Microbiological study of lactic acid bacteria in kefir grains by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in different original kefir grains were first assessed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) by a culture-dependent way, and were further confirmed by DNA sequencing techniques. Results indicated that a combined method of cultivation with PCR-DGGE and subsequent DNA sequencing could successfully identify four LAB strains from three kefir grains from Taiwan (named Hsinchu, Mongolia and Ilan). Lactobacillus kefiri accounted, in the three kefir grains, for at least half of the isolated colonies while Lb. kefiranofaciens was the second most frequently isolated species. Leuconostoc mesenteroides was less frequently found but still in the three kefir grains conversely to Lactococcus lactis which based on culture-dependent isolation was only found in two of the kefir grains. It was interesting to find that all three kefir grains contain similar LAB species. Furthermore, the DGGE as a culture-independent method was also applied to detect the LAB strains. Results indicated that Lb. kefiranofaciens was found in all three kefir grains, whereas Lb. kefiri was only observed in Hsinchu kefir grain and Lc. lactis was found in both Mongolia and Ilan samples. Two additional strains, Pseudomonas spp. and E. coli, were also detected in kefir grains.     

Design and nonlinear servo control of MEMS mirrors and their performance in a large port-count optical switch

In this paper, we demonstrate full closed-loop control of electrostatically actuated double-gimbaled MEMS mirrors and use them in an optical cross-connect. We show switching times of less than 10 ms and optical power stability of better than 0.2 dB. The mirrors, made from 10-/spl mu/m-thick single-crystal silicon and with a radius of 400-450 /spl mu/m, are able to tilt to 8/spl deg/ corresponding to 80% of touchdown angle. This is achieved using a nonlinear closed-loop control algorithm, which also results in a maximum actuation voltage of 85 V, and a pointing accuracy of less than 150 /spl mu/rad. This paper will describe the MEMS mirror and actuator design, modeling, servo design, and measurement results.     

Experimental Investigation of an Office Fire with a Partially Impaired Sprinkler System

In this work, an actual office fire with a partially impaired automatic sprinkler system was investigated. As per regulations, there were four sprinklers in this model office. In the research conducted here, the first three sprinklers were actuated without water supply, while the last sprinkler was supplied with water at the required operating pressure for a period of 30 min. The fire source, a burning plastic trash can filled with 0.5 kg of paper, burned the adjacent chair, desk, desktop computer, and then reached the interior wooden furniture. The results show that the single remaining sprinkler effectively controlled the fire spread for 30 min. The partially impaired sprinkler system does not completely extinguish the fire, but extends the available time for evacuation. Continuing the discharge from sprinklers is preferable since the heat release from the fire increased after water flow was terminated.     

Influence of fire source locations on the actuation of wet-type sprinklers in an office fire

An experiment is conducted on a full-scale model office and an actual sprinkler system to explore the influence of fire source locations on sprinkler actuation. The office space is a brick structure that measures 5.7 m in interior length, 4.7 m in width and 2.4 m in ceiling height, and equipped with a sprinkler system. The investigated fire source (100 kW LPG burner) locations include the room center, wall centers, room corner, and other locations at different distances from sprinklers. The results show that actuation of the sprinklers is affected by the fire source locations and the heat conduction properties of the glass temperature-sensing bulb. Average actuation time of all the tests is 102 s, around 40 s faster than if the fire source is located in the room center. For fire sources in corners, sprinklers are quickly activated at the experimental time 75 s, showing concentrated hot gas flow.     

Capacity and power control for CDMA microcells

Capacity and power control issues are considered for urban CDMA microcells that operate on channels characterized by log-normal shadowing and Nakagami fading. The effects of fading on the desired and interfering signals, variations in the shadow standard deviation, imperfect power control, and the requiredE _b /N _o for satisfactory link operation are investigated. It is shown that the reverse channel is relatively insensitive, and the forward channel very sensitive, to shadow and fading variations. Power control error is shown to significantly degrade reverse channel capacity. Twobiased forward channel power control strategies are introduced to enhance existing unbiasedbalancing forward channel power control algorithms.This research has been supported by BNR Inc.     

碳纳米管和镓掺杂碳纳米管场发射性能研究

采用催化热解方法分别 制备出碳纳米管和镓掺杂碳纳米管, 并利用丝网印刷工艺将其制备成纳米管薄膜. 对此薄膜进行低场致电子发射测试表明, 碳纳米管和镓掺杂纳米管开启电场分别为2.22和1.0V/μm, 当外加电场为2.4V/μm, 碳纳米管发射电流密度为400μA/cm², 镓掺杂纳米管发射电流密度为4000μA/cm². 可见镓掺杂碳纳米管的场发射性能优于同样条件下未掺杂时的碳纳米管. 对镓掺杂纳米管场发射机理进行了探讨.     

The Study on the Competence of Digital Publishing Editors under the Tools of Change： From the Functional Analysis Viewpoint

The aims of the study were to understand the required skills for the digital publishing editors in a technology-driven publishing industry. The study used document analysis, literature analysis and expert interviews combined with the Delphi Technique to explore the required competences for digital publishing editors. The study adopted the functional analysis to establish the Competence Framework for digital publishing editors. The result of Delphi Technique questionnaire from a panel of selected experts in the five modalities ranged from 1 （not important at all） to 5 （very important） for the competences; For those with the mean value （,u） greater than 3.35, the competences were categorized into ＂must-have＂ （μ≥4.19） and ＂should-have＂ （3.35 ≤μ〈 4.19） groups. Fundamental Technology, Developing Digital Contents, Fundamental Knowledge, Commissioning-and-Acquisitions and Feedbacks were ＂must-have＂ competences; Design Digital Contents, Proofreading, Devices, Copy Editing, Substantive Editing, Project Management, Data Management, Promotions and Readers were ＂should-have＂ competences. This study results could provide some valuable references for the educators and learners of digital publishing related fields, help to assist with curriculum design and assessment, select and train students. It also can be used by the Digital Publishing Industry as standards in recruitment, training and evaluations of editors.     

Comparison of the effect of 360° versus two-dimensional virtual reality video on history taking and physical examination skills learning among undergraduate medical students: a randomized controlled trial

Virtual Reality - Before caring for patients, video instruction is commonly used for undergraduate medical students, and 360° virtual reality (VR) videos have gained increasing interest in...     

Optimization of Incorporated Prebiotics as Coating Materials for Probiotic Microencapsulation

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research was to improve probiotic microencapsulation using prebiotics and modern optimization techniques to determine optimal processing conditions, performance, and survival rates. Prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides or isomaltooligosaccharides), growth promoter (peptide), and sodium algi-nate were incorporated as coating materials to microencapsulate 4 probiotics ( Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lacto-bacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum , and Bifidobacterium longum ). The proportion of the prebiotics, peptide, and sodium alginate was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) to 1st construct a surface model, with sequential quadratic programming (SQP) subsequently adopted to optimize the model and evaluate the survival of microencapsulated probiotics under simulated gastric fluid test. Optimization results indicated that 1% sodium alginate mixed with 1% peptide and 3% fructooligosaccharides as coating materials would produce the highest survival in terms of probiotic count. The verification experiment yielded a result close to the predicted values, with no significant difference ( P > 0.05). The storage results also demonstrated that addition of prebiotics in the walls of probiotic microcapsules provided improved protection for the active organisms. These probiotic counts remained at 10⁶ to 10⁷ colony-forming units (CFU)/g for microcapsules stored for 1 mo and then treated in simulated gastric fluid test and bile salt test.     

The antiallergic effect of kefir Lactobacilli

This study demonstrated that oral feeding of heat-inactivated Lactobacillus (L b.) kefiranofaciens M1 from kefir grains effectively inhibited immunoglobulin (Ig) E production in response to ovalbumin (OVA) in vivo. The pattern of cytokine production by splenocyte cells revealed that the levels of cytokines produced by T helper (Th) 1 cells increased, and those of cytokines produced by Th2 cells decreased in the heat-inactivated M1 feeding group. These findings indicated that Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens M1 in the kefir played an important role in antiallergic activities. By additional analysis using flow cytometry and microarray, the mechanism of suppression of IgE production by oral feeding of the heat-inactivated M1 probably occurs because of upregulation of the expression of Cd2, Stat4, and Ifnr leading to skewing the Th1/Th2 balance toward Th1 dominance, elevation of the CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T (Treg) percentage, and reduction of activated CD19(+) B cells. Downregulation of complement system and components was also involved in suppression of IgE production. Practical Application: Kefir has long been considered good for health. Its health benefits include immunoregulatory effects. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the immunoregulatory effects induced by kefir lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Our data clearly demonstrated the antiallergic activity of kefir LAB, Lactobacillus (L b.) kefiranofaciens M1. By additional analysis using flow cytometry and microarray, the possible mechanism of suppression of IgE production by oral feeding of the heat-inactivated M1 was also elucidated. Our findings indicated that Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens M1 may have a great potential for utilization in functional food products.