Paul Henderson of Livermore's Biology and Biotechnology Research Program (BBRP) will host a mini symposium titled "Emerging Applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry to Toxicology and Pharmacokinetics" on Sunday, Aug. 22, from 9 a.m.-noon on the biological applications of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Biological research with AMS is a growing interest because os the technology's exceptional sensitivity and precision compared to more conventional types of mass spectrometry.
Karen Dingley of BBRP will present the use of AMS to detect carcinogens, called heterocyclic amines, formed during the cooking of meat and research on the prevention of cancer due to those chemicals. Her talk also will be included in Henderson's mini symposium.
Other presentations include using AMS to study new potential biomarkers for atherosclerosis, DNA oxidation in breast cancer cells, pharmacokinetics and development of novel drug delivery devices.
Henderson will present an overview of AMS applications in biological research and the use of AMS to detect a new type of DNA damage in breast cancer cells.
Charles Westbrook of the Chemistry and Materials Science (CMS) Directorate will discuss "Kinetic Modeling of Soot Production in Combustion of Munitions" at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 24.
Destroying outdated munitions is typically done by either burning or detonations in an open environment. Soot production during this destruction has become a serious problem for environmental reasons. Westbrook and colleague William Pitz have used kinetic modeling to observe the soot production chemistry involved.
The chemical kinetic models used in studying soot production during munitions destruction were originally developed in Livermore's studies on soot production in diesel engines. LLNL's contributions to national energy and environmental programs are closely coupled to its Department of Defense munitions lifetime project.
Westbrook and Pitz compared two different high explosive materials, TNT and RDX, and will present their results at the meeting.
Other sessions by LLNL researchers include:
"Defining Protein Signatures: Quantification of Protein Expression in Serum Using LC-MS," by Sharon Shields of CMS at 9:05 a.m. on Aug. 26.
"Simulation of Water in Giant Planets," by Nir Goldman of CMS at 10:40 a.m. on Aug. 24.
"Mechanism of DNA Compaction by Abf2p Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy and Optical Tweezers," by Raymond Friddle at 5 p.m. on Aug. 23.
"Properties of the Liquid/Vapor Interfaces of Water and Methanol: A Comparison of Fixed-Charge, Polarizable and ab initio Models," by I Feng W. Kuo of SMS at 2:40 p.m. on Aug. 22.
Other LLNL researchers will be presenting posters:
"Prefractionation and Digestion of Human Blood for Proteomic Analysis by Mass Spectrometry," by Michel Corzett of BBRP from 5-7 p.m. during the general poster session on Aug. 25.
"Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for Ultrasensitive Quantification of Modified Tyrosine Residues Following Selective Introduction of 14C-Labled Compounds into Peptides," by Sang Soo Hah of BBRP from 6-10 p.m. during the general poster session on Aug. 24.
The ACS National Exposition will be held Aug. 22-25 in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Halls A& B.
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