Liquid carbon, carbon-glass beads, and the crystallization of carbon nanotubes

The formation of carbon nanotubes in a pure carbon arc in a helium atmosphere is found to involve liquid carbon. Electron microscopy shows a viscous liquid-like amorphous carbon layer covering the surfaces of nanotube-containing millimeter-sized columnar structures from which the cathode deposit is composed. Regularly spaced, submicrometer-sized spherical beads of amorphous carbon are often found on the nanotubes at the surfaces of these columns. Apparently, at the anode, liquid-carbon drops form, which acquire a carbon-glass surface due to rapid evaporative cooling. Nanotubes crystallize inside the supercooled, glass-coated liquid-carbon drops. The carbon-glass layer ultimately coats and beads on the nanotubes near the surface.     

Evidence for protein degradation by Botrytis cinerea and relationships with alteration of synthetic wine foaming properties

Botrytis cinerea is an important fungal pathogen particularly dreaded in the cool climate vineyard. It is responsible for important damage, especially the decrease in foamability of sparkling wines, such as Champagne. Different studies have shown that proteins are largely involved in the stabilization of Champagne foam despite their low concentration. Other works demonstrated changes in the electrophoretic characteristics of must proteins originating from botrytized grapes, although the cause of such alterations was never explained. In the first part of this study, results showed the release by B. cinerea of 3.5 mg/L total proteins in a synthetic liquid medium. Among these proteins, the presence of a protease activity on bovine serum albumin (BSA) and must proteins was demonstrated by using a colorimetric method and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the model wine, the Bradford method showed a BSA loss of 66% after 24 h and a loss of 96% after 120 h. In the same model wine, the soluble must protein concentration decreased by 35% after 1 week and by 53% after 2 weeks while the control showed no protein loss. B. cinerea proteases were then able to degrade BSA and must proteins and were above all active at must and wine pH and in the presence of ethanol and SO(2). The second part of this work was dedicated to the relationship between the presence of B. cinerea proteases and its effects on the synthetic wine foaming properties. The addition of a B. cinerea culture medium (1/33 v/v) to the synthetic wine containing 21 mg/L soluble grape proteins induced a decrease in foamability by 60% after 1 week. For BSA in the model wine, the foamability decreased by 32% after 24 h and by 95% after 120 h, as shown by the colorimetric method. These experiments demonstrate for the first time the relationship between B. cinerea protease activity and the decrease in wine foaming properties.     

Oats (Avena strigosa) as winter forage for dairy cows in Vietnam: an on-farm study

In North Vietnam, during winter, alternative forage resources are needed to balance the feed ration of dairy cows. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of oat forage as a component of traditional winter roughage diets on feed intake, milk production and feeding cost in dairy cows. The study was conducted on-farm using 24 mid-lactation Holstein–Friesian cows. The feeding experiment consisted of two successive periods and two dietary treatments per period. Traditional basal diets included fresh tropical grasses, maize silage and hay. The oat forage had no effect on the dry matter intake of the basal diet, but the total crude protein intake was higher in cows fed with oat diets than in those fed with control diets. The yield of butterfat-corrected milk (FCM) was not significantly different between diets during period 1, but there was a trend (P?=?0.078) of higher FCM yields in cows fed with the oat diet compared to those with control diet during period 2 (17.3 vs. 16.3 kg/day). The decline rate in milk yield was significantly higher (P?<?0.001) in cows fed with control diets than in those fed with oat diets in both experimental periods. The total feeding cost of cows fed with oat diets was on average 12 % lower than those fed with control diets (P?<?0.01). So, the oat forage is an important winter resource for cows in North Vietnam allowing higher milk yield whilst reducing feeding cost, compared to traditional roughage diets.     

Seismic detection of the lunar core

Despite recent insight regarding the history and current state of the Moon from satellite sensing and analyses of limited Apollo-era seismic data, deficiencies remain in our understanding of the deep lunar interior. We reanalyzed Apollo lunar seismograms using array-processing methods to search for the presence of reflected and converted seismic energy from the core. Our results suggest the presence of a solid inner and fluid outer core, overlain by a partially molten boundary layer. The relative sizes of the inner and outer core suggest that the core is ~60% liquid by volume. Based on phase diagrams of iron alloys and the presence of partial melt, the core probably contains less than 6 weight % of lighter alloying components, which is consistent with a volatile-depleted interior.     

Quantification of Common Wheat Adulteration of Durum Wheat Pasta Using Real‐Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Common wheat adulteration of durum wheat pasta was quantified using real‐time duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The total DNA content of pasta was determined by amplifying part of a wheat gene encoding a lipid transfer protein, and common wheat DNA was quantified by amplifying part of the puroindoline‐b gene. Under the conditions defined by this study, for pasta with a theoretical adulteration of 3%, the experimentally determined mean value was 2.6–3.4%, depending on drying temperature. Pure durum wheat pastas were distinguished from adulterated pastas without ambiguity. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using real‐time duplex PCR to quantify common wheat adulteration of pasta dried at high temperature, quantification that was impossible with the French official peroxidase‐marker method.     

Hand-feel soil texture observations to evaluate the accuracy of digital soil maps for local prediction of soil particle size distribution: A case study in Central France

Digital maps of soil properties are now widely available. End-users now can access several digital soil mapping (DSM) products of soil properties, produced using different models, calibration/training data, and covariates at various spatial scales from global to local. Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide easy-to-understand tools to communicate map uncertainty and help end-users assess the reliability of DSM products for use at local scales. In this study, we used a large amount of hand-feel soil texture (HFST) data to assess the performance of various published DSM products on the prediction of soil particle size distribution in Central France. We tested four DSM products for soil texture prediction developed at various scales (global, continental, national, and regional) by comparing their predictions with approximately 3 200 HFST observations realized on a 1:50 000 soil survey conducted after release of these DSM products. We used both visual comparisons and quantitative indicators to match the DSM predictions and HFST observations. The comparison between the low-cost HFST observations and DSM predictions clearly showed the applicability of various DSM products, with the prediction accuracy increasing from global to regional predictions. This simple evaluation can determine which products can be used at the local scale and if more accurate DSM products are required.