Lie Group Analysis of Natural Convection Heat and Mass Transfer in an Inclined Surface

Natural convection heat transfer fluid flow past an inclined semiinfinite surface in the presence of solute concentration is investigated by Lie group analysis. The governing partial differential equations are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations by the translation and scaling symmetries. An exact solution is obtained for translation symmetry and numerical solutions for scaling symmetry. It is found that the velocity increases and temperature and concentration of the fluid decrease with an increase in the thermal and solutal Grashof numbers. The velocity and concentration of the fluid decrease and temperature increases with increase in the Schmidt number

Major integrated environmental system for relocation of 540 tanneries in Kolkata City - a biggest environmental project of its kind in Asia

The tanning industry is one of the oldest and fastest growing industries in South and South East Asia. There are more than 3000 tanneries located in India with a total processing capacity of 700,000 tones of hides and skins per year. The wastewater discharge from these tanneries is about 100,000 cubic meters per day. More than 90% tanneries are in small and medium scale sector with processing capacities of less than 2-3 tons of hides/ skins per day

Enzymatic Depilation of Animal Hide: Identification of Elastase (LasB) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MCM B-327 as a Depilating Protease

Conventional leather processing involving depilation of animal hide by lime and sulphide treatment generates considerable amounts of chemical waste causing severe environmental pollution. Enzymatic depilation is an environmentally friendly process and has been considered to be a viable alternative to the chemical depilation process. We isolated an extracellular protease from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain MCM B-327 with high depilation activity using buffalo hide as a substrate. This 33 kDa protease generated a peptide mass fingerprint and de novo sequence that matched perfectly with LasB (elastase), of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In support of this data a lasB mutant of MCM B-327 strain lacked depilatory activity and failed to produce LasB. LasB heterologously over-produced and purified from Escherichia coli also exhibited high depilating activity. Moreover, reintroduction of the lasB gene to the P. aeruginosa lasB mutant via a knock-in strategy also successfully restored depilation activity thus confirming the role of LasB as the depilating enzyme

Advice from the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on riot control agents in connection to the Chemical Weapons Convention

Compounds that cause powerful sensory irritation to humans were reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in response to requests in 2014 and 2017 by the OPCW Director-General to advise which riot control agents (RCAs) might be subject to declaration under the Chemical Weapons Convention (the Convention). The chemical and toxicological properties of 60 chemicals identified from a survey by the OPCW of RCAs that had been researched or were available for purchase, and additional chemicals recognised by the SAB as having potential RCA applications, were considered. Only 17 of the 60 chemicals met the definition of a RCA under the Convention. These findings were provided to the States Parties of the Convention to inform the implementation of obligations pertaining to RCAs under this international chemical disarmament and non-proliferation treaty.Peer reviewe

Basic and applied research in India: present and future

Models for supporting organized applied research programs Position of India in the global scenario of basic research New policy initiatives and programs

Study of landscape of global leather patents and analysis of technology linkages to trade

The paper identifies the effect of changing patenting priorities in the emerging global leather trade. A landscape of invention portfolios generated through research and development in global leather sector has been investigated covering a three-year aggregated reference period of 1998-2000 relative to 1988-1990. Patents have been classified based on country of origin, applicant type and subject areas. Changing direction of global R&D in leather in various subject areas as indicated by generation of patents has been mapped. Technology trends have been analyzed. The trends indicate that product oriented research and bio-product alternatives to chemical inputs in leather processing are gaining higher significance and interest in leather research. The relationship between the balance of trade in leather world during 1998-2000 and the growth of patenting practices has also been studied.Leather patents Patent landscaping Leather processing Chemicals Devices Products Balance of trade WTO IPR

Role of aspartic acid in collagen structure and stability: a molecular dynamics investigation

A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation study has been carried out to understand the stability of the triple helical collagen models. The calculations show that the presence of the aspartic acid residue in different positions leads to the local variation in the structure. Analyses of root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), radial distribution function (RDF), puckering effect, dihedral angle variation, hydrogen bond (H-bond), and conformational changes during molecular dynamics simulation reveal that the local perturbation in the sequences, increase in chain flexibility due to removal of five membered rings in the collagen by aspartic acid, change of intermolecular H-bonding pattern, and differences in the association of water are mainly influencing the nature of stabilization of collagen by aspartic acid

Bader's electron density analysis of hydrogen bonding in secondary structural elements of protein

The hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) interactions in α-helical and β-sheet model peptides have been studied by using the atoms-in-molecule (AIM) approach. The relative importance of NH···O and CH···O H-bonding interactions in the different secondary elements such as α-helix, parallel, and antiparallel β-sheets have been assessed. The electron density values at the NH···O bond are higher than those of the CH···O bonds in the α-helical conformation. The electron density values at the H-bonded critical points (HBCPs) corresponding to NH···O and CH···O interactions are nearly equal in the parallel β-sheet of the order of 10-3 au, whereas in the case of antiparallel β-sheets, ρ(rc) values for NH···O and CH···O interactions are of the order of 10-2 and 10-3 au, respectively. It is interesting to point out here that the weakening of NH···O interactions in the parallel β-sheet arrangement is evident from the AIM analysis. This is concomitant with the increase in the NH···O distance in the parallel β-sheet conformation. In addition to the clear description of H-bonding by electron density at the HBCP, possible good linear relationships between the electron density at ring critical points (RCP) and stabilization energy (SE) have been observed corresponding to the various β-sheet conformations