Monthly Archives: August 2012

UT medical school; Geo Care concerns; World-class medicine

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UT medical school

Re: Aug. 11 article "Plan for medical school unfolds."

Let's transform health care delivery by developing a University of Texas medical school and related initiatives sponsored by UT Southwestern Medical School, Central Health, the Seton Family of Healthcare and others. Working together to implement the "10 in 10" plan, we can move into national prominence by improving access to primary care, addressing the growing doctor shortage, propelling biomedical research, providing sorely needed mental health services and creating many new good- paying jobs.

If you have good health insurance, you know how important having a doctor is to good health, holding a job, being productive and leading a meaningful life. What a shame that Medicare beneficiaries have trouble finding a doctor to take care of them!

Let's get our emergency rooms out of the primary care business! Let's develop a sustainable health-care delivery system while creating thousands of new technical and professional jobs.

Charles E. Durant Jr.

Austin

World-class medicine

Re: Aug. 15 editorial, "A nickel for your health care."

I will be delighted to give my nickel to the Central Health Board to help establish a medical school in Austin! I have a brother-in-law who has multiple myeloma, a terrible blood/bone cancer, and he has lived beyond the average life span for people who have this cancer because of the exceptional care and treatment he has received at the University of Arkansas Medical School. World-class physicians move to Little Rock to teach or train at this facility, and people from all over the world spend months in Little Rock to receive mostly outpatient treatment that brings dollars to the city and provides the medical care these folks need.

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UT medical school; Geo Care concerns; World-class medicine

UT chancellor touts progress on Valley medical school

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BROWNSVILLE - Graduation ceremonies are just six years away for the first class of students from the Rio Grande Valley's long-awaited medical school, University of Texas Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa pledged Friday.

"The year 2018 will be a very special year for all of us," Cigarroa said at a news conference at the UT-Pan American in Edinburg, site of the medical research component of what's currently the three-campus Regional Academic Health Center.

As has been the case for hundreds of students since the gala opening of the center in Harlingen in 2002, future doctors will spend their first two academic years at the UT-Health Science Center at San Antonio and third and fourth years completing clinical training in the Valley.

The key difference is that students will, from the outset, have applied to a dedicated South Texas admission track. Hopes are high their diplomas will carry the University of Texas Health Science Center-South Texas name.

Independent school

While key questions remain - such as accreditation and funding for the estimated $40 million to $50 million in annual expenses - Cigarroa said that by then the center will have become a more independent entity.

"We are beginning the transition of the UT Health Science Center-San Antonio Regional Academic Health Center - known as the RAHC - into an independent, free-standing, comprehensive and research-intensive regional medical school, with its own president and structure, for South Texas," he said.

Plans for a full-fledged medical school for the Rio Grande Valley have been in the works since the early 1990s, when state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, began documenting how the Valley's fast-growing and historically underserved region needed to better recruit physicians likely to commit to the area.

In addition to previous infrastructure investments by the Texas Legislature and UT System, the Legislature contributes about $11 million annually to support the RAHC's medical and research divisions. In 2011, UT Regents invested another $30 million for faculty recruitment, a clinical simulation facility, programs in obesity and diabetes and education in the sciences. In May, the regents endorsed new medical schools for Austin and South Texas.

"By committing to graduating students by 2018, UT has given everyone in South Texas reason to celebrate," Lucio said Friday. "I do see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "For the first time, I feel confident we can accomplish our goals in the next five years."

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UT chancellor touts progress on Valley medical school

Sexual Chemistry Is Important For Maxene Magalona

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Maxene Magalona said in a recent interview Rose Garcia in Abante that for a relationship to work, the couple should have a sexual chemistry. Well, we cant really argue with that

Naniniwala rin daw si Maxene na kung gusto mong mag-work ang relasyon, kailangan din daw tine-test ang sexual chemistry.

I dont like talking about my sex life pero iba na kasi ang panahon ngayon. Im Catholic, I believe in the Lord. Pero ang sa akin, kung may sarili tayong paniniwala, basta, iba na ang panahon ngayon.

Nilinaw rin ni Maxene na hindi porket ganoon siya mag-isip, she does it with anyone or aprubado siya sa mga one night stand.

Aaminin ko talaga na its important in a relationship that you and your partner have sexual chemistry.

I dont have anything against about people who waits until they get married, thats fine with me.

Basta ako, ang trip ko, gusto ko na kahit hindi pa ako kasal. For me, label is nothing. Ang pinaka-importante sa akin, ang content ng relationship. (source)

But of course, if any of you are going to test your sexual chemistry with your boyfriend or girlfriend, make sure you are emotionally ready for everything, starting with the consequences, like yah know, pregnancy and babies. So as always, protect yourselves. RH Bill, anyone? Furthermore, if youre ready to take this next step in your relationship, try as hard as you can to test you sexual chemistry with just one person. Preferably with the one youre having a relationship with coz theres that thing called, sexually transmitted disease. Or an angry girlfriend/boyfriend who could kick your ass. JUST FYI!

FYI, I didnt include married people since obviously youve found the sexual chemistry with whomever youre married to. Well, hopefully, hahaha.

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Sexual Chemistry Is Important For Maxene Magalona

Inspired by genetics, chemistry finally takes hold of its own code

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Public release date: 19-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Stefan Matile stefan.matile@unige.ch 41-223-796-523 Universit de Genve

Nature proves every day that it is both complex and efficient. Organic chemists are envious of it; their conventional tools confine them to simpler achievements. Thanks to the work of professor Stefan Matile's team from the University of Geneva, these limitations could become a thing of the past. His publication in the Nature Chemistry journal indeed offers a new kind of code to chemists, allowing them to access new levels of complexity.

Stefan Matile opts for sincerity. For him, if organic chemistry is often fond of simplifying its functional systems, it is because it is mostly impossible for it to construct and manage molecular architectures as complex as those produced with tremendous efficiency in nature. "It's a fact", says the UNIGE professor and NCCR Chemical Biology member, "that we are far from being able to match the genius of nature."

Where the complexity arises

The specialist attributes the genetic code to this genius of nature. "It is rather simple because it is based on four foundationsadenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine (A, C, G, and T). The double helix structure of DNA is also quite simple. The complexity arises mainly from the cell's transfer of this information from one stage to the next."

Stefan Matile has long believed that a code also exists in organic chemistry and must be discovered, which he is convinced he has achieved with the assistance of his colleague, Edvinas Orentas.

"I must admit that this work is extremely complicated, fundamental, and theoretical," the professor continues. "But I also think it's quite revolutionary, especially if we are able to implement it on a practical level."

Laying the foundation

In fact, thanks to him, organic chemists may be able to stop laboriously constructing their functional systems, atom by atom, link by link. The code would allow them to write two-dimensional maps, a relatively simple and manageable challenge. The complexity of three-dimensional systems would then be created by transcribing this scheduled information; a transcription that, with supporting proof, has a reliability of 97%, so close to perfection. A powerful way to approach the complexity of nature.

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Inspired by genetics, chemistry finally takes hold of its own code

Celebrating the Silver Anniversary of National Chemistry Week

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Newswise PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 20, 2012 The event that has introduced hundreds of thousands of young people to the wonders of science and helped launch careers in science, technology, engineering, medicine and other fields is being honored at a special symposium here today. The observance of the 25th anniversary of National Chemistry Week (NCW) takes place during the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the worlds largest scientific society.

Thousands of ACS volunteers, teachers and students celebrate NCW in their communities and schools during the fourth week of every October. They organize hands-on activities and demonstrations at malls, museums, schools, stores and other locations all over the United States.

The events have included hands-on activity events in libraries, elementary and secondary school classrooms, malls, museums of science, childrens museums, colleges and universities, state fairs, etc.

NCW 2012, with the theme Nanotechnology: The Smallest Big Idea in Science, will be held Oct. 21-27. The program is a community-based effort sponsored by the ACS and designed to promote awareness of the value of chemistry in peoples everyday lives. NCW brings chemists together with students, teachers, business leaders and other people through hands-on science events, chemistry, public lectures, demonstrations and other events.

The demonstrations, hands-on-activities and other events in National Chemistry Week have introduced thousands of young people to one of the biggest secrets about science, said ACS President Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Ph.D. Science is fun. By demonstrating how much fun science can be, National Chemistry Week has been an advocate for science, and imparts the joy of discovery that has engaged young minds and fostered careers in science, mathematics and technology for 25 years. ACS promotes public engagement by its members to share the joy of scientific exploration and the emotional rewards of discovery. The speakers in this symposium are exemplars of communicating that excitement to the public.

The symposium is one of Shakhashiris special presidential events. A professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Shakhashiris own chemistry demonstrations are world-renowned, and he is co-author of textbooks on the topic.

NCW began as National Chemistry Day (NCD) in 1987 after the ACS Board of Directors embraced the idea suggested in 1986 by the late George C. Pimentel, Ph.D., then ACS president. His widow, Jeanne Pimentel, will be among the speakers in todays symposium. A parade in downtown Washington, D.C., helped kicked off the events with 173 out of 182 ACS local sections participating in their communities. The event was so well-received by the general public that in 1988 the Public Relations Society of America awarded its Silver Anvil to NCD. This was the highest honor awarded for a public relations project.

Because of its overwhelming success in its first year, ACS expanded NCD to a weeklong celebration in 1989 and renamed it National Chemistry Week. In 1993, ACS officially designated it an annual, weeklong event.

The 25th anniversary symposium will include presentations by

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Avere Systems Solves VMware Storage Problem at Clinical Stage Biotechnology Company

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PITTSBURGH, Aug. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Avere Systems today announced that Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, has implemented its FXT Series Edge filers into its existing storage infrastructure. The Avere Edge filers were chosen to reduce latency and improve performance of applications critical in Concert's mission.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090914/LA74693LOGO)

Lexington, Mass.-based Concert is dedicated to creating new medicines through its proprietary DCE Platform that utilizes the naturally occurring element deuterium a safe and stable form of the element hydrogen. Concert uses deuterium to improve upon the metabolic properties of a drug while making little or no change to its intrinsic effectiveness. Concert has executed on this approach with its lead program, CTP-499, in Phase 2 clinical testing for chronic kidney disease.

Concert operates in a nearly 100 percent virtualized environment, including Exchange and application servers, with a Core filer from NetApp. With the NetApp filer nearing its end of life and issues of unpredictable traffic spikes, Concert began looking at new storage options that would minimize disruption to its production environment and allow it to keep its existing filer. The organization decided to implement a pair of Avere FXT Series Edge filers to optimize its environment and run all of its VMware traffic through.

"Basically, what drove me to Avere was a 'bursty' pattern of storage use that required me to schedule and plan the clock cycles throughout the day," said K. Mitch Goldenberg, associate director of IT/IS at Concert Pharmaceuticals. "I put Avere in front of everything to flatten out the spikes. And it works beautifully. It absorbs the 'burstiness' and gives low latency, predictable ops per second to my Core filer. So, now I can go and speed up what I was already doing."

Avere recently introduced its innovative Edge-Core architecture for NAS that ensures enterprise IT is best positioned to leverage the performance benefits of Flash, the consolidation benefits of virtualization and the collaborative and economic benefits of the cloud. The new architecture for NAS puts the fastest media and the intelligence to manage it closest to the user, boosting performance and removing storage bottlenecks created by legacy NAS architectures.

"For a company like Concert Pharmaceuticals that wants to simultaneously leverage its existing infrastructure and solve a storage performance problem, Avere is a perfect fit," said Ron Bianchini, co-founder and CEO of Avere Systems. "Avere FXT Series Edge filers are an ideal storage solution for virtualized environments because of their ability to provide the simplicity and familiarity of NAS with the ability to handle the write-centric workloads that virtualization generates."

About Avere Systems Avere Systems brings to the market NAS Optimization solutions designed specifically to scale performance and capacity separately and take advantage of new storage media using real-time tiering. Avere's FXT Series Edge filers allow organizations to achieve unlimited application performance scaling, free applications from the confines of the data center by eliminating latency and cut storage costs by more than half. Learn more at http://www.averesystems.com, and you can follow the company on Twitter.com/averesystems.

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DNA touted as a data-storage device

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Researchers have encoded a full book in DNA, the largest amount of information stored on the biological medium yet.

The data encoded is the digital version of the book, made up of more than 50,000 words, 11 images and one computer program.

The overall size of the data is around 0.7 megabytes, report the scientists, led by George Church of Harvard Medical School. For their work, the researchers have used only off-the-shelf technology.

In their article, published online by Science magazine, the scientists argue that DNA has unique advantages for data storage.

They calculate that their method has by far the highest data density of any medium until now, beating flash media or even quantum holography by orders of magnitude. This is partly because DNA is three dimensional while other storage techniques are restricted to two dimensions.

Yet the main advantage of DNA storage may be durability. DNA can survive millenniums unharmed, as demonstrated by the sequencing of genetic information from ancient fossils.

At the same time, the tools and techniques necessary for reading out the information will be present in future generations, because they are ubiquitous in nature, the scientists write.

The main disadvantage at this time is expense. The authors admit that the cost and time needed to encode the information make it largely impractical at the moment.

But they point out that the cost of DNA synthesis and sequencing has been dropping by a factor larger than five each year, much higher than the rate for electronic media, albeit from a much higher starting point.

The scientists conclude that DNA is becoming an increasingly practical storage medium at a time when digital information is accumulating at an exponential rate.

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DNA touted as a data-storage device

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Researchers write book using DNA

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Researchers have encoded a full book in DNA, the largest amount of information stored on the biological medium yet.

The data encoded is the digital version of the book, made up of more than 50,000 words, 11 images and one computer program. The overall size of the data is around 0.7 megabytes, report the scientists, led by George Church of Harvard Medical School. For their work, the researchers have used only off-the-shelf technology.

In their article, published on-line by Science magazine, the scientists argue that DNA has unique advantages for data storage. They calculate that their method has by far the highest data density of any medium until now, beating flash media or even quantum holography by orders of magnitude. This is partly because DNA is three dimensional while other storage techniques are restricted to two dimensions.

Yet the main advantage of DNA storage may be durability. DNA can survive millennia unharmed, as demonstrated by the sequencing of genetic information from ancient fossils. At the same time, the tools and techniques necessary for reading out the information will be present in future generations, because they are ubiquitous in nature, the scientists write.

The main disadvantage at this time is expense. The authors admit that the cost and time needed to encode the information make it largely impractical at the moment, except for highly specific applications, like century-scale archiving.

But they point out that the cost of DNA synthesis and sequencing has been dropping by a factor larger than five each year, much higher than the rate for electronic media, albeit from a much higher starting point. The scientists conclude that DNA is becoming an increasingly practical storage medium, at a time when digital information is accumulating at an exponential rate.

For their work, the researchers split into pieces the information of the book Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves, co-written by Church. They then synthesized short DNA fragments of around 160 nucleotides the bits in DNA. Each fragment carries part of the book, information about its position, as well as parts necessary for reading and replicating the piece.

In the process, the scientists have created 70 billion copies of the book. When reading out the information, the data was recovered with but 10 errors overall.

The first demonstration of encoding information into DNA dates back to 1988. Until now, the largest amount of data encoded in nucleic acid has been only 7,920 bits, around one-700th what Churchs team has accomplished. The authors report on a number of improvements over previous methods that make this feat possible, including a more flexible method of encoding data, using shorter and thereby easier to handle DNA pieces, and next-generation technologies for synthesis and sequencing.

For the future, the researchers propose improvements in compression and accuracy, to make the storage denser and less error-prone.

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Back-To-School Nutrition

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August 19, 2012 (CHICAGO) -- Summer break is over, and as students head back to school, many are also returning to their athletic schedules. But staying fit isn't just a matter of working out. Nutrition is also important.

Registered dietitian Christine Palumbo (www.ChristinePalumbo.com), Good Sense Eating columnist for Chicago Parent magazine and a paid consultant to the California Raisin Marketing Board, says this is really a great opportunity to get young people engaged in talking about good nutrition and how they should be eating. She came into our ABC7 studio kitchen to show a recipe for a healthy snack.

Christine's Tips:

Ingredients: 6 whole wheat flour tortillas (8 inches) 6 tblsps smooth peanut butter 3/4 cup raisins

Method: 1. Warm tortillas on a hot griddle to soften enough for rolling. 2. Arrange on cutting board, and spread 1 tablespoon peanut butter evenly over each. 3. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of raisins evenly on top of peanut butter. 4. Roll up tightly. Slice diagonally 1/2 -inch thick. 5. Serve immediately or wrap and pack into lunch box for later.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving: Calories 230 (30 percent from fat); Total Fat 9g (sat 1.5g, mono 4g, poly 2g, trans 0g ); Cholesterol 0mg; Protein 8g; Carbohydrate 38g; (Dietary Fiber 4g; Sugars 16g; ); Iron 2mg; Sodium 180mg; Calcium 23mg; Potassium 342mg

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From microbiology to macro football, Rudock readies for his time

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Quarterback Jake Rudock during the media day for University of Iowa football at the practice field in Iowa City on Monday, August 6, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG TV9)

IOWA CITY Jake Rudock and James Vandenberg have so much to talk about.

Whos the best organic chemistry professor? What about microbiology, any suggestions there? What are you going to do with those used Medical College Admissions Test prep books?

We actually do talk about classes more than youd think, Rudock said. What about this? Who do I not want [for a professor]? Who do I really have to avoid? Who do I not have to worry about?

Of course, theres also the football.

The Iowa quarterbacks are on similar paths in football and life. Vandenberg is the veteran on the field, 3,022 yards and 25 TDs last season. Hes also a fifth-year senior academically and a integrative physiology major who plans to take a run at the MCAT and medical school.

Caption: Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg (16) works out during the team's practice at Chaparral High School Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 in Scottsdale. The team is preparing for their Insight Bowl matchup against Oklahoma on December 30th. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

Rudock, a 6-3, 200-pound redshirt freshman, is the rookie. As a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Weston, Fla., he led his team to district, regional state and national titles with a 15-0 record. He took a redshirt in 2011 and now is poised for a run at No. 2 quarterback with junior-college transfer Cody Sokol also in that mix.

Iowa has been lucky in QB health. In the last five years, Iowa QBs have missed less than three games. The cautionary red flag is up at No. 2 simply based on experience. Vandenberg has 499 career attempts. The rest of the depth chart, might as well throw in true freshman C.J. Beathard and walk-ons Kyle Anderson and Dan Hartlieb, has zero.

Yes, this has first-year offensive coordinator Greg Davis attention.

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DNA evidence could bring PC Blakelock killers to trial

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DNA evidence could finally bring the killers of PC Keith Blakelock to justice, 27 years after the policeman was murdered during the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham.

Reports yesterday claimed Scotland Yard were just weeks away from bringing charges against a man who was under 18 at the time of the murder. Two QCs agreed there is a "realistic prospect of prosecution", a key test for the Crown Prosecution Service, the Sunday Telegraph claimed.

Last night the Metropolitan Police denied charges were imminent but confirmed modern scientific techniques had been used to analyse DNA evidence from PC Blakelock's flame-retardant overalls and more than a dozen murder weapons as part of an ongoing cold case review of the crime.

Five men aged between 40 and 51 were arrested in 2010 and are still on police bail.

PC Blakelock, a 40-year-old father of three, was attacked as he tried to protect firefighters who were tackling a supermarket blaze at the height of the riot on the Broadwater Farm estate in October 1985. After stumbling he was surrounded by a mob screaming: "Kill the pig."

He was stabbed more than 40 times with different weapons, including a machete, and when he was finally dragged free by colleagues a kitchen knife was still embedded in his throat.

Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip were convicted in March 1987 of his murder but all three convictions were quashed four and a half years later after forensic tests on pages of key interview records suggested they had been fabricated. Silcott accepted 50,000 compensation from the Home Office but remained in prison for an unrelated murder and was released in 2003. None of the three men originally convicted is the suspect in the new case.

In 2003, Scotland Yard reopened the murder investigation after a review indicated there were possible new lines of inquiry. Fourteen men were arrested in 2010 on suspicion of involvement in PC Blakelock's murder or the attempted murder of PC Richard Coombes, who was also viciously attacked during the riot.

Since then nine of the men have been released without charge. The other five are still on police bail.

Botched convictions

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DNA checks done on family trees

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Some people who have traced their family trees are now turning to science to see whether historical data is accurate.

For a few hundred dollars, a growing number of people are buying online DNA kits.

Dale Johns is president of the South Australian Genealogy Society.

"People who want to have their tests done, they can find a provider on the web and there's one we use in America," he said.

"They pay their money, they get a little kit and they take a swab out of their mouth and seal that up and send it back."

Ancestry researcher Antoinette Wade is enjoying the process.

"I recently had a test called Family Finder done and I have actually found some second cousins that I'm in communication with based on our DNA and that's very exciting," she said.

Another society member Robert Blair has had several tests done on DNA, and even had some cousins tested as well, to prove a person in his family tree did not belong there.

"The DNA tests showed that I was right. The ancestor that we thought was an ancestor wasn't really an ancestor," he said.

A DNA special interest group is among several that meet at Genealogy SA's headquarters, with others including English, Irish, German and other European groups.

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'DNA wires' could help physicians diagnose disease

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ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2012) In a discovery that defies the popular meaning of the word "wire," scientists have found that Mother Nature uses DNA as a wire to detect the constantly occurring genetic damage and mistakes that if left unrepaired can result in diseases like cancer and underpin the physical and mental decline of aging.

That topic DNA wires and their potential use in identifying people at risk for certain diseases is the focus of a plenary talk on August 19 during the 244th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"DNA is a very fragile and special wire," said Jacqueline K. Barton, Ph.D., who delivered the talk. "You're never going to wire a house with it, and it isn't sturdy enough to use in popular electronic devices. But that fragile state is exactly what makes DNA so good as an electrical biosensor to identify DNA damage."

Barton won the U.S. National Medal of Science, the nation's highest honor for scientific achievement, for discovering that cells use the double strands of the DNA helix like a wire for signaling, which is critical to detecting and repairing genetic damage. She is a professor of chemistry and is chair of the division of chemistry and chemical engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Damage is constantly occurring to DNA, Barton explained damage that skin cells, for instance, receive from excessive exposure to sunlight or that lung cells get hit with from carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Cells have a natural repair system in which special proteins constantly patrol the spiral-staircase architecture of DNA. They monitor the 3 billion units, or "base pairs," in DNA, looking for and mending damage from carcinogens and other sources.

Barton and other scientists noticed years ago that the DNA architecture chemically resembles the solid-state materials used in transistors and other electronic components. And DNA's bases, or units, are stacked on top of each other in an arrangement that seemed capable of conducting electricity.

"It's like a stack of copper pennies," said Barton. "And when in good condition and properly aligned, that stack of copper pennies can be conductive. But if one of the pennies is a little bit awry if it's not stacked so well then you're not going to be able to get good conductivity in it. But if those bases are mismatched or if there is any other damage to the DNA, as can happen with damage that leads to cancer, the wire is interrupted and electricity will not flow properly."

Barton's team established that the electrons that comprise a flow of electricity can move from one end of a DNA strand to the other, just as they do through an electrical wire. In one recent advance, the team was able to send electricity down a 34-nanometer-long piece of DNA. That might not sound like much -- a nanometer is one-tenth the width of a human hair. But that is just the right scale for use in medical diagnostic devices and biosensors to pick up on mutations, or changes, in DNA that could lead to cancer and other diseases.

Barton's research suggested that DNA uses its electrical properties to signal repair proteins that fix DNA damage. If the DNA is no longer conducting electricity properly, that would be a signal for repair proteins to do their thing. Barton's team is applying that knowledge in developing "DNA chips," devices that take advantage of DNA's natural electrical conductivity and its ability to bind to other strands of DNA that have a complementary sequence of base units, and thus probe that sequence for damage. Such a DNA chip would help diagnose disease risk by changes in electrical conductivity resulting from mutations or some other damage.

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Science teachers spend week in Yellowstone studying climate change

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A week in Yellowstone National Park with a bunch of climate scientists is how Shirley Greene, a biology teacher atLewis and Clark Middle School, spenther summer vacation.

"It's incredible," Greene said. "We've been talking to scientists, traveling around the park."

The teachers finished their week at the park onFriday. They'll return home just in time for classes to begin Wednesday, energized for the coming school year.

Greene attended the weeklong workshop with her husband, Steve Greene, who teaches earth science at West High and colleague Trish Loken, who also teachesbiology at Lewis and Clark.

The program at Yellowstone is part of the 12-park program called 2012 Parks Climate Change Challenge sponsored by the National Park Foundation.

Loken and the Greenes were part of a group of 15 public school teachers selected to attend the program at Yellowstone. Shirley Greene, a member of the Montana Science Teachers Association, found out about the programthrough the groupand applied.

The Parks Climate Change Challengeprogram is designed to help teachers develop engaging lesson plans, create hands-on service projects and plan field trips to help students better understand climate change and develop a strong connection to the national parks, said Al Nash, a Yellowstone National Park spokesman.

The group spent time with park scientists and staff from Montana State University covering everything from geology to biology.

Wednesday they learned about the vanishing biomes of the mountain pika, which has steadily moved its habitatup in elevation as temperatures increase.

"At some point you get to the top of the mountain and there's nowhere else to go,"Greene said.

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New American Chemical Society "Heroes of Chemistry" Developed New Drugs and Technology That Cuts Heating and Cooling …

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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Sunday, Aug. 19, 2012, 6 a.m. Eastern Time Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Newswise PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19, 2012 The scientists behind three inventions that touch the lives of millions of people around the world will be inducted into a coveted scientific Hall of Fame today as the latest Heroes of Chemistry named by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the worlds largest scientific society.

The ceremony, held at the 244th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, which continues here through Thursday, will confer public recognition on scientific teams that developed:

Established in 1996, the ACS Heroes of Chemistry program recognizes scientists whose work in various fields of chemistry and chemical engineering has led to the successful innovation and development of commercial products that benefit humankind.

Scientists from Merck, the global pharmaceutical firm known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, won the honor for developing the chronic hepatitis C drug Victrelis (boceprevir). They are Ashok Arasappan, Ph.D.; Frank Bennett, Ph.D.; Stphane Bogen, Ph.D.; F. George Njoroge, Ph.D.; and Srikanth Venkatraman, Ph.D.

Victrelis was the first oral hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in combination with pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin, to treat the most common type of chronic hepatitis C. Chronic hepatitis C is a viral infection that affects more than 130-170 million people worldwide and can cause serious liver damage.

Scientists from Novartis, the global pharmaceutical company, won the honor for developing the leukemia drug Tasigna (nilotinib). They are Paul Manley, Ph.D.; Gabriele Fendrich, Ph.D.; Werner Breitenstein, Ph.D.; and Sandra Jacob, Ph.D. Tasigna is a prescription medication for adults with newly diagnosed form of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia and for patients who are resistant or intolerant to previous treatment.

Scientists from Arkema, Inc., a global producer of industrial chemicals won the honor for developing atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition technology. They are Dave Russo, Ph.D.; Jeff Stricker, Ph.D.; Georg Lindner; Jeremy Nihart; Ryan Smith, Ph.D.; Connie Lo; Jing Ming Mai; and Clem McKown. The technology deposits coatings of various chemicals onto the surface of glass, providing significantly increased solar heat gain control.

Heroes of Chemistry are a visible reminder of the innovation, vitality and talent that our profession offers to society, said Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, Ph.D., ACS president. Chemistry serves as the foundation for so many aspects of our lives. Chemistry is new products, new materials and a new hope for the future.

We are honoring innovations that result from the support and vision of corporate management who invest in science, understand its application and advocate for it within their organizations. The corporate leaders at Arkema, Merck and Novartis have demonstrated the commitment that leads to breakthrough products and groundbreaking technologies. I salute each of these companies for creating the internal environment the culture that leads to scientific discovery and commercialization.

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New American Chemical Society "Heroes of Chemistry" Developed New Drugs and Technology That Cuts Heating and Cooling ...

'Heroes of Chemistry': Developed new drugs and technology to cut heating and cooling bills

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Public release date: 19-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 215-418-2056 (Philadelphia Press Center, Aug. 17-23) 202-872-6042

Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 215-418-2056 (Philadelphia Press Center, Aug. 17-23) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19, 2012 The scientists behind three inventions that touch the lives of millions of people around the world will be inducted into a coveted scientific "Hall of Fame" today as the latest Heroes of Chemistry named by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.

The ceremony, held at the 244th ACS National Meeting & Exposition, which continues here through Thursday, will confer public recognition on scientific teams that developed:

Established in 1996, the ACS Heroes of Chemistry program recognizes scientists whose work in various fields of chemistry and chemical engineering has led to the successful innovation and development of commercial products that benefit humankind.

Scientists from Merck, the global pharmaceutical firm known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, won the honor for developing the chronic hepatitis C drug Victrelis (boceprevir). They are Ashok Arasappan, Ph.D.; Frank Bennett, Ph.D.; Stphane Bogen, Ph.D.; F. George Njoroge, Ph.D.; and Srikanth Venkatraman, Ph.D.

Victrelis was the first oral hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in combination with pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin, to treat the most common type of chronic hepatitis C. Chronic hepatitis C is a viral infection that affects more than 130-170 million people worldwide and can cause serious liver damage.

Scientists from Novartis, the global pharmaceutical company, won the honor for developing the leukemia drug Tasigna (nilotinib). They are Paul Manley, Ph.D.; Gabriele Fendrich, Ph.D.; Werner Breitenstein, Ph.D.; and Sandra Jacob, Ph.D. Tasigna is a prescription medication for adults with newly diagnosed form of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia and for patients who are resistant or intolerant to previous treatment.

Scientists from Arkema, Inc., a global producer of industrial chemicals won the honor for developing atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition technology. They are Dave Russo, Ph.D.; Jeff Stricker, Ph.D.; Georg Lindner; Jeremy Nihart; Ryan Smith, Ph.D.; Connie Lo; Jing Ming Mai; and Clem McKown. The technology deposits coatings of various chemicals onto the surface of glass, providing significantly increased solar heat gain control.

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'Heroes of Chemistry': Developed new drugs and technology to cut heating and cooling bills

Scientists in town for topics cosmic and microscopic

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What can chemistry do to help doctors detect cancer? To exonerate the wrongly convicted? And clarify the causes of climate change?

These are some of the issues that will be addressed this week as 14,000 scientists descend on the Convention Center for a meeting of the American Chemical Society. Though the theme is "Materials for Medicine and Health," more than 8,000 planned sessions will range into nutrition, brain science, biodegradable plastics, solar cells, and forensics.

The Washington-based ACS, which boasts of being the world's largest scientific society, holds two meetings a year in various cities. This one starts Sunday and runs through Wednesday.

On Sunday, 2012 National Medal of Science winner Jacqueline Barton of Caltech will present the latest on the emerging science of "DNA wires" - a term describing the discovery that DNA can conduct electricity like a wire, sending signals around cells.

Changes in this wirelike behavior promise novel ways to detect DNA damage and diagnose cancer and other diseases.

A session Monday will delve into ways that chemistry figures into the Innocence Project, which was established to help free the wrongly convicted. Among the panelists will be Innocence Project cofounder Barry Scheck, FBI Crime Lab whistle-blower Fred Whitehurst, and two people who were wrongly imprisoned and freed through the Innocence Project's work.

That session is part of a series of special events sponsored by ACS president Bassam Shakhashiri and aimed at addressing social problems.

Also Monday, another of the president's symposia features Mario Molina, a chemist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize with Sherwood Rowland for connecting refrigerants and aerosol propellant chemicals to the loss of atmospheric ozone. Molina's talk will address the evidence that human activity is influencing the global climate.

On Tuesday, the ACS will hold an all-day session devoted to communicating controversial ideas to the public. The symposium was organized in honor of newly retired Chemical and Engineering News editor Rudy Baum.

"Baum tackled inherently controversial topics - global climate change, for instance, surging population growth, disease, violence and war and the denial of basic human rights," said ACS president Shakhashiri, who is a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin. Baum will be among the panelists, as well as National Center for Science Education director Eugenie Scott, veteran science journalists Deborah Blum and Tom Siegfried, and Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann, whose recent book, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, recounts his much-attacked research.

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Scientists in town for topics cosmic and microscopic

St. Mary's researchers unveil new test to combat fake drug problem

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NOTRE DAME A chemistry research team at St. Marys College has created a new tool to fight the world's counterfeit drug problem.

Its through an inexpensive paper-based test that can be used to screen for phony pain relievers.

The paper analytical device (PAD) is the size of a business card and offers results in less than five minutes. Its a technology that could uncover fake drugs that promise cures for everything from malaria to the flu.

Counterfeit drugs are a serious problem in developing countries.

The World Health Organization estimates that 10-30% of the drug supply in developing countries are made up of counterfeit medicines, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths a year. Officials blame crime rings, which profit from selling pills that contain plaster of Paris, baking soda or other inexpensive ingredients.

St. Marys has applied for a U.S. patent for the PAD, the first time the Catholic, liberal arts womens college has applied for a patent.

Panadol long has been among the most common, standard pain relieving drugs counterfeited around the world, said St. Marys chemistry professor Toni Barstis, who led the team. In the past, you could just look at the labeling and packaging and know if it was counterfeit. Now, they do such a good job with the package design, its hard to determine whether its a package of the genuine medicine or a fake that contains no acetaminophen or even ingredients that may be harmful.

Barstis and two members of her team, a St. Mary's chemistry student and a recent graduate, presented their research results upon invitation Sunday in Philadelphia at the 244th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

The St. Mary's researchers developed a chemically treated paper that allows a person to swipe a pill onto the business card size paper and dip the paper into water. Color changes on the paper indicate both suspicious and authentic ingredients. The general public will be able to perform the test, creating a much less expensive and less time-consuming process.

"I can't imagine a more supportive, energetic and demanding mentor than Dr. Barstis," said student researcher Diana Vega Pantoja. "She is passionate about getting women interested in science in general, not only chemistry."

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St. Mary's researchers unveil new test to combat fake drug problem

Four-Fingered Robot Can Replace Flashlight Batteries [Video]

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The Sandia Hand

A robot that can reproduce the dexterity of the human hand remains a dream of the bioengineering profession. One new approach to achieving this goal avoids trying to replicate the intricacy of the bones, joints and ligaments that produce our most basic gestures.

A Sandia National Laboratories research team has adopted just such a strategy by designing a modular, plastic proto-hand whose electronics system is largely made from parts found in cell phones. The Sandia Hand can still perform with a high level of finesse for a robot, and is even capable of replacing the batteries in a small flashlight. It is expected to cost about $10,000, a fraction of the $250,000 price tag for a state-of-the-art robot hand today.

The researchers were able to scrimp in a number of clever ways. One was scouring the globe for the least expensive, highest-performing components like motors, gears, etcetera, says Curt Salisbury, the projects principal investigator. Another was to build the entire electronics system from commodity parts, especially those found in cell phones. We also moved from metal structural elements to plastic, being careful to design the structures so plastic would provide adequate strength.

The Sandia Hands fingers are modular and affixed to the hand frame via magnets. This gives the researchers the flexibility to design interchangeable appendages tipped with screwdrivers, flashlights, cameras and other tools. The fingers are also designed to detach automatically to avoid damage if the hand hits a wall or other solid object too hard. The researchers say the hand can even be manipulated to retrieve and reattach a fallen finger.

Replaceable Fingers

The Hands current incarnation has only four fingers, including the equivalent of an opposable thumb. It turns out that for a wide range of manipulation tasks that humans do, four fingers is enough, Salisbury says. Still, future iterations of the Hand could have any number of fingers and any arrangement of those fingers without adding much cost or complexity, he adds.

Sandia Hand control glove

Although the Hand might someday be programmed to operate autonomously, for now a human controls the device using either a sensor-laden glove or a basic control panel. The glove is a custom design that reads a persons hand posture and attempts to replicate that with the robot hand, Salisbury says. The communication protocol right now is a USB cable, but could be upgraded to include any wireless communications approach, he adds. The teams goal is to develop a glove that costs about $1,000.

At such a low cost, and with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funding the project, the Hand might be a welcome addition to mobile robots involved in disarming and disposing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The U.S. military has deployed thousands of unmanned ground robots worth hundreds of millions of dollars to disarm IEDs used against troops in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past decade. Many of these devices, such as iRobots PackBot, are driven by remote control into dangerous areas where they use clamp-like metal claws to search for and dispose of bombs. A significant amount of the money spent on these battle bots goes toward spare parts to replace those damaged in the field. One of Sandias goals is to offer greater proficiency at disarming (rather than detonating) bombs.

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Four-Fingered Robot Can Replace Flashlight Batteries [Video]