Analysis in protein profile,antioxidant activity and structure-activity relationship based on ultrasound-assisted liquid-state fermentation of soybean meal with Bacillus subtilis

This study investigated effects of ultrasound on the contents of peptide and soluble protein, antioxidant activity, functionalities and structural characteristics of fermented soybean meal (FSBM) with Bacillus subtilis systematically. The results showed that there were significant effects of ultrasound treatments (frequency, treatment time and power density) on the contents of peptide and soluble protein (p < 0.05). Under the optimum ultrasound conditions (power density of 0.08 W/mL, frequency of 33 kHz and treatment time of 1 h) by single factor experiment, the contents of peptide and soluble protein increased by 31.27% and 18.79% compared to those of the control, respectively. Additionally, the in vitro antioxidant activity (•OH scavenging rate, Fe²⁺ chelating capacity and DPPH radical scavenging rate) and functional properties (emulsifying activity and emulsifying stability) of FSBM were found to be noticeably improved by ultrasound (p < 0.05). The fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed that ultrasound caused protein molecules to unfold with a decrease content of α-helix and β-turn and an increase in the proportion of β-sheet and random coil. Besides, atomic force microscope (AFM) results indicated that ultrasonication generally increased the surface roughness of protein and the protein sonicated with higher frequency (≥33 kHz) exhibited a greater height compared to lower frequency ultrasonication. Structure-activity relationship analysis illustrated that there was a good linear relationship between •OH scavenging rate and β-sheet/β-turn with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r of −0.86/0.90. Collectively, the selection of ultrasonic parameters is essential for the preparation of functional protein and bioactive peptide by enhancing fermentation of agroindustrial by-products.     

Assessment of the beneficial combination of electrochemical and ultrasonic activation of compounds originating from biomass

The electro-oxidation of organic molecules at the anode with simultaneous generation of hydrogen at the cathode in electrosynthesis reactors is considered as a promising and efficient process for the co-production of hydrogen and bio-sourced value-added chemicals. In this study and for the first time, we investigated the electro-oxidation of glucose and methylglucoside in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ NaOH on polycrystalline Pt (real surface area = 14.5 ± 0.5 cm², roughness ≈ 5) in the potential range [0; +1.20 V vs. rhe] under silent and ultrasonic (bath, 45 kHz, P_acous = 11.20 W) conditions. A series of linear sweep voltammograms, chronoamperograms and high-performance liquid chronoamperograms were generated. It was found that higher current densities were obtained under ultrasonic conditions over the potential range of +0.25 V to +1.10 V vs. rhe, indicating that higher oxidation rates were provided under ultrasonication. It was observed that the desorption of species from the Pt surface in the medium potential region was favoured, allowing free catalytic Pt sites for further adsorption and oxidation of reactants; and in the high potential region, high peak current densities in the presence of ultrasound was due to enhanced mass transport of the electroactive species from the bulk electrolyte to the Pt-polycrystalline electrode surface. HPLC studies confirmed that higher electrochemical activity was obtained in the presence of ultrasound than in the absence. In our conditions, it was also found that low frequency ultrasound did not change the selectivity of the glucose and methylglucoside electro-oxidation reactions but instead, a significant increase in the rate of conversion was observed.     

Solubility study and intensification of extraction of phenolic and anthocyanin compounds from Oryza sativa L. ‘Violet Nori’

Oryza sativa L. ‘Violet Nori’ is an Italian cultivar of spontaneous growing aromatic purple rice which is particularly rich in polyphenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins, conferring it an excellent antioxidant capacity. The present study aimed at increasing the extraction yields of its antioxidant compounds with green strategies and it is divided into two steps. The first step concerned a solubility study of the targeted polyphenols in different ethanol:water mixtures by means of a theoretical prediction method, using the simulation program COSMO-RS, and the subsequently confirmation of the computational results by practical experiments. Once the best extraction mixture was identified, the second step of the work was performed, with the purpose of intensifying the extraction yield. Therefore, various innovative green extraction techniques, including ultrasound, using both the probe system and the ultrasonic bath, bead milling, microwave and accelerated solvent extractions were tested and compared to conventional maceration.Results, expressed in terms of total phenolic and total monomeric anthocyanin contents, showed that the best extracting solvent for ‘Violet Nori’ rice was the mixture ethanol:water (60:40 v/v), being COSMO-RS computational predictions in good correlation with the experimental results. Moreover, the most efficient techniques to extract the antioxidant compounds resulted to be both ultrasound-assisted extraction probe and bead milling, that in only 5 min got the same extractive efficiency obtained after 3 h of conventional maceration.     

HL-2M装置等离子体放电反馈控制系统

通过对HL-2M装置极向场线圈的参数和初始等离子放电控制需求的分析，基于实时采集系统和反射内存实时数据传输的先进控制集成技术，完成了整个HL-2M初始等离子体放电反馈控制系统的设计。新系统实现了稳定的1ms控制周期和实时数据传输，同时解决了实时控制周期和数据传输的延迟。实验结果表明新设计的等离子控制系统能满足初始等离子体极向场线圈电流控制的需求。     

Reentrant behavior of magnetic ordered phase in spin-crossover solids with quenched disordered ligand field

The Ising-like model of spin-crossover solid compounds with quenched random ligand field has been investigated by the mean-field (infinite-range) approximation. An exact solution for the problem is found within the replica formalism. The magnetic diagrams are obtained; the relations between the intermolecular coupling and the temperature as well as the reentrant phenomena of the magnetic ordered phase are discussed.     

光与原子纠缠存储寿命与磁场噪声关系的实验研究

在冷原子系综中,利用自发拉曼散射过程产生光与原子纠缠,测量了恢复效率随存储时间的关系。实验结果显示在没有施加轴向磁场时的存储寿命仅仅只有40μs。而在施加轴向磁场的情况下,存储时间在50μs以后甚至在400μs时都可以测量到明显的恢复信号,存储寿命明显高于100μs,远高于未施加轴向磁场时的情况。对这个实验现象进行分析认为:原子所处的环境中存在磁场噪声的影响,当没有轴向磁场时,噪声会扰乱自旋波信号的相位;当有轴向磁场时,磁场噪声对自旋波相位的影响便被抑制了。     

Engineering nanostructures of CuO-based photocatalysts for water treatment: Current progress and future challenges

Nowadays, increasing extortions regarding environmental problems and energy scarcity have stuck the development and endurance of human society. The issue of inorganic and organic pollutants that exist in water from agricultural, domestic, and industrial activities has directed the development of advanced technologies to address the challenges of water scarcity efficiently. To solve this major issue, various scientists and researchers are looking for novel and effective technologies that can efficiently remove pollutants from wastewater. Nanoscale metal oxide materials have been proposed due to their distinctive size, physical and chemical properties along with promising applications. Cupric Oxide (CuO) is one of the most commonly used benchmark photocatalysts in photodegradation owing to the fact that they are cost-effective, non-toxic, and more efficient in absorption across a significant fraction of solar spectrum. In this review, we have summarized synthetic strategies of CuO fabrication, modification methods with applications for water treatment purposes. Moreover, an elaborative discussion on feasible strategies includes; binary and ternary heterojunction formation, Z-scheme based photocatalytic system, incorporation of rare earth/transition metal ions as dopants, and carbonaceous materials serving as a support system. The mechanistic insight inferring photo-induced charge separation and transfer, the functional reactive radical species involved in a photocatalytic reaction, have been successfully featured and examined. Finally, a conclusive remark regarding current studies and unresolved challenges related to CuO are put forth for future perspectives.     

Warm tachyon inflation and swampland criteria

In this study, the scenario of a two-component warm tachyon inflation is considered, where the tachyon field plays the role of the inflaton by driving the inflation. During inflation, the tachyon scalar field interacts with the other component of the Universe, which is assumed to be photon gas, i.e., radiation. The interacting term contains a dissipation coefficient, and the study is modeled based on two different and familiar choices of the coefficient that were studied in the literature. By employing the latest observational data, the acceptable ranges for the free parameters of the model are obtained. For any choice within the estimated ranges, there is an acceptable concordance between the theoretical predictions and observations. Although the model is established based on several assumptions, it is crucial to verify their validity for the obtained values of the free parameters of the model. It is found that the model is not self-consistent for all values of the ranges, and for some cases, the assumptions are violated. Therefore, to achieve both self-consistency and agreement with the data, the parameters of the model must be constrained. Subsequently, we consider the recently proposed swampland conjecture, which imposes two conditions on the inflationary models. These criteria rule out some inflationary models; however, warm inflation is among those that successfully satisfy the swampland criteria. We conduct a precise investigation, which indicates that the proposed warm tachyon inflation cannot satisfy the swampland criteria for some cases. In fact, for the first case of the dissipation coefficient, in which, there is dependency only on the scalar field, the model agrees with observational data. However, it is in direct tension with the swampland criteria. Nevertheless, for the second case, wherein the dissipation coefficient has a dependency on both the scalar field and temperature, the model exhibits acceptable agreement with observational data, and suitably satisfies the swampland criteria.     

Theoretical studies of the concentration dependences of d–d transition band,g factors,and local distortion for V4+ in Li2O–PbO–B2O3–P2O5 glasses

In this work, the g factors, d–d transition band, local distortion, and their concentration dependences for impurity V⁴⁺ in 20Li₂O–20PbO–45B₂O₃–(15 − x)P₂O₅:V₂O₅ (0 ≤ x ≤ 2.5 mol%) glasses are theoretically investigated by using perturbation formulas of g factors for a tetragonally compressed octahedral 3d¹ cluster. In the light of the cubic polynomial concentration functions for cubic field parameter D_q, covalency factor N, and relative tetragonal compression ratio ρ, the calculated concentration dependences of d–d transition band and g factors for V⁴⁺ show good agreement with the experimental data. With increasing x, N (≈0.7682–0.8165) displays the monotonously increasing trend, whereas ρ (≈6.5–4.2%) and D_q (≈1504.9–1481.1 cm⁻¹) exhibit the decreasing tendencies. The above concentration dependences can be ascribed to the modifications of the V⁴⁺–O²⁻ bonding and orbital admixtures around the impurity V⁴⁺ due to the effects of V₂O₅ doping on the stability of the glass network, the strength of local crystal fields, and the electron cloud distribution.