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In this study, "Honghu White Lotus", "Red Lotus (HH)", "Hunan Cunshan Lotus (CS)", "Wuyi Xuanlian", "Space Lotus 36", "Fujian Jianning White Lotus (JB)", "Jiangsu Yangzhou Lotus (JY)", and "Suzhou Dongshan Lotus" were selected as experimental subjects. The lotus seed flesh and lotus plumule of each cultivar were selected for nutritional quality and functional active substance analyses. Comparing different cultivars of lotus seeds, the protein and crude fat contents of JY flesh were the highest at 65.59 mg/g and 13%, respectively. The VC content of JB flesh and lotus plumule is the highest at 41.56 mg/g and 204.29 mg/g, respectively. JB flesh has the lowest soluble sugar content, at 17.87 mg/g, while HB's lotus plumule and flesh have the highest content, at 33.67 mg/g and 29.62 mg/g, respectively. There was no significant difference in the crude fat content of the flesh and lotus plumule among the eight cultivars. TK flesh and lotus plumule have the highest amylose content, at 23.67 mg/g and 76.81 mg/g, respectively. Among them, the total starch content of JB (476.17 mg/g) was relatively high, whereas its amylose content was only 26.09 mg/g. Lower amylose content makes it less prone to aging. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the JY lotus plumule were the highest, at 18.64 and 21.04 mg/g, respectively. The alkaloid content of CS, HH, and JY was relatively high at 20.01, 19.29, and 18.68 mg/g, respectively. These can provide a consultation for the estimation and processing of the nutritional quality of different lotus seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of variety and harvest time on the visual appearance, nutritional quality, and functional active substances of six lotus root cultivars: "Xinsanwu", "Wuzhi No. 2", "Baiyuzhan", "Huaqilian", "Elian No. 6", and "Elian No. 5". Samples were collected monthly from December 2023 to April 2024. A nutrient analysis revealed a decrease in the water content with a delayed harvest. The total soluble solids and soluble sugar content peaked towards the end and middle-to-late harvest periods, respectively. Starch levels initially increased before declining, while the soluble protein exhibited a triphasic trend with an initial rise, a dip, and a final increase. The vitamin C (Vc) content varied across cultivars. Functional active substances displayed dynamic changes. The total phenolics initially decreased, then increased, before ultimately declining again. The total flavonoid content varied by both cultivar and harvest time. The phenolic acid and flavonoid content mirrored the trends observed for total phenolics and total flavonoids. Gastrodin was the most abundant non-flavonoid compound across all varieties. "Wuzhi No. 2" and "Baiyuzhan" displayed higher levels of functional active substances and starch, while the Elian series and "Xinsanwu" cultivar exhibited a greater content of Vc, soluble sugar, and soluble protein. Specific harvest periods yielded optimal results: "Wuzhi No. 2" (H1 and H5), "Huaqilian" (H2), and "Baiyuzhan" (H3 and H4) demonstrated a high nutrient and functional active substance content. Overall, the lotus roots harvested in period H4 achieved the highest score. Overall, this study provides the foothold for the rapid identification of superior lotus root cultivars and the valorization of lotus root by-products via advanced processing methods. Additionally, it offers valuable insights for market participants and consumers to select optimal varieties and harvest times based on their specific needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A digital proportional valve has a main spool that operates with a high-speed on/off valves bridge as the pilot stage. However, this can cause the spool to undergo high-frequency oscillation during movement, leading to a slower valve response, lower control accuracy, and even control failure. Therefore, it is important to study the oscillation mechanism of the valve. To address this issue, we establish a detailed dynamic model of the digital proportional valve, and analyze the factors affecting the response performance of the proportional valve spool. A method of half-bridge control based on duty cycle is proposed to eliminate the oscillation. The influence regularity of each factor on the response performance of the valve is explored. It is proved that the control method of the high-speed on/off valves bridge and the Pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal-switching frequency of the high-speed on/off valves are the main reasons for the oscillation of the main spool. The proposed half-bridge control method based on duty cycle can eliminate the oscillation in a lower frequency range. In addition, the results show that the pilot oil pressure is an important contributor to the oscillation; the higher the pilot oil pressure, the easier the main spool oscillation occurs. However, the spool mass, oil temperature, and coil temperature of the high-speed on/off valve do not affect the stability of the digital proportional valve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive glasses and glass-ceramics exhibit osteoconductivity, which is the ability to form a direct bond with living bone tissue. This property is typically assessed by observing the formation of a hydroxyapatite layer in vitro using simulated body fluid (SBF), a solution designed to mimic the inorganic constituents of human blood plasma. SBF was developed by Kokubo et al. (T. Kokubo, H. Kushitani, S. Sakka, T. Kitsugi and T. Yamamuro, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. , 1990, 24 , 721-734), and its preparation and storage procedures are precisely regulated according to ISO 23317. However, despite following the regulations, SBF may precipitate during storage owing to local ion concentration fluctuations during preparation because it is a supersaturated solution of hydroxyapatite. The present study is focused on designing a preparation process that enhances the stability of SBF-type biomimetic solutions. Solutions with a nominal composition that is the same as that of SBF were prepared by mixing stock solutions containing calcium or phosphate ions separately. Depending on the preparation procedure, two types of solutions-modified biomimetic solution (mBS) and evolved biomimetic solution (eBS)-were proposed. To evaluate the stability of these solutions, variants with 1.5 times the concentration of the original solutions were prepared, and the prepared solutions were denoted as x SBF, x mBS, and x eBS (where x = 1.0 or 1.5). It was found that the formation of calcium phosphate precipitates in 1.5mBS and 1.5eBS was slower than that in 1.5SBF. Additionally, the precipitate in 1.5eBS exhibited a different morphology from hydroxyapatite precipitate, which may be due to a higher hydrogencarbonate concentration than that in 1.5SBF. eBS demonstrated increased stability and a higher concentration of carbonic acid species (carbonate ions) than SBF, while mBS showed increased stability with a lower carbonate concentration than SBF. The newly proposed routes allow the production of an aqueous solution supersaturated with hydroxyapatite as a conventional SBF that has the potential to evaluate apatite formation via in vitro examination under high initial stability., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an enteric pathogen in the swine industry, causing high mortality in neonatal piglets. Efficient PEDV infection usually relies on the presence of trypsin, yet the mechanism of trypsin dependency is ambiguous. Here, we identified two PEDV strains, trypsin-enhanced YN200 and trypsin-independent DR13, in which the spike (S) protein of YN200 exhibits a stronger ability to induce syncytium formation and cleaved by trypsin than that of DR13. Using a full-length infectious YN200 cDNA clone, we confirmed that the S protein is a trypsin dependency determinant by comparison of rYN200 and rYN200-S DR13 To explore the trypsin-associated sites of the YN200 S protein, we then constructed a series of mutations adjacent to the fusion peptide. The results show that the putative S2' cleavage site (R892G) is not the determinant for virus trypsin dependency. Hence, we generated viruses carrying chimeric S proteins: the S1 subunit, S2 subunit, and S2 720∼892 aa domain (NS2') were individually replaced by the corresponding DR13 sequences. Intriguingly, only the S2 substitution, not the S1 or NS2' substitutions, provides trypsin-independent growth of YN200. Additionally, the NS2' recombinant virus significantly abrogated effective infection, indicating a vital role for NS2' in viral entry. These findings suggest that the trypsin dependency of PEDV is mainly controlled by mutations in the S2 subunit rather than directly trypsin cleavage site. Importance With the emergence of new variants, PEDV remains a major problem in the global swine industry. Efficient PEDV infection usually requires trypsin, while the mechanism of trypsin dependency is complex. Here, we used two PEDV strains, trypsin-enhanced YN200 and trypsin-independent DR13, and results showed that the S protein determined PEDV trypsin dependency by using a reverse genetic system of YN200. The S2 subunit was verified as the main portion of PEDV trypsin dependency, though the putative S2' site mutation cannot render trypsin-independent growth of YN200. Finally, these results provide some different insight to the PEDV trypsin dependency and might inspire vaccine development., (Copyright © 2021 American Society for Microbiology.)