Articles+Summary+2009-10

media type="custom" key="4874869"  7. **Bioluminescent Plants** toc
 * Week 3 of Science Journal Reporting and Voting (Sunday, November 20) Complete Voting by noon Monday. **

Bioluminescence Article (// Lisa M. Sardinia) // SUMMARY: Bioluminescence is the natural production of light in plants and animals (also fungi, protists, and bacteria). Bioluminescence can be intracellular, where the organism may have chemicals within that react to create the light, or it may be extracellular where the organism will secrete chemicals that create light. There are three main uses for bioluminescence: 1) Finding or attracting prey, 2) defense against predators, and 3)communication.

The article goes on to give examples of bioluminescence in marine animals, i.e. angler fish and jellyfish. However, this is where my commentary comes in: I saw the pictures of the glow in the dark cats and thought that was the coolest thing ever. But, it was rather pointless to make a cat glow in the dark. What would be good to make glow in the dark are plants—specific plants. Carnivorous plants. Hopefully, the bioluminescence would attract the prey (aka, annoying bugs like mosquitoes and gnats). So how does one get a Venus fly trap or a pitcher plant to glow? I have no idea, but I did make some “glow in the dark bacteria” last year in Online Genetics and Biotechnology. Would that be along the same process? I’d hope so because I’m really interested in this particular topic. I’ll research the methods and see what I can find. If it is possible to do, this is my number one research topic right now! -Lynea Bull

8 . FTIR spectrum of Hypericum and Triadenum with Reference to their identification
LU Hong-Fei et.al. The infrared spectroscopic study of leaves have been found to serve as 'fingerprints' to determine differences in two taxa of leaves of Hypericum. They found no differences in developmental stages or in leaves grown in the same geographic area. Suggesting that Ftir may be a quick and easy way to classify leaves if a standard spectra are available. Dr Halpin ==

9 . Elevator To SPACE???: Researchers Create Carbon Nanotube Tethers
[|Larry Greenemeier] March-19-2009 [] -Mark MacIntyre

**10. Occupational Asthma- D. Gautrin**
Epidemiology, risk factors and diagnosis of occupational asthma This article talks about relating exposure to certain occupational environments to a development in asthma. The research question of this article is to establish a connection between type I immunological sensitization to specific work-related high molecular weight allergens and estimates of atopy exposure, effects of potential environmental factors on the immunological sensitizations, changes in bronchial responsiveness, and proportion of sensitized subjects to where symptoms first begin. To find this, tests included mantadory and voluntary questionnaires specific immunological assessments, and a nonspecific bronchial challenge test. The methods for these tests are quite simple, however, questionnaires tends to have a rather limited and restricted result because of the nature of questionnaires. The specific immunological assessments tested for mostly high molecular weight proteins that can trigger an immunological response. The bronchial tests was to asses the responsiveness to methacholine or histamine in the absence of an air obstruction that can lead to asthma. Overall, it was concluded that those who works with animals the most are the ones exposed with the most risk to occupational asthma, which is also correlated with hygiene. 90% of those in such professions had some sort of an reaction after 18 months into work. Naturally, reactions to exposures is also dependent on other factors such as smoking or genetics.

-AX

**11. HIV epidemiology assessment in med school students**
(in Germany... J. Klewer, H. Seelbach, J, Kugler)

This article looked at the epidemiology knowledge from med school students in Germany on their knowledge of HIV transmission. Basically, it assessed the ignorance of med students on the topic of "how likely is a physician is to be transmitted HIV." The main questions this study addressed was how knowledgeable the med students were on the topic, the risk of being infected with HIV on the job, and if there was a difference between the first and fifth year med students. This is mostly being carried out with a mandatory survey that was all the medical students were required to fill out. The turnout for this has been 100% so there was no nonresponse. Overall, this study concluded that med students were rather ignorant about the risks of HIV transmission. Over half of all students (first year and fifth year) overestimated the potential risk. However, fist year med students often rated events such as "being coughed at" and the physical examination as potential HIV transmission risks whereas fifth year students dismissed the notion. However, more fifth year students though actions like "changing dirty linen" or "getting a misquito bite" as potential risk factors. The overwhelming estimation could of been an effect of the currently aggressive HIV campaign.

This study was done in Germany so I have no clue what its impact is in the US. I just thought it was a rather interesting topic but in all honesty, it has more to do with statistics than science. However, the results were still interesting.

-AX


 * 5. Photovoltaic Cells**
 * Synthesis and characterization of carboxylated thiophene co-polymers and their use in photovoltaic cells **

J. M. R. C. Fernando and G. K. R. Senadeera CURRENT 750 SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2008

This article investigates how conductive polymer materials can be used in photovoltaic cells to replace the liquid electrolyte or the sensitizers. This is of interest because these polymers are inexpensive and could replace rare earth metal complexes that are expensive and have limited the availability of these solar cells. The monomers used were thiophene malonic acid (3TMA), thiophene (T), 3-acetyl thiophene (3AT), 3-methyl thiophene (3MT) and pyrrole (PY). In order to polymerize each of these, the monomer was dissolved in dried CHCl3 and then added dropwise to a solution of FeCl3 in dried CHCl3 in a three-necked flask in a N2 atmosphere. The solution was then added to a large excess of methanol to precipitate the polymer. To create the photovoltaic cells, TiO2 electrodes were dipped in the polymers and then allowed to dry for at least 24 hours then washed with THF or ethanol. The redox electrolyte containing etrabutylammonium iodide in a mixture of acetonitrile and ethylene carbonate was put between the TiO2 electrodes and platinum-coated counter electrodes. The cells were then analyzed using a light source with the standard solar irradiation of 100 mW cm-2.

The cells did work and had higher efficiencies than those reported for devices using conducting polymers as sensitizers. However, the overall efficiencies were lower than those attainable using inorganic sensitizers, and the co-polymer could not absorb light in lower wavelengths. The efficiency might be improved by synthesizing some polymers with P3TAA having COOH groups and some polymers with red-absorbing parts. -Ariane Nabors

Bryce Pilcher


 * 6. Wind Power at High Altitudes**

//Anonymous//. [|**Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society**]. Boston: [|Sep 2009]. Vol. 90, Iss. 9; pg. 1259, 3 pgs High-altitude winds have been shown to be a powerful energy source, but one that has yet to be utilized. A new study by scien tists at the Carnegie Institution and California State University looked into regions that could take advantage of this wind power, which would be far stronger than that harnessed near the ground. "There is a huge amount of energy available in high altitude winds," says Ken Caldeira, of Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology. "These winds blow much more strongly and steadily than near-surface winds, but you need to go get up miles to get a big advantage. Ideally, you would like to be up near the jet streams, around 30,000 feet." Caldeira, along with Cristina Archer of California State University, Chico, used 28 years of data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the Department of Energy to compile a global survey of wind energy available at high altitudes in the atmosphere. They assessed potential in terms of "wind power density," which takes into account both wind speed and air density at different altitudes. They found that the eastern United States and East Asia are regions best suited for harvesting this energy, with New York City a prime spot in the United States. "We found the highest wind power densities over Japan and eastern China, the eastern coast of the United States, southern Australia, and northeastern Africa," says Archer. "The median values in these areas are greater than 10 kilowatts per square meter. This is unthinkable near the ground, where even the best locations have usually less than one kilowatt per square meter." However, like on the ground, fluctuating wind strength presents a challenge on a large scale. Among the ideas proposed for instruments is a tethered, kite-like wind turbine that would reside at the altitude of the jet stream. The researchers say that up to 40 MW of electricity could be generated and transmitted to the ground through the tether. "While there is enough power in these high-altitude winds to power all of modern civilization, at any specific location there are still times when the winds do not blow," notes Caldeira. He points out that even where it is strongest, the wind can be expected to fail about 5% of the time. "This means that you either need backup power, massive amounts of energy storage, or a continental or even global-scale electricity grid to assure power availability. So, while high-altitude wind may ultimately prove to be a major energy source, it requires substantial infrastructure."
 * TAPPING WIND POWER AT HIGH ALTITUDES**

1. Bird Species Shifting North
 * North **** ward Shifts in the Abundance of North American Birds in Early Winter: **
 * A Response to Warmer Winter Temperatures? **

Daniel K. Niven (__dniven@audubon.org__), Gregory S. Butcher (__gbutcher@audubon.org__)

//National Audubon Society, Inc. Website: [] [|Copyright] 2009 by National Audubon Society, Inc. All rights reserved. //

Are distributions of North American birds exhibiting a continent-wide shift northward because it's getting hotter in their traditional ranges? The main hypothesis addressed in this research is that climate change is altering the distribution of bird species northward and that these shifts may be indicators of major, widespread ecosystem changes due to climate change.

Monthly average temperature estimates published by NOAA (2007 data set) for the 40-year period between 1966 and 2005 were analyzed for each month and the least squares regression method was used to assess the changing continental temperatures over that time period. For data on bird population distribution the researchers used the annual Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count. The Christmas count tallies species and number of birds in 2,000 locations each year always within two weeks of Christmas. Data is collected by more than 30,000 volunteer observers. Forty years of data were analyzed for 305 species that are regularly encountered in five or more states or provinces to assess changes in the range of North American birds. Identified range changes were based on movement noted at the geographic center of abundance for each of the 305 species – half the individuals of a species are found south of the center of abundance; the other half are found north of it. Analysis of bird count data focused on primary sampling units in portions of the 55 states and provinces in the survey area. For 305 bird species, 40-year trends and annual indices of abundance were estimated using standard statistical tools.

Temperature patterns, analyzed using regression analysis showed a consistent positive increase in monthly temperature. For the month of January over the 40-year period average temperature increase was more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Annual latitudinal distributions of birds were found to correlate with annual temperatures and rates of bird population change correlated with rates of temperature change. These changes were independent of latitude. Among all the species twice as many moved north as south; twice as many species moved inland as moved coastally. Both of these directional movements are consistent with a climate change model. These data suggest that continent-wide changes in ecosystems are taking place although not consistently in all ecosystems. In particular,species with limited coastal and grassland ranges did not show the same changes.

Summary by L.S.


 * 2. PBDEs in a wastewater treatment plant.**

Sierra Rayne and Michael G. Ikonomou. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science; Sep 2005; 4, 5; Research Library Pg. 353
 * Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in an advanced wastewater treatment plant. Part 1: Concentrations, patterns and influence of treatment processes**

This article attempts to quantify the decomposition of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) within wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) by measuring the PBDE concentrations at different stages of the City of Kelowna WWTP within the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The sample analysis was done in the home lab in Sydney, British Columbia. The samples’ liquid mass was filtered, spiked with internal standards, and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography. The solid mass was spiked, placed into soxhlets, and extracted for 6hrs.The exact extraction protocols are described within the Ikonomou et al. 2002a, 2002b and Rayne et al. 2003a, 2003b papers.

The article concluded that advanced wastewater treatment methods do not adequately remove PBDE contaminants from the elluent before releasing it into the environment. This stern conclusion is confidently stated within the first sentence of the “Results and discussion” section:

“… PBDEs do not appear to be substantially degraded by advanced wastewater treatment processes but that the high levels observed in the resulting biosolids may pose an environmental threat through the use as a soil amendment. In addition, […] high volumes of aqueous effluent may result in a large PBDE flux into receiving waters […], posing a potential threat to drinking water supplied and the local fisheries’ resource.”

In the following sections the authors go on to explain the potential impacts of PBDE contaminated biosolids being used as fertilized in farms, why PBDEs are not removed via our standard water treatment processes, as well as the PBDE mass balances, accumulation, and congener patterns within each stage of the WWTP. The article also contains a graphic representation of the WWTP and different PBDE concentration graphs at each stage, making it very helpful to visualize the path the waste takes when running through the plant and how the concentrations of various flame-retardants change over time.

Summary by Kacper Skakuj

[|Ito S], [|Natsume A], [|Shimato S], [|Ohno M], [|Kato T], [|Chansakul P], [|Wakabayashi T], [|Kim SU]. Department of Neurosurgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan PubMed, US National Library of Medicine, Nov. 6, 2009
 * 3. Effect of IFN Beta** **on Human Neural Stem Cells (NSC)**

Based on the assumption (previously tested) that genetically modified human NSCs have beneficial advances towards brain cancer patients. It has been shown that NSCs transduced with the cytosine deaminase (CD) gene and treated with a drug, 5-fluorocytosine, or 5-FC, showed antiproliferative effects through what’s called a “bystander killer effect” on glioma cells. Glioma cells are a type of cancerous cells that starts from cells called glial cells that can be from the brain or the spine. The interferon-beta (IFN-beta) gene, if induced, has showed an antiproliferative effect on many types of cancers, including an antitumor effect in patients with malignant glioma. In this study, it is tested if the genetically modified NSC with the expression of both CD and IFN-beta genes can intensify the antitumor effects.

In its procedure, a human glioma cell line is obtained from a tissue culture grown in minimal essential medium. The clonal CD/INF-beta line was obtained from a human NSC line generated from a human fetal telemncephalon and immortalized with a vector with an oncogene. The cells were cultured for 4 weeks and the genes were inserted by PCR.

It was concluded through this experiment that in vitro, the CD/INF-beta gene expressed a remarkable bystandard effect after the application of 5-FC in comparison with the parent CD-expressing NSC. As a result, the gene therapy prolonged survival periods significantly in experimental animals. This implies a possible new therapy option for glioma patients.

--AX

**4** **. Energy Resources in Appalachia**

Energizing Appalachia: A Regional Blueprint for Economic and **Energy** Development Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)

First off this is not quite a scientific article but it is a review in an area of interest to me. I have some ideas about alternative energy that I would like to pursue and study and this article deals with current energy resources and possible future energy resources in Appalachia. This article discusses the history of energy and resources in Appalachia and a “Blueprint for Economic and Energy Development.” It begins by stating the need for this kind of development based on the crisis in the country and the world. It speaks of incentives that could be awarded for efficiency and innovation. Next it describes the energy “output” of Appalachia, or the amount of energy that is produced in that region. For example: 35% of the nations coal output comes from mines in the Appalachian region. The article says that the biggest issue for the region is the fact that over 75% of local power comes from coal. In order to switch to alternative energy it would take quite a bit of work. The largest possibility for this region is wind energy of which 558 megawatts are currently being produced. It is predicted that there are approximately 11000 megawatts of addition wind capacity available. The article also goes onto say that investments should be made in private-sector. It also says that the transition should be slow and to do this start with more efficient coal plants, so as not to completely flip the landscape of Appalachia energy. Bryce Pilcher

J. M. R. C. Fernando and G. K. R. Senadeera CURRENT 750 SCIENCE, VOL. 95, NO. 6, 25 SEPTEMBER 2008
 * 5. Synthesis and characterization of carboxylated thiophene co-polymers and their use in photovoltaic cells**

This article investigates how conductive polymer materials can be used in photovoltaic cells to replace the liquid electrolyte or the sensitizers. This is of interest because these polymers are inexpensive and could replace rare earth metal complexes that are expensive and have limited the availability of these solar cells. The monomers used were thiophene malonic acid (3TMA), thiophene (T), 3-acetyl thiophene (3AT), 3-methyl thiophene (3MT) and pyrrole (PY). In order to polymerize each of these, the monomer was dissolved in dried CHCl3 and then added dropwise to a solution of FeCl3 in dried CHCl3 in a three-necked flask in a N2 atmosphere. The solution was then added to a large excess of methanol to precipitate the polymer. To create the photovoltaic cells, TiO2 electrodes were dipped in the polymers and then allowed to dry for at least 24 hours then washed with THF or ethanol. The redox electrolyte containing etrabutylammonium iodide in a mixture of acetonitrile and ethylene carbonate was put between the TiO2 electrodes and platinum-coated counter electrodes. The cells were then analyzed using a light source with the standard solar irradiation of 100 mW cm-2.

The cells did work and had higher efficiencies than those reported for devices using conducting polymers as sensitizers. However, the overall efficiencies were lower than those attainable using inorganic sensitizers, and the co-polymer could not absorb light in lower wavelengths. The efficiency might be improved by synthesizing some polymers with P3TAA having COOH groups and some polymers with red-absorbing parts. -Ariane Nabors

=Week of September 9th=

Bryce Pilcher

Island wind-hydrogen energy: A significant potential US resource
Benjamin K. Sovacool and Richard F. Hirsh Volume 33, Issue 8, Au gust 2008, Pages 1928-1935

This article investigates how island wind energy stations could be used as an alternative to off-shore stations. Island wind energy systems would be beneficial because they can take advantage of notional deep ocean winds without the difficulties of putting up wind turbines in a marine environment. The hypothesis is that island wind energy stations have a lot of potential as a source of renewable energy, but there are policies that need to be addressed first and research that needs to be done. Offshore wind energy has a lot of potential because in many places off the coast, there are winds of class 5 and above, much higher quality wind resources than those found on land. The problem is that wind turbines can only be installed in water less than thirty meters deep. Island wind stations can take advantage of these resources. The main issue is that it is difficult to get this energy back to the mainland for use. This article proposes using the wind energy harnessed to produce hydrogen which can then be shipped back to the mainland and used in fuel cells for renewable energy. Island wind farms also alleviate problems caused by public concern about wind turbines near the shore marring the scenery. Another problem will be developing turbines capable of handling class 7 winds. There are clearly a number of issues to be worked out before island wind farms become a significant source of energy, but if we can make the right developments both in the engineering of wind turbines and in energy policy, this could be a very important energy source in the future. -Ariane Nabors