## Materials and Methods
### Composting Vessels and Processes  
This study explicitly followed the procedures highlighted by [PERSON] et al. [30]. The composing experiment was conducted in nine installed bioreactors, each with a design volume of 60 L (0.36 m internal diameter and 0.60 m internal height). The reactors were cylindrical vessels coated on the outside with double-layer stainless steel to prevent heat loss. An inlet valve fixed at the base of each reactor served as the recipient route of oxygen into the decomposing materials. Two outlets embedded in the lid of the reactors served as the collection point of the gasses and the area for affixing the thermometer. A 5-mm thick seal liner, placed about 5 cm above the inlet valve, ensured the delivery and homogenization of the air pumped into the reactor systems. Figure 1 illustrates the schematic diagram of the composting reactor.  
To begin the formulation and composting processes, the corn straw was milled to 120.0 \(\pm\) 6.21 mm in length, whereas the cow manure was hand-pressed into smaller units (20.0 \(\pm\) 2.21 mm). The raw materials were exposed to the natural air while monitoring the moisture content of each material. After attaining a constant mass, the corn straw (bulking material) and cow manure were loaded into a commercial mixing machine and rotated to homogenize and ensure a uniform mixture. Distilled water was added to adjust the initial moisture values of the feedstock to 45% (MC1), 55% (MC2) and 65% (MC3). The mixing machine was stopped during the application of water and switched on after application. The formulated piles were then served into the reactors to begin the digestion process. An  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l} \hline \hline
**Parameter** & **Cow Manure** & **Corn Straw** & **Mixture** \\ \hline Moisture content (\%) & 50.90 \(\pm\) 0.81 & 6.33 \(\pm\) 0.22 & 28.62 \(\pm\) 0.52 \\ Total organic carbon (\%) & 31.26 \(\pm\) 0.65 & 43.05 \(\pm\) 0.78 & 37.95 \(\pm\) 2.01 \\ Total nitrogen content (\%) & 1.74 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 0.73 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 13.82 \(\pm\) 0.02 \\ Carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio & 17.97 \(\pm\) 1.18 & 58.97 \(\pm\) 1.54 & 27.50 \(\pm\) 0.57 \\ pH & 7.71 \(\pm\) 0.32 & 7.23 \(\pm\) 0.91 & 7.79 \(\pm\) 0.09 \\ Electrical conductivity (mS/cm) & 2.90 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 3.02 \(\pm\) 0.10 & 3.04 \(\pm\) 0.13 \\ Particle size (mm) & 20.0 \(\pm\) 2.21 & 120.0 \(\pm\) 6.21 & 98.0 \(\pm\) 9.71 \\ Cow manure/corn straw ratio (kg) & mm 15.0 & ms 3.8 & \(\approx\)15:4 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* \(\overline{\text{mm}}\) = mass of cow manure (not a ratio). \(\overline{\text{ms}}\) = mass of corn straw (not a ratio). These parameters were measured according to the Chinese national standard for organic resource testing (NY525-2002) [28; 29].  
\end{table}
Table 1: Initial physicochemical constituents of cow manure, corn straw and a mixture of cow manure and corn straw used to assess the effect of the moisture regime on the emission pattern of gases and the evolutionary dynamics of physicochemical indices during composting.  
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the composting reactor.  
airflow rate of 0.4 Lmin\({}^{-1}\) (10 min on and 10 min off) was supplied to the reactors, and manual turnings were performed to enhance pile mixing and good oxygenation during the period of composting. The substrate temperature was recorded directly from the programmable control unit (PCU), which controlled the operations of the reactor. The composting process was considered physically complete when the temperature values of the decomposing piles were almost identical to the ambient temperature (16.2 \(\pm\) 0.23 \({}^{\circ}\)C).