Microbial diversity and dynamic changes play an important role in the production of fermented peppers. In this study, the relationship between fungal communities and the volatile flavor compounds of traditional Chinese fermented peppers was investigated by high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that Hanseniaspora was a dominant fungus during the whole fermentation course and accounted for 82.22% of the fungal community on average (ranging from 50.44% to 98.15%). Bidirectional orthogonal partial least squares (O2PLS) analysis between fungal community and volatile flavor compounds showed that Pichia, Hanseniaspora, Cryptococcus, Debarvomvces, and Trichosporon were closely correlated with the concentrations of the volatile flavor components such as α-terpineol, trans-3-tetradecene, 4-methylpentyl 3-methylbutanoate, and 11 other volatile flavor compounds. This study elucidated the dynamics of fungal communities and volatile flavor compounds during pepper fermentation and... [more]

The over-enrichment of phosphorus in waste streams can lead to eutrophication and oxygen limitations for aquatic life. To understand the release of phosphorus from a soybean processing facility, it is imperative to track the flow of phosphorus in different streams during the processing of soybeans. The objective of the study is to develop process simulation models to study the flow of phosphorus in the soy-biodiesel process and evaluate strategies to mitigate phosphorus release by recovering phosphorous from soapstock and wastewater. Since most of the P is found in soybean meal, the processing of which releases phosphorus, a third case of lecithin recovery was also studied to reduce the amount of phosphorous in soybean meal. It was observed that phosphorus can be economically recovered from the soapstock, as well as the wastewater stream, with an estimated operating cost of USD 1.65 and 3.62 per kg of phosphorous recovered, respectively. The phosphorus recovered from both streams can b... [more]

Underground salt cavern gas storage is the best choice for the production peak adjustment and storage of natural gas, and is a basic means to ensure the safe supply of natural gas. However, in the process of these caverns dissolving due to water injection, argillaceous insoluble sediments in the salt layer will fall to the bottom of the cavity and expand, occupying a large amount of the storage capacity and resulting in the reduction of the actual gas storage space. Effectively reducing the volume of sediments at the bottom of the cavity is a potential way to expand the storage capacity of the cavity. In this study, a method to reduce the volume of argillaceous insoluble sediments with particle sizes ranging from 10 mesh to 140 mesh, via a chemical shrinkage agent, has been proposed. Firstly, the inorganic polymer shrinkage agent PAC30 was synthesized, and then a set of dynamic shrinkage evaluation methods was established to evaluate the influence of temperature, particle size, concent... [more]

The bend pipe with a circular section, which is widely used in hydropower, chemical industry and other fields, is a common form in pipeline systems. However, secondary flow occurs when the fluid flows through the bend pipe, thereby affecting the stability of the pipeline system. Different bending angles have various effects. Therefore, this paper establishes 3D models of a circular bend pipe with different bending angles. The influence of bending angle on flow field distribution and downstream flow is analyzed numerically. The larger the bending angle is, the more obvious the flow distribution and even the unevenness at the elbow will be, hence resulting in poor stability. The distance required to restore flow uniformity also increases. The pressure energy loss of the bend pipe with different bending angles is investigated. Results show that with the increase in bending angle, the global pressure loss presents a trend of “increase-decrease-increase.” The closer the bending angle is to... [more]

Particle coating is one of the oldest pharmaceutical processes that is still in existence. It is the process of applying a thin polymer-based film to a particle or granule containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient. The widely used methods for particle coating are sugar coating, film coating, and enteric coating and the techniques are pan coating, fluidized bed coating, and compression coating. Sugar coating was the earlier coating method, and it was gradually replaced by film coating because it required skilled manipulation. With the technology developing, enteric coating draws more attention. Pan coating is the most classic coating technique, which is applied to sugar coating, film coating and enteric coating. Fluid bed coating is used for a mixture of multiple materials and medicines and keeps the bioavailability high. Compression coating can avoid the harmful effects of moisture and high temperature, while it requires highly accurate machinery.

Polymers are a vast class of materials that are highly tailorable to a wide variety of applications and can be modified in numerous ways [...]

Less precipitation, high temperature, and minimal natural vegetation are characteristic of regions having an arid climate. The harsh environment massively destructs the soil structure of that area by burning soil organic carbon, leading to deteriorated soil nutritional quality, creating a significant threat to agricultural production and food security. Direct application of organic wastes not only substitutes lost organic carbon but also restores soil structure and fertility. This study was conducted to assess the impact of organic amendments, i.e., farm manure (FM), poultry manure (PM), molasses (MO), and Exo-Poly Saccharides (EPS) producing rhizobacterial strains i.e., M2, M19, M22 amalgams as treatments. To assess the impact of treatments on soil carbon and structure restoration to hold more water and nutrients, a 42-day incubation experiment using a completely randomized design (CRD) under the two-factor factorial arrangement was conducted. Macro aggregation (0.25 to >1 mm), carbon... [more]

Cu-Al-Nishape memory alloys (SMAs) are widely known for their better properties in comparison to other SMAs (lower production costs, increased ductility, enhanced machinability, reduced liquidus temperature, and decreased hysteresis), but there is still controversy in terms of the biological properties of these materials. The aim of this study was to evaluate biofunctional performances of Cu-Al-Ni alloy produced by continuous casting. The micro-chemical analysis was investigated by SEM/EDX. Immersion tests performed for seven days were used to estimate the quantity of Cu, Al, and Ni ions released in neutral pH and slightly acidic artificial saliva. To assess the biocompatibility of the Cu-Al-Ni alloy samples, MTT assay on fibroblasts and dental pulp cells was performed in indirect and direct contact with samples after 1,3, and 7 days.The study revealed that continuous casting enables the primary fabrication of Cu-Al-Ni rods with a shape memory effect. Samples immersed in artificial sal... [more]

In order to suppress the irregular diffusion of dust in the unloading process of grab ship unloaders, an air curtain soft-sealing system was designed that can effectively block the air flow and restrict the diffusion of pollutants and reduce the average mass fraction of pollutants outside the air curtain plane by 70.02%. The grab unloading model was constructed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics−Discrete Element Method (CFD-DEM) coupling method, and the diffusion law of the gas−solid two-phase flow field of the falling bulk material was studied. Moreover, the motion trajectory and velocity distribution of the particle flow field and air flow field were obtained, as well as the maximum air flow field velocity of five planes above the hopper. The three-dimensional model of the air curtain jet was used and simplified, and the air curtain parameters were set based on the maximum air flow field velocity. The barrier performance of the air curtain under different air curtain jet modes, j... [more]

This study considers a multi-stage sleeve control valve with different opening degrees. The flow capacity of the numerical model is calculated using the actual working conditions of the control valve in a nuclear power plant as a baseline. A flow resistance test bench is then used to measure the flow capacity under each opening degree, and the flow characteristic curve is plotted to verify the accuracy of the numerical model. Based on CFX software simulations of different opening speeds, pressures, turbulent kinetic energy clouds, and set detection curves, analysis of the flow characteristics of the multi-stage sleeve valve with high parameters shows that, with an increase in the degree of opening, the valve speed will also increase. However, the speed at the socket orifice is slightly different, exhibiting a higher opening in the middle and lower openings on both sides. A maximum speed of 792.4 m/s is found in the 40% valve orifice. A maximum value of the turbulent kinetic energy of 1... [more]

Recycling of waste plastics has become vital due to the threat to the environment the huge piles of those wastes represent, with research revealing High-Density Polyethylene (HDPEs) as the most dominant waste plastics. Because of their dominance and significant environmental impact, this paper reports the economic potential of recycling HDPE waste plastic into liquid fuels via pyrolysis. A risk and benefit assessment are presented to highlight whether the process has reasonable potential prior to the analysis of its corresponding finances. Aspen HYSYS simulation models were used as the basis for the analysis. From this, preliminary cost estimations for the net present value (NPV) of the process, its economic viability, were determined. It is shown that 100 kg/h of waste is not financially sustainable. Retailing the fuel product at a competitive price of £60/barrel would ultimately bankrupt the business. This is a consequence of the extremely high production cost of £198.40/barrel induc... [more]

Biodiesel, which possesses the dominant advantages of low emissions and environmental friendliness, is a competitive alternative fuel to petroleum-derived diesel. The cetane number, which indicates ignition delay characteristics, is considered the most significant fuel property of biodiesel. Determining the cetane number for biodiesel by general testing equipment is time-consuming and costly; hence, a simple and convenient predictive formula for the cetane number of biodiesel is a significant task to be carried out. A reliable and convenient predictive method for determining the cetane number is proposed in this study. The key parameters for the cetane number of biodiesel were first screened out. The analysis of multiple linear regressions using the available software SPSS for statistical analysis was carried out to obtain the regression coefficients of those key parameters and intercepts to establish the predictive model. Other available experimental data verified the validity of the... [more]

PPM1D, a protein Ser/Thr phosphatase, is overexpressed in various cancers and functions as an oncogenic protein by inactivating the p53 pathway. Therefore, molecules that bind PPM1D are expected to be useful anti-cancer agents. In this study, we constructed a phage display library based on the antibody-like small molecule protein adnectin and screened for PPM1D-specific binding molecules. We identified two adnectins, PMDB-1 and PMD-24, that bind PPM1D specific B-loop and PPM1D430 as targets, respectively. Specificity analyses of these recombinant proteins using other Ser/Thr protein phosphatases showed that these molecules bind to only PPM1D. Expression of PMDB-1 in breast cancer-derived MCF-7 cells overexpressing endogenous PPM1D stabilized p53, indicating that PMDB-1 functions as an inhibitor of PPM1D. Furthermore, MTT assay exhibited that MCF-7 cells expressing PMDB-1 showed inhibition of cell proliferation. These data suggest that the adnectin PMDB-1 identified in this study can be... [more]

At present, there are a large number of growing medical applications in the application market. It is difficult for users to find satisfactory medical services conveniently and efficiently. The classical collaborative filtering algorithm has some problems, such as cold start, unsatisfactory recommendation results, and so on. This paper proposes a hybrid medical service recommendation approach based on knowledge graph to solve the above problems. This approach introduces the open knowledge graph and establishes the semantic link relationship between the mobile application and the knowledge graph entity. It not only enhances the semantic feature of single application for improving the accuracy of recommendation results, but also realizes the in-depth analysis of the semantic relationship among multiple application entities in the knowledge graph through the TransHR model which can alleviate the cold start problem. Then we design a hybrid recommendation algorithm based on multi-dimensiona... [more]

Enterprises looking to be competitive are constantly looking for a continuous increase in productivity, quality, and level of services. With the development of the industry 4.0 concept, manufacturers are more confident about the new advantages of automation and systems integration. Lean management is a well-developed and empirically proven managerial strategy. Combining lean and industry 4.0 practices seems to be a necessary evolutionary step to further raise the level of operational excellence. This study applied the main path analysis method to explore the development trend of lean management in the academic field. First, this study adopted the Scopus database to collect relevant papers, then analyzed their overall development trajectory by using Main Path 437 software, and used the g-index and h-index to identify more influential journals. Next, this study clustered the papers with similar topics into several groups, and then used Wordle software to present the keywords of each grou... [more]

In this paper, a novel second-order active disturbance rejection control (2-ADRC) algorithm is proposed to optimize the control of the air supply subsystem for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). To improve the optimal control effect of the air supply subsystem for PEMFC, the modeling theory of the air supply subsystem considering dynamic characteristics of the PEMFC system is first studied, and the dynamic Simulink model of the PEMFC system is established and verified. Then, the optimal oxygen excess ratio (OER) parameters under different load currents are obtained, and the optimal OER parameters are also used as the OER control reference for the designed algorithms. In addition, a 2-ADRC algorithm is designed and proposed to make the actual OER parameters close to the optimal OER in real time. Furthermore, compared with PID and MPC algorithms, the 2-ADRC algorithm can comprehensively consider the two parameters of mass flow and pressure ratio to make the compressor work in th... [more]

Currently, the resources of fossil fuels, such as crude oil, natural gas, and coal, are depleting day by day due to increasing energy demands. Nowadays, plastic items have witnessed a substantial surge in manufacturing due to their wide range of applications and low cost. Therefore, the amount of plastic waste is increasing rapidly. Hence, the proper management of plastic wastes for sustainable technologies is the need of the hour. Chemical recycling technologies based on pyrolysis are emerging as the best waste management approaches due to their robustness and better economics. However, research on converting plastic waste into fuels and other value-added goods has yet to be undertaken, and more R&D is required to make waste-plastic-based fuels economically viable. In this review article, the current status of the plastic waste pyrolysis process is discussed in detail. Process-controlling parameters such as temperature, pressure, residence time, reactor type, and catalyst dose are als... [more]

Insects have been used as animal feed protein sources in livestock and poultry breeding, and their impact on pork quality needs to be studied. This experiment mainly explores the effect of adding black soldier flies to the feed on the growth performance and meat quality of pigs. All 24 weaned piglets were randomly divided into three groups, one group was given a normal diet as the control group (C), and the other two groups were supplemented with 4% (T1) and 8% (T2) black soldier flies as an alternative protein source, respectively. Pig growth performance and carcass traits were measured at the end of the 113-day experiment. After euthanizing the pigs, we used metabolomics to detect pig dorsal muscle and qPCR to detect gene expression in dorsal muscle and adipose tissue. For the average daily gain and backfat thickness, T2 group was significantly higher than T1 group and C group (p < 0.05). Intramuscular fat content was significantly elevated in the T1 and T2 groups (p < 0.05). T... [more]

Based on the winding function considering the slot width and the air-gap permeability considering the slot opening width, the main radial electromagnetic force wave expressions of the induction motor are determined. The electromagnetic force-vibration prediction model of the induction motor is established. The natural frequency and acoustic radiation model of a finite-length cylindrical shell with two ends clamped is deduced. On this basis, an improved magnetic noise prediction model of cage induction motor is improved, which can calculate the combined effects of electromagnetic force on the axis and circumferential modes of the stator system. Aiming at two different noise reduction targets, an optimization method is proposed to reduce the overall electromagnetic noise of the motor without sacrificing efficiency and output torque. The feasibility of the model for electromagnetic noise prediction is verified by finite element simulation and experiments. For a 30/26 slots five-phase indu... [more]

In order to study the influence of the change of the guide vane airfoil on the flow characteristics in the draft tube of a reversible hydraulic turbine, a reversible hydraulic turbine was used as the object of study, and the effect of the change on the flow pattern, energy loss, and pressure pulsation in the draft tube area was studied based on the SST k-ω turbulence model. The results show that under low flow conditions, the modified movable guide vane directly affects the direction and speed of water entering the draft tube, reduces the density of vortex in the draft tube area, reduces the impact on the near wall of the draft tube during the rotation of the vortex belt, and improves the stability of the unit operation. The turbulent energy comparison graph shows that the energy loss in the bent elbow section and the diffusion section of the draft tube is reduced, and the energy return coefficient of the draft tube is improved by calculating that the energy recovery level of the draft... [more]

The rate-controlled production (RCP) inflow control devices (ICDs) are valves placed in the lower completion of oil and gas wells, capable of autonomously controlling the reservoir inflow. This completion technology self-regulates the inflow of undesired phases, such as water, by choking the flow after the breakthrough event, thus improving the recovery factor and reducing water production. In this context, this article presents a numerical study that describes the working principle of RCP valves based on a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The numerical models are based on the conservation equations of fluid flow, the volume of fluid (VOF) multiphase flow model, and the dynamic fluid body interaction (DFBI) model to simulate the valve’s movement caused by its interaction with the flow. This study demonstrates the possibility of studying RCP valves alone or coupled with the whole completion assembly and reservoir rock. The difference in the valve efficiency after considering... [more]

Glutinol, a triterpenoid compound, has no documented systematic investigation into its mechanism. Hence, we used network pharmacology to investigate glutinol’s mechanism. The chemical formula of glutinol was searched in the PubChem database for our investigation. The BindingDB Database was utilized to discover probable glutinol target genes after ADMET analysis with the pkCSM software. DAVID tools were also used to perform Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis of target genes. We also uploaded the targets to the STRING database to obtain the protein interaction network at the same time. Then, we performed some molecular docking using glutinol and targets. Finally, we used Cytoscape to visualize and evaluate a protein−protein interaction network and a drug-target-pathway network. Glutinol has good biological activity and drug utilization, according to our findings. A total of 32 target genes were discovered.... [more]

Although the conversion material iron oxyfluoride (FeOF) possesses a high theoretical specific capacity as a cathode material for Li/Na ion batteries, its poor rate and cycling performances, caused mainly by sluggish (Li+/Na+) reaction kinetics, restrict its practical application. Herein, FeOF with high purity, a fusiform nanorod shape and high crystallinity is prepared through a facile chemical solution reaction. The electrochemical measurements show that the present FeOF exhibits high capacity and good cycling stability as a cathode material for Li-ion batteries. Capacities of 301, 274, 249, 222, and 194 mAh/g at stepwise current densities of 20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 mA/g are achieved, respectively. Additionally, the capacity at 100 mA/g retains 123 mAh/g after 140 cycles. Meanwhile, as a cathode material for Na ion battery, it delivers discharge capacities of 185, 167, 151, 134 and 115 mAh/g at stepwise current densities of 20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 mA/g, respectively. A discharge... [more]

Digital Twins (DT) as digital representations are increasingly becoming operational design tools in a variety of contexts. Although a common understanding of the concept and the underlying development procedure would facilitate DT applications, only limited information has been published on the essential stages of development and fundamental development activities. This paper examines the extent to which an abstract, and thus generally applicable model for the development of Digital Twins can be identified. In order to come up with such a reference procedure, a structured analysis of published development experiences has been performed. Three major application domains, namely product lifecycle management, manufacturing, and predictive maintenance, could be detailed and cross-checked. For each of these domains, a contextual development model could be derived from empirically valid design and engineering practices. The data also allowed for the determination of which way each model corre... [more]

Camellia seed oil, extracted from the seeds of Camellia oleifera Abel., is popular in South China because of its high nutritive value and unique flavor. Nowadays, the traditional extraction methods of hot pressing extraction (HPE) and solvent extraction (SE) are contentious due to low product quality and high environmental impact. Innovative methods such as supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) and aqueous extraction (AE) are proposed to overcome the pitfalls of the traditional methods. However, they are often limited to the laboratory or pilot scale due to economic or technical bottlenecks. Optimization of extraction processes indicates the challenges in finding the optimal balance between the yield and quality of oils and phytochemicals, as well as the environmental and economic impacts. This article aims to explore recent advances and innovations related to the extraction of oils and phytochemicals from camellia seeds, and it focuses on the pretreatment and extraction processes, as... [more]