xt7cc24qp04x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7cc24qp04x/data/mets.xml University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Kentucky University of Kentucky. Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies 1987 volumes. Call Number: LD2762.9 .K38c. Accession Number: 2018ua049 journals LD2762.9 .K38c English Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection University of Kentucky Odyssey Magazine Research -- Kentucky -- Periodicals Education -- Research -- Periodicals Research -- Kentucky Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research, Summer 1987 text images Odyssey: The Magazine of University of Kentucky Research, Summer 1987 1987 1987 2026 true xt7cc24qp04x section xt7cc24qp04x  

, ,_ 77 ‘ S, . r ' \‘ j

 

SUMMER° A MAGAZINE OF UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH ' 1987

._.._. ._ ——-—«-—4 ._ .

 

 

t

1 t

z} MAGIC BULLETS FOR VIRUSESiDISCOVERING THE SECRETS OF VSV
i V

 3 MMER‘ A MAGAZINE 0? LS“ ILRSITY OF KEN

MAGIC BULIHS FOR VIRUSES DISCO ERING THE SECRETS OF V3

The University of
Kentucky, the Com—
monwealth's graduate
education and
research institution,
exists to provide op;
portunities for the
education, personal
growth and develop—
ment of individuals
and to contribute to
the improvement of
society.

With this mission as
its premise, one goal
of the University is to
conduct programs of
basic and applied re—
search which support
graduate and profes—
sional education, pro—
vide for the advance—
ment of knowledge,
and seek solutions to
the acute problems of
society.

The University's re—
search mission also
acts as a magnet for
attracting top grad—
uate students who
want to participate
in nationally—
competitive research
projects. This research
experience can offer
them a significant ad—
vantage in their edur

 

cation while laying
the foundation for fuv
ture research and de-
velopment.

O D Y S S E Y
Magazine, through
articles about various
research projects and
graduate education
programs, reflects the
breadth of the Uni—
versity’s search for
new knowledge and
the myriad of re—
search endeavors un—
derway. The progress
the University has
made toward achiev’
ing its research mis—
sion, and securing the
extramural funds re—
quired to support
these types of endeav—
ors, would have been
impossible without
the talents and dedi—
cation of our research!
ers.
The goal of ODYS—
SEY Magazine is to
offer the reader the
opportunity to share
in some of the excite;
ment, curiosity and
creativity evident in
the research underway
at the University of
Kentucky.

 

 

  

University Archives
Margaret I. King Libury - North
University of Kentucky

L‘lflnlI°*uzlflantucky' 4(Xi36

Volume V, No. 2
ODYSSEY is a
magazine published
by the University of
Kentucky Research

Foundation under the
auspices of the Vice llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll|IIIlIIIlIIIllllllIllllllllllllllllllllllIlIlIIIllllIlIllIlIIIllllllllllllllllIlIllllllllIllllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
' Chancellor for Re;
search and the Dean
of the Graduate
School. Each issue of
ODYSSEY describes
only a few of the
many University of
Kentucky research
projects underway in
a variety of areas.

Requests for per—
”“5519“ ‘0 ”Pm“ Superpower Semantics 7
material and readers
comments regarding
ODYSSEY are wel—
come and should be A Revolutionary in Aerosol Science 10
sent to the Editor,
University of Ken—
tucky Research Foun—
dation, University of
Kentucky (0057), Lex—
ington, Kentucky
40506. Phone 606— Pitcher Science 22
25738297.

The publication of
ODYSSEY is not fie
named by statmp. Who Makes the Choices for the Elderly? 25

propriated funds.

 

Magic Bullets for Viruses: Discovering the Secrets of VSV page Z

 

 

 

Helping Newborns to Breathe l4

 

 

 

Editor: Susan H.
Donohew

Designer: Shear &
Shear

Publications Assis— Smoking and the Immune Response 31
tant: Sharon J.
Turner

Cfigf‘g‘gflgfifg Helping to Break the Habit 33
Braden, Pam Fahey,
Markel Tumlin,
Jeff Woriey Walking Tall 35

Printing: UK Printing
Services

Smokeless Tobacco: An Unsafe Alternative 27

 

 

 

 

Credits: photos on pp.
3, 6,10, 25, 29, 31, 33
by Alen J. Malott;
photos on pp. 9, 14’
21, 26, 32, 34, 36 by
Ken Goad; cover pho—
to by Comstock. lllus’
trations on pp. 23, 24
by Topps Chewing
Gum, lnc.; illustration
on pg. 27 by Shear &
Shear.

 

 

 

   

  

MAGIC BULLETS FOR VIRUSES:
DISCOVERING THE SECRETS OF VSV

. , :.: .’ .‘ .2 3-5;-

 

 

by Jeff Worley

he saboteurs rush the wall and

are through in almost no time.

Encountering little resistance,
they work their way toward their ob‘
jective—the “big machine”—and cap—
ture it. Stage one of the subversion is
completed.

The story line may sound familiar,
reminiscent perhaps of the
commando raid in The Guns of
Navarone. The “actors” in this sce—
nario, however, are viruses—tiny
blueprints encased in a protective
“coat.” Dr. Judith Lesnaw and her as—
sociates, Dr. David Hammond and
pre—doctoral student Andy Feldhaus,
hope to rewrite the script so that in
the future these saboteurs find them—
selves on Mission Impossible.

Viruses are small, so small that they
can be seen only through an electron
microscope. The simplest viruses con—
sist merely of nucleic acids, pieces of
genetic information which can be ei—
ther DNA or RNA, wrapped in a
protein package. Unlike cells, Viruses
contain no machines for protein syn—

 

 

thesis; viruses cannot, by themselves,
make the energy or building blocks
needed to sustain their existence.
Unique parasites, viruses exist on the
threshold of life, totally dependent on
the host cell for replication.

The process by which a virus
replicates is a fascinating one. To
compensate for its deficiencies, the vi—
rus must take over the cellular ma—
chinery and subvert it to its own use.
The virus does so by first attaching it—
self to specific sites on the cell’s sur’
face, where it is enveloped by the cell
membrane and drawn inside. Once
inside, the virus removes its protein
coat, and the viral blueprints instruct
the cell to make two kinds of pro«
teins: structural proteins that form
new viral coats and a viral enzyme,
the replicase, which makes new
blueprints.

Newly assembled viruses then begin
to make their escape from the cell.
Some types burst dramatically
through the cell wall; others bud out
of the cell more gently. Hundreds, or

 

 

An electron microscope produced this greatly
magnified photograph which shows the virion
with the “lid” popped off. Note the little dot‘
ted line trail which is the genetic information
spilling out of the virion. This photograph,
along with the other magnified photographs in
this article, was taken in 1973. With the new
electron microscope planned for the Markey
Cancer Center as part of the Core Facilities,
the capability for producing these types of
photographs will be infinitely improved.

 

thousands, of new viruses begin the
life cycle again in a new cell.

“We want to find out exactly how
the virus multiplies within the cell—
what part of the cell it borrows. We
also want to understand how the vi—
rus damages the living cell,” Lesnaw
says. “The virus, though small, clev—
erly changes the cell’s machinery.
The altered machinery now responds

to the viruses’ instructions, not those
of the host."

 

 V

,.

 

 

 

i.
i

 

 

To underscore the relative difficulty
of combatting viral infection, Lesnaw
contrasts it with bacterial infection.
Bacteria, like the hosts they infect,
are cells; but the bacterial machinery
differs from the host cell’s machinery.
Bacterial infection can be combatted
with antibiotics that inactivate the
bacterias but not the host machines.

“The virus, however, uses the cell’s
materials and machinery. We cannot
destroy the machines that make these
viral particles because the machines
are us. This kind of cure would kill
the patient," Lesnaw explained. In«
stead, virologists seek to identify a
crucial part of the virus that makes it
different from the host.

Lesnaw’s research is focused on the
study of the vesicular stomatitis virus
(VSV), first isolated from small le—
sions on the tongues of cattle. VSV is
a negative—strand virus, a category
which includes rabies, influenza, mea—
sles, and mumps. It serves as an excel—
lent model system for studying this
group of viruses because it’s very sim—
ilar to the deadly Viruses, yet is not
itself a deadly human pathogen.
Moreover, it’s easy to grow in tissue
culture and easy to purify. Lesnaw
has been probing the secrets of VSV
since 1970.

In her research, Lesnaw studies
how the negative~strand VSV uses
the host cell to reproduce itself.
When in its latent state as a virion—a
metabolically inert particle composed
of an inner core of nucleic acid and
protein, and a bullet—shaped mem~
brane of protein and fat—VSV en—
counters a host cell, the outer
membrane of the virion is stripped off
and the inner core enters the cell.

Now the virus runs into a problem:
host cells are unable to copy RNA
into RNA. The virus solves this di~
lemma by bringing into the cell its
own enzymes to copy the necessary
genetic information into mRNA.
This new strand then directs the host
cell's ribosomes to make new viral
proteins, some of which produce new
inner cores and others of which pro—
duce new outer membranes. The
cores and membranes then assemble

 

and these new virions bud out of the
cell, ready to infect other cells.

To understand how the virus
replicates, Lesnaw is attempting to
discover some property of the virus
that differs from its host. “A likely
target is the viral enzymes used to
make the viral nucleic acid, the
replicases and transcriptases that
make the messenger RNA,” Lesnaw
says. “If we can understand these en—
zymes, we can design a ‘magic bullet,’
a drug that will be able to distinguish
between viral material and cellular
material.”

Lesnaw and her research team are
now focusing their attention on
VSV’s largest enzyme, the L protein.
This enzyme catalyzes six chemical
reactions, each of which might be car—
ried out by a separate enzyme in a dif—
ferent virus-host cell system. “This
enzyme is unique to the virus,”
Lesnaw explained, “so if we can find
the active regions on the molecule—
for example, areas where the binding
of building blocks takes place or re
gions that interact with the original
blueprint that’s being copied—then
we can develop magic bullets that will
go to these specific regions and inactia
vate them. If we can block the virus
es’ replication process, we’ll have a
cure for the infection.” The informa—
tion gleaned from the VSV studies
will suggest strategies for prevention
and treatment of other negative—
strand viruses.

The researchers are pursuing two
related approaches to solve the mys~
teries of the L protein. One involves
the analysis of VSV mutants whose
genetic information has been altered
in such a way that the L protein it
specifies can no longer carry out all its
normal functions. This approach is
part of the dissertation research of
doctoral student Andrew Feldhaus.
He is using techniques called nucleo—
tide sequencing to identify the se—
quences of bases on the viral RNA
that specify the structure of the viral
proteins. His goal is to find the active
sites in the L protein by mapping the
location of functional mutations.

“Mutants help us out," Feldhaus

 

 

Examining a film of sequencing gell are Dr.
David Hammond, left, native of Midland,
Michigan, and [we-doctoral student Andrew
Feldhaus, from Covington, Kentucky.

“We cannot destroy the ma
chines that make these viral
particles because the machines
are us. This kind of cure
would kill the patient.”

continued on page 4

3—

 

 

  

“If we can block the viruses’
replication process, we’ll have
a cure for the infection.”

This is a pure virus particle. Shaped like a
bullet with whiskers, it’s Greek name is
“Rhabdovirus.”

 

ODYSSEY 4

 

 

explains. ”Once we discover in what
ways a molecule is deficient, we can
begin to determine how this deficien—
cy alters the function of the three‘di—
mensional structure of the protein."

A second approach exploits the
technological innovation of light’acti—
vated radioactive probes. One of the
originators of this technique is Dr.
Boyd Haley, who is now a member of
the UK faculty in the Lucille Parker
Markey Cancer Center. This ap—
proach is being used by postdoctoral
fellow Dr. David Hammond. ”\We
know that enzymes carry out specific
functions—they interact and bind,"
Hammond explained. ”To attempt to
determine which enzymes are in’
volved in virus reproduction, we have
designed a radioactive molecule that
is structurally specific, similar to the
substrate, but altered so that it binds
tightly."

The light—activated radioactive
probe, then, is a normal enzyme sub—
strate into which both an atom of ra«
dioactivitv and a highly unstable
azide bond have been incorporated.
In the presence of the enzyme, the
probe can bind to the enzyme's active
site. lf, when it's bound, the probe is
exposed to certain frequencies of
light, the azide bond breaks and
forms an irreversible bond between
the enzyme and the probe.

The enzyme can then be cut into
small fragments, called peptides,
which can be separated on the basis
of size and charge. The peptide to
which the probe is attached can be
identified by the decay of the radioac—
tivity incorporated into the probe.
Using these probes, then, Hammond
hopes to identify the active sites in
the L protein. The analysis of pep—
tides is carried out in the Markey
Cancer Center Macromolecular
Structure Facility.

“Hopefully, we‘ll find that one of
these areas, when ‘shot,' will no long
er be active in the replication pro—
cess," Hammond says. “We’ll be able
to make magic bullets to neutralize
this action."

 

 

 

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Hummww.

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00m.”

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g,
3’
le
:e

 

 

 

These are examples of the virus, the black
bullet—shaped objects at the edge of the cell
wall, budding from a cell membrane—the fi-
nal step in the virus assembly process. There

Lesnaw points out that another
major benefit of Viral research is the
discovery of how cellular machines
work and the ways in which multi—
functional proteins carry out their as—
signed tasks. “Viruses, in this View,
are not altogether nasty. We are using
the virus itself as a probe to examine
normal cellular functions: the virus
becomes a window to the cell.”

Although Lesnaw devotes much of
her time and energy to the study of
viruses, she also enjoys interaction
with students—she teaches courses in
virology and microbiology—and with
investigators from other disciplines. “I
was attracted to UK initially," she
says, “because there is such a wide va—
riety of activity at one campus—the

are one million cells in one square inch of
human skin and approximately 500 of these
viruses could fit into one cell.

College of Arts and Sciences, a fine
medical center, and the Lucille Parker
Markey Cancer Center. Here, I can
carry on a research program and be
involved in teaching at the same
time.” She also gives lectures in com—
munity programs, such as UK’S Sate
urday Seminar Series which brings
“science to the public.”

With a generous grant from the Na—
tional Institute of Health, the
research team will continue to probe
the secrets of VSV. Lesnaw em—
phasizes the point that their research
may have far—reaching significance:
“Many of the most important biologir
cal breakthroughs, our understanding
of life itself, has come from the study
of viruses.”

 

IUDITH
LESNAW:

MICROBE
HUNTER

s a sixth—grader Judith

Lesnaw thought that she had

already read every science fic—
tion book in the school library. Then
she found one, obviously mis—shelved,
that she hadn’t read: Microbe Hunt—
ers. The book may have changed
her life.

Microbe Hunters, it turned out,
was not science fiction, but science
fact—the story of the history of
microbiology. “Actually, the story is
somewhat in the vein of science
fiction, the actions of small creatures
you can’t see causing devastating ef—
fects on the human population. I was
entirely captivated by the idea of a
life form so small and simple, by the
concept of an entire universe in a
drop of water,” Lesnaw says.

Her interest in the study of Viruses
led her to the University of Illinois,
where Lesnaw completed an under—
graduate degree in microbiology and
graduate degrees in botany and biolo—
gy. In graduate school she took a class
from the well—known virologist Sol
Spiegelman, and under the direction
of Eli Reichmann focused her re
search on the tobacco necrosis virus
and its satellite, a relatively small and
simple plant system.

By 1971, her primary interest had
shifted to the study of the animal Vi—
rus vesicular stomatitius virus, or

continued on page 6

 

5 ODYSSEY

 

  

 

VSV. ”ln preparation for my studies
of VSV, I spent one month in the
laboratory of Dr. Craig Pringle at the
Institute of Virology in Glasgow,
Scotland. Armed with a battery of
new techniques learned from Dr.
Pringle, I returned to Eli Reichmann's
laboratory," Lesnaw explains. Three
years later, she came to UK and set
up an independent laboratory to
continue her studies of VSV.

In her 13 years at UK, Lesnaw has
seen significant changes. “First of all,
there has been a tremendous increase
in the number of basic scientists hired

 

“The virus, though small,
cleverly changes the cell’s
machinery. The altered ma—
chinery now responds to the
viruses’ instructions, not those
of the host.”

Judith Lesnaw

 

in molecular cell biology. There has
also been a definite movement to;
ward interdisciplinary collaboration—
this is a wonderful thing. My collabo—
rations with the departments of Bio—
chemistry and Plant Pathology have
continued to develop.”

One indication of this movement
toward interdisciplinary study is the
molecular cell biology weekly research
forum. Lesnaw is the program coordi'
nator for this group. “Fifty to 60 peo—
ple—professors, graduate students,
and post—doctoral fellows—meet ev—
ery week to exchange ideas and dis—
cuss problems with research projects.

 

We also update each other concern—
ing new technological break—
throughs,” Lesnaw says.

Many of the scientists in this group
will also benefit from another project
that Lesnaw worked on—the writing
of the recently funded Core Grant
which brought national recognition
to the Lucille Parker Markey Cancer
Center. She says that these funds will
help to support some of the existing
Core facilities, such as the macromo—
lecular structure facility, and to build
the electron microscope facility. This
funding will benefit scientists all
across the campus and in the Lexing—
ton region.

In addition to her activities as
researcher, coordinator of the re;
search forum, and grant writer, Les;
naw teaches courses in virology and
microbiology. “I enjoy teaching, in,
teracting with students and discuss‘
ing their questions. It’s a learning
experience for me as well as for
them," she says.

Lesnaw also enjoys extending the
scope of her work beyond the bound
aries of the campus. Last fall she gave
a lecture in the Saturday Seminar Se—
ries, a forum which allows UK faculty
to present and discuss their ideas with
the general public. “I believe that it’s
exciting and important to bring sci—
ence to the public."

What Lesnaw brings to science is a
fiery enthusiasm. “I like working with
judy because she adds a lot of exciter
ment and enthusiasm to our work.
It’s easy to get caught up in that,"
says Andrew Feldhaus, a doctoral
candidate who works with researcher
David Hammond and Lesnaw in
their study ofVSV.

Lesnaw is excited about the chal'
lenges virologists face as the let cen—
tury grows nearer. “There’s so much
that needs to be done. My hope is
that by the year 2000 we will have
learned a great deal about how model
systems such as VSV function so that
we can translate the strategies we’ve
devised into ways of looking at more
complex systems.” -Jeff Worley

 

 

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ODYSSEY 7

anging conspicuously on a wall of
Hpolitical Science Professor Daniel

Nelson’s office 16 floors above the
University of Kentucky campus is an M.C.
Escher print. As usual, Escher is playing tricks
on us: pillars connect floors to ceilings at
impossible angles; a winding staircase seems to
rise perceptibly step by step, but when we look
again we see that it is taking the two climbers
no higher at all.

Escher makes the point that things are not
what they appear to be at first glance. His art;
ful deception is, in a sense, a visual analogy to
another type of duplicity which Nelson has
been studying for several years—the deceptive
use of language, especially when utilized by
representatives of different political systems.

In order to document differences in meaning
behind political concepts, Nelson and a team
of graduate assistants have researched the use
of 40 words and concepts common in interna—

The Russian newspaper
Pravda.

 

SUPERPOWER SEMANTICS

tional discourse. The study is focused on polite
ical language as used by authoritative speakers
in the United States and the Soviet Union.

“To insure accuracy, we have utilized only
original sources—quotes by Soviet and Ameri~
can leaders from established publications. We
have purposely varied our citations from any
one source, Pravda or Izvestia, for example,
or any one spokesman," Nelson says. “This is
an academic project which is generating even—
handed essays that state succinctly what US.
and Soviet usages are."

Nelson stresses the point that the purpose is
not to create any anti—Soviet statement; the
objective is to provide useful information.

Although there are dictionaries and other
reference tools that deal with such political
concepts as ”disarmament," ”freedom,”
“peace," and “terrorism,” this is the first proj~

continued on page 8

 

by Jeff Worley

   
    
 
    
   
 

 
 

  

 

ect which explicitly compares and juxtaposes
usage by representatives of the Superpowers.
Nelson sends each two—page essay, detailing
US. and Soviet use of a recurrent political
concept, to the US. Information Agency,
which is funding the research. Charles Wick,
director of the USIA, must approve Nelson’s
draft in conjunction with the Policy Guidance
Staff, an in—house think tank, before the infor—
mation is translated into French, Spanish, and
Arabic. The essays are then collected and sent
to diplomatic posts around the world.

A major purpose of these short papers is to
alert recipients to the manipulation and abuse
of political concepts. “There are many ways,”
Nelson says, “in which any Superpower—not
just the U.S.S.R. but any Superpower—can
use and abuse key concepts. Both Superpow—
ers use propaganda and disinformation in
order to attempt to change the behavior of
others. In the battle of ideas the necessary
ammunition is the manipulation of words and
concepts.”

In the essays he writes and sends to the
USIA, Nelson deliberately avoids citing
specific instances. “The inclusion of examples
might easily offend some officials in diplomatic
offices, who would then be much less receptive
to the entire project,” he explained. In previ—

.M, .Wy

 

 

ous research, however, Nelson has included
discussion of specific instances in order to
show how these concepts are understood by
the Superpowers.

Nelson mentions the concept of human
rights as perhaps the best example of language
manipulation by the Soviets. Although the
United Nations' Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) and the Helsinki Agree—
ment (1975) enumerate the rights to ”human
contact," the “reunification of families," and
other rights to freedom of movement, the
Soviet Union has restricted the meaning of
human rights when the discussion turns to
conditions within its country.

The USSR. speaks of guarantees of social
and economic equality and justice when
defending the Communist Party’s record on
human rights in the Soviet Union, asserting
that the Party has ensured a right to work, lei—
sure, health, well—being, and education. This
statement includes only a few of the many
rights listed in the UN. Declaration, forget—
ting entirely those which emphasize political
and religious expression or due process
under law.

Nelson goes on to say that dissent and cririr
cism of the Communist Party by Soviet citiv
zens are not regarded as a human right but as

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“subversive activity.” Such political and legal
aspects of human rights are, however, often
discussed by Soviet leaders or journalists when
commenting on conditions within the US.
For example, Soviet journalists seek to portray
cases such as the arrest or conviction of black,
American Indian, or other minorities as de
facto “political repression.”

Put simply, the U.S.S.R. expands or
contracts the meaning of human rights as
needed in an attempt to fortify its position.

Although not a part of the Nelson study,
others maintain that similar language manipua
lation is evident in US. policies. For example,
in a recent article investigative reporter Tim
Weiner of Knight Rider, points out that the
Pentagon’s recently publicized interpretation
of the “use of space for peaceful purposes" has
been extended to include military uses of
space.

International treaties, signed by the US.
and U.S.S.R., forbid the military use of space.
When Congress asked Pentagon officials
whether the installation of the C31 systems (a
communications network of orbiting satellites
that could command and control the nation’s
nuclear forces during and after World War Ill)
would violate these agreements, the Pentagon
replied, Weiner reported, that the US. inter—
prets “the right to use space for peaceful
purposes to include military uses of space to
promote peace in the world."

In his study of semantic corruption, Nelson
has had his “worst fears confirmed.” “In look—
ing over great amounts of material, I believe
that the two Superpowers are still very far
apart in terms of speaking to each other;
instead, they continue to talk past each
other."

The problem, Nelson says, is not in the
denotation, or dictionary meaning, of words,
but in their connotations, the meanings sug~
gested by or associated with the words. “Even
when the denotation of a word is identical
(‘unemployment’ is when people are out of
work), the Superpowers accuse each other of
failing to take into consideration the needs of
the workers. And connotation can be manipu’
lated for political purposes regardless of
denotation."

Connotation especially breaks down when
sides begin to cite examples. “Genocide."
Where does it exist, under what conditions?
When has it occurred? The U.S. and U.S.S.R.
would agree about genocide during the Nazi
period, but there is no agreement about other

 

instances in which thousands of people were
systematically killed. In discussing Idi Amin’s
reign in Uganda, for example, the US. refers
to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
Ugandans as genocide; the U.S.S.R. does not
use the term to refer to these same deaths. The
Soviets, on the other hand, characterize as
genocidal those South African policies that
have led to the killing of thousands of blacks;
the Reagan Administration does not see it
that way.

“The lack of agreement about meanings
is sometimes quite purposeful. To ac—
knowledge differences in meaning is to
acknowledge that there are two valid interpre—
tations,” Nelson pointed out.

Problems of communication are not just a
function of language use, but a function of
entrenched mistrust. The conceptualization of
language is merely symptomatic of underlying
differences, and its use is modified according
to the exigencies of events.

Nelson adds that the gulf of understanding
widens when the Superpowers take hard—line
positions, for example, the Soviet Union on
Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in
1979, or when leaders take strong ideological
stances. “Ronald Reagan's use of language in
his ‘Evil Empire’ speech was clearly inflamma—
tory. The choice of modifiers was not designed
to calm nerves,” Nelson said.

Although there might seem to be indica—
tions that the problem of communication is
worsening, Nelson believes that this is not the
case. “The capabilities to communicate are
greater than they’ve ever been. Many universi~
ties around the US. are now receiving, on a
daily basis, the Soviet's evening news program
Vremya on satellite dish. The long—range
prognosis is that the two sides will have a
greater understanding of these terms they use
in the political arena," Nelson commented.

He hopes that this project will lead to a
stronger concordance between the Superpow~
ers. Research has been completed on 35 of the
40 terms selected by the US. Information
Agency, and 20 have been sent to diplomatic
posts in booklet form. “Soon,” Nelson says,
“all 40 essays will be available in thousands of
copies, handed out or mailed out all over the
world."

9 ODYSSEY

 

    

Dan Nelson, Political Science

 

  

 

A REVOLUTIONARY
IN AEROSOL SCIENCE

,. . “ *-
‘ _

by Lissa D. Atkins

r. Asit Ray is a modern pioneer. His
D frontier is not the wide open range but

the minute realm of molecular layers;
his tools are not an ax and plow but an elec—
trodynamic balance and laser. However, like
the determined settlers who discovered new
lands to inhabit, the chemical engineering pro-
fessor has opened up a previously unknown
area in the field of aerosol science.

Ray is studying aerosol systems, a name
which, for most people, conjures images of
spray cans. However, in Ray's research, aero—
sols are the suspension of small particles in air
or gas. The particles are the intermediate stage
in a vapor to liquid or vapor to solid transfor—
mation process. Typically between .0le5
microns in diameter (a human hair is approxi—
mately 25 microns), the particles cannot be
seen with the naked eye. A cubic centimeter

ODYSSEY 10

§

W5 ‘?

 
  
 

Asit Ray, Chemical Engineering

(the equivalent of five teaspoons) may contain
as many as 100 million particles.

Examples of the vapor to liquid and vapor
to solid transformation processes are the for-
mation of water and ice. As water vapor in
clouds begins to cool, small nuclei or clusters
of typically less than 100 molecules begin to
form. These nuclei are thermodynamically
unstable and may continue to grow or evapo—
rate. If they do continue growing, the clusters
reach an aerosol stage and are approximately
several hundred molecular layers thick. With
continued growth, the particles form liquid
droplets which then may fall as rain, or at
very cold temperatures, form solid ice. Aerosol
systems are also found in air pollution and in
the formation of cigarette smoke and paint
pigments.

Ray’s work in aerosol science began in 1975

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when he was a graduate student at Clarkson
University (formerly Clarkson College of
Technology) in New York. Because of the lack
of technology at that time, most aerosol stud—
ies were carried out by researchers who had to
look at the entire cloud. Isolating one particle
and watching it grow or evaporate couldn’t be
done. Ray and doctoral advisor E. J. Davis
conquered these limitations by developing a
combination electrodynamic balance and laser
scattering device.

“This technology revolutionized the field of
aerosol science,” says Dr. Len Peters, UK asso—
ciate dean for research. “Every major aerosol
lab, industrial or academic, has one or is con—
templating getting one. The number of pub—
lished papers about experiments in which this
device was used has doubled, maybe tripled,
each year since Ray first introduced it.”

With the electrodynamic balance, Ray iso—
lates a particle by charging it and then placing
it in an electrical field. The balance is housed
inside a vacuum chamber which evacuates
through a turbomolecular pump. The environ—
ment is precisely controlled: the temperature is
maintained within 0.1 degrees C and the pres,
sure is controlled with an accuracy of 1 part in
10,000. In this state, a particle can be stably
suspended (without any vibrations) for several
days. An improved version of an earlier drop—
let suspension technique, Ray’s chamber pre-
vents the horizontal drifting of a particle and
allows him to precisely control its position.
This ability is crucial for him to obtain accuv
rate results with the second aspect of his
device—the laser.

By modifying other scientists’ ideas about
the properties of scattered light, Ray uses the
laser to “see” the submicron particle. Afte