Agro-industrial valorization of Satsuma mandarin peels is typically limited to pectin or essential oils, often neglecting valuable non-volatile bioactives. This study investigates high-pressure homogenization (HPH) as an intensive microstructural disruption strategy to recover matrix-bound bioactives and obtain physically stable multi-phase plant-derived fluid systems using water or oil-in-water (o/w) mixtures. HPH treatment (up to 10 passes) effectively disrupted the cellular matrix, achieving a similar to 2.6-fold particle size reduction. In aqueous systems, 5 passes maximized the recovery of total polyphenols and carotenoids. Remarkably, this water-only process achieved total carotenoid analytical accessibility statistically comparable to exhaustive conventional solvent extraction with acetone, indicating that intense physical disruption can effectively liberate sequestered lipophilic compounds without the primary use of organic solvents. In o/w systems, processing enabled a passive physical partitioning of compounds driven by their respective chemical polarities. Mass balance tracking across the physical fractions indicated that lipophilic carotenoids and polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) preferentially partitioned into the lipid-rich cream phase, while hydrophilic flavonoids (e.g., narirutin) remained in the continuous serum layer. Chromatographic phase profiles and serum depletion data supported these distinct distribution trends for PMFs (e.g., nobiletin) and carotenoids. Isothermal calorimetry validated the functional protective capacity of the resulting colloidal system: the incorporation of 1% HPH-treated peel powder significantly delayed lipid autooxidation in exogenous linseed oil model, yielding an induction time superior to a purified resveratrol standard. These findings demonstrate that HPH effectively releases and distributes mandarin peel bioactives into distinct, multi-phase fluid matrices, offering a sustainable, solvent-free processing pathway for the valorization of citrus by-products.
The high cost of the power collection system (PCS) remains a notable challenge for constructing floating offshore wind farms (FOWFs). This letter introduces a new type of device called the current aggregator in the topology design of the PCS for FOWF, aiming to reduce the use of expensive dynamic cables and their additional components. Firstly, considering the cost components of the current aggregator from multiple perspectives, its life-cycle cost model is established. On this basis, the life-cycle cost model for the PCS system integrating the current aggregator is built. Then, a general solving scheme is presented. Finally, the proposed PCS design is implemented on an irregular 21 FOWF and a regular 6 & times; 6 FOWF, and its economic feasibility is preliminarily verified, achieving cost reduction for irregular and regular FOWFs. The letter may provide a practical new way of designing the PCS of FOWFs, which could reduce the high cost.
The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a BIUD copper-releasing device (the DIUB Turin (R)) in suppressing estrus, preventing pregnancy, and assessing its potential impact on uterine health. Animal welfare considerations and regulatory measures make the prevention of pregnancy at slaughterhouses essential, as slaughter of pregnant animals is prohibited and subject to penalties. Various contraceptive methods exist in cattle, including surgical, chemical, immunological, and mechanical approaches. Eighteen cows and one heifer (19 animals) from the Reprovet Clinic, La Br & eacute;vine, Switzerland, received a BIUD following standard insertion procedures. Each animal underwent two clinical and ultrasonographic examinations during the study, and eight uterine samples were submitted for histopathological analysis. The BIUD demonstrated a pregnancy prevention rate of 94.7%, with only one cow becoming pregnant, which is consistent with findings by Turin. However, estrus suppression was observed in only 10.53% of animals, which is markedly lower than the 98% suppression rate reported by the manufacturer. Histological examinations revealed mild to moderate localized endometrial alterations, including epithelial erosion, fibrosis, and inflammation, but no evidence of uterine perforation or pyometra. These findings indicate that while the BIUD is highly effective in preventing conception, its estrus suppression efficacy is limited, and its use may induce uterine tissue changes. Further long-term studies are required to evaluate better the risks of uterine perforation and chronic inflammation associated with this device.
Colonic healing in inflammatory bowel disease involves complex processes, yet current treatments largely focus on suppressing inflammation rather than promoting epithelial regeneration. The dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model closely mimics ulcerative colitis and enables investigation of mucosal repair, but sex-related differences in epithelial proliferation and differentiation remain insufficiently explored. This study aimed to characterize male-female differences during colonic healing. Acute colitis was induced in 8-10-week-old mice by administering DSS for six days, followed by recovery. Animals were sacrificed on days 1, 6, 11, and 16 after DSS withdrawal. Disease severity was scored histologically. Digital image analysis quantified LGR5-positive stem cells, Ki67-positive proliferating cells within the stem cell zone, and differentiation towards secretory (ATOH1-positive) and absorptive (HES1-positive) progenitors. Baseline differences were evident in na & iuml;ve animals: females exhibited higher numbers of LGR5-positive stem cells, while males showed a predominance of HES1-positive absorptive progenitors. After DSS, female mice developed milder lesions, displayed faster re-epithelialization, and showed earlier activation of stem cells, with Ki67 and LGR5 levels peaking at day 1 of recovery. In contrast, males reached maximal proliferative activity only at day 16. Both sexes increased absorptive progenitors by day 6, however, males demonstrated more pronounced secretory lineage expansion, with elevated ATOH1-positive cells at days 1 and 16. These findings reveal clear sex-specific patterns in epithelial regeneration, with females exhibiting earlier and more efficient mucosal repair. The results underscore the importance of incorporating both sexes in preclinical models of inflammatory bowel disease, as sex-specific differences observed in experimental settings may also exist in human IBD, potentially informing the development of more effective, sex-tailored therapeutic strategies.
The ubiquitous energy transition requires distribution system operators to perform advanced calculations in near real time. This task is particularly challenging in low-voltage (LV) distribution networks, where topology is often unknown or undocumented. The availability of large smart meter datasets enables the use of advanced statistical analysis for state estimation of the network, without requiring additional knowledge on topology and network parameters. In this paper, a model-free current calculation algorithm based on machine learning is presented, in which neural networks are employed to accurately calculate current flows in the network. The challenge of unknown topological connectivity is addressed through a statistical topology identification algorithm, through estimating a binary adjacency matrix using a statistical heuristic function and measuring cointegration between fully anaonymized and encrypted voltage and current flow data. The heuristic function is based on a linear combination of Jensen-Shannon divergence and Pearson correlation. This way, both similarity between data values and similarity between distributions are quantified. The estimated adjacency matrix then serves as an input to the model-free current calculation. The proposed methodology achieves highly accurate topology identification, correctly identifying 97 % of all connections. Model-free current calculation has exhibited near perfect accuracy, with a mean absolute error of 0.05.
