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Triangle rallies relief for Asia
Sastry Pantula, statisticsNeeds batteries, not crayons
Mitzi Montoya-Weiss, marketing and innovation management
Under
the dome: Edwards' voting record decline
Institute for Emerging Issues
NCSU
paying 5.3M to buy apartment complex
North Carolina State University plans to buy an apartment complex called Western
Manor for $5.3 million from the family of Lee Debnam, according to Associate
Vice Chancellor Tim Luckadoo.
Lincoln
Co. Students Receive Degrees at NC State’s Fall Commencement
commencement
Letter
to the editor: For Worse
Charles Carlton, history
Photo:
The view from Raleigh
nuclear reactor
Dog
genome boosts cancer research
Matthew Breen, molecular biomedical sciences
Golden
opportunity to fight cancer
Matthew Breen, molecular biomedical sciences
Workers
retiring one step at a time
Steven Allen, College of Management
NASA
Study Finds Tiny Particles In Air May Influence Carbon Sinks
Dev Niyogi, marine, earth and atmospheric sciences
Zettacore
possible nanotech model
Jon Lindsey, chemistry
Model
Behavior
Keith Gubbins, chemical engineering
New
computer program predicts mycotoxin levels in corn
predicting mycotoxin levels in midwestern corn
Engineering
the perfect Christmas tree
Christmas tree research
Department
of Energy Announces the Award of 35 Cooperative Agreements with U.S.
Universities Totaling About $21 Million
On-line Fuel Failure Monitor for Fuel Testing and Monitoring of Gas Cooled
Very High Temperature Reactors
National
Evolutionary Synthesis Center launches in Durham, North Carolina
National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
Ex-Pittsburghers
find North Carolina easy to get used to
RTP
Triangle rallies relief for Asia
Dec. 28, 2004
News & Observer; Charlotte Observer; NBC 17; News 14 Charlotte; WCNC; Wilmington Morning Star; Winston-Salem Journal; WVEC, VA
By MICHAEL EASTERBROOK
© Copyright 2004
As the death toll from a monstrous tsunami continued to climb in Asia, Indian-Americans in the Triangle prayed for the dead Monday and urged members of the community to donate money to help disaster victims rebuild their lives.
"So many lives were lost in a matter of moments," said Seetha Bashyam, one of about 20 people who gathered Monday evening at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Cary to pray for the victims. "I wish I could be there to help them."
Most of the 400 members of the temple come from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu -- states in southern India devastated by tidal waves that raced across the Bay of Bengal after the earthquake struck on the other side of the bay early Sunday.
Bashyam has lived in the United States for 24 years and has five siblings on the coast of Tamil Nadu. None was hurt.
The service at the Cary temple, which used to be a house, was brief. After several minutes of silence for the victims, two robed Hindu priests chanted prayers.
Sury Vulimiri, another member of the temple who lives in Cary, spent hours Sunday trying to contact his parents, who live within miles of the coastline in Andhra Pradesh. Phone lines were busy all day; Vulimiri wasn't able to confirm that they were alive until late that night.
Leaders of the Hindu Society of North Carolina are asking their 900 members to donate any amount of money they can, said Ganga D. Sharma, the society's founder. The society runs a temple in Morrisville that will host a special prayer session for the disaster victims tonight.
"The temple is open to everyone -- Christians, Muslim and Hindus," Sharma said while sitting inside the marble-walled temple near a display of Hindu gods.
Sharma said news of the disaster caught him off guard: "All of a sudden, it was a bomb dropping."
Later this week, leaders of the N.C. Tamil Sangam -- an organization of people who speak Tamil in Southeast Asia -- will send letters to its 200 members requesting money for the victims.
They will give the money to the Federation of Tamils in North America, a Washington-based group that is organizing a relief effort, said Sakthivel Karthikeyan, president of the N.C. Tamil Sangam.
Most members of the group also come from Tamil Nadu. Karthikeyan said he hasn't heard of anyone who has lost loved ones in the tsunami. "It looks like all the Tamils here have their families secure," he said.
Leaders of the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Temple in Morrisville also are asking members to donate money. Most of the 20 families who are members of that temple come from Gujarat, a state in northern India near Pakistan.
Indian-Americans in the Triangle have raised large amounts of money for disaster relief in the past. In 2001, they gave $100,000 to the American Red Cross after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
As North Carolinians prayed and began to raise money for victims, people in India went about their days, skittish that an aftershock would send another wave rolling toward the coastline, said Sastry Pantula, head of the statistics department at N.C. State University, who is visiting India.
Pantula, his wife and 3-year-old daughter went to India this month for a vacation. Pantula -- who comes from India -- also plans to attend a three-day statistics conference that begins Wednesday in Hyderabad.
Speaking by phone from his family's house in Andhra Pradesh, Pantula said the local government is providing food and shelter to people whose homes were destroyed. Shortly after the tsunami hit India's coastline, Pantula went to a nearby beach to look.
He saw little damage. As he stood watching the ocean with hundreds of others, the tide surged in and receded several times, revealing a seabed speckled with rocks and boulders. No one was injured in those surges.
Two days before, Pantula was at a beach in Chennai -- a city in southern India, formerly called Madras, that was pummeled by the tsunami.
"We were glad we weren't there, but sad for the folks who got affected," said Pantula, who lives in Raleigh and was traveling with another Triangle family. "A lot of people died."
Dec. 27, 2004
News & Observer
By ROB CHRISTENSEN
© Copyright 2004
When U.S. Sen. John Edwards leaves office next week, he will leave with a
so-so voting attendance record -- good at the beginning, but poor as he pursued
the presidency.
Overall, Edwards had an 85 percent voting record during his six years of representing
North Carolina, according to Senate records.
During his first four years, Edwards rarely missed a vote. In 1999, Edwards made 314 of 317 votes, or 99 percent. In 2000, he made all 263 votes. In 2001, Edwards made 330 of 333 votes. In 2002, Edwards cast all 194 votes.
But by 2003 Edwards was spending lots of time in Iowa and New Hampshire and other early primary or caucus states as he pursued the Democratic nomination for president.
In 2003, Edwards made 138 of 247 votes, or 56 percent. This year, Edwards missed most of the votes in the early part of the year as he campaigned for the nomination, and then missed a large number of votes when he was the Democratic nominee for vice president.
Edwards made 89 of 216 votes this year, or 41 percent.
Edwards received a lot of criticism for missing such a large number of votes, but Edwards said there was a trade-off.
"I think there's value in North Carolina having a voice in this national debate," Edwards said earlier this month.
Burr's not-so-practical gift
Sen.-elect Richard Burr gave his family a trip to Nassau in the Bahamas this year, which is a lot more romantic than his usual gifts.
Burr is famous for giving his wife, Brooke, practical gifts such as frying pans, a new faucet for the bathroom, and a new front door.
And Brooke still agreed to appear in her husband's TV commercials.
"You have to have a sense of humor in my family," Burr told Roll Call.
Governor's race speculation
John Hood, president and columnist for the conservative John Locke Foundation, last week began speculating that the 2008 governor's race might feature former Sen. John Edwards and current Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
His reasoning? Edwards needs some executive experience before his next presidential run. And Dole -- too far down the seniority totem pole to head a major committee -- might want to cap her career by being governor.
New role for GOP veteran
Dee Stewart, who helped Patrick McHenry get elected to Congress in November, will begin work next week as his chief of staff.
Stewart is a veteran of Republican Party politics, having worked in the campaigns of Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas and U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord. She also has worked as a legislative liaison for the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association and was director of the Iowa Republican Party.
Lawyer to head institute
Luke Bierman, a lawyer and political scientist, has been named director of the Institute for Emerging Issues.
The institute at N.C. State University was started by former Gov. Jim Hunt in the 1980s to hold forums on the leading public policy issues of the day.
Bierman previously served as founding director of the American Bar Association Justice Center and as speech writer for presidents of the association. He also has taught at several colleges.
Dec. 23, 2004
News & Observer
By AMY MARTINEZ
© Copyright 2004
Toddlers giggle into "cell phones" with automated replies from Elmo, the Sesame Street character. Preschoolers open electronic ABC books just as they would a laptop.
For years, toymakers have tried to cash in on children's fascination with technology. Now there's the Pixter, a digital drawing device that looks a lot like Mom and Dad's Palm Pilot.
While the Palm Pilot costs up to $400 and can be used to send e-mail, surf the Internet and store data, the Pixter costs up to $89 and can be used to connect the dots, take photographs and animate drawings. Using a "stylus" pen, children also can write and send messages from one Pixter to another.
As most any parent or grandparent today knows, toys resembling grownups' electronic devices are replacing the old Etch-a-Sketch and Lincoln Logs at the top of children's wish lists.
Parents nostalgic for those simpler -- not to mention quieter -- toys may view the Pixter and a slew of other electronic gadgets skeptically as an attempt to get children hooked on technology early. But toy marketers say children were probably hooked long before they saw their first Pixter.
"Many children begin using computers in preschool. The Pixter really is a natural evolution of electronics into all toys," says Mitzi Montoya-Weiss, a marketing professor at N.C. State University. And as Weiss points out, while the Pixter has upgrades, a child won't graduate from Pixter one year and start using a Fisher-Price personal digital assistant the next. Fisher-Price is in the business of toys, not technology. So unlike Sony, which makes toys for children and grownups alike, Fisher-Price doesn't need to create brand loyalty.
The Pixter, recommended for ages 4 to 9, is not new to this holiday season. In fact, it was introduced in 2001 after toy designers at Fisher-Price noticed their own children's fascination with Palm Pilots. But each year since, it has become more sophisticated. And as it has, sales also have grown, said Chuck Scothon, senior vice president of marketing and brand development for Fisher-Price. This year's version comes with a color screen, more game software, and a digital camera accessory, which allows children to take and store up to 10 pictures.
Scothon declined to divulge sales figures for the Pixter, but he said he expects to be "talking about it in 15 years." He attributes the Pixter's success to its combination of role-playing (kids feel "cool" using a hand-held device like Mom and Dad's) with drawing and other creative outlets.
Although the Pixter itself sells for between $74 and $89, the cost can go much higher. Additional software packs with licensed characters including Rescue Heroes, Barbie and SpongeBob SquarePants sell for $20. The Pixter competes with similarly priced video game systems such as the Vtech V.Smile and the LeapFrog Leapster.
"It's all the things moms used to carry to keep their children diverted -- games, crayons, puzzles -- all rolled into one," said Chris Byrne, a toy consultant in New York, who gives the Pixter high marks on his Web site, thetoyguy.com. "Kids see what their parents are doing and want to replicate that."
Montoya-Weiss, the N.C. State marketing professor, bought a Pixter for her 6-year-old son, Zachary, last year. She considered buying this year's version, but then the Pixter, like all toys, is vulnerable to one aspect of children that's not about to change: a short attention span.
"He liked the Pixter for a short period of time," Montoya-Weiss says of Zachary, "and then he was on to something else."
Lincoln Co. Students Receive Degrees at NC State’s Fall Commencement
Dec. 22, 2004
Lincoln Tribune
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
North Carolina State University Interim Chancellor Robert A. Barnhardt conferred 2,819 degrees on graduating students when the university held 2004 Fall Commencement on Wednesday, Dec. 15, at the RBC Center in Raleigh.
R. Scott Wallinger, retired senior vice president of MeadWestvaco and a 1960 graduate of NC State, delivered the commencement address. Candidates for degrees were from 88 North Carolina counties, 27 other states or United States territories and 46 foreign countries. NC State holds graduation ceremonies each year in the spring and fall.
Barhardt also conferred three honorary degrees on behalf of NC State. The degree recipients were Wallinger; Richard Benedick, former U.S. ambassador and a principal architect of a major treaty protecting the atmosphere; and Robert Ward, an internationally renowned composer.
Students receiving Bachelor of Arts degrees from Lincoln County included:
Crystal Michelle Borders, Denver
Jo-Anne Elizabeth Chase
James Ross Fletcher, Lincolnton
Courtney Andrea Sipe, Stanley
Ashley Rebecca Zimtbaum, Lincolnton
NCSU paying 5.3M to buy apartment complex
Dec. 22, 2004
Triangle Business Journal
By Chris Baysden
© Copyright 2004
North Carolina State University plans to buy an apartment complex called Western Manor for $5.3 million from the family of Lee Debnam, according to Associate Vice Chancellor Tim Luckadoo.
The 6 ¼ acre property includes 118 apartments and a couple of condominiums that are used as an office and as a maintenance shop. The property is located at 2300 Avent Ferry Rd., right across from the university's Centennial Campus.
"That location was just perfect," Luckadoo says.
About one-fourth of the 40-year-old property's current tenants aren't affiliated with the university. Luckadoo says that they will be able to stay, but that all new vacancies will be used for student housing.
The university expects to make a number of improvements to the property, including adding sprinkler systems, new smoke detection and fire alarm systems and making the facility handicap accessible.
The transfer of deed on the property will be recorded the morning of Dec. 23, Luckadoo says.
Dec. 23, 2004
News & Observer
© Copyright 2004
In the Dec. 8 "For Better or For Worse" comic strip, a student defends plagiarizing a research essay by saying "everyone prints stuff off the Web. It's no big deal."
It's also extremely easy to catch. Any teacher suspecting such cheating should type a phrase from the assignment into Google, and if it's plagiarized the source will likely appear within seconds.
Charles Carlton
Professor of History
N.C. State University
Raleigh
Dec. 25, 2004
News & Observer
By Chris Seward
© Copyright 2004
The reactor at N.C. State University is used to train students in the nuclear engineering program. The reactor is small, and if it made electricity it could produce about 300 kilowatts - not enough to power the campus. "There are two things that it's [sic] important to know about the reactor,' Cook said. 'The first is that you can't make bombs out of the fuel that we have. The second is that the reactor can't blow up like a bomb.' Cook is manager of engineering and operations, and Lassell is manager of nuclear services.
For a copy of this photo, contact News Services at 5-3470.
Scientists disclose Santa's work secrets
Dec. 23, 2004
Charlotte Observer; Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC; Biloxi Sun Herald, MS; Bradenton Herald, FL; Centre Daily Times, PA; Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA; Contra Costa Times, CA; Duluth News Tribune, MN; Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN; Grand Forks Herald, ND; Kansas City Star, KS; Kentucky.com, KY; Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau, CA; Macon Telegraph, GA; Monterey County Herald, CA; Philadelphia Inquirer, PA; Pioneer Press, MN; San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA; The State, SC; Tallahassee.com, FL
By Seth Borenstein
© Copyright 2004
WASHINGTON - Scientists think they have figured out how Santa Claus does it.
Employing Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, Santa can zip around the world warping time and space and turning Rudolph's nose a blurry blue.
Scientists calculate the jolly old elf may be aided by computer-generated trip-planners, antennas to read children's brain waves and nanotechnology that can make toys from cookies or dirt.
For the past several years, a handful of holiday-hearted physicists, engineers and biologists have theorized as to just how Kris Kringle performs his yearly Christmas miracle while obeying the laws of physics.
Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at N.C. State University, came up with the most detailed answer to an engineering challenge "that seems almost impossible."
The key to Santa's travel is what Silverberg calls "a relativity cloud," in which Santa learned how to bend time, space and light - essentially making clocks run more slowly for him than for the rest of us.
Walking through a child's house may take Santa several minutes, "but to us it would seem like a wink of the eye," Silverberg said.
Arnold Pompos, a physics researcher at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, six years ago came up with a slightly different version. He has Santa traveling at 99.9999999 percent of the speed of light, delivering all his presents in about 500 seconds. The rest of the night he can feast on cookies and milk.
At that speed, Santa would leave a trail of light across the dark sky, and Rudolph's nose would change from red to blue in a phenomenon called the Doppler shift.
To help Santa get to places more efficiently, mathematicians have come up with possible routings to tens of thousands of cities. In September, Danish computer scientist Keld Helsgaun came up with one that's considered the most efficient to date, allowing Santa to visit more than 1.9 million locations worldwide while traveling just slightly more than 4.67 million miles.
Silverberg said Santa may be able to figure out what toys children want by using underground antennas that read children's brain waves, like superevolved EKGs.
And instead of carrying bags loaded with presents, Santa could use nanotechnology, a field of molecule-sized engineering, to turn dirt and debris into toys, Silverberg said.
It all may sound fantastic, Silverberg said, but "we know this kind of stuff is possible."
New computer program predicts mycotoxin levels in corn
Dec. 23, 2004
Grand Island Independent, NE; Green Island Independent
By Robert Pore
© Copyright 2004
Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service have developed a new computer program predicting mycotoxin levels in midwestern corn.
According to North Carolina State University Extension Service, toxic metabolic by-products of fungi, known as mycotoxins, are known to cause serious health problems in animals including equine leukoencephalomalacia in horses and porcine edema in swine.
Research conducted by NCSU shows that reduced weight gain, capillary fragility, reduced fertility, suppressed disease resistance, and even death have been attributed to mycotoxins. NCSU scientists said no animal is known to be resistant, but in general, older animals are more tolerant than younger animals.
Some mycotoxins, fumonisin, aflatoxin, and ochratoxin in particular; have also been associated with human health problems. Certain mycotoxins are suspected carcinogens.
Mycotoxins are natural carcinogens produced by certain molds, particularly Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium moniliforme. Strict regulatory controls determine the sale and use of mycotoxin-containing corn, because of the carcinogens' potential danger to humans and livestock.
Corn with mycotoxin levels above the allowable limit may be rejected; harvests with levels at or below the limit may face devalued markets. Annually, mycotoxin-associated losses cost the U.S. corn industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
While mycotoxins can be detected in corn through testing, predicting the conditions that cause the molds to produce the carcinogens has been a matter of guesswork, said Patrick Dowd, an entomologist at the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, in Peoria, Ill.
Dowd's solution is Mycotoxin Predictor 1.1. Copyrighted by collaborators at Illinois Central College, the Windows-friendly software program uses equations to mathematically predict mycotoxin levels using temperature, soil type, numbers of insects and other factors that influence the molds' growth and spread.
By entering such data into the program, Dowd said a farmer can predict the likelihood -- and levels -- of mycotoxin contamination more than a month before harvest.
Mold growth is often tied to insect damage. So, if the program predicts that mycotoxin problems are likely to arise from heavy insect feeding, Dowd said the farmer may opt to spray the crop before caterpillars can hide inside corn husks and cause damage that allows mold growth.
Dowd wrote the software program in 1998 after six years of collecting data on field conditions and corn ear contamination in connection with two mycotoxins, aflatoxin and fumonisin.
He validated the program's predictions by comparing them with an independent lab's analysis of mycotoxin levels in more than two dozen corn hybrids used in field tests from 2000 to 2003 in collaboration with the Central Illinois Irrigated Growers Association.
ARS is seeking a software company that can market Mycotoxin Predictor 1.1 to farmers, millers, refiners and others.
Ex-Pittsburghers find North Carolina easy to get used to
Dec. 28, 2004
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA
By Gary Rotstein
© Copyright 2004
DURHAM, N.C. -- Pulling out of the driveway of the woodside home where he enjoys photographing the birds that feed on his back porch, Michael E. Murphy grimaced as he pointed out the rows of attractive new homes across the road.
"That used to be a tobacco farm," he said, before passing another housing development just a few hundred yards toward his workplace in Research Triangle Park.
"That used to be all woods," the former North Hills resident grumbled.
To hear him, you'd have thought Murphy was surrounded by the ugly highway interchanges, gas stations, shopping plazas and fast-food restaurants that dominate so many fast-growing suburban corridors.
In fact, there's not a traffic light or commercial venture close to Murphy's home in Durham, which hosts Duke University as part of the prosperous, popular Raleigh-Chapel Hill metropolitan area. It's just that everything's relative, and for a place that seemed quaintly quiet when Pittsburghers started arriving here in the 1980s, the signs of growth make some of them uneasy.
It's not hard to understand why people are still moving here, expanding the metropolitan area from about 665,000 in 1980 to 1.2 million by 2000. Southern graciousness mingles with attractive terrain, moderate climate, plenty of jobs that pay well and proximity to mountains to the west and the ocean to the east.
Some transplants, like Denise Contrael, 53, a 1996 arrival from South Park, say they're just sorry they didn't migrate to North Carolina sooner.
Others, who once imagined retiring to this area, like Jennifer Piddington of Castle Shannon, are now happy they had reason to bump up their timetable. She and husband Scott and their three daughters moved to North Carolina in 1989 because of an employment offer he received as an engineer. They've never looked back.
"It's a different climate, a slower pace of life. The winter isn't as harsh, but you have the seasons. People are very friendly. We really like the atmosphere here," said Piddington, 56. "This area has grown in the 15 years we've been here, and traffic has increased, but it's still nothing like traffic in Pittsburgh."
The trade-off for that leisurely pace is the lack of any inspiring urban amenities like the view of the Golden Triangle or the pulsating feel of the Downtown Cultural District and North Shore during major events.
People spread out during the day in locations 10 to 30 miles apart: downtown Raleigh, with its state government offices and North Carolina State University; Chapel Hill, a liberal college town hosting the University of North Carolina; and Durham, which has Duke and its nationally prestigious health center, but also has more social problems than its neighbors.
In the evening, many people return home to Cary, a town that might best be described as Mt. Lebanon on steroids. Its quality schools, attractive neighborhoods, low crime and welcoming committees for newcomers make it perfect for families, so much so that it has grown from a population of 21,763 in 1980 to more than 100,000 today.
A local joke is that Cary stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees, although the ex-Pittsburghers living here would be willing to substitute "Comfortable" or "Contented" for "Containment."
"Pittsburgh is a nice place to visit, but when you go there now, everything looks old," said Mark Lang, 39, formerly of Penn Hills, a cabinet maker who has been in Cary since 1986. "Everything here looks brand new."
Much of the new blood and development stems from the Research Triangle Park, a tranquil 8-mile-by-2-mile cluster of campuses for IBM, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline and other corporate powerhouses. The state of North Carolina nestled the sprawling tech center among the woods as a place for private industry to retain the thousands of annual graduates of local universities.
"This region has a reputation, and justly deserved, of business, government and academia working closely together ... . I think that's what has driven the economy," said Charles Hayes, president of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, a 13-county group.
Murphy, 53, president of the Raleigh-Durham Pitt Club for University of Pittsburgh alumni, is one of the park's laboratory workers.
He loves Pittsburgh, but even with some of that undesirable growth he sees here, it takes him just four minutes to drive to work.
Plus, considering he only needs a heavy jacket one week of every winter, he's not looking to go anywhere else. An older sister moved here after him, while another sister and brother have remained contentedly in Pittsburgh.
"Pittsburgh was an interesting place to live with a lot of things going on, a big-league town," Murphy said. "Here, it's not as interesting, but it's a great place to live."
Dog genome boosts cancer research
Dec. 27, 2004
BBC News, UK
By Melissa Phillips
© Copyright 2004
We have shared our lives with dogs for thousands of years, and our relationship is only getting closer.
The complete canine genome sequence, which was finished last summer, is helping scientists to track down genes that cause disease in both dogs and people.
"We share our genes and we share our diseases," said Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, of the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.
Many researchers are hopeful that the dog genome will reveal important genes behind the cancers that afflict us and our closest companions.
Bone cancer, skin cancer, and lymphoma are among the many types of cancers that are similar in humans and dogs.
The genes that cause them will probably be easier to track down in the dog genome, however. Breeders have selected dogs for specific, homogeneous features, so each dog breed has very little diversity in its genes.
Also, many breeds arose from just a few founder dogs, went through population bottlenecks, and experienced popular sire effects, when a particularly desirable dog fathered an excessive number of puppies.
Small gene pool
Because of these restricted gene pools, many dog traits, including cancers, are "being switched on by very few genes - maybe even just one - which exert a very large effect," according to geneticist Matthew Breen, of North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
"Some breeds of dogs have a much higher risk for particular tumours than other breeds," explained Jaime Modiano, a cancer biologist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
For example, boxers, golden retrievers, and St Bernards have high rates of lymphoma; whereas Great Danes, Irish wolfhounds, and other large breeds are predisposed to bone cancer.
In order to figure out where a cancer-causing gene is located in an animal's genome, scientists use genetic "markers," which are sequences that differ slightly between different dogs and have a known location on a chromosome.
When disease-affected animals consistently have a certain marker, and healthy animals do not have it, then there is a good chance that a disease gene is located very close to that marker.
These analyses are difficult to do in humans, because geneticists need to look at DNA samples from many people in an affected family in order to pin down the gene's location.
Most human families are too small - and have too few generations alive at the same time - for a sufficient number of samples. Dog families, on the other hand, have short generations and many offspring.
Scientists have already had success locating a gene responsible for kidney cancer.
German shepherds
"It turns out to be the same gene causing a very similar clinical presentation" in both dogs and humans, said Elaine Ostrander, chief of the Cancer Genetics Branch of the US National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
Using a large pedigree of German shepherds, Ostrander's group tracked down the cancer-causing gene on canine chromosome 5.
When they looked in the comparable region of the human genome, they found a gene that had recently been implicated in human kidney cancer.
These types of gene hunts have become easier with the recent completion of
the entire dog genome sequence. The sequence was deposited into public databases
in July and will be published, along with an analysis comparing it with the
human sequence, sometime this spring.
Dogs' "genome structure suggests that we can find the disease genes pretty quickly now that we have the genome", said Lindblad-Toh, who led the sequencing effort.
"Pretty quickly" will likely be over several years, not several months, she warned.
Knowing a gene's location and sequence will help to predict cancer risk and diagnose cancer in both humans and dogs. Clinical trials were also underway to try to treat some of these cancers by blocking the biochemical pathways thought to be involved, Modiano said.
An almost certain result of dog genome cancer studies is the identification of disease genes that can be bred out of affected dog breeds.
"Breeders have shown a real willingness to get genetic tests and to redesign their breeding programmes," Ostrander said. "I really see the impact being healthier, more long-lived dogs."
Workers retiring one step at a time
Dec. 27, 2004
NorthJersey.com, NJ; Christian Science Monitor
By MARILYN GARDNER
© Copyright 2004
Seven months before Ken Klein retired last year as a project manager, he went to his boss with a modest proposal: He wanted to ease into retirement by working a four-day week. His employer agreed, allowing him to compress 40 hours into four 10-hour days, with the option of doing some work at home.
"That was very valuable to me," says Klein, who spent 28 years with The Hartford Financial Services Group in Hartford, Conn. "It gave me a chance to begin seeing what extra time at home would be like. It also got my wife used to having me around, and knowing that I was coming into her territory."
Count Klein among a growing number of people who are eager to keep one foot planted firmly in the workplace, even as they enjoy more leisure time and cultivate new activities. Phased retirement, as the arrangement is called, lets older employees work fewer hours with more flexibility and less responsibility.
Although still in its fledgling stage, the trend could become the wave of the future, according to labor specialists. "The early-retirement trend is over," says Rebecca Miller, managing director of RSM McGladrey in Bloomington, Minn. "For a variety of reasons, folks want to continue to work."
For some employees, money is the motivator. With investments battered by stock-market losses, higher healthcare costs, and greater longevity, they see a need for continued paychecks. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that each year of deferred retirement reduces a worker's need for retirement savings by 5 percent.
Other older workers remain in the labor force because they enjoy their jobs. "They want to continue as contributing members of society," says Joyce Gioia, president of the Herman Group in Greensboro, N.C.
In a recent Gallup poll of investors, 57 percent expect to retire after age 62, up from 36 percent in 1998. And nearly two-thirds of full-time workers over 50 hope to phase into retirement at some point, reducing their hours or gaining flexibility, according to Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a consulting firm in Washington.
For employers, phased retirement helps in slowing turnover and retaining experienced employees - key factors as large numbers of baby boomers approach retirement age.
"We're moving into a period where labor shortages are going to beset companies," says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm in Chicago.
On the way out
Half of today's working nurses will reach retirement age by 2015, he notes. The average age of construction workers is approaching the mid-50s. And by 2006, 31 percent of workers in the federal government - nearly half a million - will be eligible to retire.
Phased retirement traces its roots to the academic world. Tenured professors approaching a conventional retirement age often cut back their schedule by teaching fewer classes.
At the 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina system, up to 40 percent of retiring faculty members choose phased retirement. They must be at least 50 and have spent a minimum of five years at their current university. In exchange for giving up a tenured position, they receive a commitment to work half time for half pay for three years.
"This is a very attractive policy," says Steven Allen, associate dean at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "It's helpful in economic terms, and it allows people to make the adjustment to retirement in a smoother fashion."
Nationally, 14 percent of the workforce is 55 or older. At The Hartford, more than a quarter of employees are 50 or over. "This is a very critical talent pool for us," says Ann de Raismes, an executive vice president, noting that the company has offered a formal phased retirement program since 1997. About 150 workers currently use the plan.
"We equate gray hair with talent and wisdom," says de Raismes. "It's really taking full advantage of the knowledge and experience of these workers."
That attitude does not prevail everywhere. "People frequently look at seniors as being somehow less valuable," says Miller. "They don't recognize that experience has value."
Some younger workers cast a skeptical eye on phased retirement out of concern that older employees will block their progress. Employers raise other questions, says Challenger, such as: "Can you be as productive when you're working part time? And what kind of pay structure should exist for them?"
One of the biggest hurdles for employees involves defined benefit plans. These calculate retirement benefits based on the pay earned during the last few years of work. Those who cut their hours and salaries as retirement approaches may reduce their future pension.
To avoid that problem, some companies, including The Hartford, calculate pension benefits on the basis of the highest five years of salary during the past 10 years. "That provides a great deal of flexibility," de Raismes says.
Employees can also jeopardize healthcare coverage when they cut their hours. By logging 80 hours of work a month, Klein keeps his health insurance intact.
Informal programs
Most programs are informal, allowing employers to offer them only to workers they want to keep. Phased retirement can involve moving workers from full-time to part-time schedules, rehiring retirees on a part-time basis, or keeping them as consultants.
Before Ray Krause retired as national director of accounting for McGladrey & Pullen in July, he knew he wanted to continue working part time somewhere. "I thought I would stack groceries at a grocery store or be a greeter at Wal-Mart," says Krause, of Bloomington, Minn.
Those modest aspirations changed when the company asked if he would consider helping with special projects on a consulting basis. "I agreed," says Krause, who had spent 36 years with the firm. "It pays better."
That continuity is bringing Krause other advantages as well. In June, his wife died. As he adjusts to life as a widower, familiar faces at work, together with the satisfaction of productive activity, provide a measure of comfort.
"I've been told I can work as long under this arrangement as I want to, although each of us will have to reassess this from time to time to make sure that it makes sense for both parties," Krause says.
Yet in many businesses, a sizable gap exists between what workers want and what employers offer in terms of phased retirement opportunities.
"Some companies have absolutely no part-time culture," says Valerie Paganelli, a senior retirement consultant at Watson Wyatt in Seattle. "Employees are looking for part-time work, flexible hours and less responsibility. That can culturally be a hurdle for some organizations."
When Lee Shippy turned 62 nearly a decade ago, he faced mandatory retirement as a partner in RSM McGladrey in Crystal Lake, Ill. Unwilling to leave permanently, he arranged a phased retirement by reducing his salary and his hours.
Although he still puts in nearly 40 hours a week as a tax specialist, he feels far less pressure than he did as a partner. When the company finds a qualified replacement for him, he plans to reduce his hours further to pursue interests that include tennis, the arts, and travel.
"I doubt that I'm going to get out of the business," Shippy says. "I've got a skill that is in somewhat short supply - estate planning - and I feel reluctant to step out and say I'm going to give up that skill. Right now it works well for all of us."
Finding ways for such programs to work well may be the order of the day for many businesses as the workforce changes. "It's going to be very competitive out there," Challenger says. "More flexibility, more responsiveness to the kind of balance people want is fundamental to companies."
For Klein, phased retirement proved so successful that now, as a retiree, he is back at The Hartford, spending 20 hours a week on a four-month project. In his free time, he has taken sailing lessons. He also plans to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
"You're not jumping into the cold ocean," he says of his move to ease into retirement. "You're putting in your toe, then your foot, then your leg, slowly."
NASA Study Finds Tiny Particles In Air May Influence Carbon Sinks
Dec. 27, 2004
Science Daily
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
A NASA-funded study provides direct measurements confirming aerosols, tiny particles in the atmosphere, may be changing how much carbon plants and ecosystems absorb from or release to the air.
The research is important for understanding climate change and the various factors that influence how much carbon gets transferred from the air into below ground carbon sinks. Carbon dioxide acts as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The study appeared in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
The study reported the effects of aerosols on overall carbon exchange might be more significant than clouds. Cloud cover tended to reflect the sun's radiation back out to space, reducing the overall amount of light to Earth's surface. As a result, less sunlight on plants caused less photosynthesis.
The study, which benefited from NASA satellite data, focused on six sites around the country. The sites represented a wide variety of landscapes, including forests, crops, and grassland. When aerosol levels were high, the amount of carbon absorbed by an ecosystem increased for forest and croplands, and it decreased for grasslands.
Lead author Dev Niyogi, a research assistant professor at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., and colleagues, suggested the effect of aerosols on the overall exchange of carbon dioxide by ecosystems may be greater than the effects of clouds on these processes.
"We were very excited to find direct observational evidence that one variable, the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere, can have such a significant effect on something so complex as an ecosystem's carbon exchange," Niyogi said.
The researchers used data from NASA's AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) and the AmeriFlux network. AERONET provided data on the amount of aerosols in the air. From AmeriFlux, Niyogi and colleagues were able to measure the exchange of carbon dioxide between the air and an ecosystem.
But aerosols did not dramatically cut the amount of radiation that reached Earth's surface. Instead, aerosols scattered sunlight allowing more radiation to penetrate to the lower layers of leaves. This less concentrated radiation due to aerosols allowed for more leaves to photosynthesize at a higher rate. During photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon from the air.
In grasslands the top layers of leaves are not as dense as with crops and forests, causing the ground to heat more. When the ground heats, the soil gives more off carbon dioxide, thus reducing the net effect.
The study also benefited from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in NASA's Terra satellite. It was used at regular intervals to provide broader geophysical context to the more continuous data available from AERONET. MODIS data were also used to assess the vegetation health and map leaf area for each site, and to interpret the net ecosystem exchange.
For each site, the researchers analyzed how carbon cycled in each ecosystem on cloudy and cloud-free days. They examined carbon exchange levels for high and low levels of scattered sunlight as well as high and low levels of aerosols. Measurements were taken during afternoons in the peak growing season from June through August. Years of available data varied for each site.
AERONET is a ground-based aerosol-monitoring network and data archive. It was initiated and supported by NASA's Earth Observing System. It was expanded into a consortium with many non-NASA institutions. NASA provides equipment and standardization to institutions that participate in the program. Data from AERONET provides near real-time observations of aerosols. AmeriFlux is a multi-institutional network supported by several federal agencies that provides ongoing data of ecosystem level exchanges of carbon dioxide, water, energy and other factors from daily to yearly time scales.
Zettacore possible nanotech model
Dec. 26, 2004
Denver Business Journal, MSNBC
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Investors are betting $23 million ZettaCore Inc. will make it big by thinking
small -- and the rest of Colorado's nanotechnology sector hopes to ride along.
In 2004, the Englewood-based startup raised $17 million in venture capital,
moved to a new office and research facility south of the Denver Technology
Center, and was recognized by an international forum as a technology pioneer
-- all without producing a single product.
G. Louis Hornyak, chief science officer and founder of the Colorado Nanotechnology Initiative, expects big things from ZettaCore, which employs 33 people -- including engineers and chemists -- in its Inverness office.
"They're probably going to become one of the top nanotech companies in the world," he said.
Hornyak, an assistant research professor at the University of Denver, said the company is regarded as something of a "poster child" in the emerging nanotechnology sector because of its influential board and the fact it's one of the few nanotechnology companies that's attracted capital from the private sector instead of from government grants.
Founded in 1999 as a spin-off of academic research in California, ZettaCore is developing molecular memory technology for semiconductors -- the building blocks of computers, cellular phones and home electronics.
The company is researching molecules as circuit elements that will let manufacturers make chips that are smaller, more reliable and easier to manufacture than what's currently on the market.
Randolph Levine, founder and director of ZettaCore, said the company wants to develop memory cells that are as small as 20 nanometers -- about 1/1,000th the size of a human hair.
ZettaCore plans to make money by licensing the technology to companies that make semiconductors.
The Harvard-educated Levine worked for a number of computer companies before joining ZettaCore founders Jon Lindsey of North Carolina State University, and David Bocian and Werner Kurh of the University of California, Riverside.
A graduate of Denver's George Washington High School, Levine moved to Colorado when ZettaCore received its first round of venture capital in 2001.
ZettaCore has won acclaim for combining chemistry with technology, but Levine said the company is simply following the path of least resistance in the $30 billion semiconductor industry.
"As things get smaller, you can also make them cheaper," he said.
Levine's analysis is predicated on what techies call "Moore's Law," an observation from Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented.
Moore predicted the trend would continue for the foreseeable future, though the pace has slowed in subsequent years.
While smaller isn't necessarily better, ZettaCore might ultimately give the semiconductor industry what it needs to move forward, said Steve Jurvetson, managing director of the Silicon Valley-based Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital firm, which has more than $3 billion in capital commitments in technology.
Jurvetson, whose firm invested in ZettaCore, said smaller chips are more susceptible to malfunctions because smaller circuits generate too much power and heat -- a problem ZettaCore intends to solve.
"The average processing system is less efficient than a combustion engine," he said.
In reducing the size of its circuits, Jurvetson said the semiconductor industry risks running into fundamental limits in the next 20 years that may slow down the pace of technological advancement.
But ZettaCore is "using some of nature's secrets," modifying a molecule similar to chlorophyl (found in plants) for data storage.
In addition to reducing the size of circuits and creating more efficient semiconductors, Jurvetson said ZettaCore's research has the potential to change the way semiconductors are made.
"Ideally, you'll just splash a few drops on a wafer, spin it and that's your manufacturing process," he said.
The startup was among about 30 companies recognized as technology pioneers by the World Economic Forum in the first week of December. Past recipients of the honor include Google and NVIDIA.
Earlier this year, ZettaCore raised $17.5 million in Series B financing in a round led by the Menlo Park, Calif.-based VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Combined with previous investments by Draper Firsher Jurvetson, Radius Ventures, Oxford Biosciences, Access Ventures, Garrett Capital and Stanford University, ZettaCore brought its total funding to $23 million.
In October, the company named Subodh Toprani its new CEO, replacing Levine, who continues to serve on the board of directors. The company also moved to a new office and research facility in the Inverness office park.
Though the nanotechnology sector represents a "nano-portion" (less than 0.01 percent) of the economy, the National Science Foundation predicts the market will create 2 million jobs and generate $1 trillion worldwide by 2015.
Colorado is considered an ideal location for nanotechnology because of its wealth of universities and research facilities. Even the state's dry climate is considered a plus because moisture can impair the usefulness of nanomaterials.
Levine is reluctant to link ZettaCore with the nanotechnology sector -- in part because the much-abused term makes many investors skittish.
"Good nanotechnology is nothing more than good chemistry," he said.
The company plans to "modestly expand" in 2005, but Levine is tightlipped about ZettaCore's timeframe for launching the new technology and the other companies it's working with.
"We're not quiet about who we are, but we are quiet about how far we've gotten," he said. "Too many companies make the mistake of promising too much too soon, and we don't want to fall into that trap."
Golden opportunity to fight cancer
Dec. 25, 2004
MetroWest Daily News, MA; Wayland Town Crier, MA
By David Biller
© Copyright 2004
WAYLAND -- Walking through any MetroWest town, sometimes it seems like you
can't help but trip over a golden retriever. These family dogs, known for being
friendly and energetic, are the second most popular breed in the country.
However, the breed has an untold story: goldens are especially prone to cancer.
"Cancer is almost epidemic in goldens now," said Joy Viola of Wayland,
director of development for the Golden Retriever Foundation.
According to Dr. Jamie Modiano of the AMC Cancer Research Center at the University
of Colorado, one in eight golden retrievers are at risk for developing lymphoma,
a cancer found in the lymphatic system.
Moreover, one in five is at risk for developing hemangiosarcoma, a form of cancer
that originates in the blood system and attacks internal organs.
A longtime lover of golden retrievers, Viola has spent the past two decades fighting
for these dogs, starting with her success in singlehandedly raising $1.6 million
to build the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue shelter in Hudson.
For the past three years she has dedicated herself to the Golden Retriever Foundation.
The nonprofit organization gives money to volunteer-driven golden retriever rescue
organizations, as more than 8,000 golden retrievers are abused, abandoned or
put into pounds per year, not to mention those dogs subjected to the inhumane "puppy
mills."
The foundation also grants money to dogs requiring costly veterinary procedures,
including various forms of surgery.
Since 2002, the organization has raised more than $160,000 to rescue 500 golden
retrievers.
In addition, the group donates to health studies related to golden retrievers,
such as degenerative joint disease. However, the foundation most notably funds
canine cancer research at major universities and research centers.
Modiano's lab is one of many that benefits from the organization.
"We have been studying genes that contribute to the origin, progression
and outcome of dogs with some common types of cancer," he said. "We
are extremely excited about our data, including published results that will improve
our ability to detect and diagnose hemangiosarcoma and investigations on new
treatment options for melanoma."
No funding is granted to researchers using caged dogs. Researchers work mainly
with tissue samples from biopsies and surgeries, though golden retriever owners
may voluntarily bring their pets into laboratories for tissue testing.
In addition to establishing a Web site and publishing a brochure for the organization,
Joy Viola wrote and directed a video that depicted the problems facing the golden
retriever population. Film students at Mount Wachusett Community College produced
the movie, which was featured at the Golden Retriever Club of America's National
Specialty Show last month in Los Angeles, which included a black tie gala and
art auction that benefited the Golden Retriever Foundation.
The art auction raised $45,000 for the group, but that achievement was quickly
overshadowed by the pledge of Judy Rasmuson, outgoing director of the foundation.
The Montana resident challenged the organization to raise $100,000 in one year,
and vowed to personally match that amount.
Since the event last month, the Golden Retriever Foundation has raised more than
$25,000. Among the Hollywood supporters of the foundation is Betty White of TV's "The
Golden Girls."
Viola, however, wants to bring this challenge to the public.
"This foundation, until I came along, was primarily talking to members of
the Golden Retriever Club of America, which is 5,500 people," she said. "We're
now trying to reach the pet population, the people who are buying 60,000 goldens
a year, who never show their dogs in dog shows, who don't go to field or agility
trials, and couldn't care less, but they just love their golden."
Those who do not own golden retrievers may still be interested in the foundation's
efforts due to the impact that canine cancer research has upon human cancer research.
Dr. Bruce Zetter, Wayland resident and chief scientific officer at Boston Children's
Hospital cancer research laboratory, explained the benefit of canine cancer research.
According to Zetter, early tests for cancer drugs usually are done in cell cultures
and subsequently conducted with mice.
"That is problematic," Zetter said. "It turns out that it's a
lot easier to cure cancer in mice than it is in people" Often the drugs
that work with mice won't work with humans. With dogs there are greater similarities
in difficulty of treatment, so when you find a drug that works with dogs, it's
more likely to work with humans."
He explained that mice were originally selected as the animal model of choice
for research because cancer grows very rapidly. As a result, researchers can
figure out if the drug works within a matter of weeks or months.
"This appeared to be a great advantage but as it turned out, there were
so many differences," Zetter said. "There's the expectation that with
dogs, although they live a lot longer than mice, that it's still a shorter time
span than with humans. The shorter life span of the animal lets you get, let's
say, five times as much information over 60 to 70 years as you get with one generation
of humans."
He added, "And since dogs often get cancer by the age of 10 to 12, and get
it spontaneously, we can quickly learn how to treat naturally occurring canine
cancers."
Tracking cancer through genetic linkages is especially promising since last July,
when Dr. Matthew Breen's North Carolina State University laboratory collaborated
with the Whitehead Center at MIT to successfully map the canine genome.
"The beauty of having the canine genome sequenced is that we can then take
the entire dog genome, align it with the human genome and perform detailed comparisons
at the DNA level," Breen said. "This means that whatever genetic research
we do in humans, we can do in dogs and vice versa. We'll have reciprocal benefit."
Breen's research is partially funded by the Golden Retriever Foundation and he
is an outspoken advocate of the organization. He has also participated in the
annual conference for canine cancer research, which was started by Dr. Modiano
in 2001.
According to Viola, the conference draws both canine and human oncologists due
to growing recognition that each field can learn much from the other.
Although the Golden Retriever Foundation indirectly assists in the fight against
human cancer, it should be remembered that its primary purpose is to help golden
retrievers afflicted by homelessness and medical conditions, especially cancer.
"Given the fact that cancer is such a problem, given the fact that 8,000
goldens a year are being dumped in pounds and shelters, they need our help," Viola
said. "I just don't see how you can afford not to support this; you could
be saving your own dog's life."
Dec. 24, 2004
Red Nova, TX
By Pierre Home-Douglas
© Copyright 2004
A LEADING EXPERT IN COMPUTER MODELING AND MOLECULAR SIMULATION, VANDERBILT PROFESSOR PETER CUMMINGS IS DEVELOPING ONE OF THE MOST ACCURATE MODELS OF WATER EVER CREATED.
TRYING TO PREDICT the way cancerous tumors will spread, exploring the possibility of how life on Karth may have begun at deep-sea vents, investigating ways to create new materials one molecule at a time: Not your typical idea of what chemical engineers do - especially one chemical engineer. But then Peter Cnmmings is known throughout his field as a quick study, adept at coming up with novel ways to solve diverse problems using mathematical modeling and computer simulation. He is also someone who thrives on allying himself with people in different fields whom he readily admits "know infinitely more about a subject than I do." As Douglas LeVan, chair of the chemical engineering department at Vanclcrbilt University puts it, "Peter collaborates very well." * A lot ofthat versatility has to do with his background. The John R. Hall Professor of Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt began his career thinking he'd end up in physics. He recalls how at the end of his first year of studying science in his native Australia, the head of the mathematics department approached him and told him his future should be in mathematics. "I was equally successful in chemistry and physics," the 50-year-old father of two recalls, "but the head of the chemistry department never called me in to convince me to switch to chemistry." Cummings says the fact that the mathematics chair was an American was probably not coincidental. "He had the type of aggressive mentality that other department heads didn't have in Australia at that time. Definitely an American thing-to headhunt me out of another department."
Cummings completed his Ph.D. in applied mathematics at the University of Melbourne in 1980 and then went to the University of Guelph in Canada and SUNY Stony Brook as a post-doc in physics and chemistry respectively. When he started looking around for permanent work, colleagues encouraged him to apply for posts in chemical engineering. "Actually I had never published anything in a mathematical journal as a Ph.D. student; it was all in chemistry journals." Cummings says there was a significant shortage of faculty in chemical engineering at the time. "They were looking for new blood." One of the people who helped guide him in his new career-a man he considers a mentor-was Keith Gubbins, now professor of chemical engineering at North Carolina State University. "Hc had originally written to me when he was a graduate student looking for a post-doc. I didn't have anything for him at the time but we stayed in touch," Gubbins says.
Gubbins urged the University of Virginia to invite Cummings for an interview. They did and he got the job. Gubbins says that Cummings is someone who made the transformatior from mathematics to chemical engineering relatively seamlessly, but not everyone can. "It depends on the personality and attitude of the individual. If they are genuinely interested in finding different ways to apply their background to chemical engineering problems then they can make a huge contribution -as Peter has."
Cummings worked for over 10 years at the University of Virginia before taking a joint position as distinguished scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and distinguished professor at the University of Tennessee. In August 2002 Vanderbilt lured him to Nashville, partly on the strength of the university's renowned medical facility and Cummings's interest in biological research and the fact that he could continue working at Oak Ridge. To juggle the two posts, Cuminings keeps an apartment in Nashville as well as a home in Oak Ridge, near Knoxville, where his wife works as a networks manager at the University of Tennessee.
At Vanderbilt he soon linked up with Vito Quaranta, professor of cancer biology, to investigate how cancerous tumors spread. As Quaranta explains, predicting cancer is a little like predicting the weather: You can't be sure how it will develop. Another similarity: "You want some numbers, just like being able to say the chance of rain tomorrow is 20 percent, you want to have some idea of the chance that a cancer is going to spread."
"The reason predictions are not as accurate as they should be," says Quaranta, "is because of the sheer mass of information and the lack of adequate computer power." Enter Peter Cummings with his mathematical modeling to understand the wealth of data. Cummings employs the technique that he uses in other areas of research: looking at a level lower, where things are less complicated - in this case, examining single cancer cells and then using computers to look at their behavior to determine a so-called "emergent collective behavior" that occurs when cells combine to form a tumor.
Plain Old Water
CUMMINGS'S ONE-LEVEL-DOWN" technique has proven particularly helpful in his attempts to understand water. He and his group have worked for the past eight years on designing the most accurate molecular model of water ever developed. Water is ubiquitous and essential to life, but it is far from simple. As Cummings points out, H2O displays lots of anomalies, becoming less dense, for example, as it freezes, unlike virtually all other liquids. Cummings hopes that by creating the world's best model of the water molecule, scientists and engineers around the world will have better predictive power to know how water will behave in different situations. One that he has investigated is high-pressure, high temperature, like the type of water found at the bottom of oceans surrounding hot vents of water gushing up from the ocean floor. It is here that scientists have discovered life that survives not on light, which drives photosynthesis, but a chemical synthesis based on hydrogen sulfide. Theories have surfaced that life on Earth may have begun in similar communities billions of years ago before the ozone layer enveloped the Earth in its protective cover.
The trouble is, as Cummings points out, it's almost impossible to do experiments where the water is 600 degrees Celsius and the pressure is 400 times that at sea level. "You or I wouldn't last a second here." Part of his simulation has shown how organic modules, the building blocks of life, are actually more soluble at high pressure and temperatures, exactly the type of environment that deep- sea vents provide. This information could be useful for researchers trying to solve environmental purifications problems by using more- efficient solvents.
Despite the fact that Cummings is an expert in water and aqueous solutions, as well as editor of one of the top journals of chemical thermodynamics, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 90 percent of his funded work today centers on the emerging field of nanotechnology. As someone who has studied materials on the onemolecule or one-cell scale, Cummings says that in nanoteehnology he is applying techniques that he has been using for the past 20 years. "You lay three water molecules side by side and you have a nanometer worth of water molecules," he explains. "In a way we feel like telling the experimentalists 'Come on down. Welcome to our domain. We've been waiting for you."'
Nanoscience also appeals to the collaborator in Cummings; it is highly interdisciplinary. As well as teaching at Vanderbilt, he serves as the director of the Nanomaterials Theory Institute, part of ORNL's Center for Nanopliase Material Sciences. lie frequently teams up with other scientists and engineers from throughout North America and Europe. Among his current activities is one as principal investigator on a National Science Foundationfunded research project on POSS cubes, nanostruetures that fellow researcher Sharon Glotzer from the University of Michigan calls "silicon's answer to Bucky Balls." The cubes are basically empty "cages" made from eight silicon atoms at the corners and an oxygen atom along each of the cube's 12 edges. In the simplest POSS molecule, silicon also has a hydrogen atom attached, which can be replaced chemically with many different kinds of molecules to create hybrid materials with properties nature ilself could never produce, such as coatings for spacecraft.
Cummings provides his knowledge in theory modeling and simulation to figure out how these structures will then work on a much larger scale. In nano work, computer simulation proves particularly useful since experiments are difficult to perform at the molecular level, even with the advent of inventions like the tunneling electron microscope.
Despite all his research, Cummings hasn't lost sight of one of his responsibilities as a professor: Every year he instructs a graduate class in the fall and an undergraduate class in the spring in process control. He has noticed a deterioration of math skills over his 20 years of teaching. "A lot of it is probably due to the sheer range of tools students now have available, including symbolic manipulation packages like Mathematica. I'm not sure it's necessarily bad; they're stronger in other areas, like doing complicated statistical analysis and analyzing and presenting data." He recalls a colleague who wrote an article on seeing how far people could get in the theory of fluids only being able to use equations written in the sand. "I figure if I wer\e stuck on an island with a very long beach I could get a lot farther than these students. But," he adds with a laugh, "they're not going to be stuck on an island anytime soon."
Cummings hopes that by creating the world's best model of the water molecule, scientists and engineers around the world will have better predictive power to know how water will behave in different situations.
Engineering the perfect Christmas tree
Dec. 22, 2004
Checkbiotech.org, Switzerland
By Michael Kanellos
© Copyright 2004
There's no such thing as a perfect Christmas tree, but genetic engineering may help keep the needles on the branches longer.
Facing the rising popularity of increasingly realistic fake trees from China, researchers and Christmas tree growers are pouring more energy into manipulating the genetic code of evergreens to create heartier trees that take less time to mature.
"I'd like to see better color,
or trees that hold their needles longer."
--Fletcher Spillman, East North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers AssociationIn
eastern North Carolina, scientists from East Carolina University and growers
such as Brownie Sutherland of Beautancus Christmas Trees and Wreaths are
trying to develop a type of Virginia Pine that will grow straight.
"A Virginia Pine is a vine until you tell it to be a Christmas tree," Sutherland said. The species, native to coastal plain, isn't as popular as some of the species that grow in the mountains, such as the Frasier Fir. It is also subject to insect problems and can be labor-intensive to raise.
Virginia Pines, however, can mature in five to seven years, more than twice as fast as the Frasier, leading to more rapid turnover and higher yields for farmers. The tree can also be grown in land once used for tobacco. The current crop of experimental Virginia Pines should mature in about four years.
"There is a lot of activity to find alternative crops," said Ron Newton, a professor of biology at the university who is conducting the research.
Newton has also isolated a gene inside of a tree from Israel called the Aleppo pine that provides greater tolerance to drought. In six to nine months, Newton hopes to have seedlings of native trees that have been enhanced by the Aleppo gene.
Although it's seasonal, the Christmas tree industry is fairly large. Roughly 25 to 30 million trees get sold annually, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, accounting for more than a billion dollars in revenue. Oregon is the largest producer, followed by North Carolina and Michigan. The tree industry in North Carolina pulls in roughly US$100 million in revenue.
Most of the work in genetically beefing up Christmas trees involves selective breeding. An ongoing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh is seeking to develop generations of Fraser Firs, one of the most popular Christmas tree breeds, from seeds originally culled from 200 or so trees with desirable genetic traits.
Because the trees only grow naturally at 3,000 feet above sea level, some are also looking at ways to develop a strain that can live at lower altitudes.
Some genetic variants have occurred by accident. The early '80s saw the birth of the Fralsam, a popular tree that's a hybrid between a Frasier and a Balsam fir. Not only does the tree grow 10 to 20 percent more than the parents, it holds it needles well. While the Weir Farm helped breed the tree, the hybrid got started through natural cross-pollination.
It's only recently that growers and researchers have begun to experiment with gene slicing and embryonic experiments in the lab. A gene for increasing resistance to the Tip Moth has already been added to some trees. Newton also added that growers and others are carefully monitoring how modified trees could affect the environment.
"I'd like to see better color, or trees that hold their needles longer," said Fletcher Spillman, president of the East North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association. "We'd like to get a cross breed with a starfish so it would come out with a star on top."
Department of Energy Announces the Award of 35 Cooperative Agreements with U.S. Universities Totaling About $21 Million
Dec. 23, 2004
U.S. Newswire via Yahoo! News
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Abraham (news - web sites) today announced 35 research awards to U.S. universities totaling $21 million over three years to engage students and professors in the Department of Energy's (DOE) major nuclear energy research and development programs, including the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative and the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative.
The Energy Department has restructured its Nuclear Energy Research Initiative to provide U.S. universities with the opportunity to participate directly in the agency's priority efforts to develop the nuclear technologies that could pave the way to an economy that relies less on imported fossil fuels and will allow the Nation to meet its long-term environmental goals. The awards announced today are the first to benefit from this new approach to peer-reviewed nuclear technology research and development.
"This vitally important research will benefit both our advanced technology development efforts and our academic system to have America's best and brightest students and professors work with us to conduct this challenging research," Secretary Abraham said. "The awards we announce today will bring us a step closer to a better, more secure energy future and also help develop the scientists and engineers that will keep the United States at the forefront of technology well into the future."
The 35 projects announced today were selected in a rigorous peer review of 160 proposals from universities all over the United States. The selected projects will be conducted at 25 U.S. universities in 22 different states. Many of the participants represent institutions that have not participated in DOE nuclear technology programs in recent years.
Most of the awards are for a three year period. The total funding for the awards over the three year period ranges from $299,000 to $914,000. There is also one award with a duration of approximately one year; this award is for $116,000. The research projects and additional information on other DOE nuclear science and engineering educational initiatives that are sponsored by the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology are available at http://www.nuclear.gov.
DOE will now enter into negotiations with the 25 universities selected to reach final cooperative agreement terms including award dates.
Following is a list of the university awardees, along with the title of the project and the FY 2005 award amount and total.
University; Title; FY 2005 Award; Total
Arizona State University; Determination of Basic Structure- Property Relations for Processing and Modeling in Advanced Nuclear Fuels: Microstructure Evolution and Mechanical Properties; $150,000; $451,000
Clemson University; The Sulfur-Iodine Cycle: Process Analysis and Design Using Comprehensive Phase Equilibrium Measurements and Modeling; $289,000; $856,000
Colorado School of Mines; The Application of Self-Propagating- High-Temperature Synthesis (SHS) to the Fabrication of Actinide Bearing Nitride and Other Ceramic Nuclear Fuels; $150,000; $462,000
Georgia Institute of Technology; Minor Actinide Doppler Coefficient Measurement Assessment; $116,000; $116,000
Illinois Institute of Technology; In-Situ X-ray Spectroscopic Studies of the Fundamental Chemistry of Pb and Pb-Bi Corrosion Processes at High Temperatures: Development and Assessment of Composite Corrosion Resistant Materials; $250,000; $914,000
Iowa State University; Detailed Reactor Kinetics for CFD Modeling of Nuclear Fuel Pellet Coating for High-Temperature Gas- Cooled Reactors; $182,000; $449,000
Johns Hopkins University; Silicon Carbide Ceramics for Compact Heat Exchangers; $300,000; $902,000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news - web sites); "Optimized, Competitive Supercritical-CO2 Cycle GFR for Gen-IV Service"; $250,000; $780,000
North Carolina State University; On-line Fuel Failure Monitor for Fuel Testing and Monitoring of Gas Cooled Very High Temperature Reactors; $183,000; $498,000
Oregon State University; Plutonium Chemistry in the UREX+ Separation Processes; $272,000; $764,000
Purdue University; Development of an Engineered Product Storage Concept for the UREX+1 Combined Transuranic/Lanthanide Product Streams; $300,000; $900,000
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Development of Modeling Capabilities for the Analysis of Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics and Dynamics; $119,000; $374,000
State University of New York - Stonybrooke; Novel Processing of Unique Ceramic-Based Nuclear Materials and Fuels; $272,000; $817,000
Texas A&M University; "Utilization of Minor Actinices as a Fuel Component for Ultra-Long Life VHTR Configurations: Designs, Advantages and Limitations"; $127,000; $386,000
Texas A&M University; Development of Nanostructured Materials with Improved Radiation Tolerance for Advanced Nuclear Systems; $209,000; $575,000
University of California - Berkeley; Development of a Risk- Based and Technology-Independent Safety Criteria for Generation IV Systems; $148,000; $457,000
University of California - Berkeley; Development and Analysis of Advanced High-Temperature Technology for Nuclear Heat Transport and Power Conversion; $191,000; $576,000
University of California - Santa Barbara; Development of High Temperature Ferritic Alloys and Performance Prediction Methods for Advanced Fission Energy Systems; $180,000; $549,000
University of Cincinnati; BWR Assembly Optimization for Minor Actinide Recycling; $129,000; $400,000
University of Florida; Optimization of Oxide Compounds for Advanced Inert Matrix Materials; $183,000; $577,000
University of Florida; The Development of Models to Optimize Selection of Nuclear Fuel Materials through Atomic-Level Simulation; $175,000; $508,000
University of Florida; Synthesis and Optimization of the Sintering Kinetics of Actinide Nitrides; $181,000; $587,000
University of Illinois; The Effect of H and He on Irradiation Performance of Fe and Ferritic Alloys; $148,000; $459,000
University of Illinois; Real-Time Corrosion Monitoring in Lead and Lead-Bismuth Systems; $171,000; $484,000
University of Michigan; Alloys for 1000 C Service in the Next Generation Nuclear Plant; $250,000; $874,000
University of Michigan; Development of TRU Transmuters for Optimization of the Global Fuel Cycle; $175,000; $806,000
University of Missouri-Rolla; Heat Exchanger Studies for Supercritical CO2 Power Conversion System; $96,000; $300,000
University of Tennessee; Uncertainty Analyses of Advanced Fuel Cycles; $217,000; $663,000
University of Tennessee; Ambient Laboratory Coater for Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development; $137,000; $441,000
University of Wisconsin; The Adoption of Advanced Fuel Cycle Technology Under a Single Repository Policy; $96,000; $299,000
University of Wisconsin; Candidate Materials Evaluation for the Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor; $250,000; $900,000
University of Wisconsin; Molten Salt Heat Transport Loop: Materials Corrosion and Heat Transfer Phenomena; $231,000; $647,000
Utah State University; Validation and Enhancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer Predictive Capabilities for Generation IV Reactors Systems; $217,000; 600,000
Washington State University; Selective Separation of Trivalent Actinides from Lanthanides by Aqueous Processing with Introduction of Soft Donor Atoms; $281,000; $859,000
Washington State University; Selective Separation of Americium from Lanthanides and curium By Aqueous Processing with Redox Adjustment; $245,000; $847,000
National Evolutionary Synthesis Center launches in Durham, North Carolina
Dec. 23, 2004
EurekAlert!
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent), in Durham, North Carolina, has launched. The NESCent website is www.nescent.org. Established with a $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the center is a collaboration of Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS: www.aibs.org) is providing education and outreach services to NESCent on a sub-contract. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) press release for NESCent is available at: www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/newsroom/pr.cfm?ni=15300000000135.
NSF's goals for NESCent--which is modeled after the highly successful National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), at the University of California, Santa Barbara (www.nceas.ucsb.edu)--are to "serve the needs of the evolutionary biology community by providing mechanisms to foster synthetic, collaborative, cross-disciplinary studies. It will play a pivotal role in the further unification of the biological sciences as it draws together knowledge from disparate biological fields to increase our general understanding of biological design and function. Finally, the center will play a critical role in organizing and synthesizing evolutionary knowledge that will be useful to policy makers, government agencies, educators and society." (From the April 2003 NSF program announcement).