image: ACS News Service PressPac view more
Credit: American Chemical Society
Here is the latest American Chemical Society (ACS) News Service Weekly press package (PressPac) with reports selected from 35 major peer-reviewed journals and Chemical & Engineering News. With more than 160,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society. Please cite the individual journal, or the American Chemical Society, as the source of this information.
ACS NEWS SERVICE — July 11, 2007
Weekly PressPac — ALL CONTENT IS FOR IMMEDIATE USE EXCEPT ARTICLE #5 (EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, July 16, 2007)
PressPac Archive: http://www.chemistry.org/news/presspac.html
In This Edition:
- Red blood cells “talk” to platelets, with implications for diabetes
- Healthful compounds in tomatoes increase over time in organic fields
- New process promises to reduce costs of a clean-coal technology
- Preening over new technology for monitoring PCBs in seabirds
- Tin whiskers grow into a multi-billion-dollar threat to electronics products
Journalists’ Resources:
- “Huh, a what?” Find out “what” in a Chemistry Glossary
- New ACS Annual Report
- ACS Updates: Forensic Science; Emerging Water Contaminants
- Science Elements: ACS Audio Clips
- News, features, background, sources from ACS’ 233rd National Meeting
Mark Your Calendars:
- 234th ACS National Meeting, August 19-23, Boston, MA
This information is intended for your personal use in news gathering and reporting and should not be distributed to others. Anyone using advance ACS News Service Weekly Press Package information for stocks or securities dealing may be guilty of insider trading under the federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Red blood cells “talk” to platelets, with implications for diabetes
Analytical Chemistry
Amid growing indications that the traditional image of red blood cells (RBCs) falls short of reality, chemists are reporting evidence that RBCs are key participants in a communication system among cells in the bloodstream. Messaging between RBCs and platelets (blood components that cause clotting) they say, could explain the effects of a drug suggested for use in preventing heart attacks and other complications of diabetes.
In a study scheduled for the July 13 issue of ACS’ Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal, Dana Spence and colleagues note that RBCs once were regarded mainly as oxygen carriers. Recent research, however, shows that red cells also release ATP, a molecule that is the source of energy for all life processes, as they deform while they travel through small blood vessels.
By observing blood flow through artificial blood vessels in laboratory experiments, Spence’s group now has established that the ATP signals blood platelets to produce nitric oxide (NO). That messenger molecule has a variety of functions, including dilating blood vessels. When released from platelets, NO helps regulate platelets’ activity, preventing excessive clotting. Disruption of the RBC-platelet communications system may play a role in diabetic complications such as heart disease and strokes, the researchers said. The new study also found that Trental, reported to have beneficial effects in preventing certain diabetic complications, may work by boosting ATP release from red blood cells.
ARTICLE #1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Red Blood Cell Stimulation of Platelet Nitric Oxide Production Indicated by Quantitative Monitoring of the Communication between Cells in the Bloodstream”
DOWNLOAD PDF
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac0706271.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/html/ac0706271.html
CONTACT:
Dana M. Spence, Ph.D.
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan 48202
Phone: 313-577-8660
Fax: 313-577-2942
Email: dspence@chem.wayne.edu
ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Healthful compounds in tomatoes increase over time in organic fields
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Levels of flavonoids increase over time in crops grown in organically farmed fields, according to a rare long-term study scheduled for publication in the July 18 issue of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. Other research has suggested that consumption of flavonoids may protect against cancer, heart disease, and other age-related diseases.
In the new study, Alyson E. Mitchell and colleagues compared levels of key flavonoids in tomatoes harvested over a 10-year period from two matched fields — one farmed organically and the other with conventional methods that included commercial fertilizers. The research focused on tomatoes because per capita consumption in the United States is so high, second only to potatoes. Researchers analyzed organic and conventional tomatoes that had been dried and archived under identical conditions from 1994 to 2004.
“The levels of flavonoids increased over time in samples from organic treatments, whereas the levels of flavonoids did not vary significantly in conventional treatments,” their report stated. Increases corresponded with the accumulation of soil organic matter in organic plots and with reduced fertilization rates. “Well-quantified changes in tomato nutrients over years in organic farming systems have not been reported previously.”
ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Ten-Year Comparison of the Influence of Organic and Conventional Crop Management Practices on the Content of Flavonoids in Tomatoes”
DOWNLOAD PDF
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/asap/pdf/jf070344+.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jafcau/asap/html/jf070344+.html
CONTACT:
Alyson E. Mitchell, Ph.D.
University of California-Davis
Davis, California 95616
Phone: 530-752-7926
Fax: 530-752-4759
Email: aemitchell@ucdavis.edu
ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New process promises to reduce costs of a clean-coal technology
Energy & Fuels
Scientists in China are reporting an advance in clean-coal technology that could substantially reduce the cost of producing clean-burning fuels from underground deposits of coal. In a study scheduled for the July 18 issue of ACS’s Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly publication, Lanhe Yang and colleagues focus on coal gasification, a process for making gaseous fuels, similar to natural gas, from coal.
They describe 40 years of failed efforts to tap the potential of shaftless underground coal gasification, the most economical kind of underground gasification, in which laborers are not required to work below the surface to carve out chambers in which coal is converted into gas. Building those gasification galleries is expensive and has made underground coal gasification unattractive economically
In the study, researchers report development and successful field-tests in a coal mine in Jiangsu Province of a new method that overcomes a major obstacle to shaftless underground gasification. It involves use of an improved method for “pushing through,” for igniting coal seams quickly and converting coal into gas. The study shows that the new method makes it feasible to conduct shaftless coal gasification in a more economical fashion, they report.
ARTICLE #3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Experimental Study of Shaftless Underground Gasification in Thin High-Angle Coal Seams”
DOWMLOAD PDF
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/enfuem/asap/pdf/ef700231p.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/enfuem/asap/html/ef700231p.html
CONTACT:
Lanhe Yang, Ph.D.
College of Resources and Geosciences
China University of Mining and Technology
Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China 221008
Phone: 86-516-83885762
Fax: 86-516-83590998
Email: lanheyang@126.com
ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Preening over new technology for monitoring PCBs in seabirds
Environmental Science & Technology
A new noninvasive test could substantially increase scientists’ ability to monitor seabirds for contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other persistent organic pollutants (POPs), scientists in Japan are reporting in an article scheduled for the July 15 issue of ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.
In the report, Hideshige Takada and colleagues explain that existing methods for taking samples from living birds have sharply limited efforts to monitor PCB levels. Blood sampling, for instance, requires trained personnel and subjects birds — especially chicks and small adults — to potentially fatal stress. Collection of bird droppings is noninvasive, but droppings must be refrigerated and shipped to a testing lab.
Researchers long have eyed oil secreted from the preen gland (located at the base of the tail feathers), which birds use to waterproof feathers and ward off parasites. However, data validating preen oil’s usefulness had been available for only a single species of bird. In the new study, scientists report extending that knowledge to 13 species. “This could dramatically increase the availability of seabird samples,” the study states. “The combination of this technology in ecological research with POP analysis of preen oil will increase our knowledge of the global distribution and transport of POPs, their ecological impact, and the ecology and behaviors of seabirds.”
ARTICLE #4 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Evaluation of Noninvasive Approach for Monitoring PCB Pollution of Seabirds Using Preen Gland Oil”
DOWNLOAD PDF
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/pdf/es0701863.pdf
DOWNLOAD HTML
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es0701863.html
CONTACT:
Hideshige Takada, Ph.D.
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Tokyo, Japan
Phone: 81-42-367-5825
Fax: 81-42-360-8264
Email: shige@cc.tuat.ac.jp
ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, July 16, 2007
Tin whiskers grow into a multi-billion-dollar threat to electronics products
Chemical & Engineering News
Wisps of tin too small to see with the unaided eye are causing mammoth, multi-billion-dollar problems for the global electronics industry and sometimes jeopardizing human lives, according to an article (http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/85/8527gov1.html) scheduled for the July 16 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine. Called “tin whiskers,” these needle-like outgrowths form on tin solder and coatings in electronic circuitry and can cause electrical shorts that fry circuit boards.
“Just as a tiny blood clot can fell a seemingly hale human, a tin ‘whisker’ can bring an electronic device to its knees,” writes C&EN senior editor Sophie L. Rovner. “Electrical shorts caused by growth of these needle-like crystals have knocked out guided missiles and communications satellites, shut down a nuclear power plant, and caused heart pacemakers to fail.”
Tin “whiskers” have been a technological headache for more than 60 years, the article notes. The problem is growing more serious, however, due to increased societal dependence on electronics devices and government regulations limiting use of lead, which discourages whisker formation.
Rovner describes the massive scope of the tin whisker problem, and the research counter offense being launched by scientists.
ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, July 16, 2007
“Stopping the Tin Whisker Stalkers”
This story will be available on July 16 at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/government/85/8527gov1.html
FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michael Bernstein
ACS News Service
Phone: 202-872-6042
Fax: 202-872-4370
Email: m_bernstein@acs.org
Journalists’ Resources
General Chemistry Glossary http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/glossary.shtml
New ACS Annual Report
The 2006 ACS annual report, A New Vision at Work, can be a valuable resource for journalists trying to keep pace with chemistry and the multiple fields of science that involve chemistry. The report features a series of commentaries by chemists, including Nobel Laureate Robert H. Grubbs, on chemistry’s role in working toward better medications, more nutritious food, sources of renewable energy, and other innovations. The newly published report is available for reading and downloading at: www.chemistry.org/2006annualreport.html
ACS Updates: Hot research that can be a treasure trove for journalists seeking news and feature topics, or trying to keep current in rapidly-evolving scientific disciplines.
Forensic Science
Concise summaries of articles on forensic science published from 2005-2006 in a dozen major journals, courtesy of ACS’ Analytical Chemistry
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/html/ac070871s.html
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac070871s.pdf
Emerging Water Contaminants
Summaries of key research articles on water analysis and emerging contaminants published mainly from 2005-2006.
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/html/ac070719q.html
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/ancham/asap/pdf/ac070719q.pdf
Science Elements: ACS Audio Clips
http://acswebcontent.acs.org/communications/chicago07/podcasts/index.html
News, features, background, sources from ACS National Meeting 1News media resources from the March 25-29 meeting in Chicago include more than 9,000 abstracts of technical presentations and more than 1,000 non-technical summaries in a searchable database, plus press releases, podcasts and other materials. If you are researching or sourcing stories on chemistry-related topics, this resource can be a treasure trove accessible at: http://oasys.acs.org/acs/233nm/news321/.
Mark Your Calendars
234th ACS National Meeting, August 19-23 Boston, MA
News media registration is now open for the 234th ACS national meeting, which will be held in Boston, MA on August 19-23, 2007 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and more than a dozen hotels across the city. More than 16,000 scientists and others are expected to attend this scientific extravaganza. There will be more than 9,500 presentations on new discoveries in chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, and other fields. The theme: “Biotechnology for Health and Wellness.”
http://chemistry.org/news/acs_media_registration.html
The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress 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.