Application of concave induction cooking to improve the texture and flavor of braised pork

Long-term cooking may reduce the eating and nutritional quality attributes of meat products due to excessive oxidation. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of concave induction to improve the quality of braised pork belly. Pork belly cubes were subjected to concave induction cooking (2000 W) or plane induction cooking (2000 W, traditional) for 60 min, 90 min, 120 min or 150 min. Then texture, fatty acid profile, lipid and protein oxidation, volatile flavor and sensory test in braised meat were evaluated. Compared with traditional method, concave induction cooking showed higher heating performance with shorter time to achieve a setting temperature. Compared with traditional cooking for 150 min, concave induction cooking for 60 min did not only produce a comparable volatile flavor and sensory scores, but also give better quality attributes, including lower hardness, chewiness, thrombogenicity values, PUFA/SFA value, lipid and protein oxidation. E‑nose results showed that samples cooked by concave induction for 60 min and 90 min showed a great similarity to those cooked by plane induction for 150 min. Concave induction cooking for 60 min also showed advantages to retain higher abundances of other volatile compounds including 2-pentylfuran, (E, E)-3,5-octadien‑2- one, 2, 3-octanedione, 2-decahydro‑1,6- dimethylnaphthalene when compared with plane induction cooking for 150 min.

An Experimental Study on External Ventilation to the Heating Performance of Household Air Source Heat Pump

The external ventilation conditions have a great influence on the heating performance of the air source heat pump (ASHP) systems. The outdoor units of residential household air source heat pumps are often installed in narrow spaces such as balconies. The ventilation conditions of the outdoor unit will influent the heating performance of the air source heat pump. It is necessary to study the effect of the outdoor unit ventilation conditions on the heating performance of residential household heat pumps. This paper experimentally studied the heating performances of an air source heat pump system with the outdoor unit mounted in a balcony in different external ventilation conditions. The results indicate that the ventilation conditions for the outdoor units have a significant effect on the heating performance of the system. When the inlet of the outdoor unit was close to the sliding door and completely blocked, the ventilation environment was the worst and the coefficient of performance (COP) was the lowest. In addition, the unfavorable ventilation environment could result in a reduction of the COP by 26.2%. When the inlet of the outdoor unit was partially blocked, the heating performance could be improved and the COP was also slightly improved. The great heating performance was obtained under the cross-ventilation condition. This paper can guide the design of the installation position of the household air source heat pump outdoor units in actual engineering.

Silica Coating of Ferromagnetic Iron Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles Significantly Enhances Their Hyperthermia Performances for Efficiently Inducing Cancer Cells Death In Vitro

Increasing the biocompatibility, cellular uptake, and magnetic heating performance of ferromagnetic iron-oxide magnetic nanoparticles (F-MNPs) is clearly required to efficiently induce apoptosis of cancer cells by magnetic hyperthermia (MH). Thus, F-MNPs were coated with silica layers of different thicknesses via a reverse microemulsion method, and their morphological, structural, and magnetic properties were evaluated by multiple techniques. The presence of a SiO2 layer significantly increased the colloidal stability of F-MNPs, which also enhanced their heating performance in water with almost 1000 W/gFe as compared to bare F-MNPs. The silica-coated F-MNPs exhibited biocompatibility of up to 250 μg/cm2 as assessed by Alamar Blues and Neutral Red assays on two cancer cell lines and one normal cell line. The cancer cells were found to internalize a higher quantity of silica-coated F-MNPs, in large endosomes, dispersed in the cytoplasm or inside lysosomes, and hence were more sensitive to in vitro MH treatment compared to the normal ones. Cellular death of more than 50% of the malignant cells was reached starting at a dose of 31.25 μg/cm2 and an amplitude of alternating magnetic field of 30 kA/m at 355 kHz.

Reliable evaluation method of heating power of magnetic nanofluids to directly predict the tumor temperature during hyperthermia

Reliable measurement of heating power of magnetic nanofluids (MNs) to accurately predict the AC heat-induction performance in tumors is highly desirable for clinical magnetic nanofluids hyperthermia (MNFH) application because it can save time for screening the performance of newly developed MNFH agent and minimize the over-use of animals dramatically. Here, a bio-mimicking phantom model, called Pseudo-Tumor Environment System (P-TES), biochemically designed by considering the external and internal critical factors related to the complex biological environments is proposed to provide a highly reliable evaluation method of heating performance of MNs for in-vivo MNFH applications. According to the experimentally analyzed results, the heating power of MNs measured using the P-TES is well accorded with the heating temperature measured in the tumors during in-vivo MNFH. This result strongly demonstrates that the proposed P-TES can be recommended as a standardized measurement method of heating performance of MNs for clinical MNFH application.

Thermal Performance Analysis of Hydronic Ceiling Radiant Panel Heaters Under Different Parameters

A numerical analysis of a ceiling type radiant panel heater system was performed to examine the heating performance under different parameters, using the FloEFD code. Three-dimensional models of the room and radiant panel heater were created and the effects of the Reynolds number, water inlet temperature, pipe diameter and pipe runs on the heating performance of the system were examined in detail. The effects of these parameters on the total heat load, the net radiation rate, and the average surface temperature on the sheet and insulation material have been presented. The total heat load and net radiation rate obtained from the system increase with increase in the Reynolds number. Also, a rise in the water inlet temperature increases the heat output of the system. An increase of approximately 500 W was observed in the total heat output as the pipe diameter increased. It was observed, too, that the heat output increased with increase in pipe runs, although above a certain value the heat output became almost constant. The results of this study could offer information to engineers and manufacturers on the design and use of hydronic radiant systems.