Development of novel home automation system via Raspberry Pi

Automation is not a new idea in our modern life. Large businesses and wealthy homeowners have used this technology for years now [1]. This automation concept can benefit our daily lives through many ways. The aim of this project is to develop a Home Automation System that focused on helping handicapped and elderly people to perform their chores routine such as turn on or turn off fan and light, so that it can be done wirelessly by using handheld devices such as Smartphone. This system will be based on Raspberry Pi, and is designed to be an affordable and reliable home automation system yet, easy to setup and use. It is hoped that it will provide a better living environment, and also to reduce wastage of electricity by giving user the power to control, conserve and react according user needs, that can be done using the scheduling function for automatic operation of home appliances

Gene expression patterns of Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 in response to cold, and freeze stress

Psychrophilic yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 was isolated from the sea ice in the Southern Ocean. Several recent studies have revealed some of the strategies employed by G. antarctica PI12 to grow and survive at low temperatures, but those information are still limited. Hence this project was carried out to sequence the whole transcriptome to generate additional information on the cold-adaptation strategies of G. antarctica PI12. The yeast grown optimally in Saccharomyces cerevisiae minimal medium at 12 °C was subsequently exposed to cold-shock at 0 °C and freeze-shock at −12 °C for 6 h and 24 h. RNA from those cells were extracted, sequenced, and analyzed. Interestingly, the results showed that G. antarctica PI12 remained metabolically active at −12 °C. Two hundred and five genes were differentially expressed in the cells. Among them, 107 genes were upregulated while 98 genes were downregulated. In the first 6 h after the cells were exposed to cold- and freeze-shocks, CCR4-NOT (carbon catabolite repressed 4 - negative on TATA-less) core subunit cdc36, DNA repair protein Rad8, Elongation factor 1-gamma, 26s proteosome subunit 45, and Homocitrate synthase genes were commonly upregulated to perform several immediate and important tasks to ensure the cells survived. Apart from that, there were also genes upregulated and downregulated uniquely at 6 h and 24 h to facilitate the cells to adjust to the new temperatures. After overcoming the stress of the cold- and freeze-shocks for 24 h, the cells acclimatized to those temperatures and became metabolically active again, and the cell cycles related genes were up-regulated

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: the role of Islamic social finance towards realizing financial inclusion in the unprecedented Covid-19

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of Islamic social finance towards realising financial inclusion in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 2030 agenda for SDGs, as propagated by United Nations Member States in 2015. A critical analysis is made to explain the possible contribution of Islamic social finance in achieving financial inclusion which is aligned with SDGs that brings balanced to the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual of the community in supporting overall economic growth which finally combats the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results may also motivate the financial industries to promote Islamic social finance products and corporate social responsibilities as well as enhance the development of ISF towards achieving financial inclusion in fulfilling SDGs which is seen as being parallel with Maqᾱṣid al-Sharῑ῾ah especially in resolving unpredictable economic issuesand hiccups during COVID-19

Inactivation of the Catalytic Subunit of cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase A Causes Delayed Appressorium Formation and Reduced Pathogenicity of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

The cyclic AMP- (cAMP-) dependent protein kinase A signaling pathway is one of the major signaling pathways responsible for regulation of the morphogenesis and pathogenesis of several pathogenic fungi. To evaluate the role of this pathway in the plant pathogenic fungus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, CgPKAC, was cloned, inactivated, and the mutant was analyzed. Analysis of the Cgpkac mutant generated via gene replacement showed that the mutants were able to form appressoria; however, their formation was delayed compared to the wild type. In addition, the mutant conidia underwent bipolar germination after appressoria formation, but no appressoria were generated from the second germ tube. The mutants also showed reduced ability to adhere to a hydrophobic surface and to degrade lipids localized in the appressoria. Based on the number of lesions produced during a pathogenicity test, the mutant's ability to cause disease in healthy mango fruits was reduced, which may be due to failure to penetrate into the fruit. These findings indicate that cAMP-dependent protein kinase A has an important role in regulating morphogenesis and is required for pathogenicity of C. gloeosporioides

Characterization of Inducible HSP70 Genes in an Antarctic Yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica PI12, in Response to Thermal Stress

The induction of highly conserved heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is often related to a cellular response due to harmful stress or adverse life conditions. In this study, we determined the expression of Hsp70 genes in the Antarctic yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica, under different several thermal treatments for several exposure periods. The main aims of the present study were (1) to determine if stress-induced Hsp70 could be used to monitor the exposure of the yeast species G. antarctica to various types of thermal stress; (2) to analyze the structures of the G. antarctica HSP70 proteins using comparative modeling; and (3) to evaluate the relationship between the function and structure of HSP70 in G. antarctica. In this study, we managed to amplify and clone 2 Hsp70 genes from G. antarctica named GaHsp70-1 and GaHsp70-2. The cells of G. antarctica expressed significantly inducible Hsp70 genes after the heat and cold shock treatments. Interestingly, GaHsp70-1 showed 2–6-fold higher expression than GaHsp70-2 after the heat and cold exposure. ATP hydrolysis analysis on both G. antarctica HSP70s proved that these psychrophilic chaperones can perform activities in a wide range of temperatures, such as at 37, 25, 15, and 4 ◦C. The 3D structures of both HSP70s revealed several interesting findings, such as the substitution of a β-sheet to loop in the N-terminal ATPase binding domain and some modest residue substitutions, which gave the proteins the flexibility to function at low temperatures and retain their functional activity at ambient temperatures. In conclusion, both analyzed HSP70s played important roles in the physiological adaptation of G. antarctica

Functional Analysis of an Appressorium-Specific Gene from Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

A novel gene (CAS2) specifically expressed during appressorium formation was isolated from Colletotrichum gloeosporioides using Differential Display RT-PCR. CAS2 comprises 368 deduced amino acid residues and is 50% identical to a hypothetical protein from Chaetomium globosum. ProtFun 2.2 server analysis predicted that Cas2 functions as a transport and binding protein. Based on putative transmembrane domain prediction software (HMMTOP), Cas2 protein is composed of five alpha-helical transmembrane domains with a very short external N-terminus tail and long internal C-terminus. ExPASy ScanProsite analysis showed the presence of integrin beta chain cysteine-rich domain, N-myristoylation site, EGF-like domain, 2Fe-2S ferredoxins, iron-sulfur binding region, VWFC domain, fungal hydrophobins signature, membrane lipoprotein lipid attachment site, and Janus-faced atracotoxin (J-ACTX) family signature in CAS2 protein. Mutants with deleted CAS2 were not significantly different in terms of vegetative growth, conidiation, and appressoria production compared to wild type. However, the Cas2 mutant produced multipolar germination, a feature which distinguishes it from wild type strain. Interestingly, the mutant is non-virulent to mango fruits, indicating that CAS2 may encode proteins that function as novel virulence factors in fungal pathogens

Characterising yeast isolates from Malaysia towards the development of alternative heterologous protein expression system

Yeasts with GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) status are commonly used as hosts for heterologous protein production. Yeasts are suitable expression hosts as they have been extensively characterised genetically. The objective of this project was to isolate yeasts from Malaysian food sources and subsequently to develop these as alternative hosts for heterologous protein production. Yeasts were isolated from Malaysian traditional fermented food namely ‘tapai’, ‘tuak’ and ‘ragi’. A total of 23 isolates were obtained and subjected to molecular identification by amplification and sequencing of the universally conserved ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 26S rDNA and 18S rDNA sequences. We identified three species of yeasts, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hanseniaspora guilliermondii and Pichia anomala, which have a long tradition of usage in food production and have no adverse effects on humans. To test the feasibility of the yeasts as heterologous expression hosts, we have constructed an integrative vector, p1926Zeo containing the yeast 26S rDNA and Zeocin® resistance cassette. The p1926Zeo vector was linearised and transformed into both P. anomala and H. guilliermondii isolates via electroporation. Both hosts were successfully transformed at a relatively high efficiency. The transformants obtained had a growth profile similar to the respective wild type, indicating that integration of the plasmids into the host chromosome did not affect growth. These transformants were stable as they exhibited resistance to Zeocin even after 20 generations. Thus, both P. anomala and H. guilliermondii isolates exhibited the potential to be further developed as alternative heterologous protein expression hosts

Laccases repertoire of a subterranean termite Coptotermes curvignathus holmgren (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae)

Coptotermes curvignathus is a subterranean termite species that vigorously feed on living-tree. The cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin components in the wood are too robust for many organisms to break down and extract energy from but they serve as main carbon and energy sources for C. curvignathus. The ability of this subterranean termite thrive on wood diet may attribute by its array of laccase repertoire. Laccases are known for many functions including detoxification of plant tissues via xenobiotic pathway, and most importantly for termite is lignin modification. This paper highlighted the type of laccases produced by C. curvignathus based on transcriptomic data that were generated from 500 termites’ digestive system using Illumina HiSeq 2000. Raw data was trimmed and assembled by SOLEXAQA and Bowtie before loaded into Gene Ontology based data mining software, Blast2GO (B2G). The result showed that, C. curvignathus expressed diverse laccase genes that were phylogenetically similar to other termites’ laccases and distinctly related to fungal or bacterial laccases. Other than providing laccase genes sequences for further gene and enzyme characterization, the result of this study is the first insight into C. curvignathus laccase repertoire that is important to elucidate how C. curvignathus could digest wood efficiently from either intact or partially hydrolyzed wood