New York Times

Stirring the Chemistry With a Kiss New York Times Sarah Margaret Spivey and Garrett Leroy Faulkner were married April 15 at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center in Augusta, Ga. Courtney Petrouski, a friend of the couple who became a Universal Life minister for the event, officiated. Mrs. Spivey-Faulkner ...

More:
Stirring the Chemistry With a Kiss - New York Times

News at Rider

New Rider chemistry fellowship honors 3 former faculty members News at Rider Rider University has announced the launch of a new endowed research fellowship for chemistry students in honor of three of Rider's most successful and passionate professors. The Endowed Chemistry Research Fellowship in Honor of Professors Burnham, ...

See the original post here:
New Rider chemistry fellowship honors 3 former faculty members - News at Rider

Have you ever been on a team with mostly new players trying to come together? Its tough, right?

Now remember a time where you were on a team that was built with players who were familiar with each others tendencythat team experienced more success, more often than not.

The first scenario sounds pretty familiar to what the Syracuse Orange showcased this season: a team full of individuals that werent used to each others talents. While this years team had a plethora of experience in age, the reality was that the impact players were mostly freshmen or transfer players.

Tyler Lydon was the glue that held things together, but the other four starters by years-end were in their first season of playing under coach Jim Boeheim. No matter how much talent is on the floor, playing together as a team is a whole new story.

The Orange struggled at times to get any motion going on the offensive end of the court, and that could be in large part to the players unfamiliarity with each other. We saw improvements throughout the year, but just imagine if these guys had the chemistry of the prior seasons team.

The 2015-2016 Syracuse Orange were built on chemistry. Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney were the backbone to the Syracuse offense, and their experience as graduate students surely helped. Their familiarity with each other helped the Orange work through stagnant times on offense.

Tyler Roberson and DaJuan Coleman, the core of the Orange defense, were upperclassmen as well. The two big-men knew the ins-and-outs to Boeheims 2-3 zone, unlike this years team with Taurean Thompson and Andrew White III teaming up with Tyler Lydon down low.

Then came the freshmen. Tyler Lydon and Malachi Richardson looked like freshmen to begin the season, but by the end of the year the two new guys were more than helping Syracuse make a run to the Final Four.

So, you may be asking where Im going with this. By no means am I comparing next years team to the most recent Final Four team, but maybe we can take a look at the similarities and focus on some positives for whats to come.

Next years team wont have much upperclassmen talent, but Boeheim will be looking for his sophomores in Tyus Battle and Taurean Thompson to act like they have that kind of experience.

Frank Howard will be running the show at point guard as the lessons he learned in his first two seasons will hopefully lead to it all coming together. Matthew Moyer is coming off his redshirt season, and if he puts the work in this off season he may be able to play the sidekick role Battle needs on the wing.

Paschal Chukwu is coming off of a lost season, but he along with the names mentioned above have experienced time on the court together. These five returning players arent the stars the 2015-2016 team had, but chemistry means everything, and this team will have the experience of playing with each otherwhether that be in games or practice.

Next years squad will also have impact freshmen in Oshae Brissett, Howard Washington, and Bourama Sidibe. These guys may not have the impact Richardson and Lydon had in their freshmen seasons, but if they find a way to contribute on both ends of the floor they will be earning more playing time as the season goes by.

There are still more recruits who may sign and transfer players who may find their way over to the Carrier Dome, so this roster of returners and newbies may expand. Dont expect this team to look like the 2015-2016 team, but having high chemistry doesnt a hurt a team looking for positives.

View post:
Chemistry, and its impact on next year's Syracuse basketball team ... - Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician

In his first year in the classroom, and as a junior varsity basketball coach, Prescott High School chemistry teacher Todd Harris Jr. landed more than a job.

Hes found a calling.

I really do love this job, said the Montana native who graduated from the University of Great Falls with his bachelors degree in secondary education in broad field science in May 2015 and did his student teaching at Prescott High his final spring semester. Im really looking forward to my next year and all that will have in store.

A basketball player from childhood, Harris pursued teaching because it seemed a profession that most closely aligned to his passion for coaching youth basketball. Match that with an affinity for science, in particular chemistry, his degree seemed to make perfect sense, he said.

What Harris could not know was how well-suited he would be for the teaching profession.

It has surprised me, Harris admits, noting his college and student teaching prepared him but until one is front and center every day in a classroom, the realities are something of a mystery.

At 22, Harris came to the high school as the youngest member of the faculty, only a few years older than his oldest students.

Yet Harris age has never been a factor in his classroom demeanor. He has commanded respect from day one, according to his students, fellow faculty and administrators.

He really relates to his students, and is always very approachable, said Cheyenne Church, a senior and the districts Governing Board student representative, who took chemistry with Harris when he was student teaching but regularly hears accolades from fellow students about his teaching skills. I actually think the fact he is just out of college

has been a selling point for him because he has that fresh, firsthand perspective of what its like to be a student. He really understands the struggles students are going through, and I think he uses that to determine course load and how he explains things. He looks at his explanations through the eyes of a student, not as one of a professor.

Hes the best first-year teacher Ive ever seen.

Such praise is the backbone of Harris becoming one of three finalist for Outstanding First-Year Teacher in the 23rd annual Yavapai County Teacher of the Year program sponsored by the Yavapai Education Foundation. The other two finalists are Lisa Fuller, a kindergarten teacher at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School in the Cottonwood-Oak Creek District, and Stephen Ross, a math teacher at Bradshaw Mountain High School in the Humboldt Unified School District. The finalists were narrowed from a field of 15 nominees.

In a nomination letter representing Prescott High School staff, Principal Stephanie Hillig described Harris as a teacher who brings a contagious energy into his classroom through innovative, creative and enthusiastic approaches to what can be complex scientific concepts.

Students are excited about going to science class every day, Hillig said.

From his beginnings as a student teacher, Hillig said it was clear that Harris had all the attributes the school was seeking in their science department, and has demonstrated exemplary qualities in his classes that include the advanced placement course.

One of the strengths in Mr. Harris instruction is that he finds ways to make chemistry relative to future classes and careers, Hillig said. Mr. Harris philosophy is that students need to learn by experimenting and discovering the answers on their own When one enters Mr. Harris classroom, it is as if you are entering a veteran teachers room as he clearly understands his curriculum and he is very confident with his delivery of instruction.

On the basketball court, Harris, too, imparts his passion for the game, as he said he believes this is a teaching sport that requires hard work, something Harris emphasizes is critical to any endeavor.

Whether he is teaching chemistry or coaching basketball, Hillig said he brings qualities of a veteran teacher with the enthusiasm and energy of a first-year teacher.

A humble, yet confident teacher and coach, Harris said he is beyond honored to be a finalist. The awards banquet is April 28.

Its cool to have such recognition in such a short time, Harris said. Its pretty exciting.

View post:
PHS chemistry teacher emerges as Yavapai County Outstanding First-Year Teacher award finalist - The Daily Courier

BEIJING It was a relationship sealed over the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake you have ever seen.

After a day spent getting to know each other at his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., President Trump broke some major news to his Chinese counterpart over dessert. Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles were locked, loaded and then launched toward Syria.

[U.S. strikes Syrian military airfield in first direct assault on Bashar al-Assads government]

In Trumps retelling, Xi Jinping was silent for 10 seconds, ominously asked for the comments to be translated a second time and finally declared he was okay with the idea. And so the Citrus Summit, as it has been nicknamed, was to be a success.

In short order, China has gone from an enemy and a threat, a job stealer and economic predator, to becoming a friend and partner of the new U.S. administration. In interviews with theFox Business Network and theWall Street Journal, Trump said he and Xi shared great chemistry, had formed an outstanding relationship, and understood each other.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

All of a sudden, U.S. policy toward China seems broadly similar to that pursued by his predecessor. Trump might be a very different personality than President Barack Obama, the Global Times newspaper commented Friday, but there are many signs he is returning to Obamas diplomatic strategy.

Yet how deep is this newfound friendship with China, and how sustainable is the relationship?

If Trump has flipped once, could he flip again?

The answer to that question could lie in North Korea.

Just before the summit, Trump told the Financial Times that the Chinese were the world champions of currency manipulation. A few days after it, he told the Wall Street Journalthat China does not manipulate its currency.

Acartoon in Chinas Global Times on Friday mocked Trump as the Shifter-in-Chief, showing him at the wheel of a bus careening all over the road, but the overall mood is upbeat here at what state media are calling the big flip.

[A moderate catches Trumps ear]

The immediate effect of the two-day summit has been to bring an influx of tremendous dynamism into the complicated U.S.-China relationship, wrote thePeoples Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece. This transition is a masterpiece of erudite political wisdom.

The erudite wisdom, one assumes, is supposed to be coming from the mouth of Chinas president, into the ear of the American one. Indeed, the Peoples Daily naturally chose aphotograph of Trump listening attentively to Xi speaking to adorn its post-summit front page.

Of course, it chosesimilar images in 2013, when Xi met Obama in Californias Sunnylands retreat and was again portrayed as the man delivering pearls of wisdom to his enraptured counterpart.

But this time there is real reason to believe that some of Xis arguments struck home, and not just in getting Trump to finally realize he was years out of date when it came to Chinas currency policy.

Just as no one could have imagined how complicated health care was, until you actually took the time to learn about it, Trump is fast learning the complications of tackling North Korea, thanks to some schooling from the Chinese president.

For months, the U.S. president had been firing off confident 140-character promises that he would solve the problem of Pyongyangs nuclear program, apparently believing that China could bring its neighbor to heel if it only wanted to. But Xi took the trouble to explain something about the history of China and Korea.

And after listening for 10 minutes I realized that its not so easy, Trump told the Journal. You know I felt pretty strongly that they have a tremendous power over North Korea. ... But its not what you would think.

This is not the first time Trump has changed tack. He questioned the one-China policy earlier this year before deciding to honor it, and has quietly dropped campaign threats to impose tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese goods.

Thats partly because he is learning as he goes along, sometimes slowly, sometimes painfully, always in full public view, experts say.

It is partly a function of the rise of the globalists within his administration, includingJared Kushner andGary Cohn, and the declining influence of the nationalists, such asStephen K. Bannon andPeter Navarro. But it is also a dawning of the realization that Trump needs a constructive relationship if he is to achieve his other foreign policy goals.

Ever since diplomatic ties with China were normalized nearly four decades ago, candidates have generally campaigned on being tough on China, before reverting to a more constructive approach while in office.

But if history is repeating itself, Trump represents an extreme case of the phenomenon.

For Bill Bishop, the publisher of theSinocism newsletter, there is a danger in making so many threats only to walk them back, and a missed opportunity to reexamine a policy approach that has brought more benefits to China than the United States.

The currency flip-flop made sense from an economic perspective, but one has to wonder how tough Beijing thinks Trump really is, and if Xi, a fan of Mao Zedong, sees Trump as yet another American paper tiger, he said.

It is too bad. America needs a new approach to dealing with the China challenge, one that is well thought out and strategically coherent. So far that does not appear to be happening, and that is good for Xi and the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] but not so good for the U.S.

Others take a different view.

President Richard Nixon is reported to have deliberately cultivated the Madman Theory, giving the impression he was irrational and volatile, and might even use nuclear weapons, in an attempt to scare the North Vietnamese and the Soviet Union. The credible threat of military action by the George W. Bush administration may have helped bring North Korea back to the negotiating table in 2006.

In a similar vein, Trumps decision to bomb Syria while hosting Xi was a shrewd move, some argue, helping to persuade Beijing to turn up the heat on its ally. In February, China announced it wascutting off coal imports from North Korea, severing an important economic lifeline for the regime, and has since reportedly turned back two coal shipments.

China does move on North Korea if they are sufficiently scared of the U.S., said Daniel Blumenthal of the American Enterprise Institute. They may pressure Kim if we keep the pressure on China.

Orville Schell, head of the center on U.S.-China relations at New York's Asia Society, said real world realities are beginning to bring Trumps policy closer to that of Obama, but the difference is Trumps utterly unpredictable nature, and his capacity to reverse course in a heartbeat.

Schell said this had put China somewhat off balance, uncertain if Trump might impose secondary sanctions or even launch a military strike on North Korea.

This kind of brinkmanship can be dangerous in diplomacy, but it could also get Beijing's attention and chasten Xi to make a deal before something untoward happens, Schell said.

Paul Gewirtz, director of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School, said China may impose tougher sanctions against North Korea, but not because Trump tells it to.

Those are likely to come from an ongoing assessment of Chinas interests and rising Chinese public opinion against North Korea, he said.

In the end, though, China and the United States have significantly different approaches to the issue of North Korea, and this fact alone remains a major challenge to the new rapport between Xi and Trump.

The evolution toward a more constructive relationship is certainly welcome, said Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center. But I think the big question is whether or not this can be sustained once the Chinese begin to underperform on trade or North Korea as times goes on. Will Trump be willin
g to confront his new friend Xi Jinping in order to defend U.S. interests?

Jin Xin, Luna Lin and Congcong Zhang contributed to this report.

Read more:

Chinas Xi calls Trump, urges peaceful approach to North Korea

Despite Trumps rage against China, American public opinion is warming to the Asian giant

Dont let Beijing push us around, warns frustrated former ambassador to China

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Read more:
Chocolate cake and chemistry repair US-China ties. But will North Korea spoil the party? - Washington Post

Ashton Hagans (Vicky Graff Photo)

By LARRY VAUGHT

Does Kentucky have chemistry issues?

It sure looks like it could with the recent decline in point guard Ashton Hagans play combined with whatever caused him to tell coach John Calipari he was not going back in the game against Tennessee Tuesday before he did and played very poorly as UK was blowing a 17-point lead and losing.

Hagans and teammate Nick Richards exchanged words on the court. Maybe it was Richards complaining about not getting the ball. Maybe it was Hagans urging Richards to rebound. Maybe it was Richards telling Hagans to get his head in the game, especially after one turnover where he jogged back on defense that resulted in a 3-point play for Tennessee.

Neither one played particularly well, so probably telling each other, Youre not playing well, and neither are you, neither are you, neither are you.,' UK coach John Calipari said after the game in an obvious attempt to downplay the situation that played out on national title.

What about the bad looking body language on the court often during the 17-point Tennessee comback?

We have been on a heck of a run. This team has done a lot of good stuff, and the one thing we worry about is if the game is going to be physical, like, Nicks getting, you know, then we have got to learn to play in these kinds of games, Calipari said.

Notice he did not answer the question.

Calipari noted once out of a timeout he called a play to get a shot at the basket and instead another player took a jump shot.

Come on.We got manhandled, I got manhandled, Calipari said.

Im not sure if it was manhandled as much as just outhustled. Kentucky quit playing. Maybe its not fair to put most of the blame on Hagans but hes been on a bigger downward trend that Immanuel Quickley has been on an upward trend.

Remember this was supposed to be Hagans team. He was SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman and we heard how he was going to be an improved offensive player. Ive never questioned his competitiveness or toughness. Hes played through injuries and he doesnt back down from anyone.

But he also pictures himself as a NBA player next year, something I cant quite get with his offensive deficiencies. Could he be trying to impress NBA scouts too much maybe without even realizing it?

One SEC coach told me the best way to counter Hagans is to rattle him mentally. Question his ability to score. Dare him to take open shots. Back off him and leave him open. Challenge him to try and drive inside to score. The theory is that Hagans wont have the patience to avoid being driven to show opponents he can answer the insults.

If he controls the pace, looks for teammates and doesnt try to do too much, then Kentucky is really, really good, the coach said. But if you can get him off his game, make him rush or try to do too much, then he sometimes makes mistakes.

Calipari has shown time after time he believes Kentucky is better with Hagans on the court. Cant see him changing his thinking now. So heres hoping whatever might be going on with Hagans and the Cats gets corrected and no reason to think it cant or the Cats can forget having an enjoyable Marfch.

Read this article:
Can chemistry issues with Ashton Hagans be resolved? - Vaught's Views

By Isabella Garrison | 04/13/2017 9:46pm Jake Stevens / Alabama Crimson White

A reception will follow the annualArudengo Lecturein the Shelby Hall rotunda.

This weekend, the annual tradition of the Arudengo Lecture on element chemistry or physical organic chemistry continues with a speech from a renowned specialist from the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture will discuss the role that certain oxidized metal species will play in the future of producing solar fuels.

WHO: The event is hosted by the University's Department of Chemistry and it is free and open to the public.

WHAT: Professor T. Don Tilley from the University of California, Berkeley will give the annual Arduengo Lecture. Professor Tilleys lecture is entitled, The Role of Highly Oxidized Metal Species in Water Splitting and Solar Fuels Production.

A reception will follow the lecture in the Shelby Hall rotunda.

WHEN: Friday, April 14, from 3:30-4:30 p.m.

WHERE: 1093 Shelby Hall

WHY: According to the University's website, the Arduengo Lectureship was established to honor the contributions of Professor Anthony J. Arduengo III. The annual lecture is given by a world-renowned researcher in the area of main group element chemistry or physical organic chemistry. Lecturers are chosen by a faculty committee in recognition of their contributions to their field. Professor Tilley will give both a technical and a general audience talk.

More here:
PREVIEW: Department of Chemistry to host Arudengo Chemistry lecture - The University of Alabama Crimson White

Evie Bangs was 5 years old when she started to lose her hearing. At age 8, her hearing plummeted, and she could no longer understand her teachers.

Now shes about to graduate from Colorado State University. And shes gotten here not by dwelling on what she has lost, but focusing on what she could gain and soon, that will include a degree in chemistry from the College of Natural Sciences.

Bangs may be CSUs first deaf chemistry major at least in anyones institutional memory. Its taken Bangs an extra year to finish her degree, in part because of the uniquely time-consuming way she must absorb challenging course material, with the help of sign language interpreters.

When Im in my classes, its kind of overwhelming, said the Estes Park native. I realized that in order to do well grade-wise, I needed to take fewer credits.

Bangs has also spent that extra time working toward an American Chemical Society-certified degree, which requires additional training and lab work. Bangs aspires to attend graduate school, and become a professional chemist.

For every class, as well as for group projects, Bangs is accompanied by two American Sign Language interpreters and one class transcriber from CSUs Resources for Disabled Students (RDS). Her teachers joke that Bangs has an entourage.

The two interpreters are necessary due to the complexity of the material; sometimes, while one is working with Bangs to quickly make up signs for words like stoichiometry or adiabatic process, the other is continuing to listen to the instructor, so that Bangs misses as little as possible. Halfway through class, they switch roles. Its called teaming, says RDS interpreter Dede Kliewer, and through the years of working with Bangs, everyone including the interpreters has learned a lot about chemistry.

Like many deaf people, Bangs can read lips, but even the best lip-readers catch 60 percent or less of whats being said. She can get by one-on-one, but in groups or lectures, sign language and notes transcribed after the fact have been Bangs primary modes of learning.

RDS, part of the Division of Student Affairs, has eight sign language interpreters and 26 class transcribers, says Kliewer, who interpreted for her when Bangs was a freshman. The office also employs about 30 student notetakers. In Kliewers 24 years at CSU, she cant recall another chemistry major, although theyve had biology majors, and a chemical engineering graduate student.

It was a high school teacher who first encouraged Bangs to study chemistry in college. As a CSU freshman, Bangs enjoyed Professor Alan Van Ordens General Chemistry for Majors course. I remember he said on the first day, Welcome to chemistry the study of stuff! And I thought, I dont care how hard chemistry is going to be. Im sticking to it!'

Besides Van Orden, Professor Nancy Levinger was a memorable teacher for Bangs. She helped me out a lot, Bangs said. Levingers door was always open to Bangs for extra help. She took the time to write detailed lecture material on the board. And when Bangs interpreters were switching roles mid-class, Levinger would pause to let them catch up. It wasnt harming the other students, but in a way, Dr. Levinger was taking care of me, Bangs said.

Bangs holds a denuder train, an instrument for active sampling of ambient ammonia, nitric acid and PM (particulate matter) 2.5.

Professor Delphine Farmers class on environmental chemistry sparked in Bangs an interest in atmospheric research. In her junior year, Bangs became an undergraduate research assistant in the lab of Professor Jeff Collett, chair of the Department of Atmospheric Science. Shes involved in two projects now, supervised by research scientist Katie Benedict, in passive and active sampling of atmospheric ammonia all over northeastern Colorado. Recently, she co-authored a paper on the role of dew as a nighttime ammonia reservoir her first academic publication.

Bangs says her family, teachers, classmates and friends have played active roles in her journey. But perhaps most of all, the RDS interpreters have helped her succeed as a student. They were a bright spot on the bad days, she says. Sometimes I was not looking forward to class, but I looked forward to seeing my interpreters.

Bangs also learned to keep lines of communication open with her professors introducing herself at the start of the semester, and taking advantage of office hours.

If their door was cracked, I was knocking on it, Bangs says. She added, Everywhere I go, here at CSU, people have filled in the gaps for me. They made it so that I could be successful.

Between working in Colletts lab and keeping up with classes, Bangs found time to volunteer in some of Kliewers American Sign Language courses. Last semester, she visited a local elementary school, where she met a fifth-grade boy whose little brother had just been born deaf. The interaction moved her to be more open about her experiences.

While being deaf sometimes requires special assistance, it is only part of a bigger story, she says.

Im not remarkable, Bangs insists. I am just like everyone else. My story is just a little different; being deaf is a tribulation that I had to get over. My cards were dealt, and others have their own challenges that they need to get over, too. Deafness, anxiety, anything at all everyone has a story.

Read the rest here:
Deaf student trail-blazing her way to a chemistry degree - Colorado State University News (press release)

Researchers in the US have developed soft and stretchable devices that operate using ionotronic technology without the need for a liquid electrolyte. The work boosts the prospect of ionotronic devices being used in soft robotics, humancomputer interfaces, wearable sensors and energy harvesting.

In ionotronic technology, ions are the charge carriers rather than electrons. Using soft ion-conducting materials such as hydrogels and polymers offers the prospect of inherently flexible circuits and since most biological signalling also uses ions, it could be a route to creating interfaces between humans and machines. Previous studies into ionotronic devices have used hydrogels with salt water solutions to carry charges. But liquid electrolytes are prone to leak or evaporate when the devices are stretched or deformed.

Now, Ryan Hayward and his team at the University of Massachusetts have developed ionotronic devices using stretchy ionelastomers that dont require liquid electrolytes. Our material relies on soft networks of charged polymers where the counterions are the only mobile species. In addition, our devices operate without requiring any electrochemical reactions, which can alleviate issues of long-term device instability, Hayward explains.

The team made two rubber band-like ionoelastomers: a polyanion and a polycation. In the polyanion, negatively charged sulfate groups are fixed to the elastomer chain while positive imidazole counterions are free to move. The reverse applies to the polycation the negative ions are fixed but the positive ions can move.

This means each material conducts only positive or negative charge, similar to the way p- and n-type semiconductors transport holes and electrons respectively. The materials can therefore be combined to create ionic analogues of semiconductor electronic components. For example, a junction between layers of opposite polarity acts like a diode, allowing current to pass in one direction but not the other.

The team also created a transistor by sandwiching a polycation layer between two polyanion layers. A third device was able to harvest mechanical energy that was produced when stretching and compressing it.

This represents an important next step for iontronics, says Daniel Frisbie who investigates semiconducting devices at the University of Minnesota, US. Combining ionic conductivity with elastomeric properties in a single material is the creative aspect of this work that opens up new possibilities, for example in soft robotics or humanmachine interfacing.

Hayward suggests that the range of ionic species that could be used as charge carriers offers further scope for invention. Attaching other functionalities that influence optical characteristics, surface energy, or even bioactivity would allow the properties of the material to be electronically switched, he explains.

Read more from the original source:
Stretchy ionic polymers pave the way for ion-based tech - Chemistry World

Andy McNally, assistant professor of chemistry

Andy McNally, an assistant professor in the Colorado State University Department of Chemistry, has received a 2020 Sloan Research Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has announced.

McNally is an experimental synthetic chemist whose lab invents new chemical reactions for faster and more efficient synthesis of therapeutic compounds, as well as new drug candidates. He is among 126 early-career researchers to receive the honor, chosen from nearly 1,000 nominees.

Awarded annually since 1995, Sloan fellowships honor scholars in the U.S. and Canada whose creativity, leadership and independent research achievements make them some of the most promising researchers working today, according to the foundation.

At CSU, McNally leads a laboratory focused on the unique chemistry of phosphorus compounds to functionalize pyridine and diazine heterocycles, which are central to how many pharmaceutical agents function. However, it is challenging to make the types of derivatives required in drug-discovery campaigns using existing chemical methods.

McNallys group has developed a suite of new reactions that are being used by medicinal chemistry groups across the country to discover new pharmaceuticals. His groups flagship project, published in Science in 2018, is a new method to link two pyridine heterocycles together using phosphorus intermediates instead of late-transition metals such as palladium.

With the funds from the Sloan fellowship, his group plans to extend these methods for protein bioconjugation a way of forming chemical bonds to specific amino acid residues in biomolecules as a means of studying and treating diseases.

McNally, who joined the CSU faculty in 2014, was previously a Marie Curie International Fellow at Princeton University, where he worked on high-throughput screening methods for new chemical reactions. He has an M.A. and M.Sci. in natural sciences, and a Ph.D. in chemistry, all from University of Cambridge.

According to the Sloan Foundation, past Sloan Research Fellows include many towering figures in the history of science, including physicists Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, and game theorist John Nash. Fifty fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 69 have received the National Medal of Science, and 19 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, including every winner since 2007.

Fellows for 2020 were drawn from more than 60 institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Fellowships are open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics. Sloan Research Fellows are nominated by fellow scientists, and winners are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars. Nearly 1,000 researchers are nominated each year for 126 fellowships.

Winners receive a two-year, $75,000 award, which can be spent to advance the fellows research.

At CSU, 16 researchers have received Sloan Fellowships in the last five decades, all within the College of Natural Sciences. Recent winners were Jamie Neilson in 2017 and Amber Krummel in 2015, also both faculty in the Department of Chemistry.

Follow this link:
Chemist Andy McNally honored with 2020 Sloan Research Fellowship - Source

Neil Wolfman, a chemistry professor at Boston College, died on Wednesday, according to a family-run blog that provided updates on Wolfmans health to family, friends, and former students. Wolfman went on medical leave from BC at the beginning of the spring semester after being diagnosed with cancer, returning briefly in the beginning of the fall semester.

Wolfman, who taught general chemistry, instructed many students throughout his years at BC, particularly those in the chemistry department or on the pre-med track. Wolfman also worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry at Pfizer Inc. for 29 years.

The son of Holocaust survivors, Wolfman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in the Bronx. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science in New York City, he attended New York University as an undergraduate before moving on to Cornell University for his masters degree and a doctorate in biophysical chemistry.

In a 2014 interview with The Heights, Wolfman described his motto: Try to do the right thing.

I cant say that Im successful in every single circumstance, Wolfman said in the interview. I want to try to do the right thing. I feel that my job here goes beyond teaching the class. I feel like my job here is to enable the success of as many kids as possible, however they define success. I can get no greater satisfaction than that.

A funeral service for Wolfman will be held in Nashville on Sunday afternoon, in addition to a memorial service to be held in Boston in February, according to the blog post. His family asks that pictures of Wolfman, kind words, and memories be sent to the family at [emailprotected]

This article will be updated.

Featured Image by Emily Sadeghian / Heights Archives

Related

Visit link:
Chemistry Professor Neil Wolfman Died Wednesday The Heights - The Heights

Adam/Flickr

As part of a special issue on chemicals for tomorrows Earth, weve got two green chemistry stories. First, host Sarah Crespi talks with contributing correspondent Warren Cornwell about how a company came up with a replacement for the popular can lining material bisphenol Aand then recruited knowledgeable critics to test its safety.

Sarah is also joined by Beate Escher of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the University of Tbingen to discuss ways to trace complex mixtures of humanmade chemicals in the environment. They talk about how new technologies can help detect these mixtures, understand their toxicity, and eventually connect their effects on the environment, wildlife, and people.

Read more in the special issue on chemicals for tomorrows Earth.

This weeks episode was edited by Podigy.

Listen to previous podcasts.

About the Science Podcast

Download a transcript (PDF)

See the rest here:
Getting bisphenol A out of food containers, and tracing minute chemical mixtures in the environment - Science Magazine

So much for Alex Caruso, All-Star.

The voting was fun while it lasted for Laker fans and Caruso, aka The Bald Mamba, who found himself No. 4 among Western Conference guards going into last weeks final tabulation.

No, really. That was No.4 in the entire conference, ahead of stars like Russell Westbrook and Devin Booker.

Light-hearted as it was, it was an authentic folk movement, as opposed to the modern practice of teams getting out the vote. The Lakers have never bothered to do that as one of the least-active marketing organizations with star-studded teams that have long sold themselves.

Happily for what legitimacy the NBAs selection process retains, Caruso dropped off the leaderboard in the final voting.

Nevertheless, it was a huge compliment for a 25-year-old journeyman with a look all his own (thinning hair, white headband) a South Bay Laker a year ago who wasnt on the NBA roster to stay until March.

He wasnt even a star in the G League, No. 7 in scoring on the team behind journeymen Scott Machado, Travis Wear, Johnathan Williams and Spencer Hawes, as well as NBA roster players Svi Mykhailiuk and Moe Wagner and, worse for a new-era point guard, making only 27 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Making a quantum leap into Lakers lore, the Bald Mamba now plays an efficient 19 minutes per game, making 36 percent of his 3-point tries and is No. 2 in the entire NBA in points allowed per possession, suggesting he knows where hes supposed to be in Coach Frank Vogels defensive scheme and plays alongside teammates who do, too.

(LeBron James is No. 1 in points allowed per possession, suggesting he wasnt really kidding when he was caught on camera joking with a referee about going back to defending.)

Of course, its not Carusos quiet contribution that excited blas Lakers fans into voting for him, but his where-did-that-come-from dunks.

The excitement isnt the point. The efficiency is, not just Carusos but the entire rosters.

Unlike last season, which looked promising but fell flat with James and a young, talented supporting cast of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, these newly assembled Lakers featured a new coaching staff and nine new players as the consensus No.5 pick in the West. But they were cohesive from the start.

The teams picked ahead of them all looked more cohesive, none more than the Clippers, who upgraded from Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and already had Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell the top scoring bench duo in NBA history in their current roles, along with Patrick Beverley, Ivica Zubac, Landry Shamet and JaMychal Green.

Showing you never can really tell, the Clippers are now in the midst of a crisis, with Harrell earlier this month ripping unnamed teammates which insiders took as a complaint about Leonard and George getting preferential treatment and Coach Doc Rivers ripping Trez the next day for telling so much to the press.

Then there were the Lakers.

It would probably be irresponsible to think its all going to happen overnight and that were going to start the season with great cohesiveness, Vogel said in training camp.

There are going to be bumps in the road, there are nights where it might be ugly and guys are getting to know each other on both ends of the floor figuring out what their role is going to be on this team.

Surprise!

Their stars meshed, predictable as that was with bigs and perimeter players a natural fit, and especially these two.

James, a dominating perimeter player, had never played alongside a big the caliber of Davis.

Davis, the most versatile of bigs and a close friend of LeBron, who had convinced A.D. to come had never played alongside a perimeter player like LeBron.

The surprise was how the role players slipped seamlessly into place with most signed off the waiver wire none for more than two seasons as the team set up its salary cap for 2021 (Giannis Antetokounmpo, anyone?).

The division of duties turned out to be natural, too.

Stars: Whether your players fit or not, youve got to be good enough. These are the players who decide that and have. James and Davis do everything, starting with the 6-foot-9, 250-pound LeBron playing point guard and leading the NBA at 10.8 assists per game.

Bigs: JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard arent all-around players, but they are big, physical shot-blockers. With A.D., theyre perfect for Vogels protect-the-rim scheme that has them No. 1 in blocks and No.4 in defensive rating.

Bench scorer: Thats Kuzma, in the one part that hasnt worked so well.

Kuzma has been great in six starts, averaging 20 points in 32 minutes but averages just 12 points with 0.8 assists in 23 minutes when he comes off the bench.

Nor do metrics suggest hes a great defender. Of the 10 Lakers playing 15 minutes or more, hes No. 9 in points allowed per possession.

More minutes would help. Of course, so would better defense.

Everyone else: The other five Lakers averaging 15 minutes Caruso, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo are all-around role players, solid one-on-one defenders who carry out their assignments. None of them is J.J. Redick, but they move the ball and knock down enough of the open shots James and Davis create for them.

Of the five, only Bradley, at 26 percent, is shooting below 35 percent on 3-pointers, and hes a career 36 percent shooter from the arc.

Not that its hard to see when cohesion goes out the window, like a team president who says hes not having fun.

For years after Bryant blew out his Achilles, the Lakers werent good enough to make the playoffs. Last season they were but melted down.

Embattled Lakers GM Rob Pelinka just got a new contract for bringing in the right guys as well as Davis, after the horrors of last spring when the departing Magic Johnson repeatedly bashed him as a backstabber.

Even as Johnson railed at Pelinka, Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss posted a picture of her and Magic at dinner presumably to reassure Laker fans, but actually suggesting she didnt know whom to turn to.

So much for the bad old days, at least for the moment.

In the biggest surprise of all, with the players, coaches and front office all fitting, its a new, cohesive day in Lakerdom.

Read more:
Heisler: Alex Caruso and the Lakers are acing chemistry - OCRegister

Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News has a story about the San Francisco Giants minor league woes. All of their affiliates are in last place at the moment and few if any of their prospects are advancing as quickly as the club would like to see.

One of the issues Baggarly identifies is the Giants poor track record in developing international talent, noting that no Giants player from a Latin American country who was originally signed by the Giants has played for the big league club this year (one,Reyes Moronta, spent one day on the 25-man roster but did not play). All of the others were acquired via trade or free agency.

Baggarly suggests that the relatively small number of Latin players on the Giants roster, and the fact that none of them came up through the Giants system together, may be impacting the Giants clubhouse. Here he calls back to a Johnny Cueto quote from April:

When I was with Kansas City, it was a team, I think, it was a very happy bunch because we had a lot of players from the Dominican, Cueto said through Spanish interpreter Erwin Higueros in April. The same with Cincinnati. But here, its different. As Latins, we like to get together kind of loud, and be a happy bunch. But here, you look around and everyone is on their own, just sitting at their locker, very quiet, just by themselves. Thats just how they are.

I had missed that quote when it first came up in April. It seems tangential at best to Baggarlys thesis about the Giants developmental issues, but I find it interesting to consider all the same in light of the Giants sitting in last place.

On one level, obviously, it comes off as a negative comment. After all, when a player says that one club he played for felt like a team and that current club feels like something different, that has to be taken as a negative, yes? To Cueto, the Giants, dont feel like a team and thats never something good to hear from a ballplayer.

Still, its worth noting that the quote came from a couple of months ago. At the time Cueto said that, the season was young, the Giants were expected to be pretty good and, as such, it could be taken as a mostly neutral observation, not some comment about why the Giants arent playing well. Indeed, if the Giants were in first place now it could be seen, perhaps, as almost a compliment. The Giants are a serious, business-minded bunch who let their playing do the talking!

But here it is, reappearing now, when the Giants stink, both at the big league level and in the minors, and it is clearly being offered as a potential reason for why they stink. A lack of Latin players perhaps harming their on-field talent, sure, but also harming clubhouse chemistry and making AT&T Park a dreary place to be.

I dont have a view about the Giants talent base or their clubhouse chemistry as I was only in it for, like, an hour back in Scottsdale in March. But I do find it interesting how player comments can, depending on what is going on with the club on the field at any given time, be seen in many different ways. And how, as always, the conversation about clubhouse chemistry is so often a backwards-looking thing.

View original post here:
Does the Giants' lack of in-house Latin players impact clubhouse ... - Yahoo Sports

The average annual salary for chemists in the U.S. is about $30,000 more than the average salary for ... [+] all occupations in the country.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, there are currently 95,800 chemist and materials scientist jobs in the United States, with chemists comprising 84,560 of them, according to the BLSs Occupational Employment Statistics. This popular science career is projected to grow by 4% from 2018 to 2018, which is about as fast as the average rate for all occupations in the U.S.

Using occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we've analyzed and compiled an overview of the average chemist salary by state in the U.S. Read on for a full breakdown of where chemists make the most money, and where they're making the least.

The national average annual wage of a chemist is $83,850, according to the BLS, which is over $30,000 more than the average annual salary for all occupations, $51,960. However, that average salary is for the U.S. overall, which hides significant differences depending on geography, such as the state you reside in.

Below is a list of the top-10 highest-paying states for chemists:

Maryland easily takes the No. 1 spot, boasting an average chemist salary of $116,060, up 7.2% from 2013, when it was $108,290. In fact, Maryland is the only state where chemists have earned more than $100,000 on average every year from 2013 to 2018. Meanwhile, No. 3 Virginia has seen impressive growth in chemist salaries. The average chemist salary there increased by 22.1%, from $80,800 in 2013 to $98,670 in 2018.

Related: Heres How Much Money Mechanical Engineers Make In Every State

The bottom-10 states where chemists make the least money tend to be ones less densely populated, and often laying in the U.S. South, Midwest or the Mountain states of the West. Check them out below, with No. 1 being the lowest-paying state:

For some of these states, the prospects for chemists is actually looking better, despite current below-average salaries. For instance, in South Dakota, the average chemist salary has risen by 16.6% over the last five years, from $53,640 in 2013 to $62,550 in 2018. In West Virginia too, chemist salaries have experienced healthy growth (17.5%) since 2013.

Below youll find the average annual wage for chemists in all 50 states from 2013 to 2018. The state with the greatest growth in chemist salaries is Hawaii. From $59,420 in 2013, the average chemist salary grew by 28.7%, reaching $76,480 in 2018. Texas comes in second in this regard, with wages growing 27.9% from 2013 to 2018.

More: Heres How Much Money Civil Engineers Make In Every State

View post:
Heres How Much Money Chemists Make In Every State - Forbes

Current Tools

Traditional approaches and tools available for the risk assessment of safe and efficacious drugs have been based on measuring the parent drug in plasmaboth in animal models and humans. This often does not provide a sufficient level of information to the scientist. It is recognized that most drug targets are not in plasma, and determining the relevant tissue distribution of not only the parent drug but also its metabolites would provide much greater understanding of pharmacology and toxicology.

The current best practice methods of quantitative whole body autoradiography (QWBA) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) put the emphasis on tissues rather than plasma, but still fall short of providing the complete picture. Both techniques have challenges. QWBA is the technique of choice for determining drug distribution,1 and the data generated is often primarily provided in new drug regulatory submissions. The technique, however, presents a composite of the total radioactivity present and cannot distinguish parent drug from metabolite. Thus it has severe limitations for researchers looking for insight into biochemical pathways and mechanisms.

LC-MS analysis is performed on extracts from tissue homogenates. This type of analysis does not elucidate any spatial information and, just as importantly, can be misleading. For example, if an analyte in the tissue is highly localized, the homogenization process could potentially dilute it below the limit of detection (LOD). Alternatively, when an analyte is determined from tissue homogenate, a researcher could draw incorrect conclusions about toxicity, because the analyte is presumed to be evenly present throughout the tissue when in fact it may be highly localized.

See original here:
Magazine Integrating Biology and Chemistry for De... - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Mar 1, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) is defended by New Orleans Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca (42) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Draft Lottery 2017: Louisvilles Donovan Mitchell, Arizonas Lauri Markkanen among projected Pistons picks in latest mock drafts by Justin Prince

Happy 60th Birthday to Pistons Legend Bill Laimbeer by Greg Tonge

This past regular season for the Detroit Pistonshas been described as a disappointmentplenty of times, leading to afeeling that some major changes are coming. If Andre Drummond was in charge, he would do the opposite of that.

The Pistons center told reporters he feels the franchise should stay pat during itsnew logo unveiling Tuesday, according to theDetroit Free Presss Vince Ellis.

Drummond explained that even though the team missed the playoffs with a 37-45 record this year, he feels the teams main core deserves another chance:

I dont think we need to do any changes, Drummond told reporters. We had a lot of bumps in the road last season with different things going on, and it took everybody out of sync.

The Pistons had suffered from injury issues right from the start, including losing starting point guard Reggie Jackson for their first 21 games due to knee tendinitis. Detroit had alsostruggled to gain any momentum offensively throughout the year, finishing 26th in offensive efficiency in the NBA, according to basketball-reference.com.

Drummond had a down year in 2016-17, averaging 13.6 points and 13.8 rebounds per game in 81 appearances. Both of those averages are lower than his all-star campaign the previous season. He also took about two shots less per game and had a career-low in Player Efficiency Rating with 20.9.

The veterans comments are similar to what Pistons head coach and team president Stan Van Gundy told reporters last month during the teams end of season press conference.

Van Gundy said at the time that he felt the Pistons needed to make some tweaks this offseason. He explained the roster was built with Jacksons pick-and-roll abilities in mind,but with him missing 30 games total, that never had the group they had in mind.

Drummond also feels the team needs to work on improving its chemistry together for next season. He hopes to spend time with his fellow teammates throughout the off-season:

With this summer coming up, we have to do a better job staying connected the more stuff we do together, the better our camaraderie will be, Drummond said.Right now is the most important time for our team, to rest, get ourselves together, come together collectively and come up with what we need to do together.

With Drummond appearing to take a bigger leadership role heading into this summer, it will be interesting to see how the Pistons offseason goes and if their chemistry does improve enough to get them back into the postseason.

Go here to see the original:
Drummond: No changes needed, Pistons need to improve team ... - PistonPowered

Subscribe today for full access on your desktop, tablet, and mobile device.

Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

The University of Guam will hold a Chemistry Forum on April 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the CLASS Lecture Hall.

Try Another

Audio CAPTCHA

Image CAPTCHA

Help

CancelSend

A link has been sent to your friend's email address.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Pacific Daily News , news@guampdn.com Published 3:03 p.m. ChT April 14, 2017 | Updated 9 hours ago

High school students participate in the University of Guam's annual Chemistry Titration Competition in March.(Photo: Courtesy of UOG)

The University of Guam's chemistry program will host a Chemistry Forum from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.April 19 in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences'Lecture Hall.

Guest speaker Frank Ishizaki will tellhis island chemistry story, according to a UOG news release. Ishizaki is one of the universitys 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award winners and was the first Triton to graduate from UOG with a chemistry degree.

Ishizakiis a retired FBI special agentand has served as chief of police, Guam Homeland Security adviserand the director of the Department of Corrections.

The forum also will provideinformation on updates for UOGs chemistry program. A panel of chemistry professionals will discuss opportunities for graduates of the program, the news release stated.

LEARN MORE

READ MORE:

Workshop to train coral restoration

UOG Press editor hopes more local literature will be used in schools

Read or Share this story: http://www.guampdn.com/story/news/2017/04/14/uog-hold-chemistry-forum/100453838/

1:14

0:56

1:24

1:15

1:06

1:09

1:19

0:58

1:01

1:34

0) { %>

0) { %>

Read more from the original source:
UOG will hold Chemistry Forum - Pacific Daily News

Lake Country 10:17 a.m. CT April 13, 2017

Nature Hill Intermediate School students took three of the four top places in a statewide chemistry competition. The winner was Nature Hill eighth-grader Ryan Swanson who will go on to the national competition June 19.(Photo: Scott Ash)

Students from Nature Hill Intermediate School swept three of the four top places in the 2017 Wisconsin You Be The Chemist State Challenge, and one of the studentswill go on to represent Wisconsin in the national chemistry competition.

Eighth-grader Ryan Swanson has won an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., where he willcompete June 19.

The Wisconsin competition, held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wassponsored by the Alpha Tau chapter of Sigma Alpha Sororityof Madisonand Brenntag Great LakesLLCof Wauwatosa.

Taking second place wasBrendan Mortenson-Chrisman of Nature Hill Intermediate School, third was Elizabeth Scott of Holy Family Homeschoolersand fourth was Mike Krueger of Nature Hill Intermediate School. Each of the top four finalists was awarded a plaque, medaland gift card.

All correctly answered dozens of chemistry and general science questions over multiple rounds of competition.

The challenge was developed by the Chemical Educational Foundation. Students in fifth through eighth grades answered questions for prizes at local and state levels.

Each national competition participant will receive an advanced-level chemistry kit, as well as other prizes and gifts. The first- through fourth-place winners will also receive scholarships totaling $18,500.

Mike Schick, a chemist at one of the sponsors, Brenntag Great Lakes, paid tribute to Nature Hill Intermediate School Chemistry Club teacher Tim Bohlman.

"Tim has done an excellent job teaching fifth- to eighth-grade students to sharpen their chemistry knowledge in preparation for the competition, Schick said in a news release announcing the state winners.

Read or Share this story: http://www.lakecountrynow.com/story/news/local/oconomowoc-focus/2017/04/13/oconomowocs-nature-hill-intermediate-school-students-win-state-chemistry-competition/100381724/

Read more:
Oconomowoc's Nature Hill Intermediate School students win state chemistry competition - Lake Country Now

Trump emphasized the size of his "beautiful piece of chocolate cake." FOX Business Network

Trump mistakenly said he told Xi that the missiles were headed to Iraq, but quickly corrected himself when prompted by Bartiromo.

"So what happens is I said we've just launched 59 missiles heading to Iraq and I wanted you to know this. And he was eating his cake. And he was silent," said Trump.

Bartiromo piped in, "to Syria?"

"Yes. Heading toward Syria," Trump continued. "In other words, we've just launched 59 missiles heading toward Syria."

Trump said Xi paused and then he asked his interpreter to repeat the information.

"I didn't think that was a good sign," Trump said, but "he said to me, anybody that uses gases you could almost say or anything else but anybody that was so brutal and uses gases to do that young children and babies, it's OK. He was OK."

The dessert diplomacy seems to have sweetened Trump's relationship with Xi.

Earlier in the interview, Trump told Bartiromo: "We had great chemistry."

He said their meetings were supposed to last for just 10 to 15 minutes, but eventually went on for two and three hours. "I mean, we understand each other," Trump said.

Trump said the first topic the two leaders discussed was North Korea, and that he appreciated Xi's deep knowledge.

"The first thing I brought up was North Korea. I said you've got to help us with North Korea, because we can't allow it. And it's not good for you. And you have a tremendous power because of trade," Trump said. "Now, he then explains thousands of years of history with Korea. Not that easy. In other words, not as simple as people would think. They've had tremendous conflict with Korea over the years."

Trump's warmth toward the leader of world's third largest economy is a sea change from his rhetoric during the election campaign when he frequently accused of China of

But on Wednesday Trump told the Wall Street Journal that his administration

Chinese observers said the change of tone was interesting, but one to watch.

"Chemistry is important, but it is not the only thing that matters," Victor Gao, a Chinese international affairs expert who worked as a translator for the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, told NBC News in Beijing. "What truly matters is how the two leaders position themselves in terms of their national interests and how they bring their own views and strategic visions about peace and war and economic developments."

However, Professor Jin Canrong, an expert on China-U.S. relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said chemistry was "very important because it can help the two leaders reduce miscalculation."

That could prove useful in dealing with the nuclear-capable North Korea.

Here is the original post:
Donald Trump Shares Chocolate Cake and 'Great Chemistry' With China's Xi - NBCNews.com