Archive for November, 1999
Salt Lake City — German scientists say they have created an automated carbohydrate synthesizer that can create carbohydrate molecules within only a few hours.
Professor Peter Seeberger of the Max-Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, and the Free University of Berlin described the synthesizer in Salt Lake City this week during a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
“Our automated synthesizer is now the fastest method to make complex carbohydrates,” said Seeberger, principal investigator for the research.
“There are currently no competitive methods available. Today, if people
working in biology run into a problem related to carbohydrates, they usually drop it because there are no tools available. They can’t buy anything from a catalog. It becomes a royal pain in the neck.”
He said the carbohydrate synthesizer might do the same thing for the emerging fields of glycochemistry and glycobiology as the invention of the automated DNA and protein synthesizers for genetics and proteomics.
Seeberger’s group used the carbohydrate synthesizer to develop a malaria vaccine. Clinical trials for that vaccine are scheduled next year in the African nations of Mozambique and Tanzania.
Seeberger is commercializing the carbohydrate synthesizer through his start-up company, Ancora Pharmaceuticals of Medford, Mass.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Mansfield, England — An official in the British town of Mansfield says pink fluorescent lights are being used to stop suspected gang activity by highlighting gang members’ acne.
Marianne Down of the Layton Burroughs Residents’ Association said fluorescent lights have been installed at two underpasses in the Mansfield neighborhood to stop youths from gathering together in those sites, the Mansfield (England) Chad reported Monday.
“We used to have quite a problem with large groups of young people hanging around in the underpasses drinking, which felt quite intimidating, but the pink lights have really made a difference,” Down said.
“The groups aren’t there as much and it feels safer walking through there now, particularly at night.”
The lights are apparently making a difference by highlighting the youths’ acne and other blemishes. They’ve also reduced the number of addicts shooting up in the area because the lights make it hard to find veins.
The Chad said based on the success of the lights, the association is planning on adding the pink lighting to another overpass as well as purchasing surveillance cameras.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Washington — Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada, who pleaded guilty to lying to congressional investigators about steroid use, was sentenced Thursday to one year of probation.
Tejada in February admitted to charges of making a misrepresentation to Congress when talking with investigators looking into steroid use in Major-League Baseball.
He could have been sentenced to a year in prison but U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay handled down a sentence of one year of probation, fined Tejada
$5,000 and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.
Tejada apologized to Congress and the court during the brief sentencing hearing.
Tejada told investigators in 2005 that he’d never taken steroids, had never
seen other players take steroids and never even heard players talk about steroids. However, the Mitchell Report stated that Tejada in 2003 had conversations about steroids and a teammate obtained the drugs for him.
Tejada played seven seasons for Oakland, including 2002 when he was voted the American League’s most valuable player, before signing a $72 million, six-year contract with Baltimore after the 2003 season. The Orioles traded Tejada to Houston the day before the Mitchell Report was released in December 2007.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Atlanta — U.S. scientists say they’ve identified the genetic machinery responsible for synthesizing thiostrepton, a powerful antibiotic produced by certain bacteria.
Georgia Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Wendy Kelly, postdoctoral fellow Chaoxuan Li and graduate student Lisa Pan said the antibiotic, although effective against the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, thiostrepton has only limited applications in humans because it is not water soluble.
The scientists said their identification of the gene cluster responsible for producing thiostrepton could make the drug more useful by improving its water solubility.
Beyond possible medical applications, the researchers said their discovery produced a scientific surprise: Thiostrepton is derived from a genetically encoded peptide that undergoes no fewer than 19 modifications. That makes it
one of the most complex such processes known.
“We are interested in making derivatives of this peptide drug that retain their potency and are efficiently processed by biochemical machinery,” said Kelly. “We want to put in substitutions to the genetic machinery that may create a more water soluble analog and could potentially be used for development of a new class of antibacterial agent.”
Details of the work were published online in the March 5 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Plantation, Fla — Students at a high school in Plantation, Fla., better pull up their sagging pants or be prepared to get a belt, the school’s assistant principal says.
Plantation High School Assistant Principal Brougher Bass said Thursday is Pull Up Your Pants Day at the school and any students found with sagging pants will be presented with a complementary belt, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said.
“We want our students to have the ability to express themselves,” Bass said, “but we want them to have dignity, too.”
Pants Day represents the culmination of an effort by Plantation High teachers Diana Carter and Dona McKenzie, who became frustrated by the sagging pants fashion trend.
The two reading teachers convinced an area Wal-Mart to donate an unspecified number of belts to the school and Pants Day was created, the Sun-Sentinel said.
The newspaper said the Plantation High effort isn’t the first time sagging
pants have been targeted in Florida. Low-riding pants are banned in public facilities in Opa-locka, Fla., while residents of Riviera Beach, Fla., cannot wear sagging pants if their skin or underwear becomes exposed as a result.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
Park City, Utah — Greg Needell announced Thursday he was stepping down after seven seasons as coach of the U.S. Alpine ski team.
Needell said in a written statement that he wanted to spend more time at home, particularly as his 11-year-old son, Coen, becomes more active in ski racing and Little League.
Needell also said with some satisfaction that the U.S. team was performing
so well that it was a good time to leave.
“I’m leaving the team at a point where all the guys are just so professional with what they do,” he said. “It’s hard to tell them that when you’re a coach because you’re always looking to improve but I can easily step back and say the team is in a good place.”
Needell was in charge as the United States brought such standouts as Lindsay Vonn, Bode Miller and Ted Ligety to the international stage. Ligety said Needell was on the “cutting edge” when it came to teaching the latest racing techniques.
The U.S. Ski Association didn’t immediately announce a successor.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
