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Researchers will discuss their laboratory-directed research and development (LDRD) projects at a "mini-symposium" Monday, June 2, from 2-3:30 p.m. in Building 402, Room E1100-1200. The Laboratory Directorate invites and encourages all whose work schedules permit to attend.
Presentations will include:
Advanced Life Sciences (ALS) has licensed a promising proteomics-based technology from Argonne. The license involves a compound called ALS-499 that may be helpful in slowing the development of several diseases, including Alzheimer’s and type-2 diabetes.
“We believe this technology has significant potential,” said Michael T. Flavin, ALS’s chief executive officer. “It will strengthen our inflammation-fighting drug portfolio and provide us with a platform from which we can develop new drugs that may prevent a number of significant diseases. Our scientists have been working in collaboration with Argonne for several years. Our joint research led to the discovery of this interesting compound that will enhance our R&D program in inflammation therapeutics.”
Argonne, in collaboration with ALS and the University of Chicago, has been studying the biophysical foundations of amyloid formation for some time and ALS-499 was discovered during the course of that research. The field of protein aggregation focuses on what happens when proteins in the body clump together in ways that cause disease.
“We were surprised to discover that ALS-499 blocked aggregation of a variety of proteins that can lead to several debilitating diseases,” said Argonne Senior Biophysicist Fred Stevens (BIO). “The compound holds substantial potential in terms of its ability to prevent diseases involving faulty protein aggregation.”
Bill Ragland of Argonne’s Office of Technology Transfer said under the terms of the license agreement, ALS, located in Woodridge, will have exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize ALS-499, as well as the platform technology as a method for preventing amyloid fibril formation. ALS-499 will immediately advance into early stage laboratory investigation under ALS stewardship. If this compound continues to prove its effectiveness in this setting, it is likely to be slated for clinical trials within a few years.
Advanced Life Sciences is a privately held biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs in the therapeutic areas of infection, cancer and inflammation using its platform in natural products and chemical proteomics coupled with expertise in drug development.
By Amy M. Kile
A workshop series to help female scientists and engineers advance in their careers at Argonne was one of only four programs that recently won a 2003 Department of Energy Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Best Practices award.
The Best Practices award recognizes new and innovative programs throughout the Department of Energy complex that enhance equal employment opportunity and diversity. Argonne was cited for the “Survival Skills for Successful Women Scientists and Engineers” program, a series of monthly, two-hour long workshops conceived by physicist Dongqi Li (MSD) and organized by a joint effort of Argonne’s Women in Science and Technology (WIST) program, Human Resources and the Division of Educational Programs (DEP). Li organized a similarly-themed workshop series for the American Physical Society (APS)’s 2002 March Meeting.
“I thought that there hadn’t been enough effort to help women learn the unwritten rules and gain the necessary skills that their male counterparts are more likely to pick up through natural networking and informal mentoring,” said Li. “So I initiated a half-day workshop at the conference called “Survival Skills Workshop for Successful Women Physicists.”
The program at the APS conference was a success, and Li thought a similar program could help Argonne’s women scientists and engineers advance their careers. With encouragement from Argonne’s Directorate and the full support of WIST, Human Resources and DEP, an organizing committee was formed. It included Li, Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz (NE), a project engineer, Eve Gohoure (HR), the Argonne Diversity Program officer and Linda Phaire-Washington (DEP), a bio-scientist and program administrator.
Deciding that a half-day program would not work in the laboratory setting, they split the program into a six-part series.
“We wanted to give people ample time to discuss and digest the materials,” Li said.
Employees, including men, were invited to register for the six two-hour training sessions that took place between July 2002 and February 2003.
During the first session, participants picked topics they had an interest in learning more about. These ranged from “establishing your professional identity” to “where the money is and how to get it.” The organizers recruited speakers, a mix of training professionals and successful women scientists and engineers, such as Carol Giometti (BIO), Gwendolyn Morrison (PFS), Marion Thurnauer (CHM), and Beverly Hartline (OTD).
Forty-one people participated in the workshop series, including seven from Argonne-West, which was video-linked to the sessions. In addition, two speakers traveled to Argonne-West, giving those employees the opportunity to participate in live sessions.
“The barriers women face today are subtle, and might be hard to recognize and overcome, but they clearly exist,” Washington said. “The goal of the workshop series was to help women learn the rules of the game to enable them to navigate through the waters of today’s science and engineering world.”
The results of a survey sent to workshop participants indicated they felt more confident and more in control of their own careers upon the series’ conclusion.
“Being recognized by DOE for best diversity practices validates the importance of such workshops, and we’re pleased with the outcome and response,” said Laurin-Kovitz. “It’s good to know that this type of workshop is appreciated outside of Argonne.”
A celebration for the first “Survival Skills for Successful Women Scientists and Engineers” workshop series will be held Wednesday, June 4, at 3 p.m. in the Exchange Club. Contact Carolyn Arthur (HR) at 2-9023 or carthur@anl.gov for more information about the celebration.
A second “Survival Skills for Successful Women Scientists and Engineers” workshop series is scheduled to start in June.
The six-part series is open to men and women and pre-registration is required. A fee of $100 will be charged to participants’ divisions to cover costs. The first seminar will be held Thursday, June 19, from 1-3 p.m. in the Building 401 Gallery.
To register, or for more information, contact Kirsten Laurin-Kovitz at ext. 2-4143 or kirsten@anl.gov. Registration forms are also be available from division directors and the Women in Science and Technology Web site.
By Amy M. Kile
Cal Ozaki has been appointed director of the Nuclear Program Services Division at Argonne-West.
As director of Nuclear Program Services, Ozaki will be responsible for safety, health, security and safeguards, and business and administrative services as well as continuing as the director for the site infrastructure program.
“My goals are to improve our overall safety and health performance to be comparable with the best-in-class industry benchmark,” said Ozaki.
He would like to complete the safeguards and security upgrades begun at Argonne-West two years ago, while maintaining the current outstanding performance rating. “I would also like to secure sufficient Energy Department infrastructure funding to bring the facilities and support services to mission-ready status,” he said.
Having joined Argonne-West in 2001 as senior technical operations advisor to John Sackett (ERA), Ozaki served as infrastructure program director, planning and requesting funding and managing the $32 million a year infrastructure program.
Before coming to Argonne, Ozaki was deputy general manager for the British Nuclear Fuels Limited Inc. Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), a $1.2 billion privatization project. For the past 15 years, Ozaki worked for various INEEL managing and operating contractors.
By Amy M. Kile
The success of Argonne’s Procurement Department in managing the acquisition of equipment, services and supplies required by laboratory employees without generating excess paper has led The U.S. Department of Energy to cite the department in its Best Practices program.
DOE’s Best Practices program promotes saving money, increasing production, and enhancing global competitiveness.
Argonne’s Procurement Department uses two automated procurement systems that allow laboratory employees to obtain materials and services economically and efficiently. The Procurement and Requisition Integrated System (PARIS) and the Argonne Material Ordering System (AMOS) are paperless acquisition systems that adhere to Argonne’s business rules, effectively communicating requirements to the Procurement Department and laboratory suppliers.
PARIS, a paperless system that encompasses all functions related to the acquisition of supplies and services, begins when the need for materials and services is established.
The system handles everything from the initial request through the receipt of products, payment of contractors and closeout of contracts.
“PARIS was chosen as an example of DOE Best Practices because it is a fully automated paperless system that supports Argonne’s business rules for management oversight, review and required approvals, such as budget, quality assurance, safety, export control, legal and many others,” said Joseph Ingraffia (OCF-PRO), procurement services manager.
AMOS authorizes its users to order supplies easily without having to go through a long approval process that would require stacks of paperwork.
“AMOS allows its users to obtain many types of routine supplies via electronic data interchange, with many items delivered the next day,” said Ingraffia.
Argonne-East’s drinking water has very low or undetectable levels of contaminants which pose no known or expected risks to health, according to a report required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The U.S. EPA requires that water system users receive an annual Consumer Confidence Report listing detailed data on contaminants. The report contains details on the drinking water source, the level of any detected contaminants and compliance with drinking water regulations.
Argonne-East gets its drinking water from the DuPage Water Commission, which gets Lake Michigan water from the City of Chicago’s Department of Water.
Detected Contaminants
Chicago Water Department monitoring information for 2002 is summarized in the chart. The EPA-identified parameters are monitored and analyzed using methods specified by the agency. Results for constituents that had values above their respective detection limits can be compared to the regulatory limits.
The results shown in the chart are for those constituents that were measurable above the method detection limit. Almost all the monitored constituents were below their respective EPA limits.
All other monitored contaminants were below detection limits. All monitored concentrations, whether detected or not, were less than the applicable regulation-based maximum contaminant levels, which indicates the drinking water contaminant levels show no known or expected risk to health.
Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain small amounts of some contaminants. Their presence does not necessarily pose a health risk. Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons -- such as those undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV, AIDs, or other immune system disorders, some elderly and infants -- can be particularly at risk from infections.
For more information, call Jim Heine (PFS-US) at ext. 2-7922. Questions on the analytical data should be directed to Norbert Golchert (EQO), at ext. 2-3912.
EPA guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection from microbial contaminants as well as information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
| Contaminant | Units | MCLG | MCL | Level Found |
| Turbidity | %<0.5 NTU | NA | TT | 100%* |
| Turbidity | NTU | NA | TT=5 | 0.43 |
| Barium | ppm | 2 | 2 | 0.02 |
| Nitrate (as Nitrogen) | ppm | 10 | 10 | 0.4 |
| Nitrate and Nitrite | ppm | 10 | 10 | 0.4 |
| Total Trihalomethanes | ppb | NA | 100 | 15.0 |
| Fluoride | ppm | NA | NA | 1.02 |
| Sulfate | ppm | NA | NA | 13.2 |
| Sodium | ppm | NA | NA | 6.9 |
* 100% means all samples met standards
NTU -- Nephelometric Turbidity Unit. ppm -- parts per million. ppb -- parts per billion. NA -- not applicable. Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) -- The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety. Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) -- The highest level of contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as is feasible using the best available treatment technology.
ASK THE DIRECTORATE
Q: Recently several of our teacher and student guests have reported being told at the gate that “cameras are not allowed” on site. To my knowledge this policy has never been articulated to Argonne staff, who ought to be kept informed. I’m sure those in charge of determining security policy are carefully weighing the security risks against the “cost” of making the lab seem a less friendly and welcoming place to all of our guests, from politicians and industry leaders to teachers and school kids who might want to catch a snapshot of the famous white deer.
Could you please let us all know what the camera policy is, so we can inform our guests ahead of time?
A: We have attempted to identify the source of the statement prohibiting cameras from Argonne-East with the protective force and Argonne Information Center personnel and have not been able to.
Both groups have confirmed that the laboratory’s posture is that there are no restrictions regarding photography on site with the exception of photographing emergency and security responses, whether actual or training. Taking of pictures inside of buildings must be approved by the building manager, host and line management.
However, from the perspective of operational security, Argonne personnel should still be alert and cautious about visitors and guests, including foreign nationals, who are in proximity to sensitive technology or to other areas where security interests need to be protected or controlled, or where photography would present an opportunity for an outsider to gain knowledge and insight into our protection measures, capabilities, etc. It’s not that the laboratory is trying to be less friendly, but rather that the risks of not being cautious and alert are significantly higher than before.
“Ask the Directorate” gives employees an opportunity to ask senior Argonne management direct questions about the laboratory’s operations, policy, strategy, mission, budget and goals. Employees should continue to refer job- or workplace-specific questions to their immediate supervisors. Employees may submit questions to askthedirectorate@anl.gov or fax them to 2-5274. Only questions that include the name of the questioner and contact information, such as e-mail address, office extension or fax number, will be answered.
Lunchtime barbecues will return to the Argonne Guest House restaurant Wednesday, June 4.
The weekly barbecues will be held Wednesdays rain or shine from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Entrées range from $6 to $10, and different items will be featured each week. This week’s features include barbecued salmon, barbecued half-chicken and catfish.
Traditional barbecue items, including burgers and ribs, will be available. A complete soup and salad bar can be purchased as an entrée or with a barbecue entrée for an extra charge.
Friends and colleages can gather at the Building 617 Lower Level Thursdays 4:30-8 p.m. to play pool, throw darts and socialize. Snacks, soft drinks, beer, wine and mixed drinks are available for purchase. The space may be rented for meetings and small receptions; call Carmie White at ext. 5-2008.
A representative of the Social Security Administration’s Joliet office will visit Argonne-East Wednesday, June 18, from 8 a.m. to noon. To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.
High school students from Istituto D’Istruzione Superiore, Italy, co-winners of the Enrico Fermi Web site contest, visited Argonne-East April 24.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Fermi’s birth, high school students in Italy and the United States were invited to develop a Web site. The Web site highlighted Fermi’s life, his accomplishments and educated visitors about physics.
Judges received 30 entries; the United States provided four of those entries the remainder came from Italy. The Italian judges evaluated the content of the Web sites while Harold Myron (DEP), Larry Arbeiter and Steve Koppes (both from the University of Chicago) evaluated the layout and design of the Web site.
The winning Web sites are online. The University of Chicago and Argonne sponsored the contest.
Service Awards for May include:
35 Years
Willis F. Barta (RPS).
25 Years
Rajesh K. Ahluwalia (NE), Michael C. Billone (ET), Robin A. Churchill (IPD), Donna Nurczyk Keto (CIS), Teresa A. Lang (OSS), Deborah K. O’Rourke (EST).
20 Years
Ira D. Bloom (CMT), Geoffrey T. Bodwin (HEP), Ronald E. Harris (PFS), M. Lorenza Salinas (IPD), David W. Snell (FAC), Darrell K. Wheeler (FAC).
15 Years
Marianne Adair (OPA), Mary A. Buckley (IPD), John C. Daum (PFS), Theresa M. Davis (CMT), David C. Hammer (PFS), Gary Lee Harris (RPS), Mark B. Knickelbein (CHM), Shelley L. Wray (RPS).
10 Years
Kenneth Cornelius (EA), Thomas DiSanto (ENT), Charles D. Griffin (ENT), Eric P. Horman (RPS), Angela L. Keebler-O’Riley (PFS), Edward Kroeger (PFS), Gregg Kulma (EQO), Marlene F. Nowotarski (APS), John Quinn (EA).
5 Years
Patricia C. Boley (OPA), Edward Lang (IPNS), Alicia Lathrop (OTD), Markus Puder (EA), Joseph A. Vucko (PFS), David C. Young (PFS).
Argonne-East employees can help inform the public about the laboratory and its research during the Downers Grove Heritage Festival, June 27-29.
Volunteers will staff an Argonne information table at the annual community festival’s street fair, answering questions and distributing printed materials and giveaways. Employees are needed Friday, June 27, from early evening until 8 p.m.; Saturday, June 28, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, June 29 from noon to 8 p.m.
For more information, contact Cindy Wilkinson (OPA) at ext. 2-5561 or cindy@anl.gov.
