Search Results (214)

Modern meat processing faces several challenges, including high resource consumption, environmental impact, and the need to enhance the nutritional and biological value of finished products. In this context, interest is growing in functional plant-based ingredients capable of improving the quality of meat products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding 0.01% hemp protein powder and 0.01% sea buckthorn extract (based on the weight of unsalted raw material) on the nutritional, technological, and microbiological characteristics of cooked-smoked sausages. The results demonstrated an increase in total protein content, a 2.5-fold rise in tocopherol levels, as well as a 17.9% improvement in the Amino Acid Score of threonine and a 2.48% increase in the biological value of protein. Samples enriched with plant-based components exhibited enhanced organoleptic properties and greater storage stability over 36 days. In addition, extrusion parameters for the production of the protein additive were optimized, resulting in a stable functional ingredient. Full article

Cacti are of interest for new bio-inspired technologies because of their remarkable adaptations to extreme environments. Recently, they have inspired functional designs from nano fibres to optimised buildings and architectures. We investigate the diversity of cactus skin properties in terms of toughness and resistance to cutting damage. Cacti are well known for their extreme adaptations to harsh environments, with soft, fleshy stems that expand and contract with water uptake and storage. This functioning is made possible by an extendable outer envelope (skin) and a fluted 3-dimensional structure of the stem. We explore the mechanical toughness and underlying structural organisation of the cactus skin in four species of cactus showing different growth forms. The toughness properties of the cactus skin is only one part of a multi-functional structure for surviving in extreme environments. The study suggests that survival involves a relatively “light” investment of tough materials in the outer envelope instead of a rigid “defensive” layer. This is capable of elastic deformation and enables water storage in challenging, arid environments. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate the diversity of skin toughness and underlying structures in the biological world as providing potential new designs for technical envelopes. Full article

Medical phantoms are essential to imaging calibration, clinician training, and the validation of therapeutic procedures. However, most ultrasound phantoms prioritize acoustic realism while neglecting the viscoelastic and anisotropic properties of fibrous soft tissues. This gap limits their effectiveness in modeling realistic biomechanical behavior, especially in wave-based diagnostics and therapeutic ultrasound. Current materials like gelatine and agarose fall short in reproducing the complex interplay between the solid and fluid components found in biological tissues. To address this, we developed a soft, anisotropic composite whose dynamic mechanical properties resemble fibrous biological tissues such as skin and skeletal muscle. This material enables wave propagation and vibration studies in controllably anisotropic media, which are rare and highly valuable. We demonstrate the tunability of damping and stiffness aligned with fiber orientation, providing a versatile platform for modeling soft-tissue dynamics and validating biomechanical simulations. The phantoms achieved Young’s moduli of 7.16–11.04 MPa for skin and 0.494–1.743 MPa for muscles, shear wave speeds of 1.51–5.93 m/s, longitudinal wave speeds of 1086–1127 m/s, and sound absorption coefficients of 0.13–0.76 dB/cm/MHz, with storage, loss, and complex moduli reaching 1.035–6.652 kPa, 0.1831–0.8546 kPa, and 2.138–10.82 kPa. These values reveal anisotropic response patterns analogous to native tissues. This novel natural fibrous composite system affords sustainable, low-cost ultrasound phantoms that support both mechanical fidelity and acoustic realism. Our approach offers a route to next-gen tissue-mimicking phantoms for elastography, wave propagation studies, and dynamic calibration across diverse clinical and research applications. Full article

Efficient material handling is crucial in the logistics operations of modern salt warehouses, where Rail Guided Vehicles (RGVs) and Air Sorting Robots (ASRs) are often deployed to manage inbound and outbound tasks. However, as the number of tasks increases within a given period, conflicts and deadlocks between simultaneously operating RGVs and ASRs become more frequent, reducing efficiency and increasing energy consumption during transportation. To address this, the research frames the inbound and outbound problem as a task allocation issue for the RGV/ASR system with a finite buffer, and proposes a collision avoidance strategy and a zero-wait strategy for loaded machines to reallocate tasks. To improve computational efficiency, we introduce an adaptive multi-neighborhood hybrid search (AMHS) algorithm, which integrates a dual-sequence coding scheme and an elite solution initialization strategy. A dedicated global search operator is designed to expand the search landscape, while an adaptive local search operator, inspired by biological hormone regulation mechanisms, along with a perturbation strategy, is used to refine the local search. In a case study on packaged salt storage, the proposed AMHS algorithm reduced the total makespan by 30.1% compared to the original task queue. Additionally, in 15 randomized test scenarios, AMHS demonstrated superior performance over three benchmark algorithms—Genetic Algorithm (GA), Discrete Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (DICA), and Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm (IWOA)—achieving an average makespan reduction of 12.6% relative to GA. Full article

The biological role of the fluorescence of flowers is a matter of debate. Anthocyanins are a group of compounds that are weakly fluorescent; their fluorescence in flowers has been rarely studied. This study aimed to compare the absorption and fluorescence spectra of anthocyanins extracted from several anthocyanin-containing autumn flowers and examine changes in these spectra during the storage of petals at cold-room and room temperatures and during the storage of dried petals. Petals of red clover Trifolium pratense, pink petunia Petunia × hybrida, Pelargonium horatum, Pelargonium. zonale, Pelargonium. peltatum, red and pink Begonia semperflorens, Buddleja japonica, and purple Chrysanthemum were studied. The results demonstrate that it is possible to distinguish between petals of various flowers based on the absorption spectra of petal extracts and the fluorescence spectra of petal extracts and intact petals. Spectral changes during storage were not always unidirectional and progressive; the most common one was the increase in the intensity of the fluorescence band at 500–560 nm at the excitation wavelength of 460 nm. These results point to the possibility of using fluorescence measurements to identify and estimate the freshness of petal-based material in herbalism, forensic analysis, and the food industry. The measurement of the spectra of whole petals or their fragments by front-face fluorimetry, including common plate readers, may be especially useful due to its simplicity and rapidity. Full article

Background: Food safety remains a global concern due to biological and chemical contaminants, including adulterants, pathogens, antibiotic residues, and pesticides. Traditional detection methods are accurate but limited by time requirements, complex sample preparation, high costs, and poor field applicability. Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) offers non-destructive analysis with low detection limits and high specificity, yet conventional SERS substrates face challenges with reproducibility, nanoparticle aggregation, and sensitivity in food matrices. Hydrogels have emerged as supporting materials for SERS due to their water content, tunable porosity, flexibility, and ability to entrap plasmonic nanostructures. Scope and Approach: This review examines recent advances in hydrogel-integrated SERS platforms for food safety applications. The three-dimensional structure of hydrogels enables homogeneous distribution of metal nanoparticles, prevents aggregation, and offers analyte enrichment. We analyze material design, functionalization strategies, and how hydrogel properties—crosslinking density, porosity, surface charge, and nanoparticle distribution—influence SERS performance in food matrices. Key Findings and Conclusions: Hydrogel-integrated SERS platforms demonstrate superior performance in detecting various food contaminants—including pesticides, adulterants, and additives—in real food matrices, often achieving detection limits in the nanomolar to picomolar range, depending on the analyte and substrate design. Current limitations include storage stability concerns, batch-to-batch variability, and regulatory acceptance hurdles. Future research directions should focus on multiplex detection capabilities, integration with smart sensing technologies, and industrial scalability to facilitate practical deployment in global food safety monitoring across diverse supply chains. Full article

More than 70% of the information humans acquire from the external environment is derived through the visual system, where photosensitive function plays a pivotal role in the biological perception system. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics technology, achieving human-like visual perception has attracted a great amount of attention. The neuromorphic visual perception system provides a novel solution for achieving efficient and low-power visual information processing by simulating the working principle of the biological visual system. In recent years, ferroelectric materials have shown broad application prospects in the field of neuromorphic visual perception due to their unique spontaneous polarization characteristics and non-volatile response behavior under external field regulation. Especially in achieving tunable retinal neural synapses, visual information storage processing, and constructing dynamic visual sensing, ferroelectric materials have shown unique performance advantages. In this review, recent progress in neuromorphic visual perception based on ferroelectric materials is discussed, elaborating in detail on device structure, material systems, and applications, and exploring the potential future development trends and challenges faced in this field. Full article

Nanofibers have emerged as transformative materials in the field of energy storage, offering unique physicochemical properties such as high surface area, porosity, and tunable morphology. Recent advancements have also introduced genetically modified fibers—engineered at the biological level to produce functionalized nanostructures with customizable properties. These bioengineered nanofibers add a sustainable and potentially self-healing component to energy storage materials. This paper reviews key applications of conventional and genetically modified nanofibers in lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, hybrid systems, and flexible energy storage with a focus on how genetic and molecular engineering of fibrous materials enables new capabilities in ion transport, electrode architecture, and device longevity. Together, these advances contribute to the development of next-generation energy storage systems with enhanced performance, biocompatibility, and sustainability. This review therefore critically examines the current state, advantages, and limitations of both synthetic and biopolymer-based materials in energy storage applications. It discusses recent technological innovations, such as polymer–nanoparticle composites, functionalized polymer matrices, and next-generation polymer electrolytes. Future research should prioritize enhancing conductivity, improving scalability, and reducing environmental impact, ensuring that polymer-based materials contribute to the development of more efficient and sustainable energy storage technologies. Full article

Recent advancements in wearable electronics have significantly enhanced human–device interaction, enabling applications such as continuous health monitoring, advanced diagnostics, and augmented reality. While progress in material science has improved the flexibility, softness, and elasticity of these devices for better skin conformity, their optical properties, particularly transparency, remain relatively unexplored. Transparent wearable electronics offer distinct advantages: they allow for non-invasive health monitoring by enabling a clear view of biological systems and improve aesthetics by minimizing the visual presence of electronics on the skin, thereby increasing user acceptance. Hydrogels have emerged as a key material for transparent wearable electronics due to their high water content, excellent biocompatibility, and tunable mechanical and optical properties. Their inherent softness and stretchability allow intimate, stable contact with dynamic biological surfaces. Furthermore, their ability to support ion-based conductivity is advantageous for bioelectronic interfaces and physiological sensors. Current research is focused on advancing hydrogel design to improve transparency, mechanical resilience, conductivity, and adhesion. The core components of transparent wearable systems include physiological sensors, energy storage devices, actuators, and real-time displays. These must collectively balance efficiency, functionality, and long-term durability. Practical applications span continuous health tracking and medical imaging to next-generation interactive displays. Despite progress, challenges such as material durability, scalable manufacturing, and prolonged usability remain. Addressing these limitations will be crucial for the future development of transparent, functional, and user-friendly wearable electronics. Full article

Peristrophe bivalvis (L.) Merr. (Acanthaceae family) has traditionally been used as a natural food colorant and in the treatment of various diseases. However, its biological activities—particularly its anti-glycation and anti-lipid peroxidation properties—as well as the development of novel nanoemulsions incorporating crude P. bivalvis leaf extracts for cosmetic applications, have not yet been reported. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of P. bivalvis leaf crude extracts as an active ingredient in nanocosmetics. Various solvents, including deionized water, 95% ethanol, and 1% HCl in 50% ethanol were used to macerate the plant material. These crude extracts were subsequently screened for their phytochemical constituents, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, as well as antioxidant, anti-glycation, anti-lipid peroxidative activities, and fibroblasts cytotoxicity. In addition, a nanoemulsion containing P. bivalvis crude extracts was formulated using high-speed homogenization. The formulation was characterized in terms of pH, viscosity, particle size, polydispersity index, and entrapment efficiency. Furthermore, its stability was evaluated under accelerated conditions and at different storage temperatures (room temperature, 4 °C, and 45 °C). The results indicated that P. bivalvis extracts obtained using deionized water and 95% ethanol contained various phytochemical constituents, along with higher contents of total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant, anti-glycation, and anti-lipid peroxidative activities, as well as the lowest fibroblast cytotoxicity, compared to extracts obtained with 1% HCl in 50% ethanol. The nanoemulsions loaded with P. bivalvis ethanolic extracts exhibited a reddish-orange color, whereas those containing P. bivalvis water extracts exhibited a reddish-purple coloration, depending on its pH value. These nanoemulsions demonstrated greater stability at low temperatures, with particle sizes within the nanoscale range and a narrow polydispersity index. These findings suggest that P. bivalvis extracts obtained from deionized water and 95% ethanol are potential active ingredients that were successfully incorporated into nanoemulsion-based cosmetics formulation. Full article

Mechanical impacts on loose biological objects caused by technological equipment can result in both external and internal damage, compromising the quality, storage life, and reproductive capacity of biological materials. This study addresses the need for a reliable methodology to assess such damage. The research aims to develop a systematic approach for identifying damage parameters in biological objects. The methodology involves applying artificial loading to biological samples, determining destructive forces, conducting tomography, processing images, and evaluating damage extent. Experiments were performed using a standard material testing machine and a custom-built impact test bench with varying parameters such as static and dynamic characteristics, object orientation, and load magnitude. The microstructure of the sample, in the form of 2D cross-sections and 3D images, was obtained using X-ray computed tomography. Image processing, with the Monte Carlo method, allowed for the calculation of microdamage coefficients. The key result of this study is the identification of a relationship between the microdamage coefficient of corn seeds and external load parameters. These findings are critical for understanding the effects of mechanical impact on biological materials. Future research should focus on expanding the study to other biological objects and enhancing measurement techniques for more precise damage assessment. Full article

The development of cybernetic organisms—autonomous systems capable of self-regulation and dynamic environmental interaction—requires innovations in both energy efficiency and computational adaptability. This study explores the integration of bio-inspired liquid flow batteries and neuromorphic computing architectures to enable real-time learning and power optimization in autonomous robotic systems. Liquid-based energy storage systems, modeled after vascular networks, offer distributed energy management, reducing power bottlenecks and improving resilience in long-duration operations. Complementing this, neuromorphic computing architectures, including memristor-based processors and spiking neural networks (SNNs), enhance computational efficiency while minimizing energy consumption. By integrating these adaptive energy and computing systems, robots can dynamically allocate power and processing resources based on real-time demands, bridging the gap between biological and artificial intelligence. This study evaluates the feasibility of integrating these technologies into robotic platforms, assessing power demands, storage capacity, and operational scalability. While flow batteries and neuromorphic computing show promise in reducing latency and energy constraints, challenges remain in electrolyte stability, computational framework standardization, and real-world implementation. Future research must focus on hybrid computing architectures, self-regulating energy distribution, and material optimizations to enhance the adaptability of cybernetic organisms. By addressing these challenges, this study outlines a roadmap for reimagining robotics through cybernetic principles, paving the way for applications in healthcare, industrial automation, space exploration, and adaptive autonomous systems in dynamic environments. Full article

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is generated from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. Pyrogenic carbon is highly stable and is often referred to as a missing carbon sink. It plays a crucial role in global carbon cycling and climate change research. We analyzed the storage of PyC and uncharred biological organic carbon (BOC) within woody debris (WD) and the charcoal layer, as well as the properties of PyC, across four forest types in the cold temperate coniferous forest of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Pyrogenic carbon in WD appears as charred, blackened material, while PyC in the charcoal layer was extracted through chemical oxidation using HF/HCl treatment. Our methodology included particle size separation through dry sieving, followed by the analysis of four size fractions (>2 mm, 2–1 mm, 1–0.5 mm and <0.5 mm) for elemental composition, and the chemical composition was analyzed using DRIFT. With respect to WD, PyC storage ranged from 0.040 to 0.179 Mg·ha⁻¹, whereas BOC storage ranged from 3.1 to 16.8 Mg·ha⁻¹. In the charcoal layer, PyC storage ranged from 7.9 to 44.3 Mg·ha⁻¹, and BOC storage ranged from 3.8 to 11.6 Mg·ha⁻¹. Pyrogenic carbon storage in the charcoal layer dominated (>99%) on the above-ground in each forest type. The DRIFT analysis confirmed that the coarse fraction (>2 mm) contain more polymeric aromatic structures, and most likely indicated the presence of benzene carboxylic compounds (1710 cm⁻¹), which may originate from the charred plant material. Our research aims to enhance the understanding of the retention effects of recalcitrant carbon in WD and charcoal layer of cold temperate coniferous forest, thereby providing new insights into the impact of fire disturbances on carbon cycling within forest ecosystems. Full article

Zeolites are amongst the most extensively explored crystalline microporous materials because of their variable chemical composition, framework geometry, pore dimensions, and tunability. Due to their high surface area, adsorption selectivity, mechanical, biological, chemical, and thermal stability, these molecular sieves are widely used in adsorption, catalysis, ion exchange, and separation technologies. This short review highlights the notable progress achieved in leveraging the properties of zeolite materials for multiple applications, including gas separation and storage, adsorption, catalysis, chemical sensing, and biomedical applications. The aim is to emphasize their capabilities by showcasing important achievements that have driven research in this field toward new and unforeseen areas of material chemistry. Full article

Following the concept of “waste into resources”, a mild and controllable light grafting technique was used to immobilize pancreatic lipase (PPL) in situ on modified organic, chromium-free tanned leather scraps to catalyze the hydrolysis of waste oil. The experimental results showed that immobilized PPL significantly improved the catalytic activity, operational stability, reusability, and storage stability compared to free PPL. Furthermore, the study evaluated the environmental compatibility of the system through biological risk assessment of soil extracts after degradation, indicating that the system has good environmental compatibility. The experiment is simple to operate, uses mild conditions, and the immobilized material is obtained from leather-making solid waste. The use of this immobilization system to treat waste oil in the leather-making process is of great significance for achieving clean and sustainable production in the leather industry. Full article