Production and Characterization of Biosurfactants from Abattoir Wastewater

Five genera of bacteria were isolated from abattoir waste water and identified as Bacillus licheniforms, Bacillus alvei, Pseudomonas paucimobilis, Vibrio metschnikovii and Yersinia enterocolitica. The isolates were screened for biosurfactant production using blood haemolysis test, emulsification test, oil spreading methods. The biosurfactants were characterized using GC-MS analysis. The isolates showed haemolytic activity and the highest emulsification index of 71% was observed from Pseudomonas paucimobilis followed by Bacillus alvei with emulsification index of 67% whereas Bacillus licheniformis has the lowest emulsification index of 11%. Also Bacillus alvei showed a high oil displacement of 20mm followed by Bacillus licheniformis with 18ml oil displacement whereas Pseudomonas paucimobilis has the lowest oil displacement of 15mm. The biosurfactant could be employed to enhance oil recovery bioremediation. Keywords: Abattoir, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Biosurfactants, Wastewate

Effect of Temperature and Relative Humidity on the Growth of Helminthosporium fulvum

The effects of temperature and relative humidity on the growth of Helminthosporium fulvum were investigated. Various temperature regimes of 10oC, 15oC, 20oC, 25oC, 30oC, 35oC and 40¢ªC were used to determine the temperature effect on the growth of H. fulvum. Maximum growth of H. fulvum was obtained at 25¢ªC and 30¢ªC temperatures. The fungus was also cultured on 100, 92.5, 85, 74 and 32.5% relative humidity regimes. The fungus showed maximum growth at 92.5 and 100% relative humidity. The growth of the fungus was observed to increase with increase in relative humidity and vice versa. There were significant differences (P¡Â0.05) in the growth of the fungus at different temperature and relative humidity regimes. The implication of these findings were discusse

Effect of Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis L) Leaf Extract on Root-Knot Nematode of Tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum L.)

A screen house experiment was conducted to test the efficacy of leaf extract of mahogany (Khaya senegalensis L) for the control of root-knot nematodes of tomato. The completely randomized design was used to test the materials. Results obtained showed that the leaf extracts of the mahogany plant significantly (P0.05) reduced the population of the nematodes compared to the untreated seedlings. It also indicated that there is significant difference (P0.05) on the effect of the extract on the test organism between the varying concentrations of the extract used. The study revealed that the higher the concentration of the extract the more its effect on the test organism. The result also showed a significant variation (P0.05) in the extent of galling, plant height and root lenght in tomato treated with different levels of concentrations of the leaves extracts. The implications of these findings were discussed

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Patient on long Term Hemodialysis - a Case Report

Pain in hands is a common complaint in patients of end-stage renal disease on long term hemodialysis. This pain can arise from various different etiological factors. We present one such case of 56 years old lady who suffered from pain in the hand due to carpal tunnel syndrome on the side with angioaccess. Carpal tunnel was released by open surgical technique resulting in symptomatic relief of the patient

Studying the Optimum Conditions of ‎Hygromycin B Production and Detect their ‎Toxicity

تم استخلاص ال hygromycin B بأستخدام خلات الاثيل, فُصل المحتوى العضوي عن المائي في راشح المزرعه البكتيرية السائلة, واعطى المحتوى المائي فقط فعالية حيوية بأستخدام تقنية الأنتشار في الحفر على سطح الأغر (Agar well diffusion technique) عند تركيز25ملغم/مل (كمستخلص خام) , اعطى هذا الطور فعالية حيوية ضد مجموعة من الاحياء المجهرية اشتملت على بكتريا واحدة موجبة لغرام (Staphylococcus aureus) وخمس سالبة لغرام Pseudomonas aeruginosa) , Proteus mirabilis,, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae , Salmonella typhi) و خميرة واحدة( (Saccharomyces  cerevisiae.        عند الكشف عن ال hygromycin B aminoglycoside   بأستخدام  كروموتوغرافيا الطبقه الرقيقه لتأكيد وجود المضاد الحيوي, تم الحصول على نفس معدل الجريان (Rf) 0.357 للـ hygromycin B القياسي .        اظهرت نتائج الظروف المثلى للوسط الزرعي البكتيري ان اعلى فعالية حيوية للـ hygromycin B  تم الحصول عليها عند الرقم الهيدروجيني 8  والحضن بحرارة 35 م° لمدة 10 ايام.           تمت دراسة التأثير السمي للـ hygromycin B على كبد الفئران المختبرية وأظهرت تغيرات طفيفه على انسجة كبد الفأر.Hygromycin B was extracted with ethyl acetate, which separates organic phase from aqueous phase in the broth culture filtrate, only the aqueous phase showed significant antimicrobial activity by using agar well diffusion technique. At a concentration of 25mg/ml (as crude extract), this phase excreted its activity against the test microorganisms which include; one G(+) bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), five G(–) bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi) and one yeast (Saccharomyces  cerevisiae).          After detecting the aminoglycoside hygromycin B by the Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) method to ensure presence of the antibiotic, same flow rate (Rf) value (0.357) as that of the standard hygromycin B was obtained.          Results of the optimization conditions showed that the highest antimicrobial activity of hygromycin B was obtained at a medium pH of 8 and incubation temperature of 35°C for 10 days. When the toxicity of hygromycin B crude extract under such conditions was examined on mice liver, a mild effects were appeare

Effect of essential oils extracted from Satureja calamintha, Mentha pulegium and Juniperus phoenicea on in vitro methanogenesis and fermentation traits of vetch-oat hay

The impact of inclusion of essential oils (EO) extracted from Juniperus phoenicea, Satureja calamintha and Mentha pulegium at three levels: 0, 1.66, 3.33 and 6.66 μl/ml of incubation medium, on methane production and rumen fermentation traits of vetch-oat hay was studied in in vitro gas production test, using 200 mg of substrate in a 60 ml graduated syringes. Gas production was recorded at 3, 6, 9, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. Methane was measured at 3, 24 and 96 h, while pH and ammonia N were analyzed just at 24 h of incubation. At 24 h of fermentation, all doses of EO reduced significantly total gas and methane production (P < 0.05). At the highest concentration and after 24 h, methanogenesis was decreased by 60.98, 57.70 and 64.64% for J. phoenicea, M. pulegium and S. calamintha, respectively. This effect was more pronounced at the end of fermentation (96 h) where reduction in methane production was superior to 72%. However, addition of EO increased pH and decreased significantly ammonia concentration, mainly, for high EO concentrations. The results indicate that these EO had a potential to reduce methanogenesis in the rumen, but further in vitro and in vivo trials are required to search optimum dose which reduce methane production without adversely changing dietary fermentation and rumen function.Key words: Methane, ammonia, essential oils, Satureja calamintha (Calament), Mentha pulegium (fliou, Menthe pouliot), Juniperus phoenicea (Arar, Genévrier), in vitro gas production test

Twin‐engined diagnosis of discrete‐event systems

Diagnosis of discrete-event systems (DESs) is computationally complex. This is why a variety of knowledge compilation techniques have been proposed, the most notable of them rely on a diagnoser. However, the construction of a diagnoser requires the generation of the whole system space, thereby making the approach impractical even for DESs of moderate size. To avoid total knowledge compilation while preserving efficiency, a twin-engined diagnosis technique is proposed in this paper, which is inspired by the two operational modes of the human mind. If the symptom of the DES is part of the knowledge or experience of the diagnosis engine, then Engine 1 allows for efficient diagnosis. If, instead, the symptom is unknown, then Engine 2 comes into play, which is far less efficient than Engine 1. Still, the experience acquired by Engine 2 is then integrated into the symptom dictionary of the DES. This way, if the same diagnosis problem arises anew, then it will be solved by Engine 1 in linear time. The symptom dic- tionary can also be extended by specialized knowledge coming from scenarios, which are the most critical/probable behavioral patterns of the DES, which need to be diagnosed quickly