Legume tasters: symbiotic rhizobia host preference and smart inoculant formulations

Mutualistic interactions have great importance in ecology, with genetic infor-mation that takes shape through interactions within the symbiotic partners and between the partners and the environment. It is known that variation of the host-associated microbiome contributes to buffer adaptation challenges of the host’s physiology when facing varying environmental conditions. In agriculture, pivotal examples are symbiotic nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, known to contribute greatly to host (legume plants) adaptation and host productivity. A holistic view of increasing crop yield and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses is that of microbiome engineering, the exploitation of a host-associated microbiome through its rationally designed manipulation with synthetic microbial commu-nities. However, several studies highlighted that the expression of the desired phenotype in the host resides in species-specific, even genotype-specific in-teractions between the symbiotic partners. Consequently, there is a need to dissect such an intimate level of interaction, aiming to identify the main ge-netic components in both partners playing a role in symbiotic differences/host preferences. In the present paper, while briefly reviewing the knowledge and the challenges in plant–microbe interaction and rhizobial studies, we aim to promote research on genotype x genotype interaction between rhizobia and host plants for a rational design of synthetic symbiotic nitrogen-fixing microbial communities to be used for sustainably improving leguminous plants yield

Endophytes from African Rice (Oryza glaberrima L.) Efficiently Colonize Asian Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Stimulating the Activity of Its Antioxidant Enzymes and Increasing the Content of Nitrogen, Carbon, and Chlorophyll.

Bacterial endophytes support the adaptation of host plants to harsh environments. In this study, culturable bacterial endophytes were isolated from the African rice Oryza glaberrima L., which is well-adapted to grow with poor external inputs in the tropical region of Mali. Among these, six N-fixer strains were used to inoculate O. glaberrima RAM133 and the Asian rice O. sativa L. cv. Baldo, selected for growth in temperate climates. The colonization efficiency and the N-fixing activity were evaluated and compared for the two rice varieties. Oryza sativa-inoculated plants showed a fairly good colonization efficiency and nitrogenase activity. The inoculation of Oryza sativa with the strains Klebsiella pasteurii BDA134-6 and Phytobacter diazotrophicus BDA59-3 led to the highest nitrogenase activity. In addition, the inoculation of ‘Baldo’ plants with the strain P. diazotrophicus BDA59-3 led to a significant increase in nitrogen, carbon and chlorophyll content. Finally, ‘Baldo’ plants inoculated with Kl. pasteurii BDA134-6 showed the induction of antioxidant enzymes activity and the maintenance of nitrogen-fixation under salt stress as compared to the unstressed controls. As these endophytes efficiently colonize high-yielding crop varieties grown in cold temperate climates, they become good candidates to promote their growth under unfavorable conditions

From Raw Data to FAIR Data: The FAIRification Workflow for Health Research

BackgroundFAIR (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability) guidingprinciples seek the reuse of data and other digital research input, output, and objects(algorithms, tools, and workflows that led to that data) making themfindable, accessible,interoperable, and reusable. GO FAIR - a bottom-up, stakeholder driven and self-governedinitiative-defined a seven-step FAIRificationprocessfocusingondata,butalsoindicatingtherequired work for metadata. This FAIRification process aims at addressing the translation ofraw datasets into FAIR datasets in a general way, without considering specific requirementsand challenges that may arise when dealing with some particular types of data.This work was performed in the scope of FAIR4Healthproject. FAIR4Health has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovationprogramme under grant agreement number 824666

Design and optimization of a Semi-active Suspension Systems for Railway Applications

The present work focused on the application of innovative damping technologies in order to improve railway vehicle performances in terms of dynamic stability and comfort. As a benchmark case-study, the secondary suspension stage was selected and different control techniques were investigated, such as skyhook, dynamic compensation, and sliding mode control. The final aim was to investigate which control schemes are suitable for optimal exploitation of the non-linear behavior of the actuators. The performance improvement achieved by adoption of the semi-active dampers on a standard high-speed train was evaluated in terms of passenger comfort. Different control strategies have been investigated by comparing a simple SISO (single input single output) regulator based on the skyhook damper approach with a centralized regulator. The centralized regulator allows for the estimation of a near optimal set of control forces that minimize car-body accelerations with respect to constraints imposed by limited performance of semi-active actuators. Simulation results show that best results is obtained using a mixed approach that considers the simultaneous applications of model based and feedback compensation control terms

Numerical modeling of spiral vibrations caused by the presence of brush seals

Clearance is of paramount importance for turbomachinery manufacturers to meet today’s aggressive power output, efficiency, and operational life goals. To minimize leakages, there are various seal types used, and new sealing concepts are in development. Because of their inherent flexibility and compliance, brush seals are capable of significantly reducing the leakage, and allow sufficient geometrical margins to accommodate design and operational variations of turbomachines. Brush seals can be assembled at very tight or zero radial clearance or even with interference on the rotor to minimize the leakage. This means that the risk of contact between the rotor and the seal bristles exists, especially in case of zero clearance or interference. If the contact occurs, a hot-spot develops on the rotor and this may cause the vibration to diverge, resulting in a synchronous instability, the so-called Newkirk effect. The objective of this paper is the development of a numerical model to analyze the dynamic behavior of real turbomachines subject to thermally-induced vibration caused by light-rub of the rotor against brush seals. The model developed in the paper is based on the work of Bachschmid et al. [1]: the dynamics is analyzed in the frequency domain using the standard rotordynamic model, whereas the heat transfer analysis, to calculate the temperature distribution and the associated thermal bow, is studied in the time domain. The contact analysis has been deeply revised, aiming at estimating suitable normal and tangential force and the friction heating generated by the contact

On the Thermodynamic Process in the Bulk-Flow Model for the Estimation of the Dynamic Coefficients of Labyrinth Seals

The impact of sealing equipment on the stability of turbomachineries is a crucial topic because the power generation market is continuously requiring high rotational speed and high performance, leading to the clearance reduction in the seals. The accurate characterization of the rotordynamic coefficients generated by the seals is pivotal to mitigate instability issues. In the paper, the authors propose an improvement of the state-of-the-art one-control volume (1CV) bulk-flow model (Childs and Scharrer, 1986, "An Iwatsubo-Based Solution for Labyrinth Seals: Comparison to Experimental Results," ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 108(2), pp. 325-331) by considering the energy equation in the steady-state problem. Thus, real gas properties can be evaluated in a more accurate way because the enthalpy variation, expected through the seal cavities, is evaluated in the model. The authors assume that the enthalpy is not a function of the clearance perturbation; therefore, the energy equation is considered only in the steady-state problem. The results of experimental tests of a 14 teeth-on-stator (TOS) labyrinth seal, performed in the high-pressure seal test rig owned by GE Oil&Gas, are presented in the paper. Positive and negative preswirl ratios are used in the experimental tests to investigate the effect of the preswirl on the rotordynamic coefficients. Overall, by considering the energy equation, a better numerical estimation of the rotordynamic coefficients for the tests with the negative preswirl ratio has been obtained (as it results from the comparison with the experiments). Finally, the numerical results are compared with a reference bulk-flow model proposed by Thorat and Childs (2010, "Predicted Rotordynamic Behavior of a Labyrinth Seal as Rotor Surface Speed Approaches Mach 1," ASME J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power, 132(11), p. 112504), highlighting the improvement obtained

Endophytes from african rice (Oryza glaberrima L.) efficiently colonize asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) stimulating the activity of its antioxidant enzymes and increasing the content of nitrogen, carbon, and chlorophyll

Bacterial endophytes support the adaptation of host plants to harsh environments. In this study, culturable bacterial endophytes were isolated from the African rice Oryza glaberrima L., which is well-adapted to grow with poor external inputs in the tropical region of Mali. Among these, six N-fixer strains were used to inoculate O. glaberrima RAM133 and the Asian rice O. sativa L. cv. Baldo, selected for growth in temperate climates. The colonization efficiency and the N-fixing activity were evaluated and compared for the two rice varieties. Oryza sativa-inoculated plants showed a fairly good colonization efficiency and nitrogenase activity. The inoculation of Oryza sativa with the strains Klebsiella pasteurii BDA134-6 and Phytobacter diazotrophicus BDA59-3 led to the highest nitrogenase activity. In addition, the inoculation of ‘Baldo’ plants with the strain P. diazotrophicus BDA593 led to a significant increase in nitrogen, carbon and chlorophyll content. Finally, ‘Baldo’ plants inoculated with Kl. pasteurii BDA134-6 showed the induction of antioxidant enzymes activity and the maintenance of nitrogen-fixation under salt stress as compared to the unstressed controls. As these endophytes efficiently colonize high-yielding crop varieties grown in cold temperate climates, they become good candidates to promote their growth under unfavorable conditions