"Benchmarks" states that every student should leave school with a good grasp of how science works; possess knowledge of major science, mathematics, and technology concepts and principles; and have the capacity to think scientifically. It details precisely the skills and concepts all students should know and be able to do at the four grade levels—from motion and the forces of nature to social conflict and how political and economic systems develop. All told, science literacy is defined in terms of some 65 sets of concepts and skills in 12 groups that are congruent with those set out in "Science for All Americans." "Benchmarks for Science Literacy" will be available shortly from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016, or by calling (800) 451-7556. The estimated price is $21.95. James Krieger
Chemical earnings rise again in third quarter Early reports of third-quarter earnings from major U.S. chemical producers indicate that the earnings turnaround begun in the second quarter is continuing. Earnings from July through September for a group of 19 companies—each with annual sales of more than $1 billion—increased an aggregate 8% over the same period in 1992 to $1.31 billion. The earnings are from continuing operations, excluding significant nonrecurring and extraordinary items. While earnings were rising, sales for the group fell 3% to about $26 billion. This increased the group's total profit margin to 5.0% from 4.5% in the same period last year. Despite the earnings rise, it's an open question how much of the improvement is due to economic recovery, and how much to efforts by companies to make operations more efficient by streamlining businesses, divesting less profitable operations, and cutting back jobs. After all, many companies showed exceptionally good earnings gains in the third quarter while sales were falling. This indicates that problems with demand and pricing still remain in the chemical economy. And U.S. industry is still being hurt by weak European and Japanese economies. A striking example of earnings improvement on falling sales is B. F. Good-
Third-quarter earnings up for many chemical producers THIRD-QUARTER 1993 Sales
Earnings3
($ millions)
Air Products Allied-Signal Arco Chemical Dow Chemical Du Pont Ethyl B. F. Goodrich Great Lakes Chemical Hercules Imcera Lubrizol Monsanto Morton International Nalco Chemical Olin Praxair Rohm & Haas Union Carbide Witco
Change from 1992 Sales
2% -4 -1 -7 -5
Earnings
Profit marginb 1993
1992
7.0% 6.0 7.0 4.7 3.8
7.7% 4.6 9.4 4.7 3.9
$ 855.5 2822.0 782.0 2988.0 9231.0
$ 59.6 168.0 55.0 139.0 355.0
486.9 500.8 469.7 676.0 444.9
29.8 17.2 68.5 51.5 35.3
6 -23 28 -5 7
34 537 14 27 28
6.1 3.4 14.6 7.6 7.9
4.8 0.4 16.4 5.7 6.6
390.8 1849.0 619.6 354.0 606.8
27.1 95.0 42.9 38.7 5.0
8 -2 15 1 5
42 107 23 11 -15
6.9 5.1 6.9 10.9 0.8
5.2 2.4 6.5 10.0 1.0
608.0 799.0 889.0 540.6
36.0 29.0 38.0 22.9
-7 -1 -9 27
9 ^3 73 21
5.9 3.6 4.3 4.2
5.1 6.3 2.3 4.4
-8% 24 -26 -9 -6
a Earnings from continuing operations, excluding significant nonrecurring and extraordinary items, b Earn ngs as a percentage of sales.
rich, whose earnings increased more than sixfold to $17.2 million, while sales fell 23% to $501 million. However, Goodrich's sales decline came from spinning off its lackluster Geon vinyl operations into a separate company. Monsanto is another example. Its earnings more than doubled from the year-earlier period to $95 million, but sales fell 2% to about $1.85 billion. Chairman and chief executive officer Richard J. Mahoney says: 'We've set ambitious financial goals and we're taking tough disciplined actions to achieve these objectives. We're doing so by continuing to cut costs, grow our franchise products, and aggressively manage our businesses despite weak European and Japanese economies and despite increasing challenges in the pharmaceutical industry." Some companies did turn in overall good results for the quarter. For instance, Morton International's earnings rose 23% to $42.9 million on a 15% sales gain to $620 million. Although a good part of these increases came in other businesses, Morton's specialty chemical operations performed well—with sales up 4% to $334 million, and operating profits up 17% to $51.8 million. However, several companies showed declines in both sales and earnings. For
example, earnings for Du Pont, the largest U.S. chemical producer, fell 6% to $355 million, as sales dropped 5% to $9.23 billion. But chairman and chief executive officer Edgar S. Woolard Jr. is optimistic: "We have made extraordinary and difficult changes, including job reductions, a reorganization of our businesses, divestitures, and major fixed cost and spending reductions. We expect to have all our businesses healthy and competitive in 1994." William Storck
High aims for National Chemistry Week set With the approach of National Chemistry Week (NCW), Nov. 7 to 13, various units of the American Chemical Society are preparing to remind the U.S. public about the positive aspects and importance of chemistry in everyday life. Activities next week will include numerous chemistry exhibits and demonstrations at shopping malls, museums, libraries, and other sites—planned and carried out principally by ACS's 186 local sections. But staff members at ACS headquarters in Washington, D.C., also NOVEMBER 1, 1993 C&EN
5
NEWS OF THE WEEK
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have planned a number of projects, besides coordinating NCW overall. This will be the third full-scale NCW. The observance began as National Chemistry Day in 1987, and expanded to a full-week format in 1989 and 1991. However, many local sections held NCW projects in the years between. Indeed, last year's "unofficial" NCW—in which 138 sections participated—was so successful that ACS has decided to make NCW an annual event. Several projects will draw nationwide attention to NCW this year, notes Denise Creech, program manager of ACS's NCW coordinating office. For example, the "Explorations" section in the Nov. 2 issue of USA Today will focus on NCW's purpose and activities. The "Explorations" column is produced every other Tuesday by ACS's Education Division staff. In addition, ACS has signed up more than 2000 participants for a live, twohour satellite television seminar on 'Teaching Introductory Chemistry," to air Nov. 8. Aimed primarily at high school and college chemistry instructors, the seminar will discuss fresh approaches to teaching chemistry, inexpensive chemical demonstrations that are easy to perform in the classroom, and presentation of chemical concepts in terms relevant to students. Many ACS local sections and other groups have set up satellite-dishequipped facilities to offer the seminar. Another special project developed by ACS staffers is an NCW commemorative issue of WonderScience, a regularly published magazine of ACS's Education Division aimed at sparking interest in science among children and their par6
NOVEMBER 1, 1993 C&EN
Milestones in Chemistry 1994 calendar that features a famous chemist each month with a hands-on activity based on that chemist's research. More than 5000 copies have gone to local sections. Another project sure to reach a wide audience is a 25-city tour of radio morning talk shows, before and during NCW, by ACS president Helen M. Free and program manager Creech. They will discuss NCW's goals, and events being held locally and nationally. NCW also will be featured, as in past Special issue of WonderScience left) and Milestones in Chemistry calendar years, in "The Mini-Page," a weekly newspaper section for children distributwere developed by ACS staff for NCW ed by Universal Press Syndicate to about ents. The special issue focuses on the 475 U.S. newspapers, with a total circulachemistry of "soda pop," and includes tion of about 50 million. Written by Betty hands-on activities that involve acidity Glass Debnam in cooperation with ACS, and dissolved gases in liquids. The NCW the section will appear in most papers on office has distributed 750,000 copies of this Sunday, Nov. 7, and will discuss the scientific method and problem solving. issue to local sections at no charge. The NCW office also has prepared a Ernest Carpenter
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Two receptors needed for HIV to infect cells Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris have discovered that an enzyme, designated CD26, located on the surface of immune system cells, appears to act in concert with another protein on the surface, CD4, to enable AIDS viruses to infect the cells. The finding that CD26 and CD4 are coreceptors for human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) may lead to new approaches to AIDS therapies and vaccines, according to the French scientists. The Pasteur team, led by Ara Hovanessian, announced its discovery last week at a news conference in Paris. Hovanessian then described his results at an international AIDS symposium near Paris. The French team's research has not yet been published. Two days after the Pasteur announce ment, Australian researchers led by Geoffrey W. McCaughan of Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital reported significant progress in characterizing the genetics of CD26, which is also known as dipeptidyl peptidase IV. McCaughan, an associate professor of medicine who has been studying CD26 because of its role in liver disease, says he has determined the exact location of the human gene for CD26 on chromosome 2, mapped it extensively, and obtained preliminary data on regulation of the gene. This finding could ultimately assist research-
ers in "learning how CD26 is turned on and off," he notes. Scientists have known for several years that the HIV envelope glycoprotein (gpl20) binds tightly to CD4, a socalled cell-surface antigen found on several types of immune system cells—in particular T lymphocytes, monocytes, and macrophages—and that this interaction is a key step in the infection process. However, some scientists have speculated that CD4 by itself isn't sufficient to permit entry of the virus into cells. Based on research by other scientists, the Pasteur team suspected another molecule is involved, and that this coreceptor is a surface protease. "Our approach," Hovanessian says, "consisted of searching for a specific enzyme of T lymphocytes that had an affinity for the virus envelope." The Pasteur scientists focused on a highly variable portion of gpl20 known as the V3 loop. By comparing V3 loops from hundreds of immunodeficiency virus isolates, they discovered that two dipeptides characteristic of CD26 activity are highly conserved in the loops. To determine whether HIV interacts with CD26, they then "carried out a series of experiments using inhibitors and antibodies specific for CD26," Hovanessian adds. Using mouse cells genetically engineered to produce CD4
