N.e Quest Volume 1 Issue 3 October 2007

Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

N. E. Quest; Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2007, 1

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

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

Dear Members, I could well remember the day when I received the invitation to join in the North East India Research Forum from none other than Dr. Arindam Adhikari. Although I have been associated with the activities of other groups also, but this forum’s activities are something different in its quality, sense and flavours. At that time the strength of the group was quite small, in double figures. Gradually it expanded and now we are in triple figures, which indicates that we are in the right track moving forward. It is the sincere effort of Dr. Adhikari who at the beginning (the most difficult phase), used to invite people to join in this forum. But now, we are in a much comfortable position that people voluntarily come and put forward their membership. Again, most of the members in this group belong to the discipline of chemical sciences when the group was started, however, at the present moment; we have members from other disciplines also like physics, biology, computer sciences etc, another pluspoint for the forum. We have also few members from the eighth state of the Northeast India, Sikkim. The status of the group has reached an honorable height by the introduction of eminent personalities like Dr. Dipankar Medhi, Dr. Dulal Borthakur etc. whose valuable suggestions and guidance will help us in climbing the ladder of success. One of the objectives of this forum is to bring the students/ researchers/scientists

/academicians in to a common platform so that we can have better exchange of ideas, views, and knowledge for the greater interest of the northeast region of India in particular and to the scientific community in general. In this context, the news letter of this forum plays a very crucial role. From this issue we have started the column of invited article. The forum is also inclined to the society. For that our first step would be to have a strong foundation so that the other layers could be built up upon that. I feel immense pleasure and honored for getting the opportunity to be the editor of the 3rd issue of the newsletter of the Northeast India Research Forum. In fact, I was thrilled when Dr. Adhikari requested me to take over that responsibility on my shoulder. To wind up, I can say with sincerity and confidence that I have gained a lot from this group’s activities also interacting with other members individually. I am sure; the other members also have the same feelings. I wish a grand success and longer life of this forum. With this much, let me log out for the time being. Thanking you (all the members) again. Happy Deepawali!

(Thakur, Ashim J)

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CONTENTS 1. THE FORUM 2. SCIENCE, R&D News 3. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: In Organic Chemistry 4. NORTH EAST INDIANS MADE US PROUD 5. EVENT AND NEWS FROM NORTH EAST INDIA 6. NORTH EAST INDIA RESEARCH FORUM MEMBERS IN NEWS, AWARDS / FELLOWSHIP RECEIVED BY MEMBERS 7. THE OTHER SIDE OF MEMBERS OF THE FORUM 8. VISIT BY MEMBERS 9. INSTRUMENT OF THE ISSUE – Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectroscopy 10. ARTICLES SECTION a) Invited Article ITER and India's contribution Prof. Dhiraj Bora

5 6 10 11 12 13 14 14 15

17

b) Is it time to change the track? Dr. Utpal Bora

20

c) Diluted magnetic semiconductors: making nonmagnetic semiconductors ferromagnetic Dr. Sasanka Deka

21

d) A tribute to the legend, F. A. Cotton Dr. Manab Sharma

23

e) The concept of hydrogen bond Mr. Bipul Sarma

26

f) The Rietveld Method: A Retrospective View Mr.Binoy K Saikia

31

g) Human Genome Project: Unfolding The Mystery Of Humanity Ms. Nabanita Bhattacharyya

33

h) Mycoremediation: An approach to clean up environmental pollutant sites Mr. Mahananda Chutia

34

i) Computational fluid dynamics (cfd), as a tool in industrial research with a case study of flow of turbulent rectangular jet in cross-flow Dr. Manabendra Pathak

37

j) Modification of wood with polymers: properties and applications Dr. Rashmi Rekha Devi

42

11. ABOUT MICELLES……. 12. USEFUL WEBSITES 13. AMAZING STORY ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF ARTIFICIAL SKIN 14. HIGHER STUDY ABROAD 15. THROUGH THE LENSE OF FORUM MEMBERS

44 46 46 47 52

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum •

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%

HE FORUM North East India Research Forum was created on 13th November 2004.

1. How we are growing. At the beginning, it was a march hardly with few members and today the forum comprised of a force of more than 160 researchers.

4. Future activities

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.

3. Poll conducted and results •

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%

•

Which area of science is going to dominate by creating a great impact on society in next decade? 1. Nanoscience & nanotechnology = 22% 2. Biotechnology = 11% 3. Nanobiotechnology = 38% 4. Chemical Engineering = 0% 5. Medicine = 11% 6. Others = 16% 7. None = 0%

•

Kindly let us know your view regarding the following topic. What activities of this group you like most? 1. Research articles= 33% 2. Information about vacancy/positions available=10% 3. Way to have a contact with all members =29% 4. Scientific discussions = 14% 5. Others = 2%

Proper planning and consequent implementation always play an important role in every aspect. Some of the topics/activities/suggestions which were being discussed, time to time in the forum will get top priorities in our future activities. Those are mentioned here, • Preparing complete online database of N.E. researchers with details. • Organising conference in the N.E. region-proposed by Dr. Utpal Bora. • Research collaboration among forum members. • Motivate student to opt for science education. • Help master’s students in doing projects in different organisationproposed by Mr. Khirud Gogoi. • Supporting schools in rural areas by different ways. • Best paper awards.

5. New activity A new domain in the name of www.neindiaresearch.org is opened. 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.

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CIENCE, R&D NEWS Nobel prize in Chemistry, 2007


The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2007 to Prof. Gerhard Ertl, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max – Planck - Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany for his groundbreaking studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces. Surface chemistry is important for the chemical industry and to understand varied processes such as why iron rusts, how fuel cells function and how the catalysts in our cars work. Surface chemistry can even explain the destruction of the ozone layer, as vital steps in the reaction actually take place on the surfaces of small crystals of ice in the stratosphere. The semiconductor industry is yet another area that depends on knowledge of surface chemistry. Prof. Ertl was one of the first to see the potential of these new techniques. Step by step he has created a methodology for surface chemistry by demonstrating how different experimental procedures can be used to provide a complete picture of a surface reaction. This science requires advanced high-vacuum experimental equipment as the aim is to observe how individual layers of atoms and molecules behave on the extremely pure surface of a metal, for instance. It must therefore be possible to determine exactly which element is admitted to the system. Contamination could jeopardize all the measurements. Acquiring a complete picture of the reaction requires great precision and a combination of many different experimental techniques. Prof. Ertl has founded an experimental school of thought by showing how

reliable results can be attained in this difficult area of research. His insights have provided the scientific basis of modern surface chemistry: his methodology is used in both academic research and the industrial development of chemical processes. The approach developed by Ertl is based not least on his studies of the Haber-Bosch process, in which nitrogen is extracted from the air for inclusion in artificial fertilizers. This reaction, which functions using an iron surface as its catalyst, has enormous economic significance because the availability of nitrogen for growing plants is often restricted. Ertl has also studied the oxidation of carbon monoxide on platinum, a reaction that takes place in the catalyst of cars to clean exhaust emissions.

Prof. Gerhard Ertl, German citizen. Presently, he is Professor Emeritus at Fritz-Haber-Institut der MaxPlanck-Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany.

(Courtesy: Nobel Foundation) Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine, 2007


The Nobel Assembly of Karolinska Institutet has decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2007 jointly to Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans and Oliver Smithies for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination. Their discoveries led to the creation of an immensely powerful technology referred to as gene targeting

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

in mice. It is now being applied to virtually all areas of biomedicine – from basic research to the development of new therapies. Gene targeting is often used to inactivate single genes. Such gene "knockout" experiments have elucidated the roles of numerous genes in embryonic development, adult physiology, aging and disease. To date, more than ten thousand mouse genes (approximately half of the genes in the mammalian genome) have been knocked out.

disease. Gene targeting has already produced more than five hundred different mouse models of human disorders, including cardiovascular and neuro-degenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer.

Oliver Smithies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA

(Courtesy: Nobel Foundation) Nobel prize in Physics, 2007


The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2007 jointly to Albert Fert, Unité Mixte de Physique CNRS/THALES, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, and Peter Grünberg, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance.

Mario R. Capecchi University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute

This technology is used to read data on hard disks and for this, it has been possible to miniaturize hard disks so radically in recent years. Sensitive readout heads are needed to be able to read data from the compact hard disks used in laptops and some music players, for instance.

Sir Martin J. Evans Cardiff University Cardiff, United Kingdom

With gene targeting it is now possible to produce almost any type of DNA modification in the mouse genome, allowing scientists to establish the roles of individual genes in health and

In 1988, the Frenchman Albert Fert and the German Peter Grünberg each independently discovered a totally new physical effect–Giant Magneto resistance (GMR). Very weak magnetic changes give rise to major differences in electrical resistance in a GMR system.

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A system of this kind is the perfect tool for reading data from hard disks when information registered magnetically has to be converted to electric current. Soon researchers and engineers began work to enable use of the effect in read-out heads. In 1997 the first read-out head based on the GMR effect was launched and this soon became the standard technology. Even the most recent readout techniques of today are further developments of GMR. A hard disk stores information, such as music, in the form of microscopically small areas magnetized in different directions. The information is retrieved by a read-out head that scans the disk and registers the magnetic changes. The smaller and more compact the hard disk, the smaller and weaker the individual magnetic areas. More sensitive read-out heads are therefore required if information has to be packed more densely on a hard disk. A read-out head based on the GMR effect can convert very small magnetic changes into differences in electrical resistance

If GMR is to work, structures consisting of layers that are only a few atoms thick have to be produced. For this reason GMR can also be considered one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology.

Peter Grünberg, presently, a Professor at Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, since 1972.

Defense research


Short – range variant of Agni missile test-fired: The short range variant of India's indigenously developed Agni series of ballistic missiles, Agni-I, was test-fired from Wheelers Island off the Orissa coast on5th October 2007. The test-firing, termed as "users trial", was conducted from a mobile launcher from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch complex. (The Times of India)

Albert Fert, presently, a Professor at Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, since 1976 and Scientific director of Unité mixte de physique CNRS/Thales, Orsay, France, since 1995.

and there-fore into changes in the current emitted by the read-out head. The current is the signal from the readout head and its different strengths represent ones and zeros.

Healthcare research
Asia’s first human milk bank: Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (LTMGH) in Sion, is the Asia’s first human milk bank, has created a record of sorts by collecting 924 litres of milk from “mother donors”. The milk is collected, pasteurized at 65 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes and then frozen at minus 20 degrees Celsius. This milk can last six months and is a boon for sick and abandoned babies. (Zeenews.com)

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Hope for Diabetic patients: There is a good news for diabetes patients as there may be a stem cell cure for the disease. Dr. H.L. Trivedi and his team from Ahmedabad claimed that they have discovered a cell that is present in human fat that can produce insulin, when cultivated. "If we could transplant stem cells which have the ability to cure diabetes, then it's the final of final and ultimate of ultimate as far as cure for diabetes is concerned,” says Dr. Trivedi, who is the director of Institute of Kidney Diseases, Ahmedabad. The miracle stem cell can be transplanted into the liver, where it not only multiplies, but produces insulin as well - much like the islet cells that produce insulin in the pancreas. With the cells present in fat, it would side step the controversy associated with embryonic stem cells. In fact, Trivedi feels this could be nature's way of countering insulin. “There is a strong reason to believe that this is a back-up system generated by nature. Nature has stored these insulin producing cells in our adipose tissue,” says Dr. Trivedi. The discovery couldn't be more relevant today, with India considered the diabetes capital of the world. However, if Dr. Trivedi's team manages to develop this, it would mean treatment for a condition that is the 4th leading cause of death in the world. So what is the next step? To begin with, the team will now seek permission from the Internal Review Board of the institute to start using this technique on patients.

Says Dr. Trivedi, “Once we get the permissions, we should be able to treat the first 10 patients in a month or so." The institute has decided to use this technique to treat children with diabetes first. The treatment will initially cost about one lakh rupees and doctors hope that this will mean the final word in diabetes treatment. (http://www.cnn-ibn.com/news/stemcell-cure-for-diabetes-in-offing-gujaratdocs/47079-17.html)
Drug’s from Spider’s venom: The venom of a particular species of spider can act like natural viagra. According to recent report published in Live Science, a person stung by the Brazilian wandering spider Phoneutria nigriventer not only experiences extreme pain but also an increase in blood pressure resulting in enhanced sexual stimulation. The research team member Romulo Leite of the Medical College of Georgia: “We are hoping that this will eventually end up in the development of real drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.” The actual compound was separated and dubbed as T X 2.6, a relatively short string of amino acids (peptide). When injected with the peptides, rats shoe enhanced sexual stimulation. It may be noted that in the past too some experiments with spider venom on rats proved to be successful. This has raised the hopes of using spider’s venom for the development of new drugs. (Courtesy: Science Reporter, October, 2007)

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ORGANIC CHEMISTRY)

(IN

1. First total synthesis of Azadirachtin: Azadirachtin is a natural insecticide isolated from the Indian neem tree in 1968, but its structure was not correctly determined till 1985. For next two decades the molecules synthesis frustrated many synthetic chemists. Recently Steven Ley et al. synthesized this complex natural product, which involves 16 adjacent chiral centers. (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 7629. and Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 7633) 2. Peptide synthesis without amino acids: Traditionally peptides are synthesized by stacking amino acids together using a series of solid supports (Merrifield’s synthesis). It requires first making of amino acids then activation and protection with reagents to make sure that they react in the right order.

4. Asymmetric catalysis of the transannular Diels-Alder reaction: Transannular chemical reactions are unparalleled in their ability to generate high degrees of stereochemical and architectural complexity in a single transformation. E. Jacobsen et al recently reported a catalytic, asymmetric transannnular Diels-Alder (TADA) reaction that affords polycyclic products in high enantiomeric excess. Additionally, the catalytic enantioselective TADA has been used as the key step in a total synthesis of the sesquiterpene 11,12diacetoxydrimane; this route provides a general approach to the polycyclic carbon framework shared by many terpene natural products. (Science 2007, 317, 1736) (Compiled by Dr. Joshodeep Boruwa, University of Konstanz) ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

H Sun et al. developed a Co-based catalyst, which strings together CO and imine. (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 6068) 3. Epoxide opening cascades promoted by water: Biosynthetic pathway of ladder polyether natural products like brevitoxin B, yessotoxin, the ciguatoxins etc is still a question. More than 20 years back Nakanishi proposed that these are formed via a cascade of epoxide opening. But in principle this type of epoxide opening reaction leads to THF ring rather than THP ring. T. F. Jamison et al showed water acts as a promoter in epoxide opening cascade reactions, which favours THP ring formation. (Science 2007, 317, 1189)

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”

—Marie Sklodoeska Curie, Physicist (1867-1934).

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ORTH EAST INDIANS MADE US PROUD 1. Prof. Jugal Kalita: Prof. Jugal Kalita (from Nagaon, Assam) was a member of the first graduating computer science and engineering B. Tech. Class in India in IIT, Kharagpur (1982). Subsequently he received a M.Sc. in computational science from the university of Saskatchewan, Canada; an MS (1988) and a Ph.D. in computer and information science from the university of Pennsylvania. Currently, he is a Professor of computer science at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Apart from research contributions he has also authored a book titled, ‘On Perl: Perl for students and professionals.’

2. Dr. Sanjib Bhuyan (hailing from Titabar, Assam) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food & Resource Economics, State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.A. Currently he is also the Director of the Graduate Program at Rutgers. He completed B.Sc. from Assam

Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam; M.Sc. (Rural-regional Dev. Plang.) from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; M.S. (Agricultural Economics) from University of Nebraska-Lincoln; M.S. (Agricultural Economics) University of Connecticut; Ph.D. (Agricultural Economics) from University of Connecticut. He has several book chapters and one book (Bhuyan, S., H. Demaine, and K.E. Weber, 1990. "Market regulation or regulated market? The case of Assam, India," HSD Monograph no. 19, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand) to his credit in addition to research papers.

2. Dr. Jukti Kalita: Dr. Jukti Kalita, marketing professional, is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (Mechanical engineering, B. Tech.), the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (MBA) and Columbia University, New York (Ph.D. in Marketing). He taught at the City University of New York for seven years before leaving to work for Merrill Lynch in Princeton New Jersey. He became vice president there. Currently, he is a Vice President at the Health Products Research, Inc. in Sommerset, New Jersey. He has written several short-stories and translated several Assamese stories to English.

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and assist with content management and development using an m-learning authoring tool. Through an online portal, students will have centralized access to lecture notes, discussion forum and online quizzes.

VENTS AND NEWS FROM NORTH EAST INDIA • IIT- Guwahati to receive $75,000 worth technology grant: Though higher education is growing along with the economic boom in the country, shortage of faculty has hit the higher education scenario necessitating the use of technology to fill the void of teachers. This observation was made by Prof. Gautam Barua, Director, IIT, Guwahati. Prof. Barua is also of the opinion that use of technology would greatly improve the teaching process. It may be mentioned here that IIT, Guwahati has been selected by HewlettPackard for its technology for teaching grants to transform the method of teaching. The institute will receive approximately US$75,000 worth of technology such as HP tablet PCs, external storage and optical drives, wireless networking cards and printers etc. According to Prof. Barua the selection for the technology grant would do away with the barriers between the learners and the teachers, and open up new possibilities for teaching and learning. In this way the institute is very keen to have interaction with various industries so that the students get the exposure to the things happening in the sector lately. P. Ravindranath, Director, Government and public affairs, HP, India Sales, announced that the company would help IIT, Guwahati to establish a mobile learning (m-learning) centre where students taking computer science and IT courses can access content using hand held computers. The centre will maintain a portal and a digital library

“IIT, Guwahati has successfully demonstrated how HP mobile technology can be integrated to redesign key courses to enhance teaching and student learning,” said Ravindranath, adding that HP technology for teaching initiatives was aimed at supporting the development of mobile technology environment in higher educational institutions. This year 13 universities in the Asia Pacific and Japan region have been selected for the HP technology for teaching grants, IIT, Guwahati being the only institute selected from India. IIT, Guwahati’s submission was reviewed by a panel comprising of representatives from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and mobile technology experts from HP. The 13 winning universities will get the chance to exchange ideas in the early part of 2008. (Courtesy: Assam Tribune). • RKB Memorial Award to Dr. Paran Boruah: Dr. Paran Boruah, Scientist, North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST), Jorhat785006 (Formerly Regional Research Laboratory) Assam, was awarded the Rohini Kanta Baruah (See North East India Research Forum News Letter, Vol. 1 issue 1, p4) Memorial Award by Assam Science Society in 2007 for his outstanding research contributions in the area of Plant Pathology and related aspects. Dr.

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Boruah’s research results have been able to throw new lights on the causative factors of many of the plant diseases and their control. He also made notable contributions towards the development of plant based fungicides and successfully perfected method to separate the gum from traditional Ramie plants of Assam thereby enabling to extract the natural ramie fiber through safe biotechnological means instead of the use of deadly chemicals which is expected to contribute a lot towards rejuvenating the dying ramie industry of the states. Dr. Boruah was conferred the Fellow of Indian Phyto-pathological Society, New Delhi this year for his significant research contributions in plant pathology. Indian Phyto-pathological Society was established in the year 1947 as a premier scientific body in the filed of Mycology and Plant Pathology Research in the country which as considered to be the third largest society of the plant pathologist of the world. A recipient of ASPEE Gold Medal from Agricultural Research and Development Foundation (Mumbai), Scroll of Honour from Indian Phyto-pathological Society, Dr. Boruah is having 27 years R&D experiences in disease control of medicinal, aromatic, horticultural and utilization of plant resources of North East India, microbial ecology, diversity and resource utilization, bio-fungicides from NE India plant species and mushroom biotechnology. Dr. Boruah was also Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology at Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat and Agricultural Extension Officer under Govt. of Assam. • Prof. Mihir Kanti Chaudhary has taken over the charge of Vice Chancellor of Tezpur University, Assam in July 2007. An eminent researcher and Shanti Swarup

Bhatnagar awardee, conferred FNA.

he

was

also

ORTH EAST INDIA RESEARCH FORUM MEMBERS IN NEWS, AWARDS /RECOGNITION/ HONOUR/ FELLOWSHIP RECEIVED BY MEMBERS 1. One of Dr. Prodeep Phukan's (Reader, Department of Chemistry, Gauhati University) papers in Tetrahedron letters (published in 2004) has been recognised among the 'Top-50 most cited articles' published during 2004-2007. So, in order to felicitate him, the Publisher (Elsevier) invited him for Dinner in Boston during American Chemical Society Meeting on 18th August. 2. The Review article (Catalytic asymmetric Henry reaction, Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, Volume 17, Issue 24, 1 December 2006, Pages 3315-3326) by Dr. Joshodeep Boruwa, Dr Naminita Gogoi, Partha Pratim Saikia and Dr Nabin C Barua is rated among the top 25 hottest article published in Tetrahedron Asymmetry. 3. Dr. Sasanka Deka, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Nanotechnology Laboratory of INFM, Lecce, Italy, has been chosen as the recipient of the TMS award/honour (2008 SHRI RAM ARORA AWARD) from USA (www.tms.org). This award is presented to recognize, encourage, and support the quest for knowledge within the international materials science and engineering community. He will receive the award during the Awards Dinner of the Society on March 11th 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, during the 137th TMS Annual Meeting.

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HE OTHER SIDE OF MEMBERS OF THE FORUM Mr. Kamal Kumar Tanti, a research scholar in Astrophysics and Astronomy at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, is a promising young writer. He regularly writes in Assamese dailies and weeklies like Asomiya Pratidin, Asomiya Khabar, Ajir Dainik Batori, Sadin and periodicals like Gariyoshi, Prantik and Satsori. He has also been contributing a column ‘Mumbai Parikrama’ regularly in the daily newspaper Asomiya Khabar. His short story in Assamese ‘Dhekiya Gojar Din’ and other short stories are well criticized and well acclaimed. He has also published two books. The first book ‘Maaraangburu Aamaar Pitaa’ was published in July 2007 and the second ‘Nimnaborgo Somaaj Oitijya’ was published in 5th of Septmeber 2007. A hearty congratulation to Mr. Tanti from the forum! ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ The Curies’ honeymoon trip was a tour of France on bicycles purchased with a wedding gift. (www.aip.org/history/curie/stud1.htm)

ISIT BY MEMBERS 1. Dr. Kamlesh Prasad (Scientist C at the Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute, Bhavnagar) will visit Department of Nano-structured and Advanced Materials, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, Korimoto, Kagoshima 8900065, Japan, as a visiting Scientist for one year (From Jan 2008 to Jan 2009) on deputation from CSIR. There, he will be working on nano structured polymeric materials and behaviour of polysaccharides in ionic liquids. 2. Arup K. Baishya from Nalbari has been pursuing BS course in Biotechnology at the State University of New Jersey, USA under PLUS (Partnership for Learning Undergraduate Studies) scholarship, 2006-2008, from the US Department of States. (Website: http://www.plusaed.org/index.php?id=1). He is also a recipient of Hilda S Foster 2007-2008, SEBS, Scholarship, Rutgers University, NJ and NIUS (National Initiative on Undergraduate Studies) fellowship 2004-2005 from Tate Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣ Albert Einstein in a different mood……….

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processes, including sample introduction and aerosol generation, ionization by an argon plasma source, mass discrimination, and the detection system. The schematic below illustrates this sequence of processes.

NSTRUMENT OF THE ISSUE Inductively coupled spectroscopy (ICP(ICP-MS)

plasma

mass

Introduction Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was developed in the late 1980's to combine the easy sample introduction and quick analysis of ICP technology with the accurate and low detection limits of a mass spectrometer. The resulting instrument is capable of trace multielement analysis. Some elements can be measured down to part per quadrillion range while most can be detected at part per trillion levels. ICP-MS has been used widely over the years, finding applications in a number of different fields including drinking water, wastewater, natural water systems/ hydrogeology, geology and soil science, mining/metallurgy, food sciences, and medicine.

Sample Introduction: Unlike the atomic emission spectrometer, ICP-MS spectrometers can accept solid as well as liquid samples. Solid samples are introduced into the ICP by way of a laser abalation system. Aqueous samples are introduced by way of a nebulizer which aspirates the sample with high velocity argon, forming a fine mist. The aerosol then passes into a spray chamber where larger droplets are removed via a drain. Typically, only 2% of the original mist passes through the spray chamber. This process is necessary to produce droplets small enough to be vaporized in the plasma torch. Argon Plasma/Sample Ionization: Once the sample passes through the nebulizer and is partially desolvated, the aerosol moves into the torch body and is mixed with more argon gas. A coupling coil is used to transmit radio frequency to the heated argon gas, producing an argon plasma "flame" located at the torch. The hot plasma removes any remaining solvent and causes sample atomization followed by ionization. In addition to being ionized, sample atoms are excited in the hot plasma, a phenomenon which is used in ICP-atomic emission spectroscopy. The aerosol moves into the bottom of the torch body.

Instrument Description and Theory ICP technology was built upon the same principles used in atomic emission spectrometry. Samples are decomposed to neutral elements in high temperature argon plasma and analyzed based on their mass to charge ratios. An ICP-MS can be thought of as four main

ICP-MS Interface: Because atomisation / ionisation occurs at atmospheric pressure, the interface between the ICP and MS components becomes crucial in creating a vacuum environment for the MS system. Ions flow through a small orifice, approximately 1 mm in diameter, into a pumped vacuum system. Here, a

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supersonic jet forms and the sample ions are passed into the MS system at high speeds, expanding in the vacuum system. The entire mass spectrometer must be kept in a vacuum so that the ions are free to move without collisions with air molecules. Since the ICP is maintained at atmospheric pressure, a pumping system is needed to continuously pull a vacuum inside the spectrometer. In order to most efficiently reduce the pressure several pumps are typically used to gradually reduce pressure to 10-5 mbar before the ion stream reaches the quadrupole. If only one pump were used, its size would be excessive to reduce the pressure immediately upon entering the mass spectrometer. Mass Spectrometer (MS): In the first stage of the mass spectrometer ions are removed from the plasma by a pumped extraction system. An ion beam is produced and focused further into the actual unit. There are several different types of mass analyzers which can be employed to separate isotopes based on their mass to charge ratio. Quadrupole analyzers are compact and easy to use but offer lower resolution when dealing with ions of the same mass to charge (m/z) ratio. Double focussing sector analyzers offer better resolution but are larger and have higher capital cost. The quadrupole mass filter is made up of four metal rods aligned in a parallel diamond pattern. A combined DC and AC electrical potential is applied to the rods with opposite rods having a net negative or positive potential. Ions enter into the path between all of the rods. When the DC and AC voltages are set to certain values only one particular ion is able to continue on a path between the rods and the others are forced out of this path. This ion will have a specific m/z ratio. Many combinations of voltages are

chosen which allows an array of different m/z ratio ions to be detected. Detector: The most common type of ion detector found in an ICP-MS system is the channeltron electron multiplier. This cone or horn shaped tube has a high voltage applied to it opposite in charge to that of the ions being detected. Ions leaving the quadrupole are attracted to the interior cone surface. When they strike the surface additional secondary electrons are emitted which move farther into the tube emitting additional secondary electrons. As the process continues even more electrons are formed, resulting in as many as 108 electrons at the other end of the tube after one ion strikes at the entrance of the cone. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

BRAIN EXERCISE

Can you find what are the chemical structures there in the picture? Courtesy: Ashim J Thakur

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finally constructed and commissioned at site by the International team in collaboration with the member countries. ITER is one of the largest international experiments ever undertaken by mankind.

RTICLES SECTION Invited Article ITER AND INDIA'S CONTRIBUTION

Prof. Dhiraj Bora In the quest for new energy sources, the world is pinning its hope on controlled fusion as one of the promising futuristic alternate source of energy. Once realised, it would have endless source of fuel to continue and very limited controlled radioactive waste. Thus an environment friendly energy source is in the horizon. It is well known to the Plasma Physics community that at present magnetically controlled fusion research has come a long way to start building a test experimental reactor that would pave the way to harness fusion energy commercially. It is heartening to note that finally the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project has started functioning as an International Organisation. The site to build the machine has been finalized at Cadarach in France. It is a unique international collaboration among seven participating teams namely China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russian Federation and the United States of America. Partners of the project will contribute in kind to the various sub systems, which will be

ITER means “the way” in Latin. It is an intermediate step between the experimental studies presently known in plasma physics and electricityproducing fusion power plants of the future. For those of you who are not familiar with this project, it is an effort to build the first FUSION SCIENCE EXPERIMENT which will be capable of producing a self-sustaining fusion reaction, called the “burning plasma”. It will be unique in the sense that it will be able to continuously operate for long durations and at power levels of about 500 MW. This will be a demonstration of physics of the burning plasma in a power plant like environment. It will also serve as a test-bed for additional fusion power plant technologies. It is particularly attractive as a future energy source since it is environmentally benign. The fuel is extracted from heavy water and from lithium. The simplest fusion reaction is when two nuclei of heavy forms of hydrogen (Deuterium and Tritium) fuse together to produce Helium and liberate energy in the form of fast neutrons: D+T

He+2 (0.5 – 3.5 MeV) + n (14.1 MeV)

Fast neutrons can be trapped in a blanket, producing heat, which may be used to generate steam and produce electricity using conventional turbines. Once realised, it would have endless source of fuel to continue and very limited controlled radioactive waste.

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The ITER project originated when the need for a next-step experiment aimed at demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes was

recognised among the leading fusion programmes worldwide. A conceptual design was initiated by the European Union, Japan, the Russian Federation, the Unites States of America in 1987 and was completed successfully in 1990. It was pursued under IAEA auspices. However towards the end of the engineering design phase, it was recognized by the Parties that due to financial constraints, it was difficult to procure a financial commitment towards the construction of ITER. Therefore, new technical guidelines for minimizing costs by reducing goals, but still retaining the overall programme objectives of the ITER/EDA agreement were established. A Special Working Group (SWG) was constituted under the terms of the ITER EDA Agreement, which reviewed the

design and recommended a unanimous opinion that the design meets the programmatic objective of demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion.

In the meantime by 2003 China and South Korea also joined the ITER. Realising that ITER is an important step on the path to develop fusion energy, India initiated the process of joining ITER as equal partner by showing its desire to the already existing six partners. After a series of steps and negotiations India has become a partner in the ITER project in December 2005. A common understanding on procurement packages for each partner was reached in the Jeju (South Korea) meeting in December 2005 and finalized. The Procurement Allocation amongst the seven Parties has been developed to enable the successful realization of ITER construction, according to the available resources and overall project schedules. The allocation

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has been made aiming at reduction of project risks and definition of clear responsibilities. The sharing ratio of inkind procurements by the seven Parties is about 4:2:1:1:1:1:1 respectively with EU and Japan sharing the first two portions. ITER is a long pulse tokamak with elongated plasma and a single null poloidal divertor. ITER machine will have a major radius of 6.3 m and a minor radius of 2.0 m. The toroidal magnetic field will be 5.3 T created with the help of a set of super conducting large coils encampusing the large ultra high vacuum vessel with special walls to confine the plasma which will have volume of more than 800 m3. The plasma will carry a maximum current of 15,000,000 amperes. The plasma will be shaped with help of another set of supeconducting poloidal coils. All these components will house in another high vacuum chamber called the cryostat, which will be 28 meters in diameter and about 26 meters in height. To further raise the plasma temperature to fusion grade, multi megawatt heating systems in the form of high energetic neutral beams and RF waves will be introduced through special openings in the vessel. The plasma will be diagnosed with numerous extremely sophisticated diagnostics. The whole installation will be controlled and protected with the help of a complex central control system. Since it is nuclear set-up, safety and licensing are of utmost importance. At present the safety report will be submitted to French Regulatory Authority. At their certification, actual construction at site will begin. The committed scope of the Indian contribution towards ITER in kind is shown in Fig. 1. It includes 1) the ITER

cryostat, 2) Vacuum vessel in-wall shields, 3) Cryodistribution lines and Cryolines, 4) ITER water cooling system (Tokamak Cooling Water System, Heat Rejection System, Component Cooling Water System and Chilled Water System), 5) 9 numbers of RF power sources each of 2.5 MW in the frequency range from 35 to 55 MHz (Total power of 20 MW) and associated power supplies, monitoring and control system, 6) ECH Assisted Plasma StartUp System (rf sources), 7) 8 numbers of Regulated High Voltage Power Supplies ( 26 kV, 175 A) for Ion Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive Systems, 3 numbers of Regulated High Voltage Power Supply Systems (80 kV,30A) for Gyrotrons of Plasma StartUp System, 1 number of Regulated High Voltage Power Supply (100 kV, 70A) System for Diagnostic Neutral Beam (DNB) and Plasma Arc Power Supplies (1 MW) for the Beam Source, 8) 3.2% of the ITER Diagnostics consisting of Optical Emission Plasma Diagnostics and 9) Diagnostic Neutral Beam (100 kV, 24 A). India is also making in-cash contribution of 2.1% for Procurement Packages that require strong design integration and/or the ITER Organization and will be procured onsite installation. The construction period of ITER is ten years, which will be followed by operation in two phases. Third is the decommissioning phase. India has committed in this long-term international programme. For the present, it is a matter of pride that the Indian fusion research activities have been recognised by the International community and as a result of which India has become the seventh partner in the ITER project.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum About the author

Dr. Dhiraj Bora was designated as ITER Deputy Director-General for CODAC, Heating and Current Drive Systems, and Diagnostics, in July 2006. ITER is a joint international research and development project that aims to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power. The partners in the project - the ITER Parties - are the European Union (represented by EURATOM), Japan, the People´s Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA. ITER will be constructed in Europe, at Cadarache in the South of France. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

IS IT TIME TO CHANGE THE TRACK?

Dr. Utpal Bora “Most important, I thank the roughly 75 members of my research group who have put their hearts, minds, and hands into this work. It is their ideas, concepts, analysis, and hard work in the laboratory that I reported in this manuscript.” This acknowledgement was made by Professor John F Hartwig, (well known for the Buchwald-Hartwig reaction) in one of his article published in Synlett.1 Niel Champness is the professor of chemical nanosciences at the University of Nottingham, UK and currently chairs the CrystEngComm editorial board. In an interview published in Chemical Sciences2 he was asked by Nicola Nugent “what is the

secret to a successful research group?” he replied, “Good students and postdocs- it’s all about them. Any professor will say that you gradually get further removed from what your research group actually does on a dayto-day basis. The real role of a professor is to try to inspire the group.” He further added, “Yah, it’s great having students who inspired and enjoy what they do. It’s pretty amazing to see a student or a postdoc take a project in a particular direction and get exited about what they have achieved. That’s the best bit”. Dr. Ashwini Nangia, professor of chemistry at the University of Hyderabad, has expressed similar view about running of a successful research group in the same journal,3 “I think the success of any research group, anywhere in the world, is down to the students. You can have a lot of good ideas, but what drives the idea to reality, at least for experimental chemists, is the student who implements the idea. I have a good group of research students who are able to see the plan or vision that I have when I suggest a problem. Like all research plans, I will be frank enough to admit that many of them don't see reality, but the students are able to get the sense that if one thing doesn't work, something else has to be tried”. Scenario in our region We have universities, we have good professors, we have good students, but we do not have well organized research groups in our universities. Is this the reason why our universities are able to produce only postgraduate students with first class but not good professionals? Is this the reason why we are legging behind in research and development in all the subjects? Is the lack of well organized research group is responsible for poor R&D infrastructure or vise versa? In our universities who will implement the ideas of professors? Will

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a research oriented postgraduate course be answer to this problem? What about our attitude and approach towards research and development work? Is it true that many of us pursue research only when we do not have alternative job options? Is it true that we have lust only for Ph.D. degree but not for research? What about the multifarious and ever discussed relationship between mentor and students in our region? For every researcher it is very important to have a good mentor. How many mentors of our region are able to motivate the students towards innovative scientific research? In the same interview in Chemical Sciences Professor Nangia mentioned about the challenges faced by researchers in India, “The main challenge is the issue of attitude. The school system puts a lot of emphasis on achieving good grades rather than encouraging innovative thinking and risk taking. The students are wedded to the fact that whatever they do should work, and the first setback they face in research is that most things don't work. But a negative result is not always a bad thing in science. One negative result today may lead to a positive result tomorrow. A shift in thinking is really the biggest challenge.” Professor Nangia’s interview was concluded with his advice to the young scientists “For any scientist at any point in their life, the most important thing is to do something innovative and challenging. And most of all, whatever you do, you should enjoy it. If you're not enjoying it, you cannot do it for a lifetime. You should do something that comes from your heart.” Is it time to change the track? References 1. Synlett, 2006, 1283. 2. Chemical Science (27 March 2007). 3. Chemical Science (24 May 2007).

About the author Utpal Bora received his Master’s degree (Chemistry) in 1999 from Gauhati University, Assam, India. He then joined Dr. R.C. Boruah’s research group in the Medicinal Chemistry Division at the North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST), Jorhat785006, Assam, India to pursue his Ph.D. At present he is working as a JSPS postdoctoral research fellow at the Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Gifu, Japan. His current research interests include development of heterogeneous catalyst for various organic transformations. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

DILUTED MAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTORS: MAKING NONMAGNETIC SEMICONDUCTORS FERROMAGNETIC

Dr. Sasanka Deka ‘Making Nonmagnetic Semiconductors Ferromagnetic’, is a relatively new and very important interesting research field in materials science. In 1998, an article published in Science journal with the same title as the topic. This is one of the highest cited article (1480 times, ISI web of knowledge, the Thomson Corporation) in relevant fields, authored by H. Ohno.1 After this publication, Dietl et al.2 reported in the same journal about the mechanism of making nonmagnetic semiconductors ferromagnetic at room temperature (1875 times citations till date).3 Readers

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may be surprised by my specified citation reports in the above paragraph. It’s because, after these

A B C Nonmagnetic element I Nonmagnetic element II Magnetic element III Figure 1. Schematic representation of (A) nonmagnetic semiconductor (B) magnetic semiconductor and (C) diluted magnetic semiconductor. particular reports, the area of making semiconductors ferromagnetic become prominent to most of the materials scientist and physicist. Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) are simple semiconductor materials doped with very low concentration of magnetic impurity. Because of their structural similarities with standard semiconductors and their large spin-polarization at the Fermi energy they (DMSs) are considered as ideal materials for spin injection into semiconductors. A comparison of nonmagnetic semiconductors, magnetic semiconductors and diluted magnetic semiconductors are shown in Figure 1. In these materials magnetism and transport properties are combined in a single material offer potential technological applications such as in spintronics. There are several theory put forwarded to calculate and find the magnetic interaction in the impurity doped ferromagnetic semiconductor system. Some of the considered theories or magnetic interactions are, Ruderman - Kittel – Kasuya - Yosida (RKKY) interation, Zener model (theory), double resonance mechanism, disordering effect, etc.

The studies on DMSs materials become very much important from the last decade due to few interesting properties or functions as shown in Figure 2; such as (a) information is stored (written) into spins as a particular spin orientation (up or down), (b) the spins, being attached to mobile electrons, carry the information along a wire, (c) the information is read at a terminal. Spin orientation of conduction electrons survives for a relatively long time, (d) which makes spintronics devices particularly attractive for memory storage and magnetic sensors applications. As mentioned, in the spintronics devices spin of electron is the most important part along with its charge. Spintronics devices create spinpolarized currents and use the spin to control current flow. Some of the already used and predicted applications of DMSs and spintronics materials are in photonics plus spintronics, improved spin transistor, transistors spin toward quantum computing, magnetic spins to store quantum information, microscope to view magnetism at atomic level, ballistic magnetoresistance, missile guidance, fast accurate position and motion sensing of mechanical components in precision engineering and in robotics, automotive sensors, etc. The reason behind the popularity of magnetic doping in semiconductors are: plausibility of incorporation of hole and electron dopants, potential spinpolarizer [injector] with similar crystal / electronic structures, easy to integrate into semiconducting devices, nonvolatility /enhanced data processing speed and low electric power consumption. There are several semiconductors system used as host. The main ones are III0V and II-VI semiconductor system.

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Transport medium (SM)

Ferromagnetic injector

Data collection

Figure 2: Storing, processing and reading of informations in spintronics. The most popular DMS system is low concentration manganese (Mn) doped GaAs. Generally its written as (GaMn)As or Ga1-xMnxAs, where x is the dopant concentration. Here Mn is an acceptor and creates a hole in III-V. Thus, there is exchange interaction between holes and Mn2+ ions and strong correlation between Curie temperature (TC) and the hole density p. Some other examples of III-V DMSs systems are (InMn)As, (GaMn)N, (InMn)P, (InMn)N, etc. All works have been carried out on thin films. But the main disadvantage of the III-V system is that, till date, ferromagnetism is observed only below room temperature. This makes the materials inapplicable for general use. To overcome this problem, transition metal ion (TM) doped II-VI semiconductors are considered with or without hole doping. Some popular systems are Co and/or Mn-doped ZnO, Ni-doped ZnO, Fe-doped ZnO. Moreover, Co-doped SnO2 and TiO2 systems are also studied. But the most considered host material is ZnO. ZnO is a natural diamagnetic semiconductor with bulk band gap 3-3.5 eV. It is white in color. Doping of different transition metal ions in ZnO leads to different results to different researchers. Wherever, most of the studies carried out on thin films, but few studies on bulk and nanoparticles too. Few research groups found room temperature ferromagnetism in the TMdoped ZnO, whereas, others found no ferromagnetism down to 2 K. On the

other hand, there are some groups, who found external impurity as the origin of ferromagnetism in the II-VI DMSs system. Although Mn-doped III-V DMSs system is established with lower Curie temperature, DMSs based on IIVI system is still under on exploration. Hope we will found DMSs with room temperature ferromagnetism in near future for the tremendous applications. References 1. H. Ohno, Science 281, 951 (1998). 2. T. Dietl, H. Ohno, F. Matsukura, J. Cibert, and D. Ferrand, Science 287, 1019 (2000). 3. http://portal.isiknowledge.com ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

A TRIBUTE TO THE LEGEND, F. A. COTTON Dr. Manab Sharma In the field of chemistry, the name "Cotton and Wilkinson" is enough to refer to the text book Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, which was written by Frank Albert Cotton and Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson. Probably without this book, for the beginners / researchers, the chemistry would have been an area of soil without fertilizer. But the legend, F.A. Cotton, is no more with us today. The 20th February 2007 may be considered as a black day for the field of inorganic chemistry, as at the age of 76 Frank Albert Cotton expired in the St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan. He was admitted to the hospital in mid-October 2006, probably after suffering an injury due to heart attack. Since then he was in coma and ultimately on 20th Feb of this year he travelled his last journey.

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I think, this is a good opportunity and right forum to give a tribute to this legend of chemistry of this Millennium. Definitely, he was the brightest star among the galaxy of chemists of this era. Frank Albert Cotton was born on 9th April 1930 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started his school life in local public school before undergraduate study at Drexel Institute of Technology and then Temple University, both in Philadelphia. Initially he started his carrier in the branch of chemical engineering, but finally his interest was turned to Chemistry and in 1951 he joined Nobel laureate late Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson at Harvard University to pursue his Ph.D. work. They were the pioneers about the nonclassical nature of transition-metal organometallics, which definitely changed the whole scenario of this branch of chemistry. In 1955, he received his Ph.D. and subsequently joined MIT as an instructor. But, later in 1961, at the age of 31 he became the youngest person to receive a full professorship in MIT. Initially, Al Cotton, as he was commonly known, concentrated his research work in the field of physico-chemical techniques to understand structure and bonding in transition-metal complexes. The most sparkling outcome of his research was the discovery and analysis of bonding in the first isolable molecule to have a metal-to-metal quadruple bond {F.A. Cotton, et. al., Science, 145, (1964) 1305}. He was also an early promoter of single crystal X-ray diffraction as a tool for elucidating the extensive chemistry of metal complexes. His works on organometallic chemistry paved the path to peep inside the bonding and reactivity of complexes and demonstrated the most interesting features, "fluxionality",

whereby ligands interchange coordination sites on spectroscopically observable timescale. Prof. Cotton elucidated many key aspects on the rates and mechanisms of fluxional processes. Another major contribution lies in the area on the structure of staphylococcal nuclease (Journal of Biological Chemistry 241 (1966) 4389; 246 (1971) 2302) and was one of the first highresolution enzyme structure determinations. This structure today provides the basis for extensive studies of enzyme catalysis employing sitespecific mutagenesis. Lately, he started to work in the field of supramolecular structure and has shown how a great variety of such structures may be created by using dimetal units as key building blocks. He had such variety of research field that it is almost impossible to cover his all area. As a whole, undoubtedly he was one of the most distinguish scholar and philosopher of this era. In 1972 he moved to Texas A&M University as Robert A. Welch Professor and shortly thereafter hold the positions of Doherty-Welch Distinguished Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Structure and Bonding. Here, he focused his research work mainly in the field of synthesis and chemistry of compounds with multiple and/or single metal-metal bonds and other unusual types of structures. If we say that he made us understanding of how the chemistry of about half the elements in the periodic table really works, is not much about him.

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Al Cotton was scientifically active until his death and with more than 1600 articles in peer-reviewed journals he made the record of publishing maximum numbers of articles in 130 years of history of Texas A&M University. Cotton was immensely proud of his large family of academic progeny-graduate students (around 116 Ph.D. recipients), more than 150 postdoctoral fellows, and many visiting scientists. He was a nevertired researcher. Even one can find his paper in "Journal of American Chemical Society" on the web published issue of 2nd October 2007. In an interview he said, "The thrill of discovery and the challenge of finding out something that perhaps no one has yet-those things are still very, very exciting to me. Maybe I was born with a lot of energy, because I still love what I'm doing, and seeing my students walk across the stage and get their degrees still gives me a big kick. That's the part I'll never get tired of…." He had written five text and reference books that have sold in excess of half-amillion copies, including editions in 40 foreign languages. The texts – including Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, Basic Inorganic Chemistry, Chemical Applications of Group Theory, and the high school text Chemistry, an Investigative Approach – very simply convey chemical principles. He received numerous awards, medals, prizes, learned society memberships. Among others, he was awarded the National Medal of Science, the Robert A. Welch Award in Chemistry, the

Joseph Priestley Medal - the highest honor given by the American Chemical Society-the Award in Chemical Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences and the highly prestigious Wolf Prize, viewed by many scholars as having the status of a Nobel Prize. The jury for the Wolf Prize called him the "preeminent inorganic chemist in the world." In 2006, Cotton received the George Pimentel award, the American Chemical Society's highest recognition for achievements in chemical education. He was awarded 29 honorary doctorates by universities around the world, believed to be the most in school history. Cotton left behind his wife, Diane "Dee", and two daughters, Jennifer and Jane. For Cotton, there will never be any traditional funeral, as he will be forever with us with his works. He is physically unreachable, but chemically will be with us, till the time will go and thus he is immortal. At the same time, his absence will definitely make an "Ozone hole" in the branch of Inorganic chemistry. (N.B. data are collected from Internet and from his site) About the author Dr. Manab Sharma (Ph.D. from North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST), Jorhat-785006, Assam, is a Lady-Davy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Chemistry, TechnionIsrael Institute of Chemistry, Haifa, Israel. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." Thomas Alva Edison

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THE CONCEPT OF HYDROGEN BOND

Mr. Bipul Sarma Introduction The Hydrogen bond was discovered almost 100 years ago but still a topic of vital scientific research. Because its eminent importance for the structures, function and dynamics of a vast number of chemical systems which range from inorganic to biological chemistry i.e. mineralogy, material science, general inorganic and organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, biochemistry, molecular medicine and pharmacy. There are dozens of different types of hydrogen bonds that occur commonly in the condensed phases and in addition there are innumerable less common ones. Dissociation energies spans a wide range so the nature of interaction is not constant. It has broad transition regions that merge continuously with the covalent bond, the Van der Waal’s interaction, the ionic interaction and also the cation-π interaction. All hydrogen bonds can be considered as incipient proton transfer reaction and for strong hydrogen bond the reaction can be in a very advanced state. Theoretical approach Recently controversy rose about the nature of the hydrogen bond. Most of the published articles claimed from

interpretations of the anisotropies in the Compton profile of ordinary ice, that the hydrogen bond is partly covalent. NMR data on hydrogen bonds in proteins also seemed to indicate covalent bonding. However, these interpretations were overthrown by argument by Ernest R. Davidson and coworkers. It is now commonly assumed that for hydrogen bonding the same effects (exchange, electrostatic, polarization, and dispersion) plays a role as for "ordinary" intermolecular forces, with electrostatics plus Pauli (hard sphere) repulsion being dominant for hydrogen bonds. Initially people thought the hydrogen bond is primarily of electrostatic origin, the hydrogen bond attraction is mainly due to the interaction of permanent dipoles and higher permanent multipoles of the molecules participating in the bond. In 1983 Buckingham and Fowler modeled the interaction of a large number of hydrogen bonded Van der Waal’s molecules. They considered atomic hard sphere repulsion and distributed over multiple interactions. They have noticed a sufficient qualitative agreement between predicted and measured structures. Thus the hydrogen bonds have major effect to determine a definite structure. Definition of Hydrogen Bond The first and modern definition of hydrogen bond was developed by Pimental and McClellan in 1960. Accordingly a hydrogen bond is said to be exist when, (i) There is evidence of bond & (ii) There is evidence that this bond sterically involves a hydrogen atom already bonded to another atom.

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A drawback of Pimental and Mc Clellan definition is that in the strict sense it includes pure Van der Waal contacts and also includes 3c−2e interactions where electron deficient centre (agostic interaction) is present. Modern viewpoint modifies point no. ii and proposed as An X−H···A interaction is called a hydrogen bond if, (i) It constitute a local bond and (ii) X−H acts as a proton donor to A. This definition implicates the incipient proton transfer reaction from X−H to A. The direction of formal and real electron transfer in a hydrogen bond is reverse to the direction of proton donation. Some specialized definitions of hydrogen bond are based on the following sets of properties, (a) Interaction geometries on crystal structures (short distances, fairly linear angle) (b) certain effect in IR and NMR spectra. (c) experimental electron density distribution (existence of bond at critical point between H and A). Scientist often requires a technical definition. Thus the Van der Waal cutoff definition for identifying hydrogen bonds on structural basis (requiring that the H···A distance is substantially shorter that the sum of the Van der Waal radii of H and A) is for too restrictive and should no longer be applied. If distance cut off limit must be used, X−H···A interaction with H···A distances upto 3.2 Å should be considered as potentially hydrogen bonding. An angular cut off can be set at >90° or somewhat more conservatively at >110°, linear X−H···A angle must be statically favoured over bent one.

Terminology

d1

A

X H d2

Prototype hydrogen bond

X A A d

Bifurcated hydrogen bond

d1

X H d2

Normal hydrogen bond

A

A d3

A

A

Trifurcated hydrogen bond

Water molecule can be taken as the prototype of all hydrogen bond. The large difference in electro negativity between it and O atom makes the O−H bonds in a water molecule inherently polar with partial atomic charges of around +0.4 on each H atom and −0.8 on the O atom. The orientation of other H2O molecule results O−H···O interactions, the intermolecular distance is shortened by around 1Å compared to the sum of Van der Waal radii for the H and O atom. Dissociation energy of this bond is 3−5 kcalmol-1. For an X−H group to be very electronegative, it is only necessary that X−H is at least slightly polar. e.g. C−H, P−H, metal hydrides. X−H group of reverse polarity Xδ+−Hδ- can form directional interactions than parallel hydrogen bonds. In simple hydrogen bonds the donor (X−H) interacts with one acceptor (A). Since hydrogen bond

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bond energies at an inflationary rate, many obtained at high levels of theory and even more in rather routine calculations using black box method. It appears that hydrogen bond energies cover more than two orders of magnitude, about −0.20 to −4.00 kcalmol-1.

has long range a donor can interact with two and three acceptor simultaneously. The term bifurcated and trifurcated are commonly used. More than three acceptors are also possible but rarely found in practice because they require very high spatial densities. Constituent Interactions and Energies The above figure shows schematic representation of a typical hydrogen bond, A hydrogen bond length differing from d0 implies a force towards a geometry of lower energy that is by attraction if d>d0. The total energy of a hydrogen bond splits into electrostatic (Eel), polarization (Epol), charge transfer (Ect), dispersion (Edisp) and exchange repulsion energies (Eer). Eel reduces slowest with increasing distances. Thus hydrogen bond potential is dominated by electrostatics at long distances even if charge transfer plays an important role at optimal geometry. In normal hydrogen bond Eel is the largest term, but a certain charge transfer contribution is also present. The Van der Waal term too is always present and for the weakest kinds of hydrogen bonds dispersion may contribute as much as electrostatics to the total bond energy. The energy of the hydrogen bond cannot be measured directly. Computational chemistry produces results on hydrogen

Following table gives us some literature values of calculated hydrogen bond energies (kcalmol-1) in some gas phase dimers. Dimer [F−H···F] −

H-bond energy (kcalmol-1) 39

[H2O−H−H2O]+

33

[H3N−H−NH3]+

24

[HO−H−HO] −

23

[NH4+···OH2]

19

HOH···OH2

4.7-5.0

MeOH···Bz (Benzyl) CH4···Bz

2.8

HSH···SH2

1.1

CH4···OH2

0.3- 0.8

CH4···F−CH3

1.4

0.2

Transition to other interaction type Transition to pure Van der Waal interaction is common. Reducing the polarity of X−H or A (or both) in the array Xδ-−H δ+···A δ- by suitable variation of X and A we can reduce the electrostatic part whereas the Van der Waal part is not affected and Van der Waal interaction gains relative weight. If polarities are reduced to zero the interaction is purely Van der Waal. e.g.

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the directionality of C−H···O=C gradually disappears when the donor is varied from C C−H to C=CH2 to C−CH3. On the other hand there is a continuous transition to covalent bond or so called “Symmetric Hydrogen Bond”. If in an interaction Xδ-−H δ+···Y δ-−H δ+, the net charges on X−H and Y−H are zero, the electrostatics are of dipole type. These situation leads to ionic interactions between charge centers with energy having a.1/r distance dependence. e.g. salt−bridges between primary ammonium and carboxylate groups in biological structures. In case of cation−π interaction e.g. K+−benzene, there is a transition of hydrogen bond. This interaction can be considered as electrostatic monopolequardrupole- interaction also fades to zero. IR and NMR spectroscopic properties Formation of a hydrogen bond affects the vibrational modes of the groups involved in several ways and can be studied by solid state IR-spectroscopy. The frequency of the donor X −H stretching vibration (νX-H) is best studied because the formation of hydrogen bond leads to red shift of absorption band, band broadening or intensification. For weaker hydrogen bond, these bands are in the far infrared and are investigated rarely. A direct effect of hydrogen bond can often be observed also on the acceptor side. In X−H···O=C bonds e.g. O=C bond is weakened leading to a lowering of the stretching frequency. Blue shift indicates different interaction, which is not a proper hydrogen bond and we may called as “improper hydrogen bond.”

In NMR, the proton is increasingly deshielded with increasing hydrogen bond strength which leads to downfield shift that are correlated with the length of H bond. Chemical shift of X and A, X/N and X/A coupling constant and differences in the 1H and 2H signals in H/D exchange experiment can give additional information on X−H···A bonds. Category of hydrogen bonds Hydrogen bond exists with continuum strength. For practical reason it is classified into three (By G. A. Jeffrey). (i) Strong Hydrogen Bond. (ii) Moderate Hydrogen Bond. (iii) Weak Hydrogen Bond. Unlike moderate and weak hydrogen bonds, strong hydrogen bonds are quasicovalent in nature. Strong hydrogen bonds are formed only if the pKa values of the partners are suitably matching. If the pKa values are very different, either a moderate X−H···Y or an ionic X−···H−Y+ hydrogen bond is formed, both of which are not very covalent. Some examples of strong hydrogen bonds, H O

H

O H

F

H

_ F

P

+

_ O

H

O

N H +

N

P

Weak hydrogen bonds (energy ranges from 0.4 to 4 kcalmol-1) with C−H groups as donor are studied best.

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Different hydrogen bonds with some numerical data are tabulated below (By G. A. Geffrey),

Hydrogen bonds are non additive. That means n−interconnected hydrogen bonds are not just the sum of those of n isolated bonds. Two principal mechanisms are responsible for this non additivity and both operate by mutual polarization of the involved groups, (i) σ-bond cooperativity or Polarization Assisted Hydrogen Bonding (PAHB) (ii) π-bond cooperativity or Resonance Assisted Hydrogen Bonding (RAHB). If an Xδ-−H δ+ group forms a hydrogen bond Xδ-−H δ+···A δ-, it becomes more polar. Same also true if it accepts a hydrogen bond, Yδ-−H δ+···X δ-−H δ+. Thus in a chain with two hydrogen bonds, Y−H···X−H···A, both becomes stronger. This effect is called σ-bond cooperativity or Polarization Assisted Hydrogen Bonding. X−H groups may also be polarized by charge flow through

π-bonds. Then it is called π-bond cooperativity or Resonance Assisted Hydrogen Bonding. Conclusion Hydrogen bond has tremendous use in various fields. This article is a concept and overview of hydrogen bonding in the solid state. It only focuses the structural properties. Now a day it is related to the broad spectrum of fields involving material science, inorganic and organic chemistry, biology and pharmacy. References 1. G.A. Geffrey, An Introduction to Hydrogen Bonding, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997. 2. G.R. Desiraju, T. Steiner, The Weak Hydrogen Bond in Structural Chemistry and Biology, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999. 3. G.R. Desiraju, Angew. Chem., 1995, 107, 2541-2558; Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1995, 34, 2311-2327. 4. T. Steiner, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 48-76. 5. J. Kroon, J.A. Kanters, Nature, 1974, 248, 667-669. About the author Bipul Sarma (born in Nalbari district, Assam) received his bachelor degree in

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chemistry from B. Barooah College, Guwahati and finished masters degree from Cotton College (Gauhati University) in 2003. After qualifying CSIR-JRF, he joined in a DST sponsored project under the supervision of Prof. J.B. Baruah in IIT-Guwahati. Then he moved to School of Chemistry, University of Hyderabad and joined as a Ph.D. Research Scholar under the supervision of Prof. Ashwini Nangia in July 2004. Presently he is working in the area of organic more precisely crystal engineering and polymorphism in organic molecules including drug and synthesis. Phone: 09441034837 Tele-Fax: +91-40-23011338 E-mail: [email protected] ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

THE RIETVELD METHOD: A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW

Mr. Binoy Kumar Saikia

After obtaining the Ph.D. degree in the subject of X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques from University of Western Australia in 1964, a young fellow, Hugo M. Rietveld joined the neutron diffraction group of the Reactor Centrum Nederland (now Netherlands Energy Research Foundation ECN) in the Netherlands. There he was giving

emphasis mainly on powder diffraction techniques, because it was apparent that no large, single crystals could be grown of the materials that were then of interest. Determination of structures with compounds more complex and of lower symmetry was quite difficult due to the overlap of peaks which was severe and separating them became practically impossible. In an effort to overcome this problem, H M Rietveld declared a new methods for structural determination using X-ray powder diffraction intensity profiles which was later known as Rietveld Method. It refines various parameters including lattice parameters, peak width and shape, and preferred orientation to derive a new diffraction pattern. The method was first reported at the seventh Congress of the International Union of Crystallography in Moscow in 1966. The response was slight, or, rather, non-existent, and it was not until the full implementation of the method was published, that reactions came. At this time, the method was mainly used to refine structures from data obtained by fixed wavelength diffraction. A total of 172 structures were refined in this way before 1977. Dr. H.M. Rietveld developed a program for the method, written in Algol (Rietveld 1969b) and later in 1972, in FORTRAN IV. Twentyseven copies of this were distributed to institutes all over the world. It had been suggested that the method could also be applied to X-ray data, but it was not until 1977 that the method became generally accepted for X-ray as well as neutron powder diffraction. This is reflected in an increasing number of citations to the original papers (Rietveld 1967 and 1969b) as published in the Science Citation Index. In the period January

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1987 to May 1994 a total of 350 papers were published with reference to or using the Rietveld Method, of which nearly half used neutron diffraction. Many more papers on the method have appeared with unexpected applications. In the day of digitized X-ray diffraction patterns, Rietveld Analysis has become increasingly of interest. This is a "whole pattern" treatment rather than a limited number of reflections of the X-ray data and it gives the type of structural analysis normally obtained by a single crystal diffractometer. It was originally conceived as a refinement method for crystal structures using neutron diffraction data. But today it is also used for X-ray diffraction. Briefly, the Rietveld method requires a knowledge of the approximate crystal structure of all phases of interest. The input data required to calculate a synthetic pattern includes the space group symmetry, number of atoms, atomic positions, temperature factor, site occupancies, and lattice parameters. The refinement is conducted by minimizing the sum of the weighted, squared differences of this calculated pattern and the observed intensities every step in a digital powder pattern. In a typical refinement, individual scale factors (related to the weight percents of each phase) and profile, background, and lattice parameters are varied. In favorable cases the atomic positions and site occupancies can also be successfully varied. Since the method uses all lines, severely overlapping reflections are not a problem. The method can be used to obtain the following crystallographic information: Lattice Parameters: Since systematic errors (caused by sample displacement) are corrected during refinement, accurate

values up to one part in 1000 can be obtained on solid samples without an internal standard. Additionally, accurate cell dimensions can be computed on low symmetry materials. Accurate Phase Quantification: Scale factors are refined and are related to weight percent of each phase. Complex mixtures with overlapping reflections are quantified with a high degree of accuracy (about 1 wt.%) Crystallite Size and Strain: A mathematical function is used to model the profiles and to separate diffraction peak broadening due to size from that due to strain. Size and microstrain values are derived simultaneously from the XRD pattern. Site Occupancies: Yields quantitative information as to the extent of solid solution or isomorphous substitution. Atom Positions: Positions of selected cations in the unit cell can be computed. Rietveld Method has contributed to a renewed interest in powder diffraction techniques, even to the extent that in some applications it replaces single crystal techniques. The method is proven to be sound and has given results at least as good as single crystal data. References 1. Rietveld, H.M. (1966a). Acta Crystallogr., 20, 508. 2. Rietveld, H.M. (1967). Acta Crystallogr., 22, 151-2. 3. Rietveld, H.M. (1969b). J. Appl. Crystallogr., 2, 65-71. About the author Mr Binoy K Saikia a graduate from Dibrugarh University obtained his masters degree in Inorganic Chemistry from Cotton College (Gauhati University) in 2000. He then joined in North East Institute of Sciences & Technology (Formerly Regional

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Research Laboratory), Jorhat-785006, India on January 2002 as a Project Assistant and completed his research work on X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic investigation of Assam coal. Presently he is in the Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, Tezpur-784028, India from March 2005. His areas of research interest are X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, coal chemistry, acid mine drainage, water & soil pollution. ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

HUMAN GENOME PROJECT: UNFOLDING THE MYSTERY OF HUMANITY

Nabanita Bhattacharyya After all it is the genetic make up of Homo sapiens, where the humanity is hid, and the molecular biology is on the way to unfold this mystery. A human body is made up of about 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 cells. Each cell contains, in its nucleus, all the coding instructions necessary to direct the cell's activities and manufacture the required proteins. A complete set of those raw coding instructions is referred to as a genome. To understand the genetic make up of the human species, it was necessary to identify and map all the genes of human genome. For this purpose, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was undertaken and

formally founded in 1990, coordinately by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH). Mainly, the HGP was carried out by an International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (IHGSC). In addition to the United States, this international consortium of $ 3 billion public project comprised geneticists in China, France, Germany, Japan and U.K. However, some research was done independently by a private company “Celera Genomics”, which was launched by the American researcher Craig Venter in 1998 (Venter et al, 2001). Goals of Public HGP were to• Identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA; • Determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA; • Store this information in database; • Improve tools for data analysis; • Transfer related technologies to the private sector; and • Address the ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project. According to the definition employed by the International HGP, it was announced earlier that HGP was completed in April 2003. But in real sense, it was completed in May 2006, when the sequence of the last chromosome was published in the journal “Nature”. But in any case, it is only 92% of the total human genome that have been completed. Remaining 8% of the total genome, which include some heterochromatic regions containing repetitive sequences like centromeres, telomeres and multigene families, are yet to be completely sequenced.

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2. Venter, J.C., et al (2001). “The sequence of the human genome”. Science 291: 1304-1351.

However, detailed knowledge of the human genome can be gained only after elaborate interpretation of genome data, which is still in its initial stage. Such knowledge will provide new avenues for advances in medicine and biotechnology. Successful interpretation may lead to the deeper understanding of the disease processes at the level of molecular biology to determine new therapeutic procedures for some complicated illnesses including breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease, disorders of hemostasis, liver diseases and many others. Again, many questions about the similarities and differences between humans and our closest relatives (the primates and indeed the other mammals) are expected to be illuminated by the analysis of the data from this project,which may open new avenues in the study of the theory of evolution. References 1. International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (2001). Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature. 409: 860921.

About the Author Ms. Nabanita Bhattacharyya has been working as a lecturer Department of Botany, Nowgong College, Assam. Her research area is Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. The title of her Ph.D thesis is ‘Investigation on physiological performances on Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Masandari)- with reference to its phytoremediation potential in uncultivable land.’ Email: [email protected] ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

MYCOREMEDIATION: AN APPROACH TO CLEAN UP ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT SITES

Mahananda Chutia Mycoremediation is a form of bioremediation, the process of using fungal mycelium to return an environment (usually soil) contaminated by pollutants to a less contaminated state. The term was coined by Paul Stamets and refers specifically to the use of fungal mycelia in bioremediation. Potential applications for mycoremediation technologies include: agricultural waste reduction, creation of buffer zones, nonpoint source pollution reduction in watersheds, contaminated sediment cleanup, reduction of material

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relegated to confined disposal facilities, decontamination etc. (Allard and Neilson, 1997). The mycelium secretes extracellular enzymes and acids that break down lignin and cellulose, the two main building blocks of plant fiber. These are organic compounds composed of long chains of carbon and hydrogen, structurally similar to many organic pollutants. The fungi mostly used are wood-rot Basidiomycetes capable of degrading lignin cellulose etc. The ability of fungi to degrade lignin is due to a complex of extracellular enzymes viz. lignin peroxidase, manganese dependent peroxidase, hydrogen peroxide generating oxidases, and phenol oxidases such as laccase. The lignin peroxidases were first discovered in the Basidiomycetes Phanerochaete chrysosporium Burds and in the 1980s this fungus was the main experimental model in lignin degradation research. Due to the nonspecific character of radical-mediated reactions of ligninolytic enzymes, the degradation of a wide variety of xenobiotic compounds having an aromatic structure like lignin has become a subject of extensive research.

Again, under natural conditions plants live in close association with soil fungi (mycorrhizal association, about 90%) living in the root zone which influence the ability of plants to establish through

effects on nutrient cycling, pathogens, soil aeration and soil water uptake (Chen et al, 2007). Many fungi species play an important role in the recycling of complex wood debris and garden wastes. Many of them thrive in varied and complex environments. European and Asian nations are evaluating the possible uses of fungi and it’s by products as a tool for remediation. More than 10% of the growing medium or "substrate" in mushroom cultivation (straw, sawdust, compost, most agricultural and forest debris) can be converted into a protein- and vitaminrich food. These mushrooms are not only nutritious; they have also demonstrated abilities in enhancing the human immune system and produce a slew of natural antibiotics. Yet it is the residual mycelium in that substrate that holds the greatest potential for ecological rehabilitation. Mycelia can serve as unparalleled biological filters. Lignin peroxidases dismantle the long chains of hydrogen and carbon, converting wood into simpler forms. These enzymes are superb at breaking apart hydrocarbons, the base structure common to oils, petroleum products, pesticides, PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyl) and many other pollutants. Oyster mushrooms can remove more than 95% of the PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) which is reduced to non-toxic components and the mushrooms were also free of any petroleum products. Stamets claimed that one mushroom species has been found to break down VX, the potent nerve gas agent. This discovery is significant, as VX is very difficult to

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destroy. Again, Pleurotus ostreatus can remove up to 90% of the phenol content from its substrate (Setti et al, 1998). In an experiment conducted in US, a plot of soil contaminated with diesel oil was inoculated with mycelia of oyster mushrooms; traditional bioremediation techniques (bacteria) were used on control plots. After four weeks, more than 95% of the PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) had been reduced to non-toxic components in the mycelial-inoculated plots. It appears that the natural microbial community participates with the fungi to break down contaminants, eventually into carbon dioxide and water. Wood-degrading fungi are particularly effective in breaking down aromatic pollutants (toxic components of petroleum), as well as chlorinated compounds (certain persistent pesticides). Fungi mainly mushrooms are the natural decomposers because they secrete enzymes and acids that degrade organic polymers into simpler moieties. Agaricus bisporus is capable of accumulating silver whereas Boletus badius is particularly efficient in accumulating gold and arsenic, which are stored in different parts of the mushrooms. The highest concentration of cadmium (35 mg/kg) was also found within the genus Agaricus, although in contrast, the best cadmiumhyperaccumulating plant Thlaspi caerulescens can accumulate over 100 mg/kg (McGrath, 1998). Lentinus edodes (Shiitake) can remove more than 60% of pentachlorophenol (PCP) from soil and convert it into pentachloroanisole (Okeke et al, 1993) among other products. Many Basidiomycetes have the ability to absorb and degrade chlorophenols.

Armillaria, Ganoderma, Pleurotus, Polyporus, Coprinus, and Volvariella were all able to remove PCP in a batch cultivation system (Chiu et al, 1998). Although, the capacities of the mushrooms to absorb and degrade the contaminant varied considerably. Mycorrhizal association together with mushroom mycelia would appear to offer a number of possibilities in the field of bioremediation (Chen et al, 2007). Other than that fungi have been shown to accumulate radio-nucleotides, metals, and even rare earth elements; fungi are great biodegraders and has the ability to enhance plant growth in extreme environment etc (Quintero et al, 2007). Presently it is a potential are of environmental remediation research to clean up our pollutants sites. Little work has been done so far. Mushrooms can colonize in the areas of contaminated substrate and uptake and degrade exogenous toxins suggests that there is considerable potential in this approach. References 1. Allard A.S., Neilson A.H. Bioremediation of organic waste sites: A critical review of microbiological aspects. Int. Biodeterior Biodegrad, 1997, 39:253–85. 2. Chen B., Xiao X., Zhu Y.G., Smith F.A., Xie Z.M. and Smith S.E. The arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus mosseae gives contradictory effects on phosphorus and arsenic acquisition by Medicago sativa Linn. Science of the Total Environment. 2007, 379 (2-3): 226-234 3. Chiu S.W., Ching M.L., Fong K.L. and Moore D. Spent oyster mushroom substrate performs better than many mushroom mycelia in

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4.

5.

6.

7.

removing the biocide pentachlorophenol. Mycol Res. 1998, 102:1553–62. McGrath S.P. Phytoextraction for soil remediation. In: Brooks R.R., editor. Plants that Hyperaccumulate Heavy Metals. Wallingford: CAB International, 1998. pp. 261–87. Okeke B.C., Smith J.E., Paterson A. and Watson-Craik I.A. Aerobic metabolism of pentachlorophenol by spent sawdust culture of Shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes) in soil. Biotechnol Lett. 1993, 15:1077–80. Quintero J.C., Lú-Chau T.A., Moreira M.T., Feijoo G. and Lema J.M. Bioremediation of HCH present in soil by the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta in a slurry batch bioreactor. Int. Biodeterior. & Biodegrad. (Article in Press). Setti L., Maly S., Iacondini A., Spinozzi G. and Pifferi P.G. Biological treatment of olive milling waste waters by Pleurotus ostreatus. Annali Chim. 1998, 88:201–22.

About the author Mahananda Chutia was born in Dhemaji district of Assam. He graduated with 1st position and distinction from Dibrugarh University (2000) and completed his Masters degree in Botany with specialization in Microbiology from Gauhati University (2003). Presently, he is a Research Fellow at North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST), Jorhat. He has also worked in different research projects in the Department of Biotechnology and Botany, Gauhati University after his MSc. He has already published a few research papers in reputed international and national journals and filed one patent. His research interest is Mushroom Biotechnology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and

any other interdisciplinary research works. Email: [email protected] , [email protected] ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD), AS A TOOL IN INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH WITH A CASE STUDY OF FLOW OF TURBULENT RECTANGULAR JET IN CROSS-FLOW Manabendra Pathak The importance of study of fluid dynamics is endless. Starting from our breathing to blood circulation, from swing of cricket ball, to flying of an aeroplane, everywhere fluid dynamics is involved. In the past, most of the problems of fluid dynamics are tackled with either experimental or theoretical approach. The foundations of experimental fluid dynamics started in seventeen century in Europe and the gradual development of theoretical fluid dynamics are witnessed in the eighteen and nineteen century again in Europe (Rouse & Simon, 1967). However in the late of twenty century, the advent of high-speed digital computer combined with the development of accurate algorithms for solving physical problems on these computers has revolutionized the study of fluid dynamics. It has introduced a fundamentally important new third approach in fluid dynamics; the approach of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Gradually CFD is becoming an equal partner with pure theory and pure experiment in the analysis and solution of the fluid dynamics. In present time CFD is extensively used in the research works of many process industries due to its

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relatively less cost compared to the experimental and thus experimental technique is virtually replaced. What is CFD For deriving the basic equations of fluid flow, the approach of continuum mechanics is applied in which, the existence of molecules is ignored, and matter is treated as a continuous medium. The mapping of the laws of mass, momentum, and energy conservation to the continuum results in field equations that describe the dynamics of the continuum. These field equations, that are derived from the conservation laws of mass, momentum, energy and species set over a physical domain are nonlinear, partial differential equations that can be solved, in principle, when combined with the appropriate constitutive information and boundary conditions. These equations are then solved numerically to generate the velocity and other scalar fields in the flow domain. The Navier-Stokes equations which are derived from the conservation of momentum consist of the nonlinear partial differential equations with an intricate dependency on velocity components within the system of equations. Apart from some specific cases, these partial differential equations are not solvable using the mathematical tools. There are only a very small number of flows that entitle one to simplify the governing equations in such a way that it is possible to achieve a theoretical study by analytical solution. Consequently for most cases, one is required to solve the NavierStokes equations numerically using CFD techniques. CFD is a technique of replacing the partial derivatives with discretised algebraic form, which in turns are solved for flow field value at

discrete points in time and/or space. Thus CFD is a highly interdisciplinary research area, which lies at the interface of physics, applied mathematics, and computer science. Components of CFD technique Four steps are required to apply a general-purpose CFD technique to solve a fluid dynamics problem. First step is the creation of the geometry and discretisation or meshing of the flow domain. This involves the constructing the geometry for the problem, which is typically done using a computer-assisted design (CAD) like preprocessor. Within the geometry of the domain, relevant physics are defined, appropriate models are specified, boundary and initial conditions are applied, and solver parameters are specified. In CFD technique the governing non-linear partial differential equations are discretised on the specified geometry. So the domain discretisation must be specified. This process, known as meshing or grid generation, is the second step in the CFD technique. In the third step, the equations are discretised over the specified grid, and the resulting sets of algebraic equations are solved. The development of solvers is still an active area of research, the goal being to improve the likelihood and rate of convergence. The fourth step, after satisfactory convergence is obtained, is to interpreting the solution in terms of plots, graph or animation. This step is known as also post processing. The quality of CFD results depends on (i) the mathematical model and underlying assumptions, (ii) approximation type and stability of the numerical scheme (ii) mesh, time step, error indicators and stopping criteria.

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CFD in Current Industrial Applications CFD is routinely used today in a wide variety of disciplines and industries, including aerospace, automotive, power generation, chemical manufacturing, polymer processing, petroleum exploration, medical research, meteorology, and astrophysics. The use of CFD in the process industries has led to reductions in the cost of product and process development and optimization activities (by reducing down time), reduced the need for physical experimentation, shortened time to market, improved design reliability, increased conversions and yields, and facilitated the resolution of environmental, health, and right-tooperate issues. It follows that the economic benefit of using CFD has been substantial, although detailed economic analyses are rarely reported. A case study of the economic benefit of the application of CFD in one chemical and engineered-material company over a sixyear period conservatively estimated that the application of CFD generated approximately a six-fold return on the total investment in CFD (Davidson, 2001).

Figure 1: Configuration of a jet in crossflow.

A case study using CFD: The flow field of turbulent jet in cross-flow As a case study of CFD investigation, we have presented here the CFD results of flow and heat transfer characteristics of turbulent rectangular jets in crossflow. This type of problem is encountered in numerous engineering applications. Some examples are the internal cooling of turbine blades by air jets, vertical and short take-off and landing (VSTOL) aircraft, dilution by air jets in combustion chambers of gasturbine engine, cross winds on chimney stacks or flames from petrochemical plants, discharge of sewage or waste heat into rivers or oceans, thermal plumes rising into cross winds in the atmosphere etc. The configuration of a rectangular jet in cross-flow is shown in Fig. 1. The axis of the jet is usually defined as the locus of the maximum velocity or total pressure. The main parameter which characterizes jet in cross-flow is the jet-to-cross-flow velocity ratio, R (= vj/ua) or the momentum flux ratio J (=

ρj 2 R ) . The ρa

low velocity ratio (R < 0.5) is seen in the case of turbine blade cooling whereas 1< R < 10 is found in the case of jet stabilisation in the combustion chamber. The jet with R > 10 is characterised with free jet characteristics. Problem formulation We have considered the flow field of a heated rectangular jet, discharged from the rectangular slot in the channel bed whereupon the channel flow forms the cross-flow. The velocity ratio of the jet to cross-flow is 6 i.e. r = 6. The jet is slightly heated (6.10 c) compared to the cross-flow. Both the cross-flow and jet flow are fully turbulent. The 3d, steady state, reynolds-averaged navier-stokes

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equations for the incompressible flow form the governing equations. Standard k-ε model (Launder & Spalding, 1974) is used to resolve the turbulence of the flow field. The details of the flow domain, grids, boundary conditions, numerical methods used and code validations can be found in (Pathak et al., 2006).

Figure 2: Mean velocity vector plots superimposed with streamline at different spanwise locations, z/D = 0 and 3 in x-y plane. Results The predicted non-dimensional mean velocity vectors superimposed with streamline plot at two different x-y planes in the spanwise direction are shown in fig. 2. The two planes chosen are the central vertical plane (z/d = 0) and planes at z/d = 3. The jet trajectory is deflected in the streamwise direction and the direction of the cross-flow is altered as if an obstacle blocks it. However, due to the effect of the jet entrainment and the motion of the jet, the flow field of a jet in cross-flow is not exactly the same as that over a rigid obstacle. a wake-like region with a complex flow pattern is formed in the lee side of the jet. Very close to the bottom wall, a reverse flow region is formed and the cross-stream fluid has been observed to enter this region. After entering, the cross-flow travels upstream

and observed to be lifted upward by the jet fluid and to be carried downstream together with it. The vertical penetration of the jet is more at the central plane (z/d = 0) than at the other plane (z/d = 3) due to the lateral spread of the jet near the side edge of the jet discharge slot. it is also observed that the structures and extent of the reverse flow regions downstream of the jet are different at the three spanwise planes, thereby demonstrating the threedimensionality of the flow. Iso-contours of the mean temperature at three different spanwise planes (z/D = 0, 5 and 6) are presented in Fig. 3. The temperature contour shows shapes somewhat similar to the well known Gaussian distribution. The mean temperature variations of the heated free jet are small (Sherif & Pletcher, 1991). Therefore all the temperature fluctuations in the cross-flow jet may result from the mixing and the interaction between the jet and crossflow. At the upper part of the jet, the distribution of the contour is dense, thus indicating that the mixing between the jet and the cross-flow is rather active. In contrast, relatively sparse contours are developed widely at the inner part of the jet. This originates from a low-velocity reverse flow region, which may promote the process of thermal spread at the inner part of the jet. The spread of the mean temperature is affected by the mean velocity field at different spanwise locations. At the edge and outside of the slot, the spread of the temperature is less compared to that at the centre, which is Similar to the case of the mean velocity

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field distribution.

Figure 3: Mean temperature contours at three different spanwise (x-y) planes at different locations, z/D = 0, 5 and 6. References 1. Davidson, D.L. 2001, The Enterprise-Wide Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics in the Chemicals Industry. Proceedings of the 6th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Melbourne, Australia. 2. Launder, B.E. & Spalding, D.B. 1974, The numerical prediction of turbulent flow, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. 3, 269-289. 3. Pathak, M., Dewan A. & Dass, A.K. 2006, Computational prediction of a slightly heated turbulent rectangular jet discharged into a narrow channel cross-flow using two different turbulence models, International Journal of Heat Mass Transfer 49, 3914-3928. 4. Rouse, Hunter and Simon Ince, 1957 History of Hydraulics, Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research, Ames, Iowa. 5. Sherif, S.A. & Pletcher, R.H. 1991, Jet-wake thermal characteristics of heated turbulent jets in crossflow, Journal Thermophysics 5, 181-191.

About the author Dr. Manabendra Pathak is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa-32000, Israel. [email protected] ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

MODIFICATION OF WOOD WITH POLYMERS: PROPERTIES AND APPLICATIONS

Rashmi R. Devi Wood, a natural, cellular, composite material of botanical origin possesses unique structural and chemical characteristics that render it desirable for a broad variety of end uses. It has a wide spectrum of applications as construction materials, pulp, paper, and fire-board products as well as source of energy and raw material for various industrially important chemicals. Solid wood in its many forms and adaptations has been the most versatile material for buildings,

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constructions, or furniture because of superior material properties such as pleasing appearance, favourable mass/strength ratio, low thermal conductivity, biodegradability and also due to its neutral carbon dioxide balance. There are however, some properties such as dimensional instability with moisture content, low natural durability of many species, photoyellowing, unstable mechanical properties with moisture etc. that are often considered as negative by the end user. A promising way to improve wood properties is through controlled chemical modification. Many research papers and literature reviews have been published on chemical modification of wood. Chemical modification of wood is any chemical reaction between same reactive part of a wood component and a simple single chemical reagent, with or without catalyst that forms a covalent bond between the two components. The most reactive chemical sites of wood are the hydroxyl groups on cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. One of the most popular methods for improving the properties of the wood cell wall material is chemical impregnation under vacuum or pressure. Compounds highly reactive to the hydroxyl groups of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin components of wood include epoxies, isocyanates, anhydrides, lactones and diols. All have been examined for the reduction of dimensional instability of wood. Chemical impregnation also proved to be useful for reducing the susceptibility of the wood to biological degradation. Among various methods a simple acetylation by a dip process in acetic anhydride has been widely utilized to reduce swellability of wood in water. Another widely studied system is the

cross linking of wood via impregnation with formaldehyde in the presence of acid catalyst. Several liquid monomers (e.g. methyl methacrylate (MMA) and styrene) were also incorporated into wood samples with up to 160 wt % weight gain, and then polymerized in the lumens to improve wood’s dimensional stability. The properties of wood can be modified for the purposes other than preservation or protection from fire. Different methods can be used to reduce swelling and shrinking under conditions of fluctuating relative humidity by bulking the cell wall with leachable and nonleachable, or bonded chemicals that leave the wood in a swollen state. The chemicals to be used for modification should penetrate easily into the cell wall and must react with hydroxyl group of wood for improvement of strength, dimensional stability and other allied properties. Wood can be modified by impregnating some monomer or oligomer having low viscosity along with a cross linker into the cell wall or lumens under vacuum or high pressure of wood followed by polymerization with the help of catalyst or radiation. The final product is known as wood-polymer composites (WPC). Most widely used vinyl monomers are styrene, methyl methacrylate etc. But most of these vinyl monomers were ineffective in improving the dimensional stability to a large extent as these mainly accommodate in lumen, not properly bonded to the hydroxyl groups of wood In order to enhance the properties, cross linking of these vinyl polymers with the wood are done by employing various cross linking agents, that are reactive with both wood hydroxyl groups and vinyl polymers. Sometimes soluble dyes are added to the catalyzed monomer

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solution to color the final wood polymer composite. Increased applications of wood in industries, institutions require wood to be protected from fire. In order to impart flame retardancy, solutions of flame retardant chemicals are used to impregnate into wood under pressure and then dried to obtain retention of chemicals. This process does not improve the strength and stability to a large extent. Flame retardancy is generally imparted into woods by incorporating either chlorine or phosphorous containing polymer, or the copolymerization product of these with more flammable polymers like polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene etc. WPC has many changed and improved physical properties compared with the parent wood. Notable are an increase in surface hardness, dimensional stability and the possibility of fine finishing without surface coating. In many countries like Canada, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Japan and South America researches on modification of wood started during 60’s and commercial amounts of wood-polymer were produced for airport terminals and office buildings. One of the most popular products is Parquet flooring where the increased hardness and abrasion resistance offered an advantage in high traffic commercial applications. Some other famous products are Perma Grain products, Hartco (Tebbles Flooring Co.) flooring. A research group at the University of New Brunswick Canada is assisting industry in setting up the catalyst-heat process to produce knife handles and other articles. Northeastern part of India is bestowed with huge storage of trees. Out of two

varieties available hardwoods are being used mainly for construction purposes. Softwoods are mostly used for fuel purposes due to their poor strength and dimensional stability compared to hardwoods. These softwoods can have value added by being made into wood suitable for different applications like furniture, office equipment and in construction through proper treatment such as chemical modification. Modification through impregnation has drawn the attention of researchers in the past and studies in this area are still being pursued with great interest. In Tezpur University, in the Department of Chemical Sciences two of the softwoods easily available in this region mainly rubber wood and pinewood were modified by using styrene and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) followed by in-situ polymerization in the presence of heat catalyst. GMA contains both glycidyl groups and double bond. The glycidyl group and double bond can be exploited for reaction with hydroxyl group of cellulose present in wood and for copolymerization with vinyl or acrylic monomers. We also developed rubber wood using styrene as the monomer and Diethyl allyl phosphate (DEAP) as a flame retardant monomer to increase the flame retardancy by catalyst heat treatment method. Most of the physical and mechanical properties such as dimensional stability, hardness, water absorption, biodegradation, compressive strength, bending strength, thermal stability, fire retardancy etc. improved more or less. Some examples of properties modified after impregnation of wood with polymers are shown below

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open the door for better applications of wood with improved properties.

Fig. 1 Weight gain of WPC (rubber wood) in water at 300C

Untreated pine wood

Treated pine wood

Fig. 2 Decrease in the biodegradation of pinewood on treatment

Table. Increase in hardness of wood on treatment Type of wood

Hardness

Rubber (Untreated) Rubber (Treated) Pine (Untreated) Pine (Treated)

46.6 69.9 45.4 54.5

References 1. Encyclopedia of Polymer science and Engineering; 2nd Ed; Wiley Interscience; 1989; 17, 843. 2. Rowell, R.M. Advances in Chemistry Series: The chemistry of solid wood; Washington D.C.; Am Chem Soc 1984. 3. Meyer, J.A. and Loos, W.E. For Prod J 1972; 19(12), 32. 4. The Chemistry of Wood Preservation; Ed. R. Thompson; Royal Soc of Chem 1991. 5. Chan, K.Y.; Yap, M.G.S.; Chia, L.H.L. and Neoh, K.G. Rad Phys Chem 1989; 33 (3), 197. 6. Devi, R.R. Modification of softwood with impregnation of polymers, Ph.D thesis, 2006. 7. Devi, R.R.; Saikia, C.N.; Thakur, A.J.; Maji, T.K. J Appl Polym Sci 2007, 105, 2461- 2467. 8. Devi, R.R.; Maji, T.K.; Benarjee, A.N. J Appl Polym Sci 2004, 93, 1938-1945. 9. Devi, R.R.; Maji, T.K.; Polym. Composite, 2007,28, 1-5. About the author Dr. Rashmi Rekha Devi has been working as a Scientist at the Defense Materials & Stores Research & Development Establishment (DMSRDE), Kanpur, UP (India). ♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

There is a wide scope of modification of different varieties of wood in this region that can be modified with polymers and industrialization of these wood-polymer composites will

"Patent all your ideas, and get yourself a good lawyer." - Thomas Alva Edison

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bout Micelles…… .

Courtesy: Dr. Polashmoni Saikia Lecturer Darrang College Tezpur 784 001 Assam

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SEFUL WEBSITES www.chemgate.emolecules.com: Would you like to have over 700,000 NMR, MS, and IR spectra at your fingertips whenever you need them? Now, you can! Introducing ChemGate, the search engine for high-quality spectra from a trusted source: Wiley-VCH. Just draw a chemical structure, search, and view the spectrum. - Over 500,000 complex organic and inorganic molecules - Easy to use substructure search, and stepwise refinement - Analyze your spectrum with powerful tools www.chemgate.emolecules.com and view your first spectra for free. Useful web links for the study of medicinal chemistry: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfthb/classes/4790/mainlinks.htm

MAZING STORY ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF ARTIFICIAL SKIN

In April 1997 Dr. Frank Baker, an emergency medicine specialist from the Chicago area, took part in a clinical trial to test a form of artificial skin for treating insulin-dependent diabetics whose tissue had been degraded by the secondary effects of chronic high blood sugar. Baker, who has had diabetes for more than four decades, was in danger of losing a foot because of hard-to-heal skin ulcers. For him the trial results were close to miraculous: the laboratory-grown skin didn't just cover and protect his wound, it released chemicals that caused his own tissue to grow back much faster. As Baker put it, the artificial skin "saved my foot." The material that worked this medical wonder was synthesized from polymers. (http://www.beyonddiscovery.org/content/view.txt.asp?a=203)

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IGHER STUDY ABROAD

HUMAN FRONTIER SCIENCE PROGRAM Guidelines for HFSP Short-Term Fellowships 12 Quai Saint-Jean BP 10034 67080 STRASBOURG Cedex - FRANCE Tel: +33 3 88 21 51 34 Fax: + 33 3 88 32 88 97 E-mail: [email protected] - Web site: http://www.hfsp.org/ Application submission: http://extranet.hfsp.org/

GUIDELINES FOR HFSP SHORT-TERM FELLOWSHIPS The Human Frontier Science Program (HFSPO) supports basic research focused on elucidating the complex mechanisms of living organisms. Emphasis is placed on novel, innovative, and interdisciplinary approaches to basic research that involve scientific exchanges across national boundaries. In particular, HFSP encourages research into biological problems involving approaches and knowledge from different disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, or material sciences because significant new ideas, techniques and discoveries often arise at the boundaries between disciplines. In addition to its international and especially intercontinental character, the HFSPO places emphasis on supporting researchers who are early in their careers and who are expected to play an important role in generating and pursuing original research.

I. GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS These guidelines are intended to assist those who wish to apply to the Human Frontier Science Program Organization for Short-Term Fellowships (see also Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] and Instructions). (1) Objectives of the Short-Term Fellowships Short-Term Fellowships are reserved for those who wish to work for a short period in a laboratory in another country for example:
to learn or develop new techniques
to use instruments or technology not available in their own country
to establish collaborations in a new area of research rather than ongoing projects
to obtain pilot results to establish a new international collaboration Independent young researchers, early in their careers, are encouraged to apply. Doctoral students may apply only under certain conditions [see section II. (2)]. (2) Tenure of Short-Term Fellowships Short-Term Fellowships are awarded for periods of 2 weeks to 3 months. They will not be awarded for a series of multiple visits to the host laboratory. The length of time must be justified on the basis of need to perform experiments, learn techniques or to use facilities that are

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum only available at the host institution. The Short-Term Fellowship must start within 12 months after notification of the award. The fellowship is not awarded retroactively and applicants cannot start to work at the host institute before notification of award. The award will be withdrawn if: a. The candidate starts working in the host institution before receipt of the review outcome b. The candidate cannot start the fellowship within 12 months after notification of award c. The project or host institution is changed without the explicit consent of HFSPO. (3) When to submit Applications may be submitted throughout the year. Decisions on awards will be announced approximately 3-4 months after receipt of the complete application. Applicants must provide adequate time for review of the application before the start of the fellowship. It is recommended that applicants contact the Secretariat before travelling to the host laboratory, if they have not received notification of the outcome of the application within that time frame. II. ELIGIBILITY FOR APPLICATION (1) Research areas The scope of HFSP funding ranges from biological functions at the molecular and cellular level up to biological systems including cognitive functions. Within this broad area, all levels of analysis are supported, from studies on genes and individual molecules, intracellular networks, intercellular associations in tissues and organs, to networks underlying complex functions of entire organisms. However, projects that involve only large-scale, systematic genome mapping, applied research (e.g. clinical) or pure ‘omics’type projects are not eligible to receive HFSP funding. The HFSP does not support projects aimed specifically at developing methods of treatment and diagnosis. Studies related to disease are only considered if they allow new insights into fundamental biological mechanisms. Proposals directly concerned with agricultural or environmental problems (crop yield, bioremediation) or studies at the population or ecosystem level are not supported. The HFSP views interdisciplinary approaches as being necessary for addressing the scientific questions that it supports, and that fellows should receive broad research training. Thus, applicants for Short-Term Fellowships should obtain training or establish collaborations in a new research field. Individuals working in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science or engineering are encouraged to utilize HFSP fellowships to obtain training or establish new collaborations in the life sciences. (2) Applicants (read carefully to avoid ineligible applications) Eligibility criteria: 1. A scientist from one of the supporting countries (see below) can apply for a Short-Term Fellowship to work in a research institution in any other country. A candidate from a non-supporting country may apply to work in a research institution in any of the supporting countries (see below). To be from one of the supporting is defined as being a national of one of the HFSPO supporting countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus (EU part only), the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. 2. Candidates must have obtained or be about to obtain their research doctorate (Ph.D.) or a doctoral-level degree (e.g. a research based M.D. or medical Ph.D.) with a proven record of experience in basic experimental research. Doctoral students who submit an application must have received their degree at the start of the fellowship. 3. Preference will be given to young investigators at an early stage of their careers. Applications from more established investigators will be considered under exceptional circumstances.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum 4. Applicants must have at least one first author or joint first author paper published or in press in a peer-reviewed international journal when submitting their application. In a joint first author paper the applicant may be listed in second place, even though he/she has played a primary role. In this case the fact that the first authors contributed equally to the work must be clearly stated in the published article. Exceptions will be made if the standard publication practice in a given field or in a particular research institution makes first authorship impossible due to e.g. alphabetical listing of authors. These circumstances must be explained in detail in section “Additional Comments” of the application form. The papers must be written in English. Review papers and patent applications are not taken into account. 5. Applicants must have adequate language skills to carry out their proposed research at the host institution. 6. Former holders of HFSP Long-Term/Cross-Disciplinary Fellowships who left the host country are eligible for a return visit to complete or extend the research with their former HFSP research supervisor. This can include experimental work or preparing manuscripts based on the work performed during tenure of the Fellowship. 7. Holders of a HFSP Career Development Award (CDA) or Research Grant may apply for and be awarded a STF during their CDA or Research Grant. If you have any questions of eligibility, please contact the Secretariat before submitting your application. The following are grounds for ineligibility: 2. Applications will not be considered from those who wish to work again with their former research supervisors, scientific collaborators, or scientists with whom they have already coauthored publications. Exceptions to this rule are applications from former HFSP LongTerm/Cross Disciplinary fellows (see above, #6). 3. Applications to work in a for-profit environment are not accepted. 4. Applications to move from one laboratory to another in the same country are not eligible. 5. A candidate cannot apply to go to the country of which he/she is a national, even though he/she has undertaken pre- or post-doctoral studies abroad or if he/she obtained/will obtain the Ph.D. in another country. 6. The Short-Term Fellowship cannot be held in the same country or at the same institution as that in which the candidate obtained/will obtain the Ph.D., or in which he/she performed or received research training associated with the Ph.D., even if the applicant is not a national of that country. 7. The Short-Term Fellowship cannot be held in the same country or at the same institution in which the candidate already carried out research (e.g. research visits during the Ph.D. or as a postdoc) or held an independent research position. The goal of the program is to enable investigators to obtain research experience in a new country. 8. Applications to extend the Ph.D. training are not accepted even if considering a change in country. 9. The Short-Term Fellowship cannot be used to precede/follow a visit to the host institution, nor can it be awarded to extend or complement an existing financial support from another source.

10. The Short-Term Fellowship is not intended to enable researchers solely to attend workshops, courses or symposia. Nor are they intended to provide an opportunity only to write papers, books or reviews.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum 11. Individuals are limited to two Short-Term Fellowships each at a different host country. 12. It is not possible to submit parallel applications (for a Short-Term and a Long-Term/CrossDisciplinary Fellowship) to work with the same host supervisor or at the same host institution. In addition, a former Short-Term Fellowship awardee cannot apply for a Long-Term/CrossDisciplinary Fellowship to return to work with the same host supervisor or at the same host institution. III. ELIGIBLE EXPENSES Short-Term Fellowships will cover following expenses: (1) Travel expenses - Round-trip travel expenses (the shortest route, the most economical means of travel) for only one trip to and from the host institution at the start and end of the fellowship. A copy of the invoice from the travel agency/airline showing the dates of travel or a copy of the plane/train ticket must be submitted after notification of award. (2) Living expenses - A daily living allowance is provided for the days spent at the host institution and for 2 travel days. The allowance varies from country to country (see table below)*: Living allowance (per day) Australia Austria Belgium Canada Denmark Finland France Germany Italy India Ireland Japan

Currency 102 AUD 70 EUR 70 EUR 90 CAD 630 DKK 75 EUR 70 EUR 70 EUR 62 EUR 2,200 INR 75 EUR 11440 JPY

Korea Luxembourg New Zealand Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands UK USA

55000 73 125 700 57 761 140 70 46 74

KRW EUR NZD NOK EUR SEK CHF EUR GBP USD

* For information concerning the living allowance in other countries please contact the Department of Fellowships. IV.

REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS (1) Review procedure Applications are assessed by external Mail Reviewers and members of the HFSP Fellowship Review Committee. Final decision on awards is taken by the Chairman of the Fellowship Review Committee. (2) Review criteria The main review criteria are the accomplishments and/or potential of the candidate, the scientific originality and excellence of the proposal, the training potential and quality of the host institution, and the overall benefit of the international exchange to achieve the aims of the research. The scientific areas and quality of publications, and the applicant’s intention to move into a new area of research, learn new techniques, and/or develop a new research collaboration are taken into account. For former HFSP LongTerm/Cross-Disciplinary fellows, the value of returning to their former host laboratory to develop a new line of research or to complete previous projects will be assessed. (3) Notification of the results Applicants will receive written notification about the outcome of their applications once the review procedures are completed (approximately 3-4 months after receipt of the application). The selection process is confidential; no information can be provided on the decision taken.

V. PUBLICATION AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (1) The results of the research funded by the HFSPO must be published promptly in internationally recognized scientific journals. An acknowledgement of support by "The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization" must be included in any publication resulting from work carried out under the fellowship. (2) The assignment of intellectual and industrial property rights generated from research supported by the HFSPO will be determined by the parties
concerned (researchers, their research organizations or institutions) on a case-by-case basis. When a collaborative program is conducted between laboratories in different countries, agreement on the ownership of such rights, or on the distribution of income derived from them, will be negotiated between the collaborating laboratories/institutions. The HFSPO will not claim any intellectual or commercial property rights that may

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum be generated through the research it sponsors, nor will it become involved in any disputes which may arise about the ownership of such rights.

VI. BIOETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS The HFSPO requires that the awardee(s) observe the highest ethical standards in conducting all research sponsored by the Organization. In accepting this award from the HFSPO, awardees and host supervisors agree to conform strictly to the codes of practice, regulations and laws, which govern the ethical conduct of scientific research in their own laboratories/institutions. They are solely responsible if any of these regulations are infringed. Furthermore they also agree not to undertake any research jointly with scientists in another country where experimental procedures which are forbidden in their own laboratories/institutions are permissible.

VII. LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE The HFSPO will assume no responsibility for any damage or injury to awardees in connection with research conducted under the HFSP Short-Term Fellowship. In accepting this award from the HFSPO, awardees release the HFSPO of all liability for any damage or injuries which may occur while carrying out the funded research project.

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD (1) The awardees must devote themselves entirely to research in the host institution(s) and may not engage in any other paid activity, without the agreement of the HFSPO. (2) Each recipient must submit a brief report to the HFSPO within two months after completion of the fellowship. (3) The Organization will require reimbursement of part of the award if the duration of the fellowship is shorter than was originally calculated.

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HROUGH THE LENSE OF FORUM MEMBERS By Ashim J Thakur

Haber’s Ammonia Chamber, University of Karlsruhe, Germany

Freezing the emotions

By Mr. Binoy Kr. Saikia

Rural Technology

Advent of spring

Capital of Sikkim, Gangtak: The 8th member of NE India

Evening look of river ‘Mora Bhoroli’ near Tezpur University

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PCOMING CONFERENCE

Contact address: Convener, Statphys Department of Physics IIT Guwahati, Guwahati-781039, Assam, India Phone: +91 361 2582708 Mob: +91 94351 19013 Fax: +91 361 2582749 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Area: Biology Inspired Physics Soft-Condensed Matter Complex Networks Econophysics Statistical Physics of Material

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Position Organization Location Date Posted

POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS - CHEMISTRY Stony Brook University/SUNY US New York Oct 01 2007

POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS The Research Foundation of Stony Brook University/SUNY anticipates the following postdoctoral positions being available between Spring and Fall 2007. · BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY Role of O-Fucosylation of proteins containing Thrombospondin Type 1 repeats. Robert Haltiwanger, WC-R-4252-07-08-S Glycoprotein synthesis and degradation. William J. Lennarz, WC-R-4255-07-08-S Metabolic engineering of novel fatty acid accumulation in plant seeds. John Shanklin, WC-R4256-07-08-S Yeast chromatin modifying enzymes. Rolf Sternglanz, WC-R-4254-07-08-S Regulation of Xenopus development by growth factor and ubiquitin pathways. Gerald Thomsen, WC-R- 4252-07-08-S · CHEMISTRY Ultra-/nano-filtration/reverse osmosis, water purification, multifunctional copolymers, polymer inorganic hybrids, polyoxometalates. Ben Chu, WC-R-4257-07-08-S Polymer synthesis, nanocomposites, ultrafiltration/nanofiltration/reverse osmosis. Benjamin Hsiao, WC-R-4259-07-08-S Computational structural biology and biophysics. Carlos Simmerling, WC-R-4258-07-08-S · COMPUTER SCIENCE Computer Science, Linguistics, or Economics: News and Blog Data Analysis. Steven Skiena, WC-R-4260-07-08-S · DEVELOPMENT INFARED SOURCES Fabrication and characterization of the Infrared optoelectronic devices. Gregory Belenky, WC-R-4261-07-08-S · ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Detectors in experiments on laser proton acceleration. Peter Shkolnikov, WC-R-4289-07-08-S · GEOSCIENCES Planetary Science: Chemical/Mineralogical evolution of Martian crust. Scott McLennan, WCR-4263-07-08-S Experimental Material/Mineral Chemistry. John Parise, WC-R-4262-07-08-S · MOLECULAR GENETICS AND MICROBIOLOGY Virus-host factor interactions involved in protein trafficking, assembly and particle release. Carol Carter, WC-R-4282-07-08-S

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum Regulation of Nuclear Signaling Pathways by the Adenovirus E4-ORF3 Protein. Patrick Hearing, WC-R-4264-07-08-S · NEUROBIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR Synaptic mechanisms in the retina. Gary Matthews, WC-R-4266-07-08-S Electrophysiology of the injured spinal cord. Lorne Mendell, WC-R-4265-07-08-S Physiology of neuregulin signaling in CNS synapses circuits and behaviors. Lorna Role, WCR-4267-07-08-S · PHARMACOLOGY Wnt Signaling in Mouse Development. Ken-Ichi Takemaru, HS-R-4270-07-08-S Mechanisms of neuregulin signaling in CNS synapses circuits and behaviors. D. Talmage, HS-R-4269-07-08-S · PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOPHYSICS Biophysics of signal transduction: membranes, PIP2, calmodulin, EGFR. Stuart McLaughlin, HS-R-4268-07-08-S To apply online and for information, visit www.postdocs.stonybrook.edu or mail résumés to: Office of the President, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 117940701. Stony Brook University/SUNY is an affirmative action/equal opportunity educator and employer.

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Newsletter of North East India Research Forum

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: 161 Moderators: 1. Arindam Adhikari, Ph.D. Institute of Surface Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden Email: [email protected] 3. Utpal Borah, Ph.D. Gifu Pharmaceutical University, Japan Email: [email protected]

2. Jadab Sharma, Ph.D. Email: [email protected]

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

Editorial Team of NE Quest 1. Dhanapati Deka, Ph.D. Reader, School of Energy, Environment and Natural Reseources, Tezpur University, Assam Email: [email protected]

2. Tankeswar Nath, Ph.D. Scientist, R&D, Biotechnology, Jubilant Organosys Ltd. Gajraula, UP, Email: [email protected]

3. Manab Sharma, Ph.D. Dept of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel. Email: [email protected]

4. Rashmi Rekha Devi, Ph.D Scientist, Defence Material & Stores Research & Dev. Establishment, DRDO, Kanpur. Email: [email protected]

5. Joshodeep Boruwa, Ph.D. Fachbereich Chemie, L-940 Universitat Konstanz D-78457, Konstanz, Germany

6. Pankaj Bharali, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India. Email: [email protected]

7. Pranjal Saikia I&PC Division IICT, Hyderabad, India Email: [email protected]

8. Áshim J Thakur, Ph.D. (Volunteer editor of this Issue) 9. Utpal Borah, Ph.D. 10. Arindam Adhikari, Ph.D.

Logo designed by: Manab Sharma, Ph.D. Email: [email protected]

Cover page designed by: Anirban, Pune

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

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