Optimization of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase production by response surface methodology approach.

The aim of the study was to optimized cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) production using local isolated strain MK6 which was identified as Bacillus sp. Optimum activity obtained at temperature of 70 °C and the enzyme shows a wide range of pH stability ranging from 4-10 when stored at 4 °C for 24 h and temperature stability ranging from 30-80 °C at 1 h incubation period. The CGTase activity was even maintained at 0.4 U mL-1 at 90 °C for 40 min incubation. Prior to optimization of CGTase production, selection for the best carbon source through detection using modified phenolphthalein method containing different types of starch were performed. Sago starch gave significant result and was used for further optimization using statistical analysis namely Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach. The optimal calculated values were 3.34% sago starch, initial pH of 10.15 and agitation speed of 187 rpm; with predicted activity of 2.07 U mL-1 of CGTase. These predicted optimal parameters were confirmed in the laboratory and the final CGTase activity obtained was very close to the predicted value of 2.56 U mL-1

1D AND 2D NMR STUDIES OF BENZYL O-V ANILLIN

ABSTRACT The reaction of o-vanillin A with benzyl bromide B2 in acetone as the solvent and K2C03 as a base in the presence of tetra-~butYlammonium iodide (TBAI) as catalyst formed benzyl o-vanillin, C. The complete assignments of C using PROTON, APT, OEPT-135, COSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC NMR in both COCI3and acetone-d6 are discussed, and the coupling constants J are reported in Hertz (Hz). Keywords: 1HNMR13CNMR20 NMRBenzylo-Vanillin

REMOVAL OF PHENOL USING POLYMER COATED MAGNETIC NANOPARTICULAR ACTIVATED CARBON

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Phenol is a toxic organic pollutant which is present in many industrial effluent streams originating from petrochemical industry, ceramic production process, wood plants and resin manufacturing plants. Phenol is difficult to remove from most wastewater effluent streams. In the presented study, phenol removal from wastewater sample was investigated using the adsorption method. The experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption performance of activated carbon (AC), magnetic activated carbon (MagAC), styrenebutadiene styrene magnetic activated carbon (SBS/MagAC) and poly charbonat magnetic activated carbon (PC/MagAC) samples. The effects of various parameters, for example, temperature, solid-liquid ratio, adsorbent type, initial phenol concentrations and solution pH were investigated under similar experimental conditions. The results showed that the maximum adsorption of 98-99% was achieved at low pH values with the use of both AC and MagAC adsorbent materials. It was also found that the polymer coated magnetic materials did not perform very well at high pH values. The experimental data also showed that MagAC and SBS/MagAC were more effective than AC and PC/MagAC to remove phenol. In conclusion, we found that phenol can be removed more easily from the aqueous medium by using both magnetic and polymeric materials.Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversity, Research Project Coordination Unit, project (19/081/01/1/1)

Determinants of technology adoption among Malaysian SMES: An IDT perspective

Traditional competitive advantages such as raw material availability, inexpensive labour and proximity to local markets are fast losing their importance to other factors such as technology adoption. In order to survive, it is imperative that organizations incorporate technology into their daily operations. Still, technological adoption and information and communications technology penetration among the Malaysian SME industry is yet to reach a much desired level. Hence, this paper aims to reveal the factors that drive technology adoption among SMEs in Malaysia using the perceived innovation characteristics outlined in the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). Data was gathered from manufacturing and manufacturing-related services; SMEs scattered throughout the country and analyzed using the partial least squares technique. The analysis revealed that innovation characteristics such as perceived relative advantage, observability and image are positively-related to the adoption of a technology while compatibility and ease of use do not influence adoption. Interestingly, though trialability was found to have a significant impact on adoption, its effect turned out to be a negative one instead of a positive hypothesized relationship. The findings are further discussed and elaborated

An implementation of safety management system to enhance safety level in construction industry

The construction industry is considered as one of the most hazardous industrial sectors that a large of percentage of workers will be prone to the accidents while the construction project is carried out.So, safety and healthy plays an important role in the construction industries.Each construction project is unique with site-specific issues.Hazards and exposures change daily.There are numerous contractual arrangements, such as design, build, multiple or single prime contract, or construction safety management that can affect construction site safety responsibility.Many projects have multiple prime contractors and possibly owner-employees working in the same area with responsibilities not always clearly delineated.This paper review information about safety and health issues in construction industry and some common safety problems which include lack of safety regulations and standards, lack of safety training to worker, lack of competent worker, low priority of safety and lack of the documented and organized safety management systems.This project aims to get a best safety management system in construction industry for a safety environment to enhance safety level in construction industry

A highly active and synergistic Pt/Mo<inf>2</inf>C/Al<inf>2</inf>O<inf>3</inf>catalyst for water-gas shift reaction

Catalysts consisting of Pt and Cu supported on Mo2C/η-Al2O3, Mo2C/γ-Al2O3or Mo2C were prepared and used for the low-temperature water gas shift reaction (WGSR). The catalysts were characterized by elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The catalysts were studied in water gas shift reaction with a reaction mixture containing 11% CO, 43% H2, 6% CO2, 21% H2O (real feed composition mixture from the reformer) and balance He, with a reaction temperature range of 180–300 °C at a space velocity (SV) of 125,000 h−1. Catalyst supports (η-Al2O3and γ-Al2O3), led to different synergetic effect between the two most active phases of Pt metal and Mo2C. Pt/Mo2C/η-Al2O3is a promising catalyst (44% conversion at 180 °C) due to the close interaction between Pt and Mo2C phases on the surface of the catalyst. The 4 wt% Pt-Mo2C showed the highest activity where the temperature at which 50% conversion observed was at only 180 °C with SV of 125,000 h−1and constant stability over 85 h

Expression of Regulatory Platelet MicroRNAs in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

Background: Increased platelet activation in sickle cell disease (SCD) contributes to a state of hypercoagulability and confers a risk of thromboembolic complications. The role for post-transcriptional regulation of the platelet transcriptome by microRNAs (miRNAs) in SCD has not been previously explored. This is the first study to determine whether platelets from SCD exhibit an altered miRNA expression profile. Methods and Findings: We analyzed the expression of miRNAs isolated from platelets from a primary cohort (SCD = 19, controls = 10) and a validation cohort (SCD = 7, controls = 7) by hybridizing to the Agilent miRNA microarrays. A dramatic difference in miRNA expression profiles between patients and controls was noted in both cohorts separately. A total of 40 differentially expressed platelet miRNAs were identified as common in both cohorts (p-value 0.05, fold change>2) with 24 miRNAs downregulated. Interestingly, 14 of the 24 downregulated miRNAs were members of three families - miR-329, miR-376 and miR-154 - which localized to the epigenetically regulated, maternally imprinted chromosome 14q32 region. We validated the downregulated miRNAs, miR-376a and miR-409-3p, and an upregulated miR-1225-3p using qRT-PCR. Over-expression of the miR-1225-3p in the Meg01 cells was followed by mRNA expression profiling to identify mRNA targets. This resulted in significant transcriptional repression of 1605 transcripts. A combinatorial approach using Meg01 mRNA expression profiles following miR-1225-3p overexpression, a computational prediction analysis of miRNA target sequences and a previously published set of differentially expressed platelet transcripts from SCD patients, identified three novel platelet mRNA targets: PBXIP1, PLAGL2 and PHF20L1. Conclusions: We have identified significant differences in functionally active platelet miRNAs in patients with SCD as compared to controls. These data provide an important inventory of differentially expressed miRNAs in SCD patients and an experimental framework for future studies of miRNAs as regulators of biological pathways in platelets. © 2013 Jain et al

Reversible Modulation of Spontaneous Emission by Strain in Silicon Nanowires

We computationally study the effect of uniaxial strain in modulating the spontaneous emission of photons in silicon nanowires. Our main finding is that a one to two orders of magnitude change in spontaneous emission time occurs due to two distinct mechanisms: (A) Change in wave function symmetry, where within the direct bandgap regime, strain changes the symmetry of wave functions, which in turn leads to a large change of optical dipole matrix element. (B) Direct to indirect bandgap transition which makes the spontaneous photon emission to be of a slow second order process mediated by phonons. This feature uniquely occurs in silicon nanowires while in bulk silicon there is no change of optical properties under any reasonable amount of strain. These results promise new applications of silicon nanowires as optoelectronic devices including a mechanism for lasing. Our results are verifiable using existing experimental techniques of applying strain to nanowires