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Structural features of condensed tannins affect in vitro ruminal methane production and fermentation characteristics
An in vitro study was conducted to investigate the effects of condensed tannins (CT) structural properties, i.e. average polymer size (or mean degree of polymerization); percentage of cis flavan-3-ols and percentage of prodelphinidins in CT extracts on methane production (CH4) and fermentation characteristics. CT were extracted from eight plants in order to obtain different CT types: black currant leaves, goat willow leaves, goat willow twigs, pine bark, red currant leaves, sainfoin plants, weeping willow catkins and white clover flowers. They were analysed for CT content and CT composition by thiolytic degradation, followed by HPLC analysis. Grass silage was used as a control substrate. Condensed tannins were added to the substrate at a concentration of 40 g/kg, with or without polyethylene glycol (+ or −PEG 6000 treatment) to inactivate tannins, and then incubated for 72 h in mixed buffered rumen fluid from three different lactating dairy cows per run. Total cumulative gas production (GP) was measured by an automated gas production system. During the incubation, 12 gas samples (10 μl) were collected from each bottle headspace at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 56 and 72 h of incubation and analyzed for CH4. A modified Michaelis–Menten model was fitted to the CH4 concentration patterns and model estimates were used to calculate total cumulative CH4 production (GPCH4). Total cumulative gas production and GPCH4 curves were fitted using biphasic and monophasic modified Michaelis-Menten models, respectively. Addition of PEG increased GP, GPCH4, and CH4 concentration compared to the −PEG treatment. All CT types reduced GPCH4 and CH4 concentration. All CT increased the half time of GP and GPCH4. Moreover, all CT decreased the maximum rate of fermentation for GPCH4 and rate of substrate degradation. The correlation between CT structure and GPCH4 and fermentation characteristics showed that the proportion of prodelphinidins within CT had the largest effect on fermentation characteristics, followed by average 27 polymer size and percentage of cis-flavan-3-ols
Unicyclic Components in Random Graphs
The distribution of unicyclic components in a random graph is obtained
analytically. The number of unicyclic components of a given size approaches a
self-similar form in the vicinity of the gelation transition. At the gelation
point, this distribution decays algebraically, U_k ~ 1/(4k) for k>>1. As a
result, the total number of unicyclic components grows logarithmically with the
system size.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Identification and tunable optical coherent control of transition-metal spins in silicon carbide
Color centers in wide-bandgap semiconductors are attractive systems for
quantum technologies since they can combine long-coherent electronic spin and
bright optical properties. Several suitable centers have been identified, most
famously the nitrogen-vacancy defect in diamond. However, integration in
communication technology is hindered by the fact that their optical transitions
lie outside telecom wavelength bands. Several transition-metal impurities in
silicon carbide do emit at and near telecom wavelengths, but knowledge about
their spin and optical properties is incomplete. We present all-optical
identification and coherent control of molybdenum-impurity spins in silicon
carbide with transitions at near-infrared wavelengths. Our results identify
spin for both the electronic ground and excited state, with highly
anisotropic spin properties that we apply for implementing optical control of
ground-state spin coherence. Our results show optical lifetimes of 60 ns
and inhomogeneous spin dephasing times of 0.3 s, establishing
relevance for quantum spin-photon interfacing.Comment: Updated version with minor correction, full Supplementary Information
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Nuclear structure of 30S and its implications for nucleosynthesis in classical novae
The uncertainty in the 29P(p,gamma)30S reaction rate over the temperature
range of 0.1 - 1.3 GK was previously determined to span ~4 orders of magnitude
due to the uncertain location of two previously unobserved 3+ and 2+ resonances
in the 4.7 - 4.8 MeV excitation region in 30S. Therefore, the abundances of
silicon isotopes synthesized in novae, which are relevant for the
identification of presolar grains of putative nova origin, were uncertain by a
factor of 3. To investigate the level structure of 30S above the proton
threshold (4394.9(7) keV), a charged-particle spectroscopy and an in-beam
gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments were performed. Differential cross sections
of the 32S(p,t)30S reaction were measured at 34.5 MeV. Distorted wave Born
approximation calculations were performed to constrain the spin-parity
assignments of the observed levels. An energy level scheme was deduced from
gamma-gamma coincidence measurements using the 28Si(3He,n-gamma)30S reaction.
Spin-parity assignments based on measurements of gamma-ray angular
distributions and gamma-gamma directional correlation from oriented nuclei were
made for most of the observed levels of 30S. As a result, the resonance
energies corresponding to the excited states in 4.5 MeV - 6 MeV region,
including the two astrophysically important states predicted previously, are
measured with significantly better precision than before. The uncertainty in
the rate of the 29P(p,gamma)30S reaction is substantially reduced over the
temperature range of interest. Finally, the influence of this rate on the
abundance ratios of silicon isotopes synthesized in novae are obtained via 1D
hydrodynamic nova simulations.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
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