SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
tor, Petrich notes. For example, QCLs can be used with microbolometer array detectors, which measure IR radiation as heat. Unlike the mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) detectors used in FTIR imaging, bolometers don’t need to be cooled with liquid nitrogen, making them less expenHigh-intensity QUANTUM CASCADE LASERS could sive and easier to operate. And they come move IR imaging closer to the clinic in larger formats that allow scientists to acquire images from a larger field of view. Until now, researchers have been reDURING THE PAST TWO DECADES, inQCLs have also allowed scientists quired to build their own QCL-based infrared imaging has shown great promise to look at samples they couldn’t look at struments. San Diego-based Daylight Solufor mapping tumors and other clinical before. The switch from globars to QCLs tions has started selling a QCL microscope applications. But conventional IR imag“means many more photons per spectral called Spero for IR imaging applications. ing is slow. The instruments are big. And bandwidth—orders of magnitude more,” The system includes a tunable QCL source the detectors must be cooled, often with says Wolfgang Petrich, a professor at the that covers the spectral region from 900 to liquid nitrogen. So the technique has reUniversity of Heidelberg, in Germany. The 1,800 cm−1, the so-called fingerprint region mained out of the hands of in IR spectroscopy (Anaphysicians. SIMILAR PICTURES Conventional lyst 2014, DOI: 10.1039/ hematoxylin and eosin staining A new way of capturing IR c4an00638k). The com(purple) and QCL-based IR images might finally change pany hopes that its commicroscopy (red, blue, green) all that. mercial instrument will show similar morphology in The secret is a relatively mouse intestinal tissue samples. encourage clinical use. new IR source—the tunDespite the strengths able quantum cascade laser of QCL IR microscopy, (QCL). QCLs are highnone of the researchers intensity IR sources, which plans to throw away his now can be tuned over FTIR instrument anybroad wavelength ranges. time soon. They can be used with less In applications where sensitive detectors than the full spectrum is needthe ones typically used for ed because the frequenconventional Fourier transform (FT) cies of interest aren’t IR imaging. already known, it makes QCLs have enabled what Rohit Bharsense to go with the FTIR, Petgava, a bioengineering professor at the rich says. But he thinks that using FTIR University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is probably unnecessary in biomedical imcalls “discrete frequency imaging,” in aging. “In biomedical IR spectroscopy, we which a handful of frequencies are colknow where our molecules of interest sit.” lected, one frequency at a time. This type Petrich’s group recently compared QCL of data acquisition is faster than collecting imaging with FTIR mapping and imaging the whole spectrum. of mouse intestinal tissue (J. Biomed. Opt. “There are many cases where you don’t 2014, DOI: 10.1117/1.jbo.19.11.111607). The need the whole spectrum,” Bhargava says. extra photons allow the analysis of samples acquisition time was significantly shorter For example, to distinguish different kinds that would otherwise yield insufficient and the field of view was significantly of tissues in a sample, his team has found signal-to-noise ratios, such as water-rich larger for the QCL images. that at most 20 or 30 frequencies are imporsamples that swamp IR peaks of interest. And Bhargava’s group recently reported tant. And often just two or three are enough. that QCL imaging was faster than FTIR Conventional FTIR instruments can’t AT THE MOMENT, scientists do almost all imaging by a factor of 1,100/N, where N zero in on specific frequencies because IR imaging on dried cells, “because infrawas the number of spectral features (Anal. they rely on a “globar” source, which is esred doesn’t go through water very well,” Chem. 2014, DOI: 10.1021/ac5027513). sentially a heated wire. Its low intensity is says Peter Gardner, a spectroscopist at the These results suggest a bright future for spread out over the whole mid-IR spectral University of Manchester, in England. “I QCL imaging, but even its advocates don’t range. Even though the entire spectrum think the QCL system will be very good expect it to reach the clinic immediately. is collected simultaneously in FTIR, it is at that. You’ve got more power to punch “We’re interested in trying to get into slower than QCL because multiple scans through the water, which allows you to obpathology departments,” Gardner says. and averaging are necessary to achieve the tain a spectrum of a living cell.” “But it will be many years before this would signal-to-noise levels required for most For other samples, scientists can use a be used routinely for regular patient diagclinical applications. less sensitive but also less expensive detecnosis in the hospital.”—CELIA ARNAUD J. BIOMED. OPT.
NEW SOURCE IMPROVES INFRARED IMAGING
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ACS NEWS
The American Chemical Society Board of Directors has approved a 2015 operating budget with projected revenues of $511.6 million—an increase of 2.7% over the projected budget for 2014—and a net contribution of $12.5 million. This translates into an overall return on revenue of 2.7%, which is within the board’s guidelines. The board, which met on Dec. 6, 2014, in Arlington, Va., also approved a capital budget of $35.8 million, an increase of $9.8 million over 2014. The board elected Pat N. Confalone as chair for 2015 and elected William F. Carroll Jr., Barbara A. Sawrey, and Kathleen M. Schulz to fill terms on its executive committee. Carroll will fill a one-year term, SawConfalone rey will fill a two-year term, and Schulz will fill the remainder of Confalone’s two-year term. In other actions, the board approved the proposed ACS Strategic Plan for 2015 & Beyond as well as the biennial Public Policy Priorities for 2015–16, which will guide ACS policy positions over the next two years. The board approved a plan to establish several new ACS International Chemical Sciences Chapters in 2015. On the recommendation of the Committee on Budget & Finance, the board voted to include funding to increase the amount ACS will provide to local sections and divisions to reimburse their councilors for travel to national meetings. Several decisions were made about upcoming national meetings, including moving the fall 2021 national meeting from Boston to Atlanta.—SLR
NEW EDITOR FOR CHEMICAL REVIEWS Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Swanlund Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has succeeded Josef Michl, professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado, Boulder, as editor-in-chief of Chemical Reviews, effective Jan. 1. Michl has served in the position since 1984.
Chemical Reviews publishes reviews of important research in all areas of chemistry. Hammes-Schiffer says she aims to maintain the “high-quality content in the core areas of chemistry while also pushing the conventional boundaries of chemistry in an effort to enhance the topical diversity by Hammes-Schiffer expanding the scope to capture multidisciplinary research and emerging areas.” “Dr. Hammes-Schiffer’s broad research interests, her standing in the scientific community, and her editorial experience will lead Chemical Reviews to continuous success and growth in topical diversity, content visibility, and educational impact,” says Susan King, senior vice president of the Journals Publishing Group at ACS, which publishes C&EN. Currently deputy editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Hammes-Schiffer earned a B.A. in chemistry from Princeton University in 1988 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University in 1993. Her multidisciplinary research focuses on developing analytical theories and computational methods. “With his vision and dedication, Dr. Michl has established the journal as the premier resource for authoritative and comprehensive review content across chemistry and related disciplines,” King says.—LW
ACS SIGNS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS ACS has signed cooperative agreements with two international organizations, effective Jan. 1. It signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Canadian Society for Chemistry to promote innovation and knowledge transfer in the North American chemical industry. The three-year agreement commits the two organizations to developing a joint action plan for facilitating cooperation among the Americas and to organizing a gathering of young scientists at their respective national meetings in 2015 or 2016. “As good neighbors, we have shared an unspoken bond for many years,” ACS President Diane Grob Schmidt says. “This CEN.ACS.ORG
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new commitment will ensure that going forward this bond continues to bear fruit for chemists in both countries as well as make both countries stronger competitors in the global chemical enterprise.” ACS has also signed an MOU with the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) to promote the joint contributions of U.S. and Asian chemistry in addressing global challenges. The three-year agreement commits the two organizations to advancing knowledge and awareness of ethics within the chemical societies in the 30 Asia-Pacific countries and territories that comprise FACS. The two organizations will develop joint webinar programming, and ACS will promote and contribute to FACS meetings in Bangladesh as well as Sapporo, Japan, in 2015 and 2017, respectively. This MOU replaces an earlier SEAN PARSONS
ACS BOARD ACTIONS FROM DECEMBER MEETING
three-year agreement, ALLIANCE Schmidt signing which expired this past the MOUs. August. “Our members can gain a great deal by working together, and the world will benefit as well,” Schmidt says. “This joint commitment puts our members in a position to develop solutions for the many challenges affecting not only our regions but the lives of people everywhere on our planet.”—LW
ACS STUDENT CHAPTERS RECEIVE RECOGNITION The ACS Society Committee on Education has announced the winners of the ACS Student Chapter Awards for the 2013–14 academic year. Receiving recognition are 44 outstanding, 104 commendable, and 151 honorable mention chapters, which were given these designations based on their programs and activities. In addition, 97 chapters that successfully completed
