Estimation of 16S RNA gene copy number in several probiotic Lactobacillus strains isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of chicken.

The copy numbers of 16S rRNA genes in 12 probiotic Lactobacillus strains of poultry origin were analyzed. Genomic DNA of the strains was digested with restriction endonucleases that do not cut within the 16S rRNA gene of the strains. This was followed by Southern hybridization with a biotinylated probe complementary to the 16S rRNA gene. The copy number of the 16S rRNA gene within a Lactobacillus species was found to be conserved. From the hybridization results, Lactobacillus salivarius I 24 was estimated to have seven copies of the 16S rRNA gene, Lactobacillus panis C 17 to have five copies and Lactobacillus gallinarum strains I 16 and I 26 four copies. The 16S rRNA gene copy numbers of L. gallinarum and L. panis reported in the present study are the first record. Lactobacillus brevis strains I 12, I 23, I 25, I 211, I 218 and Lactobacillus reuteri strains C 1, C 10, C 16 were estimated to have at least four copies of the 16S rRNA gene. In addition, distinct rRNA restriction patterns which could discriminate the strains of L. reuteri and L. gallinarum were also detected. Information on 16S rRNA gene copy number is important for physiological, evolutionary and population studies of the bacteria

Adaptive Ttwo-phase spatial association rules mining method

Since huge amounts of spatial data can be easily collected from various applications, ranging from remote sensing technology to geographical information system, the extraction and comprehension of spatial knowledge is a more and more important task. Many excellent studies on Remote Sensed Image (RSI) have been conducted for potential relationships of crop yield. However, most of them suffer from the performance problem because their techniques for mining association rules are based on Apriori algorithm. In this paper, two efficient algorithms, two-phase spatial association rules mining and adaptive two-phase spatial association rules mining, are proposed for address the above problem. Both methods primarily conduct two phase algorithms by creating Histogram Generators for fast generating coarse-grained spatial association rules, and further mining the fine-grained spatial association rules w.r.t the coarse-grained frequently patterns obtained in the first phase. Adaptive two-phase spatial association rules mining method conducts the idea of partition on an image for efficiently quantizing out non-frequent patterns and thus facilitate the following two phase process. Such two-phase approaches save much computations and will be shown by lots of experimental results in the paper.Facultad de Informátic

Molecular Approaches For Identification, Characterisation And Quantification Of Probiotic Lactobacillus Strains For Poultry

The use of probiotics as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoter has gained popularity in the commercial poultry industry in view of the hazards posed by antibiotics to human and animal health. However, the science behind the probiotic microorganisms has been poor with respect to their identity at the species and strain level, their interaction with the host animal, and their efficacy in poultry practices. Thus, a reliable and efficient method is essential to monitor the probiotic microorganisms and to perform quality control of commercial probiotic products. In the present study, molecular methods were applied for reidentification, characterisation and enumeration of 12 probiotic Lactobacillus strains which were previously identified with classical biochemical tests. Based on comparative sequence analyses of the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and 16S-23S rRNA gene intergenic spacer region (ISR), discrepancies were found in the identification of nine out of the 12 Lactobacillus strains, namely, L. brevis C 1, L. brevis C 10, L. fermentum C 16, L. brevis C 17, L. crispatus I12, L. acidophilus I 16, L. fermentum I 24, L. fermentum I 25 and L. acidophilus I 26. These strains were reidentified as L. reuteri C 1, L. reuteri C 10, L. reuteri C 16, L. panis C 17, L. brevis I 12, L. gallinarum I 16, L. salivarius I 24, L. brevis I 25 and L. gallinarum I 26. The rate of misidentification is high when conventional identification methods are used

An Evaluation of Container Development Strategies in the Port of Taichung

AbstractThe objective of this study is to examine the container development strategies in the port of Taichung from the viewpoints of carriers, port authorities and shipping academics. The six most important strategic attributes from the all respondents perceptions are Enhancing the services of direct shipping with Mainland China, simplified customs procedures, simplified administrative procedures, developing service routes with Hong Kong and Mainland China, improving port information systems, and flexible rate to response market change. Based on a factor analysis, the findings reflect that price and incentive strategic dimension was the most import strategic dimension, followed by marketing and direct shipping with Mainland China as well as reorganization and information service strategic dimensions. In addition, the perceived implemented period for container development strategic attributes for the Taichung Port was also investigated in this study. Results indicated that four development strategies stood out as being short-term need to perform to all respondents were providing one-stop shopping services for carriers, flexible rate to response market change, enhancing employee training and knowledge, and strengthening port marketing and promotion. Theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings are discussed

Adaptive Ttwo-phase spatial association rules mining method

Since huge amounts of spatial data can be easily collected from various applications, ranging from remote sensing technology to geographical information system, the extraction and comprehension of spatial knowledge is a more and more important task. Many excellent studies on Remote Sensed Image (RSI) have been conducted for potential relationships of crop yield. However, most of them suffer from the performance problem because their techniques for mining association rules are based on Apriori algorithm. In this paper, two efficient algorithms, two-phase spatial association rules mining and adaptive two-phase spatial association rules mining, are proposed for address the above problem. Both methods primarily conduct two phase algorithms by creating Histogram Generators for fast generating coarse-grained spatial association rules, and further mining the fine-grained spatial association rules w.r.t the coarse-grained frequently patterns obtained in the first phase. Adaptive two-phase spatial association rules mining method conducts the idea of partition on an image for efficiently quantizing out non-frequent patterns and thus facilitate the following two phase process. Such two-phase approaches save much computations and will be shown by lots of experimental results in the paper.Facultad de Informátic

Isolation and characterization of cellulolytic fungi from decomposing rice straws

Rice straw is an agricultural waste that is normally produced after the paddy is harvested. Rice straw, which is high in cellulose content, makes it difficult to degrade. It is burnt away by most farmers as this method saves time and labor. However, the burning of rice straws could have a serious impact on the environment and human health in general. To overcome this, biodegradation using fungi should be applied in degrading the cellulosic waste. In this study, rice straws from Bagan Serai, Perak were collected. Decomposing of rice straws was prepared by adding coffee residue, cow and chicken dung, and phosphate fertilizer. A total of 18 isolates were isolated and purified from the sample and the isolates were brought further to macroscopic by observing the morphology. Morphological and microscopic characterization using a microscope was performed where the structure of the isolate was observed and their respective genus level was deduced. Among the 18 isolates, most of them were Aspergillus. Next, cellulase screening was done using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) agar with Gram iodine staining. Isolate C7 showed the largest diameter of the halo zone at 48 h of incubation whereas isolate 4D has the most significant increase of halo zone in 24-h duration

Isolation and characterization of cellulolytic fungi from decomposing rice straws

Rice straw is an agricultural waste that is normally produced after the paddy is harvested. Rice straw, which is high in cellulose content, makes it difficult to degrade. It is burnt away by most farmers as this method saves time and labor. However, the burning of rice straws could have a serious impact on the environment and human health in general. To overcome this, biodegradation using fungi should be applied in degrading the cellulosic waste. In this study, rice straws from Bagan Serai, Perak were collected. Decomposing of rice straws was prepared by adding coffee residue, cow and chicken dung, and phosphate fertilizer. A total of 18 isolates were isolated and purified from the sample and the isolates were brought further to macroscopic by observing the morphology. Morphological and microscopic characterization using a microscope was performed where the structure of the isolate was observed and their respective genus level was deduced. Among the 18 isolates, most of them were Aspergillus. Next, cellulase screening was done using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) agar with Gram iodine staining. Isolate C7 showed the largest diameter of the halo zone at 48 h of incubation whereas isolate 4D has the most significant increase of halo zone in 24-h duration

ザイニチ タイワンジン コドモ ノ ドッカイリョク ノ ソクテイ : チュウゴクゴ ボゴワシャ ト ニホンゴ ボゴワシャ ノ ドッカイリョク ヲ ヒカク ブンセキ スル

我々は読むことによって情報や知識を獲得する。文章を読み進める際、文中の接続詞や指示語などの部分を繰り返し読むことによって推論する。そして文章の各部分を統合して文章全体の意味を理解する。本稿では、日本語を第二言語とする中国語の母語話者の学習者12名(日本語学習開始年齢によって7歳以前、7～10歳、11歳以降の3群に分ける)の在日台湾人の子どもを対象に、文章を読むとき、どの程度理解し、どの課題で理解不能となるかを調べた。 　 まず、中国語と日本語の読解のテストを作成した。それぞれの言語の読解問題は、「理由」、「接続」、「説明」、「全体」、「指示」の設問に分かれている。次は中国語と日本語のそれぞれの読解のテストを用いて、文章理解の度合いを中国語と日本語の母語話者と比較し検討した。その結果、中国語の読解力の保持に関しては日本語学習開始年齢の高いほうが容易である。中国語読解に関しては「接続」「全体」「指示」の課題が最も困難になる。日本語読解に関しては「接続」「指示」の課題が最も困難になる。 　 また、中日二言語間の読解力の間に強い正の相関がある。日本語の読みでは、漢字が占める割合が高いため、漢字圏の学習者の母語の漢語知識が読解力に影響を及ぼす原因の一つであると考えられる。このように、中国語の語彙をより習得した年長者群が日本語の読解においては有利になるであろうと考えられる。二言語の間で顕著な違いが見られる「接続詞」と「指示詞」に関して、在日台湾人の子どもの学習度合いはそれぞれの同学年の母語話者と比較して、習得度合いが低いと示唆された。When reading sentences, we draw deductions by repeatedly reading parts such as conjunctive words in the sentences and directions. This paper targets 12 learners in Japan who are Taiwanese native speakers learning Japanese as the second language and examines their understanding of sentences and the parts in which they may have difficulties reading (depending on the ages at which Japanese learning must begin, the learners are divided into three groups: less than 7 years, 7–10 years, and more than 11 years old.).Firstly, the test of the reading comprehension of Chinese and Japanese was made. The reading comprehension questions of each language were divided into questions of “the reason,” “the connection,” “the explanation,” “the whole,” and “the directions.” The degree of sentence comprehension was compared with that of the native speakers of Chinese and Japanese by using each reading comprehension test of Chinese and Japanese.The result revealed that those who began learning Japanese at a higher age found it easier to maintain their reading comprehension of Chinese.In the case of Chinese reading comprehension, the questions of “connection,” “whole,” and “direction” are the most difficult while the questions of “connection” and “direction” are the most difficult in Japanese reading comprehension. Further, there is a positive correlation between the reading comprehension of Chinese and Japanese languages.In the case of Japanese comprehension, since the number of kanji words is high, the knowledge of learners\u27 mother tongue such as Chinese may influence the reading comprehension. Thus, elder learners who have learnt Chinese vocabulary might have an advantage in comprehending the Japanese language.It was suggested that the degree of learning of Taiwanese children in Japan was low in comparison with that of the native speakers of the same grade in case of “the con-junction” and “the demonstrative,” where remarkable differences were observed between the two languages

The Lived Experiences of Fibromyalgia in Taiwanese Women

Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and associated symptoms. It affects people physically, mentally, and socially. The aim of this study was to explore the life experience of women with fibromyalgia in order to gain knowledge which can contribute to increased quality of healthcare. In-depth interviews were used to collect information from nineteen Taiwanese women who were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Data were analyzed using the content analysis approach. Data analysis revealed four categories: life torture by physical suffering, torment of the mind, treatment seeking, and facing an incurable and unknown illness alone. Each category was described in terms of its properties and subcategories. This article provides information to fibromyalgia patients who suffer from severe chronic pain and related discomforts. Recommendations focus on helping women with fibromyalgia achieve or maintain integrity especially in the conservative oriental people. It is beneficial for both health care professionals and patients

Evaluation on the Pharmacological Effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine SiJunZiTang on Stress-Induced Peptic Ulcers

Purpose. To explore the effects of SiJunZiTang (SJZT) on central neurotransmitters and the inhibition of HCl hypersecretion, along with the role of the vagus nerve. From this, the effects of SJZT and its constituent ingredients on inhibiting stress-induced peptic ulcers will be determined. Methods. Methods used to determine SJZT's effectiveness included (1) measuring the antipeptic ulcer effects of varying combinations of the constituents of SJZT; (2) evaluations of monoamine (MA) level in the brain; and (3) measuring the effects of longer-term SJZT treatment. Results. Comparing the control and experimental groups where the rats’ vagus nerves were not cut after taking SJZT orally (500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg), the volume of enterogastric juice, free HCl and total acidity all reduce dose-dependently. The group administered SJZT at 1000 mg/kg showed significant reductions (P<0.05). For the experimental groups where the vagus nerves were cut, a comparison with the control group suggests that the group receiving SJZT (500 mg/kg) orally for 21 days demonstrated a cure rate of 34.53%. Conclusion. The results display a correlation between the therapeutic effects of SJZT on stress-induced peptic ulcers and central neurotransmitter levels. Further to this, SJZT can inhibit the hypersecretion of HCl in the stomach, thus inhibiting stress-induced peptic ulcers