The second issue of 2017 explores novel physico-chemical properties of histidine-rich proteins, discusses the transformative potential of Internet of Things technology, reports on the successful 7th ISAJ Symposium, and shares an inspiring story of a student's research journey.
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Greetings and warm welcome to the 2nd issue of ISAJ Newsletter for 2017!
The current issue consists of three articles covering a wide range of topics and the event report on 7th Annual ISAJ Symposium held on December 15th, 2016 at Embassy of India Tokyo.
Research update section emphasizes the key findings of research on “gel shifting” mechanism in histidine-rich proteins. According to Google trends, Big-data and Internet of Things (IoT) are highly searched scientific words along with climate-change in 2016. Upon realizing the growing interest on IoT, I have written an article on the same under Research Spotlight section.
Finally, we present an inspiring story of a young researcher who was introduced to research as a school student by attending India’s National Science Day symposium organized by ISAJ in 2012.
We call for contributions to a “Special Issue on Climate Change” of our newsletter. We would like to focus on mainstreaming of climate change study and aim at offering an overview of research efforts made by our community members.
Please send us the theme of your article by November 15th, 2017 to [email protected]
By Dr. Rahul M Shelake, Ehime University, Matsuyama
Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) is a universally used method for determining molecular weight of proteins. Migration of protein on SDS-PAGE that does not correlate with formula MW, termed “gel shifting,” appears to be common for histidine-rich proteins but not yet studied in detail.
We investigated the “gel shifting” mechanism in histidine-rich proteins using Hpn, a Ni2+-binding protein cloned from Helicobacter pylori strain SS1. Hpn is a 60-amino-acid, cytoplasmic, histidine-rich (46.7%) protein that binds to average five Ni2+ ions in a pH-dependent manner and forms multimers.
Our study demonstrated two important factors determining “gel shifting” of Hpn:
MALDI-TOF-MS analysis revealed that monomeric Hpn bound up to six Ni2+ ions non-cooperatively, with equilibrium between protein-metal species reliant on Ni2+ availability.
By Dr. Mahendra Kumar Pal, E-Defense
The time is not far off when our cars will interact with each other to avoid collision, our mobile phones will lock down our houses remotely, and many scientific fantasies depicted in sci-fi movies will become reality. This massive unfolding trend in the tech sector is the Internet of Things (IoT).
Tech giants Cisco Systems and General Electric estimate opportunities in this sector will be worth around $225 billion by 2020. The pace of consumer adaptation will decide the widening gap between those who buy into IoT and those who do not.
Recent survey by EVS Data Corporation reveals:
The 7th annual symposium entitled “India-Japan Symposium on Progress in Science and Technology for Sustainability” was organized by ISAJ in cooperation with JSPS-DST Asia Academic Seminar 2016 on December 15th, 2016 at Embassy of India Tokyo.
Topic: “What can be the next big thing to facilitate India-Japan Scientific collaboration?” moderated by Dr. Swadhin Behera
The symposium concluded with a cultural program featuring Odissi dance performance by Japanese dancer Ms. Mayumi Fukushima and Group.
By Damini Sharma, University of Tsukuba
The year 2012 was very special for me. As a High School student of India International School in Japan (IISJ), I had the opportunity to attend the National Science Day symposium organized by ISAJ at Indian Embassy auditorium. The talks on “Nano Science and Technology” and “Nanomaterials for Healthcare and Medical Diagnostics” intrigued my curiosity in research. I dreamt then that one day I would be here as a participant.
After completing schooling, I finished my undergraduate degree in Microbiology from University of Delhi and started pursuing my master’s degree in Life Sciences at University of Tsukuba. I now have the privilege to undertake research under the eminent guidance of Prof. Renu Wadhwa at Tsukuba University and Dr. Sunil Kaul at AIST.
A few weeks after joining DAILAB at AIST, I learned about the 7th Annual ISAJ symposium. When presenting my poster, I told Dr. Sunil Kaul about attending a similar event in 2012 as a school student. He was pleasantly surprised - we had met five years ago at the same event! Now, after five years, I was at the same place as a participant presenting a poster. Indeed, it was a dream come true moment!
I now have a big dream to contribute to humanity through my research work in the field of cancer treatment in the future.
8th Annual ISAJ Symposium
For details, visit: www.isaj.org
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Newsletter Details
Volume 2, Issue 2
October 2017
Dr. Mahendra Kumar Pal
National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED)
Features research on aquatic bacterial disease prevention using affinity silk filters, IgM-specific antibodies in Medaka for vaccine development, and ISAJ 16th Symposium announcement
Features India-Japan STI Exchange Year, nonlinear optical phenomena in quantum materials, Inconel 718 fatigue modeling, and ISAJ Hokkaido Symposium 2024
Features discovery of SMS inhibitors for fatty liver disease, HAMR magnetic storage technology, and 15th ISAJ Annual Symposium report