New APS teams focus on structural biology

Two new collaborative access teams (CATs) soon will begin structural biology research at the Advanced Photon Source: Northeastern CAT (NE-CAT) and Life Sciences CAT (LS-CAT).

CATs bring experimenters from various academic, industrial and research institutions together to share APS resources while pursuing related scientific objectives.

"All of the investigators that are involved benefit," said LS-CAT Director Wayne Anderson, a researcher from Northwestern University.

Anderson has done previous work at the APS through the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow CAT. Team members all work near Argonne, he said, which eases scheduling and experiment modifications.

LS-CAT includes investigators from Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wayne State University and the Van Andel Institute, as well as Northwestern University.

Team members are involved in structural biology research with special emphasis in enzymes that may be novel targets for biotechnology or drug design. Other areas of research emphasis include membrane proteins, cellular signaling and protein transport systems, and the protein-nucleic acid complexes involved in genome replication, regulation and expression.

NE-CAT consists of 27 research groups from Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, Yale University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

These research groups will focus on applications of X-ray crystallography in various biological systems, with emphasis on signal transduction, initiation and regulation of DNA transcription, cell cycle regulation, virus structure and function, membrane proteins, protein folding and enzyme structure and function. Many of the projects will focus on how large biological molecules interact to form complexes.

"My goal is to have a reliable, high-quality X-ray source that allows us to push the limits of structural analysis," said NE-CAT Director Steven Ealick. "There are many examples of crystals that currently can only be analyzed at medium or low resolution, and we would like to push those structures to the highest possible resolution." 

NE-CAT will occupy Sector 24 of the APS, and LS-CAT will occupy Sector 21. Together with the South East Regional CAT at Sector 22 and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and National Cancer Institute CAT at Sector 23, these research teams will share the newly completed laboratory Office Module 436.

The office module was jointly funded by the National Institutes of Health and DOE. All four teams will be conducting research related to macromolecular crystallography.

— Jennifer Ann Hutt

Tracking system speeds contractor approvals

A three-part tracking system developed by researchers in Argonne's Technology Development Division is one of 19 projects chosen to be a part of a U.S. Department of Energy initiative called Project IDEA (Innovative Department of Energy E-Government Applications). More than 300 projects were submitted for consideration.

The Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence Electronic Submission and Processing System (FOCI ESPS) was developed by Technology Development's Information Technology and Security Group with funding from the DOE Office of Security Affairs.

FOCI determinations are required by agencies like DOE, the Department of Defense and the State Department as part of the facility clearance process for contractors. Any contractor doing work for DOE that requires access to sensitive facilities, classified information or special nuclear material has to submit corporate foreign ownership, control or influence information for DOE to render a FOCI determination. The paperwork often caused delays, and centralized storage for the information was needed for security, counter-terrorist and counter-proliferation analyses.

"DOE is the first government agency to fund the development of an electronic system for FOCI operations," said Judy Gross, leader of the group developing the system. "The new electronic system provides contractors, DOE operations offices and headquarters with a new approach to facility clearance operations. It will enable the Office of Security to perform sophisticated threat analyses that are needed to ensure the national security."

The IDEA program was initiated by the Energy Department in cooperation with the White House Office of Management and Budget's newly created Office of E-Government.

"By streamlining operations, standardizing systems and sharing information technology across government agencies," said Gross, "the government will function more efficiently. In this era of increased security awareness, the sharing of security-related information is critical if government agencies are going to work cooperatively to respond to real and potential security threats."

Gross hopes to see the system span all of the federal agencies that conduct FOCI operations.

— Katie Williams

Choral group to perform for 22nd year

The Argonne Choral group will sing holiday songs Wednesday, Dec. 11, at noon in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria, at 1:30 p.m. in the Argonne Credit Union and at 2 p.m. in the lobby of Building 201.

The group started as an octet 22 years ago and has grown to an expected 25 participants this season. Harry Bell (PFS) has been the group's only director.

Reception marks nuclear energy's 60th year

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the nuclear age, Argonne-West will join with the Idaho State University College of Engineering and the Idaho Chapter of the American Nuclear Society for a reception at the university.

The anniversary coincides with the 35th anniversary of the first nuclear engineering graduates from Idaho State University's College of Engineering and the 45th anniversary of the formation of the Idaho section of the American Nuclear Society (IANS). There will be presentations by representatives from Argonne, the IANS and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

On Dec. 2, 1942, the world's first nuclear reactor, dubbed "Chicago-Pile 1," or CP-1, came to life in a squash-racquets court under the west stands of the University of Chicago's Stagg Field.

The reactor contained 380 tons of graphite, 40 tons of uranium oxide and six tons of uranium metal. It cost an estimated $2.7 million. Fifty people were in attendance during the first experiment, under the direction of physicist Enrico Fermi. At 3:53 p.m., a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was achieved for the first time ever.

After their success with the chain reaction, many of the scientists and technicians moved to Oak Ridge, Tenn., Hanford, Wash., and Los Alamos, N.M. There, the military aspects of devising an atomic bomb went forward under the "Manhattan Project."

The "Metallurgical Laboratory" — the code name for the reactor project — stayed in Illinois. By February 1943, CP-1 had been dismantled, moved and rebuilt as CP-2 at "Site A" in the secluded Argonne Forest section of the Cook County Forest Preserve in Palos Hills. The site was later renamed the Argonne Laboratory for the forest that surrounded it. Fermi was the first director of the Argonne Laboratory until he joined the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos.

The current Argonne-East site became the laboratory's new home in August 1948. The following year, the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho was established to test new types of reactors. A portion of this site is now Argonne-West.

The descendants of that first "pile" now generate nearly one-fifth of the world's electrical energy.

"CP-1 produced a half-watt of power for four and a half minutes," said Argonne Director Hermann Grunder. "But from its simple yet momentous beginning, it provided both the theoretical and engineering foundation on which the future of nuclear energy is still being built. We stand today on the cusp of the next step forward in the development of this crucial source of energy."

An illustrated, in-depth history of the first nuclear reaction is available online.

Tuecke is on Crain's list of '40 under 40'

Computer scientist Steve Tuecke (MCS) has been named to Crain's Chicago Business' annual "Forty Under 40" list of outstanding Chicago-area leaders and trailblazers in business, government and the arts.

Tuecke is a chief architect in the Distributed Systems Laboratory (DSL) of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division. His work centers on specification and design of technologies to meet the needs of the evolving Grid. A Grid is a persistent distributed computing, collaboration and data-handling infrastructure that connects geographically and organizationally dispersed resources, including large-scale computers, archival storage systems, scientific and engineering instruments and human collaborators.

Tuecke also evaluates commercial and research software and hardware for applicability to the Globus Toolkit^TM, the leading middleware toolkit for Grid programming. In addition, he is principal investigator on a DOE-funded Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) project focusing on security and policy for group collaborations over the Grid.

Tuecke also leads the specification and design of technologies for the Globus Project. The Globus Project^TM — a collaboration among Argonne, the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago — focuses on applying Grid concepts to scientific and engineering computing. Tuecke forges collaborations with strategic partners in research and industry, such as with IBM on the Open Grid Services Architecture.

Cooking class to focus on holiday meal

A demonstration and tasting of holiday cooking will be held at the Argonne Guest House Monday, Dec. 9, and Monday, Dec. 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Argonne Guest House Executive Chef Chris Kaminsky's menu will include artichoke pancakes with goat cheese, smoked salmon bisquets and saffron risotto cakes. Those who attend can taste the results.

Class size is limited. Cost is $25 per person, cash, check or charge, due at registration. Register in person at the Guest House, or mail checks to Kathy, Building 460.

Registration for the Dec. 9 class is due by Monday, Dec. 2. Registration for the Dec. 16 class is due by Monday, Dec. 9.

For more information, call ext. 5-2006.

Closed Dec. 19

The Guest House Restaurant will not serve lunch Thursday, Dec. 19 due a special event.

Green Chemistry, R&D 100 entries needed

Argonne entries for the Green Chemistry Challenge Award and R&D 100 Awards are wanted by the Office of Technology Transfer (OTT).

R&D 100 Awards are presented annually by R&D magazine in recognition of the "100 most technologically significant products" of the preceding year. The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards acknowledge innovative technology that reduces or prevents pollution.

To submit an entry, researchers should first complete a brief "intent to submit" form, available online. The form should be submitted to OTT by Friday, Dec. 6, for Green Chemistry and Wednesday, Dec. 18, for R&D 100 Awards.

For more information, contact Cynthia Wesolowski (OTT) at ext. 2-7694 or send e-mail to weso@anl.gov.

Retirees

Marilyn J. Elison (CMT) retired Sept. 30 with 10 years of service.

Gail L. Farmer (IPD) retired Oct. 10 with 34 years of service.

Charles Jonah (CHM) retired Oct. 31 with 31 years of service.

Lottie D. Jones, Jr. (PFS-US) retired Oct. 1 with 32 years of service.

Clayton Williams (CHM) retired Oct. 31 with 39 years of service.

HR CLASSES

Human Resources has scheduled the following classes in December:

"Facilitating Effective Meetings" (HR636) covers effective meeting planning, ensuring goals are accomplished and getting full participation of all attending. The class includes a six-step process and group facilitation techniques to help build consensus, handle conflict, keep meetings on target and deal with difficult group members. Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1-5 p.m., Building 201, Room 190.

"Time Management" (HR486) will help participants assess their time management habits and examine the issues of choice and control and their impact on time management. The course will cover time management techniques and self-management skills to manage time more effectively. Monday, Dec. 16, 1-5 p.m., Building 201, Room 190.

To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410. For complete course descriptions, visit the HR Web-site.

'Stocking stuffers' sold by Pioneers ...

The Argonne Pioneers will sell patriotic pens and travel alarm clocks at Argonne-East Thursday, Dec. 12, and Friday, Dec. 13.

The items will be available in the Building 213 Cafeteria lobby from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each day. Both have the Pioneers' running deer and Argonne logos.

... and lab's Craft Club

Handcrafted items, "cat mats," science humor T-shirts and more will be offered for sale by the Argonne Arts and Craft Club Friday, Dec. 6.

Items will be sold in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

For more information, call Valerie Gaines (IPD) at ext. 2-5610 or Carolyn Arthur (HR) at ext. 2-9023.

Social Security rep to visit ANL-E

George Cutwright, a representative of the Social Security Administration's Joliet office, will visit Argonne-East Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 8 a.m. to noon.

There will be no appointments in December.

Cutwright will be available to:

Enroll employees in Social Security.

Take applications for new Social Security cards, including original cards for newborns, corrected cards due to marriage, or replacement cards.

Help with earnings posting problems.

Answer general questions about the Social Security program.

To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.