What a clear Chemistry !!

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

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

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

1. Team up with a teacher and a member of the scientific community (Can’t find one? Look no further!).


2. 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.


3. Upload your video to a video sharing site like YouTube.com, Vimeo.com orFlickr.com.


4. 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?

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.

1. It should publish only original research. To measure this, peer-review must be strongly enforced and editors and reviewers play important role in this.


2. Publish review articles. At least one per issue. Review articles are most downloaded and cited journal articles.


3. Increase the number of articles per issue and also increase number of issues per year. I suggest at least four issues per year.


4. 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. 


5. 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.


6. Publicize JNCS. Specially focus on developing countries. 


7. Review process should be faster. Everyone wants to publish as soon as possible. 


8. 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

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.

1. Beni B dangi, University of Nevada, Reno, USA


2. Krishna Sahteli, University of Nevada, Reno, USA


3. Sunil Hamal, University of Nevada, Reno, USA


4. Gyan Hari Aryal, University of Nevada, Reno, USA


5. ‎Krishna Panthi, Bowling Green


6. Deepak bhandari, University of Tenneessee


7. Rajan Lamichhane, Wayne State Univetsity


8. Keshab Rijal, Wayne State Univetsity


9. Hari Ghimire,Miami University, Ohio


10. ‎Basu Panthi, Baylor University, TX


11. Birendra Adhikari, Saga University, Japan


12. ‎Bashistha Kanth, South Korea


13. ‎Suman Parajuli, U. of Southern Mississippi


14. Jib R Acharya, LSU, USA


15. Hum Nath Jnawali, Sun Moon University, South Korea


16. Narayan Prasad Niraula, Sun Moon University, South Korea


17. Bijay Singh, Sun Moon University


18. Sushila Maharjan, Sun Moon University