• Thursday, April 29th, 2010
A conceptual work, the Bee Gees 1968 album "Odessa" was both an artistic triumph and their Waterloo.
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Archive for ◊ April, 2010 ◊
• Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have constructed a chimeric pathway assembled from three different organisms for the high-level production of n-butanol (4,650 ± 720 mg l-1) in E. coli bacteria. The pathway uses an enzymatic chemical reaction mechanism in place of a physical step as a kinetic control element to achieve high yields from glucose (28%).
The advance is reported in this week’s issue of the journal Nature Chemical Biology by Michelle C. Y. Chang, assistant professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley, graduate student Brooks B. Bond-Watts and recent UC Berkeley graduate Robert J. Bellerose.
Various species of the Clostridium bacteria naturally produce n-butanol using five enzymes that convert a common molecule, acetyl-CoA, into n-butanol. Other researchers, including a few biofuel companies, have genetically altered Clostridium to boost its ability to produce n-butanol, while others have plucked enzymes from the bacteria and inserted them into other microbes, such as yeast, to turn them into n-butanol factories. Yeast and E. coli, one of the main bacteria in the human gut, are considered to be easier to grow on an industrial scale.
However, n-butanol is not produced rapidly in these systems because the native enzymes can work in reverse to convert butanol back into its starting precursors. While these techniques have produced promising genetically altered E. coli bacteria and yeast, n-butanol production has been limited to little more than half a gram per liter, far below the amounts needed for affordable production.
Chang and her colleagues placed the same enzyme pathway into E. coli, but replaced two of the five enzymes with look-alikes from other organisms that avoided one of the problems other researchers have had: n-butanol being converted back into its chemical precursors by the same enzymes that produce it.
Chang avoided this problem by searching for organisms that have similar enzymes, but that work so slowly in reverse that little n-butanol is lost through a backward reaction.
Depending on the specific way an enzyme catalyzes a reaction, you can force it in the forward direction by reducing the speed at which the back reaction occurs. If the back reaction is slow enough, then the transformation becomes effectively irreversible, allowing us to accumulate more of the final product.
—Michelle Chang
Chang found two new enzyme versions in published sequences of microbial genomes, and based on her understanding of the enzyme pathway, substituted the new versions at critical points that would not interfere with the hundreds of other chemical reactions going on in a living E. Coli cell. In all, she installed genes from three separate organisms—Clostridium acetobutylicum, Treponema denticola and Ralstonia eutrophus—into the E. coli.
The new genetically altered E. Coli produced nearly five grams of n-butanol per liter, about the same as the native Clostridium and one-third the production of the best genetically altered Clostridium, but about 10 times better than current industrial microbe systems.
We are in a host that is easier to work with, and we have a chance to make it even better. We are reaching yields where, if we could make two to three times more, we could probably start to think about designing an industrial process around it.
—Michelle Chang
Chang is also at work adapting the new synthetic pathway to work in yeast.
The work was supported by UC Berkeley, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Dow Sustainable Products and Solutions Program.
Resources
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Brooks B Bond-Watts, Robert J Bellerose, Michelle C Y Chang (2011) Enzyme mechanism as a kinetic control element for designing synthetic biofuel pathways. Nature Chemical Biology doi: 10.1038/nchembio.537
Category: Transportation
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• Sunday, April 25th, 2010
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| A system for static wireless charging. Source: HaloIPT. Click to enlarge. |
HaloIPT will supply the induction charging technology for 102EX, the Phantom Experimental Electric vehicle revealed at the Geneva Motor Show. (Earlier post.)
HaloIPT’s wireless charging systems use inductive power transfer (IPT) to transfer power over gaps of up to 400mm (15.75 inches) and are tolerant to parking misalignment with power transfer efficiencies that can match a plug-and-cable. The company is currently delivering units in the range 3 to 7kW and is also developing higher power 3-phase systems for public charging.
IPT systems work by taking electrical power from the grid and energizing a coil (the primary coil), with current typically in the range 5-125A. The coil is inductive; compensation using series or parallel capacitors may be required to reduce the working voltages and currents in the supply circuitry. Pick-up coils are magnetically coupled to the primary coil. Power is transferred by tuning the pick-up coil to the operating frequency of the primary coil with a series or parallel capacitor. The power transfer is controllable with a switch-mode controller.
HaloIPT’s Wireless IPT System thus comprises three distinct hardware components:
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A high-frequency generator or power supply. The high-frequency generator takes voltage input (240VAC at 50/60Hz) and produces a high-frequency (>20kHz) current. The output current is controlled and the generator may be operated without a load. The efficiency of the generator is greater than 94% at 2kW.
The generator comprises a filter (to reduce EMI); rectifier; bridge (MOSFETs) converting DC to high frequency; combined isolating transformer /AC inductor; tuning capacitors (specified for frequency and output current); and control electronics (microcontroller, digital logic, feedback and protection circuits). -
A magnetic coupling system or transmitter/receiver pads. The coupling circuits are tuned through the addition of compensation capacitors. The pad construction provides shielding of magnetic fields to prevent EMI within the vehicle and ensures levels of MF exposure are within suggested international guidelines (ICNIRP).
- A pick-up controller/compensation. The pickup controller takes power from the receiver pad and provides a controlled output to the batteries, typically ranging from 250V to 400V DC. The controller provides an output that remains independent of the load and the separation between pads. Without a controller, the voltage would rise as the gap decreased and fall as the load current increased.
The main components in the pickup controller are: tuning capacitors; transistors (MOSFETs) for power control and protection; rectifier; DC inductor; capacitors to smooth output voltage; and control circuit, including sensors for voltage and current.
HaloIPT’s system is battery-agnostic; the pick-up controller interfaces directly with the proprietary battery management system on the vehicle.
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| Mains voltage input is filtered prior to rectification, using a full-bridge rectifier. The H-bridge drives the primary side of a transformer via a DC blocking capacitor Cb, which prevents DC current flow in the transformer primary. The output of the transformer is tuned with capacitor C1 driving the primary pad, L1, which is magnetically coupled to the secondary pad, L2, with a mutual inductance M. The secondary pad L2 is tuned with capacitor C2 and Sensors are used to measure the battery voltage and Source: HaloIPT. Click to enlarge. |
We are delighted to provide our wireless charging technology for this trial. Industry feedback so far tells us that the automation advantages of wireless charging make it the best charging solution for luxury electric vehicles and will be the key to unlocking the potential of this exciting market. Users don’t need to get out of their vehicles and hunt for a cable to plug-in, they will just park and walk away while their car starts charging automatically … the ultimate in modern convenience.
—Dr Anthony Thomson, CEO of HaloIPT
The technology is designed to function beneath asphalt, and works under water or covered in ice and snow. IPT systems can be configured to work with all road-based vehicles from small city cars to heavy-goods vehicles and buses. With IPT technology embedded into roads, cars could also be charged on the move. This dynamic in-motion charging would reduce battery size requirements as well as providing charging convenience, the company suggests.
HaloIPT is a technology development company founded by Auckland
UniServices (NZ) and Arup (UK).
Category: Transportation
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• Sunday, April 25th, 2010
If you’ve visited our site over the last few months you may have been invited to take part in a quick survey, provided by the good people over at 4QSurvey.com. If you took part in the survey, we would like to thank you for taking the time and responding. We weren’t just asking these questions for fun, we were keen to get our customers’ thoughts on our existing website to help us shape the new site.
Wider
Based on the increasing size of monitors you’re all using, we’ve made the site wider, meaning you can read more text without scrolling.
No Flash
We’ve replaced the animated destinations map on the homepage with a static version, de-emphasised it and now we have a javascript powered (works in more browsers!) featured destinations animation at the top of the homepage.
Refreshed, more modern design
The original site design dates back almost to our founding so we asked our designers to come up with something a bit more “2011″. We hope you like it.
Suggested itineraries
We have created some suggested itineraries, based on our own travels and years of experience with our clients on the best way to spend a week, 10 days or longer exploring the destinations we offer.
Honeymooning?
Over the years many newlyweds have trusted us with planning their Eastern European Honeymoon so we thought it about time we drew attention to the picture-perfect honeymoon destinations we cover.
Special interests
Whether you’ve got gastronomic tendencies, a taste for luxury or you need arrange a group vacation we are skilled in handling all kinds of special requirements. The new Special Interests section highlights just a few.
Meet the team
As JayWay Travel has grown we’ve added more people to the team so we thought it only right that you get to know more about them on the About Us page.
Accolades and approvals
We are mentioned in the Fodor’s guide to Croatia & Slovenia as one of a select list of recommended agencies and continue to receive glowing reviews of our service on TripAdvisor.
One more thing…
We’ve saved the best new aspect of the website till last; the Trip Builder. While many clients like to leave the composition of their vacation to us, as part of the free travel consultation service we provide, some people prefer to be more specific with their requirements. We’ve made this as simple as we can with the Trip Builder. Wherever you see the orange ‘Add to my trip’ button (on a city page, excursion or accommodation) just click it and it goes into your Trip Builder list. When you’re done just fill in the short form and we’ll check the availability and timings for you and get back to you with an overall package price for your dream vacation.
Thanks to our web designers
We’d like to thank the Prague-based web design and programming team at Evo Creative for their work on this project. We love our new look and functionality and hope our visitors find it as much of improvement over version 1.0 as we do. A special mention too for the Headway WordPress theme, which made it very easy to adapt the design of this blog to match the new site.
What do you think?
How do you like our new look? Let us know in the comments…
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• Saturday, April 24th, 2010
The airline will take delivery of a total of 37 Boeing 737-800s during 2011 and is the world’s largest operator of the 737-800.
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• Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Finding a beer in Prague is not a difficult thing to do. It is rare that you’ll enter a restaurant here and not find a Czech beer at least bottled. All pubs and bars will have a couple varieties on tap, and if you are lucky, you might get to experience a beer brewed at a smaller Czech brewery.
First, a brief basic beer overview. Pilsner Urquell is the country’s most famous beer and you will see its green sign hanging outside pubs all over the city. Usually served in pubs that have Pilsner on tap is Gambrinus, a lighter beer made from the same brewery. Other big names are Staropramen, which is brewed in Prague and Krusovice. Beer purists may not appreciate these choices, as they are often considered mainstream, however casual beer lovers will enjoy them immensely.
If you are looking to experience one of the many bazillions of
different brands available, it isn’t difficult, just may require a bit more legwork. The Beer Fest Tabor was held earlier this month in the South Bohemia town of Tabor. More than 460 beers were tested, in about 20 categories. The biggest winner was the line of beers from the Primator Brewery. They earned the “Golden Seal” in three categories, including accolades for their dark lager, stout and pale lager. One pub that offers Primator in bottles is Na rychte.
And if you can’t find a pub serving anything but the top 3, don’t worry – Staropramen 11 came out tops in its category.
Category: Museum
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• Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
The prospective order will make TAM the launch customer for the Airbus A320neo in Latin America and the third customer overall for the upgraded version of the A320. The airline will announce its engine selection at a later date.
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• Monday, April 19th, 2010
Fantasma Doido posted a photo:
Taken for the promotion of the of Street Styles 4 All new clothing range. Had almost a 7 hour shoot with them on Sunday and apart from the rain trying to stop our outside shoots it was an awesome day.
Thanks to all the awesome b-boys, b-girls poppers and lockers for their time and Chloe for organising it all.
If you are interested in buying clothes or hiring them check out their website here
Check out my Brighton based home studio here:
Strobist info:
Interfix EX 150 into white seemless
Canon 580EXII in wescott 50" soft box
x2 canon 430 EX rim
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• Saturday, April 17th, 2010
Prague has come along way for vegetarian options in the last decade.
Back in 2001 many restaurants had a section on the menu labelled as ‘meatless food’ in Czech and as ‘Vegetarian’ in English that contained ham. When questioned a waiter responded ‘well there isn’t much ham in it’.
Nowadays many restaurants have vegetarian sections on the menu and there are several vegetarian and vegan eateries.
Czech pubs
These are pretty old-school. You’ll find some salads but in the warm food category your choice is usually fried cheese (either an edam type cheese or hermelin, the local camembert), baked potato or an omelette. Very little for vegans here.
Upscale restaurants
Many of Prague’s better restaurants have expanded their vegetarian options over the years so you should have a choice of a number of dishes in many places.
Vegetarian restaurants
One of the dining rooms at Lehka Hlava
There are some truly excellent places, popular with meat-eaters too. Radost FX the well-known cafe/lounge bar/club has an extensive menu. The Popeye burger is a stand-out favourite of mine. Lehka Hlava has a massive following and reservations are recommended for this cute near-Charles-Bridge spot. The Big Clear Head gets me every time and the goat’s cheese salad is my go-to starter. If you’re in town on the first Sunday of the month, their brunch is well worth a visit. It has a sister restaurant, Maitrea, near Old Town Square too. Not far from Florenc you’ll find the recently opened Mlsna Kavka.
Vegan options
Radost, Lehka Hlava and Maitrea all have vegan-friendly dishes on their menu but if you’re looking for full-Vegan then you can head to one of Country Life‘s three branches , two in the centre and one at Dejvicka, one of the four canteen-style Beas Dhabas in town or either if the two branches of Loving Hut.
Other good stand-bys
Prague is awash with pizzerias, some great, some good, some just OK, but all have numerous vegetarian options on the menu. Vegans are a little less well catered for. In the past couple of years there has been an explosion in the number of Indian restaurants in Prague and these frequently have several vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu.
Share your tips
Anywhere outstanding that we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments?
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• Friday, April 16th, 2010
Former Newcastle player and manager Kevin Keegan has warned Alan Pardew not to expect all of the money from the transfer of Andy Carroll to be available to spend in the summer. Pardew could potentially have up to £35 million for transfers in the summer, although few people expect that entire sum to be made available; no doubt some of the fee will have already gone towards an improved deal for midfield powerhouse Cheik Tiote.
Speaking to BBC 5 Live, the Magpies hero said: “The one thing I would say is I saw an interview with Alan Pardew afterwards that he hoped to get some of th
A Different League
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