Performance of Solvent (Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) Fermentation by Clostridwmsaccharobutyl/Cum Strain P262 and Ncimb8052 Using Free and Immobilized Cells System

The performance of solvent (Acetone-butanol-ethanol) fermentation by two strains of Clostridium saccharobutylicum (P262 and NCIMB8052) were studied using different sizes of bioreactor (28 mL McCartney bortle, 0.5 L and 2 L stirred tank fermenter). The fermentations were carried out with batch process using freely suspended cells and immobilized cells system. Immobilization of cells was carried out. passively, using cubes of polyurethane foam as biomass support particles (BSP). To study the efficiency of cell immobilization. the variables investigated include pore size of BSP. BSP number and BSP size. The effect of chemical pretreatment on the efficiency of cell immobilization using BSP was investigated using activated carbon (charcoal) and glutaraldehyde. Among the chemical pretreatment applied to the BSP were 4% activated charcoal and 25% glutaraldehyde.The size of bi oreactor gave a signi ficance i nfluence on so l vent fermentati on performance by both solvent-prod ucing strai ns. The highest production of total sol vent ( 1 0.86 giL) and (8. 23 giL) by strain P262 and NCIM B8052 was obtained in 2 L fermenter us ing 50 giL gl ucose. respectively. In 0 . 5 L fermenter, production of total solvent was reduced to 7.99 giL and 7.17 giL for strain P262 and NCIM B8052, respectively. Further reducti on of total solvent was observed in fermentation using 28 mL McCartney bottle. Reducti on of solvent production was found to be associated with the activity of proteolytic enzyme (protease) detected in the culture during the fermentation. This proteolytic enzyme may be responsible in the degradation of enzyme involved in solvent fermentation, which in tum reduced solvent production significantly. Among the different types of starch investigated, com starch was the most susceptible to solvent production ( 1 5 .67 giL) by strain P262 followed by sago starch ( 1 4.54 giL), rice ( 1 0.2 1 giL), tapioca ( 8 . 84 giL) and potato (8.66 giL). In subsequent experiment to investigate the effect of sago starch concentration ( 1 0- 80 giL) on the performance of solvent fermentation, it was found that the highest solvent production ( 1 3 . 8 1 giL) was obtained at 50 giL sago starch. For fermentation using sago starch, the use of 2 L fermenter enhanced the solvent production by about 1 . 5 times higher as compared to 0.5 L fermenter ( 1 3. 1 6 giL). though the activity of amylolytic enzyme secreted did not significantly differ. When sago starch was used as a carbon source, very l ow solvent production ( 1 2.49 glL- 1 6. 87 giL) was obtained in all fermentations using strain NCIMB 8052. The highest efficiency of i m mobilization of cells of C saccharohuly/icum strain P262 and NCIMB8052 was achi eved by using 15 units/28 m! culture medium of I em3 BSP having 60 ppi. The BSP pretreated with 4% activated charcoal increased the effici ency of cell i m m obilization significantly as com pared to untreated B SP. On the other hand, BSP treated with glutaraldehyde was not singniticantly different as compared to untreated B S P . Fermentati on using i m m ob i l ized cells of strain P262 gave h

Nutrients and culture conditions requirements for the degradation of phenol by Rhodococcus UKMP-5M

The capability of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M, isolated from petroleum contaminated soil, in the degradation of phenol was studied using shake flask culture. The effect of nutrients and cultivation conditions on growth of this bacterium and phenol degradation was investigated. Among the different types of medium tested (Ml, M2, M3 and M4), Ml was found to be the preferred medium for growth of this bacterium and phenol degradation. The optimized cultivation conditions for growth of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M and phenol degradation were; 30°C, initial pH 7.5 and buffer concentration ranged from 5 to 50 mM. Improvement of growth and phenol degradation was achieved in medium supplemented with 2 g I-1 glucose. In addition, NaCI at a concentration of 0.1 g I-1 was required to enhance growth and phenol degradation. The addition of 0.4 g I -1 (NH4)2SO4 into the culture medium greatly enhanced phenol degradation. At optimal medium composition and cultivation condition, Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was able to utilize phenol at concentration up to 900 mg I-1. Results of this study showed that Rhodococcus UKMP-5M has potential to be used in the degradation of phenol

Uric acid detection in visible spectrum

The measurement of uric acid based on the optical absorption at visible light spectrum is investigated and tested. Sensing in the visible region was conducted for determination of suitable wavelength that produces high sensitivity and accuracy performance based on the Beer-Lambert law calculation. In this work, the uric acid is detected by detecting sodium urate as a product of chemical reaction between uric acid with sodium hydroxide buffer. The setup has been tested for uric acid concentration ranging from 15 mg/dL to 85 mg/dL. Three wavelengths have been analyzed which are 460 nm, 525 nm and 630 nm. Measured data at 460nm wavelength exhibits the highest sensitivity, which is 0.0012 (mg/dL)-with 86.51% accuracy. Detection of uric acid at visible light spectrum offers a low-cost sensor based on visible LEDs and photodiode is possible to be realized

Design And Characterization Of 20nm SOI MOSFET Doping Abruptness Dependent

SOI MOSFET has currently become a trend for low power devices such as palmtops, cell phone, and other devices because it has a lot of advantage in terms of speed, density, and performance gain. Various efforts have been done to continue the progress in shrinking dimensions and higher-frequency performance will be driven by the market application. Reducing the size of SOI MOSFET will reduce the power, body effect, and parasitic capacitance, and increase the density and so on. This project focused mainly on the source/drain doping abruptness of SOI MOSFET. The doping abruptness was varied to find the best doping profile since the device was shrinking. In order to vary the source/drain doping abruptness, there were several problems to be encountered, which were increase in resistance, increase in threshold voltage, small sub-threshold slope, and others. The purpose of this project was to design the SOI MOSFET with an ideal doping profile and to investigate the impact on threshold voltage, current, and sub-threshold slope due to the variation of source/drain doping abruptness of SOI MOSFET. This project was designed using Silvaco Athena and Silvaco Atlas. Silvaco Athena was used to simulate the device structure and Silvaco Atlas was used to obtain the device characteristics of SOI MOSFET. This whole project was implemented on an SOI MOSFET doping abruptness dependent with a gate length of 21 nm

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC)

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions

Nutrient requirement and kinetics of phenol degradation by Rhodococcus sp. UKMP-5M in batch and continuous culture using stirred tank bioreactor

Rhodococcus UKMP-5M is a gram positive locally isolated strain that capable of degrading an impressive range of xenobiotic and hazardous compounds. This strain arises normally from contaminated soil and aquatic sediments which is highly enriched with the source of contamination. Phenol and its derivatives are known as one of the example of xenobiotic compound that always need to be removed from the environment. Biodegradation by microbial activity may be used as an effective method for phenol removal from the contaminated sites. The feasibility of using Rhodococcus UKMP-5M in phenol biodegradation is the main focus of this study. Nutrients requirement for the enhancement of growth of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M and the ability to degrade phenol was first studied in 250 mL shake-flask culture. The various parameters applied during the cultivation that influenced phenol biodegradation by Rhodococcus UKMP-5M were also optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) aimed at improving the biodegradation performance in terms of percentage of phenol degraded and degradation time. The performance of using cells suspended in medium containing phenol, termed as biotransformation, in biodegradation of phenol was also studied. The effect of mode of bioreactor operation (batch and continuous culture) on phenol biodegradation by Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was studied using 2 L stirred tank bioreactor. The activity of phenol hydroxylase, the enzyme responsible in phenol degradation, was evaluated in various phenol biodegradation experiments. Finally, phenol hydroxylase of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was purified and its characteristics in phenol degradation were identified. From the initial screening of medium composition and cultivation condition, it was found that basal medium M1, temperature of 37°C, pH of 7.5, buffer concentration of 50-150 mM, ammonium sulphate concentration of 0.4 g/L and natrium chloride of 0.1 g/L gave the highest growth of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M and degradation of phenol. Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was capable to tolerate up to 900 mg/L phenol. Phenol degradation by the growing cells of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was further improved by optimization using RSM, where the degradation period for 1 g/L phenol was successfully reduced from 48 h to 27 h with phenol concentration, ammonium sulphate and temperature were the most significant variables that influenced phenol biodegradation. Although the biotransformation using whole cells of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M in minimal salt medium (MSM) containing phenol was successfully developed for the biodegradation of phenol, but the degradation efficiency was lower than those obtained in the growing cell system. In the optimal conditions (agitation speed of 160 rpm, air flow rate of 1.5 vvm and controlled dissolved oxygen tension at 80% air saturation) for biodegradation of phenol by Rhodococcus UKMP-5M using 2 L stirred tank bioreactor, 0.5 g/L of phenol was sucessfuly degraded in 12 h of cultivation. The continuous mode of bioreactor operation was also successfully used for phenol biodegradation by Rhodococcus UKMP-5M, where the phenol degradation rate of 0.18 h -1 obtained in the continuous culture was about 70% higher than that obtained in batch mode of bioreactor operation. In all cases, high biodegradation of phenol was corresponded well with high activity of phenol hydroxylase, suggesting that this enzyme was responsible in phenol biodegradation. The cells of Rhodococcus UKMP-5M were successfully disrupted using glass bead technique for the extraction of phenol hydroxylase. The optimal cell disruption was obtained at this condition: 50 mL falcon bottle, glass bead with the diameter of 425-600 μm, cell concentration of 10%, and disruption time of 30 min. Phenol hydroxylase was purified using anion exchange chromatography by DEAE-sepharose fast flow column, which gave the purification fold and yield of 10.18 and 14.28%, respectively. The molecular weight of phenol hydroxylase was 53 kDa, while the Km and Vmax values of NADH using Lineweaver-burk plot were 16.98 µM and 28.57 U/mg protein, respectively. The optimal temperature and pH for the maximum activity of phenol hydroxylase from Rhodococcus UKMP-5M was obtained at 25oC and pH 7.5, respectively. Results of this study have demonstrated that Rhodococcus UKMP-5M is a versatile bacterium which has a great potential to be used industrially in the removal of xenobiotic compounds especially phenol

The Effectiveness of Soil Extracts from Selangor Peat Swamp and Pristine Forest Soils on the Growth of Green Microalgae sp.

Microalgae are widely utilized in commercial industries. The addition of a modified artificial medium (soil extract) could enhance their growth. Soil extract collected from the Raja Musa peat swamp and mineral soil from the Ayer Hitam Forest Reserve (AHFR), Selangor, Malaysia, were treated using various extraction methods. Carteria radiosa PHG2-A01, Neochloris conjuncta, and Nephrochlamys subsolitaria were grown in microplates at 25 °C, light intensity 33.75 µmol photons m−2s−1 for 9 days. N. conjuncta dominated the growth in 121 °C twice extraction method AFHR samples, with 47.17% increment. The highest concentrations of ammonia and nitrate were detected in the medium with soil extract treated with 121 °C twice extraction method, yielding the concentrations of 2 mg NL−1 and 35 mg NL−1 for ammonia and nitrate of RM soil and 2 mg NL−1 and 2.85 mg NL−1 for the AH soil. These extracts are proved successful as a microalgal growth stimulant, increasing revenue and the need for enriched medium. The high rate of nutrient recovery has the potential to serve as a growth promoter for microalgae

Conversion of waste cooking oil by rhodococcal lipase immobilized in gellan gum

Recently, the application of lipase enzyme as biocatalyst in the conversion of waste cooking oil (WCO) to free fatty acids and glycerol has been trending well. Therefore, the present study attempts to use WCO which is found in abundance in Malaysia as the substrate for halal microbial lipase conversion to glycerol which can be exploited in the food industry. The workability of free lipase for WCO conversion, however suffers severely due to potential denaturation of the enzyme and extended reaction time. Thus, this study embraced the immobilization method to encapsulate crude lipase extracted from Rhodococcus pyridinivorans strain UCC 0009 in gellan gum and calcium alginate, respectively and compared their ability for WCO conversion to free crude lipase. The gellan gum and calcium alginate-immobilized crude lipase evidently exhibited greater WCO conversion, demonstrating 2.18-fold and 1.61-fold enhanced lipase activity, respectively in comparison to free crude lipase. The repeated reuse of the gellan gum-immobilized crude lipase maintained reasonable lipase activity for 9 cycles, retaining an average 85 % WCO conversion for the first seven cycles and 67 % conversion in the subsequent batches. Thus, the immobilized halal lipase can be foreseen as a green substitute to chemical catalyst for WCO conversion which meets the worldwide demand for clean technologies

Effect of inoculum size, inducer and metal ion on lipase production by

Lipases are critical enzymes for industrial applications such as in the food and pharmaceutical fields. Therefore, the discovery of new lipases with enhanced characteristics are always encouraged. Thus, the present study explored the ability of a novel bacterial strain isolated from a tropical climate for lipase production. The optimization method using the one-variable-at-a-time approach was adopted to obtain increased production of lipase. The strain identified as Rhodococcus strain UCC 0009 was able to generate specific lipase activity of 11.67a ± 0.00 mU/mg at optimized conditions of 8 % (v/v) inoculum concentration, 1 % (v/v) olive oil as the inducer, and the addition of Ca2+ions. The specific lipase activity increased by 162 % when the optimization using a one-variable-ata-time approach was adopted compared to that of the non-optimized counterpart, signifying this experimental phase’s importance. The present study’s findings revealed the potential of utilizing Rhodococcus strain UCC 0009 as a green lipase producer for application in bioremediation and biotransformation at an industrial scale. Further study concentrating on enzyme characterization and improving culture conditions for conducive production of lipase via statistical optimization using response surface methodology (RSM) will be attempted to elucidate further the superiority of lipase obtained from local resources