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Aims: To investigate the antioxidant activities, total phenolic and oxalate contents in two varieties of eggplant (Solanum melongena) (terung telunjuk (TT) and terung rapuh (TR)) at different maturity stages. Study design: Each sample was extracted three times (n=3) for the antioxidant activities, total phenolic and oxalates content. All the data were analysed by using ANOVA and Tukey Pairwise tests. Place and duration of study: Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), between December 2019 and October 2020. Methodology: Two varieties of eggplant (TT and TR) were cultivated and the samples were tagged and the fruits were harvested according to their maturity stages (stage 1 – stage 4). Samples were freeze dried and extracted to evaluate the antioxidant activities as well as the total phenolic and oxalate contents. Results: Total phenolic contents (TPC) in TR were lower from stage 1 to stage 3 but high at over mature stage (stage 4) meanwhile TPC in TT increased upon maturity. The DPPH assay from the fruit extracts of TT in all maturity stages showed a stronger antioxidant activity as compared to TR, in which fruit of TT from stage 3 was double in antioxidant activity as compared to TR. The FRAP assay of both eggplants showed extracts of TT having a higher ferric reduction power in all stages as compared to TR. Meanwhile, both eggplant varieties showed different total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents in all maturity indices. TT had the highest total oxalate content at stage 1 as compared to TR while the soluble oxalate content increased in TR in all maturity stages. The highest percentage of soluble oxalate content was observed in TR at stage 4 with 95.5%. Conclusion: Phytochemical findings from these eggplant varieties showed their potentials to improve livelihood and public health. More comprehensive studies on the bioactive compounds, structural elucidation and pharmacological evaluation are to be conducted to understand the possible effects of these phytochemical results.

Tailored blanks of aluminum and steel have increasing applications in recent years. In less critical section of a parts where it is not necessary to use high strength steel but requires lightweight, aluminum provides a reliable substitute. As a promising alternative to join aluminum and steel, friction stir welding has been studied extensively. This review paper emphasizes on the evaluation of pre- and post-forming of friction stir welded blanks and manufacturability issues during metal forming. Upon selection of appropriate parameters to obtain a successful weld, quality and performance are reviewed. The necessity and effect of post-welding heat treatment on heat treatable and non-heat treatable weld joint are discussed. Following, evaluations of pre and post-forming are presented, including mechanical and microstructure characterization as well as formability of the joint using limiting dome height test and springback via v-bending and twist forming. This article concludes important aspects in heat treatment and forming of friction stir welded aluminum and steel blanks.

Nitrogen stress condition is believed to increase the production of lipid in microalgae, but the synthesis of both lipid and carbohydrate is less known. Therefore, the effect of nitrogen stress condition on the synthesis of lipid and carbohydrate of Tetradesmus obliquus UPSI-JRM02 was studied in a 2 L bioreactor system. The highest lipid and carbohydrate yields achieved under nitrogen stress condition were 37% and 23%, respectively. Nitrogen stress condition induced the accumulation of carbohydrate at early stage but started to reduce on day 4 when the carbon shifted towards lipid production. The fatty acid profile produced under nitrogen stress condition was composed of 54% polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), 43% saturated fatty acid (SFA) and 3% monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA). The biofuel properties of T. obliquus obtained under the nitrogen stress condition was within the range of biodiesel standard and is most suitable for the usage in cold country.

BACKGROUND: Croton caudatus Geiseler (CCG), a local herb that empirically has been used as traditional medicine for malaria, fever, convulsions, and rheumatic arthritis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of CCG on reproductive and biochemical parameters in male Wistar rats. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar male rats were divided randomly into four groups, which were treated with CCG aqueous root extract at the concentration of 0-16 mg/kg, via oral gavage. After 21 days of treatment, blood, sperm, and testes were harvested for analyses. Sperm parameters were evaluated using computer-assisted sperm analyser (Hamilton Thorne Sperm Analyzer), and morphometric analyses of histological changes were performed. RESULTS: CCG extract at 8 and 16 mg/kg significantly (p

Aims: To determine the oxalate contents in different varieties of taro (Colocasia esculenta) collected in Peninsular Malaysia. Study Design: Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) with UV detector (Diode Array Detection, (DAD)) was used to determine the total and soluble oxalate contents in different varieties of taro corms. Meanwhile, the insoluble oxalate content (calcium oxalate) was estimated from the subtraction of soluble oxalate content from total oxalate content. Place and Duration of Study: Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI Headquarters), Persiaran MARDI-UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia between December 2018 to December 2019. Methodology: 9 different varieties of taro were collected from different locations in Peninsular Malaysia. All the samples were analysed for their oxalate contents. Extractions were carried out to determine the total oxalate and soluble oxalate contents. All the samples were analysed using UHPLC. The generated data of oxalate contents were analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results: There is a significant difference (P

Stress hormone is the number one adversary to the general health in human all over the world. In the presence of stress, cortisol, a glucocorticoid hormone synthesized by the stimulation of adrenal cortex will be secreted. Cortisol has immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects, increases heart rate and blood pressure, and represses growth, and digestive and reproductive activities. Aptamers are synthetically derived nucleic acids has been long studied as a substitute of antibodies for therapeutics and diagnostics purposes. Current study focuses on in-silico approach of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation to study the interactions between single-strand DNA aptamers and cortisol in comparisons with the glucocorticoid receptor. In silico study were known to solve a plethora of biological related target study including the latest on COVID19 polymerase which is the inhibitors target protein. In current study, the tertiary conformational structures of ten single-strand DNA aptamers which experimentally derived were designed and docked against cortisol and compared with the binding of glucocorticoid receptor (PDB:4P6X). Binding affinity, number of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions were analyzed. The aptamer-cortisol complex with the lowest binding energy value was selected for 50 ns (ns) molecular dynamics simulation. Docking result shows that although number of intra-molecular hydrogen bond formed affecting the binding energy value of aptamer-cortisol complexes, hydrophobic interaction surrounding the cortisol is more important in determining the affinity of cortisol towards its receptor. Aptamer-1 shows the lowest binding energy value formed against cortisol (-10.1 kcal/mol) in comparison with other aptamers. Molecular dynamics simulation of Aptamer-1-cortisol complex shows that RMSD of glucocorticoid receptor-cortisol is lower in comparison with Aptamer 1-cortisol, with higher number of intra-molecular hydrogen bonds. Although the stability of receptor-cortisol is higher compared to Aptamer-1 complex, MMPBSA value of the last 10 ns of MD simulation prove that Aptamer-1-cortisol complex has the stability up to 50 ns of simulation. Further study to improve the single strand DNA aptamer binding against cortisol should be considered.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) performed by bacteria that belong to the Planctomycetes phylum could potentially be applied to treat wastewater with high ammonium content. However, anammox application is hindered by the slow growth of bacteria and nitrite and free ammonia inhibition. Thus, this study aims to enrich anammox culture in a 1.0 L anaerobic up-flow biofilm column reactors equipped with a non-woven fabric material, under three different feeding modes: (i) batch, (ii) fed-batch and (iii) continuous, to enhance the start-up of anammox process. A 16S rDNA gene analysis targeting planctomycetes-anammox bacteria was performed on various sludge sources to screen the appropriate inoculum of anammox microorganisms prior to the enrichment study. A reactor with a continuous mode of feeding showed the most effective consumption of N–NH4+ and N– NO2–, with the highest nitrogen removal rate of 0.28 kg N m–3 d–1 at 0.6 d hydraulic retention time and 27°C, compared to the fed-batch and batch of 0.14 and 0.004 kg N m–3 d–1, respectively. The enriched anammox culture showed as close to the ‘Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis’ genera based on 16S rDNA analysis. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization analysis targeting the 16S rDNA gene of anammox bacteria further confirmed the existence of an anammox population in the enriched culture.

Escherichia coli has approximately 4300 open reading frames and about 178 of them are annotated as pseudogenes. The existence of the pseudogenes in E. coli had raised the question of whether they contribute to any cell function. Recently, several pseudogenes have been studied; however, these genes are still considered rare and tend to be ignored as so-called junk. Our recent study has shown several pseudogenes in E. coli are essential in hydrogen metabolism. ydfW is one of the pseudogenes associated with hydrogen metabolism. Here, we found carbon dioxide and nitrate in the fermentation medium of mutant ydfW suggesting that this strain may induce nitrate pathways. The Fdh-N complex is comprised of FdnG, FdnH, and FdnI subunits which correspond to the nitrate-nitrite pathway. This finding is supported by transcription analysis that shows formate dehydrogenase (fdnG) and nitrate reductase (narG) are significantly induced (25- and 18-fold, respectively). FdnG and NarG play a significant role in the reduction of nitrate into nitrite; hence, their genes are induced by the build-up of nitrate. Based on in silico docking analysis, we predict that YdfW is covalently bound to the Fdh-N complex in the cytoplasm. Hence, deletion of ydfW is expected has influenced the nitrate-nitrite pathway. Subsequently, the situation will affect the hydrogen production in E. coli.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa RW9 is a promising candidate for the bioremediation of chromium hexavalent (Cr(VI)) pollution, as it resists a high concentration of up to 60 mg/L of Cr(VI). Leaving cells exposed to Cr(VI) has large bioreduction potential, implying its capacity to extract the ions from the contaminated medium. In this study, the tolerance for and distribution of Cr(VI) were investigated to identify the cells’ adaptation and removal strategies. Micro-characterization analysis was conducted to assess the effect of Cr(VI) on the cells. The cells’ elongation was observed at higher Cr(VI) concentrations, signifying their adaptation to DNA damage caused by Cr(VI) toxicity. Cr(VI) distribution analysis showed that the strain developed a complex mechanism to adapt to Cr(VI), based on surface-bound (0.46 mg/L), intracellularly accumulated (1.24 mg/L) and extracellular sequestration (6.74 mg/L), which accounted for 85% of the removal efficiency. The extracellular sequestration might be attributable to the production of metabolites, in accordance with the fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra and orcinol analysis that confirmed the presence of a glycolipid biosurfactant, rhamnolipid. Remarkably, the rhamnolipid was slightly induced in the presence of Cr(VI). From the data obtained, it was confirmed that this local strain is well equipped to survive high doses of Cr(VI) and has great potential for application in Cr(VI) bioremediation.

Background Nasal High Flow (NHF) therapy delivers flows of heated humidified gases up to 60 LPM (litres per minute) via a nasal cannula. Particles of oral/nasal fluid released by patients undergoing NHF therapy may pose a cross-infection risk, which is a potential concern for treating COVID-19 patients. Methods Liquid particles within the exhaled breath of healthy participants were measured with two protocols: (1) high speed camera imaging and counting exhaled particles under high magnification (6 participants) and (2) measuring the deposition of a chemical marker (riboflavin-5-monophosphate) at a distance of 100 and 500 mm on filter papers through which air was drawn (10 participants). The filter papers were assayed with HPLC. Breathing conditions tested included quiet (resting) breathing and vigorous breathing (which here means nasal snorting, voluntary coughing and voluntary sneezing). Unsupported (natural) breathing and NHF at 30 and 60 LPM were compared. Results Imaging: During quiet breathing, no particles were recorded with unsupported breathing or 30 LPM NHF (detection limit for single particles 33 μm). Particles were detected from 2 of 6 participants at 60 LPM quiet breathing at approximately 10% of the rate caused by unsupported vigorous breathing. Unsupported vigorous breathing released the greatest numbers of particles. Vigorous breathing with NHF at 60 LPM, released half the number of particles compared to vigorous breathing without NHF. Chemical marker tests: No oral/nasal fluid was detected in quiet breathing without NHF (detection limit 0.28 μL/m3). In quiet breathing with NHF at 60 LPM, small quantities were detected in 4 out of 29 quiet breathing tests, not exceeding 17 μL/m3. Vigorous breathing released 200–1000 times more fluid than the quiet breathing with NHF. The quantities detected in vigorous breathing were similar whether using NHF or not. Conclusion During quiet breathing, 60 LPM NHF therapy may cause oral/nasal fluid to be released as particles, at levels of tens of μL per cubic metre of air. Vigorous breathing (snort, cough or sneeze) releases 200 to 1000 times more oral/nasal fluid than quiet breathing (p < 0.001 with both imaging and chemical marker methods). During vigorous breathing, 60 LPM NHF therapy caused no statistically significant difference in the quantity of oral/nasal fluid released compared to unsupported breathing. NHF use does not increase the risk of dispersing infectious aerosols above the risk of unsupported vigorous breathing. Standard infection prevention and control measures should apply when dealing with a patient who has an acute respiratory infection, independent of which, if any, respiratory support is being used. Clinical trial registration ACTRN12614000924651

The influence of biomass cellulosic content on biochar nanopore structure and adsorption capacity in aqueous phase was scarcely reported. Commercial cellulose (100% cellulose), oil palm frond (39.5% cellulose), and palm kernel shell (20.5% cellulose) were pyrolyzed AT 630 °C, characterized and tested for the adsorption of iodine and organic contaminants. The external surface area and average pore size increased with cellulosic content, where commercial cellulose formed biochar with external surface area of 95.4 m2/g and average pore size of 4.1 nm. The biochar from commercial cellulose had the largest adsorption capacities: 371.40 mg/g for iodine, 86.7 mg/L for tannic acid, 17.89 mg/g for COD and 60.35 mg/g for colour, while biochar from palm kernel shell had the least adsorption capacities. The cellulosic content reflected the differences in biochar nanopore structure and adsorption capacities, signifying the suitability of highly cellulosic biomass for producing biochar to effectively treat wastewater.

Aptamers are oligonucleotides and peptides around 15-100 bases in length and are suitable as detection probes or as therapeutics molecules. There are growing interests in the aptamer screening approach through computational simulation methods. DNA and RNA modelling lacks of validation on their predicted 3D structures due to less number of validation tools, unlike protein structures. We suggest an approach to design the stem-loop/hairpin for the three dimensional structure of DNA aptamers through serial applications of computational prediction methods by comparing the simulated structures with the experimental data deposited in PDB Data bank, followed by MD simulations. The result shows minimal structural differences were observed between the designed and the original NMR aptamers, and the stem-loop conformational structures were also retained during the MD thus suggesting the proposed aptamers designing methods are able to synthesize a high quality molecular structure of hairpin aptamers, comparable to the NMR structures.

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and the commonest cause of dementia among the aged people. D-galactose (D-gal) is a senescence agent, while aluminium is a known neurotoxin linked to pathogenesis of AD. The combined administration of rats with d -gal and aluminium chloride (AlCl3) is considered to be an easy and a cheap method to obtain an animal model of AD. The plant Centella asiatica (CA) is reported to exert neuroprotective effects both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, this study explored the protective effects of CA on cognition and brain ultrastructure in d -gal and AlCl3 induced rats. Materials and methods: Rats were exposed to d -gal 60 mg/kg/b.wt/day + AlCl3 200 mg/kg/b.wt/day and CA (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg/b.wt/day) and 1 mg/kg/b.wt/day of donepezil for 70 days. Different cognitive paradigms viz. T maze spontaneous alternation, modified elevated plus maze and novel object recognition test, were used to evaluate full lesions of the hippocampus, spatial learning and memory and non-spatial learning and memory respectively. Nissl’s staining was used to determine the survival of hippocampus CA1 pyramidal cells, while transmission electron microscopy was used to check the ultrastructural changes. Results: The results revealed that d -gal and AlCl3 could significantly impair behavior and cognitive functions, besides causing damage to the hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons in rats. In addition, it also caused ultrastructural morphological alterations in rat hippocampus. Conversely, co-administration o;f CA, irrespective of the dosage used, alleviated the cognitive impairments and pathological changes in the rats comparable to donepezil. Conclusion: In conclusion the results suggest that CA could protect cognitive impairments and morphological alterations caused by d -gal and AlCl3 toxicity in rats. Biochemical and molecular studies are ongoing to elucidate the probable pharmacodynamics of CA.

Cognitive impairments and cholinergic dysfunctions have been well reported in old age disorders including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). d -galactose (D-gal) has been reported as a senescence agent while aluminium act as a neurotoxic metal, but little is known about their combined effects at different doses. The aim of this study was to establish an animal model with cognitive impairments by comparing the effects of different doses of co-administrated D-gal and aluminium chloride (AlCl3). In this study male albino wistar rats were administered with D-gal 60 mg/kg.bwt intra peritoneally (I.P) injected and AlCl3 (100, 200, or 300 mg/kg.bwt.) was orally administered once daily for 10 consecutive weeks. Performance of the rats were evaluated through behavioural assessments; Morris water maze (MWM) and open field tests (OFT); histopathological examination was performed on the hippocampus; moreover biochemical measurements of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and hyperphosphorylated tau protein (p-tau) were examined. The results of this experiment on rats treated with D-gal 60 + AlCl3 200 mg/kg.bwt showed near ideal cognitive impairments. The rats exhibited an obvious memory and learning deficits, marked neuronal loss in hippocampus, showed increase in AChE activities and high expression of p-tau within the tissues of the brain. This study concludes that D-gal 60 + AlCl3 200 mg/kg.bwt as the ideal dose for mimicking AD like cognitive impairments in albino wistar rats. It is also crucial to understand the pathogenesis of this neurodegenerative disease and for drug discovery.

A relative humidity (RH) sensor is proposed and demonstrated using a micro-knot resonator (MKR) enhanced with a layer graphene oxide (GO) coating. The MKR is fabricated by means of tapering a standard fiber, with the GO coating added by the drop-cast method. The proposed sensor is tested for an RH range of between 0% and 80% at 20% intervals, and the configurations with and without the GO coating achieve sensitivities of 0.0104 nm/% and 0.0095 nm/%, respectively. The MKR configuration without the GO coating has a linear response correlation coefficient of 0.9098 and a resolution of 0.1%, while the configuration with the GO coating has a linear response correlation coefficient of 0.9548 and a resolution of 0.096% which is better. The proposed sensor has multiple applications, especially in the area of climate and atmospheric measurement and monitoring. Keywords: Microfiber, Resonator, Humidity sensor

Clenbuterol (CLB) is an illegal antibiotic for livestock, which is misused as a growth promoter drug. In this study, an immunosensor modified with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and anti-clenbuterol antibody (Ab) was developed for the detection of CLB. A screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) was modified with PEDOT/MWCNT as a sensor platform before immobilizing Ab for specific CLB binding through a competitive-type immunoassay. Free CLB in the sample solution competed with clenbuterol-horseradish peroxide (CLB-HRP) to bind with Ab. A high current signal was obtained after optimization of the electrochemical immunoassay conditions (pH, incubation temperature, antigen (Ag) incubation time and % blocking) using the response surface methodology/central composite design (RSM/CCD). The developed immunosensor is highly reproducible and sensitive with good storage stability, which are necessary for practical application. In real sample application, this immunosensor produces comparable results with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; thus, it is useful for CLB screening and monitoring in real meat samples.

This study aims to analyzed green silica content from six (6) different material that usually generated as waste from agriculture, industrial and consumer. The selected materials were sugarcane bagasse, bamboo culm, bamboo leaf, corncob, banana leaf and cigarette butt. These wastes were collected, sorted and cleansed properly before combusted at 650⁰ for 3 hours to produce ash. Each ash from different materials were synthesized to silica by sol-gel method by converting silica to sodium silicate using 1M NaOH and followed with acid precipitation with 1M H2SO4. From these study, sugarcane bagasse ash contains the highest amount of silica, 92.5% followed with bamboo leaf, 62.72%; corncob, 27%; bamboo culm, 20%; banana peel, 0.35%; and cigarette ash, 0.1%. The higher percentage of silica produce from sugarcane bagasse ash and bamboo leaf ash shown their potential for further investigation

In the present study, the leaching of Cu(II) from the waste mobile phone printed circuit board (WM-PCB) was investigated using concentrated sulphuric acid solution. Cu(II)) uptake efficiency was determined at varying pH (pH 2.0 – pH 8.0), temperatures (40 oC-80 oC) and treatment time (15 - 90 min). It was observed that the copper uptake increased with increasing temperature and acid concentration. The highest Cu(II) uptake was found to be 190 mg/g at pH 6.0 and 80°C within 60 min. Results indicate that sulphuric acid has the potential to recover the heavy metals from WM-PCB.

In this study, the ability of Tinospora crispa aqueous extract (TCAE) to regulate cholesterol metabolism in human hepatoma cancer cell line (Hep G2) was determined. Cytotoxic study was performed by exposing hepatoma cell (Hep G2) towards TCAE with concentration ranging from 0.002 to 20 mg/ml for 24 h at 37°C and with 5% CO2 atmosphere. Result revealed that TCAE was not toxic to the cell. The ability of TCAE to reduce cholesterol in cell culture experiment was carried out by pre-treating Hep G2 with selected concentrations of TCAE (10, 5, 2.5, 1.25 and 0.625 mg/ml) in 6-well plate before the cell was exposed to low density lipoprotein (LDL). The concentration of apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1), lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), scavenger receptor B1 (SRB1) and hepatic Lipase (HL) which involve in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) pathway were determined from the 6-well plate medium. The direct pathway of cholesterol synthesis was performed according to the instruction provided in HMG-CoA Reductase Assay Kit manuals. The results showed that TCAE significantly increase (p

The present work aims to elucidate substrate utilization from palm oil mill effluent (POME) for biohydrogen production. The experiment was performed in 150 mL serum bottles and the cultures were supplemented with autoclaved-pretreated POME or 0.05 M individual technical grade substrates to investigate the potential use of POME and substrates in preference towards biohydrogen production. The cultures were incubated at 37 °C for 24 h with mild agitation. The maximum hydrogen yield (MHY) obtained was 0.66 mol H2/mol total monomeric sugars and productivity of 3551 μmol/1010 cfu were obtained from engineered Escherichia coli. The POME oligomeric sugars were not metabolized further, which render insignificant conversion of carbohydrates into hydrogen from POME. The yield of hydrogen production increased by 3.5 folds by engineered E. coli BW25113 compared to wild type E. coli BW25113. The preference of the substrates for biohydrogen production is in the following order; glucose > fructose > formic acid.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) offers a great advantage for the analysis of biological samples. In this study, we combined THz-TDS with volatolomics analysis and analyzed 2 colon cell lines via in vitro settings. The release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was measured from the normal colon (CCD112CoN) and cancer colon (COLO320DM) cell lines which were grown in sealed flasks. Data validation were carried out with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least square (PLS) scores while the chemometric analyses were performed using Camo Unscrambler X software. In-depth THz-TDS spectral analysis of the cancer colon (COLO320DM) cell line shows significant traces of benzamide gas when validated using gas chromatography-mass selective detection (GC-MSD) system. This preliminary data shows the potential use of identification and quantification of benzamide compound in the cancer colon cells and this could provide useful insight towards cancer drug design and therapy.

Aptamer has been long studied as a substitute of antibodies for many purposes. However, due to the exceeded length of the aptamers obtained in vitro, difficulties arise in its manipulation during its molecular conjugation on the matrix surfaces. Current study focuses on computational improvement for aptamers screening of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) through optimization of the length sequences obtained from SELEX. Three original aptamers with affinity against HBsAg were truncated into five short hairpin structured aptamers and their affinity against HBsAg was thoroughly studied by molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MMPBSA) method. The result shows that truncated aptamers binding on HBsAg “a” determinant region are stabilized by the dynamic H-bond formation between the active binding residues and nucleotides. Amino acids residues with the highest hydrogen bonds hydrogen bond interactions with all five aptamers were determined as the active binding residues and further characterized. The computational prediction of complexes binding will include validations through experimental assays in future studies. Current study will improve the current in vitro aptamers by minimizing the aptamer length for its easy manipulation.

Alzheimer&rsquo, s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder more prevalent among the elderly population. AD is characterised clinically by a progressive decline in cognitive functions and pathologically by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), deposition of beta-amyloid (A&beta, ) plaque and synaptic dysfunction in the brain. Centella asiatica (CA) is a valuable herb being used widely in African, Ayurvedic, and Chinese traditional medicine to reverse cognitive impairment and to enhance cognitive functions. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of CA in preventing d-galactose/aluminium chloride (d-gal/AlCl3) induced AD-like pathologies and the underlying mechanisms of action were further investigated for the first time. Results showed that co-administration of CA to d-gal/AlCl3 induced AD-like rat models significantly increased the levels of protein phosphatase 2 (PP2A) and decreased the levels of glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3&beta, ). It was further observed that, CA increased the expression of mRNA of Bcl-2, while there was minimal effect on the expression of caspase 3 mRNA. The results also showed that, CA prevented morphological aberrations in the connus ammonis 3 (CA 3) sub-region of the rat&rsquo, s hippocampus. The results clearly demonstrated for the first time that CA could alleviate d-gal/AlCl3 induced AD-like pathologies in rats via inhibition of hyperphosphorylated tau (P-tau) bio-synthetic proteins, anti-apoptosis and maintenance of cytoarchitecture.

Alzheimer&rsquo, s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with cholinergic dysfunctions and impaired redox homeostasis. The plant Centella asiatica (CA) is renowned for its nutritional benefits and herbal formulas for promoting health, enhancing cognition, and its neuroprotective effects. The present study aims to investigate the protective role of CA on D-gal/AlCl3-induced cognitive deficits in rats. The rats were divided into six groups and administered with donepezil 1 mg/kg/day, CA (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg/day) and D-gal 60 mg/kg/day + AlCl3 200 mg/kg/day for 10 weeks. The ethology of the rats was evaluated by the Morris water maze test. The levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), phosphorylated tau (P-tau), malondialdehyde (MDA) and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, the ultrastructure of the prefrontal cortex of the rats&rsquo, was observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Rats administered with D-gal/AlCl3 exhibited cognitive deficits, decreased activities of SOD, and marked increase in AChE and MDA levels. Further, prominent alterations in the ultrastructure of the prefrontal cortex were observed. Conversely, co-administration of CA with D-gal/AlCl3 improved cognitive impairment, decreased AChE levels, attenuated the oxidative stress in hippocampus and cerebral cortex, and prevented ultrastructural alteration of neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Irrespective of the dose of CA administered, the protective effects were comparable to donepezil. In conclusion, this study suggests that CA attenuated the cognitive deficits in rats by restoring cholinergic function, attenuating oxidative stress, and preventing the morphological aberrations.

Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer and exporter globally. When crude palm oil is produced in both plantations and oil processing mills, a large amount of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is simultaneously produced as a waste product. Here, we describe the preparation of hydrolysate from OPEFB. After OPEFB was hydrothermally treated at 180–200 °C, the resultant liquid phase was subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, while the solid phase was used for acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis. Hemicellulose yield from the acid-treated solid phase decreased from 153 mg/g-OPEFB to 27.5 mg/g-OPEFB by increasing the hydrothermal treatment temperature from 180 to 200 °C. Glucose yield from the enzyme-treated solid phase obtained after hydrothermal treatment at 200 °C was the highest (234 ± 1.90 mg/g-OPEFB, 61.7% production efficiency). In contrast, xylose, mannose, galactose, and arabinose yields in the hydrolysate prepared from the solid phase hydrothermally treated at 200 °C were the lowest. Thus, we concluded that the optimum temperature for hydrothermal pretreatment was 200 °C, which was caused by the low hemicellulose yield. Based on these results, we have established an effective method for preparing OPEFB hydrolysates with high glucose content.

Most palm oil mills adopted conventional ponding system, including anaerobic, aerobic, facultative and algae ponds, for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). Only a few mills installed a bio-polishing plant to treat POME further before its final discharge. The present study aims to determine the quality and toxicity levels of POME final discharge from three different mills by using conventional chemical analyses and fish (Danio rerio) embryo toxicity (FET) test. The effluent derived from mill A which installed with a bio-polishing plant had lower values of BOD, COD and TSS at 45 mg/L, 104 mg/L, and 27 mg/L, respectively. Only mill A nearly met the industrial effluent discharge standard for BOD. In FET test, effluent from mill A recorded low lethality and most of the embryos were malformed after hatching (half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) = 20%). The highest toxicity was observed from the effluent of mill B and all embryos were coagulated after 24 h in samples greater than 75% of effluent (38% of half-maximal lethal concentration (LC50) at 96 h). The embryos in the effluent from mill C recorded high mortality after hatching, and the survivors were malformed after 96 h exposure (LC50 = 26%). Elemental analysis of POME final discharge samples showed Cu, Zn, and Fe concentrations were in the range of 0.10–0.32 mg/L, 0.01–0.99 mg/L, and 0.94–4.54 mg/L, respectively and all values were below the effluent permissible discharge limits. However, the present study found these metals inhibited D. rerio embryonic development at 0.12 mg/L of Cu, and 4.9 mg/L of Fe for 96 h-EC50. The present study found that bio-polishing plant installed in mill A effectively removing pollutants especially BOD and the FET test was a useful method to monitor quality and toxicity of the POME final discharge samples.

The main focus of the present study is to produce deoiled palm kernel cake from palm kernel using the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO 2 ) extraction method. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the process parameters of SC CO 2 extraction of oil from palm kernels. The influences of pressure, temperature and extraction time on the yield were investigated. Results showed that the experimental data were fitted into the second order polynomial model. The linear terms of SC CO 2 pressure, temperature and extraction time had the significant effect on the yield of the oil extraction from the palm kernel. The optimum SC CO 2 extraction process parameters were pressure 44.6 MPa, temperature 60 °C and extraction time 50 min. Under these experimental conditions, the oil yield was about 49.2%. The presence of nutrient and anti-nutrient compositions in deoiled PKC subjected to SC CO 2 (PKC sc ) was also investigated and compared with the nutrient and anti-nutrient compositions of PKC collected from palm oil mill (PKC M ). Determination of the nutrient compositions in deoiled PKC sc and PKC M revealed that SC CO 2 maintained the nutrient compositions in deoiled PKC sc during extraction of palm kernel oil. Determination of the anti-nutrients compositions in deoiled PKC sc and PKC M showed that SC CO 2 effectively influenced the anti-nutrients in deoiled PKC sc . The findings of the present study suggest that SC CO 2 extraction is an effective technique to produce deoiled PKC sc , which can be used as a cheap source of protein and fiber for human and animal food consumption.

Human body fluids clinical waste poses a challenge to healthcare facilities because of the presence of infectious pathogenic microorganisms, leading concern for an effective sterilization method to eliminate the infectious threat for safe handling and disposal. In the present study, the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) was utilized to sterilize human blood waste with varying pressure and temperature for a treatment time of 5–90 min. Modified Gompertz equation was employed to elucidate Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus ), Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) and Bacillus subtilis ( B. subtilis -vegetative cell) inactivation curve in SC-CO 2 sterilized human blood waste. It was observed that the experimental data was well fitted with the predicted value obtained from modified Gompertz equation. The SC-CO 2 sterilization efficiency was compared with the steam autoclave treatment based on bacterial regrowth potential and scanning electron microscope image analyzes. The absence of bacterial regrowth and physicochemical destruction of bacterial cells revealed that SC-CO 2 is an efficient sterilization technology to treat human blood waste. Thus, SC-CO 2 sterilization method could be utilized to sterilize human blood waste in a healthcare facility to improve hospital hygiene by eliminating infectious exposure of human body fluids clinical waste, and to conduct safe handling and management of human body fluids clinical waste.

In order to meet the growing demand for adsorbents to treat wastewater effectively, there has been increased interest in using sustainable biomass feedstocks. In this present study, the dermal tissue of oil palm frond was pyrolyzed with superheated steam at 500 °C to produce nanoporous biochar as bioadsorbent. The effect of operating conditions was investigated to understand the adsorption mechanism and to enhance the adsorption of phenol and tannic acid. The biochar had a microporous structure with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 422 m2/g containing low polar groups. The adsorption capacity of 62.89 mg/g for phenol and 67.41 mg/g for tannic acid were obtained using 3 g/L biochar dosage after 8 h of treatment at solution pH of 6.5 and temperature of 45 °C. The Freundlich model had the best fit to the isotherm data of phenol (R2 of 0.9863), while the Langmuir model best elucidated the isotherm data of tannic acid (R2 of 0.9632). These indicated that the biochar-phenol interface was associated with a heterogeneous multilayer sorption mechanism, while the biochar-tannic acid interface had a nonspecific monolayer sorption mechanism. The residual concentration of 26.3 mg/L phenol and 23.1 mg/L tannic acid was achieved when treated from 260 mg/L three times consecutively with 1 g/L biochar dosage, compared to a reduction to 72.3 mg/L phenol and 69.9 mg/L tannic acid using 3 g/L biochar dosage in a single treatment. The biochar exhibited effective adsorption of phenol and tannic acid, making it possible to treat effluents that contain varieties of phenolic compounds.

Advances in biochar production and modification have extended the applications of biochar to wastewater treatment. However, not all feedstocks produced porous biochar at a moderate temperature suitable for wastewater treatment. In this study, biochar was produced from oil palm frond using steam pyrolysis at 500 °C and pulverized to granular and micro-fine particles. Both biochar particles were characterized and applied as adsorbents for treating final discharge of palm oil mill effluent. The effluent was also filtered and treated to examine the effect of suspended solids on adsorption capacity. The biochar had Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area of 406.6 m2 g−1. Pulverization eliminated the residual macropores in granular biochar, created new external surface area, and exposed constricted nanopores, which resulted in increasing the surface area to 457.7 m2 g−1. The adsorption capacity decreased from 24.6 to 6.1 mg g−1 for chemical oxygen demand and 49.0 to 10.9 Pt–Co g−1 for color by increasing the dosage of micro-fine biochar from 5 to 30 g L−1. The total suspended solids affected the adsorption capacity of granular biochar by blocking residual macropores that provide access to adsorption sites in micropores and mesopores. At 30 g L−1, the micro-fine biochar exhibited an effective reduction of chemical oxygen demand from 224 to 41.6 mg g−1 and color from 344 to 15 Pt–Co g−1 making the wastewater suitable for reuse in palm oil mills and safe for discharge into the aquatic environment.

This study aims to elucidate the mechanism of carbon partitioning towards starch and triacylglycerol (TAG) under nitrogen stress. Whole-transcriptome analysis was performed using RNA sequencing before being validated with qRT-PCR. The strain, Chlorella vulgaris UPSI-JRM01, exhibited a two-stage response to nitrogen stress: i) carbohydrate accumulation, plastid protein degradation and amino acid biosynthesis; and ii) lipid accumulation, carbohydrate degradation and DNA damage. In the first stage, the genes responsible for plastid protein degradation (CD4A), amino acid biosynthesis (arg, GLSN, AHCY, win1), carbon fixation (RuBisCO, GapC, fba, TK) and starch synthesis (SS, SBE2) were upregulated. In the second stage, the upregulation of genes responsible for starch degradation (SP), glycolysis (PFO, PK, ACS), fatty acid biosynthesis (FabH, accD) and TAG accumulation (DGAT2) were observed. By contrast, the components of photosystem I (PsbD, PsbC, PsbB), photosystem II (PsaA), cytochrome b6/f (PetA, PetG) and F-type ATPase (beta, alpha) were downregulated. The results suggested that nitrogen stress triggered high starch accumulation before the carbon was partitioned towards triacylglycerol (TAG) for long-term energy storage by two different pathways: chloroplastic TAG synthesis and glycerolipid metabolism. The starch build-up functions served as a rapid response to nitrogen stress, whereas subsequent lipid accumulation benefited the long-term storage of energy. This research provides in-depth understanding of the metabolic changes triggered by nitrogen stress.

Conventional aerobic treatment of facultatively treated palm oil mill effluent (POME) containing phenolic compounds such as phenol, encounters difficulty because of microbial inhibition. In this study, adsorption of phenol in facultatively treated POME was proposed as a solution for mitigating the inhibition. Low-cost biochars produced from oil palm frond using nitrogen or steam pyrolysis at 600 °C were characterized and investigated for efficient and effective removal of phenol. Nitrogen and steam pyrolysis yielded mesoporous biochars with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area of 368.4 m2/g and 461.3 m2/g respectively. Within 8 h, steam-derived biochar attained equilibrium capacity of 59.6 mg/L in distilled water, which decreased to 18.5 mg/L in facultatively treated POME. Steam-derived biochar exhibited slightly higher adsorption capacity for phenol in facultatively treated POME due to higher surface area, wider nanopore size distribution, a larger volume of mesopores and a stronger affinity for phenol. More than 90% of phenol was removed using 16–20 g/L dosage, yielding a facultatively treated POME with 0% inhibition to aerobic microbial growth. Overall, low-cost biochar produced from oil palm frond can be used as an efficient and effective adsorbent for adsorbing phenol in facultatively treated POME to enhance the performance of aerobic treatment system.

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains complex and highly biodegradable organic matters so discharging it without appropriate treatment may lead to environmental problems. POME final discharge quality is normally determined based on conventional chemical detection such as by biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The novelty of the present study is that the toxicity effects of the POME final discharge samples were evaluated based on whole effluent toxicity (WET) and toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) tests using Daphnia magna. The toxicity unit (TU) values were recorded to be in the range from TU = 1.1–11 obtained from WET, and the TIE manipulation tests suggested that a substantial amount of toxic compounds was contained in the POME final discharge. Phenol, 2,6-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)- and heavy metals such as Cu and Zn were detected in all the effluents and were recognized as being the main toxicants in the POME final discharge. GC/MS analyses also successfully identified cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes; cyclotetrasiloxane, octamethyl- (D4), cyclopentasiloxane, decamethyl- (D5), cyclohexasiloxane, dodecamethyl- (D6). D4 was detected at 0.0148–0.0357 mg/L, which could be potentially toxic. The palm oil industry used only water in the form of steam to process the fruits, and the presence of these compounds might be derived from the detergents and grease used in palm oil mill cleaning and maintenance operations. An appropriate treatment process is thus required to eliminate these toxicants from the POME final discharge. It is recommended that two approaches, chemical-based monitoring as well as biological toxicity-based monitoring, should be utilized for achieving an acceptable quality of POME final discharge in the future.

Pseudogenes in the Escherichia coli genome are assumed to be non-functional. In this study, Keio collection BW25113∆yqiG and YqiG-producing strain (BW25113/pCA24N-YqiG) were used to evaluate the importance of pseudogene yqiG in hydrogen metabolism. Our results show pseudogene protein YqiG was identified as an essential protein in the production of biohydrogen from glucose. The mutant yqiG decreased biohydrogen production from 37 µmol mg−1 protein to 6 µmol mg−1 protein compared to the wild-type strain, and glucose consumption was reduced by 80%. Through transcriptional analysis, we found that the yqiG mutation represses pflB transcription tenfold; pflB encodes pyruvate-formate lyase, one of the key enzymes in the anaerobic metabolism of E. coli. Moreover, production of YqiG stimulated glycolysis and increased biohydrogen productivity 1.5-fold compared to that of the wild-type strain. Thus, YqiG is important for the central glycolysis reaction and is able to influence hydrogen metabolism activity in E. coli.

The present work aimed to investigate the pretreatment of oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) in subcritical H2O-CO2 at a temperature range from 150&ndash, 200 &deg, C and 20&ndash, 180 min with CO2 pressure from 3&ndash, 5 MPa. The pretreated solids and liquids from this process were separated by filtration and characterized. Xylooligosaccharides (XOs), sugar monomers, acids, furans and phenols in the pretreated liquids were analyzed by using HPLC. XOs with a degree of polymerization X2&ndash, X4 comprising xylobiose, xylotriose, xylotetraose were analyzed by using HPAEC-PAD. Enzymatic hydrolysis was performed on cellulose-rich pretreated solids to observe xylose and glucose production. An optimal condition for XOs production was achieved at 180 &deg, C, 60 min, 3 MPa and the highest XOs obtained was 81.60 mg/g which corresponded to 36.59% of XOs yield from total xylan of OPMF. The highest xylose and glucose yields obtained from pretreated solids were 29.96% and 84.65%, respectively at cellulase loading of 10 FPU/g-substrate.

The development of free and total cholesterol nanobiosensors based on a single step electrochemical integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), cholesterol oxidase (COx), cholesterol esterase (CE) and a mediator with polypyrrole (PPy) films is described. The incorporation of the various components in the PPy films was confirmed by chronopotentiometry, cyclic voltammetry (CV), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The free cholesterol, PPy-NO3--Fe(CN)64--AuNPs-COx, nanobiosensor achieved a minimum detectable concentration of 5 μM, a linear concentration range of 5–25 μM and a sensitivity of 1.6 µA cm−2 µM−1 in 0.05 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.00). For the total cholesterol, PPy-NO3--Fe(CN)64--AuNPs-COx-CE, nanobiosensor which also involved the co-incorporation of cholesterol esterase (CE) with the other components, the achieved performances include a minimum detectable total cholesterol concentration of 25 μM, a broader linear concentration range of 25–170 μM and a lower sensitivity of 0.1 µA µM−1 cm−2. Owing to its high selectivity, the presence of common interferants did not affect the total cholesterol measurement with the PPy-NO3--Fe(CN)64--AuNPs-COx-CE nanobiosensor. Both nanobiosensors were successfully used for direct and indirect determination of total cholesterol in human blood serum samples.

The application of the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) reaction in a biological nitrogen removal system to treat wastewater has become of great interest since its discovery. The anammox reaction is performed by anammox bacteria that belong to the Planctomycete phylum. The reaction occurs in the presence of ammonium using nitrite as the substrate under anaerobic conditions. However, the bacteria have an extremely slow growth rate and stringent metabolic conditions that cause difficulty in culturing and applying the system for wastewater treatment. Anammox enrichment has a long start-up period for the anammox process that hinders researchers using laboratory and full-scale systems for the first time. Many attempts have been made to culture anammox to establish a successful anammox culture with a shorter start-up period for the anammox reaction and high nitrogen removal activity. This paper reviews previous studies on anammox enrichment with emphasis on (i) inoculum selection, (ii) enrichment ...

Acetoin is used in the biochemical, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Several effective methods for acetoin production from petroleum-based substrates have been developed, but they all have an environmental impact and do not meet sustainability criteria. Here we describe a simple and efficient method for acetoin production from oil palm mesocarp fiber hydrolysate using engineered Escherichia coli. An optimization of culture conditions for acetoin production was carried out using reagent-grade chemicals. The final concentration reached 29.9gL-1 with a theoretical yield of 79%. The optimal pretreatment conditions for preparing hydrolysate with higher sugar yields were then determined. When acetoin was produced using hydrolysate fortified with yeast extract, the theoretical yield reached 97% with an acetoin concentration of 15.5gL-1. The acetoin productivity was 10-fold higher than that obtained using reagent-grade sugars. This approach makes use of a compromise strategy for effective utilization of oil palm biomass towards industrial application.

Objective A lignin-degrading bacterium, Burkholderia sp. CCA53, was previously isolated from leaf soil. The purpose of this study was to determine phenotypic and biochemical features of Burkholderia sp. CCA53. Results Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis based on fragments of the atpD, gltD, gyrB, lepA, recA and trpB gene sequences was performed to identify Burkholderia sp. CCA53. The MLST analysis revealed that Burkholderia sp. CCA53 was tightly clustered with B. multivorans ATCC BAA-247T. The quinone and cellular fatty acid profiles, carbon source utilization, growth temperature and pH were consistent with the characteristics of B. multivorans species. Burkholderia sp. CCA53 was therefore identified as B. multivorans CCA53.

In this study, palm oil mill effluent (POME) was used as the substrate for biohydrogen production. Heat-treated POME sludge acclimated with POME incubated at 37°C for 24 hours was used as seed culture. Preliminary screening on the effects of inocula sizes, heat treatment, substrate concentration and pH of incubation by using a factorial design (FD) were conducted under mesophilic condition (37°C) using a serum vial (160 mL). The experimental results from two-level FD showed that pH and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of POME significantly affected biohydrogen production. Optimizations of the specific hydrogen production (Ps) and the hydrogen production rate (Rm) were achieved by using a central composite design (CCD). The maximum Ps of 272 mL H2/g carbohydrate was obtained under optimum conditions of pH 5.75 and substrate concentration of 80 g/L. The maximum Rm of 98 mL H2/h was calculated under the optimum conditions of pH 5.98 and substrate concentration of 80 g/L. The optimized conditions obtained were subjected to a confirmation run and it showed reproducible data with a Ps of 226 mL H2/g carbohydrate and Rm of 72 mL H2/h.

In the methane production from waste activated sludge (WAS), complex bacterial interactions in WAS have been known as a major contribution to methane production. Therefore, the influence of bacterial community changes toward methane production from WAS was investigated by an application of antibiotics as a simple means for it. In this study, azithromycin (Azm) as an antibiotic was mainly used to observe the effect on microbial changes that influence methane production from WAS. The results showed that at the end of fermentation, Azm enhanced methane production about twofold compared to control. Azm fostered the growth of acid-producing bacterial communities, which synthesized more precursors for methane formation. DGGE result showed that the hydrolysis as well as acetogenesis stage was improved by the dominant of B1, B2 and B3 strains, which are Clostridium species. In the presence of Azm, the total population of archaeal group was increased, resulting in higher methane productivity achievement.

Molecular imprinted is a technique to produce template-shape cavities in polymer matrix with memory of the template/target molecule for chemical sensor front-end. In this study, it has been shown that the incorporation of graphene sheets/Congo red (GSCR) has enhanced the performance of molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) serine sensor. The polymer is formed via photo-polymerization from methyl methacrylate acid (functional monomer), serine (template) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (cross-linker) together with GSCR. By introducing GSCR-MIP, GSCR-MIP OTFT chemical sensor demonstrates a good response when serine is introduced. The performance of GSCR-MIP OTFT serine sensor can be improved through the addition of GSCR, thus GSCR-MIP has high potentials for application in sensor fabrication.

The global waste generation keeps increasing over the years and it requires innovative solutions to minimize its impacts on environmental quality and public health. A strategic plan must be ascertained to overcome the future challenges of Municipal solid waste (MSW) locally and globally. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) coined an initiative to demonstrate a showcase pilot plant for green energy production from MSW. The data was obtained from the survey and actual sampling within the UPM compound shows that UPM has generated 5.0&ndash, 7.0 t/d of MSW generated consist of 30&ndash, 35% organic fraction. Restaurants are the main source of the organic fraction. Upon separation, the organic fractions were digested into biogas. At a maximum conversion of the organic fraction, 715 kWh of electricity might be generated from the 2.2 t/d of organic waste generated in UPM. In this study, organic components from UPM were proposed to be subsequently used as a substrate via anaerobic digestion to produce green energy in the form of electricity or flammable fuels.

Since the actual role of Escherichia coli hydrogenases on fermentation from glycerol has not been clear, we evaluated the effect of inactivation of each E. coli hydrogenase on cell growth, hydrogen production, organic acids production, and ethanol production. Inactivation of hydrogenase 2 and hydrogenase 3 reduced cell growth, hydrogen and succinate production as well as glycerol utilization while acetate increased. Inactivation of hydrogenase 2 in minimal medium at pH 7.5 impaired hydrogen production, but no significant effect occurred at pH 6.5 or in complex medium. Inactivation of hydrogenase 3 impaired hydrogen production in minimal and rich medium, pH 6.5 and pH 7.5 accumulating formate in all conditions. Therefore during fermentation from glycerol, hydrogenase 3 is the main hydrogenase with hydrogen synthesis activity through the formate hydrogen lyase complex. Hydrogenase 2 seems mainly required for optimum glycerol metabolism rather than hydrogen synthesis. There were no significant impacts by inactivating hydrogenase 1 and hydrogenase 4.

This works reports the electrical performance of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/Molecular imprinted polymer (MIP)- organic thin film transistor (OTFT) for amino-acid detection, serine. These biomimetic sensors consider MIP as man-tailored biomimetic recognition sites that play an important role in signal transduction. MIP provides recognition sites compatible with serine molecules was developed by dispersing serine with methylacrylate acid (MAA) as functional monomer and Ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker. The imprinted polymeric were mixed with reduced graphene oxide to produced sensing layer for the sensor. RGO-MIP layer was introduced between source and drain of OTFT via spin coating as a detecting layer for serine molecules. RGO was introduced into MIP, to allow a highly conductive sensing material thus enhanced selectivity and sensitivity of the sensor. By analyzing the electrical performance of the sensors, the performances of OTFT sensor enhanced with RGO/MIP interlayer and OTFT...