Search Results (708)

This study involved developing a Pickering emulsion system based on a composite material comprising zein colloidal particles (ZCPs) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with the aim of exploring its potential application in fruit preservation by loading carvacrol (CAR). The system (CAR@ZCPE) consists of ZCP particles with an average size of approximately 317 nm in a composite with CNC particles of approximately 85 nm at an optimal mass ratio (ZCP/CNC = 1:3) to form stable particles encapsulating CAR. The results indicate that CAR@ZCPE is an O/W Pickering emulsion that can be diluted indefinitely in water and exhibits excellent environmental stability. Rheological analysis revealed that it exhibits shear-thinning properties and a gel-like network structure, which explains its good stability. Bioactivity evaluation revealed that CAR@ZCPE exhibited inhibitory activity against Botryosphaeria dothidea, with an inhibition rate of 63.60% at a concentration of 50 mg/L. Kiwifruit preservation experiments confirmed that CAR@ZCPE significantly reduced the degree of kiwifruit decay, and cell activity evaluations confirmed its biosafety. The total apoptotic rate of LO2 cells was 2.10%, indicating that the emulsion did not affect the cell growth cycle. This study successfully developed a CAR Pickering emulsion stabilized by ZCP-CNC composite particles. This emulsion system combines high stability, excellent antibacterial activity, and excellent biocompatibility. Kiwifruit preservation experiments validated its potential as a safe and efficient new preservative, providing an innovative method for preserving fruits using ZCP-CNC-composite-stabilized Pickering emulsions. Full article

Multisensory processing has long been recognized to enhance perception, cognition, and actions in adults. However, there is currently limited understanding of how multisensory stimuli, in comparison to unisensory stimuli, contribute to the development of both motor and verbally assessed working memory (WM) in children. Thus, the current study aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the associations between the multisensory processing of auditory and visual stimuli, and performance on simple and more complex WM tasks, in children from birth to 15 years old. We also aimed to determine whether there are differences in WM capacity for audiovisual compared to unisensory auditory or visual stimuli alone after receptive and spoken language develop. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science databases identified that 21 out of 3968 articles met the inclusion criteria for Bayesian meta-analysis and the AXIS risk of bias criteria. The results showed at least extreme/decisive evidence for associations between verbal and motor reaction times on multisensory tasks and a variety of visual and auditory WM tasks, with verbal multisensory stimuli contributing more to verbally assessed WM capacity than unisensory auditory or visual stimuli alone. Furthermore, a meta-regression confirmed that age significantly moderates the observed association between multisensory processing and both visual and auditory WM tasks, indicating that verbal- and motor-assessed multisensory processing contribute differentially to WM performance, and to different age-determined extents. These findings have important implications for school-based learning methods and other educational activities where the implementation of multisensory stimuli is likely to enhance outcomes. Full article

Distributed acoustic sensing shows great potential for pipeline monitoring. However, internally deployed and unfixed sensing cables are highly susceptible to disturbances from water flow noise, severely challenging impact source localization. This study proposes a novel two-step method to address this. The first step employs Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) combined with Short-Time Energy Entropy (STEE) for the adaptive extraction of impact signal from noisy data. STEE is introduced as a stable metric to quantify signal impulsiveness and guides the selection of the relevant intrinsic mode function. The second step utilizes the Pruned Exact Linear Time (PELT) algorithm for accurate signal segmentation, followed by an unsupervised learning method combining Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and clustering to identify the impact segment and precisely pick the arrival time based on shape similarity, overcoming the limitations of traditional pickers under conditions of complex noise. Field tests on an operational water pipeline validated the method, demonstrating the consistent localization of manual impacts with standard deviations typically between 1.4 m and 2.0 m, proving its efficacy under realistic noisy conditions. This approach offers a reliable framework for pipeline safety assessments under operational conditions. Full article

Herein, a bi-functional composite photocatalyst was synthesized by integrating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) via a facile electrostatic self-assembly strategy. The resulting CNTs/GCN composite served dual roles as both a solid emulsifier and a photocatalyst, enabling highly efficient photocatalytic benzyl alcohol oxidation within a Pickering emulsion system. The relationship between emulsion droplet size and solid emulsifier dosage was investigated and optimized. The enhanced photocatalytic function was supported by an improved photocurrent response and reduced charge-transfer resistance, attributed to superior charge separation efficiency. Consequently, the benzyl alcohol conversion efficiency achieved in the Pickering emulsion system (58.9%) was three-fold of that observed in a traditional oil–water non-emulsion system (19.0%). Key active species were identified as photoholes, and an interfacial reaction mechanism was proposed. This work provides a new approach for extending photocatalytic applications in aqueous environments to diverse organic conversion reactions through the construction of multifunctional photocatalysts. Full article

To improve the postharvest preservation of cherry tomatoes and combat pathogenic, both bacterial and fungal contamination (particularly Alternaria alternata), a novel biodegradable coating was developed based on a water-in-water (W/W) Pickering emulsion system. The emulsion was stabilized by L. plantarum (Lactobacillus plantarum), with maltodextrin (MD) as the dispersed phase and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as the continuous phase. Characterization of emulsions at varying concentrations revealed that the optimized W/W-PL^8 film exhibited superior stability, smooth morphology, and low water vapor permeability (WVP = 220.437 g/(m²·24 h)), making it a promising candidate for fruit and vegetable preservation. Furthermore, the coating demonstrated strong antioxidant activity, with scavenging rates of 58.99% (ABTS) and 94.23% (DPPH), along with potent antimicrobial effects, showing inhibition rates of 12.8% against Escherichia coli and 23.7% against Staphylococcus aureus. Applied to cherry tomatoes, the W/W-PL^8 coating significantly reduced respiration rates, minimized decay incidence, and maintained nutritional quality during storage. Remarkably, the coating successfully controlled Alternaria alternata contamination, enhancing the storage duration of cherry tomatoes. These findings highlight the potential of W/W-PL^8 as an eco-friendly and functional packaging material for fresh produce preservation. Full article

Quinoa protein isolate (QPI) and sodium alginate (SA) have excellent biocompatibility and functional properties, making them promising candidates for food-grade delivery systems. In this study, we developed, for the first time, a QPI/SA complex-stabilized Pickering emulsion for curcumin encapsulation. The coacervation behavior of QPI and SA was investigated from pH 1.6 to 7.5, and the structural and interfacial characteristics of the complexes were analyzed using zeta potential measurements, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and contact angle analysis. The results showed that the formation of QPI/SA complexes was primarily driven by electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions, with enhanced amphiphilicity observed under optimal conditions (QPI/SA = 5:1, pH 5). The QPI/SA-stabilized Pickering emulsions demonstrated excellent emulsification performance and storage stability, maintaining an emulsification index above 90% after 7 d when prepared with 60% oil phase. In vitro digestion studies revealed stage-specific curcumin release, with sustained release in simulated gastric fluid (21.13%) and enhanced release in intestinal fluid (88.21%). Cytotoxicity assays using HeLa cells confirmed the biocompatibility of QPI/SA complexes (≤500 μg/mL), while curcumin-loaded emulsions exhibited dose-dependent anticancer activity. These findings suggest that QPI/SA holds significant potential for applications in functional foods and oral delivery systems. Full article

Poor solubility and bioavailability have limited the application of fucoxanthin in drug and functional food processing. In order to encapsulate fucoxanthin in delivery systems, in this study, cellulose was isolated from industrial brown algae residues and high-pressure homogenized into cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). Then, fucoxanthin was encapsulated into the Pickering emulsion stabilized by the CNFs. The effect of high-pressure homogenization on the characteristics of cellulose and the stability of fucoxanthin emulsion was evaluated. The results indicated that CNFs prepared at 105 MPa had a diameter of 87 nm and exhibited high zeta potential and thermal stability. Encapsulation efficiency peaked at 70.8% with 1.0 mg/mL fucoxanthin, and after three freeze–thaw cycles the encapsulation efficiency was higher than 60%. The DPPH scavenging activity after 12 days’ storage at 4 °C was still 42%. Furthermore, the Pickering emulsion with 1.0 mg/mL fucoxanthin showed high stability and antioxidant activity under different pH values, salinity, temperature, and UV light exposure duration. The CNFs effectively protected fucoxanthin from degradation, offering a novel delivery system for marine bioactive compounds. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the fucoxanthin delivery system of Pickering emulsion stabilized by the CNFs. Such emulsion might benefit the encapsulation and release of bioactive components in marine drugs. Full article

In response to the limited research on fire detection in cotton pickers and the issue of low detection accuracy in visual inspection, this paper proposes a computer vision-based detection method. The method is optimized according to the structural characteristics of cotton pickers, and a lightweight improved YOLOv11 algorithm is designed for cotton fire detection in cotton pickers. The backbone of the model is replaced with the MobileNetV2 network to achieve effective model lightweighting. In addition, the convolutional layers in the original C3k2 block are optimized using partial convolutions to reduce computational redundancy and improve inference efficiency. Furthermore, a visual attention mechanism named CBAM-ECA (Convolutional Block Attention Module-Efficient Channel Attention) is designed to suit the complex working conditions of cotton pickers. This mechanism aims to enhance the model’s feature extraction capability under challenging environmental conditions, thereby improving overall detection accuracy. To further improve localization performance and accelerate convergence, the loss function is also modified. These improvements enable the model to achieve higher precision in fire detection while ensuring fast and accurate localization. Experimental results demonstrate that the improved model reduces the number of parameters by 38%, increases the frame processing speed (FPS) by 13.2%, and decreases the computational complexity (GFLOPs) by 42.8%, compared to the original model. The detection accuracy for flaming combustion, smoldering combustion, and overall detection is improved by 1.4%, 3%, and 1.9%, respectively, with an increase of 2.4% in mAP (mean average precision). Compared to other models—YOLOv3-tiny, YOLOv5, YOLOv8, and YOLOv10—the proposed method achieves higher detection accuracy by 5.9%, 7%, 5.9%, and 5.3%, respectively, and shows improvements in mAP by 5.4%, 5%, 4.8%, and 6.3%. The improved detection algorithm maintains high accuracy while achieving faster inference speed and fewer model parameters. These improvements lay a solid foundation for fire prevention and suppression in cotton collection boxes on cotton pickers. Full article

This study explored the potential of chitosan (CH)/bacterial cellulose (BC) complexes (0.5% w/v) as novel emulsifiers to stabilize oil-in-water (o/w) Pickering emulsions (20% v/v sunflower oil), with a focus on their gel-like behavior. Emulsions were prepared using CH combined with BNC derived via H₂SO₄ (BNC1) or H₂SO₄-HCl (BNC2) hydrolysis. Increasing BNC content improved stability by reducing phase separation and enhancing viscosity, while CH contributed interfacial activity and electrostatic stabilization. CH/BNC1_25:75 emulsions showed the highest stability, maintaining an emulsion stability index (ESI) of up to 100% after 3 days, with minimal change in droplet size (R_h ~8.5–8.8 μm) and a positive ζ-potential (15.1–29.8 mV), as confirmed by dynamic/electrophoretic light scattering. pH adjustment to 4 and 10 had little effect on their ESI, while ionic strength studies showed that 0.1 M NaCl caused only a slight increase in droplet size combined with the highest ζ-potential (−35.2 mV). Higher salt concentrations led to coalescence and disruption of their gel-like structure. Rheological analysis of CH/BNC1_25:75 emulsions revealed shear-thinning behavior and dominant elastic properties (G′ > G″), indicating a soft gel network. Incorporating sunflower-seed protein isolates into CH/BNC1 (25:75) emulsions led to coacervate formation (three-layer system), characterized by a decrease in droplet size and an increase in ζ-potential (up to 32.8 mV) over 7 days. These findings highlight CH/BNC complexes as sustainable stabilizers for food-grade Pickering emulsions, supporting the development of biopolymer-based emulsifiers aligned with bioeconomy principles. Full article

Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV), which both belong to the genus henipavirus, are zoonotic pathogens that cause severe systemic, neurological, and/or respiratory disease in humans and a variety of mammals. Therefore, monitoring viral prevalence in natural reservoirs and rapidly diagnosing cases of henipavirus infection are critical to limiting the spread of these viruses. Current laboratory methods for detecting NiV and HeV include virus isolation, reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and antigen detection via an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), all of which require highly trained personnel and specialized equipment. Here, we describe the development of a point-of-care customized immunochromatographic lateral flow (ILF) assay that uses recombinant human ephrin B2 as a capture ligand on the test line and a NiV-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) on the conjugate pad to detect NiV and HeV. The ILF assay detects NiV and HeV with a diagnostic specificity of 94.4% and has no cross-reactivity with other viruses. This rapid test may be suitable for field testing and in countries with limited laboratory resources. Full article

Stones in farmland soil affect the efficiency of agricultural mechanization and the efficient growth of crops. In order to solve the problems of traditional stone pickers, such as large soil disturbance, high soil content and low picking rate, this paper introduces the Archimedean curve with constant radial expansion characteristics into the design of the core working parts of the drum picker and designs a new type of drum stone picker. The key components such as spiral blades, rollers, and scrapers were theoretically analyzed, the structural parameters of the main components were determined, and the reliability of the spiral blades was checked using ANSYS Workbench software. Through the preliminary stone-picking performance test, the forward speed of the stone picker, the rotation speed of the drum, and the starting sliding angle of the spiral blade were determined as the test influencing factors. The picking rate and soil content of the stone picker were determined as the test indicators. The response surface test was carried out in the Design-Expert13.0 software. The results show that, when the forward speed of the stone picker is 0.726 m/s, the drum speed is 30 rpm, and the initial sliding angle of the spiral blade is 26.214°, the picking rate is 91.458% and the soil content is 3.513%. Field tests were carried out with the same parameters, and the picking rate was 91.42% and the soil content was 3.567%, with errors of 0.038% and 0.054% compared with the predicted values, indicating that the stone picker meets the field operation requirements. These research results can provide new ideas and technical paths for improving the performance of pickers and are of great value in promoting the development of advanced harvesting equipment and the efficient use of agricultural resources. Full article

Protein-polyphenol-based delivery vehicles are effective strategies for encapsulating bioactive compounds, thereby enhancing their solubility and bioaccessibility. In this study, dihydromyricetin/soy protein isolate (DHM/SPI) complexes were used as emulsifiers to prepare Pickering emulsions for DHM delivery. The results show that DHM and SPI form negatively charged complexes through hydrogen bonding, and the complex size decreases and stabilizes with increasing DHM addition. The size of the emulsion droplets was inversely related to the concentration of DHM addition (c), particle concentration (w), and ionic strength (i). Conversely, the increasing oil phase concentration (φ) was positively correlated with droplet size. The CLSM results confirmed the expected oil-in-water emulsion, while the rheological behavior of the Pickering emulsion highlighted its elastic, gel-like network structure and non-Newtonian fluid properties. Moreover, DHM effectively slowed lipid oxidation in the emulsion, and the bioaccessibility of DHM reached 33.51 ± 0.31% after in vitro simulated digestion. In conclusion, this emulsion system shows promising potential for delivering DHM and harnessing its bioactive effects. Full article

Due to the health-driven demand for fat replacers in meat products, Lycopene (Lyc)-loaded yeast protein (YP) high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs) were explored as fat replacers for 3D-printed meat products. HIPPEs with varying Lyc concentrations were formulated, and their encapsulation efficiency and antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS assays) were evaluated. The encapsulation efficiency of Lyc exceeded 90% for all samples. Microscopic analysis revealed significant droplet enlargement in emulsions containing Lyc concentrations of 1.25 mg/mL and 1.50 mg/mL. Antioxidant activity peaked at a Lyc concentration of 1.00 mg/mL. Three-dimensional-printed meat products with different fat replacement ratios (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) were prepared using both Lyc-loaded and non-loaded emulsions, and their printing precision, cooking loss, color, pH, texture, and lipid oxidation were assessed. The replacement ratio had no significant impact on printing precision, while cooking yield improved with higher fat replacement levels. Lyc emulsions notably influenced meat color, resulting in lower lightness and higher redness and yellowness. pH values remained stable across formulations. Lipid oxidation decreased with increasing fat replacement levels. The results indicate that Lyc-loaded YP Pickering emulsions have great potential as effective fat replacers for 3D-printed meat products, enhancing antioxidant performance while preserving product quality. Full article

This study presents the first quantitative comparison of catastrophic phase inversion behavior of water-in-oil emulsions stabilized by nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) and molecular surfactants with different headgroup charge types: anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate referred to as SDS), cationic (octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride referred to as OTAC), nonionic (C12–14 alcohol ethoxylate referred to as Alfonic), and zwitterionic (cetyl betaine referred to as Amphosol). By using conductivity measurements under controlled mixing and pendant drop tensiometry, this study shows that NCC markedly delays catastrophic phase inversion through interfacial jamming, whereas surfactant-stabilized systems exhibit concentration-dependent inversion driven by interfacial saturation. Specifically, NCC-stabilized emulsions exhibited a nonlinear increase in the critical aqueous phase volume fraction required for inversion, ranging from 0.253 (0 wt% NCC) to 0.545 (1.5 wt% NCC), consistent with enhanced resistance to inversion typically associated with the formation of rigid interfacial layers in Pickering emulsions. In contrast, surfactant-stabilized systems exhibited a concentration-dependent inversion trend with opposing effects. At low concentrations, limited interfacial coverage delayed inversion, while at higher concentrations, increased surfactant availability and interfacial saturation promoted earlier inversion and favored the formation of oil-in-water structures. Pendant drop tensiometry confirmed negligible surface activity for NCC, while all surfactants significantly lowered interfacial tension. Despite its weak surface activity, NCC imparted strong coalescence resistance above 0.2 wt%, attributed to steric stabilization. These findings establish distinct mechanisms for governing phase inversion in particle- versus surfactant-stabilized systems. To our knowledge, this is the first study to quantitively characterize the catastrophic phase inversion behavior of water-in-oil emulsions using NCC. This work supports the use of NCC as an effective stabilizer for emulsions with high internal phase volume. Full article

Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) extend the concept of amphiphilicity beyond classical molecular surfactants into the nanoscale. Amphiphilic behavior is defined by the presence of hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties within a single molecular structure. Traditionally, such molecular structures are known as surfactants or amphiphiles and are capable of reducing interfacial tension, adsorbing spontaneously at interfaces, stabilizing emulsions and foams, and forming micelles, bilayers, or vesicles. Recent experimental, theoretical, and computational studies demonstrate that these behaviors are scalable to nanostructured colloids such as JNPs. Amphiphilic JNPs, defined by anisotropic surface chemistry on distinct hemispheres, display interfacial activity driven by directional wetting, variable interfacial immersion depth, and strong interfacial anchoring. They can stabilize liquid/liquid and liquid/gas interfaces, and enable templated or spontaneous self-assembly into supra-structures, such as monolayer sheets, vesicles, capsules, etc., both in bulk and at interfaces. Their behavior mimics the “soft” molecular amphiphiles but also includes additional particularities given by their “hard” structure, as well as contributions from capillary, van der Waals, hydrophobic, and shape-dependent forces. This review focuses on compiling the evidence supporting amphiphilicity as a scalable property, discussing how JNPs function as colloidal amphiphiles and how geometry, polarity contrast, interfacial interactions, and environmental parameters influence their behavior. By comparing surfactant behavior and JNP assembly, this work aims to clarify the transferable principles, the knowledge gap, as well as the emergent properties associated with amphiphilic Janus colloids. Full article