Optimization of Vacuum-Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Natural Polyphenols and Flavonoids from Raw Solid Waste of the Orange Juice Producing Industry at Industrial Scale

Orange pomace (OP) is a solid waste produced in bulk as a byproduct of the orange juice industry and accounts for approximately 50% of the quantity of the fruits processed into juice. In numerous literature references there is information about diverse uses of orange pomace for the production of high-added-value products including production of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial extracts rich in polyphenols and flavonoids which can substitute the hazardous chemical antioxidants/antimicrobials used in agro-food and cosmetics sectors. In this work and for the first time, according to our knowledge, the eco-friendly aqueous vacuum microwave assisted extraction of orange pomace was investigated and optimized at real industrial scale in order to produce aqueous antioxidant/antimicrobial extracts. A Response Surface Optimization methodology with a multipoint historical data experimental design was employed to obtain the optimal values of the process parameters in order to achieve the maximum rates of extraction of OP total polyphenols and/or total flavonoids for economically optimum production at industrial scale. The three factors used for the optimization were: (a) microwave power (b) water to raw pomace ratio and (c) extraction time. Moreover, the effectiveness and statistical soundness of the derived cubic polynomial predictive models were verified by ANOVA.     

Comparative Studies of Selected Criteria Enabling Optimization of the Extraction of Polar Biologically Active Compounds from Alfalfa with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

The aim of this research was to provide crucial and useful data about the selection of the optimization criteria of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of alfalfa at a quarter-technical plant. The correlation between more general output, including total phenolics and flavonoids content, and a more specified composition of polar constituents was extensively studied. In all alfalfa extracts, polar bioactive constituents were analyzed by both spectrometric (general output) and chromatographic (detailed output) analyses. Eight specific phenolic acids and nine flavonoids were determined. The most dominant were salicylic acid (221.41 µg g⁻¹), ferulic acid (119.73 µg g⁻¹), quercetin (2.23 µg g⁻¹), and apigenin (2.60 µg g⁻¹). For all seventeen analyzed compounds, response surface methodology and analysis of variance were used to provide the optimal conditions of supercritical fluid extraction for each individual constituent. The obtained data have shown that eight of those compounds have a similar range of optimal process parameters, being significantly analogous for optimization based on total flavonoid content.     

基于核酸的纸基荧光生物传感器的设计及应用

纸基生物传感器由于其具有成本低、操作方便、生物可降解、识别元件用量低等优点,近年来受到了广泛的关注。其中,以功能核酸作为识别元件的纸基荧光生物传感器具有较高的灵敏度、瞬时响应以及实时检测等特性,在便携式传感设备方面展现出巨大的潜力。此外,将核酸作为识别元件的纸基无细胞蛋白合成平台,通过条件合成的报告荧光蛋白可实现对病毒、重金属等目标物的特异性检测,具有良好的应用前景。首先,本文介绍了基于核酸的纸基荧光生物传感器的设计,特别是基于核酸的识别元件与纸基材料的结合方式。其次,总结了基于核酸的纸基荧光生物传感器在临床诊断、食品安全检测、环境污染物检测等不同领域的最新研究进展,讨论了其优势与局限性。最后,探讨了基于核酸的纸基荧光生物传感器的发展方向与应用前景,以期为相关领域的研究提供参考。     

Frequency-selective quantitation of short-echo time 1H magnetic resonance spectra

Accurate and efficient filtering techniques are required to suppress large nuisance components present in short-echo time magnetic resonance (MR) spectra. This paper discusses two powerful filtering techniques used in long-echo time MR spectral quantitation, the maximum-phase FIR filter (MP-FIR) and the Hankel-Lanczos Singular Value Decomposition with Partial ReOrthogonalization (HLSVD-PRO), and shows that they can be applied to their more complex short-echo time spectral counterparts. Both filters are validated and compared through extensive simulations. Their properties are discussed. In particular, the capability of MP-FIR for dealing with macromolecular components is emphasized. Although this property does not make a large difference for long-echo time MR spectra, it can be important when quantifying short-echo time spectra.     

The regulation of biothiol-responsive performance and bioimaging application of benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole dyes

The different oxidation states of sulphur atom play a significant role on functional materials. In this work, a aryl-thioether and its sulphone substituted benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole dyes were synthesized and utilized to determine thiol-containing amino acids. The result of selectivity experiments showed they detected the cysteine and homocysteine under physiological condition with negligible interference from other amino acids. In comparison to the thioether dye, the sulphone-based dye exhibited much faster response time for Cys and Hcy. However, the sulphone restricted its thiol-reactivity and bioimaging performance in living cells. By reducing the oxidation state of sulphur atom, we amazedly found that the sulfoxide-based dye still maintained high selectivity ultrafast response time for Cys/Hcy under physiological condition. It was worth mentioning that it also had high reactivity and good bioimaging performance that sulfone compounds did not have.     

Fenna-Matthews-Olson捕光复合物中的冗余结构

研究了绿色硫细菌中捕光天线复合物Fenna-Matthews-Olson的一个子单元和反应中心的能量传递.通过细菌叶绿素分子的能量和耦合强度,构建了包含反应中心的哈密顿量及约化模型.通过级联运动方程研究了不同分子间和反应中心的激子布居演化.计算了Fenna-Matthews-Olson及其约化模型的二维三阶光子回波谱,获得能量传榆过程中不同激子态间的相干性.结果表明在能量捕获过程中,Fenna-Matthews-Olson复合物存在冗余结构.     

一种宽能谱多球中子谱仪能量响应的MC模拟

利用蒙特卡罗程序FLUKA模拟计算了聚乙烯慢化球和辅助材料慢化球对低能中子到高能中子的响应函数曲线。结果表明,对纯聚乙烯球来说,随着聚乙烯层厚度的增加,响应曲线峰逐步右移,峰值在高能区有所下降,对20 Me V以上的中子,无论纯聚乙烯球的尺寸有多大,其响应均下降到很低的程度;对辅助材料慢化球来说,中子能量小于1 Me V时,辅助材料慢化球与聚乙烯慢化球的响应曲线相似,但当中子能量大于20 Me V时,中子与辅助材料层发生(n,xn)反应,慢化球的响应呈显著上升趋势。分析计算结果,最终能够确定宽能谱多球中子谱仪的尺寸组合。     

Responsive mechanism of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole-based two-photon fluorescent probes for zinc and hydroxide ions

Response theory is used to investigate one- and two-photon absorption(TPA) as well as the emission properties of a series of potential zinc ion and pH sensitive materials containing 2-(2’-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole(HPBO) end groups.Special emphasis is placed on the evolution of their optical properties upon combining with zinc ions or deprotonation.Our calculated results indicate that upon combining with zinc ions or deprotonation,these HPBO derivatives show drastic changes in their one-photon absorption(OPA),emission,and TPA properties.Moreover,the mechanisms of the probes are analyzed and found to be an intramolecular charge transfer.These compounds are thus proved to be excellent candidates for two-photon fluorescent zinc and pH probes.     

Fabrication of Sensitive Potentiometric Cholesterol Biosensor Based on Co3O4 Interconnected Nanowires

Highly sensitive, selective, reliable and inexpensive cholesterol biosensors are highly demanded for the routine monitoring of cholesterol molecules in order to prevent heart failure incidents. In this study, Co₃O₄ nanostructures are synthesized using polyvinyl pyrrolidone surfactant as growth template by a low temperature aqueous chemical growth method. The morphology of nanostructures was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction techniques. The nanostructures exhibit interconnected nanowires like morphology with interconnected network of nanowires. The nanostructures of Co₃O₄ are polycrystalline. The cholesterol oxidase was physically adsorbed on the interconnected nanowires of Co₃O₄ for the chemical sensing of cholesterol molecules. The sensor device detected a wide range of cholesterol from 1×10^?7 M to 1×10^?3 M concentrations with sensitivity of ?94.031 mV/decade. A detection limit of 0.035×10^?7 M cholesterol concentration was observed and a fast response time of 10 s was also noticed. The fabricated device is highly stable, selective, sensitive, reproducible and repeatable. All the collected information about presented cholesterol biosensor indicates its potential application for the monitoring of cholesterol concentrations from human blood serum and real‐life samples.