Visible and near-infrared optics are widely used for non-destructive egg inspection, including detection of internal defects and assessment of freshness, fertility, and sex prediction during incubation. However, our insight in the measured signals remains limited because photons are strongly scattered in the egg shell and yolk and no quantitative data is available on the bulk optical properties (BOPs) of yolk and albumen. Therefore, wavelengthdependent BOPs of yolk (500-1000 nm) and albumen (600-1000 nm) were quantified in this study using double integrating sphere measurements combined with inverse adding doubling analysis. At 800 nm, yolk showed high attenuation (& micro; a = 0.014 mm - 1 , & micro; s = 5.350 mm -1 , g = 0.92), resulting from its high turbidity, whereas albumen remained weakly absorbing and weakly scattering (& micro; a = 0.006 mm -1 , & micro; s = 0.069 mm -1 , g = 0.90). Subsequently, the photon paths in intact eggs were revealed using Monte Carlo simulations in voxelized media (MCVM) combining the measured BOP of yolk and albumen with eggshell parameters at 800 nm obtained from literature. Simulated spatially resolved diffuse reflectance profiles agreed well with laser scatter measurements (R 2 = 0.91), supporting light-transport modeling in intact eggs. The simulations further indicated that photons interact with the yolk primarily near its surface, with negligible penetration to the yolk center. By linking measurable reflectance profiles to tissue-specific interaction depths, this framework provides a physically grounded interpretation of the photon distribution in intact eggs. Measurement of the wavelength-dependent BOP of eggshell beyond 800 nm is recommended to extend this work.
Watercore is a physiological disorder that reduces fruit quality in durian, yet its underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This study compared the tolerant cultivar ‘Monthong’ (MT) and the susceptible cultivar ‘Chanee’ (CN) to identify structural, physiological, biochemical, and molecular traits associated with watercore development. CN developed watercore symptoms earlier and reached nearly 100% incidence at the overripe stage, whereas MT exhibited only mild symptoms. These differences were not associated with fruit maturity, transpiration, fruit surface water uptake, or vascular structure. Instead, CN exhibited higher specific gravity and lower intercellular gas content in both the whole fruit and central axis, indicating smaller intercellular air spaces. Ripening was accompanied by greater accumulation of glucose, fructose, and total sugars in the central axis of CN than in MT, although these changes were not consistently associated with the expression of DzSUC2, DzN3, or DzCWINV1. Osmotically driven water uptake was evident following vacuum infiltration, whereas apoplastic soluble solids concentration did not differ between cultivars in healthy fruit. During watercore progression, only apoplastic fructose increased significantly with symptom severity. Membrane deterioration occurred only during advanced ripening. Collectively, these findings suggest that limited intercellular air space is the primary factor associated with watercore susceptibility, while ripening-associated changes in sugar composition may contribute to symptom development.
In this study, CeO2 nanorods rich in oxygen vacancies were synthesized via a microwave-assisted hydrothermal (MW) method. Ni catalysts supported on these nanorods were subsequently synthesized and evaluated for CO2 methanation. The Ni/CeO2 nanorod catalyst synthesized at an optimal MW power of 400 W exhibited the highest activity, achieving 76% CO2 conversion with 100% CH4 selectivity at a low temperature of 225 degrees C, outperforming the catalysts synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis (XCO2 = 33%) and those based on the commercial CeO2 (XCO2 = 61%). Furthermore, a 1,000-hour durability test confirmed the excellent stability of the Ni/CeO2 nanorod MW catalyst, with negligible carbon deposition and Ni sintering. The superior performance is attributed to the high concentration of oxygen vacancies generated by rapid nanorod growth under MW conditions, which enhances metal-support interaction that suppresses Ni nanoparticle agglomeration and enhances Ni dispersion. The MW method enables the formation of CeO2 nanorods within 30 min, significantly shorter than the 24 h required for conventional hydrothermal synthesis. This work highlights microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis as an energy-efficient strategy for producing oxygen-vacancy-rich CeO2 nanorods for CO2 valorization.
This paper is devoted to simultaneously recovering multiple parameters from internal measurements for nonlocal diffusion equations. The uniqueness of the inverse problem is established by employing the asymptotic behavior of solutions, analytic continuation, the Laplace transform, and properties of analytic functions. For numerical reconstruction, we apply the Levenberg-Marquardt method to obtain a stable approximate solution of the inverse problem. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm and to validate our theoretical findings.
Particulate neutron-absorbing materials in neutron shields exhibit self-shielding effects; therefore, their heterogeneity must be considered in shielding calculations. This study employs Monte Carlo calculations based on the Shmakov–Lyutov–Dean (SLD) method, which replaces an explicitly heterogeneous grain distribution with an equivalent homogenized model, thereby circumventing the need for detailed spatial resolution of dispersed particles. The SLD method is applied to concrete shielding calculations of two-layer core–shell grains composed of a B4C core and a Gd2O3 shell. The performance of the original SLD method—restricted to single-layer grains with homogenized core–shell structures—is compared with that of an extended SLD method previously developed by the author, which can account for two-layer structures. The results demonstrate that the original SLD method provides sufficient accuracy for evaluating neutron-induced activation of elements critical to radiation management, such as Na and Eu present in concrete. In contrast, for a hypothetical configuration featuring a Gd2O3 core and a B4C shell, the original SLD approach substantially underestimates activation unless the extended formulation is applied.
