bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Prague Rules : Competitor, Alternative or Addition to the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration?
Authors: Henriques Duarte G.
Published: April 2022

One of the current fundamental concerns regarding international arbitration is the time and cost that it is associated with it. Many say that this reflects the increasing complexity of the disputes that are resolved by arbitration and that such complexity is a result of the importation of traditional “common law” litigation expedients. Many others say that the problem lies elsewhere: weak arbitrators, who in turn rely exclusively on the existing sets of rules, which require them to obey strictly and rigorously the “sacrosanct” commands of due process.

This landscape has raised concerns related to the creeping and evergrowing paranoia on due process, which has turned many arbitrators the captives of the initiative and requests of the parties and, therefore, contributors to lengthy and costly proceedings.

On the other hand, it has also been pointed out that the derailing of arbitration proceedings is especially acute when it comes to the taking of evidence.

In this regard, the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration have been playing a fundamental role. They strike a balance between “common law” and “civil law” traditions.

However, that is what is in writing, not what has been the practice. Thus, some crucial questions arise: What if granting more powers to arbitral tribunals, making them more pro-active and more in control of the conduct of proceedings, renders arbitration more expeditious and more efficient? What if arbitral tribunals have not been as controlling and pro-active because the existing rules and legal framework simply do not leave arbitrators at ease in doing so? What if the parties themselves are not aware that they can and should accord more powers to arbitral tribunals, and that they are not comfortable in doing so because there is no set of rules that expressly points in that direction?

Those are the fundamental issues that the “Rules of Prague” eventually address by setting forth a host of major principles to apply by arbitral tribunals.

The Prague Rules may be found at www.praguerules.com.
Indias Tryst with Non-Signatories to an Arbitration Agreement in Composite Economic Transactions
Authors: Pathak Harshad
Published: April 2022

Indian courts have dealt with issues relating to the effect of an arbitration agreement on related non-signatory entities in a plethora of circumstances. And like a pendulum, their response has swung from one end of the jurisprudential paradigm to the other. While initially reluctant to bind non-signatory entities to an arbitration agreement as a matter of principle, they now adopt a pragmatic approach. Today, they are inclined to venture beyond the formal constraints of an arbitration agreement in writing, and identify entities that may have tacitly consented to arbitrate despite not signing the agreement. Against the backdrop of a conceptual discussion surrounding the issue, the paper maps this particular journey undertaken by Indian courts over the past decade. It keeps a close eye on the inconsistent application of the principles expounded by the Supreme Court of India in its seminal judgment in Chloro Controls v Severn Trent Water Purification Inc.; resulting in some confusion. In this light, the paper examines why the Supreme Court of India’s latest exposition on this issue in its judgment in Rishabh Enterprises attains significance. Accordingly, while it is inevitable that Indian courts will continue to struggle to distinguish the circumstances in which they may bind non-signatories to an arbitration agreement from those where they may not, for now, there are more signs of clarity than concern.
Back to the Theory: Re-Considering Social Policies as Egalitarian Pre-Conditions of the Liberal Meritocracy
Authors: ARUN M. Onur
Published: April 2022

Looking at the given literature of social policy, it is clearly seen that both definition and objectives of social policies are either explicitly or implicitly associated with the aim of building up just society. However, most of contemporary scholarly works does neither clearly express what type of social justice is aimed by these policies nor explain how and why socio-economic structure of stratified societies morally necessitates social policies. Such ambiguities appear primarily due to insufficient engagement of contemporary social policy literature with broad literature of social justice developed by political philosophy and advanced by sociological conception of inequalities. Thus, an implication of such ambiguities is that the moral justification behind social policies either remains unclear or is covertly built upon a philanthropic and/or altruistic reasoning. Departing from these ambiguities and their implications, this work firstly focuses on the desert and merit-centred value distribution through which the liberal school of social justice in the political philosophy justifies inequalities in outcome. Following this, it discusses on morally flawed nature of the meritocratic distributional model and its associated policies, such as equality of opportunity, by drawing on sociological conception of inequalities. Lastly, underlining the role of individual’s social class in formation of merits and referring to recent conceptual developments in the broad literature of social justice, it justifies social policy as inevitable egalitarian pre-condition, rather than philanthropic and/or altruistic initiatives, for the liberal meritocratic value distribution.
Modèle de maturité de gestion pour les organisations du tiers secteur
Authors: Luis Davi
Published: April 2022

En raison de la préoccupation croissante des organisations sociales et de leurs parties prenantes pour l'amélioration du processus de gestion organisationnelle, cette étude présente un modèle de maturité de gestion pour les organisations du tiers secteur. Pour cela, les travaux ont été réalisés en deux étapes. Premièrement, dans l'élaboration du modèle, une enquête exploratoire-qualitative a été appliquée avec la collecte de données secondaires et primaires, provenant de la revue littéraire et d'entretiens approfondis avec une organisation non gouvernementale au Brésil. Deuxièmement, lors de la vérification de l'instrument de mesure, une enquête exploratoire et quantitative a été appliquée sous la forme d'une enquête de terrain auprès de treize organisations du tiers secteur. Les résultats présentent un modèle théorique de maturité en gestion composé de cinq dimensions et 16 variables, et un instrument de mesure prétesté, applicable dans le troisième secteur. Les résultats indiquent également que les organisations sociales analysées ont des niveaux de maturité différents, que la dimension Communication est la plus développée, et que les dimensions Bénéficiaires, Stratégie et Plans, et Société et Réseaux Collaboratifs méritent le plus d'attention de la part des managers.
Indonesian Spatial Planning After the Enactment of the Job Creation Law as a Formulation Effort Towards the Society Era 5.0
Authors: Gunawan Adi , Pakendek Adriana , Wardani Win Yuli , Sulastri Sri , Taufik Achmad , Nadir
Published: April 2022

Entering the society era 5.0, which is based on a computerized program, the Indonesian Government ratified Law No. 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation to increase the absorption of the number of Indonesian workers by creating job opportunities through investors with the ease and facilities provided by the Government, using a computer program system. This research was normative legal research that used statutory and conceptual approaches. Additionally, it used qualitative analysis, then concluded using deductive-inductive reasoning. Based on the research results, it was found that the Government formulated Job Creation Law to implement a new system in the licensing sector using the OSS (Online Single Submission) system as a business licensing system controlled by the central Government and applied to all provincial or district governments. One of the objects regulated in the Job Creation Law and using the OSS system was Spatial Planning. The first revision in spatial planning regarded the implementation, which clarified the tiered and complementary system. Furthermore, the decision-making related to the performance of regional spatial planning in the district or province was on the central Government.
Molecular phylogeny Of Nibung (Oncosperma tigillarium [Jack] Ridl.) inferred from trnL-F intergenic spacer sequences
Authors: Fitmawati  , Desti  , Juliantari E. , Novela D. , Kapli H.
Published: April 2022

Nibung (Oncosperma tigillarium [Jack] Ridl.) has a stronger wood quality and is resistant to tidal deformations. For centuries, the local people are traditionally using nibung for different purposes. However, its utilization is higher than its cultivation, causing a decrease in supply every year. Taxonomic data based on molecular markers are urgently needed in the nibung germplasm. We need to study their molecular characters to provide basic data for genetic diversity and conservation study purposes. The present study aims to analyze the phylogenetic relationship of seven accessions of nibung in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia, based on molecular characters and to clarify the relationship among closely related infra-specific categories. The seven accessions of nibung were grouped by types of habitats i.e., lowland and highland areas. Accessions collected from the highland areas (Bukit Suligi) were very different from those collected from the lowland areas based on their genetic and evolutionary data. Based on Neighbor-Joining (NJ) analysis, it is estimated that the accession O. tigillarium from Bukit Suligi was more advanced than another accession. The present study has been able to compare more primitive and advanced accessions based on genetic distance. The studies also confirmed that the more advanced species are highly capable to survive in their in situ environment. Such type of genetic variability is very important for breeding and conservation studies and can be used in future generations of palm.
Assay for Mercury in Herbal Preparation using an Inhibitive Enzyme Assay based on Bromelain
Authors: Wahab S.M.A. , Said N.A.M. , Halmi M.I.E. , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Shukor M.Y. , Masdor N.A.
Published: April 2022

Mercury contamination of herbal products is a major source of concern globally. The high cost of instrumental determination of mercury means that a lot of cases of contamination would not be detected. Instrumental method alone is time consuming, costly and need skilled personnel. A recent trend in heavy metal monitoring is to employ biological-base system such as using microbes and their enzyme. The use of these kinds of assays in herbal monitoring has not been reported. In this work, a bromelain-based inhibitive assay was successfully used to determine mercury in digested herbal samples. Three of the twenty samples tested showed positive results for mercury with one of the sample exhibiting mercury at levels higher than the maximum permissibility limit (MPL) as found using the instrument Flow Injection Mercury System or FIMS. The bromelain assay requires little reagents and sample volumes, is rapid and low in cost. The bromelain assay can be part of the system involving the use of biological system together with instrumental method. In this system, the enzyme forms a first screening phase. In the second phase, positive samples are validated suing FIMS. Hence monitoring frequency can be increased and results could be obtained faster.
Arabidopsis thaliana AXR4 Recombinant Protein Expression for Polyclonal Antibody Production
Authors: Norliza A.B. , Ranjan S. , Bennet M. , Kerr I.
Published: April 2022

The Arabidopsis AXR4 gene product is involved in polar targeting of AUX1 an auxin influx carrier, to the plasma membrane (Dharmasiri et al. 2006). The AXR4 gene encodes a protein of 473 amino acids and is predicted as a Type II, integral membrane protein with a short N terminal sequence, a single transmembrane region and a large C terminal domain. The C terminus domain of AtAXR4 referred to as AtAXR4 C, was expressed as a recombinant protein in Escherichia coli and used as an antigen to generate polyclonal antibody. The antibody recognized a protein of approximately 54 kDa in the membrane fractions prepared from Arabidopsis thaliana.  The availability of anti-AXR4 antibody will contribute towards elucidation of AXR4 biochemical properties and its molecular function.
Mining of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from EST tropical fruits
Authors: Adawiah Rabiatul , Shahril Firdaus A.R. , Norzihan A. , Kalsom A.B. Umi
Published: April 2022

The advancement in genomics technology has produced vast amount of expressed sequencetags (ESTs) sequence from tropical fruits. These resources have increased the publicavailability of ESTs sequence from year after year. Therefore, this effort permits mining ofsingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) from EST tropicalfruits. SNP and SSR are types of molecular marker which commonly used in modern geneticanalysis for wide application such as diversity analysis, linkage analysis and association study.In this study, a small scale EST sequences from tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, coconut andbanana) were retrieved from dbEST database (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbEST/ ) as of March2013. Various bioinformatics tools were applied for rapid discovery of SNP and SSR markerfrom EST sequences. We analyzed 31,920 unigenes (contigs and singletons) representing atotal of 77,418 ESTs from four tropical fruits for their potential use in developing SNP and SSRmarkers. A total of 13,709 EST-SNP were discovered while a total of 4853 EST-SSR werediscovered from these four tropical fruits. The most abundant EST-SSR repeat is fromtrinucleotide (15,957 repeats) followed by dinucleotide (13,797 repeats) and tetranucleotide(973 repeats). Here, 1738 primers from SNP while 2033 primers from SSR were passedthrough the setting criteria and were selected for validation using genotyping platform. Thisstudy not only serves as a resource for marker development in tropical fruits but can provide abetter insight into the selection of candidate genes of interest.
Test for the Presence of Autocorrelation in Modified Gompertz Model used for Modelling the Growth of Callus Cultures from Glycine wightii (Wight & Arn.) Verdc.
Authors: M.S Shukor . , Masdor N.A. , Halmi M.I.E. , Ahmad S.A. , Shukor M.Y.
Published: April 2022

Glycine wightii species is an important perennial soybean. Tissue culture of in vitro cells, tissues and organs of Glycine wightii can yield efficient means in the genetics of breeding genetics, understanding the physiology and biochemistry of legumes. Most often than not, callus growth curve is sigmoidal in characteristics. In this work, we model callus growth from Glycine wightiifrom published literature to acquire essential growth constants. Previously, we model the growth of callus of Glycine wightii from published literature to obtain vital growth constants. We discovered that the modified Gompertz model via nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method was the best model to explain the growth curve. Nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method typically utilizes the idea that data points usually do not depend upon each other or the value of a data point is not determined by the value of previous or proceeding data points or usually do not display autocorrelation. In this work, the Durbin-Watson statistic to check for the presence of autocorrelation in the growth model was carried out, and showed that the modified Gompertz model was adequate to model the callus growth curve.
Short Communication: Entrapment of Mo-Reducing Bacterium Increase Its Resistance towards Heavy Metals
Authors: Halmi M.I.E. , Ahmad S.A. , Yusof M.T. , Shukor Mohd Yunus . , Syed M.A.
Published: April 2022

Molybdenum is highly toxic to ruminant at several ppm. Molybdenum pollution in soil and mine tailings could reach 20,000 ppm in the most contaminated region. Molybdenum is mined as a byproduct of copper in malaysia and occasional elevated levels of these heavy metals have been reported. Bioremediation of molybdenum in the presence of the toxic copper is a challenge. In this work a novel method of molybdenum removal from aqueous solution using the dialysis tubing method coupled with molybdenum-reducing activity of serratia sp. Strain dry5 is demonstrated. The enzymatic reduction of molybdenum is molybdenum blue, a colloid that does not pass through dialysis tubing. The calculated maximal rate of molybdenum blue production (vmobluemax) was 0.264Â±0.034 mmole/mo-blue/hr and the concentration of molybdate resulting in the halfmaximal rate of reduction (kmo) was 21.78Â±3.89 mM molybdate indicating an efficient system with high tolerance towards molybdenum. Heavy metals exhibited significantly higher inhibition towards free cells compared to dialysis tubing entrapped cells. Hence the immobilization of moreducing cells by entrapment could be a viable bioremediation tool in aquatic bodies or effluentco-contaminated by other heavy metals.
Mini Review: Environmental Benefits of Composting Organic Solid Waste by Organic Additives
Authors: Khalib Siti Noor Baya Binti , Irnis Azura Z. , Tengku Nuraiti T.I.
Published: April 2022

Solid waste generation has become one of the major problems throughout the world.Â  Increasingly generation of solid waste cause a problem in managing it.Â  Organic solid waste is a major contribution of this increasing solid waste generated.Â  The composting process is seen one of the best waste management options in managing the organic solid waste produce.Â  Composting is the biological process that using microorganism, which turns the organic solid waste into a valuable product and turns the organic matters back to the soil under controlled conditions.Â  Application of organic additives during composting can accelerate the process by using microorganism to break down the organic matter in organic waste.Â  Environmental product of compost known as bio organic fertilizers could be produce to substitute with chemical fertilizers.Â  The product of compost can be used in agriculture and also can increase soil stability and fertility.
Test for the Presence of Autocorrelation in the Buchanan-three-phase Model used in the Growth of Moraxella sp. B on Monobromoacetic acid (MBA)
Authors: Shukor M.S. , Masdor N.A. , Shamaan N.A. , Ahmad S.A. , Roslan M.A.H. , Shukor M.Y.
Published: April 2022

Monohalogenated acetic acids usage are widespread in industry and agriculture. They formprecursors to chemicals and as herbicides, respectively. Monobromoacetic acid (MBA) is achemical intermediate for the manufacturing of various chemicals with application in agricultureand pharmacy. Bioremediation of monobromoacetic acid has been touted as a more economicaland feasible method compared to physical and chemical approaches. Previously, we model thegrowth of growth of Moraxella sp. B on monobromoacetic acid from published literature toobtain vital growth constants. We discovered that the Buchanan-three-phase model via nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method was the very best model to explain the growth curve. Nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method typically utilizes the idea that data points usually do not depend upon each other or the value of a data point is not determined by the value of previous or proceeding data points or usually do not display autocorrelation. In this work, the Durbin-Watson statistic to check for the presence of autocorrelation in the growth model was carried out.
Outlier Analysis of the Buchanan-three-phase Model used in fitting the Growth of Moraxella sp. B on Monobromoacetic acid
Authors: Shukor M.S. , Masdor N.A. , Shamaan N.A. , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Shukor M.Y.
Published: April 2022

Monohalogenated acetic acids have been widely used in industry and agriculture as precursor tochemicals and as herbicides, respectively. Monobromoacetic acid (MBA) is a chemicalintermediate for the manufacturing of various chemicals with application in agriculture andpharmacy. Bioremediation of monobromoacetic acid, has been touted as a more economical and feasible method compared to physical and chemical approaches. Previously, we model thegrowth of growth of Moraxella sp. B on monobromoacetic acid from published literature toobtain vital growth constants. We discovered that the Buchanan-three-phase model via nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method was the very best model to explain the growth curve. However, the use of statistical tests to choose the best model relies heavily on the residuals of the curve to be statistically robust. More often than not, the residuals must be tested for the presence of outliers (at 95 or 99% of confidence). In this work, the Grubbâ€™s test to detect the presence of outlier in the growth model was carried out.
Prediction of Cumulative Death Cases in Brazil Due to Covid-19 Using Mathematical Models
Authors: Uba Garba , Yakasai Hafeez Muhammad , Abubakar Abdussamad , Shukor Mohd Yunus Yunus
Published: April 2022

The novel corona virus (2019-nCoV) infection has spread rapidly to other provinces and neighbouring countries since the emergence of the first cases at Wuhan, China. Estimation of the death cases by mathematical modelling can help to determine the potential and severity of the outbreak and to provide critical information on the type and intensity of disease response. In this paper, we present different growth models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and Huang in fitting and analyzing the epidemic trend of COVID-19 in the form of total number of death cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil as of 15th of July 2020. The MMF model was found to be the best model with the highest adjusted R2 value with the lowest RMSE value. The Accuracy and Bias Factors values were close to unity (1.0). The parameters obtained from the MMF model include maximum growth of death rate (log) of 0.03 (95% CI from 0.02 to 0.028), curve constant (d) that affects the inflection point of 0.7057 (95% CI from 0.68 to 0.73) and maximal total number of death (ymax) of 17,619,760  (95% CI from 9,705,100 to 34,994,517). The MMF model predicted that the total number of death cases for Brazil on the coming 15th of August and 15th of September 2020 will be 132,787 (95% CI of 123,422 to 142,863) and 212,166 (95% CI of 192,578 to 233,746), respectively. The predictive ability of the model utilized in this study is a powerful tool for epidemiologist to monitor and assess the severity of COVID-19 in Brazil in months to come. However, as with any other model, these values need to be taken with caution due to the unpredictability of the COVID-19 situation locally and globally.
Runs Test for the Residuals of The Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) Model Used for Modelling the Total Number of Covid-19 Cases for Brazil
Authors: Uba Garba , Mansur Abdulrasheed , Manogaran Motharasan , Shukor M.Y.
Published: April 2022

Numerous papers fail to conduct statistical diagnostics of the nonlinear model that was used, and the data may be nonrandom, which is a need for all parametric statistical evaluation procedures that rely on random data. Whenever the diagnostic tests find that the residuals reflect a pattern, there are a range of treatments available, such as nonparametric analysis or transferring to a different model, which should resolve the issue. Organismsâ€™ growth including viral infection cases over time usually exhibit a sigmoidal growth profile that exhibits lag time, acceleration to a maximal value and a final phase where the rate decreases and eventually reaches zero or an asymptote (A) is observed. For the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the total infection case of SARS-CoV-2 in Brazil as of 15th of July 2020 to the 20th of December 2020 was modelled using several primary growth models with the Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) model found to be the best. We were the first to note on the high suitability of the MMF model to fit total death and infection cases for COVID-19. The least-squares technique used in normal nonlinear regression including in the MMF model must be subjected to the notion that the residual values must be random. In order to satisfy this requirement, we conduct the Waldâ€“Wolfowitz runs test statistical diagnosis tests. The maximum number of runs counting was 5, and the predicted number of runs under the premise of randomness was 25.96. The z-value indicates how many normal errors the number of runs discovered exceeds the anticipated number of runs, and the p-value indicates how severe this z-value is. The significance is the same as with the other data on p-values. The null hypothesis that the residuals are really random can be rejected if the p-value is less than 0.05. Because the p-value was smaller than 0.05, the null hypothesis was dismissed, implying that there is strong evidence of non-randomness of the residues and further remedy is needed.
Incidence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus at Estuarine Region of Sg. Sarawak (Sarawak) Influenced by Physicochemical Parameters
Authors: Bilung Lesley Maurice , Yong S.F. , Velnetti L. , Pui C.F. , Micky V. , Apun K. , Chong Y.L.
Published: April 2022

This study aimed to determine the correlation between physicochemical parameters namely salinity, pH and temperature with the occurrence of V. parahaemolyticus in estuarine river of Sg. Sarawak. A total of 72 water samples (surface and deep waters) were collected from the study site. A combination of MPN and PCR to detect and quantify the presence of V. parahaemolyticus, targeting the regulatory gene, toxR was performed. Over the 12-weeks sampling period, site 2 and site 3 recorded 100% presence of V. parahaemolyticus while site I was only 17%. The conditions found in site 2 (9.75â€°, pH 7.2, 29.65 Â°C) and 3 (10.3â€°, pH 7.36, 30 Â°C) favored the presence of V. parahaemolyticus (669 cells 10 ml-1 and 922 cells 10 ml-1 respectively) than site 1 (0.68â€°, pH 6.75, 29.2 Â°C). Statistical analysis showed that the abundance of total V. parahaemolyticus counts was correlated well with the water salinity (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.699; P < 0.01) and water temperature (r = 0.531; P < 0.01) but less correlated with water pH (r = 0.343; P < 0.01).
Protein identification of vitellogenin in river catfish (Hemibagrus nemurus)
Authors: Othman Roshani , Harmin Sharr Azni , Md Yasin Ina-Salwany
Published: April 2022

Mass production of fish broodstock with high quality eggs requires the knowledge on the chemical composition and physiochemical properties of vitellogenin (Vtg) during ovulation. Vtg is an egg yolk precursor phospholipoglycoprotein, and has been analysed to evaluate the reproductive conditions and determine the spawning period in captive and wild fish. In this study, Vtg was induced in male H. nemurus through three intramuscular injections of 17- estradiol (E2). The Vtg was purified from the serum using gel filtration chromatography and thepurified protein was reduced via SDS-PAGE. One major polypeptide corresponding to 130 kDa was observed. Vtg identification was done using peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) from the trypsin digestion of male H. nemurus Vtg induced with E2. The sequence homology of H. nemurus AYLAGAAADVLEVGVR matched the Vtg of other fish species when analysedusing MALDI-TOF. Vtg was confirmed by MASCOT at 95% significant level. The potential protein that controls the reproductive process and oocyte development isolated from this study was discussed to understand the structure and function of Vtg.
Mathematical modeling of molybdenum blue production from Serratia marcescens strain DR.Y10
Authors: Othman Ahmad Razi , Johari Wan Lutfi Wan , Dahalan Farrah Aini , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

The pollution of heavy metals and toxic xenobiotics has become a central issue worldwide. Bioremediation of these toxicants are being constantly carried out using novel microbes. Molybdenum reduction to molybdenum blue is a detoxification process and mathematical modelling of the reduction process can reveal important parameters such as specific reduction rate, theoretical maximum reduction and whether reduction at high molybdenum concentration affected the lag period of reduction. The used of linearization method through the use of natural logarithm transformation, although popular, is inaccurate and can only give an approximate value for the sole parameter measured; the specific growth rate. In this work, a variety of models for such as logistic, Gompertz, Richards, Schnute, Baranyi-Roberts, Von Bertalanffy, Buchanan three-phase and more recently Huang were utilized for the first time to obtain values for the above parameters or constants. The modified Gompertz model was the best model in modelling the Mo-blue production curve from Serratia marcescens strain DR.Y10 based on statistical tests such as root-mean-square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (R2), bias factor (BF), accuracy factor (AF) and corrected AICc (Akaike Information Criterion). Parameters obtained from the fitting exercise were maximum Mo-blue production rate (um), lag time (l) and maximal Mo-blue production (Ymax) of X (h-1), Y (h) and Z (nmole Mo-blue), respectively. The application of primary population growth models in modelling the Mo-blue production rate from this bacterium has become a successful undertaking. The model may also be used in other heavy metals detoxification processes. The parameters constants extracted from this work will be a substantial help for the future development of further secondary models.
A rapid inhibitive enzyme assay for monitoring heavy metals pollution in the Juru Industrial Estate
Authors: Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Othman Ahmad Razi , Kamaruddin Kamarulzaman , Dahalan Farrah Aini , Ibrahim Naimah , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

The volume of contaminated rivers in Malaysia continues to keep rising through the years. The cost of instrumental monitoring is uneconomical and prohibits schedule monitoring of contaminants particularly heavy metals. In this work, a rapid enzyme assay utilizing the molybdenum-reducing enzyme as an inhibitive assay, prepared in crude form from the molybdenum-reducing bacterium Serratia sp. strain DRY5 has been developed for monitoring the heavy metals mercury, silver, copper and chromium in contaminated waters in the Juru Industrial Estate. The crude enzyme extract transformed soluble molybdenum (phosphomolybdate) into a deep blue solution, which is inhibited by heavy metals such as mercury, silver, copper and chromium. The IC50 and Limits of Detection (LOD) values for mercury, copper, silver and cadmium were 0.245, 0.298, 0.367, 0.326, and 0.124, 0.086, 0.088 and 0.094 mg L-1, respectively. The assay is rapid, and can be carried out in less than 10 minutes. In addition, the assay can be carried out at ambient temperature. The IC50 values for these heavy metals are more sensitive than several established assays. Water samples from various locations in the month of November from the Juru Industrial Estate (Penang) were tested for the presence of heavy metals using the developed assay. Enzyme activity was nearly inhibited for water samples from several locations. The presence of heavy metals was confirmed instrumentally using Atomic Emission Spectrometry and a Flow Injection Mercury System. The assay is rapid and simple and can be used as a first screening method for large scale monitoring of heavy metals.
Partial purification and characterization of the molybdenum-reducing enzyme from the glyphosate-degrading Burkholderia vietnamiensis strain AQ5-12
Authors: Jamulidin Siti Nur Khadijah , Manogaran Motharasan , Yakasai Mohd Hafeez , Rahman Mohd Fadhil Abd , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

In this study, a novel glyphosate-degrading shows the ability to reduce molybdenum to molybdenum blue. The enzyme from this bacterium was partially purified and partially characterized to ascertain whether the Mo-reducing enzyme from this bacterium shows better or lower efficiency in reducing molybdenum compared to other Mo-reducing bacterium that only exhibits a single biotransformation activity. The enzyme was partially purified using ammonium sulphate fractionation. The Vmax for the electron donating substrate or NADH was at 1.905 nmole Mo blue/min while the Km was 6.146 mM. The regression coefficient was 0.98. Comparative assessment with the previously characterized Mo-reducing enzyme from various bacteria showed that the Mo-reducing enzyme from Burkholderia vietnamiensis strain AQ5-12 showed a lower enzyme activity.
Kinetic studies of the partially purified molybdenum-reducing enzyme from Bacillus pumilus strain lbna
Authors: Abo-Shakeer Lubna Kamil Abdulhussein , Rahman Mohd Fadhil Abd , Yakasai Mohd Hafeez , Bakar Nurlizah Abu , Othman Ahmad Razi , Syed Mohd Arif , Abdullah Norhani , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Bacterial based remediation of environmental toxicants is a promising innovative technology for molybdenum pollution. To date, the enzyme responsible for molybdate reduction to Mo-blue from bacteria show that the Michaelis-Menten constants varies by one order of magnitude. It is important that the constants from newer enzyme sources be characterized so that a comparison can be made. The aim of this study is to characterize kinetically the enzyme from a previously isolated Mo-reducing bacterium; Bacillus pumilus strain Lbna. The maximum activity of this enzyme occurred at pH 5.5 and in between 25 and 35 oC. The Km and Vmax of NADH were 6.646 mM and 0.057 unit/mg enzyme, while the Km and Vmax of LPPM were 3.399 mM and 0.106 unit/mg enzyme. The results showed that the enzyme activity for Bacillus pumilus strain Lbna were inhibited by all heavy metals used. Zinc, copper, silver, chromium, cadmium and mercury all caused more than 50% inhibition to the Mo-reducing enzyme activity with copper being the most potent with an almost complete inhibition of enzyme activity observed.
Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons by Bacillus spp.: A Review
Authors: Kaida Nurulhuda , Habib Syahir , Yasid Nur Adeela , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

This mini review aims to provide an overview of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by Bacillus species. The first half of the scientific assessment is focusing on the impact of usage of petroleum hydrocarbons such as diesel fuels towards organisms and the surrounding environments. The other section of the literature collection discusses on the microbial remediation of this recalcitrant compounds by microbial species with special highlight on the genus Bacillus. This short evaluation will improve our present comprehension of bacterial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons and their respective derivatives while providing an insight on the role of Bacillus species in microbial remediation communities.
Kinetic Analysis of the Adsorption of Glyphosate onto Palm Oil Fronds Activated Carbon
Authors: Marbawi Hartinie , Ros Saidon Khudri Muhammad Arif Mukhriz , Othman Ahmad Razi , Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Gansau Jualang Azlan , Yasid Nur Adeela
Published: April 2022

Existing techniques for the treatment of pollutants include membrane separation, ion exchange, precipitation, transformation and biosorption. Of all of this technology, biosorption has several positive aspects which include low operating expenses, very efficient detoxification of toxicants at low concentrations, low amount of disposal materials and does not need nutrient requirements as in bacterial-based remediation, the latter of which is limited by the presence of heavy metals and other toxicants. The biosorption of glyphosate on palm oil fronds activated carbon can be an efficient and low-cost tool for remediation of glyphosate. The absorption kinetics data of biosorption isotherm on the biosorption of glyphosate on palm oil fronds activated carbon were analyzed using three modelsâ€”pseudo-1st, pseudo-2nd and Elovich, and fitted using non-linear regression. The Elovich model was the poorest in fitting the curve based on visual observation followed by the pseudo-1st order. Statistical analysis based on root-mean-square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (adjR2), bias factor (BF), accuracy factor (AF), corrected AICc (Akaike Information Criterion), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and Hannanâ€“Quinn information criterion (HQC) that showed that the pseudo-second order model is the best model. Kinetic analysis using the pseudo-second order model at 250 mg/L glyphosate gave a value of equilibrium sorption capacity qe of 94.12 mg g-1 (95% confidence interval from 89.913 to 98.332) and a value of the pseudo-second-order rate constant, k2 of 0.02 (95% confidence interval from 0.012 to 0.023). Further analysis is needed to provide proof for the chemisorption mechanism usually tied to this kinetic.
Characterization of an Acrylamide-degrading Bacterium Isolated from Hydrocarbon Sludge
Authors: Aisami Abubakar , Gusmanizar Neni
Published: April 2022

A major source of acrylamide in soil comes from herbicide formulation that contained polyacrylamide that slowly decomposes to acrylamide. Research in acrylamide biodegradation by microbe as a tool for its bioremediation is slowly gaining attention globally. In this research, a hydrocarbon-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strain Dr Y Kertih isolated from petroleum sludge was able to grow on acrylamide. The results show that 1% (w/v) glucose supplied with acrylamide (as the only nitrogen source) was the best carbon source for the growth of acrylamide-degrading bacterium. The isolate was also able to use diesel as a carbon source. The bacterium shows an optimal growth at 300 mg/L acrylamide, pH between pH 6.5 and 7.5 and temperature between 25 and 30 Â°C. The isolate was able to grow on amides such as acetamide and 2-chloroacetamide, but their growth was inhibited by toxic heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and chromium. Growth kinetic studies using the Haldane model for growth indicated substrate toxicity at higher concentrations on acrylamide. The maximum growth rate (Âµmax) was 0.267 h-1 while the saturation constant or half velocity constant Ks and inhibition constant Ki, were 0.182 and 0.25 g/L, respectively. Thus, the bacterium holds great potential as a candidate to remediate acrylamide.
Kinetics Modelling of Tributyltin Toxicity on The Growth of Bacillus stearothermophilus
Authors: Abubakar Abdussamad , Ibrahim Salihu , Garba Ilelah Kabiru , Tanko Abubakar Sadiq , Abdulrasheed Mansur , Adamu Abdullahi , Mohammed Bose Mahmud , Uba Garba
Published: April 2022

The growth of the bacterium, Bacillus stearothermophilus was intensely inhibited by tributyltin (TBT). As the TBT concentration increases, the overall specific growth rate was inhibited. The growth rates obtained were then modelled according to the modified Han-Levenspiel, Wang, Liu, Shukor and modified Andrews. Among the five models, Wang shows the best fitting while the Andrew 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, Î¼max and m which represent critical TBT concentration (nM), maximum growth rate (nM h) and empirical constant values were 177.99 (95%, confidence interval 144.26 to 211.71), 2.41 (95%, confidence interval of 2.17 to 2.64) and 2.76 (95%, confidence interval of 1.44 to 4.07) respectively.
Outlier and Normality Testing of the Residuals for the Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) Model Used for Modelling the Total Number of COVID-19 Cases for Brazil
Authors: Uba Garba , Zandam Nuhu Danlahi , Mansur Abdulrasheed , Shukor Mohd Yunus
Published: April 2022

Traditionally, testing for outliers is performed by first creating a null hypothesis, H0, indicating that the suspected results do not differ significantly from those of other members of the data set, and then rejecting it if the likelihood of getting the experimental results is extremely low (e.g., p=0.05). Similarly, if H0 can be rejected, the questionable findings may be discarded as outliers as well. If H0 is retained in the data set, it is important to keep the dubious findings in the data set. In general, in nonlinear regression, the residuals of the curve must be normally distributed before any test for the existence of outliers is performed. This is often accomplished through the use of normalcy tests such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Wilks-Shapiro, D'Agostino-Pearson, and Grubb's tests, the latter of which checks for the presence of an outlier and is the subject of this study. Normality tests for residues used in general nonlinear regression revealed that the usage of the Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) Model used for Modelling the Total Number of COVID-19 Cases for Brazil was adequate due to lack of an outlier. The critical value of Z from statistical table for Grubbsâ€™ test for a single outlier using mean and SD was 0.114 (n=50). The Grubbs (Alpha = 0.05) g value was 3.597. Individual Z value indicates that the residual with a value of -3 (row 3) was far from the rest and is deemed a significant outlier (p < 0.05). This outlier was removed, and subsequent Grubbâ€™s test show the absence of other outliers. As the Grubbsâ€™ test require for the normality of the residuals, several normality tests (Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Wilks-Shapiro, Anderson-Darling and the D'Agostino-Pearson omnibus K2 test) were carried out and the results were found to conform to normality. In addition, a visual inspection of the modelâ€™s normal probability or Q-Q plot shows a nearly straight and appeared to exhibit no underlying pattern. The resulting histogram overlaid with the ensuing normal distribution curve also reveals that the residuals were truly random and that the model used was adequately fitted.
Mathematical Modeling of the Growth Kinetics of Bacillus sp. on Tannery Effluent Containing Chromate
Authors: Halmi M.I.E. , Shukor M.S. , Johari W.L.W. , Shukor M. Y
Published: April 2022

Kinetic equations, which describe the activity of an enzyme or a microorganism on a particular substrate, are crucial in understanding many phenomena in biotechnological processes. They allow the mathematical prediction of growth parameters important for identifying key parameters for controlling growth. We remodeled the published work on chromate reduction by Bacillus sp.(JUBTCR3) using several more growth kinetic models such as Monod, Teissier, Andrews and Noack, Aiba, Webb (Edward), Yano and Koga, Han and Levenspiel and Luong and evaluated the accuracy of the fitted model using statistical analysis such as root mean square (rmse), adjusted coefficient of determination (R2), corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc), Bias Factor,Accuracy Factor and f-test. the calculated value for the Haldane constants in this work such as maximal growth rate, half saturation constant and half inhibition constant rate symbolized by umax, ks, and ki, were 0.07 hr-1, 17.4 mg/dm3 and 102.95 mg/dm3, respectively. The true umax where the gradient for the slope is zero for the Haldane model was approximately 0.037 h-1 at 42 mg/dm3chromate. the results indicate that the exhaustive use of mathematical models on available published results could support published results using comparative analyses of more models backed by statistical analyses that can provide new knowledge on the way toxic substance inhibit growth rate in microbes.
Testing the Normality of Residuals on Regression Model for the Growth of Paracoccus sp. SKG on Acetonitrile
Authors: Halmi M.I.E. , Shukor M.S. , Masdor N.A. , Shamaan N.A. , Sabullah M.K. , Shukor M.Y.
Published: April 2022

Bioremediation of acetonitrile, an organonitrile, has been touted as a more economical and feasible method compared to physical and chemical approaches. In this work, we model the growth of growth of Paracoccus sp. SKG on acetonitrile from published literature to obtain vital growth constants. We discovered that the Buchanan-three-phase model via nonlinear regression utilizing the least square method was the very best model to explain the growth curve. However, the use of statistical tests to choose the best model relies heavily on the residuals of the curve to be statistically robust. More often than not, the residuals must be tested for conformation to normal distribution. In order for these assumptions to be met, we perform statistical diagnosis tests such as the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Wilks-Shapiro and D'agostino-Pearson tests.
Microorganisms Involved in the Bioremediation of Pentachlorophenol and Lignin Discharged by the Pulp and Paper Industry
Authors: Adamu MT , Dahiru M , Garba L
Published: April 2022

Pulp and paper industry are one of the fastest-growing industries due to increased demand in paper products which are proved to affect our environment negatively. Global consumption of paper has increased by 400% in the last four decades and this suggests that more research is required to assess the impact of industrial effluents on our environment and public health. Paper products are generally biodegradable, however, the processes involved in its production which involve the use of mainly bleaching agents and other non-biodegradable substances pose a serious problem to the environment. There are more than 250 chemicals released in paper mill waste and some are xenobiotics. Different methods such as physical and chemical methods can be adopted for the remediation of the effluents but are proved to be costly and not safe to the environment. On the other hand, the biological method is shown to be less costly and environmentally friendly. Microorganisms and their enzymes have shown a promising future for bioremediation of effluents related to the paper mill. Pentachlorophenol is extremely hazardous to living cells and therefore need to be removed from the environment. Microorganisms including bacteria and fungi have the potential to degrade phenolic compounds e.g. Bacillus stearothermiphilus, Pseudomonas putida, Coricus versicolor, Sphingomonas chlorophenol, Fusarium sp, Bacillus subtilis and P. aeroginosa.. Enzymes used for the degradation include phenol hydrooxylase, polyphenoloxylase, laccase, peroxidase among others. Lignin is another important pollutant and is resistant to microbial degradation, but it has been proved that certain bacteria and fungi like can degrade it. This review focused on use of microorganism to reduce or eradicate pollutants released from the paper industry. It can serve as a review for further research to be conducted especially in the field of biotechnology.
Adsorption Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies of Methylene Blue Dye Using Groundnut Shell and Sorghum Husk Biosorbent
Authors: Hammari Abubakar M. , Abubakar Hayatuddeen , Misau M. I. , Aroke U.O. , Hamza U.D.
Published: April 2022

The Groundnut Shell (GS) and Sorghum Husk (SH) was used as an adsorbent for adsorption of Methylene Blue (MB) dye. The adsorbent was characterized using FTIR and Proximate analysis, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum showed the presence of absorption bands typical of a plant-based biomaterial. The effects of various experimental parameters, such as initial dye concentration, and contact time on the adsorption extent were investigated. The results showed that the percentage removal of MB dye was increased by increasing the concentrations of dye. The dye concentration was determined by spectrophotometry. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Harkins and Jura models were used to representing the equilibrium data. The Langmuir model was more adequate to represent the equilibrium data for MB with GS, whereas the Temkin model fitted well to both GS and SH for MB. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 7.052 mg/g and 15.3846 mg/g for GS and SH, respectively with MB dye. Adsorption data were modelled using the pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetic equations, power function and Elovich models. It was seen that the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation could best describe the sorption kinetics for all the adsorption processes. It was concluded that GS and SH adsorbent can be utilized as an efficient low-cost adsorbent for removal of Methylene Blue dye.