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Combining chemotherapeutics with immune-enhancing pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to improve cancer treatments: A new cancer treatment option to overcome established cancers.

‍Passed away 2 April 2023 in Waikanae aged 93

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

Francis Brian Shorland, OBE, PhD, DSc (L’pool), Hon. DSc (VUW), FRSNZ (1909-1999)

Urine has been fundamental to several significant discoveries, including phosphorus, gunpowder and fertiliser. Modern plumbing has distanced us from this waste product but recent research has looked into uses of urine to find solutions to current environmental, food and energy crises. This article recaps historically significant substances arising from urine, and briefly discusses several recent developments on nutrient and energy recovery from wastewater and urine.

New Zealand drinking water regulators have introduced new limits for N-nitrosodimethylamine, a carcinogenic compound often abbreviated to NDMA, in drinking water. These levels are very low (0.0001mg/L) and will require specific testing methods to determine if drinking water suppliers meet the new requirements. NDMA has been found in drinking water across the globe, and many analytical techniques have been used to identify and measure it. This review briefly summarises the health risks, formation and prevalence of NDMA in a drinking water context, before discussing the analytical techniques that are used to quantify NDMA at the required levels of sensitivity. The most common techniques are preconcentration by solid-phase extraction or solid-phase microextraction, followed by separation by gas or liquid chromatography and finally detection by mass spectrometry or chemiluminescence.

A series of articles that explores the lives and work of selected chemists who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the discipline, the profession and well-being of mankind, yet who are little remembered.

Sentiment analysis is here applied to narratives considered to be essentially descriptive of facts (which include actions around either the discovery of those facts), actions related to experiences of a chemist, and narratives with a more poetic or creative character. A continuum is envisaged between Western pragmatism on the one hand – most obviously shown in descriptive narratives – and Eastern mysticism on the other – most obviously shown in poetic works, with action narratives occupying a position between or even overlapping with these end-points. Such a continuum suggests that Western and Eastern thought may not necessarily be as independent from each other as has been often portrayed.

This paper uses metadata about the three papers that collectively announced the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, specifically looking at references and citations. These data together with sentiment analysis of the books written by two of the scientists involved – James Watson and Maurice Wilkins – suggest that while an authoritative version of the history of the science might be possible, an authoritative history that includes the social dynamics of the research environment is unlikely. The closing section of the paper alludes to the advances in Māori and Polynesian ethnography made possible by post-discovery DNA-related research.

This article explores the multifaceted potential of emulsions, wherein changes in droplet shape, morphology and emulsion stability are induced by stimuli like pH, temperature, light, magnetic and electric fields. This makes them invaluable in a plethora of complex applications.