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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Celebrating the Silver Anniversary of National Chemistry Week

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.

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

This is a guest post from one of our judges for the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition

The other judges have had their say and now it is my turn. They’ve covered some fundamental rules of science communication (ie what you say, how you say it, how you go about telling a compelling story) and have given invaluable advice from their many years of experience and knowledge: ‘There’s no substitute for a good story,’ says Philip Ball; ‘Keep the language simple,’ advises Adam Hart-Davis; ‘Form needs to match content,’ Felicity Mellor tells us; ‘Let your enthusiasm for the story shine through,’ concludes Lesley Yellowlees. So what can I add to this? What can I say that has not been said already?

I’d like to get you to think about the audience. I want to emphasise the importance of engaging with  readers, listeners and viewers out there. If you get all the elements of your article, video or podcast right (ie you’ve got a good story that is relevant, and you use simple, jargon-free language) you are half way towards achieving your goal of successfully communicating science. But how can you ensure you make it all the way? Why should the readers read or the viewers view? In my opinion, the style you choose to deliver your piece is what makes the difference. If you are a budding writer or communicator, you are at the beginning of your career and you’ll be working towards defining your style. You are at a crucial point. My advice would be to spend some time analysing the style of a communicator whose work you enjoy and thinking: ‘What is it that compels me to read or watch?’ Is it their use of humour that captures my attention? Is it their knowledge of the subject? Or is it the way they present complex issues? Don’t be constrained by finding a science communicator, he/she does not have to be a scientist – it could be a teacher, a journalist, a TV presenter, a politician. The point is: if they engage with you so you listen to what they have to say and you are able to understand how they achieve it then you are also on the road to success. So define what you like and adapt elements of their style but don’t imitate them (everybody is trying to be Steve Jobs and it really doesn’t work…). Whatever you do, don’t leave your personality out!

Equally, you can turn the exercise on its head, think of communicators whose style does not engage you and write a ‘what not to do’ list. It is very often simpler to see the bad than the good.

Finally, I’d like to encourage you all to take part. If you have an interest in science communication or are working on some interesting chemistry you’d like to talk about, take the plunge!

Bibiana Campos-Seijo

You can find out about the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition and submit your entry here

                  

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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."

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

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.

See the original post:
Scientists in town for topics cosmic and microscopic

BEREA, Ohio Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden has been working overtime to get on the same page with his skill players, especially the young ones such as receivers Greg Little and Josh Gordon.

Problem is, he hardly even has the book on some of them yet because of injuries.

With a little more than three weeks left before the Sept. 9 opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, Weeden hasn't had his full complement of weapons in practices or preseason games.

In Thursday's outing in Green Bay which was a quasi-dress rehearsal for Weeden the following key players were out with injuries: starting running back Trent Richardson (left knee scope), starting receiver Mohamed Massaquoi (concussion), rookie receiver Travis Benjamin (undisclosed), starting tight end Ben Watson (undisclosed) and second-team tight end Jordan Cameron (bone bruise in back).

Fortunately for Weeden, Cameron and Benjamin returned to practice Friday, but with so many guys in and out of the lineup, the rookie quarterback hasn't been able to establish consistency with the the first-teamers.

"That's the one challenging thing,'' Weeden said. "Being a rookie, I'm still learning the guys as well as they're learning me. There's a lot of guys cycling through and I think that's good for us (in preseason). But once you get to the regular season, you want to be throwing to the same guys all of the time.''

Weeden, who's completed 15 of 29 attempts for 180 yards and a 56.7 rating, was starting to develop chemistry with Massaquoi, Benjamin and Cameron when they got knocked out of action in the Detroit game Aug. 10. Watson has been sidelined since Aug. 4, and Weeden's falling behind on timing with Richardson.

"Not having those guys ... it's tough on our offense, but fortunately these games don't count as a win-loss,'' Weeden said. "Those guys are key assets to this offense and guys we're relying on to make a lot of plays for us."

Weeden, who has yet to throw a TD pass in 11 series, completed his first pro attempt to Massaquoi for 12 yards in Detroit, and then lost him to a concussion. On his second attempt in Detroit, Weeden hit a streaking Benjamin in stride for a 34-yarder down the left sideline and the two were heating up. But Benjamin is just getting worked back into the lineup.

Weeden was lighting it up with Cameron in practice, and also completed a 16-yarder to him in Detroit, but Cameron suffered a bone-bruise on a 42-yard catch from Colt McCoy in the second quarter and missed the whole next week.

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Cleveland Browns' Brandon Weeden struggles to develop chemistry with key elements missing

Do you long to be a superpower? Do your friends on the world stage look down on your military strength? Does your lack of second strike capability make you feel inadequate? You need a nuclear deterrent. Better get yourself some uranium hexafluoride and this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

                  

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WEST CALDWELL, N.J., Aug. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Alfa Wassermann Diagnostic Technologies, LLC (AWDT), the market leader in clinical chemistry analyzers for the physician office laboratory, today announced the launch of its ACE Axcel Clinical Chemistry System. The next generation ACE Axcel is designed to meet the needs of physician office laboratories and is cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration specifically for use in physician office labs.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120816/NY58283)

The ACE Axcel is an easy-to-operate system that produces quality results covering a range of the most widely tested conditions. It adds touch screen functionality, an intuitive user interface and Internet connectivity to make in-office laboratory testing faster, more convenient and more cost-effective. The system has an easy-to-use graphical user interface and touch screen technology for intuitive control. Built-in Internet connectivity facilitates technical support, remote access and laboratory integration, and provides seamless connection to electronic health records using AWDT's Alfa LIS (Lab Information System) or other laboratory information systems.

"Our new ACE Axcel system builds on the quality and reliability of our market leading clinical chemistry systems to provide unparalleled ease-of-use, accuracy and efficiency to physician office laboratories," said Peter J. Napoli, President of Alfa Wassermann Diagnostic Technologies."Intuitive touch screen technology and Internet connectivity streamline laboratory operations, increasing productivity and maximizing the potential for the lab to contribute to the financial health of the practice, while providing patients with the medical and convenience benefits of on-site laboratory testing."

The ACE Axcel is a self-contained system in a small footprint that can process up to 285 tests per hour with both photometric and potentiometric detection technologies.It can run any combination of single tests, panels or profiles from a comprehensive test menu, and has an open reagent system that enables custom assays.A STAT interrupt feature allows users to load and prioritize STAT samples during system operation to meet immediate diagnosis and treatment needs.

Dr. John Chafos of Family Care Medical Practice in Green Brook, NJ, who evaluated the ACE Axcel, commented, "Physician office testing provides benefits to both patients and healthcare providers, and we found that the ACE Axcel system makes it easier than ever to incorporate diagnostic testing into our practice. Features such as the touch screen control panel, high degree of automation, and reduction of sample and reagent handling have the potential to increase the productivity of our lab operations. In addition, Internet connectivity will enable a higher level of technical support, a valuable benefit for our medical technologists."

The ACE Axcel includes a number of features that automatically ensure accurate results.Closed-tube sampling with the STEP module minimizes operator interaction with patient specimens, making for a safer workplace. System calibration is automatically monitored on an ongoing basis.Web-enabled Alfa Assist technical support is available 24/7 and maximizes instrument uptime. Liquid, ready-to-use reagents eliminate operator prep time. The on-board reagent refrigeration feature maintains specimen and reagent integrity and decreases handling. In addition, reagent inventory is automatically managed by the system.

Trip Trepagnier, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development for AWDT noted, "ACE Axcel automates and simplifies the testing process, while our nationwide network of award-winning service and support personnel ensures that our customers can rapidly deliver high quality diagnostic test results with maximum productivity and minimum hassle. We believe the ACE Axcel system will be welcomed by our large established customer base, as well as by physicians who are concerned about the complexity and technical challenges of conventional diagnostic testing systems."

Alfa Wassermann Diagnostic Technologies, LLC is a leading provider of clinical diagnostic instrumentation and reagents. AWDT focuses on the needs of physician office laboratories and veterinary clinics. Alfa Wassermann's diagnostic products include the high-performance, low-maintenance ACE Alera, Vet Alera and Alfa LIS, which are sold worldwide to physician, veterinary and research laboratories.

For more information on the ACE Axcel, visit http://www.ACEAxcel.com.

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Alfa Wassermann Diagnostic Technologies' ACE Axcel System Applies Smart Technology to Enhance and Simplify Physician ...

The American Chemical Society will hold its 224th national meeting in Philadelphia starting Sunday and the five-day gathering kickoffs with a dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel to honor "Heroes of Chemistry."

The 2012 honorees include a group of scientists who developed the hepatitis C drug Victrelis, while working at Schering Plough and then Merck after it acquired Schering Plough in 2009.

Merck researchers in North Wales and Kenilworth, N.J., were among the hundreds who worked on the drug, which doctors hoped would be an improvement on a two-drug cocktail that had been used for more than a decade.

The five scientists honored include F. George Njoroge (one of the patent holders who has since moved to Eli Lilly and Company), Srikanth Venkatraman, Stephane Bogen, Frank Bennett and Ashok Arasappan.

Companies nominate a scientist, or teams of them, for the award. According to the ACS website, the award "has recognized chemical scientists whose work in various fields of chemistry and chemical engineering has led to the successful innovation and development of commercial products based on chemistry. The Heroes of Chemistry program highlights the vital role of industrial chemical scientists and their companies in improving human welfare through successful commercial innovations and products. It presents an ideal opportunity to enhance the public image of the chemical and allied industries."

The World Health Organization said in 2011 that the hepatitis C virus affects 130 million to 170 million people worldwide - about four times the number with HIV/AIDS - and kills about 350,000 people a year because of damage to the liver.

In its second-quarter earnings report, Merck said it sold $126 million of Victrelis. (Bocepravir is the chemical name.) It is approved in 43 countries and has launched in 23 of those markets, Merck said.

Read more:
'Heroes of Chemistry' award to hepatitis C team from Merck

BUDAPEST, Hungary, August 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

ChemAxon, a leader in providing chemistry software for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, announces that its free, open access, web-based chemistry search and extraction service, chemicalize.org, is now supported on touchscreen tablet PCs including Apple iPad and Android devices. This new version provides users with high resolution chemically-intelligent web search and extraction on the move.

Powered by ChemAxon technology and used by scientists worldwide, chemicalize.org identifies chemical names (SMILES, InChI, traditional and IUPAC names) on websites, in text and PDF files, converting them to 2D structures. Researchers can also calculate and explore a range of structure-based properties, search by structure in the ever expanding chemicalize.org knowledge-base, and search the internet to find all websites citing a particular chemical structure.

The new chemicalize.org features:

To try for yourself visit http://www.chemicalize.org

To discover more about how ChemAxon's leading edge cross platform solutions power modern cheminformatics and chemical communication, please visit http://www.chemaxon.com

About ChemAxon

ChemAxon is a leader in providing cheminformatics software development platforms and desktop applications for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. With core capabilities for structure visualization, search and management, property prediction, virtual synthesis, screening and drug design, ChemAxon focuses upon active interaction with users and software portability to create powerful, cost effective cross platform solutions and programming interfaces to power modern cheminformatics and chemical communication. The company is privately owned with European headquarters in Budapest and sales and support offices in Europe, Japan and North America.

The ChemAxon logo is a trademark of ChemAxon Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

Original post:
ChemAxon Announces New Version of chemicalize.org for Tablet PCs

Public release date: 15-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2012 The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series describes a potential new approach for treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) which affect millions of people annually without traditional antibiotics. Because it involves non-antibiotic compounds, the approach would not contribute to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or "superbugs."

Based on a report by Beat Ernst, Ph.D., and colleagues in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from http://www.acs.org/globalchallenges.

In the podcast, Ernst explains that antibiotics are the mainstay treatment for UTIs. Bacteria, however, are developing resistance to common antibiotics, with the emergence of superbugs that shrug off some of the most powerful new antibiotics.

Thus, the scientists decided to try a new approach developing substances that target bacteria virulence factors, inhibiting them from sticking to the inside of the urinary bladder. Hence, microbes are not able to launch an infection. In addition, this new class of antimicrobials is expected to have a reduced potential for the emergence of resistant microbes.

The scientists describe the development of anti-adhesion molecules that specifically interfere with the attachment of bacteria to human bladder cells. The most potent of the substances prevented a UTI from developing in mice (stand-ins for humans in this kind of experiment) for more than eight hours. In the in vivo treatment study, a very low dose reduced the amount of bacteria in the bladder of the animals by almost 10,000 times, which is comparable to the standard antibiotic treatment with ciprofloxacin.

###

Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions is a series of podcasts describing some of the 21st century's most daunting problems, and how cutting-edge research in chemistry matters in the quest for solutions. Global Challenges is the centerpiece in an alliance on sustainability between ACS and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Global Challenges is a sweeping panorama of global challenges that includes dilemmas such as providing a hungry and thirsty world with ample supplies of safe food and clean water, developing alternatives to petroleum to fuel society, preserving the environment and ensuring a sustainable future for our children and improving human health.

For more entertaining, informative science videos and podcasts from the ACS Office of Public Affairs, view Prized Science, Spellbound, Science Elements and Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions.

The rest is here:
A nonantibiotic approach for treating urinary tract infections

This is a guest post from one of our judges for the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition

What you say in a piece of science communication matters. Get the facts wrong, and the communication fails. Focus on an obscure technicality and omit to say why it is relevant, and the reader will stop. The communication fails again. But what to say is just one small part of the communicator’s task. How to say it is just as important. A good science communicator needs to think about form as well as content.

Among other things, that means thinking about the precise words you use, not just in terms of their clarity but also for the overtones they carry. For instance, using militaristic metaphors – fighting, killing, waging war and so on – to talk about a natural process might help explain certain features of the process but it might also make it harder to introduce those aspects of the system that interact in a cooperative manner. Or calling the Higgs boson the ‘God particle’ might be seen as threatening religion when that is not your intention. And it’s not just the words you use that need careful thought. Even trivial things like inserting a paragraph break or replacing a semi-colon with a full stop can make a difference to how well your piece flows.

Paying close attention to form also means thinking about how to craft a story out of the topic you have chosen. Who are the main characters? How will you describe them? What are the key events that drive the story forward? The main characters will not necessarily be the most prominent scientists involved – they may not be scientists at all – and the key events of the story are likely to be different from the key points in an explanation of the science.

In audio and video, there are additional aspects of form to consider. For instance, where do you film someone – in an office, a lab, an outside space, their home? This decision will influence what the viewer thinks about this person. Even in audio pieces, it makes a difference whether you record in a studio (which can emphasise the authority of the speaker but sounds flat and sterile) or on location (which risks a confusion of sounds but adds colour and texture to the piece).

Thinking about form also means thinking about what is not said. Artists often talk about the importance of white space – shapes are made by what surrounds them as well as by what they contain. The same is true for all types of communication. By leaving some things out, what is left in takes on a different meaning than if it were contextualised by additional information.

Similarly, leaving in a silence in an audio piece can generate a moment of emotional intensity or give an edginess to the piece. In video, holding a shot for a few moments before cutting away can signal a contemplative mood. But for upbeat fast-moving topics, such effects may be out of place.

So form needs to match content. Pay attention to form, but the ultimate aim is to make the form of your communication seem so natural that it disappears from view. As Philip Ball says in his blog, don’t strain for effect. Don’t try so hard that it shows that you are trying. A good communicator thinks about form to ensure that the audience doesn’t.

Felicity Mellor is a senior lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London

You can also read Lesley Yellowlees‘, Adam Hart-Davis’ and Philip Ball’s tips on science writing.

And you can find out about the Chemistry World Science Communication Competition and submit your entry here.

                  

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With more and more cheap and portable digital imaging and sensing devices being developed, huge amounts of biomedical data from all over the world are going to be generated. The data will provide an opportunity to understand disease patterns in different parts of the world, for example. But there aren’t enough medical experts to sort through all this data.

That is why Ozcan is turning to gamers for help. In their latest experiment, Ozcan’s team asked 1000 people from over 60 countries to look at grids containing microscope images of red blood cell samples to pick out the cells infected with malaria. They used a stain that makes the cells infected with malaria appear blue. The gamers’ job was to kill or bank infected and healthy cells, respectively. Ozcan’s team measured the diagnostic accuracy of the responses and found that the accuracy level was comparable to those of expert medical professionals. To ensure that accuracy was maintained, the gamers were assessed individually based on their responses.

— The BioGames programme

The BioGames interface was made available on the internet in May 2012 and Ozcan reports that more than 2150 gamers from 77 countries have registered on their servers. They have already generated more than 1.5 million individual cell diagnoses.

Of course the idea isn’t new. In 2011, Chemistry World featured a piece about using people’s computers for drug discovery and simulating the way proteins fold. Gamers weren’t needed this time though as the work was happening in the background while the computers were in idle mode.

Other crowd-sourcing websites include Fold it, which enables the user to contribute to research into diseases by folding proteins and Galaxy Zoo, where the user can help astronomers explore the universe.

You don’t always have to wear a lab coat to contribute to science.

Elinor Hughes

                  

Source:
http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/?feed=rss2

QUBEC CITY, Aug. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (AEZS) (TSX:AEZ) (the"Company") today announced that its V.P., Medicinal Chemistry, Matthias Gerlach, PhD, will be making a poster presentation on preclinical results for the Company's novel orally active anticancer PI3K/Erk 1/2 inhibitor, AEZS-136, during the 244th National Meeting of the American Chemistry Society which will be held August 19-23, 2012, in Philadelphia.

About AEZS-136

AEZS-136 is an integral part of the Company's kinase research program comprising the investigation of different compounds for single Erk inhibition, single PI3K inhibition and dualErk/PI3K kinase inhibition. AEZS-136 selectively inhibits the kinase activity of Erk 1/2 and class 1 PI3Ks, enabling simultaneous inhibition of the Raf-Mek-Erk and the PI3K-Akt signaling cascades. AEZS-136 was discovered using the Company's proprietary compound library and high throughput screening technology.

About Aeterna Zentaris

Aeterna Zentaris is an oncology and endocrinology drug development company currently investigating treatments for various unmet medical needs. The Company's pipeline encompasses compounds at all stages of development, from drug discovery through to marketed products. For more information please visit http://www.aezsinc.com.

More here:
Aeterna Zentaris to Present Preclinical Data for PI3K/Erk 1/2 Inhibitor, AEZS-136, at ACS National Meeting

The journey began with a brief, euphoric rush down Thunder Road. Then came a wreck on the highway, testing the Angels' spirit in the night.

Is this season a brilliant disguise? Or can the Angels start to prove it all night, no surrender, and show that better days -- perhaps even the Promised Land -- lie ahead?

At trying times such as these, Mike Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto surely would agree that a heavy dose of Bruce Springsteen can't hurt.

Scioscia, the manager, and Dipoto, the general manager, grew up in Springsteen country as serious fans of the king of Jersey rock. They know that it's time for the Angels to roll up their sleeves, Bruce style, and go to work, starting with the Mariners on Friday night, opening a three-game series and 10-game Angel Stadium homestand.

A 4-6 journey through North Texas, Chicago and Oakland dimmed the strong vibes that had been building. Particularly harmful were back-to-back losses to the Rangers in triple-digit heat, rocking the Angels at a time when they were sensing the opportunity to seize control of the American League West.

They went on to drop two of three against the White Sox, undone by physical and mental errors, and two of three against the A's, who suddenly turned into Murderers' Row. Two impressive wins in Texas followed by six losses in eight games.

It is baffling the best of minds. Persuasive arguments can be made that the Angels employ baseball's best player (Mike Trout), best pitcher (Jered Weaver), most feared hitter (Albert Pujols), strongest slugger (Mark Trumbo), best leader (Torii Hunter) and most respected manager (Scioscia) among his peers.

With this stockpile of weapons and assets, why in the world, fans wonder, are they chasing not only the two-time defending AL champion Rangers, but also the A's, who were projected to lose many more games than they'd win?

Consistency is the Angels' big issue. There have been dominant stretches accompanied by slumps and underachievement.

While they still own the league's best record (53-39) since the April 28 arrival of Trout, they've been spinning their wheels since the Rangers stalled all their momentum on Aug. 1, coming back twice late for an 11-10 victory followed by a 15-9 thumping to earn a series split.

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Chemistry could be key to Angels' lofty aspirations

We realise that gold means only one thing to most people at the moment (and believe you me Chemistry World towers has been as gripped by the Olympics as everyone else) but we also need to congratulate the University of Edinburgh’s school of chemistry for getting a gold Athena SWAN Charter award. That’s the UK’s top accolade for good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, engineering, technology, maths and medicine in higher education. Only two departments in the country have been judged to be gold standard: Edinburgh’s chemistry department and the University of York’s chemistry department (yay chemistry, etc).

This is especially relevant as Lesley Yellowlees, of the University of Edinburgh, begins her term as RSC President, pledging to identify and remove the barriers that prevent women from staying in chemistry. Hopefully more chemistry departments (as well as those in other disciplines) can rise up the ranks. And then, maybe one day, these sorts of awards won’t be needed at all.

Laura Howes

                  

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http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/?feed=rss2

So sweet, it’s in the dictionary. A classic accidental discovery, the whiff of betrayal between its co-discoverers makes the story behind saccharin less than sickly sweet in this week’s Chemistry in its element podcast.

                  

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2z77rz/bioisosteres_in_me) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Bioisosteres in Medicinal Chemistry. Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry" to their offering.

Written with the practicing medicinal chemist in mind, this is the first modern handbook to systematically address the topic of bioisosterism. As such, it provides a ready reference on the principles and methods of bioisosteric replacement as a key tool in preclinical drug development.

The first part provides an overview of bioisosterism, classical bioisosteres and typical molecular interactions that need to be considered, while the second part describes a number of molecular databases as sources of bioisosteric identification and rationalization. The third part covers the four key methodologies for bioisostere identification and replacement: physicochemical properties, topology, shape, and overlays of protein-ligand crystal structures. In the final part, several real-world examples of bioisosterism in drug discovery projects are discussed.

With its detailed descriptions of databases, methods and real-life case studies, this is tailor-made for busy industrial researchers with little time for reading, while remaining easily accessible to novice drug developers due to its systematic structure and introductory section.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2z77rz/bioisosteres_in_me

Source: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Link:
Research and Markets: Bioisosteres in Medicinal Chemistry. Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry

CHICAGO -- White Sox players have frequently talked about the special bond running throughout this clubhouse back to the start of the 2012 season. So in this particular instance, the team winning might have only enhanced that tight-knit chemistry already in place.

"It has to have a combination," manager Robin Ventura said of the chemistry debate. "Anyone who is in first place or near the top talks about how great it is in the clubhouse. But winning usually does that. I've been on teams that were very bad that had a good chemistry and in the end, it didn't work so well. Guys got along and it was fine. Winning just kind of promotes that."

"You're in first place. First place is where your good chemistry is," third baseman Kevin Youkilis said. "I've been on teams where there have been a few things and we won a World Series. The biggest thing is when you're winning games and in first place, chemistry is highlighted a lot more so hopefully we can have great chemistry the rest of the way."

More important than the chemistry factor is the White Sox maintaining the same singular focus from Spring Training moving forward. Take one game at a time and hope all of those good daily efforts add up to a playoff berth by the time October rolls around.

"When you feel like you are playing to accomplish your goal and that goal is to play in the playoffs, it's fun to come here and try to win every night," said right fielder Alex Rios, who has never played in the postseason. "You have a purpose for coming to the field. It has been one of the most fun seasons I have had."

CHICAGO -- For a brief period on Wednesday morning, manager Robin Ventura and his staff tried to put together a starting lineup to face the Royals in their series finale loss without Alejandro De Aza, Kevin Youkilis, Paul Konerko and Alex Rios.

"It was creative," said Ventura with a smile. "It was a fun morning."

Ventura never had to make public that lineup card, as Youkilis and De Aza came to U.S. Cellular Field ready for action. Youkilis was scratched from Tuesday's contest with a sore right knee, while De Aza missed the first two games of the series with back stiffness.

But Rios and Konerko were sidelined, giving them two days of inactivity thanks to Thursday's scheduled off-day. Ventura announced postgame on Wednesday that Konerko sustained a mild concussion in the seventh inning of Tuesday's loss, when Jarrod Dyson's left elbow connected with the right side of Konerko's head as Dyson beat out an infield hit. Rios was absent due to back stiffness.

"This has been going on for a few days, but [Tuesday], it got stiffer," Rios said. "I don't think it's something that's going to keep me out of that lineup for more than a day or so. I'll be fine."

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Which came first: chemistry or winning?

The Olympic Games are filled with chemistry. Metaphorically speaking, chemistry is felt both on and off the playing field, while literally the chemicals used in different medicines help athletes overcome pain and injury. And lets not forget the inorganic, metal-based chemistry displayed during the award ceremonies. Medallions of gold, silver and bronze (a copper-tin alloy) are draped around the necks of Olympic champions, recognizing their achievement on a global stage.

Chemistry, figuratively and literally, plays a significant role in the Olympic Games. However, the goal of Olympism is to place sports at the service of the harmonious development of humankind. The XXX Olympiad which began on July 27 exemplifies this mission statement as athletes from 205 countries unite for 17 days of global competition.

I didnt have to wait until the Opening Ceremony in London to feel this sense of unity. Since June, Ive been spending my time in a different sort of international community: the chemistry laboratory. Under Chemistry Prof. Melanie Sanford, Ive been working on my honors thesis. Together the undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who conduct research in Sanfords lab represent nine nations and three of the five continents depicted by the Olympic rings.

United by our curiosity in the chemical sciences, my lab-mates and I speak two mutual languages, English and chemistry. English is the second, or even third, language spoken by half my lab-mates, but by drawing out reaction mechanisms, we have the ability to transcend language barriers. Nonetheless, its still not uncommon to walk into my lab and not always understand the conversation at hand.

While my German is limited to a few phrases, my fluency in the language of chemistry has flourished during my research experience. Working in a multi-cultural environment has allowed me to view chemistry from many different perspectives. We all approach our research from diverse educational and personal backgrounds. The exchange of ideas from these distinct viewpoints enrich and broaden the path toward the overall solution. In the case of my thesis, these questions deal with the development of reactions used to change carbon-hydrogen bonds into carbon-carbon bonds using palladium as a catalyst.

Working in this lab has not only increased my knowledge in the field of chemistry, but provided me with the opportunity to learn about a diverse range of cultures. Taking advantage of my past Spanish classes, Ive been able to get to know my Guatemalan lab-mate through speaking all three of the languages we share. Different aspects of our personalities and past knowledge flourish depending on the language were using. Nine years of studying Spanish, including a semester abroad in Seville, Spain, have provided me with a solid understanding of the language. My fluency and comfort level, however, continue to improve during these shared conversations.

Though the 2012 Summer Olympic Games come to a close on Aug. 12, the sense of international unity promoted by the Games will continue in my everyday life. While I dont compete for gold on a daily basis, my research in palladium-based chemistry allows me to work with chemists from around the globe. Chemistry, like the Olympics, unites people from all over the world and acts as a catalyst for multicultural exchange.

Cydney Seigerman is a LSA senior.

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Viewpoint: United by chem