Effects of Intrinsic Tannins on Metabolome During Sainfoin Ensiling

Condensed tannins (CT) from sainfoin have a high capacity to inhibit proteolysis. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of CT (following supplementation of deactivated CT with polyethylene glycol [PEG]) on the metabolome during sainfoin ensiling. In total, 510 metabolites were identified after 60 d of sainfoin ensiling, with 33 metabolites were annotated in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. Among those metabolites, phospholipids were the most abundant (72.7% of total 33 metabolites). In addition, 10 up-regulated and 23 down-regulated metabolites, respectively, were identified in the PEG treated group when compared with the control group, after 60 d of ensiling (p \u3c 0.05). Pediococcus (correlated with 20 metabolites, R2 \u3e 0.88, p\u3c 0.05) and Lactobacillus (correlated with 16 metabolites, R2 \u3e 0.88, p \u3c 0.05) were the bacteria most correlated with metabolites. The results suggest antagonistic effects between Lactobacillus and Pediococcus occur during ensiling. The proteolysis decreased partly due to CT inhibiting Pediococcus activity during ensiling, with Pediococcus being significantly and positively correlated with dopamine after 60 d of ensiling (R2=0.8857, p \u3c 0.05)

Underwater Intention Recognition using Head Motion and Throat Vibration for Supernumerary Robotic Assistance

This study presents a multi-modal mechanism for recognizing human intentions while diving underwater, aiming to achieve natural human-robot interactions through an underwater superlimb for diving assistance. The underwater environment severely limits the divers' capabilities in intention expression, which becomes more challenging when they intend to operate tools while keeping control of body postures in 3D with the various diving suits and gears. The current literature is limited in underwater intention recognition, impeding the development of intelligent wearable systems for human-robot interactions underwater. Here, we present a novel solution to simultaneously detect head motion and throat vibrations under the water in a compact, wearable design. Experiment results show that using machine learning algorithms, we achieved high performance in integrating these two modalities to translate human intentions to robot control commands for an underwater superlimb system. This study's results paved the way for future development in underwater intention recognition and underwater human-robot interactions with supernumerary support.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, accepted to IEEE CASE 202

Implicit Multidimensional Projection of Local Subspaces

We propose a visualization method to understand the effect of multidimensional projection on local subspaces, using implicit function differentiation. Here, we understand the local subspace as the multidimensional local neighborhood of data points. Existing methods focus on the projection of multidimensional data points, and the neighborhood information is ignored. Our method is able to analyze the shape and directional information of the local subspace to gain more insights into the global structure of the data through the perception of local structures. Local subspaces are fitted by multidimensional ellipses that are spanned by basis vectors. An accurate and efficient vector transformation method is proposed based on analytical differentiation of multidimensional projections formulated as implicit functions. The results are visualized as glyphs and analyzed using a full set of specifically-designed interactions supported in our efficient web-based visualization tool. The usefulness of our method is demonstrated using various multi- and high-dimensional benchmark datasets. Our implicit differentiation vector transformation is evaluated through numerical comparisons; the overall method is evaluated through exploration examples and use cases

Light-induced giant enhancement of nonreciprocal transport at KTaO3-based interfaces

Nonlinear transport is a unique functionality of noncentrosymmetric systems, which reflects profound physics, such as spin-orbit interaction, superconductivity and band geometry. However, it remains highly challenging to enhance the nonreciprocal transport for promising rectification devices. Here, we observe a light-induced giant enhancement of nonreciprocal transport at the superconducting and epitaxial CaZrO3/KTaO3 (111) interfaces. The nonreciprocal transport coefficient undergoes a giant increase with three orders of magnitude up to 105 A-1T-1. Furthermore, a strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling effective field of 14.7 T is achieved with abundant high-mobility photocarriers under ultraviolet illumination, which accounts for the giant enhancement of nonreciprocal transport coefficient. Our first-principles calculations further disclose the stronger Rashba spin-orbit coupling strength and the longer relaxation time in the photocarrier excitation process, bridging the light-property quantitative relationship. Our work provides an alternative pathway to boost nonreciprocal transport in noncentrosymmetric systems and facilitates the promising applications in opto-rectification devices and spin-orbitronic devices.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figure

Effects of Condensed Tannins on Bacterial and Fungal Communities during Aerobic Exposure of Sainfoin Silage

Background: Sainfoin is a forage legume that is widely distributed around the world and is beneficial for animals owing to the characteristics of its condensed tannins (CTs), which, from certain plants, can prolong the aerobic stability of silage. Methods: The present study investigated whether sainfoin CTs can prolong aerobic stability by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) to inactivate CT activity in the silage system. Results: The results showed that aerobic stability increased under the PEG treatment (p p Lactobacillus was lower in the PEG-treated group (65.01% vs. 75.01% in the control; p Pediococcus was higher in the PEG-treated group compared with the control (10.9% vs. 4.49%, respectively; p Apiotrichum and Aspergillus were lower in the control than in the PEG-treated group after 7 d of aerobic exposure. Conclusions: The results suggested that sainfoin CTs decreased aerobic stability, but could inhibit certain bacteria and fungi, such as Pediococcus and Apiotrichum, and preserve the protein content during the aerobic exposure of silage

Assessment of New Bio-Cement Method for Sand Foundation Reinforcement

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a new method used in recent years to improve the soil. However, this method still faces challenges related to low grouting reinforcement strength and efficiency. In this study, both the bio-cement infiltration method and bio-cement mixed method for sand foundation were proposed, and physical model tests were conducted to investigate the mechanical properties of sand treated with the bio-cement method. The results showed that the bio-cement maximized the utilization rate of bacterial liquid and reduced the waste caused by the loss of bacteria compared with traditional methods. Both the size of the reinforced area and bearing capacity of the sand reinforced by bio-cement infiltration method were controlled by the volume ratio of the bio-cement, calcareous sand powder, and the inflow rate. The maximum bearing capacity was 125 N when using a mixture of bio-cement and calcareous sand powder with a ratio of 400/80, with an inflow rate of 20 mL/min. The UCS of the sand reinforced by the bio-cement mixed method gradually decreased from 3.44 MPa to 0.88 MPa with depth, but increased with increasing CaCO3 content. The CaCO3 crystals were primarily concentrated at the contact point between the particles, and the formed crystals were mainly polyhedral. Reduction in the CaCO3 content mainly occurred in the central deep part of the reinforcement area. The result provides an experimental basis for the use of bio-cement in the reinforcement of sand soil foundations

Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilization on Photosynthetic Properties of Leaves and Agronomic Characters of Alfalfa over Three Consecutive Years

The present study aimed to investigate the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization of continuous addition effects plant biomass, the physiological properties of leaves and the antioxi-dant enzyme activities of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L) in the northern Xinjiang region; including the no fertilization (CK), nitrogen fertilization (N, 120 kg·ha−1), phosphorus fertilization (with low amount of N) (P, 100 kg·ha−1 P and 23.5 kg·ha−1 N) and combined nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization (NP, 120 kg·ha−1 N and 100 kg·ha−1 P) on the K well supplied soil. After three consecutive years of the supply of N and P fertilization, samples were taken at the first flowering of alfalfa (four clippings in the total year) to determine its pigment concentration, stomatal aperture, antioxidant enzyme activity and hay yield. The results showed that NP fertilization promoted growth with a higher number of branches and hay yield of alfalfa, while N or P fertilization alone had a positive effect on the growth of alfalfa. However, P fertilization significantly increased the carotenoid (Car) content at the early flowering stage of alfalfa leaves (during four clippings) (p < 0.05), In addition, NP ferti-lization enhanced stomatal aperture, increased the antioxidant enzyme activity and decreased the oxidized substance at the early flowering stage of alfalfa leaves. The results showed that a N and P balance rather than an absolute amount of either enhanced the growth of alfalfa, and N or P fertili-zation affects physiological traits differently. We propose that NP fertilization increases the nutri-tional characteristics and physiological characteristics, enhancing the adaptive capacity of alfalfa and making it better adapted to external environmental changes

Thermal simulation of microelectrode machining process during block electrical discharge grinding

Electrical discharge machining is widely used in aerospace industries, semiconductor applications, micro-electromechanical systems, and other fields of the machining of micro-holes, micro-shafts, and micro-structures due to non-contact stress during the electrical discharge machining process. In the electrical discharge machining process, the machining precision of electrical discharge machining depends on the dimensional precision of the tool electrode, therefore, the machining process of microelectrode has attracted growing concern. In this study, a thermal model of the microelectrode machining process was proposed to simulate the formation process of microelectrode based on the temperature distribution during block electrical discharge grinding of the microelectrode process. According to the microelectrode machining process, the thermal model considers the main influential factors such as random distribution of discharge points, time-dependent discharge channel radius, Gauss heat source, phase transformation latent heat, etc. Through the thermal simulation analysis, the temperature distribution and the dynamic spark-erosion process of the microelectrode based on random repetitive spark discharges were obtained during block electrical discharge grinding of the microelectrode. Besides, it is found that the maximum temperature value and discharge crater volume of the electrode surface fluctuate and gradually decrease with the increase of discharge times. In addition, the effect of pulse width on the machining process of microelectrode was investigated by numerical simulation and block electrical discharge grinding of microelectrode experiment. The results indicated that the crater volume and the maximum temperature value on the surface of the microelectrode increased with the increase of pulse width. The formation process of microelectrode was considered a significant indicator to determine the machining precision and machining efficiency of the electrical discharge machining process

Thermal model of crater formation process in electrical discharge machining

The formation mechanism of the discharge crater in electrical discharge machining process is not fully understood, which affects the application of electrical discharge machining technology. In this paper, a thermal-fluid coupling model was proposed by COMSOL Multiphysics software, and the influence of discharge parameters, including peak current, pulse on-time, and the material of tool electrode and workpiece, on crater formation process was analyzed. The temperature distribution, the flow field velocity, heating region, and morphological changes of the discharge crater were analyzed to illustrate the formation mechanism of the discharge crater. By comparing the experimental results with the numerical simulation results, it was found that under the same discharge energy, the peak current has a greater influence on the discharge crater size than the pulse on-time. Moreover, through analysis of the influence of tool electrode materials and workpiece materials, it was found that the crater size is influenced by the boiling point of tool electrode material and the melting point of workpiece material. The experimental and numerical simulation results showed that the simulation results are consistent with the experimental results, which verifies the applicability of the thermal-fluid coupling model in studying the crater formation mechanism in electrical discharge machining

Effect of Intrinsic Tannins on the Fermentation Quality and Associated with the Bacterial and Fungal Community of Sainfoin Silage

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is rich in condensed tannins (CT). CT function includes inhibiting bacterial and fungi activity during the ensiling process. We used polyethylene glycol (PEG) to deactivate tannin activity to find out the effects of CT. The results show that the addition of PEG increased dry-matter loss (8.32% vs. 14.15%, on a dry-matter basis) after 60 d of ensiling, and also increased lactic acid (10.90% vs. 15.90%, on a dry-matter basis) and acetic-acid content (7.32% vs. 13.85%, on a dry-matter basis) after 30 d of ensiling. The PEG-treated group increased its Pediococcus relative abundance (0.37–3.38% vs. 7.82–23.5%,) during the ensiling process, increased its Gibellulopsis relative abundance after 3 d of ensiling (5.96% vs. 19.52%), increased its Vishniacozyma relative abundance after 3 d and 7 d of ensiling (2.36% vs. 17.02%, 3.65% vs. 17.17%), and increased its Aspergillus relative abundance after 7 d, 14 d and 60 d of ensiling (0.28% vs. 1.32%, 0.49% vs. 2.84% and 1.74% vs. 7.56%). However, the PEG-treated group decreased its Alternaria relative abundance during entire ensiling process (14.00–25.21% vs. 3.33–7.49%). These results suggest that condensed tannins inhibit lactic-acid bacteria fermentation though reducing Pediococcus activity, and inhibiting fungi activity depending on different strains