2,017 research outputs found
INDIAN INITIATIVES FOR ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION
Society, at large, has to realise the gravity of environmental degradation and participate fully in the mitigation of environmental problems. This article discusses the Indian initiatives and the important milestones in the path of environmental protection and pollution abatement. The commitment of the Indian Government to the cause of public awareness of environmental conservation is reflected in its outreach and educational programmes. It involves ministries, environmental monitoring agencies, NGOs, academic and research institutions.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has played a leading role in the national priority programmes of environmental monitoring, assessment and pollution control. All the stakeholders have succeeded to some extent in creating public interest in environmental issues but much more needs to be done.
National level institutions like NEERI, NIO and TERI are actively involved in research to find feasible solutions to our environmental problems and in the dissemination of relevant information through their publications. In our country, voluntary organisations and NGOs have been contributing immensely to environmental causes.
Following the directive of the Supreme Court in 1991, environmental education is a compulsory component of school and college curricula. India has contributed significantly to the deliberations at COP (Conference of the Parties) fora especially the recently held COP-21 at Paris. Our suggestions for creating a pollution-free world have always been welcomed by the participating countries especially the developing countries.
This article also presents the results of an environmental study carried out in Wilson College, Mumbai in which the effect of salinity on the rate of degradation of effluents released in marine waters, was quantitatively studied using reaction kinetics
NEW PATHWAYS IN CHEMISTRY
Chemistry is a science whose progress is exponential as it touches every aspect of our existence and provides all the things required for life to survive on this planet. Chemistry is rightly called the Science of Life.
Chemical processes provide food, clothing, shelter medicines, and energy to sustain life. Feeding the ever-increasing population is a big challenge calling for increased production of crops, minimizing losses during their harvesting and storage and use of new, improved varieties like Genetically modified (GM) food grains and pulses.
The use of fertilizers has increased manifold over the years, leading to an increase in the production of food. Clothing is made from plant fibres like cotton and silk. New and better varieties of cotton have been developed. Nylon, produced by the polymer industry is also a critical clothing material in some parts of the world. New materials like composites, fly ash bricks, and polymeric wastes are being increasingly used for construction purposes, especially for housing and roads.
Research for the synthesis of new drugs to combat diseases is a continuous activity, and the pharmaceutical industry has a considerable investment, especially in our country. Indigenous medicine systems like Ayurveda, Homoeopathy and Unani are also contributing to health welfare, especially in India. Of late, nanomedicines are emerging as an essential area of medicine.
Non-conventional energy sources like solar, nuclear, hydro, biodiesel and wind energy are being increasingly tapped as possible substitutes for the fast depleting coal and oil reserves. The International Solar Alliance, initiated by India, aims at forging a strong partnership between all nations to tap and use solar energy
Glutathione S-Transferase activity and total thiol status in chronic alcohol abusers before and 30 days after alcohol abstinence
Background: Glutathione S Transferase (GST) has been involved in detoxification process in the liver and its activity has been shown to be increased in alcohol abusers. In the current work we measured the GST activity, total thiol status, AST, ALT, and direct bilirubin in chronic alcohol abusers before and 30 days after alcohol abstinence and lifestyle modification. Methods: Serum and urine GST activity and total thiol status were determined using spectrophotometric methods and serum transaminases were determined using clinical chemistry analyzer. Results: We found,significant increase in serum and urine GST (p<0.001), AST (p<0.001), ALT (p<0.001), and decrease in total thiol status (p<0.001) in chronic alcohol abusers. GST activity significantly decreased (p<0.001) and total thiol status were improved significantly (p<0.001) 30 days after alcohol abstinence and lifestyle modification. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary data to suggest the role of GST as prognostic indicator of alcohol abstinence with possible trend towards an improvement in liver function
Cervical growth in a young woman: a case report
Genital tuberculosis, a silent killer of menstrual function and fertility potential is common in developing countries like India. Cervical TB is extremely rare and it accounts for 0.1-0.65% of all the cases of tuberculosis and 5-24% of all the genital tuberculosis cases. The clinical presentation of genitourinary tuberculosis is variable in nature and it can also be asymptomatic. Here, we are reporting a rare case of cervical tuberculosis clinically masquerading as cervical malignancy presenting with secondary amenorrhoea
KINETIC AND THERMODYNAMIC STUDIES OF THE OXIDATION OF PERFUMERY ALCOHOLS USING POTASSIUM PERIODATE IN ACIDIC MEDIUM
ABSTRACT Oxidation is one of the most important industrial reactions as it yields useful products. Literature survey indicates the use of a variety of organic oxidants for the oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds but inorganic oxidants have rarely been used. The quantitative conversion of alcohols to aldehydes/ketones has been reported by several workers but there are relatively few reports about the kinetic and thermodynamic investigations of the oxidation of alcohols. We report herein the kinetics of the controlled oxidation of some perfumery and fragrance alcohols using potassium periodate (KIO 4 ) in acidic medium. The secondary cyclic alcohols, borneol, isoborneol and menthol are extensively used in the manufacture of perfumes and fragrances. Menthol is also used in medicine as a local anaesthetic and counter irritant. The aliphatic alcohols, 2-propanol, 2-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol are used as diluents in perfumery formulations. The oxidation was carried out under pseudo uni-molecular kinetic conditions with respect to the inorganic oxidant. The progress of the reaction was monitored by iodometric estimation of the oxidant at regular time intervals during the course of the reaction. For all the alcohols studied, it was found that the oxidation rate increased with alcohol concentration but decreased with oxidant concentration
13C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Detection of Interactions of Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase with C1-Tetrahydrofolate Synthase and Glycine Decarboxylase Complex Activities in Arabidopsis
Differential gene expression patterns in cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 deficient mouse brain
BACKGROUND: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 produce prostanoids from arachidonic acid and are thought to have important yet distinct roles in normal brain function. Deletion of COX-1 or COX-2 results in profound differences both in brain levels of prostaglandin E(2 )and in activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, suggesting that COX-1 and COX-2 play distinct roles in brain arachidonic acid metabolism and regulation of gene expression. To further elucidate the role of COX isoforms in the regulation of the brain transcriptome, microarray analysis of gene expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of mice deficient in COX-1 (COX-1(-/-)) or COX-2 (COX-2(-/-)) was performed. RESULTS: A majority (>93%) of the differentially expressed genes in both the cortex and hippocampus were altered in one COX isoform knockout mouse but not the other. The major gene function affected in all genotype comparisons was 'transcriptional regulation'. Distinct biologic and metabolic pathways that were altered in COX(-/- )mice included β oxidation, methionine metabolism, janus kinase signaling, and GABAergic neurotransmission. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that COX-1 and COX-2 differentially modulate brain gene expression. Because certain anti-inflammatory and analgesic treatments are based on inhibition of COX activity, the specific alterations observed in this study further our understanding of the relationship of COX-1 and COX-2 with signaling pathways in brain and of the therapeutic and toxicologic consequences of COX inhibition
Optical observations of the bright long duration peculiar GRB 021004 afterglow
The CCD magnitudes in Johnson and Cousins and photometric
passbands are determined for the bright long duration GRB 021004 afterglow from
2002 October 4 to 16 starting 3 hours after the ray burst.
Light curves of the afterglow emission in ,, and passbands are
obtained by combining these measurements with other published data. The
earliest optical emission appears to originate in a revese shock. Flux decay of
the afterglow shows a very uncommon variation relative to other well-observed
GRBs. Rapid light variations, especially during early times (
days) is superposed on an underlying broken power law decay typical of a jetted
afterglow. The flux decay constants at early and late times derived from least
square fits to the light curve are and respectively,
with a jet break at around 7 day. Comparison with a standard fireball model
indicates a total extinction of mag in the direction of the
burst. Our low-resolution spectra corrected for this extinction provide a
spectral slope . This value and the flux decay constants
agree well with the electron energy index used in the model. The
derived jet opening angle of about implies a total emitted
gamma-ray energy erg at a cosmological distance
of about 20 Gpc. Multiwavelength observations indicate association of this GRB
with a star forming region, supporting the case for collapsar origin of long
duration GRBs.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, BASI, 31, 1
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