Search results for: microbial activity

Authors: Ching-Wei Tsai, Chih-I Liu, Ruoh-Chyu Ruaana

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A new strategy for oriented immobilization of proteins was proposed. The strategy contains two steps. The first step is to search for a docking site away from the active site on the protein surface. The second step is trying to find a ligand that is able to grasp the targeted site of the protein. To avoid ligand binding to the active site of protein, the targeted docking site is selected to own opposite charges to those near the active site. To enhance the ligand-protein binding, both hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions need to be included. The targeted docking site should therefore contain hydrophobic amino acids. The ligand is then selected through the help of molecular docking simulations. The enzyme α-amylase derived from Aspergillus oryzae (TAKA) was taken as an example for oriented immobilization. The active site of TAKA is surrounded by negatively charged amino acids. All the possible hydrophobic sites on the surface of TAKA were evaluated by the free energy estimation through benzene docking. A hydrophobic site on the opposite side of TAKA-s active site was found to be positive in net charges. A possible ligand, 3,3-,4,4- – Biphenyltetra- carboxylic acid (BPTA), was found to catch TAKA by the designated docking site. Then, the BPTA molecules were grafted onto silica gels and measured the affinity of TAKA adsorption and the specific activity of thereby immobilized enzymes. It was found that TAKA had a dissociation constant as low as 7.0×10-6 M toward the ligand BPTA on silica gel. The increase in ionic strength has little effect on the adsorption of TAKA, which indicated the existence of hydrophobic interaction between ligands and proteins. The specific activity of the immobilized TAKA was compared with the randomly adsorbed TAKA on primary amine containing silica gel. It was found that the orderly immobilized TAKA owns a specific activity twice as high as the one randomly adsorbed by ionic interaction.

Keywords: Protein Oriented immobilization, Molecular docking, ligand design, surface modification.

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Authors: Edison Muzenda, Ayo S. Afolabi

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This paper is a continuation of our interest in the influence of temperature on specific retention volumes and the resulting infinite dilution activity coefficients. This has a direct effect in the design of absorption and stripping columns for the abatement of volatile organic compounds. The interaction of 13 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) at varying temperatures was studied by gas liquid chromatography (GLC). Infinite dilution activity coefficients and specific retention volumes obtained in this study were found to be in agreement with those obtained from static headspace and group contribution methods by the authors as well as literature values for similar systems. Temperature variation also allows for transport calculations for different seasons. The results of this work confirm that PDMS is well suited for the scrubbing of VOCs from waste gas streams. Plots of specific retention volumes against temperature gave linear van-t Hoff plots.

Keywords: Specific retention volume, Waste gas streams, specific retention, infinite dilution, abatement, transport.

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Authors: Marine A. Balayan, Susanna S. Mirzabekyan, Marine Isajanyan, Zaven S. Pepoyan, Аrmen H. Trchounian, Аstghik Z. Pepoyan, Helena Bujdakova

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It has been shown that pH 7,3 and 37 0C are the optimal condition for the growth of E. coli “ASAP". The cells grow well on Glucose, Lactose, D-Mannitol, D-Sorbitol, (+)-Xylose, L- (+)-Arabinose and Dulcitol. No growth has been observed on Sucrose, Inositol, Phenylalanine, and Tryptophan. The strain is sensitive to a range of antibiotics. The present study has demonstrated that E. coli “ASAP" inhibit the growth of S. enterica ATCC #700931 in vitro. The studies on conjugating activity has revealed no conjugant of E. coli “ASAP" with plasmid strains E. coli G35#59 and S. enterica ATCC #700931. On the other hand, the conjugants with low frequencies were obtained from E. coli “ASAP" with E. coli G35#61, and E. coli “ASAP" with randomly chosen isolate from healthy human gut microflora: E. coli E6. The results of present study have demonstrated improvements in gut microflora condition of patients with different diseases after the administration of “ASAP"

Keywords: E. coli, ASAP, Probiotic formula, gut microflora.

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Authors: L. N. Corîci, A. E. Frissen, D -J. Van Zoelen, I. F. Eggen, F. Peter, C. M. Davidescu, C. G. Boeriu

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Two commercial proteases from Bacillus licheniformis (Alcalase 2.4 L FG and Alcalase 2.5 L, Type DX) were screened for the production of Z-Ala-Phe-NH2 in batch reaction. Alcalase 2.4 L FG was the most efficient enzyme for the C-terminal amidation of Z-Ala-Phe-OMe using ammonium carbamate as ammonium source. Immobilization of protease has been achieved by the sol-gel method, using dimethyldimethoxysilane (DMDMOS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) as precursors (unpublished results). In batch production, about 95% of Z-Ala-Phe-NH2 was obtained at 30°C after 24 hours of incubation. Reproducibility of different batches of commercial Alcalase 2.4 L FG preparations was also investigated by evaluating the amidation activity and the entrapment yields in the case of immobilization. A packed-bed reactor (0.68 cm ID, 15.0 cm long) was operated successfully for the continuous synthesis of peptide amides. The immobilized enzyme retained the initial activity over 10 cycles of repeated use in continuous reactor at ambient temperature. At 0.75 mL/min flow rate of the substrate mixture, the total conversion of Z-Ala-Phe-OMe was achieved after 5 hours of substrate recycling. The product contained about 90% peptide amide and 10% hydrolysis byproduct.

Keywords: packed-bed reactor, peptide amide, protease, sol-gel immobilization.

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Authors: A. Ashjaran, M. E. Yazdanshenas, A. Rashidi, R. Khajavi, A. Rezaee

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fibers of pure cellulose can be made from some bacteria such as acetobacter xylinum. Bacterial cellulose fibers are very pure, tens of nm across and about 0.5 micron long. The fibers are very stiff and, although nobody seems to have measured the strength of individual fibers. Their stiffness up to 70 GPa. Fundamental strengths should be at least greater than those of the best commercial polymers, but best bulk strength seems to about the same as that of steel. They can potentially be produced in industrial quantities at greatly lowered cost and water content, and with triple the yield, by a new process. This article presents a critical review of the available information on the bacterial cellulose as a biological nonwoven fabric with special emphasis on its fermentative production and applications. Characteristics of bacterial cellulose biofabric with respect to its structure and physicochemical properties are discussed. Current and potential applications of bacterial cellulose in textile, nonwoven cloth, paper, films synthetic fiber coating, food, pharmaceutical and other industries are also presented.

Keywords: Microbial cellulose, Biofabric, Microorganisms Acetobacter xylinum, Polysaccharide

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Authors: Zhanat Shomanova, Ruslan Safarov, Yuri Nosenko, Zheneta Tashmuchambetova, Alima Zharmagambetova

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An effective way of utilization of ferroalloy production wastes is preparing hydrocarbon refining catalysts from them. It is possible due to accordable transition metals containing in the wastes. In the work, we are presenting the results on elemental analysis of sludge samples from Aksu ferroalloy plant (Aksu, Kazakhstan), method of catalysts preparing, results of physical-chemical analysis of obtained catalysts (X-ray analysis, electron microscopy, the BET method etc.), results of using the catalysts in some hydrocarbons refining processes such as hydrocracking of rubber waste, cracking of gasoil, oxidation of cyclohexane. The main results of catalytic activity research are: a) In hydrocracking of rubber waste 64.9% of liquid products were fuel fractions; b) In cracking of gasoil conversion was 51% and selectivity by liquid products was 99%; c) In oxidation of cyclohexane the maximal product yield 87.9% and selectivity by cyclohexanol 93.0% were achieved.

Keywords: Catalyst, cyclohexane oxidation, ferroalloy production waste, gasoil cracking.

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Authors: Salma H. Abu Hafsa, A. Mendonca, B. Brehm-Stecher, A. A. Hassan, S. A. Ibrahim

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Enterococci are important inhabitants of the animal intestine and are widely used in probiotic products. A probiotic strain is expected to possess several desirable properties in order to exert beneficial effects. Therefore, the objective of this study was to isolate, characterize and identify Enterococcus sp. from chicken cecal and fecal samples to determine potential probiotic properties. Enterococci were isolated from chicken ceca and feces of thirty three clinically healthy chickens from a local farm. In vitro studies were performed to assess antibacterial activity of the isolated LAB (using agar well diffusion and cell free supernatant broth technique against Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis), survival in acidic conditions, resistance to bile salts, and their survival during simulated gastric juice conditions at pH 2.5. Isolates were identified by biochemical carbohydrate fermentation patterns using an API 50 CHL kit and API ZYM kits and by sequenced 16S rDNA. An isolate belonging to E. faecium species exhibited inhibitory effect against S. enteritidis. This isolate producing a clear zone as large as 10.30 mm or greater and was able to grow in the coculture medium and at the same time, inhibited the growth S. enteritidis. In addition, E. faecium exhibited significant resistance under highly acidic conditions at pH 2.5 for 8 h and survived well in bile salt at 0.2% for 24 h and showing ability to survive in the presence of simulated gastric juice at pH 2.5. Based on these results, E. faecium isolate fulfills some of the criteria to be considered as a probiotic strain and therefore, could be used as a feed additive with good potential for controlling S. Enteritidis in chickens. However, in vivo studies are needed to determine the safety of the strain.

Keywords: Acid tolerance, antimicrobial activity, Enterococcus faecium, probiotic.

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Authors: A. Irum, S. Mumtaz, A. Rehman, I. Naz, S. Ahmed

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The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential applicability of biological trickling filter system for the treatment of simulated textile wastewater containing reactive azo dyes with bacterial consortium under non-sterile conditions. The percentage decolorization for the treatment of wastewater containing structurally different dyes was found to be higher than 95% in all trials. The stable bacterial count of the biofilm on stone media of the trickling filter during the treatment confirmed the presence, proliferation, dominance and involvement of the added microbial consortium in the treatment of textile wastewater. Results of physicochemical parameters revealed the reduction in chemical oxygen demand (58.5-75.1%), sulphates (18.9-36.5%), and phosphates (63.6-73.0%). UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy confirmed decolorization of dye containing wastewater was ultimate consequence of biodegradation. Toxicological studies revealed the nontoxic nature of degradative metabolites.

Keywords: Biodegradation, textile dyes, waste water, trickling filters.

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Authors: Ç. Erdoğan, T. Turan

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Pediatric cancer patients experience multiple distressing, challenges, physical symptom such as fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and balance impairment that continue years after treatment completion. In recent years, yoga is often used in children with cancer to cope with these symptoms. Yoga practice is defined as a unique physical activity that combines physical practice, breath work and mindfulness/meditation. Yoga is an increasingly popular mind-body practice also characterized as a mindfulness mode of exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of yoga intervention of children with cancer. This article planned searching the literature in this field. It has been determined that individualized yoga is feasible and provides benefits for inpatient children, improves health-related quality of life, physical activity levels, physical fitness. After yoga program, children anxiety score decreases significantly. Additionally, individualized yoga is feasible for inpatient children receiving intensive chemotherapy. As a result, yoga is an alternative and complementary medicine that can be safely used in children with cancer.

Keywords: Cancer treatment, children, nursing, yoga.

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Authors: Aytekin A.O., Morimura S.

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Chitosan is a biopolymer composed of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine. Solubility and viscosity pose problems in some applications. These problems can be overcome with unique modifications. In this study, firstly, chitosan was modified by caffeic acid and thioglycolic acid, separately. Then, growing effects of these modified polymers was observed in U937 cell line. Caffeic acid is a phenolic compound and its modifications act carcinogenic inhibitors in drugs. Thiolated chitosans are commonly being used for drugdelivery systems in various routes, because of enhancing mucoadhesiveness property. U937 cell line was used model cell for leukaemia. Modifications were achieved by 1 – 15 % binding range. Increasing binding ratios showed higher radical-scavenging activity and reducing cell growth, in compared to native chitosan. Caffeic acid modifications showed higher radical-scavenging activity than thiolated chitosans at the same concentrations. Caffeic acid and thioglycolic acid modifications inhibited growth of U937, effectively.

Keywords: Chitosan, U937 cell, caffeic acid, thioglycolic acid

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Authors: Malkhaz Jokhadze, Vakhtang Mshvildadze, Levan Makaradze, Ekaterine Mosidze, Salome Barbaqadze, Mariam Murtazashvili, Dali Berashvili, Koba sivsivadze, Lasha Bakuridze, Aliosha Bakuridze

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Essential oils are one of the most important groups of biologically active substances present in plants. Due to the chemical diversity of components, essential oils and their preparations have a wide spectrum of pharmacological action. They have bactericidal, antiviral, fungicidal, antiprotozoal, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, sedative and other activities. They are expectorant, spasmolytic, sedative, hypotensive, secretion enhancing, antioxidant remedies. Based on preliminary pharmacological studies, we have developed a formulation called “Phytobiotic” containing essential oils, a feed additive for poultry as an alternative to antibiotics. Phytobiotic is a water-soluble powder containing a composition of essential oils of thyme, clary, monarda and auxiliary substances: dry extract of liquorice and inhalation lactose. On this stage of research, the goal was to study the chemical composition of provided phytobiotic, identify the main substances and determine their quantity, investigate the biological activity of phytobiotic through in vitro and in vivo studies. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, 38 components were identified in phytobiotic, representing acyclic-, monocyclic-, bicyclic-, and sesquiterpenes. Together with identification of main active substances, their quantitative content was determined, including acyclic terpene alcohol β-linalool, acyclic terpene ketone linalyl acetate, monocyclic terpenes: D-limonene and γ-terpinene, monocyclic aromatic terpene thymol. Provided phytobiotic has pronounced and at the same time broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. In the cell model, phytobiotic showed weak antioxidant activity, and it was stronger in the ORAC (chemical model) tests. Meanwhile anti-inflammatory activity was also observed. When fowls were supplied feed enriched with phytobiotic, it was observed that gained weight of the chickens in the experimental group exceeded the same data for the control group during the entire period of the experiment. The survival rate of broilers in the experimental group during the growth period was 98% compared to -94% in the control group. As a result of conducted researches probable four different mechanisms which are important for the action of phytobiotics were identified: sensory, metabolic, antioxidant and antibacterial action. General toxic, possible local irritant and allergenic effects of phytobiotic were also investigated. Performed assays proved that formulation is safe.

Keywords: Clary, essential oils, monarda, phytobiotics, poultry, thyme.

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Authors: Saif N. Al-Bahry, Yahya M. Al-Wahaibi, Abdulkadir E. Elshafie, Ali S. Al-Bemani, Sanket J. Joshi

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Environmental pollution is a global problem and best possible solution is identifying and utilizing native microorganisms. One possible application of microbial product -biosurfactant is in bioremediation of hydrocarbon contaminated sites. We have screened forty two different petroleum contaminated sites from Oman, for biosurfactant producing spore-forming bacterial isolates. Initial screening showed that out of 42 soil samples, three showed reduction in surface tension (ST) and interfacial tension (IFT) within 24h of incubation at 40°C. Out of those 3 soil samples, one was further selected for isolation of bacteria and 14 different bacteria were isolated in pure form. Of those 14 spore-forming, rod shaped bacteria, two showed highest reduction in ST and IFT in the range of 70mN/m to <35mN/m and 26.69mN/m to <9mN/m, respectively within 24h. These bacterial biosurfactants may be utilized for bioremediation of oil-spills.

Keywords: Bioremediation, biosurfactant, hydrocarbon pollution, spore-forming bacteria.

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Authors: Ian Heazlewood, Joe Walsh, Mike Climstein, Stephen Burke, Kent Adams, Mark DeBeliso

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Whilst there is growing evidence that activity across the lifespan is beneficial for improved health, there are also many changes involved with the aging process and subsequently the potential for reduced indices of health. The nexus between all forms of health, physical activity and aging is complex and has raised much interest in recent times due to the realization that a multifaceted approached is necessary in order to counteract a growing obesity epidemic. By investigating age based trends within a population adherring to competitive sport at older ages, further insight might be gleaned to assist in understanding one of many factors influencing this relationship. This study evaluated those sport psychological constructs of health, physical fitness, mental health states, and social dimension factors in sport that were associated with factors to participate in sport and physical activity based on responses from the 2009 World Masters Games in Sydney. The sample consisted of 7846 athletes who competed at the games and who completed a 56 item sports participation survey using a 7-point Likert response (1 - not important to 7 - very important). Questions focuses on factors thought to promote participation, such as weight control, living longer, improving mental health (self-esteem, mood states), improving physical health and factors related to the athlete-s competitive perspective. The most significant factors related to participation with this cohort of masters athletes were the socializing environment of sport, getting physically fit and improving competitive personal best performances. Strategies to increase participation in masters sport should focus on these factors as other factors such as weight loss, improving mental health and living longer were not identified as important determinates of sports participation at the World Masters level.

Keywords: masters sport, promoting participation, sport psychology.

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Authors: Abdelrasoul, Khalid Ahmed Elrabie

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The study was conducted on Sahiwal cattle bulls maintained at the Artificial Breeding Complex, NDRI, Karnal, Hayana, India, to determine the effect of exercise on the sexual behavior and semen quality. Fourteen Sahiwal bulls were classified into two groups of seven each. Group-1, bulls were exercised by walking in a bull exerciser once a week one hour before semen collection, whereas bulls in group-2 were exercised daily. Sexual behavior and semen quality traits studied were: Reaction time (RT), Dismounting time (DMT), Total time taken in mounts (TTTM), Flehmen response (FR), Erection Score (ES), Protrusion Score (PS), Intensity of thrust (ITS), Temperament Score (TS), Libido Score (LS), Semen volume, Physical appearance, Mass activity, Initial progressive motility, Non-eosinophilic spermatozoa count (NESC) and post thaw motility percent. Data were analyzed by least squares technique. Group-2 showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher value in RT (sec), DMT (sec), TTTM (sec), ES, PS, ITS, LS, semen volume, semen color density and mass activity.

Keywords: Exercise, Sahiwal bulls, semen quality, sexual behavior.

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Authors: Gulmira Kenenbay, Urishbay Chomanov, Tamara Tultabayeva, Aruzhan Shoman

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Wheat germ has a balanced amino acid composition of the protein, which is well digested by enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract of humans, a high content of vitamins, minerals and unsaturated acids. Introduction components grain food products will enrich their biologically important substances, giving these products a number of valuable properties and reducing their caloric. A complex natural system of substances in foods will help replenish the body's need of essential nutrients, increasing its resistance to the harmful effects of the environment, prolong life. In this regard, there was a need for the development of production technology of protein complexes from wheat germ and then applying them in food, particularly in the dairy industry. Experimental studies were conducted to determine the number of herbal supplements on the sensory characteristics of the product. Studies have been conducted to determine the optimal process parameters of water activity and moisture content of the investigational product. 

Keywords: Wheat germ, sensory characteristics of the product, water activity.

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Authors: Aleksandra Chiniaeva

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The following paper describes the activity of national and international parliamentary assemblies of the European region in protection and promotion of human rights. It may be said that parliamentarians have a “double mandate” — as members of the international assembly and of their respective national parliaments. In other words, parliamentarization at both international and national level provides a situation for parliamentarians, where they link people, national governments and international organizations. The paper is aimed towards demonstrating that the activity of the main international parliamentary assemblies of the European region have a real positive impact on the human rights situation in the European region. In addition, the paper describes the assemblies that include protection of human rights in their Agenda as one of the main subjects: the EP, the PACE, the OSCE PA and the IPA CIS. Co-operation activities such as joint election observation; participation in inter-parliamentary associations, such as the IPU; conclusion agreements allow assemblies to provide observation of human right situation in the states that are not members of the particular organization and as consequence make their impact broader.

Keywords: Human rights, International parliamentary assembly, IPU, EP, PACE, OSCE, IPA CIS, international election observation.

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Authors: Vu Thu Trang, Lam Xuan Thanh, Samira Sarter, Tomoko Shimamura, Hiroaki Takeuchi　

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Antimicrobial activities of aminoreductone (AR), a product formed in the initial stage of Maillard reaction, were screened against pathogenic bacteria. A significant growth inhibition of AR against all 7 isolates (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC® 25923™, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC® 14028™, Bacillus cereus ATCC® 13061™, Bacillus subtilis ATCC® 11774™, Escherichia coli ATCC® 25922™, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC® 29212™, Listeria innocua ATCC® 33090™) were observed by the standard disc diffusion methods. The inhibition zone for each isolate by AR (2.5 mg) ranged from 15±0mm to 28.3±0.4mm in diameter. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AR ranging from 20mM to 26mM was proven in the 7 isolates tested. AR also showed the similar effect of growth inhibition in comparison with antibiotics frequently used for the treatment of infections bacteria, such as amikacin, ciprofloxacin, meropennem and levofloxacin. The results indicated that foods containing AR are valuable sources of bioactive compounds towards pathogenic bacteria.

Keywords: Pathogenic bacteria, aminoreductone, Maillard reaction, antimicrobial activity.

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Authors: Timothy B. Oppong, Haiyan Yang, Cecilia Amponsem-Boateng, Guangcai Duan

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The human palm has been identified as one of the richest habitats for human microbial accommodation making hand hygiene essential to primary prevention of infection. Since the hand is in constant contact with fomites which have been proven to be mostly contaminated, building hand hygiene habits is essential for the prevention of infection. This research was conducted to assess the hand hygiene habits of Ghanaian youths in Accra. This study used a survey as a quantitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that out of the 254 participants who fully answered the questionnaire, 22% had the habit of washing their hands after outings while only 51.6% had the habit of washing their hands after using the bathroom. However, about 60% of the participants said they sometimes ate with their hands while 28.9% had the habit of eating with the hand very often, a situation that put them at risk of infection from their hands since some participants had poor handwashing habits; prompting the need for continuous education on hand hygiene.

Keywords: Hand hygiene, hand hygiene habits, hand washing, hand sanitizer use.

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Authors: Smain M. Bekhti, Nada T. Matta

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Knowledge sharing in general and the contextual access to knowledge in particular, still represent a key challenge in the knowledge management framework. Researchers on semantic web and human machine interface study techniques to enhance this access. For instance, in semantic web, the information retrieval is based on domain ontology. In human machine interface, keeping track of user's activity provides some elements of the context that can guide the access to information. We suggest an approach based on these two key guidelines, whilst avoiding some of their weaknesses. The approach permits a representation of both the context and the design rationale of a project for an efficient access to knowledge. In fact, the method consists of an information retrieval environment that, in the one hand, can infer knowledge, modeled as a semantic network, and on the other hand, is based on the context and the objectives of a specific activity (the design). The environment we defined can also be used to gather similar project elements in order to build classifications of tasks, problems, arguments, etc. produced in a company. These classifications can show the evolution of design strategies in the company.

Keywords: Project Memory, Knowledge re-use, Design rationale, Knowledge representation.

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Authors: N. Behidj, K. Benyounes, T. Dahmane, A. Allem

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The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of flavonoids isolated from the aerial part of a medicinal plant which is Thymus inodorusby the middle agar diffusion method on following microorganisms. We have Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, AspergillusNiger, Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans. During this study, flavonoids extracted by stripping with steam are performed. The yields of flavonoids is 7.242% for the aqueous extract and 28.86% for butanol extract, 29.875% for the extract of ethyl acetate and 22.9% for the extract of di - ethyl. The evaluation of the antibacterial effect shows that the diameter of the zone of inhibition varies from one microorganism to another. The operation values obtained show that the bacterial strain P fluoresces, and 3 yeasts and molds; A. Niger, A. fumigatus and C. albicansare the most resistant. But it is noted that, S. aureus is shown more sensitive to crude extracts, the stock solution and the various dilutions. Finally for the minimum inhibitory concentration is estimated only with the crude extract of Thymus inodorus flavonoid.Indeed, these extracts inhibit the growth of Gram + bacteria at a concentration varying between 0.5% and 1%. While for bacteria to Gram -, it is limited to a concentration of 0.5%.

Keywords: Antimicrobial activity, flavonoids, strains, Thymus inodorus.

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Authors: Aman Ahmed Alzubier, Patrick Nwabueze Okechukwu

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Traditionally, Yemini Sidr honey has been reported to cure liver problems, stomach ulcers, and respiratory disorders. In this experiment, we evaluated Yemeni Sidr honey for its ability to protect inflammations caused by acetic acid and formalin -induced writhing, carrageenan and histamine-induced paw oedema in experimental rat model. Hyperpyrexia, membrane stabilizing activity, and phytochemical screening of the honey was also examined. Yemini Sidr Honey at (100, 200 and 500 mg/kg) exhibited a concentration dependant inhibition of acetic acid induced and formalin induced writhing, paw oedema induced by carrageenan & histamine, and hyperpyrexia induced by brewer's yeast, it also inhibited membrane stabilizing activity. Phytochemical screenings of the honey reveal the presence of flavonoids, steroid, alkaloids, saponins and tannins. This study suggested that Yemeni Sidr honey possess very strong antiinflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic effects and these effects would be a result of the phytochemicals present.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic, Carrageenan, Aceticacid, Histamine, Yemini Sidr Honey

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Authors: O. Zennouhi, M. El Mderssa, J. Ibijbijen, E. Bouiamrine, L. Nassiri

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Rangelands and silvopastoral systems of the middle Atlas are under a heavy pressure, which led to pasture degradation, invasion by non-palatable and toxic species and edaphic aridification due to the regression of the global vegetation cover. In this situation, the introduction of multipurpose leguminous shrubs, such as Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) Stirton, commonly known as bituminous clover, could be a promising socio-ecological alternative for the rehabilitation of these degraded areas. The application of biofertilizers like plant growth promoting rhizobacteria especially phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) can ensure a successful installation of this plant in the selected degraded areas. The main objective of the present work is to produce well-inoculated seedlings using the best efficient PSB strains in the greenhouse to increase their ability to resist to environmental constraints once transplanted to the field in the central Middle Atlas.

Keywords: Biofertilizers, Bituminaria bituminosa, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, rehabilitation.

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Authors: Khalid A. Darabkh, Ala F. Khalifeh, Baraa A. Bathech, Saed W. Sabah

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Despite the fact that Arabic language is currently one of the most common languages worldwide, there has been only a little research on Arabic speech recognition relative to other languages such as English and Japanese. Generally, digital speech processing and voice recognition algorithms are of special importance for designing efficient, accurate, as well as fast automatic speech recognition systems. However, the speech recognition process carried out in this paper is divided into three stages as follows: firstly, the signal is preprocessed to reduce noise effects. After that, the signal is digitized and hearingized. Consequently, the voice activity regions are segmented using voice activity detection (VAD) algorithm. Secondly, features are extracted from the speech signal using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) algorithm. Moreover, delta and acceleration (delta-delta) coefficients have been added for the reason of improving the recognition accuracy. Finally, each test word-s features are compared to the training database using dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. Utilizing the best set up made for all affected parameters to the aforementioned techniques, the proposed system achieved a recognition rate of about 98.5% which outperformed other HMM and ANN-based approaches available in the literature.

Keywords: Arabic speech recognition, MFCC, DTW, VAD.

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Authors: Safiyeh Khayati, Ali Payan

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The main objective of this study was to identify factors and conditions that motivated and encouraged students towards the math class and the factors that made this class an attractive and lovely one. To do this end, questionnaires consisting of 15 questions were distributed among 85 math teachers working in schools of Zahedan. Having collected and reviewed these questionnaires, it was shown that doing activity in math class (activity of students while teaching) and previous math teachers' behaviors have had much impact on encouraging the students towards mathematics. Separation of educational classroom of mathematics from the main classroom (which is decorated with crafts created by students themselves with regard to math book including article, wall newspaper, figures and formulas), peers, size and appearance of math book, first grade teachers in each educational level, among whom the Elementary first grade teachers had more importance and impact, were among the most influential and important factors in this regard. Then, school environment, family, conducting research related to mathematics, its application in daily life and other courses and studying the history of mathematics were categorized as important factors that would increase the students’ interest in mathematics.

Keywords: Interest, motivation, mathematical learning.

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Authors: A.A.Rohani, B.Hatami, L.Jokar, F.khorasheh, A.A.Safekordi

Abstract:

In industrial scale of Gas to Liquid (GTL) process in Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, a part of reactor outlet gases such as CO2 and CH4 as side reaction products, is usually recycled. In this study, the influence of CO2 and CH4 on the performance and selectivity of Co-Ru/Al2O3 catalyst is investigated by injection of these gases (0-20 vol. % of feed) to the feed stream. The effect of temperature and feed flow rate, are also inspected. The results show that low amounts of CO2 in the feed stream, doesn`t change the catalyst activity significantly but increasing the amount of CO2 (more than 10 vol. %) cause the CO conversion to decrease and the selectivity of heavy components to increase. Methane acts as an inert gas and doesn`t affect the catalyst performance. Increasing feed flow rate has negative effect on both CO conversion and heavy component selectivity. By raising the temperature, CO conversion will increase but there are more volatile components in the product. The effect of CO2 on the catalyst deactivation is also investigated carefully and a mechanism is suggested to explain the negative influence of CO2 on catalyst deactivation.

Keywords: Alumina, Carbon dioxide, Cobalt catalyst, Conversion, Fischer Tropsch, Selectivity

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Authors: Maribel G. Guzmán, Jean Dille, Stephan Godet

Abstract:

Silver nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method. Silver nitrate was taken as the metal precursor and hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent. The formation of the silver nanoparticles was monitored using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The UV-Vis spectroscopy revealed the formation of silver nanopart├¡cles by exhibing the typical surface plasmon absorption maxima at 418-420 nm from the UV–Vis spectrum. Comparison of theoretical (Mie light scattering theory) and experimental results showed that diameter of silver nanoparticles in colloidal solution is about 60 nm. We have used energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and, UV–Vis spectroscopy to characterize the nanoparticles obtained. The energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) of the nanoparticles dispersion confirmed the presence of elemental silver signal no peaks of other impurity were detected. The average size and morphology of silver nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM photographs indicate that the nanopowders consist of well dispersed agglomerates of grains with a narrow size distribution (40 and 60 nm), whereas the radius of the individual particles are between 10 and 20 nm. The synthesized nanoparticles have been structurally characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission high-energy electron diffraction (HEED). The peaks in the XRD pattern are in good agreement with the standard values of the face-centered-cubic form of metallic silver (ICCD-JCPDS card no. 4-0787) and no peaks of other impurity crystalline phases were detected. Additionally, the antibacterial activity of the nanopart├¡culas dispersion was measured by Kirby-Bauer method. The nanoparticles of silver showed high antimicrobial and bactericidal activity against gram positive bacteria such as Escherichia Coli, Pseudimonas aureginosa and staphylococcus aureus which is a highly methicillin resistant strain.

Keywords: Silver nanoparticles, surface plasmon, UV-Vis absorption spectrum, chemicals reduction.

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Authors: Nader Gharibnavaz, Hossein Yazdi

Abstract:

If organizations like Mellat Bank want to identify its customer market completely to reach its specified goals, it can segment the market to offer the product package to the right segment. Our objective is to offer a segmentation model for Iran banking market in Mellat bank view. The methodology of this project is combined by “segmentation on the basis of four part-quality variables" and “segmentation on the basis of different in means". Required data are gathered from E-Systems and researcher personal observation. Finally, the research offers the organization that at first step form a four dimensional matrix with 756 segments using four variables named value-based, behavioral, activity style, and activity level, and at the second step calculate the means of profit for every cell of matrix in two distinguished work level (levels α1:normal condition and α2: high pressure condition) and compare the segments by checking two conditions that are 1- homogeneity every segment with its sub segment and 2- heterogeneity with other segments, and so it can do the necessary segmentation process. After all, the last offer (more explained by an operational example and feedback algorithm) is to test and update the model because of dynamic environment, technology, and banking system.

Keywords: market segmentation model, banking system, Mellat bank

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Authors: G.Durai, N.Rajamohan, C.Karthikeyan, M.Rajasimman

Abstract:

In this study, aerobic digestion of tannery industry wastewater was carried out using mixed culture obtained from common effluent treatment plant treating tannery wastewater. The effect of pH, temperature, inoculum concentration, agitation speed and initial substrate concentration on the reduction of organic matters were found. The optimum conditions for COD reduction was found to be pH - 7 (60%), temperature - 30ÔùªC (61%), inoculum concentration - 2% (61%), agitation speed - 150rpm (65%) and initial substrate concentration - 1560 mg COD/L (74%). Kinetics studies were carried by using Monod model, First order, Diffusional model and Singh model. From the results it was found that the Monod model suits well for the degradation of tannery wastewater using mixed microbial consortium.

Keywords: Tannery, Wastewater, Biological treatment, Aerobic, Mixed culture, Kinetics.

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Authors: Gopalu Karunakaran, Matheswaran Jagathambal, Nguyen Van Minh, Evgeny Kolesnikov, Denis Kuznetsov

Abstract:

This work investigated the use of Beijerinckia indica extracellular extract for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using AgNO₃. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by different methods, such as UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, EDX, and TEM analysis. The formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was confirmed by the change in color from light yellow to dark brown. The absorbance peak obtained at 430 nm confirmed the presence of silver nanoparticles. The XRD analysis showed the cubic crystalline phase of the synthesized nanoparticles. FTIR revealed the presence of groups that acts as stabilizing and reducing agents for silver nanoparticles formation. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were generally found to be spherical in shape with size ranging from 5 to 20 nm, as evident by TEM analysis. These nanoparticles were found to inhibit pathogenic bacterial strains. This work proved that the bacterial extract is a potential eco-friendly candidate for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles with promising antibacterial and antioxidant properties. 

Keywords: Antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, Beijerinckia indica, characterisation, extracellular extracts, silver nanoparticles.

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Authors: Abbul B. Khan, Neeraj Dohare, Rajan Patel

Abstract:

The mixed micellization of adiphenine hydrochloride (ADP) with 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C10mim.Cl), was investigated at different mole fractions and temperatures by surface tension measurements. The synergistic behavior (i.e., non-ideal behavior) for binary mixtures was explained by the deviation of critical micelle concentration (cmc) from ideal critical micelle concentration (cmc*), micellar mole fraction (Xim) from ideal micellar mole fraction (Xiideal), the values of interaction parameter (β) and activity coefficients (fi) (for both mixed micelles and mixed monolayer). The excess free energy (ΔGex) for the ADP- C10mim.Cl binary mixtures explain the stability of mixed micelles in comparison to micelles of pure ADP and C10mim.Cl. Interfacial parameters, i.e., Gibbs surface excess (Гmax), minimum head group area at air/ water interface (Amin), and free energy of micellization (ΔG0m) were also evaluated for the systems.

Keywords: Adiphenine hydrochloride, Critical micelle concentration, Interaction parameter, Activity coefficient.

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