Single and Multiple Inoculum of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum Strains in Table Olive Lab-Scale Fermentations

In order to improve the olives’ quality, and to reduce the de-bittering time during the table olive fermentation process, it is necessary to pilot the fermentation by inoculating the brine with selected cultures of microorganisms. Some probiotic tests, such as resistance/sensitivity to antibiotics, bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity, growth at acidic pH, an auto-aggregation assay, and a test of the production of exopolysaccharides, were carried out in order to screen 35 oleuropeinolytic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum strains to be used in guided fermentations of table olives. On the basis of the technological and probiotic screening, we analyzed the progress of three different lab-scale fermentations of Olea europaea L. Itrana cv. olives inoculated with spontaneous, single, and multiple starters: jar A was left to ferment spontaneously; jar B was inoculated with a strongly oleuropeinolytic strain (L. plantarum B1); jar C was inoculated with a multiple inoculum (L. plantarum B1 + L. plantarum B51 + L. plantarum B124). The following parameters were monitored during the fermentation: pH, titratable acidity, NaCl concentration, the degradation of bio-phenols, and the enrichment rate of hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol in the olive’s flesh, oil and brine. The degradation of secoiridoid glucosides appeared to be faster in the inoculated jars than in the spontaneously-fermented jar. The production of hydroxytyrosol and ligstroside aglycons was high. This indicated a complete degradation of the oleuropein and a partial degradation of the ligstroside. The multiple inoculum ensured a complete debittering, and could give probiotic traits. The presence of L. plantarum B1 and B124 as a fermentation starter guarantees an optimal trend of de-bittering and fermentation variables, thus ensuring the production of a better final product. L. plantarum B51 could be considered to be a promising probiotic candidate for obtaining probiotic food of completely vegetable origin.

The Application of Self-Assembled of Meso-2,3-Dimercaptosuccinic Acid-Polydopamine-Zinc Oxide for Trace Cadmium Analysis

Nanomaterials have been applied in the analysis of trace contaminants in aquatic samples; however, the adsorption affinity of heavy metal ions to metallic oxide nanoparticles is low. Meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid-polydopamine-zinc oxide (DMSA/PDA/ZnO) was synthesized through a facile self-assembly process for enhancing the adsorption capacity of ZnO to cadmium cation (Cd(II)). A method for the analysis of trace Cd(II) in water samples was developed while using dimercaptosuccinic acid/Polydopamine/zinc oxide (DMSA/PDA/ZnO) as an adsorbent and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) as a means of determination. The results demonstrate that the adsorption ratio of DMSA-PDA-ZnO to 1 mg/L Cd(II) is around 95% at pH 6.0–8.0 with a contact time of 31 h, and the enrichment rate can be more than 98% with the dosage of DMSA-PDA-ZnO exceeding 1.0 g/L. The adsorption isotherm of Cd(II) to DMSA/PDA/ZnO fits the Langmuir equation well, and the saturated adsorption of DMSA-PDA-ZnO to Cd(II) is 28.5 mg/g. The detection limit (3σ) of this method is 0.1 μg/L, with a relative standard deviation of 1%. Additionally, this method presents satisfactory performance with a recovery rate of 86−90% when applied to the detection of Cd(II) in environmental water samples.

Study on the Appropriate Production Parameters of a Gas-injection Blast Furnace

The change regulations of the smelting parameters in a gas-injection blast furnace are investigated using theoretical calculations. The results show that when the volume of gas injected, the oxygen enrichment rate and the theoretical combustion temperature of tuyere are 600 m3/tHM, 10% and 1950~2200∘C, respectively, the conditions meet the smelting requirements of a blast furnace. With the increase of the oxygen enrichment rate, the required air volume decreases, the contents of CO and H2 in the top gas increase, and the content of CO2 first increases and then decreases.With an increase of the volume of gas injected, the coke rate decreases. In addition, when the oxygen enrichment rate and the volume of gas injected are 10% and 600 m3/tHM, respectively, the CO content of the top gas constantly increases with the increase of the coke rate, while the H2 and CO2 contents both decrease. With the increase of the H2 content in the gas, the direct reduction degree of iron gradually decreases and the volume shrinkage burden increases. Apparently, injecting gas into the blast furnace can prevent the theoretical combustion temperature from being too high and solve the contradiction between the upper cooling and lower heating of the blast furnace.

Characteristic Microbiomes Correlate with Polyphosphate Accumulation of Marine Sponges in South China Sea Areas

Some sponges have been shown to accumulate abundant phosphorus in the form of polyphosphate (polyP) granules even in waters where phosphorus is present at low concentrations. But the polyP accumulation occurring in sponges and their symbiotic bacteria have been little studied. The amounts of polyP exhibited significant differences in twelve sponges from marine environments with high or low dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentrations which were quantified by spectral analysis, even though in the same sponge genus, e.g., Mycale sp. or Callyspongia sp. PolyP enrichment rates of sponges in oligotrophic environments were far higher than those in eutrophic environments. Massive polyP granules were observed under confocal microscopy in samples from very low DIP environments. The composition of sponge symbiotic microbes was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing and the corresponding polyphosphate kinase (ppk) genes were detected. Sequence analysis revealed that in the low DIP environment, those sponges with higher polyP content and enrichment rates had relatively higher abundances of cyanobacteria. Mantel tests and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) examined that the polyP enrichment rate was most strongly correlated with the structure of microbial communities, including genera Synechococcus, Rhodopirellula, Blastopirellula, and Rubripirellula. About 50% of ppk genes obtained from the total DNA of sponge holobionts, had above 80% amino acid sequence similarities to those sequences from Synechococcus. In general, it suggested that sponges employed differentiated strategies towards the use of phosphorus in different nutrient environments and the symbiotic Synechococcus could play a key role in accumulating polyP.

Tunable assembly of truncated nanocubes by evaporation-driven poor-solvent enrichment

Self-assembly of nanocrystals is extensively used to generate superlattices with long-range translational order and atomic crystallographic orientation, i.e. mesocrystals, with emergent mesoscale properties, but the predictability and tunability of the assembly methods are poorly understood. Here, we report how mesocrystals produced by poor-solvent enrichment can be tuned by solvent composition, initial nanocrystal concentration, poor-solvent enrichment rate, and excess surfactant. The crystallographic coherence and mesoscopic order within the mesocrystal were characterized using techniques in real and reciprocal spaces, and superlattice growth was followed in real time by small-angle X-ray scattering. We show that formation of highly ordered superlattices is dominated by the evaporation-driven increase of the solvent polarity and particle concentration, and facilitated by excess surfactant. Poor-solvent enrichment is a versatile nanoparticle assembly method that offers a promising production route with high predictability to modulate and maximize the size and morphology of nanocrystal metamaterials.

Long-fragment targeted capture for long read sequencing of plastomes

Third generation sequencing methods generate significantly longer reads than those produced using alternative sequencing methods. This provides increased possibilities to better study biodiversity, phylogeography and population genetics. We developed a protocol for in-solution enrichment hybridization capture of long DNA fragments applicable to complete chloroplast genomes. The protocol uses cost effective in-house probes developed via long-range PCR and was used in six non-model monocot species (Poaceae: African rice, pearl millet, fonio; and three palm species). DNA was extracted from fresh and silicagel dried leaves. Our protocol successfully captured long read chloroplast fragments (up to 4264 bp median) with an enrichment rate ranging from 15% to 98%. DNA extracted from silicagel dried leaves led to low quality plastome assemblies when compared to freshly extracted DNA. Our protocol could also be generalized to capture long sequences from specific nuclear fragments.

Long-fragment targeted capture for long read sequencing of plastomes

Third generation sequencing methods generate significantly longer reads than those produced using alternative sequencing methods. This provides increased possibilities to better study biodiversity, phylogeography and population genetics. We developed a protocol for in-solution enrichment hybridization capture of long DNA fragments applicable to complete chloroplast genomes. The protocol uses cost effective in-house probes developed via long-range PCR and was used in six non-model monocot species (Poaceae: African rice, pearl millet, fonio; and three palm species). DNA was extracted from fresh and silicagel dried leaves. Our protocol successfully captured long read chloroplast fragments (up to 4264 bp median) with an enrichment rate ranging from 15% to 98%. DNA extracted from silicagel dried leaves led to low quality plastome assemblies when compared to freshly extracted DNA. Our protocol could also be generalized to capture long sequences from specific nuclear fragments.

Metallicity calibrations and oxygen abundance evolution in massive galaxies

We determined oxygen abundances for the sample of SDSS galaxies with high masses using R3D, S3D, R2D, S2D, N and O3N2 calibrations. We investigated redshift–metallicity relation for oxygen abundances obtained by each calibration. We found that for galaxies with high stellar masses oxygen abundance obtained using all calibrations is increasing on the time interval from z = 0.5 to z = 0. However, the values of oxygen abundance enrichment rate significantly depend on adopted calibration and ranges from ~0.1 dex per unit redshift for R calibration to ~0.5 dex per unit redshift for O3N2 calibration.

Study on Electrochemical Flotation of Low Rank Coal Macerals

Coal component is the basic unit of coal, each component of coal has its special processing properties, Now under the demand of energy conservation and environmental protection , how to sort coal components reasonably and effectively has become a problem needed to resolve immediately. Picking vitrain and fusain by hand, analyzing the pH and add in different solution under the condition of different drugs both surface potential difference, and through the flotation tests determine the appropriate separation conditions. The results show that the enrichment rate of the maceral have improved by electrochemical flotation method .