Last month’s article focused on marinomycin, a cyclic polyketal with rather obvious symmetry – and the synthetic strategy hinged on that feature. However, symmetry in natural products isn’t always so apparent and it is uncovering such ‘hidden symmetry’ that forms the core of this month’s column.

Again, we’re plunging into the marine depths to find natural products with prodigious biological activity. The amphidinolide family comprises over 30 members, varying in architecture but (almost) all featuring a complex and highly decorated macrolactone ring at the core. Amphidinolide F was first isolated in 1991, but as yet remains unconquered territory in synthetic laboratories.^1,2However, new ground has been broken by a pair of chemists from Oregon State University, US, led by Rich Carter.³ Their key insight was that hidden symmetry exists in the complex tetrahydrofuran (THF) regions. Although these two regions are not identical, the team considered that enough chemistry was in common that a mutual precursor might be used.  More…

‘Ultramarine blue is a colour illustrious, beautiful, and most perfect, beyond all other colours’, wrote the Italian artist Cennino Cennini in the late 14th century. He and his contemporaries adored this mineral pigment for its rich, deep lustre. But they didn’t use it much, at least not unless they had a particularly wealthy client, because it was very costly. As the name implies, it came from ‘over the seas’ – all the way from what is now Afghanistan, where mines in the remote region of Badakhshan were the only known source of the parent mineral, lapis lazuli, for centuries. Not only was ultramarine expensive to import, but it was laborious to make: repeatedly grinding and washing the raw material to separate the blue colourant. Ultramarine could cost more than its weight in gold, and so painters reserved it for the most precious parts of their altarpieces, especially the robes of the Virgin Mary.  More…

Faculty Development: Applications for the L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund are due Oct.31. The L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund provides individual faculty members with grants of up to $2,200 for professional development activities that have a clear connection to the enhancement of teaching and student learning at OSU. Beginning this year, up to two grants for $4,400 may also be considered for exceptionally compelling and well-written proposals. Academic advising-related proposals are welcome. Applications and guidelines are available at: http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/grants 

General Research Fund (GRF) Fall 2012: The Research Office Incentive Programs is accepting applications for the GRF Fall 2012 solicitation. The intent of the GRF program is to enable faculty to carry out scholarly, creative work that should lead to the pursuit of other funding sources, or promote the development of scholarly activities. Complete program description and application: . http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/grf. Information contact: Debbie Delmore at debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu or (541) 737-8390. Deadline for submission: Oct. 15.

NEW! Undergraduate Research Funding Opportunity: The Research Office is now accepting applications for the Undergraduate Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Creativity (URISC) program for Winter and/or Spring term(s) 2012-13. This program supports undergraduate research activities from all academic disciplines within the University. Program description and application: http://oregonstate.edu/research/incentive/urisc. Information: Debbie Delmore at debbie.delmore@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-8390. Submission Deadline: Nov. 5.

Congratulations to Professor Kevin Gable who was awarded the 2012 Lyod Carter Award for Outstanding and Inspirational Teaching at the Graduate Level!  Nice job Kevin!!

We are happy to announce an NSF funded workshop on the Challenges in Vertical Farming,

Sep 26, 2012 at the  University of Maryland Conference Center.    Here is some motivation:

——-

By the year 2050, we expect human population to increase to 9 billion and to be

further concentrated in urban centers. An estimated billion hectares of new land

will be needed to grow enough food to feed the earth. At present, however, over

80% of the land suitable for raising crops is already in use. Further, if trends in

climate change persist, the amount of land available for farming will decrease.

Since crops consume 87% of all water used globally, an increase in water usage

is not possible. Finally, while the need is for 50% higher yield by the year 2050

to maintain the status quo, we expect agricultural productivity to decline significantly

across the world, especially in densely populated areas. There is an urgent need for

high-yield agriculture that decreases the use of water and carbon based inputs per

unit of product, while simultaneously reducing vulnerability of crops to natural

environmental conditions. Vertical Farming (using controlled environments for

urban agriculture) will reduce transportation energy required from the distant

outdoor farms. Recent implementations have shown high yields in the production

of vegetables in controlled environments. Water usage has been significantly

reduced compared to traditional outdoor farming, and crops are shielded from

adverse climate, and, from pests and diseases. In addition, Vertical Farming has

the potential to provide fresher and healthier produce to the local consumer.

Since no one community or technology holds the magic key, the opportunity for

is to collectively enumerate and prioritize the challenges that must be addressed to

bring high yield, resource efficient agriculture to fruition.  The greatest contribution

from this workshop could be a roadmap for governmental agencies and researchers

to follow as they weigh their priorities in the coming years.  Obviously the needs will

vary depending on the locale addressed– we expect that the needs for developing

countries will be different than those that are less resource constrained.

The goal of our workshop is to capture the state of the art in agriculture in controlled

environments, to define a research agenda for the future and to establish a working

group at the nexus of Agriculture, Engineering, Economics and Architecture. The

output of the workshop will be a report that could serve as the basis of research agenda

by agencies such as the NSF, USDA and USAID.

——

We have assembled a group of experts from around the world to address various aspects — horticulture,

lighting, irrigation, automation, architecture, economics and outreach–  of vertical farming.  More

information including the list of speakers, registration for attendance (in person or via live webcast) is

available  at:

http://challengesinverticalfarming.org

Please feel free to forward this notice to those interested in participating in the workshop.

Organizers:

1.                    SANJIV SINGH (CARNEGIE MELLON)

2.                    DICKSON DESPOMMIER (COLUMBIA)

3.                    GENE GIACOMELLI (UNIV OF ARIZONA)

4.                    MARC VAN IERSEL (UNIV OF GEORGIA)

5.                    JOEY NORIKANE (FRAUNHOFER)

6.                    GEORGE KANTOR (CARNEGIE MELLON)

7.                    NIKOLAUS CORRELL (UNIV OF COLORADO)

8.                    MICHAEL HOADLEY

The Coalition of Graduate Employees union (CGE) has negotiated changes to their collective bargaining agreement for 2012-16.   It is expected that CGE members will vote to ratified the contract; however, the final vote will not take place until sometime in September 2012, which is after payroll runs.  The University has entered into an agreement with CGE to move forward with fee remission and minimum salary levels, as retroactive increases are very difficult to administer.

OSU will remit a flat amount of $430 towards student fees.  This is in addition to their tuition remission.    This extra $430 will be charged to the dept. as part of the IGF Grad Fee Remission deduction.   If this is the first term for the grad student, in addition to the $430, OSU will remit their matriculation fee of $300and in addition for a Non Resident Alien,  they would also qualify for the International Orientation fee of $50.

Because not every graduate employee qualifies for these latter two fee remittances,  they will run on a new, separate deduction code, IGM, Grad Matric/NRA Fee Remissions.   This remittance will occur towards the end of the term but as it is brand new with Fall term,  we are still working on the timing.

To offset the cost of the tuition remission, CGE agreed to rescind the quarterly payment of $300 for eligible graduate appointments during the academic year  The earn code GDR  is ended effective immediately.   Thus you will see perhaps a reduction in payroll charged but an increase in OPE.  Please share with your finance staff as well.

Thank-you

Steve Nash | Payroll Manager | Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR 97339-1086 | Phone: 541-737-9491 | Fax: 541-737-9490