For five years, Mr. Huang was a scientist at a Dow Chemical lab in Indiana, studying ways to improve insecticides. But before he was fired in 2008, Mr. Huang began sharing Dow’s secrets with Chinese researchers, authorities say, then obtained grants from a state-run foundation in China with the goal of starting a rival business there.

Now, Mr. Huang, who was born in China and is a legal United States resident, faces a rare criminal charge — that he engaged in economic espionage on China’s behalf.

Law enforcement officials say the kind of spying Mr. Huang is accused of represents a new front in the battle for a global economic edge. As China and other countries broaden their efforts to obtain Western technology, American industries beyond the traditional military and high-tech targets risk having valuable secrets exposed by their own employees, court records show.

Rather than relying on dead drops and secret directions from government handlers, the new trade in business secrets seems much more opportunistic, federal prosecutors say, and occurs in loose, underground markets throughout the world.

Prosecutors say it is difficult to prove links to a foreign government, but intelligence officials say China, Russia and Iran are among the countries pushing hardest to obtain the latest technologies.

“In the new global economy, our businesses are increasingly targets for theft,” said Lanny A. Breuer, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s criminal division. “In order to stay a leader in innovation, we’ve got to protect these trade secrets.”

Mr. Huang, 45, who says he is not guilty, is being prosecuted under an economic espionage provision in use for only the seventh time. Created by Congress in 1996 to address a shift toward industrial spying after the cold war, the law makes it a crime to steal business trade secrets, like software code and laboratory breakthroughs. The crime rises to espionage if the thefts are carried out to help a foreign government.

Economic espionage charges are also pending against Jin Hanjuan, a software engineer for Motorola, who was arrested with a laptop full of company documents while boarding a plane for China, prosecutors said. Over the last year, other charges involving the theft of trade secrets — a charge less serious than espionage — have been filed against former engineers from General Motors and Ford who had business ties to China. And scientists at the DuPont Company and Valspar, a Minnesota paint company, recently pleaded guilty to stealing their employer’s secrets after taking jobs in China.

In two past espionage cases involving American computer companies, defendants said they saw a chance to make money and acted on their own, knowing that the information would be valuable to Chinese companies or agencies. In several cases, Chinese government agencies or scientific institutes provided money to start businesses or research to develop the ideas; that financing is what gave rise to the espionage charges.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, appointed by Congress to study the national security issues arising from America’s economic relationship with China, said in a report last year that even in instances without direct involvement by Chinese officials, China’s government “has been a major beneficiary of technology acquired through industrial espionage.”

China has denied that its intelligence services go after American industries. China’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the subject, but spokesmen for the Chinese foundation and the university that worked with Mr. Huang said they were not aware of any espionage.

“If it’s true, we will start our own investigation into it,” said Chen Yue, a spokesman for the Natural Science Foundation of China, which gave Mr. Huang grants to conduct research there.

American officials and corporate trade groups say they fear economic spying will increase as China’s quest for Western know-how spreads from military systems to everyday commercial technologies.

After focusing for decades on low-cost assembly operations, China “feels it really needs to turn the corner and become a technology power in its own right,” said James Mulvenon, the director of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis in Washington, which tracks Chinese activities for federal agencies and corporate clients.

Mr. Mulvenon said China is trying to woo back thousands of ethnic Chinese scientists who have trained or worked in the United States. “They basically roll out the red carpet for these guys,” he said.

The research was conducted in the lab of chemistry and physics professor Richard E. Smalley, who passed away in 2005. Members of the original research team who worked with him on the discovery gathered for the chemical landmarks ceremony.

The work began as an attempt to understand the formation of carbon molecules in interstellar dust. Rice professor Robert F. Curl and Sir Harold W. Kroto, who was then at the University of Sussex in the U.K., convinced Smalley to use his laser-supersonic cluster beam apparatus to vaporize and condense carbon.

What they found—with the help of graduate students James R. Heath, Sean O’Brien, and Yuan Liu—were new forms of pure carbon. A prevalent and stable one consisted of a hollow sphere of 60 carbons. After deciphering its structure, they named it “buckminsterfullerene,” or buckyball, in tribute to author and inventor Richard Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes mirrored the molecule’s shape.

The research expanded the number of known carbon allotropes and led subsequently to the discovery and manufacture of carbon nanotubes. In 1996, Smalley, Kroto, and Curl were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery of fullerenes.

“The discovery of fullerenes is without a doubt a seminal scientific achievement,” ACS President Joseph S. Francisco said upon awarding the plaque to Curl and Rice President David W. Leebron. “This discovery and what came out of it really changed in many ways the path and success of this university,” Leebron told the celebrants. Smalley was instrumental in recruiting science faculty and in establishing what is now the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology at Rice.

“Many of the great scientists that we have here today are here because of what this discovery has made possible across so many fields far beyond the field of chemistry,” Leebron continued. “We at Rice are very, very proud that we are the home of the buckyball and the launch of the incredible field of nanotechnology.”

The 25th anniversary of the buckyball discovery and landmark award concludes a year-long celebration at Rice called the “Year of the Nano.” Extensive outreach activities, events, and symposia were among the events, including a four-day conference held on Oct 11-14 featuring the Nobel Laureates and other leaders in nanoscience and technology.

Philippe Ximena, the firm’s Singapore-based general manager for engineered materials in Asia, and other company representatives provided a brief update May 19 at the Chinaplas show in Guangzhou.

Current market conditions have forced the Avon Lake, Ohio-based firm to make some adjustments, officials said.

A year ago at Chinaplas 2008 in Shanghai, PolyOne was heavily promoting its push into biopolymer compounds, some of which were being used by Springfield, Ill.-based Design Ideas Ltd. to make an Eco-Gen brand of bathroom accessories.

The recent slowdown in demand for relatively higher-priced biopolymers is prompting PolyOne to get creative.

It is developing blends of such materials with traditional resins like polypropylene, polyethylene and ABS, and working with brand owners to find end-use applications for these blends, said Jakey Low, Asia business development manager for color and engineered materials for PolyOne Shenzhen Co. Ltd. Low said PolyOne has not yet branded this line of products, which he said are made using the blending process generically known as biomass.

PolyOne is working directly with several original equipment manufacturers to integrate biomass blends into end products that include mobile phone handsets and USB modem housings. It also is helping brand owners to negotiate the diverse and often-changing laws related to meeting environmental marketing requirements, on a country-by-country basis.

Low said more details on PolyOne’s biomass products should be available at NPE2009, which will be held June 22-26 in Chicago.

PolyOne in April began initial production at a new color concentrates plant in India, according to Ximena, who recently relocated to Singapore from Europe to take up his current position.

The firm is finalizing the commissioning of production lines in India, but declined to provide further details. Its color concentrate products find use in various end markets, particularly packaging and wire and cable.

Ximena also noted that a PVC compounding plant in Dongguan, China, which PolyOne acquired in late 2006 and officially reopened a year ago, is busy serving new business in Asia. The plant is fully integrated with PolyOne, and the firm has begun lean manufacturing and Six Sigma programs at the South China facility.

Speaking of integration, Chinaplas 2009 represented the first time that PolyOne and its GLS Corp. thermoplastic elastomers subsidiary exhibited together at the same booth in China.

The strongest markets in Asia now for PolyOne’s engineered materials are electrical and electronics, automotive and health care, Ximena said. Demand in the construction market is softer, he said.

Ximena said industry in China is definitely starting to see the benefit of the Chinese government’s aggressive economic stimulus package. He added that he expects a similar uptick from Beijing’s stimulus plan for Chinese health care and hospitals, announced less than a month ago.

At Chinaplas, PolyOne highlighted its Kostrate Edge terpolymer, a BPA-free, Food and Drug Administration-compliant material that aims to replace polycarbonate, acrylic, styrene acrylonitrile and general-purpose polystyrene in certain applications. PolyOne is targeting end uses such as infant care cups, houseware items, drinkware and sports bottles, as well as appliance, point-of-purchase display, office furniture and personal-care applications.

The company also chose the Guangzhou show to introduce additions to its lineup of polymer additives. Its OnCap chain extender can increase viscosity by more than 15 percent for engineering thermoplastics that belong to a group of materials known as low intrinsic viscosity polycondensates.

The new OnCap UV absorber is designed to help protect plastic packaging from ultraviolet radiation. PolyOne says the additive also emits a blue tint to give products a clean, bright appearance. It is designed for PET bottles and other packaging.

Steven Chan, PolyOne’s Asia color sales and marketing director, claimed OnCap UV is the first such product available in Asia.

Covering the responsibility of ecological and environmental control the whole world should be made to understand that both chlorine and bromine and infact all Halogens cannot be recycled and they should not be dumped down the drain because they cause ‘Big Grief’ in water reclamiation in commerical operation plants.

They cause problems in river beds, eco systems in lakes and ponds; chlorine is disipated into the atmoshere from UV exposure.

Chlorine is affecting the ozone layer which is weakening year by year.

Surex Oxysure & Surex Oxypure are based on peroxygen technology. They are quick dissolving, they cannot mess up relative water lines dumped down the drain and affect the ecology and environment.

They can be recycled and have no smell in both spas and pools.

Sand filters should be ‘back-washed’ to waste to dispose of debris taken out from a filter in its general working action, or debris collected from the pool vacuum heads or automatic floor cleaning gadgets that function via a filter unit.

Sand filters should be back-washed for a minimum of 5 minutes every 10 to 21 days in lightly used pools and for 5 minutes every 7 days in heavily used pools in domestic applications.

Commercial pools have different parameters & procedures.

A filter drum will hold the following approximate volume of sand:

15-16” size will hold 0.13m² (1.40sqft) with 1½” flow lines. Use 2 x 25kg of 16/30 grade of filter sand.

18-19” size will hold 0.17m² (1.85sqft) with 1½” flow lines. Use 3 x 25kg of 16/30 grade of filter sand.

23/25” size will hold 0.33m² (3.17sqft) with 1½” flow lines. Use 4 x 25kg of 16/30 grade of filter sand and 1 x 25kg of gravel (3-6 or 5-10mm).

30” size will hold 0.46m² (4.9sqft) with 2” flow lines. Use 6 x 25kg of 16/30 grade of filter sand and 2 x 25kg of gravel (3-6 or 5-10mm).

Sand filters in Koi pond applications should use 8-16 grade of filter sand.

Top mount valves are more practical than side mount. Because they take up less plumbing space and give more even pressure when in use.

How to use your multiport when back-washing is required.

Think of your valve face as a clock.

1. First turn off your pool pump.

2. At 12 o’clock you are in FILTER position (normal running).

Push valve handle right down to bottom –
This protects the valve sealing gasket against movement.

3. Turn your valve to 6 o’clock – BACKWASH position.

4. Turn on your pool pump to ‘back-wash’ as already advised.

5. Turn off your pool pump.

6. Select RECIRCULATION (20 to 8).

7. Turn on your pool pump for some 30 seconds only. –
You are only cleaning the valve body no need to waste water.

8. Turn off your pump and put valve back to 12 o’clock (FILTER position).

Now leave valve off for some 15 minutes to allow the sand to settle.
This process is called ‘Sedimentation’.

The heavier gravel falls first, the sand follows.
Useful in 24” & 30” filter drums.

9. The RINSE position (10 to 10) is useful to blow out any air
in the filter drum without lose of water.

10. WASTE (10 past 12). Here you can vacuum to waste to either drain the
pool or clean any unwanted effluent.

11. CLOSED is used during ‘Winterisation’ coverage or for use
in ‘flooded suction’ applications.

Tips

Disregard ‘sight glass’ – purely shows water is flowing.

Check that your valve pressure gauge is working correctly.

Use glycerine filled gauges. They are far longer lasting.

Check spider gasket inside valve body, & top ‘o’ ring once a year.

If your valve top assembly is well worn it is cheaper in time to fit a new top assembly only.

Always use PTFE tape when plumbing in internally threaded valve ports. Do not glue.

Providing you backwash regularly & chemicalise properly your filter sand will last for many years.

 Is Chlorine one of the dangers that lurk in our water supply?
Is it a good idea that has gone wrong?
There is no way I am going to believe Chlorine or any other Halogen is good for general body functions.

 In the First World War thousands were wiped out from Chlorine gas equally the Iraq and Iran confrontations killed thousands more.

 I assume that the ‘warmongers’ at the time considered it was acceptable as they did with Bubonic Plaques and the Great Fire of London years ago where both human beings, animal and aquatic life was brought to an end.

 These days humans that contracted water borne diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery etc suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea could be dead within 24 hours after coming down with it.
After a life time of drinking and bathing in Chlorinated waters the harmful effects could be more silent but just as deadly.

 The US Council of Environmental Quality states that the cancer risk amongst people drinking Chlorinated water is 93% higher than those who do not.
Is there a story here ?

 Chlorine hardens arteries, destroys proteins in the body.
It irritates the skin, eyes, and sinuses.
Asthmatics; allergies; respiratory problems are enhanced by Chlorine.

 In swimming pool bathing applications should the Nitrogen Trichlorides fall out of line THMS (Trihalo-Methanes) are formed – these are positively dangerous.

 THMS can be absorbed and expelled through the skin when swimming in both indoor & outdoor applications.Misguided Veterinary Surgeons once they have operated on animals recommend the use of Chlorinated substances in indoor convalescence pools. They fail to realise that animals have lungs and breath in the fumes, Chlorine also affects the eyes and body hair.
Chlorine affects their breathing – similarly horse exercising structures.

 Mutagens are present particularly in Bromine, particularly MXS known to be at least some 100 odd times for harmful than THMS which cause damage to the Thyroid gland and can lead to cancerous tumours.

 In my opinion swimming in a pool with Halogens content is a no-no-no.
It is a fact that indoor pool attendants whilst sitting in their ‘watch chairs’ have a much higher increase of Asthma as do swimmers themselves.

 The one way to protect yourself from relative toxins is don’t use Halogens.

 So what is the answer ? Should it be one of the following ?

1. Basic inorganics such as Hydrogen Peroxide solution.

2. Granular Peroxygens – but be careful of your mixes and choice.

3. Ozone gas – but you cannot go over .9ppm.

4. Ultraviolet light. Medium density.

5. Salt water maybe – just be careful of the parameters. Just remember you are creating Chlorine again.

6. The use of silver – be careful it has a 10 hour kill time.

Environmental & Ecological hi-tech chemistry with high reactionary performance covering the use of Cationic Polyacrylamide flocculation in
swimming pools & spas. In both domestic & commercial applications.

Flocculants, clarifiers and co-agulents have been recommended for the removal of suspended particles (colloids) in water to assist with better water quality and the effect on the reduction of sanitizer use.

It has been well proven that continued clarification or flocculation enhancers the usage in the maintaining of levels of both halogens & peroxygens and equally a reduction of compounds used in ‘shock dosing’ requirements.

Surex Internationals invention of Lebloc ™ is high tech chemistry engineered to give both the spa & pool owner ‘an easy application’ and a safe way to apply and use the clarification materials.

There are several clarifiers (flocculants) available in liquid, tablet and in ‘gel’ forms, some require expensive methods of application and maintenance and most are not ecological & environmentally friendly – some in fact are toxic.

Lebloc™ requires no capital expenditure, functions in both cartridge element & sand filters and it’s the only gel block in the world that works in above ground, in ground pools and spas – infact a world exclusive.

Reasons for the use of Lebloc™

1. Lebloc™ will assist with the clearing of a ‘green pool’ treatment in
above & in ground pools.

2. Leaves no residuals behind to vacuum out.

3. Clears up stubborn hazy water problems quicker than chlorine.

4. Lebloc™ will aid in the removal of ‘mustard algae’ where generally high
levels of chlorine are required to burn out contaminates.

5. Use Lebloc™ when you ‘open up’ your pool at the start of the year after
the winter lay up.

6. Lebloc™ comes in its own easy to use dispenser.

It has a very long shelf life.

Each bloc will treat 85m³ (18000 galls).

The average domestic spa holds 450lts (100 galls).

The average domestic in ground pool holds 55m³ (12000 galls).

7. Use the Surex ‘milk bottle test’ to check colloid presence.

Pre cleaned glass 2 pint bottle (1.1lts).

Hold up to direct sunlight – colloids or no colloids.

If you have colloids you need Lebloc™.

Lebloc™ should not be used in Diatomaceous Earth filters.

It is not compatible with Lebloc’s™ chemistry.

The application of Lebloc™ will also remove phosphates.

Phosphates can come through both tap water and through air movement.

They are food for algae growth & because Lebloc™ contains a phosphate remover it stunts its growth dramatically whilst clarifying both pool & spa water.

Phosphate levels should not exceed 50 mgt/ppm.
Testing strips are available for an easy quick test.

Other pool & spa chemicals that remove phosphates:-

1. Aluminium Sulphate.

Found in tablet form, kibble (‘rock’ form) & powder.

The material has links with Alzimers disease and is dangerous.

2. Polyaluminium – Chloride (P.A.C.)

Found in liquid form.

Again has links with Alzimers disease and is dangerous.

3. Lanthium Carbonate.

Found in powder form, tablet, concentrated ‘slurry’ form and liquid
preperations.

Harmless.

This can also be used in fish ponds, natural ponds, lakes and some fresh
water and sea water aquatic and animal applications.

4. Lanthium Chloride (111)

Similar applications as in compound 3 above.

Lycopene is an antioxidant which belongs to carotenoid family. Lycopene has various health benefits. It is effective against free radicals damage. Lycopene is highly beneficial for heart as it reduces the risk for heart diseases by 50%. It is a powerful antioxidant, thus it is used to treat various health conditions like heart diseases, cancer, age related illnesses and macular degeneration.

Lycopene is found in ample amounts in vegetables and fruits. It is mostly found in fruits and vegetables red in colour. This substance is known to double the content of other carotenoids. It is found in all the body parts and especially located in the liver, lungs, colon, prostate, adrenal glands and skin. Various health benefits and food sources of lycopene are discussed in this article.

Health Benefits of Lycopene
Lycopene is highly beneficial for health because of the following functions:

•Cancers – Lycopene helps protect against various cancers such as mouth, lung, breast, cervical and prostate cancers.
•Aging – It is an effective anti-aging component. Thus, it is used in various creams to protect skin from aging effects.
•Diabetes – Lycopene helps prevent diabetes as it regulates the blood sugar level.
•Cardiovascular Diseases – It provides protection against various cardiovascular diseases like strokes and heart attacks.
•Macular Degeneration – Lycopene is used for treatment of macular degeneration.
•Osteoporosis – It also helps prevent osteoporosis.
•Fertility Problems – Lycopene helps in prevention of men related fertility problems.
Food Sources of Lycopene
Lycopene is found in the following food sources:

•Papaya
•Tomatoes
•Watermelon
•Guava
•Pink grapefruit
The above are a few health benefits of lycopene. It also does not cause any side effects.

Printers and Ink

Printer ink is something that is of a very specific nature. Depending on the type of printer you have, whether it is an inkjet or a laser printer, different models have different specifications. Each printer model, type and brand has different ink cartridges or toner cartridges. Each company has strict specifications as to which cartridge you should use and rightly so. Every printer has different fitments and fittings, different machinations and sizes and different methods of printing and ink release. All cartridges are built to suit these and the ink used in these ink cartridges is designed to provide the best quality print; not necessarily what you get from a compatible ink product.

Finding the right ink cartridges

Locating and buying the right printer ink is something akin to a major expedition. You have to scourge through malls and shops and computer outlets to try and locate the right printer ink. If you have a slightly old model or a less popular model, then this buying procedure becomes even more complicated. Retail shops and outlets only store the cartridges that are for popular printer models or generate large profit for them. There are very few places where you can get the complete range of toners and cartridges. Some people try the internet but again the shipping costs for most cartridges make the price double. Shipping of printer ink in large quantities makes the cost of the shipping itself so high. In addition, there are very few authentic vendors with a large number of people selling surplus goods online.

However, a recent spate of companies and online sites and stores that specialize in inks, toners and cartridges for printers can make life easier. These companies just store inks and cartridges of all types, models and brands. It is just about finding the right dealer who can give you the best price for the best quality of inks and service. These people guarantee original brands and company manufactured inks and not some mass-produced rehash of their own factories.

This problem is mostly faced by large printing presses and publishing houses that require large quantity of printing. These companies will be a boon for them.