Heavy security has also been put in place at the Chepauk area ahead of the protest as protesters proposed to lay siege to the Secretariat and the District Collector's office against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Four deaths reported today including three in Chennai, total fatalities reach 44

Lockdown in Tamil Nadu: 800 guest workers stage protest at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, attack cops

Coronavirus in Tamil Nadu: Death toll rises to 44, state reports 526 more positive cases

Tamil Nadu allows tea shops to open, but customers can’t drink on premises

Tamil Nadu government rushes to SC against Madras HC ruling on Tasmac closure

Trial run of software will be conducted

The State’s IMR has been on the decreasing trend.

District now has 216 cases, 93 active

The committee shall submit its final reports to the government within three months time and also submit an interim report

However, the company says it does not have the urgency to begin production in the factory, but bring back the rhythm of the manufacturing unit.

Did you feel earthquake?  Stamford Mercury

The title compound {systematic name: [2-(1H-indol-3-yl)eth­yl](meth­yl)propyl­amine}, C14H20N2, has a single mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. The mol­ecules in the unit cell are held together in infinite one-dimensional chains along [010] through N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds between indole H atoms and tri­alkyl­amine N atoms.

The title compound (systematic name: bis­{[2-(4-hy­droxy-1H-indol-3-yl)eth­yl]bis­(propan-2-yl)aza­nium} but-2-enedioate tetra­hydrate), 2C16H25N2O+·C4H2O42−·4H2O, has a singly protonated DPT cation, one half of a fumarate dianion (completed by a crystallographic centre of symmetry) and two water mol­ecules of crystallization in the asymmetric unit. A series of N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds form a three-dimensional network in the solid state.

The title compound {systematic name: N-[2-(5-meth­oxy-1H-indol-3-yl)eth­yl]-N-(prop-2-en-1-yl)prop-2-en-1-amine), C17H22N2O, has a single tryptamine mol­ecule in the asymmetric unit. The mol­ecules are linked by strong N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds into zigzag chains with graph-set notation C(7) along the [010] direction.

The title compound, C9H11NO2, was obtained as unexpected product from the reaction of (4-{2-benz­yloxy-5-[(E)-(3-chloro-4-methyl­phen­yl)diazen­yl]benzyl­idene}-2-phenyl­oxazol-5(4H)-one) with 2-meth­oxy­aniline in the presence of acetic acid as solvent. The amide group is not coplanar with the benzene ring, as shown by the C—N—C—O and C—N—C—C torsion angles of −2.5 (3) and 176.54 (19)°, respectively. Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots indicate that the most important contributions to the crystal packing are from H⋯H (53.9%), C⋯H/H⋯C (21.4%), O⋯H/H⋯O (21.4%) and N⋯H/H⋯N (1.7%) inter­actions.

The title compound (systematic name: bis­{2-[4-(acet­yloxy)-1H-indol-3-yl]ethan-1-aminium} but-2-enedioate), 2C14H19N2O2+·C4H2O42−, has a single protonated psilacetin cation and one half of a fumarate dianion in the asymmetric unit. There are N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the ammonium H atoms and the fumarate O atoms, as well as N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the indole H atoms and the fumarate O atoms. The hydrogen bonds hold the ions together in infinite one-dimensional chains along [111].

In the title compound, C16H14N2O3S, the 1,3-benzoxazole ring system is essentially planar (r.m.s deviation = 0.004 Å) and makes a dihedral angle of 66.16 (17)° with the benzene ring of the meth­oxy­phenyl group. Two intra­molecular N—H⋯O and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds occur, forming S(5) and S(7) ring motifs, respectively. In the crystal, pairs of C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into inversion dimers with R22(14) ring motifs, stacked along the b-axis direction. The inversion dimers are linked by C—H⋯π and π–π-stacking inter­actions [centroid-to-centroid distances = 3.631 (2) and 3.631 (2) Å], forming a three-dimensional network. Two-dimensional fingerprint plots associated with the Hirshfeld surface show that the largest contributions to the crystal packing come from H⋯H (39.3%), C⋯H/H⋯C (18.0%), O⋯H/H⋯O (15.6) and S⋯H/H⋯S (10.2%) inter­actions.

The title compound [systematic name: (1R*, 8S)-2-acetamidoocta­hydro­pyrrol­izin-4-ium chloride–N-[(1R, 8S)-hexa­hydro-1H-pyrrolizin-2-yl)acetamide (1/1)], 2(C9H16N2O)·HCl or C9H17N2O+·Cl−·C9H16N2O, arose as an unexpected product when 1-exo-acetamido­pyrrolizidine (AcAP; C9H16N2O) was dissolved in CHCl3. Within the AcAP pyrrolizidine group, the unsubstituted five-membered ring is disordered over two orientations in a 0.897 (5):0.103 (5) ratio. Two AcAP mol­ecules related by a crystallographic twofold axis link to H+ and Cl− ions lying on the rotation axis, thereby forming N—H⋯N and N—H⋯Cl⋯H—N hydrogen bonds. The first of these has an unusually short N⋯N separation of 2.616 (2) Å: refinement of different models against the present data set could not distinguish between a symmetrical hydrogen bond (H atom lying on the twofold axis and equidistant from the N atoms) or static or dynamic disorder models (i.e. N—H⋯N + N⋯H—N). Computational studies suggest that the disorder model is slightly more stable, but the energy difference is very small.

In the title compound, C9H10ClNOS, the amide functional group –C(=O)NH– adopts a trans conformation with the four atoms nearly coplanar. This conformation promotes the formation of a C(4) hydrogen-bonded chain propagating along the [010] direction. The central part of the mol­ecule, including the six-membered ring, the S and N atoms, is fairly planar (r.m.s. deviation of 0.014). The terminal methyl group and the C(=O)CH2 group are slightly deviating out-of-plane while the terminal Cl atom is almost in-plane. Hirshfeld surface analysis of the title compound suggests that the most significant contacts in the crystal are H⋯H, H⋯Cl/Cl⋯H, H⋯C/C⋯H, H⋯O/O⋯H and H⋯S/S⋯H. π–π inter­actions between inversion-related mol­ecules also contribute to the crystal packing. DFT calculations have been performed to optimize the structure of the title compound using the CAM-B3LYP functional and the 6–311 G(d,p) basis set. The theoretical absorption spectrum of the title compound was calculated using the TD–DFT method. The analysis of frontier orbitals revealed that the π–π* electronic transition was the major contributor to the absorption peak in the electronic spectrum.

High-resolution single-crystal X-ray measurements of the monoclinic polymorph of bicalutamide and the aspherical atom databank approach have served as a basis for a reconstruction of the charge density distribution of the drug and its androgen receptor (AR) and albumin complexes. The contributions of various types of intermolecular interactions to the total crystal energy or ligand:AR energy were estimated. The cyan and amide groups secured the ligand placement in the albumin (Lys-137) and the AR binding pocket (Leu-704, Asn-705, Arg-752), and also determined the packing of the small-molecule crystals. The total electrostatic interaction energy on average was −230 kJ mol−1, comparable with the electrostatic lattice energy of the monoclinic bicalutamide polymorph. This is the result of similar distributions of electropositive and electronegative regions on the experimental and theoretical molecular electrostatic potential maps despite differences in molecular conformations. In general, bicalutamide interacted with the studied proteins with similar electrostatic interaction energies and adjusted its conformation and electrostatic potential to fit the binding pocket in such a way as to enhance the interactions, e.g. hydrogen bonds and π⋯π stacking.

The title compound, C11H11NO5, has a nearly planar geometry. In the crystal, the molecules are assembled into chains parallel to the [overline{1}11] direction by O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds.

The crystallization of amidase, the ultimate enzyme in the Trp-dependent auxin-biosynthesis pathway, from Arabidopsis thaliana was attempted using protein samples with at least 95% purity. Cube-shaped crystals that were assumed to be amidase crystals that belonged to space group I4 (unit-cell parameters a = b = 128.6, c = 249.7 Å) were obtained and diffracted to 3.0 Å resolution. Molecular replacement using structures from the PDB containing the amidase signature fold as search models was unsuccessful in yielding a convincing solution. Using the Sequence-Independent Molecular replacement Based on Available Databases (SIMBAD) program, it was discovered that the structure corresponded to dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase from Escherichia coli (PDB entry 1c4t), which is considered to be a common crystallization contaminant protein. The structure was refined to an Rwork of 23.0% and an Rfree of 27.2% at 3.0 Å resolution. The structure was compared with others of the same protein deposited in the PDB. This is the first report of the structure of dihydrolipo­amide succinyltransferase isolated without an expression tag and in this novel crystal form.

Studies show that on average, the weight of cremated remains for men is about 7.13 pounds (plus or minus 1.2 pounds) and for women, 4.9 […]

The post Hi-Tech Analysis Cracks Curious Case of Contaminated Cremains appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The contamination of Foster Farms chickens has provided insight into food regulation.

Steve Julian: Business analyst Mark Lacter, had we been paying attention before this happened?

Mark Lacter: You know, Steve, we often have an out of sight, out of mind attitude when it comes to food safety, and - as we're seeing with this episode - the government has a way of enabling that attitude.  What stands out, first of all, is that people started getting sick from salmonella-contaminated chicken back in March, and yet, it wasn't until the past few weeks that news stories began appearing about the seriousness of the problems.

Julian: At last check, more than 400 people have been infected, with most of them in California...

Lacter: Right, and Foster Farms, which is based in Merced County, controls two-thirds of the poultry market along the West Coast.  No fatalities so far, but many of the people who became sick had to be hospitalized - and that leads to still more concerns that the salmonella strains were resistant to antibiotics.  Now, why it took this long for consumers to be made aware that there was a problem tells you something about the way the federal government regulates poultry plants.  It was only last Friday, after the company had seen a 25 percent drop in sales, when the president of Foster Farms decided to go public.  He said he was embarrassed by the outbreak, and promised to change the company's processing facilities so that salmonella can be better identified.

Julian: Where was the US government in this?

Lacter: Apparently, the Department of Agriculture only requires testing for levels of salmonella at the time of slaughter - not later on, after the poultry is cut into parts.  Foster Farms now says it will do retesting at that later stage.  What's also interesting is that Foster Farms was not asked to recall any of its products because the chicken is considered safe as long as it's handled properly and then cooked to the right temperature, which is at least 165 degrees.  That's why some supermarkets have kept carrying the brand.

Julian: Can the government even order a recall?

Lacter: Not in a case like this - and that's because of a court case in the 1990s involving a Texas meat producer that federal inspectors were ready to shut down due to a salmonella outbreak involving ground beef.  The company sued the government, arguing that salmonella is naturally occurring, and therefore, not an adulterant subject to government regulation.  And the courts agreed.  Foster Farms has been using much the same argument.

Julian: Why isn't there more public outrage over this?

Lacter: Well, again, we go back to out of sight, out of mind.  Slaughterhouses are not exactly fun places, and they're usually not well covered by the news media until something bad happens, like the Foster Farms situation.

Julian: Chino comes to mind - a story we covered.

Lacter: That's when an animal rights group used a hidden camera to record inhumane treatment of cattle at a meat processing plant.  That company was forced into bankruptcy.  Another reason coverage is spotty is because it's not always easy to trace someone's illness to a contaminated piece of meat or chicken.  And, that leads to lots of misinformation.  The broader issue is figuring out a way to monitor these facilities without the process becoming cost prohibitive.  The Agriculture Department has been pushing a pilot program that would allow plants to speed up processing lines, and replace government inspectors with employees from the poultry companies themselves.

Julian: The idea being?

Lacter: The idea being to establish safeguards that can prevent problems before they get out of hand.  But, this is pretty controversial stuff, and advocacy groups representing poultry workers say that processing lines need to be slowed down, not speeded up.  So, you have this ongoing back and forth involving industry, government, consumer groups, and labor organizations.  And unfortunately, most of us tend to move on after one of these outbreaks gets cleared up.

Mark Lacter writes for Los Angeles Magazine and pens the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

UAE-based government services ecosystem TAMM has launched the Abu Dhabi Pay platform to...

Darkly colored, carotene-rich fruits and vegetables -- such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and broccoli -- provide the body with half as much vitamin A as previously thought.

Scientific evidence is insufficient to prove or disprove the theory that exposure to polio vaccine contaminated with a monkey virus between 1955 and 1963 has triggered cancer in humans, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Evidence exists that people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune Marine Base in North Carolina between the 1950s and 1985 were exposed to the industrial solvents tricholorethylene (TCE) or perchloroethylene (PCE) in their water supply, but strong scientific evidence is not available to determine whether health problems among those exposed are due to the contaminants, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Most Americans and Canadians up to age 70 need no more than 600 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day to maintain health, and those 71 and older may need as much as 800 IUs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

With the release of the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, Microsoft introduced a new security feature called Tamper Protection that protects security settings for Windows Defender antivirus from being disabled by malware or third-party programs. [...]

The news seems better on Tropical Storm Isaac and its potential threat to next week's events. However, from network news, you'd never know it mattered much if the storm damaged other countries or American cities outside Tampa. Isaac coverage is a wonderful example of how we as journalists care so much about something when we'll personally be affected.

Monday morning at 10 we begin our live coverage from the convention. Patt Morrison will follow at 11 with an hour of regular talk programming. I'll be back at 1 p.m. for another hour from Tampa, followed by Patt at 2.  We'll follow this schedule for the days of the convention, Monday through Thursday.

Patt will make her way to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Democratic Convention the following week. It will be fun to compare the cultures of the two conventions, aside from the platforms and PR spin we'll be exposed to for two straight weeks.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Larry Mantle interviews Tom Brokaw at the 2012 Republican National Convention.; Credit: Lauren Osen/KPCC

Our trip to the RNC in Tampa is coming to a close, but we’ve spent time with so many interesting people that our memories will stay strong.  We hope you’ve enjoyed the photos, tweets, and blog postings that have expanded our coverage beyond what we provide live on the air two hours a day.

This is the first political convention where KPCC has used multiple ways of bringing you here without time off from work or having to take a plane ride.  There are many great stories to tell and people to share.  We trust our photos give you a more complete sense of how much goes on at a massive convention like this.

For KPCC journalists, it’s particularly exciting to interact with you in these new ways.  We welcome your tweets and retweets (@AirTalk), comments on our blog postings (www.kpcc.org/blogs/politics), and feedback on our “AirTalk” segment pages. 

All this helps create a real-time way to connect listeners and users of social media in one big conversation.  We hope you enjoy taking part in the convention with us, as much we enjoy sharing it with you.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

My new book LOSERTHINK, available now on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/rqmjc2a Content: There WAS…a genuine coup attempt Governor Abbott’s Coronavirus strategy CNN promotes their choice for Biden’s VP Hoaxes, hoaxes and hoaxes Vitamin D and groups vulnerable to coronavirus If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on […]

The post Episode 961 Scott Adams: Flynn, Freedom, Vitamin D, Biden’s Brain and More appeared first on Scott Adams' Blog.

City dwellers who grow their own fruit and vegetables may be consuming high levels of pollutants. In a recent study, researchers found that vegetables grown on plots in Berlin, Germany, often contained higher concentrations of some heavy metals than shop-bought vegetables, with those grown close to busy roads containing the greatest quantities.

A standardised method to help choose the most cost-effective measures to remediate contaminated sites has been developed by Austrian researchers. The method takes into account a wide range of factors, including the principles of sustainability.