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Chemistry news archive 2007
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Novel
Experiments on Cement Yield Concrete Results
Using a brace of the most modern tools of materials
research, a team from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) and Northwestern University has shed new light on
one of mankind’s older construction materials - cement. Their
refinements to our understanding of how cement and concrete actually
work, reported this week in Nature Materials, ultimately may make
possible improvements in the formulation and use of cement that could
save hundreds of millions of dollars in annual maintenance and repair
costs for concrete structures and the country’s infrastructure. |
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Protein averts cell suicide but
might contribute to cancer
Scientists have discovered how an unusual protein helps a cell
bypass damage when making new DNA, thereby averting the cell's
self-destruction.
But they also discovered that this protein, an enzyme called
Dpo4, often makes errors when
copying the genomic DNA sequence that later might cause the cell to
become cancerous. |
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Titanium Dioxide - It
Slices, It Dices ...
Chemists have proposed an elegantly simple technique for cleaving
proteins into convenient pieces for analysis. |
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A sweet step toward new
cancer therapies
By recognizing sugars, a technique developed by University of Michigan
analytical chemist Kristina Hakansson sets the stage for new cancer
diagnosis and treatment options. |
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Traces of Nanobubbles
Determine Nano-boiling
Using a microscope and some extreme “snapshot” photography with
shutter speeds only a few nanoseconds long, researchers from NIST and
Cornell University have uncovered the traces of ephemeral
“nanobubbles” formed in boiling water on a microheater. |
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Cells selectively absorb short
nanotubes
DNA-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) shorter than about
200 nanometers readily enter into human lung cells and so may pose an
increased risk to health, according to scientists at NIST. |
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New metal crystals,
formed on a cotton assembly line
First appearance of silver, gold, nickel and other tiny, uniform metal
crystals have novel chemical and physical properties. |
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'Smart' sunglasses feature
lenses that change color on demand
Chemists at the University of Washington in Seattle say they are
developing ‘smart’ sunglasses that will allow the wearer to instantly
change the color of their lenses to virtually any hue of the rainbow. |
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Plastic that degrades
in seawater could be boon for cruise industry and others
In the future, a new type of environmentally friendly plastic that
degrades in seawater may make it safe and practical to toss plastic
waste overboard ... |
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Polymers show promise for gene
delivery, tissue scaffolds, other biomedical applications -
Virginia Tech polymer scientists have developed a new family of gene
vectors – novel polymers that can ferry genetic material across the
cell membrane so that it can be incorporated into the machinery of the
cell. |
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For clean air
Porous manganese oxide garnished with gold nanoparticles removes
volatile organic compounds from air and breaks them down. |
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New chemistry approach
promises less expensive drugs
Enantioselective Organocatalysis using SOMO Activation. |
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Technique creates metal
memory and could lead to vanishing dents
Plastic Deformation Recovery in Freestanding Nanocrystalline Aluminum
and Gold Thin Films. |
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MIT biologists solve
vitamin puzzle
Solving a mystery that has puzzled scientists for
decades, MIT and Harvard researchers have discovered the final piece
of the synthesis pathway of vitamin B12 - the only vitamin synthesized
exclusively by microorganisms.
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Widely used iron
nanoparticles exhibit toxic effects on neuronal cells
Researchers at UC San Diego have discovered that
iron-containing nanoparticles being tested for use in several
biomedical applications can be toxic to nerve cells and interfere with
the formation of their signal-transmitting extensions ... |
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2-photon
absorbing molecules fabricate polymer features just 65 nanometers wide
Producing three-dimensional polymer line structures
as small as 65 nanometers wide just became easier with new two-photon
absorbing molecules that are sensitive to laser light at short
wavelengths, allowing researchers to create them without highly
sophisticated fabrication methods. |
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Researchers find a new way to read nanoscale vibrations
Nanomechanical oscillators - tiny strips of
vibrating silicon only a few hundred atoms thick - are the subject of
extensive study by nanotechnology researchers. They could someday
replace bulky quartz crystals in electronic circuits or be used to
detect and identify bacteria and viruses ... |
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Marbles tower shows conflict between
oil and water
How do oil and water really respond to each other? |
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Laying
microscale tiles
Microcrystalline monolayers: Laying by hand is superior to
self-assembly methods. |
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Chemists strike gold with
new gold catalysts
Gold catalysts are 'hot' because their electrons are heavy, UC
Berkeley chemist proposes. |
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Study shows metabolic
strategy of stressed cell
Major St. Jude study of changes in gene activity and metabolic enzymes
show how cells respond to a sudden decrease in the levels of Coenzyme
A, a key player in the daily biochemical routines that support life. |
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Fingerprinting the Milky Way
Chemical composition of stars in clusters can tell history of our
galaxy. |
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University of the Basque
Country team succeed in characterizing boron nitride on a nanometric
scale - A team has completed the first comprehensive study of
the properties of boron nitrite on a nanometric scale. |
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Snail slime substitutes
A team of engineers have set a small robot climbing walls in order to
compare how natural and artificial snail slimes work. |
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Mechanics meets chemistry in
new way to manipulate matter
The inventors of self-healing
plastic have come up with another invention: a new way of doing
chemistry. |
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Synthetic
production of potential pharmaceuticals dramatically simplified by
Scripps research team
Findings could expand interest in natural products by making
production more cost-effective. |
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Powerful new tool to track
carbon dioxide by source
Scientists from NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory announced a
new tool to monitor changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases by region and source. |
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American Chemical
Society, Portico sign agreement for permanent electronic archiving of
ACS content |
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UCLA scientists
create microscopic alphabet
Research could lead to tiny devices. |
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Fullerenes Store Hydrogen
Researchers believe that absorbing properties of fullerenes and
other nanostructures that include fullerenes have not been fully
investigated ... |
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NJIT professor
obtains patent to uncover trace elements of airborne pollutants
A breakthrough patent will enable manufacturers to
create a device to uncover miniscule amounts of airborne pollutants. |
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New
sensor detects gaseous chemical weapon surrogates in 45 seconds
Using lasers and tuning forks, researchers have developed a chemical
weapon agent sensing technique ... |
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New synthetic
self-assembling macromolecules mimic nature
Aggregation of Rod-Coil Block Copolymers Containing Rigid
Polyampholyte Blocks in Aqueous Solution. |
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New JILA apparatus
measures fast nanoscale motions
A new nanoscale apparatus developed at JILA offers the potential for a
500-fold increase in the speed of scanning tunneling microscopes (STM)
... |
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1-nanometer resolution is NSF
CAREER researcher's goal for optical imaging
Producing optical images at resolutions as low as one nanometer is the
goal of Virginia Tech College of Engineering researcher Yong Xu ... |
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Harvard chemist
wins national award for lifetime achievements in chemistry
2007 Priestley Award winner: Harvard
Chemist George M. Whitesides, Ph.D. |
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How Green are Ionic
Liquids?
New international journal CLEAN covers all aspects of sustainability
and environmental safety. |
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Hidden fingerprints
revealed
Hidden fingerprints can be now be revealed quickly and reliably thanks
to two developments in nanotechnology. |
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Ice created in nanoseconds by
Sandia's Z machine
Not expected at your local 7-Eleven anytime soon. |
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New reagent delivers a
chemical breakthrough at FSU
A newly developed substance could make the jobs of scientists
throughout the world a little easier as they work to develop new drugs
and other chemicals that benefit humanity ... |
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Researchers create artificial
enzyme that mimics the body's internal engine
To help scientists achieve a better understanding of how CcO works,
researchers have built a new model of the enzyme's active site-a
region on the protein's surface where chemical reactions occur. |
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RNA enzyme structure offers a glimpse into the
origins of life
Researchers have determined the three-dimensional structure of an RNA
enzyme, or "ribozyme," that carries out a fundamental reaction
required to make new RNA molecules. |
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New biofuels process promises
to meet all U.S. transportation needs
Purdue University chemical engineers have proposed a new
environmentally friendly process for producing liquid fuels from plant
matter. |
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Chromium 6: A killer compound
with an improbable trigger
Even miniscule amounts of chromium 6 can cause cancer. Blame that
do-gooder nutrient, vitamin C. |
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Phthalates now linked to fat,
related health risks
Rochester study connects common chemicals to rising obesity rates. |
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No Carrier Necessary: This
Drug Delivers Itself
Researchers have describe for the first time a drug delivery system
that consists of nanocrystals of a hydrophobic drug. |
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Physicists wipe away
complexity for a clearer view of heavy nuclei
Coupled-Cluster and Configuration-Interaction Calculations for Heavy
Nuclei. |
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Physicists tailor
magnetic pairings in nanoscale semiconductors
Observation of the two-channel Kondo effect: by applying voltages to
nanoscale electrodes, scientists can tune how strongly a magnetic atom
couples to one set of electrons, or channel, compared to the other set
... |
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First ozone and
nitrogen dioxide measurements from MetOp-A
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) on board MetOp-A
launched in October 2006 and currently undergoing commissioning has
delivered the first geophysical products for monitoring the Earth's
ozone layer, and European and global air quality. |
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First new waterborne
aquaculture drug in 20 years approved
Twelve years of rigorous research by USGS scientists helped lead to
the approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the first
waterborne drug for fish diseases in more than 20 years. |
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Progress
toward artificial photosynthesis?
Direct activation with graphitic carbon nitride makes carbon dioxide
accessible for chemical synthesis. |
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Rings made of little rods
Water droplets as templates - Gold nanorods self-assemble into rings.
Gold nanorods assemble
themselves into rings
Finding by Rice University chemists could aid development of new
nanodevices. |
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Color analysis rapidly
predicts carbon content of soil
Scientists report in the Soil Science Society of America Journal that
soil color can be as accurate as the lab for carbon content. |
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A single-photon
server with just one atom
Physicists at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have succeeded in
turning a Rubidium atom into a single-photon server. |
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Studies force new view on
biology of flavonoids
Flavonoids, a group of compounds found in fruits and vegetables that
had been thought to be nutritionally important for their antioxidant
activity, actually have little or no value in that role, according to
an analysis by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon
State University. |
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Secret of worm's
poison pill box protein could produce new natural insecticide
Researchers have discovered how a protein from a bacterium acts like a
cunningly designed poison pill box that could now be used as a basis
of a new range of natural insecticides. |
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Diatom conversion
Microscopic sea creatures provide foundation for
gas sensors and other devices.
The three-dimensional shells of tiny ocean
creatures could provide the foundation for novel electronic devices,
including gas sensors able to detect pollution faster and more
efficiently than conventional devices.
Using a chemical process that converts the shells’
original silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) into the
semiconductor material silicon, researchers have created a new class
of gas sensors based on the unique and intricate three-dimensional
(3-D) shells produced by microscopic creatures known as diatoms. |
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Atoms under the
mantle
At a depth of 2900 kilometres, the layer between
the Earth's mantle and its core has always intrigued geophysicists
because they are unable to explain the seismic data it generates.
Researchers have studied its deformation which influences convection
movements within the mantle or even those by tectonic plates ... |
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Invisible for Electrons
Scientists fabricate ultra-thin membranes. |
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Fluorescence microscopy reveals why some antifreeze proteins inhibit
ice growth better than others
Finding could have medical, commercial applications.
Antifreeze or “ice structuring” proteins – found in
some fish, insects, plants, fungi and bacteria – attach to the surface
of ice crystals to inhibit their growth and keep the host organism
from freezing to death. Scientists have been puzzled, however, about
why some ice structuring proteins, such as those found in the spruce
budworm, are more active than others. |
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The first urine test to detect insulin doping in
athletes
Scientists in Germany are reporting development of
a urine test that finally can identify athletes who misuse certain
kinds of insulin in an illicit attempt to enhance performance.
Mario Thevis and colleagues say that amateur and
elite athletes reportedly have used long-acting, as well as
rapid-acting, forms of insulin to gain an edge - although insulin
doping’s actual ability to enhance performance remains uncertain.
Their article, scheduled for the April 1 edition of
ACS’ Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, states that
scientists had not attempted to develop such a test in the past
because of the presumption that it was impossible to detect insulin’s
degradation products, the compounds formed as the body breaks down
insulin.
Using urine samples from volunteers, including
athletes with diabetes, the scientists were able to identify
degradation products from Lantus insulin, one commonly used form of
insulin. The test could not identify surreptitious use of two other
forms of long-duration insulin, but the study uncovered clues that
toward that goal. “Determination of long-acting insulin analogues in
urine is of utmost interest for doping control purposes,” the study
notes. “The developed and validated procedure provides a fast and
reliable way to elucidate the potential misuse of the long-acting
insulin analogue LAN in regular doping control specimens.”
Analytical Chemistry: “Mass
Spectrometric Identification of Degradation Products of Insulin and
Its Long-Acting Analogues in Human Urine for Doping Control Purposes”
- [
pdf text ] |
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Vegetable soup chemical reactions
Chemists working on tight budgets in developing
countries may be able to substitute extracts of potatoes, celery,
eggplant, carrot, cassava, horseradish or an array of inexpensive and
locally available vegetable products for the costly reagents
traditionally needed for chemical reactions, a new study suggests.
In a review scheduled for the March 23 issue of the
ACS’ Journal of Natural Products, a monthly publication, Geoffrey A.
Cordell at the University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues in
Brazil explain that the high cost of imported reagents - substances
used in chemical reactions - is a major problem for such academic,
chemical industry and pharmaceutical laboratories in developing
countries. Their report describes how some of the more than 7,000
vegetable crops grown throughout the world can be used as substitutes
for commercial reagents in laboratory work.
“The evaluation of locally available vegetables,
fruits, common plants, and natural waste products for a selection of
standard organic chemical reactions of commercial significance could
prove to be a very valuable economic endeavor,” the report notes. “It
may well offer new opportunities to expand the role of natural
products as sustainable chemical reagents where high-cost,
nonrenewable reagents are presently used.”
Natural Products: “Vegetables
as Chemical Reagents” - [
pdf text ] |
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Elevated arsenic levels reported in rice grown
in South Central States
The largest market basket survey of the arsenic
content of rice grown in the United States has found elevated levels
of arsenic in rice produced in the South Central part of the country,
scientists report in an article scheduled for the April 1 issue of ACS’
Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal. The
University of Aberdeen’s A. A. Meharg and colleagues did the study,
which involved analyses of rice purchased at U. S. supermarkets. A
previous study found that U. S. rice purchased in the United Kingdom
had higher arsenic levels than rice grown in Europe, India or
Bangladesh.
In the study, researchers compared arsenic levels
in rice from the two main rice-producing areas of the country - the
South Central States and California. They focused on inorganic arsenic,
which the report describes as a known human carcinogen and implicated
in several other diseases. Rice grown in the South Central States had
more arsenic than California rice. Rice in those states often is grown
in old cotton fields that previously were treated with arsenic
pesticides, the study states, adding that arsenic-tolerant strains of
rice often are grown in those fields.
When researchers modeled rice intake, they
concluded that certain population groups could get dietary exposure to
arsenic that exceeds California’s state exposure limits. Those groups
include low-income individuals who consume large amounts or rice as an
inexpensive food; people with celiac disease (who eat rice as part of
a gluten-free diet); Asian-Americans who consume a high-rice diet; and
Hispanic infants and toddlers, who also have a diet high in rice, the
study notes.
Environmental Science & Technology: “Market
Basket Survey Shows Elevated Levels of As in South Central U. S.
Processed Rice Compared to California: Consequences for Human Dietary
Exposure” - [
pdf text ] |
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Red pepper: Hot stuff for fighting fat?
Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new
evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin - the natural
compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick - can reduce the
growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of
the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly
publication.
In the report, Gow-Chin Yen and Chin-Lin Hsu cite
previous research suggesting that obesity can be reduced by preventing
immature fat cells (adipocytes) from developing into mature cells.
Past research also linked capsaicin to a decrease in the amount of fat
tissue and decreased blood-fat levels. With that knowledge, the
researchers tested capsaicin’s effects on pre-adipocytes and
adipocytes growing in laboratory cultures.
They found that capsaicin prevented pre-adipocytes
from filling with fat and becoming full-fledged fat cells. The effects
occurred at levels just slightly greater than those found in the
stomach fluid of an individual eating a typical Indian or Thai diet,
the researchers noted. Capsaicin worked by providing a biochemical
signal that made fat cells undergo apoptosis, a mechanism in which
cells self-destruct.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: “Effects
of Capsaicin on Induction of Apoptosis and Inhibition of Adipogenesis
in 3T3-L1 Cells” - [
pdf text ] |
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The Chemistry of the Holy Land
Chemical research is thriving in Israel - a tiny
country far away from major scientific centers and surrounded by
hostile neighbors. The country ranks third in the world in research
papers published per million population. That’s just one
characteristic detailed in the profile of science in the Holy Land
based on visits to 30 research groups by Chemical & Engineering News,
ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.
“The odds of developing a successful chemical
research program in such a place and under such circumstances might
seem slim, and the task may seem daunting,” reports C&EN senior editor
Mitch Jacoby, who wrote the cover story. “Yet Israeli chemists don’t
seem particularly fazed by the challenge. ‘Kacha zen ba’arets,’ they
say in a matter-of-fact way - “That’s just the way things are in
Israel.”
In the article, Jacoby draws on interviews with
scientists at institutions throughout Israel to provide a sweeping
view of the kinds of research projects underway in Israel, and the
scientific life in the Holy Land. The article draws contrasts with
science in the West, noting, for instance that young Israeli
scientists begin their careers older, due to mandatory military
service, and work in a culture of usually-small research groups and
modest budgets.
Chemical & Engineering News: “Chemistry
in the Holy Land: Political turmoil - not research topics -
distinguishes Israel from the West” |
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Physicists reveal water's secrets
in journal 'Science'
It's essential to all life, and numerous research papers are published
about it every year. Yet there are still secrets to reveal about water,
that seemingly simple compound we know as H2O. |
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Computer-designed molecule
to clean up fluorocarbons?
In a powerful demonstration of the relatively new field of
computational chemistry, researchers have designed a wholly
theoretical molecule to pull the fluorine out of fluorocarbons. |
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Natural antibiotics yield
secrets to atom-level imaging technique
Frog skin and human lungs hold secrets to developing new antibiotics,
and a technique called solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a key to
unlocking those secrets. |
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Genome sequencing reveals key to
viable ethanol production
As the national push for alternative energy sources heats up,
researchers have for the first time identified how genes responsible
for biomass breakdown are turned on in a microorganism that produces
valuable ethanol from materials like grass and cornstalks. |
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Quantum effects make the
difference
A team of German and American researchers observe a new phase
transition at absolute zero. |
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Delicate relation
between single spins
Scientists measure the magnetic interaction between single atoms. |
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Sphingolipids with
therapeutic ends
Sphingolipids operate in the cells and they can regulate certain
biological functions. |
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Wanted: Research work
in chemoinformatics by young scientists
German-American prize "CINF Scholarship for Scientific Excellence" is
designed to reward outstanding research of young scientists and to
foster their contribution to chemical information. |
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Monochloramine treatment
not as effective in protecting drinking water |
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New book brings chemistry
to life with art, history, humor
A new book by a University of New
Hampshire professor chronicles the beauty, mystery, truths, lies, and
even humor of chemistry. |
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Dubbed
'nano-piezotronics'
Researchers create new class of electronic components by bending zinc
oxide nanowires. |
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Fats into jet fuel - NC State
'green' technology licensed
New biofuels technology has the potential to turn virtually any fat
source – vegetable oils, oils from animal fat and even oils from algae
– into fuel to power jet airplanes. |
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Coffee: Aroma, taste and dietary fiber
Already recognized as a source of healthful
anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, coffee also contains
significantly higher levels of soluble dietary fiber than other
commonly consumed beverages, scientists in Spain report. Their study
is scheduled for publication in the March 21 issue of ACS' Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a biweekly journal.
Fulgencio Saura-Calixto and M. Elena Diaz-Rubio
point out that coffee is a complex chemical mixture that reportedly
contains more than 1,000 different compounds, some of which have been
linked to good and bad effects on human health. Scientists have known
that coffee beans are rich in soluble dietary fiber (SDF) that can
pass into brewed coffee, the researchers added, noting, however, that
little research has been done on the topic.
In the new study, researchers used a special
technique for measuring dietary fiber in beverages to show that brewed
coffee contains a significant amount of SDF — 02.5 percent to 20.0
percent by weight of powdered coffee bean. "The dietary fiber content
in brewed coffee is higher than in other common beverages such as wine
or orange juice," the study states.
The findings mean that consumption of 1 cup (about
200 milliliters) of coffee per day represents a contribution of up to
1.8 grams of the recommended intake of 20-38 grams of this essential
nutrient, the researchers noted.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: "Dietary
Fiber in Brewed Coffee" |
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Toward tapping the potential of "stranded"
natural gas
Newly discovered chemical catalysts may be an
answer to the century-long search for economical ways of using natural
gas now burned or "flared" as waste in huge quantities, scientists in
the United States and Germany report. Their study is scheduled for the
March 7 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a
weekly publication.
Johannes A. Lercher and colleagues at the Technical
University of Munich and Dow Chemical Company explain that 30 percent
to 60 percent of the world's natural gas is classified as "stranded,"
meaning that it cannot be used locally or transported economically to
other markets. When produced in the course of pumping crude oil, such
gas is vented to the atmosphere or burned at the wellhead.
That wasted natural gas is mainly methane, a
compound in great demand as a chemical feedstock, a basic raw material
for making chemicals that are subsequently used to make hundreds of
medical, commercial and industrial products. No practical technology
has been available, however, for using the methane in natural gas as a
chemical feedstock. The new study describes research on
lanthanum-based catalysts that convert methane into a compound that
would be an ideal chemical feedstock.
Journal of the American Chemical Society: "Methyl
Chloride Production from Methane over Lanthanum-Based Catalysts" |
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Transforming "yellow grease" into therapeutic
cosmetics
Waste cooking oil from restaurant deep fryers could
become a much-sought inexpensive raw material for producing unusual
biosurfactants with uses ranging from therapeutic cosmetics that
regenerate damaged skin to controlling algae blooms in lakes and ponds,
according to researchers in New York.
In a report scheduled for the April 9 issue of the
ACS bimonthly journal Biotechnology Progress, Vishal Shah and
colleagues estimate that restaurants in the United States generate
about 25 billion gallons of waste cooking oil each week. The waste oil,
marketed as "yellow grease," long has been used in animal feed, with
researchers exploring new applications such as biodiesel fuel.
"We have successfully demonstrated the use of
restaurant waste oil as a potential low-cost lipid feedstock for
sophorolipid production," the report states. "This method of waste oil
disposal has the advantage of producing a value-added commercially
viable byproduct." Sophorolipids have a range of applications,
including naturally derived ingredients in therapeutic cosmetics;
germicidal solutions for washing fruits and vegetables; and anti-algal
agents for environmental cleanups, the report notes.
Biotechnology Progress: "Utilization
of Restaurant Waste Oil as a Precursor for Sophorolipid Production" |
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Toward powerful new anticancer drugs with new
ways of targeting tumors
The search for new anticancer drugs has led
scientists in Pittsburgh to synthesize a compound that works in a
different way than existing agents and is so potent that minute levels
of 10 parts per trillion block the growth of tumor cells in laboratory
experiments. Kazunori Koide and colleagues describe the compound as
one of the most potent of all anticancer agents in a report scheduled
for the March 7 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The parent compound, FR901464, inhibited the growth
of cancer cells implanted into laboratory mice. Because of structural
similarity between FR901464 and their analogue, called meayamycin, the
Koide group is cautiously optimistic that meayamycin also will be
effective against tumors in mice. The amount that the Koide employed
against cancer cells is equivalent to 10 seconds in 32,000 years or
one packet of sugar (5 grams) in a coffee cup the size of 400
Olympic-size pools.
In the article, researchers explain that existing
chemotherapy medications work by targeting only a handful of
vulnerable spots in a tumor, such as the DNA or hormone receptors.
That limited range of targets has led scientists to seek new
generations of medications that work in different ways.
Journal of the American Chemical Society: "Total
Synthesis, Fragmentation Studies, and Antitumor/Antiproliferative
Activities of FR901464 and Its Low Picomolar Analogue" |
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A new target in the war on cancer
A new family of potential anti-cancer drugs is
quietly causing excitement in the pharmaceutical industry as early
data from clinical trials shows promising responses in patients,
according to an article scheduled for the Feb. 26 issue of Chemical &
Engineering News (C&EN), the ACS' weekly newsmagazine.
In the article, C&EN associate editor Lisa Jarvis
explains that the new compounds may circumvent the long-standing
problem of drug resistance, in which anti-cancer drugs gradually loose
their effectiveness. The drugs focus on a new target in the war
against cancer — a substance called heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90).
Heat shock proteins are most active when the cell is exposed to
elevated temperatures, infection, inflammation, toxins and other
stresses that can cause a protein to unfold. Like housekeepers, heat
shock proteins help those proteins — including mutated, cancer-causing
proteins — get back into their proper shape.
When Hsp90's effects are blocked in cancer cells,
those cancer-causing proteins cannot survive, potentially stopping the
disease in its track. When Hsp90's effects are blocked in cancer cells,
damaged proteins accumulate, and the cell dies. Jarvis explains that
cancer cells, with their horribly mutated proteins, seem to be
especially dependent on Hsp90, and more vulnerable than other body
cells when Hsp90's effects are blocked. The article describes how new
discoveries have changed heat shock proteins from laboratory
curiosities into some of today's most promising targets for developing
new drugs.
Chemical & Engineering News: "Living
on the Edge: Drugs targeting Hsp90 push already unstable cancer cells
to the brink" |
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Fluid
dynamics works on nanoscale in real world
Scientists show theory works outside of a vacuum.
It's well-known that small systems are influenced
by randomness and noise more than large systems. Because of this,
Georgia Tech physicist Uzi Landman reasoned that modifying the
Navier-Stokes equations to include stochastic elements – that is give
the probability that an event will occur – would allow them to
accurately describe the behavior of liquids in the nanoscale regime
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Cells may contain hundreds of thousands to millions of ribosomes, one
of which is depicted in this image.
Journal of the American Chemical Society:
Sonochemical Synthesis of Nanosized Hollow Hematite |
A new process for
making much-sought iron nanospheres
Using a process that creates bubbles as hot as the
surface of the sun, chemists are reporting development of a new method
for making hollow hematite (iron oxide) nanospheres. The University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Kenneth S. Suslick and Jin Ho Bang
describe the synthesis of these iron nanoparticles in a report
scheduled for the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American
Chemical Society, a weekly publication.
Hollow nanospheres of metals and other inorganic
materials are generating great interest because of their unusual
properties and potential applications in drug delivery, electronic
components, catalysts and other products. "We believe that this
procedure will be easily extended to prepare other hollow inorganic
materials," the researchers note. In the past, production of hollow
hematite nanospheres required a time-consuming process and use of
toxic hydrofluoric acid.
The new process uses sonochemistry, in which
high-frequency sound waves are focused into a solution containing an
iron compound and carbon nanoparticles. Those sound waves create tiny
bubbles in the liquid. The collapse of those bubbles causes intense
local heating with temperatures estimated at 9,000 F, which is nearly
as hot as the surface of the sun. The sonochemical process forms iron
spheres around the carbon nanoparticles. On exposure to air, the iron
rapidly oxidizes, which burns away the carbon core, leaving hematite
spheres one thousandth the diameter of a red blood cell. |
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Recipe for healthy
garlic: Crush before cooking
"Stop and smell the garlic - that's all you have to
do," advised William Shatner, whose starring roles ranged from Captain
Kirk in Star Trek to himself in Iron Chef USA. New scientific research
is editing Shatner's advice for the millions of people seeking
garlic's fabulous flavor and its reputed health benefits. Make it read:
Stop and crush the garlic.
Claudio R. Galmarini and colleagues in Argentina
and the United States are reporting new evidence that crushing garlic
before cooking can reduce the loss of garlic's healthful properties.
In a report scheduled for the March 7 edition of ACS' Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication, they note
that many past studies of garlic and health used raw garlic. The new
study joins a handful or others to examine how the heat of cooking
affects the chemical compounds associated with garlic's beneficial
health effects.
The researchers found that even a few minutes of
cooking reduces levels of those compounds. The reduction is steepest
in whole garlic, and less pronounced in garlic that has been crushed
before cooking. Crushing or chopping garlic releases an enzyme,
alliinase, that catalyzes the formation of allicin, which then breaks
down to form a variety of healthful organosulfur compounds. The
researchers believe that crushing garlic before cooking may allow
alliinase to work before cooking inactivates the enzyme. Their report
notes that allowing crushed garlic to stand for 10 minutes before
cooking may further enhance formation of those compounds before heat
inactivates alliinase.
Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry: "Effect
of Cooking on Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Antiplatelet Activity and
Thiosulfinates Content" |
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New e-waste
recycling technology
With megatons of obsolete personal computers, old
cell phones and other waste electrical and electronic equipment piling
up every year, scientists in China report development of a much-needed
new recycling and recovery technology for one of the most troublesome
components of e-waste - printed circuit boards (PCBs).
In a report scheduled for the Feb. 15 edition of
ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal,
Zhenming Xu and colleagues point out that PCBs are an ideal target for
recycling and reuse. PCBs are self-contained modules of interconnected
electronic components formed by a thin layer of conducting material
deposited, or "printed," on the surface of an insulating board. They
contain materials potentially toxic if released to the environment.
However, PCBs also are a rich potential source of valuable metals and
other materials that could be recovered and reused.
The researchers describe tests of their process on
almost a half-ton of scrap PCBs, which showed that it is efficient and
environmentally friendly. The technology involves special crushing of
scrap PCBs, followed by separation of the metallic and non-metallic
materials with an electric field. The technique has advantages over
other methods proposed for recycling PCBs, the researchers indicate.
Environmental Science
& Technology: "Recycle
Technology for Recovering Resources and Products from Waste Printed
Circuit Boards" |
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Storing Digital
Data in Living Organisms
DNA, perhaps the oldest data storage medium, could
become the newest as scientists report progress toward using DNA to
store text, images, music and other digital data inside the genomes of
living organisms. In a report scheduled for the April 9 issue of ACS'
Biotechnology Progress, a bi-monthly journal, Masaru Tomita and
colleagues in Japan point out that DNA has been attracting attention
as perhaps the ultimate in permanent data storage.
Data encoded in an organism's DNA, and inherited by
each new generation, could be safely archived for hundreds of
thousands of years, the researchers state. In contrast, CD-ROMs, flash
memory and hard disk drives can easily fall victim to accidents or
natural disasters.
In their report, the researchers describe a method
for copying and pasting data, encoded as artificial DNA, into the
genome of Bacillus subtilis, (B. subtilis) a common soil bacterium, "thus
acquiring versatile data storage and the robustness of data
inheritance." The researchers demonstrated the method by using a
strain of B. subtilis to store the message: "E=MC2 1905!" — Albert
Einstein's famous 1905 energy-mass equivalence equation.
"We suggest that this simple, flexible and robust
method offers a practical solution to data storage and retrieval
challenges in combination with other, previously published techniques,"
the report states.
Biotechnology
Progress: "Alignment-Based
Approach for Durable Data Storage into Living Organisms" |
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'Watching atoms move' is
goal of powerful new X-ray sources
A new generation of X-ray sources is allowing scientists to watch
atoms move. |
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Physics graduate
student creates graphene resonator
A single sheet of graphene, a form of carbon atoms in a plane just one
atom thick, can be isolated and used as an electromechanical resonator. |
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High-quality helium
crystals show supersolid behavior
High-quality, single-crystal, ultra-cold solid helium exhibits
supersolid behavior, suggesting that this frictionless solid flow is
not a consequence of defects and grain boundaries in poor-quality,
polycrystalline, solid helium, according to a team of Penn State
researchers. |
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Isotope science to have
wide-ranging impact, NSCL researcher says
Nuclear science - and a host of other endeavors that involve the
production, study and use of rare isotopes - is undergoing a quiet but
dramatic revolution. |
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UI researcher
cites need for a 'small view' of the environment
By thinking small, scientists can solve big environmental problems. |
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Green chemistry can help
nanotechnology mature, Oregon professor says
Planning now can reduce risks of environmental and health-related side
effects. |
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Successful development of
prototype assays
International medical diagnostics company Panbio Limited today
announced that it had developed two prototype immunoassays using their
proprietary panDA Homogeneous Assay technology. |
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Instruction
Manual for Creating a Molecular Nose Max
Planck researchers incorporate odorant receptors into artificial
membranes. An artificial nose could be a real
benefit at times: this kind of biosensor could sniff out poisons,
explosives or drugs, for instance. Researchers at the Max Planck
Institute for Polymer Research and the Max Planck Institute of
Biochemistry recently revealed a technique for integrating membrane
proteins into artificial structures. Membrane proteins have several
important functions in the cell, one of which is to act as receptors,
passing on signals from molecules in the air, for example, to the cell
interior ... |
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Biomacromolecules:
"The Future of Microbial Cellulose in Biomedical Applications" |
Microbial cellulose: Poised for a high-profile role in biomedicine
Biotechnology's next high-value product could be
microbial cellulose, a form of cellulose produced naturally by
bacteria that already has found some successful applications in
medicine, according to an article in the current issue of ACS'
Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal.
In their review of worldwide research on microbial
cellulose, the University of Texas' R. Malcolm Brown Jr. and
colleagues in Poland explain that it is chemically identical to the
more-familiar plant cellulose, source of paper and other commercial
products. However, cellulose produced by the bacterium Acetobacter
xylinum has a unique nanostructure of fibers that make it ideal as a
dressing to speed wound healing and for a range of other biomedical
applications.
Microbial cellulose already has been used
successfully in patients with severe burns, for instance, and as a
replacement for small-diameter blood vessels, the scientists point
out. Based on the review, they conclude that microbial cellulose is
poised for use in a wide variety of medical devices and consumer
products as soon as scientists develop a method to mass produce the
material. |
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Protein Microstructures
Journal of the American Chemical Society:
"Mask-Directed Multiphoton Lithography" |
A rapid new process for fabricating microstructures from protein
In an advance in microfabrication technology,
scientists report development of a new method for rapidly engineering
complex micro-scale patterns and three-dimensional microstructures
from biocompatible protein.
Jason B. Shear and Bryan Kaehr describe using the
laser technique to fabricate detailed shapes — such as the silhouette
of a housefly and the State of Texas — by condensing (or crosslinking)
proteins in solution into a solid matrix. Their study is scheduled for
the Feb. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a
weekly publication. The researchers also used the process to fabricate
minute 3-D structures, including 1- and 2-story microcontainers that
were used to trap, incubate and grow as few as a single living
bacterium into colonies. Such traps could have a variety of uses,
including studying the formation of biofilms, which are the source of
human health concerns.
The technique, mask-directed multiphoton
lithography, is modeled after the photolithography processes widely
used to transfer electronic circuits onto a semiconductor wafer by
projecting light through a pattern or "mask." However, the new method
uses a special laser to scan objects or patterns printed on
transparency film with an ordinary desktop printer. The silhouette
ultimately is refocused into the protein solution using the objective
lens of a microscope. Because protein molecules must be extremely
close to the laser focus to undergo crosslinking into solid material,
this method allows structures to be created with complex 3-D shapes.
The process takes only minutes, researchers report. |
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New potential health benefit of olive oil for
peptic ulcer disease
Already fabled for an array of health benefits,
extra virgin olive oil — a centerpiece of the Mediterranean Diet — may
have a new role in helping to prevent and treat Helicobacter pylori
(H. pylori) infections, which cause millions of cases of gastritis and
peptic ulcer disease each year, researchers in Spain report.
Manuel Brenes and colleagues cite past studies
showing that green tea, cranberry juice and certain other natural
foods inhibit the growth of H. pylori (which infects the stomach
lining), leading researchers to recommend consumption of those foods.
None of the numerous studies on olive oil, however, has tested its
effects on H. pylori, they note in a study scheduled for the Feb. 21
issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a biweekly
publication.
Brenes and colleagues used laboratory experiments
to demonstrate that under simulated conditions the healthful phenolic
compounds in extra virgin olive oil remain stable in the acidic
environment of the stomach for hours. In laboratory cultures, those
substances had a strong antibacterial effect against eight strains of
H. pylori, including antibiotic-resistant strains.
"These results open the possibility of considering
extra virgin olive oil a chemoprotective agent for peptic ulcer or
gastric cancer, but this bioactivity must be confirmed in vivo in the
future," they conclude.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry: & | |
