Roles of structural phenylpropanoids in forage cell wall digestion

Phenolic constituents (lignins and phenolic acids) and carbohydrates are assembled in a tight architecture which differs according to the plant species. During cell wall digestion, the hydrolysis kinetics differ between carbohydrates and seem to depend chiefly on the content and organisation of tissue phenolics. Among the phenylpropanoids, ferulic acid is released more quickly than p-coumaric acid. Lignins remain largely in the cell walls. They also undergo transformations, chiefly solubilisation as lignin-carbohydrate complexes. The limiting effect of lignins on cell wall degradation increases with increasing content. However, their effect on degradation might also depend on qualitative factors such as lignin structure and polymer organisation in walls and tissues. When various grasses (normal and selected genotypes), or grasses and legumes are compared, correlations between certain factors such as lignin uncondensed fraction, syringyl units or phenolic acids contents and cell wall degradation emerge but not clear causal relationship has been shown. Nonetheless, other structural characteristics, related to the alkali reactivity of lignins, seem to have a stronger influence on cell wall degradation. Phenylpropanoids seem to act mainly as a physical and (bio)chemical barrier to the action of the microbial enzymes. In addition, their reactivity as phenolic compounds and their hydrophobicity seem to play a role. Digestion is not limited only by phenolics. The factors that limit glycanolysis—the accessibility, crystallinity and capillary structure of cellulose and the branching of hemicelluloses—seem to have little or no effect on cell wall degradation in vivo. In contrast, other antiquality substances (tannins, cutin and silica), plant antomy, environmental factors, factors modulating microbial growth and animal physiology influence cell wall utilisation. Future research in this field should focus on the effects of phenolic structure and of cell wall and tissue organisation on carbohydrate degradation.     

利用激光冲击波检测碳纤维材料中的粘接质量

碳纤维增强复合材料(CFRP)由于具有出色的力学性能而越来越多地受到关注,但是由于对这种材料粘接结构缺乏有效的无损检测方法而导致其应用受到了局限。发展了一种基于激光冲击波的碳纤维增强复合材料粘接质量无损检测方法。对于一个碳纤维增强复合材料粘接结构,当激光作用在样品表面时,会产生一个冲击波在其中传播,冲击波到达样品后表面时会反射一个稀疏波,并在材料内部形成拉伸。在适当的激光强度下,好的粘接质量将不会受影响;而差的粘接质量将会造成损伤。实验过程中,对样品自由面的速度历史进行了测量,该信号可以反映粘接层的内部损伤情况。这一结论也通过对回收样品的激光超声检测得到了证实。这项技术的发展将使未来碳纤维增强复合材料粘接结构的在线检测成为可能。     

Solid phase epitaxial growth of Dy-germanide films on Ge(0 0 1) substrates

Dy thin films are grown on Ge(0 0 1) substrates by molecular beam deposition at room temperature. Subsequently, the Dy film is annealed at different temperatures for the growth of a Dy-germanide film. Structural, morphological and electrical properties of the Dy-germanide film are investigated by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and ex situ X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and resistivity measurements. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns and X-ray diffraction spectra show that the room temperature growth of the Dy film is disordered and there is a transition at a temperature of 300-330 °C from a disordered to an epitaxial growth of a Dy-germanide film by solid phase epitaxy. The high quality Dy₃Ge₅ film crystalline structure is formed and identified as an orthorhombic phase with smooth surface in the annealing temperature range of 330-550 °C. But at a temperature of 600 °C, the smooth surface of the Dy₃Ge₅ film changes to a rough surface with a lot of pits due to the reactions further.     

A micro-method for the estimation of oil content and fatty acid composition in seeds with special reference to cyclopropenoic acids

A micro-method is described for the routine estimation of oil content and fatty acid composition in seeds containing cyclopropenoic fatty acids (CPEFA) by determination of the total and component long-chain fatty acids. The oil was transmethylated without prior extraction using 1.17% sodium methoxide in methanol at 80°C for 45 min. The resultant fatty acid methyl esters were separated and measured by gas-liquid chromatography using a glass capillary column coated with Carbowax 20 M at 170°C. The method was shown to be applicable to a wide range of seeds including cottonseed (Gossypium hirsutum), kapok (Ceiba pentandra), paka (Urena lobata), baobab (Adansonia grandidieri and A. suarezensis). Individual seeds can be used with this method which needs only 50 to 150 mg for analysis. Results obtained with this micro-method were reproducible and good recoveries of oil and individual fatty acids were observed. The micro-method was compared for the determination of CPEFA (malvalic plus sterculic acids) to the nuclear magnetic resonance quantitation and gas-liquid chromography after derivatisation of CPEFA in more stable compounds.     

Two-dimensional transforms for device color correction and calibration.

Color device calibration is traditionally performed using one-dimensional (1-D) per-channel tone-response corrections (TRCs). While 1-D TRCs are attractive in view of their low implementation complexity and efficient real-time processing of color images, their use severely restricts the degree of control that can be exercised along various device axes. A typical example is that per separation (or per-channel), TRCs in a printer can be used to either ensure gray balance along the C = M = Y axis or to provide a linear response in delta-E units along each of the individual (C, M, and Y) axis, but not both. This paper proposes a novel two-dimensional color correction architecture that enables much greater control over the device color gamut with a modest increase in implementation cost. Results show significant improvement in calibration accuracy and stability when compared to traditional 1-D calibration. Superior cost quality tradeoffs (over 1-D methods) are also achieved for emulation of one color device on another.