Friday, April 6, 2012

News and Notes

Around the Interwebz

A team led by Terry Diamond of St. George’s Hospital in New South Wales has just published the first head-to-head comparison of 5,000 International Units (IU)/day to 2,000 IU/day ingestion of vitamin D3. Read the abstract.

Fix the under-representation of women in science, says RSC’s first female President
Royal Society of Chemistry (News release)--The UK economy cannot afford the wastage in talent that comes when women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers leave their profession prematurely, according to a new report. Tapping all our Talents can be found here. The RSC’s evidence to the report committee can be read here.

Export of Oilmeals 2011-12
seaofindia.com--The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEAI) has released just compiled the oilmeal export data for export of oilmeals for the month of March 2012 and for the whole year 2011-12 (April-March). Overall oilmeal exports have risen by 8%, SEAI reports. Read the news release. (.pdf)

Federal Procurement of Biobased Products 
The USDA Office of Procurement and Property Management has issued a Final Rule that amends the "... Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement, to add 13 sections to designate [the following] product categories within which biobased products will be afforded Federal procurement preference: ... Air fresheners and deodorizers; asphalt and tar removers; asphalt restorers; blast media; candles and wax melts; electronic components cleaners; floor coverings (non-carpet); foot care products; furniture cleaners and protectors; inks; packaging and insulating materials; pneumatic equipment lubricants; and wood and concrete stains ... USDA is also establishing minimum biobased contents for each of these product categories ..."The April 4, 2012 USDA Federal Register Final Rule is posted here. The September 14, 2011 USDA Federal Register Proposed Rule is posted here. Information about the BioPreferred program is posted here.

Free JACS Image Challenge Mobile App
The Journal of the American Chemical Society is pleased to announce the launch of JACS Image Challenge Mobile, a free mobile application that is now available for all Apple iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad). Download the app for iTunes.

Phthalate-free, bio-based PVC products hitting store shelves
Plastics News--The new BioVinyl compounds contain phthalate-free Dow Ecolibrium bio-based plasticizers made from non-food plant byproducts by the Dow Electrical and Communications unit of Dow Chemical Co. Read the article.

Combining algae, geothermal to produce biofuel
Biorefining Magazine (blog)--A unique algae technology company has been named by the Tulane Entrepreneurs Association and the Freeman School's Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship as one of six finalists that will compete in the two business plan competitions. Read the post.

India's CSM&CRI produces algal-based biodiesel, completes test drives
Biofuels Digest--In India, researchers from the Central Salt Marine and Chemical Research Institute have produced biodiesel from microalgae harvested off the western coast of the country. Read the article.

Better analysis methods for algal oil
biodieselmagazine.com--A University of Texas research paper describes a liquid chromatography method that generates a simple and highly informative oil profile. Read more.

Pompeian, Inc. Receives First USDA Quality Monitoring Verification for Olive Oil
MarketWatch (news release)-- Pompeian, Inc., with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, USA says it is the first olive oil manufacturer to attain the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service Quality Monitoring Product logo. Read the article or See the Standards FAQ (.pdf)

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