Sonozonation: Enhancing the antimicrobial efficiency of aqueous ozone washing techniques on cherry tomato

Ultrasound requires high power and longer treatment times to inactivate microorganisms when compared to ultrasound combined with other technologies. Also, the antimicrobial efficiency of aqueous ozone increases with an increase in its concentration and exposure time, but with a detrimental effect on the quality of the treated food. In this study, the effect of aqueous ozone at low concentration, multi-mode frequency irradiation and their combination on microbial safety and nutritional quality of cherry tomato was investigated. Individual washing with aqueous ozone and mono-mode frequency irradiation resulted in <1 log CFU/g reduction in the spoilage microorganisms, while dual-mode frequency irradiation (DMFI) resulted in higher microbial reduction (1.3–2.6 1 log CFU/g). The combined system (20/40 kHz + aqueous ozone) on the other hand, resulted in >3 log CFU/g microbial reduction. The application of DMFI enhanced the antimicrobial efficiency of aqueous ozone without any detrimental effect on the physicochemical properties (except the firmness), bioactive compounds, and antioxidants of the cherry tomato during 21 days refrigerated storage. The result obtained indicates the promising substitute to the single washing technique for microbial safety as well as preserving the nutritional quality and enhancing the shelf life of cherry tomato.     

Effect of Zr concentration on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of NbIr3 intermetallic compounds from theoretical estimations

ABSTRACT

The iridium is an important metal which has excellent resistance to corrosion at high temperature. L1₂ intermetallic compounds i.e. Ir₃Nb and Ir₃Zr, with similar lattice parameters are ideal for working at high temperature. They are fully soluble due to their low lattice misfit. A first-principle investigation into the effect of doping Zr with different concentrations on the electronic structure, mechanical and thermodynamic properties of NbIr₃ has been studied to prompt the development of novel high-temperature materials. Nine Zr_xNb_8?xIr₂₄ compounds are carefully considered. The results show that adding Zr into these compounds can strengthen their structural stability and ductility. Nevertheless, it reduces the elastic modulus and elastic stiffness. Simultaneously, with the increase of Zr content, the thermodynamic properties of these compounds decrease. It is also found that the changes of elastic modulus are mainly attributed to the variations of bonds in these compounds.     

Dielectric investigation of relaxation in some heterocyclic compounds

The dielectric relaxation mechanism in five heterocyclic compounds in dilute solutions using microwave technique is reported. Measurements have been made at different temperatures in order to calculate dipole moments and free energies of activation for the process of dipole orientation and viscous flow. It has been observed that the relaxation time is very closely related with the molecular parameters, such as size, shape and nature of the solute molecule.     

HPLC法测定人体尿液样品中的4'-羟基黄烷酮和6-甲氧基黄烷酮

报道一种快速测定人体尿液中4'-羟基黄烷酮和6-甲氧基黄烷酮的HPLC方法.采用自制的大蒜新素键合硅胶填充柱(DTSP,4.6 mm i.d.×15 mm,10 μm),以乙腈/1.5%三乙胺-甲酸(65:35,v/v,pH=3.0) 为流动相,流速设定为1.0 mL·minn~(-1),检测波长为 257 nm时,实现了人体尿样品中上述黄烷酮化合物的良好分离.4'-羟基黄烷酮的线性范围为5～100 mg·L~(-1),r=0.992 0;6-甲氧基黄烷酮线性范围为5～100 mg·L~(-1),r=0.999 1,它们的最低检出限分别为1.03 ng和1.56 ng,平均回收率分别为99.02%～99.26%和98.21%~98.62%,相应的RSD分别小于0.354%和0.605%(n=5).该方法快速、简便、可靠,适用于人体尿液样品中上述黄烷酮分离分析.     

Dielectric studies in dilute solutions

Dielectric studies in dilute solutions of cyclohexane and benzene have been carried out in the temperature range 294–318°K. The observed data have been utilized to evaluate the relaxation times and thermodynamic parameters of these molecules. The high values ofα for 2-acetyl pyridine indicate the occurrence of more than one relaxation time. In the remaining systems, the observed lowα values indicate their rigid behaviour. The variation in the dielectric relaxation time is mostly correlated with the change in the heterocyclic configuration of the system.     

Crystal field analysis of the magnetization curves of R2Fe17 and R2Fe17H3 (R=Tb,Ho,Er)

In this paper the values of the crystalline-electric-field parameters A_nm for R₂Fe₁₇ and R₂Fe₁₇H₃ (R=Tb,Ho,Er) are evaluated by fitting calculations to the magnetization curves measured on the single crystal at several temperatures. The fitted A_nm for R₂Fe₁₇ are strikingly different from those for the corresponding R₂Fe₁₇H₃. The energy gaps between the lowest four energy levels for Ho ions in Ho₂Fe₁₇₂ can be reproduced by using the fitted A_nm and exchange field 2μ_BH_ex, which estimated from the fit of the temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization combined with inelastic neutron scattering experiment.     

Gas source MBE grown wavelength extended 2.2 and 2.5 μm InGaAs PIN photodetectors

Using homo-junction structure and relative thin linear graded In_xGa_1−xAs as the buffer layer, extended wavelength InGaAs PIN photodetectors with cut-off wavelength of 2.2 and 2.5 μm at room temperature have been grown by using GSMBE, and their performance over a wide temperature range have been extensively investigated. For those 2.2 or 2.5 μm detectors with 100 μm diameter, the typical dark current (V_R = 10 mV) and R₀A are 57 nA/10.3 Ω cm² or 67 nA/12.7 Ω cm² at 290 K, and 84 pA/4.70 kΩ cm² or 161 pA/3.12 kΩ cm² at 210 K respectively. The thermal activation energies of the dark current are 0.447 eV or 0.404 eV for 2.2 or 2.5 μm detectors respectively.     

Near-infrared intersubband absorption in (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe type-II super-lattices grown on GaAs substrate by MBE

We study the dependence of absorption wavelength on the well width in the (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe super-lattices(SL). With well-width reduction, the wavelength decreases from 1.795 to 1.57 μm. Structural properties, strain state and interface composition are determined via XRD measurement. A (CdS/ZnSe)/Be_xMg_1−xTe structure is prepared and XRD reveals the average lattice constant match to GaAs substrate. TEM reveals that numerous stacking faults exist in the (CdS/ZnSe)/BeTe structure, and stacking faults are completely suppressed in (CdS/ZnSe)/Be_xMg_1−xTe SLs. Intersubband transition down to 1.535–1.55 μm have been observed in SLs.     

FeMnP_(1-x)T_x(T=Si,Ga,Ge)系列化合物机械性能的第一性原理研究

以密度泛函理论为基础,使用投影缀加波方法、VASP程序包研究了FeMnP_(1-x)T_x(T=Si,Ga,Ge)化合物的力学性质,结果表明FeMnP_(1-x)Ga_x化合物的晶格参数、弹性常数和电子结构与FeMnP_(1-x)Ge_x化合物比较接近,同时该化合物在力学上稳定,是预期具有较大的磁熵变和高磁热效应的材料.依据Pugh判据,FeMnP_(0.67)T_(0.33)(T=Si,Ga,Ge)化合物具有良好的延展性,三者之中FeMnP_(0.67)Ga_(0.33)韧性最好,FeMnP_(0.67)Si_(0.33)韧性相对较差,说明Ga替代P可改善此类化合物的机械性能.最后从化合物体系电子总态密度随不同掺杂T原子的演化规律解释了自洽计算得到的弹性常数的变化规律.     

推拉型偶氮化合物的三阶非线性和光学双稳效应

本文报道从推拉型偶氮化合物中测得了非常高的三阶非线性极化率,X~(3)～6×10~(→3)esu.这对于引起光学双稳现象是至关重要的.利用波长为488nm的氩离子激光为光源,从这类材料掺杂的玻璃态聚合物薄膜的Kretschmann型态中,进一步观察到了光学双稳现象.与此同时,联系这类材料的顺反异构化反应历程,从电子吸收机制或光诱导的折射率变化机制对有关问题进行了讨论.