A new drying technology, far-infrared radiation heating assisted pulsed vacuum drying (FIR-PVD) was applied to process blueberries. Influences of drying temperature, vacuum pressure duration (VPD), ...and ambient pressure duration (APD) on drying characteristics and quality attributes of blueberries were investigated under FIR-PVD. Results showed that drying temperature, APD, and VPD had significant influence on drying time and quality attributes of dried blueberries expect for color and cohesiveness. Compared to hot air dried blueberries, FIR-PVD seriously damaged the cellular walls of blueberries during drying at 65 °C. The highest total phenolics (TP) and total monomeric anthocyanins (TMA) contents of dried blueberries were obtained at 65 °C with pulsed ratio of 15 min: 4 min and 15 min: 2 min, respectively. The FIR-PVD products obtained lower color difference, better mechanical properties and rehydration performance and maintained higher antioxidant capacity by shortening drying time, reducing exposure to oxygen, and modifying the microstructure compared to hot air drying.
Blueberry is a popular function fruit around the world. With high moisture content and tender tissue, fresh blueberry is very susceptible to microbial infection even under low temperature storage conditions. Drying is a good alternative to extend the shelf life and increase the availability of fresh blueberries. However, the existence of waxy hydrophobic layer covered the surface of blueberries inhibits moisture diffusion during drying. Chemical dipping and thermal blanching pretreatments were usually used to reduce the influence of skin hydrophobicity and promote moisture diffusion. Nevertheless, the chemical additive residue leads to food safety risk and it's a big challenge to deal with the corrosive waste chemical solutions, while thermal blanching resulted a high loss of bioactive compounds. FIR-PVD is a recent developed emerging drying technology to process berries with waxy layer beyond pretreatments. Results indicated that FIR-PVD is a very promising technology for processing blueberries with the improvement of drying efficiency and quality attributes.
Display omitted
•FIR-PVD promoted drying process and preserved blueberry quality.•FIR-PVD seriously damaged the cellular walls of blueberries.•FIR-PVD samples maintained higher antioxidant capacity.•More porous microstructures were observed in FIR-PVD products.•FIR-PVD products showed better mechanical properties and rehydration performance.
An efficient one-pot synthesis of functionalized 2-amino-4H-pyrans by a meglumine-catalyzed three-component reaction has been developed. A broad range of substrates including aromatic and ...heteroaromatic aldehydes, isatin derivatives, and acenaphthenequinone are condensed with enolizable C–H activated compounds and alkylmalonates to give the desired products in high to excellent yields. This methodology provides an alternative approach for rapid access to construct a diversity-oriented library of 4H-pyrans.
Display omitted
•A TaqMan probe real-time PCR assay for rapid detection of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei is developed targeting the small subunit ribosomal DNA sequence.•The qPCR assay is highly ...specific and the detection limit was down to 40 copies.•The standard curve showed a good linearity in detecting of EHP SSU rDNA plasmid from 4 × 102 to 4 × 108 copies/reaction.•The assay has diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of both 100% in comparison to SYBR green I qPCR.
A TaqMan probe and a pair of specific primers were selected from the small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequence of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP); this real-time PCR assay was developed and optimized. It showed a good linearity in detecting standards of EHP SSU rDNA fragments from 4 × 102 to 4 × 108 copies/reaction using the established method. The detection limit of the qPCR method was as low as 4 × 101 copies per reaction, which was higher than the conventional PCR and SYBR Green I-based EHP qPCR reported. Using the qPCR assay, EHP was detected in four batches of slow-growing Penaeus vannamei specimens collected from Tianjin and Zhejiang Province in China was detected using qPCR. The results showed that all the hepatopancreas from the slow-growing P. vannamei specimens were detected as EHP-positive. EHP copies of hepatopancreas in some batches had a negative correlation with the body mass index (BMI) of shrimps; however, not all batches of specimens had this negative correlation between EHP copies of hepatopancreas and BMI. This qPCR technique is sensitive, specific and easy to perform (96 tests in <3 h), which provides technical support for the detection and prevention of EHP.
Currently available echocardiographic reference values are derived mainly from North American and European population studies, and no echocardiographic reference values are available for the Chinese ...population. The aim of this study was to establish normal values of echocardiographic measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries in a nationwide, population-based cohort of healthy Han Chinese adults.
A total of 1,586 healthy Han Chinese volunteers aged 18 to 79 years were screened at 43 collaborating laboratories throughout China. Standard M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography was performed to obtain measurements of the cardiac chambers and great arteries. The impacts of gender and age on all echocardiographic measurements were analyzed.
A total of 1,394 qualified healthy subjects (mean age, 47.3 ± 16.0 years; 678 men) were ultimately enrolled. Except for left ventricular ejection fraction, values of cardiac chamber and great arterial dimensions were significantly higher in men than in women. Most measurements of the atrial and great arterial dimensions, left ventricular wall thickness, and left ventricular mass increased with age in both men and women.
Normal reference values of cardiac dimensional parameters were established for the first time in a nationwide, population-based cohort of healthy Han Chinese adults. Because most of these parameters were found to vary with gender and age, reference values stratified for gender and age should be used in clinical practice.
The deep and perforating lymphatic anatomy of the upper limb still remains the least described in medical literature.
Six upper limbs with the axillary tissue were harvested from three unembalmed ...human cadavers amputated at the shoulder joint. A small amount of 6% hydrogen peroxide was employed to detect the lymphatic vessels around the deep palmar arch, radial and ulnar neurovascular bundles. A 30-gauge needle was inserted into the vessels and they were injected with a barium sulphate compound. Each specimen was dissected, photographed and radiographed to demonstrate deep lymphatic distribution of the upper limb.
Continuing from the deep lymph vessels of the hand, single or multiple deep collecting lymph vessels have been found along the radial, ulnar, anterior and posterior interosseous neurovascular bundles in the forearm, brachial and deep branchial neurovascular bundles in the upper arm. During their courses, lymph nodes were found setting in the trunk of the radial, ulnar and brachial lymph vessels near or in the cubital fossa, and in the axillar. Perforating lymph vessels have been found near the wrist and in the cubital fossa, which linked the superficial and deep lymph vessels. The direction of lymphatic drainage was from the deep to superficial or superficial to deep vessels.
The deep lymphatic anatomy of the upper limb has been described. The results will provide an anatomical basis for clinical management, educational reference and scientific research.
Background/Aims: Arctigenin (ATG) has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory, immunemodulatory, anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-carcinogenic, vasodilatory and anti-platelet aggregation properties. ...However, the protective role of ATG in prevention of arrhythmias induced by myocardial ischemia/reperfusion is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-arrhythmia effect of ATG in an ischemia/reperfusion injured rat heart model and explore the related mechanisms. Methods: Rats were randomly exposed to sham operation, myocardial ischemia/ reperfusion (MI/R) alone, ATG+ MI/R, pretreated with ATG in low (12.5 mg/kg/day), medium (50 mg/kg/day) and high dose (200 mg/kg/day), respectively. Ventricular arrhythmias were assessed. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in myocardial tissue were determined by chemical analysis. Results: Compared to MI/R, rats pretreated with ATG in doses of 50 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day showed significantly reduced incidence and duration of ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular ectopic beat (VEB), and decreased the arrhythmia score during the 30-min ischemia. Incidence and duration of ventricular tachycardia, infarction size and arrhythmia scores in these groups were significantly decreased during the 120-min reperfusion. No ventricular fibrillation occurred during the period of reperfusion. Rats pretreated with ATG in doses of 50 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/ day markedly enhanced the activities of antioxidant enzymes SOD and GSH-Px, reduced the level of MDA. No differences were observed between the group pretreated with a low dose of ATG and the sham group. Administration of ATG significantly increased the expression of antioxidant stress protein Nrf2, Trx1 and Nox1. Conclusion: Our data suggested that ATG plays anti-arrhythmia role in ischemia/reperfusion injury, which is probably associated with attenuating oxidative stress by Nrf2 signaling pathway.
Meglumine, a bio-based chemical, was demonstrated to be a highly efficient and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of a series of pyranopyrazole derivatives via a one-pot, four-component reaction of ...carbonyl compound or isatin, hydrazine hydrate, malononitrile, and β-keto ester in EtOH–H2O. The catalyst was found to work extremely for aldehydes, ketones or isatins at room temperature to give the corresponding dihydropyrano2,3-cpyrazole or spiroindoline-3,4′-pyrano2,3-cpyrazole derivatives in high yields. The salient features of this new methodology are broad substrate scope, room temperature reaction conditions, short reaction times, high yields, easy work-up process, reusability of catalyst, and the absence of hazardous organic solvents.
Display omitted
Olivine is a ubiquitous mineral in mafic-ultramafic rocks and has been widely used as a mineral marker in various geological processes. However, its development of trace elements is limited. Here we ...present newly-obtained trace element data 7Li, 27Al, 29Si, 31P, 43Ca, 45Sc, 49Ti, 51V, 53Cr, 55Mn, 59Co, 60Ni, and 66Zn of olivine in typical mantle xenoliths, mantle peridotites in ophiolites, and plutonic rocks from layered and Alaskan-type intrusions to develop trace element proxies for the petrogenesis, mineralization and discrimination of various mafic-ultramafic rocks. Residual olivine grains in mantle xenoliths and ophiolitic peridotites, which represent residues of mantle melting, have higher Ni/Co (>20) and Ni/Mn (>2) ratios than magmatic olivine (Ni/Co < 20, Ni/Mn < 2), which are consistent with the compatibilities of these elements during partial melting and magma differentiation. Lower Ni content, and lower Ni/Co and Ni/Mn ratios at a given Fo content can distinguish olivine in Alaskan-type intrusions from layered intrusions, reflecting the nature of their mantle sources. The V and Sc contents and V/Sc ratios in olivine can distinguish mantle xenoliths (V > 2 ppm, V/Sc > 0.5) from ophiolitic peridotites (V < 2 ppm, V/Sc < 0.5), indicating a more reduced state of continental lithospheric mantle compared to the oceanic lithospheric mantle. As a consequence, the four occurrences of mafic-ultramafic rocks can be distinguished by olivine with (Sc × 10)-(Ti × 2)-Zn and V/Sc-(Co/Ni × 2)-(Zn/Mn × 5) ternary diagrams. In addition, Li, Ti and P contents in olivine are good tracers of melt/fluid metasomatism, whereas Ni/Co, Ni/Mn and Mn/Zn ratios are indicators of chromite mineralization. Therefore, trace elements in olivine can be used as chemical proxies to distinguish the origin of various mafic-ultramafic rocks, as well as the processes by which they evolved.
•Report of trace element data of olivine in typical mafic-ultramafic rocks.•Olivine trace elements as discriminator for mafic-ultramafic rocks.•Olivine trace element ratios as mineralizing indicators.
Middle to Late Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia has remained controversial regarding the extent of morphological continuity through archaic humans and to modern humans. Newly found ...∼300,000-y-old human remains from Hualongdong (HLD), China, including a largely complete skull (HLD 6), share East Asian Middle Pleistocene (MPl) human traits of a low vault with a frontal keel (but no parietal sagittal keel or angular torus), a low and wide nasal aperture, a pronounced supraorbital torus (especially medially), a nonlevel nasal floor, and small or absent third molars. It lacks a malar incisure but has a large superior medial pterygoid tubercle. HLD 6 also exhibits a relatively flat superior face, a more vertical mandibular symphysis, a pronounced mental trigone, and simple occlusal morphology, foreshadowing modern human morphology. The HLD human fossils thus variably resemble other later MPl East Asian remains, but add to the overall variation in the sample. Their configurations, with those of other Middle and early Late Pleistocene East Asian remains, support archaic human regional continuity and provide a background to the subsequent archaic-to-modern human transition in the region.
Recently, multiantenna spectrum sensing (MSS) using de-ep neural network has received much attention. However, most of them are not explicitly formulated to account for non-circular sources. In ...practice, the primary users' signals may come from either circular or noncircular sources, or both. We are, therefore, motivated to investigate the MSS problem for hybrid circular and noncircular source signals in cognitive radio. Specifically, we first introduce the augmented sample covariance matrix (ASCM) to exploit the additional statistical information given by the noncircular property. Then, based on the ASCM, a simple convolutional neural network (CNN) structure is designed to extract the features embedded in the ASCM. Simulation results reveal that the proposed method is capable of providing performance improvement over conventional MSS methods, regardless of the spatially white/correlated noise.
PDF
