Reduced rice paddy methane emission through dual compound mechanism in novel cultivars

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and its concentrations have risen tenfold in the past decade due to agricultural activity1. Rice paddies are considered a major source of anthropogenic methane, however strategies to mitigate methane emission in rice paddies is not yet successful despite considerable efforts being made. Methane production is caused by microbial communities feeding on organic exudates from the rice root, and regulation of the dominant secretions has been suggested as leading way to put an end to the methane emission from rice paddies. Here, we introduced a new system to reduce methane emission in rice paddies based on the discovery that fumarate and ethanol are two specific rice-orchestrated compounds that determine the levels of methane emission from rice paddies. Moreover, stable low-fumarate high-ethanol secretion lines have been successively bred through hybrid breeding and shown to cut around 70% of methane emission in paddies as compared to control. Approaches to block fumarate reductase or increase ethanol level, were furthermore employed as cultivation managements and resulted in a reduction in methane emissions of around 60%, calculated from two-year four-site field work. All results highlight the application of our findings to largely mitigate influences of rice cultivation on global climate.

The Development of Digital Image Colorimetric Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Explosives Using Polymer Gel Sensors

Polymer gel sensors on 96-well plates were successfully used to detect four different multi-explosives, including 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), nitrite, and perchlorate. The products of reactions between the explosives and the polymer gel sensors were digitally captured, and the images were analyzed by a developed Red–Green–Blue (RGB) analyzer program on a notebook computer. RGB color analysis provided the basic color data of the reaction products for the quantification of the explosives. The results provided good linear range, sensitivity, limit of detection, limit of quantitation, specificity, interference tolerance, and recovery. The method demonstrated great potential to detect explosives by colorimetric analysis of digital images of samples on 96-well plates. It is possible to apply the proposed method for quantitative on-site field screening of multi-explosives.

Investigation on dust dispersion during support movement in a fully mechanized mining face and the technology with support frame enclosure dust control

A fully mechanized mining face is characterized by serious dust pollution and dust is a major cause of pneumoconiosis that haunts numerous miners. For a fully mechanized face having large mining heights, the main dust source in the pavement area is produced by the moving support frame. To reduce the amount of dust during support's movement, the distribution and dissipation of dust in this process were studied by combining numerical simulations with underground measurements. The results showed that with an increase of the distance from the air inlet, the wind speed of the sidewalk in the fully mechanized face first increased, then decreased, and finally increased again. At the position of the coal cutter, the highest wind speed was 1.78 m/s and the average wind speed of the roadway was about 0.8 m/s. The dust concentration at the dust source was >1000 mg/m3. An area with a high dust concentration and having a length of 15 m was formed on the rooftop, together with a 50 m long dust belt with a dust concentration of 300 to 450 mg/m3 in the pavement area of 10 m from the dust source. Beyond the 45 m radius from the dust source, the dust concentration was stable at about 250 mg/m3. Based on the dust production characteristics of the support frame, an enclosed dust-guiding device was designed and structure-optimized. Based on the on-site field application test results, it was found that the device has a satisfactory dust-guiding effect during support movement and the dust suppression rate near the dust source reached 94.8%.

The Effects of VR Use on Pain Experienced During a Tattoo Procedure: A Pilot Study

One of the most socially impactful applications of virtual reality (VR) is its use as a non-pharmacological remedy for both acute and chronic pain. Yet, despite robust findings establishing the analgesic effects of VR, use cases almost exclusively involve (a) patients with acute/chronic pain, which are often difficult to access and vary widely in terms of pain location/severity, or (b) experimentally induced pain, which can have low lab-to-life generalizability. One understudied pain context that may reconcile these limitations is body modification, specifically tattoo procedures. Examining the use of VR during a tattoo offers several benefits to VR and pain research. First, tattoo recipients as a participant pool are more accessible. Second, tattoo pain is presumably more standardized and uniform as it is administered by a machine at a consistent force. Thus, to test these assumptions and expand the scope of VR applications in this domain, we present a mixed-methods investigation testing the effects of VR on pain experienced during a tattoo. Leveraging qualitative interviews with tattoo artists and customers, a 3-month on-site field experiment at a tattoo parlor was conducted. Customers' self-reported pain ratings (N = 16) were collected during 1-h tattooing sessions and compared between a treatment (VR) and control group. As expected, VR significantly reduced pain ratings during the procedure, and increased pain resilience. By suggesting that the analgesic effects of VR extend to volitional pain during a tattoo, we argue that tattoo pain warrants attention by both VR content developers and researchers interested in studying how immersive content influences real-world pain perception. The study also yields specific guidelines to help designers create and deploy VR experiences for this context. Overall, the results suggest that tattoo sessions present a promising context worthy of further investigation across a variety of VR research programs.

Fun Learning History: Explore the History of Water Sites Based on Android

Technological progress is a challenge for learning history in the present era. The development of student learning patterns is in accordance with the times. The latest learning models are designed according to needs. In learning history the use of local historical sources is of concern and importance. Apart from this, the study of local history is a source of character values. The attractive packaging of the local history learning design is the focus of this research. Namely by packaging local history in a fun learning design in an Android application package. Local historical sites that are utilized are Dampul spring which is located in Besta Village, Tulungrejo Village, Bumiaji District, Batu City. The use of Dampul springs varies from melasti for Hindus to consumption by residents of Besta & Village and Tulungrejo Villages. Social and cultural values and history are the potential of this water site so that it can be used as a source of learning. The method in this research includes qualitative and qualitative methods with direct field reviews, simulations and filling out questionnaires. In this activity, observations and interviews were carried out with managers and the supporting community. Historical methods are also used to reveal the historical narrative of this site. Furthermore, the syntax of learning game learning based on android is compiled by utilizing this site. Field data from this learning simulation generally includes 4 criteria, namely application view, content of the material, fun learning and learning objectives achieved, showing 77% achievement. This achievement shows that the learning design is effective