Council Of Scientific & Industrial Research Research Articles

Derailed peripheral circadian genes in polycystic ovary syndrome patients alters peripheral conversion of androgens synthesis.

Do circadian genes exhibit an altered profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients and do they have a potential role in androgen excess? Our findings revealed that an impaired circadian clock could hamper the regulation of peripheral steroid metabolism in PCOS women. PCOS patients exhibit features of metabolic syndrome. Circadian rhythm disruption is involved in the development of metabolic diseases and subfertility. An association between shift work and the incidence of PCOS in females was recently reported. This is a retrospective case-referent study in which peripheral blood samples were obtained from 101 control and 101 PCOS subjects. PCOS diagnoses were based on Rotterdam Consensus criteria. This study comprised 101 women with PCOS and 101 control volunteers, as well as Swiss albino mice treated with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to induce PCOS development. Gene expression analyses of circadian and steroidogenesis genes in human PBMC and mice ovaries and blood were executed by quantitative real-time PCR. We observed aberrant expression of peripheral circadian clock genes in PCOS, with a significant reduction in the core clock genes, circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (CLOCK) (P ≤ 0.00001), brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (BMAL1) (P ≤ 0.00001) and NPAS2 (P ≤ 0.001), and upregulation of their negative feedback loop genes, CRY1 (P ≤ 0.00003), CRY2 (P ≤ 0.00006), PER1 (P ≤ 0.003), PER2 (P ≤ 0.002), DEC1 (P ≤ 0.0001) and DEC2 (P ≤ 0.00005). Transcript levels of an additional feedback loop regulating BMAL1 showed varied expression, with reduced RORA (P ≤ 0.008) and increased NR1D1 (P ≤ 0.02) in PCOS patients in comparison with the control group. We also demonstrated the expression pattern of clock genes in PBMCs of PCOS women at three different time points. PCOS patients also exhibited increased mRNA levels of steroidogenic enzymes like StAR (P ≤ 0.0005), CYP17A1 (P ≤ 0.005), SRD5A1 (P ≤ 0.00006) and SRD5A2 (P ≤ 0.009). Knockdown of CLOCK/BMAL1 in PBMCs resulted in a significant reduction in estradiol production, by reducing CYP19A1 and a significant increase in dihydrotestosterone production, by upregulating SRD5A1 and SRD5A2 in PBMCs. Our data also showed that CYP17A1 as a direct CLOCK-BMAL1 target in PBMCs. Phenotypic classification of PCOS subgroups showed a higher variation in expression of clock genes and steroidogenesis genes with phenotype A of PCOS. In alignment with the above results, altered expression of ovarian core clock genes (Clock, Bmal1 and Per2) was found in DHEA-treated PCOS mice. The expression of peripheral blood core clock genes in DHEA-induced PCOS mice was less robust and showed a loss of periodicity in comparison with that of control mice. N/A. We could not evaluate the circadian oscillation of clock genes and clock-controlled genes over a 24-h period in the peripheral blood of control versus PCOS subjects. Additionally, circadian genes in the ovaries of PCOS women could not be evaluated due to limitations in sample availability, hence we employed the androgen excess mouse model of PCOS for ovarian circadian assessment. Clock genes were assessed in the whole ovary of the androgen excess mouse model of PCOS rather than in granulosa cells, which is another limitation of the present work. Our observations suggest that the biological clock is one of the contributing factors in androgen excess in PCOS, owing to its potential role in modulating peripheral androgen metabolism. Considering the increasing prevalence of PCOS and the rising frequency of delayed circadian rhythms and insufficient sleep among women, our study emphasizes the potential in modulating circadian rhythm as an important strategy in PCOS management, and further research on this aspect is highly warranted. This work was supported by the RGCB-DBT Core Funds and a grant (#BT/PR29996/MED/97/472/2020) from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India, to M.L. B.S.J. was supported by a DST/INSPIRE Fellowship/2015/IF150361 and M.B.K. was supported by the Research Fellowship from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) (10.2(5)/2007(ii).E.U.II). The authors declare no competing interests. N/A.

Ethnopharmacology Research: A Scientometric Assessment of Indian Publications During 2011 to 2020

The current research has been conducted to study the ethnopharmacology research output in the past 10 years (2011–2020) after using Web of Science (WoS) database. The present study has used WoS database to collect the ethnopharmacology research output for the specific period. The retrieved data were analyzed using specific parameters. This study investigates the impact of the most productive institutes, countries, authors, subjects, sources, and keywords. For visualizing purposes, VOSviewer has been used. We retrieved 7,159 papers from WoS, consisting of 84.24% journal articles and 14.23% review articles. The data analysis indicates that consistent growth with increasing multiauthorship is a general trend of research. The Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) India collaborates with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Central Institute of Medicinal Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) in terms of domestic collaboration.

Fusion of spherical-octupole pairs of colliding nuclei for compact and elongated configurations * *The financial support from Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), in the form of a Senior Research Fellowship, DAE, Government of India, sanction no. 58/14/12/2019-BRNS and UGC-DAE consortium for Scientific Research, File No. UGC-DAE-CSR-KC/CRS/19/NP09/0920 are gratefully acknowledged

The deformation and associated optimum/uniquely fixed orientations play an important role in the synthesis of compound nuclei via cold and hot fusion reactions, respectively, at the lowest and highest barrier energies. The choice of optimum orientation ( ) for the ‘cold or elongated’ and ‘hot or compact’ fusion configurations of quadrupole ( ) deformed nuclei depends only on the +/- signs of -deformation [J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 31, 631-644 (2005)]. In our recent study [Phys. Rev. C 101, 051601(R) 2020], we proposed a new set of (different from the values reported for quadrupole deformed nuclei) after the inclusion of octupole deformation (up to ) effects. Using the respective of -deformed nuclei for cold and hot optimum orientations, we analyzed the impact of the soft- and rigid-pear shapes of octupole deformed nuclei on the fusion barrier characteristics (barrier height and barrier position ). This analysis is applied to approximately 200 spherical-plus- deformed nuclear partners, that is, 16O, 48Ca+octupole deformed nuclei. Compared with the compact configuration, the elongated fusion configuration has a relatively larger impact on the fusion barrier and cross-sections owing to the inclusion of deformations up to . Its agreement with available experimental data for the 16O+150Sm reaction ( =0.205, =-0.055) also improves when the optimum orientation degree of freedom is fixed in view of octupole deformations. This reinforces the fact that nuclear structure effects play an important role in the nuclear fusion process. Thus, octupole deformed nuclei can be used for the synthesis of heavy and superheavy nuclei.

Curcuma Longa (Medicinal Plant) Research: A Scientometric Assessment of Global Publications Output with Reference to Web of Science

The present study explores the characteristics of publication records for a total duration of twenty years, from 2000 to 2019, in the field of Curcuma longa research. This study has been carried out based on the multidisciplinary bibliographic database available with the Web of Science in Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and its implications, using the means of scientometrics research techniques. In order to make this analysis a holistic and comprehensive survey of the research trends in the chosen field, the following variables are taken into account: growth rate; global citation scores; distribution of publications by journals, conferences and institutions; favored media of communication; Hirsch index and citation profile of top institutions, countries and authors; contribution of funding agencies; high number of cited papers and characteristics of their bibliographic details. The total number of publication records has been found out to be 6087 during the study period. These 6087 publications have received 171 h-index, 1, 84,715 global citations score and 30.34 average citations. On the whole, 6087 records were published during the study period (2000-2019) in 18 types of documents from 107 countries with 2005 journals, contributed by as many as 20855 authors affiliated to 4879 institutions. These publications were brought out in 18 languages, and they received 1, 56,986 cited references. Majority of the records were in the form of journal articles, reviews, papers in conference proceedings and meeting abstracts, accounting for 97 percent of the total publications. Naturally enough, English happens to be the leading language of 98.8 percent to have accounted for the most number of publications. The four largest contributing countries in the total literature on Curcuma longa during the entire study period are India (24.68 percent), USA (17.7 percent), China (12.2 percent) and Iran (6.09 percent) respectively. The largest institutional contributor of publication records happens to be the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran with 1.8 percent of the papers to its credit. The most prolific authors to have published more number of research documents during the study period were Sahebkar A (73 papers), Aggarwal BB (67 papers), Nayak S (35 papers) and Kumar A (33 papers). The journal of “Food chemistry” Elsevier ltd tops the list of journals with maximum number of publication records in the field for the given study period with 70 publications, followed by “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry” American Chemical Society (69 papers), “Phytotherapy Research” John Wiley and sons Ltd (63 papers) and “PLOS One” Public Library of Science (59 papers). While the Third World Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - WOCMAP III held in February 2003 at Thailand resulted in the publication of 6 papers, the following three major funding agencies contributed immensely to the research activities in the field: ‘National Natural Science Foundation of China’ with 318papers, United States Department of Health & Human Services, USA with 304 papers and Council of Scientific Industrial Research, India with 99 papers.

338P - A new insight into tumour immune-evasion: Crosstalk between cancer stem cells and T regulatory cells

BackgroundCancer development is aggravated by a rare population of cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), that uniquely initiates and sustains the disease. Although CSCs can orchestrate the immune systems in favour of tumor, the detailed mechanisms underlying their immunomodulatory effects remain elusive. Recent reports indicate the contribution of exosomes, secreted from various cells, as mediators of cell-to-cell communication and also as a mediator of immune modulation in the tumor microenvironment. MethodsBreast CSCs (bCSCs) were purified from breast cancer cell lines and human breast tumor tissues following which CSC-derived exosomes (CDEs) were isolated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from the blood of healthy donors and breast cancer patients, co-cultured with CDEs, and T regulatory (Treg) cell generation was evaluated. ResultsWe found that bCSCs are able to generate CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Treg cells having suppressive activity. Our search for the underlying mechanism revealed for the first time that bCSC-secreted exosomes contain FOXP3 protein that uniquely initiates acquisition of Treg characteristics in the infiltrating T lymphocytes. Exosomes from FOXP3-ablated bCSCs failed to augment Treg cell generation indicating the requirement of bCSC-gifted FOXP3 in Treg generation. Interestingly, perturbation of transcription or translation in T naïve cells significantly decreased CDE-augmented FOXP3 level signifying that CDE-FOXP3 utilizes the transcription and translational machineries of T naïve cells to induce Treg cell generation. In fact, exosome-shuttled FOXP3 binds to the CNS2 region of the Foxp3 promoter in T lymphocytes, thus resulting in a sustained expression of FOXP3 and further leading to induction of other genes of Foxp3 interactome, thereby phenotypically converting the T cells to Treg cells. ConclusionsCollectively our data demonstrates that bCSC-shed exosomal FOXP3 plays an important role in procreation of Treg cells within the tumor microenvironment thus leading to tumor-induced immune suppression. Breaching the deadly-liaison between them might be a promising strategy for breast cancer therapy. Legal entity responsible for the studyProf. Tanya Das, Professor, Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute. FundingDepartment of Science and Technology, Govt. of Inda Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Govt. of India. DisclosureAll authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

Induced polygenic variations through -rays irradiation and selection of novel genotype in chamomile (Chamomilla recutita [L.] Rauschert)

Purpose: To develop elite mutants in chamomile (Chamomilla recutita [L.] Rauschert) for increasing the quantity and quality of essential oil rich in acetylenic compound (2Z,8Z)-matricaria acid methyl ester by applying -rays irradiation. Molecular and chemical analysis was performed for ithe dentification/differentiation of mutant genotype.Materials and methods: Chamomile (Chamomilla recutita [L.] Rauschert) variety Vallary seeds were irradiated by applying -rays irradiation at 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900 and1000 Gy doses at a dose rate of 55 Gy/min and mutants were isolated and analyzed for the quantity and quality of essential oil. The oil was found to be rich in acetylenic compound (2Z,8Z)-matricaria acid methyl ester and the results obtained were validated using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with either Flame Ionization detection (GC-FID) or mass spectrometer (GC-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).Results: The selected mutant SELM-1 (Selection Mutant-1) showed the production potential of 7.00–7.50 q ha−1 dry flowers and 6.00–6.50 kg ha−1 essential oil yield. Essential oil of mutant SELM-1 contained in [(2Z,8Z)-matricaria acid methyl ester] (76–80%) useful in cosmetic, perfumery, and pharmaceutical industries.Conclusion: -rays irradiation method is a very efficient mutation breeding method for chamomile crop. GC-FID or GC-MS and NMR methods are found to be the most powerful methods for screening of essential oil chemical compounds isolated from the mutants. The novel mutant (SELM-1) is very promising in terms of high flower and essential oil yield rich in acetylenic compound (2Z,8Z)-matricaria acid methyl ester (76–80%), hence, it was released as variety in Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant (CIMAP), Lucknow U.P. (India) named as CIM-Ujjwala for commercial cultivation.

Indian scientists struggle to adjust to changing priorities

Government lab researchers in India are feeling pushed to abandon fundamental research projects in favor of more applied, mission-driven work. The shift follows deep budget cuts at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s largest R&D organization. “The funding available this year is short by half of what is needed,” says Rakesh K. Mishra, director of India’s Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), one of 38 CSIR labs across the country. Frustrated and angry, many scientists hesitate to openly voice their concerns because they fear retaliation. “Many research projects have been affected. Projects cannot stop overnight, so we continue what we can with the reagents we have,” says a senior scientist from a New Delhi-based CSIR lab who asked to remain anonymous. “The institute is functioning at minimum running costs.” The changes began in June 2015, when CSIR’s lab directors agreed to work toward earning some of

India’s government labs face fiscal crisis

India’s largest and premier R&D organization, the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), which has 38 national laboratories, is in dire financial straits. CSIR’s Director General Girish Sahni says the labs and new research projects will be left with $31.3 million out of the nearly $630 million the government allocated for fiscal 2017, which runs through March 2018. The financial crunch stems from implementation of recommendations by India’s Seventh Central Pay Commission for higher pay, perks, pensions, and other benefits for government employees and retirees. The remaining $31.3 million is not enough to cover CSIR’s costs for new research, instruments, supplies, utilities, travel, and maintenance. The labs will have to address the financial shortfall by commercializing technologies rapidly. In a June 1 letter to directors of the CSIR laboratories, Sahni asked the labs to report on the status of technologies they are developing and to identify ones that can

Unraveling the effect of uniaxial strain on thermoelectric properties of Mg2Si: A density functional theory study**Kulwinder Kaur thanks Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India for providing fellowship.

In this work, the effect of uniaxial strain on electronic and thermoelectric properties of magnesium silicide using density functional theory (DFT) and Boltzmann transport equations has been studied. We have found that the value of band gap increases with tensile strain and decreases with compressive strain. The variations of electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, electronic thermal conductivity, and power factor with temperatures have been calculated. The Seebeck coefficient and power factor are observed to be modified strongly with strain. The value of power factor is found to be higher in comparison with the unstrained structure at 2% tensile strain. We have also calculated phonon dispersion, phonon density of states, specific heat at constant volume, and lattice thermal conductivity of material under uniaxial strain. The phonon properties and lattice thermal conductivity of Mg2Si under uniaxial strain have been explored first time in this report.

CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) with its headquarters at Dona Paula, Goa, and regional centres at Kochi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam, is one of the 37 constituent laboratories of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi. CSIR-NIO was established on 1 January 1966 as the most important outcome of the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE), the largest international collaborative effort ever undertaken in the oceans. The institute has since grown into a multidisciplinary oceanographic research institution of international repute. The principal focus of research has been on observing and understanding special oceanographic characteristics of the Indian Ocean.

Effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of magnesium silicide: A density functional theory study**Project supported by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India.

We study the effect of pressure on electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg2Si using the density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equations. The variation of lattice constant, band gap, bulk modulus with pressure is also analyzed. Further, the thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, electronic thermal conductivity) have been studied as a function of temperature and pressure up to 1200 K. The results show that Mg2Si is an n-type semiconductor with a band gap of 0.21 eV. The negative value of the Seebeck coefficient at all pressures indicates that the conduction is due to electrons. With the increase in pressure, the Seebeck coefficient decreases and electrical conductivity increases. It is also seen that, there is practically no effect of pressure on the electronic contribution of thermal conductivity. The paper describes the calculation of the lattice thermal conductivity and figure of merit of Mg2Si at zero pressure. The maximum value of figure of merit is attained 1.83×10−3 at 1000 K. The obtained results are in good agreement with the available experimental and theoretical results.

First principle investigation of the electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg2C**Kulwinder Kaur thanks Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India for providing fellowship.

In this paper, electronic and thermoelectric properties of Mg2C are investigated by using first principle pseudo potential method based on density functional theory and Boltzmann transport equations. We calculate the lattice parameters, bulk modulus, band gap and thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity) of this material at different temperatures and compare them with available experimental and other theoretical data. The calculations show that Mg2C is indirect band semiconductor with a band gap of 0.75 eV. The negative value of Seebeck coefficient shows that the conduction is due to electrons. The electrical conductivity decreases with temperature and Power factor (PF) increases with temperature. The thermoelectric properties of Mg2C have been calculated in a temperature range of 100 K–1200 K.

Analysis of charge density and Fermi level of AlInSb/InSb single-gate high electron mobility transistor**Project supported by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India under the Senior Research Fellowship Scheme (No. 08/237(0005)/2012-EMR-I).

A compact model is proposed to derive the charge density of the AlInSb/InSb HEMT devices by considering the variation of Fermi level, the first subband, the second subband and sheet carrier charge density with applied gate voltage. The proposed model considers the Fermi level dependence of charge density and vice versa. The analytical results generated by the proposed model are compared and they agree well with the experimental results. The developed model can be used to implement a physics based compact model for an InSb HEMT device in SPICE applications.

Subthreshold behavior of AlInSb/InSb high electron mobility transistors**Project supported by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India under the SRF Scheme (Sanction Letter No: 08/237(0005)/2012-EMR-I).

We propose a scaling theory for single gate AlInSb/InSb high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) by solving the two-dimensional (2D) Poisson equation. In our model, the effective conductive path effect (ECPE) is taken into account to overcome the problems arising from the device scaling. The potential in the effective conducting path is developed and a simple scaling equation is derived. This equation is solved to obtain the minimum channel potential Φdeff,min and the new scaling factor α to model the subthreshold behavior of the HEMTs. The developed model minimizes the leakage current and improves the subthreshold swing degradation of the HEMTs. The results of the analytical model are verified by numerical simulation with a Sentaurus TCAD device simulator.

An Assessment of Publishing Trends of Selected Multidisciplinary CSIR Labs in Open Access Journals during the period of 2009–2013

The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is the premier industrial R&D organisation in India. Its 37 constituent units (laboratories, centres, institutes, etc.) address various scientific and technological needs of an emerging economy, such as providing industrial competitiveness, social welfare and inclusiveness, building up a strong S&T base for strategic sectors and advancement of fundamental knowledge. Research output published in open access (OA) journals by the scientist/researchers in five premier multidisciplinary CSIR laboratories in India has been analysed bibliometically. Publishing research findings in OA journals is a means of enhancing visibility and consequently increasing the impact of publications. The study provides an overview of OA publishing trends in five premier CSIR laboratories of India. The publication output of each laboratory from 2009 to 2013 was ascertained through Web of Science database and the name of source journals along with the number of publication recorded. All 1512 journal titles were searched in the directory of OA journals. In this article, we have analysed only research papers; specifically, document types such as research articles, review articles and conference proceedings published in SCI Journals. The 5973 research articles were contributed by the five multidisciplinary CSIR laboratories and appeared in 1512 journals. The CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow publishes 9.67% of its research output in OA journals, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL), Pune 4.84%, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nagpur 8.46%, CSIR-National Institute of Science Communications & Information Resources (CSIR-NISCAIR), New Delhi 62% and CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (CSIR-NPL), New Delhi 7.49%. The study reveals that a small portion of research publications of five multidisciplinary Indian CSIR labs is published in OA journals, the majority in journals of Indian origin. The NISCAIR has published more of their research papers in OA journals to other labs. The study also reveals that only peer reviewed OA journals (such as Current Science, PLoS One, Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Physics, etc.) are used by the CSIR's scientists and researchers for dissemination of their research findings.

Research Highlights: highlights from the latest articles focusing on a new gene set for better drug response prediction of epilepsy patients.

PharmacogenomicsVol. 15, No. 5 News & ViewsResearch Highlights: Highlights from the latest articles focusing on a new gene set for better drug response prediction of epilepsy patientsRuchi Baghel , Ajay Jajodia , Sandeep Grover & Ritushree KukretiRuchi BaghelGenomics & Molecular Medicine Unit, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, IndiaSearch for more papers by this author , Ajay JajodiaGenomics & Molecular Medicine Unit, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, IndiaSearch for more papers by this author , Sandeep GroverGenomics & Molecular Medicine Unit, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, IndiaSearch for more papers by this author & Ritushree Kukreti* Author for correspondence: E-mail Address: ritus@igib.res.inGenomics & Molecular Medicine Unit, Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Mall Road, Delhi 110 007, IndiaSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:5 May 2014https://doi.org/10.2217/pgs.14.11AboutSectionsView ArticleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail View articleFiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited ByDysfunction of the SNARE complex in neurological and psychiatric disordersPharmacological Research, Vol. 165Integration of epigenomics and metabolomics: From biomarkers discovery to personalized medicineEvaluating the Role of Genetic Variants on first-line antiepileptic drug response in North India: Significance of SCN1A and GABRA1 Gene Variants in Phenytoin Monotherapy and its Serum Drug Levels1 June 2016 | CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, Vol. 22, No. 9Synergistic association of STX 1A and VAMP 2 with cryptogenic epilepsy in North Indian population14 June 2016 | Brain and Behavior, Vol. 6, No. 7 Vol. 15, No. 5 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics Downloaded 92 times History Published online 5 May 2014 Published in print April 2014 Information© Future Medicine LtdPDF download

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The paper analyses the trends in Indian patents filed in the area of chemical sciences during 1995 to 2008. It highlights the importance of patent literature in scientific developments and global trends in patent filings. A result of Indian patent filing analysis indicated that filing in India is increasing in the past few years and many public and private organisations are filing patents in India and in other countries for protecting the inventions. Among India patent filing activities, chemical and pharmaceutical sciences are the prominent areas. Individual inventors and assignees from private and public organisations are filing patents, but in India, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is leading patent filer.

Ayurveda is Embraced byeCAM

Ayurveda is Embraced by<i>eCAM</i>

India's R&amp;D: Reaching for the Top

Signs are accumulating that India is on course to becoming one of the world9s scientific and technological leaders. Rather than fleeing the country, often for good, more and more young scientists now are opting to stay or at least return to India. Not only are living conditions improving, but opportunities for exciting work are exploding owing to a growing roster of research and development (R&D) centers that multinational companies have been establishing there in recent years. Moreover, India9s indigenous R&D culture is shifting from one of emulation to one of innovation across categories ranging from biopharmaceuticals to automotive engineering, according to Raghunath A. Mashelkar, director general of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), a chain of 38 publicly funded industrial R&D institutions in India. A returnee himself years ago even as his peers were leaving India, he argues that a positive-feedback dynamic--one that even might be abetted by pedagogical innovations that could quickly shrink the country9s illiteracy problem--has set in, opening the possibility that India, a country of 1 billion people, could become the world9s top center of knowledge production by 2020. All essays appearing in this series can be found online atwww.sciencemag.org/sciext/globalvoices/.

One problem at a time. Building research capacities in developing countries is necessary for economic success in the long term. But the numerous problems in doing so have to be solved for each country individually.

Building research capacities in developing countries is necessary for economic success in the long term. But the numerous problems in doing so have to be solved for each country individually