM treatment.
The swelling pressure of compacted bentonite under complex thermo-chemical conditions is a critical safety parameter of the engineering barrier system for a deep geological repository. To investigate ...the cyclic thermal and saline effects on the swelling pressure of densely compacted Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite, a series of constant-volume swelling pressure tests were performed using deionized water and NaCl solutions. At 20 °C and 60 °C, the multi-step salinization-desalinization process generated a hysteresis of the swelling pressure, and multiple saline cycles led to its diminishing attenuation. In the framework of the double structure theory, the observed hysteresis of the swelling pressure was ascribed to the irreversible collapse of inter-aggregate pores under osmotic pressure, while the gradual attenuation was attributed to the further homogenization of the clay structure. Soaking tests were also conducted at various thermal and saline conditions to provide evidence for the cyclic saline effects. No salt precipitation was identified due to the negligible changes in the total suctions of the specimens after saline cycles conducted at 20 °C and 60 °C. The membrane effect (resistance of compacted clay to salt migration) was considered, and its degree reflected the changes in the osmotic suctions of the specimens occurred after the soaking tests. The resistance of compacted GMZ bentonite to salt migration was relatively strong during wetting with low saline solutions (0–0.5 mol/L) at 20 °C, and became weak during wetting with high saline solutions (1.0–2.0 mol/L) or at 60 °C. The variation of the swelling pressure during thermal cycling depended on the maximum temperature and concentration of the presaturation solution. By assuming the validity of the membrane effect at the maximum temperatures (valid at 40 °C and invalid at 60 °C), the inconsistent changes in the swelling pressure during thermal cycling were explained by considering the incomplete initial saturation and role of thermal osmosis. However, further verification of the proposed hypothesis by X-ray diffraction and membrane testing at elevated temperatures is required.
•Collapse of inter-aggregate pores attenuates swelling pressure during saline cycling.•No salt storage is observed after a saline cycle.•Maximum temperature and salt content affect swelling pressure during thermal cycling.•Degradation of membrane resistance produces inconsistent swelling pressure trends.
A
bstract
There have been many papers suggesting that the parameter of the generalized uncertainty principle should be negative rather than positive in some specific scenarios, and the negative ...parameter can remove the minimum length. However, the minimum length is a model-independent feature of quantum gravity and it should not be affected by the specific scenarios. In order to solve this contradiction, we derive a new generalized uncertainty principle to reflect a fixed and unified minimum length in both cases of positive and negative parameters.
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Experimental evidence has shown that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) alternatives and mixtures may exert hepatotoxic effects in animals. However, epidemiological evidence ...is limited. This research aimed to explore associations of PFAS and the alternatives with liver function in a general adult population. The study participants consisted of 1,303 adults from a community-based cross-sectional investigation in Guangzhou, China, from November 2018 to August 2019. We selected 13 PFAS with detection rates > 85% in serum samples and focused on perfluorooctane-sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and their alternatives 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonate (6:2 Cl-PFESA), 8:2 Cl-PFESA, and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) as predictors of outcome. Six liver function biomarkers (ALB, ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, and DBIL) were chosen as outcomes. We applied regression models with restricted cubic spline function to explore correlations between single PFAS and liver function and inspected the combined effect of PFAS mixtures on liver by applying Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). We discovered positive associations among PFAS and liver function biomarkers except for ALP. For example, compared with the 25th percentile of PFAS concentration, the level of ALT increased by 12.36% (95% CI: 7.91%, 16.98%) for ln-6:2 Cl-PFESA, 5.59% (95% CI: 2.35%, 8.92%) for ln-8:2 Cl-PFESA, 3.56% (95% CI: −0.39%, 7.68%) for ln-PFHxA, 13.91% (95% CI: 8.93%, 19.13%) for ln-PFOA, and 14.25% (95% CI: 9.91%, 18.77%) for ln-PFOS at their 75th percentile. In addition, higher exposed serum PFAS was found to be correlated with greater odds of abnormal liver function. Analysis from BKMR models also showed an adverse association between PFAS mixtures and liver function. The combined effect of the PFAS mixture appeared to be non-interactive, in which PFOS was the main contributor to the overall effect. Our findings provide evidence of associations between PFAS alternatives, PFAS mixtures, and liver function in the general adult population.
The discovery of borospherenes unveiled the capacity of boron to form fullerene-like cage structures. While fullerenes are known to entrap metal atoms to form endohedral metallofullerenes, few metal ...atoms have been observed to be part of the fullerene cages. Here we report the observation of a class of remarkable metallo-borospherenes, where metal atoms are integral parts of the cage surface. We have produced La
B
and Tb
B
and probed their structures and bonding using photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. Global minimum searches revealed that the most stable structures of Ln
B
are hollow cages with D
symmetry. The B
-framework in the Ln
B
cages can be viewed as consisting of two triangular B
motifs connected by three B
units, forming three shared B
rings which are coordinated to the three Ln atoms on the cage surface. These metallo-borospherenes represent a new class of unusual geometry that has not been observed in chemistry heretofore.
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