Newsletter

of the ASIAN CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION.

Volume II No 5-6 August 1993 >>>>> PDF of the original

Former President's Message

Dear Colleagues,

The Sixteenth Congress and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr XVI) Beijing, China is over with a great success. On behalf of the AsCA I wish to express our congratulations to the Organizing Committee of IUCr XVI and also to all the crystallographers in China.

It was last November that we met each other in Singapore at the AsCA'92. Thanks to all of you it was also a great success! It was a good time for us to warm and to strengthen our friendship and of course to improve our crystallographic standard.

On behalf of the AsCA Council and International Organizing Committee of AsCA'92, I would like to use this opportunity to express our deep thanks to all the Commercial Sponsors for AsCA'92, Enraf Nonius, Rigaku Corporation, MAC Science, Philips, Siemens, and Singapore Airlines, and others whose names were not appeared in the "Program and Abstracts of AsCA'92", without their help the AsCA'92 won't be so successful.

The second AsCA conference (AaCA'95) was discussed at the 4th Meeting of the AsCA Council during the period of the XVI IUCr Beijing, which is expected to be announced soon.

Besides the next AsCA conference, we have to discuss thoroughly how to construct the solid and sound base of the crystallography and related fields in Asia and how to improve and promote the crystallographic standard in Asia. If a country needs of some help in crystallography we have to study the situation carefully and find the best way to cooperate and help crystallographers in that country. In some cases we may ask support from the Commission for Crystallographic Teaching, IUCr to carry out joint project(s) to help them. Volunteer actions in long years of some crystallographers nearby countries will be of much important, and their cooperations will be welcome very much.

I would like to mention about the AsCA membership at this opportunity. During the time of and after the AsCA'92,1 have answered many scientists about this kind of questions. As written in the Article 3, Constitution of the AsCA, "countries and regions" (hereafter referred to as "countries") within the Asian region bounded by Japan, Korea, China, Pakistan, India, Australia, and New Zealand have membership" (AsCA Newsletter, Vol. I, No. 1, Jan. 1988, p.4 and Vol. II, No. 4, Nov. 1992, p. 5). At present the membership countries are Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.There is no individual membership. Those who are interested in the AsCA activities and wish to obtain informations about the AsCA please contact the AsCA council member in your country or region. (A list of AsCA councilors 1990-1993 is appeared in AsCA Newsletter Vol. n. No. 4, Nov. 1992.)

This is the last newsletter for the 1990-1993 term of the AsCA Executive. In Beijing a new AsCA Council has been formed and new executives elected. President: Prof. W. T. Robinson (New Zealand) Vice-president: Prof. Yu Wang (Taiwan) Secretary-Treasurer: Prof. Z. Zhang (China)

Finally, at this opportunity I would like to thank all the members of the AsCA Council, and especially Prof. Yu Wang, Secretary-Treasurer for her continuous help and also Prof. Sydney R. Hall and Prof. Jimpei Harada, council members and the former executives for many assistance and support.

With best wishes for the future and with warmest friendship,

Nobutami KASAI

New AsCA Executives

The Fourth Council Meeting of AsCA held on August 25, 1993 in Beijing, China elected the new executives for 1993-1996 as follows,

President Prof. Ward Thomas Robinson Chemistry Department University of Canterbury Private Bag Christchurch New Zealand nTel: [64] 3 482 009 Ext. 294 Fax: [64] 3 483 308 e-mail: W.Robinson%CANTERBURY.ac.NZ%RELAY.CS.NET

Vice-president: nProf. Yu Wang Department of Chemistry National Taiwan University Taipei Taiwan Tel:[886] 2 3635357 Fax: [886] 2 3636359 e-mail: AC7b0001@TWNMOE10

Secretary-Treasurer: Prof. Z. Zhang Beijing Laboratory of Electron Microscopy Chinese Academy of Sciences P. 0. Box 2724 100080 Beijing China Tel: [86] 12568304 Fax: [86]1 2561422

Report of Inaugural Conference of Asian Crystallographic Association, AsCA '92

The Organization

Hiroo Hashizume and Sydney Hall

1. Prologue

AsCA'92 was proposed initially in June 1990 as a joint annual meeting of the Crystallographic Society of Japan (CrSJ) and the Society of Crystallographers in Australia (SCA). The two societies had for many years been organizing independent annual or biannual meetings, with some cross participation. The proposal of a joint meeting was based upon the increasing Australian presence in the Japanese Crystallographic community: Australian scientists had been visiting Japan since some time to perform Crystallographic experiments using synchrotron radiation, and an Australian national synchrotron beam-line facility was to shortly constructed at Photon factory. The proposal letter from Syd Hall, the 1987-90 AsCA President, was immediately accepted by the SCA which appointed him as the SCA representative.

Singapore was proposed as the venue for the joint meeting as it was almost equi-distant from Tokyo and Cambera. A range of alternative views were proposed at a meeting of CrSJ councilors in May 1950, but the majority favored the concept of a joint meeting. Some councilors preferred a meeting extended beyond the geographical boundaries of Japan and Australia. The concept was also discussed at the AsCA Council meeting at the Bordeaux IUCr-90Congress in August 1990, where N. Kasai was nominated as the second AsCA President. The Council accepted the proposal that the joint meeting be the Inaugural AsCA Conference, although it is funded and organized by Japanese and Australian scientists. It was agreed that it would be 'a joint meeting under auspices of AsCA'. Later Syd Hall named it "AsCA '92" for brevity, although this did imply that it would be the first of a series ! The 1990 general assembly of the CrSJ held at Sendai approved a motion that the CrSJ would not organize a 1992 annual meeting if AsCA'92 took place.

2. Preparing the Foundations

The first organizational step was taken in December 1990 with Syd Hall's visit to local crystallographers in Singapore on his way to Japan. Lip Lin Koh agreed to be the local organizing chairman, and suggested the Regional Language Centre (RELC) for the conference site. This is governmental institution offering good conference facilities at reasonable cost. Koh also suggested that Shears Hall, NUS student dormitories, would be available if the meeting is held in the university vacation time. Details of Hall's Singapore visit, including the accommodation information collected, were discussed with the then CrSJ President F. Marumo and AsCA President N. Kasai during the visit. November 14-16, 1992 was selected for the provisional date of AsCA'92. Lists of the organizing committee members and the program committee members were prepared and agreed upon. Ted Maslen and M. Tanaka accepted the positions of Program Chairman and the Japanese Program Chairman, respectively. It was agreed that Japan and Australia form organizing committees which coordinate organization and pass information onto the International Organizing Committee.

Inquiries were made on the availability of the registration facilities at University of Western Australia, where Conference Office was placed at a later time. Based on the agreements reached then, F. Marumo sent a letter to John White, the 1990-91 SCA President, in January 1991, confirming a joint organization of the meeting under auspices of AsCA. The Japanese coordinating committee appointed H. Hashizume as chairman in February 1991. The CrSJ and SCA deposited an equal amount of money to underwrite the meeting. The AsCA President N. Kasai was appointed to the position of International Organizing Chairman. Syd Hall was appointed as chairman of the SCA coordinating committee.

By the end of March 1991 Maslen and Tanaka defined the general structure of the scientific program, consisting of serial oral and poster sessions. They determined provisional session topics as well. The overall logistics of AsCA'92 were reviewed by H. Hashizume with Syd Hall and Ted Maslen during the visit to Perth in March 1991. Discussions covered the time tables, number of possible presentations, evening programs, student participation and conference budget. The expected number of participants was set at 200, including approximately 100 Japanese and 50 Australians. A budget plan was worked out including Registration fees and the expected incomes from commercial exhibitions and sponsors. Arrangement of an official carrier was also discussed. The working plan was reported to the SCA councilors met at CRYSTAL XVII, the 17th meeting of the SCA, held in early April 1991 at University of New England. At this meeting A. White was appointed as the 1991-1992 SCA President.

The same working plan was approved by the Japanese CrSJ organizers in July. Meanwhile potential commercial exhibitors and sponsors were solicited. In mid April a grant of US$7500 was received from International Union of Crystallography towards young scientists assistances. The organization of the inaugural conference of the AsCA was announced in AsCA Newsletter Vol. II, No. 1, published in May 1991, where submissions to the conference program were encouraged.

A second meeting with the local Singapore committee was held in August 1991 during a stopover by Syd Hall. The discussions included getting up-to-date information about the accommodation available at the RELC and nearby hotels, conference reception, banquet and open-bar arrangements, exhibition space and lecture facilities. Three rooms were reserved, including the main auditorium for lectures, rooms A and B for posters and room C for ad hoc usages. Koh promised to obtain quotations for the hire of poster stands. Meetings were also held with the sales representatives of five nearby hotels to negotiate the rates for conference participants. Calls for commercial exhibitors were sent out to 14 Japanese and 12 other enterprises in early October.

3. Consolidation of plans

The first circular of the conference with a preregistration form was printed in Conference Office in late October 1991. Copies were mailed to the SCA members and distributed among attendants of the CrSJ 1991 annual meeting held in Kyushu University, together with travel information. It was also copied in the No. 5 issue. Vol. 33 of the Journal of CrSJ. Two special poster stands were arranged by the organizers of the annual meeting for publicizing AsCA'92. The talk by H. Hashizume in the general assembly provided further information. The presence of SCA members including Ted Maslen effectively attracted the participant's attention towards ASCA'92. To assist young scientists' participants from Japan, the organizers met at Fukuoka decided to raise funds, in addition to the grant received from CrSJ, H. Iwasaki, the 1991-92 CrSJ President, accepted the position of funding chairman. In parallel the Australian committee requested grant to the SCA. It was agreed the grant applications from the two countries were to be first applied to the Japanese and SCA grants, and only the balance of these applicants would considered for the IUCr grant. As a result of this procedure, no applicants from Japan or Australia received an IUCr grant. By the end of January 1992 copies of the first circular were mailed to all the AsCA countries through various channels. AsCA Newsletter was initially planned for information circulation, but the delayed publication schedule made it impossible to copy the circular in Newsletter. In the mean time, the Australian committee nominated Singapore Airlines for the Official Carrier, and the Japanese committee arranged package tour leaving Tokyo and Osaka, for which information appeared in the Journal of CrSJ on three occasions.

The conference budget plan was prepared in Singapore dollars, but with the later provision for Japanese and Australian participants to pay registration fees in their own currency. To help avoid bank fees Yen and Australian dollar accounts were created in Tokyo and Perth, respectively. By February 1992 the organizers received sponsorship for the Welcoming Reception (Siemens), the conference satchel (Philips), evening refreshments (MAC Science and Enraf Nonius), and the Farewell Banquet (Rigaku). Also, more thane five companies accepted invitations to the commercial exhibition: Rigaku International, Siemens, Enraf Nonius, MAC Science and X-ray Research. It was estimated that the sponsorship and commercial exhibits would result in a 30% reduction in registration fees.

The second conference circular was prepared in mid February 1992. It included the provisional time table of the scientific program, call for papers, instructions for abstract preparation, information on registration procedures, as well as tourist information. Sheets of Registration Form and abstract Submission Form were attached. The abstract submission deadline was set at July 15, the registration deadline at August 1 and the late registration at October 1. Six invited speakers were indicated, and it was the decision of the Program Committee to invite additional speakers at the time of the abstract submission. The 2nd circular indicated that three different grants are available to student or young scientists. Applications for all grants had to be submitted to the Conference Office before June 1. For Japanese and Australian registrants the payment method was indicated on separate sheets, together with travel information. Copies of the 2nd circular were sent to registrants from Conference Office. In view of the small number of registrations received from Japan, the Japanese committee printed extra 1300 copies for the 2nd circular in Perth, which were transported to Japan by the courtesy of Singapore Airlines. The booklet was placed under the same postal cover as the No. 2 issue of the Journal of CrSJ and reached all the society members in early April.

Before the deadline of April 15, five X-ray companies confirmed their participation in the commercial exhibition. Rigaku requested the largest display space; occupying three 3x3 m slots. Kozu Seiki canceled the reservation but made a generous donation to AsCA'92. In mid July Springer Verlag contacted the organizers proposing a book display, which was accepted in August. John Hill of NUS looked after the floor plan of exhibition booths in the RELC building and played as the local exhibition organizer.

The CrSJ determined the winners of the 1992 CrSJ award in late May. T. Ashida, the 1992-93 CrSJ President, proposed to include their presentations in the conference program.

A total of 29 enterprises and one individual contributed to the Japanese Young Scientists fund. Applications from 25 young scientists were received. All were accompanied good abstracts and were accepted. One grant recipient died in August 10 in a tragic accident. The vacancy was filled by another applicant. An

additional post-deadline applicant was also granted an award. An independent committee in Australia distributed the SCA funds to 15 applicants. All Australian applications were successful.

No Japanese and Australian applications were considered for the lUCr grant. These applications were administered by H. Iwasaki and A. White. They included requests from mature scientists in the AsCA countries. Their eligibility was resolved by arranging that the SCA fund be used several non-Australian students. The two chairmen worked quickly to ensure that grant notification was received from Chairman Kasai before the end of June; two weeks before the abstract deadline. The lUCr grants were eventually allocated at the registration desk.

Prof. Andre Authier, President of lUCr, and Prof. H. H. Huang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, National University of Singapore, accepted an invitation to the opening of AsCA'92.

4. Registration and Abstracts

220 Abstracts reached Conference Office by the submission deadline of July 15. Some abstracts were received from Europe and the Americas. The number climbed to 248 on August 1, the registration deadline at normal rates. There were another 5 abstracts for invited lectures; 7 abstracts were missing for additional lectures. The Program Chairman prepared a provisional program which included 71 papers in oral sessions and 193 posters. As this exceeded the original expectations, the program chairman requested additional poster boards and an extra lecture room.

The organizers monitored the registration numbers very closely at this stage. Being the inaugural meeting, there were no precedents on which to base participant numbers or behavior (in terms of meeting deadlines). A key factor was clearly the interest of Japanese crystallographers who would represent the majority at any Asian crystallographic meeting. The encouraging abstract and registration receipts did, however, reduce initial concerns.

The registration number was at 190-200 on August 1 and rose to 235 on August 10, excluding accompanying persons. Some post-deadline abstracts were not accepted until late August because of the uncertainties in space and facility limitations at RELC. This concerned the particular abstract-submitting participants because they were not able to finalize their travel arrangements. It also worried T. Ashida, and he suggested a visit by the conference coordinators to Singapore. On August 17-18, Hall and Hashizume met with the Singapore local committee and reviewed the RELC facilities. It was concluded that extra poster could be installed in the restaurant foyer. Special arrangements were made to ensure a smooth circulation of restaurant guests around these poster stands. In addition. Room C, which could accommodate 50 seats, was reserved for lecture sessions on smaller topics. Another room was reserved for registration purposes. At this meeting the RELC staff also announced the seating in the main auditorium would shortly be expanded to 310 seats.

Ng Poh Choo, the RELC conference organizer, provided strong and continuous support to the organizers. Through her efforts it was possible for the RELC restaurant to be expanded (by removing a partition wall) to 350 people. This meant that this number of people could be accommodated in the banquet. Koh, Hall and Hashizume also went to the local exhibition firm, Patrick & Stevenson, to discuss the rental of poster stands and exhibition booths. 45 double-sided boards, 1.8x1.2 m in size, were required as well as 5 booths of three different sizes. The initial quotes were unacceptably high, but after negotiation they were lowered to meet the AsCA'92 budget. In late September a contract was signed with this agent. Discussions were also made with the local organizers on the arrangement of student helpers, purchase of drinks for the open bars, town maps, writing pads and free pens to be placed in the conference satchels.

5. Final Preparations

Some participants from Australia, mostly of Chinese nationality, experienced problems obtaining a Singapore Immigration authorities requested a bond and additional guarantees for several of these applications. 'This was in breach of the ICSU rules on the free circulation of bona fide scientists and the Program Committee protested to the Singapore High Commission in Canberra. The problems were resolved by mid August. The similar problems were experienced by some Indian participants and, again, this was resolved by pointing out that the conference may be canceled unless visas to bona fide scientists

were freely granted. Maslen and Koh were primarily responsible for these negotiations. It is important for future meetings that such matters are clearly spelt out to authorities and participants well prior to the conference commencement.

A final plan of the commercial exhibition was sent to the exhibitors in late September after the contract was signed with Patrick & Stevenson. The conference banners were arranged through RELC conference office.

The program/abstract books with some 320 pages were compiled at Perth. Submitted abstracts were scanned using facilities at Computer Science Department of UWA and word processed. Drawings were cut and pasted. More than 150 abstracts were retyped. All these works needed assistances from the staffs of Crystallography Centre, UWA. The complete camera-ready copy of the program schedule and abstracts was sent to M. Tanaka at the beginning of October for final checking and printing in Tokyo at the end of October. To offset printing cost, advertisements for the program book were solicited. Advertisements were taken out by 8 Japanese and 2 other companies. 400 Copies of the program/abstract book were printed. All but 40 copies were transported to Singapore by the courtesy of Kokusai-Kaigi Center, one of the package tour organizers in Tokyo.

350 Copies of the full participant list were made in Conference Office from the registration data base and freighted to Singapore. Name tags for participants and accompanying persons were printed in Perth from the data base and inserted into plastic holders. These were brought with several hard copy listings of the registration material, and the copy of the Omnis database on a Macintosh powerbook computer, were brought as personal luggage to Singapore.

The local organizers arranged that Ms Swee-eng Tay, a secretary at the NUS, be the registration desk secretary. They also arranged for 6 NUS students to help the organizers over the 4 days. 12 Participants reserved rooms at NUS Sheares Hall and a minibus was provided to bring them to RELC each morning of the conference. 54 Accommodation rooms were reserved in the RELC International House building. Beer and soft drinks were purchased in bulk for the evening refreshment bar.

The installation of the poster stands and exhibition booths started on the afternoon of November 12. Extra lamps were mounted to increase light level in the restaurant foyer poster space. An extra exhibitor was installed in this area. The exhibitors started installing their exhibits on Nov. 12. Additions of the conference material (program book, name tags, pads, pens, advertising material) to the satchels were done Nov. 13. Registration desk was opened in the afternoon at 15:00.

The final registration was 320 with 240 participants and 80% more participants than initially estimated ! Figure 1 shows the distribution of the participants' nationalities. There was total 264 scientific presentations over the three days (Fig.2).

6. Epilogue

Overall, the organization of AsCA'92 went remarkably smoothly for an inaugural meeting. It was not, however, without the usual share of problems and misunderstandings. Most of these arose though communication difficulties and all

were resolved quickly and amicably. An important conclusion to be drawn from the organization of AsCA'92 is that it would have been much harder to maintain the close cooperation developed between the coordinating committees if there had been no electronic mail. Usually a day did not pass without a computer message being exchanged via Internet; from north to south or from south to north. It enabled PostScript files of the conference program to be rapidly and accurately exchanged (fax quality is sometimes inadequate for such tasks). It did, however, oblige us to sit at a computer terminal for long hours everyday. Nevertheless, as organizers, we recognize that good, fast communication is essential over such a large region and this has led us to set up AsCA ComNet. This is a collection of fax numbers and e-mail addresses of Asian crystallographers. Since its establishment in January 1992, AsCA ComNet contains some 400 address data from 17 AsCA countries and regions. The ComNet database is accessible via Internet and will be used to complement the electronic World Directory of Crystallographers currently being compiled.

We are extremely thankful for the collaboration of our leagues. Clearly AsCA'92 would not be organized without their devotion and enthusiasm. Thanks are due to all parties concerned.

International Organizing Committee

Nobutami Kasai(Ch.)

Hans C. Freeman

Sydney R. Hall

Hiroo Hashizume

Jimpei Harada

Hiroshi Iwasaki

Lip Lin Koh

Fumiyuki Marumo

Fang-ming Miao

Yu Wang

John W. White

International Program Committee

Edward N. Maslen(Ch.)

Bryan F. Anderson

Tamaichi Ashida

Hans C. Freeman

Siba P. Sen Gupta

Jimpei Harada

Kum-fun Mok

Mei-cheng Shao

Michiyoshi Tanaka

Allan H. White

Japanese Organizing Committee

Hiroo Hashizume(Ch.)

Jimpei Harada,

Hiroshi Iwasaki,

Fumiyuki Marumo,

Kazumasa Osumi,

Michiyoshi Tanaka,

Yoshiki Matsuura.

Hiroyuki Horiuchi,

Nobutami Kasai,

Yuji Ohashi,

Satoshi Sasaki,

Takuyuki Uragami,

Australian Organizing Committee

Sydney Hall(Ch.)

Hans C. Freeman,

Max R. Taylor,

Geoff A. Williams

Edward N. Maslen,

John W. White,

Singapore Organizing Committee

Lip Lin Koh(Ch.)

Lawrence Chia,

Kum-fun Mok.

John 0. Hill,

The Scientific Program

Edward N. Maslen

The conference venue - the Regional Language Centre Singapore - was well equipped for small scientific meetings. The ideal capacity of the venue (250 -275) was less than the number who attended (320 registered participants).

The program committee was internationally representative of the Asian region. The original draft scientific program for AsCA'92 was constructed around the three part theme X-ray, electron and neutron scattering. The three components topics were to be emphasized in the first sessions on each day of the three-day meeting.

The initial draft program, which included invited lectures by a substantial number of Asian crystallographers, was revised because of the number of contributed papers - 250 - exceeded the 150 - 160 that had been expected. Their natural subdivision into topics largely dictated the program structure. The high standard of the paper made it relatively easy to construct an interesting program. Five theme lectures, invited before abstracts were submitted, were supplemented by three more invited lectures to

fill gaps in the topics selected for oral presentation.

The standard of the English text in the abstracts was very good, especially in view of the limited proportion of native English speakers among the participants. That was reinforced in the oral presentation at the meeting which were clearly understood by most of those attending. Queries on the scientific content on a limited number of abstracts were resolved by negotiation with the authors. The majority of papers were edited to a minor degree to achieve a uniform presentation in the Program booklet. That required the use of facilities for machine reading of text, which provided an opportunity to correct typographical errors and to improve the clarity of the English expression in some cases.

The 16 oral sessions (shown below) were of 90 minutes duration. Five papers were presented in 6 of these and four in the remaining 10. The five-lecture format placed too much pressure on those chairing sessions to limit discussion. It was tolerated as the best compromise between what was desirable and what could actually be provided to those presenting papers.

[Oral sessions]

Synchrotron Radiation (4)

Organic & Organometallic Structures (5)

Maximum Entropy Methods (4)

Powder Diffraction (5)

Films & Surfaces (5)

Electron Scattering (4)

Biological Structures (4)

Minerals & Inorganic Materials (4)

Diffraction Theory (5)

Crystal Growth (5)

Neutron Diffraction (4)

Interactions in Biological Structures (4)

Diffraction Physics (5)

Phase transitions (5)

Extinction (5)

Crystallographic Information (5)

Posters, grouped into 22 topics were displayed from 11:00 - 17:45 on each of the three days. The last two hours of each day were reserved exclusively for poster discussions. Poster boards were rectangular 1.8x1.3 m² in area, with the long axis horizontal. The three meter allowance for circulation between rows of boards was satisfactory.

[Poster sessions]

Macromolecular Structures I (5)

Macromolecular Structures II (6)

Interactions in Biological Molecule (9)

Minerals, Inorganics & Alloys I (10)

Minerals, Inorganics & Alloys I (11)

Phase Transitions & Solid State (6)

Electron Scattering & Microscope Imaging (6)

Crystal Growth & Preparation (11)

Synchrotron Radiation (8)

Techniques Other than Diffraction (4)

Carbon & Organic Structures I (9)

Carbon & Organic Structures II (9)

Electron Distributions (15)

Diffractometry & Data Analysis (8)

Neutron Diffraction (3)

Organometallic Structures I (15)

Organometallic Structures II (14)

Interface, Films & Surfaces I (5)

Interface, Films & Surfaces II (6)

Enzyme Structures (16)

Phase Transitions & Solid State (4)

Small Biological Structures (11)

Special thanks are due to the staff at the Regional Language Centre for resolving difficulties resulting from the unexpectedly large attendance at the meeting. It was a tight squeeze providing facilities for lectures, posters and the commercial exhibition which has become an essential component of a successful crystallographic meeting. It was nevertheless very enjoyable. Its success was a tribute to the organizers, to the sponsors and to the enthusiasm of all those who participated.

News from Japan

Executives of the Crystallographic Society of Japan

The President and executives of the Crystallographic Society of Japan for the term April 1993 to March 1994 are as follows:

President: Prof. Masayasu TOKONAMI, University of Tokyo;

Secretary General: Dr. Hiroyuki HORIUCHI, University of Tokyo;

Treasurer: Dr. Takashi YAMANE, Nagoya University;

Editor of the Journal of Crystallographic Society of Japan: Prof. Yuji OHASHI, Tokyo Institute of Technology;

Secretary for Events: Dr. Makoto SAKATA, Nagoya University;

Secretary for Public Relations: Prof. Takayuki URAGAMI, Okayama University of Science;

Secretary for Crystallographic Informations: Prof. Yasushi KAI, Osaka University.

News from Singapore

(by Prof. L. L. Koh)

Singapore is a small country where there is no association or society for crystallographers. The 8th edition of the World Directory of Crystallographers lists 12 names in Singapore. All twelve are academic staff of the National University of Singapore. Areas of interest are mainly Structural Chemistry, Solid State Physics and related topics.

There were 10 Singaporians who attend the AsCA'92. A total of 7 papers were presented. Only 3 of 10 are names found in the World Directory. This is a good indication that there are now more people who are engaged in research or study of crystallography.

For more information about crystallographers in Singapore please contact

L. L. Koh Department of Chemistry National University of Singapore Kent Ridge Singapore 0511 Fax: (65)7791691 e-mail: chmkohll@nuscc.nus.sg

News from Vietnam

(by Prof. Lecong Dzuong)

A course on crystallography was organized in Hanoi, 9-19 December 1992 by the Materials Science Center, Hanoi National University of Technology (HNUT), which is headed by Prof. Lecong Dzuong, in association with the IUCr Teaching Commission (Prof. J. Glusker, Chairperson). The lectures were held by Dr. C. H. L. Kennard, The University of Queensland, the IUCr Visiting Professor.

The course was given to 39 faculty members, postgraduates and undergraduates of the HNUT and other high schools and research institutes in Hanoi, and covered symmetry, space groups, reciprocal lattice, data collection, phase problems, structure solution, refinement, analysis of results, powder methods and data bases. In the tutorials the participants provided both Apple IIs and PCs for the use with some of the computer programs. On completion of the course participants were given lUCr-HNUT certificate.

AsCA ComNet

During the organization of the Inaugural Conference of AsCA (16-19 Nov. 1992, Singapore), the organizers were sensitive to the need for good and fast communication in our region. This encouraged them to propose and establish AsCA ComNet which lists the fax numbers and electronic mail (e-mail) addresses of Asian crystallographers. The idea was supported by the AsCA councilors, and 16 countries/regions nominated the national subeditors for the data collection and editorial works. The list of subeditors are attached at the end of this article. As of March 26,1993 AsCA ComNet includes 495 address entries from 11 AsCA countries/ regions:

Australia 52

Bangladesh 24

China 129

India 50

Japan 24

Korea 8

New Zealand 21

Pakistan 24

Philippines 13

Singapore 10

Taiwan 72

Thailand 34

Vietnam 34

The data format is simple, consisting of the following four lines:

line 1: family name, title, first name and other initials,

line 2: institution name

line 3: e-mail address

line 4: fax number Example: Taylor, Dr. Max R. Flinders University of South Australia chmrt@cc.flinders.edu.au 61(8)2013035

The address data is stored in a computer file which is accessible through the networks. This allows crystallographers all over the region to retrieve the information by anonymous file transfer program (ftp) operation. Nonscientific use of the data is prohibited. Below is shown how to get the information.

1. Log in a computer terminal connected to Internet.

2. At a command prompt, type ftp ftp.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp or ftp 157.82.34.68.

3. After the computer displays "Name (ftp.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp.'user name): " type ftp. Then Password will be demanded "Password:". Type your full e-mail address example: chmrt@cc.flinders.edu.au. You will have a display of welcome messages.

4. Type cd pub/sci/comnet at a command prompt.

5. List the files by typing Is at a next command prompt.

6. If you wish to retrieve the Japanese data for example, type get japan.dat at a next command prompt. This allows the data to be transferred to your site.

7. To close the session, type quit at a command prompt.

AsCA ComNet will complement the electronic World Directory of Crystallographers currently being compiled by IUCr. If you are not registered, you are encouraged to send your address information to the subeditor of your country/region.

General editor:

Prof. H. Hashizume Tokyo Institute of Technology e-mail: hhashizu@nc.titech.ac.jp fax: 81(45)9225169

Subeditors:

Australia

Dr. Max R. Taylor Flinders University of South Australia chmrt@cc.flinders.edu.au 61(8)2013035 Bangladesh

Ass. Prof. M. Quyser Dhaka University 88(2)863307

China

Prof. Yuzhen Han Peking University 86(1)2564095

Hong Kong

Prof. Thomas Mak Chinese University of Hong Kong b005783%cucsc.bitnet 85(2)60350570

India

Dr. K. K. Kannan Bhabha Atomic Research Centre kannan@magnum.barctl.emet.in 91(22)5560750 Japan

Ass. Prof. K. Ogawa University of Tokyo ogawa@ramie.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp 81(3)34852904

Korea

Prof. Se Won Suh Seoul National University sewonsuh@krsnucc 1 .bitnet 82(2)8891568

Malaysia

Dr. Abdul H. Othman University of Kebangsaan Malaysia 60(3)8256086

New Zealand

Dr. C. Rickard University of Auckland rickard@ccul.aulzuni.ac.nz 64(9)3737422

Pakistan

Prof. M. M. Qurashi Pakistan Academy of Science 92(51)825264

Philippines

Dr. W. C. Patalinghug De La Salle University csckhg@dlsu.mnl.ph

63(2)5219094

Singapore Prof. Lip Lin Koh National University of Singapore chemkoh@ nuscc.nus.sg 65(77)91691

Sri Lanka

Prof. R. P. Gunawardane University ofPeradeniya 94(8)88151

Thailand

Ass. Prof. P. Phavanantha Chulalongkom University 66(2)2531150

Taiwan

Prof. Yu Wang National Taiwan University yuwang@chem60.ch.ntu.edu.tw 886(2)3636359

Vietnam

Ass. Prof. M. Ng. Do Hanoi Technical University 84(2)62006

AsCA Councillors at the Third Council Meeting, November 14, 1992, Singapore.

(From left to right)

Front row: Ms Lai Lu-Hua(Observer, China), Prof. Sydney R. Hall(Australia), Prof. Nobutami Kasai(Japan, President), Prof. Yu Wang(Taiwan, Secretary-Treasurer), Prof. Lui Hui(China, Alternate for Prof. Miao Fan-Ming);

Second row: Dr. Phathana Phavanantha(Thailand), Prof. S. P. Sen Gupta(India), Prof. Lecong Dzuong(Vietnam), Prof. AltafHussain(Bangladesh), Dr. Anwar ul Haq(Pakistan), Prof. Jimpei Harada(Japan, Executive Member of IUCr), Prof. Richard Gunawardane(Sri Lanka);

Third row: Dr. Lip Lin Koh(Singapore), Dr. T. Richard Welberry(Australia, Alternate for Prof. John White), Prof. W. T. Robinson(New Zealand).