Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are industrially important bacteria that are widely used in the fermented food industry, especially in the manufacture of yogurt. Characteristic flavors are produced by LAB during fermentation and storage that affect the quality and acceptability of fermented milk products. In this study, the volatile compounds in milk fermented by Streptococcus thermophilus IMAU80842 alone, Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus IMAU20401 alone, or both species together were identified using solid-phase microextraction methods coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 53, 43, and 32 volatile compounds were identified in milk fermented by S. thermophilus alone, L. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus alone, or both species together, respectively. The presence of some important flavor compounds was confirmed: acetic acid, acetaldehyde, acetoin, 2,3-butanedione, ethanol, and 1-heptanol. Our results demonstrate that the composition of the volatile compounds in fermented milk depends on the species of LAB used and whether they are used alone or in combination. This is important for the selection of appropriate starter cultures for the production of different types of fermented milk product with particular flavors.

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is required to exhibit long-time operation without degradation as an inorganic LED. Sufficiently long operation time has been demonstrated for green-and red-emitting OLEDs. However, a blue device that is important for full-color display and lighting exhibits a much shorter operational lifetime than the other color devices. The short lifetime is mainly attributed to the molecular dissociation and the defects and radical species formation through various unimolecular and bimolecular processes, including direct photolysis, exciton-exciton interaction, and exciton-polaron interaction, and so on. Different novel techniques of chemistry and physics have been employed for blue devices to suppress the degradation process induced by high-energy excitons. A deep understanding of the degradation mechanism is still needed for all three kinds of blue OLEDs employing fluorescence, phosphorescence, and thermally active delayed fluorescence. In this brief review, we introduce and discuss several degradation mechanisms for these three kinds of OLEDs.

The gut microbiome has been established as a key environmental factor to health. Genetic influences on the gut microbiome have been reported, yet, doubts remain as to the significance of genetic associations. Here, we provide shotgun data for whole genome and whole metagenome from a Chinese cohort, identifying no <20% genetic contribution to the gut microbiota. Using common variants-, rare variants-, and copy number variations-based association analyses, we identified abundant signals associated with the gut microbiome especially in metabolic, neurological, and immunological functions. The controversial concept of enterotypes may have a genetic attribute, with the top two loci explaining 11% of the Prevotella–Bacteroides variances. Stratification according to gender led to the identification of differential associations in males and females. Our two-stage metagenome genome-wide association studies on a total of 1295 individuals unequivocally illustrates that neither microbiome nor GWAS studies could overlook one another in our quest for a better understanding of human health and diseases.