Enriching Academia-Corporate Loop (ACL)—A Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative

Corporate sector utilises societal resources. It is thus the duty of corporate sector to give back to the society in any form, which we know as corporate social responsibility. When we talk in this context, we generally take into account activities like educating the poor, helping old age homes, going green, reducing waste, sponsoring sports activities, giving donations etc. The problem of not getting employable manpower is a major issue of concern among the corporates. In this paper we propose a new dimension to corporate social responsibility—“Enhancing employability”. By this the Academia-Corporate Loop (ACL) can be enriched. In our study we conduct a schedule amongst white collar employees of organizations in Delhi/NCR and record their responses. On this basis, we check the acceptability of this concept in corporates’ mind and propose an action plan to bridge this gap statistically

Cellular signalling pathways mediating the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory respiratory diseases: an update

Respiratory disorders, especially non-communicable, chronic inflammatory diseases, are amongst the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Respiratory diseases involve multiple pulmonary components, including airways and lungs that lead to their abnormal physiological functioning. Several signaling pathways have been reported to play an important role in the pathophysiology of respiratory diseases. These pathways, in addition, become the compounding factors contributing to the clinical outcomes in respiratory diseases. A range of signaling components such as Notch, Hedgehog, Wingless/Wnt, bone morphogenetic proteins, epidermal growth factor and fibroblast growth factor is primarily employed by these pathways in the eventual cascade of events. The different aberrations in such cell-signaling processes trigger the onset of respiratory diseases making the conventional therapeutic modalities ineffective. These challenges have prompted us to explore novel and effective approaches for the prevention and/or treatment of respiratory diseases. In this review, we have attempted to deliberate on the current literature describing the role of major cell signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of pulmonary diseases and discuss promising advances in the field of therapeutics that could lead to novel clinical therapies capable of preventing or reversing pulmonary vascular pathology in such patients

Analysis of Chemical Properties of Thermally Treated Pinus roxburghii Sargent Wood

Effects of thermal modification were determined relative to chemical parameters of Pinus roxburghii. Thermal modification of wood was carried out at 80, 120, 160, and 200 °C for 2, 4, and 6 h. The chemical properties were different for different temperatures and different heating time. All parameters were similar except for cold water soluble extractives. Among the chemical properties studied, the maximum mean value of cold water extractives (8.20%), hot water soluble extractives (12.7%), holocellulose content (71.8%), and ash content (1.46%) were recorded at 120 °C, whereas the maximum mean values of alcohol benzene soluble extractives (13.9%) and lignin content (33.7%) were observed at 200 °C. The minimum mean value of cold water soluble extractives (5.82%), hot water soluble extractives (9.27%), holocellulose content (65.8%), and ash content (1.03%) were found to be at 200 °C, while the highest value of alcohol benzene soluble extractives 12.2% (control) and lignin content (28.0%) were found to be at 80 °C

Value Stream Mapping for Consumer Durables Manufacturer (A Case Study)

Increase in competitive environment, SMEs has to make better their production characteristics. A very common philosophy to improve productivity is known as lean thinking. This approach, derived from the Toyota Production System, removed wasteful activities while increasing the competitive strength and responsiveness of a company. Many industries fail to become lean and, therefore, techniques are needed to revise the implementation. An attempt is made in this paper to propose Value Stream Mapping as an implementation strategy for SMEs. This technique is performed in a company as a case study. By applying the Value Stream mapping tool to assembly line in this company, following improvement potential is observed. NVA time can be decreased by 50.52 percent and production lead time can be decreased by at least 44.73 percent. This paper concludes that lean approach is applicable to SMEs, in certain circumstances. Furthermore, Value Stream Mapping can be a valuable tool in finding improvement potential

Estimation of the poly (ε-caprolactone) [PCL] and α-cyclodextrin [α-CD] stoichiometric ratios in their inclusion complexes [ICs], and evaluation of porosity and fiber alignment in PCL nanofibers containing these ICs

This paper describes the utilization of Proton-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) to quantify the stoichiometric ratios between poly (ε-caprolactone) [PCL] and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) present in their non-stoichiometric inclusion complexes [(n-s)-ICs]. This paper further describes the porosity and fiber alignment of PCL nanofibers nucleated by the [(n-s)-ICs] during electrospinning. 1H NMR indicated that the two non-stoichiometric inclusion complexes utilized in this study had differing stoichiometric ratios that were closely similar to those of the starting ratios used to make them. Studies on porosity and fiber alignments were conducted on the scanning electron microscope images using ImageJ. The data indicates that both fiber alignment as well as porosity values remain almost the same over all the samples. Thus we can conclude the improvement in mechanical properties was due only to the loading of the ICs, and their subsequent interaction with bulk unthreaded PCL

Treatment of Coffee Husk with Ammonium-Based Ionic Liquids: Lignin Extraction, Degradation, and Characterization

Four ammonium-based ionic liquids were synthesized for the selective extraction and degradation of lignin from coffee husk. The extracted lignin samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, gel permeation chromatography, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, UV–vis, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, heteronuclear single-quantum coherence-NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and field emission scanning electron microscopy analyses. The analyzed results confirmed that these ionic liquids are able to effectively extract and decompose the lignin to smaller molecules from the biomass. Experimental results show that a significantly high yield, 71.2% of the original lignin, has been achieved. This processing method is an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly green route for producing high-added-value lignin from wasted coffee husk

Buffers more than buffering agent: introducing a new class of stabilizers for the protein BSA

In this study, we have analyzed the influence of four biological buffers on the thermal stability of bovine serum albumin (BSA) using dynamic light scattering (DLS). The investigated buffers include 4-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES), 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine-propanesulfonic acid (EPPS), 4-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid sodium salt (HEPES-Na), and 4-morpholine-propanesulfonic acid sodium salt (MOPS-Na). These buffers behave as a potential stabilizer for the native structure of BSA against thermal denaturation. The stabilization tendency follows the order of MOPS-Na > HEPES-Na > HEPES >> EPPS. To obtain an insight into the role of hydration layers and peptide backbone in the stabilization of BSA by these buffers, we have also explored the phase transition of a thermoresponsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM)), a model compound for protein, in aqueous solutions of HEPES, EPPS, HEPES-Na, and MOPS-Na buffers at different concentrations. It was found that the lower critical solution temperatures (LCST) of PNIPAM in the aqueous buffer solutions substantially decrease with increase in buffer concentration. The mechanism of interactions between these buffers and protein BSA was probed by various techniques, including UV-visible, fluorescence, and FTIR. The results of this series of studies reveal that the interactions are mainly governed by the influence of the buffers on the hydration layers surrounding the protein. We have also explored the possible binding sites of BSA with these buffers using a molecular docking technique. Moreover, the activities of an industrially important enzyme alpha-chymotrypsin (alpha-CT) in 0.05 M, 0.5 M, and 1.0 M of HEPES, EPPS, HEPES-Na, and MOPS-Na buffer solutions were analyzed at pH = 8.0 and T = 25 degrees C. Interestingly, the activities of alpha-CT were found to be enhanced in the aqueous solutions of these investigated buffers. Based upon the Jones-Dole viscosity parameters, the kosmotropic or chaotropic behaviors of the investigated buffers at 25 degrees C have been examined

Cardiac arrhythmia in Wilson’s disease: An oversighted and overlooked entity!

Wilson’s disease is a multisystem disorder which manifests with hepatic, neurological, musculoskeletal, hematological, renal, and cardiac symptoms. The hepatic and neurological manifestations often overshadow the other system involvement including cardiac symptoms and signs, which may prove fatal. We report a case of a young female who presented with progressive parkinsonian features and dystonia for around 4 months followed 2 months later by the complaint of episodes of light-headedness. She was diagnosed to have Wilson’s disease based on the presence of Kayser–Fleischer ring and laboratory parameters of copper metabolism. Electrocardiography of the patient incidentally revealed 2nd degree Mobitz type-1 atrioventricular block explaining her episodes of light-headedness. She was started on penicillamine and trihexyphenidyl. The heart block improved spontaneously. Cardiac autonomic function tests including blood pressure response to standing and heart rate response to standing were observed to be normal. We review the literature on cardiac manifestations of Wilson’s disease and emphasize that patients with Wilson’s disease should be assessed for cardiac arrhythmia and cardiac dysfunction as these may have therapeutic and prognostic implications