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March 22, 1999 -- Some of this week's stories
Study at APS reveals
hair, breast cancer link
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X-ray analysis of hair could become an early-warning test for breast cancer, according to research done at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS).
Researchers have found clear and consistent changes in the intermolecular structure of hair from breast-cancer patients.
Results of the research, done by scientists from the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of New South Wales, the University of Tokyo, St. George Hospital Cancer Care Centre of Australia, and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, were published in the March 4 issue of the prestigious journal Nature.
The researchers carried out fiber X-ray diffraction studies on hair samples at the APS using synchrotron radiation to examine their intermolecular structure. The changes in hair structure were seen in all 23 samples of scalp and pubic hair taken from women diagnosed with breast cancer.
"The change in the hair from breast-cancer patients can be seen in the X-ray diffraction pattern as one or more rings of intensity that superimpose on the pattern for normal hair," the researchers say. "We believe that this pattern arises from a variation in the structure of the cell membrane as the hair is formed in the follicle."
The researchers believe that these changes in hair structure "might indicate a propensity to malignancy and be related to breast cancer per se."
The researchers say they do not yet know what causes the formation of the ring in the hair fibers, but plan to continue research in an effort to explain it.
Of the hair samples from women not diagnosed with breast cancer, 24 of the 28 showed normal scattering patterns, indicating no presence of breast cancer. The remaining four did show some changes in hair structure, but the significance of this is not yet known.
The researchers also examined hair from women suspected of being at risk of breast cancer because of family history or the presence of a mutation in the BRCA gene, which is linked to breast cancer. Of this small group, three of the five samples also demonstrated similar changes in hair structure, and the remaining two showed a partial change.
The consistency of the results indicates that similar hair analyses could be the basis for a simple, non-invasive detection of breast cancer. More research using a larger sample population will be required to establish the efficacy of the technique, the researchers said.
Bio-CAT, the APS beamline on which the research was done, was built with funding from the National Institutes of Health. The research project was funded by the Australian government and the St. George Hospital in Australia.
John M. Carpenter, technical director of the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source, has received the 1998 Frank Award of Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
The Frank Award is presented annually for outstanding achievements in neutron physics.
Carpenter shares his award with Yuri Stavissky of the Institute for Nuclear Research, Troitsk, Russia, for "prominent achievements in the creation of high flux pulsed neutron sources." He will receive a medal and diploma, and present a commemorative lecture during the award ceremony in Dubna on Oct. 23, the birthday of the award's namesake, Ilya M. Frank.
Frank shared the 1958 Nobel prize for his work on the origin of Cherenkov radiation. Frank was director of the Laboratory for Neutron Physics at Dubna.
Previous winners include Prof. Clifford Shull of MIT, in 1994, the year preceding his Nobel prize. The award has been given for a range of studies including neutron optics and neutron scattering, parity violation in the neutron-nuclear interaction, and properties of ultra cold neutrons.
Fifty years ago, when a gallon of gas cost 25 cents, a loaf of bread cost 15 cents, and a Coke cost 5 cents, Julie Wertelka (RE) filled out an employment application in the Argonne personnel office at the Museum of Science and Industry. As she retires this month, a retrospective of her career parallels some of Argonne's history.
Her application completed, Wertelka was driven in an Argonne station wagon to Site D, as the laboratory's present DuPage County location was referred to, and escorted to Laboratory Director Walter Zinn's office. After an interview with Zinn's assistant, she was hired as a Clerk B on March 25, 1949.
Since Zinn's secretary was ill that day, Wertelka was asked to fill in at her desk to answer the director's phone. "The file safes lining the wall were wired to Security," she remembered.
While waiting for the "Q" clearance needed to work at the DuPage County site, Wertelka rode on an Argonne bus from the city to work at Site A in Palos Hills. "Bus rides were paid for with tokens purchased at Argonne," she said.
Two months later she was permitted back to Site D, Building 10, where she used a special typewriter with Greek letters on the keyboard for typing equations. Because copy machines hadn't yet been developed, she used onionskin and carbon paper for duplications.
On March 15, 1950, two weeks after Building 316 was occupied by the Zero Power Reactor I (ZPR-I), the following entry was made in the building's logbook: "Julie Wertelka worked here in P.M. Brought out her own typewriter."
She remembers the night in 1951 that radio personality Paul Harvey tested security at the laboratory by attempting to climb over the fence. When his coat caught on the fence, he was apprehended by Argonne security, turned over to FBI agents, and later released.
During her 50-year career, Wertelka worked her way up from clerk to executive secretary by earning seven promotions. She was secretary to David Okrent, project manager of the Fast Reactor Safety Project, Reactor Engineering Division; Bernard Spinrad, director of Reactor Engineering Division; Robert Avery, director of Reactor Physics, Applied Physics, and Reactor Analysis and Safety; and John Marchaterre, director of Reactor Analysis and Safety (RAS), later renamed Reactor Engineering. In 1996 she became records administrator.
She is a charter member of the Argonne Chapter of International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), formerly Professional Secretaries International, which she joined in 1961. For many years she served on the steering committee of the Argonne Combined Appeal.
"Julie is one of the most dedicated people I know," said Walter Deitrich (ERA), who worked with Wertelka for 18 years in the RAS and RE division office. "Her commitment to Argonne is evident in her unparalleled record of service. Her knowledge of Argonne history, especially of the reactor programs, is outstanding. We all wish her a long and happy retirement. She has certainly earned it."
As a commercial model and an "extra" in seven movies, upon retirement Wertelka looks forward to some film assignments, resuming her golf game, and continuing Lithuanian language studies in hopes of tracing her family roots.
-- Joan Waltz
Gary Wieder-recht, assistant chemist in the Chemistry Division (CHM), has received the third annual Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He is one of 60 young researchers this year to receive the award, established by President Clinton in 1996.
Wiederrecht's work in the development of new photorefractive materials based on liquid crystals brought him the award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers.
"Practical applications for photorefractive liquid crystals are a long way down the road," said Wiederrecht. "But someday these optical materials may be used for high-density storage and the amplification of images with no errors."
The awardees traveled to Washington, D.C. After a morning at the Forrestal Building, where they met Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, the winners were taken to the White House for a ceremony. At dinner that evening, they met Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
Ten federal agencies nominate young scientists and engineers whose work is considered part of critical government missions. Wiederrecht was one of seven Department of Energy recipients who each receive a DOE commitment to continue funding their research project for five years.
Wiederrecht's research focuses on a class of materials that undergo charge generation when illuminated with light, changing their index of refraction and allowing them to store optical images. He has been part of a recent push to develop organic photorefractive materials, whose characteristics can be easily manipulated through synthetic changes. The organic materials have excellent optical properties and can be made in a fraction of the time needed to grow commercially available inorganic crystals showing photorefractive effects.
While still an undergraduate at the University of California at Berkeley, Wiederrecht won the Elizabeth D. North Prize for academic excellence. He joined the Chemistry Division at Argonne in 1992 as a postdoctoral fellow and was named an assistant chemist in 1995. In 1996 he shared an R&D 100 Award with Michael R. Wasielewski (CHM) for the "Photorefractive Liquid Crystal Optical Processor," which uses a liquid-crystalline composite material for holographic applications, such as optical image storage and processing.
-- Jeanne Galatzer-Levy
Argonne employees who live in Chicago and use the Stevenson Expressway usually breathe a sigh of relief that they have a reverse commute. But as construction season begins in Chicago, a huge repair project will cause some long delays for all I-55 drivers.
There really isn't a good alternate route from Chicago to the laboratory, said Cristina Negri (ES), a soil scientist who makes the drive in from Hyde Park each day. She said people who have tried Archer Avenue, the suggested alternate, say it is a zoo.
"I will continue to take the Stevenson unless it gets really, really, really bad," said Negri.
So far that hasn't happened, even with traffic reduced to one or two lanes southbound from Canal to Kedzie and two lanes northbound from Pulaski to Canal. "Things have gone pretty smoothly the first few days," said Jon Hilkevitch, who writes the "Getting Around" column for the Chicago Tribune. "IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) and the media did a good job of scaring people off."
Unfortunately, the real crunch may be on its way. Crossover ramps have been installed to move all traffic to one side of the expressway. "Bad weather will create havoc," said Hilkevitch.
IDOT brochures with information on the construction and alternate routes are available in the lobby of Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria.
A World Wide Web site maintains literally up-to-the-minute information on expressway traffic conditions at http://www.ai. eecs.uic.edu/GCM/Conges- tionMap.html. The site's color-coded map of congestion on area expressways is refreshed every 30 seconds. Argonne assisted in the planning and design of the site, which is maintained by IDOT and the University of Illinois artificial intelligence project.
-- Jeanne Galatzer-Levy
Retired senior chemist Bernard M. Abraham died Feb. 26 in his Oak Park home. He was 80.
Abraham's long and successful career began at the University of Chicago, where he received both his bachelor's degree and doctorate. While a student there, he worked with scientists on the Manhattan Project.
In 1947, he joined Argonne as a group leader in the Chemistry Division. It was during this time that Abraham developed a process for creating tritium, enabling Argonne to supply the Atomic Energy Commission with enough tritium for the first hydrogen bomb test.
In 1955, Abraham was promoted to senior chemist at the lab. By the time he officially retired from Argonne in December 1984, Abraham had written more than 200 journal articles and held seven patents. After retirement, he contributed to many research projects at Northwestern University.
Active in his community, Abraham had served as an Oak Park trustee since 1995. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the District 97 school board. Abraham also was president of the board for Oak Park-River Forest High School District 200.
Eight projects will receive from $40,000 to $100,000 for one year to investigate topics in a variety of fields under the annual University of Chicago-Argonne National Laboratory Collaborative Seed Grant Programs.
Research proposals receiving new funding this year cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from genetics to linguistics. Each has the potential to be renewed next year, provided there are available funds to continue the program, and that the committee sees progress in the project's advancement in its initial year.
The 1999 grants and their principal investigators are:
"Chicago Center for Advanced Climate
Simulation." Principal investigators
are Argonne's Ian Foster (MCS) and the
university's Raymond Pierrehumbert
(Geophysical Sciences).
"Physics Beyond the Standard Model
and Experimental Tests." Principal
investigators are Argonne's Edmond Berger
(HEP) and the university's Jonathan Rosner
(Enrico Fermi Institute).
"Self-Organizing Molecular and Polymer
Thin Films Studied with Atomic Beam
Scattering, Scanning Probe Microscopy, and
Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Scattering."
Principal investigators are Argonne's Paul
Fenter (ER) and the university's Steven
Sibener (James Franck Institute).
"Automatic Morphological and Syntactic
Analysis of Natural Languages for
Large-Scale Web-based Information Systems."
Principal investigators are Argonne's Craig
Swietlik (DIS) and the university's John
Goldsmith (Linguistics).
"Protein Dynamics in Biological
Electron Transfer Reactions." Principal
investigators are Argonne's Deborah Hanson
(CMB) and the university's Norbert Scherer
(Chemistry).
"Metal Ion Regulation of Biological
Catalysis: Activation and Optimization of
Photosynthesis." Principal
investigators are Argonne's David Tiede
(CHM) and the university's Gayle Lamppa
(Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology).
"T Cell Receptor Polymorphisms in
Autoimmune Disease: Analysis by Microchip
Array Technology." Principal
investigators are Argonne's Andrei
Mirzabekov and Gayle Woloschak (both CMB)
and the university's Jeffrey Bluestone
(Pathology).
"Application of Advanced Pattern
Recognition Methods for Identification of
Genomic Regions with Susceptibility Genes
for complex Disorders." Principal
investigators are Argonne's Kenny Gross (RA)
and the university's Nancy Cox and Graeme
Bell (both Medicine).
The Seed Grant Program is in its fourth year, and has already provided 43 research projects and five conference or workshop awards with more than $3 million. Money for the program is provided from the university's contract performance fee and laboratory director's research and development funds.
Carolyn Arthur (HR) will speak on "Women Putting Our Stamp On America" at a March 23 program marking the Department of Energy's Women's History Month celebration.
Arthur is a diversity analyst in the Argonne Human Resources Division and president of the Argonne Toastmasters Club.
All are invited to attend the program, which will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, in Argonne-East's Building 201, Room 3A.
Representatives of the laboratory's retirement vendors will visit Argonne-East during April to answer employees' questions about their retirement plans or retirement plan assets.
To schedule an appointment, call the number listed below.
| Vendor | Day | For Appointments, call: |
| Fidelity | Tuesday, April 13 and 20 | (800) 642-7131 |
| Prudential* | Wednesday, April 7, 14, and 21 | (847)619-3519 |
| TIAA-CREF | Tuesday, April 13 and Wednesday, April 14 | (800)-842-2005 |
*Prudential appointments are for one-half hour each.
The University of Chicago Executive MBA program is now accepting applications. This 16-month program, designed for middle- and upper-level managers, allows participants to attend classes while retaining full job responsibilities. The classes begin in August and meet every other Friday and Saturday.
Each year Argonne management selects two employees to attend the U. of C. Graduate School of Business program. For an application, call Human Resources at ext. 2-3410. The deadline for applications is Monday, April 19.
For more information call John Hyzer at ext. 2-3410 or visit the University of Chicago web site.
Office computer software will be the subject of several classes offered in spring by Electronics and Computing Technologies.
Unless otherwise specified, classes will be held in Argonne-East's Building 221, Room A142, are limited to eight participants and cost $135. Complete class descriptions and schedules are available on line . For information about enrollment procedures, call Diane Cavazos (ECT) at ext. 2-7153 or send e-mail to dkcavazos@anl.gov.
Beginning Unix (ECT564) -- This class
consists of two three-hour sessions for a
total of six hours. First Session: Tuesday,
April 13, 9 a.m. - noon. Second Session:
Thursday, April 15, 9 a.m. - noon.
Class size limited to seven. Cost: $245.
Introduction to Windows 95 (ECT300) --
Tuesday, April 20, 8:30 a.m. -
11:30 a.m.
Basic Word 97 Skills (ECT338) -- Tuesday,
April 20, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Windows 95.
Basic Excel 97 Skills (ECT340) -- Wednesday,
April 21, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., and
Wednesday, April 28, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30
a.m. Prerequisite: Introduction to Windows.
Introduction to PowerPoint 97 (ECT342) --
Wednesday, April 21, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30
p.m. Prerequisite: Windows 95.
Introduction to Access Version 97 (ECT332)
-- Thursday, April 22, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30
p.m. Cost: $195.
Word 97: Applying Formatting (ECT339) --
Tuesday, April 27, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30
a.m. Prerequisites: Introduction to Windows
95 or Basic Word Skills 97.
Word 97: Everyday Tasks Made Easier (ECT345)
-- Tuesday, April 27, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30
p.m. Prerequisites: Introduction to Windows
95 or Basic Word Skills 97.
Intermediate PowerPoint 97 (ECT343)
Wednesday, April 28, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30
p.m. Prerequisites: Introduction to Windows
95 and Introduction to PowerPoint 97
Intermediate Access 97 (ECT333) -- Thursday,
April 29, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Access 97.
Cost: $195.
Microsoft FrontPage 98 (ECT331) -- This is a
two-day class. First session: Monday, June 14,
9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Second session: Tuesday,
June 15, 9 a.m. - 4:30
p.m. Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of
authoring Web Pages. Cancellation notice
required by Wednesday, May 26. Class
size: minimum 8, maximum 12. Cost: $495.
