A study of triangular membership function and multiple regressions to calculate the MSW compost index

The municipal solid waste compost consists of elements with a varied composition, including light and heavy metal elements. For MSW compost to act as a soil conditioner, and to ensure agricultural stakeholders to believe in its use for crops production, validation of elements is obligatory. The triangular membership function evaluates each element of a fuzzy set for both discrete and continuous values, and regression analysis estimates the relationship between values. In this paper, a triangular membership function (μf) is studied and used to characterize the effect of individual elements available in the compost sample. The characterization determines the variation in the composition of elements in the compost sample and accordingly calculates its scorei. Furthermore, a reinvestigation is done by applying multiple regression analysis, especially on heavy metals, to compare their composition with light mineral nutrients and other supplementary elements. A relationship between R=4.12 and R2=0.067498635 is derived to determine the predicted value and defines the composition of heavy metals as attributed to another mineral nutrients. Furthermore, a correlation (Co) is derived to find the performance of the compost sample todecide whether both light and supplementary mineral nutrients are capable of minimizing the effect of heavy metals. A gratuity score (Gsi) is added to each heavy metal depending on the correlation value to form a composti. The scorei=88.11 and composti = 9.12 obtained, was summated to derive Ci=97.23, stating that the increase in score value declares that the compost sample is mature enough to be used for agriculture and enhance crops productivity.

Whole-Genome Sequence of Brevibacillus borstelensis SDM, Isolated from a Sorghum-Adapted Microbial Community

ABSTRACT The isolation of novel microbes from environmental samples continues to be a key strategy for the discovery of new metabolic capacities for the degradation and transformation of lignocellulose. We report the draft genome sequence of a new strain of Brevibacillus borstelensis isolated from a sorghum-adapted microbial community derived from a compost sample.

Comparative Evaluation of Chemical Composition of Commercially Available Windrow Compost Sample and Privately prepared Invessel Compost samples

In developing countries like Pakistan the organic waste production is comparatively high. Composting is a good option to overcome problems related to management of organic waste. Compost produced from solid waste should be according to the standards set for soil to ensure beneficial results in plants. The objectives of the study were to determine the quality of compost used in agricultural lands in different areas of country.In the study area the commercially available compost is prepared by windrow composting method. Some home gardeners prepare compost by invessel method. But the sale of commercial compost decreased with the passage of time. One of the reasons behind this includes low quality compost and less desired results in terms of soil fertility. Comparative analysis of windrow compost sample and in-vessel compost samples were carried out to identify the fate of these composts in terms of international standards. Analysis results revealed that some parameters were lower than standard values i.e. moisture content was less than 45% in all samples, carbon nitrogen (C:N) ratio was less than 25 which should be >25, available carbon was < 35% in all samples and burned carbon was also <35% in all samples. Compost is used as a soil conditioner and low level fertilizer however if its nutritional value is not according to the standard it maybe no longer beneficial for plants. Substandard compost can also cause microbial degradation in soil and can make it anaerobic as well.

Determination of Extraction Period and Extractant Ratio for Extracting Humic Acid from Rice Straw Compost

The process of isolating humic substances especially humic acid consumes a lot of time. The isolation (extraction, fractionation and purification) processes of humic acid from different sources such as soils, organic fertilizers and so on vary from 12 hours to 7 days. Based on the previous findings reported by other researchers, the standard extractant ratio used for humic acid extraction is 1:10 because it gives the highest yield of humic acid isolated. Previous studies tend to focus on the isolation duration of humic acid but not extractant ratio. To date, there is also lack of information about the extraction period and extractant ratio required to extract humic acid from rice straw compost. This study aimed to assess the minimum duration and extractant ratio for extracting humic acid from rice straw compost. A ratio of 1: 5 and 1: 10 of rice straw compost sample to chemical used were performed in humic acid extraction. A 5 g of rice straw compost sample was mixed with 25 mL and 50 mL of 0.5 M sodium hydroxide, respectively, and were extracted under different extraction periods (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 24 hours). There was significant difference in the extraction periods and extractant ratio on the yield of humic acid. This study revealed that an extractant ratio of 1:10 and 12 hours of extraction period are required to extract humic acid from rice straw compost and can be purified within 1 hour using distilled water. Humic acid yield was significantly lower when the extraction period was less than 12 hours because the time was not sufficient for the H+ ions to displace Na+ ions and other cations. Furthermore, the difficulty of HA extraction period of less than 12 hours was probably due to difficulty of wetting the air-dried compost. The significance of this study is humic acid from rice straw compost can be isolated within 12 hour of extraction period, 24 hours of fractionation period and 1 hour of purification period under extractant ratio of 1:10. Thus, this may help in reducing time and costs needed to produce the humate product from this compost. The extractant ratio of 1:10 is more preferred because of the higher humic acid yield obtained.

Nocardiopsis nikkonensis sp. nov., isolated from a compost sample

An actinomycete strain, designated YU1183-22T, was isolated from a compost sample collected in Nikko, Japan. The isolate formed white aerial mycelium with relatively long aerial hyphae showing chains of arthrospores. Strain YU1183-22T grew with 0–10 % (w/v) NaCl, at pH 6–11 and at 10–37 °C (optimum 30 °C). Strain YU1183-22T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid and no diagnostic sugars. The predominant menaquinones were MK-10(H10) and MK-10(H8). The polar lipids were phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and tuberculostearic acid. The G+C content of the DNA was 72.3 mol%. Chemotaxonomic and morphological characterization clearly demonstrated that strain YU1183-22T belonged to the genus Nocardiopsis. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolate was closely related to Nocardiopsis salina YIM 90010T (98.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Nocardiopsis xinjiangensis YIM 90004T (97.9 %) and Nocardiopsis kunsanensis HA-9T (97.3 %). However, DNA–DNA relatedness as well as physiological and biochemical analyses showed that strain YU1183-22T could be differentiated from its closest phylogenetic relatives. It is proposed that this strain be classified as a representative of a novel species of the genus Nocardiopsis, with the name Nocardiopsis nikkonensis sp. nov. The type strain is YU1183-22T (=NBRC 102170T =KCTC 19666T).