Insights into the structure and functions of the alkaliphilic Bacillus lehensis g1 clpc protein in alkaline environment

The heat shock protein 100 (Hsp100) ClpC is a member of the AAA+ protein superfamily that contributes to the maintenance of the cellular protein homeostasis by energy dependent proteolysis. The aim of this work was to elucidate the interaction of the alkaliphilic Hsp100 ClpC from Bacillus lehensis G1 (Bl-ClpC) and its adaptor protein MecA in order to postulate their functions. The ClpC N-terminal domain of B. lehensis (Bl-ClpCN) was crystallised and the structure was solved to 1.85 Å. The crystal structure of ClpCN was analysed and compared to that of the archetypal species Bacillus subtillis. Comparisons of the N-terminal ClpC-interacting and hexamerisation domains between both species showed that B. lehensis G1 had an insertion (of unknown function) of four amino acids at the loop between helix 4 and strand 2, which were located on the outer surface of the barrel-shaped molecule. Apart from being highly unique, this characteristic was conserved only in the newly-isolated alkaliphilic B. lehensis G1 and not in any of the previously-reported structures of N-terminal domains isolated from the Hsp100 family. Furthermore, information concerning the physicochemical basis of alkaliphilic ClpC is still unclear. Therefore, the biochemical properties of Bl-ClpC were characterised under varying pH, temperatures, salt concentrations, and metal ions. Bl- ClpC showed two features which were distinct from other proteins in the Hsp100 family which were high salt concentrations and mild acidic pH caused an increase in ATPase activity. Bl-ClpC activity was considered to be similar to that of a halophilic protein, which demonstrated increased activity in high concentrations of NaCl, which was a common characteristic of a highly acidic protein. pH-induced structural changes and Bl- ClpC stability have been investigated as well, and these changes correlated with ATPase activity modulations in different pH. There was little effect on the protein structure when the pH was lowered from 9 to 5. In alkaline pH (pH 9 - 11), the presence of an ɑ-helicaldominated molten globule state was reported. The function of the unique four-residue insertion at the ɑ4-β2 loop, which was absent in the B. subtilis ClpC orthologue, has been successfully elucidated by using the structure-guided mutation approach, whereby a deletion mutation devoid of residue 76-79 (Δ76-79) was constructed. Circular dichroism spectroscopy was used to evaluate the structural perturbations associated with the deletion. The results demonstrated that the precise configuration of the ɑ4-β2 loop was important for maintaining the structure and function of Bl-ClpC. Δ76-79 led to severe destabilisation as well as unfolding of the secondary structure of the protein, all of which decreased ATPase activity. The optimum temperature for Δ76-79 was 25°C instead of 45°C for Bl-ClpC. These findings showed that the additional four residues at the ɑ4-β2 loop were critical for Bl-ClpC‟s structure and function. Overall, Bl-ClpC exhibited distinct responses to salt stress and mild acidic pH, hence implying that environmental conditions and stress adaptations were important selective forces which gave rise to the divergence of Hsp100 ClpC from its alkaliphilic archetype

Learning Basic Japanese Language Courseware

In 21' century, multimedia has become a new medium that provides interactivity on new media. It affect the way to learn, work, and play such as e-learning, multimedia software compact-disk ROMs (CD ROMs), and encyclopedias. Nowadays the use of multimedia software CD ROMs has increased quickly. This technology has been use in many domains such as commercial, promotional, education and training applications. It provides highly effective utilization for people that can get the required information, without matter where the users are located. Today, there are loads of student, children and kindergarten that use multimedia software which are known as Interactive Educational Multimedia (IEM) CD ROMs as a way to learn. The objective of this study is to design the educational multimedia courseware in learning basic Japanese language, develop the prototype of the educational multimedia courseware and to evaluate the effects of the courseware prototype. To develop the suitable design for the users, principles of multimedia learning for design instruction multimedia by mayer has been used in this study. There are Multimedia Principle, Spatial Contiguity Principle, Temporal Contiguity Principle, Coherence Principle, Modality Principle, Redundancy Principle, and Individual Differences Principles

Pelaksanaan Komuniti Pembelajaran Profesional (KPP) untuk peningkatan kemahiran guru Bahasa Melayu mengajar penulisan karangan

This study aimed at examining the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for upgrading the skills of Malay teachers teaching essay writing process, at a secondary school in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. The Teacher Training Division (Bahagian Pendidikan Guru -BPG) began to implement PLC to enhance the professionalism of teachers in 2011. The implementation of PLC in Malaysia involves teachers of Mathematics, English, Science and History. Teachers of other subjects are also encouraged to cultivate PLC communities. The findings indicate that the strategies implemented by the PLC managed to change the attitude and teaching of teachers involved in the study, especially in the teaching and learning of essay writing. The findings also show that teachers should always seek alternatives to improve teaching methods and share best practices among themselves. Thus, PLC can be a platform for building pedagogical knowledge of teachers as it enables teachers to always learn and gain knowledge to improve their classroom teaching methods

Effects of saline irrigation water on morphological characteristics of banana (Musa spp.)

Banana is one of the most important food crops after rice, wheat and corn around the world. It is susceptible to a wide spectrum of non-infectious problems such as abiotic stresses resulting in restricting growth and production. Studies were conducted to determine the effects of four salinity levels (0.17 (control), 3.0, 6.0, and 9.0 dS m-1) on morphological characteristics of four banana cultivars at vegetative growth stage. Banana cultivars from the Cavendish group (Williams, Malindi) and plantains group (FHIA18 and Diwan) were grown in 61 x 76 cm polyethylene bags filled with soil mixture comprising of top soil, sand and peat moss (3:1:2 v/v), with pH ranging from 6 - 6.5 and EC 0.02 mScm-1. The experiment was carried out under a rain-shelter in split-plot design with three replicates. Plants were irrigated manually. Data were collected at 3, 6 and 9 months after transplanting. The results revealed that, the number of leaves, stem height, stem girth and total leaf area were significantly affected by salinity, variety and plant age. Significant interaction was also found between salinity and variety, salinity and plant age, as well as variety and plant age. The morphological characteristics of banana were negatively affected by higher salinity levels (6.0 and 9.0 dS m-1). Under similar salinity level, cultivar Malindi had higher number of leaves, stem height, stem girth and total leaf area as compared to cultivar Williams. Among plantains banana, cultivar FHIA18 was more tolerance to high salinity levels than Diwan cultivar, while Malindi from Cavendish group shows high salt tolerant than Williams. Therefore cultivars Malindi and FHIA18 could be grown in arid and semiarid environment depend on their tolerance to high salinity level above 1.0 dS m-1

INTEGRATING IoT DEVICES INTO A MOBILE APPLICATION FOR ELDERLY WHO LIVE ALONE

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the populations of elderly persons who live alone are increasing worldwide. As we all know, the elderly need more support and need someone to regularly take care of them. The situation become worst for elderly who have health problem that needs to be monitored frequently. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to propose a mobile application known as HomeAlone for helping the elderly manage their daily activities easily and independently. The application is developed on android platform combined with Internet of Things (IoT) sensor devices. The Arduino Uno board will be used as the platform that will connect the sensor devices to the internet. HomeAlone primary concern focuses on the monitoring of the security intruders outside the house and the condition of the main entrance door of the house. The health of the elderly can be monitored using pulse, body temperature and blood pressure sensors. Besides that, the movement of the elderly also can be monitored by using motion sensor which can detect the actual condition of the elderly inside the house. By using this application, the elderly can live more safely and independently and can also relief the worries of the caretakers

Chemical surface modification of CNTs via three oxidative acid treatments

Carbon nanotubes are commonly used to create polymer-nanotube composite for various applications. To suffice the needs of the emerging interest in utilizing nanotube, a great concern in creating a stable dispersion of the nanotube in solvent emerged. There is a paramount need to enhance the adhesion between the polymer and carbon nanotube to give a homogenous and stable dispersion throughout the polymer matrix. Thus, oxidative acid treatments are often chosen to chemically functionalize carbon nanotube in order to give such dispersing ability to the nanomaterials. In this study, purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is oxidized under the influence of three types of oxidants i) hydrogen peroxide, ii) citric acid monohydrate and iii) mixture of 3:1 sulphuric and nitric acid. All the MWCNTs suspensions ultrasonicated for 8 hours to create opening defects on the MWCNTs to allow the surface modification to occur. In this comparative study of chemically surface modification using oxidative acid treatments, FTIR was used to examine the formation of -OH, -COOH and -C=O groups on the surface of the MWCNTs, TGA and XRD used to determine the thermal behaviour and the crystal structure studies of the modified MWCNTs respectively

Polemik dalam cerita rakyat sebagai medium pendidikan moral kepada kanak-kanak

Cerita rakyat ialah cerita yang disebarkan turun temurun secara lisan, juga tidak dimiliki secara mutlak oleh individu kerana cerita rakyat dimiliki secara bersama oleh masyarakat. Unsur polemik dapat dilihat dengan ketara dalam kebanyakan cerita rakyat dan tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa polemik membawa kepada perkara negatif. Namun begitu, setiap polemik yang berlaku boleh diambil sebagai iktibar dan teladan oleh kanak-kanak melalui plot cerita dan membawa kepada pembentukan moral positif melalui mesej positif. Oleh itu, objektif kajian ini ialah mengenal pasti dan membincangkan polemik yang terdapat dalam beberapa cerita rakyat terpilih kepada pembentukan moral kanak-kanak. Batasan kajian merujuk kepada beberapa cerita rakyat yang bertajuk Puteri Sejinjang Dan Puteri Santubong, Menuntut Bela, Kapak Emas, Melanggar Janji, Bawang Merah Bawang Putih dan Pemburu Yang Tidak Tahu Bersyukur menerusi teks 366 Cerita Rakyat di Malaysia. Selain itu, kajian ini juga mengaplikasikan pendekatan Takmilah melalui prinsip hubungan karya dengan khalayak sebagai deduktif kajian. Kaedah kajian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif yang melibatkan kaedah kepustakaan dan kajian teks. Hasil kajian ini dapat membuktikan unsur polemik dalam cerita rakyat sangat membantu pembentukan moral dalam diri kanak-kanak

Effects of silica on mechanical and rheological properties of EPDM-based magnetorheological elastomers

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are a kind of emerged smart material, where its responsive moduli in terms of mechanical and rheological properties are largely influenced by the presence of an external magnetic field. However, the incompatibility on the surface properties of its raw materials (fillers and matrix) may deteriorate the required properties of MREs. Therefore, in this study, the innovation of MRE by embedding silica nanoparticles as an additive has been experimentally investigated to strengthen the interactions between filler and matrix, thus resulted in enhancement of mechanical and rheological properties of MRE. The ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)-based MREs were fabricated by mixing the EPDM with carbonyl iron particles (CIPs) as the main filler and different contents of silica nanoparticles (0 wt%–11 wt%) as an additive. The microstructures, magnetic properties and tensile properties of isotropic EPDM-based MREs were observed by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and Instron Universal Testing Machine, respectively. Meanwhile, the rheological properties were examined under oscillatory loadings in the absence and presence of magnetic field using rotational rheometer. The experimental results showed that the silica nanoparticles play a significant role in improving the properties of EPDM-based MREs. The adhesiveness of silica into CIPs has amended the interfacial interactions between CIPs and matrix by occupying the gaps between distributed CIPs within the MRE. Consequently, the addition of 11 wt% silica has not only improved the tensile properties (tensile strength and elongation at break), but also enhanced the MR effect compared to EPDM-based MREs without silica. Thus, incorporation of silica nanoparticles as an additive in EPDM-based MRE has the potential to be further explored and compromised to bring new innovation in real engineering applications

Microbial biotechnology approaches for conversion of pineapple waste in to emerging source of healthy food for sustainable environment

One of the most significant and difficult jobs in food sustainability, is to make use of waste in the vegetable and fruit processing sectors. The discarded fruits along with their waste materials, is anticipated to have potential use for further industrial purposes via extraction of functional ingredients, extraction of bioactive components, fermentation. As a result of its abundant availability, simplicity and safe handling, and biodegradability, pineapple waste is now the subject of extensive research. It is regarded as a resource for economic development. This vast agro-industrial waste is being investigated as a low-cost raw material to produce a variety of high-value-added goods. Researchers have concentrated on the exploitation of pineapple waste, particularly for the extraction of prebiotic oligosaccharides as well as bromelain enzyme, and as a low-cost source of fibre, biogas, organic acids, phenolic antioxidants, and ethanol. Thus, this review emphasizes on pineapple waste valorisation approaches, extraction of bioactive and functional ingredients together with the advantages of pineapple waste to be used in many areas. From the socioeconomic perspective, pineapple waste can be a new raw material source to the industries and may potentially replace the current expensive and non-renewable sources. This review summarizes various approaches used for pineapple waste processing along with several important value-added products gained which could contribute towards healthy food and a sustainable environment

Effects of light sources and drying methods on plant growth and steviol glycoside content of stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) has received great attention with the rise in demand for low-sugar food and beverage additives, and natural alternative to cane sugar and artificial sweeteners. The leaves produce intensively sweet steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside A). Stevia has been reported as a short-day plant with a critical day length of 13 h. Day length less than 13 h causes stevia to flower early, resulting in a low leaf biomass yield and percentage of sweetener content. The effects of night interruption treatment using six light sources for 60 min daily with the aim to lengthen vegetative phase, increase plant biomass and steviol glycoside content of stevia were investigated. Night interruption was shown to extend vegetative phase from 20 days (control) to 120 days; thus, allowing accumulation of plant biomass and steviol glycosides content. Leaf biomass and steviol glycosides of all light sources treated plants increased significantly as compared to control plants especially in week 6 and 8 after treatment initiated. Fluorescent and light-emitting diode (LED) were energy-efficient and effective as light source for night interruption. Fluorescent warm white showed the highest increase in total steviol glycosides content per plant by 190-270% most probably because it contained the highest red light at 614 nm as compared to other light sources. Stevioside content was not significantly affected by drying methods but rebaudioside A content was significantly reduced by 3.38% under oven drying at 70oC. The reduction indicated that thermal degradation of rebaudioside A has occurred at higher temperature