Research
Highlights...
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Brookhaven's
Volkow has a craving for science.
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| Number 79 |
April 23, 2001 |
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From greenhouse
to useful gases
Scientists
at DOE's National Energy Technology
Laboratory are working to develop a catalytic process that
converts natural gas and carbon dioxide, both greenhouse gases,
into synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide
that can be used to produce fuels or chemicals. Diesel fuel made
from synthesis gas produces less pollution than conventional diesel
fuel. This process can also be used for recovering energy losses
in combustion/ gasification systems or advanced gas turbines,
leading to an increase in overall efficiency. The major challenge
in this area is developing catalysts that operate at high pressure
and temperature without forming excess carbon. NETL has developed
and tested several catalysts with encouraging preliminary results.
[David Anna,
412/386-4646,
anna@netl.doe.gov]
Polymer
gel holds medical promise
Researchers at DOE's
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
have developed a new polymer-based
material with unique gelling properties that may be useful
in medical applications ranging from targeted cancer treatment
to tissue engineering. Physicians will be able to inject a mixture
of the polymer and a medicinal solution directly into a specific
target in the body, where it would warm and instantly gel. While
more research remains to be done before this becomes an accepted
medical procedure, stimuli-sensitive gels show promise for the
effective treatment of inoperable tumors and may be able to
support repair of articular cartilage—the durable type
of cartilage that provides cushion between joints.
[Geoff
Harvey, 509/372-6083,
geoffrey.harvey@pnl.gov]
Real-world
survivors are motherly
According to popular
culture, survival depends on rugged individualism, ruthless
cunning and athletic prowess. In practice, however, real-world
survivors more often exhibit benevolent leadership, personal
sacrifice and endurance born of sheer will, says a geographer
at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Historical and recent events overwhelmingly contradict the rat-eat-rat
mentality of shows like "Survivor." In contrast, Ernest Shackleton,
who led his entire crew to safety after being stranded for 18
months on Antarctica's ice, was described as "motherly" in his
concern for each man's safety.
Solar
estimator program aimed at cooler cars
The Center for Transportation
Technologies and Systems team at DOE's National
Renewable Laboratory has developed the Load Estimator (VSoLE)
program to address questions about the effects of various types
of window glazings on how much a vehicle cabin heats up and
how much of that solar energy is absorbed by the glazings. Industry
can use this tool to develop glazings that will best keep drivers
and passengers comfortable while reducing energy use. The VSoLE
program will be integrated with NREL's Advanced Vehicle Simulator
(ADVISOR), which can be used to analyze glazing effects further.
[Sarah
Holmes Barba, 303/275-3023,
sarah_barba@nrel.gov]
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Addicted
to science
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| Nora
Volkow |
Nora
Volkow, associate laboratory director for Life Sciences at DOE's
Brookhaven National Laboratory,
has a hunger for knowledge that would rival a cocaine addict's
craving for the drug. Through science, she seeks to understand
the very source of understanding—the human brain.
Within
the past year alone, she has published studies on how Ritalin,
the drug commonly prescribed for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD), helps children to concentrate; how aging
depletes certain brain chemicals associated with sensing pleasure
and reward; and how obese
people's brains differ from normal-weight subjects'.
But
Volkow's chief obsession is pinning down the biochemical nature
of drug addiction.
Through years of research using specifically tailored radiotracers
and Brookhaven's positron emission tomography (PET) scanners,
Volkow has mapped the neurological actions of a wide range of
addictive drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana,
alcohol, and nicotine. "All interfere with the brain's pleasure
and reward circuits," Volkow says.
Specifically,
these drugs affect the brain's supply of dopamine, a neurotransmitter
that produces feelings of satisfaction and pleasure. Initially,
addictive drugs produce increases in dopamine, which accounts
for the 'high' many drug users experience. But Volkow's PET
studies have shown that, over time, "drug abusers lose dopamine
receptors, so they lose the ability to respond to dopamine and
cease to experience the pleasure," Volkow says. The desire for
the pleasure, however, does not go away. So abusers take more
of the drug to try to achieve it.
A board-certified
psychiatrist, Volkow hopes to use her research to find an effective
pharmacological treatment for addiction. "Through knowledge
of what drugs do to the human brain, we may be able to understand
better why people become addicted, and to develop better treatments
for addiction and for prevention," she says. One such treatment
is currently being investigated in collaboration with Brookhaven's
Chemistry Department.
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