Effect of thermal pretreatments on the quality attributes and irradiation markers of sesame oil extracted from sesame seeds without and with gamma irradiation.

This study comparatively studied the effects of three thermal pretreatment methods, i.e., wet-heat (WT), roasting (RT) and microwave (MT), on the quality attributes and irradiation markers of sesame oil obtained from sesame seeds without and with gamma irradiation. Results showed that gamma irradiation had negligible effect on the quality of sesame seeds and their extracted oils. The effects of thermal pretreatments on irradiated and non-irradiated sesame seeds and their oils were similar, little synergistic effects were observed. The RT-treated oils had more carotenoids, chlorophyll, total phenols, tocopherols, and heterocyclic volatiles content, as well as longer oxidation induction time, but darker color compared with their WT- and MT-treated counterparts. All oil samples had identical FTIR spectra. Eight radiolytic hydrocarbons were identified in the irradiated sesame oils. Thermal pretreatments reduced the content of radiolytic hydrocarbons, but did not significantly change their composition. Our study helps to identify products from irradiated sesame seeds.

Effect of freeze-thaw treatment on the yield and quality of tiger nut oil.

To investigate the effect of freeze-thaw (FT) process on the yield and quality of tiger nut oil, tiger nuts were subjected to 0-12 cycles of FT treatment. Results indicated that FT treatment ruptured the cell structure of tiger nut, resulting in an increase in oil yield. Acid value (2.09-2.42 mg KOH/g) and peroxide value (0.40-0.42 mmol/kg) increased with the number of FT cycles, but the increments were small. Likewise, slight differences in fatty acid composition and thermal properties between control and FT-treated samples were observed. FT treatment remarkably increased the bioactive components (e.g., vitamin E, sterols, chlorophyll and carotenoids) in the oil and extended the oxidation induction time from 1.2 to 5.57 h. FT treatment altered the volatile composition of tiger nut oil, increasing the relative content of heterocycles and pyrazines such as 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, trimethylpyrazine and tetramethylpyrazine. It was suggested that FT treatment prior to oil extraction was beneficial to improve the oil yield and quality.

Theoretical analysis of a 60 W solar-pumped single crystal fiber laser.

In order to improve the output power of solar-pumped single-crystal fiber (SCF) lasers, we propose a novel solar concentrating system, to the best of our knowledge, consisting of a parabolic mirror, a 3D compound parabolic concentrator, and a hollow-core reflector. By ray tracing with TracePro, the influence of the fiber's diameter and the hollow reflector's shape on the solar absorption efficiency is theoretically investigated. A typical Nd:YAG SCF with a core diameter of 1 mm, length of 150 mm, and doping concentration of 1 at.% is selected for a simulation of laser operation. The output characteristics of the laser are analyzed by solving the rate equation and power transmission equation; the maximum output power and solar-to-laser conversion efficiency are 60.62 W and 4.64%, respectively. The thermal effects of the laser are simulated by Comsol software. When the input solar power is 1307.4 W, the temperature decreases sharply first and then saturates along the SCF fiber, with the maximum value of 69.18°C at the input fiber end. This concentrating system can effectively overcome the limitation of end-launching solar power into SCFs and has great potential in improving the output power of solar fiber lasers.

Initial measurement of electron nonextensive parameter with electric probe.

Theoretical analysis and a large number of experiments have proved that plasma components do not satisfy Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics and can be well described by nonextensive statistical mechanics, while new plasma parameters, electron nonextensive parameters, which are introduced to describe the nonextensive properties of plasma, cannot be diagnosed yet. Here we show measurement of electron nonextensive parameters of plasma with a nonextensive single electric probe. Our results show that nonextensive electric probe may play a role in plasma diagnosis, measuring nonextensivity of plasma and improving diagnostic accuracy of other plasma parameters. We expect the proposed nonextensive single electric probe can be starting point of more complex nonextensive electric probe. In addition, nonextensive electric probe is an important means to study various plasma waves and instability, turbulence, and anomalous transport, and a definite and quantitative test of the theory of nonextensive geodetic acoustic models will be relevant to such development.

Therapeutic effects of endoscopic mucosal resection on the recovery and prognosis of early gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: To study the clinical effect of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in the treatment of early gastric cancer (EGC), and to evaluate the recovery and prognosis, so as to provide references for clinical selection of treatment methods. METHODS: 120 patients with EGC were selected and randomly divided into the EMR group and the radical surgery group. Before surgery and 3 days after surgery, the levels of traumatic response-related indexes in serum [adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol (Cor), gastrin (GAS) and motilin (MTL)] were assessed. Before surgery, 3 months and 1 year after surgery, the expression levels of tumor markers [carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 19.9 (CA19.9), CA125 and CA724] were assessed. Before surgery and 3 days and 3 months after surgery, the immune function indexes [cluster of differentiation (CD)25+, CD28+ and inducible costimulator (ICOS)] were measured. Moreover, the clinical effect of surgery and the incidence rate of complications were compared between the two groups, and patients were followed up for at least 2 years to evaluate their prognosis. RESULTS: The clinical cure rate of tumor resection was comparable in both groups, and the incidence rate of complications in the EMR group was significantly lower than that in the radical surgery group (p<0.05). The levels of tumor markers were significantly increased compared with those before surgery in both groups (p<0.05), but without significant differences between the two groups. Three days after surgery in the radical surgery group, ACTH and Cor were increased, while GAS and MTL were decreased, and the levels of immune indexes declined (p<0.05). In the EMR group, the above indexes had no significant differences compared with those before surgery. Three days after surgery, the survival and recurrence rate in the EMR group and the radical surgery group were 95.0% vs. 98.3% and 5.0% vs. 3.3%, respectively (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The treatment of EGC with EMR has comparable clinical effect and prognosis to the traditional radical surgery, which causes less damage to the body and gastrointestinal function and less inhibition on the immune function, so it is worthy of clinical application.