University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.&nbsp;Within India it is recognized as a &quot;Five-Star University&quot; and accredited &quot;A&quot; Grade by National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

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The University of Calcutta has secured the Fifth position among the Universities of India in the prestigious &quot;Indian University Ranking 2019&quot; list, released by the NIRF of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

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It was established on 24 January 1857, and was one of the first institutions in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and Western-style university. Its alumni and faculty include several heads of state, heads of government, social reformers, prominent artists, only academy award winner and Dirac medal winner in India, many Fellows of the Royal Society and five Nobel laureates as of 2019 which is highest in South Asia.

University Of Calcutta

Chemical Technology

The thermophysical and thermomechanical behavior of graphite-containing refractory castable matrix with 20.0 wt% of graphite had been compared with graphite-free high alumina based castable matrix analogous to it. The thermomechanical properties of similar type of castables with and without 5.0% of graphite had also been evaluated. Graphite was incorporated both as coated and as-received forms, the former having a thin sol-gel derived calcium aluminate coating on graphite flakes. The influence of thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and pore size distribution had been critically estimated. The changes in flexural strength, porosity and density of the matrices had also been determined to interpret the castable performance, namely refractoriness under load (RUL), spalling resistance and conventional physical properties. The role of coated graphite on improved densification and thermal tolerance of refractories was further explored by microstructure and phase evolution studies of all kinds of fired samples at 1500 °C. It was further supplemented with the scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies of surface-modified graphites at uncalcined and calcined condition. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

GENERAL

Ceramics International

Thermomechanical and thermophysical characteristics of alumina-carbon monolithic refractory containing surface-modified graphites in matrix

The potential for a DBD plasma reactor for methane dry reforming was studied. The plasma dry reforming was carried out by integrating the discharge with a heterogeneous catalyst and the results were compared with plasma reactor alone. For this purpose, NiO/Al2O3 and NiO-MnO2/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared, characterized and integrated with the discharge in an in-plasma configuration. The trend of the CH4 and CO2 conversion, H2, CO yield, carbon balance and the energy efficiency of the process were analyzed. Typical results indicated that a high conversion was achieved with catalytic DBD compared to plasma alone, whereas, the best syngas ratio was obtained with plasma alone. The highest CH4 and CO2 conversion achieved was ∼28.4% and ∼13.2% with 25% packing of the discharge volume. The best yield of H2 and CO was found to be 7% and 10.5, respectively, whereas the best energy efficiency obtained was 2.76 mmol/kJ with Ni-Mn/Al2O3 packed DBD. The results are correlated by estimating the breakdown voltage, charge, total capacitance and average electron energy for DBD reactor with and without catalytic integration. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was employed to understand the active species formed during the dry reforming. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

World University root node

Catalysis Today

Ni-Mn/Γ-Al2O3 assisted plasma dry reforming of methane

Present study reports the application of non-thermal plasma approach for the partial oxidation of methane to methanol. The target was achieved by employing oxygen under ambient condition in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor, which was later operated as a packed bed DBD. A variety of packing materials of different nature (Al2O3, TiO2, CeO2 and glass beads) are tested and corresponding reaction pathways also have been shown. In addition, the influence of the feed gas composition, total flow rate and specific input energy has been investigated. Formation of CH3OH, H2, CO, CO2, C2H6, and HCHO has been identified. Typical results indicated that the plasma reactor operating under a packed bed configuration showed better performance than the reactor without packing. Among the packing materials used, glass beads packing provided the best selectivity of ~35% to methanol, whereas, it was around 25% with DBD reactor without packing. In a similar manner, the yield of methanol increased to 5.4% with glass beads packing against 1.7% with DBD reactor with no packing. The good performance with glass beads packing is due to the uniform distribution of the microdischarges and improved filed strength. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Fuel Processing Technology

Single step conversion of methane to methanol assisted by nonthermal plasma

International Journal of Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships {\ldots}

QSAR and QAAR Studies on Mixtures of 3-(Benzylidene) Indolin-2-One Isomers as Leads to Develop PET Radiotracers for Detection of Parkinson's Disease

The acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) plays an important role in central and peripheral nervous systems. Acetylcholine (ACh) acts through the regulation of AChE activity, which can play a key role in accelerating senile amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) plaque deposition. Therefore, inhibition of the AChE enzyme can be used as a key principle to prevent ACh depletion. The present study has been emphasized to explore both ligand- and structure-based 3D QSAR, HQSAR, pharmacophore, molecular docking and simulation studies on a set of structurally diverse inhibitors to optimize prime structural features responsible for selective binding to AChE, and vis-à-vis inhibiting enzyme activity. The pharmacophore model showed the importance of HB acceptor and donor, positive ionization and hydrophobic features of the molecule for effective binding. Structure-based docking and simulation studies adjudged the significance of features obtained from ligand-based 3D QSAR, CoMFA (Q2 =.608, R2 pred =.700), CoMSIA (Q2 =.632, R2 pred =.734), HQSAR (Q2 =.850, R2 pred =.693) and pharmacophore (Q2 =.839, ROCscore =.769) models. The aim of the present study is to identify the essential structural and physicochemical profiles of molecules that can provide therapeutic benefits with less toxicity. Structurally diverse compounds have been used for the study, and the generated models showed the large applicability domain. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics

Exploring molecular structural requirement for AChE inhibition through multi-chemometric and dynamics simulation analyses

The present investigation on the effect of Y2O3 towards the sintering behavior of mullite compacts revealed that rapid mullitization occurred through nucleation and normal grain growth due to the formation of yttrious silicate glassy phase. The intergranular voids were progressively eliminated by yttrious silicate glass leading to significant decrease in porosity with the corresponding remarkable rise in mechanical strength of sintered compacts. The uniform dispersion of microfine corundum grains into the mullite matrix with 1.5% Y2O3 content was noticed during sintering at 1550 °C and above. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.

Effect of yttria on sintering and microstructural behavior of reaction sintered mullite based on bauxite, fly ash and precipitated silica

The present work reports the synthesis of new generation semi-interpenetrating (s-IPN) hydrogels from carboxymethyl guar gum (CMGG) and gelatin with enhanced gel properties for suitable drug delivery applications. Hydrogels are three dimensional polymer networks which respond to water and ion interactions. Irreversible s-IPN hydrogels were prepared by CMGG interactions in gelatin and characterized in FT-IR, SEM and thermal studies. CMGG was synthesized by Hofmeister ion guided homogeneous phase reactions. The swelling kinetics of the newer s-IPN hydrogels followed Schott's pseudo second order model. Furthermore, the hydrogels were hemocompatible, non-cytotoxic and appropriate for applications in physiological environment. Model drug ciprofloxacin was loaded within the hydrogels and the drug release was found to be a combination of both diffusion and hydrogel degradation. New generation s-IPN biopolymer hydrogels of carboxymethyl guar gum and gelatin holds promise for its application as sustained drug delivery device or alternatively as hydrogel sorbents for bio-toxins and molecules of biomedical importance. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules

Semi-interpenetrating hydrogels from carboxymethyl guar gum and gelatin for ciprofloxacin sustained release

The present study is the first report of an atom economical and environmentally benign amidation of unactivated esters wherein a novel and highly versatile graphene oxide based cobalt nanocatalytic system has been effectively exploited for the synthesis of pharmaceutically significant amide derivatives under neutral reaction conditions. Experimental results revealed that the developed catalyst not only possesses immense potential to accelerate ester amide exchange reaction in the absence of any additives but also exhibits several remarkable attributes like wide functional group tolerance, durability, high turnover numbers, improved yield, and recycling and reusability for subsequent runs without any discernible loss in the catalytic activity. The enhanced catalytic performance may be attributed to the structure of 2-D graphene oxide based material which provides space between graphitic overlayers and metal surfaces making it work like a nanoreactor to expedite ester amide exchange reaction. © 2018 American Chemical Society.

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

Unprecedented Ester-Amide Exchange Reaction Using Highly Versatile Two-Dimensional Graphene Oxide Supported Base Metal Nanocatalyst

Benzo[a]pyrene is a carcinogen often present in diesel. For pervaporative removal of benzo[a]pyrene from n-tetradecane, representing a model diesel composition, both conventional as well as statistically designed experimental methods have been carried out. The effect of membrane composition, thickness, the effect of membrane pretreatment time and operating temperature on pervaporative separation have been investigated by response surface methodology, RSM for efficient permeation of target compound. The suitable membrane has been further used to study the effect of different physico-chemical parameters on permeation conventionally. RSM has also been applied to optimize the operational conditions of pervaporation process to maximize the response, i.e., the pervaporation separation index. With the design of experiments, the quadratic response surface models have been developed to link the response with input variables via mathematical relationships. The maximum value of Pervaporation Separation Index obtained is 1.9654 kg m−2 h−1. The optimized process condition’s run time is 10.79 h, the feed PAH concentration is 166.34 ppm with a permeate side pressure of 0.73 mmHg and an operating temperature of 451.25 K. © 2018, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Chemical Papers

Separation of benzo[a]pyrene and n-tetradecane mixtures using pervaporation technique and optimization

Glass-ceramic materials offer versatile properties suitable for some unique applications. Due to controlled devitrification and evolution of variable proportions of crystalline and glassy phases, glass-ceramics substantially overcome the lacunae encountered in glasses. Nowadays, these are acknowledged with the special status of functional biomaterials having superior performance with tailorable manufacturing and designing conveniences. After the pioneering invention of 45S5 Bioglass by Professor Larry Hench in late 1960s, several bioactive glass compositions had been investigated and proposed to meet the stringent requirements of repairing and regeneration of damaged bones. The in vitro and in vivo surface reaction sequences for intimate bonding of implants to bones had also been archived. It was further stimulated by the introduction of bioactive glass-ceramics, following the most significant development of apatite-wollastonite (A/W) system by Professor Tadashi Kokubo and his colleagues. In this review, the author dealt with the synthesis, reactivity, performance and applications of these classic materials with a brief historical background. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.