Mixed Culture of Probiotics on a Solid-state Medium: An Efficient Method to Produce an Affordable Probiotic Feed Additive

Jie Zhong,Fan Zhang,Yongjia Peng,Zhixin Ji,Hongqiang Li,Shuncai Li,Xiangzhai Zhang,Qiumei Shi,Jin Zhang 한국생물공학회 2017 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.22 No.6

The overuse and abuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry is an ongoing problem. While probiotics could be an alternative, their effectiveness, stability and production cost are key factors that need to be addressed first. This study used a mixed culture of Bifidobacterium bifidum, Clostridium butyricum, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis on a simple and inexpensive solid-state medium generated by pouring a liquid MRS medium, which was designed to favor the dense growth of lactobacilli, onto wheat bran at a ratio of 1:2 by weight. Using this method, we achieved a very high number of live bacteria (NLB), at 3.93 × 1014 CFU/g, without the need for expensive anaerobic equipment. The mixed culture thus achieved striking results that were up to 10,000 times better than the pure culture and did not require special anaerobic equipment. A real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that the shares of the four strains in the mixed culture probiotics (MCPs) were 2, 17, 46, and 35%, respectively, which indicates that the fermentation product contained an uneven distribution of the four probiotic target bacteria. The MCPs possessed good storage stability at room temperature, and the NLB was greater than 106 CFU/g after 30 days at 25°C, which made it easier to transport and store. They also demonstrated good stability in artificial digestion fluids, with an NLB of over 1012 CFU/g after sequential treatments, which enabled them to maintain effectiveness in the animal gastrointestinal tract. Finally, the MCPs were fed to the mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in order to test their effectiveness, and the growth rates of both significantly improved with the MCPs feeding. This study thus demonstrated that culturing MCPs on a solid-state medium is an efficient method to affordably produce probiotic feed additives that can improve the performance of very physiologically different animals, such as the mealworm and raccoon dog, which indicates their potential for very wide applicability.

Relationship between phase structure and electrical properties of (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3–LiTaO3 lead-free ceramics

Hongqiang Wang,Dingshan Ruan,Ye-Jing Dai,Xiao-Wen Zhang 한국물리학회 2012 Current Applied Physics Vol.12 No.2

Lead-free piezoelectric ceramics of (1-x)K0.5Na0.5NbO3-xLiTaO3 (KNN-LT) system have been investigated in this work. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra measurements, DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetric),and dielectric constant versus temperature provide direct evidence that the phase transition temperature between tetragonal and orthorhombic shift to lower temperature with the increasing of LT content. The KNN-0.05LT ceramics exhibit the highest high-field d33 up to 220 pm/V. At the same time, we also investigated the relationship between phase structure and electric properties, showing that the orthorhombic phase presents better piezoelectric temperature stabilities than the tetragonal phase. The result may provide a new way for KNN-based lead-free ceramics.

An Distributed Method for Calculating Entropy of Large-scale Sequential Data

Zhen Zhang,Hongqiang Li,Rize Jin 한국정보통신학회 2021 2016 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Vol.12 No.1

Various IoT devices constantly generate data in terms of time, which may form a large-scale of sequential data. Entropy calculation of a big data input will lead to unacceptable time, even not able to obtain the output. In this paper, we propose a distributed method for accelerating the entropy calculation process. Utilize a high performance host sever to deploy a distributed computing platform by server virtualization technique. Run independent R environment for the entropy calculation in multiple computing nodes and adopt Java multi-thread technique in one control node. From the experiment results and the analysis, we can conclude that the proposed distributed scheme is efficient and feasible for dealing with large-scale sequential data.

The Characterization of Cu-Doped ZnO Thin Films Prepared by Using Radio-Frequency Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Chaoqun Cai,Hongqiang Zhang,Jun Xie,Ligang Ma 한국물리학회 2017 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.70 No.9

Textured zinc-oxide (ZnO) thin films and Cu-doped ZnO (ZnO:Cu) thin films are deposited on glass substrates by using radio-frequency reactive magnetron sputtering. The effect of Cudoping concentration on the crystallization behavior, surface morphology, transmission spectrum, and luminescence properties of the ZnO thin films are systematically investigated by using X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscopy and photoluminescence spectra. The results indicate that the crystallization quality, morphology, transmission, and luminescence of the ZnO films is affected by Cu-element doping. A stronger preferred orientation toward the c-axis is obtained after Cu doping at an appropriate concentration (3%). The transmittance rate gradually decreases with increasing Cu doping concentration. In the photoluminescence spectra of the samples measured at room temperature, four main emission peaks are observed: a violet peak located at about 390 nm, two blue peaks, one located at about 445 nm and the other at about 485 nm, and a green peak located at about 527 nm. The origins of these emissions are discussed in detail.

Universal Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulator for BLDCM and PMSM

Xu Jiaqun,Xing Meili,Zhang Hongqiang 한국자기학회 2019 Journal of Magnetics Vol.24 No.3

To improve the test efficiency and reduce the test cost, this paper presents a design method of universal power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) simulator for brushless DC motor (BLDCM) and permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). The actual stator winding is simulated by the power-level current source in the simulator, thus, the electric power can be interacted between the simulator and the motor driver. By the method of bilinear transform and inverse Z-transform, the line voltage based numerical models of the virtual motors are derived. Moreover, the relationship between the line voltage and phase current of the virtual motors is analyzed, which is used to calculate the phase current commands in the numerical models. Furthermore, the universal PHIL simulator is implemented and the real-time simulation is performed, and then the offline simulation with MATLAB software and the actual motor test are also performed to verify the simulator results. The simulation and experimental results show that both PMSM and BLDCM can be simulated accurately at the power level without changing any hardware of the motor driver and the simulator.

High Efficiency Onboard Charger Based on Two-Stage Circuit

Xue Fei,Ma Xin,Li Hongqiang,Zhang Di,Xu Hengshan,Zhou Lei,Wang Chao 대한전기학회 2022 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.17 No.4

On-board charger (OBC) is key part of electric vehicles. Limited to space and weight, design objectives of OBC are high power-density and high effi ciency. Two-stage circuit is commonly used for 3.3 kW OBC, interleaved power factor correction (ILPFC) is utilized for power factor correction and DC bus voltage regulation, LLC resonant converter is utilized for voltage and power regulations. In this paper, the relationships between the internal parameters and effi ciency of ILPFC are studied by discrete iterative method, and the internal parameters are optimized to improve ILPFC`s effi ciency. Meanwhile, the relationships between the resonant parameters and effi ciency of LLC converter are also studied by fundamental harmonic approximation method to optimize the effi ciency in wide charging voltage. A 3.3 kW OBC prototype is developed to verify the eff ectiveness and correctness of the optimal method, the power factor and total harmonic distortion at full-load state are about 99.99% and 2.98% with the charging voltage ranging from 230 to 430 V, respectively

A state-of-the-art review of self-healing stimuli-responsive microcapsules in cementitious materials

Zilang Huang,Zijian Song,Yunsheng Zhang,Saddick Donkor,Linhua Jiang,Hongqiang Chu 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.119 No.-

Cracking is a recurring defect that typically arises during the construction and service periods of cementitiousmaterials. Self-healing based on stimuli-responsive microcapsules has shown to be a cutting-edgetechnology to make cementitious materials sustainable. Despite the reported implementation of microcapsulesin various fields, the strategies toward self-healing of cementitious materials via embeddingmicrocapsules remain a significant challenge. Given this, a review concentrating on the healing explorationof cementitious materials assisted by self-healing stimuli-responsive microcapsules is conductedto bridge the gap. Special attention is given to the encapsulation designs and preparation processes, followedby capsules’ response mechanisms and healing processes. In particular, application scenarios, challengesand future prospects of self-healing stimuli-responsive microcapsules for cementitious materialsare summarized and proposed in detail for the first time. This review attempts to better grasp the futureresearch direction of this field, which provides new perspectives for addressing the cracking issue ofcementitious materials.

Determination and Variation of Core Bacterial Community in a Two- Stage Full-Scale Anaerobic Reactor Treating High-Strength Pharmaceutical Wastewater

( Haijun Ma ),( Lin Ye ),( Haidong Hu ),( Lulu Zhang ),( Lili Ding ),( Hongqiang Ren ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2017 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.27 No.10

Knowledge on the functional characteristics and temporal variation of anaerobic bacterial populations is important for better understanding of the microbial process of two-stage anaerobic reactors. However, owing to the high diversity of anaerobic bacteria, close attention should be prioritized to the frequently abundant bacteria that were defined as core bacteria and putatively functionally important. In this study, using MiSeq sequencing technology, the core bacterial community of 98 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was determined in a twostage upflow blanket filter reactor treating pharmaceutical wastewater. The core bacterial community accounted for 61.66% of the total sequences and accurately predicted the sample location in the principal coordinates analysis scatter plot as the total bacterial OTUs did. The core bacterial community in the first-stage (FS) and second-stage (SS) reactors were generally distinct, in that the FS core bacterial community was indicated to be more related to a higherlevel fermentation process, and the SS core bacterial community contained more microbes in syntrophic cooperation with methanogens. Moreover, the different responses of the FS and SS core bacterial communities to the temperature shock and influent disturbance caused by solid contamination were fully investigated. Co-occurring analysis at the Order level implied that Bacteroidales, Selenomonadales, Anaerolineales, Syneristales, and Thermotogales might play key roles in anaerobic digestion due to their high abundance and tight correlation with other microbes. These findings advance our knowledge about the core bacterial community and its temporal variability for future comparative research and improvement of the two-stage anaerobic system operation.

Insights into the Gut Microbiota of Freshwater Shrimp and Its Associations with the Surrounding Microbiota and Environmental Factors

( Yanting Zhao ),( Cuilan Duan ),( Xu-xiang Zhang ),( Huangen Chen ),( Hongqiang Ren ),( Ying Yin ),( Lin Ye ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2018 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.28 No.6

The gut microbiota of aquatic animals plays a crucial role in host health through nutrient acquisition and outcompetition of pathogens. In this study, on the basis of the highthroughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons, we examined the bacterial communities in the gut of freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium nipponense) and in their living environments (sediment and pond water) and analyzed the effects of abiotic and biotic factors on the shrimp gut bacterial communities. High bacterial heterogeneity was observed in the freshwater shrimp gut samples, and the result indicated that both the surrounding bacterial community and water quality factors (particularly dissolved oxygen and temperature) could affect the shrimp gut bacterial community. Despite the observed heterogeneity, 57 genera, constituting 38-99% of the total genera in each of the 40 shrimp gut samples, were identified as the main bacterial population in the gut of M. nipponense. In addition, a high diversity and abundance of lactic acid bacteria (26 genera), which could play significant roles in the digestion process in shrimp, were observed in the shrimp gut samples. Overall, this study provides insights into the gut bacterial communities of freshwater shrimp and basic information for shrimp farming regarding the application of probiotics and disease prevention.

Modeling of damage in cement paste subject to external sulfate attack

Chuansheng Xiong,Linhua Jiang,Yan Zhang,Hongqiang Chu 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2015 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.16 No.6

This study aimed to develop models of sulfate diffusion and ettringite content profile in cement paste for the predication of the damage behavior in cement paste subject to external sulfate. In the models, multiphase reaction equilibrium between ions in pore solution and solid calcium aluminates phases and the microstructure changes in different positions of cement paste were taken into account. The distributions of expansive volume strain and expansion stress in cement paste were calculated based on the ettringite content profile model. In addition, more sulfate diffusion tests and SEM analyses were determined to verify the reliability and veracity of the models. As the results shown, there was a good correlation between the numerical simulation results and experimental evidences. The results indicated that the water to cement ratio (w/c) had a significant influence on the diffusion of sulfate ions, ettringite concentration profile and expansion properties in cement paste specimens. The cracking points caused by ettringite growth in cement paste specimens were predicted through numerical methods. According to the simulation results, the fracture of cement paste would be accelerated when the specimens were prepared with higher w/c or when they were exposed to sulfate solution with higher concentration.