bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Test for the presence of autocorrelation in the modified Gompertz model used in the fitting the growth of sludge microbes on PEG 600
Authors: Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Shukor Mohd Shukri , Masdor Noor Azlina , Shamaan Nor Aripin , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs), are nephrotoxic, and are employed in numerous industrial sectors. Their biodegradation by microbes could be a potential tool for bioremediation. A lot of bacterial growth reports overlook primary modelling despite the fact that modelling exercises can expose important parameters. Earlier, we have employed several growth models to model the growth of sludge microbes on PEG 600. We found out that the modified Gompertz model via nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method was the most effective model to describe the growth curve. Nonlinear regression using the least square method generally utilizes the assumption that data points do not depend on each other or the value of a data point is not dependent on the value of preceding or proceeding data points or do not exhibit autocorrelation. In this work, the Durbinâ€“Watson statistic to check for the presence of autocorrelation in the growth model was carried out.
Isolation and characterization of molybdenum-reducing and PEG-degrading Enterobacter cloacae strain KIK-14 in agricultural soil from Nigeria
Authors: Shukor Mohd Yunus , Othman Muhammad , Karamba Kabiru Ibrahim , Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Rahman Mohd Fadhil , Yasid Nur Adeela , Ahmad Siti Aqlima , Yakasai Hafeez Muhammad
Published: April 2022

Today, numerous researches have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of bioremediation to waste removal from agricultural and industrial sectors particularly at lower levels of the toxicants, where other physicochemical techniques are ineffective. Multiple toxicant remediation by a single microorganism is important for remediation of sites contaminated with numerous toxicants. In this work, a molybdenum-reducing bacterium was screened for its ability to use the xenobiotic polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the sole source of carbon for growth and as electron donor source for molybdate reduction. Biochemical analysis results in the tentative identification of the isolate as Enterobacter cloacae strain KIK-14. The use of PEGs as an electron donor in this bacterium did not support molybdenum-blue production, even though the bacterium grew well on PEGs 200, 300, 600 and 1000 independent of molybdate reduction. Reduction of molybdate to Mo-blue was optimal at pH between 6.0 and 6.3, the temperature between 25 and 37 oC, molybdate and phosphate concentrations between 15 and 20 mM and between 5.0 and 7.5 mM respectively. The best electron donor source supporting the reduction process was glucose. The Mo-blue absorption spectrum resembles reduced phosphomolybdate and is similar to that of the previous Mo-reducing bacterium. At 2 ppm of silver, mercury and copper, molybdenum reduction was inhibited by 41.5, 57.1 and 40.5%, respectively. The ability of this bacterium to detoxify mixed toxicants makes it an important tool for bioremediation.
Determination of the detection limit using the four-parameter logistic model for the double-antibody sandwich ELISA for the rapid detection of Bacillus cereus in food
Authors: Masdor Noor Azlina
Published: April 2022

Bacillus cereus is increasingly recognized as one of the major causes of food poisoning in the industrialized world. In a previous publication, a sandwich ELISA is developed for the detection of B. cereus whole cells. The curve showed a sigmoidal calibration curve, but the model used was linear. This study remodels the sigmoidal data obtained using a four-parameter logistic (4PL) equation that can cover the whole range of data obtained. The sigmoidal ELISA calibration curve was efficiently fit by the 4-PL equation. A good correlation coefficient value of 0.996 was obtained indicating good fitting. The LOD value was 5.36 x104 CFU/mL with the 95% confidence interval from 1.07x104 to 9.64x104 CFU/mL, which is about one order of magnitude less sensitive that the previously claimed LOD. The modelling exercise shows that the 4PL equation can fit the ELISA curve very well.
Modelling the Effect of Copper on the Mo-reduction Rate of the Antarctic Bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain DRY1
Authors: Rahman Mohd Fadhil , Ahmad Siti Aqlima , MacCormack Walter Patricio , Ruberto Lucas , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Molybdenum reduction by the Antarctic bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain DRY1 is strongly inhibited by copper. Mo reduction by this bacterium at 10 mM sodium molybdate shows a sigmoidal pattern with lag periods ranging from 7 to 10 h at various concentrations of copper. As the concentration of copper was increased, the overall Mo reduction rate was inhibited with 1.2 mg/L causing the cessation of Mo reduction rate. The modified Gompertz model was utilized to obtain Mo reduction rates at different concentrations of copper. The Mo reduction rates obtained from the modified Gompertz model was then modelled according to the modified Han-Levenspiel, Wang, Liu, modified Andrews and the Amor models. Out of the five models, only Wang, modified Han-Levenspiel and the Liu models were able to fit the curve, whilst the modified Andrews and Amor models were unable to fit the curves. Both the Wang and modified Han-Levenspiel models show acceptable fitting while the Liu model shows poor fitting. Results of the statistical analysis showed that the modified Han-Levenspiel model was the best model based on the lowest values for RMSE and AICc, highest adjusted correlation coefficient (adR2) and values of AF and BF closest to unity. The parameters obtained from the modified Han Levenspiel model, which were Ccrit, ï­max and m which represent critical heavy metal ion concentration (mg/l), maximum reduction rate (nmole Mo blue/h) and empirical constant values were 0.225 (95%, confidence interval from 0.198 to 0.251), 1.200 (95%, confidence interval from 1.180 to 1.220) and 0.443 (95%, confidence interval from 0.261 to 0.626). The modified Han-Levenspiel accurately predicted the critical copper concentration that completely inhibited molybdenum reduction rate in this bacterium.
Partial Purification of Cholinesterase from Pangasius pangasius using Affinity Chromatography
Authors: Tham Lik Gin , Shukor Mohd Yunus , Syed Mohd Arif , Shamaan Nor Aripin , Othman Ahmad Razi
Published: April 2022

An affinity chromatography column to purify AChE was developed using procainamide as the ligand coupled with the epoxy activated Sephacryl-S1000 as the modified matrix. From this study, the procainamide matrix was found to be capable of binding acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from the brain of Pangasius pangasius efficiently, with percentage of yield of approximately 51.97% and a purification fold of 7.52. The value for Michaelis-Menten (Km app) was 0.1265 mM and maximal velocity (Vmax app) of the partially purified enzyme was 0.6981 Âµmol/min/mg, with a substrate specificity in the sequence ofâ€” acetylthiocholine iodide (ATC) > propinylcholine iodide (PTC) > butyrylcholine iodide (BTC). This strongly suggest that using this column, AChE can be purified successfully and efficiently. SDS-PAGE indicated a reduced band intensity, indicating that the procainamide-based affinity chromatography column produces acceptable partially purified enzyme adequate for the application in the rapid detection of carbamate and organophosphate (OP) at the large scale.
Reduction of Molybdenum by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain KIK-11 Isolated from a Metal-contaminated Soil with Ability to Grow on Diesel and Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate
Authors: Mohamad Othman , Yakasai Hafeez Muhammad , Karamba Kabiru Ibrahim , Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Rahman Mohd Fadhil , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Recently, molybdenum is considered as an emerging pollutant for its extreme toxicity to spermatogenesis in some organisms. Bacterial molybdate reduction to colloidal molybdenum blue (Mo-blue) forms the basis for its bioremediation. Molybdenum-reducing Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain KIK-11 was screened for its potential to degrade hydrocarbons and detergents. Optimal molybdate reduction to Mo-blue in this strain was supported by pH between 5.8 and 6.0, temperatures between 25 and 34 oC, molybdate concentration between 30 and 40 mM and a critical phosphate concentration of between 5.0 and 7.5 mM. The isolate was able to survive and grow on SDS and diesel. However, these compounds did not support Mo-blue production. The best electron donor source facilitating molybdate reduction is glucose, followed by galactose, fructose and citrate respectively. The process was inhibited by heavy metals such as copper (II), mercury (II) and silver (I). The bacterium was able to grow and detoxify multiple toxicants, a novel feat that is important in bioremediation.
Estimation of LC50 and its Confidence Interval for the Effect of Ferrous Sulphate on Catla catla
Authors: Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Rahim Mohd. Badrin Hanizam Abd , Othman Ahmad Razi
Published: April 2022

Probit analysis is generally employed in the studies of toxicology, to determine the concentration of toxicant causing 50% mortality or LC50 value. The response of an organism is generally binomial and is typically sigmoidal in property. The Probit value can be calculated by hand or can be calculated through the use of a computer via software, the latter utilising the maximum likelihood method which is a more precise estimation of the parameters. When a published result failed to produce the 95% confidence interval, the results can be re-evaluated using software including SPSS. In this study, the LC50 value of the effect of ferrous sulphate to the fish Catla catla is re-evaluated using the Probit modelling exercise via the SPSS software, which gave an LC50 value of 8.271 p.p.m., with a 95% confidence interval from 7.353 to 9.189 p.p.m. The sub lethal concentration (SLC) for ferrous sulphate, which is one fourth of the LC50 value was 2.06 p.p.m
Modelling the Effect of Heavy Metals on the Growth Rate of Enterobacter sp. Strain Neni-13 on SDS
Authors: Shukor Mohd Yunus , Gusmanizar Neni , Rusnam .
Published: April 2022

The SDS-degrading bacterium Enterobacter sp. strain Neni-13 was strongly inhibited by mercury. Growth of the SDS-degrading bacterium at various concentrations of mercury shows a sigmoidal pattern with lag periods ranging from 7 to 10 h. As the concentration of mercury was increased, the overall growth was inhibited with 1.0 g/L causing an almost cessation of bacterial growth. The growth rates obtained from the modified Gompertz model was then modelled according to the modified Han-Levenspiel, Wang, Liu, modified Andrews and the Amor models. Out of the five models, only Wang, modified Han-Levenspiel and the Liu models were able to fit the curve, whilst the modified Andrews and Amor models were unable to fit the curves. Both the Wang and modified Han-Levenspiel models show acceptable fitting while the Liu model shows poor fitting. Results of the statistical analysis showed that the Wang model was the best model based on the lowest values for RMSE and AICc, highest adjusted correlation coefficient (adR2) and values of AF and BF closest to unity. The parameters obtained from the Wang model, which are Ccrit, ï­max and m which represent critical heavy metal ion concentration (g/l), maximum growth rate (g/l h) and empirical constant values were 0.216 (95%, confidence interval f 0.193 to 0.239), 1.05 (95%, confidence interval of 0.938 to 1.167) and 0.389 (95%, confidence interval of 0.148 to 0.636) respectively.
Acetylcholinesterase as an In Vitro Assay for Insecticides: A Mini Review
Authors: Hazuki Intan Nabilah , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is recognised as the key enzyme in the nerve signal system. It terminates nerve impulses by catalysing the hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholinesterase is a unique molecular aim of a target for insecticides such as organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CB) pesticides. Recent studies have recognized acetylcholinesterase activity and its inhibition as a useful humanâ€™s and animalâ€™s biological indicator of toxicant poisoning. Fish may not be directly exposed by insecticide since this insecticide is created to kill pest which eventually affecting the crops. But when insecticide applied to crops or directly to the soil, it can be absorbed by the soil and affect nearest water bodies through the rain. This is how insecticide can contaminate the water resources thus affecting aquatic organisms especially the fish. Many insecticides such as organophosphates are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Measurement of toxicant by using AChE inhibition has been widely used in toxicity studies, a biosensor or as a bioindicator having an effect on the nervous system of aquatic animals following exposure to pesticides or any other toxicants present in the environment especially in water bodies. The aim of this review is to discuss the latest study of in vitro assay of acetylcholinesterase for the detection of insecticide, the relation of insecticide contamination to the aquatic environment including its effect on aquatic life especially the fish.
Estimation of LC50 and its Confidence Interval for the Effect of Nano-Zero Valent Iron on the Freshwater Zooplankton Species Daphnia magna
Authors: Mohd Jaafar Izazy Nur , Ahmad Siti Aqlima , Yasid Nur Adeela
Published: April 2022

Determination of lethal concentration (LC50) of toxicants leading to 50% mortality of test samples in a toxicity test is very important and could be achieved by running Probit analysis. The response is binomial (death or no death) and relationship between response and various doses or concentrations is typically sigmoid. The Probit value can either be manually calculated by hand, or automatically calculated by computer software using a higher accuracy estimation method, namely the maximum likelihood principle. When a published toxicity study failed to report the 95% confidence interval values, the results can be recalculated via software. In this study, the LC50 and 95% confidence interval values of the effect of nano-zero valent iron towards the freshwater zooplankton Daphnia magna is recalculated by employing the Probit analysis in the SPSS software. The results of the Probit modelling exercise gave an LC50 value of 0.405 mg/L (95% confidence interval, CI was from 0.047 to 0.953) for Nanofer 25S, 0.706 mg/L (95% CI was from 0.151 to 3.203) for Nanofer STAR, 1.020 mg/L (95% CI was from 0.683 to 1.445) for Fe2+ and 5.834 mg/L (95% CI was from 4.190 to 9.189) for Fe3+. The wide 95% confidence interval curves for Nanofer 25S and Nanofer STAR indicate a large uncertainty meaning more data in the future should be obtained to increase the CI. The sub lethal concentration (SLC), which is one fourth of the LC50 value for Nanofer 25S, Nanofer STAR, Fe2+ and Fe3+ were 0.101, 0.176, 0.255 and 1.458 mg/L, respectively.
Biodegradation of Hydrocarbon Sludge by Pseudomonas sp. Strain UPM-KV
Authors: Wasoh Helmi , Veeraswamy Kesavan , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

A hydrocarbon-utilizing microorganism isolated locally was characterized and investigated. This study involved standard biochemical tests and investigation of the bacterial growth based on the uptake of carbon and nitrogen source, temperature and optimum pH growth. The bacterium was found to be a Gram-negative rod, non-motile property with unique property to degrade hydrocarbon sludge. By using diesel as sole carbon source the bacterium was found to be an aerobe as further proven by the oxidase testing. The optimum conditions for the growth was found to be at 30 Â°C and pH 6.8 with optimum diesel concentration, 1% (v/v). The bacterium ideally used ammonium sulfate as source of nitrogen and was identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain UPM-KV. The ability of this bacterium to efficiently grow on hydrocarbon sludge makes the bacterium an important tool for bioremediation of this toxic sludge that contains high concentration of heavy metals.
Formulation and Viability of Consortia LIBeM Using Protective Agent Skim Milk Subjected to Freeze Drying Method for Degradation of Oil Sludge Contaminated Soil
Authors: Zahari Nur Zaida , Tuah Piakong Mohd
Published: April 2022

The formulation and viability of locally-isolated beneficial microorganisms (LIBeM) consortia was conducted by using protective agent skim milk at 30% (w/v). A 10% (v/v) of inoculum consists of mixed cultures C. tropicalis-RETL-Cr1+ C. violaceum-MAB-Cr1 + P. aeruginosa-BAS-Cr1 (RETL-Cr1+ MAB-Cr1+BAS-Cr1) were obtained from the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Universiti Malaysia Sabah and tested for biodegradation of oil sludge using the live cell powdered form. LIBeM formulation was carried out by using lyophilization under vacuum conditions for 24 hours. The viability of the initial cell loads on the final recovery after freeze drying process was measured weekly by heterotrophic plate counts (HPC). Surface morphological of LIBeM powder (LiBeM-POW) was observed under scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to show any changes on the surface cell structures. The results showed that the use of 10% (v/v) of inoculum with 108 CFU/ mL as initial cell concentrations and 30% (w/v) skim milk as protective agent yielded 31.9% maximum viability. The findings also indicate that the survival rate of LIBeM cells have potential to survive and functionality even after 13 weeks of the storage with 106 CFU/ mL recorded. The effectiveness of microbial formulation of LiBeM-POW was done by carrying out the biodegradation experiment in ASP-bioreactor system for 56 days. Two sets of ASP- bioreactor system containing 2 kg of soil mixed with 20% (v/v) of oil sludge were prepared as T1: treatment with consortia LIBeM-POW and T2: natural attenuation as a control plot. The results indicated that LIBeM-POW has potential to be applied in bioremediation of oil sludge contaminated environments with 92% degradation of TPH as compared to natural attenuation 26% degradation. This finding suggests the possibility of producing freeze dried powder of LIBeM consortia with high viability for prior used in bioremediation study. The comparison of other protective agent used by previous studied was also discussed in this paper.
Kinetics of the Removal of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers from Aqueous Solutions by Using pressure steamâ€“washed Black Tea
Authors: Jaafar 'Izazy Nur Mohd , Sabullah Khalizan , Othman Ahmad Razi , Yasid Nur Adeela , Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Established approaches for the management of contaminants include things like membrane separation, ion exchange, precipitation, transformation and biosorption. Of all of these technologies, biosorption has lots of features that include low running expenditures, very effective detoxification of toxicants at low levels, low quantity of removal components as well as does not require nutrient needs as with bacterial-based remediation, theaforementioned being restricted to the existence of heavy metals and other toxicants. The biosorption of BDE-3 on spent black tea was successfully fitted to three modelsâ€”pseudo-1st, pseudo-2nd and Elovich. Statistical analysis based on root-mean-square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR2), accuracy factor (AF), bias factor (BF), corrected AICc Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), (Akaike Information Criterion) and Hannanâ€“Quinn information criterion (HQC) showed that the pseudo-second order model is the best model giving valuable parameters such as the equilibrium sorption capacity qe and the pseudo-second-order rate constant, k2, which can be further utilized in isothermal modelling analysis. Further analysis is needed to provide proof for the chemisorption mechanism usually tied to this kinetic.
Predictive Mathematical Modelling of the Total Number of COVID-19 Cases for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Aisami Abubakar , Shukor Mohd Yunus Abd
Published: April 2022

Throughout this article, we discuss different development models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and Huang throughout fitting and evaluating the COVID-19 disease pattern in the context of the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 infection cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as of July 15th, 2020. The MMF model with the biggest adjusted R2 and the lowest RMSE values established to be the best. The Accuracy, as well as the Bias Factors, are found to have values close to unity (1.0). The parameters generated from the MMF model include the maximum growth rate (log) of 0.03 (95% CI from 0.030 to 0.036), curve constant (d) that affects the inflection point of 1.100 (95% CI from 1.029 to 1.171) and the highest possible number of cases (ymax) of 2,485,187 (95% CI from 1,468,970 to 4,204,419). The MMF model projected that COVID-19 will end in about 567 days (95% CI of 483 to 714) days from 15th of July 2020 centred on the lower bound of the 95% CI from the calculated maximum number of total cases (ymax).  The MMF assumed that the total number of cases for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 15 August and 15 September 2020 would be 384,258 (95 per cent CI from 368,567 to 400,618) and 508,412 (95 per cent CI from 482,797 to 535,387) respectively.  The predictive ability of the model used in this study is an effective instrument for epidemiologists to track and assess the severity of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the coming months. Nevertheless, like any other model, due to the unpredictability of the COVID-19 situation locally and globally, these values must be taken with caution.
Biodegradation of Carbofuran; A Review
Authors: Ariffin Fazillah , Rahman Sukirah Abdul
Published: April 2022

Pesticides are substances used for the destruction or control of pest. They include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides rats and mice, molluscides and others. Carbofuran is an insecticide that is very toxic pesticide often used to control pests in agricultural areas. Its usage is still being reported despite worldwide efforts to ban the pesticides. Reported deaths and illness due to indiscriminate and excessive use of carbofuran is still being reported in developing and third world countries prompting the call of more research on isolating microorganisms that are able to completely mineralize this toxic pesticide. The presence of toxic carbofuran in various soil types that can persist for many months can be remediated via the use of carbofuran-degrading microorganisms which is a more feasible and economical methods of remediation compared to various physicochemical methods. The aim of this review is to highlight the toxicity of carbofuran, especially in the Malaysian perspective and the current body of knowledge on carbofuran-degrading microorganisms that are able to remediate this toxic threat.
Modelling the Kinetics Molybdenum Reduction Rate by Morganella sp.
Authors: Yakasai H.M. , Babandi A. , Manogaran M
Published: April 2022

Simulation of physical, chemical or biological data by mathematical approach can aid the researcher explain the physicochemical or biochemical phenomenon. Mathematical models can also be utilized to estimate or predict the possible actions, to replicate a prediction or retroactivity and to schedule better experiments. Bacteria are an emerging instrument for the bioremediation of the molybdenum pollutant in the world, molybdenum reduction into insoluble molybdenum blue. In this study, the molybdenum reduction rate by the bacterium Morganella sp. was studied for its inhibitory kinetics characteristics using sodium molybdate as a substrate. Modeling kinetics showed that molybdenum reduction could be explained by several models such as Monod, Haldane, Hans-Levenspiel, Luong, Teissier, Aiba and Yano with Aiba as the best model as judged using error function analysis such as bias and accuracy factors (BF and AF), root mean square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR2), and corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc). The calculated value for the Teissier-Edwardâ€™s constants, which are qmax, Ks, and Ki that are maximal reduction rate, half saturation constant for maximal reduction, half saturation constant for inhibition of reduction were 7.77 (95% C.I., 4.41 to 19.95) Âµmol Mo-blue hr-1, 26.63 (95% C.I., 12.82 to 40.44) mM and 51.39 (95% C.I., 23.67 to 79.10) mM, respectively. The true maximal reduction rate, which occurred when the slope of the curve is zero occurs at 36 mM molybdate concentration and a corresponding value of 1.85 Âµmol Mo-blue hr-1. The model parameters obtained revealed that Morganella sp. have strong resistance to higher toxic molybdenum levels indicating the usefulness of this bacterium for bioremediation.
Evaluation of different methods for total DNA extraction from sago pith residue
Authors: Zulkharnain Azham , Sidek Norhafizah , Husaini Awang Ahmad Sallehin
Published: April 2022

Direct extraction of DNA from the environment has become major importance for molecular analyses for the study of microbial communities in soil and other decomposing agrowaste. The presence of humic substances in Sago pith residue not only results in low DNA quality but also can lead to PCR amplification inhibition which may hinder most molecular studies. Many of the published protocols have been found to be unsuitable to obtained high amount of yield and low of humic acids contamination. This study presents the evaluation of three different methods for extracting total DNA from Sago pith residue. The methods evaluated were enzymatic lysis, glass bead homogenization and freeze-thaw treatment. Each method were evaluated by 260/280 nm absorbance ratio for protein contamination, 260/230 nm absorbance ratio for other contaminants and PCR amplification for molecular work suitability. Among the three methods, freeze-thaw treatment provided the highest yield of DNA, 5.06Â±0.01 Î¼g/g of Sago pith residue. Nevertheless, all three methods resulted in poor DNA quality which could be used for PCR amplification. Additional steps of agarose electrophoresis and silica column purification were found to be effective for increasing the quality of the extracted DNA and were validated by positive PCR amplifications.
Luminescent bacterial testing for monitoring hydrocarbon bioremediation â€“ a review
Authors: Zahaba Maryam
Published: April 2022

Human activities in a large array of industrial and agricultural sectors produce chemical contaminants which are chiefly hydrocarbons of various types that are potentially toxic and carcinogenic to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Globally, millions of tons of these pollutants are generated annually, and in some areas, they are released indiscriminately to the environment. In order to overcome this problem, microbiological decontamination or bioremediation has been suggested. Bioremediation has been argued to be an efficient, economic, and adaptable alternative to physicochemical remediation. However, to date, such claims of successful bioremediation are often not supported by evidence from toxicity studies. In this regard, luminescent bacteria have been employed in some hydrocarbon remediation experiments to denote reduction in toxicity. In this review, the utilization of luminescence bacteria as toxicity monitoring agent for hydrocarbon remediation is discussed.
Molecular cloning of a functional Fads2 promoter from Zebrafish
Authors: Chung Hung Hui , Zulkharnain Azham
Published: April 2022

The FADS2 catalyzes the first rate-limiting step in the long chain-polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) biosynthesis pathway by converting Î±-linolenic acid and linoleic acid into stearidonic acid and Î³-linolenic acid via the Ï‰-3 and Ï‰-6 pathways respectively. In mammals, PPARÎ± and SREBP-1c have been implicated in the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) mediated transcriptional activation of FADS2 promoter. However, in zebrafish, not much is known regarding the regulation of fads2 transcriptional regulation. Here, in this study, five vectors containing different promoter regions were constructed in order to analyse putative promoter activities. Through truncation analysis, it was found that the 1.2 kb promoter was able to drive luciferase activity to an approximate 40-fold in HepG2 cells. Upon mutagenesis analysis, three sites which are the putative NF-Y, SREBP and PPAR binding sites were found to be essential in driving the promoter activity. Lastly, the 1.2 kb fads2 promoter was able to direct EGFP expression specifically to the yolk syncytial layer (YSL) when transiently expressed in microinjected zebrafish embryos.
Effects of shackling and cone restraining on meat quality of broiler chickens slaughtered at two categories of live weight
Authors: Ismail Siti Nadirah , Sazili Awis Qurni , Idrus Zulkifli , Meng Goh Yong , Aghwan Zeiad Amjad , Sabow Azad Behnan , Abubakar Abubakar
Published: April 2022

A study was conducted to determine the effects of shackling and cone restraining methods on meat quality of broiler chickens slaughtered at two categories of live weight. Fourty Cobb 400 male broilers were randomly assigned to a 2 Ã— 2 factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with 10 birds of each treatment group. The birds were slaughtered at â‰¤2 kg and â‰¥2.5 kg live weights using shackling or cone restraining methods. Neither cone nor shackle restraining methods affected the pH change of both slaughter weights. Birds weighing â‰¤2 kg subjected to cone method had higher (P<0.05) a*, b* and lower (p<0.05) L*, drip loss, cooking loss and shear force than those subjected to shackle method. Birds weighing â‰¥2.5 kg subjected to cone method had higher (p<0.05) b* and lower (p<0.05) L* and cooking loss than those restrained with a shackle method. Results of shear force values, L*, a*, b*, and pH change were significantly higher (p<0.05) in â‰¥2.5 kg chickens compared with those â‰¤2 kg chickens using shackling restraining method.
The impact of oil type and lactic acid bacteria on conjugated linoleic acid production
Authors: Al-Saman Mahmoud Abd El-Hamid , Elsanhoty Rafaat M. , Elhadary A. E.
Published: April 2022

This work was conducted to investigate the effect of oil type and lactic acid bacteria on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) production in MRS medium. The ability of eight strains of lactic acids bacteria; Lactobacillus acidophilus (P2, ATCC 20552), Lactobacillus brevis (P102), Lactobacillus casei (P9, DSMZ 20011), Lactobacillus plantarum (P1), Lactobacillus pentosus (P4), Lactobacillus rhamnosus (P5, TISTR 541), Bifidobacterium longum (BL) and Bifidobacterium lactis (P7, Bb-12) for the production of CLA in the MRS broth was investigated. Two vegetable oils (sun flower oil & linseed oil) and cod liver oil were used as substrates in MRS media. The oils were added to MRS in concentration of 10 mg/ml and incubated for three days at 37Â°C. The ability of lactic acid bacteria under the investigation as inhibitors were evaluated by the determination of the amount of conjugated linoleic acid at the end of the fermentation period. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the microorganisms in their ability to produce CLA. Furthermore, there were significant differences between oil types as substrate on the impact of CLA production. Bifidobacterium lactis showed the highest production of CLA (618.13 Âµg/ml) in MRS media fortified with cod liver oil. From the results, it can be concluded that there were positive impacts for both oils and lactic acid bacteria on the production of CLA. Therefore, the lactic acid bacteria grown in these oils can be utilized for probiotic production purposes and to produce other bioactive compounds.
Discrimination of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from mucosal contents of chicken intestines and different age by repetitive elements sequence-based PCR
Authors: Mohd Shaufi Mohd Asrore , Sieo Chin Chin , Cheah Yoke-Kqueen , Chong Chun Wie , Omar Abdul Rahman , Ho Yin Wan , Tan Geok Hun
Published: April 2022

Repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) is a distinctive typing approach that is used to differentiate between bacterial strains. This method is also useful for studying bacterial diversity from different sources. In this study, four rep-PCR which are enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR (ERIC-PCR), BOX-PCR, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR) and polytrinucleotide (GTG)5-PCR were evaluated for differentiation of eighteen Escherichia coli isolates to correct source based on part of intestine and age. These isolates were recovered earlier from ileal and caecal mucosal contents of chickens at a different age. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of four rep-PCR methods and composite of rep-PCR patterns to differentiate E. coli isolates to original sources of part of intestines and age based on the D index (discriminatory power determined based on Simpsonâ€™s index of diversity calculated at similarity coefficient of 90%). The (GTG)5-PCR had the highest D index (0.9804) for part of intestine and age factors. The similar D index was observed in the composite of rep-PCR patterns. The lowest D index was observed in ERIC- and BOX-PCR at 0.9020 and 0.8039 for part of intestine and age factors, respectively. (GTG)5-PCR was also the most discriminative rep-PCR observed due to its ability to cluster 14I 3E and 14I 2X isolates, and 14C 1E and 14C 3E isolates correctly in part of intestine and age factors. It was concluded that (GTG)5-PCR is a promising tool for discriminating E. coli isolates extracted from chicken intestines.
Effect of Soil pH on Composition and Abundance of Nitrite-oxidising Bacteria
Authors: Abdulrasheed Mansur , Ibrahim Hussein I , Maigari Fatima Umar , Umar Ahmed F , Ibrahim Salihu
Published: April 2022

Nitrification, the microbial oxidation of ammonia to nitrate (NO3-) via nitrite (NO2-) is a vital process in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and is performed by two distinct functional groups; ammonia oxidisers [comprised of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidising archaea (AOA)] and nitrite oxidising bacteria. Autotrophic nitrification is said to occur in acidic soils, even though most laboratory cultures of isolated ammonia and nitrite oxidising bacteria fail to grow below neutral pH. Published studies revealed that soil pH is a major driver for determining the distribution and abundance of AOB and AOA. To determine whether distinct populations of nitrite oxidising bacteria within the lineages of Nitrospira and Nitrobacter are adapted to a particular range of pH as observed in ammonia oxidising organisms, the community structure of Nitrospira-like and Nitrobacter-like NOB were determined across a pH gradient (4.5 â€“ 7.5) by amplifying nitrite oxidoreductase (nxrA) and 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The community structure of both Nitrospira and Nitrobacter changed with soil pH, with distinct populations observed in acidic and neutral soils. The abundance of Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA and Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene copies contrasted across the pH gradient.  Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene abundance decreased with increasing soil pH, whereas Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA gene abundance increased with increasing pH. Nitrification activity of both Nitrospira-like and Nitrobacter-like NOB in acidic and neutral pH soil was investigated in a microcosm experiment incubated at 30 oC for 21 days, with high rates of nitrification observed in both soils. Findings indicated that abundance and distributions of soil NOB is influence by soil pH.
Growth Characterization of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain KIK-12 on SDS
Authors: Karamba K.I. , Yakasai Hafeez Muhammad
Published: April 2022

The pollution caused by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) arise mainly from its utilization as detergent in industrial washing, which results in the high effluent level of this contaminant. SDS as anionic surfactant is ubiquitously toxic to the aquatic ecosystem. In this study, the potentials of a previously isolated molybdenum-reducing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain KIK-12 to degrade and utilize SDS as sole source of carbon was investigated. The bacterium grew optimally at pH between 6.0 and 7.0, temperature between 30 and 45 Â°C in 1 g/L SDS as the sole source of carbon, with ammonium sulphate (1 % w/v) as the best nitrogen source. The growth characteristics of strain KIK-12 on various concentrations of SDS (as a carbon source) reveals optimum growth 500 mg/L but was able to tolerate and grow at 1500 mg/L. However, concentrations higher than this results in growth termination. Heavy metals such as mercury, silver and copper significantly inhibit growth of strain KIK-12 on SDS. The ability of this bacterium to tolerate and detoxify multiple toxicants makes it suitable for their bioremediation.
Probiotic Properties of Lactobacillus Isolates from Chicken Intestines
Authors: Shamsudin Wan Nur Fadhilah , Loo Shu San , Ho Yin Wan , Abdullah Norhani , Saad Wan Zuhainis , Wan Kiew Lian
Published: April 2022

Three lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates which demonstrated probiotic properties were obtained from chicken intestine. The isolates demonstrated good tolerance to acidic pH 3, 0.3% bile salts and strong adhesion to Caco-2 cells. These isolates also showed antagonistic activity against pathogenic E. coli (078:K80), Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, C. perfringens (Type A), Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, E. faecium (FM3), E. faecalis (E227). All three isolates had high inhibition zone (> 6 mm) against E. coli 078:K80 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and were susceptible to antibiotics gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol and ampicillin. These isolates were identified by using 16S rRNA sequencing technique and as two L. salivarius and one L. reuteri with accession number MH375403, MH375402 and MH375404, respectively.
Determination of Nutrients and Anti-Nutrients Contents of Moringa oleifera and Arachis hypogaea
Authors: Siddan Alhassan Ahmad , Abubakar Salisu Maiwada , Gadanya Aisha Muhammad , Maigari Fatima Umar , Yahaya AbdulRazaq Sani , Yarima Mariya
Published: April 2022

Proximate, minerals, vitamins, amino acids composition and phytochemicals of Moringa oleifera and Arachis hypogaea were investigated. The parameters evaluated were moisture contents; ash contents; crude protein; crude lipids; crude fiber; carbohydrates; mineral ions; vitamins; amino acids and phytochemicals. The results obtained showed that, all the proximate parameters, vitamins; A, C and E, all the phytochemical parameters and minerals; sodium and potassium are significantly different (p<0.05) while no significant different at p<0.05 was found in the amount of magnesium, potassium, iron, calcium and copper in M. oleifera and A. hypogaea. High caloric value was found in A. hypogaea while high amount of vitamin A and C were found in M. oleifera. Also, phytochemicals such as flavonoids and steroids were found in A. hypogaea at high amount. Eighteen amino acids were detected in both the M. oleifera and A. hypogaea. Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, leucine, arginine, valine, proline were present at high concentration in both the two samples.
Modelling the Growth of Enterobacter sp. on Polyethylene
Authors: Yahuza Salihu , Dan-Iya Bilal Ibrahim , Sabo Ibrahim Alhaji
Published: April 2022

Although standard, the use of linearization techniques using natural logarithm transformation is erroneous and can only give an estimated value for the measured parameter; the specific growth rate. For the first time, in this paper, we present different kinetic models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, modified Schnute, modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and most recent Huang were employed to obtain values for the above constants or parameters from Enterobacter sp. growth on polyethylene. Huang model was found to be the best model with the highest adjusted R2 value and lowest RMSE value. The Accuracy and Bias Factors values were close to unity (1.0). The Huang parameters such as Ymax (bacterial growth upper asymptote), Î» (lag time), Âµmax (maximum specific bacterial growth rate) and A or Y0 (bacterial growth lower asymptote) were found to be 1.367 (95% confidence interval of 1.322 - 1.412), 2.683 (95% confidence interval of 2.030 - 3.337), 0.322 (95% confidence interval of 0.252 - 0.392) and 0.324 (95% confidence interval of 0.278 - 0.370).
Formulation of Antibacterial Mouthwash from Local Herbs: A Mini-Review
Authors: Nafea Juman , Yaakub Harisun , Edbeib Mohamed Faraj , Notarte Kin Israel , Mohammed Sulaiman , Huyop Fahrul
Published: April 2022

Commercially available mouthwash formulations are often medicated and contain chemicals that may elicit adverse effects to the users. A mouthwash may be recommended for its efficacy in preventing dental caries and other oral conditions due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Therefore, it is essential to raise awareness in selecting for an appropriate mouthwash that is safe to be applied to the oral cavity and its natural microflora. The interest towards the incorporation of herbal ingredients in oral products has been increasing exponentially over the years. The main objective of this review is to highlight our consumption of food and herbal products, such as Aleppo oak, clove and turmeric, that contain medicinal properties and have the potential to be developed as key components in mouthwash formulations. Thus, reliance on the use of chemicals may lessen as they could have a negative impact to oneâ€™s oral health.
Antibacterial Effect of Bitter Leave (Vernonia amygdalina) on Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Saâ€™idu Haruna , Ahmad Hassan Ismail , Olanrewaju Salau Abiola , Mahmoud Aisha Bello
Published: April 2022

High rate of multi drug resistance bacteria caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae is increasing day by day, which in turn becomes medical and economic important to humans. The present study investigates the antibacterial effect of bitter leaf on Klebsiella pneumoniae. Frothing test and agar well diffusion method was used in this study. The former method indicate the presence of phytochemicals such saponin, tannin, flavonoid, alkaloid and carbohydrate in the plant while the later method indicate the potential effect of the plant extract to inhibit the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae under different concentration ranging 2.5, 5, 10 20 mg/mL. The various zones of inhibition obtained under these concentrations were 0.0Â±0, 7Â±0.8, 11Â±0.6 and 14.00Â±1.3 mm, respectively. The highest zone of inhibition recorded was 26.00Â±2.3 mm using control experiment whereby no activity was obtained using 2.5 mg/mL plant extract. Thus, increase in the concentrations of extract was found to inhibit the growth of the bacteria under study. This research reports the potential effect of Vernonia amygdalina on the activity of K. pneumoniae.
Association between ARID5B Polymorphisms and the Risk for Childhood B- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
Authors: Ping Chow Yock , Abdullah Noraidatulakma , Johdi Nor Adzimah
Published: April 2022

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the commonest cancer in children, comprising over 80% of the entire childhood leukemia. However, the etiology of childhood B-ALL remains poorly understood and genetic susceptibility is a major risk factor for this disease. ARID5B appeared as one of the most promising genetic markers with nearly a 3-fold increased risk of disease. Method: In this meta-analysis, a total of six candidate ARID5B polymorphisms (i.e. rs10821936, rs10994982, rs7089424, rs10821938, rs10740055, and rs7073837) which have been analyzed in at least 2 studies were included for analysis of the risk association between ARID5B polymorphisms and childhood B-ALL. Results: Pooled analysis revealed that the dominant model of these six ARID5B polymorphisms was associated with an increased risk of childhood B-ALL. However, subgroup analysis based on ethnicity suggested that only four polymorphisms (i.e. rs10821936, rs10994982, rs7089424 and rs10821938) consistently conferred increased risk to childhood B-ALL across different populations, whereas the other 2 polymorphisms (rs10740055, rs7073837) were causative to Caucasians (OR=2.01, 95% CI=1.66-2.44; OR= 1.98, 95% CI=1.69-2.31) but maybe protective for Asian (OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.22-1.09; OR=0.95, 95% CI=0.43-2.09) respectively. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis demonstrated could serve as promising markers for assessing the susceptibility risk to childhood B-ALL in both the Asian and Caucasian populations. Further development of a multigene panel inclusive of ARID5B is desirable for screening children with a higher risk of developing B-ALL and to improve clinical management of the disease.
A VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY OF THE CREATIVITY SUPPORTING HOME ENVIRONMENT SCALE
Authors: HALAT Züleyha , DAĞLIOĞLU H. Elif , İNCE ARACI Fazilet Gül
Published: April 2022

In this study, it is aimed to improve the “Creativity-Supporting Home Environment Scale” for the purpose of determining the level of creativity in the home environment of parents with children aged 3-6 years old. Research study groups were composed of 500 parents across various provinces of Turkey. The scale items written in the context of the literature were presented to field experts for their opinion in accordance with the scale’s purpose, and the content validity index was calculated as proof of the scale’s content validity (.89). A pretest application of the scale was conducted in accordance with the expert opinion, and the items were examined for their distinctiveness. A test application was conducted for the purpose of demonstrating the factor structure of the scale, and whether or not the data was appropriate for factor analysis by using KMO and Bartlett statistics. Factor analysis based upon principal component analysis was performed with the optimum application of parallel analysis, and according to both parallel analysis and scree plot, it was decided that the structure was four-dimensional. The percentage of the factors explaining the total variance was established as 49.9%. The item test correlation values of the items in each factor were found to be above .30 in accordance with the item analysis results. Two items that did not fulfill the criteria were removed from the scale by performing a confirmatory factor analysis to verify the structure. Factor loadings for 28 items in the scale were found to be higher than .30 and with error variances below .90. It was found that the McDonald’s omega coefficients were between .71 and .88, and the Composite reliability coefficients were between .70 and .84 in the calculation of the reliability of the scale scores for each of the scale’s four dimensions. For the whole scale, the stratified alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as .87. The obtained findings demonstrate that the “Creativity-Supporting Home Environment Scale” is a valid and reliable scale.