Modeling and analyzing the action process of monoamine hormones in depression: a Petri nets-based intelligent approach.

In contemporary society, the incidence of depression is increasing significantly around the world. At present, most of the treatment methods for depression are psychological counseling and drug therapy. However, this approach does not allow patients to visualize the logic of hormones at the pathological level. In order to better apply intelligence computing methods to the medical field, and to more easily analyze the relationship between norepinephrine and dopamine in depression, it is necessary to build an interpretable graphical model to analyze this relationship which is of great significance to help discover new treatment ideas and potential drug targets. Petri net (PN) is a mathematical and graphic tool used to simulate and study complex system processes. This article utilizes PN to study the relationship between norepinephrine and dopamine in depression. We use PN to model the relationship between the norepinephrine and dopamine, and then use the invariant method of PN to verify and analyze it. The mathematical model proposed in this article can explain the complex pathogenesis of depression and visualize the process of intracellular hormone-induced state changes. Finally, the experiment result suggests that our method provides some possible research directions and approaches for the development of antidepressant drugs.

Effects of bubbles on particle dynamic behavior and concentration distribution in High-viscosity liquid under negative pressure.

The vacuum method is a widely adopted technique for eliminating bubbles from polymers containing particles. To investigate the influence of bubbles on the behavior of particles and the concentration distribution in high-viscosity liquids under negative pressure, experimental and numerical methods have been employed. The experimental findings demonstrated a positive correlation between the diameter and rising velocity of bubbles and the negative pressure. As the negative pressure increased from - 10 kPa to - 50 kPa, the position of the region where the particles were concentrated in the vertical direction was elevated. Furthermore, when the negative pressure exceeded - 50 kPa, the particle distribution became sparse and layered locally. The Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) integrated with the discrete phase model (DPM) was utilized to investigate the phenomenon, and the outcomes revealed that rising bubbles have an inhibitory effect on particle sedimentation, and the extent of inhibition was determined by the negative pressure. In addition, vortexes generated by differences in the rising velocity between bubbles resulted in a particle distribution that was sparse and layered locally. This research provides a reference for achieving desired particle distributions using a vacuum defoaming approach and should be further studied to extend its applicability to suspensions containing particles with different viscosities.

Multi-omics revealed the formation mechanism of flavor in salted egg yolk induced by the stages of lipid oxidation during salting.

To explore the contribution of different lipid oxidation stages to flavor formation in salted egg yolk, potential pathways of flavor formation were characterized by multi-omics strategy and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM). 72 lipids, 135 metabolites and 5 volatiles related to lipid oxidation were screened out. The degradation of aldehydes and ketones, and the generation of tryptamine and elaidic acid, etc. were promoted by triglycerides (TG) (10:0 16:0 18:1), triglycerides (TG) (18:0 20:1 22:0), etc. at primary and secondary oxidation stage, respectively. The generation of acetophenone, thianaphthene, etc. through the pathway of 2-phenylacetamide, hexanoylcarnitine, etc. was facilitated by these triglycerides (TG) at primary oxidation stage. Furthermore, amino acid metabolisms, pentose phosphate pathway and linoleic acid metabolism occurred at secondary oxidation stage were key pathways to form distinctive flavor. In conclusion, secondary oxidation stage may be more important for the formation of unique flavor (taste) in salted egg yolk.

Improvement of quality and flavor of salted egg yolks by ultrasonic assisted cooking.

Physicochemical, texture indexes, microstructure and volatiles were used to characterize the changes in quality, structure and flavor of cooked salted egg yolks (SEYs) with or without ultrasonic treatment. Experimental results indicated that ultrasonic significantly increased cooking (water) loss, oil exudation, lipids oxidation (TBARS), accelerated the doneness of cooked SEYs and then promoted the generation of volatiles. These results were further confirmed by the improvement of thermal stability, the changes in color, secondary structure of proteins, water distribution and mobility. Meanwhile, more "fragments" and "cracks" were observed in scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the decrease in gumminess and chewiness were detected using texture profile analysis (TPA), inducing that the migration of lipids and collapse of gel network were intensified. Moreover, ultrasonic treatment decreased the content of sodium chloride in SEYs. Therefore, it was concluded that the doneness, quality and flavor of cooked SEYs were improved by ultrasonic treatment, which could be used as an effective and alternative method for the production of SEYs with good flavor, sandy and oily texture.

Superhydrophobic Nickel-Electroplated Carbon Fibers for Versatile Oil/Water Separation with Excellent Reusability and High Environmental Stability.

Superhydrophobic filtrating materials have been widely developed for rapid removal or collection of oils from oil/water mixture due to the increasing water pollution caused by oil spills and oil-contaminated wastewater. However, poor reusability, superhydrophobic failure in harsh environments, and that only heavy oil or light oil was separated from water seriously restricted their practical application. Herein, superhydrophobic carbon fibers were first fabricated using a novel nickel electroplating for versatile oil/water separation with excellent reusability and high environmental stability. The interconnected nanometer-scale nickel grains formed on the micrometer-scale fibers and fluoroalkylsilane molecules enabled the fibers to be superhydrophobic with the water contact angle (CA) of ∼159.1° and superoleophilic with the oil CA of ∼0°. The nickel coating contributed to the improvement of the bonding strength, tensile strength, and oxidation resistance of the fibers. The as-prepared fibers could be applied for the separation of heavy or light oil/water mixtures with separation efficiencies above 99.1%, during which the oil content in the separated water all remained below 78 ppm. The fibers also realized the highly efficient separation of dichloromethane and various harsh environmental solutions such as hot water, acid, alkali, and salt. The superhydrophobicity of the fluorinated nickel-coated carbon fibers still remained even after 100 cycles of separation and 24 months of storage in air, demonstrating outstanding durability of the fibers. These novel superhydrophobic carbon fibers had promising potentials for versatile oil/water separation in practical applications.

Fabrication of Wettability Mesh with Quasi-Rectangular-Restraining Capacity to Water.

A water droplet placed on a surface is usually round owing to surface tension. Restraining a droplet to a rectangle shape has been rarely reported. Herein, we fabricated three meshes with diverse wettability including ordinary mesh, superhydropilic mesh, and quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh. The profiles of water droplets on these three meshes were entirely different from the top view, especially for the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh, which enables the water droplet on it to achieve the rectangular shape. The surface morphologies and chemical compositions of the meshes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Moreover, the influences of processing parameters of the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh on the quasi-rectangular quality of the water droplet on it were investigated to obtain the relatively optimum processing parameters. The dynamic properties of water droplets on the three meshes were compared, and forces acting on the water droplets during the spreading and shrinking processes on the three meshes were qualitatively analyzed. Additionally, we studied the influences of falling height and water volume on the quasi-rectangular quality of the water droplet on the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh. Water droplets on the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh demonstrated good stability under vibration and the droplet could maintain the quasi-rectangular quality on the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh for about 7 days, revealing a good durability. Further, the large-scaled fabrication of the quasi-rectangular-restraining mesh was realized.

Superaerophilic Wedge-Shaped Channels with Precovered Air Film for Efficient Subaqueous Bubbles/Jet Transportation and Continuous Oxygen Supplementation.

Pumpless and directed gas transportation in aqueous environments has promising application prospects in various domains. So far, researches on gas transportation based on superaerophilic channels are limited to the transportation of fewer bubbles with low transportation velocity. How to enhance the transportation velocity and realize the transportation of a large quantity of bubbles (especially for gas jet) for practical applications remain unclear. Here, a half-open wedge-shaped channel with subaqueous superaerophilicity is fabricated, which demonstrates excellent bubble affinity and can realize the pumpless and directed bubble transportation. It is proposed that a Laplace force is the main driving force during the transportation and the magnitude of the force is influenced by both the wedge angle of the channel and geometric parameters of the bubble whereas the direction of the force is determined by the orientation of the channel. By applying a precovered air film on the subaqueous superaerophilic wedge-shaped channel, bubbles demonstrate a higher transportation velocity. Additionally, the prepared channel shows an outstanding affinity to oxygen jet at high flux, which can be utilized to transport oxygen for continuous subaqueous oxygen supplementation.

Numerical Simulation of Stainless Steel-Carbon Steel Laminated Plate Considering Interface in Pulsed Laser Bending.

According to ANSYS software and an electron probe experiment, a multi-layer finite element model (FEM) of pulsed laser bending of stainless steel-carbon steel laminated plate (SCLP) including interfaces has been established. Compared with a single-layer stainless steel plate (SLSP), based on a temperature gradient mechanism considering the depth of the plastic zone, the influence of the interfaces and carbon steel layer in the model of the SCLP on the bending angle has been studied by analyzing the distributions of the temperature field, stress field and strain field in the thickness direction. The simulation results show that the temperature of the SCLP in the thickness direction is lower than that of the SLSP due to interfacial thermal resistance of the interface and fast heat conduction of the carbon steel layer, resulting in a smaller depth of the plastic zone of the SCLP defined by the recrystallization temperature. Affected by the temperature distribution, the plastic stress and strain of the SCLP in the plastic zone are smaller than those of the SLSP, leading to a smaller bending angle of the SCLP. When the laser power is 140 W, the scanning speed is 400 mm/min, the defocus distance is 10 mm, and the scanning time is 1, the bending angle of the SCLP is 1.336°, which is smaller than the bending angle 1.760° of the SLSP. The experimental verifications show that the maximum error of the bending angle is 3.74%, which verifies that the model of laser bending is usable and contributes to refining the laser bending mechanism of the SCLP.

Equivalent Properties of Transition Layer Based on Element Distribution in Laser Bending of 304 Stainless Steel/Q235 Carbon Steel Laminated Plate.

Compared with the single-component metal plate, there is a special transition layer on the joint interface between two kinds of materials in the stainless steel-carbon steel laminated plate (SCLP). In order to describe the finite element model of laser bending accurately, it is of great significance to determine material properties of the transition layer. Based on the element distribution, an equivalent method is adopted to calculate thermal conductivity, thermal expansion coefficient, elastic modulus, density, Poisson's ratio, and specific heat capacity of transition layer. The electron probe experiments show that the transition layer is formed by interfacial element diffusion with thickness of 7 µm. Besides, the volume fraction of stainless steel (46.63%) and carbon steel (53.37%) in the transition layer is tested by energy dispersive spectrometer, respectively. Through the equivalent method, a laser bending model of SCLP is simulated by ANSYS software to predict the bending angle under different parameters. The experimental verification shows that the maximum of bending angle errors is 3.74%, which is lower than the maximum 4.93% of errors calculated by the mean value method. The analysis verifies that the laser bending model is feasible and contributes to improving the accuracy of modeling SCLP in the laser bending process.

Broadband metallic absorber on a non-planar substrate.

Absorbers for visible and near-infrared light are realized by depositing a thin iron layer on arrays of cones which are replicated from a porous template. The replicated conic structure itself is of several micrometers and ineffective at antireflection, but the subsequent deposition of iron on top generates nano-meter-size columnar structures, and thus broadband absorption enhancement is achieved.