Strengthening SMEs to make export competitive

The importance of SMEs in any economy cannot be overlooked as they form a major chunk in the economic activity of nations. India has nearly three million SMEs, which account for almost 50 per cent of industrial output. However, SMEs which form the backbone of industrial development in India are not export competitive and contribute only about 34 percent of exports. It is this feature of the SMEs that make it an ideal target to realize its potential export competitive. Drawing from the experiences of countries that have successfully promoted the export competitiveness of SMEs, this paper has identified ways in which SMEs in India can have an access to external markets through exports, which include simplification of procedures, incentives for higher production, preferential treatments to SMEs in the market development fund, linking up SMEs with Transnational Companies or large domestic exporting firms; and formation of clusters and networks in order to reinforce their external competitiveness.Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), SWOT Analysis, Export, India

Free Convection Flow of a Non-Newtonian Fluid in a Vertical Channel

The steady two-dimensional free convection flow of a Walters fluid (model B') in a vertical channel one 'of whose walls is wavy, has been investigated analytically. The governing equationsof the fluid and the heat transfer have been solved subject to the relevant boundary conditions byassuming that the solution consists of two parts: a mean part and disturbance or perturbed part. Toobtain the perturbed part of the solution, the long wave approximation has been used and to solvethe mean part, a well-known approximation used by Ostrach has been utilised. The relevant flow and the heat transfer characteristics, namely the skin-friction and the rate ofheat transfer at both the wallshave been discussed in detail

Electron-correlated study of excited states and absorption spectra of some low-symmetry graphene quantum dots

We have computed the linear optical absorption spectra of three graphene quantum dots (GQDs), saturated by hydrogens on the edges, using both first-principles time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) and the Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) model coupled with the configuration-interaction (CI) approach. To understand the influence of electron-correlation effects, we have also calculated the singlet-triplet energy gap (spin gap) of the three GQDs. Because of the presence of edge hydrogens, these GQDs are effectively polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) dibenzo[bc,ef]coronene (also known as benzo(1,14)bisanthene, C$_{30}$H$_{14}$), and two isomeric compounds, dinaphtho[8,1,2abc;2,1,8klm]coronene and dinaphtho[8,1,2abc;2,1,8jkl]coronene with the chemical formula C$_{36}$H$_{16}$. The two isomers have different point group symmetries, $C_{2v}$, and $C_{2h}$, therefore, this study will also help us understand the influence of symmetry on optical properties. A common feature of the absorption spectra of the three GQDs is that the first peak representing the optical gap is of low to moderate intensity, while the intense peaks appear at higher energies. For each GQD, PPP model calculations performed with the screened parameters agree well with the experimental results of the corresponding PAH, and also with the TDDFT calculations.Comment: 14 pages and 8 figures (manuscript), 5 pages (supplemental material

Interview with Indra Das

Indra Das is most well-recognized as the author of The Devourers (2015), a novel that won the Lambda Literary Award for straddling the genres of sci-fi, speculative, and fantasy fiction alongside LGBT themes. Das’s short fiction is widely published is horror and sci-fi anthologies, as well as magazines like Tor.com, Strange Horizons, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. He spoke candidly with Alok Amatya over email about the current literary landscape, the work of writing transgressive genre fiction, and his own experiences as an upcoming global author

Transactivation and expression patterns of Jun and Fos/AP-1 super-family proteins in human oral cancer

Transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) super-family is known to modulate expression of array of genes during development of many cancers and considered as an important target for modern therapeutics. But the role of AP-1 during development of human oral cancers is still poorly understood. Because oral cancer is one of the most common cancers in India and south-east Asia, we studied the activation and expression pattern of AP-1 family of proteins and mRNA in different stages of oral carcinogenesis. Gel-shift assay, western blotting, immunohistochemistry and northern blotting have been used to assess the binding activity and expression pattern of AP-1 family (c-Jun, JunB, JunD, c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1 and Fra-2) proteins and mRNA transcripts in a total of 100 fresh oral tissue specimens comprising precancer (n = 40), cancer (n = 50) and healthy control (n = 10). Constitutive activation of AP-1 with concomitant upregulated expression of majority of AP-1 family of proteins and mRNA was observed in cancer cases. Interestingly, almost all precancerous cases showed JunD homodimers, whereas c-Fos/JunD was the most prevalent complex found in cancer tissues. The overexpression of EGFR mRNA, p50:p50/NF-?B homodimer formation, together with overexpression of pERK and c-Fos proteins in this study suggests an interesting cross talk between AP-1 and NF-?B pathways in oral cancers. Thus, this study demonstrates differential expression and activation of AP-1 super-family proteins in relation to severity of lesion and their crucial role in human oral carcinogenesis

Leptoquarks meet ε′/ε\varepsilon'/\varepsilon and rare Kaon processes

We analyse for the first time the CP violating ratio $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ in $K\to \pi\pi$ decays in leptoquark (LQ) models. Assuming a mass gap to the electroweak (EW) scale, the main mechanism for LQs to contribute to $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ is EW gauge-mixing of semi-leptonic into non-leptonic operators, which we treat in the Standard Model effective theory (SMEFT). We perform also the one-loop decoupling for scalar LQs, finding that in all models with both left-handed and right-handed LQ couplings box-diagrams generate numerically strongly enhanced EW-penguin operators $Q_{8,8'}$ already at the LQ scale. We then investigate correlations of $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ with rare Kaon processes ($K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar\nu$, $K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar\nu$, $K_L\to\pi^0\ell\bar\ell$, $K_S\to\mu\bar\mu$, $\Delta M_K$ and $\varepsilon_K$) and find that even imposing only a moderate enhancement of $(\varepsilon'/\varepsilon)_{\rm NP} = 5 \times 10^{-4}$ to explain the current anomaly hinted by the Dual QCD approach and RBC-UKQCD lattice QCD calculations leads to conflicts with experimental upper bounds on rare Kaon processes. They exclude all LQ models with only a single coupling as an explanation of the $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ anomaly and put strong-to-serious constraints on parameter spaces of the remaining models. Future results on $K^+\to\pi^+\nu\bar\nu$ from the NA62 collaboration, $K_L\to\pi^0\nu\bar\nu$ from the KOTO experiment and $K_S\to\mu\bar\mu$ from LHCb will even stronger exhibit the difficulty of LQ models in explaining the measured $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$, in case the $\varepsilon'/\varepsilon$ anomaly will be confirmed by improved lattice QCD calculations. Hopefully also improved measurements of $K_L\to\pi^0\ell\bar\ell$ decays will one day help in this context.Comment: 53 pages, 9 figures; v2: minor extensions, matches published version; v3: corrected eq.(B.10) and figure 2 (right plot U_1,L), conclusions not affecte

Differential expression and activation of NF-κB family proteins during oral carcinogenesis: role of high risk human papillomavirus infection

Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers in India and south-east Asian region consisting of more than 50% of all malignant tumors. Along with many known risk factors, infection of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been associated with the development of oral cancer and is suggested to modulate host cell transcription. Reciprocally, cellular transcription factors, such as NF-κB and AP-1 are known to modulate the expression of viral and other genes involved in the development of cancer. In the absence of data on NF-κB in relation to HPV in oral cancer, we studied the DNA binding activity and expression pattern of NF-κB family of proteins in different stages of oral cancer and correlated with HPV infection that has been associated with better prognosis of the disease. A total of 110 fresh oral tissue biopsies were collected comprising 10 normal controls, 34 precancer and 66 oral cancer lesions prior to chemotherapy/radiotherapy. Diagnosis of HPV was done by both consensus and type-specific PCR. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays, western blots and immunohistochemical analysis were performed to assess the binding activity and expression pattern of NF-κB family of proteins (p50, p65, p52, c-Rel, RelB and Bcl-3) in oral tissue biopsies. Twenty seven percent (18/66) of the oral cancer biopsies showed the presence of HPV infection exclusively of high risk HPV type 16, which was primarily associated with the well differentiated squamous cell carcinomas (WDSCC). We observed a high constitutive activation of NF-κB with concomitant upregulated expression of all the NF-κB members in oral cancer tissues. Expression of NF-κB components gradually increased as the severity of lesion increased from precancer to invasive cancer. NF-κB p50 was found to be the major DNA binding component, which is indicative of homodimerization of p50 subunits. Interestingly, in HPV16 infected oral cancers although p50 showed high binding activity, p65 also showed a partial involvement as evidenced in supershift assay. Both by western blotting and immunohistochemistry, a differential overexpression and nuclear localization of p50, p65 and partially of Bcl-3 were observed in HPV16 positive oral cancer patients that also showed an over-expression of p21. We therefore, demonstrate a constitutive activation and differential expression of NF-κB proteins, which change as a function of severity of oral lesions during development of oral cancer. The NF-κB DNA binding is primarily due to homodimerization of p50 but infection of high risk HPV promotes participation of p65 in NF-κB complex formation, leading to heterodimerization of p50/p65. We propose that the involvement of p65 in HPV infected oral cancer may be linked to improved differentiation and better prognosis of the disease when treated

Micro Tool Fabrications through Electrochemical Spark Machining Process

 This article investigates the feasibility of producing an in-situ micro tool rod using micro-electrochemical spark machining (µ-ECSM) technology. The study included the examination of both electrical factors (such as voltage and duty factor) and non-electrical factors (such as electrolyte concentration and spindle speed) as the input parameters for the machining process. The responses measured in the study were the reduction in tool diameter and the surface roughness of the micro tool produced. The potassium hydroxide solution is used as a working fluid. The results indicate that voltage is the most crucial factor that influences micro tool fabrication. The utmost reduction in tool diameter, measuring 279.5 µm, occurred when utilizing machining parameters of 35V, 30%, 4 wt.%, and 600 rpm. Meanwhile, the lowest surface roughness for the micro tool was 3.42 µm, achieved with machining parameters of 35V, 10%, 4 wt.%, and 600 rpm. Additionally, the impact of machining settings on the micro tool electrode is covered

Bioreduction based Bioremediation of Hexavalent Chromium Cr (VI) through Potential Indigenous Microbes

Sukinda Valley, of Orissa, contains 97% of India’s chromite ore deposits and one of the prime open cast chromite ore mines in the world. (ENVIS Newsletter, 2007). Hexavalent chromium pollution in this area has caused a major health hazard affecting 2,600,000 people in this area (Blacksmith Institute report, 2007). Our investigation involved biological treatment of Cr (VI) without producing any byproduct. Bacterial cultures tolerating high concentrations of chromium were isolated from the soil sample collected from the chromite contaminated sites of Sukinda chromite mines and their bioaccumulation properties are investigated. Strains capable of growing at 300 mg/l of Cr (VI) are considered as chromium resistant. The mentioned stain was capable of resisting Cr (VI) up to 500 mg/l. Its resistance to different metals such as Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd and Fe were also investigated. The effects of different operating parameters such as initial pH, temperature and initial Cr (VI) concentrations on bioaccumulation of Cr (VI) by enriched cultures were studied in a batch system. The experimental investigation showed the maximum specific chromium uptake at pH 7 and temperature 300C. With increasing initial Cr (VI)concentration from 5 mg/l to 50 mg/l showed increase in Cr (VI) uptake. At about 50 mg l−1 initial Cr (VI) concentrations, uptake of the selected potential strain exceeded 98% within 12 hours of incubation. The bacterial isolate is identified by 16S rRNA sequencing as Brevebacterium casei. Data indicated that isolate culture can be utilized to improve efficiency of biological treatment processes for effluents containing higher levels of Cr (VI)