N E Quest Volume 3 Issue 1 April 2009

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

Newsletter Of NORTH EAST INDIA RESEARCH FORUM

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

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

Unleashing scientific creativity in North East India

Traveller, there is no path. Paths are made by walking. -Antonio Machado If they answer not thy call, walk alone, If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall, O thou of evil luck, Open thy mind and speak out alone. -“Ekla Chalo Re”, Rabindranath Tagore How do we ignite the budding scientific minds in our slumbering NE, caught in a ‘time warp’ in this 21st century? How do we create that subtle synergy of dreams and realities? How to nurture them by creating informal channels of communication despite the rigid formal structures? How can we ensure that our scientific Cinderellas are catapulted to the global science platform in the next 20 years or so? We have our own icons-Bhupen Hazarika, Jahnu Barua, Indira Goswami, P. A. Sangma, Ratan Thiyam, Aribam Shyam Sharma, Kunjarani etc in the cultural, literary, political and sports fields. How do we create such icons in the sphere of science? Can we fondly imagine that one among us would be counted among the probables for the next Indian science Nobel laureate, if any can emerge by 2020? 2009 falls at a historical crossroads: the meeting of the Knowledge Society, Asian Century and Biotech Millennium. For flowering of our science innovation, we need a churning of our collective consciousness, a kind of ‘Samudra Manthan’ for our science education and mission-oriented research. We do have rich natural,

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

human and bioresources. We need to utilize them through advanced inputs of S & T and transmute them into value-added, products, goods and services. We may create networks of agro-industries with a backbone of clusters of bioindustries to transform our NE economy and society. In the global context too, this year 2009 marks the celebration of two great events: the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescopic observation and 150th anniversary of ‘Origin of Species(and 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth). One is about evolution of ‘unthinking matter’ and the other about ‘thinking matter’- the journey from bacteria to humans with all sorts of possibilities-agonies, ecstasies, dreams, imagination, vision, violence, war and poetry! Unless we bring in extra-scientific belief systems, we must elucidate how ‘cosmic dust’ evolved into ‘thinking matter’, matter that can reflect on itself, write poems, commit murders, dream, visualize, and do science! This may not necessitate charting out an altogether new path as compared to seeing things in a new way. For “ones

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destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things” (Henry Miller). Let’s create a blazing trail- a fresh roadmap of S & T in the North East. As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”. For this we need a transformed and transforming education system which promotes critical thinking that promotes: • • • • • • •

Networked ideas Collaborative research Value for people Meritocracy rather than gerontocracy Tolerance of failure Shared vision Learning organization that inculcates a ‘culture of excellence’ through less beaurocracy and empowered by informal channels of communication.

Imagine how many of our colleges and universities will be transformed by even a simple step such as the ‘managers’ of such institutions going through ideas from the stake holders invited through suggestion boxes! We need to transform our academic pachyderms into nimble tigers. We earnestly appeal to our youth to look up and cogitate deeply above and decode the questions in the sky and look down and demystify the riddles on the earth, hold their heads high, and let the divine chemistry happen between thinking matter and matter. This vital ferment will transform the North East India. What wonders and riddles are lurking in the forests of NE and bright starts in the firmament of ‘the seven sisters’ for our budding N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

scientists-astrophysicists, chemists, biologists, and biotechnologists-to decipher? For this we essentially need a new breed of scientific ‘poets’ for our North Eastern India. As Theodore Roszak says, ‘Nature composes some of her loveliest poems for the microscope and the telescope’! The mighty Brahmaputra beckons us to be steadfast, the Loktak whispers us to be committed and remain pure, the Naga Hills calls us to chart out a new trail bravely, and the Gongs of Tawang monastery and the alluring sunset at Kanchenjunga prods us on to be optimistic. Let’s walk on and raise NE’s science to the global platform even if it has to be ‘Ekla chalo re’ initially for us kindred souls! The road is long and the path is steep. But we must march on till we realize our own ‘Kanchenjungas’ and then further to scale more “Mount Everests’ through a transformed sytem of higher education that incorporates our endogenous visions, missions and actions! This much we owe to our posterity. Remember that our yearning for innovative S & T is inextricably linked with our social and economic transformation. The very survival of the NE in this globalized millennium depends on breakthroughs in S & T and high-end R & D. Let’s nurture our millennial dream till we realize it! Only then we can create ‘Republics of the Mind’ and ‘Metropolises of Intellect’ in the nooks and corners of the north east. As Tagore says, “if they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm, O thou of evil luck, with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart and let it burn alone”. Let “Ekla Chalo Re” be our guiding scientific chorus. We in the North East India Research Forum(and

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the NEQ team) fondly believes that it would not for long be lonely journeys, for our humble efforts in side channels would soon create ripples and amplified results and the flickering ‘candles of minds’ in the storm would form abiding ‘cascades of ignited minds” acting as beacons of our wretched society. Is anyone listening? In the inside columns you would find articles related to International year of astronomy, Darwin anniversary, climate change, biotech, nanotech, .

doctoral theses by NE scholars and other news. Plus many more features. We need your feedback, don’t hesitate, what seems insignificant to you may provoke a new chain of thought, in a young talent in an unreached nook of India, especially North Eastern India.

-Dr. Debananda Ningthoujam Reader & Head Dept of Biochemistry Manipur University, Imphal Manipur, India

N. E. Quest Reader’s Page Starting from the next issue, we have decided to introduce a Reader’s page. N. E. Quest team values our readers a lot. In fact, our continued survival depends on you; without you N. E. Quest has no future. ---Editor Please provide your valuable feedback for any article, feature, news and views in the Journal. Your suggestions and critical responses would go a long way in improving the quality of North East Quest. A best response alongwith excerpts from a few other responses would be selected for publication in the forthcoming issue of NEQ. Please don’t underestimate your spontaneous ideas generated after reading the columns of the NEQ. An idea that strikes your mind which seem insignificant to you may create ripples in the young readers in the nooks and corners of the North East. So let’s create the ‘cascade effect’! Together let us achieve a ‘silent revoluion’ NE’s S & T and trigger a ‘culture of excellence’ in our slumbering academic institutions-the myriad of neglected colleges and universities in the North Eastern India. Let’s rsolve to jointly wreak a flowering of scientific scholarship and entrepreunership in NE. Let’s march on confidently. If necessary, at least initially, let’s get poised for a quantum jump forward with the happy chorus of ‘Ekla Chalo Re’!

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

1. THE FORUM

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2. SCIENCE NEWS

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3. NORTH EAST INDIANS MADE US PROUD

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4. MEMBERS IN NEWS , AWARDS /FELLOWSHIP

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5. N.E. QUEST MEETS LOCAL N.E. INNOVATOR

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7. INSTRUMENT OF THE ISSUE –Flow Cytometry: FACS K. Gogoi

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8. ARTICLES SECTION a) Origin of Universe : The Big Bang N. Nimai Singh (Special Invited Article: International Year of Astronomy)

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b) Global warming: disastrous effects and possible solutions A. K. Puri and T. Satyanarayana (Special Invited article : climate change)

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c) Darwin bicentenary: 150th anniversary of ‘the origin of species’ D. Ningthoujam

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c) Prospects of Biotechnological Interventions for Sustainable Utilization of Banana Genetic Resources in Mizoram, India R. S. Thangjam, L. Hrahsel and P. C .Lalrinfela

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d) Conducting Polymer sensors: An intelligent aspect S. Sarmah

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e) Mesoscale Convection Systems D. Dutta

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9. THESIS ABSTRACT a) Hybrid inorganic-organic materials and nanocomposites; synthesis, characterizations and catalytic applications in organic transformation A. Bordoloi

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b) A study of self-similarity and approximate solutions of QCD evolution equations R. Gogoi

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10. MEMBER’S FACE

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11.HIGHER STUDY ABROAD

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11. OPPORTUNITIES /ADVERTISEMENTS/CONFERENCES

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12. THROUGH THE LENSE OF THE MEMBERS

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(From Smritimala Sarmah, Prasenjit Khanikar and. Arindam Adhikari) -------

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

North East India Research Forum was th

created on 13 November 2004.

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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 more than 280 elite members. Now we are in a position such that people voluntarily come and join the group irrespective of disciplines.

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%

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

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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%

No of Members

250 200 150 100 50 0 0

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20

30

40

50

60

Months

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.

• 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%

3. Poll conducted and results

4. Editors of Previous NE-Quest Issues

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1. Vol 1 Issue 1 April, 2007 Editor: Dr. Arindam Adhikari 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

North East India is lacking behind the rest of the country due to1. Geographical constrain = 0% 2. Bad leadership = 40% 3. Lack of work culture = 36% 4. Corruption = 18% 5. Apathy from Central Govt. = 4%

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum 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 ( This issue) Editor: Dr. Debananda Ningthoujam

NE India Research Forum. These guidelines are placed in the forum for discussion.

5. A domain in the name of www. neindiaresearch.org is booked.

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.

6. Future activities

8. Guidelines for the forum

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,

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.

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Preparing complete online database of N.E. researchers with details.

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Organising conference in the N.E. region-proposed by Dr. Utpal Bora.

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Research collaboration among forum members.

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Motivate student to opt for science education.

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Help master’s students in doing projects in different organisationproposed by Dr. Khirud Gogoi.

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Supporting schools in rural areas by different ways.

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Best paper awards.

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Compilation of book on ‘Education system of different countries’. Initiative for this project is taken by Dr. Mantu Bhuyan, NEIST, Jorhat, Assam

Guidelines for the members are being formulated by the moderators of the

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

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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7. New activity •

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

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 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).

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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.

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Before asking for article, he/she should always check his/her institute/university libraries (online resources). If it is not available or accessible then only the member should request to the forum.

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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.

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

"In India I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it. Inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything but possessed by nothing".

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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 become a irritation also for many members.

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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- Apollonius Tyanaeus Greek Thinker and Traveller 1st Century AD -------0-------

Ancient Indian numbers

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Skin cells form quick defence in body Scientists claim to have discovered that certain skin cells can recognise viruses and respond right away, a finding which could improve treatment of viral skin infections.

According to them, the work identifies previously unrecognised first-line defence mechanisms important in barrier locations such as the skin and the gut, often used as portals of entry by viruses. The findings entail the function of the cells that trigger the initial immune response to viral infection, known as dendritic cells. "Dendritic cells are like police patrolling our blood and tissues for anything unusual. There are many different types of them, so we wanted to examine how they differ in their function," said Dr Sammy Bedoui of Melbourne University, who led an international team. Using an animal model of skin infection with the cold sore virus, the scientists examined two aspects of anti-viral immune responses by studying the cells involved in the initial stimulation of the immune response, and cells that remember past infections to boost the response after reinfection.( Source :PTI, April 14, 2009, Washington)

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

Israel to quench Cherrapunjee’s thirst Israel will initiate a slew of measures in Cherrapunjee, the world’s wettest spot which faces acute shortage of water post-monsoon, to restore its environment and harvest rain water from this month. Meghalaya Government has signed an agreement with the Centre for International Agricultural Development Cooperation of Israel’s Agriculture Ministry for technical collaboration in rainwater harvesting at Cherrapunjee, now called Sohra, official sources said. According to David Rumnong Ashkenazy, business head and representative for ARGOS (Agri Projects) Limited of Israel in India, a team of experts from Israel will visit the State and start the restoration work this month. The first phase of the restoration work would begin in February and the experts would work in collaboration with the State department of Soil and Water Conservation and the locals. The team will jointly plan and construct suitable systems to collect, store and transport rainwater and to create livelihood for the people, he said adding, they would also work out a system to create bridge between the areas where water is available and those where it is in short supply as well as between the rainy and the dry seasons. Experts blame large-scale destruction of forests in the area, which receives an annual rainfall of 12,000 mm, for the disappearance of perennial springs in the hills resulting in acute water crisis to the extent that people here find it difficult to get drinking water even. – PTI

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Bioengineered Proteins: Trial Confirms New Way To Tackle Cancer In a study published in the first issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, Canadian researchers modified the tumour inhibiting protein, von Hippel-Lindau (VHL), and demonstrated that it could suppress tumour growth in mice. When solid tumours grow they often have relatively poor and disorganised blood supplies. As a result, various regions including the centre of the tumour have low levels of oxygen and are said to be hypoxic. Cells in these hypoxic areas produce hypoxiainducible factor (HIF) that helps them carry on growing. Consequently HIF is associated with aggressiveness in some of the most common types of cancer, including prostate, breast, colon and lung cancer. Under normal conditions VHL degrades HIF, but VHL is deactivated when oxygen levels are low. So, in hypoxic regions of a tumour, just where VHL is needed to inhibit cancer, it is ineffective. The researchers, therefore, created a new version of VHL that does not stop working when oxygen is scarce. Introducing this newly engineered version of VHL into mice that had kidney tumours dramatically reduced levels of HIF, caused tumours to regress and limited the formation of new blood vessels within the tumours. "We have genetically removed the Achilles' heel of VHL to permit unrestricted destruction of HIF," says lead researcher Professor Michael Ohh, who works in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. "The level of HIF is usually very high under conditions of low oxygen, but when we put in our bioengineered VHL its levels go right down to a level that would be comparable to that in normal oxygen levels."

Their findings could have implications for any type of cancer in which HIF plays a role. (Source: ScienceDaily (Mar. 27, 2009)) Himalayas 5 mn yrs older: Study

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New Findings Trace Origin To 14M Yrs Ago Panaji: The Himalayas may be a good five million years older than the earlier estimates about the formation of India’s crowning glory, according to a joint study by Indian and British scientists. The new findings position the era of formation of the Himalayas to as late as 13.9-14.4 million years onward as against the earlier theory of eight million years. The study carried out by Dr K S Krishna of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and his British colleagues, Southampton University Professor Jon Bull and Edinburg University Professor Roger Scrutton was published in the March issue of the Geological Society of America journal, Geology. The study found the earth’s strong outer shell—the lithosphere— within the central Indian Ocean began to deform and fracture 13.9-14.4 million years ago, much earlier than previously thought. It focuses on the tectonics-related deformation of the lithosphere below the central Indian Ocean. India and Asia collided 50 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, large-scale movements of the lithosphere, which continues to this day, the study states. This will impact our understanding of the birth of the Himalayas and the strengthening of the Indo-Asian monsoon, it adds. Rise Of Oxygen Caused Earth's Earliest Ice Age Geologists have discovered that Earth's earliest ice ages may have been due to the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere, which consumed

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

atmospheric greenhouse gases and chilled the earth. Alan J. Kaufman, professor of geology at the University of Maryland, Maryland geology colleague James Farquhar, and a team of scientists from Germany, South Africa, Canada, and the U.S.A., uncovered evidence that the oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere generally known as the Great Oxygenation Event - coincided with the first widespread ice age on the planet.

Once oxygen made it into the atmosphere, it reacted with methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, to form carbon dioxide, which is 62 times less effective at warming the surface of the planet. With less warming potential, surface temperatures may have plummeted, resulting in globeencompassing glaciers and sea ice. In addition to its affect on climate, the rise in oxygen stimulated the rise in stratospheric ozone, our global sunscreen. This gas layer, which lies between 12 and 30 miles above the surface, decreased the amount of damaging ultraviolet sunrays reaching the oceans, allowing photosynthetic organisms that previously lived deeper down, to move up to the surface, and hence increase their output of oxygen, further building up stratospheric ozone. (Source: ScienceDaily May 7, 2009) Now, stem cells to cure blindness Patients suffering from blindness now need not wait for donors as doctors have found a way to treat many with the stem cells derived from the cornea of a dead body.

According to them, two and a half billion years ago, before the Earth's atmosphere contained appreciable oxygen, photosynthetic bacteria gave off oxygen that first likely oxygenated the surface of the ocean, and only later the atmosphere. The first formed oxygen reacted with iron in the oceans, creating iron oxides that settled to the ocean floor in sediments called banded iron-formations - layered deposits of red-brown rock that accumulated in ocean basins around the worldwide. Later, once the iron was used up, oxygen escaped from the oceans and started filling up the atmosphere. N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

Doctors at the AIIMS and a private clinic in the national capital are using corneal surface stem cells from a cadaver's (dead person) eye for curing corneal injuries in many. "We have used the corneal surface stem cells of cadaver's eye for patients with corneal injury and have been able to correct many vision," Dr Radhika Tandon, Associate Professor, Department of Opthalmology, AIIMS said, adding, "This has been done on over more than 100 patients of corneal injury." The technique has come as a divine blessing to many patients, Tandon said. "Instead of a whole cornea for one patient, we check the level of injury and

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use stem cells instead. This way we can help even four patients with one cornea," Dr Asim Kumar Kandar, Consultant, Centre for Sight, said. Stem cells exist in various regions of the eye but so far, they can be found at the outer edges of the cornea, he said. (Source: Press Trust of India, Tuesday May 12, 2009, New Delhi) Assam physicists discover laser from fireflies

Physicists of the Gauhati and Dibrugarh Universities, led by Prof G D Baruah have discovered mock laser emissions from fireflies. The discovery has been published in the current issue of the Journal of Bio-Science, an internationally acclaimed specialty publication. The discovery was made jointly by Prof G D Baruah of the Dibrugarh University and Dr Anurup Gohain Baruah of the Gauhati University while studying light emissions by fireflies on the Gauhati University campus. Scientists around the world have considered the discovery as an interesting effect and an important achievement of the 21st century, and are applying their minds about its applications. Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman had commenced a study of light flashes from fireflies way back in 1965, says Prof Baruah, who carried on the research for more than thirty years. The studies have been carried out at the Cosmic Ray Laboratory in the Department of Physics at the Gauhati University and at other locations, with

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

research and other inputs by Prof Kalyani Baruah. They observed that each light flash from a firefly emits 30 thousand pulses of laser. Prof Baruah says this facet went unnoticed for more than a hundred years. (Source: Assam Tribune, 2nd June 2009) ISRO gear up to launch bacteria cells into space The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch bacteria cells into space and bring them back in the second Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2) by the end of this year. Kamanio Chattopadhyay, national coordinator of the Indian Microgravity Programme said, "We will conduct two life science experiments with the help of E.coli and photosynthetic bacteria that will be helpful for us to understand cell division, genomics (genetic changes) and proteomics (changes in proteins) in microgravity conditions." In the first experiment, an E.coli cell would be grown in a bio-reactor and brought back to the earth to carry out genomic studies. "When the experiment is recovered, we will explore why microgravity alters the growth of cells." The experiment could be seen as a prelude to ISRO's manned space mission slated for 2015, he said. The payload would be developed in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram. In the other experiment, photosynthetic bacteria would be cultured to study the effect of microgravity on photosynthesis. Much like plants, cynobacteria carry out photosynthesis. This experiment would be developed jointly by CCMB, ISRO and the Japan

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Aerospace Exploration Agency. The effect of space radiation and microgravity on seeds of rice and medicinal plants would be the subject of a third experiment developed by the Pune and Kerala universities. Using a dosimeter, the experiment would measure levels of radiation exposure on the seeds. The satellite would also have a materials science experiment onboard to study the role of gravity on melting and sintering of metal powder. Developed by the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, this payload would use a model copper-tin alloy as the subject. May 02, 2009, www.indiaedunews.net IIT-K to launch nano satellite ‘Jugnu’ by Dec’ 09 The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) has received the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) nod to launch its first and country’s lightest nano satellite, Jugnu, by this December.The satellite will be launched in the polar orbit from Sriharikota. A team of 12 professors and 40 IIT-K students led by professor and mechanical engineering department head, Nalinaksh S Vyas, have been working on the project since December 2008, said IIT-K director Sanjay Govind Dhande. A technical team of ISRO led by D Madhav Murthy, director (small satellite), said they had informed ISRO authorities about the details related to the release of Jugnu by mother satellite in polar orbit, and also provided the details regarding the satellite antenna set up in the institute premises. Weighing 3.5 kg, Jugnu would be 34 cm long and 10 cm wide. It would be equipped with micro imaging and micro electronic system, and transit images to base station at the IITK campus. “Although the stipulated life time of the satellite is six months, we are optimistic

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that it will complete at least 12 months in the orbit,” said Dhandhe. The highresolution pictures and data obtained will be used for various applications such as drought monitoring, wasteland management, urban planning and floodrisk management. (Source: http://www.businessstandard.com/india/news/iit-k-tolaunch-nano-satellite-by-dec/358469/ ) ‘Bhuvan' India’s response to Google Earth to be launched Bhuvan, India's response to Google Earth, will be launched very soon and will provide high resolution imagery data of the order of five metre which would be of great relevance for realtime exercises, including disaster management and military operations. "The Google Earth is providing high resolution data in the order of less than a metre. But the data is two to three years old. It cannot be of much use for any real-time exercise. But Bhuvan will provide the relevant data for any realtime exercise," S K Pathan, Head, Geo Informatics Data Division, ISRO, said. Bhuvan, will be a better alternative to Google Earth in terms of quality of data, he said. This can be of use for real-time exercises like disaster management and military operations," he said. For real-time exercises, the latest data is a guiding force, he said. It can show the topography, altitude, depth and other features of any specific location. "This information will be required when you are undertaking a massive exercise like flood management or post-cyclone disaster mitigation," he said. The data could be of use to manage public services, internal security, town planning and infrastructure development activities. (Source: www.hindu.com)

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Aquatic lives in the form of fossils found in Meghalaya Researchers have discovered aquatic lives in the form of fossils in Meghalaya's Janiaw village under East Khasi Hills district. ''The fossils found by the riverside in Janiaw a small hamlet, about 80 km from Mawsynram village, which is reportedly the wettest place on earth, with an annual rainfall of 11,872 mm (about 39 feet), was part of a sea millions of years ago,'' Prof B Kharbuli of Zoology in the North Eastern Hills University (NEHU) said. ''The fossils found in Janiaw are of aquatic lives that are different from fish family. They belong to aquatic lives known as echinodermata and mollusca,'' Prof Kharbuli said. The zoologist said the echinodermata and mollusca aquactic groups were not displaced when the water level was changing. ''This type of fossil in Janiaw was first found in 1980. Though the Meghalaya government is aware of this, it has not paid any attention to preserve this place which is very unique,'' he said. Stating that most of southern part of Meghalaya, bordering Bangladesh was part of a sea millions of years ago, Prof Kharbuli said, ''When the earth is changing continuously, the water level gradually decreases and the aquatic lives are stranded. Then they die and parts of them become fossilised.'' New frog, insect species found

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has reported the discovery of 12 new species of amphibians and 14 species of insects - not known to science - from 13 states in the last few years. Although N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

India has just two per cent of the world's land, it houses 7.44 per cent (or 91,364) of its animal species. About 60 per cent of these are insects. "Two times the number of species recorded still remains to be discovered in India," said Dr Ramakrishna, director, ZSI - a body constituted in 1916 by the British to record animal groups in India. The report was compiled by three scientists from ZSI whose search for new species took them to the far corners of the country. Most of the discoveries were made in the Northeast. Scientists Rosamma Mathew and Nibedita Sen found several new species of frogs in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Two new species of water frogs were found in the rivers of Manipur. Unlike conventional frogs, these have smooth skin and an ability to swim a distance. One of them looks like a big bee. The most startling discovery was in Subansiri district of Arunachal, where a longish frog showing colouration and spots was discovered. The frog - found in different colour combinations - with the scientific name rhacophorus subansiriensis uses its tail to swim in shallow water and also stay on land. (Source: www.yahoo.com ) US physicists create thinnest superconducting metal A superconducting metal sheet with just two atoms thick has been developed by physicists at the University of Texas in Austin. The development of the thin superconducting sheets of lead lays the groundwork for future advancements in superconductor technologies. The superconductors are unique as they can maintain an electrical current indefinitely with no power source. They are used in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines, particle accelerators, quantum interference devices and other applications. Professor Ken Shih and his colleagues first reported about their creation in the

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June 5 issue of Science. In superconductors, electrons move through the material together in pairs, called Cooper pairs. One of the innovative properties of Shih's ultrathin lead is that it confines the electrons to move in two dimensions. Quite uniquely, the lead remains a good superconductor despite the constrained movement of the electrons through the metal. Shih and his colleagues used advanced materials synthesis techniques to lay the two-atom thick sheet of lead atop a thin silicon surface. The lead sheets are highly uniform with no impurities. "We can make this film, and it has perfect crystalline structure more perfect than most thin films made of other materials," says Shih. Native land of oranges gets UNESCO recognition

were yet to be identified in the reserve which has unique bio-diversity with tribal populace. -----0------

Do you know? Mathematical Magic (1) 1 + 2 = 3 (2) 4 + 5 + 6 = 7 + 8 (3) 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 = 13 + 14 + 15 (4) 16 + 17 + 18+ 19 + 20 = 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 .......upto infinity. Sum of consecutive odd numbers

Nokrek Biosphere Reserve in Garo Hills district of Meghalaya which has been added to UNESCO's list of Worldwide Network of Biosphere Reserves has another distinction of having world's first citrus gene sanctuary. According to scientists, Nokrek is also the only place in the world to have preserved the mother plant of oranges. The 47-sq-km Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is home to a rare variety of citrus locally known as 'memang narang orange of the spirits', which is considered to be the most primitive and the progenitor of all other varieties of citrus plants in the world, forest officials said.The mother germo plasm of Citrus Indica was discovered by researchers within Nokrek Range, which led to the establishment of the National Citrus Gene Sanctuary-cumBiosphere Reserve here, they said. A research conducted by Botanical Survey of India last year observed that a number of different species of plants

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1)

1 + 3 = 4 = 22 2) 1 + 3 + 5 = 9 = 32 3) 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16 = 42 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 +……...n = n2 ( n is the number of terms) Sum of consecutive cubes 1) 13 + 23 = ( 1 + 2 )2 = 32 2) 13 + 23 + 33 = ( 1 + 2 + 3 )2 = 62 3) 13 + 23 + 33 + 43 = ( 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 )2 = 102

---------0-------“Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so.” “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” -By Galileo Galile ---------0--------

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Dr. Ramesh Chandra Deka, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Deka was appointed as the new director of the country’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on 10th March 2009. Born in Assam in 1948, Prof. Deka’s association with AIIMS dates back to 1971 when he first came to the Institute as a post-graduate student after completing his MBBS from Gauhati Medical College in 1969. He did his MS (ENT) from AIIMS in 1973. Deka, who is the head of the ENT (otorhinolaryngology) department since 1995, was appointed director for the next five years or till further orders are issued. Deka was appointed as dean of the institute since 2006. He joined the faculty position in AIIMS in 1981. Prof. Deka has received two national Gold Medals for his outstanding research in Cancer(1975) and Neurotology (1984) from Association of Otolaryngologists of Indian and Neurotological Society of India respectively. He received his further training in 1977-1978 in otology, neurotology and microsurgery of the ear at the North Western University, Chicago, USA. Dr. Deka has also undergone training in otology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore,

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

Maryland and at the Yale University Medical Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA in head & neck surgery. He has conducted neurophysiological studies on inner ear at University of Tennessee, Knoxville during his fellowship in USA (1978). Dr. Deka has made outstanding contribution in the field of deafness surgery, including his pioneering clinical and research work in Cochlear implantation in India. He has also made significant and innovative contribution to the medical education in India. In 1996, he went to Australia to undergo training in cochlear implant surgery at the Melbourne University and the Bionic Ear Institute in Melbourne. An accomplished ENT (ear, nose, throat) specialist, Prof. Deka has worked as a faculty in Kasturba Medical College between 1976 and 1979 and in the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry (1979-1981). He has performed over 200 cochlear implant surgeries and published more than 200 research papers in national and international journals. He has also contributed chapters in several Indian and foreign books. He was recently honoured with the prestigious International Socrates award for his strong leadership, remarkable reputation and successful professional achievement, by European Business Assembly, Oxford, the UK. ------0-----“Science is what you know, philosophy is what you don't know.” -By Bertrand Russell

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Dr. Sanjib Gogoi has recently joined Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA as a post docoral researcer. Previously he was working at the Dept. of Chemistry, University of Texas, US as post doctoral researcher. Mr. Rahul Kar has joined department of Chemistry, Dibrugarh University as faculty after submission of the thesis (Study of a Rational Model of Gas Phase Molecules in External Electric Field and in Solvents Using Local Reactivity Descriptors) for PhD from NCL(National Chemical Laboratory, University of Pune), Pune under the guidance of Dr. Sourav Pal. Mr. Pankaj Bharali has joined Research Institute for Ubiquitous Energy Devices, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Kansai as PostDoctoral Research Scientist from 15th April 2009. He has submitted his thesis for Ph.D. from IICT, Hyderabad working on the research title ‘Design of Novel Nanosized Ceria-based Multicomponent Composite Oxides for Catalytic Applications’ under the guidance of Dr. B.M. Reddy, Deputy Director at IPC Division of the institute. Dr. Binoy Saikia has been elected as an Affiliate Member of International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD). Membership was given on the basis of his contribution to the X-ray diffraction data and upon recomandation of the

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

ICDD membership committee approval of Board of Directors.

and

Mr. Mahen Konwar is visiting the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel from 21st April to 30th April 2009 for training purpose. This training is in preparation with Cloud Aerosol Interactions and Precipitation Enhancement Experiement (CAIPEEX) program at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. The CAIPEEX is a national program to start from 15 May to the end of Sept, 2009. Dhrubajyoti Mahanta of the Dibrugarh University and Mayurima Borthakur of NEIST Jorhat jointly won an award for the the best oral presentation in the ONGC and UGC sponsored National seminar on “Recent Advances in Chemical Sciences” held on March 26 and 27 at the Dibrugarh University, Assam. The best poster presentation award went to Juthika Sonowal of the Dibrugarh University. About 200 participants from different parts of the country attended the seminar, and seventy research papers were presented. Dr. Lakhindra Chetia has recently joined as a post doctoral researcher at Department of Chemistry, Montana State University, USA, after a short post doctoral stay at Ontario Institue of Cancer Research, Toronto, Canada. Dr. Chetia did his PhD from Indian Institute of Chemical Technology(IICT).

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

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Mr. Kanak Gogoi.

The following is the gist of the telephonic interview that N. E. Quest had with our won innovator, Mr. Kanak Gogoi, in the narrative format. ---- Editor. Our esteemed indigenous innovator, Mr. Kanak Gogoi was the son of Shri Buduram Gogoi and Smti. Pudumi Gogoi. He was one among 2 brothers and 5 sisters. Born on 15th September 1961 at Laluk in Lakhimpur district, Assam, Mr Gogoi completed schooling at Laluk itself in 1978 and joined J B College, Jorhat for Higher Secondary course in Arts in 1979. But the Assam agitation and other factors conspired to prevent him from completing it. After taking up several odd jobs such as signboard painting etc, he came to Guwahati in 1986 and started milk supply business and then supply/contract work of essential commodities. During this period, he changed his business several times. He has always had an innovative bent of mind since early childhood. Some of the gadgets he developed on his own are: 1. Double barrel gun using iron handle of his father’s umbrella as the barrel and it worked successfully! He was just 10 years of age when he did this. N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

2. In 1997 an irresistible urge to fly made him develop a prototype glider. 3. Aero- boats. 4. Amphibian boats. 5. Speed breaker electricity. 6. Gravity bicycle 7. Solar-hybrid cars 8. CAV-future air vehicle with air as fuel etc. He lives with his second wife and four children from two marriages at Gauhati. Message from Mr Kanak Gogoi to N. E. Quest readers: There is the need to ignite the minds of young generation of the NE. He says confidently, “We are above all, we are capable and not inferior to anyone else in India, we must not be puppets..”. The only thing we lack in the North East is, according to him, to engage ourselves in creative pursuits and to remain distracted in destructive activities. He has been invited by an US company to develop hybrid cars but he refused on the grounds of protecting the intellectual property rights. How he got his ideas? Surprisingly Mr Gogoi didn’t even have a science background. He says he was naturally curious and inventive. He got some influence from magazines such as ‘Down to Earth’, “India Today’ and ‘Discovery Channel’ etc. Awards: 1. Rs. 50, 000 (fifty thousand) by Purbanchal Griha nirman Unnayan Samiti, Guwahati, Assam, 2006.

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2. Vocational excellency award, 200708, by Rotary International, Durgapur, West Bengal. 3. Invitation from MIT & Chicago University jointly to attend 4th International Feb-lab forum, held at Chicago, August 2007. 4. Invitation to attend International conference on New and Renewable energy held at New Delhi, 2008. 5. Invitation to attend International seminar on New and renewable energy held at Husum, Germany, 2008. 6. Invitation as member of expert panel as informal scientist to Judge the innovations received by Innovation Foundation of India for the year 2008, at IIM, Ahmedabad. Gogoi’s future plan: He wishes to change the mode of transportation by introducing a new flying theory.

Mr. Kanak Gogoi with his new minibike (Source: http://www.ecofriend.org)

'Trygo Pwan EX' a zero pollution car run by compressed air technology ------0-----

Manipur youth elderly people

designs

car

for

A young IITian Ringlarei Pamei, who hails from a remote hilly village in Manipur’s most backward Tamenglong district, has designed an ‘Ol'Boy’, a small car for elderly people. For this he was awarded by the Japanese automobile giant Nissan after a strenuous all India car design competition. Ringlarei, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and pursuing Master of Design (Industrial Design) in IIT, Delhi. The car’s blue print was picked up by the international car manufacturer Nissan. Ringaleri has also won an award from 'Nissan' and got the opportunity to visit the international car manufacturer at Japan and interact with automobile experts. ------0------

Mr. Kanak Gogoi demonstrates electricity from speedbreakers

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Flow Cytometry: Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) By Dr. Khirud Gogoi Flow cytometry is a technique for counting, examining, and sorting microscopic particles suspended in a stream of fluid. It allows simultaneous multiparametric analysis of the physical and/or chemical characteristics of single cells flowing through an optical and/or electronic detection apparatus. The first fluorescence-based flow cytometry device (ICP 11) was developed in the year 1968 by Wolfgang Göhde from the University of Münster, Germany (Patent No. DE1815352) and first commercialized in 1968/69 by German developer and manufacturer Partec through Phywe AG in Göttingen. The original name of the flow cytometry technology was pulse cytophotometry. Only 10 years later in 1978, at the Conference of the American Engineering Foundation in Pensacola, Florida, the name was changed to flow cytometry, a term which quickly became popular. Subsequently introduced flow cytometry instruments have been the Cytofluorograph (1971) from Bio/Physics Systems Inc. (later: Ortho Diagnostics), the PAS 8000 (1973) from Partec, the first FACS instrument from Becton Dickinson (1974), the ICP 22 (1975) from Partec/Phywe and the Epics from Coulter (1977/78).

it is very useful to separate cells that are phenotypically different from each other. In addition, it would be great to know how many cells expressed proteins of interest, and how much of this protein they expressed. Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) is a method that can accomplish all these goals. The process begins by placing the cells into a flask and forcing the cells to enter a small nozzle one at a time (Fig 1). The cells travel down the nozzle which is vibrated at an optimal frequency to produce drops at fixed distance from the nozzle. As the cells flow down the stream of liquid, they are scanned by a laser (blue light in Fig 1). Some of the laser light is scattered (red cone emanating from the red cell) by the cells and this is used to count the cells. This scattered light can also be used to measure the size of the cells. It is possible to separate a subpopulation of cells by tagging those of interest with an antibody linked to a fluorescent dye. The antibody is bound to a protein that is uniquely expressed in the cells of interest. The laser light excites the dye which emits a color of light that is detected by the photomultiplier tube, or light detector. By collecting the information from the light (scatter and fluorescence) a computer can determine which cells are to be separated and collected.

In multicellular organisms, all the cells are identical in their DNA but the proteins vary tremendously. Therefore,

The final step is sorting the cells which is accomplished by electrical charge. The computer determines how the cells will be sorted before the drop forms at the end of the stream. As the drop forms, an electrical charge is applied to

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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of flourescence is plotted on the Y-axis. In the example shown in Fig 2, there were twice as many red cells sorted as green or unlabeled cells, but the level of light was greater from the green cells than the red cells. This method is best if all cells are either green, red or unlabeled and no cells are labeled both colors.

Fig 1. Diagram of FACS machine. Cells have been fluorescently tagged with either red or green antibodies, though not every cell expresses the epitope and therefore some are not tagged either color.

Fig 2. Quantifying FACS data. This graph shows the number of cells (Xaxis) and the level of fluorescence emitted (Y-axis) by the labeled cells. Many different colors can be plotted on this graph, but cells should not be labeled by more than one color.

FACS data collected by the computer can be displayed in two different ways. In the first example (Fig 2), the intensity of the green or red fluorescence is plotted on the X-axis and the number of cells with each level

In Fig 3, shows a different way to display the same data shown in Fig 2. The X-axis plots the intensity of green fluorescence while the Y-axis plots the intensity of red fluorescence. The individual black dots represent individual cells. From this graph, we can see there were no cells labeled both red and green (top right) and many cells that were unlabeled (bottom left). The number of green-labeled cells (bottom right) is about the same as the number of unlabeled cells, but the number of red-labeled cells (top left) is about twice that of the other two categories of cells. Again, we can see that the level of fluorescence was higher in the green cells than the red ones. This method of graphing the data is especially useful if cells are present that have been labeled both red and green.

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the stream and the newly formed drop will form with a charge. This charged drop is then deflected left or right by charged electrodes and into waiting sample tubes. Drops that contain no cells are sent into the waste tube. The end result is three tubes with pure subpopulations of cells. The number of cells is each tube is known and the level of fluorescence is also recorded for each cell. Quantifying FACS Data

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

identify cell surface-displayed protein variants with desired properties.

Fig 3. Quantification of FACS data. Comparison of the number of cells labeled by two colors - red (Y-axis) and green (X-axis). The intensity of the emitted light increases as indicated by the arrows. The number of cells at each intensity is shown by the number of dots where each dot represents a single cell. This graph does not work for more than two colors but it works well when individual cells can be labeled by both colors at the same time.

References 1. Flow Cytometry - a Basic Introduction. Michael G. Ormerod, 2008. ISBN 9780955981203 2. Flow Cytometry for Biotechnology. Larry A. Sklar ISBN 0195152344 3. http://www.invitrogen.com/site/us/en/h ome/support/Tutorials.html ------0------

Image of moon from Chandrayaan 1

Applications The technology has applications in a number of fields, including molecular biology, pathology, immunology, plant biology and marine biology. In the field of molecular biology it is especially useful when used with fluorescence tagged antibodies. These specific antibodies bind to antigens on the target cells and help to give information on specific characteristics of the cells being studied in the cytometer. It has broad application in medicine (especially in transplantation, hematology, tumor immunology and chemotherapy, genetics and sperm sorting for sex preselection). In marine biology, the auto-fluorescent properties of photosynthetic plankton can be exploited by flow cytometry in order to characterise abundance and community structure. In protein engineering, flow cytometry is used in conjunction with yeast display and bacterial display to

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

This is the picture of moon's surface taken from lunar orbit by Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft's Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC) on November 15, 2008. Taken over the polar region of the moon, the picture shows many large and numerous small craters. The bright terrain on the lower left is the rim of 117 km wide Moretus crater. (Source : www.isro.org )

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Origin of the Universe: The Big Bang By N. Nimai Singh Big Bang Theory Most scientists think that the Universe began with a huge explosion called the Big Bang. A ball of matter smaller than an atom but at an incredibly high density and temperature exploded, producing a fireball of matter and space. It is now estimated that the Big Bang happened around 13.7 billion (thousand million) years ago. Ever since the Big Bang the matter that was created has been moving apart at great speeds. This fact was discovered by the American astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1929. Popularly known as Hubble’s law, it simply states that the recessional velocity of galaxies is proportional to their distances. In fact when he looked at the light emitted by distant galaxies for the spectral lines characteristic of a particular chemical element, Hubble observed that each spectral line had moved towards the red end of the spectrum, where the light has longer wavelengths. This implied that the light waves had been stretched during their journey. The further away the galaxy, the greater the movement of the lines. This phenomenon is called red shift. Hubble knew that this effect could only happen if the galaxies were moving away from us at great speeds. Albert Einstein’s celebrated General Theory of Relativity (GTR) published in 1916, suggests that it is not the galaxies themselves that are moving but the space in between them. In fact, the four dimensional space-time is expanding. The galaxies are being forced to move

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apart. At the moment of Big Bang at the beginning of the Universe, time began and space started to expand. Before the Big Bang there was no time and no space. It can also be mentioned that in 1973 British cosmologists Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking proved the singularity theorem which state that any universe obeying GTR must have had a singularity in the past. This implies the presence of the BIG BANG. Mathematically speaking, a singularity means a region of space-time continuum with infinite curvature. After Hubble’s discovery of the expanding Universe, a Russian-born American scientist, George Gamow argued in 1948 that there must have been a point where the Universe started to expand. Soon after Gamow published his idea, the English astronomer Fred Hoyle gave a radio talk in which he dismissed Gamow’s theory as ‘some sort of big bang’. Although Hoyle had meant the phrase to be insulting, it stuck, and from then on Gamow’s idea was called the Big Bang theory of the beginning of the Universe. In 1948 Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi proposed the steady-state theory of expanding universe and in 1950 Hoyle completed the theory. According to this theory, the Universe has always existed in much the same way as we see it now, with no beginning. It is asserted by this theory that space and matter are created all the time, even today, which is not supported by experiments. Strong evidence for the Big Bang, and a tough challenge to the steady state theory, came from the new branch of science called radio astronomy. It has been established firmly that the Universe had been much denser then than it is now.

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This was indeed a big support for the Big Bang theory. At the moment we have four strong experimental evidences in support of the Big Bang theory, including Hubble’s law of expanding universe cited above. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR), the fossil of Big Bang, was discovered by two American scientists, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson in 1964 using a radio antenna. The CMBR had a temperature equivalent to 2.7 degrees Kelvin. Robert Dicke guessed very quickly that they had found the fossil of the vast amount of heat energy released at the time of the Big Bang. It was indeed the lingering afterglow of creation. In 1978 Penzias and Wilson were awarded the Physics Nobel Prize for their accidental discovery. It may be mentioned here that in 1948 three cosmologists, Alpher, Gamow and Herman had already predicted the existence of CMBR with temperature around 4 degrees Kelvin in the Big Bang scenario as relic of the earliest phase of the Universe. CMBR follows the black body radiation formula first propounded by German physicist Max Planck who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1918 for his work. In 1992 Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite launched by the NASA in 1989 showed conclusively how uniform the CBMR was, and that it could exactly fit the black body curve at temperature of 2.7 degrees Kelvin. In addition to the CMBR confirmation, COBE could also identify another fossil of the Big Bang. More detailed data seemed to show for the first time the small variations of temperature in the range of a hundred-thousandth of a degree in the cosmic radiation. The results popularly known as anisotropy in background temperature indicated that ripples had formed in the substance

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of the Universe within 300,000 years of the Big Bang. It offers an important clue to how the galaxies came into being. The results on temperature variations were published in 1992 and it was considered the greatest discovery of the century. The cosmic temperature fluctuations as dark and green spots signify colder and hotter regions and the statistics of such patterns tell us about the Universe – curvature of the space – open, flat, close Universe. It really indicates perfectly flat universe which agrees with the inflationary theory proposed by Alan Guth in 1981. According to Guth’s idea, during the rapid expansion, or inflation, of the Universe that followed the Big Bang, imperfections might have spread through space as matter began to appear, where previously there had been only energy. Each of these imperfections might have been a focal point around which stars and galaxies formed, condensing together under the force of their own gravity. The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics is dedicated to this historic COBE finding. The fourth evidence in support of the Big Bang was the formation of the light elements after the Big Bang and the fixed ratio of Hydrogen and Helium atoms. In the year 1948, Alpher, Bethe and Gamow published a theory on the origin of the light elements, and in 1957 Hoyle, Fowler, E.M. Burbidge and G. Burbidge published the theory of formation of heavy elements in the stars. It was in 1951 that Purcell and Ewen detected the 21-centimetre hydrogen emission line which was predicted in 1944 by van de Hulst. One minute after the Big Bang, the protons and the neutrons were fusing to make the nuclei of helium-4 atoms first, followed by the formation of hydrogen atoms and then some traces of other

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heavier elements. Between one and five minutes later the particles had cooled and thinned out so much that this nuclear fusion stopped, leaving a mixture mainly of hydrogen nuclei and helium nuclei. When astronomers look at the spectrum of light coming from areas of star formation, they find a mixture of mostly hydrogen, a quarter helium plus some other types of atom – the match is convincingly close. The Unanswered Questions There are many puzzles yet to be answered towards understanding our universe. Some major questions to be addressed are: • What creates the anisotropies in the CMBR temperature? • What is the correct mechanism of cosmic inflation? In fact the Big Bang theory could only explain what came afterwards but not the Big Bang itself. What triggered Big Bang still remains as a puzzle! Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) There are yet two more outstanding issues in astronomy and cosmology. In 1970 Vera Cooper Rubin and her male collaborator Kent Ford proved the existence of dark matter by observing rotational velocities of the tails in Andromeda spiral galaxy as a function of the distance from the centre of the galaxy. Dark matter is composed of non-luminous neutral particles having normal gravitational attraction like ordinary particles. At the moment scientists are busy to decipher dark matter candidates. In 1998 another discovery was made with Hubble Space telescope (HST) that the present expansion rate of the Universe is indeed accelerating. This fact hints the presence of some sort of dark energy which gives repulsive effect (due to

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

negative pressure which has antigravity effect) as pervasive medium. In 2003 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite which yielded even clearer images (100 times better than COBE) of the CMBR, also showed the existence of dark matter and dark energy which represent major contents of the Universe. Baryonic matter which is basically atoms constitutes only 4.6% of the matter-energy content of the Universe, the rest being dark matter of unknown nature having 23% and dark energy having 72%. WMAP is an upgraded version of Microwave Anisotropy probe (MAP) launched in 2001, in memory of its leader David Wilkinson who died in 2002. Now WMAP has completed five years of its service. Balloon Observations Among other balloon observations, BOOMERANG (Balloon Observation of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics), MAXIMA (Millimeter Wave Anisotropy Experiment Imaging Array), SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) and 2-Degree Field Survey, are taking data. Evidence that the nature of dark energy is a cosmological constant introduced by Einstein to counteract self-gravity in a static universe is gathering strength with the data from X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies by the Chandra spacecraft. Dark energy is most likely vacuum energy. Many more projects including Euclid Mission are proposed for future probes on dark energy with higher precision. These results will shed new light on dark energy. The history of the origin of the Universe is still an unfinished story. Note: This article is dedicated to the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, 2009, which marks the completion of 400 years after the first astronomical observations using

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telescope made by Galileo in 1609. Using his telescope, Galileo studied the Moon and discovered the satellites of Jupiter.

as well as through public discourses. (E-mail ID: [email protected]). --------0---------

Information about the author:

Dr. Ngangkham. Nimai Singh (b. 1st August, 1959, Imphal, India) is presently serving as professor of physics at Gauhati University, Assam, India. Currently he is holding the regular associate award of the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, for a period of eight years until the end of 2010. He works in the field of theoretical High Energy Physics (HEP) and his current research activity is centered around on neutrino physics and Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). During the year1999-2000, he was the Commonwealth visiting fellow at the University of Southampton, UK. He has been serving Gauhati University since he joined in1991 as lecturer of physics. He did his education starting from graduation to Ph.D. degree from the University of Delhi, India. In addition to his research publications in reputed journals, he has written a reference book “QUARK MODEL AND BEYOND” which was published by Regency publications, New Delhi. He also works for the popularization of science to common people through writing popular science articles in regional language (Manipuri language)

N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

International Year of Astronomy 2009 The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) is a year-long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century. IYA2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery. Vision Everyone should realise the impact of astronomy and other fundamental sciences on our daily lives, and understand how scientific knowledge can contribute to a more equitable and peaceful society. IYA2009 activities are taking place locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. National Nodes in each country are running activities throughout 2009 which will establish collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers, science centres and science communicators. Over 140 are expected to participate in IYA2009. Please visit www.astronomy2009.org www.iucaa.ernet.in/~iya09ind/

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Introduction The thawing permafrost, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, changing hydrological cycle, increasing precipitation, declining crop productivity, early breeding of birds, vanishing coral reefs, increasing health hazards are all predictable effects of the hottest debatable phenomenon on earth, known as global warming. This is frequently referred to as climate change, which is not just a theory or a distant threat. The 2007 Nobel peace prize to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold Al Gore has made everyone realize the severity of the problem, and further cleared all doubts being raised by naysayers over its reality. The overwhelming agreement among the world’s prominent scientists, governments and scientific bodies is that the Earth is heating up and that human activities are largely to blame. The global warming is expected to significantly disrupt the planet’s climate system. Minimization of greenhouse gas emissions within acceptable limits is the intrinsic environmental responsibility of the whole world. Over the last 200 years since the Industrial Revolution, most of the world’s energy has been derived from burning the finite resources of fossil fuels, mainly coal, oil, and more recently gas. Fossil fuels account for 80% of the global energy demand. During the process, billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other green house gases (GHGs) have been spewed into the atmosphere. Energy sector accounts for the greatest share (36%) of carbon

dioxide emissions. A large 1000 megawatt coal power station releases around 5.5 million tons of CO2 annually. Earth’s atmosphere is essentially transparent to incoming radiation from the Sun, as sunlight peaks in the visible part of the spectrum. On the other hand, thermal radiation from the Earth, in the form of long-wavelength infrared rays, lies in the absorption spectrum of carbon dioxide and other GHGs. The GHGs absorb radiation primarily in a very narrow frequency band (7-13µm), while CO2 absorbs over a much larger (1319µm) spectral range. That is why CO2 accounts for higher (21%) greenhouse effect (after water vapour that accounts for 64%) than ozone (6%) and other trace gases (9%). Carbon dioxide makes up 68% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. The atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased from 280 ppm in 1800, the beginning of the industrial age, to 380 ppm today. Without any mitigation, it could reach levels of 700-900 ppm by the end of the 21st century, which could bring about severe climate change. The annual CO2 concentration growth rate was larger during the last 10 years (1995-2005 average: 1.9 ppm per year) than it has been since the beginning of direct atmospheric measurements. In fact, eleven of the last twelve years (19952006) rank among the 12 warmest years since 1850. This abrupt imbalance has disturbed the Earth’s carbon cycle that is normally kept in balance by the oceans, vegetation, soil and the forests. The most pressing technical and economic challenge of the present time is to meet the energy demands for the world economic growth without affecting the Earth’s climate. That is why the current focus is on reducing fossil fuel usage and minimizing the emission of CO2 in the atmosphere. In

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Global warming: disastrous effects and possible solutions Adarsh K. Puri and T. Satyanarayana*

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spite of the great advances made in the field of renewable energy, it has not been possible to replace gas, coal and oil to meet the current energy needs. If fossil fuels, particularly coal, remain the dominant energy source of the 21st century, then the stabilization of the concentration of atmospheric CO2 will require development of the capability to capture CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels and store it safely away from the atmosphere. The hazards of global warming have reached such a magnitude that irreversible changes can seriously endanger the functioning of our planet. It is, therefore, imperative for the entire scientific community to restore permissible levels of CO2 by using the existing knowledge and technolgoies. Carbon sequestration or carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a potentially promising technology to deal with the problem of global warming. Several approaches are being considered, including geological, oceanic, and terrestrial sequestration, as well as CO2 conversion into useful materials. In this article, an attempt has been made to review the possible strategies for carbon sequestration.

to the list of the greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997. Non-CO2 greenhouse gases are also a matter of concern owing to their significant contribution (≈30%) to the overall anthropogenic greenhouse effect. The amount of anthropogenic CO2 emitted to the atmosphere is much greater than any other greenhouse gases. As a result, CO2 makes the highest contribution to the greenhouse effect despite its low GWP.

Gases contributing to global warming: Green House Gases Greenhouse gases trap the heat that is expected to escape from the Earth. The extent of the greenhouse effect contributed by different gases over a certain time frame is expressed in terms of their individual Global Warming Potential (GWP) taking CO2 as the reference gas. The main greenhouse gases produced by human activity are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide and some halogenated (N2O) compounds with high-GWP. Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were added

Carbon sequestration and its importance Carbon sequestration can be defined as the capture and secure storage of carbon that would otherwise be emitted to or remain in the atmosphere. The idea is to keep carbon emissions produced by human activities from reaching the atmosphere by capturing and diverting them to secure storage or to remove carbon from the atmosphere by various means and storing it. Carbon sequestration could be a major tool for reducing carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels. Much work, however, remains to be done to understand the science and engineering aspects and potential of carbon sequestration options. Given the magnitude of carbon emission reductions needed to stabilize the atmospheric CO2 concentration, multiple approaches to carbon management will be needed. The natural carbon cycle is balanced over a long term, but dynamic over the short term. Historically, acceleration of natural processes that emit CO2 is eventually balanced by the acceleration of processes that sequester carbon, and vice versa. The current increase in atmospheric carbon is the result of anthropogenic mining and burning of fossil carbon,

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resulting in carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Developing new sequestration techniques and accelerating existing techniques would help in diminishing the net positive atmospheric carbon flux. General methods of carbon sequestration Oceans cover over 70% of the Earth’s surface with an average depth of about 3800 metres. Depending upon the oceanic equilibrium with the atmosphere, a significant amount of captured CO2 could be deliberately injected into the ocean at great depth, where it would remain isolated from the atmosphere for centuries. Direct ocean CO2 disposal is now the biggest hope to use ocean as the largest sink for carbon sequestration purposes. A large literature is now available which has brought significant technological developments and improved our understanding of the disposal of CO2 directly into the ocean. The research on ocean disposal options has mostly focused on predicting the behavior and the dissolution time scales of the released CO2. Different scenarios of CO2 disposal in the ocean have been proposed at various depths and in different forms in relation to the phase properties of CO2. CO2 can be released directly into the ocean in any of its physical forms- gas, liquid, solid or solid hydrate. It is, however, important to study CO2-induced density changes on the fluid dynamics of the ocean before its release. Dissolved CO2 increases the density of seawater that affects its transport and mixing. Density of injected CO2 is also controlled by geothermal gradient, which varies from 0.02oC/m to 0.04oC/m. The rate of CO2 dissolution in the seawater depends upon its physical form (gas, liquid, solid or solid hydrate), the depth and temperature of disposal, and the local water velocities.

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CO2 could potentially be released as a gas above 500m depth. However, due to lesser density of gas bubbles than surrounding seawater, these bubbles tend to rise up on the surface, dissolving at a radial speed of about 0.1 cm hr-1. It is better to use CO2 diffusers to produce smaller CO2 bubbles, which can dissolve completely before reaching the surface. When liquid CO2 is injected into a sea floor depression at a depth greater than 3,000 m (where it is denser than sea water), it accumulates as a stable large “lake" of CO2. The dissolution of these liquid CO2 lakes is retarded by formation of a thin hydrate layer over it. While investigating different kinds of discharge pipes for CO2 lake creation on sea floor, Nakashiki in 1997 proposed a ‘floating discharge pipe’ that was simple and less likely to be damaged by winds and waves in storm conditions. Slurry of liquid CO2 mixed with dry ice in discharge pipe provides good conditions for lake formation. Oceans can sequester so much of CO2 not only because of their large volume but also because CO2 dissolves in water to form various ionic species that increases the total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of seawater. Total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is the sum of carbon contained in H2CO3, HCO3- and CO3-2.

Ocean surface water is supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate, while the deeper ocean water would be of lower pH and remain under saturated. This makes organisms to produce calcium carbonate particles (e.g. corals) in the surface oceans, which settle and dissolve in under saturated regions of deep oceans. Since the first use of CO2 for largescale recovery of residual oil from Texas reservoirs in 1972, the concept of 30

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using CO2 for beneficial purposes has got momentum. Long term operational experience with geological formations, its substantial capacity as a CO2 sink, and its immediate availability has led to consideration of global warming problems through geological sequestration. Geological formations include depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline reservoirs and unminable coal seams. CO2 can be trapped in geologic formations by three principal trapping mechanisms: (1) hydrodynamic trapping, where CO2 can be trapped under a low-permeability caprock like gas reservoirs or aquifers, (2) solubility trapping, where CO2 can be trapped in a dissolved phase in a liquid like petroleum and (3) physical/mineral trapping, a relatively slower process which involves conversion of CO2 in the form of calcium, magnesium or iron carbonates. Alternatively, in situations where CO2 is immiscible with oil, CO2 is injected to increase the reservoir pressure helping to push more oil towards the production well. Up to half of the injected CO2 is stored in the immobile oil remaining in the reservoir at the end of production. The rest is collected from the production well and gets re-circulated. This improves the overall economics for sequestration projects. Gas fields have much higher primary recovery rates (80-95%) than oil fields. This leaves a big void space in the reservoirs, which can be used for CO2 storage as a supercritical gas for thousands of years. Similarly, the void space that had previously been occupied by oil and natural gases is being used for large-scale sequestration of CO2. A large amount of underground waterfilled strata (aquifers) is too salty to be used for agriculture or human consumption. These aquifers can potentially be used as long-term CO2

reservoirs (IEA, 2001; IPCC, 2005). CO2 injected (with techniques similar to those for gas and oil fields) into these aquifers would displace brine and some of it would get partially dissolved. A part of the injected CO2 is also reported to react with calcite and aluminosilicates to form permanent carbonates. The best example of CO2 storage in deep saline aquifer is the Sleipner project in the North Sea that sequesters approximately 1 Mt CO2 annually. Storing CO2 deep into unminable coal seams appears to be a good approach due to its value- added benefit of CO2enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM) recovery. Coal beds typically contain large amounts of methane-rich gas that is adsorbed onto the surface of the coal. CO2 adsorbs more strongly on the micropores of coal than methane (CH4). However, the volumetric ratio of absorbable CO2:CH4 depends on the type of coal. This ratio ranges from 1 for anthracite to about 10 for lignite coal (IPCC, 2005). This can be exploited to lock CO2 permanently on the micropores of coal provided the coal is never mined. Over 100,000 tons of CO2 has been successfully injected at Allison Unit in New Mexico, USA during an ECBM project. Continuous monitoring along with exhaustive geophysical and geochemical study is, however, needed to make sure the injected CO2 stays in ground.

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Drawbacks associated with artificial approaches of carbon sequestration Permanence of the stored carbon through abiotic sequestration methods is of great critical concern. Ocean and geological storage of carbon dioxide is associated with future risk of leakage from the site of injection. Sequestered CO2 may leak back into the atmosphere and impose future climate damages. If CO2 migrates out of the receiving geological formation and rises to the

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

surface, it could cause local ecological damage, primarily by displacing soil gas and affecting plant roots. Moreover, upward migration of injected CO2 could contaminate hydrocarbon reservoirs or surface drinking water supplies. In rare cases, rapid escape of CO2 may cause asphyxiation or toxicity risks to local animal and human populations. The eruption of CO2 during 1986 at Lake Nyos, West of Cameroon is the most evident example, which killed more than 1700 people. Deep-sea organisms are highly sensitive to any environmental disturbances. Increased partial pressure of CO2 (hypercapnia) and decreased pH of seawater caused by CO2 dissolution may affect the whole marine biodiversity. The scientific community is trying to get rid of leaky sequestration approaches. Novel concepts are being contemplated to find the most environment-friendly way to sequester CO2. This includes the art of exploiting natural biological ways of capturing carbon and storing it in the most eco-compatible way. Biological ways of carbon sequestration Biological systems have solutions to the most dreaded problems of all times. The photosynthetic fixation of atmospheric CO2 in plants and trees could be of great value in maintaining a CO2 balance in the atmosphere. Algal systems, on the other hand, being more efficient in photosynthetic capabilities are the choice of research for solving global warming problem. The biomass thus produced could be used as fuel for various heating and power purposes. Mankind is indebted to microbes for bringing and maintaining stable oxygenic conditions on Earth. A proper understanding of microbial systems and their processes will help in stabilizing atmospheric conditions in future too. Investigations are in progress to exploit

carbonic anhydrase and other carboxylating enzymes to develop a promising CO2 mitigation strategy. Recent work on biomimetic approaches using immobilized carbonic anhydrase in bioreactors has a big hope for the safe future. The process of carbon assimilation by photosynthesis has made forests, trees and crops as the major biological scrubbers of CO2. Terrestrial biomes are potential CO2 sinks. Afforestation and reforestation leads to a net increase in plant carbon stocks. A young growing forest sequesters more carbon than a matured one. Forest management can contribute to carbon sequestration by promoting forest growth and biomass accumulation. Improved cropland management (including agronomy, nutrient management, tillage/residue management and water management) has significant carbon sequestration potential. Worldwide adoption of best management practices can sequester a considerable part of the lost carbon back into croplands. Grasslands cover about 70% of the world’s agricultural area. Recent studies have suggested that tropical grasslands and savannas sequester approximately 0.5 Gt of carbon annually. Grazing and burning have, however, resulted in increased soil organic carbon storage. Urban trees play a major role in sequestering CO2. One tree in urban area is equivalent to three to five forest trees. The average sequestration rate of an urban tree of 50m2 crown area has been estimated to be about 11-19 kg/year. Plants assimilate carbon through the process of photosynthesis and return some of it to the atmosphere through respiration. After the death and decomposition of plants, carbon in the form of plant tissue is either consumed by animals or added to the soil as litter. The primary way that carbon is stored in the soil is as soil organic matter

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(SOM), which is a complex mixture of carbon compounds, consisting of decomposing plant and animal tissue, microbes (protozoa, nematodes, fungi, and bacteria) and carbon associated with soil minerals. Soils contain three times more carbon than the amount stored in living plants and animals. Increasing the soil organic carbon (SOC) by 0.01% would nullify the annual increase in atmospheric carbon due to anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Microbial community structure and various microbial processes have been shown to directly affect carbon sequestration in soil agro ecosystems. A thorough understanding of microbial community structure and processes is required for enhanced carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. A balance between microbial community dynamics and formation and degradation of microbial byproducts maintains the soil carbon content. Soil microbes also indirectly influence C cycling by improving soil aggregation, which physically protects SOM. Consequently, the microbial contribution to C sequestration is governed by the interactions between the amount of microbial biomass, microbial community structure, microbial byproducts, and soil properties such as texture, clay mineralogy, pore-size distribution, and aggregate dynamics. Fungi and bacteria are responsible for most of the carbon transformations and long-term storage of carbon in soils. However, chances of persistent carbon storage are more in fungi due to their complex chemical composition and higher carbon utilization efficiency. Carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM) Photoautotropic organisms ranging from bacteria to higher plants have evolved with unique carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM) in response to the declining levels of CO2

in their surrounding environment. It is proposed that ribulose-1, 5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) coevolved during the process. The organization of the carboxysomes in prokaryotes and of the pyrenoids in eukaryotes, and the presence of membrane mechanisms for inorganic carbon (Ci) transport are central to the concentrating mechanisms. There can be different types of CCM based on the biochemical mechanisms in different photoautotrophic organisms such as C4 photosynthesis and Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in terrestrial higher plants, active transport of inorganic carbon (Ci) primarily in cyanobacteria and CO2 concentration following acidification in a compartment adjacent to Rubisco found in some eukaryotic algae. Higher terrestrial plants having Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) primarily capture CO2 through PEP carboxylase located in the cytosol of their mesophyll cells. PEP carboxylase uses bicarbonate as its primary substrate for fixation of CO2 into oxaloacetate, thus CO2 entering from the external environment must be hydrated rapidly by a carbonic anhydrase (CA) and converted to bicarbonate. C4 carboxylic acids such as malate or aspartate formed in the mesophyll cell cytosol serve as the intermediate CO2 pool. CCM found in eukaryotic algae relies on the pH gradient set up across the chloroplast thylakoid membrane in the light. Light-driven photosynthetic electron transport sets up a pH around 8.0 in chloroplast stroma and a pH between 4 to 5 inside the thylakoid lumen. Under these conditions, bicarbonate is the predominant species of Ci in the chloroplast stroma, while CO2 is the most abundant form of Ci in the thylakoid lumen. Bicarbonate transporters on thylakoid membrane are proposed to help bicarbonate transport

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inside thylakoid lumen where it is converted into CO2 with the help of carbonic anhydrase. Microalgal mass cultures can use CO2 from power plant flue gases for the production of biomass. The algal biomass thus produced can directly be used as health food for human consumption, as animal feed or in aquaculture, for biodiesel production or as fertilizer for agriculture. A fast growing marine green alga Cholococcum littorale is reported to tolerate high concentrations of CO2. Waste water containing phosphate (46 g m-3) from a steel plant has been to raise cultures of the photosynthetic microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Flue gas containing 15% CO2 was supplemented further to get a CO2 fixation rate of 26 g CO2 m-3 h-1. Research is in progress on the development of a novel photobioreactors for enhanced CO2 fixation and CaCO3 formation. CO2 fixation rate was increased from 80 to 260 mg l-1h-1 by using Chlorella vulgaris in a newly developed membrane-photobioreactor. A novel multidisciplinary process has recently been proposed using algal biomass in a photobioreator to produce H2 apart from sequestering CO2. Enhanced growth rate of marine macroalgae such as Gracilaria sp. and G. chilensis has been observed by increasing CO2 concentration from 650 ppm to 1250 ppm. The macroalgal culture can make important contribution to both biomass production for chemicals and fuel besides CO2 remediation. Photosynthesis is much more efficient in microalgae than in terrestrial C3 and C4 plants. This high efficiency is again due to the presence of both intracellular and extracellular carbonic anhydrases and the CO2 concentrating mechanism. The present focus is on exploiting the ability of microalgae to convert solar energy and CO2 into O2 and carbohydrates. Considerable efforts

have been made for CO2 fixation along with valuable material production by mass cultivation of algal cultures. Nonphotosynthetic CO2 fixation occurs widely in nature by the methanogenic archaebacteria. These are obligate anaerobes that grow in freshwater and marine sediments, peats, swamps and wetlands, rice paddies, landfills, sewage sludge, manure piles, and the gut of animals. Methanogens are responsible for more than half of the methane released to the atmosphere. These methanogenic bacteria grow optimally at temperatures between 20 oC and 95 o C. Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase and/or acetyl-CoA synthase aid them to use carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide along with hydrogen as their sole energy source. Waste gases from blast furnaces containing oxides of carbon were used for converting them into higher- Btu (more calorific value) methane using thermophilic methanogens. A column bioreactor operated at 55 °C and pH 7.4 was used for the process. A mixture of three culture of bacteria, viz. Rhodospirillum rubrum, Methanobacterium formidium and Methanosarcina barkeri was used for complete bioconversion of oxides of carbon to methane. Acetogenesis, on the other hand, is involved in the recycling of 10 to 20% of the carbon on earth.

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Carbon sequestration using heterotrophic bacteria The concept of CO2 fixation in certain representatives of heterotrophic bacteria was first proposed by Wood and Werkman in 1941. While working on propionic acid bacteria, they proposed that CO2 and pyruvate combine to form oxaloacetate. The same pathway can be exploited now for capturing carbon using heterotrophic bacteria. Carbonic anhydrases play a critical role in concentrating CO2 inside the cell. The

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capability of carbonic anhydrases to convert CO2 in bicarbonate may be utilized by carboxylases such as phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase and pyruvate carboxylase, to form oxaloacetate. Such anapleurotic pathway exists in organisms to compensate for the loss of oxaloacetate siphoned off for the synthesis of amino acids of aspartate family. Heterotrophic bacteria having maximal carbonic anhydrase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and/or pyruvate carboxylase titers may be raised in fermentors, and these can be flushed with flue gases with CO2 concentration to produce useful metabolites such as oxaloacetate and amino acids. Extensive research has been done on the production of glutamic acid and lysine by Corynebacterium glutamicum. The presence of both phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate carboxylase and the PEP–pyruvate–oxaloacetate node makes this bacterium suitable for fixing carbon in the form of amino acids. An increased bicarbonate supply by the action of carbonic anhydrases (in conditions) to elevated CO2 phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate carboxylases may enhance their activity, thereby making the conditions favorable for enhanced lysine production. Work is in progress in our laboratory at the University of Delhi South Campus to understand the effect of different levels of carbon dioxide on carbonic anhydrase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and pyruvate carboxylase titres, and hence, their overall effect on lysine production. Dual benefit of carbon sequestration along with useful product formation makes this approach very attractive. Microbes, being widespread in nature, play a major role in chemical cycles that influence atmosphere-hydrosphere composition and are extensively involved in the production and

accumulation of various sediments deep inside the oceans. Bacteria are the key organisms in the formation of microbial carbonates. Mineral carbonation has emerged as a new carbon capture and storage technology in the past few years. The idea of applying carbonation reactions for CO2 storage was proposed by Seifritz in 990. Carbonic anhydrases are the fastest enzymes known for their capability and efficiency for converting carbon dioxide into bicarbonates. Gillian M. Bond of New Mexico Tech, USA, started working on this enzyme for mineral CO2 sequestration since 2001. Biomimetic approach involves identification of a biological process or structure and its application to solve a nonbiological problem. It has emerged as an environment friendly process, which can be operated at near ambient temperature and pressure with no costly CO2 concentration and compression steps. The process of carbon dioxide fixation can be carried out successfully with a stream of carbon dioxide (from flue gases) in a bioreactor. Various methods for carbonic anhydrase immobilization are being attempted for the development of an efficient biodegradable matrix that can ensure maximal activity along with its longterm use in bioreactors for sequestration purposes. Carbonic anhydrase was recently immobilized in chitosan-coated alginate beads. A novel trickling spray reactor employing immobilized carbonic anhydrase has been developed that enables concentration of CO2 from the emission stream. Carbonic anhydrase is one of the fastest enzymes, which make mass transfer from the gas phase to aqueous phase. This biocatalytic fixation of carbon could be the answer to tackle atmospheric pollution. Most of the work on biomimetic sequestration uses carbonic anhydrase

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from animal sources. However, there is a need for a thermophilic carbonic anhydrase that sustains high pressure if we really want to use brine as the most favorable cationic source for mineral carbonation under in the deep-sea environment. A gene encoding a putative β- type carbonic anhydrase in the methanoarchaeon Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum has been expressed in E. coli and found to encode a thermostable (up to 75°C) carbonic anhydrase. Its activity at different hydrostatic pressures needs to be studied for its biomimetic applications in carbon sequestration. The biomimetic approach has now also been applied in relation to geological sequestration. A ‘closed-loop’ fossilfuel carbon cycle has been proposed to be developed, in which microbial consortium (comprising of methanogens) could be used to convert CO2 to methane at a commercially useful rate. This can be used either in a geological setting (following injection of CO2 into depleted oil and gas well, saline aquifer, etc.) or above ground in rapid-contact reactors. Conclusions Several novel concepts and techniques are being attempted for a safe and permanent capture of CO2. Routine abiotic methods although appear promising at prima facie but costly concentration and transportation steps along with future leakage risks have led to focus on new biotic methods. Evolution has equipped plants and various domains of microbial life with different mechanisms for carbon fixation. The present need is to exploit these biological mechanisms along with existing biochemical engineering techniques for long term CO2 sequestration. Exhaustive study needs to be done on various metabolic pathways that employ carboxylases.

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Behavior of enzymes like carbonic anhydrase and Rubisco with gases other than CO2 in flue gas must be understood. Despite finite sink capacity, biological approaches provide a natural and cost-effective method of carbon sequestration. Biotic and abiotic approaches have their own merits and demerits, and they are complementary to each other and have the potential to mitigate the risks of climate change. The World Environment Day slogan for 2008 ‘Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy’ has become the defining issue of the present era. Further Reading 1. Department of Energy (DOE) [1993]. A research needs assessment for the capture, utilization and disposal of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel fired power plants. DOE/ER-30194, Washington, D.C., USA. 2. Halmann, M.M. and Steinberg, M. (1999). Greenhouse gas carbon dioxide mitigation: science and technology, Lewis publishers, Boca Raton, Florida. pp. 1-3. 3. Held, I. M. and Soden, B. J. (2006). Robust responses of the hydrological cycle to global warming. Journal of Climate, 19: 5686-5699. 4. Holloway, S (2005). Underground sequestration of carbon dioxide - a viable greenhouse gas mitigation option. Energy, 30: 2318-2333. 5. House, K.Z., Schrag D.P., Harvey,C.F., and Lackner K.S. (2006). Permanent carbon dioxide storage in deep-sea sediments, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 33: 12291-12295. 6. O'Neill, B. C. and Oppenheimer, M. (2002). Climate change - dangerous climate impacts and the Kyoto protocol. Science 296 (5575): 1971-1972.

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Author’s information

Darwin bicentenary: 150 anniversary of ‘the origin of species’ th

Dr. T. Satyanarayana is a professor at the Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi. He is a fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Association of Microbiologists of India, Biotech Research Society (India) and Mycological Society of India. He was conferred with Dr. G.B. Manjrekar award of AMI in 2003. He has three patents, three books and more than 150 scientific papers and reviews to his credit. His research areas include extremophiles and extremozymes, carbon sequestration by heterotrophic microbes, and microbial diversity.

Mr. Adarsh K. Puri is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi. He is doing his Ph.D. on the applicability of heterotrophic bacteria and their enzymes in carbon sequestration. -------0------Do you know ?

N.E.Quest team tried its best to extract an article on Darwin anniversary from one of the members of NE Research Group or even as invited guest article. As it failed to get a positive response, this note is the second best option. This is brief write-up about the significance of Darwinism and its remaining controversies. We earnestly seek valuable feedback from our readers. ---Editor Darwin’s theory of natural selection has a lasting impact on biology and other aspects of human society. In fact, Dobzhansky rightly said that, “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”. In brief, struggle for existence, occurrence of variations in the population, survival of the fittest, and natural selection are terms with which most educated laymen are familiar with. ‘Descent with modification’ has been applied to understand the evolution of all living organisms on our planet including humans. However, negative aspects of the theory are also evident. For example, though Darwin’s theory focuses on the selfish end of an individual’s survival and perpetuation of his ‘gene pool’, there are cases of altruism such as worker bees promoting the survival of queen bee and her offsprings.

Water availability per person in India Year 1951 : 5177 cubic meter Year 2008 : 1720 cubic meter Year 2050 : Expected to touch less than 1000 cubic meter

So several dichotomies and unsettles isses exist: selfishness vs. altruism, individual vs. kin selection, selection at the level of gene, individual or population, cultural vs. biological evolution, intelligent design vs. ‘blind evolution’, the case of missing links in the fossil records, gradual evolution vs.

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punctuated equilibrium etc. Most importantly, ‘the origin of life’ on which the further process of biological evolution on the earth depends is an unsettled problem.

explaining it by quoting the holy scriptures. However, the refinement of Darwinsim and its improvement will take its own course in the years to come.

Also, some intellectual circles are wary of Darwin’s theory as it has been extrapolated to larger settings with lots of dangerous consequences. Just to cite a few examples, Erasmus Darwin, Darwin’s uncle, was notorious for promoting the idea of eugenics, by extrapolating the theory of evolution. Even the Nazis used Darwin’s theory to propagate their concept of ‘Aryan supremacy’ and to justify the massacre of millions of Jews in the second world war.

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The major controversies of Darwinian theory are as follows: • • • • • • • • • • •

Evolution in ‘small steps’ or ‘big leaps’. Struggle versus co-operation. Selection at the level of gene versus individual. ‘intelligent design’ versus ‘blind evolution’. Individual versus kin selection. Altruism versus selfishness. Validity of social Darwinism. Biological evolution versus human cultural evolution. How complex organs such as the human eye evolved? “Missing links’ in the fossil records. Most importantly, there as yet unresolved issue of ‘the origin of life etc.

However, Darwinism is here to stay with us. Till a paradigm shift occurs the theory of evolution is all that we got to explain the bewildering variety of life forms of the planet. And, as scientists per se we cannot afford the luxury of

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“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed” “A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, - a mere heart of stone” -By Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882)

Caricatures of Darwin with an ape or monkey body symbolising evolution.(source: www.wikipedia.org)

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Prospects of Biotechnological Interventions for Sustainable Utilization of Banana Genetic Resources in Mizoram, India By Robert Thangjam*, Lalremsiami Hrahsel and P. C .Lalrinfela Abstract Mizoram lies within the north eastern region of India considered as the centre of diversity of banana. 20 clones across 3 species have been documented using morphological data. However, there is a need for proper characterization of these clones using molecular tools in order to understand their genetic make up and relationships. With the loss of crop genetic resources at an alarming rate the future of global food crops depends on the sustainability of the genetic pool at their centres of diversity. Biotechnological approaches through the application of tissue culture techniques provide one of the most reliable and time tested options for the sustainable production of banana. This article discusses some of the molecular tools that can be applied for better understanding of banana genetic resources in Mizoram.

morphologically diversified (Roux et al., 2008). India is the largest producer of banana with annual production of 13.5 mt from an area of 4.0 lakh ha (Daniells et al., 2001). Besides the cultivated species and their cultivars, majority of the species of Musa were found in wild conditions and they are widely distributed in the northeastern states.

Introduction Banana is a major fruit crop growing in more than 120 countries with India as the top producer in the world. It is greatly diversified in North-East India including the state of Mizoram. Banana belongs to the family Musaceae, which consists of two genera: Musa and Ensete. Genus Ensete has 9 species while Musa genus has four sections namely, Eumusa, Rhodochlamys, Australimusa and Callimusa (Simmonds and Shepherd, 1955). The Eumusa constitutes the source of edible bananas chiefly belonging to M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. M. acuminata has been divided into 8 subspecies whereas M. balbisiana is less

Banana status in Mizoram: The north-eastern region of India have been considered as the richest sources of natural banana diversity where M. balbisiana from Indian subcontinent meet M. acuminata from South East Asia (Molina and Kudagamage. 2002). However, there are very few reports on the genetic resources of wild and edible bananas from Northeast India including Mizoram. Hore et al., (1992) reported 4 species under the genus Ensete and 10 species under Musa. Uma and Sathiamoorthy (2002) characterize 20 different bananas and plantains of Mizoram including their tentative genome groups using morphological characters. Mizoram is endowed with three different climatic condition such as tropical, sub-tropical and temperate zones. Changthir and Banria are the predominant cultivars distributed throughout Mizoram. Amrit sagar, a unique AAA cultivar is popular among small-scale and backyard growers. This variety is popularly known as Vaibalhla or Cavendish. Banana is referred as Balhla in Mizo language like Kola, Kela or Vazhai. In the northern provinces, Cheeni champa is commercially grown in areas of Bhaga Bazar, Vairengte, Bilkhawthlir, Kolasib,etc. Apart from many cultivars, many wild types are also abundantly grown. These are preferred for their male buds to be used as vegetables. Of all the wild types, Sai su (Ensete glaucam) is the most unique wild type.

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Need for biotechnological approaches 1. Characterisation of banana genetic resources in Mizoram Earlier investigations and collections of the germplasms reported from Mizoram were not representative of the total banana genetic resources of Mizoram as the sites and samples studied were very small. Moreover, the identification and characterization of germplasms is heavily influenced by environmental factors thereby limiting their uses. Thus the use of molecular tools is essential to validate the genetic status. Nair et al., (2005) classified banana cultivars into two genomic groups by scoring morphological features. Earlier attempts in genomic characterization and genetic diversity studies were successfully done with molecular markers such as RAPD (Williams et al., 1990), AFLP and microsatellites (Onguso et al., 2004; Wong et al., 2002; Creste et al., 2004) Molecular markers provided a quick and reliable method for genomic characterization. 2. Analysis of resistance gene in the banana gene pool of Mizoram The banana cultivars are originated from the intra and inter – specific hybridisation of two wild diploid species M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. The different ploidy status, progenitor species, sterility and interspecific compatibility has led to various genomic compositions. Most of the present edible bananas are triploid, a few cultivars are diploids and tetraploids. These cultuvars normally lack sources of resistance to pests and diseases The majority of the cloned disease resistance genes (R-genes) in plant species encode a large family of the nucleotide-binding site/leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) proteins, which are characterized by various domains including a variable N-terminal domain,

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a nucleotide-binding site and a Cterminal LRR motif. PCR amplification with degenerate primers targeting to short conserved region in NBS is an efficient method for identifying resistance gene analogues (RGAs). This method has been successfully used for isolation of NBS-LRR gene from a wide variety of plant species (Leister et al., 1996; Xiao et al., 2006). Cultivated bananas, which were originated from natural intra- and inter-specific hybridization of M. acuminata and M. balbisiana, are highly susceptible to various viral and fungal diseases. The genetics and diversity of the resistance genes (R-genes) are poorly understood. For future genetic improvement and breeding purposes, a clear knowledge of the diversity and phylogenetic relationship of the genetic make-up in the wild and cultivated bananas is highly essential. 3. Production of quality planting materials in Mizoram Banana is a long duration crop of one and a half years and is propagated vegetatively by suckers. The production of suckers varies in different genotypes ranging from 5-10 per plant per year. Crop productivity and maturity is dependent on the size and age of suckers and uneven maturity extends the duration by 3-4 months. Suckers also carry soil nematodes, disease causing organisms such as bunchy top virus, leaf spot etc., thereby affecting the crop production considerably. In this regard, biotechnological approaches such as cell and tissue culture, protoplast fusion and gene transfer may serve as useful tools (Novak et al., 1993; Ganapathi et al., 2002). In vitro propagation of banana through shoot tip cultures is useful in the rapid multiplication of desirable disease free plantlets. In addition, careful selection and updating of

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mother plants result in improved crop yield (Vuylsteke, 1989). For the large-scale sustainable production of banana, a large number of superior quality planting materials is required, which is difficult to obtain by conventional methods of propagation. In contrast, micropropagation through tissue culture techniques offers rapid and reliable means of producing large number of genetically uniform clonal planting material within a short time. Despite the availability of many reports on in vitro propagation in bananas, in which the protocols are complicated, the standardization of specific protocols for a specific cultivar is essential. Development of new banana varieties through conventional breeding programs remains difficult because of sterility and polyploidy of most edible cultivars. There is a further need to develop somatic embryogenesis techniques for the mass propagation of desirable clones. The scale-up and automation of techniques necessary to reduce the costs of production further should be investigated. In addition, field-testing of plants regenerated from cell culture should be investigated. Strategies approaches

for

biotechnological

accession numbers and a duplicate will be submitted to NBPGR for validation. ii) Identification and characterization of collected banana plants based on their morphological scores and molecular tools: a) Morphological characterization: For identification of the collected germplams, the classification of Simmonds and Shepherd (1955) should be used and using IPGRI descriptors (1996), the genomes of the germplasms should be classified. b) Molecular Characterization: For validation of the genome groups, molecular tools such as IRAP (InterRetrotransposons Amplified Polymorphism) markers (Nair et al., 2005) can be used. The accessions belonging to the same genome group can be characterized for their genetic variation using RAPD (Williams et al., 1990). The resistance genes with nucleotide-binding site/leucine-rich repeat proteins (NBS-LRR) can be isolated from selected representatives of the wild and edible bananas using PCR amplification of the genomic DNAs using degenerate primers. The PCR products with the desired fragments will be purified, cloned and sequenced. The sequences can then be aligned using BLAST programs and analysed for its phylogenetic relationship.

1. Molecular characterization of banana genetic resources in Mizoram i) Survey and collection of wild and cultivated banana plants growing in different phytogeographical regions of Mizoram: Proper and exhaustive survey and collection for the wild and cultivated banana plants should be conducted in different regions of Mizoram. Maximum areas under different phytogeographical regions should be covered in the germplasm collection. The germplasms should be maintained in the field gene bank giving different

2. Sustainable production and utilization of banana in Mizoram i) Characterization of the different cultivars of edible banana grown in different phytogeographical regions of Mizoram and identification of the superior genotypes: Popular local banana cultivars viz., vai balhla kual, lawng balhla, banria, etc., that are of economic importance need to be collected from different phytogeographical regions of Mizoram and the prospective mother plants be thoroughly evaluated and selected for its superior agronomic characteristics

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and disease resistance. For the validation of superior genotypes, molecular tools such as RAPD (Williams et al., 1990) can be used. ii) Standardization of in vitro regeneration systems of superior genotypes for rapid multiplication of genetically stable planting materials. a) Initiation of aseptic culture: Various explants (male flower buds, shoot tips, immature zygotic embryos,) taken from the selected superior mother plants materials can tested for their response in various culture media such as MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962), B5 (Gamborg et al., 1968), White media (White, 1943), etc. under standard culture conditions. The effect of various growth regulators such as cytokinins, auxins, etc. on the in vitro regeneration potential of selected banana genotypes should be evaluated. b) In vitro regeneration: Some of the explants from the above culture may result in direct or indirect regeneration of shoots or roots. The obtained in vitro organs can be transferred to different media and hormonal combinations for further multiplication and rooting. c) Hardening and acclimatization: The rooted regenerated plantlets should be transferred into pots containing sand and soil mixture for primary hardening in a growth chamber, and then proceeding for secondary hardening and acclimatization in the polyhouse under standard conditions. The successfully hardened and acclimatized plantlets should then be transferred to the field. iii) Standardization of in vitro regeneration systems from encapsulated aseptic cultures: The established aseptic cultures such as flower buds, shoot buds, somatic embryos can be encapsulated with the help of sodium alginate and regenerated into plantlets.

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iv) Genetic fidelity testing of the regenerated plantlets: For testing of genetic fidelity of the regenerated plantlets, leaf samples of the hardened plantlets should be used for isolation of genomic DNA and compared with mother plants using RAPD or SSR markers. Conclusion With the application of biotechnological tools, proper understanding and knowledge of the status, genome classification and genetic resources of the wild and cultivated banana plants growing in Mizoram can be achieved. Further, identification and characterization of the resistance genes (R-genes) and understanding of their phylogenetic relationship among the different species and/or cultivars of bananas grown in Mizoram can also be carried out for future genetic improvement programs. Since Mizoram is located in the centre of diversity of Musa germplasm, it is imperative to take necessary steps at all levels for conservation and sustainable production of banana genetic resources. Application of biotechnological tools such as tissue culture and DNA profiling techniques could serve as the best option for these programs. References Creste, S., Neto, A.T., Vencovsky.R., Silvio, SO., and Fiqueira, A 2004. Gentic diversity of diploid and triploid accessions from the Brazilian banana breeding programme estimated by microsatelite markers. Genet. Res. Crop Ev. 51:723. Daniells J and M Smith (1991). Postflask management of tissuecultured bananas. ACIAR technical reports. ISBNI 86320042818. pp. 8. Gamborg OL, Miller RA and Ojima K (1968). Nutrient requirements of

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suspension cultures of soybean root cells. Exp. Cell Res. 50: 151. Ganapathi TR, Chakrabarti A, Suprasanna P and Bapat VA (2002). Genetic transformation in banana. In : Plant Genetic engineering. Vol. 6: Improvement of fruits. Ed. PK Jaiwal and RP Singh. Sci-Tech Publ. Houston Texas, USA. Hore, D.K., Sharma, B.D. and Pandey, G. 1992. Status of banana in northeast India. J.Econ.Tax.Bot.16: 447. Leister, D., Ballvora, A., Salamini, F. and Gebhardt, C. 1996. A PCR based approach for isolating pathogen resistance genes from potato with potential for wide application plants. Nat. Genet. 14:421. Molina AB and Kudagamage C (2002). The international network for the improvement of banana and plantain (INIBAP): PGR activities in south asia. In: South Asia Network on Plant Genetic Resources (SANPGR) meeting held on December 9-11 at Plant Genetic Resources Center (PGRC), Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. 1 pp. Murashige T and Skoog F (1962). A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol. Plant 15: 473. Nair, A.S., Teo, C.H., Schwaracher, T. and Harrison, P.H. 2005. Genome classification of Banana cultivars from South India using IRAP markers. Euphy. 144:285. Novak FJ, Brunner H, Afza R, Morpurgo R, Upadhyay RK, Van Duren M, Sacchi M, Hawz JS, Khatri A, Kahl G, Kaemmer D, Ramser J and Weising K (1993). Improvement of Musa through biotechnology and mutation breeding. In: Biotechnology applications for banana and plantain improvement . Proc. Of the Workshop. INIBAP, pp 143 -. Onguso, J.M., Kahangi, E.M., Ndiritu, D.W. and Mizutani, F. 2004. genetic characterization of cultivated banana

and plantain in Kenya by RAPD markers. Sc. Horti. 99: 9. Roux, N., Baurens, F.C., Dolezel, J., Hribova, E., Harrison, P.H., Town, C., Sasaki, T., Matsumoto, T., Aert, R., Remy, S., Souza, M. & Lagoda, P. 2008. Genomics of Banana and Plantain (Musa spp.), Major Staple Crops in the Tropics. P.H. Moore, R. Ming (eds.), Genomics of Tropical Crop Plants. Simmonds NW and Shepherd (1955). The taxonomy and origin of the cultivated banana. J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 55: 302. Uma S and Sathiamoorthy S (2002). Names and synonyms of bananas and plaintains of India, National Research Centre for Banana (ICAR), Tiruchirapalli, India. 16 pp. White PR (1943). A Handbook of Plant Tissue Culture. Jacques Cattell Press, Lancaster, PA, 277 pp. Williams JGK, Kubelik AR, Livak KJ, Rafalski JA and Tingey SV (1990). DNA polymorphism amplified by arbitrary primers are useful as genetic markers. Nucl. Acids Res. 18, 6531. Wong, C.R., Kiew, C., Argent, G., Set, O., Lee, S.K. and Gon, T.Y. 2002. Assessment of validity in the sections in Musa (Musaceae) using AFLP. Ann. Botany 90: 231. Vuylesteke DR (1989). Shoot tip culture for the propagation, conservation and exchange of Musa germplasm. Practical Manual for Handling Crop Germplasm in vitro 2, IBPGR, Rome, Italy. Xiao, W.K., Xu, M.L., Zhao, J.R., Wang, F.G., Li, J.S. and .Dai, J.R. 2006. Genome wide isolation of resistance analogues in maize (Zea mays L.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 113:6372.

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Author’s information:

Dr. Robert Thangjam, at present working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram. He did his M.Sc in Botany spz. in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology from Aligarh Muslim University and Ph.D (Life Sciences) from Manipur University. He did his Post doctoral research (Plant Biotechnology) in the Institute of Bioresources & Sustainable Development (IBSD) from 2005 to 2007. His area of research is Bioprospecting of plant bioresources for novel products/genes/metabolites and micropropagation & genetic improvement through biotechnological approaches. He can be reached at [email protected]

Ms. Lalremsiami Hrahsel is research scholar at Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram. She did her M.Sc (Plant Biology) and M. Phil Botany (Biotechnology) from Madras University. Her Ph.D thesis title is In vitro mass propagation & Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of banana plants native to Mizoram. She can be reached at [email protected] N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

P. C. Lalrinfela, research scholar at Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram. He did his M.Sc (Biotechnology) from RTM Nagpur University, Maharashtra. Survey and characterization of wild and cultivated banana genetic resources of Mizoram. His email id is [email protected] . -------0------Banana, raw, edible parts Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) Energy 90 kcal 370 kJ

Carbohydrates 22.84 g - Sugars 12.23 g - Dietary fiber 2.6 g Fat 0.33 g Protein 1.09 g Vitamin A equiv. 3 μg 0% Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.031 mg = 2% Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.073 mg = 5% Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.665 mg = 4% Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.334 mg = 7% Vitamin B6 0.367 mg = 28% Folate (Vit. B9) 20 μg = 5% Vitamin C 8.7 mg = 15% Calcium 5 mg = 1% Iron 0.26 mg = 2% Magnesium 27 mg = 7% Phosphorus 22 m g= 3% Potassium 358 mg = 8% Zinc 0.15 mg = 1%

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Conducting polymer sensors: An intelligent aspect By Smritimala Sarmah Intelligence finds priority everywhere. This is the era of ‘intelligent materials’. An intelligent material is capable of recognizing appropriate environmental stimuli, processing the information arising from the stimuli and responding to it in an appropriate manner and time frame [1]. Another important feature is that the material should be self-powered and capable of energy conversion and storage functions. Conducting polymers are a class of materials that are destined to play a major role in intelligent materials science. The genesis of this emerging field can be traced back to mid 1970s when Hideki Shirakawa, Alan J. Heeger and Alan G. MacDiarmid discovered

the electrical conductivity in doped polyacetylene which bagged the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in the year 2000. Conducting polymers have a conjugated structure of alternate single-double carbon-carbon bonds. The removal of π-electrons from a conjugated polymer backbone by chemical or electrochemical oxidation or p-doping results in positively charged carriers or holes which are responsible for dramatic increase in the electrical conductivity. Removal of electrons is accompanied by insertion of charge compensating anions, so that the material as a whole remains electrically neutral. Similarly, reduction or ndoping corresponds to addition of electrons and the excess negative charge is compensated by cations inserted into the polymer. Some common conducting polymers are shown in Fig.1

Conducting electroactive polymers like Polyaniline, Polypyrrole, polythiophene etc with complex dynamic structures fulfill the requirements of intelligent materials. The electrical, electrochemical and optical properties of conducting polymers can be utilized to convert chemical information (concentration, activity, partial pressure etc.) into electrical and optical signals. Therefore the usefulness of conducting polymer transducers in chemical sensors is increasing day by day.

Chemical sensors transform the concentrations of analytes to other detectable physical signals, such as currents, absorbance, mass or acoustic variables. After exposing to the vapor of an analyte, the active sensing material of the sensor interacted with the analyte, which causes the physical property changes of the sensing material. The interactions between the analytes and sensing materials are multiform, according to different analytes and different active materials.

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resistor, whose electric resistance is sensitive to the chemical environment. A chemiresistor consists of one or several pairs of electrodes and a layer of conducting polymer in contact with the electrodes. The electrical resistance change of the sensing material is measured as the output, so a simple ohmmeter is enough to collect the data.

Electrochemical sensors such as chemical sensors are those in which molecular recognition is transduced directly into an electrical signal. Since conducting polymers are electroactive materials with mixed ionic and electronic conductivity, they can transduce an ionic signal into electronic signal which can be utilized as ion sensors. Depending on the transduction mechanism, electrochemical sensors are usually subdivided into potentiometric, amperometric, voltammetric and conductimetric sensors (i)

Potentiometric sensors are based on the measurement of electrical potential of the sensor versus a reference electrode which has a constant potential independent of the sample composition.

(ii)

Amperometric sensors are based on the measurement of the electrical current flowing through the sensor as a result of oxidation and reduction of the analyte at a constant applied potential.

(ii)

(iii) Voltammetric sensors are based on the measurement of the electrical current versus potential during a potential scan. (iv) Conductimetric sensors are based on the measurement of the electrical conductivity of the sensor material in contact with the analyte.

Organic Thin Film Transistor (TFT) shown in Fig.3 is another type of sensor [3]. In general, a TFT consists of a semiconductor active layer in contact with two electrodes (“source” and “drain”), and a third electrode (“gate”) which is separated with the active layer by an insulating film. When it works, a source-drain voltage was applied and a source-drain current was measured. The gate is used to modulate the current by a gate potential. The source-drain current is changed when sensing film interacts with analyte.

Different ion sensors, gas sensors and biosensors fall in the above categories. Configurations of different sensors (i) Chemiresistors are the most common type of sensors as shown in Fig.2 [2]. A chemiresistor is a

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(iii) UV-VIS and NIR spectra can reflect the electron configurations of conducting polymers. During the doping process, the spectral absorbance of conducting polymer film will change and new bands will appear due to the formation of polarons and bipolarons; while the spectrum can return to its original shape after dedoping [4]. Thus, analyte gas contacting conducting polymer film can be detected by recording the UV-VIS or NIR spectral changes. An optical sensor is shown in Fig.4

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors fall in the category of piezoelectric crystal sensors. In SAW sensors, a transmitter interdigital electrode (interdigital transducers, IDTs) and a receptor interdigital electrode are attached onto a piezoelectric crystal. The polymer film is coated on the gap between these two electrodes. An input radio frequency voltage is applied across the transmitter IDTs, inducing deformations in the piezoelectric substrate. These deformations give rise to an acoustic wave, traversing the gap between two IDTs. When it reaches the receptor IDTs, the mechanical energy is converted back to radio frequency voltage [5]. The adsorption and N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

desorption of gas on the polymer film on the gap will modulate the wave propagation characters. A standard SAW sensor is shown in Fig.5 Commercialization of CEP sensors: The most successful commercial sensing systems that utilize conducting polymers are so called electronic noses [6]. These systems use arrays of robust CEPS, each with differing chemical selectivity using changes in resistance as the signal generation method. The change in resistivity or conductivity is brought about either through a change in polymer conformation. Vapors such as NO2, H2S and NH3 being electron donors or electron acceptors have dramatic effect on conductivity. Such kind of conducting polymer sensors are being developed for classification of beers, detection and identification of microorganisms, olive oil characterization and detection and classification of volatile organic compounds. Conducting polymers are widely acknowledged as useful sensing materials for chemical and biological species and have been used in electronic noses for vapor analysis. Semiconductor materials, in general, are desirable as sensors, because environment-induced changes to the doping level or band structure can lead to large changes in electrical properties that can be easily detected using simple circuits. Electrical signals thus generated are compatible with data acquisition, storage, and communication systems. Changes in the conductivity of conducting polymers can occur through chemical reactions leading to changes in doping levels or through changes in polymer conformation (e.g., due to swelling caused by the absorption of chemical species). These changes are reversible, which is a key requirement for sensors. The speed of response, however, can be

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somewhat slow due to the need for diffusion of chemical species into the bulk of the polymer. For this reason, developing micro- or nano-scale sensors using conducting polymers can lead to major improvements in response times. The simplest microsensor consists of a pair of electrodes covered by the sensing material and a circuit for detecting changes in resistance. The reduction in size of conjugated polymer chemical sensors has been shown to lead to significant performance improvements. Shrinking sensor dimensions improve response time by reducing diffusion distances. Nanofibers are, therefore, of considerable interest. Polyaniline nanofiber chemical sensors for toxic NH3 vapor have been developed using a modified electrospinning process. Typically these nanofibers are produced from a blend of a soluble conjugated polymer in a second polymer host. Recently, modifications to produce aligned nanofibers have been reported. Craighead and coworkers deposited a single nanofiber across four gold microelectrodes that responded to NH3 vapor within 75 s, although it took several minutes to recover when the source of NH3 was removed. The

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response time is correlated with the diffusion time for the gas to enter the fiber, and so the authors argue that nanofibers can provide faster response than micro- or macroscale systems. Advantages: (i) The interaction between conducting polymer and analyte is rather strong at room temperature [7]. Therefore, the sensors based on conducting polymers can give remarkable signals, while those based on inorganic metal oxides have barely detactable sensitivity at room temperature. (ii)

The backbones of common conducting polymers are built up of aromatic rings, to which can be easyly attached various grafts through electrophilic substitutions. By introducing different substituents, or copolymerizing with different monomers, it is facile to adjust both the chemical and physical properties of conducting polymers; these adjustments are useful for promoting selectivity of sensors, and convenient in fabricating sensor arrays [7].

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(iii) The detection limits are rather low for sensors based on conducting polymers. For redox-active or acid-base active analytes, the detection limit is smaller than 1 ppm, and for inert organic analytes, that limit is about several ppm or lower. The response times of these sensors are usually hundreds of seconds, and especially for some ultra-thin film sensors, this time can be as short as about several seconds [7]. (iv) The fabrication of sensors based on conducting polymers is much easier than that based on other sensing materials. Conducting polymers inherit the good mechanical property from polymers, so most mechanical processing techniques are suitable for processing them. Furthermore, by introducing long side chains, the solubility of conducting polymers can be greatly improved, enabling them to be processed into films from their solutions by casting, layer bylayer deposition, spin-coating or Longmuir-Blodgett technique [7]. Disadvantages: (i) Long-time instability is a main drawback of the sensors based on conducting polymers. The performances of this kind of sensors decreased dramatically as they were stored in air for a relatively long time. This phenomenon can be explained as de-doping of conducting polymers. (ii)

Another problem is the irreversibility of these sensors. The response of sensors gradually fall down in the sensing cycles, or the signal can not return to the

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original value after exposure to the analyte. (iii) Conducting polymer sensors face selectivity problems. A single sensor can not distinguish different analytes, and the response can be easily influenced by the presence of other analytes. With the increasing demand of lightweight, fast-response sensors, conducting polymers can have the edge command over all other materials in the market if selectivity can be improved by introducing some selective molecules to the conducting polymer networks. References: 1. Wallace G G; Spinks G M; KaneMaguire L A P; Teasdale P R; Conductive eletroactive polymers: Intelligent Materials systems, CRC press, 2nd edition, 2003 2.

Liu, H.Q.; Kameoka, J.; Czaplewski, D.A.; Craighead, H.G. Polymeric nanowire chemical sensor. Nano Lett. 2004, 4, 671-675.

3.

Janata, J. Electrochemical microsensors. Proc. IEEE 2003, 91, 864-869

4.

Bredas, J.L.; Scott, J.C.; Yakushi, K.; Street, G.B. Polarons and bipolarons in polypyrrole: Evolution of the band structure and optical spectrum upon doing. Physical Review B 1984, 30, 1023

5.

Chang, S.M.; Muramatsu, H.; Nakamura, C.; Miyake, J. The principle and applications of piezoelectric crystal sensors. Mater. Sci. Eng. C-Biomimetic Supramol. Syst. 2000, 12, 111123.

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6.

7.

Hwang, B.J.; Yang, J.Y.; Lin, C.W. A microscopic gas-sensing model for ethanol sensors based on conductive polymer composites from polypyrrole and poly(ethylene oxide). J. Electrochem. Soc. 1999, 146, 1231-1236. Bai Hua ; Shi Gaoquan ; “Gas Sensors Based on Conducting Polymers” Sensors 2007, 7, 267307

Author’s information

Smritimala Sarmah is from Narayanpur, Lakhimpur district of Assam. She did her M.Sc. in Physics from IIT Guwahati. Currently she is carrying out her doctoral research under the supervision of Dr. Ashok Kumar in the Material Research Laboratory, Dept. of Physics, Tezpur University. Her area of research is conducting polymer based nanocomposite sensors. She can be reached at [email protected] --------0-------“An equation means nothing to me unless it expresses a thought of God.” — Srinivasa Ramanujan “Every positive integer is one of Ramanujan's personal friends.”

Mesoscale Convective Systems By Mr. Devajyoti Dutta Preamble A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by strong wind, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation, such as ice (ice storm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere (as in a dust storm, snowstorm, hailstorm, etc). Convective storm detection is the observation of deep, moist convection (DMC); this term includes the minority of storms which do not produce lightning and thunder. Convective storms produce tornadoes as well as large hail, strong winds, and flash flooding. Convective storms appear in many forms, producing a large variety of hazardous weather and affecting areas ranging from a few square miles or kilometers to hundreds of square miles or kilometers. Isolated storms are generally classified as one of three basic types: ordinary cells, multiple cell systems, and supercells. However, groups of thunderstorms often join into larger systems, generically referred to as Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs). MCSs are complexes of thunderstorms that become organized on a scale larger than the individual thunderstorms, and normally persist for several hours or more. According to Houze(1993), an MCS is defined as a cloud system that occurs in connection with an ensemble of thunderstorms and produces a contiguous precipitation area on the order of 100 km or more in horizontal scale in at least one direction.

-By John Littlewood, (1885 – 1977) British mathematician on Srinivasan Ramanujan

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Importance of MCSs MCSs are significant rain-producing weather systems. In particular, Fritsch et al. (1986) found that MCSs accounted for 30-70% of the warm season precipitation in the central United States. MCSs also produce a broad range of severe convective weather events: strong winds, hail, tornadoes, lightning, and flooding. It is not uncommon for MCSs to result in tens to hundreds of severe weather reports. Types of MCSs Since “MCS” is a general classification, it can be divided into more specific classifications. The most commonly cited examples of MCSs include Squall lines, Bow echoes, Mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs). These types of MCSs were independently discovered and named; thus, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive of one another. For example, a bow echo is a very specific subset of squall lines. Also, the internal convective structure of a MCC may be arranged as a squall line (or bow echo for that matter). Squall Lines It’s important to understand how these systems are defined in order to identify them. A squall line is a line of severe thunderstorm that can form along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front. It contains heavy precipitation, hail, frequent lightning, strong straight line winds, and possibly tornadoes and waterspouts. Severe weather along squall lines can be expected if it displays a line echo wave pattern (LEWP) or if the line is in the shape of a bow echo. Organized areas of thunderstorm activity reinforce pre-existing frontal zones, and they can outrun cold fronts.

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This outrunning occurs in a pattern where the upper level jet splits into two streams. The resultant mesoscale convective system (MCS) is formed at the point of the upper level split in the wind pattern in the area of best low level inflow. The convection then moves east and toward the equator into the warm sector, parallel to low-level thickness lines. When the convection is strong and linear or curved, the MCS is called a squall line, with the feature placed at the leading edge of the significant wind shift and pressure rise. This feature is commonly depicted in the warm season across the world on surface analyses, as they lie within sharp surface troughs. If squall lines form over arid regions, a dust storm known as a haboob may result from the high winds in their wake picking up dust from the desert floor. Squall lines are depicted on National Weather Service surface analyses as an alternating pattern of two red dots and a dash labeled “SQLN" or "SQUALL LINE". The best indication of the presence of severe weather along a squall line is its morphing into a line echo wave pattern, or LEWP. A LEWP is a special configuration in a line of convective storm that indicates the presence of a low pressure area and the possibility of damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes. At each kink along the LEWP is a mesoscale low pressure area. In response to very strong outflow southwest of the mesoscale low, a portion of the line bulges outward forming a bow echo. Behind this bulge lies the mesoscale high pressure area. Figure 1 (a) shows Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) observation of a squall line on 27th October 2007 over the Indian Ocean which is ~200 km in length. Figure 1 (b) also shows a squall that was captured by Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite on 26th May 1998 over Bangladesh.

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Especially strong bow echoes that cause devastating damage all along the width of the storm are often called derechos. The formation of a bow echo requires a strong elevated rear inflow jet at midlevels. The strength of the cold pool and mesohigh at the surface as well as warmer temperatures aloft due to convection works to create a mesolow at mid-levels which strengthens the jet. Upon reaching the edge of the convection, the jet descends and spreads along the surface generating straight-line winds.

A bow echo is associated with squall lines or lines of convective thunderstorms. These echoes can range in size from 20 to 200 km, and have a life span of 3 to 6 hours. Bow echoes tend to develop when moderate to strong wind shear exists in the lower 2 to 3 km of the atmosphere. While similar to squall lines, bow echoes are smaller in scale; this creates their extreme intensity. The "bow shaped" echo is a result of focusing of the strong flow at the rear of the system.

After the rear inflow jet has bowed the storm system, book end, or line end; vortices develop on either side of the jet. These vortices are similar in strength. Due to the small size of the bow echo, the vortices help enhance the mid-level flow between them. This strengthens the rear inflow jet. The surface winds increase from the descending jet. As the life of the storm increases, the Coriolis force acts to intensify the cyclonic vortex and weaken the anticyclonic vortex. The system then develops an asymmetric comma-shaped echo. Some embedded tornadoes or gustnadoes develop within these vortices. Damaging straight-line winds often occur near the center of a bow echo. Damage from all severe thunderstorm winds accounted for half of all severe reports in the lower 48 states of the United States and is more common than damage from tornadoes. Wind speeds can reach up to 100 mph (160 km/h) and can produce a damage path extending for hundreds of miles. Bow echoes are capable of producing straight-line winds that are just as strong as many tornadoes. A strong bow echo will produce more widespread and intense damage than the majority of tornadoes. Also, bow echoes create a favorable environment for tornadoes to form.

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Bow echo A bow echo is a term describing the characteristic radar return from a mesoscale convective system that is shaped like an archer’s bow. These systems can produce severe straightline winds and occasionally tornadoes, causing major damages.

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Principal, Kohima Science College, Kohima, India. References 1. Maddox, R.A., 1980: Mesoscale

convective complexes. Bull. Am. Met. Soc., Vol.61, 1374-1387. 2. W. R. Cotton, S. van den Heever, and I. Jirak. Conceptual Models of Mesoscale Convective Systems: Part 9. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 3. W. S. Ashley, Thomas L. Mote, P. G. Dixon, S. L. Trotter, E. J. Powell, J. D. Durkee, and A. J. Grundstein. Distribution of Mesoscale Convective Complex Rainfall in the United States. Retrieved on 2008-03-02. 4. R. A. Houze, Jr., Cloud dynamics, 1st edition (Academic Press, 1993).

The bow echo on 28th May 1998 was very intense, small and of leading stratiform (LS) type, where stratiform region formed ahead of the convective line. The spatial plot of bow echoes as observed from TRMM satellite is shown in figure 2(a). A Cell Bow Echo (CBE) on 24th October 2006 as observed from DWR is shown in figure2 (b). This particular CBE evolved from two small isolated cells with reflectivity ≥ 40 dBZ. Acknowledgement Department of Space, Govt. of India, is gratefully acknowledged. I would like to thank my research guide, Dr. Sanjay Sharma, for his consistent support. Thanks also go to Dr. Diganta Kumar Sharma for his valuable suggestions. The author is also thankful to the

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5. K. I. Mohr and E. J. Zipser, 1996: Mon. Wea. Rev., Vol.124, 24172437 Author’s Information

Mr. Devajyoti Dutta received M.Sc. from Tezpur University in the year 2005. He is at present working as Senior Research Fellow under MTUP program, sponsored by Indian Space Research Organization at Kohima Science College, Nagaland. His research interest is in the area of Radar and Satellite Meteorology.

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Thesis Abstract of Ankur Bordoloi, Ph.D. Thesis title: Hybrid inorganicorganic materials and nanocomposites; synthesis, characterizations and catalytic applications in organic transformations Research Guide: Dr. S. B. Halligudi, Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Division, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials (IOHM) appears as a creative alternative for obtaining new materials with unusual features. The possibility of combining the properties of inorganic and organic compounds to get a unique material and is a challenge task in recent years. In fact, the concept of the term inorganic-organic hybrid materials has been introduced recently, the new materials are considered as innovative, advanced and has potential applications in various fields including catalysis [1] Catalysts played a vital role in establishing the economic strength of the chemical industry in the first half of the 20th century. As we approached, the first half of the 21st century increasingly demanding environmental legislation, public and corporate pressure and the resulting drive towards clean technology in the industry, which would provide new opportunities for catalysis and catalytic processes. Some of the major goals of ‘Green Chemistry’ are to increase process selectivity, to maximize the use of starting materials (aiming for 100% atom efficiency), to replace N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

stoichiometric reagents with catalysts and to facilitate easy separation of the final reaction mixture including the efficient recovery and reuse of the catalysts. The use of efficient solid catalysts can go a long way towards achieving these goals. Polymersupported catalysts have been widely used and their popularity comes mainly from the fact that product isolation is simplified, milder conditions and higher selectivity could be attained although they suffer from limited thermo-oxidative stability. Catalysts based on high surface area inorganic support materials should have better thermal stability and have also attracted a lot of interest as solid catalysts and reagents in liquid phase organic reactions. They form the basis of some new industrial catalysts, which are used as replacements for toxic and corrosive traditional reagents The mesoporous nature of silica and acidtreated clays for example, allows reasonably good molecular diffusion rates and could lead to activity enhancement through the concentration of active centers. These first generation supported reagent catalysts are, however, based on physisorbed reagents, which are unstable in polar media and consequently often cannot be reused. An emerging area of research, which seeks to retain the ‘green benefits’ of heterogenization and enhanced activity and/or product selectivity, while avoiding the drawbacks of catalyst instability and limited reusability is the development and use of mesoporous inorganic support materials as catalysts with chemically bound active centers [2] According to their interface interaction, IOHM materials were divided into two classes; inorganicorganic hybrid materials embedded

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by weak bonds (hydrogen, Vander walls or ionic bonds) give the cohesion to the whole structure and the other in which the two phases (inorganic and organic) are linked together through strong chemical bonds (covalent or ionic-covalent interactions). It is natural, that the latter type of IOHM materials, organic and inorganic components could also interact through the same kind of weak bonds that are mentioned in the first category. These new IOHM include mesoporous inorganic organic hybrids, coordination polymers and hybrid metal oxides, etc [1,3,4]. In 1985, Wilkes et al [5] initiated the work on the development of novel organic-inorganic hybrid network materials by reacting metal alkoxides with end- fictionalized condensational polymeric/oligomeric species through a sol- gel process. Their first successful example has been the incorporation of poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) oligomers into the silica matrix. In 1990, Wei et al [1] pioneered the synthesis of vinyl polymer- metal oxide hybrid materials. In the early 1990s, another new material was made by Kresge et al [2] by templating silica species with surfactant molecules leading to the formation of ordered mesoporous silica oxides. These new materials, known under the general name M41S, with the hexagonal MCM-41 being the most prominent member, dramatically expanded the range of pore sizes accessible in the form of an ordered pore system. Soon enough, research in this area has been extended to many metal oxides systems other than silica and also the novel organic-inorganic hybrid mesoporous materials, etc. These hybrid materials were successfully used for Knoevenagel condensation, nitroaldol condensation, Michael condensation, and epoxidation N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

reactions [6-11]. Recently, there is a report on a polyoxometallates based hybrid materials for hydrogenation catalyst [12]. According to the literature, though some work has been done on oxidation reaction by these hybrid materials and a little work by polyoxometallates based hybrid materials still there are lot remains. [13,14]. The development of the coordination polymer area could be traced back to the work of Gravereau, Garnier, and Hardy in Poitiers in the late 1970s, in which zeolitic materials with ionexchange properties were made by linking hexacyanoferrates units with tetrahedrally coordinated Zn2+ cations [15]. However, there was little interest in such materials until the mid-1990s, when several groups, particularly those of Robson and Yaghi, recognized that rigid, polyfunctional organic molecules could be used to bridge metal cations or clusters into extended arrays with large voids. Robson published a landmark paper [16] laying the groundwork for coordination polymers. In spite of considerable interest in catalysis as an application of hybrid systems, surprisingly few studies demonstrate such behavior. The first application of coordination polymers in catalysis comes in the year of 1994.After that lots of applicability had been made of these coordination polymers in catalysis e.g.cynalisation, polymerization, photochemical hydrogen production, hydrolysis of organic molecules, Diels Alder reaction and other photochemical reactions. There are very few reports on coordination polymer based oxidation reactions in the literature [17-18]. There fore, there is a huge demand for application of these materials as oxidation catalyst systems [3]. The coordination chemistry of bispyridylamides with the general

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structure LH2 (where L = pyridine amide ligand) has been intensively studied since the compounds were first prepared by Ojima [19] in 1967. The deprotonated amide is a strong σ-donor capable of stabilizing early as well as late metal ions in high oxidation states, making high-valent metal complexes of the ligands suitable as Lewis acid catalysts. This property, together with the resistance of the ligand to oxidation has also stimulated studies of oxidative processes. The recent introduction of the hybrid materials (metal complex anchored in mesoporous materials) has a substantial impact in the area of heterogeneous catalysis, and they have been shown to promote a range of synthetic transformations [20]. The “ship in a bottle” is an effective strategy to trap metal complex catalyst with large molecular size into the nanopores or cavities of mesoporous materials in recent years. SBA-16 is a good candidate for the same due to its multidirectional pore systems and tunable pore entrances that are likely to be more resistant to local pore blockage than channel-like pores. The large cages of these mesoporous materials can accommodate metal complexes of large molecular size, whereas the smaller pore entrances may prevent leaching of the metal complex confined in the mesoporous cage[21]. In addition, the existence of plentiful hydroxyl groups in the mesoporous silicas provides the possibility of tailoring the pore entrance size by a simple silylation reaction. Transition metal-catalyzed procedures for transfer hydrogenation of a wide variety of functional groups by different hydrogen donors are an interesting alternative to conventional catalytic hydrogenation [22,23]. Nanocomposites are materials that are created by introducing nanoparticulates (often referred to as filler) into a macroscopic sample material (often

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referred to as the matrix). This is part of the growing field of nanotechnology. After adding nanoparticulates to the matrix material, the resulting nanocomposite may exhibit drastically enhanced properties. Tungsten oxide nanoclusters supported highly ordered mesoporous SBA-15 material has been successfully synthesized in a single step using a non-ionic surfactant as a template and used for the selective oxidation of sulfur compounds, giving excellent yields at room temperature with exceptional catalyst recyclability. This strategy could be used for similar chemical transformations to use in an eco-friendly manner. Oxidation reactions are among the most important reactions in nature; they are responsible for the activation of molecular oxygen in living species on the earth’s surface and are being used in chemical industry to prepare Varity of oxygenated organic compounds useful either directly or as intermediates for other value added chemicals. Oxidation reactions cover a variety of reactions, whcih are used for the production of fine and bulk chemicals, as building blocks for the preparation of variety of products. The industrial use of oxidation reaction for production of bulk chemicals primarily based on heterogeneous catalyst with molecular O2 in the form of air as the terminal oxidant, while homogeneous catalysis is mainly used for the preparation of fine chemicals with a verity of different terminal oxidants [24]. The facile ring opening of epoxides to give β-Amino alcohols with a variety of amines with high regio- and stereoselectivity makes them extremely versatile synthons for a wide range of biologically active natural and synthetic products unnatural amino acids and chiral auxiliaries [25,26]. Hydrogenation is a one of major technology in fine

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chemicals synthesis, particularly for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavours and fragrances industries. Out of various functionalities hydrogenation, C=O hydrogenation plays a unique role in fine chemical synthesis. It is really a challenging task to design a heterogeneous catalyst system for organic transformations. It is because, besides, catalyst recycling and recovering drawbacks of homogeneous catalyst systems. The disadvantages of homogeneous catalyst systems are; deactivating due to the formation μoxo dimmer or oligomers and most of the organic ligands undergo oxidative destruction under oxidizing conditions. On the other hand, a heterogeneous catalyst system suffers from leaching, which is due to the use or generation of polar molecules during oxidation reaction. These polar molecules hydrolyze the bonds between catalyst and support. Keeping the above points in mind, we propose to synthesize new catalyst (IOHM), which would solve the problems associated with the conventional homogeneous catalysts. These discrepancies can be minimized by IOHM based on polyoxometallates and transition metal complexes, coordination polymers and nanocomposites. Bibliography: (1) Judeinstein P., Sanchez C.; J. Mater. Chem., 1996, 6(4), 511-525. (2) H. Clark J., J. Macquarrie D.; Chem. Commun., 1998, 853-860. (3) M. Forster P., K. Cheetham A.; Topics in catalysis, 2003, 24(1-4), 7986. (4) Schubert U., J. of Sol-Gel Science and Technology, 2003, 26,47-55 (5) Beller M., Bolm C. Transition Metals for Organic Synthesis, Building Blocks and Fine Chemicals. WileyVCH.

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(6) S. Shephard D., Zhow W. et.al., Angew Chem., Int. Ed. 1998,37,19. (7) Xing S., Zhang Y. et.al; Angew Chem., Int. Ed., 2002,47,5. (8) Liu. C. -J., Li. S. -G.; Chem. Common., 1997, 65-66. (9) Gerrits. P.P.K., Verberckmoes A.,et.al.Micro and Meso Mater., 21(1998) 475-476 (10) Holland T.B., Walkup C., and Stein A., J. Phys. Chem B; 1998,102,4301-4309 (11) Jia M., Seifert A., Berger M., Giegengack H., Schulze S., and R. Theil W.; Chem Mater., 2004, 16, 877-882. (12.) Bar-Nahum I., Neumann R., Chem. Commun., 2003, 2690-2691. (13) A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University by Qiuwei Feng,2001 entitled ‘Novel OrganicInorganic Hybrid Mesoporous Materials and Nanocomposites’ (14) E. Devis M., P. Wight A.; Chem. Rev.2002, 102, 3589-3614. (15) Gravereau P.,Garnier E., and Hardy A. Acta Crystallogr.,Sect. B35 (1979) 2843. (16) Hoskins B.F.,Robson R.;J. Am. Chem. Soc. 112 (1990)1546 (17) Abrantes M., Valente A., et.al.; J. of Catalysis 2002 ,209, 2137-244 (18) Abrantes M., Valente A., et.al.; Chem. Eur. J. 2003, 9, 2685-2695 (19) H. Ojima, Nippon Kagaku Zasshi, 88 (1967) 333-339. (20) O. Belda, C. Moberg Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 249 (2005) 727–740

(21) H. Yang, L. Zhang, W. Su, Q. Yang , C. Li Journal of Catalysis 248 (2007) 204–212 (22) R. A. W. Johnstone, A. H. Wilby, I. N. Entwistle: Chem. Rev., 85, 129 (1985) 129-170. (23) G. Brieger, T. J. Nestrick: Chem. Rev., 74, (1974) 567-580. (24) Stein A., J. Melde B.,C.Schroden R. Adv. Mater. 2000,12 (19),14031414.

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(25) A. S Rao, S. K Paknikar, J. G Kirtane, Tetrahedron 39,(1983), 23232367. (26) E. J. Corey, F. Zhang, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 38, (1999), 1931-1934. Short biodata about the author

Dr. Bordoloi is presently working as a post doctoral researcher at University of Ottowa, Canada. He did his school and college educations at his home town Jorhat, Assam, followed by Masters degree in Chemistry from Dibrugarh University. Then he moved to National Chemical Laboratory, Pune and completed the Ph.D. degree in 2008. His area of research is “Synthesis of novel solid acid catalyst systems based on mesoporous materials”. He can be reached at [email protected]. Selected research publications: 1. A. Bordoloi, F. Lefebvre and S.B. Halligudi J. Catal. 247(2007) 166-175 2. A. Bordoloi and S.B. Halligudi Adv. Syn. and Catal. 348(2007) 20852088 3. A. Bordoloi , Ajayan Vinu and S. B. Halligudi Chem. Commun.(2007)4806-4808 4. A. Bordoloi, and S.B. Halligudi J. Catal. 257 (2008) 283-290 5. A. Bordoloi, Suman Sahoo, F. Lefebvre, S. B. Halligudi J. Catal. 259 (2008) 232-239. ---------

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Thesis Abstract of Ms. Rupjyoti Gogoi A Study of Self-similarity and Approximate Solutions of QCD Evolution Equations Research Guide: Professor D. K. Choudhury Place of work: Department of Physics, Gauhati University, Guwahati This thesis work contains studies on the structure of the nucleon at high four momentum transfer squared Q2 and low Bjorken variable x of deep inelastic lepton nucleon scattering using the tools of fractal geometry. Specifically, we propose a fractal inspired parameterization for the structure functions of the nucleon. The formalism is then applied to deep inelastic electron-proton as well as neutrino-nucleon scattering, gluon distribution function inside the nucleon and ultra high energy neutrino nucleon scattering cross-section. The area of small x structure function is a tremendously exciting area of research. The notion of self-similarity in this field will yield a new approach to the parameterization of the structure function which will hopefully provide a fresh insight into the structure of nucleon. Introduction: The complex irregular shapes of nature possess a hidden symmetry called selfsimilarity [1,2]. It is not translational or rotational symmetry; rather it is symmetry with respect to scale or size. Systems exhibiting self-similarity is defined through its self-similar dimension, which is in general fraction, hence called fractal dimension. Cantor dust, Koch curve and Sierpinski gasket are some classical fractals having fractal

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dimensions 0.63, 1.26 and 1.585, respectively, which lie between Euclidean point and surfaces. Self-similar objects are characterized by power law behaviour. When a selfsimilar figure is broken into smaller copies, there exists a power law connecting the magnification factor (M) and the number of pieces into which the self-similar object is divided (N), given by N MD, from which the fractal dimension can be expressed as [3], Error! Objects cannot be created from editing field codes. The dimension D should be, by definition, positive so that the number of self-similar objects increases as the length scale is decreased. Magnification factors are expected to fulfill some criteria. They should be positive, non-zero and have no physical dimension. Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) implies scattering with high energy and high momentum transfer. It is the scattering of high energy electron beams on proton target which explore the substructure of proton. Starting with the experiments performed at Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, several experiments have been performed till date which explores a rich structure of proton consisting of numerous pointlike constituents called partons which are actually quarks, anti-quarks and gluons. The kinematics of DIS is described by two independent Lorentz invariant quantities,

is the fraction of momentum lost by the electron in the proton rest frame. Another important variable is the Bjorken variable x defined as, x=Q2/2p.q and physically it signifies the fraction of momentum carried away by a struck quark from the parent proton. The observed quantity of Deep Inelastic Scattering is the structure function F2(x,Q2) which measures the distribution of momentum among various partons inside the nucleon and is expressed as, Error! Objects cannot be created from editing field codes. The un-integrated quark density exhibits a linear behaviour as a function of x and Q2 in log−log scale. It suggests that x and Q2 (or their suitable functions) can be treated as magnification factors and the proton structure function exhibits selfsimilarity and may be described by a function of magnification factors. Monofractal Model of the Proton Structure Function: In this work, we have introduced a fractal inspired model for the proton structure function with only single fractal dimension in analogy to classical monofractals. This monofractal model is however found to be valid in a limited range of x and Q2 data of HERA [4,5]. However in such limit, fractal dimension is found to be close to x-slope or pomeron intercept [6]. Self-similarity and a Parameterization of Proton Structure Function at Small x:

Q2 is the four-momentum transfer squared and y is the inelasticity which

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Then, we have proposed an alternate parameterization [7] of the proton structure function with two different

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set of magnification factors i.e. a different set of functions of x and Q2 and analyze it phenomenologically. This model is found to describe HERA data [4,5] well with an all positive set of parameters to be identified as fractal dimensions. This parameterization is found to provide an excellent description of the data which covers a region of four momentum transferred squared 0.045 ≤ Q2 ≤ 120GeV2 with a cut x < 0.01 to exclude the valence quark region. Deep Inelastic Neutrino Nucleon Scattering with Fractal Inspired Models of the Structure Functions: We also make a similar fractal motivated analysis of the nucleon structure functions F2 and xF3 in case of deep inelastic neutrino nucleon scattering [8]. Unfortunately the deep inelastic neutrino scattering experiments have not yet explored the small x values unlike the corresponding electron proton scattering experiments. Because of this kinematical constraint on deep inelastic neutrino scattering data, the models are found to have limited validity. Fractal Inspired Models of Gluon Densities at Small x: We have proposed similar fractal inspired models for the gluon distribution function [9]. As gluon distribution function is extracted from the slope of the structure function using DGLAP [10–12] equations based approximations [13-15], we examine their validity within fractal inspired models. As we observe breakdown of those equations, we suggest new empirical relations relating the slope of the structure function to the gluon distribution function within the present approach.

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Ultra High Energy Neutrino Nucleon Scattering and Fractal Inspired Models: We further test the fractal inspired models in ultra high energy neutrino nucleon scattering. To accomplish this, we evaluate the neutrino nucleon cross section for ultra high energy. Qualitatively, our results are found to be compatible with QCD evolution equations based standard results [16] and the model independent upper bounds of Ref. [17]. Though the fractal inspired models have limitations and appears to be semi quantitative in nature in comparison to other accurate parton parameterizations, the approach has nevertheless provided fresh insight into the structure of nucleon at small x: in certain limited region of deep inelastic scattering, fractality and selfsimilarity make sense. References [1] B B Mandelbrot Fractal Geometry of Nature (New York: W H Freeman) (1983). [2] Michael F Barnsley Fractal Everywhere (New York: Academic) (1993). [3] T. Lastovicka, Euro. Phys. J. C24, 529 (2002), hep-ph/0203260. [4] C. Adloff et al., H1 Collaboration, Euro. Phys. J. C22, 33 (2002), hepex/0012053. [5] J. Brietweg et al., ZEUS Collaboration, Phys. Lett. B487, 53 (2000). [6] D. K. Choudhury and R. Gogoi, Indian J. Phys. 80(6), 659 (2006). [7] D. K. Choudhury and R. Gogoi, Indian J. Phys. 80(8), 823 (2006). [8] D. K. Choudhury and R. Gogoi, Indian J. Phys. 81(5 & 6), 607 (2007). [9] D. K. Choudhury and R. Gogoi, Indian J. Phys. 82(5), 621 (2008). [10] Y. L. Dokshitzer, Sov. Phys. JETP 46, 641 (1977).

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[11] G. Altarelli and G. Parisi, Nucl. Phys. B126, 298 (1977). [12] V. N. Gribov and L. Lipatov, Sov. J. Nucl. Phys. 28, 822 (1978). [13] K. Prytz, Phys. Lett. B311, 286 (1993). [14] K. Bora and D. K. Choudhury, Phys. Lett. B354, 152 (1995). [15] M. B. G. Ducati and V. P. B. Goncalves, Phys. Lett. B390, 401 (1997). [16] R. Gandhi, C. Quigg, M. H. Reno and I. Sarcevic, hep-ph/9512364. [17] L. A. Anchordoqui, Z. Fodor, S. D. Katz, A. Ringwald and H. Tu, Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 06 013 (2005). Short biodata about the researcher

Godfrey Harold Hardy’s quotes about Srinivasa Ramanujan -I remember once going to see him when he was lying ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. 'No,' he replied, 'it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.' Godfrey Harold Hardy (7 Feb 1877 - 1 Dec 1947) English mathematician, who made leading contributions in analysis and number theory. --------0-------Quote on Chemistry

Rupjyoti was born and brought up in Jagiroad, Assam. She did her B.Sc. from Jagiroad College in 2000 securing 1st class 1st position with distinction. Then she completed M.Sc. in 2003 from Gauhati University opting High Energy Physics and Condensed Matter Physics as special papers. She has submitted her Ph.D. thesis in June’2008 to Gauhati University on a topic entitled, ″ A Study of Self-similarity and Approximate Solutions of QCD Evolution Equations″ under the guidance of Prof. Dilip Kumar Choudhury. Now she is working as a lecturer of physics in ICFAI University Tripura. She can be reached at [email protected]

"Chemists are a strange class of mortals, impelled by an almost maniacal impulse to seek their pleasures amongst smoke and vapour, soot and flames, poisons and poverty, yet amongst all these evils I seem to live so sweetly that I would rather die than change places with the King of Persia." - By Johann Joachim Becher, Physica subterranea (1667) A tidy laboratory means a lazy chemist. - By Jöns Jacob Berzelius (Swedish chemist,1779-1848)

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1. Mr. Rahul Kar

Rahul Kar, originally from Sepon, Dibrugarh, Assam has recently completed his Ph.D. research in the area of theoretical chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Sourav Pal, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, Maharastra with thesis title ‘Study of a Rational Model of Gas Phase Molecules in External Electric Field and in Solvents Using Local Reactivity Descriptors’. The prime focus of his thesis is to study the effect of external perturbations, such as external electric field and solvents, on the reactivity descriptors which are defined within the framework of density functional theory (DFT). During his stay at NCL, he had the privilege to present his work during the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC) 2008 held at Sydney, Australia funded by Department of Science and Technology (DST) and NCL. Last year, he received the Best Poster Award for his work on the effect of external electric field on the reactivity descriptors. Notably, this year he was awarded the Keerthi Sangoram Endowment Award for N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

Best Research Fellow in Physical and Material Sciences by National Chemical Laboratory research foundation. Earlier, he was awarded the M. Sc. degree in Chemistry with specialization in Physical Chemistry from Dibrugarh University, Assam. Recently Mr. Kar has joined as faculty member of Department of Chemistry, Dibrugarh University. Apart from the research activities, Mr. Kar is an excellent singer and a very good player of cricket, volleyball and basketball as well. E-mail: [email protected] Representative publications:

research

1. R. Kar and S. Pal, Theor Chem Accounts 120, 375-383 (2008) 2. R. Kar, K.R.S. Chandrakumar and S. Pal, J. Phys. Chem. A 111, 375-383 (2007) 3. S. Shetty, R. Kar, D. G. Kanhere and S. Pal, J. Phys. Chem. A 110, 252-256 (2006) 2. Partha Pratim Saikia

Partha Pratim Saikia was born and brought up in Sivasagar, Assam. He received his B.Sc. (2002) from Govt. Science College Jorhat, Dibrugarh University and M.Sc. (2004) from Gauhati University, Assam (India) with specialization in Organic 62

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

Chemistry. At present he is working towards his Ph.D. at the Natural Products Chemistry Division, North East Institute of Science & Technology (Formerly Regional Research Laboratory), Jorhat, Assam under the guidance of Dr. Nabin C. Barua in the area of Synthetic Organic Chemistry. His research interests include stereoselective total synthesis of natural products of biological significance and development of new synthetic methodologies for targetoriented synthesis. Apart from research activities Mr. Saikia is a very good player of cricket. E-mail: [email protected]

Representative research publications 1. P. P. Saikia, A. Goswami, G. Baishya, N. C. Barua Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 50, Issue 12, 25 March 2009, Pages 1328-1330 2. P. P. Saikia, Gakul Baishya, Abhishek Goswami, Nabin C. Barua Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 49, Issue 46, 10 November 2008, Pages 65086511 3. J. Boruwa, N. Gogoi, P. P. Saikia, N. C. Barua Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, Volume 17, Issue 24, 27 December 2006, Pages 3315-3326

Country: Sweden List of universities and institutes in Sweden • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Chalmers University of Technology (www.chalmers.se/en/ Göteborgs Universitet (www.gu.se/) Karolinska Institute (www.ki.se) Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (www.kth.se) Linkoping University (www.liu.se/?l=sv) Lulea University (www.ltu.se/) Lund Institute of Technology (www.lth.se/) Lund University (www.lu.se/) Mälardalens Högskola (www.mdh.se/) Mid Sweden University (www.mh.se/english/ Stockholm University (www.su.se) Umeå University (www.umu.se) University College of Kalmar (www.hik.se) University of Boras (www.hb.se) University of Karlskrona/Ronneby (www.bth.se/dat/dat_eng.nsf) University of Kristianstad (www.hkr.se/Default.aspx) University of Skövde (www.his.se) Uppsala University (www.uu.se) Institute for Surface Chemistry (www.yki.se) Technical Research Institute of Sweden (www.sp.se) Paper and Fiber research institute (www.innventia.se) Corrosion and Metal Research Institute (www.swereakimab.se)

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Posts available at Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam. Please visit http://www.gauhati.ac.in/home/recruitment/index.htm. Last date of submission of application: 1st July 2009.

Faculty positions available at Rajiv Gandhi University (A Central University) Rono Hills: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Please visit www.rgu.ac.in for details. Last date of submission of application: 30th July 2009.

NIT Silchar faculty positions Applications are invited for the posts of Professor, Assistant Professor, Lecturer and other academic staff in various academic Departments/Library/Computer Centre of the Institute. Last date of receipt of application forms has been extended upto 10 July 2009. For the post of Professor in Civil Engineering, additional specialization of Transportation Planning may be considered for the post also. For the post(s) of Assistant Professor in Mathematics, Fuzzy Sets may also be considered as an additional specialization. Visit http://www.nits.ac.in/ for detail. Last date of submission of application: 30th July 2009.

PostDoc position In Cell Biology of the Nucleus-C. elegans : Paris, France Employer: UMR7622- Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement, Paris, France A funded 2 years position is immediately available in our group. We're studying several aspects of metazoan nuclear envelope using C.elegans embryo as a model system. We are particularly interested in understanding what controls nuclear envelope dynamics and what are components required for normal development. Using reverse genetics and live imaging of the early embryogenesis we are testing the consequences of nuclear envelope protein depletions on nuclear envelope mitotic dynamics and the impact on development. Our lab belongs to the CNRS and is located in one of the leading French university in the city center of Paris. Qualification: Highly motivated applicants with a strong publication record will be considered. A solid background in cell and molecular biology is absolutely required and an experience in the use of C. elegans would be appreciated. How to apply : 1900 euro/month net and will be modulated according to the previous research experience. Applications including detailed CV, a brief description of previous work, a list of publications and the names of three referees must be sent to Dr. Vincent Galy before 12th August 2009. Contact : [email protected]

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First International Conference on ‘Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology (ICANN-2009)’ is being organized by the Centre for Nanotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), India during Dec 9-11, 2009. This is going to be a major international conference being held in the North-Eastern region of India, in the area of Nanoscience and Nanotechnolgy. The international conference intends to bring the eminent scientists, technologists and young researchers from several disciplines across the globe together to provide a common platform for discussing their achievements and newer directions of research. The ICANN-2009 conference is focused on Advanced Nanomaterials for nanoengineering and recent advances in nanotechnology, covering fields from theory and experiment to applications of nanostructured materials in technology. The scientific program will consist of plenary sessions, invited talks, oral and poster presentations. The conference will deliberate on the frontier areas of Nano Science and Technology that include: • Nanostructured & nanoscale functional materials • Nanophotonics • Nanobiotechnology • Nanocomposites • Nano Electronics and Sensors • Nanomagnetism • Computational Nanotechnology Prospective authors are requested to submit One Page (A4 size) Abstract following the guidelines provided in "Abstract Submission" link. Proceedings of the Conference will be published by reputed international publisher (AIP or World Scientific) after peer review of the full manuscript. Detail information will be provided later.

NANOTECH INDIA 2009 14 to 16 August 2009 Kochi, Eranakulam, Kerala, India The Conference is the first of its kind in India, as it is wholly organized by the private sector for the private sector. It is our intention to showcase this technology and its applications to the international business community. Website: http://www.nanotechindia.in N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Commercialization of Nanotechnology N. E. Quest; Volume 3, Issue 1, April 2009.

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Crane By Smritimala Sarmah

Male Chaffinch (Swedish: Bofink, Latin: Fringilla Coelebs) By Arindam Adhikari .

March past by ducks By Prasenjit Khanikar

Peacock in the Delhi IIT Campus By Prasenjit Khanikar

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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: 280 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 (Main editor of this issue)

2. Tankeswar Nath, Ph.D. Jubilant Organosys Ltd. Gajraula, UP, India Email: [email protected]

3. Manab Sharma, Ph.D. Austrelia, Email: [email protected]

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

5. Pranjal Saikia Chemical & Materials Engineering Department;University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Email: [email protected]

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

7. Sasanka Deka, Ph.D. National Nanotechnology Laboratory, Lecce, Italy Email: [email protected]

8. Áshim Thakur, Ph.D. 9. Utpal Borah, Ph.D. 10. Arindam Adhikari, Ph.D.

Cover Page designed by : Anirban, Pune Logo designed by : Manab Sharma http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/northeast_india_research/ http://www.neindiaresearch.org/

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