Category Archives: Chemistry

30-08-2012 20:28 University of Tennessee chemistry professor Al Hazari gives a science demonstration to kindergarten and first grade students at Green Magnet Math & Science Academy Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.

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Chemistry professor Al Hazari gives science demonstration at Green Magnet - Video

31-08-2012 15:43 Event date: July 3, 2012. Some coffee tastes better than others, but how can farmers ensure that their coffee tastes as delicious as possible? Join Seattle University's Susan Jackels to discover how she trains local coffee farmers in Nicaragua to use chemistry and scientific investigation to produce quality coffee.

Link:
Better Coffee Through Chemistry | QUEEN ANNE SCIENCE CAFE - Video

By Joginder Tuteja, Glamsham Editorial

"There are some real good scenes that Emraan and Vidya enjoy in the film. Many complained that in THE DIRTY PICTURE, none of the two actors could actually go all the way since their characters hated each other and only fell in love towards the last few scenes. Now their chemistry has been nurtured fully in GHANCHAKKAR which is expected to be a madcap entertainer," informs a source connected to the film.

This is pretty much apparent in the shoot that the duo has enjoyed so far. While they can be heard exchanging notes about their earlier work, they are all the more excited about going all the way in GHANCHAKKAR, something that they had missed out in their last hit together.

A common friend adds, "In GHANCHAKKAR it is all the more magical. It is a very different zone that Emraan and Vidya are exploring and the chemistry is very unusual too."

When contacted, Emraan confessed that it was indeed phenomenal to get back with Vidya after a hiatus. "Just a few scenes that we did together in THE DIRTY PICTURE were enough to make people say - 'Silk should not die, she has finally found true love'. I guess that was the beauty of our pairing in the film when even less was more. Now with GHANCHAKKAR, there should be much more in the offing for audience."

Guess after the heavy duty films that both Emraan (JANNAT 2, RAAZ 3, SHANGHAI) and Vidya (KAHAANI) have done of late, letting their hair down for some 'ghanchakkar' moments would only serve them better.

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Emraan, Vidya to have sizzling chemistry in GHANCHAKKAR

ScienceDaily (Aug. 30, 2012) Up to 4 percent of the methane on Earth comes from the ocean's oxygen-rich waters, but scientists have been unable to identify the source of this potent greenhouse gas. Now researchers report that they have found the culprit: a bit of "weird chemistry" practiced by the most abundant microbes on the planet.

The findings appear in the journal Science.

The researchers who made the discovery did not set out to explain ocean geochemistry. They were searching for new antibiotics. Their research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, explores an unusual class of potential antibiotic agents, called phosphonates, already in use in agriculture and medicine.

Many microbes produce phosphonates to thwart their competitors. Phosphonates mimic molecules the microbes use, but tend to be more resistant to enzymatic breakdown. The secret of their success is the durability of their carbon-phosphorus bond.

"We're looking at all kinds of antibiotics that have this carbon-phosphorus bond," said University of Illinois microbiology and Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) professor William Metcalf, who led the study with chemistry and IGB professor Wilfred van der Donk. "So we found genes in a microbe that we thought would make an antibiotic. They didn't. They made something different altogether."

The microbe was Nitrosopumilus maritimus, one of the most abundant organisms on the planet and a resident of the oxygen-rich regions of the open ocean. When scanning microbial genomes for promising leads, Benjamin Griffin, a postdoctoral researcher in Metcalf's lab, noticed that N. maritimus had a gene for an enzyme that resembled other enzymes involved in phosphonate biosynthesis. He saw that the microbe also contained genes to make a molecule, called HEP, which is an intermediate in phosphonate biosynthesis.

To determine whether N. maritimus was actually producing a desirable phosphonate antibiotic, chemistry postdoctoral researcher Robert Cicchillo cloned the gene for the mysterious enzyme, expressed it in a bacterium (E. coli), and ramped up production of the enzyme. When the researchers added HEP to the enzyme, the chemical reaction that ensued produced a long sought-after compound, one that could explain the origin of methane in the aerobic ocean.

Scientists had been searching for this compound, methylphosphonic acid, since 2008, when David Karl at the University of Hawaii, Edward DeLong at MIT and their colleagues published an elegant -- yet unproven -- hypothesis to explain how methane was arising in the aerobic ocean. The only microbes known to produce methane are anaerobes, unable to tolerate oxygen. And yet the aerobic ocean is saturated with methane.

To explain this "methane paradox," Karl and DeLong noted that many aerobic marine microbes host an enzyme that can cleave the carbon-phosphorus bond. If that bond were embedded in a molecule with a single carbon atom, methylphosphonic acid, one of the byproducts of this cleavage would be methane. Karl and DeLong even showed that incubation of seawater microbes with methylphosphonic acid led to methane production.

"There was just one problem with this theory," van der Donk said. "Methylphosphonic acid has never been detected in marine ecosystems. And based on known chemical pathways, it was difficult to see how this compound could be made without invoking unusual biochemistry."

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'Weird chemistry' by microbe is prime source of ocean methane

Newswise A Saint Marys College chemistry research team has developed an inexpensive paper-based tool that can screen for counterfeit pain relievers. The paper analytical device (PAD) is the size of a business card and offers results in less than five minutes. Its technology that could ferret out other fake drugs that promise cures for everything from malaria to the flu. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a serious problem in developing countries. The College has applied for a U.S. patent for the PAD and the patent is pending. Its the first time Saint Marys has applied for a patent.

Undergraduate researchers at this Catholic, liberal arts womens college modified existing paper-strip technology to develop PADs that screen for substandard tablets of Panadol. Panadol is one of multiple brand names used abroad for the pain and fever reliever acetaminophen. The Saint Marys research team led the Panadol project with researchers at the University of Notre Dame.

Panadol long has been among the most common, standard pain relieving drugs counterfeited around the world, said Saint 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 teama Saint Marys chemistry student and a recent alumnapresented their research results upon invitation in Philadelphia at the 244th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on August 19. ACS is the worlds largest scientific society. Click to see video of ACS press conference.

The tool that Barstis team developed uses a chemically treated paper that resembles a business card. To check for counterfeit ingredients, a person simply swipes the pill onto the PAD and dips the PAD in water. Color changes on the paper indicate both suspicious and authentic ingredients. The screening takes less than five minutes and can be done by consumers. This lies in stark contrast to high-tech analytical methods, which are expensive and time-consuming. For instance, instrumental testing of pharmaceuticals in labs in Kenya can take 3-6 months. Precious time can be lost as a patient waits for treatment.

Barstis said the counterfeit acetaminophen products are just the tip of the iceberg. Other fake pharmaceuticals are marketed as cures for infections, malaria, and the flu. Some contain acetaminophen, which reduces pain and fever, but do not contain the active ingredient to combat these diseases. Because the Panadol PAD checks for the presence of acetaminophen, it can be modified to screen the other drugs. Barstis teamin collaboration with chemistry, biochemistry, computer science, and industrial design teams at the University of Notre Dameis developing similar tools to identify counterfeit antibiotics, anti-malaria drugs, and Tamiflu, the influenza medication.

The World Health Organization estimates that 10-30 percent of the drug supply in developing countries consists of counterfeit medicines, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Problems have been documented, for instance, in Kenya, Nigeria, India, Vietnam, and Panama. Officials blame crime rings, which profit from selling pills that contain plaster of Paris, baking soda, or other inexpensive ingredients.

Presenting with Barstis at the ACS meeting were Elizabeth Bajema 11, the PADs project professional specialist, and student researcher Diana Vega Pantoja 13. Bajema, who graduated from Saint Marys in 2011, delayed graduate chemistry studies at Northwestern University to continue her work on the PADs project, this time as a College employee. Pantoja is a dual-degree engineering student working towards a degree in chemistry from Saint Marys and a chemical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame. Shes glad to be part of the PADs project and calls Barstis a mentor.

I cant imagine a more supportive, energetic, and demanding mentor than Doctor Barstis, said Pantoja, a dual degree student who is also earning an engineering degree at Notre Dame. She believes in us and pushes us to achieve our highest potential. She is passionate about getting women interested in science in general, not only chemistry.

About the American Chemical Society: The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 164,000 members, ACS is the worlds largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

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Chemistry Research Team Unveils New Device to Screen for Counterfeit Drugs

BCGC wins $3.4 million NSF training grant: Grad students encouraged to apply

August 29, 2012

The Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (BCGC) has been awarded a $3.4 million training grant by the National Science Foundation. The grant will train five to six Ph.D. students annually for five years in the principles of green chemistry and the design of clean energy technologies.

The goal of the Systems Approach to Green Energy (SAGE) grant is to develop a generation of scientists, engineers, toxicologists, policy-makers and business leaders who are well versed in the principles of green chemistry and clean energy. By using a systems approach, the program will foster technology innovations in solar energy, biofuel, and energy storage systems.

Photos by Roy Kaltschmidt/LBNL

Chris Vulpe, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Science and Toxicology, is the principal investigator for the grant. We will bring together disciplines that don't speak the same language, and not only get them to talk, but also work together toward creative solutions to our pressing need for sustainable energy solutions.

John Arnold, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, is a Co-PI. Other Co-PIs include Alastair Iles, an assistant professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management in the College of Natural Resources, and Thomas McKone of the campus Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health and a senior staff scientist in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratorys Environmental Energy Technologies Division.

The SAGE grant team is seeking grad students interested in incorporating green energy research into their graduate studies. They will be recruited from UC Berkeleys School of Public Health, the College of Chemistry, the College of Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business. SAGE students will participate in interdisciplinary courses related to green chemistry. They will also be advised by interdisciplinary dissertation committees.

Says BCGC Executive Director Marty Mulvihill, We anticipate that SAGE grad students will be fully funded for two years, starting in the spring of their first year and continuing through the fall of their third year. After that, SAGE students will be funded through traditional research and teaching assistant positions. SAGE students will also have access to funding from the National Science Foundations Competitive Innovation Fund.

The program will also feature K-12 outreach programs to Bay Area schools, and the option of studying at universities in England and Sweden that are developing similar green chemistry and sustainable energy programs.

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NSF awards $3.4 million to train students in “green chemistry”