SOUTHWEST RETORT

SEVENTY-FIRST YEAR SEPTEMBER 2018 Published for the advancement of , Chemical Engineers and Chemistry in this area

published by The Dallas-Fort Worth Section, with the cooperation of five other local sections of the American Chemical Society in the Southwest Region.

Vol. 71(1) SEPTEMBER 2018

Editorial and Business Offices: Contact the Editor for subscription and advertisement information. Editor: Connie Hendrickson: [email protected] Copy Editor: Mike Vance: [email protected] Business Manager: Martin Pomerantz: [email protected]

The Southwest Retort is published monthly, September through May, by the Dallas-Ft. Worth Section of the American Chemical Society, Inc., for the ACS Sections of the Southwest Region.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Employment Clearing House…………...... 3 Fifty Years Ago…………………………...... 5

ARTICLES and COLUMNS And Another Thing………………………...6 Councilor’s Notes……………….……....….8 Around the Area…………………...…..….15 Pros and Cons of Volunteering……..……10 Letter from the Editor…..…..………...... 19

NEWS SHORTS World’s oldest cheese found, contaminated with Brucella...... …..……………….……..7 Off-taste in onions..………………….…….12 Biodegradable plastic………….…..……...13 Micromotors in pills……………………....19 Trace amount detection of peanuts….…...20

ANNOUNCEMENTS and MEETINGS DFW Section Meetings…...... …...….……..14

Contact the DFW Section INDEX OF ADVERTISERS General: [email protected] Huffman Laboratories……………...…...... 4 Education: [email protected] Vance Editing…..…………….…………...... 4 Elections: ANA-LAB……………………...….…….…..5 [email protected] Facebook: DFWACS Twitter: acsdfw

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SERVICES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

EDITING AND PROOF- READING SERVICES

Need someone to proof or edit Advertise in the your next paper, grant, or Southwest presentation? Let an experi- RETORT enced proofreader and PhD do it for you! I have a strong grasp of English gram- mar and scientific writing and can condense text without los- ing the underlying meaning. Competitive rates! Contact Mike Vance: [email protected] 408-786-7451

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DOCUMENT TITLE

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FIFTY YEARS AGO IN THE SOUTHWEST RETORT

First Dallas-Fort Worth ACS Section Corrosion Engineers held in Cleveland. Dr. Meeting-in-Miniature. Dr. C. Gordon E. Thomas Strom presented a talk on Skinner of North State University “Substituent Effects on the g Values of Aro- (NTSU) reported on the first Meeting-in- matic Free Radicals” at the 2nd Conference Miniature held in our section. The judges on Linear Free Energy Relationships held in for the event were Jack D. Reynolds of Irvine, CA. At the Southwest Center for General Dynamics, W. A. Padgett of Alcon Advanced Studies (now UT-Dallas) Dr. Labs, and W. R. Foster of Mobil Research Harold Werbin attended the ACS meeting and Development Corp. First place in the in San Francisco and the Federation of graduate division went to C. H. Freeman American Societies for Experimental Biolo- of NTSU. The second and third place win- gy and Medicine held in Atlantic City. ners were, respectively, W. B. Mohr of UT- Arlington and S. Truitt of NTSU. In the At the University of Arkansas Dr. Lothar undergraduate division the first place win- Schafer has joined the chemistry depart- ner was J. H. MacKay of Austin College. ment as an assistant professor. Eminent ge- The second place winner was E. P. Seitz of ochemist Dr. Takahisa Hanya will be a TCU. The third place award was shared by visiting professor in the department during G. D. Smith of UT-Arlington and Tom the 1968-69 academic year. Drs. W. L. Folsom of NTSU. In the evening a recep- Meyer and R. N. Porter have been promot- tion and awards dinner was held in the ed to professor. Dr. George D. Blyholder Crystal Room of Marquis Hall. The after has been appointed vice chairman of the de- dinner speech was given by Dr. Peter partment. Girardot of UT-Arlington, while Larry Smith gave out cash award and certificates At UT-Austin Dr. Norman Hackerman, on behalf of Alpha Chi Sigma. It is hoped current president of the university, was ses- that this event will be the first of a continu- sion chairman of a Gordon Research Con- ing series of Meetings-in-Miniature. ference on Corrosion in July. Dr. Alan Cowley attended the Gordon Research In the D-FW ACS Section Dr. E. C. Hurdis Conference on inorganic chemistry in Au- of Texas Woman’s University has been gust. Dr. Nathan Bauld attended the Gor- elected a fellow in the American Institute of don Research Conference on radical ions in Chemists. Dr. Norman G. Foster of TWU July. Dr. Norman F. Brockmeier in chem- has been elected a Fellow of the American ical engineering has received an NSF grant. Association for the Advancement of Sci- ence. At the Socony Mobil Lab Dr. James C. Melrose gave seminars at Rice and at contributed by UT-Austin. Dr. Anton G. Ostroff will be E. Thomas Strom serving as Chair of a new ASTM sub- committee on saline water. Dr. Earl Sna- vely presented a lecture at the National Conference of the National Association of

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And Another Thing... Start With the Brain By Denise L. Merkle, PhD targeted, so prional diseases and whatever else is adversely affecting brains around the It's a new school year, a new perception of world will become historical stories and not autumn, and, one can only hope, a new current events. attitude. All this New affects every aspect of our lives, but it all starts with the brain. To Topic 2: Migraine. Migraine sufferers put it colloquially, if the brain ain't happy, experience everything from minor vision ain't nobody happy. So, it's only fitting to disturbances and stomach upset to full-on discuss some brain-related topics to kick off debilitation. Migraine intensity varies wildly this new season of learning. The first is food from symptoms that can be vanquished by for thought - and the second is an aspirin within an hour of onset to unrelieved advancement that also illustrates the agony that can send a victim to bed for a drawbacks of our healthcare payment system week. Until now. In May 2018, FDA - Intriguing, no? announced approval of a novel injectable that reduces migraine in some patients3. The Topic/Hypothesis 1: Alzheimer's Disease self-administered calcitonin gene-related (AD) is contagious1. As with many scientific peptide (CGRP) antagonist knocks out this discoveries, this concept is terrifying, but, as migraine-inducer and stops the cascade of with most real-world problems, elucidation biochemistry that, unchecked, results in of the mechanism is the only way to develop migraine. This is a breakthrough treatment efficacious treatments - and cures. Is AD a that will give many migraine sufferers a transmissible disease such as Scrapie, Mad fraction of their lives back - if they can Cow, and Creuzfeld-Jakob? Prions were afford it. Anti-CGRP costs more than $600 once the subject of scoffing, but are now per month - over $7000 per year. The annual accepted as robust, persistent, transmissible, earnings of an employee who makes the and fascinating vectors of brain disease2. federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour is a Kuru, the prional disease that kicked off the little more than $15,000.4 How might one idea of human brain disease as contagion secure a drug that trades half ones' wages for was fairly easy to alleviate. When bereaved 12-24 functional days? If employees have persons stopped eating the brains of their insurance, will that insurance cover the deceased relatives, the transmission of Kuru costs? Will the manufacturer have a all but ceased. Perpetuation of souls likely compassionate pricing program? Will those continued without the spread of prion- who need relief most have access to this induced dementia, which reinforces the idea medication? The answers to these questions that beliefs are not science - but that's remain a mystery, a headache, even. another 'And Another Thing'. Are prions rampant in wastewater, ready to spread self- So, there you have it. Two brain-related directed protein misfolding in the masses? topics to ponder as 2018 advances. As daily Some visionaries say yes. Sooner -rather life hits its autumn swing, consider: than later, one hopes- the disease Everything starts with the brain. mechanisms will be identified and properly

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From the ACS Press Room World’s oldest cheese found in Egyptian tomb (contaminated with Brucella) Proteomic Analyses on an Ancient Egyp- suitable for containing a solid rather than a tian Cheese and Biomolecular Evidence liquid, and the absence of other specific of Brucellosis markers, support the conclusion that the Analytical Chemistry dairy product was a solid cheese. Other Aging usually improves the flavor of peptides in the food sample suggest it was cheese, but that’s not why some very old contaminated with Brucella melitensis, a cheese discovered in an Egyptian tomb is bacterium that causes brucellosis. This po- drawing attention. Instead, it’s thought to tentially deadly disease spreads from ani- be the most ancient solid cheese ever mals to people, typically from eating un- found, according to a study published in pasteurized dairy products. If the team’s ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry. preliminary analysis is confirmed, the sam- ple would represent the earliest reported The tomb of biomolecular evidence of the disease. Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis in The research was supported by the Ital- Egypt during the ian Ministry of Education, University and 13th century BC, Research, the University of Cata- was initially un- nia and Cairo University. earthed in 1885. From Wikipedia: notes on Brucellosis After being lost Brucellosis in humans is usually associated under drifting sands, it was rediscovered in with consumption of unpasteurized milk 2010, and archeologists found broken jars and soft cheeses made from the milk of in- at the site a few years later. One jar con- fected animals…and with occupational ex- tained a solidified whitish mass, as well as posure of laboratory workers, veterinari- canvas fabric that might have covered the ans, and slaughterhouse workers. Some jar or been used to preserve its contents. Brucella vaccines used in livestock can al- Enrico Greco and colleagues wanted to an- so cause disease in humans if accidentally alyze the whitish substance to determine its injected. Brucellosis induces incon- identity. stant fevers, miscarriage, sweating, weak- After dissolving the sample, the research- ness, anaemia, headaches, depression, and ers purified its protein constituents and an- muscular and bodily pain….the conse- alyzed them with liquid chromatography quences of Brucella infection are highly and mass spectrometry. The peptides de- variable and may include arthritis, spondy- tected by these techniques show the sample litis, thrombocytopenia, meningitis, uveitis, was a dairy product made from cow milk optic neuritis, endocarditis, and various and sheep or goat milk. The characteristics neurological disorders collectively known of the canvas fabric, which indicate it was as neurobrucellosis.

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COUNCILORS NOTES Mary Anderson ACS National Meeting, Boston, Fall 2018

Hello all! membership: one can get a membership All of our DFW Councilors attended (Tom discount at meeting, and at the Boston Strom, Linda Schultz, Jason McAfee and meeting there was a 20% reduction in rates Mary Anderson). for on-site renewals!!! I hope we can continue this discount at Orlando and San The ACS National meeting was very well Diego, stay turned for updates. There is attended and had ---so many excellent talks also a multi-year renewal (well at least (, Jill Millstone Harry there will be no rate increases with the Atwater), posters and the expo! multi-year). So much to do and so little time. Yes, In the Works: There are plans for multi- everyone complained about the distance year discounts for graduating from the hotels and the convention center, undergraduate and graduate student and the slow bus service. members! Joint memberships with the The ACS Council had a large agenda. American Association of Chemistry President Peter Dorhout’s reported on his Teachers and other Societies are being focus on diversity and inclusivity and also explored... Additionally, you may be on promotion of safety. receiving surveys to understand how ACS can engage you more fully. Please help by President-Elect Bonnie Carpenter’s theme responding to the surveys. is collaborations, between Industry and Academia, across borders, across ACS and Council passed an amendment to the ACS with other professional Societies. She Bylaws to allow affiliation with other reminds everyone that 2019 is the Organizations. International Year of the Periodic Table After a lively discussion, including (100 years!). acknowledging that the membership and Some tidbits: attendees at the National meetings are about 20% international and CAS and Pubs ACS membership is down slightly. The have many international subscriptions, the Membership Affairs Committee (MAC), Council passed an amendment to the ACS the committee that I serve on, has launched Bylaws to allow International Chemical several initiatives to understand the Chapters to charge their members local decrease and to reverse the trend. MAC has dues and to remove a restriction so that helped make it easier to renew your

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they may receive funds from ACS. The formation of a new chapter in Columbia has been approved. Over the past several years, ACS has assisted Local Sections, including ours to update our Bylaws, so finally, National is doing that themselves and streamlining #ACSDFW their Standing Rules. At our Division IV caucus, we heard that advanced registration for Orlando will be the same, $490. However, it will likely increase for the San Diego Fall meeting. We TWEET Both at the Council meeting and in several and other ACS groups, there was discussion about what role(s) ACS should play in we're on facebook preventing sexual harassment in the sciences. [The topic was the lead story in https:// the September 18, 2017 issue of C&EN and www.facebook.com/ a symposium was held at the Spring 2018 meeting in New Orleans.] DFWACS/ Our section was nominated for two Chemluminary Awards: our Chair, Kirby Drake had a beautiful poster, but alas this Follow Us - so you wasn’t our year. Linda Schultz suggests that don't miss a thing! we make a more concerted effort to pursue these. Don’t forget to vote in the upcoming “TWITTER, TWEET, RETWEET elections for National ACS president and and Board of Directors. the Twitter logo are trademarks Hope to see everyone at an upcoming ACS DFW section meeting! of Twitter, Inc. Mary Anderson or its affiliates.”

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The Pros and Cons of Volunteering Denise Merkle, PhD Chair-Elect, DFW Section

Volunteers. The American Chemical level, at least partially because of my travel: Society as we know it could not exist Like most people who volunteer in ACS without members who donate their time, governance, I was blissfully ignorant of it energy, and intelligence to supporting until someone asked me to be chemistry and the professionals who love involved. Like most people, I hated to our science. If you've ever received e- straight up tell a colleague, “No.” So I said vitations to local section events, viewed a yes, 19 years ago. I can truthfully say that in demonstration during National Chemistry those 19 years the best things that happened Week, attended a local section, Regional, or to me in my professional life happened as a National meeting, won an ACS Award, or result of being an ACS volunteer. I have read an article in the SW Retort, you've made a difference in others’ lives and they experienced the input of volunteers. In have made a difference in mine. And I have addition to the many ACS employees who gotten back orders of magnitude more than are paid to support the ACS Mission, I gave. I tell students who come to Career significant contributions to the Pathways workshops, “Every opportunity advancement of chemistry and chemists are starts out looking like just more work.” This due to the dedication of volunteers. is one of those paradoxes, but trust me, the While volunteering isn't for everyone, there opportunity is there. are many ways beyond your day job to interact with chemists - or not (no one is going to force nerds to talk to anyone. E- Mary E. Anderson, Ph.D., Councilor for communication is a wonderful thing). DFW; Member of Membership Affairs Committee; Liaison to the Graduate Local Section elections will soon be upon Education Affairs Committee, Prof Texas us. In the interests of encouraging members Woman’s University: The best part of to add their reagents into the flask of participating in ACS governance: I have volunteerism, Past and Present local section made lots of contacts and friends and officers and other volunteers for Chemistry developed leadership skills. I get a chance were asked to briefly reveal How They to make a difference in how people perceive Benefit from Volunteering for Chemistry. In Chemistry. their own words, here's why donating some time is a good thing: Tom Strom, PhD, Councilor: I have been very happy to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth William F. Carroll, Jr, PhD. Former ACS ACS Section as, earlier, Section Chair and, President & Director: My volunteerism in more recently, as one of your four ACS has virtually totally been on a national councilors. The most gratifying work for

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me was serving on the ACS Committee on Obviously, the ability to positively influence Economic and Professional Affairs, as that others' careers and success ranks high among committee's work impacts all ACS members, those who volunteer for science. Interaction not just those in one section or with Science Professionals is also a driving division. ACS thrives on the efforts of its factor behind volunteerism. Many volunteers many volunteering members. are, excuse the phrase, roped into service (in Texas, should this be lassoed?), but once in the corral, most find the Pros to outweigh the Trish Smith, PhD, Former Secretary Cons. ACSDFW: Elected positions gave me the opportunity to not only participate in governing the dfw section but also to make There are, as with everything, Cons. lasting friendships with other chemists. Occasionally the work seems overwhelming. Amazingly enough, not all scientists are enjoyable to work with. Pre-tenure life is Moji Bonakdar, Ph.D.: I have served ACS often not conducive to volunteer activities, in several ways: Local ACS chair, Secretary even for ACS. The requirements from ACS of treasure, Chair awards, science judge and National can be, um, unique and oblique, and etc. I feel great and get a sense satisfaction of sometimes, the process just isn't worth the participating in ACS career service program gain. Nothing is All Good or All Bad, now as an ACS career consultant. I help job however, and as you can see from the seekers with reviewing their resumes and statements, above, long-time volunteers mock interviews. continue to dedicate significant portions of By giving back to my professional society, l their elective lives to Chemistry, because the also get Psychological benefits. Volunteering benefits far outweigh the losses. increases my overall life satisfaction and helps me feel good about myself because l am helping others. It can also help to There are lots of options out there, if you decreases stress and ease depression. want to try a volunteer opportunity or two. Ask an ACS member or write to your local section officers for more specific Kayla N. Green, PhD, Associate Professor, information. https://dfw.sites.acs.org/ Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry officers.htm TCU & National Chemistry Week Whether you titrate in or just open the Coordinator: stopcock, you'll (probably) be glad you did. What other opportunity would allow you to interact with the future leaders in chemistry? The undergraduate and high school student volunteers are the true stars of our weeklong NCW event and I simply help organize, direct, and polish the rough edges here and there.

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From the ACS Press Room The origin of off-taste in onions

Allithiolanes – Nine Groups of Newly formed when the onion is chopped, but Discovered Family of Sulfur Compounds none of these caused a bitter taste. So Ro- Responsible for the Bitter Off-Taste of man Kubec and colleagues wanted to iden- Processed Onion tify the bitter onion compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chem- istry The team processed onions with a kitchen juicer. Freshly obtained juice was not bitter, Chopping onions is usually associated with but after 30 minutes, it developed a strong watery and stinging eyes. But after the on- bitter taste. The group performed sensory- ions are diced and guided high- the tears are performance dried, the vegeta- liquid chroma- ble pieces can tography to sometimes devel- identify the op an unpleasant compounds that bitter taste. Now, formed over one group reports time in the on- in ACS’ Journal ion juice. The of Agricultural researchers dis- and Food Chem- covered nine istry that they have identified previously groups of new sulfur compounds in the on- unknown compounds causing this off-taste. ion juice, which they dubbed allithiolanes. Thanks to onions’ characteristic taste and These compounds form spontaneously strong smell, they are one of the most pop- when the onion is damaged. The allithio- ular vegetables around the world. Onions lanes were not limited to onions; further are known for their versatility — people testing showed they were also present in frequently eat them raw or add them to nu- leeks, and one of the groups was found in merous dishes as they cook. But as onions garlic. are chopped and processed for cooking, a The researchers acknowledge funding from bitter taste that could affect the taste of the the Grant Agency of the University of resulting meal can sometimes develop. South Bohemia, the National Program of Very little is known about why this particu- Sustainability and the Ministry of Educa- lar phenomenon occurs. Previous research tion of the Czech Republic. has shown that onions release a compound called lachrymatory factor upon being cut that causes eyes to water and sting. In addi- tion, scientists have also concluded that several sulfur-based compounds are also

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From the ACS Press Room Biodegradable plastic blends offer new options

Biodegradable Plastic Blends Create New water. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the Possibilities for End-of-Life Management best-selling biodegradable plastics on the of Plastics but They Are Not a Panacea market, but it requires high temperatures for for Plastic Pollution breakdown and is not home-compostable. Environmental Science & Technology Surprisingly, a blend of PLA and polycapro- lactone (PCL) degraded completely to car- Imagine throwing your empty plastic water bon dioxide, biomass and water under typi- bottle into a household composting bin that cal home-composting conditions. Many of breaks down the plastic and produces bio- the individual plastics and blends that were gas to help power your home. Now, re- tested decomposed under conditions of an- searchers have taken an early step toward aerobic digestion, a process that can pro- this futuristic scenario by showing that cer- duce biogas, and all degraded with industri- tain blends of bioplastics can decompose al composting. The researchers say that bio- under diverse conditions. They report their degradable plastic blends could create new results in the ACS journal Environmental possibilities for managing plastic waste. Science & Technology. However, only two plastics, polyhydroxy- Plastic waste pollution is a global environ- butyrate (PHB) and thermoplastic starch mental problem, particularly in oceans, (TPS), broke down completely under all where plastic debris can harm or kill sea an- soil and water conditions. Therefore, biode- imals and birds who ingest or become en- gradable plastics are not a panacea for plas- tangled in it. Despite increased levels of re- tic pollution, and they must be managed cycling in many countries, most plastic carefully after they leave the consumer, the waste still ends up in landfills or the envi- researchers say. ronment. Scientists have developed biode- The authors acknowledge funding from gradable plastics, but they often lack the the European Commission Horizon 2020 flexibility, strength or toughness of conven- Programme, the European Commission tional plastics. Blends of different bioplas- Seventh Framework Programme for Re- tics can offer improved characteristics, but search and the Science Foundation Ireland. their environmental fate is uncertain. Tanja Narancic, Kevin O’Connor, Ramesh Babu Padamati and colleagues wanted to examine the degradation of individual bioplastics and their blends under various conditions. The researchers studied the fates of 15 dif- ferent plastics or blends under managed conditions, such as composting and anaero- bic digestion, as well as unmanaged envi- ronments, including soil and fresh or marine

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September Meeting REGISTER NOW! Dinner to Honor 2018 Werner Schulz Award Recipient Maggie Mixon of Martin HS in Arlington TX Tuesday, September 25 @ 6pm 6p Social Hour 7p Dinner 8p Seminar: "Teaching and the Scientific Method” by Ms. Mixon Joe T. Garcia’s 2201 N. Commerce St Fort Worth TX 76164 $20 includes fajita dinner and 1 drink (cash bar available*) non-alcoholic drinks included $15 student ticket Registration Deadline Friday September 21 Click to Register *Joe T’s accepts cash and checks but not credit cards

SAVE THE DATE: NOV 1, 2018 ,in Denton TX 2018 WILFRED T. DOHERTY AWARD DINNER Honoring FRANCIS D’SOUZA, PhD OF UNT

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Around-the-Area

UTD UTA Assistant Professors Sheel Dodani and Associate Professor Frank Foss was Gabriele Meloni have each been awarded recognized with the Board of Regents highest five-year Maximizing Investigator Research honor, the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Awards from the NIH NIGMS. Award for excellence in the classroom. . Associate Professor Jie Zheng was awarded Hamish Small Professor Purnendu (Sandy) a three-year research grant from the Robert Dasgupta received the ACS National Award A. Welch Foundation. in Chemical Instrumentation on Sept. 22 at Associate Professor Gregg Dieckmann the ACS National Meeting held in Boston. received the 2018 UT Regents’ Outstanding Associate Professor Brad Pierce has Teaching Award. received a $429,033 NIH grant to study “Pre- Senior Lecturer Amandeep Sra received the Steady State Kinetics and O2/NO Reactivity Iota Sigma Pi Centennial Award for Among Thiol Dioxygenase Enzymes.” Brad Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, presented a poster in July at the Gordon which is only given to one person in the Conference on “Enzymes, Coenzymes, and country/year, and the UT Dallas President’s Metabolic Pathways.” His coauthors were Teaching Excellence Award in Sinjinee Sardar, Nicholas York, Andrew Undergraduate Instruction. Weitz, and Michael Hendrich. Professor Ray Baughman, the Robert A. Welch Professor Dan Armstrong gave four Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry and keynote presentations over the summer. Director of the Alan G. MacDiarmid They were for Chirality 2018 at Princeton, NanoTech Institute, was elected to the HPLC 2018 in Washington, D.C., the Gordon European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Research Conference on Molecular Structure Elucidation in Newry, ME, and the Ozark Mai Huynh, a UT Dallas Graduate Biomedical Initiative 2018 Research McDermott Scholar working in the labs of Symposium in Rolla, MO. Professor Rocky Draper and Associate Professor Paul Pantano, received a NSF Associate Professor of Instruction Jimmy Graduate Research Fellowship. Rogers has written a textbook for second semester general chemistry courses. This Graduate student Katherine Benavides and book, General Chemistry 2, is now being undergraduate student Gino Occhialini were used at UT-Arlington along with Jimmy’s recipients of the inaugural John P. Ferraris previous textbook, General Chemistry 1. Research Excellent Awards, established to recognize Professor Ferraris’ 20+ years of E. Thomas Strom attended the ACS service as the Chemistry Department Chair. National Meeting in Boston, where he

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participated in a panel discussion based on meeting, Seattle, WA on May 17, 2018, and two books he co-edited for ACS Books, The a second talk, “A Photocatalyzed Cascade Posthumous Nobel Prize in Chemistry. for the Synthesis of the Tetracyclic Core of Volume 1. Correcting the Errors and Akuammiline Alkaloids” at the 14th SINO- Oversights of the Nobel Prize Committee, US Chemistry Professors Conference, published in hard copy last month by Oxford Wuhan, China on June 21, 2018. University Press and Volume 2, Ladies in Publications Waiting for Nobel Prizes, currently in preparation. The other panelists were his co- Bingbin Wu, Shanyu Wang, Joshua editor Vera Mainz and three chapter authors Lochala, David Desrochers, Bo Liu, from the two books. Wenqing Zhang, Jihui Yang, Jie Xiao. The Role of Solid Electrolyte Interphase Layer in U of Arkansas Preventing Li Dendrite Growth in Solid- State Batteries. Energy & Environmental On the Go Science, 2018, 11, 1803-1810. DOI: Jie Xiao presented an invited talk, 10.1039/ C8EE00540K. “Reactions or no reaction: lithium dep- Hao Chen, Sumana Venkat, Paige osition on the surface of solid state McGuire, Qinglei Gan, Chenguang Fan. electrolyte” at the Recent Development of Genetic Code Spring meeting in Seattle, May 2018. Expansion for Posttranslational Modification Feng Wang gave two invited talks in July. Studies. Molecules. 2018; 23(7):1662. “Developing Accurate and Simple Force Foysal Z. Khan, Joshua A. Hutcheson, Fields with only ab initio Information with Courtney J. Hunter, Amy J. Powless, the Adaptive Force Matching Method” was Devin Benson, Ingrid Fritsch, and presented July 17-21, 2018 at the Ion Timothy J. Muldoon. Redox- Solutions, Biology, Energy, Environment in Magnetohydrodynamically Controlled Fluid Telluride, CO. “Missing Physics in Flow with Poly(3,4- Computational Free Energy Calculations of ethylenedioxythiophene) Coupled to an Ion Hydration and Practical Centroid Epitaxial Light Sheet Confocal Microscope Molecular Dynamics with Force Matching” for Image Cytometry Applications. Anal. was presented at the Manybody Interactions Chem. 2018, 90(13), 7862-7870. Workshop, Telluride, CO, July 9-12, 2018. Rui Wang, Limei Xu, and Feng Wang. Jingyi Chen presented an invited talk, “Cu- Molecular scale processes affecting growth Based Hybrid Nanostructures: From rates of ice at moderate supercooling. Syntheses to Applications,” Noble Metal Frontiers of Physics, 2018, 13, 138116. Nanoparticles Gordon Research Conference, June 17-22, 2018. M.H. Beyzavi et al. Synthesis, structural characterization, biological evaluation and Nan Zheng gave a talk “Difunctionalization molecular docking studies of new platinum of Cyclopropylanilines and (II) complexes bearing isocyanides. New Cyclobutylanilines” at the 233rd ECS Journal of Chemistry 2018, 42, 8681-8692.

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From the ACS Press Room A pill for delivering biomedical micromotors

Micromotor Pills as a Dynamic Oral De- ach without compromising their mobility or livery Platform effectiveness. ACS Nano The researchers created a pill composed of Using tiny micromotors to diagnose and a pair of sugars — lactose and maltose — treat disease in the human body could soon that encapsulated tens of thousands of mi- be a reality. But keeping these devices intact cromotors made of a magnesium/titanium as they travel through the body remains a dioxide core loaded with a fluorescent dye hurdle. Now in a study appearing in ACS cargo. These sugars were chosen because Nano, scientists report that they have found they are easy to mold into tablet, can disin- a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills. tegrate when needed and are nontoxic. The pill’s coating protects the devices as When given to laboratory mice, these pills they traverse the digestive system prior to improved the release and retention of the releasing their drug cargo. micromotors in the stomach compared to About the width of a human hair, micromo- those encapsulated in silica-based tablets or tors are self-propelled microscopic robots in a liquid solution. The researchers con- designed to perform a host of biomedical cluded that encapsulating micromotors in tasks. In previous research, Joseph Wang, traditional pill form improves their ability to Liangfang Zhang and colleagues used mi- deliver medicines to specific targets without cromotors coated with an antibiotic to treat diminishing their mobility or performance. ulcers in laboratory The authors acknowledge mice. They found that funding from the Defense this approach produced Threat Reduction Agency better results than just Joint Science and Tech- taking the drugs by nology Office for Chemi- themselves. However, cal and Biological De- the researchers noted fense, the Charles Lee that body fluids, such as Powell Foundation, the gastric acid and intesti- Consejo Nacional de nal fluids, can compro- Ciencia y Tecnología mise the effectiveness (CONACyT) postdoctoral of micromotors and fellowship, Fulbright trigger early release of their payloads. In ad- grants, the Comisión Nacional de Investi- dition, when taken orally in fluid, some of gacion Cientifica y Tecnologica the micromotors can get trapped in the (CONICYT) and the China Scholarship esophagus. To overcome these issues, Wang Council. and Zhang sought to develop a way to pro- tect and carry these devices into the stom-

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From the ACS Press Room DNA-based method detects trace amounts of peanut in foods

Development and Evaluation of a Real- more stable than proteins. Other researchers Time PCR Multiplex Assay for the have detected peanut nuclear DNA in foods Detection of Allergenic Peanut Using with a sensitive technique called polymerase Chloroplast DNA Markers chain reaction (PCR). But there’s just one Journal of Agricultural and Food nucleus per cell, whereas plant cells have Chemistry many chloroplasts, which also have DNA in For people with severe peanut allergies, them. Peanut chloroplast DNA has unique eating even miniscule amounts of the legume sequences that are not found in other plants. can trigger anaphylaxis — a life-threatening So, Caroline Puente-Lelievre and Anne condition characterized by dizziness, Eischeid wondered if they could develop an breathing difficulties and, sometimes, loss of even more sensitive and specific test by consciousness. Now, researchers have targeting DNA from peanut chloroplasts. developed a sensitive new test to detect trace The team designed a PCR assay to detect amounts of peanuts in foods using the three short DNA sequences found in peanut peanuts’ DNA. They report their results in chloroplasts. By targeting the three regions at ACS’Journal of once, the researchers had Agricultural and Food greater confidence that the Chemistry. results were specific for Surveys have indicated peanut chloroplast DNA. that at least 3 million They spiked six different people in the U.S. suffer foods, which varied from from peanut allergies, blueberry muffins to tomato with the number rising salsa, with small amounts of steadily over the past the legume. The assay decade. People with known allergies are detected peanut in all of the foods over a usually careful to avoid foods containing broad range of spiked amounts, with a peanuts, but small amounts sometimes detection limit of about 1 part per million contaminate foods that don’t list peanuts as (ppm), compared with 10 to 50 ppm for an ingredient. Scientists have developed previous PCR assays targeting nuclear genes. several methods to detect peanut allergens in The authors acknowledge funding from foods; however, most of these test for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. proteins that can be destroyed during food processing. In contrast, DNA is typically

SEPTEMBER 2018 The Southwest RETORT 18

From the editor

Welcome back to the Southwest RETORT, now in its seventy-first year of publication— and its seventh year as an internet publication. When I first started editing the electronic RETORT, it took a while to get people to send news and articles, and the issues would be pretty slim. So, I began using news shorts from the ACS website to fill in the issues. I try to select news shorts that will be pertinent to readers, but I always get one (or maybe two) that I find intriguing, even if they are not of general interest. This month, it’s the article from Analytical Chemistry on really old cheese, found in the tomb of Ptahmes, mayor of Memphis in Egypt during the 13th century BC. First discovered in 1885, it was rediscovered in 2010. The whitish solid material found in a broken jar proved to be made from cows’ milk and either goat or sheep milk, and appears to be contaminated with a form of Brucella, the microorganism that causes brucellosis. Here are some comments on Brucellosis from Wikipedia: Brucellosis in humans is usually associated with consumption of unpasteurized milk and soft cheeses made from the milk of infected animals…it induces fevers, miscarriage, sweating, weakness, anemia, headaches, depression, and muscular and bodily pain….the consequences of Brucella infection are highly variable and may include arthritis, spondylitis, thrombocytopenia, meningitis, uveitis, optic neuritis, endocarditis, and various neurological disorders collectively known as neurobrucellosis. Enter Louis Pasteur! Yes, pasteurization has largely done away with Brucellosis in humans in the US, but it is endemic in some third world countries. In the US, the elk in Yellowstone carry the disease, and can spread it to cattle in adjoining areas; Montana Public Radio carries an interesting article about this situation and the conflicts engendered by attempts at controlling the spread: http://www.mtpr.org/post/elk-are-primary-source- brucellosis-yellowstone-area-report-says

SEPTEMBER 2018 The Southwest RETORT 19