Isolation and characterization of feather degrading bacteria from Mauritian soil

This study is aimed at isolating and characterizing new culturable feather degrading bacteria from soils of the University of Mauritius Farm. Bacteria that were isolated were tested for their capability to grow on feather meal agar (FMA). Proteolytic bacteria were tested for feather degradation and were further identified according to their morphological and biochemical characteristics. All of the three isolates were from the Bacillus genus. Maximum enzyme activity was obtained from isolate DF1a. Maximum keratinolytic activity of 128 U/ml and maximum proteolytic activity of 373 U/ml were obtained. The optimal conditions for the keratinolytic activity of this strain were determined to be pH 8.0 and temperature of 70°C. In addition, this isolate was able to completely degrade a whole chicken feather within a period of 14 days at room temperature (28±2°C). These three Bacillus strains (DF1a, DF2b and DF3) are therefore promising strains for the management of chicken feather waste through biotechnological processes.Key words: Bacillus, keratinolytic proteases, keratin waste management

Application of rep-PCR as a molecular tool for the genetic diversity assessment of Jatropha curcas

Jatropha curcas L., a non-edible Euphorbiaceae oil-rich crop cultivated in subtropical/tropical countries, has gained global attention as a promising renewable resource for biodiesel production. Rep polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to investigate the genetic diversity of 15 populations of J. curcas L. Distinct populations of the plant growing wildly in Mauritius were characterised using three molecular markers random-amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP), and BOX. Furthermore, to confirm that the amplicons obtained with rep-PCR were derived from mitochondrial genomes, six randomly chosen bands were cloned and sequenced to demonstrate that the amplified products were mitochondrial genome-specific. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) values were 0.329 and the average percentage of polymorphic loci obtained were 89.28 for BOX primer, followed by RAPD (83.41), and REP (55.81) among the different populations with the percentage polymorphic loci ranging from 13.95 to 100. The homology recorded clearly indicated that the amplified products were mitochondrial genome-specific. Rep-PCR provides a quick and cheap method to study diversity at the mitochondrial level in plants.Keywords: Genetic diversity, Jatropha curcas, rep-polymerase chain reaction (PCR

Controlador difuso basado en la tabla de búsqueda para controlar el proceso de la sala de vapor

Introduction: In this paper, using look-up table control strategy,a fuzzy logic controller is designed for controlling the temperatureof steaming room in terrazzo tile plant corresponding to dedicatedprocess diagrams. Methods: In the proposed method, the temperature and error of temperature are considered as inputs to controlthe duration of valve open time to decrease the activation times ofvalves in order to increase their longevity. The strategy considersan off-line trained look-up table for setting the time of openingvalve in the specific temperature. A fuzzy controller with fifteen extracted rules is designed for controlling the duration of valve opentime. Results: Results show that the number of switching of valvereduces compare to intuitionistic or expert rule extraction. Conclusions: Simulations provide more compatible steaming process routcompare to PID controllers

Detección de fricción estática basado en el método de redes neuronales artificiales

Introduction: Poor product quality and high energy consumption ofmany control loops is due to the presence of static friction. This phenomenon is monitored by human in many industrials. The decision ismade based on human’s brain which is not effective and reliable. Methods: A model-based method of stiction detection based on an artificialneural network (ANN) is proposed. The ANN which is run in parallel tothe process predicts a dynamic model of the process using data obtainedfrom control signal and process output. Results: It can be seen that theproposed method based on ANN can be replaced with human monitoring method. Conclusions: Capability of the proposed method of staticfriction detection for the process with the sticky valve is confirmed bydata obtained from the simulation in a control loop with sticky valve

ISSUES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY TEACHING - Biotechnology in Mauritius: current status and constraints

Agriculture today faces the challenge of sustainable productivity and improved food security on a shrinking area of land under cultivation. Until recently, biotechnology has been viewed as an expensive technology affordable only by rich industrial countries. However, it is now increasingly considered as an essential tool for developing countries to tackle the numerous problems of underdevelopment. Unfortunately, to date, Mauritius, like many other countries in Africa, lags far behind in development, use and commercialisation of biotechnology. This paper outlines the current status of biotechnology in Mauritius, some important constraints faced, as well as how policy makers are planning to make Mauritius "assume the role of a service provider and know-how disseminator in the field of biotechnology by acting as a regional hub and a regional nursery"

Detection And Identification Of Stiction In Control Valves Based On Fuzzy Clustering Method

Kehadiran geseran statik (stiction) dalam injap kawalan mengubah posisi injap daripada kedudukan asalnya dan menghasilkan perlakuan tak lelurus (jalur mati beserta jalur “stick” dan lompatan gelincir) dalam gelung kawalan. Ketaklelurusan ini memaksa gelung kawalan untuk berayun. Ayunan ini seterusnya menghasilkan kualiti produk yang rendah dan peningkatan dalam penggunaan tenaga. Oleh itu, pengesanan stiction pada masa yang tepat dalam gelung kawalan aliran, yang merupakan gelung kawalan penting dalam industri, adalah amat penting. Dalam kaedah-kaedah sebelum ini, apabila keujudan stiction telah dikesan, parameter stiction perlu dianggarkan (kuantifikasi) sebagai satu langkah untuk mengatasi masalah stiction. Walau bagaimanapun, penganggaran ini memerlukan pengorbanan dari segi masa dan usaha serta merupakan satu tugas yang mencabar. Dalam penyelidikan ini, untuk memperbaiki anggaran kovarians penggugusan kabur, sekaitan lelurus data adalah dikesan. Kemudian, satu matriks (yang mengandungi satu jujukan nombor rawak tak tersekait secara bersiri dengan min sifar dan varians terhingga) ditambah kepada matriks kovarians. Pengubahsuaian ini mengelakkan algoritma penggugusan kabur daripada menghadapi masalah berangka. Satu kaedah yang terhasil daripada ide bahawa dengan kewujudan stiction, akan menyebabkan pusat-pusat gugusan kawasan utama gelung kawalan aliran tersimpang daripada pusatnya, telah dicadangkan untuk mengesan sisihan (pengesanan). Selain itu, berdasarkan ide bahawa kecerunan garisan-garisan yang diperolehi daripada turutan pusat gugusan berkongsi beberapa sifat (dengan kehadiran stiction), satu indeks prestasi baru yang mengumpul sifat-sifat ini untuk membezakan punca ayunan (diagnosis) telah juga dicadangkan. Akhir sekali, sebagai alternatif kepada pengkuantitian stiction, satu model proses yang sesuai dengan stiction injap kawalan telah ditentukan (identifikasi) dengan mengkonfigurasi pengesan kabur. Model ini berupaya untuk menangkap (mengenal) semua dinamik yang bersesuaian bagi proses yang mengandungi stiction injap kawalan. Bilangan pengesanan betul yang diperolehi ialah 85%. Bukan sahaja masa pengesanan telah dapat dikurangkan kepada kurang daripada 1 saat (masa purata ialah 0.4505 saat), bahkan prestasi kaedah yang dicadangkan bagi pengesanan, diagnosis dan pengenalan stiction telah turut disahkan oleh kedua-dua data simulasi dan industri. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The presence of static friction (stiction) in control valves deviates the valve position from its origin and therefore produces a nonlinear behavior (dead band plus stick band and slip jump) in control loops. The nonlinearity forces control loops to oscillate. The oscillation results in poor product quality and increased energy consumption. The detection of stiction for flow control loops which form significant control loops in industry in a timely manner is of great importance. After the presence of stiction has been detected, in order to mitigate stiction problem, it is necessary to estimate stiction parameters (quantification) in the earlier methods. However, this estimation which requires huge investment of time and effort is a challenging task. In this study, in order to improve covariance estimation of fuzzy clustering, linearly correlation of data is detected. Then a matrix (which contains a sequence of serially uncorrelated random numbers with zero mean and finite variance) is added to covariance matrix. This modification prevents the fuzzy clustering algorithm from turning into numerical problem. A method, which gain benefits from the idea that in the presence of stiction, the cluster centers of main regions of flow control loops are deviated from their origin, is proposed to detect the deviation (detection). Furthermore, based on the idea that, the slopes of the lines obtained from successive cluster centers, share some properties (in the presence of stiction), a new performance index which collects these properties to distinguish cause of oscillation (diagnosis) is proposed. Finally as an alternative to stiction quantification, by configuring a fuzzy identifier, an appropriate model of process with control valve stiction is identified (identification). The identified model is able to capture (identify) all relevant dynamics of the process with control valve stiction. The number of correct detections is now 85%. Not only has the identification time been decreased to less than a second (i.e. average is 0.4505 seconds), the performance of the proposed methods of stiction detection, diagnosis and identification has also been confirmed by both simulation and industrial data

Repetitive element palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) as a genetic tool to study interspecific diversity in Euphorbiaceae family

Background: The classification of diversity in germplasm collections is important for plant breeding. The repetitive element palindromic-polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) technique was used to investigate inter-specific diversity within 17 species from the Euphorbiaceae family using REP and BOX primers. Results: The agglomerative cluster analysiswas used to evaluate the scoring data. BOX and REP gave amplification with polymorphism of 98.84% and 100% respectively. REP marker demarcated between the subgenus peltatae. Both markers confirmed Jatropha tanjorensis as a natural hybrid between Jatropha gossypifolia and Jatropha curcas . Five random sequences from the rep-PCR gels were chosen, cloned and sequenced. The blast results demonstrated that the amplified products were from the mitochondrial genomes. Conclusion: The rep-PCR molecular tool can be used to characterize diversity in plants as they are suitable for distinguishing eukaryotic genomes effectively

Challenges and Opportunities in the Present Era of Marine Algal Applications

Marine algae are of high importance in their natural habitats and even more now in the world of green technology. The sprouting interest of the scientific community and industries in these organisms is driven by the fast-growing world of modern biotechnology. Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and their integration collectively termed here as ‘marine algal-omics’ have broadened the research horizon in view of enhancing human’s life by addressing environmental problems and encouraging novelty in the field of pharmaceuticals among so many more. Their use in the human society dates back to 500 B. C. in China and later across the globe; they are still being used for similar purposes and more today. There is a hiking interest in marine algae and their derivatives—from phycoremediation, food supplements, pharmaceuticals to dyes. Marine algae are currently considered as an emerging panacea for the society. They are being studied in a multitude of arenas. The multi-use of marine algae is enticing and promises to be a boon for industrial applications. Yet, most marine algae face challenges that might variably constrain their commercialisation. This chapter gives an overview of marine algae including all the ‘omics’ technologies involved in studying marine algae and it explores their multitude applications. It also draws the various successful industries budded around them and presents some of the challenges and opportunities along with future directions

A Novel Intelligent Control System Design for Water BathTemperature Control

Abstract: In this paper a neuro-fuzzy controller (NFC) for temperaturecontrol of a water bath system is proposed.A five layer neural network is used to adjust input and output parameters of membership function in a fuzzy logic controller. The hybrid learning algorithm is used for training this network. The simulation results show that the proposedcontroller has good set point tracking and disturbance rejectionproperties. Also it is robust against changes in the systemparameters. It is also superior to the conventional PID controller

Early bacterial biofilm colonizers in the coastal waters of Mauritius

Background: The past years have witnessed a growing number of researches in biofilm forming communities due to their environmental and maritime industrial implications. To gain a better understanding of the early bacterial biofilm community, microfiber nets were used as artificial substrates and incubated for a period of 24 h in Mauritian coastal waters. Next-generation sequencing technologies were employed as a tool for identification of early bacterial communities. Different genes associated with quorum sensing and cell motility were further investigated. Results: Proteobacteria were identified as the predominant bacterial microorganisms in the biofilm within the 24 h incubation, of which members affiliated to Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria were among the most abundant classes. The biofilm community patterns were also driven by phyla such as Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. The functional analysis based on KEGG classification indicated high activities in carbohydrate, lipid and amino acids metabolism. Different genes encoding for luxI, lasI, agrC, flhA, cheA and cheB showed the involvement of microbial members in quorum sensing and cell motility. Conclusion: This study provides both an insight on the early bacterial biofilm forming community and the genes involved in quorum sensing and bacterial cell motility