Grain Quality Improvement in Japonica Rice : Achievements and Prospects

Several high grain quality rice varieties have been developed during the 2000\u27s. These varieties showed translucent, zero white-core, glossy and uniform milled-grain appearance, high palatability score of cooked rice and high percentage of whole grain after milling. The high eating quality variety group was lower in protein content, softer in gel consistency, and higher in breakdown and lower in consistency and setback viscosity measured by rapid visco-amylogram. In order to produce the low protein rice grain, the nitrogen fertilizer level has to be reduced to 90-110 kg per hectare with no nitrogen top dressing after heading. Rotational irrigation during rice growing season and delayed drainage after heading was found as effective in raising the whole grain yield and eating quality of cooked rice. Slow drying to 15-16% of grain moisture is recommended with air flow temperature below 50oC. Three hundred and ninety four native rice core collections were tested for their grain appearance, eating quality determining factors, and nutritional compounds. Health- enhancing potential and second metabolite contents were also evaluated. The native collections selected for high grain quality resources were used as cross parents and two new rice varieties having dark red pericarp color were developed from the crosses using Korean native varieties. The new variety had higher phenolic compounds in brown rice and the brown rice extract of this variety induced apoptotic cell deaths in H4II cells to a larger extent than the control rice extracts

Application of Deep Learning Long Short-Term Memory in Energy Demand Forecasting

The smart metering infrastructure has changed how electricity is measured in both residential and industrial application. The large amount of data collected by smart meter per day provides a huge potential for analytics to support the operation of a smart grid, an example of which is energy demand forecasting. Short term energy forecasting can be used by utilities to assess if any forecasted peak energy demand would have an adverse effect on the power system transmission and distribution infrastructure. It can also help in load scheduling and demand side management. Many techniques have been proposed to forecast time series including Support Vector Machine, Artificial Neural Network and Deep Learning. In this work we use Long Short Term Memory architecture to forecast 3-day ahead energy demand across each month in the year. The results show that 3-day ahead demand can be accurately forecasted with a Mean Absolute Percentage Error of 3.15%. In addition to that, the paper proposes way to quantify the time as a feature to be used in the training phase which is shown to affect the network performance

Antiviral mode of action of Lactobacillus plantarum YML009 on Influenza virus H1N1

The development of resistance against antiviral agents has augmented a threat to public health sector. Consequently there is an expanding demand for the development of unconventional antiviral agents that could efficiently replace the existent in-use drugs. The probiotic strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have earned the status of being efficient, economical and safe nutraceutical in health care armamentarium. A total of 2272 LAB strains were screened against H1N1 virus. The isolate YML009 displayed a pronounced antiviral activity. Sequencing and biochemical assays identified the isolate as Lactoballius plantarum which, exhibited resistance to the damage caused by the acidic conditions such as gastric juice and 5% bile salt. The anti-H1N1 activity of the strain was confirmed by hemagglutination assay and was found to display enhanced efficacy in comparison to the commercially available antiviral drug. This is a primary report on anti-influenza activity of a bacterium L. plantarum YML009.

Quantum and Classical Orientational Ordering in Solid Hydrogen

We present a unified view of orientational ordering in phases I, II, and III of solid hydrogen. Phases II and III are orientationally ordered, while the ordering objects in phase II are angular momenta of rotating molecules, and in phase III the molecules themselves. This concept provides quantitative explanation of the vibron softening, libron and roton spectra, and increase of the IR vibron oscillator strength in phase III. The temperature dependence of the effective charge parallels the frequency shifts of the IR and Raman vibrons. All three quantities are linear in the order parameter.Comment: Replaced with the final text, accepted for publication in PRL. 1 Fig. added. Misc. text revision

High-Pressure Amorphous Nitrogen

The phase diagram and stability limits of diatomic solid nitrogen have been explored in a wide pressure--temperature range by several optical spectroscopic techniques. A newly characterized narrow-gap semiconducting phase $\eta$ has been found to exist in a range of 80--270 GPa and 10--510 K. The vibrational and optical properties of the $\eta$ phase produced under these conditions indicate that it is largely amorphous and back transforms to a new molecular phase. The band gap of the $\eta$ phase is found to decrease with pressure indicating possible metallization by band overlap above 280 GPa.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Raman spectrum and lattice parameters of MgB2 as a function of pressure

We report Raman spectra and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements of lattice parameters of polycrystalline MgB2 under hydrostatic pressure conditions up to 15 GPa. An anomalously broadened Raman band at 620 cm-1 is observed that exhibits a large linear pressure shift of its frequency. The large mode damping and Gruneisen parameter indicate a highly anharmonic nature of the mode, broadly consistent with theoretical predictions for the E2g in-plane boron stretching mode. The results obtained may provide additional constraints on the electron-phonon coupling in the system.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

Nuclear Inelastic X-Ray Scattering of FeO to 48 GPa

The partial density of vibrational states has been measured for Fe in compressed FeO (w\"ustite) using nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Substantial changes have been observed in the overall shape of the density of states close to the magnetic transiton around 20 GPa from the paramagnetic (low pressure) to the antiferromagnetic (high pressure) state. Our data indicate a substantial softening of the aggregate sound velocities far below the transition, starting between 5 and 10 GPa. This is consistent with recent radial x-ray diffraction measurements of the elastic constants in FeO. The results indicate that strong magnetoelastic coupling in FeO is the driving force behind the changes in the phonon spectrum of FeO.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Enzymatic synthesis of chlorogenic acid glucoside using dextransucrase and its physical and functional properties

Chlorogenic acid, a major polyphenol in edible plants, possesses strong antioxidant activity, anti-lipid peroxidation and anticancer effects. It used for industrial applications; however, this is limited by its instability to heat or light. In this study, we, for the first time synthesized chlorogenic acid glucoside (CHG) via transglycosylation using dextransucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides and sucrose. CHG was purified and its structure determined by nuclear magnetic resonance and matrix-associated laser desorption ionization–time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. The production yield of CHG was 44.0% or 141 mM, as determined by response surface methodology. CHG possessed a 65% increase in water solubility and a 2-fold browning resistance and it displayed stronger inhibition of lipid peroxidation and of colon cancer cell growth by MTT assay, compared to chlorogenic acid. Therefore, this study may expand the industrial applications of chlorogenic acid as water-soluble or browning resistant compound (CHG) through enzymatic glycosylation