n. e. quest, volume 4, issue 1, april 2010

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

N. E. Quest; Volume 4, Issue 1, April 2010.

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Newsletter Of

NORTH EAST INDIA RESEARCH FORUM

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/northeast_india_research/ www.neindiaresearch.org

http://www.neindiaresearch.org/



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Education and Development

Can we imagine an India where

every child will get best education and

best facilities where they can narrate their

skills to performance; there will be no

school drop-outs, no child labor; no

pressure from the parents to their child to

become doctors, engineers and MNC

professionals! And more importantly there

will be no wastage of human resource!

Now look at the reality. Despite the

success of a few world-class schools such

as the IITs, MITs, India's education system

is in a dismal state overall. The elementary

education is deliberately destroyed. Of its

1 million schools, most are state-run and

substandard. Therefore many parents want

to transfer their child to a private school,

whatever the cost. The situation of middle

and high school is also very pathetic. The

education system is calculatingly

commercialized and present education

system has purposefully detached mother-

tongue, history, and geography from the

present generation. By 2050, the Indian

population will hit 1.57 billion. According

to India's census bureau, 40% of the

populace is below the age of 18, and by

2015, 55% will be under 20. Unfortunately

India will easily squander its demographic

edge. While 96% of India's children enrol

in primary school, by the age of 10 about

40% have dropped out. Many of them

were unable to cross the barrier of HSLC

examination. After HS most of the so-

called brilliant students join professional

courses. Over the years the social mindset

has been developed in such a way that

parents encourage and force their child to

become doctor and engineer. Nobody

encourage the students to pursue career in

basic science. Without a much deeper pool

of educated youth in basic science, India

may definitely see its gains in software

and manufacturing are evaporating. These

days government is investing a lot in basic

sciences. These are very good steps

indeed. But without good quality

elementary and high school situation will

not change.

The picture of Northeast India is

more serious. Most of educated youths of

this region remain unemployed. There is

no any proper planning for the utilization

of huge natural resources and farming

field. The menace of corruption brings

immense hurdle in development. These are

the root cause of youth unrest and

insurgency. Only a proper scientific and

prudent education policy will help to

overcome these problems. At this

juncture, members of Northeast India

Research Forum have to play an effective

role at their level for the uplift of this

region, particularly in education and

research.

Dr. Utpal Bora



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1. THE FORUM 5

2. SCIENCE NEWS 9

3. NORTH EAST INDIANS MADE US PROUD 14

4. MEMBERS IN NEWS, AWARDS /FELLOWSHIP 15

5. ARTICLES SECTION

a) POLYSACCHARIDE BASED NEW & ADVANCED MATERIALS 16

by Dr. Kamalesh Prasad

b) SPECIALTY CHEMICALS: A BUNCH OF INTERESTING COMPOUNDS 25

by Dr. Anupom Sabhapondit

c) COAL: ANSWER TO INDIA’S ENERGY CRISIS 31

By Dr. Binoy K Saikia

d) MESOPOROUS CARBON MATERIALS 34

By Dr. Suranjana V. Mayani and Dr. Vishal J. Mayani e) LET’S LAUGH 39 By Dr. Manab Sarma

f) BASIC CONCEPTS OF DOMINO REACTIONS 41

By Dr. Saikat Dassharma

g) PROSPECTS OF ECOTOURISM IN LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT 48

By Bhaskar Bora

h) TRAITS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL 50

by Arinjit Hazarika

6) Letter from the members 52

by Dr. Saitanya K Bharadwaj

7) Members Face 53

8) Opportunities/Advertisements/Conferences 54



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North East India Research Forum was

created on 13th November 2004.

1. How we are growing. Every forum has to pass through difficult phases at the time of birth. NE India Research Forum is also no exception. At the very beginning, it was a march hardly with few members (from chemistry only) and today the forum comprised of a force of 350 elite members. Now we are in a position such that people voluntarily come and join the group irrespective of disciplines.

Graph of no of members w.r.t. months

2. Discussions held in the forum • Necessity of directory of all the members of

the forum. • Possibility of organising conference in the

N. E. India. • Taking initiation on setting up of South East

Asian Scientific Institute. • On selection of Best paper award. • Let us introspect. 3. Poll conducted and results • North East India is lacking behind the rest

of the country due to- 1. Geographical constrain = 0% 2. Bad leadership = 40% 3. Lack of work culture = 36%

4. Corruption = 18% 5. Apathy from Central Govt. = 4%

• Which area of science is going to dominate by creating a great impact on society in next decade?

1. Nanoscience & nanotechnology = 22% 2. Biotechnology = 11% 3. Nanobiotechnology = 38% 4. Chemical Engineering = 0% 5. Medicine = 11% 6. Others = 16% 7. None = 0%

• Kindly let us know your view regarding the following topic. What activities of this group you like most?

1. Research articles = 33% 2. Information about vacancy/positions

available = 10% 3. Way to have a contact with all members =

29% 4. Scientific discussions = 14% 5. Others = 2%

• Selection of name for Newsletter There were total 36 proposals submitted by members of the forum for the Newsletter. The name proposed by Mr. Abhishek Choudhury, N.E. QUEST received the maximum number of votes and hence it is accepted as the name of the Newsletter. • How often should we publish our newsletter

'' N. E. Quest’’? 1. Every 3 months = 61% 2. Every 6 months = 38% 3. Once a year = 0%

4. Editors of Previous NE-Quest Issues 1. Vol 1 Issue 1 April, 2007 Editor: Dr. Arindam Adhikari



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2. Vol 1 Issue 2 July 2007 Editor: Dr. Tankeswar Nath 3. Vol 1 Issue 3 October 2007 Editor: Dr. Ashim Jyoti Thakur 4. Vol 1 Issue 4 January 2008 Editor: Mr. Pranjal Saikia 5. Vol 2 Issue 1 April 2008 Editor: Dr. Sasanka Deka 6. Vol 2 Issue 2 July 2008 Editor: Dr. Rashmi Rekha Devi 7. Vol 2 Issue 3 October 2008 Editor: Dr. Prodeep Phukan 8. Vol 2 Issue 4 January 2009 Editor: Dr. Manab Sharma 9. Vol 3 Issue 1 April 2009 Editor: Dr. Debananda Ningthoujam 10. Vol 3 Issue 2 July 2009 Editor: Dr. Robert Singh Thangjam 11. Vol 3 Issue 3 October 2009 Editor: Dr. Pankaj Bharali 12. Vol 3 Issue 4 January 2010 Editor: Dr. Abdul Wahab 13. Vol 4 Issue 1 April 2010 Editor: Dr. Utpal Bora (This issue) 5. A domain in the name of www.

neindiaresearch.org is booked. 6. Future activities Proper planning and consequent implementation always play an important role in every aspect. Some of the topics / activities / suggestions which were being discussed, time to time in the forum will get top priorities in our future activities. Those are mentioned here, • Preparing complete online database of N.E.

researchers with details. • Organising conference in the N.E. region-

proposed by Dr. Utpal Bora. • Research collaboration among forum

members. • Motivate student to opt for science

education.

• Help master’s students in doing projects in different organisation-proposed by Dr. Khirud Gogoi.

• Supporting schools in rural areas by

different ways. • Best paper awards. • Compilation of book on ‘Education system

of different countries’. Initiative for this project is taken by Dr. Mantu Bhuyan, NEIST, Jorhat, Assam

7. New activity • Guidelines for the members are being

formulated by the moderators of the NE India Research Forum. These guidelines are placed in the forum for discussion.

• HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd is willing to sponsor some future activities of the forum and have asked for space to advertise for their products in the N.E.Quest. Starting this issue (July 2009) N.E.Quest is providing one page for the advertisement. Details about this deal will be informed soon once finalised. Thanks to Dr. Robert Thangjam for his initiative in this matter.

• North East India Research Forum cell has been started in the following colleges, • Cell in the Dibrugarh University

Contact: Dr. Jitu Ranjan Chetia Dept. of Chemistry Email: [email protected]

• Cell in Tezpur University Contact: Dr. Ashim J. Thakur Dept. of Chemistry Email: [email protected] Phone: +91 (3712) 267008/9/10 extn 5059

• Cell in Manipur University Contact: Dr. Debananda S. Ningthoujam Coordinator, Microbial Biotech Lab Reader & Head, Dept of Biochemistry, Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal, India Email: [email protected]



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• Cell in Mizoram University Contact: Dr. Thangjam Robert Singh Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University, Aizawl, India Email: [email protected] Phone: +91 389-2330861/2330859 (O)

• Cell in Govt. Science College, Jorhat (Jorhat Institute of Technology) Contact: Mr. Prasanta Kumar Bordoloi, Senior Lecturer Email: [email protected] Mobile: +91-9957036339

• Cell in Arya Vidyapeth College, Guwahati Contact: Mr. Pabitra Kalita, Senior Lecturer Email: [email protected] Mobile No: +91-9613133859 &Dr. Pradip Bhattacharyya, Senior Lecturer Email: [email protected] Mobile No: +91-9864087494

• Cell in Pandu College, Pandu Contact: Mr. Sanchay Jyoti Bora Lecturer, Department of Chemistry E-mail: [email protected] Mobile: (+91) 9854078814

• Cell in Bajali college, Pathsala Contact: Mr. Arindam Talukdar, Lecturer, Environment and Tourism Dept. Email: [email protected] &Mr. Satyendra Nath Kalita, Lecturer, Deptt. of Zoology Email: [email protected]

To run the forum smoothly, to make it more organised and to speed up activities, formation of a committee/team is essential. The combined discussion of the moderators and senior members make the forum feel the importance of Advisors, co-ordinator, volunteer, webmasters etc. Of course it needs more discussion and will be approved by poll.

8. Guidelines for the forum The moderators formulated some guidelines for the forum which are as follow. These guidelines were kept open for discussion in the forum. With time and need the guidelines will be changed.

1. Anybody in the forum can start a meaningful and constructive discussion after discussion with moderators.

2. Comments from the individual members do not necessarily reflect the view of the forum.

3. No single moderator can take a crucial decision. All decision would be taken by the moderators unanimously or together with the group as majority.

4. One should not write any massage to the forum addressing some particular members. It should always start with Dear all / Dear esteemed members etc.

5. If one has to write a mail to a particular member she/he should write personal mail.

6. Everyone has the freedom to speak but that doesn’t mean that one should attack personally. Of course we do have differences. There can be debate or discussion, but it should always be a healthy one. One’s personal comment should be written in such a way that it reflects his/her view only. It should not touch other's sentiments/emotions.

7. Whenever we are in a forum, society, home, members should be sensitive / caring enough to their comments so that it does not hurt sentiment of any second members.

8. Members should not post greetings messages (Bihu wish, New Year wish etc) to the forum.

9. Members should post authentic news only. The source of the news should be authentic. No controversial news or

mailto:[email protected]



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comment should be posted to the forum.

10. Our main aim is to discuss science to generate science consciousness, scientific temperament, sensitivity, awareness and research for the benefit of the mankind in general and North East India in particular.

11. In severe cases, moderators can take a hard decision unanimously or majority wise (may be through poll). (This point needs to be accepted by all the members).

While sending request or while fulfilling request for articles please follow the following points.

• The forum has been formed to help each other. When a member requests articles/literature to forum, members of the forum are always happy to help the person by supplying the articles. But at this stage we have to keep in mind that the article should be sent to the person who requested it, not to the whole forum as it creates lots of unnecessary mails in the message box of the forum. Moreover if it continues, it becomes an irritation also for many members.

• It is also the duty of the person who requests article to acknowledge the person who helped him/her. This can be done by writing ' Request fulfilled by......' in the subject area while composing the mail and write a thanking message in the main message board. Once this is done, then if some other members want to send the article will know about the status of the request. This will also help members in keeping mailbox clean. For example

• Moreover sending articles (copyright protected articles) to the open forum

violates copyright act. So please send the article to the person who requests not to everybody through this open forum.

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Ancient Indian Science

Baudhãyana Theorem

“The diagonal of a rectangle produces both areas which its length and breadth produce separately”

AC2 = AB2 + BC2

Baudhayana, (circa 800 BC), was a Vedic Indian learned man, likely a priest and mathematician. He is the

author of one of the earliest and most important Sulbasutras — appendices to

the Vedas giving rules for the construction of altars — called the

Baudhayana Sulbasutra, which contained several important

mathematical results. The Baudhayana Sulbasutra contains one of the earliest references to what is known today as the Pythagorean theorem (~540BC).

Continued to page 14



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Mars' entire surface was shaped by water Signs of liquid water had been seen on southern Mars, but the latest findings reveal similar signals in craters in the north of the Red Planet.

The team of France- and US-based scientists led by John Carter, of the University of Paris made their discovery by examining data from instruments on board Europe's Mars Express and Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. “We're seeing signals of what were once river beds, small seas and lakes”, John Carter University of Paris "Now, with the Esa and Nasa probes, we have been able to get a mixture of images and spectral information about the composition of the rock." He explained that these instruments had revealed clay-type minerals called phyllosilicates - "the stuff you would find in mud and in river beds." "It's not the species of mineral itself that's important," said Dr Carter, "it's more the fact that the minerals contain water. "This enhances the picture of liquid water on Mars." The new findings suggest that at least part of the wet period on Mars, that could have been favourable to life, extended into the time between that giant impact and when volcanic and other rocks formed an overlying mantle. This indicates that, 4.2 billion years ago, the planet was probably altered by liquid water on a global scale. But Dr Carter said that the findings did not paint a picture of huge Martian oceans. "It was probably a very dry place," he said. "But we're seeing signals of what were once river beds, small seas and lakes." Source: Science news

Six New Planets Discovered Six diverse new planets from 'shrunken-Saturns' to 'bloated hot Jupiters', as well a rare brown dwarf with 60 times the mass of Jupiter has been discovered by an

international team, including Oxford University scientists. The CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and Transits) space telescope is operated by the French space agency CNES. It discovers planets outside our solar system -- exoplanets -- when they 'transit', that is pass, in front of their stars. Once CoRoT detects a transit, additional observations are made from the ground, using a number of telescopes all over the world. Although astronomers cannot see the planets directly, they use the space- and ground-based data to measure the sizes, masses, and orbits of these new planets precisely. This is why, among all known exoplanets, those with transits yield the most complete information about planet formation and evolution. "Each of these planets is interesting in its own right, but what is really fascinating is how diverse they are," said co-investigator Dr. Suzanne Aigrain from Oxford University's Department of Physics. "Planets are intrinsically complex objects, and we have much to learn about them yet." The six new planets are: CoRoT-8b: the smallest in this batch: At about 70% of the size and mass of Saturn, CoRoT-8b is moderately small among the previously known transiting exoplanets. Its internal structure should be similar to that of ice giants, like Uranus and Neptune, in the Solar System. It is the smallest planet discovered by the CoRoT team so far after CoRoT-7b, the first transiting Super-Earth.



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CoRoT-10b: the eccentric giant: The orbit of CoRoT-10b is so elongated that the planet passes both very close to and very far away from its star. The amount of radiation it receives from the star varies tenfold in intensity, and scientists estimate that its surface temperature may increase from 250 to 600°C, all in the space of 13 Earth-days (the length of the year on CoRoT-10b). CoRoT-11b: the planet whose star does the twist: CoRoT-11, the host star of CoRoT-11b, rotates around its axis in 40 hours. For comparison, the Sun's rotation period is 26 days. It is particularly difficult to confirm planets around rapidly rotating stars, so this detection is a significant achievement for the CoRoT team. CoRoT-12b, 13b and 14b: a trio of giants: These three planets all orbit close to their host star but have very different properties. Although CoRoT-13b is smaller than Jupiter, it is twice as dense. This suggests the presence of a massive rocky core inside the planet. With a radius 50% large than Jupiter's (or 16 times larger than the Earth's), CoRoT-12b belongs to the family of `bloated hot Jupiters', whose anomalously large sizes are due to the intense stellar radiation they receive. On the other hand, CoRoT-14b, which is even closer to its parent star, has a size similar to Jupiter's. It is also massive, 7.5 times the mass of Jupiter, which may explain why it is less puffed up. Such very massive and very hot planets are rare, CoRoT-14b is only the second one discovered so far. CoRoT-15b: the brown dwarf: CoRoT-15b's mass is about 60 times that of Jupiter. This makes it incredibly dense, about 40 times more so than Jupiter. For that reason, it is classified as a brown dwarf, intermediate in nature between planets and stars. Brown dwarfs are much rarer than planets, which makes this discovery all the more exciting.

Scientists Grow New Lungs Using 'Skeletons' of Old Ones

For incurable lung disorder patients, such as cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung transplant may be

the only chance for survival. Unfortunately, it's often not a very good chance. Matching donor lungs are rare, and many would-be recipients die waiting for the transplants that could save their lives. Such deaths could be prevented if it were possible to use stem cells to grow new lungs or lung tissue. Specialists in the emerging field of tissue engineering have been hard at work on this for years. But they've been frustrated by the problem of coaxing undifferentiated stem cells to develop into the specific cell types that populate different locations in the lung. Now, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have demonstrated a potentially revolutionary solution to this problem. As they describe in an article published electronically ahead of print by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A, they seeded mouse embryonic stem cells into "acellular" rat lungs -- organs whose original cells had been destroyed by repeated cycles of freezing and thawing and exposure to detergent. The result: empty lung-shaped scaffolds of structural proteins on which the mouse stem cells thrived and differentiated into new cells appropriate to their specific locations. "In terms of different cell types, the lung is probably the most complex of all organs -- the cells near the entrance are very different from those deep in the lung," said Dr. Joaquin Cortiella, one of the article's lead authors. "Our natural matrix generated the same pattern, with tracheal cells only in the trachea, alveoli-like cells in the alveoli, pneumocytes only in the distal lung, and



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definite transition zones between the bronchi and the alveoli." Such "site-specific" cell development has never been seen before in a natural matrix, said professor Joan Nichols, another of the paper's lead authors. The complexity gives the researchers hope that the concept could be scaled up to produce replacement tissues for humans -- or used to create models to test therapies and diagnostic techniques for a variety of lung diseases. "If we can make a good lung for people, we can also make a good model for injury," Nichols said. "We can create a fibrotic lung, or an emphysematous lung, and evaluate what's happening with those, what the cells are doing, how well stem cell or other therapy works. We can see what happens in pneumonia, or what happens when you've got a hemorrhagic fever, or tuberculosis, or hantavirus -- all the agents that target the lung and cause damage in the lung." The researchers have already begun work on large-scale experiments, "decellularizing" pig lungs with an eye toward using them to produce larger samples of lung tissue that could lead to applications in humans. They're also taking on the challenge of vascularization -- stimulating the growth of blood vessels that will enable the engineered tissues to survive outside the special bioreactors that the researchers now use to keep them alive by bathing them in a life-sustaining cocktail of nutrients and oxygen. Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100624092522.htm Consumer-Grade Camera Detects Cancer Cells in Real Time

A stunning news was revealed by biomedical engineers of Rice University and researchers from the University of

Texas M.D. By using an off-the-shelf digital camera, Anderson Cancer Center has created

an inexpensive device that is powerful enough to let doctors easily distinguish cancerous cells from healthy cells simply by viewing the LCD monitor on the back of the camera. The results of the first tests of the camera were published online in the open-access journal PLoS ONE. "Consumer-grade cameras can serve as powerful platforms for diagnostic imaging," said Rice's Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the study's lead author. "Based on portability, performance and cost, you could make a case for using them both to lower health care costs in developed countries and to provide services that simply aren't available in resource-poor countries." The team captured images of cells with a small bundle of fiber-optic cables attached to a $400 Olympus E-330 camera. When imaging tissues, Richards-Kortum's team applied a common fluorescent dye that caused cell nuclei in the samples to glow brightly when lighted with the tip of the fiber-optic bundle. Three tissue types were tested: cancer cell cultures that were grown in a lab, tissue samples from newly resected tumors and healthy tissue viewed in the mouths of patients. Because the nuclei of cancerous and precancerous cells are notably distorted from those of healthy cells, Richards-Kortum said, abnormal cells were easily identifiable, even on the camera's small LCD screen. "The dyes and visual techniques that we used are the same sort that pathologists have used for many years to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells in biopsied tissue," said study co-author Mark Pierce, Rice faculty fellow in bioengineering. "But the tip of the imaging cable is small and rests lightly against the inside the cheek, so the procedure is considerably less painful than a biopsy and the results are available in seconds instead of days."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100624092522.htm




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Richards-Kortum said software could be written that would allow medical professionals who are not pathologists to use the device to distinguish healthy from nonhealthy cells. The device could then be used for routine cancer screening and to help oncologists track how well patients were responding to treatment. "A portable, battery-powered device like this could be particularly useful for global health," she said. "This could save many lives in countries where conventional diagnostic technology is simply too expensive." Co-authors of the paper include Dongsuk Shin and Mark Pierce, both of Rice, and Ann Gillenwater and Michelle Williams, both of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Source:Science news: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100624122100.htm Targeting Flight-or-Fight Hormone Response to Combat Heart Failure

Sscientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center found that two experimental drugs have the potential to restore pumping strength to failing hearts

in part by harnessing the fight-or-flight response that makes hearts beat stronger. At the center of this finding is the hormone adrenalin, which normally maintains the heart's pumping strength and makes the heart beat with greater force during crisis. The newly identified drugs ensure that adrenalin's ability to drive heartbeat strength is maintained, and not thwarted, as it typically is in heart failure patients. The two therapies, when tested in human-like mouse models of heart failure, were found to slow, and in some cases halt, the progression of the disease.

"Considering the limited efficacy of current drug therapies for heart failure, this discovery is both exciting and promising," said Burns C. Blaxall, Ph.D., associate professor within the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Medical Center, and senior author of the study. "We are now taking a closer look at how these compounds compare to standard heart failure therapies, such as beta blockers, to further determine their efficacy in treating the disease." When the heart stops pumping as effectively as it should, the body responds by sending more adrenalin to give the heart a pick-me-up. While increased adrenalin initially restores the heart's vitality, over time heart muscle cells become less and less responsive to high levels of adrenalin, triggering the body to pump even more of the hormone to the heart. Elevated adrenalin is a hallmark of heart failure, and a recent study linked anxiety -- which increases adrenalin -- in teens and young adults to a higher risk of heart disease or heart attack later in life. Blaxall's lab is part of a nationwide effort that has linked adrenalin's ability to propel heartbeat strength to a key protein, the beta adrenergic receptor. When adrenalin combines with this receptor it orders heart muscle cells to contract with greater speed and force. The problem in heart failure patients is that these receptors are chronically desensitized -- they no longer respond to adrenalin, so the heart grows weak and does not pump as forcefully as it should. "While adrenalin desensitization has been studied extensively, this is the first report of compounds that effectively target this specific process to reduce heart failure," said Blaxall. The desensitization is caused in large part by elevated levels of a particular enzyme (G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 or GRK2) when it interacts with G-proteins.





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This research was conducted in collaboration with Alan Smrcka, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at the Medical Center whose laboratory discovered compounds that could block GRK2 regulation by G proteins. Smrcka's research team conducted extensive screening and testing to identify these experimental compounds. Two such compounds, M119 and Gallein, were identified and put to the test. "In this study we took an entirely new pharmacological approach by altering signaling pathways after the beta adrenergic receptor rather than altering the receptor itself. In this way the actions of adrenalin are modified rather than blocked as with other therapies, such as beta blockers," said Smrcka. "This novel approach is applicable in heart failure and may be useful in other conditions as well." Blaxall's team found that Gallein not only slowed, but halted heart failure progression when delivered to mice with pre-existing heart failure. Similarly, M119 reduced two characteristics of the disease -- strain-related thickening of muscle tissue (hypertrophy) and scar tissue formation (fibrosis). Both compounds partially normalized the force of heart muscle contraction by making sure the beta adrenergic receptors became and remained responsive to adrenalin. This was done by both decreasing overall levels of GRK2 in the heart and by limiting its effectiveness. M119 and Gallein have been used in a similar way in the past to target the receptor desensitization process that occurs in other conditions, such as chronic pain. For example, Smrcka and his collaborator Jean Bidlack, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at the Medical Center, have shown M119 can reverse the desensitization of opiate receptors, which in turn increases the efficacy of painkillers such as morphine.

M119 and Gallein are not known drugs; they are compounds that act as dyes, or stains, and were previously not known to have any therapeutic activity. This research addresses a health problem that affects nearly 6 million Americans. The result of underlying problems like coronary artery disease, high blood pressure or heart attack damage, heart failure is the gradual loss of the heart's ability to pump with enough force to meet the body's need for blood. Half of patients will not live five years past the day they are diagnosed. The best treatment for a severe heart failure patient is a transplant, but with just over 2,000 transplants done each year and more than 3,000 people on the waiting list at any given time, research like this is needed to find new options for patients. The current research was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Institute for General Medicine at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Rochester Medical Center. Blaxall's lab recently received additional funding from the NHLBI to compare the newly identified compounds to current standard therapies for heart failure in human-like mouse models. Blaxall, Smrcka and their team are seeking partnerships to further develop these compounds. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100624183021.htm



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Dr. Mridul Hazarika

Dr. Mridul Hazarika is presently serving as the Director of Tea Research Association (TRA), Tocklai Experimental Station, Jorhat, Assam. He was the recipient of merit scholarship of Govt. of India to study in residential school. After completing his school from Kolkata he specialized in Chemistry during B.Sc. at Science College, Jorhat and subsequently M.Sc. (Chemistry) at Guwahati University. He did his Ph.D from Tocklai Experimental Station under Dibrugarh University. He did his pioneering work on Darjeeling Tea Flavour and Colour of Assam Tea. He has over 50 scientific publications in Journals in India and abroad. He was a special invitee to Minnesota University, USA in 1985 to participate in the International Conference on Biochemistry & Food Processing Industry for his write up on Biotechnology perception for future. He held different positions at Tocklai upto 1992. He left TRA in 1992 to join as Deputy Director at Kothari Agricultural Management Centre at Coonor. He established a Tea Management Institute at Siliguri under the name Darjeeling Tea Research and Management Association, where he was Director up to 1999. He then joined TRA as Deputy Director in 1999 and was elevated as Director, 2003. He has been coordinating number of multi-institutional

projects of DBT, Ministry of Chemical & Fertilizer, Tea Board etc. He visited large number of countries on various assignments from Govt. of India, Tea Industry as well as on invitation from Universities to deliver lectures. He has been working as a member of the Expert Group on tea in many tea growing countries. He has been actively involved as member of the Board of Management of Guwahati Biotech Park; member, Advisory Board, NTRF, member of number of scientific and professional bodies.

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Continued from page 8

The rope which is stretched across the diagonal of a square produces an area double the size of the original square.

This is a special case of the Pythagorean theorem for a 45° right triangle.

The Katyayana Sulbasutra, written about 200 BC, gives a more general version of

the theorem:

The rope which is stretched along the length of the diagonal of a rectangle

produces an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together.

In other words, the square of the

hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the sides.

The Baudhayana Sulbasutra also gives an approximation a square root of two,

correct to five decimal places.

Source: Internet



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1. Dr. Sasanka Deka has joined Chemistry

Dept. of Delhi University as Assistant professor. Before joining this position he was pursuing post doctoral research in Italy. He did his Ph.D from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

2. Dr. Bhaskar Jyoti Sarmah has got Post

Doc offer from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. At this moment he is working as post doctoral researcher in Gauhati University. He completed his PhD from NEIST (CSIR) Jorhat in June 2009 under the supervision of Dr. Dipak Kumar Dutta.

3. Archana Devi, a PhD student of

Department of Chemistry, Dibrugarh University has got INSPIRE fellowship. (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) from DST. Selection of INSPIRE Fellows is based on the screening of applications for eligible candidates, 25% of total fellowship from national level tests such as NET, GATE etc and 75% of total fellowship from 1st Rank Holders of post-graduate programs of any recognized university in science stream & undergraduate/post-graduation course in engineering / technology / agriculture / pharmacy/applied science streams at recognized universities and academic institutions.

4. Saikat Dassharma was awarded PhD

degree by Dibrugarh University for his research in the area of chemical sciences on the topic “Studies on New Synthetic Strategies for Biologically Significant

Organic Chemicals”. He carried out his research at the department of synthetic organic chemistry, NEIST-Jorhat under the supervision of Dr. Dilip Konwer. 5. Madan Gopal Borthakur has joined in Biotech Park, Guwahati. The Biotech Park will provide research infrastructure for R&D work to explore the huge bio resource of the region. The department of biotechnology, under the Union ministry of science and technology, has sanctioned Rs 24 crore for setting up this state-of-the- art Biotech Park for Assam which will help carry out high-end research in the field of biotechnology.

----

Ayurvedic Herbal Remedies: This is one of the most ancient medicinal system in India, in Sanskrit, the word ayurveda consists of the words āyus, meaning "longevity", and veda, meaning "related to knowledge" or "science". In ancient time the Ayurvedic system was divided into 8 branches - Kaya chikitsa : Internal medicine; Baala : Pediatrics; Graha : Treatment of diseases arising from possession by pathogens, evil spirits, etc. Mainly diseases of a mental nature; Urdhvanga : Dealing with the eyes, ear, nose, throat and dentistry; Salya : Surgery including plastic surgery; Danstra : Insect bites, poisons (Toxicology); Rasayana : Diseases of advancing age; Prasuti : Gynecology and obstetrics. During those days all the medicines were derived from plants. Interestingly, of the top 150 proprietary drugs used in the USA in 1993, found that 57% of all prescriptions contained at least one major active compound currently or once derived from (or patterned after) compounds derived from biological diversity.

-------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit



16

POLYSACCHARIDE BASED

NEW & ADVANCED MATERIALS

Dr. Kamalesh Prasad

INTRODUCTION What is a polysaccharide ? Polysaccharides are polymeric carbohydrate structures, formed of repeating units (either mono- or di-saccharides) joined together by

glycosidic bonds and are the oldest biopolymer present on the earth. Natural polysaccharides provide two important functions. They act as an energy source and as a structural material [1]. The basic function of polysaccharides in living system is as energy stores and in plants and seaweeds. Apart from energy storage it provides structural stability. The structure of polysaccharides is often linear, but may contain various degrees of branching. Most of the polysaccharides with some exceptions are soluble in water. The most common polysaccharides and their source are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Few commercially important polysaccharides Name Structure

Cellulose

OO

HO

OOHO

OH

HOH2C

HOH2C

OH

n

The structural component of plants. Wood is largely cellulose and lignin, while paper and cotton are nearly pure cellulose. Cellulose is a polymer made with repeated glucose units bonded together by beta-linkages. It is insoluble in water but soluble in LiCl/N,N-Dimethyl acetamide.

Starch O

O

HOH2C

OH

O

O

HOH2C

OHO

HO

HO

n

Starch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds but linkage is different from that of cellulose. Starch contains both amylose with a linear structure and amylopectin with a branched structure with α-(1 → 6)-linked branching points. It is the most important carbohydrate in the human diet and is contained in such staple foods as potatoes, wheat, maize (corn), rice, and cassava.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycosidic_bond



17

κ-Carrageenan

O

OH

O

CH2OH

OH

O O

O

OHn

Carrageenan is a water soluble phycocolloid extracted from red algae and is used mostly as stabilizers and structure providers in food and ice-cream industries. It consists of alternating 1,3-linked α-D-galactopyranose and 1,4-linked β-(3,6-anhydro-) D-galactopyranose.

Chitin O

O

HO NH

HOH2C

CCH3

nO

Chitin is structurally similar to cellulose, but it is an amino polysaccharide having acetamide groups at the C-2 positions in place of hydroxy groups in cellulose. The main source of chitin is Shrimp, crab and Squid.

Chitosan O

O

HO NH2

HOH2C

n

Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide composed of randomly distributed β-(1-4)-linked D-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated unit). It is generally obtained by the de- acetylation of chitin.

Apart from the polysaccharides listed above, other important polysaccharides are alginates, Pullulan, some bacterial polysaccharides. After many years of oblivion, the area of polysaccharide chemistry is presently receiving renewed attention. This is due to the increase in the understanding of the role of biopolymers in various biological processes. Active research on the modification of the basic polysaccharides are under way in various labs to explore the possibilities of applications in newer fields such as in physicochemical, biochemical, biomedical and industrial applications [2-8]. The main advantages of using polysaccharides are it is cheap, obtained from renewable resources, biodegradable as well as biocompatible, it is a multifunctional material, easy to process and the extraction is also less difficult. The biological functions of polysaccharides as glyco-proteins and as structural material inspired the carbohydrate chemist to contribute to the biomaterial engineering. Among the various

materials prepared out of polysaccharides, the nano-composites as well as the other modified products are drawing attentions in recent days. What is polymer nanocomposite (PNC)? Polymer nanocomposites are defined as the polymers obtained by introducing nano structured materials in the polymer matrices. PNC are obtained by reinforcing with small quantities (less than 5% by weight) of nano-sized particles [9]. The synthesis of polymer nanocomposite is an integral part of polymer nanotechnology. Generally nanosized (typically 1-100 nm) inorganic materials are inserted in certain polymer backbones in order to change their properties as well as functionalities. The nanocomposites obtained have always improved properties over the parent polymer. The nano materials introduced in to the polymer matrices must have very good compatibility with polymer as well as must have very good dispersibility in the medium used for the preparation of



18

the nanocomposite. Nanotechnology is now recognized as one of the most promising areas for technological development in the 21st century. In materials research, the development of polymer nanocomposites is rapidly emerging as a multidisciplinary research activity whose results could broaden the applications of polymers to the great benefit of many different industries. PNCs represent a radical alternative to conventional filled polymers or polymer blends. In contrast to conventional composites, where the reinforcement is on the order of microns, PNCs are having discrete constituents on the order of a few nanometers. There are three main material constituents in any composite: the matrix, the reinforcement (fiber), and the so-called interfacial region. The interfacial region is responsible for communication between the matrix and filler and is also responsible for bringing the compatibility between the filler and the matrices. Important fillers widely used are, layered silicates, single wall nanotubes (SWNTs), inorganic metal oxides etc. Nanoparticles exhibit translational symmetry within the

PNC. Polymer/layered nanocomposites in general, can be classified into three different types, namely (i) intercalated nanocomposites, (ii) flocculated nanocomposites, and (iii) exfoliated nanocomposites as shown schematically in Scheme 1. In the first case polymer chains are inserted into layered structures such as clays, which occur in a crystallographically regular fashion, with a few nanometers repeat distance, irrespective of the ratio of polymer to layered structure. In the second case, flocculation of intercalated and stacked layers to some extent takes place due to the hydroxylated border/border interactions of the clay layers. Finally, separation of the individual layers in the polymer matrix occurs in the third type by average distances that depend only on the loading of layered material such as clay. In this new family of composite materials, high storage modulus, increased tensile and flexural properties, heat distortion temperature, decrease in gas permeability, and unique properties such as self extinguishing behavior and tunable biodegradability are observed, compared to matrix material or conventional micro and macro-composite materials.

Scheme 1 : A schematic out lay for the formation of different types of polymer nanocomposites



19

Polysaccharide based nanocomposites

Nano structured natural polymeric materials are drawing attentions in the recent years in various applications, owing to their effective compatibility with natural systems, they may be very useful in applications related to health care and agriculture as environmental friendly composites [10]. The important biological functions of polysaccharides are the main reason why these materials are being a part of important research in the e field of biomaterials science. The environmental issues are being very important in recent years e.g., global warming, generally caused by the increase of carbon dioxide emissions and pollution due to industrial activity. Polysaccharides, which naturally present are being widely studied for substitutes for petroleum-based materials. As because polysaccharides are carbon resources naturally recycled, the concentration of carbon dioxide does not increase, even if they are consumed. Biodegradability of the polysaccharides

made them eco-friendly as well [11]. Polysaccharide based materials having nano structured distribution can be achieved by controlled polymerization of a synthetic substrate by effective hybridization [12]. There are many reports on the preparation of biodegradable nano composites based on cellulose, chitosan and pectin, and in several of the reports, clay and its various derivatives were used as important ingredient for such preparations. Electro activity and swellabilty of natural polymers are being also investigated recently to broaden the application prospects of these biocompatible materials. Electro-conductivity in bio-polymeric nano composites are generally imparted by means of doping conducting materials or metal ions in the biopolymers. We have recently carried out some work to prepare carrageenan based material by in-situ polymerization reaction [13] as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram for the formation of electro active nanocomposite based on carrageenan and polymerized ionic liquids



20

Modification of polysaccharides to prepare new and advanced materials Formation of Polysaccharide Esters

Polysaccharides are polyols and hence readily form esters with a variety of esterifying reagents. Commercial esters are formed traditionally by reaction with acids and acid anhydrides. However, in the laboratory acetates can be prepared by using other reagents like ketene and vinyl acetate. Earliest esters includes cellulose acetates used to prepare plastics and fibers, prepared by treating cotton linters with acetic anhydride using acetic acid as solvent and sulphuric acid as catalyst. Starch acetates were prepared by following same method that with cellulose with slight alterations. The derivatives found to have improved freeze thaw stability and stabilizer in colloidal dispersions. Both organic carboxylic acid esters and inorganic esters have been prepared. Polysaccharides esters are generally soluble in organic solvents. Some of the most important esters are made of cellulose. Cellulose nitrate popularly known as guncotton a major constituent of smokeless powder is the oldest inorganic salt of cellulose, which is obtained, by reacting cellulose with the mixture of

nitric and sulphuric acid. Starch nitrates are also used as explosives. Celluloid, which is an important commercial plastic, is a cellulose derivative of lower nitrate substitution. Polysaccharides react with carbon disulphide and sodium hydroxide to give polysaccharide xanthates.

Grafting

Grafting a synthetic polymer to a natural polysaccharide is a way of creating large molecules that have some of the characteristics of each individual polymer. Such works are extensively directed towards the preparation of water absorbents and biodegradable polymers that can be cast into sheets. Generating one or more free radicals on the polysaccharide chain and allowing these free radicals to react with the polymerable monomers that will constitute the grafted chain initiate grafting. X-ray irradiation, UV-irradiation, beta irradiation etc. can be used to generate free radicals. Chemicals like ceric ammonium nitrate, ferrous ion, hydrogen peroxide etc. also are used as free radical generators. Following is a pathway representing grafting on starch with acrylonitrile.

Starch-OH Starch-O + CH2 = CH(CN) Starch-O-CH2-CH

CN

CH2CH(CN)

Starch-OH Starch-O + CH2=CH(CN) Starch-O-CH2-CH(CN)



21

Formation of Polysaccharide Ethers Common industrial ethers are methyl, ethyl, hydroxyethyl, hydroxypropyl, carboxymethyl and aminoethyl derivatives as well as mixed ethers. Ethers can be formed with the alcohol groups of polysaccharides by reacting with alkyl halides or epoxides. First ether prepared was methylcellulose,

prepared in 1905 by steeping of cellulose in 40-50% sodium hydroxide, followed by reaction with dimethyl sulphate. Due to carcinogenic nature of dimethyl sulphate, in modern methods the reaction is carried out by treating alkaline cellulose with methyl chloride in organic solvent. Reaction follows the route of Williamson ether synthesis as shown below.

Cell-OH NaOH Cell-O Cell-O + Na + H2O

H

Na

O

Cell-O + CH3Cl Cell-OCH3 + Cl

Ether derivatives of polysaccharides are soluble in water. Many of the cellulose derivatives like DEAE cellulose, prepared by reaction of diethylaminoethyl cellulose with N,N-diethyl aminoethyl chloride, are used as cation exchange resin. Hydroxyl alkyl derivatives of starch and cellulose can be prepared by reacting starch and cellulose with epoxides and alkylene oxides. Hydroxyethyl starches are used primarily as binders for pigmented coatings and surface sizing agents in paper industry. Hydroxypropyl starches are of importance in food applications, where they are used as an edible, water-soluble film coating. Formation of hydroxyalkyl derivatives for cellulose increases its water solubility. Hydroxypropyl derivatives of starch prevent retro gradation of starch chains. Better water solubility of cellulose can be obtained by

increasing DS. Methyl and ethyl derivatives of starches are prepared the same way of their cellulose counterpart, except first starch granules are heated with mineral acid at 100OC, then alkali and methyl chloride is added. Another type of ether substitution, carboxymethyl is substituted successfully in number of polysaccharides, and carboxymethyl cellulose is one of the most important commercially important derivatives. Hydroxyalkyl substituted gums represent the largest group of polysaccharide ether derivatives; they are often prepared by the attack of poly-anion on an oxirane ring to produce the corresponding hydroxyalkyl derivative. The route of reaction is shown below.

PS-OH

Na

O + CH2 CH2R

O

PS-O-CH2-CH2OH



22

Polysaccharide Phosphates and sulphates

The hydroxyl groups of polysaccharides can be phosphorylated by reaction with tri-polyphosphate at pH 5-6.5. Phosphate oxychloride, tri-metaphosphate can also be used as phosphorous inducing agents. Most common reagent to give sulphate derivatives for polysaccharides is trimethylamine sulphur trioxide in N, N-dimethyl formamide. Other sulphating agents include dimethyl sulphoxide/ sulphur trioxide. N,N-dimethyl formamide /sulphur trioxides are used for sulphating alginic and pectic acid. Dextran sulphate

seems to specific affinity for binding nucleic acids and is a potent inhibitor for ribonuclease. Dextran sulphate also inhibits the replication of some viruses including HIV, and has been considered as a possible drug in the treatment of AIDS. Gums like cassia tora, xanthan, guar also been chemically modified to impart more functional properties. Attempts have been made to modify chitosan in the gel state by adding mono- or dibasic phosphate salt. Figure 2 depicts structures of some important modified polysaccharides.

Figure 2. Structure of some modified polysaccharides. (A) Carboxymethyl cellulose; (B) Methyl or ethyl cellulose; (C) Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose

Preparation of guar gum based heat-shapeable film materials.

Guar gum (GG) or guaran is a galactomannan extracted from the seed of the leguminous shrub Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, and consists of (1→4)-linked β-D-mannopyranose main chain with branching at the 6-positions with a α-D-galactopyranose. It is a hydrocolloid and does not form gel in aqueous media due to the presence of branching units, which

prevent strong chain interactions among the mannose units which is essential for double helix formations. Attempts have been made to substitute the galacatopyranose unit with some block substituents, which can cause interactions among the mannose units and hence lead to the formation of junction zones. We have observed that, guar gum can give formation of gel and thin film in certain ionic liquids and the films thus obtained can be given a desired shape upon application of heat [14] as depicted in Figure 3 below.



23

Figure 3. Heat shapeability of guar gum-ionic liquid based thin film.

Application of modified

polysaccharides Concomitant with the expanding

commercial utilization of

polysaccharides, there is a growing

demand for synthetic methods which

facilitate selective structural

modifications in order to effect, or

ideally tailor, product properties such

as viscosity, hydrophobicity/

hydrophilicity, polyelectrolyte

characteristics, gelation and metal

chelating capacity. One of the most

important applications of selective

modifications is the synthesis of

analogues of natural polysaccharides,

such as dextran, heparin or Xanthan

Gum for purposes of reducing

polymer cost, improving physical

properties or ultimately structural

proof for the native polymer.

Polysaccharides have also been

modified for antitumor, blood

anticoagulant activities for biomedical

applications. Preparation of conjugates

of polysaccharides and biological

substrates (proteins, enzymes) that

involves minimum cross-linking and

extraneous chemical reactions may be

used for affinity partition and

immunology. Selective modifications

of polysaccharides were used for the

preparation of permeable membranes

with higher selectivity, matrices for

drug delivery and controlled release

formulations as well as for various

processes relating to recovery of

biological materials such as

preparation of substrates for affinity

chromatography, partitioning,

electrophoresis, enzyme and cell

immobilization.

Modification of

polysaccharides have considerable

importance in the synthesis of

branched polysaccharides, where the

branch type and length,

stereochemistry is easily controllable

and would help in the studies of

structure-property relationship.

Carbamate derivatives of some



24

polysaccharides have been reported to

be useful for separation applications in

paper industries.

References 1. Stryer, L. Biochemistry, W.H.

Freeman, New York, 1995.

2. Horton, D. In Carbohydrates.

Chemistry and Biochemistry. 2 nd edn.

Vol II A (1978) and Vol II B (1980);

Pigman, D. and Horton, D. Eds.;

Academic Press: New York, p 408-

411.

3. Aspinall, G.O. In The

polysaccaharides Vol I (1982) and Vol

II (1983), Aspinall, G.O.; ed.;

Academic Press: New York.

4. Rees, D.A. In Polysaccharides and

Shapes. Rees, D.A. 1977, ed .;

Chapmann & Hall: London, p 309.

5. Kotechkov, N.K. Pure Appl.

Chem. 1975, 42, 327.

6. Fang, J.M.; Fowler, P.A.;

Tomkinson, J.; Hill, C.A.S.

Carbohydr. Polym. 2002, 47, 245.

7. Mormann, W.; Michel, U.

Carbohydr. Polym. 2002, 50, 201.

8. Jerez, J.R.; Matsuhiro, B.; Urzua,

C.C. Carbohydr. Polym. 1997, 32,

155.

9. Denault, J.; Labrecque, B. 2004.

Technology Group on Polymer

Nanocomposites – PNC-Tech.

Industrial Materials Institute. National

Research Council Canada, 75 de

Mortagne Blvd. Boucherville, Québec,

J4B 6Y4.

10. Nishino, T., Arimoto, N.,

Biomacromolecules 2007, 8, 2712-

2716.

11. Rouilly, A., Rigal, L., J. Macromol.

Sci. Polym. Rev. C42, 447 (2002).

12. Kaneko, Y., Kadokawa, J., J.

Biomater. Sci. Polymer Edn, 2006, 17,

1269–1284.

13. Prasad, K., Kadokawa, J. Polymer

Composites. DOI : 10.1002/pc.20862,

In Press.

14. Prasad, K., Izawa, H., Kaneko, Y.,

Kadokawa, J. J. Mat. Chem. 2009, 19,

4088–4090.

-----------0-------- Breaking Someone’s Sugar Habit –

Gandhi’s Story One day one mother came to Gandhi

and said “Bapu, my son eats too much

sugar. It is not good for his health.

Would you please advise him to stop

eating it?” Gandhi thought for a while

and asked her to comeback after two

weeks to come with her son. Two weeks

later Gandhi said to the boy, “Boy, you

should stop eating sugar. It is not good

for your health.” The boy’s mother was

puzzled why Gandhi took two weeks to

say these, when she asked Gandhi, he

said with a smile

“Mother, two weeks ago I was eating a

lot of sugar myself.”

---------------



25

SPECIALTY CHEMICALS: A BUNCH OF INTERESTING

COMPOUNDS Anupom Sabhapondit

e-mail: [email protected]

Introduction:

Specialty chemicals comprise the group

of compounds used widely in almost all

kinds of industries, from sugar factories

to oil refineries, from water treatment

plants to paper manufacturing units for

significant improvement of process

performance. As per one survey, the

global sales of these chemicals were

about 500 billion USD in the year 2006.

The history of specialty chemicals is as

old as the history industry itself. Several

classes of such chemicals found their

uses even several hundred years ago,

might be in other chemical form and in

a raw manner. They have been modified

with changing requirements of time. In

today’s competitive market, all market

leaders of specialty chemicals try to

incorporate the latest technology

available to their products to make the

products more environmentally

friendly, better performing and cost

effective.

Unlike the bulk chemicals, specialty

chemicals are produced and sold in

smaller volumes and very much

application /customer specific, hence

generate comparatively higher margin

for the manufacturer. One can realize

the importance of these chemicals by

comparing the improvement in process

performance brought by the use of an

awesomely low dosage of such

chemicals in the process. Due to the

very high performance shown by them

at a comparatively low dosage, they are

termed as performance chemicals, too.

There are examples of a dosage as low

as 1 ppm fastening an industrial process

by more than 50%, provided the perfect

specialty chemical is chosen for the

system. And that is the beauty of

specialty chemicals.

Chemically the specialty chemicals

range from simple inorganic molecules

like NaI to complicated synthetic

polymers. The chemistry of these

molecules and the way how they

perform is indeed very interesting for

any chemistry student. However, apart

from introduction to some surfactants in

the graduate level courses of the

universities, we did not hear about any

educational institutes in the North East

offering any course on this interesting

group of chemicals during the 90s. I am

not aware of today’s situation. Since

many of these chemicals are very

common to graduate students of

chemistry, there is a good chance that

young students will contribute

significantly to this field of industrial



26

science if they come to know about

such special uses of them during their

graduate studies.

The objective of this article is to

introduce the readers who are not

familiar with these chemicals, to few

most widely used classes of specialty

chemicals in a simple way. Rather than

explaining the exact chemistry of these

compounds, it is tried to present an

overview of their applications. If

someone finds anything worth

researching, it is easy to gather lots of

information from the internet.

Flocculants and dispersants:

Flocculants are the class of compounds

used for fastening the solid-liquid

separation, mostly of water based

systems. Many of the industrial systems

require settlement of fine, dispersed

solids for further processing of the

liquid part. Use of few ppm of the

suitable flocculant can make the

separation 100 times faster than the

natural settling, thus making the process

cost effective. An example will make

the scenario clearer to the reader. The

sugar factories need to use the clear,

solid free sugar cane juice for making

solid sugar cubes. Before the process of

making solid sugar cubes, the raw sugar

juice which contains lots of fine

particles and dust, is kept in a tank of

several thousand liter capacity. If

natural settling would be allowed in

such a tank, it would have taken several

days to get clear sugar juice for further

processing. Addition of 1-100 ppm of

suitable flocculant to the dirty juice

makes the solid settle completely in half

an hour or so, thus saving several days

of processing time and making the

process highly economic. This is the

impact that flocculant can have on

industrial output.

What does a flocculant do? In a very

simplified way to explain, it makes the

dispersed fine solid in the fluid to come

together and form larger particles, large

enough to pull down by gravity to

settle... In most of the cases, a

flocculant needs to neutralize the

surface of the suspended solid particles

so that they cam come close enough to

form larger particles to settle. When

they carry the same charge on their

surface, they cannot come closer due to

electrostatic repulsion and remain

suspended. Potash alum has been

conventionally used to clear muddy

water and it works by charge

neutralization. This is an example of use

of flocculant in day-to-day life.

In earlier days, people used inorganic

molecules like potash alum as

flocculants. However, a comparatively

high dosage of such compounds was



27

required to achieve the necessary

performance level. This resulted in

accumulation of inorganics in the nature

dumped with the separated solids. This

has been an environmental concern, too.

To take care of these disadvantages,

polymers were introduced as

flocculants. In today’s market, almost

all the flocculants available are

polyelectrolytes of different ionicity and

molecular weight. In the beginning,

natural polymers like starch and guar

were used for this purpose. The

polymer molecule is adsorbed over

several fine suspended particles

simultaneously and binds them together,

forcing the particles to aggregate and

settle. However, many times it needed

an additional inorganic molecule for

charge neutralization. With the

introduction of polyelectrolytes, the

need of a separate inorganic molecule

was eliminated. A polyelectrolyte

flocculant is generally a very high

molecular weight (molecular weight of

several million Daltons) water soluble

polymer. Generally they are straight

chain polymer molecules. Depending on

application, a polyelectrolyte can be

non-ionic, anionic or cationic in nature.

It can be mentioned that flocculation is

only one of the applications out of

hundreds of other industrial applications

of polyelectrolytes.

Due to their capability of doing both,

the charge neutralization and binding

particles together, only few ppm of a

suitable polyelectrolyte can make a

liquid practically solid free in just a few

minutes. However, it is very essential to

make a perfect selection of flocculant to

achieve this magical effect. Depending

on the surface charge of the suspended

particles, it is necessary to select an

anionic, a cationic or a non-ionic

flocculant to use. Apart from this,

molecular weight also bears significant

importance in selecting the most

suitable polyelectrolyte for a specific

system. A systematic and careful, but

still simple laboratory study is highly

essential before recommending a

flocculant for a specific system. Apart

from good knowledge of flocculant

chemistry, it needs a pair of good

experimental hands for a perfect

selection. Therefore, many term the way

of selecting a flocculant as an art rather

than a science. Even optimizing the

application dosage is very critical,

because an overdose can make the

particles’ surfaces charged again,

resulting in re-dispersion of the settled

solid.

Most of the presently available

flocculants are polyacrylamide based

polymers. Tailor made polymers are

used for different industrial processes.

Generally acrylic acid is used in various



28

ratios to make anionic polyelectrolytes.

One of few selected vinyl monomers

having a quaternary ammonium group

in them is used to prepare cationic

polyelectrolytes. Most of the common

industrial processes need anionic

polyelectrolytes of different anionicity.

All these polyelectrolytes are much less

toxic than inorganic flocculants. At the

dosage they are used, they have almost

no environmental impact. Cationics are

said to have toxic effects towards

aquatic animals and hence restricted in

some places.

Dispersants are doing just the opposite

of what the flocculants do. They keep

solid particles dispersed in fluid. The

mechanism is exactly opposite – they

impart similar charge over the particles

and they start repelling each other, thus

dispersing on an aqueous medium.

Dispersants are generally similar class

of polymers like flocculants, but having

much lower molecular weight, just up to

few thousands and with very high

anionic or cationic charges, mostly

100% charged. Like flocculants, a

suitable dispersant also needs to be

selected in a proper systematic way

before the application.

Retention aids: Retention aids are a major class of

specialty chemicals used in modern

paper making. They are also

polyelectrolytes in most cases and

generally cationic. A retention aid helps

retaining various costly additives of the

pulp in the paper without much wastage

during processing of pulp to make

paper. In this way it makes the process

economic. The mechanism of action of

retention aid is not as easy as that of the

flocculant’s and not always completely

understood. One single retention aid is

expected to help retaining several

chemically different compounds in the

paper. Hence, all the properties of a

polyelectrolyte: the ionicity, the

molecular weight and also the

stereochemistry play important role in

deciding the overall performance. The

screening tests for a suitable retention

aid for a particular grade of paper is also

more complicated than screening a

flocculant for a specific system. Apart

from cationic polyacrylamides,

derivatised starch is also industrially

used as retention aid.

Corrosion inhibitors:

Corrosion is a common problem of all

industries using metals tanks, pipes etc.

Sometimes chemical coatings can help

protecting metals from corrosion. But it

is not a feasible way in all the cases.

Corrosion inhibitors, when applied even

at very low dosage, can bring down the

corrosion to a negligible amount.

Generally chloride and oxygen are the



29

common cause of corrosion in water

tanks, pipes carrying various kinds of

process water etc. This kind of

corrosion can be minimized by using

chemicals which can scavenge chloride

and oxygen. However, in many cases it

is required to pump inorganic acids of

very high concentrations through metal

pipes. In the upstream oil industry it is

pumped even at a temperature as high

as 200ºC or more and for several hours.

In such cases, a simple oxygen or

chlorine scavenger can not save the

metals from corrosion. There comes the

introduction of high performing acid

corrosion inhibitors. A suitable

corrosion inhibitor at a dosage as low as

0.2% may reduce the corrosion of metal

alloys in highly concentrated HCl at

high temperature like 100ºC from 50

gram per 100 gram to 0.25 gram per

100 gram. This clearly shows the

impact of using acid corrosion

inhibitors in the industry.

The corrosion inhibitors are classified

broadly as anodic and cathodic

inhibitors depending on how they work.

Some acetylenic organic molecules with

terminal unsaturation have been used as

acid corrosion inhibitors for years. They

form a protective polymeric layer over

the metal surface as soon as the

corrosion starts. Since last several years,

quaternary ammoniums having big R

groups attached to N have also been in

use. They are directly adsorbed on the

metal surface and create a protective

layer. Along with the corrosion

inhibitors, another class of compounds

called inhibitor intensifiers is also used

at higher temperature conditions.

Generally they are small inorganic

molecules. Some inorganic molecules

containing Pb were used as inhibitor

also in earlier days. Due to their high

toxicity they are not in use today.

Several of the existing industrial

inhibitors have low environmental

acceptability. Therefore it has always

been a challenge to the chemists to

provide lesser toxic inhibitors to the

market with changing time.

Scale inhibitors:

As explained by the name itself, this

class of compounds is used to stop scale

formation in various engineering

equipments used in different industries.

They protect them for insoluble scales

like CaCO3, BaSO4 etc. Very low

molecular weight polymers of organic

sulphonates, phosphonates and

carboxylates are used widely as scale

inhibitors. Different chelating agents

including EDTA are also in use.

Most of the scale inhibitors prevent the

formation of the scale itself and keep

the cation in soluble form by chelation

or other mechanism. Some others make

the scaled material less compact and

hence dispersible and removable by the



30

use of fluid stream cleaning. In current

market, various manufacturers offer

scale inhibitors with fascinating

properties like controlled release, high

environmental acceptability, high

temperature – high pH performance etc.

Pour point depressants:

This class of specialty chemicals is used

commonly and widely in the mid and

downstream oil industries. They can

reduce the freezing point of crude oil by

several degrees centigrade at a very low

dosage without affecting the oil

properties. This makes it possible to

transport the crude even in low

temperature regions and during the

cold. They are also used in refined fuels

in cold places to keep them flowable all

the time.

The mechanism of action of the pour

point depressants is not fully

understood. Many times they prevent

the formation of crystals by wax, thus

keeping the oil flowable. Therefore,

sometimes they are synonymously

called as wax inhibitors as well.

Generally they are oil soluble polymers

having long side chains.

Polyalkylmethacrylate is one of the

widely used classes of polymers for this

application.

Friction reducers: While pumping a fluid through a pipe

several hundred meters, the friction

between the fluid and the pipe makes a

lot of energy to spend to pump the fluid.

Friction reducers reduce the friction to a

very low level, thus saving a lot of

energy in pumping activities.

Friction reducers are generally polymers

including high molecular weight

polyelectrolytes. They are used in a

very low dosage. They can reduce both

the friction between the pipe and the

fluid and between different layers of the

fluid. This reduces the turbulence of

flow and hence costs lesser energy.

Surfactants:

This widely known class of chemical is

used for various purposes:

Emulsification, De-emulsification,

wetting of surfaces for better

penetration of fluid into a matrix etc.

Emulsifiers may be anionic, cationic,

non-ionic and amphoteric. The two

important parameters determining an

emulsifier’s performance are the critical

micellar concentration (cmc) and the

hydrophilic lipophilic balance (hlb).

Most of the chemistry students are

familiar with cmc, though not with hlb.

The general mechanism of action of

emulsifiers is a well known one and

hence not explained here. The

challenges in today’s emulsifier

research are to design environmental

friendly, yet high performing

emulsifiers even for high temperature



31

and extreme pH conditions. Many times

it needs stability under high shear.

Current challenges for chemists: For all the classes of specialty

chemicals, current challenges are:

1. Make everything more and more

environmental friendly : make

everything green if possible.

2. Use the most modern

technology available in your

product – improve performance

at lower dosage and still at

lower price.

3. Make logistics and handling

easier and safer – and still at

lower price.

4. Use widely available materials –

better logistics and low cost as

well as utilization of unused

byproducts.

Search terms for internet browsing:

Flocculants, Coagulants, Waste water

treatment, corrosion inhibitors, scale

inhibitors, Superabsorbent polymers,

Polyacrylamide, PolyDADMAC,

EINECS, SPE publications on corrosion

inhibitors, pour point depressant (ppd),

Emulsifier, de-emulsifier etc.

Names of many good reference books

on each topic are available in

Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

Interested ones can look into them.

------------

COAL: ANSWER TO INDIA’S

ENERGY CRISIS Dr Binoy Kumar Saikia

Indian Oil Corporation Limited,

Kolkata, India-721606

This is a very short and some of the

collective reports on clean coal

technology (CCT) to proper

authorities in India to think for a minute and implement in second.

India faces more problems that just

need for reliable energy supply.

Referring to petroleum energy,

India faces a major shortage of

refining capacity. The refineries all

around India are old enough. They

need to be replaced soon. They

operate at a much lower capacity.

The refinery owned and operated by

Reliance is the only one in the

country that is of world class

standard and is sophisticated based

on advanced technologies in the world.

Thus, a lot is being talked about the

recent government plans of

increasing solar power generation to

20000 MW by 2022 and wind

power generation to around 33000

MW. These figures look impressive, but it is practically quite unlikely.

India has the cheaper black gold for

energy solution in near future. India



32

is traditionally a coal country, with

currently estimated reserves at >250

billion tonnes (annual production

close to half a billion tonnes, and a

production to reserve ratio of 1 to

217 for proven reserves). Coal is the

mainstay of Indian energy supplies.

India meets close to 60% of its

primary energy needs through coal.

But, India needs to develop new

technologies and methods which

will allow it to utilize this resource

in an efficient and environment

friendly manner. Some of the clean

coal technologies for energy

generation are very briefly

mentioned below. There will be

challenges in bringing these

technologies to market, but with the

right mix of research investment

and market incentives, coal may

stake a place in a sustainable and secure energy future in India.

Underground Coal Gasification (UGC)

It is a new technology technique in

coal gasification. UGC refers to in-

situ gasification of coal. In this

process, instead of mining, coal is

converted into combustible gases.

This process takes place

underground. This is achieved by

pumping a mixture of required

reactant gases directly into the coal

bed through one well dug into it,

while combustible gases are

obtained at the other well head.

UCG and similar coal gasification

techniques can make coal much

better cleaner energy source than

other possible alternatives. It gives

several advantages over

conventional coal mining and

utilization techniques. Since, coal is

used at the mine itself; it reduces the

need for mining and transport. Also,

the environmental impact due to

direct combustion such as

production of oxides of Nitrogen

and Sulphur is reduced. UCG also

allows for exploitation of very deep

mines without the need for

constructing mining shafts, and

without requiring miners to go deep

inside earth. Although it is

successfully implemented at few

places in world, the total

environmental impacts still not well

understood. Being the world’s third

largest reserves of coal, India

should rely on its core strength.

Instead of investing in other

technologies, it would be better if

India thinks for investing in clean coal technologies like UGC.

Hydrolysis of Coal:

Internationally there is considerable

interest in utilizing hydrogen as an

energy carrier. The use of hydrogen

offers considerable potential



33

benefits such as reducing

greenhouse emissions, reducing

urban pollution, increased energy

security and increased efficiencies

from the use of advanced energy

conversion technologies.

Coal can be used for the production

of hydrogen by electrochemical

oxidation to produce hydrogen at

lower cost than the current

technology (natural gas reforming)

for distributed power with zero

hazardous environmental emissions.

In addition, the storage of

coal/water slurries is commercially

feasible; therefore, the electrolysis

of coal/water slurries helps solve the problem of hydrogen storage.

The electrolysis of coal simply takes

place according to the following

reactions:

C + 2H2O → CO2 + 4H+ + 4e-

4H+ + 4e- → 2H2 This may be an economical feasible

technology for India to produce

hydrogen from the electrolysis of

coal for distributed power

generation. More R&D input is

urgently required in this direction

in India.

Coal to liquid by novel catalyst:

India has a satisfactory coal reserve

which can survive for next

centuries. Development of a catalyst

for easy coal to liquid conversion is

necessary for getting petroleum

from coal. India should think for R

& D in catalysis of coal in near

future as other country had already

started this project. Coal is

heterogeneous mixture of aromatic and aliphatic components.

In view of the escalating oil prices

and decreasing crude oil reserves in

the world, India can obviously think

for generating universal catalyst to

convert its huge coal resources for

liquefaction. Coal is generally

liquefied by the conventional

methods of combustion or

gasification which have some

disadvantage too. The process is

long and suitability for environment

is to be always considered from

time to time. More over the catalyst

used are heterogeneous in nature,

which activity decrease with time.

Coal can be now studied for

conversion to liquid fuel by

hydrogenation with some

homogeneous catalyst mainly

organic compounds which are very

cheap. India should release here

more fund for catalysis of coal to

liquid for a better energy future.

Coal, efficiently used, is the answer

to a clean and green future of Indian economy.

------------0----------



34

Mesoporous carbon materials

Suranjana V. Mayani & Vishal J.

Mayani

Department of Chemical Engineering,

Hoseo University, 165 Sechul-ri,

Baebang-myun, Asan-city, Chungnam

336-795, Republic of Korea

Porous carbon materials are of

interest in many applications because of

their high surface area and

physicochemical properties.

Conventional synthesis method can

only produce randomly porous

materials. Recently in the preparation of

porous materials have resulted in the

development of methods for the

preparation of mesoporous carbon

materials with extremely high surface

areas and ordered mesostructures, with

potential applications such as catalysts,

separation media and advanced

electronic materials in many scientific

disciplines.

Many advances have been made in

carbon technology in recent years, both

through continued improvement of

existing fabrication methods and

through the development and

introduction of new synthetic

techniques. Porous carbon materials can

be classified according to their pore

diameters as microporous (pore size <

2nm), mesoporous (2nm < pore size <



35

< 50 nm), and/or macroporous (pore

size > 50 nm). Conventional porous

carbon materials, such as activated

carbon and carbon molecular sieves are

synthesized by pyrolysis and physical or

chemical activation of organic

precursors, such as coal, wood, fruit

shell or polymers at elevated

temperatures. Historically, four typical

methods have been reported to prepare

mesoporous carbons. These are:

catalytic activation, carbonization of

polymer blends, carbonization of

organic aerogels and template methods.

Such series of chemical and physical

transformations must be governed by

the properties of organic substrates,

solvent materials and the catalyst.

Physical and chemical properties of

mesoporous carbon materials

� High surface areas

� Large pore volume

� Narrow pore size distribution

� Ordered mesostructures

� Electric conductivity

� Thermal conductivity

� Chemical stability

� Low density

Synthesis methods of mesoporous

carbon materials ²²²² Hard-template synthesis of

mesoporous carbon materials mainly involves synthesis of

ordered mesoporous carbon

materials, ordered mesoporous

carbon materials with graphitic

pore-wall structure, disordered

mesoporous carbon materials with

uniform mesopores which can again

be subdivided into mesoporous

carbon materials from

copolymerization/ cocondensation,


templated with colloidal silica

particles, mesoporous carbon

materials templated with

silica/aluminosilicate gels,


templated with anodic aluminum

oxide and mesoporous carbon

materials templated with polymer

beads.

²²²² Soft-template synthesis of

mesoporous carbon materials involves synthesizing mesoporous

carbons using amphiphilic

molecules, carbon nanostructures

from the self-assembly of block

copolymers, ordered mesoporous

carbon materials from the self-

assembly of block copolymers

which includes the polystyrene-b-

poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-P4VP)/

resorcinol–formaldehyde system,

the poly(ethylene oxide)-b-

poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(-

ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO)/

resorcinol–formaldehyde system,

the PEO-PPO-PEO/resol system,



36

the PEO-PPO-PEO/phenol–

formaldehyde resin/silica system,

the PEO-PPO-PEO/ phloroglucinol/

formaldehyde system and the PS-

P4VP/carbohydrate system in

confined space.

SEM images of mesoporous carbon materials

Applications of mesoporous carbon materials ² As sensors ² Electrode materials for batteries

² Supercapacitors ² Hydrogen storage



37

² Fuel cells ² Magnetic materials

² Aerospace industry ² Nuclear fusion reactor

² Medical ² Engineering



38

² As supports for many catalytic process.

² Sorbent for separation methods. ² Sports equipments

² Electrical furnace

The wide application in every day’s

life and availability of these ordered mesoporous materials lead great opportunities for the synthesis as well as extraction from natural sources of other highly ordered mesoporous materials. The success of the hard template synthesis lies in its simplicity in replicating the structures of templates. However, this method is thermodynamically not driven. Few chemical interactions between hard templates and carbon precursors occur during the replication process. Accordingly, the hard-template synthesis suffers from its intrinsic limitations in the sacrificial use of hard templates, insufficient stabilities of replicated mesostructures, and difficulties of synthesis of large film and monolithic

structures. Recent developments in the soft-template synthesis of mesoporous carbon materials create new possibilities in overcoming the intrinsic limitations imposed by the hard template method. The synthesis is thermodynamically driven, and therefore depends on the chemical interactions between supramolecular templates and carbon precursors. Although extensive methods of soft-template synthesis have been developed to control mesoscopic architectures and surface properties for silica and metal oxide materials, similar methodologies for mesoporous carbon materials are still in their early stages of development. Till now, only hydrogen-bonding interactions between soft templates and carbon precursors have been exploited for the production of mesoporous carbon materials.

Reference: C. Liang, Z. Li, S. Dai, Reviews: Mesoporous Carbon Materials: Synthesis and Modification, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 47 (2008) 3696 – 3717.

---

The first X-ray

The announcement of Roentgen’s discovery, illustrated with an X-ray photograph of his wife’s hand, was hailed as one of mankind’s greatest technological accomplishments, an invention that would revolutionize every aspect of human existence

-----

The hand of Mrs. Wilhelm Roentgen: the first X-ray image, 1895

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/dreamanatomy/images/1200%20dpi/Z1.jpg



39

Let’s laugh Dr. Manab Sarma

(E-mail: [email protected]) Do you remember last time when

you laugh freely? To answer this question I will have to think at least a couple of minutes. Due to the hectic daily schedule we are overflowed with Stress, Tension, Anger etc. We forgot that God gave us an outlet to drain these ailments through laughter. “Laugh” – which really don’t cost anything, don’t need any equipment to apply, rather it helps us to improve our efficiency in all respect – so why we don’t use it. The radio-TV host of "Second Opinion" (abc.net) said, “It helps us to survive. It helps people to cope. When you laugh, it focuses everything outward. It's like a shot of morphine. It releases endorphins, a natural substance released in your body like pain killers. It's happy juice in the body. It gives this euphoric type of feeling that makes you high, Life is full of humor. The whole world is a stage. You have to find the setup-the punch line."

How we normally define laugh (laughter)? In general term Laughter is an audible expression, or appearance of merriment or happiness, or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure. Is it only an expression of human behavior? No, definitely not; as this human behavior is regulated by brain, and linked with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (anterior part of frontal lobes of human brain) (Fig.1), it has a much deeper impact on our physiology.

Prof Richard Wiseman in his project “LaughLab” exactly identified where jokes affect a human brain with the help of MRI technique (Fig.2). It is the portion located towards the back of the frontal lobes. People who have

damaged this part of the brain often lose their sense of humor.

While talking about Laughter, psychologist William F. Fry said that three minutes of deep belly laughing is the equivalent of three minutes on a fitness rowing machine. Renowned Professor of Medical Humanities, Norman Cousins wrote in his book, Anatomy of an Illness, that he found one 10-minute interlude of laughter gave him two hours of painless sleep. And researchers found that it takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown. It improves our immune responses, lowers our serum cortisol (the hormone produced by stress), enhances respiration, stimulates blood flow and raises our pain threshold. In 2006, Lee Berk at Loma Linda University in California found that merely anticipating laughter boosted the production of mood-elevating hormones called β-endorphins and the immunity-enhancing human growth hormone by 27% and 87%, respectively.

Recently, in Western and European culture, practice of Laughing therapy has been increasing day by day as researcher proved that laughing can decrease the risk of having cardiovascular diseases by 40 percent, helps relief of chronic pain in arthritis, spine lesions, neurological diseases etc. More than that, it is known that laughing is a strong muscle-relaxing method, which also relieves pain. Laughing helps our immune system to fight against Virus, and experimentally it has even showed that mothers who laugh a lot have babies who seldom catch cold and a10-15 minutes of laughing burn from 10 to 40 calories so it helps to loss weight.

You may be surprised that this therapy is not new for our culture. In Sanskrit it is known as "Hasya-yoga", but probably due to our ignorance



40

toward a life of healthy living we have been neglecting it. This yoga is usually practiced by some sounds, "Ho-ho" which comes from the abdomen (diaphragm), "ha-ha" comes from the heart or from the thorax, "hi-hi" – from… the third eye. Recent statistics says that in India number of people suffering from heart disease and diabetes are increasing quite sharply. Therefore, it would be perfect to learn and use all these types of laughing with therapeutic purposes.

At last, just look Fig.3, if he can smile then why not you?

Fig.1 Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (brick red) portion of human brain

Fig.2 MRI picture of brain portion (in yellow) showing the effect of jokes

Fig.3: Smile of Life (Sources: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/secondopinion/; http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080407/full/news.2008.741.html etc.)

---- Facts behind Mona Lisa’s smile

Leonardo Da Vinci's famous portrait, the Mona Lisa, an oil painting on poplar wood, the portrait took Da Vinci four years (1503–1506) to complete. it was sold to the King of France for four thousand gold crowns. The world has talked about it ever since. After the revolution in France the painting was transferred to the Louvre. Napoleon took possession of it using the panel to decorate his bedroom. Who was the lady in question? One popular theory suggests that the lady is the Duchess of Milan, Isabella of Aragon.

----------

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/secondopinion/

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/secondopinion/

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080407/full/news.2008.741.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080407/full/news.2008.741.html

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200710/r193781_733778.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/23/2224835.htm&usg=__71lNDrycWfrY3Bm3hDOgxOrfqw4=&h=840&w=631&sz=119&hl=en&start=7&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=dIkZFsdlPJaXbM:&tbnh=145&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmona%2Blisa%2527s%2Bsmile%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-theory.htm



41

Basic Concepts of Domino Reactions Dr. Saikat Dassharma E-mail: [email protected]) Introduction Organic synthesis is responsible for some of the most exciting and important discoveries of the twentieth century in chemistry, biology and medicine, and continues to fuel the drug discovery processes. Synthetic organic chemistry is perhaps the most expressive branch of chemistry in view of its creative power and unlimited scope.1 Through the quest to construct complex and challenging bioactive molecules, newer and improved synthetic strategies are always been developed by the organic chemists. The creation of many bonds, rings, and stereocenters in a single transformation is desirable for high synthetic efficiency, i.e., the ultimate goal is to perform multiple reactions in a single operation in order to increase molecular complexity. It is noteworthy that the development of economically favorable synthetic methods for organic reactions is one of the latest challenges to the

organic chemists. In this connection, domino reactions play a vital role for the generation of complex compounds starting from simple substrates in a single transformation consisting of several steps. What is Domino reaction? According to Tietze, a domino reaction is defined as a process involving two or more bond-forming transformations (usually C—C bonds) which take place under the same reaction conditions without adding additional reagents and catalysts, and in which, the subsequent reactions result as a consequence of the functionality formed in the previous step.2 Precisely, domino reaction relates to a sequence of consecutive reactions where one has to start the first reaction by an agent and then all other reactions proceed. The product of the first reaction is the starting material of the next reaction. Example: A wonderful example of domino reaction is the biosynthesis of lanosterol (2) from squalene epoxide (1) with the formation of four C—C bonds and six stereogenic centers (Scheme 1).3

O

HO

1

2

Scheme 1



42

Robinson developed the first domino reaction of a natural product when he synthesized bicyclic tropinone (6) by putting together a mixture of succindialdehyde (3), methylamine (4), and acetonedicarboxylic acid (5) (Scheme 2).4 The key step in this synthesis is a double Mannich reaction.

It is noteworthy that even the normal Mannich reaction combining an aldehyde (generally formaldehyde), a ketone, and a secondary amine is a domino reaction and most probably the first domino reaction described in literature.

CHO

CHO

++ MeNH2 O

CO2H

CO2H N

O

Me

3 4 5

6

Scheme 2

Some important points to be noted: •••• A substrate with several

functionalities which undergo a transformation individually in the same pot is not a domino reaction.

•••• The preliminary formation of a reactive intermediate such as a carbocation or carbanion is not counted as a reaction step.

•••• In a domino reaction, the substrates used must have more than two functionalities of comparable reactivity. They can be situated in one or two molecules, or, as in the case of multicomponent domino reactions, in at least three different molecules. In a domino reaction, the functionalities react in a fixed chronological order to allow the formation of defined molecules.

Why the name Domino was chosen? The name domino comes from the game where one puts up several domino pieces in one row and in agreement with the time-resolved succession of reactions, if one knocks over the first

domino; all the others follow without changing the conditions. The domino processes are time-resolved transformations as like as domino stones, where one stone tips over the next, which tips the next, and the next………such that they all fall down in turn. Advantage of domino reaction: The complex organic molecules are generally synthesized by the stepwise formation of the individual bonds. However, it would be much more efficient if several bonds can be constructed in one sequence without isolating the intermediates, changing the reaction conditions, or adding new reagents. Obviously, this type of reaction will generate less amount of waste as compared to stepwise reactions since the amount of solvents, reagents, energy and the labor would be dramatically reduced. Consequently, this would furnish an ecological and economical production of the target molecule. The usefulness of domino reaction can be correlated to:



43

• Number of bonds which are formed in one sequences which is called the bond-forming efficiency (or bond-forming economy)

• Increase in structural complexity (structure economy)

• Its suitability for a general application.

Difference between Multicomponent, Cascade and Tandem reactions Reactions proceeding through more than a single step in a concurrent fashion have been described in various contexts and different terms have been used to describe them. But sometime they generate confusion such as multicomponent reactions, cascade reactions and tandem reactions which are briefly clarified as follows: • Multicomponent reaction: Multicomponent reactions emerged as a powerful tool in organic for their high degree of atom economy, convergent character, and diversity oriented organic synthesis. Multicomponent reaction may be defined as the reaction where three or more reactants are combined in a single vessel to generate single molecule that contain portions of each reactant irrespective of the mechanism of the reaction. According to the definition, multicomponent reactions are usually domino reactions (but not all).5 • Cascade or domino reaction: The reactions in which the starting material undergoes a transformation via two or more reactions one after another in an inseparable fashion are called ‘domino’ or ‘cascade’ reactions. The choice of words—domino or cascade—indicates that both individual reactions belong tightly together and are rather difficult to perform in a stepwise (independent) fashion. As a

consequence, the intermediate between both steps is likely to be unstable and (often) eludes isolation and characterization. Despite the fact that the cascade reaction is likely to proceed via a highly reactive (unstable) intermediate, which is prone to elude isolation and characterization, the final product can often be isolated in good yields, because decomposition of the reactive intermediate is largely avoided since it is transformed in the same instant as it appears.6 • Tandem reaction: The ‘sequential’ or ‘tandem’ reactions are considered to be two-step reactions that proceed in a consecutive fashion where each of the steps can be performed separately. Thus, it can be anticipated that the intermediate species will be a rather stable compound. However, encyclopaedia defines tandem as “locally, two after each other.” So, if three or even more bonds are formed in one sequence the term “tandem” can not be used at all.2,7 Classification of domino reaction Domino reaction can be classified into different categories depending on the mechanism of the first step. Combination of the reactions of the same mechanism is called homo-domino reaction whereas a sequence of reactions with different mechanisms is called hetero-domino reaction. Cationic domino reaction The domino reactions in which carbocations are generated in the initial step are called cationic domino reactions. Most of the cationic domino processes is followed by another cationic processes, i.e., the category of homo-domino reactions. In the last step, the final carbocation is stabilized either by the elimination of a proton or by the nucleophilic addition (Scheme 3).2



44

X _ X+

++

or

Nu_ H+

or

+ Nu_

Scheme 3

Diepoxide (7) undergoes acid catalyzed cyclization to bistetrahydrofuran (8) via cationic

domino reaction (Scheme 4).8

BnO

O

OMe HO

OPMB

O

OBzO

DEIPS

O

H+

BnO

OH

OBz

O OH

OH

OOPMB

H OH

0.5 M HCl, THF

25 º C, 2.5 h

7

8Scheme 4

Anionic domino reaction The primary step of anionic domino reaction is the attack of either an anion (such as a carbanion, an enolate or an alkoxide) or a “pseudo” anion as an uncharged nucleophile (such as an amine or an alcohol) onto an electrophilic center.2 An excellent example of anionic

domino reaction is initiated by the Michael addition of a nucleophile to the α,β-unsaturated ketone (9) to furnish a reactive enolate (10), which in turn can easily be trapped in a second anionic reaction to afford the compound (11) (Scheme 5).



45

O

RM

R

OM

R

O

EEX

9 10 11

Scheme 5

Radical domino reaction Radical reactions are ideal for sequencing because the product of every radical is radical and thus contributes many efficient domino reactions with high grades of chemo, region and stereoselectivity. Domino radical reactions can form complex, highly substituted ring systems with minimum

use of protecting groups. In addition to that, radicals are equally feasible to add to either inactivated multiple bonds or to those bearing polar groups. For example, iododiene (12) upon treatment with tributyl tin hydride in benzene produces the compound (15) via the intermediate radicals (13) and (14) (Scheme 6).9

I

O O O

H

Bu3SnH, AIBN

C6H6, 80 º C

O

H

H

H

12 13 14

15

Scheme 6

Transition metal catalyzed domino reaction Recently transition metal catalyzed transformations are receiving much attention as a part of domino reaction.6b,10

A wonderful example of palladium catalyzed domino reaction is the polycyclization of polyenes (16) to give polyspirane (17) (Scheme 7).11



46

OMe

PhO2S

PhO2S 4

2.5% (dba)3Pd2. CHCl3, 10% Ph3Sb

AcOH, PhH, 50-65 ºCPhO2S

PhO2S

MeO

16

17

Scheme 7

Enzymatic domino reaction The enzymes play a vital role to initiate domino reactions.2,6a For example, the following domino reaction was initiated by enzymatic hydrolysis of an ester (18) to form a nucleophile (19), which opened an epoxide to furnish the corresponding lactone together with a free alkoxy moiety in the δ-position (20).

This underwent another (intramolecular) nucleophilic attack on the second epoxide to furnish a bistetrahydrofuran derivative (21). At the end of this cascade, the resulting alkoxide was trapped by forming a hemiacetal attached to a tristetrahydrofuran moiety (22) (Scheme 8).12

CHOMeO

O

O O CHOO

O

O O

_

Pig Liver Esterase

18 19

OO

OCHO

O_ _

OO

O

O HC O

20 21

OO

O OOH

22

Scheme 8



47

Pericyclic domino reaction Pericyclic domino reactions are one of the strongest tools to construct formidable and unusual complex structures. In this process, both the reaction steps take place without the incorporation of additional components or reagents. Everything necessary for both reactions is present in the starting materials. The product of the initial step

may be stable under the reaction conditions; however, the intermediate can not be an isolable species but rather is converted to the final product upon workup.7 The classic example of domino pericyclic reaction is the Diels-Alder reaction of 23 with DMAD (24) to achieve 26 via intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition of 25 (Scheme 9).13

+

MeO2C CO2Me

CO2Me

CO2Me

H

CO2Me

CO2Me

23

24 25 26

Scheme 9

Conclusions The development of domino reactions is still in its infancy. The future goal will be the discovery of domino reactions in more environmentally friendly conditions. References 1. Nicolaou, K. C.; Vourloumis, D.; Winssinger, N.; Baran, P. S. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 44. 2. Tietze, L. F. Chem. Rev. 1996, 96, 115. 3. (a) Corey, E. J.; Russey, W. E.; Ortiz de Montellano, P. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1966, 88, 4750. (b) Corey, E. J.; Virgil, S. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 4025. (c) Corey, E. J.; Virgil, S. C.; Sarshar, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 8171. 4. (a) Robinson, R. J. Chem. Soc. 1917, 111, 762. (b) Robinson, R. J. Chem. Soc. 1917, 111, 876. 5. (a) Armstrong, R. W.; Combs, A. P.; Tempest, P. A.; Brown, S. D.; Keating, T. A. Acc. Chem. Res. 1996, 29, 123. (b)

Burke, M. D.; Schreiber, S. L. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 46. (c) Ramon, D. J.; Yus, M. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 1602. 6. (a) Mayer, S. F.; Kroutil, W.; Faber, K. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2001, 30, 332. (b) Chapman, C. J.; Frost, C. G. Synthesis 2007, 1. 7. (a) Denmark, S. E.; Thorarensen, A. Chem. Rev. 1996, 96, 137. (b) Neuschütz, K.; Velker, J.; Neier, R. Synthesis 1998, 227. 8. Koert, U. Synthesis 1995, 115. 9. Takahashi, T.; Katouda, W.; Sakamoto, Y.; Tomida, S.; Yamada, H. Tetrahedron Lett. 1995, 36, 2273. 10. Ajamian, A.; Gleason, J. L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2004, 43, 3754. 11. Dauben, W. G.; Dinges, J.; Smith, T. C. J. Org. Chem. 1993, 58, 7635. 12. Russel, S. T.; Robinson, J. A.; Williams, D. J. Chem. Commun. 1987, 351. 13. (a) Paquette, L. A.; Wyvratt, M. J.; Berk, H. C.; Moerck, R. E. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1978, 100, 5845.



48

PROSPECTS OF ECOTOURISM IN LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT

Bhaskar Bora [email protected]

The term “Ecotourism” was first coined by Hector Ceballos Lascurain in 1983, and was initially used to describe nature- based travel to relatively undisturbed area with an emphasis on education. The concept was, however, developed to a scientifically based approach to planning, management and development of sustainable tourism products and activities. Eco-tourism is derived from two words-‘Ecosystem’ & ‘Tourism’. Together it is made Ecotourism. To understand Eco-tourism we have to understand our Ecosystem first. Ecosystem is the system in which we live – the system which include the earth, the water, the sky and of course the living and the non-living objects in all these systems. It is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. But, there is no such specific and particular unit or scale to measure an Ecosystem. Thus, the term “ecosystem’ does not, necessarily, agree to the “biome” or “ecological zone”, but can refer to any functioning unit at any scale. It could, for example, be a grain of soil, a pond, a forest, the sea, the river, a biome or the entire biosphere. And, tourism means-‘the practice of travelling for pleasure’. Thus, a tourism which contains a visit to an Ecosystem is known as Eco-tourism. But, that is not all. Eco-tourism is not only travelling to such Ecosystems, but also conserving them. Lakhimpur District is located in the northern part of upper Assam. The geographical location, bio-diversity of this area and also the colorful culture of

the different indigenous groups supplement the area to make it a unique site for the tourist from India and as well as from abroad. Till now there are many remote and unexplored areas which may provide an immense pleasure to some one coming from over crowded technically noised world. Lakhimpur is the home of several snow fed rivers, wet lands and reserve forests such as Pabha Reserve, Kakoi Reserve, Dullung Reserve, Subansiri Reserve; to name a few. These reserve and their skirting snow fed rivers were once the home of divers fauna like the Asiatic Buffalo, Rhinoceros, Tigers, Slow Loris, Clouded Leopard, Wild dog (Dhole), Himalayan Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Marval cat, Swamp Deer, White winged wood duck, Bengal Florican, python, Fresh water dolphin, Golden Mahseer etc. But in the last two decades time all that has changed due to the large scale deforestation, population explosion, construction of big river dams and so on. Under this circumstance a properly channelized ecotourism policy and multifaceted approach for conservation of natural heritage is urgently needed. Yet despite the long history of habitat loss and degradation, the eco region still harbors an impressive biological diversity in the small fragments of habitat that lie scattered throughout the district. For instance the reserve forests in the district bear immense significance as far as biodiversity is concerned. A huge numbers of medicinal, ornamentals and valuable timbers, bamboos and canes etc. are available in the hills and forests of Lakhimpur. Nature camps and trekkings can be organized in these reserve forest with the help of local forest dwelling people. In this forest rare species like climbing bamboo (Bambusa stractus) and Sia Nahar (Kayea assimea) is found widely. Apart from this more than 80 species of eye



49

catching wild orchid varieties are scattered in these tropical evergreen forest. River Subansiri, locally called “Tharichu” originates from Tibat in the central Himalaya. After traversing for a stretch of 208 Km through Arunachal Pradesh debouches near Dullungmukh in Assam. Subansiri is famous for the mighty Golden Mahseer. Every winter lots of angler from different part of North East India and U.K. coms for angling. The downstream of river Subansiri is one of the very ideal habitate for Gangetic River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica). But all that has changed due to the ongoing construction of 2000 M.W. mega dam in the river Subansiri. Experts say that in the near future the population of this Asia’s largest game fish and river dolphin will dwindle alarmingly. On the other hand river Ranganadi is one of the sub-basin of the river Subansiri. The river originates from an elevation of 3440m bordering east Kamang and lower Subansiri districts. In the upstream of this river there are some good potentialities of rafting and angling. Moreover the Bordoibam Bilmukh bird Sanctuary, Knowarbari doloni, Khabalu, Satajan wetland etc. are some of the fascinating sites for migratory as well as residential bird watching in Lakhimpur. Bordoibam Bilmukh bird sanctuary is an ideal sanctuary shared shared between the Lakhimpur and Dhemaji District-diverse natural heritage and picturesque surrounding of green and sleepy mising village can easily attract any nature lover. This ideal birding site was formed after a massive earthquake that occurred in the year 1950. Apart from several endangered aquatic birds like adjutant stork and fishing eagles, some most endangered migratory water bird seek refuge amidst its cozy sanctum during the freezing Siberian, Tibetan and

European winters. The eminent biodiversity zone of Bordoibam Bilmukh Bird Sanctuary is located about 50 km from the Lakhimpur town. There are nine tea gardens and tea estate in Lakhimpur district. Almost all tea garden in Lakhimpur is situated in the fringe of thickly forested foot hills of Eastern Himalaya. This eastern Himalayan region is also one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. In the recent times tea tourism, which can be called one part of ecotourism has become quite popular. People all over the world know Assam as the land of ‘two leaves and a bud’. These tea estates, their beautiful ambience, colorful people, the old heritage bunglows of the Managers, some of which were setup by the British, may blend memories of the past to make Assam a nostalgic destination for many tourist of Europe, Japan and U.S.A. One permanent eco camp can be constructed in the vicinity of Ananda T.G. and Subansiri river. This will provide good opportunity for those who are interested in Angling, Trekking and nature study. Apart from these the district of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji and Majuli have also some historical place and monuments like Lateku pukhuri, Podumoni than, Basudev than, Malinithan, Rajgarh road and Vaisnav satras etc. These are some ancient and important centers of Pilgrimage and cultural Tourism.

--- Save the most beautiful species of Assam: The River Dolphine

It is our turn to save this Platanista ganetica, The Ganges River Dolphine

-----



50

TRAITS NEEDED TO BE SUCCESSFUL

Arinjit Hazarika

Training and Placement Officer, Dibrugarh University

(E-mail: [email protected]) What does it take to succeed? A positive attitude? Yes, but that is not enough. There are innumerable examples of people who are successful for a limited period of time, but they can’t sustain the momentum. Why Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar are so successful in spite of many ups and downs? There should be some basic traits that highly successful people possess. Below is a list of general traits that will help anyone get ahead in any field: 1) Dream, Dream and Dream: We all dream, but we all dream different! It is the difference in our dreams that brings about a difference in our actions. We dream to own a car, to buy a house, but it is when we dream to make a difference in our work, will our other dreams be taken care of. And here we are talking about, ideating. Dream of bringing in a new deal, starting a new project, working on a new brand, and innovating new ways of doing a particular task. The innovative ideas that make a difference and bring value to the organization will take us higher up the ladder. 2) Commitment: When it takes more than six months to accomplish a goal, people who are committed will stay the course to the very end. Most people want their goals accomplished in a week. It is true that there are short term goals; but, when we have a long term goal it can get a little overwhelming when things don't seem to be moving as fast as we would like. However, taking

the time to see the big picture will help us stay focused and keep us motivated. 3) Proactive: A unique ability that sets successful people apart from the rest is proactiveness. Being proactive means assessing the situation and developing a positive response for it. Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just reporting problems and waiting for other people to solve them. Once we decide to be proactive, exactly where we focus our efforts becomes important. There are many concerns in our lives, but we do not always have control over them. Proactive people focus their efforts on the things over which they have influence, and in the process often expand their area of influence. Reactive people often focus their efforts on areas of concern over which they have no control. Their complaining and negative energy tend to shrink their circle of influence. 4) Respect Time: Seldom we will see a CEO walking late to a conference or a MD being late for the meeting. “Time is money” and for a manager, a leader and all successful men and women “It is more than money, it is wealth”. Being late for a presentation, constantly coming late to office, running behind time for a meeting with a client all go to show sloppiness, a lack of discipline and a disorganized lifestyle. Respect time, thereby respecting yourself! 5) Passion: Do we love our job? Do we even like it? Being passionate about our job is more than the old adage "do what you love". It's looking forward to going to work. It's time flying by when we are there. It’s not necessary that we need the organizational environment or the boss’ attitude to drive us or put us down. A person passionate at job can be



51

consistent in his job by his own drive and when situations are bad he continues to work with the same vigour or may be more. There is no need to search for means of motivation; the work itself is a cause to enjoy it. The crux is-if we don’t love what we do, no one else will either. 6) Learn, Unlearn and Relearn: We need not know everything about the job that we do. But we constantly need to learn new things, grasp new ways and imbibe new perspectives that best suit our present work. We need to keep a tab on the latest news, trends and buzz related to our field of work. Nobody wants a robot, whose breadth of knowledge is limited to his/her task at work alone, but someone who is well informed and updated about the latest trends, news and happenings in the field of work, around the world. This will keep us in the good books of our superiors and will also make us a good company at official gatherings so that we get a fresh perspective always to anything related to our work. 7) Public speaking: The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience – whether an audience of one or of thousands – is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means we can sell anything – products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, etc. 8) Chase Excellence: That’s the theme behind the success of the biggest blockbuster of 2009, “3 Idiots” – Chase Excellence, Success will follow. To be successful at anything, we need to be an expert first in that particular thing. Unless we know the product we are selling, its make, its parts, the chemicals, used, and its functions, we will not be able to market it or sell it.

Remember, excellence is a habit not an act. It takes practice and perseverance. 9) Self management: If success depends on effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus our attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep our self on track. 10) Networking: Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity – and provide the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realized.

--- Achieving the Goal

Barak Obama: childhood to present – Barack Obama was born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. Graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before entering politics. According to childhood fellows: ‘he used to be a naughty boy particularly among his female seniors. Once he destroyed the school’s fence which made from bamboos.’ ‘In a creative writing lesson, other students said that they wanted to be a doctor or pilot, but Barry claimed that he wanted to be a president.’

--------------

Child Obama at Hawaii beach

Obama a basket ball player


N. E. Quest; Volume 4, Issue 1, April 2010. 52

Letter from the members First of all, I must thank again to the moderator of the North-East India research Group. I hope I am the only person who have been highly benefited by this forum. I have joined at the early stage. I pray for its long-live. I have now so many senior friends through this forum. Three greatest helps form this forum are

1) I had received my first postdoctoral offer in the late of 2007 through this forum, which was my first application. It was amazing. I couldn’t accept that offer as I couldn’t submit my thesis on time.

2) I have received DST-DFG award to attend the 59th meeting of Nobel laureates and student, 2009, Lindau, Germany. I came across the advertisement of DST for application through this forum only. I already shared my experience and feeling in the forum. I must remain grateful to Dr. Ashimjyoti Thakur, Dr. Arindam Adhikari for their kind help.

3) At last, I am here in the University of Mississippi, USA as a postdoctoral fellow for the greatest help from the forum. I was applying for postdoc position (from chemser.com, job.uk, postdoc.com) since June 2009, and couldn’t get any due to lack of funding or position available or out of competition. In November there was a mail from Dr. Diganta Sarma in the forum with an advertisement for postdoc position and I applied. I am lucky enough to get this position and be here in Mississippi.

Finally I must thank again to all the forum members for their participation in thought, sharing their experience, giving the important links in the forum. I hope the forum with an excellent addition of NEQUEST will give a new dimension of research in NE INDIA in near future.

(Dr. Saitanya K Bharadwaj) [email protected] [email protected] http://www.researcherid.com/rid/D-3423-2009

Acknowledgement: The editor is highly indebted to Dr. Manab Sharma for his kind help in making this issue in this readable form. The help from Dr. Arindam Adhikari, Dr. Ashim J Thakur and Dr. Pankaj Bharali are also sincerely acknowledged.



http://www.researcherid.com/rid/D-3423-2009



Jitu Ranjan Chetia

Jitu Ranjan Chetia has completed his

college education from Gorgaon Collage,

Nazira and M.Sc in Chemical Sciences

from Tezpur University. Subsequently he

pursued his PhD under the guidance of

Professor N N Dass and Professor

Aradhana Dutta at Department of

Chemistry, Dibrugarh University.

Currently he is working as Instrument

Officer at the same department. He is

associated with many socio-cultural

organizations and a good actor. He is also

a renowned quiz-master.

Bolin Chetia

Bolin Chetia has completed his college

education from Science College Jorhat and

M.Sc from Dibrugarh University. He

secured 1st class 1st position in M.Sc

among the successful candidates in 2002.

After qualifying in GATE and CSIR-NET

examination he has perused his PhD at

IIT-Guwahati. Currently he is working as

lecturer at Department of Chemistry,

Dibrugarh University.

Rahul Kar

Rahul Kar has completed his college

education from Arya Vidyapith College,

Guwahati and M.Sc from Dibrugarh

University. He secured 1st class 1st position

in M.Sc among the successful candidates

in 2003. After qualifying in CSIR-NET

examination he has perused his PhD at

NCL-Pune under the guidance of Dr.

Saurv Pal in the area of theoretical

chemistry. Currently he is working as

lecturer at Department of Chemistry,

Dibrugarh University

………………



International Ph.D. Program, Zurich, Switzerland

The Life Science Zurich Graduate School houses several Ph.D. programs that cover distinct areas of the life sciences. Each program offers research and education opportunities in a stimulating international environment for ambitious students who wish to work towards a Ph.D. degree. Accepted students perform their research project in one of the participating research groups of their favorite program, according to their scientific interest. Advanced teaching and training courses are offered throughout the curriculum. The program language is English throughout. Ph.D. studies usually last 3-4 years. Applicants must hold or anticipate receiving a Master’s degree or equivalent from a university in a relevant field before starting the Ph.D. program. Applicants accepted for the program will have to register with either the University of Zurich or ETH Zurich, depending on the affiliation of their future research group.

Application deadlines: December 1st and July 1st

International PhD-Program in Austria 2010

International PhD-Program ‘Cell Communication in Health and Disease’ – CCHD 2010

At the Medical University of Vienna, CCHD, a PhD Program in biomolecular Medicine supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), has been established. The program offers cutting-edge education in the fields of Neurobiology, Vascular Biology, Immunology, and Inflammation Research and integrates basic, applied, and clinical sciences, as well as a huge spectrum of experimental techniques. Admitted PhD students will receive funding for at least three years including support to visit international conferences and specialized workshops. Applicants must hold a final degree in the diploma studies of Medicine, Dentistry, or in ny scientific/technical subject-related diploma studies (such as Cell or Molecular Biology) by the commencing term of the program. Further information on research topics and courses, as well as application forms are available at: www.phd-cchd.at

PhD position in Interfaces in inorganic-organic nanocomposite hybrid materials YKI, Institute for Surface Chemistry is the internationally leading institute in the area of surface chemistry. YKI offers a stimulating work and research environment as well as good working conditions. Within this EU-funded project, you also get a chance to work with international partners from industry and academia. The PhD project will be aimed at the design and fabrication of functional nanocomposites using inorganic nanoparticles and polymers. The focus will be on fundamental understanding of the nanoparticles and polymer interaction at molecular level. Design and characterization of inorganic-organic nanocomposite with the focus of interface engineering will be the key elements of this PhD project. Thus it is an advantage if the skills of the candidate are multidisciplinary, with a strong background in polymer chemistry and nanomaterials, and a preference for additional experience in colloid and surface science. Furthermore, the applicants should be energetic, highly motivated and possess excellent communication skills both in Swedish and English. You will be employed by and based at YKI in Stockholm. YKI is located on the campus of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Please send your CV and cover letter to our HR Manager: [email protected], no later than 15th August 2010.

http://www.lifescience-graduateschool.ch/index.php?id=108

http://www.phd-cchd.at/



GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INDIA-JAPAN

COOPERATIVE SCIENCE PROGRAMME (IJCSP) CALL FOR PROPOSALS-2011

DEADLINE DATE FOR SUBMITTING PROPOSALS : 13th September, 2010 The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology. Government of India, New Delhi and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) conduct the India-Japan Cooperative Science Programme (IJCSP) to promote bilateral scientific collaboration between Indian and Japanese scientists. Applications are invited from eligible Indian researchers /scientists to submit proposals for joint projects and joint workshops under IJCSP. Areas of cooperation : The support is available to the following scientific areas : - Molecular and Supramolecular Science - Advanced Materials, including Polymers and Nano-materials - Modern Biology and Biotechnology - Manufacturing Sciences - Astronomical and Space Science - Surface and Interface Science including Catalysis Who can apply : The joint application must include one Indian and one Japanese Principal Investigators, who would be responsible for technical as well as administrative co-ordination of the project and its periodic scientific and financial reporting to the DST/ JSPS respectively. Further details in respect of Japanese participants JSPS website (www.jsps.gov.jp) may be referred to. Kind of support available : DST provides the following support under the Programme: For Indian Researchers – Cost of International airfare to and from the designated research location, visa fee, air port taxes, overseas medical insurance premium for the approved visit duration and airport transfers in India. For joint workshops/ seminars to be organized in India, local travel cost of selected Indian participants and organizing expenses may also be considered for support as per DST norms. For Japanese Researchers – Costs of accommodation in a guest house, per diem anddomestic travel expenses in India including airport transfers as per DST norms. Processing : The formats for joint project/seminar proposals and other details are available at the websites: www.stic-dst.org.in or www.dst.gov.in. Project proposal is to be submitted through e-mail to [email protected] (preferably in MS Word format in one file indicating file name as PI name & area code) as well as by Post (3 copies ) in the prescribed format on or before the given deadline through proper channel to : Dr Naveen Vasishta, Scientist, International Division, Department of Science & Technology, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi-110016 Japanese Principal Investigators need to submit proposals with a matching research/ seminars plan to JSPS simultaneously. Japanese Researchers are requested to contact JSPS for their application submission period, documents to be submitted etc. The website: https://wwwshinsei. jsps.go.jp/jsps1/kikanList.do (available only in Japanese) may be referred for details.



INDIA - SOUTH AFRICA JOINT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

REESEARCH COOPERATION CALL FO OR PROJECT PROPOSALS (2010)

Department of Science and Technology CLOSING DATE : 15 July 2010 Under the framework of India- South Africa inter-governmental bilateral agreement on cooperation in the fields of science and technology signed in 1995, a new programme of cooperation has been agreed for the years 2008 to 22011. Under this Programme of Cooperation n we are pleased to announce the call for joint research project proposals between South African and Indian scientists / researchers, and invite all local scientists/ researchers wishing to participate to submit their proposals by the due date indicated below. Who may apply? South Africa : This call is s open to all working researchers residing in South Africa and affiliated with a recognised higher education or research institution such as a university, university of technology or science council. An application must designate two principal investigators, one in South Africa and the other in India, who will bear the main responsibility for the project, including its technical and administrative coordination as well as scientific and financial reporting. The South h African applicant must be in possession of at least a master’s degree (preferably a PhD). Commercial institutions and private education institutions are not eligible to apply under this programme. India : The Principal Investigator (PI) and other investigators in n India should be Scientists/ faculty members working in regular capacity in UUGC recognized Universities/ Deemed Universities, Academic Institutes and National Research & Development Laboratories// Institutes. The Indian PI should not be retiring or leaving the parent institute during the proposed duration of the project. How do I apply? South Africa: Application forms for South African applicants may be downloaded electronically from the NRF F website (www.nrf.ac.za). A compulsory soft copy and scanned signature page off the South African application must be submitted to: Mr Raven Jimmy ([email protected]) No hard copies of the app plication will be accepted. Only applications endorse ed by the research office or its equivalent at higher education or research institutions will be accepted. India : Application forms for Indian applicants may be down loaded from the websites www.dst.gov.inor r www.stic-dst.org.



Ministry of Science and Technology Department of Science and Technology Technology Bhawan New Mehrauli Road New Delhi – 110 016 Call for Preliminary Research Proposals on Faunal Research of NE Region The Department of Science and Technology through its Program Advisory Committee on Animal Sciences aims to strengthen wild life research in North Eastern (NE) Region, which is one of the hotspots of biodiversity. Initially, a Brainstorming Session was held at Manas Sanctuary, Guwahati, in November, 2008, wherein participation was from local administration, forest department, NGOs and academic institutions. Then, a thematic workshop with participation from all parts of NE region was organized in October, 2009 at the Department of Zoology, Guwahati University. Herewith, the Department invites preliminary research proposals/ideas on various aspects of faunal research. Such proposals should emanate from the researchers based in NE Region or should actively involve a researcher from the NE region. The proposals may be submitted in the following format : (i) Name and affiliation of the PI (s), (ii) The state of art in the subject (iii) Objectives (iv) Research Methodology (v) Biodata of the PI (s) with research publications in the last 05 years (vi) Tentative budget Five hard with a soft copy of the proposal may be submitted by July 31, 2010 to : Dr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Scientist "G", Department of Science and Technology, Room No. 2, Hall D, Technology Bhawan, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi – 110 016. Tel No. 011-26521865,

Government of India Ministry of Science & Technology Department of Science & Technology BOYSCAST FELLOWSHIP FOR THE YEAR 2010-11 The “Better Opportunities for Young Scientists in Chosen Areas of Science & Technology (BOYSCAST)” programme of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) provides opportunities to the young Indian scientists to visit institutions abroad, interact with scientists there, get trained in latest research techniques and conduct R&D in specially chosen frontline areas of science & technology. Applications are invited from Indian Nationals for the award of fellowships under the BOYSCAST programme for conducting advanced research and undergoing training in advanced research techniques in overseas research laboratories/institutes, in chosen frontline areas of science & technology for the period of three to twelve months.



Details about the Northeast India Research Forum

Date of creation of the forum : 13th November 2004 Area: Science and Technology

Total number of members till date: 350 Moderators 1. Arindam Adhikari, Ph.D. Institute of Surface Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Email: [email protected]

2. Ashim J. Thakur, Ph.D. Chemical Science Dept Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam Email: [email protected]

3. Utpal Borah, Ph.D. Dibrugarh University, Assam, India Email: [email protected]

4. Khirud Gogoi, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, USA; Email:[email protected]

Editorial Team of N.E. Quest

1. Debananda Ningthoujam, Ph.D. HOD, Biochemistry Dept. Manipur University, Imphal, India

2. Tankeswar Nath, Ph.D. Tezpur University India [email protected]

3. Manab Sharma, Ph.D. Australia, [email protected] 5. Robert S. Thangjam, Ph.D. Mizoram University, India

4. Shanta Laishram, Ph. D. Dept of Pure Mathematics, University of Waterloo, Canada [email protected]

6. Babita Baruwati, PhD USA 8. Pranjal Saikia Guwahati Email: [email protected]

7. Pankaj Bharali, Research Institute for Ubiquitous Energy Devices; National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan [email protected]

9. Sasanka Deka, Ph.D. National Nanotechnology Laboratory, Lecce, Italy Email: [email protected] Cover Page designed by : Anirban, Pune Logo designed by : Manab Sharma

10. Áshim Thakur, Ph.D. 11. Utpal Borah, Ph.D. 12. Arindam Adhikari, Ph.D. 13. Khirud Gogoi, Ph.D.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/northeast_india_research/

http://www.neindiaresearch.org/








n. e. quest, volume 4, issue 1, april 2010

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