newsletter organon 2016 issue 2

PROMOTING CHEMISTRY AND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO THE COMMUNITY

2016

Issue 2

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Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi Ibrahim.alghamdi@jacobs.com SAICSC-ACS Chairman

WELCOME NOTE FROM CHAIRMAN Dear SAICSC-ACS members, I cordially welcome you to the second issue of Organon 2016.

The society has been focused on creating a network of chemistry professionals through different initiatives such as creating student chapter of the society, regular monthly dinner meetings, sponsoring seminar events at the chemistry department of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. The society has also contributed significantly in promoting the chemical sciences by organizing conferences. This year we are organising the 10th International Conference and Exhibition on Chemistry in Industry (ChemIndix-2016) at Manama, Bahrain 19-23, Nov 2016. Theme of the conference is

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“Sustainable Energy Industry Through Innovative Chemistry” and the objective of this conference is to enhance, share research experiences with chemical industries, local communities and academia.

I will also like to extend my appreciation to our sponsors and society members for their support in achieving our mission of promoting chemistry and scientific knowledge to the community.

On behalf of the society’s board of directors, I would like to use this medium to invite chemists and scientists from different parts of the region to our monthly meeting where we share scientific knowledge, participate in different enlightening activities and enjoy the benefits of networking.

TECHNICAL DINNER MEETING MARCH 2016 The Saudi Arabian International Chemical Sciences Chapter of the American Chemical Society (SAICS – ACS) held its March 2016 edition of the monthly technical dinner meeting on 22nd of March, 2016 at Le Meridian hotel, Al-Khobar.

At the meeting, an informative lecture titled “From knowledge to design & from design to application” was delivered by Prof. Avelino Corma.

Professor Corma lectures at the Instituto de Tecnología Química (CSIC-UPV) and is actively involved in research especially in the areas of heterogeneous catalysis. He is a renowned professor whose work has gained him accolades internationally. He

is also an expert in solid acid and bifunctional catalysts for oil refining, petrochemistry and chemical process. He has more than 900 research papers and 100 patents to his name.

Professor Corma’s lecture clarified the catalytic behavior of metal nanoparticles and the method of designing them.

The lecture also explained the design methodology necessary to achieve active and selective catalysts especially for the production of chemicals.

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TECHNICAL DINNER MEETING APRIL 2016

The Saudi Arabian International Chemical Sciences Chapter of the American Chemical Society (SAICS – ACS) held its April 2016 edition of the monthly technical dinner meeting on 26th of April, 2016 at Le Meridian hotel, Al-Khobar.

During the meeting, Mr Juergen Venzke delivered an exciting lecture on “The Corporate Athlete”.

Mr Venzke is a trained organizational psychologist who expresses his passion for peo-

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ple and culture in human development. He holds Master’s degrees in Organizational Psychology and Industrial psychology from University of Mannheim, Germany and University of Hull, UK respectively. He currently works in Leadership Development at Saudi Aramco Talent Assessment Center in Dhahran.

In his lecture, he explained the role of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of our lives to our jobs.

TECHNICAL DINNER MEETING MAY 2016

The Saudi Arabian International Chemical Sciences Chapter of the American Chemical Society (SAICS – ACS) held its March 2016 edition of the monthly technical dinner meeting on 22nd of March, 2016 at Le Meridian hotel, Al-Khobar.

An enlightening lecture titled “Advances beyond Gas Chromatography using Tunable Frequency Spectroscopy [TFS]” was delivered at the meeting. The lecture was delivered by Mr. Darryl D. Hazlett

He has worked in several companies including Celanese Chemicals, Astro, Precision Scientific Group of GCA, Foxboros Advanced Analytical Group, Yokogawa Advanced Analytical and Sadara.

He’s lecture highlighted the difference in gas chromatographs with respect to slow response time, use of expensive carrier gas and moving parts maintenance. He also explained how the new TFS technology helps to reduce these factors.

Mr. Hazlett is a Senior Business Development Manager for MKS Instruments, Inc.

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GLOBAL CHEMISTS’ CODE OF ETHICS

A workshop was organized by the American Chemical Society in collaboration with Chemical Security Program and others in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during April 2016 to develop Global Chemists’ Code of Ethics. Thirty (30) scientists from 18 countries, including representatives from 7 national, ACS chapter or regional chemical societies participated to

collaboratively draft a Global Chemists’ Code of Ethics (GCCE). Dr. Mohammad Nahid Siddiqui, Chair-elect, Saudi Arabian Chemical Sciences-Chapter of American Chemical Society (SAICSC-ACS) participated and contributed in this workshop.

At the end of this workshop, participants voluntarily adopted the code and were tasked with sharing the code with their colleagues.

GLOBAL CHEMISTS’ CODE OF ETHICS Introduction ‐ Making Positive Change Happen Chemical practitioners1 should promote a positive perception and public understanding and appreciation of chemistry.

This is done through research, innovation, teamwork, collaboration,community outreach, and high ethical standards.

Chemistry professionals2 should act as role models, mentors, and advocates of the safe and secure application of chemistry to benefit man kind and preserve the www.saicsc-acs.com

environment for future generations. They should instill and encourage curiosity and innovation early and often, and recognize and award achievements where appropriate. Finally, chemistry professionals should provide professional inputs and opinions to government and other decision makers regarding industries, environment and other issues.

Environment Environmental sustainability should be an integral part of research and education.

Chemistry professionals must use their expertise to ensure the safety and health of co-workers and the community, and to protect the environment for future generations.

Chemical practitioners should work within their organizations to help develop sound environmental plans and policies. Chemistry professionals should encourage inclu-

sion of environmental sustainability as a key element in chemistry instruction and engagement with the community.

Chemical practitioners are responsible to ensure the proper use and disposal of chemicals and instruments. They should endeavor to increase their knowledge of the short and long term effects of chemicals on the environment and to apply informed quality control principles.

Research Research in chemical sciences should benefit man kind and improve quality of life, while protecting the environment and preserving it for future generations.

Researchers should conduct their work with the highest integrity and transparency, avoid conflicts of interest, and prac-

tice collegiality in the best way. Research should promote the exchange of new scientific and technological information and knowledge relating to the application of chemistry for the benefit of man kind and the environment.

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Scientific Writing and Publishing Scientific publication is a way to share new knowledge. Chemistry professionals should promote and disseminate scientific knowledge in research and innovation through outreach, scientific writing and publication for sustainable development.

Chemistry professionals should maintain honesty and integrity in all stages of the publication process, which must meet the highest possible standards of data reproducibility and correctness without plagia-

rism. Chemistry professionals who supervise others have a responsibility to ensure that their scientific writings are free of defects and errors.

Chemistry professionals should promote peaceful, beneficial applications and uses of science and technology through a variety of media. Chemistry professionals have a responsibility to assess information intended for release prior to dissemination.

Safety A culture of safety is very important and should be sustained by management, including academic, industrial and government leadership. Management should work with chemical practitioners in all aspects of safety including training, regular audits and the development of safety culture. There should always be awareness of safety regulations protecting health and the environment.

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All chemical practitioners should exercise safety procedures. Engineering and administrative controls for safety should be in place. Proper personal protective equipment and garments should be used when working with chemicals or in an area with hazards.

Security A culture of security is important to protect dual use chemicals and facilities. All stakeholders in the chemical supply chain should ensure and practice chemical security. Chemical practitioners should ensure that laboratories and industri-

al facilities have the capacity to secure chemicals. Security measures need to be reviewed regularly. Management should have oversight of security and should follow all local and international laws and regulations.

Chemical practitioners: Scientists, engineers, technicians, trades people, business people or anyone else who has contact with chemicals at work or at home.

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Chemistry professionals: As a subset of chemical practitioners, chemistry professionals refers to scientists and engineers, who, by virtue of their specialized education, certifications or licensures, are authorized to offer chemistry services to the public.

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MICROGEL PARTICLES FROM ULTRASHORT SELF-ASSEMBLING PEPTIDES FOR DENTAL STEM CELL DELIVERY Hamza A. Khattak, Sakandar Rauf and Charlotte A. E. Hauser

Hamza Khattak is a visiting student at the Laboratory of Nanomedicine, BESE, KAUST, under Professor Charlotte Hauser. Hamza Khattak studies dentistry at Khyber College of Dentistry, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Hamza is working on the production of peptide microgels using droplets-based microfluidics. These peptide microgels can be used to encapsulate cells of different types, as well as drug delivery, micro-tissues, tissue engineering, bio-imaging, single cell assay and three-dimensional cell culture1. The peptides are selected from a class of ultrashort self-assembling amphiphilic peptides containing not more than 6-7 amino acids.

These microparticles can be prepared by using a flow-focusing microfluidic device that has two inlets and one outlet (Figure 1). The microfluidic device is placed on the microscope stage equipped with a CCD camera to record real-time formation of peptide microdroplets.

We attach the oil phase (hexadecane or silicon oil or lipidic phase) (Continuous

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phase) to one inlet and the water phase containing the peptide solution to the other inlet. When these phases are mixed in the microfluidic channel, they form water in oil emulsion droplets (Figure 2), which are then collected at the outlet and these droplets later on form hydrogels upon contact with the phosphate buffer saline (PBS) in the collection tube. In order to encapsulate dental stem cells, they get mixed within the lipidic phase and when the water in oil emulsion droplets are formed, the cells are trapped inside the oil emulsion droplets. This is how the encapsulation works. Single cell encapsulation could be a desired method as well, but it is generally more challenging and requires skilled techniques.

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Our primary purpose of using these peptide microgel particles is to encapsulate dental stem cells in peptide microgels and deliver them for tooth regeneration in regenerative dentistry because these peptide microgels are biocompatible which eliminate the chance of any allergic reaction by the body4-7. Encapsulation of stemcell is of utmost importance, as these stem cells can only be delivered to the dental pulp in the living stage. These dental stem cells can only remain alive, if they are encapsulated, otherwise they will die before even reaching their point of action.

In particular, the harsh oral environment is a crucial factor that needs to be taken

into consideration. Therefore, the peptide microgels act not only as cell delivery vehicles, the peptide scaffold also protects the encapsulated fragile cells from degradation and damage. There are certainly different ways of delivering dental stem cells, but stem cells encapsulation in peptide microgels, where the microgels act as protective biocompatible scaffolds, is one of the most effective ways of cell protection.

Afterward, these dental stem cells enable the damaged tissue structure to regrow and regenerate the entire tooth, much as good as new.

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2016 Issue 2