Pengaruh tahap stres terhadap kepuasan kerja dalam Kalangan pengajar kolej vokasional di Negeri Pahang

Kajian ini dijalankan bertujuan untuk mengkaji mengenai pengaruh stres terhadap kepuasan kerja dalam kalangan pengajar KV di negeri Pahang dengan memberikan tumpuan kepada tiga aspek iaitu aspek beban kerja, aspek karenah pelajar serta aspek penghargaan dan sokongan. Seramai 240 orang responden yang terdiri daripada kalangan pengajar di lapan buah KV di negeri Pahang telah dipilih secara rawak mudah. Nilai kebolehpercayaan Alpha Cronbach bagi keseluruhan soal selidik ini ialah 0.898. Soal selidik berkaitan pengaruh stres terhadap kepuasan kerja dibina sendiri dan selebihnya diubahsuai berpandukan instrumen yang digunakan oleh penyelidik terdahulu bagi menyediakan pelbagai jenis soalan berdasarkan objektif kajian. Kajian sebenar dijalankan dengan mengedarkan borang soal selidik mengandungi 58 item soalan kepada 240 responden. Data yang diperolehi dianalisis menggunakan Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) versi 22. Analisis statistik deskriptif iaitu skor min dan sisihan piawai digunakan bagi mengenal pasti tahap stres bagi aspek beban tugas, karenah pelajar serta penghargaan dan sokongan dalam kalangan pengajar. Manakala analisis ujian regrasi pelbagai digunakan bagi mengesan pengaruh stres terhadap kepuasan kerja. Dapatan kajian mendapati min keseluruhan tahap stres bagi aspek beban tugas dan karenah pelajar adalah sederhana dengan nilai skor min 3.49. Manakala hasil dapatan keseluruhan nilai min bagi konstruk tahap stres aspek penghargaan dan sokongan berada pada tahap yang tinggi iaitu 3.81. Dapatan analisis ujian regrasi pelbagai pula menunjukkan tahap stres bagi aspek beban tugas, aspek karenah pelajar dan aspek penghargaan dan sokongan mempengaruhi kepuasan kerja. Oleh itu, beberapa cadangan telah dikemukakan dalam kajian ini dalam usaha menangani stres yang berterusan serta boleh mempengaruhi tahap kepuasan kerja. Antara cadangan pengkaji adalah tenaga pengajar diberi lebih banyak pendedahan berkaitan perubahan sistem pendidikan vokasional yang dialami sekarang agar mereka lebih bersedia dalam menggalas tugas yang baharu seterusmya akan memberi kepuasan kerja dalam kalangan pengajar KV

A mixture of piper leaves extracts and rhizobacteria for sustainable plant growth promotion and bio-control of blast pathogen of organic Bali rice

Rice is a crop that is consumed as a staple food by the majority of the people in the world and therefore failure in rice crops, due to any reason, poses a severe threat of starvation. Rice blast, caused by a fungus Pyricularia oryzae, has been ranked among the most threatening plant diseases of rice and it is found wherever rice is grown. All of the rice blast disease management strategies employed so far have had limited success and rice blast has never been eliminated from rice fields. Hence, there is a need to look for the best remedy in terms of effectiveness, sustainability, and organic nature of the method. This study was aimed at determining the plant growth-promoting and fungicidal effects of a mixture of Piper caninum and Piper betle var. Nigra leaves extracts and rhizobacteria. Gas chromatography–mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis of a mixture of leaves extracts of these plants revealed the presence of new bioactive compounds such as alpha.-gurjunene, gamma.-terpinene, and ethyl 5-formyl 3-(2-ethoxycarbonyl) in a mixture of leaves extracts of P. caninum and P. betle var. Nigra. The mixture of these extracts reduced the intensity of blast disease, inhibited P. oryzae, and improved the growth, yield, and quality of Bali rice. All treatments comprising of different concentrations of a mixture of leaves extracts of P. caninum and P. betle var. Nigra plus rhizobacteria exhibited biocontrol and bioefficacy. However, a 2% concentration of a mixture of these leaves extracts with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) exhibited potent inhibition of growth of P. oryzae, a significant reduction in the intensity of blast disease, and a maximum increase in growth, yield, and quality of Bali rice. In the 15th week, the intensity of blast disease decreased from 80.18% to 7.90%. The mixture of leaves extract + PGPR also improved the height of the plant, the number of tillers, number of leaves, number of grains per panicle, number of heads per panicle, and the full-grain weight per clump. Applications of various concentrations of a mixture of leaves extracts + PGPR resulted in improvement in the potential yield of rice, however, the application of 2% extracts + PGPR gave the highest potential yield of 5.61 tha−1 compared to the low yields in the control and other treatments. The high grain yield observed with the treatment was caused by the low intensity of blast disease. This treatment also strengthened the stem and prevented the drooping of the plant and improved the quality of rice grain

Primer concentration and Pre-denaturation Time Effect on cyt-K Bacillus cereus Detection using Real-Time PCR Method

Foodborne disease is a global threat that can affect all sections of society, both in developed or developing countries. Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive bacteria that can cause food poisoning disease in humans. [2] Real-Time PCR detection method is one of the molecular marker methods that has been widely recognized as a fast, reliable, sensitive and specific detection tool for detecting pathogenic bacteria. In previous studies, the optimum condition and formulas applied for cyt-K 2 primer pairs have been obtained using Real-Time PCR. The purpose of this study is to find out the best conditions work of the primer pair cyt-K Bacillus cereus on detecting bacteria target using variations of pre-denaturation time and primer concentration with Real-Time PCR method. The annealing temperature used for PCR is at 60°C with sample concentration 50 ng/µL of B. cereus. Real-time PCR detection of variations in pre-denaturation time and primer concentration obtained the best conditions for primer pair cyt-K work at minute 4 with a primer concentration of 10 pmol and successfully amplifying the target by producing a Ct value of B. cereus at 13.04. Based on the results of the study, the primer pair cyt-K were reproducible in detecting the target gene and in the further step, this research can be continued to developed a prototype detection kit for foodborne pathogen bacteria using Real-Time PCR method

Purification of Salmonella Typhi Fim-C recombinant proteins with Co-NTA resins as raw materials for development of rapid typhoid fever detection kit

The Fim-C-S typhi recombinant protein is a protein developed from the surface of the Salmonella typhi bacteria. This protein has been known to cause a good immune response. The protein has the potential as a raw material for immuno chromatography-based with gold nano particles as rapid detection kits. Various alternatives are taken to obtain pure protein with the maximum amount. Previous studies have succeeded in purifying the Fim-C-S. typhi recombinant protein with the Ni/NTA approach. This study aims to obtain information on optimum conditions for Fim-C-S. typhi recombinant protein purification with Co/NTA resin as raw material for rapid detection kit, because Co/NTA resin is also known to have good specifications for purification of recombinant proteins with Histidine tagging. There are three main stages in the purification process in this system, namely binding, washing, and elution. The binding and washing processes in this study were carried out 2, 4 and 6 times. Furthermore, the elution process was carried out at an imidazole concentration of 200 mM, 250 mM, and 300 mM. The results of the analysis using ImageJ gel analysis software on the results of the characterization using SDSPAGE showed that the purification in the binding process four and six times showed almost the same intensity of the band with size 31 KDa. The calculation of the yield of purification results showed the highest number of 42.75% in the six times washing process and imidazole concentration of 300 mM. Based on the data, it can be concluded purification of Fim-C-S. typhi recombinant proteins with Co-NTA resin give good results in the binding process four times, washing six times and 300 mM elution concentration. This purified Fim-C-S. typhi recombinant protein will then be used as an antigen in the development of a typhoid fever detection rapid kits

Bioprocess development for high cell density cultivation of Rhizobium trifolii in semi-industrial scale stirred tank bioreactor

Rhizobium trifolii is a symbiotic N-fixing bacterium that is able to facilitate the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia in legumes through the formation of root nodules. Although the use of Rhizobia as microbial inoculants is well-established, there is a lack of information regarding mass production of this type of bacteria in large scale. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop an optimum cultivation condition for high cell mass production of R. trifolii in liquid culture, for 16-L and 150-L stirred-tank bioreactors. Batch cultivation under controlled and uncontrolled pH in 16-L stirred tank bioreactors yielded cell mass concentrations of 8.05 g L-1 and 16.87 g L-1, respectively. To study the limiting factors in Rhizobia cultivation, subsequent bioreactor experiments were carried out in different fed-batch mode such as constant feeding and intermittent addition method. Intermittent addition method yielded 37.95 g L-1 of cell mass which was lower compared to 69.10 g L-1 of cell mass using constant feeding strategy. Fed-batch cultivation of R. trifolli in a 150-L stirred tank bioreactor using the optimum cultivation strategy yielded a maximum cell mass of 27.32 g L-1. This was due to the decrease in oxygen transfer in a larger bioreactor. Under oxygen limited condition, exopolysaccharides (EPS) was accumulated in culture medium and reached about 9.5 g L-1

Detection of Salmonella typhimurium on artificially contaminated milk by real time PCR using STM4497 and fljB primers

Detection of food-borne bacterial pathogens was developed to overcome the limitations. The aim of this research was to develop Salmonella typhimurium detection by Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) using two pairs of primers. The ability of primer pairs to detect S. typhimurium is seen from cycle threshold or Ct. Artificially contaminated milk sample with 24 ng each microliter can be detected with fljB (flagellin gene) primers on Ct 12,933 and with STM4497 (hypothetical protein code) primers on Ct 13,665. The specificity test of both primers showed that melting temperature (Tm) of fljB was 80,5 degree Celsius, and STM449 was 81,6 degree Celsius. FljB and STM4497 primers gave an average detection limit respectively of 11,75 Colony Forming Unit (CFU) each milliliter and 6,8 CFU each milliliter. The time needed throughout the detection process of S. typhimurium with fljB and STM4497 primers is faster than conventional methods. Based on the results it can be concluded that primers fljB and STM449 S. typhimurium can be applied to detection and quantification of S. typhimurium in milk samples

Correction: Tree bark scrape fungus: A potential source of laccase for application in bioremediation of non-textile dyes.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229968.]

Co-Inoculation of Rhizobacteria and Biochar Application Improves Growth and Nutrientsin Soybean and Enriches Soil Nutrients and Enzymes

Gradual depletion in soil nutrients has affected soil fertility, soil nutrients, and the activities of soil enzymes. The applications of multifarious rhizobacteria can help to overcome these issues, however, the effect of co-inoculation of plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and biochar on growth andnutrient levelsin soybean and on the level of soil nutrients and enzymes needs in-depth study. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of co-inoculation of multifarious Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110 and Pseudomonas putida TSAU1 and different levels (1 and 3%) of biochar on growth parameters and nutrient levelsin soybean and on the level of soil nutrients and enzymes. Effect of co-inoculation of rhizobacteria and biochar (1 and 3%) on the plant growth parameters and soil biochemicals were studied in pot assay experiments under greenhouse conditions. Both produced good amounts of indole-acetic acid; (22 and 16 µg mL−1), siderophores (79 and 87%SU), and phosphate solubilization (0.89 and 1.02 99 g mL−1). Co-inoculation of B. japonicum with P. putida and 3% biochar significantly improved the growth and nutrient content ofsoybean and the level of nutrients and enzymes in the soil, thus making the soil more fertile to support crop yield. The results of this research provide the basis of sustainable and chemical-free farming for improved yields and nutrients in soybean and improvement in soil biochemical properties

Psychrotolerant <i>Mesorhizobium</i> sp. Isolated from Temperate and Cold Desert Regions Solubilizes Potassium and Produces Multiple Plant Growth Promoting Metabolites

Soil potassium (K) supplement depends intensively on the application of chemical fertilizers, which have substantial harmful environmental effects. However, some bacteria can act as inoculants by converting unavailable and insoluble K forms into plant-accessible forms. Such bacteria are an eco-friendly approach for enhancing plant K absorption and consequently reducing utilization of chemical fertilization. Therefore, the present research was undertaken to isolate, screen, and characterize the K solubilizing bacteria (KSB) from the rhizosphere soils of northern India. Overall, 110 strains were isolated, but only 13 isolates showed significant K solubilizing ability by forming a halo zone on solid media. They were further screened for K solubilizing activity at 0 °C, 1 °C, 3 °C, 5 °C, 7 °C, 15 °C, and 20 °C for 5, 10, and 20 days. All the bacterial isolates showed mineral K solubilization activity at these different temperatures. However, the content of K solubilization increased with the upsurge in temperature and period of incubation. The isolate KSB (Grz) showed the highest K solubilization index of 462.28% after 48 h of incubation at 20 °C. The maximum of 23.38 µg K/mL broth was solubilized by the isolate KSB (Grz) at 20 °C after 20 days of incubation. Based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization (through the 16S rDNA approach), the isolate KSB (Grz) was identified as Mesorhizobium sp. The majority of the strains produced HCN and ammonia. The maximum indole acetic acid (IAA) (31.54 µM/mL) and cellulase (390 µM/mL) were produced by the isolate KSB (Grz). In contrast, the highest protease (525.12 µM/mL) and chitinase (5.20 µM/mL) activities were shown by standard strain Bacillus mucilaginosus and KSB (Gmr) isolate, respectively