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Fish and fishery products are among the food commodities of high commercial value, high-quality protein content, vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids, which are beneficial to health. However, seafood products are highly perishable and thus require proper processing to maintain their quality and safety. On the other hand, consumers, nowadays, demand fresh or fresh-like, minimally processed fishery products that do not alter their natural quality attributes. The present article reviews the results of studies published over the last 15 years in the literature on: (i) the main spoilage mechanisms of seafood including contamination with pathogens and (ii) innovative processing technologies applied for the preservation and shelf life extension of seafood products. These primarily include: high hydrostatic pressure, natural preservatives, ozonation, irradiation, pulse light technology and retort pouch processing.

Impact of retort processing on the characteristics and bioactivity of herbal soup, based on hydrolyzed collagen from seabass fish skins, as sterilized health drink in glass bottles, was investigated. Retort processing was conducted at either 115 °C or 121 °C for 5, 7, 9 or 11 min (F0 values) and compared to no retort processing. All retort processing conditions yielded sterile soups, but some differences in moisture content, pH, viscosity, UV-absorbance, browning index, fluorescence intensity, color, α-amino group and total reducing compound contents were observed, compared to those without retort processing. Retort processing enhanced antioxidative activity of herbal hydrolyzed collagen (HHC) soups, regardless of conditions. HHC soups with F0 value of 7 at 115 °C (115/7) and 121 °C (121/7) showed significantly higher ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activities, ferric reducing antioxidant power and H2O2 scavenging activity, compared to others. Retort processing had no significant (p > 0.05) effect on the appearance, color, odor, viscosity, flavor, taste and overall perception of HHC soups. The 115/7 and 121/7 samples stimulated cell proliferation and enhance collagen production of L929 mouse fibroblast cells. It was therefore concluded that retort processing could be used for preparing sterilized HHC soup as a ready-to-serve functional drink that is both healthy and safe.

Retort processing is a food preservation technique to address the challenge posed by Clostridium botulinum for commercial sterility of a food product to get microbiologically safe and stable products by heating. This review aims to explore the journey of retort processing, starting from its early use in single‐batch canned foods and progressing to its contemporary applications with different types of containers and heating mediums. Additionally, it will delve into the adaptability of retort equipment, including its ability to operate in stationary and various agitation states, as well as its flexibility in processing speed for both single‐batch and continuous operations. This review aims to explore the journey of retort processing, starting from its early use in single‐batch canned foods and progressing to its contemporary applications with different types of containers and heating mediums. Additionally, it will delve into the adaptability of retort equipment, including its ability to operate in stationary and various agitation states, as well as its flexibility in processing speed for both single‐batch and continuous operations.

Heat penetration characteristics of different vegetable products were investigated during retort processing. A custom-developed variable temperature retort-sterilizer allowed us to test the following target retort-temperatures; 120, 130, 140, and 150 °C, combined with the following holding times: 1, 3, 5, 7 min. Radish showed the highest heating rate (9.56 ± 0.21 °C/min) among the tested vegetables, including radish, carrot, and potato. Textural qualities of retort-processed vegetables showed a close correlation with thermal dose. Hardness of potato was 3.07 ± 0.07 N after retort processing at 120 °C for 7 min, with a thermal dose of 127 ± 7 k °C s. Better hardness (3.72 ± 0.06 N) was obtained after retort processing at 150 °C for 3 min, with a thermal dose of 122 ± 6 k °C s. The data reported herein indicate that retort temperature should be appropriately controlled for different vegetable products based on their specific heat-penetration characteristics.

In this paper, the transient global numerical simulation was used in order to study the four types of insulation surrounding the retort within directional solidification furnace which are the conventional retort, insulation inserted in bottom, centre, and top of the retort respectively. The m/c interface and thermal stress can determine the quality of the ingot which is directional solidificationally grown. The evolution of m/c interface during the growth and thermal stress have been simulated within the grown ingot. The observed results shows that the ingot grown by the directional solidification furnace having insulation at the centre of the retort has less thermal stress and slightly convex melt crystal interface as compared to all other modified retorts which is beneficial for growing high quality ingot.

Main conclusionKnowledge of Ca2+-ATPases is imperative for improving crop quality/ food security, highly threatened due to global warming. Ca2+-ATPases modulates calcium, essential for stress signaling and modulating growth, development, and immune activities.Calcium is considered a versatile secondary messenger and essential for short- and long-term responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. Coordinated transport activities from both calcium influx and efflux channels are required to generate cellular calcium signals. Various extracellular stimuli cause an induction in cytosolic calcium levels. To cope with such stresses, it is important to maintain intracellular Ca2+ levels. Plants need to evolve efficient efflux mechanisms to maintain Ca2+ ion homeostasis. Plant Ca2+-ATPases are members of the P-type ATPase superfamily and localized in the plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum (ER). They are required for various cellular processes, including plant growth, development, calcium signaling, and even retorts to environmental stress. These ATPases play an essential role in Ca2+ homeostasis and are actively involved in Ca2+ transport. Plant Ca2+-ATPases are categorized into two major classes: type IIA and type IIB. Although these two classes of ATPases share similarities in protein sequence, they differ in their structure, cellular localization, and sensitivity to inhibitors. Due to the emerging role of Ca2+-ATPase in abiotic and biotic plant stress, members of this family may help promote agricultural improvement under stress conditions. This review provides a comprehensive overview of P-type Ca2+-ATPase, and their role in Ca2+ transport, stress signaling, and cellular homeostasis focusing on their classification, evolution, ion specificities, and catalytic mechanisms. It also describes the main aspects of the role of Ca2+-ATPase in transducing signals during plant biotic and abiotic stress responses and its role in plant development and physiology.

This paper focuses on the study of current knowledge regarding the use of hydrogen as a reducing agent in the metallurgical processes of iron and steel production. This focus is driven by the need to introduce environmentally suitable energy sources and reducing agents in this sector. This theoretical study primarily examines laboratory research on the reduction of Fe-based, metal-bearing materials. The article presents a critical analysis of the reduction in iron oxides using hydrogen, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of this method. Most experimental facilities worldwide employ their unique original methodologies, with techniques based on Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) devices, fluidized beds, and reduction retorts being the most common. The analysis indicates that the mineralogical composition of the Fe ores used plays a crucial role in hydrogen reduction. Temperatures during hydrogen reduction typically range from 500 to 900 °C. The reaction rate and degree of reduction increase with higher temperatures, with the transformation of wüstite to iron being the slowest step. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates that reduction of iron ore with hydrogen occurs more intensively and quickly than with carbon monoxide (CO) or a hydrogen/carbon monoxide (H2/CO) mixture in the temperature range of 500 °C to 900 °C. The study establishes that hydrogen is a superior reducing agent for iron oxides, offering rapid reduction kinetics and a higher degree of reduction compared to traditional carbon-based methods across a broad temperature range. These findings underscore hydrogen’s potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the steel production industry, supporting a shift towards more sustainable manufacturing practices. However, the implementation of hydrogen as a primary reducing agent in industrial settings is constrained by current technological limitations and the need for substantial infrastructural developments to support large-scale hydrogen production and utilization.

The article discusses the results of research on the development of welding technology for Inconel 600 alloy. The aim of the research is to apply this technology to the production of retorts for gas nitriding furnaces, which must be resistant to aggressive chemical agents and the influence of high temperature. Studies that assess the impact of gas on the quality of the weld deposited on the samples. The research included the development of the initial welding technology, welding tests, observation and measurement of the padding weld face and fusion depth, as well as advanced tests of the microstructure of the pad welded layers. The highest fusion depth during padding was obtained in Ar + 2%O 2 mixture. During the padding with a wire with a diameter of 1.2 mm, the metal sheet was fused through from a thickness of 3 mm. Slightly deeper fusion and a more favourable shape of the fusion surface were obtained by setting the handle at an angle of 80°. The most comparable conditions of padding in different gas shields were obtained with 50% Twin Pulse in the arc. Graphical abstract

PurposeEnvironmental pollution is a growing problem in developing countries, including China. The packaging-printing industry is considered as one of the main contributors to air pollution in China. Film lamination represents a critical proportion of flexible packaging products. At present, traditional lamination technologies, e.g., dry lamination, consume considerable resources and generate massive pollution. Correspondingly, novel solventless lamination could effectively replace conventional lamination processes and reduce air pollution, particularly the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To promote cleaner packaging and printing production in China, we applied life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare solventless and dry film lamination processes in retort pouch packaging production and further validate the environmental advantages of the solventless approach.MethodsOur research model considered the entire LCA process with an emphasis on film composite processing. E-footprint software and databases were used to assess environmental impacts based on the ISO 14040 standards. In addition, the laminated films were further assessed for peel strength based on the GB standards. Six environmental indicators, including global warming potential (GWP), photochemical oxidant formation potential (POFP), primary energy demand (PED), water use (WU), acidification potential (AP), and respiratory inorganics (RI) were selected, with a particular focus on the first two indices.ResultsThe LCA results showed that the environment impact of solventless lamination was markedly smaller than that of traditional dry lamination, with critical differences reflected in power consumption and adhesive type. Compared with dry lamination, solventless lamination reduced electrical energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 74.1% and 86.37%, respectively, and the unique adhesive reducing VOC emissions by more than 94.5%. Further estimation results confirmed the above findings, indicating that solventless production can reduce VOC and pollutant emissions from sources and thus promote cleaner production.ConclusionIn short, solventless lamination is an effective method, both in terms of performance and environmental friendliness.

Low international oil price, advance in renewable energy technology, development of energy storage technology and strict environ­mental regulations have presented encumbrance and opportunity for the current oil shale project development. Oil shale industry is at critical stage and facing challenges from competitive conventional energy, clean renew­able energy and more strict environmental regulations. Through an innovative design of the oil shale pyrolysis process model by utilizing a developed new advanced technology, the oil shale project could improve its resilience and sustainability with excellent social and economic performance. This paper investigated the shale oil production process in terms of technology selection, utilization of resource, energy efficiency, oil yield, and mining to improve the resilience of oil shale project economic performance facing lower oil price. Innovative design options for the oil shale production process model were discussed from the following aspects: 1) itemized cost analysis and comparison of shale oil production technologies; 2) develop­ment of a new oil shale pyrolysis process model with combination of the exist­ing vertical retort process (VRP) and horizontal rotary-kiln retort process (HRRP) technologies to improve the oil shale process economic gain; 3) discussion of innovative design options to improve the economic performance of the process by utilizing the current new advanced energy storage technology. Investigation of the applicability of the energy storage system (ESS) to the oil shale project was carried out with a sensitivity analysis of its cost-revenue.