NepaChem

Ethical Considerations for Authors and Reviewers

2012-02-11T17:54:00.000-08:00

Important thing to consider while writing a manuscript. Prepared by ACS under publishing your research 101.

From ACS:

Ethical behavior in research and publication form the foundation of scientific discovery and communication. Simply put, experiments should be performed and communicated honestly and with integrity, and attribution should be given to acknowledge the contributions of others.Our editors examine some specific ways in which these principles apply during the publication and peer review process and highlight some of the common problems that arise from both authors and reviewers.

For reviewers.

NAST organizing 6th National Conference on Science and Technology in Nepal

2012-01-03T21:44:00.000-08:00

NAST is going to organize 6th National Conference on Science and Technology on June 6-8, 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Few details are listed below.

Conference Theme: “Economic Growth through Science, Technology and Innovation".

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM: The scientific program of the conference will include invited key note addresses, plenary lectures, oral and poster presentations. Sectional sessions will be held for paper presentations as categorized in the following disciplinary areas.

Physical Sciences (including Earth Science and Astronomy)
· Chemical Sciences
· Biological Sciences
· Mathematical Sciences (including Statistics)
· Agriculture and Animal Sciences
· Engineering and Technology/Energy
· Medicine and Health Sciences
· Biotechnology and Food Technology
· Forestry, Environment and Climate Change
· Information and Communication Technology
· Science Education and Public Understanding
REGISTRATION:

Nepali Participants

Institutional: NPR 3000.00/- person
Individual: NPR 1500.00/- person

Foreign Participants

SAARC Countries: US$ 200.00/ person
Other Countries: US$ 500.00/ person
The fees can be paid by bank transfer (T/T or M/T), bank
draft/voucher or money order (D/D) payable to the NAST.
Bank: Nepal Rastra Bank, Thapathali
A/C No. B.O. 610146

CALL FOR PAPERS
by April 12, 2012 (Chaitra 30, 2068).

FOR DETAILS

Awesome Chemistry Videos of 2011

2011-12-28T09:07:00.000-08:00

I have put together some of the awesome chemistry videos which were published in the year of 2011, definitely of my choice. ENJOY. Have a wonderful new year ahead.

1. Soft Robot from Whitesides group at Harvard University.

2.Conductive Silver Ink from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

3. Will it blend? Glow Sticks?

Life's Trek Brings Scientist to U.S. from Nepal

2011-12-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

There were fewer than 1,000 people in the tiny Nepalese village of Tanahun district when Jefferson Lab SRF Scientist Pashupati Dhakal grew up there. He was the son of the village's school principal. And at that time, the local school only went through middle school. Had he stayed there, it would have been a two-hour trek by foot to the nearest high school. Instead, he moved in with his grandfather in Pokhara, a popular tourist destination in Nepal.

"This," he said with a sweep of his hand toward a stunning computer screen shot of the Himalayas, "is the view I woke up to every morning."

Impressive, indeed. Almost as impressive as Dhakal's abilities in math, which came to him early and were nurtured throughout his education. His first physics teacher at Tribhuvan University, where he did his undergraduate work, was, in Dhakal's words, "brilliant" and lured him into the field.

"Studying with him made up my mind," he recalled. "That's when I said 'I want to be a physicist.'"

He stayed on at Tribhuvan University for his master's degree, which he received in 2002, after presenting his dissertation titled, "Thickness Dependence of Chemical Potential in Degenerate Semiconductor." When he graduated, he had the highest score in the department and received a gold medal from Gyanendra Bir Bikran Shah Dev, the king of Nepal.

Dhakal was offered a two-year teaching position for undergraduates and some graduate students while a professor went on sabbatical at the same department where he had completed his master's degree. "I learned even more by actually teaching physics," he noted.

As that job was ending, he applied to 10 schools in the United States and had five offers. He chose Boston College, not only for its physics department, but because he wanted a cosmopolitan atmosphere, and he had a friend from Tribhuvan University that had preceded him there. "I'd seen enough mountains," Dhakal said with a laugh. "I was ready for a city."

The flight from Nepal to the U.S. took 36 hours and brought him, literally, to the other side of the world. From what he knew about the U.S., he thought he'd be eating sandwiches all the time. Discovering Boston's ethnic groceries and restaurants was a relief. In fact, his friend's wife cooked him a traditional Nepalese meal on his first day.

In graduate school, he was interested in condensed matter physics studying the very exotic properties of materials in ultra-cold temperatures and very high magnetic fields. Working with his Ph.D. supervisor, Michael Naughton, he became skilled in several experimental techniques as well as the theoretical knowledge on condensed matter physics. Dhakal finished his Ph.D. in August 2010 after presenting his dissertation, "Angular Magnetoresistance Oscillations in the Molecular Organic Conductor (DMET)2I3: Experiment and Calculation."

In between there had been important business at home to tend to. In 2006, he returned to Nepal to meet, Sangita, the woman who would become his wife. In his culture, he explained, it is not a singular man and woman who are marrying, but the extended families. Sangita's brother-in-law and Dhakal's uncle were friends and thought they would make a perfect couple. In keeping with his home country's tradition, the couple met once and talked about their educations and plans for the future.

"In western culture, you think love must come first, but we marry and let the love grow," he said fondly. When Dhakal joined Jefferson Lab'sSRF Institute in the fall of 2010, Sangita stayed behind in Boston to finish her own education and received her nursing degree in December, after which she joined him here. Their daughter, Swarupa, is a few months old now.

"She's one of the nicest babies," he crooned with a new father's smile, "and she's a good sleeper."

Dhakal is teamed with scientists Gianluigi Ciovati and Ganapati Myneni – researching the superconducting properties of niobium, which he described as being "the heart and soul" of SRF, or superconducting radiofrequency technology. He is studying how it changes with heat and surface treatment procedures which are used during the fabrication of SRF cavities. The second part of his work involves researching ways to improve the quality factor of SRF cavities (Q0), which is limited by the so called residual loss. This means finding ways to reduce, eliminate or manage impurities and contaminates while fabricating and processing SRF cavities.

"A new kind of clean, ultra-high vacuum induction furnace has been recently acquired to avoid contamination on niobium cavities during the heating process," he explained of a portion of the process necessary to prepare the cavities. "We have preliminary results, which look very good. They are showing signs of improvement."

When evenings and weekends roll around, Dhakal enjoys following sports on TV. "I watch anything," he said with a laugh. Learning the American games was tricky; it took him a while to figure out that U.S. football players touch the ball with their hands instead of just their feet.

His parents have been visiting, to help out with the new baby and Dhakal had the opportunity to take them to New York City. "I took them to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building and said to them, 'This is the real America.'"

By Judi Tull
Feature writer

http://wwwold.jlab.org/news/OnTarget/BelowTheFold.html#item3

Chemistry activities in Biratnagar, Nepal

2011-12-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

Department of Chemistry, M.M.A.M.C., Biratnagar, Nepal organized an "one day seminar". This is the third seminar after launching M.Sc./ PhD programme of Physics and Chemistry in 2009.

Dr. Jagadeesh Bhattarai, associate Prof from CDC, TU, honored Mr. Tulasi Prasad Niraula, who achieved the best poster award in the International Conference of Advanced Materials and Technology for sustainable Development, 21-23 October, 2011 by garland with Tika. Similarly, Prof. Dr. Sujeet Kumar Chatterjee honored Miss Alina Shakya, who was also the best poster award winner in the same conference.

Mr. Tulasi Niraula, the Ph.D. scholar, gave seminar presentation on "Conductivity study of surfactants in mixed solvent media". Also, Mr. Sujit Kumar Shah, the Ph.D. scholar gave a presentation on basic information of surfactants. Both of these Ph.D. research scholars are working under the guidance of Prof. Sujeet Kumar Chatterjee and Dr. Ajaya Bhattarai.

Dr. Jagadeesh Bhattarai presented his talk on "Research Activities on Corrosion in Nepal: An overview". Prof. Dr. Sujeet Kumar Chatterjee shared his view about the research work in the department of Chemistry. He talked about the low cost work research. He emphasized about the devotion of time during the research work.

During the programme, participants were welcomed by Mr. Balaram Pant (chemistry faculty) and Dr. Ajaya Bhattarai presented the activities of chemists of the eastern part of

Nepal

. Mr. Narendra Kumar Chaudhary (chemistry faculty) gave vote of thanks. The program was chaired by Mr. Ghanashayam Shrivastav. The programme was announced by Sabita Gautam Dahal, head of the department of Chemistry, Manamohan Polytechnique Institue, Morang.

Mr. Rajesh Karki presented a laptop to the head of the department of Chemistry. The laptop was purchased with the collection of funds from 38 chemists. List of donors is given below.

Some photos from the program below.

Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) 2011 Awards Announced

2011-11-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

NAST has announced following awards to following personals. Congratulations to all of you.

NAST_Awardees_FY_ 2067_68

Conference on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology completed

2011-11-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

Nepal Chemical Society (NCS) recently organized an international conference on advanced materials and nanotechnology on October 21-23 this year. The conference was organized in collaboration with Central Department of Chemistry, TU in Park Village, Kathmandu. We have received some photos of the program.

All above photos by Krishna Kandel.

Climate Change Research Grants for Nepali Students-2011

2011-10-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

For MS students carrying out their research in Universities in Nepal. They will provide upto Rs 70000. Check out this link for details. Last date to submit is Nov 11, 2011.

http://nast.org.np/alluploads/Terms_of_Reference.pdf

Watch Nobel Prize in Chemistry Announcement LIVE on NepaChem

2011-10-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Molecular Scissors

2011-10-03T22:55:00.001-07:00

Anant Babu Marahatta (ananta037@gmail.com)
Tohoku Univ.
Japan

You might wonder to know that molecules work like a scissors in the presence of UV radiation. Such molecules are called “molecular scissors”. Here is an example of it in which an azobenzene moiety acts as a handle, a ferrocene unit acts as a pivot point and two phenyl groups act as the blades.

The conformational changes induced by cis-trans isomerization of the azobenzene switch, due to alternating irradiation with UV and visible light, are translated into a rotational movement around the metal center of the ferrocene unit.

Source: a text book about “Controlled Rotary Motion at the Molecular Level”

Nepali scholar makes breakthrough in TB

2011-10-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

An exciting news published in www.ekantipur.com. Congratulations Prof Lamichhane!!!

KATHMANDU, OCT 03 -2011.

Gyanu Lamichhane, a 35-year-old Nepali researcher at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, has drawn the world several steps closer in finding a better, faster and reliable cure for tuberculosis (TB), which kills over two million people across the globe each year.

His latest findings have paved the way for a much faster approach of weakening the TB causing bacterium, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, which could potentially shorten TB treatment that now takes at least six months.

In recognition of his achievement, the US government’s National Institute of Health honoured Lamichhane with the coveted New Innovator Award-2011 on September 19 along with a direct funding of $ 1.5 million (Rs 117 million) for his research to be carried out at the university within five years. A statement issued by the Institute on September 19 stated that the award was conferred on Lamichhane and 48 other young scientists for various promising researches in health sciences.

During his research at Johns Hopkins Centre for Tuberculosis Research, Lamichhane, the assistant professor at the university, discovered what exactly the cell wall of TB causing bacteria is made of. He revealed that the protective cell wall of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis is held together by an enzyme named L,D-transpeptidase. The revelation is said to have come as a breakthrough in the effort to develop medicine that could break the protective wall of the bacterium and thus weaken it and cure the disease altogether.

His research has a key finding that if L,D-transpeptidase is unable to function, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis will have its cell wall weakened and the remaining chemical linkages in the bacterial wall will be an easy target for drugs used in the treatment of TB. Lamichhane now intends to pursue his research on what effect antibiotics will have on L,D-transpeptidase and the possible cure for tuberculosis as well as other bacterial infections.

“My primary interest is the study of genes essential to the growth of mycrobacteria. In future I intend to study the cell division and regulation of cell cycle in mycrobacteria,” Lamichhane told the John Hopkins University publication after receiving the award. He had harboured the dream of finding a cure for TB since 1993, when he was a high school student in Chitwan. In an interview with the Post in 2009, he had stated that his grandfather's death from TB pushed him to find a cure for it.

"My team was doing research with the aim to identify how mycobacterium tuberculosis grows. We found that an unusual enzyme is required for the bacteria to grow properly and cause disease," he told the Post over telephone from the US on Sunday.

“We have demonstrated what needs to be done to make new drugs. Now the challenge is to work on making drugs and testing them,” he added.

About one third of the world’s population is believed to be infected with M Tuberculosis with 10 million new cases each year.

Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death among those who are infected with both HIV virus and M Tuberculosis, causing for the death of nearly 500,000 people with infections of both.

The complete treatment of tuberculosis requires at least six months for a “short” course treatment. Lamichhane hopes that the findings will help shorten the treatment duration to mere two weeks.

Lamichhane, who himself suffered from latent tuberculosis, had received a grant worth $ 100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation in 2009 for the research on tuberculosis. He was also featured as one of the 36 best and brightest in America by Esquire magazine in 2007.

Key findings

•Lamichhane found what exactly the cell wall of TB causing bacteria is made of

•He discovered that the protective cell wall of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis is held together by an enzyme named L,D-transpeptidase

•Findings to shorten TB treatment duration considerably

Effective Scientific Writing -- Manuscripts and Grants

2011-09-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Name of movies produced by a Chemist!!! Fun Chemistry

2011-09-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Collected by Mahesh Bhatt. You can add more onto the comment box!!

Tero acid mero base
Rang de benzene
Hamara beaker aapke pas hai
Life in a Lab
Laga apron me daag
3 test tubes
Hybridization kardi aapne
Munna bhai HCl
Ajab element ki gajab valency
My name is oxygen
I hate Dalton's theory
Jab we experiment
Kabhi oxidation kabhi reduction
Experiment ... aapna aapna
Jis rxn me ppt aata hai
Meri Boron ka Duplet
Compound na milage dobara
acid or base ka mahasangram
KABHI TYPHOID KHABI CHOLERA
MY NAME IS RHINO VIRUS
Bacteria ka dil virus ke pass hai
Hogi bacteria ki jeet
Once upon a time in Biotechlab
Ajab bacteria ka gazab disease
Jis bacteria me plasmid rahata he
Product Na Milega Dubara!!!

A Novel Platform to Investigate G-quadruplex and Ligand Interactions

2011-09-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

A collaborative research of the scientists from United States, United Kingdom and Japan has introduced a novel platform to investigate the binding interactions between human telomeric G-quadruplexes and small molecule ligands at single molecule level. This research work has been recently published in Nature Chemistry (link: http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v3/n10/pdf/nchem.1126.pdf) which is one of the most reputed Journals in the related field.

G-quadruplexes are four-stranded nucleic acid secondary structures formed by the guanine rich DNA and RNA sequences. The telomere is one of the critical parts of the eukaryotic chromosomes including those of humans which has propensity to form G-quadruplexes. Telomeres play a vital role in aging and cancer. In normal cells telomere is shortened each time when a cell divides and finally leads to the programmed death of the cell. However in most of the cancer cells, telomere length is maintained because of the over expression of an enzyme called telomerase. The telomerase acts on the telomere and extends its length which makes the cell immortal causing cancer. The telomeric G-quadruplexes have been proposed to play an important role in the maintenance of telomere because quadruplex structures are not extended by the telomerase. The small molecule ligands have been demonstrated to bind to telomeric G-quadruplexes and suppress telomerase activity. This fact has begun the expansion of telomeric G-quadruplexes into potential therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Therefore understanding the kinetic, thermodynamic, and mechanical properties of small molecule binding to these structures is important but the classical ensemble assays are unable to measure these properties simultaneously. This novel platform provides the all information at once.

The single molecule assay employs a telomeric G-quadruplex structure to evaluate its interaction with small-molecule ligands in a laser tweezers instrument. Using a force based single-molecule technique, it has been shown that ligand not only promotes the folding of human telomeric G-quadruplex but also increases its mechanical stability. This platform simplifies the dissociation constant assay without the requirement for ligand or receptor titration and offers a general platform that can be applied to other biologically relevant ligand-receptor systems.

According to Deepak Koirala, a lead author of the paper from Nepal and PhD student of Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Kent State University, USA, this study highlights G-quadruplexes that are important dynamic structures involved in the mechanism of telomere elongation by the action of the enzyme complex telomerase. He adds "the mechanical information acquired by this system could provide novel perspectives for drug testing and design in the future".

Congratulations to those starting Graduate study in Chemistry abroad, 2011

2011-09-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

We would like to congratulate following fellow Nepalese chemists who departed from Nepal this year for higher studies (MS/PhD) in western countries. This list may not be complete. Your input is necessary to complete this.

Rishi Sapkota, University of New Mexico, USA
Janak Poudyal, Florida International University, USA
Ram Khattri, Akron University, USA
Binod Nepal, Utah State University, USA
Dipak Giri, Kansas State University, USA
Arun Sapkota, North Carolina Central University, USA
Ramjee Kandel, Tohoku University, Japan
Radheshyam Pant, University of Missouri-Rolla, USA
Rajesh Adhikari, Sun Moon University, South Korea
Ritesh Gurung, Sun Moon University, South Korea
Jay Jha, Southern Illinois University, USA

Thank you Hem and Mount Everest Chemist.

Winners of 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Predictions!!

2011-09-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Time is coming soon to see a list of new names for Nobel prize. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced on Wednesday 5 October, 11:45 a.m. CET, 9:45 a.m. GMT, according to Nobel.org.

But who will win this time? Lets see the names predicted by thomsonreuters.com for Chemistry.

Allen J. Bard
University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX USA
WHY: for the development and application of scanning electrochemical microscopy

Jean M. J. Fréchet
Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley CA USA, and Vice President of Research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
WHY: with Donald A. Tomalia and Fritz Vögtle, for the invention and development of dendritic polymers

Martin Karplus
Harvard University, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France
WHY: for pioneering simulations of the molecular dynamics of biomolecules

Donald A. Tomalia
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI USA
WHY: with Jean M. J. Fréchet and Fritz Vögtle, for the invention and development of dendritic polymers

Joseph P. Vacanti
Harvard Medical School
WHY: with Robert S. Langer, for their pioneering research in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Fritz Vögtle
University of Bonn, Bonn Germany
WHY: with Jean M. J. Fréchet and Donald A. Tomalia, for the invention and development of dendritic polymers.

Share your thoughts!!!What do you think?

What a clear Chemistry !!

2011-08-26T20:26:00.001-07:00

Anant Marahatta
Chemistry Department
Tohoku University, Japan
(ananta037@gmail.com)

It is a fact that if one could direct the computer according to his/her intention, one would get fantastic information about any disciplines of science. Computational chemistry which uses chemical software to compute chemistry behind matter has become fundamental tool in the cutting edge research. Now a day, without the computational approach, the experimental research findings are being difficult to accept by the scientific society. One of the very clear chemistry of single molecule rotation on crystalline surfaces is clarified here.

Fig (a) and (b) explain the alignment of dimethylsulphide (CH3)2 S molecule over Au(111) and over Au(100) surfaces respectively. Over Au (111) surface, one methyl group lies on the three-fold hollow site while another methyl group sits on the top site. In contrary, over Au (100) surface, both methyl groups occupy the hollow site present between atoms. During the rotation, if one CH3 group is passing the atop site while another one is above the hollow site (like in Au(111)), the rotation becomes facile. The opposite is true at Au (100) surface.

What a clear illustration, isn’t it? It’s a challenging finding of computational chemistry over experimental one.

If you are interested to read above chemistry in detail, you are advised to go through
J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 125–131

Angry Chemists: Chemistry Professors Write Letter to UK PM David Cameron Asking More Money For Research

2011-08-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

Letter to the prime minister from 100 senior chemists

Also Watch the Video Below. Prof is explaining.

What's your Bio Future? Win a $20000 grant from SigmaBio

2011-08-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Where do you think Bio is going to take the world in the coming years? And, more importantly, what role do you think you’ll play in the process? Will this be the generation that cures cancer? Is limb regeneration right around the corner? Don’t limit yourself — Bio can be anything you want it to, if you’ve got the vision.

Share your vision now: Enter the Biogrant Video Contest for your chance to win a lab makeover for your school. Simply team up with a teacher and a member of the scientific community, and create a short, 2–3 minute video with your vision for the future of Bio.

The student with the most creative, innovative video will receive a grant for a lab makeover, putting you one step closer to achieving that vision. So, sign up now and start sharing your story.

Watch the Biogrant Challenge video from Sigma^® Life Science.

Entry Process

Team up with a teacher and a member of the scientific community (Can’t find one? Look no further!).
Create a video to answer the question: How do you think your Bio will shape the future? Limit the video to between 2 and 3 minutes.
Upload your video to a video sharing site like YouTube.com, Vimeo.com orFlickr.com.
Complete and submit the entry form below.

Entries will be accepted from 12:00am CST on 3/4/11 until 5:00pm CST on 10/28/11.

The Biogrant Video Contest is open to high school students aged 13 years and older. All contestants are required to have an adult sponsor, aged 21 or older, and authorized permission from their educational institution.

All entries outside of the United States or Canada are open to university level students 18 years of age or older.

1 Grand Prize per region:

United States and Canada: $20,000 (US) grant

To determine the Grand Prize winner in each region, the video essays will be screened by Sigma^® Life Science and judged by a selection committee over 2 rounds based on the following criteria:

Message and appropriateness to theme (40%)
Creativity (40%)
Aesthetics (20%)

In Round 1, five judges will determine the top 5 finalists. These 5 finalists will then be judged in Round 2 by a panel of five judges, and the video with the highest score will be declared the Grand Prize winner.

1 Popular Vote Prize per region:

$1000 (US) voucher for Sigma^® Life Science reagents

The Popular Vote prize will be awarded the video with the highest average vote onsigmabiogrant.com. Voting will be open to the public. Visitors to the site can vote on videos by selecting 1–5 stars (One vote per day per IP address). Voting will be open from March 4 through October 28, 2011. The Popular Vote winner will be able to specify the exact products that they need for their lab.

How to Improve the Quality of Journal of Nepal Chemical Society?

2011-08-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Nepal Chemical Society (NCS) publishes its own journal named as Journal of Nepal Chemical Society (JNCS). This journal has been published since last 26 years (I assume, the last issue is numbered as vol 26) one issue per year. These days it can be read and downloaded online from this link without any fee http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JNCS/index. Following volumes are available online: Vol 21 (2006), Vol 22 (2007), Vol 23 and 24 (2009), Vol 25 and 26 (2010). One can submit the manuscript through online submission portal or send email or mail to chief editor. According to the author guidelines, this journal publishes original research papers and reviews in chemistry. I believe this journal is indexed and abstracted by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS).

According to ex-chief editors of this journal, it was not easy to receive good quality manuscripts in enough number in the past. One of the factors that lead to publish the journal annually may be the number of manuscripts it received. In past few years, number of graduate students (MSc and PhD) has increased significantly and is so in case of chemistry related research in Nepal. Also, number of Nepali scholars conducting research work worldwide has been increased by huge number. Prof George Whitesides from Harvard university who is highest rating of all living chemist has said "if your research doesn't generate papers, it might just as well not have been done. "Interested and unpublished" is equivalent to "non-existent"." This implies to the importance of publication. Now, there should not be any problem to get sufficient numbers of manuscripts to JNCS. Important matter is it has to maintain the quality of the manuscripts with some managerial issues. We would like to propose/suggest followings to improve the quality and publication of JNCS.

It should publish only original research. To measure this, peer-review must be strongly enforced and editors and reviewers play important role in this.
Publish review articles. At least one per issue. Review articles are most downloaded and cited journal articles.
Increase the number of articles per issue and also increase number of issues per year. I suggest at least four issues per year.
Having wide spread use of electronic service. JNCS should go online publication only. No print publication necessary. Many Journals are moving from print to online publication only. This way JNCS can reduce printing cost.
I have seen only one chief editor on the journal. JNCS should have more editors and advising editors covering different fields of chemistry. Nepalese Chemists around the globe can contribute to this.
Publicize JNCS. Specially focus on developing countries.
Review process should be faster. Everyone wants to publish as soon as possible.
I know it is open access journal. Keep it like this. Find some alternative funding source for manuscript processing.

Please share your thoughts on comment box.

____________

Basant Giri

www.bgiri.com

Congratulations to Recent Chemistry PhD graduates

2011-08-05T08:41:00.009-07:00

We would like to congratulate following Nepalese Chemists for their accomplishment in finishing doctorate degree from different universities in this year. If you know more than on the list, please write on the comment box.

Beni B dangi, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Krishna Sahteli, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Sunil Hamal, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Gyan Hari Aryal, University of Nevada, Reno, USA
‎Krishna Panthi, Bowling Green
Deepak bhandari, University of Tenneessee
Rajan Lamichhane, Wayne State Univetsity
Keshab Rijal, Wayne State Univetsity
Hari Ghimire,Miami University, Ohio
‎Basu Panthi, Baylor University, TX
Birendra Adhikari, Saga University, Japan
‎Bashistha Kanth, South Korea
‎Suman Parajuli, U. of Southern Mississippi
Jib R Acharya, LSU, USA
Hum Nath Jnawali, Sun Moon University, South Korea
Narayan Prasad Niraula, Sun Moon University, South Korea
Bijay Singh, Sun Moon University
Sushila Maharjan, Sun Moon University

Molecular Rotor Measures Viscosity of Live Cells

2011-07-31T22:24:00.001-07:00

Anant Babu Marahatta
Tohoku University, Japan (ananta037@gmail.com)

Introduction:Viscosity is one of the major parameters determining the diffusion rate of species in condensed media. In bio-systems, changes in viscosity have been linked to disease and malfunction at the cellular level. These perturbations are caused by changes in mobility of chemicals within the cell, influencing signaling and transport and the efficiency of bimolecular processes.

Observation:

Fluorescence measurements of 1 made in methanol/glycerol mixtures of different viscosities shows that the fluorescence quantum yield increases dramatically with increasing solvent viscosity.The observed increase in fluorescence intensity is consistent with the restricted rotation of the phenyl group in the medium of high viscosity. The rates of radiative and nonradiative decays have been calculated from the measured fluorescence lifetimes and quantum yields. From these results, it has been concluded that, for 1, the nonradiative decay rate increases with decreasing viscosity, and the radiative decay rate remains approximately constant. Thus 1 is truly a molecular rotor which displays both fluorescence intensity and lifetime sensitivity to viscosity of the environment.

For detail, readers are requested to go through J.AM.CHEM.SOC. 2008,130, 6672-6673 if interested.

Chemistry Jokes: Fun Chemistry

2011-07-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Why do chemists call He, Cm and Ba the medical elements? >>>>Because if you can’t helium or curium, you barium.
What do you do with a dead chemist? >>>>Barium.
Two atoms bump into each other.’I think I lost an electron.’ The other asks: ‘Are you sure?’ The first replies: ‘I’m positive.’
What did the chemist say when he found two isotopes of Helium? >>>>>>>‘HeHe’
Gold walks into a bar, barman shouts Au get out of here!
Why did the white bear dissolve in water? >>>>>>>>>Because it was polar
Last night a hypnotist convinced me I was a soft, malleable metal with an atomic number of 82. >>>>>I’m easily lead.
Are you familiar with Friedel-Crafts? Sure, it’s by the Hobby Lobby on Route 3.
What weapon can you make from the chemicals potassium, nickel and iron? >>>A: KNiFe
Billy was a chemists son but billy is no more. what billy thought was H₂O was H₂SO₄.
2 men walk into a bar, the first orders some H₂O. The 2nd one says ’sounds good, i’ll have some H₂O too’. The 2nd man died.
Some guy tried to sell me sand for a thousand bucks yesterday. >>>>It was such a silicon.
What do chemists use to make guacamole? >>>>Avogadros.
I like making bad chemistryjokes because all the good ones Argon
How much is a glass of Adenosine TriPhospate? >>>80p.
What do you call a tooth suspended in 1 litre of water? >>>>A Molar solution.
A photon checks into a hotel and is asked if he needs any help with his luggage.>>>>”No, I’m travelling light.”
Chemical jokes are boron… however physics jokes have potential.

Laser Tweezers to Detect Single Nucleotide Polymorphism

2011-07-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Scientists in the Department of Chemistry, Kent State University have introduced a new novel method to detect Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) using laser tweezers in microfluidic platform. This work has been published in Journal of the American chemical society (JACS), a leading journal in Chemistry.

SNP is the most common variation in the genomic DNA sequence between members of the same species by one nucleotide. This is caused by various factors. Studies have revealed that they are distributed throughout the human genome by an estimated average of 1 per 1000 base pairs. SNPs are attributed to be closely linked with gene function, genetic variations between individuals, variety of diseases and susceptibilities of humans to the pathogens. Usually SNP is not associated with any disease but it might cause variation in response for the disease, toxins, bacteria, drugs etc. They may be used as bio-markers for disease genes. And, it definitely requires reliable method.

SNPs can be detected by several methods such as molecular beacons, gene sequenceing or some other analytical tools that can detect the difference in effect of a single nucleotide in base pairing with the complementary DNA. The novel idea in the above mentioned publication is the incorporation of the mechanical differentiation of the base pairing event with the microfluidics platform and is expected to be useful in the development of generic biosensors. Laser tweezer was used to monitor the binding of the target DNA sequences with the probe molecule, a DNA hairpin. Binding of the target with the hairpin DNA tied to the tweezers caused hairpin molecule in the unfolded (off) state instead of the stochastic hopping between folded(on ) and unfolded (off) states. Authors had claimed that this method has less background signal compared to fluorescence based technique and easier compared to the PCR based amplification and sequencing techniques. This method has been sensitive enough to detect 100 pM SNP associated with the coronary heart disease.

According to Deepak Koirala, chemistry graduate student and main author of the article who came from Nepal, this innovation is in the process of getting US patent.

International Collaboration in Science

2011-07-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

Anant Marahatta, Doctoral Student (Chemistry)
Tohoku University, Japan
(ananta037@gmail.com)
(Relevant to my collaboration with Germany)
The general meaning of an “international collaboration in science” is explained by these advanced words: global science, global networks, global co-authorships, global interaction, global conference, global sharing, and spreading global hand for helping on different disciplines of science and technologies etc.

Though there is no political institution organizing the sciences on an international level, a self-organized, global network had formed in the late 20th century. It has been found that international collaborations are being doubled from 1990 to 2005. While collaborative authorships within nations have also risen.

This is the century of getting revolution in the world due to the different fields of sciences. If the researchers and scientists of any well developed countries have proudly announced that they are eligible enough to carry out any sorts of revolutionary changes in the field of science, they have initiated to deteriorate their countries themselves. So for getting several supports and ideas, all the countries if possible must be the member of the international collaboration. Any one can analyze that, international collaboration improves all the countries of the world by applying a range of tools including social network analysis and factor analysis, to expose the network.

There has been a rapidly growing literature discussing the increase in international linkages in science. Authors have been approaching the questions from three perspectives: 1) scientific analysis of the increase in the interconnectedness. 2) Social sciences analysis of collaboration in general and international linkages in particular and 3) policy analysis of the implications of linkages for funding and outcomes. The increase in investment in research and development from governments and non-governmental organizations (such as the World Bank) is for using science as a tool to aid development and for contributing to the diffusion of capacity into the collaborating countries. Scientific collaboration may lead to a range of outcomes such as publication of co-authored articles is one of these outputs.

Collaboration in the technology sector refers to a wide variety of tools that enable groups of people to work together. Collaboration encompasses both asynchronous and synchronous methods of communication and serves as an umbrella-term for a wide variety of software packages. Perhaps the most commonly associated form of synchronous collaboration is web conference using tools such as WebEX or Microsoft Live Meeting but the term can easily be applied to instant messaging as well.

According to the available information, at the global level, the network of interactions is shown to be very strong and highly interconnected. Above figure illustrates the association of all the countries of the world in 2000. The main point is that science is a highly interconnected network, with a dense core and a number of periphery countries.

Thus international collaboration seems one of the important tools for making revolutionary change in the world by developing and introducing the multidisciplinary fields.